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The MC feats allow you to use the MCed class' implements when using powers from that class, but not for anything else. So if I have a tactical warlord MCed to wizard, the warlord can use a wand, but only when using powers like flaming sphere or blood pulse. If the warlord somehow got access to...

Yes. The section regarding identifying magic items in the Equipment chapter in PHB1 makes that explicitly clear. No Arcane skill is required to identify "standard" magic items. It does suggest that non-standard items like artifacts, cursed items and presumably other "special" magics might...

Nothing in the rules says that the only way to know an item is magical is to use the trained Detect Magic action from the Arcana skill. The DM decides how obvious magic is in his game world, there are no rules covering it. Making all magic indistinguishable from the mundane, so that such a...

Ok. If it's not a big deal, then the player trying to get it should be perfectly happy to not get it. In fact, since it's so unimportant the sword-mage player would never even try to get it. ;)

Zapp, I do take issue with your constant refrain that players will surely always choose to stop if doing so is possible. That's just not true. Plenty of gamist players like to see how long and hard they can push, and many narrativist players will not choose to stop because the characters would...

And what weapon-using Small character isn't going to seriously consider the available light blades? Only +3 proficiency bonuses available to them are on light blades and Versatile weapons, and Small characters can't use both a versatile weapon and a shield.

My attempt with him didn't work so well. The rogue got a Staggering Assault off really early in the encounter and absolutely crippled it.

Because a decision was made to remove automatic death effects, since they're frustrating as hell. Besides, how do you slit the throat of a gelatinous cube? Or a swarm?

My group of five had a tough fight, but in the end only two people went down and one of them got back up before the encounter ended. All our dailies but flaming sphere got used in the fight though. We did kill every kobold outside before they could make it in. They only saw two people in the...

The claim is technically wrong, but happens to be true in practice. Halflings can't use two-handed weapons *sans the Small property* and all double-weapons are and will continue to be two-handed. So unless and until the developers get around to putting Small on more than just the shortbow...

The biggest problem I've always had with the "just MC" defense is what are we supposed to do if we're playing in a heroic tier campaign? When the paladin is actually 9th level and can't take the daily power-switch feat because it requires the character be 10th level. Kinda screws any...

I don't know whether melee is king or not, but archer rangers attract a fair amount of enemy attention even if they're trying to avoid melee. Artillery, Controllers, and other enemies that hang back will often find it reasonable to try and take out characters like Archers because the Archer is...

I try and include various features, tables that can be utilized in various ways, lots of pillars, sinkholes, small pits, swathes of ablaze terrain, etc, but my players just seem to make it a rule to stay as far as possible from any square that isn't completely featureless. The only time I've...

One point of average damage and, often, a point or two of AC and maybe Reflex, for not having a shield.

Is it just me, or are small characters, no matter what their stat modifiers, sub-optimal for almost all weapon-using builds? With the rogue as the obvious exception. Is there any non-rogue build where a Small race doesn't have noticeably lower damage, particularly in the heroic tier, before...

The party also has, in my observation, a greater general ability to apply conditions which are going to hinder pursuit, at least in the short term, than the monsters have. And in most situtions, I expect DMs aren't going to try and maintain a pursuit after the party has managed a disengagement...

I'm sorry, my use of the word "abuse" apparently misled you. My usage there was just another way of saying "you are still hitting the proverbial bag of rats". If you don't have a problem with a ranger shooting at a leaf on the wind, a bag of rats, the ground, etc, whatever narrative mechanism...

For all effective purposes empty air, the ground, and a bag of rats are all identical as far as attacking a square goes, right? A main reason we still have the bag o' rats rule in 4E is because you can always come up with something to Hit in an "empty square" if you try hard enough. And it's...

Empty air, ground, empty square, all same thing in this gamist system. So fine, I'll play with your empty semantics. You hit the bag o' rats/ground/empty square with your cleave to get the beneficial effect. And that is exactly what is being done here.

So go ahead and have your fighter use cleave on the bags of rats or empty air in 4E. That's not overpowered anymore either, the damage on the adjacent target isn't all that high. If an option being massively overpowered is your only concern then ignore whether someone is using a bag of rats...