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Yes, they give you a flavour text, it is a step in the right direction. This is a feature I point people to when they say that D&D4 is a "rules only" system. Unfortunately, the designers did not emphazise that heartening and guiding is related with other mechanism (hp, bonus to hit, etc.)...

Once again, I am not impressed by Monte Cook's column. As someone else said, he seemed to have missed years of game development thinking. I think that D&D4 is not less pausible/realistc whatever than any other versions. In fact, I firmly believe this is the first edition where one could play...

I don't think your Dungeon Master has to double the number of experience points allowed for combat encounters... All your Dungeon Master has to do is to create OTHER kinds of encounters, and reward them with experience points, as per the rules! Any kind of encounter can receive a fair amount of...

Here's what I do in my present campaign. There ARE religions, and there ARE believers... Anyone can see that. And SOME people claim that there are gods or other kinds of supernatural agents. Religions come in two breeds : natural forces that can be called to act for the faithful, and...

I think you did not understand the intent of this system. I have to admit though that the authors did nothing to make this clear... If a Dungeon Master wants a task to have a certain DC, not depending on the level of the PC, it is entirely possible. The task will get easier when the PC's level...

That proves my point! Rulebooks don't tell the whole story. Rules implement in published adventures are as important as rules in rulebooks. So rules are not that important, neither for the system reception by players, nor for the actual gameplay. Therefore, there is no real reason to fill the...

I do agree with Mr. Cook on one, and only one, statement : "the content of the official books have an impact on the game." Though, I think that what in the published adventures have a lot more impact than what is written in the rulebooks. For example, hazards, traps, quests and skill challenges...

My advices : 1. Have your PCs meet recurring friendly NPCs (plenty), neutral NPCs (many), and hostile/cheating NPCs (a few). This way, the players will have reliable sources of informations, that you can use to tell them what you want them to know. Paranoid players are, after all, only all too...

There is something wrong, in my humble opinion, with this vision of roleplay. I really like the way D&D4 makes it such that any kind PC can play on every kind of scene. I really disliked the fact that some character classes made it difficult for the player to participate in some scenes in older...

Magnetism was already mentionned... But what about rust ? There could be rust golems. Rust could eat up the stairs. The PCs could, unwillingly or not, unleash rust on the tower while they are still on the top floor and have to survive the copllapse of the tower. Rust powder could blind, daze...

Planned? What do you mean by planned? The PCs decided on what information? I found that when PC get the wrong impresion aout a scene it's because I, as a DM, did not feed them with enough information. If I want to impress my PC toward a certain way, I prepare visuals, give information after a...

I do agree with you. This is the reason why I resent so much the poor quality of the scenario inside the Dungeon Masters Guide (five combat encounters in a row, with Kobolds a plenty... Who allowed such a stupid scnario to be the introduction to D&D4?), and the terrible adventure called the Keep...

What do you mean by he flavour? For me, flavour seems to be given by scenario and Gamemaster styles. If there is something missing in the aspect of the game, then all you have to do is design adventures suitable to your favourite flavour and Gamemaster them in a tasteful way. There is no need...

It seems that they are moving backwards... They seem afraid to displease the grognards. With Essentials, WotC seemed to search for new players. I don't know if it worked. In this column, I have the feeling the author plays on nostalgia, a general trend these days. When one withdraws towards...

For me there are only a few problems with D&D4, and they all revolve around duration of a player's turn. There are not that many rounds in a fight, but each player's turn is way too long. So players get bored because they have to wait too long for their turn to play. In my humble opinion, the...

I'll search for it. I begun playing D&D4 one year ago, so all that was already known. Still the combats may still last very long... Anyway, there are not that many rounds in a fight. But each player's turn is quit longuish (first assess ongoing effects, three actions along with interruptions...

I have been disappointed by this column. The skills are not a big problem in D&D4.0. Other aspects of the edition need, in my humble opinion, fixing or ironing. Mr. Mearls and Mr. Cook both avoid the biggest problems and toy with aspects of the game that already work and need no modification. I...

Thanks for all the advices so far... Here is what I now have in mind (shamelesly plundering on what was offered). A leader undead will send waves of minions against the PCs. Each minion killed will give the leader a new little surge of hp. The PCs will have to understand that they need to...

Hi, I plan to build an encounter where my PCs will meet monsters in waves. What advices and hints would you offer to me ? This will be a 6th level party of 5 players and the monsters will be undead.

Then how do you narrate hit points variations and healing surges use ? Skills are easy to narrate... They beg for narration in fact. Therefore, I did not ask for advices on this topic. Nor do I see that advices are required. Now, hit points, healing surges and most other aspects of combat...