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I largely agree with your conclusions, although I personally never liked the x1.5 Str mod damage bonus, since it makes Str scores of 14 and 18 more important to reach than 16. Maybe it's just me. Instead of boosting THF damage, what about removing the damage bonus entirely from TWF. In other...

I'm also looking forward to the D&D Next approach to mooks. I'm a big fan of 4E in general—it's the first edition I DMed regularly—but I never found minions entirely satisfying. (Don't tell me, I must have been using them wrong, right?) I think there's too much of a gap in staying power between...

For me, it helps that a creature can only benefit once from this feat before resting. I'm imagining something like a bandage soaked in a mundane but fantastical stimulant that can be quickly applied to a wound to reduce pain. In a more modern game, maybe it would just be a syringe filled with...

I fully expect to see the interaction rules, if you mean the mechanism for giving NPCs story-based triggers for improving or worsening their disposition, as well as mechanisms for awarding inspiration points for role-playing in line with a PC's stated goals and motivations. Since these...

You could always trade two languages for a field of lore.

You seem to be assuming that each play tester will play one build of one class over 20 levels, in the time remaining. I suspect that the "focused, directed play" that Mearls mentioned will be "fairly boring" in comparison. Something closer to each tester plays the same two levels of the same...

I suspect the core-rules support for the top five settings will be more along the lines of "here are some rules for magic being a commodity, in case you're running a magic-is-ubiquitous setting like Eberron" or "here are some rules for starvation and enduring the elements, in case you're running...

I don't find Mearls's five lessons learned to be vacuous at all. Is it just me? I'll attempt to illustrate the meaning I see in each lesson by giving an example of a similarly positive-sounding but contradictory lesson. "You like simplicity." The designers' emphasis will be on simple character...

I just rolled up a cleric of Vandria for D&D Encounters, and it would have felt weird not to choose my domain upfront. Why shouldn't my cleric of a war god not be able to use his great sword from day one? It remains to be seen whether domains at level 1 present a balance issue with...

To echo others: your players simply aren't as proactive about investigation as you are. I recommend identifying clues as clues (so your players don't assume these details are merely flavor text) and potentially calling out avenues of investigation. Where to go from here? Here are some ideas...

IMHO the 4e backgrounds weren't hefty enough. I think a better starting point is the 4e themes. Recall that themes were pitched as representing what the PC was doing just before they became an adventurer. Sure, some of the more specific ones can wait for later, such as "clone of Halaster" or...

I agree—with both others on this thread and with WotC—that the game doesn't feel finished yet. But it sounds like they were seeking our feedback on the direction they're going, not our stamp of approval on a finished product. Seems reasonable to me.

Sorry, I should have been more clear. My point is that WotC's strategy should be to unite the play styles of former editions, not necessarily to convince the existing players of former editions to switch. I run D&D Encounters, and a couple of players at my table last season are mostly active in...

I ran a 4E group through Search for the Diamond Staff, and I have to agree that it's a nice little adventure. It did a good job of mixing in some role-playing and exploration with the expected combat encounters.

This. WotC can talk all they want about uniting existing gamers (and with whom else would they have a dialogue anyway?), but if they're smart their real target will be new players and especially new DMs. For now D&D is still the primary entry point into the hobby, so the wider a net they cast...

I interpreted "utility spell" to include the likes of Expeditious Retreat, Invisibility, Haste, etc. All good spells even for high-level wizards. I would classify Hold Person as an "offensive" spell, even if it doesn't do damage. I suspect he intended "offensive" spells to include all spells...

This report more clearly indicates that they're talking about board games, like Castle Ravenloft: http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/22/4136846/wizards-of-the-coast-partnering-with-playdek-to-bring-d-d-board-games

Maybe it's just me, but I like what I'm seeing. I want to be able to distinguish among the core PC races at a glance. I never knew Lidda was a halfling until I began reading EN World. The proportions of the halfling heads might need adjustment, but I like the direction of the design. The elven...

I'm a 4e fan, but I won't miss static defenses. Collapsing floors shouldn't make attack rolls against a PC's Reflex defense; the PC should roll a saving throw to see if she leaps to safety. I could get behind Players Roll All the Dice. But when a player casts a spell on several monsters, I find...

This week's entire column is music to my ears. My favorite edition to play was 3e; my favorite edition to run was 4e. Targeting those levels of complexity for each side of the game seems just right to me. It's also good to hear that they see the core rules as having a third complexity dial: the...