Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Schmoe" data-source="post: 4375852" data-attributes="member: 913">Defenders don't fulfill their role purely through class mechanics.  They also fulfill their role through tactical positioning.  If the opponents choose to avoid the obvious, easy to reach target in favor of the elusive, more maneuverable target, there are countermeasures that can make them pay.  Hell, in 3e, the fighter or whoever is the "defender" of the moment is often able to occupy the enemy simply by virtue of positioning.  Even disregarding marking mechanics, the same should hold true at least as often in 4e, probably more, in fact, as the discrepancy between how "squishy" or deadly the classes are has been reduced.  As I understand it, marking is simply intended to provide some additional mechanical incentive not to ignore the defender.  I don't think success of marking should be measured in absolutes.  I think the intent is that it be considered successful if the defender is the target of a marked opponent >~50% (pick a number) of the time.Furthermore, there are a great many opponents that won't think beyond the current moment or next few seconds' worth of combat.  Making the decision to ignore the mark of the paladin (taking damage), move further into the midst of the enemy while eating an AoO (taking more damage), and attacking an opponent who will probably still be around to attack you back, requires either extreme foresight or remarkable training and discipline.  Either one is generally rare.The game is neither chess nor WoW.  It is a narrative framework that requires subjective discretion when determining the actions of the participants (NPCs).</blockquote>

Verification