D&D eXPerience: Core Mechanics (now compiled in 1st post!)

[Patlin]

Longbows now do 1d10 damage, AND you add your dex directly to it.

With the fact that archers can shoot without worrying about their targets being in melee, archery looks really powerful now. I mean that ranger firing 1d10 + 4 at a +10 attack bonus seems to destroy any of the front line guys. But then again they are skirmishers right?

Longbows are at least 1d10 for Rangers, but I don't recall any of the other five characters having a longbow. It's possible that Rangers get a bonus with longbows similar to the one Rogues get with shuriken.

Compared to the Warlock and the Wizard, who can blast all day long without worrying about ammo and target reflex rather than AC, I'm glad the Ranger has some advantages. Comparing the Ranger to a Fighter... need more data!

I take it we're all still assuming that their will be a TWF ranger build, and that the sample character simply chose the ranged build?

 

[Ravingdork]

I'm quite certain that you add half your level to damage rolls. I don't think the Pit Fiend is a good example to cite either, since NPCs in Star Wars Saga don't add their levels to damage whereas heroic PCs do. I suspect it will work the same way in 4E.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I take it we're all still assuming that their will be a TWF ranger build, and that the sample character simply chose the ranged build?

From memory, a comment from one of the designers a couple of months ago implied that easy TWFing for Fighters would "infringe on the Ranger's schtick", but I can't recall details.

-Hyp.

 

[Spatula]

I'm quite certain that you add half your level to damage rolls. I don't think the Pit Fiend is a good example to cite either, since NPCs in Star Wars Saga don't add their levels to damage whereas heroic PCs do. I suspect it will work the same way in 4E.

Getting 1/2 your level to damage (and your level to your defenses) in SAGA is a trait of the heroic classes, not the PC/NPC divide. See, for example, Boba Fett's stats, or for a generic example, the Imperial Officer on page 280. NPCs with heroic levels (which is pretty much any non-mook) gain the same advantages that PCs do. In this, SAGA is more like 3e, where the nonheroic & beast classes take the place of the NPC classes and the monster categories, respectively.