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Well Rob Schwalb, one of the designers, specifically mentioned that Skill Challenges should die a horrible death by fire, IIRC. This was during the designers Q&A at DDXP before it (DDXP) reverted back to Winter Fantasy. It was also the first public showing of D&D Next.

I've used Master plan mostly for campaign organization, not for combat tracking. You might want to look at a dedicated combat manager for this. I usually prefer to track simple initiative where all the players can see it, and don't use any electronic tracker for that. I've heard good...

If 90% of everything is crap it also means that it has the highest number of crap adventures - simply by volume. I still think that 3e's perceived advantage lies squarely on Paizo's corner. They ran Dungeon magazine very effectively, and provided at least one "good" adventure a month, every month.

These are all very valid concerns, and I agree with all of them. The amount of work required to make it interesting is a lot. If you are not totally winging it, it will require work. I'm simply winging it with some framed things planned. For example I know that next week we'll be doing a...

Thanks for the salute, but I don't find it a big deal as I'm used to it. My regular group is 7-9 players when they all show up. In season 1 of Encounters I had a table of 12 at one time, that was fun but exhausting. What I like least about MiBG is that the adventure itself is uninteresting...

I am. I'm like you in that I can free-wheel the adventures pretty much at-will. Based on the MiBG format. I can see how a DM that has gotten used to the D&D Encounters format would find the adventure "frustrating" to run. It provides no maps at all except for the map of BG. The encounters...

Over the years I've slowly stopped going to the WotC community for many varied reasons. This "transition" simply solidifies my decision. I do feel sorry for Trevor. He's a really good guy and doesn't deserve this.

Isn't that exactly what I just said? D&D needs to make a profit, not just recoup it's operational and capital expenses. Whether 4e did so, or not, is neither here nor there. It had nothing to do with what I was discussing. But thanks for your "insight".

Actually it needs to make a profit. No business ever produces a long-term product only to recoup the cost of making the product.

These "tips" are spot on. To get the old-school paranoia going you need to tweak the pressure in different places. HP attrition in a combat is not really what does that. Losing Healing Surges, getting diseases that impair capabilities, traps that do a lot of damage and are difficult to...

You have the right idea, get people used to the system and their abilities. Let them get comfortable with their characters, then take them for the best ride ever. I think you have the hang of it. An Elite Soldier of the same level is most probably fine, and if it's just one it will probably...

Unfortunately, I don't have my books in front of me or ready access to that adventure. If you have the adventure in front of you take a look at the stats for a Troll as an example, then compare it to the math fix in MM3. That would probably be your easiest way. If you have access to the...

My "fears" have been assuaged. Give my complements to her. Those maps look awesome.

You might want to look at the math fixes from MM3. The MM1 monsters were very poorly "balanced/designed" so that they were ineffective, attrition slogs, or simply boring. The math fixes in MM3 corrected a lot of that. Solos were redesigned to take into account the action economy, damage was...

One more thing that popped into mind as I was creating some encounters for my group. Soldiers - Avoid using them as much as possible unless they are the same level as the party. Don't use them in great numbers. Solo Soldiers are even worse - avoid these at all costs, or seriously tweak them...

Okay, so if the adventure writers were "pressured" to do simple, combat-heavy adventures then it should follow that it is not the system that forces that inflexibility, but editorial/publisher mandates. Then how come the game system is being blamed for inflexibility? It is clear to me that...

I just noticed something "horrible". It looks like these are being done on a wet-erase mat. Which means they are used for the game and then erased so the mat can be used again. That seems like such a waste of awesome talent. I can easily see some of these maps being used and reused. Have...

These are really impressive. I like all the details that went into making them feel 3d. Like the one with the giant bugs saying "Hello". Very well done. My complements to the mapper.

What reality? All the reality is made up, by either the DM/players or the game designers. Bull. I have to improvise once the campaign begins - all the time. My players don't stand in place waiting for me to have everything that will ever happen in the campaign made up. That way lies lunacy...

Master / Blaster!