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<blockquote data-quote="KidSnide" data-source="post: 5955057" data-attributes="member: 54710"><p>I think it's a good idea to get rid of minor actions, but it's not because minor actions are useless. They aren't. Anyone (with a good memory) who has spent a substantial amount of time playing tactical 4e can find times when the minor action rules produced interesting decisions. At a minimum, a healer might use two minor actions for a Healing Word and a safe granting ability, or a rogue might make a minor action attack when she misses with sneak attack. Your "two walls" example is great. This kind of minor action use is fun, and it definitely adds something to the game.</p><p></p><p>The question isn't whether minor actions add anything. The question is whether they add enough.</p><p></p><p>That's because there is a definite cost to having minor actions in the game. Players spend time thinking about them. I've played or DMed many turns where players did something clever with their action economy. But I've played even more turns where the player was done performing useful tasks, but made the game stop for 20-60 seconds to figure out how to make use of his or her minor action. </p><p></p><p>Minor actions slow down combat. And if you want to speed it up, you need to look at reducing the number of rounds (useful, but possibly too swingy in the extreme) and reducing the amount of time that it takes to play a round. In the abstract, I like minor actions, but I like fast combat more and -- at least in my opinion -- it's worth sacrificing minor actions for a faster combat.</p><p></p><p>(I have also noted that "action + move" is easier to explain to new players than "standard / move / minor", but I think the combat speed issue is more important.)</p><p></p><p>-KS</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="KidSnide, post: 5955057, member: 54710"] I think it's a good idea to get rid of minor actions, but it's not because minor actions are useless. They aren't. Anyone (with a good memory) who has spent a substantial amount of time playing tactical 4e can find times when the minor action rules produced interesting decisions. At a minimum, a healer might use two minor actions for a Healing Word and a safe granting ability, or a rogue might make a minor action attack when she misses with sneak attack. Your "two walls" example is great. This kind of minor action use is fun, and it definitely adds something to the game. The question isn't whether minor actions add anything. The question is whether they add enough. That's because there is a definite cost to having minor actions in the game. Players spend time thinking about them. I've played or DMed many turns where players did something clever with their action economy. But I've played even more turns where the player was done performing useful tasks, but made the game stop for 20-60 seconds to figure out how to make use of his or her minor action. Minor actions slow down combat. And if you want to speed it up, you need to look at reducing the number of rounds (useful, but possibly too swingy in the extreme) and reducing the amount of time that it takes to play a round. In the abstract, I like minor actions, but I like fast combat more and -- at least in my opinion -- it's worth sacrificing minor actions for a faster combat. (I have also noted that "action + move" is easier to explain to new players than "standard / move / minor", but I think the combat speed issue is more important.) -KS [/QUOTE]
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