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Just to be clear: do you object to the solo - elite - standard progression? Cause it's one thing to dislike minion mechanics, and another thing to dislike the progression. People _loved_ when I put out a couple dozen dragons in my Epic game, because they were so high level that those solos...

I wanted to do a true totally sandbox 4E, and I'd even started on it; essentially the PCs had several directions to go, and knew roughly that deeper was harder, higher was easier, with into the Feywild and Shadowfell sidebranches from there, but then I got roped into running Epic for 3 years. I...

Yeah, sorcerer is a great damage dealer. Being able to kill a standard monster the first round of every encounter is a game changer. The upper end of optimization for sorcerers is a bit silly. There's a degenerate dragon sorcerer build that can potentially end an encounter on its own on its...

Ah, my bad. Sorcerers do have some pretty vicious tricks of their own as well, but that's not quite the same.

Yep, I was at a table that wanted to see how tough Lolth was, at level 22 - autowon initiative, buffed ~+9 to hit, -10 to her defenses, autoknocked her unconscious, flurry of CdGs and she never got off a single attack. It's very possible to cope with the problem, though I don't consider the...

Errm, this is actually just as wrong. There is an actual mathematical problem in 4e, especially when you also factor in that higher level groups tend to face a higher range of opponents. Part of that problem is that PCs fall somewhat behind, at higher levels, without extensive effort.This is...

4E had the most consistent math of all the D&Ds. Whether that's damning with faint praise or not is probably in the eye of the beholder. It has its issues, alas, but its combat was the best D&D minigame yet. If only I could think of a way to double the rounds, take only 3/4 of the time even in...

So... 3/4 right (still no feats, no bonus to damage on the rod, but that bonus to hit is notable). Sorry, hadn't run into those at all yet, or even seen them mentioned. Eldritch blasting warlocks are certainly decently effective. As are fighters and barbarians and paladins. I'm a bit more...

Warlocks don't get enhancement bonuses to hit and damage and can't functionally increase their damage with feats. So if you allow any of magic bows, magic ammunition, or feats, they'll fall behind on that comparison. Things get really weird when you start factoring in bonus action and reaction...

I assume this advice only applies once you get the "take 10" ability? It may just be the way I roll, but scouting out stealthed was fairly hit or miss for my rogue. 20% chance of failure is no big deal on an attack roll, but when it's on a "potentially trigger another combat and get jumped when...

I appreciate the level of work you put into this and look forward to seeing the final result. I feel like it's fairly different from 4E, but considering I was precisely looking for a super fast simplified game with the feel of 4E, you may be exactly what I was looking for. So, we'll give it a...

I'd definitely suggest giving more time for the 5 1-hour adventures. You'd do yourself (mostly your RP) a disservice to do them in 1 hour, and they're one of the highlights of Expeditions so you may as well get the best of them that you can :)

I find it interesting that a sorcerer - this edition's version of the war mage - is the only one who can cast things subtly, because he's the only one who has any mechanics describing how to do so at all, rather than the arcane trickster, illusionist, or fey warlock. Back to the problem with...

You want to be careful about both. If HP inflate too high, it makes some damages feel fairly meaningless ("I've hit this guy with 5 cantrips already and it's not below half hp yet!"), and breaks some spells (ex: Sleep, Power Words). AC being too low also contributes to some of the the more...

For clarity, if you aren't making your own monsters, and are using the ones actually provided by the system... how's it doing then?

I've had a couple situations I've wanted to use a charm-ish type spell in a stealthy-ish manner or woven into the conversation I'm already having where my attempts to use it has prompted an immediate response something like "Okay, roll initiative, we'll see whether he swings at you before you...

Every edition has its "sweet spot", which varies from edition to edition and group to group but has a median value for most groups and most editions of something like 4th through 10th level. Get too high up in the gonzo factor and things start to break down, and at very low levels things tend...

I've found that 5E PCs feel more powerful than OD&D-2nd edition AD&D PCs at low levels, though I'm not convinced that will hold true at higher levels. High level spell slots in those games could be quite powerful and I haven't done enough high level 5E for comparison. 3E/PF PCs feel the...

I assume he'd be kicking down the rest of the classes to a similar extent, too. Mind you, I also assume it's largely theoretical. I'm not entirely sure where d4 hp bards come from; have they ever been d4? Outside of a librarian-based kit, anyhow.

Yeah, it takes one of your ~3 invocations, one of your ~2 spells, it's Concentration based, vulnerable to AE disruption, and not party friendly. Definitely not on my list of things to worry about.