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I totally disagree. Yes, you could use a modular game to go nuts and have a different play style in every adventure. But that's not its primary purpose. The primary purpose is to allow each group to fit the game to their play style -- not to play 14 different play styles in 12 sessions. An...

Ok, we're just disagreeing on the meaning of "combat shtick." I think the Healer theme is an example of a combat shtick. Healing (even between combats) is primarily about combat effectiveness, and a massive benefit of the theme (arguably, the primary benefit) is the superior in-combat healing...

I think you're reading Mike's comment more broadly than it intends. He's not saying that a 20th level psion must use strength to get through a door (as opposed to phasing to the other side). He's just saying that a 20th-level psion with a strength of 7 can't kick through an iron-bound door...

As several folks have mentioned, DR has transformed into Resistance. IMO, its a much better mechanic. As for spell resistance is concerned, monsters don't need a generalized mechanic to make all magic less effective at high levels. That said, there is a place in the world for certain...

Themes provide a character's combat schtick. Off the top of my head, it's not clear to me why a ranger needs to fight with two weapons in addition to a full combat schtick. Maybe thats the kind of thing where you can create a custom theme (i.e. just pick feats) if you want two-weapon fighting...

I don't think I'd have a problem with this class. If you have a wizard class and a mage class with the same spell list, access to the same special feats and magic items and different spell casting mechanics, that would be fine. That would also be effectively the same thing as having a single...

I think there are three differences. First, the News forum (at least how it shows up for me) is ordered according to when the threads were created, while the discussion forum is ordered in according to the thread received its last post. That ordering means that, in the discussion forum...

In this week's Rule of Three, Rodney Thompson said that major structural changes like how a class casts spells would likely require a different character class. He lists some good reasons: (1) that a new spell casting mechanic is a big enough "hook" for a class's mechanical identity and (2)...

But Spiritual Hammer doesn't work like a minor action. There is no limit on how many Spiritual Hammers that a cleric has up at a time. Nor is there any limit on other actions that you can or can't take because you have an active Spiritual Hammer. The problem with minor actions aren't that you...

I had a great time playing in a "Mythic Rome"-style campaign run by my close friend (and classics professor) Orichalcum. There's an extensive story hour for Alea Iacta and the successor game, Alea Iacta: Parthia. One note about the story hour is that it is narrated by one of the party...

I think it's a good idea to get rid of minor actions, but it's not because minor actions are useless. They aren't. Anyone (with a good memory) who has spent a substantial amount of time playing tactical 4e can find times when the minor action rules produced interesting decisions. At a...

I don't know if it's possible, but it seems like it would be ideal if the same conversation could appear in both the news page and the appropriate forum. -KS

That would be awesome. Seriously, a 3.5 reprint is a good idea, but it's just not as compelling as reprints of the earlier books. I still have all my 3.5 material and wouldn't buy more. I'd much rather fill in the parts of my collection I'm missing like a Rules Cyclopedia and some Planescape...

I disagree. First, WotC has included a number of good things that 4e brought into the game: encounter building, fast monster design, tactical options for martial characters, at-will attacks for spell casters. Those are all in D&DN. I just don't include minor actions in that list. If the...

I'm not sure whether moving these discussions to the news forum is a good idea in the abstract, but there has definitely been less discussion of those articles since the move. It may be worth a longer experiment, but it doesn't look successful right now. -KS

Rules for gauging monster power is a lot like rules for morale. It's an important part of many games, but many DMs are able to effectively handle that aspect on an ad hoc basis. I know it's popular to say "module" for practically anything, but this is a good candidate. All this rule needs is...

I too liked how 4e standardized the minor/swift action and brought it into the core of the game. I thought it was great to provide a mechanism for the "little things" that mattered enough to be worth tracking. Since then, I have come to dislike minor actions. In theory, they are great. In...

I liked a lot of things about Essentials (low complexity class options, magic item rarity, better monster designs), but the unnecessarily verbose level-by-level advancement description was not one of them. Maybe WotC had some research that showed this method was easier for new players? If...

This is a great idea. Essentially, this becomes the ranger's answer to rogue schemes. This favored enemy idea is -- appropriatelly -- more combat oriented (whereas the rogue's schemes are well anchored in the exploration / interaction pilars), but it's a collection of abilities that are pulled...

I agree that this is a cool idea. I think the major point is that a hit point threshold is good in the sense that it allows powerful opponents to be finished off with low-level spells. That's fun, plus it helps the PCs avoid the mindset of wondering if they are targeting a 3+3 HD creature or...