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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4785625" data-attributes="member: 710">I disagree here. Sure, there is often (not even always) a "constant" - deal damage to the powers. But the Effects can just not be treated as if they are all the same, and in fact they are exactly the choice "damage, buff, scry or heal" you are talking about. The only choice "taken away" from characters is the choice between a Scry and Fireball or the choice between Bull's Strength and Purge Invisibility. (Of course, whether that was actually a choice or just a reminder: "Put it on a scroll" depends on edition.)Your most basic choices are often: - Deal more damage- Debuff an enemy (put a condition on him)- Buff an ally (give a bonus to attack, damage, save, defense for certain circumstances)- Heal- Defend (move to protect an ally and make you a better target then him.)- Change the Battlefield (move around foes or allies, create area effects)- Wait for a better situation. (Do nothing fancy but a basic or at-will attack.)Many of these option also allow you keep dealing damage, but you still have to go through the same decision process you went through earlier.A more specific example: The 3E Wizard had a limited amount of spells. He wanted to use them when it counted and be conservative otherwise (often leading to the "alibi crossbow shooting".). So there were rounds where he didn't do anything, until there arised a situation where he had a good opening - maybe they identified an enemy spellcaster that needed a Dispel Magic, or a Hobgoblin Formation that warranted a Fireball, or allow the Fighter to Fly so he can get to a flying enemy, or cast Sleep on a group of Kobolds in front of him.The 4E Wizards major difference is that he uses one of his at-will powers when he doesn't see a need for one of his encounter or daily powers. In either case, the Wizard used up only one resource he won't get back: His actions per round. But the 4E Wizard still gets a chance to inflict damage. The 3E Cleric and 4E Cleric don't really change at all in that regard - if there wasn't a need to cast a spell in 3E, the Cleric could make a melee (rarely: ranged) attack. There is still one significant difference - besides the fact that you always get a chance to deal damage: Even your "non-special" action fits to your character archetype. Wizards don't shoot crossbows, they shoot magic missiles (that's only a thematic, not a tactical difference), or they shoot small fireballs or freezing rays or confusing illusions at their enemies (which is a thematic and a tactical difference - fitting both their thematic archetype and their mechanical role.) Clerics don't just attack with their Mace, they grant their allies a bonus granted by their divin powers (a thematic and tactical difference against, according to archetype and mechanical role.)Of course there is nothing per se wrong with "non-actions" for certain character types (if you are the kind of player that likes to delay his actions and don't get to roll dice <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ), but there is also nothing wrong with taking actions every round and some of them having more potential impact since you're using your class abilities. The tactical considerations are still the same.</blockquote>

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