DnD Warlord
Adventurer
If they kept the fluff write up but the 4e stream lined mechanic how would that work??the WORST thing in 4E was bland and boring spells.
no flavor in them
If they kept the fluff write up but the 4e stream lined mechanic how would that work??the WORST thing in 4E was bland and boring spells.
no flavor in them
Well, 4e does have a 'flavor text', it is just that, because it doesn't need to explain the mechanics, it is pretty brief. For a fireball it is just something like "a ball of fire shoots from your fingertips and explodes amidst your enemies!" or some such. Not really 'unflavorfull' in and of itself. Essentials also adds an ADDITIONAL flavor text block outside the actual 'stat block' of the power. This is usually more general and explains how or why the PC has this power, etc.If they kept the fluff write up but the 4e stream lined mechanic how would that work??
Oh you don’t have to tell me. I LOVE 4e, it is my fav version of the game to dateWell, 4e does have a 'flavor text', it is just that, because it doesn't need to explain the mechanics, it is pretty brief. For a fireball it is just something like "a ball of fire shoots from your fingertips and explodes amidst your enemies!" or some such. Not really 'unflavorfull' in and of itself. Essentials also adds an ADDITIONAL flavor text block outside the actual 'stat block' of the power. This is usually more general and explains how or why the PC has this power, etc.
Some powers are pretty broad in terms of interpretation of exactly what they're doing, but the power NAME usually says quite a lot by itself (IE 'Come and Get It', this is pretty descriptive).
Of course 4e could have had a paragraph or two on each power, but the way the game was organized that would have created a huge bloat! OTOH I have long argued 4e has way too many powers, so...
Yes Come and Get it is vivid - I love the more vivid power names sheesh its all the 5e throw backs that are boring .... completely missing any of the flavor. And some power names are positively subtle poetry. A Murder of One. Soul Break, Dawn's blazing fingers, Timeless Trek in Mithrendain, Tear the World, Ubiquitous Assault. Cascade of the 5 suns, Dark Moons Reckoning, Maidens Light and on and on and on.Some powers are pretty broad in terms of interpretation of exactly what they're doing, but the power NAME usually says quite a lot by itself (IE 'Come and Get It', this is pretty descriptive).
Right, but there are a lot of fairly generic powers lurking around. Some have good names, but unmemorable mechanics and little reason to pick them. I really wanted a 4e with 250 powers, not 50,000.Yes Come and Get it is vivid - I love the more vivid power names sheesh its all the 5e throw backs that are boring .... completely missing any of the flavor. And some power names are positively subtle poetry. A Murder of One. Soul Break, Dawn's blazing fingers, Timeless Trek in Mithrendain, Tear the World, Ubiquitous Assault. Cascade of the 5 suns, Dark Moons Reckoning, Maidens Light and on and on and on.
Can you do that without blandification because I smell bland... (just being suspicious because it currently feels like someone hit the game with nostalgia bleach)I really wanted a 4e with 250 powers, not 50,000.
A certain amount is actually OK providing contrast particularly for at-wills.Right, but there are a lot of fairly generic powers lurking around.
I have a house rule to solve the spell description problem: If the player doesn't know how the spell works, the spell fails to cast and the spell slot is still expended.
Since announcing this rule, I've never had to use it. Players come prepared.
I don't see how that isn't friendly. It's simply acknowledging that if a player wants to play a spellcaster, it's going to require more work. Rogues, fighters, and barbarians are great classes for players who prefer to avoid bookwork.
But the core point still holds, there's no reason, mechanically for saves. They are simply not needed. The system would work fine without them, and 4e did exactly that. It improved the game by simplifying how power resolution worked. Heck, I'd be OK with the idea that everything used saves (though I still don't think 6 saves is great), then players would always roll when their PC faces danger. Heck, PC attacks could all use attack rolls too, monsters and PCs don't need symmetry of rules. That would be a "player always rolls" type of system, but the one we got, where randomly one half of all spell attacks work each way, that is just thugly.
I agree with you. Plus, you have all these Battlemaster maneuvers that ad a saving throw when they could have just been folded into an attack to the NADs instead.