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I highly expect that it is this.

I suppose the question is *how* did earlier versions cater to those styles of play, mechanically? Sure, you could traipse through fairy rings and deal with the little people, but you still can. What's actually been lost here, aside from statblocks telling you how good said fairies are in a...

Yes, it certainly was and was a result of extensive use of Sundering Cleave, Trip and Disarm on multiple targets during an ambush so only a portion of the usual buffs (and hence the pre-calculated buffed character sheet) applied. The bad guys had just been dispelled too as I recall, so the DM...

Is it really though? How much 3rd party support do companies like White Wolf, SJG and so on have?

Thing is though, its partly those iterative attacks that make the whole thing take longer. I've had single turns as a high level 3.5 fighter using variable Power Attack, changing cascading buffs and trip/disarm chains that have taken the better part of 45 minutes to resolve.

No, I think the chart is pretty accurate in my experience. Low level 3.5 is faster because its all over in a hit or two, but it gets a lot slower as hitpoints inflate. I have found that combats do take around an hour or so, but theres generally a good number of rounds going on there.

Oh, probably. M&M or True20 show us what can be done on this basis. Can you imagine the howling of "Its not D&D!" if they had done that though?

Its also why some people (me included) don't really think that the MMO comparison has any weight in this case. I've been seeing this kind of behaviour in D&D players for about 15 years and theres advice in the 1e books that you should have 2 15s at least (quote is somewhere upthread, I think)...

People like to argue about things on the internet. Film, as they say, at 11 :)

Because the difference between an optimal character and a non-optimal one is relatively low. A 20 is probably too expensive to be worth it, a 16 is perfectly reasonable, a 14 certainly can work but an 18 is often best. The difference between the 20 and the 14 though is only 3 points of hit and...

It certainly is workable concept, and indeed does work fine. The question is more whether or not the player *had* that concept, or was building their character at random. If they were building to concept, then fine, no problems. If they had no idea what they were doing, then offering help is...

Well, theres a variety of reasons why a group of PCs are not capable of beating an encounter and not all of them are their own fault. Its entirely possible that the DM is not very good at estimating encounter difficulty and has presented the players with a selection of options which are all...

Righto, sounds like you've got a good handle on how to deal with it, good luck!

Also this. I've seen this kind of thing for about as long as I've been online. Even then, the character isn't (or shouldn't be) that ineffective. We're not talking a Bard1/Monk1/Rogue1/Hexblade1/Soulknife1/Truenamer1 in a party of proto-CoDzillas here.

Yeah, while it is kind of corner-casey its a valid concern - I don't really see it as a rule 0 issue as mechanically its working fine (if a little ugly, and IIRC this was brought in late in development as a response to players building all-defender parties), it just requires a little more in...

Well, I'll agree that 14 is a little low, but its hardly game breaking. Given that they seem to have a respectable melee basic attack and the swordmage mark isn't dependant on a hit to apply, they will be perfectly capable of performing the job of a defender. Now, clearly they could probably...

Well, because if they don't, the fighter hits them - making them as much of a menace as the striker if they are ignored. The calculus seems clear - ignore the fighter and take two striker-level damage sources or ignore the striker and take only one. Personally, I don't see it so much as...

Why make dungeons central to the game in a game called Dungeons and Dragons?

Probably meant in jest, but sure, I think we can. If I turn up to a game of Vampire, say, where we've got beer, pretzels and Wotsits I'll probably play differently than if the host had laid on red wine and rare steak.

Generally, yes, with a few exceptions. If the acceptable limits of the campaign have been clearly explained, and a player deliberately creates an unsuitable character, then yes, they are at fault. If the limits are not clearly explained or the effectiveness/spotlight demand of the character...