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I would prefer they dropped alignment altogether. But at least it sounds like it will be easy to ignore, since no game mechanics or effects will be built around it. Maybe 5e will finally kill it off. Please, oh, please let alignment not be a description of morality or ethics, but a cosmic...

If it sounds like a good deal to you and money isn't too tight, I would go ahead and buy them. If nothing else, you'll have something to read, have a more informed opinion as you decide longer term on switching editions and you might be able to find inspiration from the 4e books to apply to...

I am hoping that emphasis on character's power mostly coming from their personal ability, rather than magical items, will help here. If more of a PCs ability to effect opponents comes from their own powers and maneuvers, than it seems like NPCs should be easier to explain. An NPC wouldn't need...

The level of complexity in the PC class-based bonuses doesn't worry me, as each PC will have a dedicated player devoted to tracking these numbers that should change only upon leveling. It should only impact those DMs who insist on generating their NPCs and monsters using the PC method of...

Sorry, it's pretty much the definition of silly, IMO. Every round it's in combat, there's a cumulative 1% chance it goes *permanently* and *irreversibly* berserk. That means that the average clay golem will only get through 10 rounds on combat *in its entire existence* before going berserk...

I don't think there's any need to totally abstract it. It's pretty straightforward: Ice Archons have an attack that commonly slows opponents. They are very good at exploiting the lowered defenses and reflexes of slowed foes. They've been given a special attack that takes advantage of this...

I like pretty much everything I've heard about the 4e design goals and execution. Most of the things I'm not enthused about are specific details that I think will be easily house-ruled. I'll be buying the books and I strongly suspect that I will prefer 4e overall to 3.5e. That said, I'm not...

Not very well at all. It would be pretty much a icebreaking party, I would think. All stats are across the board higher for the Pit Fiend, including movement and saving throws. Much better and more numerous special abilities, particularly including the power to summon monsters. Do we know...

Oh, I don't think it's that silly. The Ice Archon's primary attack has a freezing component that slows the opponent, presumably representing the impeding effects of ice and chill. Since this is the Archon's primary attack, it is specially aware of how to take advantage of opponents hindered by...

I'm completely with you that we cannot predict how living flames work, since they don't resemble real flames in so many ways. I'm not sure that you can conclude that in the D&D world, everything solid has to be composed of matter. It's just one of the those cases where we can't really make any...

Just curious: is the D&D Miniatures game doing *that* well? I don't pay much attention to the MMORPG or miniatures games markets, but I naively assumed that all on its lonesome WoW made orders of magnitude more money than all of the miniatures games in the world put together. Not to say that...

Flames aren't solid, nor are they cool enough to be touched without burning. They also have a very low density, which I also suspect is not consistent with the Flame Archon. In fact, the Fire Archon's "living flames" only resemble real fire in the most superficial of ways, if we're going to...

I've worked in a lot of labs with liquid nitrogen, so I have to admit that I have poured liquid nitrogen on water ice. I've seen a number of effects, including the water ice cracking and breaking up. It's not guaranteed that the stresses of the temperature changes will cause a break-up...

You know, lots of people do play chess without a board. In any case, since all editions of D&D have had tactical positioning and movement rules, I think that this means that maps and tokens are often very useful for playing D&D. They aren't necessary, though. The primary objection I have to...

Absolute zero is a state that has never been observed in matter. I do not believe it is physically possible for matter to truly be at absolute zero. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_zero Had to edit this, as I made a boo-boo. I wasn't sure about the temperature of a vacuum, so I checked...

I can certainly see why, for a specific encounter, bugbears capable of sneaking up, grabbing foes and using them as shields would be pretty fun. And from Mearls' playtest report, it probably was pretty fun. For many players and designers, that's pretty much all it requires to justify such an...

Yes, it does depend on what you're attempting to emulate with your design choices. The 4e design team has chosen to give Ice Archons and red dragons resistances instead of immunities. I think this is a very good design decision and approve of it. If you wish to have such creature have...

Well, back in the fire immunity for red dragons thread, I think we had a long discussion on this subject. I think there are many ways to easily justify a creature with an attack that is capable of harming it. After all, many fantasy stories involve opponents that can be harmed if their own...

Who says the Ice Archon is the "embodiment of cold". It could be *an* embodiment of cold, and nowhere near the top of the heap. It could also be a magical creature that happens to be made of magical ice and using magical cold effects. Couldn't the Spirit of Winter be the true embodiment of...

If we're taking the scientific approach, water ice forms at 273 Kelvin. This is a long, long way from absolute zero. There are many mechanical systems that work just fine at this temperature that would cease functioning at liquid nitrogen temperatures (77 Kelvin). If we're going to treat the...