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I was always an improv heavy DM, but 3e changed a lot of that, by building monsters on the PC frame, every skill point, feat, prereq, etc., needed to be accounted for. I wasn't nearly as comfortable improvising situations in 3e as I was in earlier editions. 4e has brought back the improv in...

I'll sign up, sounds like just the thing to keep the fantasy juices flowing while I'm GMing a scifi game.

I don't think you need a whole mechanical system with points to spend and upgrades to pull off something like that. Just keep it simple, like once per adventure, a player can make up a contact that would be helpful for an immediate situation (the PCs lost in the Gorge of Confusion, happen to be...

Fighter and wizard remain my favorite classes (or more correctly, the fighter is again a favorite class after emerging from the Dark Ages for the fighter). But I really want to give the Warden a whirl. It seems quite different and I love the flavor. Lowest on the list is the cleric and...

One of my favorite campaigns had a lot of family involvement, and I think I only killed one of them throughout. They got good use for plot hooks and providing problems, but they were also a resource, a connection to an area and a history. The bard in the group was taught the business by his...

That encounter is an excellent example of why I think "grind" is not the problem it is made out to be. Seems to me the key is just to keep encounters active and lively. Plenty of terrain, monsters that move around and fight, unique obstacles and challenges... Sounds like the session was a lot...

Well, one would think so. But then this one was not the one complaining that DDI offers value only to the people who choose to pay for it. I'd have to say its an objectively indefensible position that DDI is a poor product with little value for the few dollars it costs. Sure, you can lament...

Have to agree with GM. When you choose not to buy something, by nature, you will lose out on the benefits it offers. That said, why not subscribe? It's cheap and has a great return on a few dollars.

It's not. But I think the central point of relaxedarmageddon's post is this - "Reading comments from people who regularly play 4E, there doesn't seem to be the same line between the first three books and supplemental material." Which I think is true. DDI is a big part of why. Everything...

Use Buffy the Vampire Slayer and kill everyone of those freak, romantic comedy, emo tween, glittering douchebag "vampires". Admin here. Humor is one thing; being actively hostile, rude and offensive is another. Don't do this, folks. As much as it is to take shots at Twilight, isn't it much...

Agreed. I like unified mechanics. Much less book consulting, much less player confusion, much more gameplay. I agree completely. I always found 3e very limiting from a character creation standpoint. You had to put on tights and kneepads and wrestle the hell out of the system to wrangle a...

Funny, I was just reading a thread where people were mocking the Appeal to Authority. Something you should know about me: claiming your opinion is special because you have a degree means nothing to me. Facts are facts, knowledge is knowledge, opinions are opinions.

Nope. I like the broad strokes and don't see what you see, at all.

Where a lot of criticism of the marketing arose was really surprising to me. The designers did something pretty unprecedented in game design in blogging about, discussing, previewing, and explaining the changes and development of the edition in the months leading up to release. And this is...

I really don't get how people feel that 4e characters all play the same. My gaming experience has not even come close to that. The characters play very distinctive and have room to be distinctive among members of the same class. I love creating characters. I strongly disliked building...

You know, I've forgotten that the NWP had a skill check mechanic, based on ability score. I was thinking it was more just a codified system of notation so player's would be able to say to the DM "see, i planned on being good at armorsmithing all along, not just now when it became important."...

I feel the same way. Even though old school players scoff at 4e players who feel the game encapsulates some of the best philosophy of the early editions. I can understand their position, some of our game assumptions are entirely different (resolution through player skill vs. character skill...

I agree with Umbran. A 4e 1st level character is not more powerful because he has higher hit points, those numbers are relative to the 4e system and not actually "higher". PCs are quite vulnerable in 4e and that never really changes through the level progression, although they have more ways...

Both points true. My group hit the accidental problem in a high level game we played in 3e. Player decided since we were starting high level a necromancer focused cleric of Nerull would be fun. He had a spell that raised the dead as shadows and kept 4 shadows around him at all times which he...

I like how Nifft expresses the point of half my post in a single line while owning me with his sig. That was worth some xp. And I agree entirely. This is why a lot of older 4e players describe the game as having a healthy dose of old school in it. Now, someone may well come back and...