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"Always fighting orcs" as I believe it's called.

It does if you want to simulate a world that exists on its own, rather than as a backdrop for the PCs. Minions fall somewhere between 'scenery' and 'monster', but closer to the 'scenery' side. When the PCs are looking, they are dispatched with a successful hit. When the PCs aren't looking...

I think it is important to remember, before the comparison to earlier versions' monsters with 1hp gets out of hand: Minions don't have 1hp. Their hit points are undefined. Any successful attack dispatches them, but an unsuccessful attack - especially a 'miss' effect - does not. If the miss...

What you are saying is that a normal monster has three dimensions: Defences (AC, Dex, what have you), Damage, and Hit Points. Minions don't have that last dimension. Their hit points are essentially undefined. If you hit, they are dispatched, if you miss, they aren't. Powers with a miss...

If you decouple the three fundamnetal defining characteristics of a 'monster', you are effectively removing it as a 'monster' and putting a skill challenge in its place. In previous editions, this class of opponent didn't exist. If a creature could hurt a mid-to-high level party, then it could...

The inaugural issue of Citadel Monthly has arrived! The staff of the Citadel of Chaos is proud to present the inaugural issue of Citadel Monthly, an online journal dedicated to exploring the possibilities of vintage role-playing games. Offering coverage of the full gamut of RPGs from the...

Great thread, Delver! He's got some great forums going on over at his place, so check those out. Drop by the Citadel, too, we have discussion on other vintage games from the 80s you may have thought were forgotten!

Why, Swords & Wizardry, of course. :)

According to the article by James Wyatt, the DCs don't represent anything physical. What they represent is a narrative challenge. So, the players are carousing about town, and the DM wants to slip them a rumour to get the adventure going. Well, just handing them the rumour seems like...

That is why you drop that and give them a bonus to Diplomacy.

Wow. Tinker Gnomes or Garden Gnomes? That's it? Here's a campaign concept: Trader Gnomes. They always seem to show up where the players need them with just what the players need. For a price. A steep price. Reviled by other merchants, despised by common folk, they nonetheless are nearly...

I would rule that the only thing keeping it at that larger size is the magic, and if you throw it in the smelter, you will suddenly find yourself with the original, unsized amount of metal, and will be out one suit of magic armour.

That isn't a problem with re-sizing, that is a general problem with open ended rolls. While it usually evens out over the long run, you are still better off getting a smaller die if at all possible.

And yet, that still describes the original post. #1 & #2 - Milestone #2 & #3 - Milestone #3 & #4 - Milestone It is only 'crystal clear' to you, because you are using an a priori answer. You already know the answer you want, so the rules describe that perfectly. But they also describe the...

Wow. That is some really bad DMing right there. Sorry, it's not the fault of the treasure tables. Lemme throw an anecdotal at ya: Bunch of years ago, when I was in the AF, pay was always short. Some bills just didn't get paid on time, if at all. Rough time for an Airman First Class, but...

No, it hasn't always been that way. That statement is pure urban legend. It was only vaguely applicable to PCs or other more or less humanoid races to begin with, and the greater level of abstraction is certainly new to 4e. Unless you are claiming that an ancient gold dragon has roughly the...

You are the wind beneath my wings.

Because it only rains two or three times a year in the desert, claiming a drizzle is a 'hurricane' is reasonable? Come on, new players are going to read 'Rain of Blows' and see their fighter landing hits all over the place like Luke Skywalker right before he cut Darth Vader's hand off. When...

What is the highest amount of temp hit points one could gain?

Uhhh... Rain of Blows allows three attacks, at most? Shouldn't that be Drizzle of Blows? Light Shower of Blows? Possibly Sprinkle of Blows? Talk about overblown naming conventions. I thought console games were bad in describing three points over your basic attack as 'devastating' (Batman...