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DR on armor isn't a hard thing to manage at the table. Creating a HP pool for armor is a problem, especially with all the details or repairing, damaged states, etc. That's the kind of mindless book-keeping best suited for a computer game. Field Plate and Full Plate in UA are definitely...

That's simply untrue. There are plenty of times where a pitcher deliberately throws at a batter in major leagues. Sometimes you get fined. Sometimes you provoke a brawl. On rare occasion you send a guy to the hospital. Depending on the amount of aggression or malice involved in the act the...

They get full credit just for using "cross the streams" to illustrate just how much they think that would be a bad idea. - Marty Lund

The real problem with getting down the granular combat like that is the appeal of such a combat system is niche, and that niche is already filled with games with hit-location tables and wounds rules and all manner of other nitty-gritty that's always been at the periphery of D&D at best. Slap it...

If it was really "whatever" you wouldn't have bothered to gripe. I decided to address your post point-by-point because you explicitly numbered and labeled things as "Premise 1," and "Premise 2" and then constructed your arguments around those premises being sound. When they were not sound, I...

Incorrect. Everyone is assumed to at least -attempt- to get out of the way. Whether they react fast enough or not is a moot point, really. See above. If they don't react it is because they don't realize they are going to get hit until it is too late. Most feints and luring maneuvers normally...

Actually, I seriously doubt that. The Paladin's powers don't come from specialty martial techniques and training, they are of divine magical origin. The Paladin doesn't have to develop extreme martial expertise. All he needs is a stout heart, his vows, and maybe a table leg and someone's going...

I have to agree. It's a little over-complicated. One die to increase AC through deflection. On a successful deflection you can blow unused dice to throw the weapon at a fixed range increment for Expertise Dice in damage - basically a Riposte mechanic, but at range. (That reminds me, give the...

While the Wizard doesn't actively seek to enter melee, ranged and melee attackers still actively seek to kill the Wizard. He happens to be made out of cheese and dressed in paper, BTW. Constitution is ridiculously important for him, especially in an edition without proper Defenders. I don't...

Another freaky feature of D&D is that "mindless" combatants still make choices, even without minds or will. I guess they function as pre-programmed automatons and killing machines without a sense of self. While you can't threaten a creature without a sense of self-preservation, baiting a...

You're confused. You obviously didn't grow up watching Sox-Yankees and Sox-Rays baseball. I'm not talking about a buzzing a batter. I'm talking about deliberately beaning him. Yes, there's a choice between getting hit and getting out of the way. Some people don't realize the angle and react in...

Basically take anything you could choose to do and attach "or die where you stand," onto it. For all intents and purposes of D&D that's no longer a choice, ontology be damned. Even taking damage in combat is typically a "forced choice" between taking damage and eating a coup de grace. Maybe we...

Actually, about half the time the pitcher will simply attempt to put the ball in a place where the batter simply can not cleanly hit the ball - to essentially force the outcome to be either a ground-out, a pop-out, a miss, or a called strike. The pitcher can also put a ball in the batter's ear...

The thing is, the fluff Sacred Cows cost basically nothing to include. You're trying to get the best juice for the squeeze. If that means adding in some stupid things players and DMs can freely ignore without impacting game pacing or balance then so be it. Something has to give if you want to...

Traditionally, the Monk has been a crappy 5th wheel that flailed around aimlessly and specialized in nothing but avoiding getting himself killed. There's something to be said for breaking from tradition. :) We shouldn't marry Sacred Cows, but rather build a better hamburger. I'm going to go...

You're totally correct on that count. That's because "Monk" is a background - someone who lives in a monastery. "Martial Artist" is an awesome character that beats down bad-guys with martial arts and possibly supernatural abilities. Sometimes there's overlap like Kwai Chang Caine or Wong Fei...

Some people seem concerned that if something isn't the default option then playing with that feature is "up to the DM," - more so than things the DM would explicitly have to redact from the rules set. Frankly, the CORE defaults should be the simplest configuration for each of the Core 4 class...

It would be an interesting solution to see limited-expression and continuous effects "consume" or "occupy" expertise dice. "This die is not regained until X," is a nice effect template. It could be used for auras "until you end this effect." It could be used for Limited Expression effects...

You could get as much or as little warlord as you want out of a fighter just by having 5 maneuvers for the fighter that let you spend your expertise dice on others instead of yourself. Let various ones add your Int, Wis, or Cha to their total. Instead of healing damage after the fact, he warns...

Actually, the awesome thing was that Patton was an Olympic pentathalon competitor - 5th place in the world in the first modern pentathlon - probably a medalist if he'd been using a .22 sport pistol instead of his .38. He was an accomplished equestrian and fencer. But that's not really the...