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I think I could bring a small group of people playing several different games into this. We have the final part of a high-level 4e campaign, a 13th Age campaign, and a Fate campaign, all with the same group of people, for the most part. Further, they are the kinds of people that will pay money...

I just noticed that there while there are about 260 rituals, recipes and practices of Heroic tier, there are only about 100 of combined paragon or epic, so, if I separate anything, I might put together one survey for heroic, and another for both paragon and epic.

This is a part of 4e D&D that sees less use than I'd like it to, at least at the tables I sit at. There are almost certainly many reasons for this, but a big one is the amount of work it takes for players or DMs alike to review the options and make selections with their limited resources. To...

This is a great thread, and I wish I could do more than just spread xp around. Some things have already been repeated for emphasis, so I didn't feel the need to echo them again. Until now... Absolutely agree. Soldiers have high defenses and just soak attacks, doing little else. There is little...

I don't understand how (or why) this matter is being characterized as fair or unfair. I can understand it being described as unconstructive or irritating or mistaken (or the opposite of those adjectives). But asking whether it's fair is like asking whether it's just or evenhanded. Justice seems...

Is there a way to get the riders that go along with the expertise feats?

This would all be welcome.

You're correct, my mistake. I hate it. :D Optimized groups can overcome just about anything, particularly if they're optimizing for that very thing. But the perspective that I try to work under is for the non-optimized players. I don't want them forced to take math-fixers just to maintain the...

Odd, only because my experience is the opposite. Monsters' initiative is a composite of their level and their Dex bonus, both of which increase linearly with level (as you said, this increases initiative by +3/4 per level). Unless characters have a Dex primary (or init-contributing primary) or...

I don't know if this is suggestion is more or less work (I guess it depends on the scale you're waiting with), but I like using Hexographer. The large scale maps allow me to define minute details later. Also, you can superimpose any image you want as a transparency while you make the map, which...

This is correct. Unless you have a primary that contributes to initiative, it will steadily lose ground to monsters of appropriate level. Same goes with defenses that aren't pumped. By the time you get to high-epic, it's easy for one defense to lose 4 points relative to an appropriate-level...

Your reading is correct. If the attack were made whenever a creature enters the zone, it would say that. The attack is made on the standard action in which you activate the power and on each minor action in which you sustain the power. The only passive impact of the power is the resistance and...

What if, at every level in which by RAW you get a stat bump, all of your stats went up? This would also prevent one defense falling behind, as well as initiative, which otherwise falls behind, relative to monsters' initiative. EDIT: this isn't my idea, it's from C4, but I find it pretty ingenious.

Can I suggest using a carrot instead of a stick? I've had lots of luck having characters level up after 5-7 milestones, depending on the encounters and the plot, and giving out milestones for every encounter except for the first one after a long rest. Side benefits are that it does away with a...

I see nothing wrong with short rests only letting you recover a few encounter powers (maybe a third of them? Or one per tier?), and extended rests only recovering a similar number of daily powers and a third or half of your maximum surges. Personally, I wouldn't push it much farther than that...

I don't think 4e, or anything close to it, is even relatively simple. I would say that 4e is among the most complicated games out there. So I'm not sure anything really fits your (edited) request. That being said, HERO can be very tactical, and so is GURPS.

If movement is gonna play a big role, use terrain. Add a steep hillside (successful easy climb check & free hand to move through; wargs can jump up), and thorny bushes (choose to treat as difficult terrain or be target of an attack vs AC; again, wargs can jump over). Maybe players can get a hold...

Can't xp, but would if I could. Quoted for emphasis. Sadly, most of the suggestions are more work for DMs. Work that is great when done, but I rarely DM because it's too much work (for me). So it's nice to have a bit of help built into the mechanics. PS: My hat is off to all you regular DMs...

I do give out APs at every milestone, which is why I use that word. I actually play in many games where APs are just an encounter power like second wind. I've never seen it as a game-breaking change, and it does away with tracking AP. Under the houserule above, players have to just track if...

I'm not sure you read my post properly. I give out milestones at every encounter except the first one after an extended rest. So that's 8 encounters to level up. Also, I'm not firm on the number. I've had it as low as 5 and as high as 8. My impression is that saying "about 7" sets the right...