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It could be. The challenge might also have nothing to do with healing surges. An in-game example? Skill Challenges. Done right (and, I must admit, "not using the DMG system, errata or not"), a skill challenge leads to different outcomes depending on PC choices and their rolls. Most of the...

As would most players. :) Most of the time, the "else" is significant enough that the choice is really no choice at all. Exactly: this is no choice at all. It's just Plot, and "the Power of the Plot compells you!" It seems you and I agree on this. But further, if the DM lays out the choice...

We're talking past each other, I think. "Go forward without rest or _____" might be a real choice. 4e does a pretty good job supporting that choice. ...But I'm seeing more of the "go forward or else" suggestions here. Plot device masquerading as a PC choice. Put another way: There are...

Mmmmm. A choice of "go forward or else" isn't a choice. It's a plot device. There is no "tradeoff". Either you make it to goal "X", or you don't. <shrug>

(I, too, wouldn't worry about class templates too much.) In one of the groups I play in, we also had 8 players ....although one has now dropped and one often skips. The thing that all of us noticed is: Combats take Forever! Work on ways to speed up combat. Seriously. For example, have a...

As an aside: It's true that "rushing the party" can be cool. I get it. But if you (the DM) do this, don't delude youself into thinking you are giving the players "a choice". You aren't. This is the choice of no choice. :)

You (and your palyers) might be stuck in a "3e-ism". "How Healthy You Are" is not determined by current hp totals. It's determined by current Healing Surge totals. From the DM's perspective, that means "challenging the party" doesn't mean running them down to 0 hps, it means running them down...

Has the conditions of Combat Superiority been satisfied? If the fighter hits with the OA, what does he get to do? ;) Doesn't push require the monster to be moved away from the fighter? That might be difficult. :p

That settles it: I'm emailing our swordmage this thread location. My BRV hammer-n-shield fighter is reasonably good at being a "frontline meatshield", protecting our squishy wizard and ranger. ...But he sucks against ranged attacks form the Bad Guy controller. Putting our swordmage back there...

Agreed.... ...although why some are obsessed with discovering "how the fighter knows the monster has attacked/moved" is beyond me. It's simply unnecessary for the fighter to know these things. If the creature shifts or attacks (not including the fighter), the fighter gets to attack. How you...

Right. I see a pattern here: swordmages are good if there's another defender in the party! :D Thanks! It's very cool of you to type that up. It's clear our swordmage needs to be pointed at these posts! So far the swordmage has been up against brutes, skirmishers, and soldiers...and all of...

The defender doesn't need to "know the monster is making an attack", or see who the monster is attacking. Comabt Challenge: "...whenever a marked enemy that is adjacent to you shifts or makes an attack that does not include you, you can make a melee basic attack against that enemy as an...

...to be able to change rules I don't like. There. Fixed that for you. :) Getting swallowed sucks. Apparently, getting swallowed also allows the DM to remove class features that might hurt the monster? I think it's better to go with what's written, and make up "fluff" and "narrative" to...

Seems to me the rules are being changed here for no real benefit. The defender marks the swallower. If the swallower attacks anyone else and does not include the defender in the attack, the defender's powers that key on the mark go off. Plain and simple: Swallow a defender and pay the price.

...that's cool. I'm good with that, FWIW.

...what about the boring feats that give you +1 damage? Is there a cut-off between +1 damage and +2 damage? Really? :lol: :D

Agreed! (...said as a player in that game) It's my inspiration for my stand on this issue now. :p

FWIW, "more challenging" does not have to be "harder to hit". One of the problems I see (as a player) is that monsters that are above our level are hard to hit...and that's frustrating. IMO, it's far better to let the players hit ~50% of the time, and make the monster tougher with higher hp...

<laughs> Mengu, that's not how I read Danceofmasks' statement at all. :D

That's a pretty strong statement! ...and it's predicated on having a wide diversity of classes, feats, items, and players in each of your three games. Is that true?