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Or, to put it another way: 4e is centered around the assumption that the PCs will form a functional "party". That party is going to need to be able to handle various challenges in and out of combat. They will need to be able to work together, and not have too much duplication of roles, while...

I don't think your role in combat has anything to do with your character's internal motivations unless you want it to. The fighter doesn't fill the Defender role because he's a masochist, he does it because if *someone* has to go toe-to-toe with the monsters, he's better equipped and trained to...

Players who really dig playing nuanced, interesting characters will do their damndest to do so regardless of the system. Players who just want to move their dude around aren't going to change their reasons for wanting to play if there's an XP carrot for roleplaying; if they're just not into it...

Well, the character's don't do anything: they only exist as fictional constructs, so that makes it pretty hard to take independent action. :) The players make the tactical decisions; these are represented as tactical decisions the characters make on the battlefield. It's not a one to one...

Why? Serious question, why is that a recipe for failure? If you mean you don't like that approach, that's cool. But I've heard this argument before and I've never heard anyone say why they think so. Clearly they don't care whether or not people who want to run fantasy RPGs in a way...

I believe it's worded that (kind awkward) way because you are regaining the HP from the effect of Lay on Hands, not from the cost of casting it. For example, the way it's worded, if you use Lay on Hands on yourself, you could still use Second Wind the next round. I absolutely agree it could...

I'm gonna skip the math stuff and talk to some of the comments that hit me, like "how many ways can you say 'I roll Diplomacy'" and "If I hold my breath maybe he'll be convinced." For me personally, the example in the DMG was pretty clear, and it matched the give-and-take of a lot of games I've...

Referring to the big page-filling chart on p.29 of the PHB will help a ton. I had missed that on the first readthrough. That chart shows you the number of at-will, encounter, utility, and daily powers your character has available at any level. It's the same for all classes. The Spellbook class...

Thanks for the link to the "economy of actions" article. I think they should have made that explicit in the rules themselves; it really helps clarify a lot of different decisions they made. This is either a failure of my imagination or me having already internalized 4e more than I thought, but...

TonyLB's account of playing 4e with his seven-year old (link ) may be worth looking over. :)

I think it's plenty enough foreshadowing to just have the "theme" of the eventual Big Bad in the challenges you face at low level. Think Buffy -- the big bads evolved naturally out of what was going on in the series. Your "big bad" for a lvl 1-3 adventure, heck it could be a crazed madman using...

For folks who really get bent out of shape about letting the party regain full HP and resources after an extended rest, you could just require that your party include a cleric. You could then make something up about how you only get your healing surges and HP back if the cleric is there and...

That's a good point. I typically let players describe the results of their actions (I trust 'em to stick to things that "fit" the rule results); that would take some of the heavy lifting off your hands. I always felt having to describe the whole imagined world *and* the results of every action...

I was kinda unclear a few pages back so I figure I'd take another crack at it. (I was responding to some of the "rules must have a sense of wonder" comments, which were sort of more about 4e in general and not about not using a DM screen when you're teaching the game.) This is all just my...

That's a pretty good rant and I give you props for it... but I have no idea what this actually means. I know it's hip to pick on the Forge, but they closed their theory forum like three years ago (seriously) so unless they've spent that time building Orbital Mind Control Lasers I think you might...

I think the combat rules work at least as well as 3.x's with abstracted rather than miniature&map combat, and people made that work fine, so it shouldn't be a problem. My gut tells me that the amount of interesting tactical options the players have "open things up" enough that even just running...

That's an interesting opinion and you're welcome to it, but I don't think you'll find it very helpful if you want to run or play 4e. Hey, you might, but it goes against the design of the game. As I've said in probably too many places, one of the key things about 4e is that it is a game, and it...

Pretty much every complaint about 4e boils down to "These rules don't model a world I personally find plausible." Okay, point taken, but they don't try to. If you work from the mechanics that describe how things happen, and come up with interpretations and explanations that make you and your...

I think that regardless of whether or not you like the intent of the design team on 4e, it's really helpful to know those intentions. If nothing else, it lets you know what you'd want to change if you want to play the game with different priorities than the designers intended. It's a game...

Given Wizards' background with Magic: the Gathering, it wouldn't surprise me that most of these confusions go away if you apply the exact wording in the book. I imagine they went over it all with a fine-tooth comb to minimize the "creative interpretations" one can actually pull off with the...