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There is absolutely no basis for this statement. The simulationist in me says if that is true, then everyone in the world is nearsighted, the most powerful ranged weapon would be a hand crossbow, warfare would rely heavily on fast acting paralytic poisons, and defensive structures would be...

True, but in 4E everyone gets just 1 attack. So in that respect, they are even. Splitting the tree (or whatever that ranger power is called that allows two shots), will be difficult to envision with a crossbow, but no more difficult than it is to envision a successful stunt like that using a...

jaer, robertliguori: brilliant, brilliant posts.

While its obvious that the types of resources a character can leverage in an encounter has changed, it's still business as usual for DMs. Let's hope the DMG lives up to its name and is a Dungeon Master's Guide.

When I first read the subject of this thread, I giggled. When does a DM not attempt to plan PC reactions? But to contribute to the thread, as it is a decent question for several reasons, I believe PCs will be more durable in the face of DM blunders, and DM's will be more capable of dealing with...

Honestly, unless the OP is primarily concerned with sanctioned RPGA or Living Campaigns (don't really know if they are the same thing) there is no reason this discussion has to boil down to perfectly replicating movie/book/video game characters in D&D. In fact, I don't think D&D has ever been...

This could be a screenshot from Rogue. :D You just need an @ to represent the PC to be pummeled.

The environment could be completely mundane, but the potential of all this movement suggests that neither PCs or monsters are allowed to act like a perfect phalanx. It also makes for better scenes, as everyone shifts, pulls, or pushes in response to the reactions of their opponents. Characters...

I would agree with that assumption. Maybe their will be 'levels' of licensing. A license to produce adventures or supplements for the default D&D world, a license to create campaign sourcebooks, and another license to riff on the core books.

I haven't voted, but I do care about some level of licensing. Specifically, I would like 3rd party support for world design, adventures, and add-on products, and possibly different genres [sci-fi, horror, western, space opera, steam punk] I've never been so keen of riff's of the player's...

And Van Helsing is definitely a ranger. [I wonder if ranger abilities are specifically tied to the bow, if so, I'd likely allow players to swap bow for crossbow to support character concepts for the same reasons I stated above]

I assume you were a playtester. These two points are very good information for creating exciting encounters. Thanks for posting.

When I suggested the idea, I was specifically thinking of un-named foes. The guard in the tower (even the elite one), the thug in the warehouse, these characters would be viable for this kind of ruling. Farax the bodyguard, who has defended his liege against countless assassination attempts...

Considering the vista like settings implied in combats (obstacles, terrain, and especially movement), 6 - 8 might be a good equivalent to a moderately sized dungeon level. That sounds like an interesting change of pace.

You'd think that, but then there's the odds that you're wrong. By how quick what can happen, I refer to a DM becoming annoyed in response to a player's annoyance over a triviality in the rules. If a player at my table said, I can't make this character concept because all the thief rules apply...

Funny how quick that can happen when dealing with annoyed (read: whiny) players.

And if it really is that annoying (eg. world shattering), then their is always Rule 0. Because of little things like this, I've often used class & sized based weapon damage. Oh, you're a fighter, and you want to swing a big mangly club but hate that it doesn't do as much damage as a sword? No...

Garrett only shot minions with his bow. All the tough encounters had to be taken out with a sap or a sword. [or a holy water arrow] EDIT: This brings up an interesting encounter design idea. In Thief, Garrett could drop guards with his bow pretty often. If the became alerted to his presence...

Maybe the numbers are skewed because of accessibility to online vendors, but I know a respected FLGS owner who has been in business for decades who would tell you AD&D 1e blew the pants off 3e sales. His ledger says that The Unearthed Arcana outsold any 3e book he had in his shop. (his 3e...

I make decent bucks, but I just can't justify paying a monthly subscription for a game I might only play a couple times a month. I paid $60+ for a preorder boxed set of the rules, tack on $10 a month, with an average of 24 games a year, that comes out to $7.50 a game. That's half a cheese pizza...