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Combat in a nut shell is a challenge that requires one party get X successes(hits) before the other party gets Y successes(hits). Damage and hitpoints are a way of granularly measuring those successes so that not all of them are equal. The tactical dept of combat is determined more by the wide...

But there needs to be at least some mechanical structure (or structures) in order to determine appropriate difficultly and rewards(such as xp or treasure) and also advice on how to use those structures. "X successes before Y failures" is a great structure for mechanically representing things...

Look up the PS2 game Unlimited Saga. While combat does take up time, exploring the maps, overcoming obstacles, avoiding/dodging traps, solving puzzles, opening treasures and making equipment tend to be where you spend more of your time. The game is often jokingly called a table-top game in...

I think one major factor that needs to be considered is that there is a difference between a "Skill-Based Challenge" and a "Skill-Based Encounter." To give you an idea of what the difference is think of it this way: a monster is a "Combat-Based Challenge" and a group of monsters (whether one or...

I believe that the Wizard should have enough combat spells to allow him to effectively contribute to combat for between 16 to 20 rounds.

You do realize that skills are no longer directly tied to certain stats. Climb checks can be done with Dexterity. Stats of 20 are rare (.5% chance of getting an 18 with 3d6 and 1.6% chance of an 18 with 4d6 drop lowest) or impossible (Array and Point buy current max at 18 or 19 if human at...

Thanks for the correction. Ray of Frost still requires a hit roll causing the average damage it causes to be closer to 3.25 for a total of 96.5 there. If you want a theoretic best division, it probably would be something like this: 5th, 2nd, 2nd, RoF 5th, 3rd, 1st, RoF 5th, 3rd, 1st, RoF...

You mean something like the Optional Rule in the grey box on page 1 of the Specialties and Feats pdf?

I meant "auto cleave" in that given a number of targets equal to 1+number of available expertise dice, Whirlwind attack can make the same amount of attacks as Cleave would without requiring that the preceding attack to have killed a target.

There were some complaints about Sneak Attack being the signature of the Rogue and it ability to make them appear to be far better damage dealers than other classes (Even when math showed this not being true) The current version is basically an auto cleave action. Were do you get that...

Uh, that's exactly what the Great Fortitude (Strength and Constitution), Iron Will (Wisdom and Charisma) and Lightning Reflexes (Dexterity) maneuvers do.

Check the Battle Magic traditions Spell Tactician ability. Battle Mages can choose to let up to Spell level +1 creatures ignore the initial damaging effects of their AoE spells.

Ray of Frost is a 0-level spell which the Academic gets as an at-will.

Cone of Cold - level 5 - AoE 1800 square ft (72 medium sized targets max) - 10.5 average damage per target - 756 average damage to max number of targets Fireball - level 3 - AoE 1256 square ft (50 medium sized targets max) - 13.125 average damage per target - 656.15 average damage to max...

A 10th level Fighter with a 16 or 17 Strength armed with a Greatsword deals 21.125 damage average per round using only Deadly Strike when attacking a Black Dragon. (232.375 total over 11 rounds) 0.3025*(13+6+15.5)+0.495*(6.5+3+15.5)= 21.125 A 10th level Academic Wizard preparing only Magic...

Which is one of the reasons I like to have an understanding of the relative value of wealth in game. 500 gp seems cheap compared to 3.X's 5000 gp until you connect what 500 gp is worth in 5e: It is the low end of prices for rare magic items.

And sacrificing a rare magic item wouldn't be? For some people I know they would say: "Sorry, we didn't get to you in less than a minute. I guess you are going to have to roll a new character. We are not sacrificing my new sword to bring you back to life." This is a good example of one of...

At that point your asking them to sacrifice the equivalent of a Frost Brand, Ring of Wizardry or stat boosting Ioun Stone.

Its pretty much the equivalent of a low end rare magic item.