Cadfan's Comments on Everything 4e

[Herremann the Wise]

I don't envision it as two robots going *Swing. miss......loading.................swing. Hit...............*

How about: *Swing....Block....Block....Miss....OUCH!.Damn!....Move....Swing...

As you say, there's lots going on. As for the swordmage thing, it does seem a funny sequence of actions... that whole mechanics vs. flavour argument again I suppose.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Dausuul]

That feels a lot like cheating, at least the "don't count them toward XP" bit. If the party burns encounter/daily abilities on the minions, they cost the party resources. Maybe not hit points, but resources.

My mistake - I didn't mean the party shouldn't earn XP for them, but they don't count when deciding how difficult the encounter is. (Since I generally don't give out XP based on monster kills, and since I quit using XP altogether in my current campaign, I think of XP budgets purely as a way to decide how tough an encounter will be.)

Warlocks have used split Cha and Con from the start. Feylocks use Cha, Hellocks use Con, and Starlocks use both. The Dragon warlock article focuses on Starlocks with some general-use feats in it as well.

I think the complaint was that although PHB warlocks use split Cha and Con, new warlock supplements are almost totally focused on Cha, leaving Con-based warlocks out in the cold.

 

[Hussar]

A thought about Hand Jiving:

I am a big fan of the ARMA site. Love it to pieces. They do fantastic work. I love pouring over those old fight books detailing how people trained with swords and other weapons. One thing that I notice is that hand jiving actually does happen all the time in real life. "Half swording" for example (grabbing your sword half way up the blade and stabbing like a spear). Something like this for instance:

Anyway, just a thought that Hand Jiving isn't maybe as unrealistic as you might think.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

My mistake - I didn't mean the party shouldn't earn XP for them, but they don't count when deciding how difficult the encounter is.

At least in my first session, this seemed to be the case. 3 PCs vs. a by-the-book Level 1 Encounter for 3 PCs (300 xp)
- 4 goblin minions
- 2 goblin warriors

Status: steamrolled. The second fight had a fair amount of minions as well, and was not as challenging as I'd hoped.

By my estimation, there are a few reasons why, but also minions en masse may not be as challenging as I'd originally thought. It's going to take some more scenarios to decide.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

At least in my first session, this seemed to be the case. 3 PCs vs. a by-the-book Level 1 Encounter for 3 PCs (300 xp)
- 4 goblin minions
- 2 goblin warriors

Status: steamrolled. The second fight had a fair amount of minions as well, and was not as challenging as I'd hoped.

By my estimation, there are a few reasons why, but also minions en masse may not be as challenging as I'd originally thought. It's going to take some more scenarios to decide.

I noticed it is dangerous to have a lot of melee minions. They can swarm the party and hurt individual foes, but some "artillery" minions mixed with front-liners work better. This means that area effects have a harder time affecting all of them, and artillery can always bring its offensive power to bear. (Generally I have the impression that Artillery monster tend to hurt the party most, since they can far easier hit the weaker ones)

 

[Hussar]

GoodKingJayIII - I wonder a couple of things. And I'm just spitballing here, not criticising.

Shouldn't a Level 1 encounter be a fairly easy encounter? Or am I just still too used to 3e?

Maybe this is a Level 1 issue as well. Since you are using a very limited encounter budget with such low level characters, you don't get as many toys to play with. In other words, maybe a few more minions in the mix might make a better encounter? Perhaps jacking things up to a 5th level encounter with 5th level PC's might result in a more interesting encounter?

 

[Neil Bishop]

Thanks for your post, Cadfan. It has been really helpful as I prepare to run my first 4E game.

 

[Cadfan]

That's not what I envision. I don't view rounds as exact six second intervals where each combatant uses three action types.

Then why do you embrace a rules interpretation that specifically highlights the 6-second-hand-jive vision of combat?

I envision a much more organic flow to combat. I envision the swordmage fighting with his sword in one hand or two hands as his attacks flow. When he sees that opening that allows a good solid hit he swings for the fences with both hands for maximum effect. When he realizes that he has left himself open to attack he reacts by conjuring an arcane shield (or whatever it is that gives the swordmage the added bonus for wielding a one-handed weapon).

No, you don't. You say you do, but then you engage in a series of questionable rules interpretations so as to permit you to repeatedly let go of your weapon at the end of every turn, then wield your weapon at the beginning of the next turn. Your vision of combat is a mechanistic one at best.

Lets stop and think about it for a second.

By your logic there's no plausible explanation for why a two handed weapon wielding swordmage couldn't gain the +3 arcane shield benefit. He can do the same hand jive.

 

[GlaziusF]

By your logic there's no plausible explanation for why a two handed weapon wielding swordmage couldn't gain the +3 arcane shield benefit. He can do the same hand jive.

Yes there is. Two-handed weapons are wielded in two hands because they're so cumbersome. Switching your grip to a one-handed version to let you carry the weapon around with one hand and not drop it is a minor action, as is switching back, since they're equivalent to sheathing/drawing the weapon.

If you take Quick Draw you can regrip your weapon as a free action when you attack with it, though not ungrip it, and just have to spend one minor action at the end of your turn to get the +3 bonus. Also when you're toting the weapon with one hand you don't threaten any adjacent squares, though you can still Quick Draw it to make immediate attacks at the cost of going back to +1 AC until you can spend the minor.

 

[Cadfan]

Wow.