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Message: <blockquote data-quote="helium3" data-source="post: 4625742" data-attributes="member: 31301">Things I've noticed in the eight months I've been running a 4E game:(1) Below level encounters are very grindy unless the party's average d20 roll is above ten. At level encounters are very grindy if the party's average d20 roll is below ten. Below level encounters are rarely grindy.Because the "grindyness" of an encounter depends on the average d20 roll over the encounter, it makes design more difficult. I never know if an encounter is going to suck or not.The biggest problem with the grind is that it seriously cuts down on how many encounters you have in a game session, which cuts into both narrative development AND level progression. I've started giving MUCH more XP for skill challenges and quests to compensate.(2) I may not know how long an encounter is going to take to complete, but I usually have a good sense of how it's tactically going to play out. This allows me to safely manipulate the direction of the adventure if necessary without needing to break in and use DM fiat.(3) Skill challenges need a lot of work, but they're worth the time. The two biggest issues are figuring out how to do the math correctly and how to actually do the challenge at the table in a way that makes it clear it's a challenge without completely turning into some silly game-show within D&D thing.(4) Running the game is a BLAST. I never had this much fun in 3E.(5) Designing monsters is very easy and a lot of fun. That being said, I don't think the table of acceptable damage values in the DM's Toolkit chapter is right. When I create monsters with that table, they always end up doing far too much damage, even compared to similar monsters from the MM.(6) The game runs better if you don't plan too much before the game. I don't know if this is just a personal thing or the system, but games seem way more exciting for everyone involved.(7) I don't need to fudge dice rolls.(8) The lack of rules in the DMG for designing traps and rituals is seriously sucky. I hope they fix this in future DMG's.</blockquote>

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