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What gets me about the new DCs is the taking 10 rule. An untrained person with a 10 in the proper attribute and no bonuses can make "moderate" rolls automatically when not under stress. That seems (yes, opinion here) too low, given that there is a still easier category and we're talking about...

I agree. It's even worse when the rules lawyering misses that (1) minimum damage is 0 instead of 1 now, and (2) there are no housecat stats in the 4e core books. But I guess this is like how the DMG contains comprehensive guidelines for building encounters which don't include facing a single...

I don't see anything explicitly stating when not to roll for NPCs, although there are a couple sections (pp 116-117, 187) which make it very clear that you only bother with stats which you expect will get used in the advanture (or even just the encounter). I can see at least two reasonable...

...a fictional character not well represented by the D&D rules. I agree with you about that. I was just using him as an example of how powerful high level D&D characters could get, and didn't intend to come across as saying that the D&D wizard and Gandalf were one in the same. And wow...

Not Harry Potter? Then why does D&D have wands? Huh? (I kid, I kid...)

It's not inconceivable for an epic tier wizard to be adding a bigger number to strength checks than heroic or even paragon tier fighters, just because of the 1/2 level bonus. And remember, at epic tier we're talking about people that are on their way to becomming demigods (or already are...

It's a strange idea that an attack with a lethal weapon (by an epic wizard, no less) might be deadly, although perhaps not as deadly as an attack by an even more lethal weapon wielded by an even stronger and even better skilled epic fighter? Does it help to imagine minions as those extras in...

If we're talking melee only, I'm pretty sure the fighter will kill more minions in a twenty round period, and take less damage in the process.

I doubt hiring a pack of first level wizards to follow you around is "as it is intended to be used." Especially with the DMG indicating that people with PC classes are rare and special and definately not the norm. Besides, they would just get eaten by the first non-minions to cross your path...

Minions certainly do die easy. But they also travel in packs and so the danger isn't from the 1 that the wizard killed, but the other 3. Let's say a first level wizard goes first and kills one level appropriate minion per turn. The minions will attack three times on their first round, twice...

Ah, I see what you're getting at now. And you're right. This is one of the areas that abstract damage falls apart. See, on a living creature, a high damage attack (or at least high damage compared to hit points) isn't necessarily "bigger" or more "forceful". It might just be a perfectly...

Ultimately, minions are just a tool the DM has that can help represent a certain type of fight scene. If that kind of scene (the one where a bunch of faceless mooks with no plot protection go down in one hit) isn't what you're into, minions aren't going to be a particularly useful part of the...

The damage numbers are lower, but that doesn't mean the result has to be. If I attack a 25 hitpoint creature for 30 damage, it falls down and is dead or dying, felled by one mighty blow. If I attack a 50 hitpoint creature with the same attack, it is bloodied and looking worried. If I attack a...

This is entirely true, although keep in mind that you normally have around a 50% chance of hitting, so +5% would make it 55%, a 10% increase. That said, I recommend checking out page 42 of the DMG. And I second the notion to switch that to a damage bonus, since chance to hit is so tightly...

Good point. Although, lets say someone with no experience with Star Wars saw a picture of Darth Vader, a stormtrooper, Boba Fett, and one of those red imperial guard troopers. The four characters were just standing around, maybe posing a little. They all have weird, alien power armor, and all...

To be fair, it was clever. The first time. When Lore wrote it. Anyway, why do orcs have intimidate? Same reason some 3e monsters have diplomacy. I actually wrote up a pretty big (although rambling) paragraph talking about this and ended up deleting it because I thought it was off topic...

Sure, and the best part is that the DC is "the target's Will defense or a DC set my the DM." Even monsters that don't have the intimidate skill can do okay, just by taking advantage of that last part. This also works with diplomacy, and is infringing on infinite-oregano airspace.

This discussion reminds me of the saving throw table in 1e D&D, which was in the DMG and not the PHB.

I'd believe that about the magic user, but not so much about the wizard. That's a class that could create magic items at 1st level in 3e, and doesn't wait much longer in 4e. Sure, scrolls aren't the most mysterious of magic items and there is a whole world of other stuff out there, but...

Interesting take on it. The way I see it, making the wizard a PC class basically killed that idea. There are still mysterious magical things in the world, but some magic is perfectly well known. Both low level magic items and PC powers fall into that second category. There is plenty of room...