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Just wondering if anybody (who has the Playtest) has noticed this: the Cleric's spellcasting seems to work similar to the Shaman from 3rd edition. That is, they prepare a short list of spells, but then get a set of spell slots they can use to cast those spells, more akin to a Sorcerer. So...

If I know my D&D fans, they'll be getting (loud, angry) feedback loooong after the game is printed.

Yes. However, it's more commonly referred to as "Weeding out the idiots."

But people already do that. This isn't to prevent people from wanting to power-game, it's to limit their ability to effectively do so. Besides "Option Bloat", the only real problem with small bonus abilities is that too many of them together becomes too powerful. Removing this problem by capping...

I might suggest a bonus cap. Your total bonus on a given check cannot exceed 5 plus half your level, or something like that. Then, you can still have things that provide extra bonuses, but people who like to stack them all up won't actually get any extra benefit.

Even in 4th edition, the theme of the Fighter as a defender wasn't "I stand in the way of all the attacks!" Instead, it was "If you ignore me, I'll kick your ass!" That's what the Fighter should be. 4th edition accomplished that theme by giving them marking and bonus attacks, which does...

It's an interesting idea, but I think you're going through a lot of hoops just to appease a few people who can't understand the subjective nature of Hit Points. There's nothing wrong with nonmagical healing if you can simply grasp the fact that Hit Points do not represent physical wounds until...

I like the "fixed amount of healing" bit, but I'd prefer to see things changed up in how it's implemented. For example, I'm a fan of the concept of just saying that you have to wait at least one hour in between each short rest, and you heal 1/4 your HP during a short rest. So you have to be...

Using maneuvers wasn't a problem, it was the investment required to do so that became an issue. Requiring a good 2-3 feats just to make one single combat maneuver into a viable action is just horrible design. If they allow the fighter to just use maneuvers from the outset, with no penalties or...

That's... they are doing that. The idea has been mentioned in several of the preview articles. Fighters well get to do more stuff with their normal attacks than other people, and combat maneuvers were mentioned as one of the things they'd be able to add.

Well, the "early days" part should be a clue... though I do agree that WotC did put out a lot of half-baked stuff. That said, are you sure the Perception check wasn't to locate the specific triggers? There's a big difference between seeing the big swinging blades as opposed to seeing the tiny...

Why do so few people seem to realize that 4e did not have "flat odds"? The tables for difficulty by level weren't meant to show that the same door would be harder to break at level 20 than it was at level 10. It was meant to show that a door meant to stop 20th level characters was harder to...

This has been countered and explained dozens of times. It is not a grievous wound until it reduces you to 0 HP or less. Anything else is bruises, scratches and fatigue. And for the record, while people can't heal wounds by being inspired, people have been known to ignore some serious injuries...

There's a big difference between "Abstract game mechanics." and "Wuxia-inspired abilities and powers." Abstraction isn't about high-fantasy or low-fantasy, it's about making a system that is simple and easy-to-use, so you can get on with actually playing the game. Also, D&D is failing because...

Then I hate to say it, but D&D is probably not the game for you. D&D has never been about accurately representing the real world, but about adventuring and killing things and having fun. It has never been a realistic combat simulator, nor was it ever meant to be.

This is exactly why moving toward simplification and abstraction are important these days. You simply cannot realistically represent combat without making a rules bog so deep as to be utterly worthless. Trying to be realistic or historically accurate makes a game that is simple not fun for the...

When a person is in armor, yes, they are easier to hit. The only problem is that you're not hitting the person, you're hitting the person's armor. If you're in full plate, then it's easier for a trained warrior to hit you, yes... but he won't do much when he does. When your attack roll beats a...

I was much more amused by the first panel: Haley standing on an island in the puddle of acid, completely dry. I'll admit, though, it would have been much better if Belkar hadn't called it out in a later panel. Subtle humor is best, I think.

Honestly, I'd prefer to see a small set of spell slots, and an even closer connection between prepared dailies and at-will spells. Remove 0-level spells, and simply give mages class features that allow them to detect magic, and use minor magic effects (similar to prestidigitation) at-will. For...

I said my HP works against energy damage, not my DR. As in, having 181 HP at level 11 is just as good as having 100 HP and heavy armor. Since armor doesn't block most energy attacks, which tend to go against touch AC, while a high HP total is good against anything that deals damage. Although...