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1. The threat is dire. You can't send off a bunch of guards to take care of the problem, or even a division of the army. For the big threats you'll probably want to bring the whole army along. 2. Make it a tradition. It's simply what's done in the world, rulers leave their lands in the...

I want to run the game, my players want to make the game. So there's not a whole lot of issue with absences. Sure they happen, tests, work, relatives, sickness and such pop up plenty, but hey, we all want to be there, so we all handle it. We also simply have someone else play their...

Pfft, like the tall dwarf race has a chance.

It has to be an immediate interrupt, if it was an immediate reaction it would mean you were supposed to attack after you had already fallen unconscious. Given how it could trigger off damage totally unrelated to the attack, I'd rule that the minotaur still falls unconscious.

Let's keep the abstract nature of HP in mind as well. You might be kicking out and hitting a knee joint, when you finish him off it's because he left an opening when his leg faltered on him. Also, I don't allow characters to benefit from flanking while prone. Standing characters still get the...

Bluff: "I dunno, I think it must be you." (Hard; Mitigates one failure) Diplomacy: "Look, we'll try it once and if you don't like it we can stop" (Medium; Opens up other skills for use) Dungeoneering: "Is the rope tight enough?" (Medium; One success in setup) Endurance: *stoic silence*...

Don't think of powers as sets of moves that the character pulls off, think of them as narrative devices, especially with martial powers. Creatures that don't have traditional ambulation (oozes, ghosts, etc.) aren't immune to being knocked prone, prone just doesn't represent sitting on the...

So, I ran my game today and spurred by this thread I decided to see exactly what was holding up combat. I have the advantage of running a campaign online so I grabbed a stopwatch and took not without their knowledge. This combat was a six man party at level 7, typical gear Shielding Swordmage...

Hmm, I can think of some bits of advice to throw in. 4e is very much based on a disconnect between flavor and rules. It's what lets you knock oozes prone because prone as a game state is most easily described as knocking someone down, it could also mean disrupting the ooze in such a way that...

Races - FR has genasi, Eberron has warforged, possibly changelings Classes - FR has the swordmage, Eberron has the artificer Spells - Wrong edition. DDI (Dungeons and Dragons Insider) - has everything For fluff go ahead and get the setting book, for crunch grab one month of DDI

I don't find rounds spent moving to increase combat time because generally it's a clear decision. You double move, end your turn, things go quickly.

In an amusing coincidence, I happen to be reading an article on pacing in adventures in Dragon #301, and it's good advice so I'm going to summarize it. 1. Pacing means having high points (tension wise) and low points as you steadily build towards the climax. It does not mean continually...

What's wrong with this interview exactly?

To use wargaming terminology, a dragon costs a lot of points, even if it takes out a bunch of archers, if the ballista takes it down, the castle has come out ahead. The general issue with the D&D universe is that the countermeasure aren't created. There aren't exactly a bunch os magical...

With three players killing one player treads perilously close to a TPK. But it is entirely possible to kill your players. They're literally asking for it. Alpha strike a character down to zero and coup de grace him. Kick an unconscious PC into a river. Knock a PC down to zero with ongoing...

So here's what I do when entirely winging it in fourth edition (as in off the map entirely) which happens with alarming frequency in my game. First I try to avoid combat, it's the hardest thing to wing. Desriptions of empty rooms, traps, NPC interaction and skill checks I can all handle...

1. There's too much combat. Now that's not really your fault, it's based on the assumptions of the system. 4e combat just isn't fast for our group, a decent sized encounter takes time, having the full 13 combat encounters to level up would slow leveling down to an unacceptable pace. Well...

I fudge on rare occasion and I do so without the players having any inkling. How you ask? We play online over maptools and with macros. If I need a certain outcome, I just modify the macro to have the range or result I want. Now fortunately I haven't had to do this very often at all, I...

If they don't have a short rest it's not a different encounter.

Also, you might allow PCs additional power options without additional uses. So they could have two level seven encounter powers but only be able to use one of them in a fight.