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One of the tricky balancing acts that D&DN is trying to walk is to preserve the "system produces a predictable level of difficulty" aspect of 4e (and to a certain extent 3.5) while also giving the "feel free to run off the tracks" feeling of 1e/2e (and to a certain extent 3.0). In the...

I think the Belt of Storm Giant Strength is a great playtest item because I'd really like to see how it playtests against other other artifact level items. (And it would be better if there were other artifacts in the packet.) Has anyone played a game where a character with a Belt of Storm...

I think there is no doubt that a satisfying secondary effect makes a spell more fun. The question is really whether it's worth the complexity of adding secondary effects for a large number of spells. "Save for half damage" is well and good, but it's often less obvious how to create...

Personally, I like the idea that a low-level wizard can (occasionally) be super-effective against a group of weak opponents. It's a super-traditional part of D&D, and getting to make the big impact is the part of the fun of having a limited daily resource. That said, I don't see why Sleep...

I like wildshape as a class ability. It's iconic aspect of what makes a druid and the current rules do a good job at dividing druids into "druids who wild shape in combat" and "druids who wild shape just for utility." I think there is room for more druid variants than the two presented in...

I prefer level/HD threshold over max hp threshold because hp depends on creature type as well as creature power. Wizards, fae and other magic-focused creatures tend to have low hit points for their level/HD. That's a feature because getting up in their face and whacking them with a sword...

This version of the exploration rules are too complicated, but they are an excellent start. Giving different exploration "roles" (i.e. tasks) to different PCs and having individual players roll the dice for their aspect of exploration is an excellent idea. The tactical choices involved in...

I don't think it's proven either (see below). But I do think we see a systematic problems with that approach and I haven't seen a proposed solution to get around them. The 4e power structure is based on a shared language of keywords. Those keywords allows the designers to present very...

I don't disagree with any of the details of your statement, but I'm not sure I agree with the ultimate conclusion. Many of the 3e balance problems were, as you say, build deeply into the system, but many are fundamental design elements -- not just products of the multitude of options. To pick...

That's interesting because when I look at D&DN, I see character gen mechanics in the style of 3e with the design discipline of 4e. Right now, it looks like they are working on a single spell casting mechanic shared by the spell casting classes and a single fighting mechanic shared by the weapon...

That's almost right. The goal of the basic set is to capture the feel of BECMI while making the game as newbie-friendly and easy to adopt as possible. (So, for example, the d20 system with ascending AC is better than the BECMI rule because it's easier to understand.) BECMI is the aesthetic...

I think the new concept art is a step in the right direction. These proportions are closer to real-life little people, which gives the halflings more of a "Willow" look (for obvious reasons). I'm not sold on this approach, but it doesn't bother me in the same way that the previous concept art...

It's true that page count has to be considered with any given product. But this is about how the monster fits into the game, not necessarily how you choose to integrate it into any given product. To continue with the minotaur example, the entry in the monster manual need not include an...

I like James Wyatt's "Wandering Monsters" column. Or, to be more accurate, I think it's a good idea. I'm never blown away by any of the ideas (after all, the whole point is that they should be familiar), but I like the idea of running through the monsters one-by-one and checking to see what...

I was thinking that the humans in the basic set should have the bonuses as written, but the humans in the standard game should have the option of playing a "paragon" human or a get the advantages of a specific culture. The idea is that a "paragon" can arise from any group, or the DM can provide...

Multi-class dipping, as it was used in 3.x, got a bad name because the classes all gave an extra bump at 1st level to bring characters up to some level of minimum competence. This was balanced out by certain classes (i.e. spell casters) paying a heavy price if you didn't put all your levels...

I think this is a fair concern, but it's not what I got out of the answer to #3. I read the answer as saying "You only get your best abilities if you put several levels into a class", not "you will lose your best abilities if you put one or two levels into some other class." In other words, a...

I'm hardly stoked about the current implementation of humans, but I do like the simplicity of the rule. The game world implications are a little wonky if you think the +1 ability bonus is applied to all humans, but I don't find to objectionable with the assumption that the +1 ability bonus...

Agreed. I think it's useful to have an Intoxicated condition, but the DR is inane. I suppose it could have a role as an optional rule for "silly, over-the-top" styles of game, but it doesn't belong in the core rules. I'm not sure about your solution, but I agree that the math of contested...

Well, I think there was always an aspect of the complexity dial that is targeted at the group and an aspect that is targeted at the player. For ability checks, the group is either using basic "rulings, not rules" or standard "rules, not rulings." A DM can mix and match, but even that is a...