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<blockquote data-quote="jeffh" data-source="post: 2896553" data-attributes="member: 2642">You yourself brought up the likely effect of high AC (combined with other monk defenses) as being to shunt attacks off onto other party members. Assuming that's even true, that's not &quot;cruchy numbers&quot; and cannot, as far as I can see, be captured using math alone.As your own response at that point indicates, numbers have their limitations in any situation that gives people as many different options as even a moderately complicated D&amp;D combat. In the D&amp;D case, they are at their most useful in analyzing one-on-one situations and tell less and less of the story the more combatants you add on either side. But one on one situations are atypical - as someone pointed out, splitting up the group to take on enemies one on one is frequently a poor idea in D&amp;D. Characters are useful or not according to their contributions to success at the group's shared goals, which may or may not have anything to do with their performance in one-on-one battles.Your estimation of combat lengths suggests to me that your group plays very differently from any that I've been a part of in recent memory, and (combined with the one-on-one orientation, your dismissal of sound tactical advice as &quot;opinion&quot;, and your apparent indifference to the effects of shunting off attacks on other party members) possibly suggests a group that doesn't work together very well combined with a GM who pulls most of his punches. If that (particularly the latter) is the case then first of all, it doesn't matter much what tactical approach you use, as long as you don't end up feeling completely overshadowed, because there's little likelihood that the group's success or failure a) depends on your choices, b) is in any doubt in the first place, and c) matters very much to you.I can tell you that a lot of fights in my current games last just one or two rounds, and one that hits double digits is a rare and memorable event.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jeffh, post: 2896553, member: 2642"] You yourself brought up the likely effect of high AC (combined with other monk defenses) as being to shunt attacks off onto other party members. Assuming that's even true, that's not "cruchy numbers" and cannot, as far as I can see, be captured using math alone. As your own response at that point indicates, numbers have their limitations in any situation that gives people as many different options as even a moderately complicated D&D combat. In the D&D case, they are at their most useful in analyzing one-on-one situations and tell less and less of the story the more combatants you add on either side. But one on one situations are atypical - as someone pointed out, splitting up the group to take on enemies one on one is frequently a poor idea in D&D. Characters are useful or not according to their contributions to success at the group's shared goals, which may or may not have anything to do with their performance in one-on-one battles. Your estimation of combat lengths suggests to me that your group plays very differently from any that I've been a part of in recent memory, and (combined with the one-on-one orientation, your dismissal of sound tactical advice as "opinion", and your apparent indifference to the effects of shunting off attacks on other party members) [I]possibly [/I]suggests a group that doesn't work together very well combined with a GM who pulls most of his punches. If that (particularly the latter) is the case then first of all, it doesn't matter much [I]what[/I] tactical approach you use, as long as you don't end up feeling completely overshadowed, because there's little likelihood that the group's success or failure a) depends on your choices, b) is in any doubt in the first place, and c) matters very much to you. I can tell you that a [I]lot [/I]of fights in my current games last just one or two rounds, and one that hits double digits is a rare and memorable event. [/QUOTE]

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