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

[Daniel D. Fox]

sustain minor likely means you use a minor action to sustain an effect beyond its initial duration.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

sustain minor likely means you use a minor action to sustain an effect beyond its initial duration.

Ah! I don't know why that never occurred to me.

I did think of one more:

How "temporary" are "temporary HP" gained from some of the paladin (and I think Cleric) powers? Do you have to remember to erase them again at the end of an encounter if you take no damage after gaining them? Or is "temporary" just meant to stop people from thinking that they get to keep 'em forever. I'm also assuming that it means you can get 'em over your max, or they'd be called "healing"

Fitz

 

[Daniel D. Fox]

Temporary hit points sound like they go away at the end of the encounter. What I wonder is whether or not if you lose them and you're on the brink of death, how that's handled.

 

[Stalker0]

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?

 

[pweent]

Skill Training feat gives +2 to a skill

I see where you're getting that, but I disagree. My interpretation is that Skill Training lets you add another skill as a trained skill (in the Wizard's case, Stealth), and that the Tiefling has a +2 racial bonus to Stealth. Thus, +2 (Dex) +5 (Trained) +2 (racial) gives +9 total.

 

[AZRogue]

Doesn't this basically make skills meaningless?

I mean, what this all boils down to is:
a)Decide to do something.
b)The DM decides what attribute covers it (remember local history? Int. Kick down a door? Str.)
c)Roll 1d20+Attr Modifier+1/2 level to see if you do it. [1]

You can select certain broad categories of things to be very good at it. You get +5 with these.

If you want to spend a feat, you can get another +5, for a total of +10.

I honestly don't see why they bother with a skill system. You can go wholly free-form. EVERYTHING is now an untrained skill -- kick down a door, toss some darts, gamble, guzzle beer, there's no distinction between 'attribute checks' and 'skill checks'. So why bother with a skill system at all? Each DM can define, say, 15 categories of 'special uses for attributes' that fit his game, decide what attributes to base them one, and poof! All done!

[1]If I wanted to play Castles&Crusades, that's what I'd be playing.

No, it doesn't make Skills meaningless. You used an example earlier involving Arm Wrestling--something there is no Skill for--and stated that you didn't like adding 1/2 a character's level to such a thing. I just gave a few examples, also for things that don't have Skills to represent them, where the 1/2 bonus would be appropriate. Frankly, I don't know where you came with the going Skilless comment. You just mentioned arm wrestling and I mentioned something that would be much more likely to happen in a game (from my experience).





And, in your previous arm wrestling example, there would still be a d20 roll in the equation, right? That's far too much variable for something like a strong fighter opposing a weak wizard. Adding 1/2 level doesn't make it any LESS believable than it already is.

In situations like the arm wrestling one, aren't both characters merely supposed to examine their base scores, compare, and then declare the winner that way?

 

[Campbell]

I see where you're getting that, but I disagree. My interpretation is that Skill Training lets you add another skill as a trained skill (in the Wizard's case, Stealth), and that the Tiefling has a +2 racial bonus to Stealth. Thus, +2 (Dex) +5 (Trained) +2 (racial) gives +9 total.

That would mean that Wizards only start with 3 trained skills which contradicts the 'Conception of a Full Time Wizard' article where Shelly mentions that her Eladrin wizard has 4 trained skills - Arcana, History, Insight, and Diplomacy.

 

[Bandreus]

As far as I understand.

1: every chracter sheet clearly says "Some race and class feature are already added into the character's statistics and are not listed on the sheet". Since multiclassing is one of the yet-top-secret features of the game, odds are the warlock has some wizard training feat, but they didn't show that on the sheet willingly.
2: I'm not sure about Sustain Minor. It seems like a kind of action you can take for free when using a given skill. The Wizard's "Mage Hand" has a Sustain Minor effect too: "You can sustain the hand indefinitely".
So I think for the Curse of the Dark Dream, whether you hit or miss, you can slide the target 1 square on every round, untill he saves.
3: The Primer (point 10. Saving throws are straightforward): "sometimes your character will be hit by an ongoing effect [...] the effect will usually continue until you have to make another saving throw at the end of your next turn."
So odds are the target of an ongoing effect first have to be hit (the attack could be vs AC, ref or whatever), then he get the chance to make a saving trow at the end of his own next turn. Usually ongoing effects will be applied (not entirelly) even if the original attack misses.
A couple exemples:
The Cleric's Cascade of Light: if the target his being hit, he gains vulnerability. Save ends, but the target makes his saving trow during his next turn.
If the attack misses, the target still gets half damage, but vulnerability is not applied.
The Wizard's Sleep Spell: the target will be slowed, either it hit or miss, until the target manages to save (at the end of his next turn). If the target fails his saving throw, he falls asleep.

And that's what I can guess. Maybe people who played at the tables will confirm or denie

 

[TerraDave]

I see where you're getting that, but I disagree. My interpretation is that Skill Training lets you add another skill as a trained skill (in the Wizard's case, Stealth), and that the Tiefling has a +2 racial bonus to Stealth. Thus, +2 (Dex) +5 (Trained) +2 (racial) gives +9 total.

This is correct. Its also a good example of how "skills have meaning". An otherwise almost identical charecter could have a very different stealth bonus.

Sustain minor: use a minor action to keep doing it. I see this as a replacement for concentrating to maintain a spell.

Armor, size, and movement: heavier armor reduces speed 1. Halflings and dwarves (in heavier armor) move like anyone else.

 

[TerraDave]

As far as I understand.

1: every chracter sheet clearly says "Some race and class feature are already added into the character's statistics and are not listed on the sheet". Since multiclassing is one of the yet-top-secret features of the game, odds are the warlock has some wizard training feat, but they didn't show that on the sheet willingly.
2: I'm not sure about Sustain Minor. It seems like a kind of action you can take for free when using a given skill. The Wizard's "Mage Hand" has a Sustain Minor effect too: "You can sustain the hand indefinitely".
So I think for the Curse of the Dark Dream, whether you hit or miss, you can slide the target 1 square on every round, untill he saves.
3: The Primer (point 10. Saving throws are straightforward): "sometimes your character will be hit by an ongoing effect [...] the effect will usually continue until you have to make another saving throw at the end of your next turn."
So odds are the target of an ongoing effect first have to be hit (the attack could be vs AC, ref or whatever), then he get the chance to make a saving trow at the end of his own next turn. Usually ongoing effects will be applied (not entirelly) even if the original attack misses.
A couple exemples:
The Cleric's Cascade of Light: if the target his being hit, he gains vulnerability. Save ends, but the target makes his saving trow during his next turn.
If the attack misses, the target still gets half damage, but vulnerability is not applied.
The Wizard's Sleep Spell: the target will be slowed, either it hit or miss, until the target manages to save (at the end of his next turn). If the target fails his saving throw, he falls asleep.

And that's what I can guess. Maybe people who played at the tables will confirm or denie

I think thievery is a class skill for the warlock. (the wizards skill training feat is on the sheet). Only some things work on a miss (ongoing or not). On your turn, you exp the effect, then can save, but it always effects for at least one turn.