Search results

I'll echo those who have noted the smoother flow of the game. I've run six sessions of 4E so far, and I've never had to open any of the core books at the table.

I also find myself improvising the complexity level of my skill challenges. I try to describe how each skill check affects the current situation, and sometimes the evolution of the encounter simply brings it to an end, depending on the last action taken. It's worked well enough for me just to...

Strictly from a theoretical standpoint, a standard encounter for the default party of five level 1 PCs (500 XP) is about as tough as a standard encounter for three level 3 PCs (450 XP). It might therefore be reasonable to run three level 3 PCs through a standard level 1 adventure. They should...

Forgotten Heroes druid preview

I'm not sure what the producer-consumer terminology buys you, but the metaphor of preparing a meal seems apt. More precisely, running a session of D&D maps rather well onto hosting a dinner party. Some hosts will obsess over crafting the perfect menu and will delight over their guests...

It's true that kobolds don't last too long as respectable enemies, but I will point out that a level 3 solo (750 XP) is worth more XP than a level 20 minion (700 XP). So if the DM is willing to restat monsters, the same legion devil legionnaire that almost took out your entire party on their...

This approach seems to be one adopted by the adventure that inspired this thread, Sea Reavers of the Shrouded Crags. The guards and soldiers of PC races are level 13-15 minions (200-300 XP). All the enemies of PC races who are not minions are assassins, enemy agents, or even higher in rank...

My guess: the designers intend the stat requirements to counterbalance the fact that wizards' attacks often apply their damage to more than one target, while warlocks (the Cha-based caster) can usually only apply the bonus damage to one target at a time.

Clearly different DMs have different experiences with the utility of published adventures. So what predicts whether or not using one will save you time as a DM? I can think of two possibilities. First, if a DM tends to do very little prep work, than even reading through a published adventure...

Combat is easier to formalize in a balanced, fun, and believable way than social interaction. I don't know that we can usefully characterize social interaction as "more complicated" or "less complicated" than combat, not without some precise definition of complexity, which is likely to...

So how does your example of movie trailers inform the present discussion about false advertising and corporate "promises?" As has been pointed out, trailers routinely contain scenes not present in the final movie, but I have never heard of a movie studio being punished for false advertising due...

You make a very interesting point. Given the newly balanced math, a PC rolling a 20 against a level-appropriate enemy should hit even without the natural-20-is-a-hit rule. So removing the rule would have little effect in practice but would indeed make it impossible for a level 1 farmer to hit...

Legion Devil Legionnaire == Level 3 Solo IMC, the term "minion" does not define a creature's characteristics in absolute terms. Instead, the minion rules are a way mechanically to express a creature's fighting ability relative to a particular level of PC. In short, a Young White Dragon (Level...

I just started a new Eberron campaign, and I have two tieflings, a dragonborn, and two eladrin. The players seem content with knowing only that these races are all very rare in this setting, where some of the cities are quite cosmopolitan. In the smaller towns, I've tried to get across the...

I believe we do have a failure to communicate, yes. My understanding of the other camp's position is that the DM's discretion is all that matters for the final decision, but I don't think anyone has intentionally advocated completely ignoring the players' input. I think Ari said it best back...

I don't understand, the portion of RC's post that you quoted nowhere mentions threats or ultimatums. It acknowledges that players have the option not to play, and so does the DM. Yes, in a perfect world, every collection of gamers would find some compromise that would make everybody happy...

Most of the time, you should be able to get away with spending only one minor action on the critter each turn, since you can have it charge as a single (standard) action. The enemy could move exactly one square away to prevent a charge (by RAW, at least), but typically there should be another...

The bag of tricks seems to me to require one minor action for each of the creature's actions. The Adventurer's Vault except uses the same language. Note that both suggest that you might spend minor actions (plural) on your turn to command the creature.

FWIW, as someone who has (painfully) lurked through this entire thread, your position has been clear and consistent, at least to me. I agree that as soon as we use quantities such as "heart" and "soul" to differentiate games or any other entertainments, the comparison immediately becomes a...

Trying to define the proper relationship between DMs and players is as doomed to failure as trying to define the "one true way" for any relationship to work. What works for one group may not work for another. At this point, I am only willing to commit to the observation that good communication...