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<blockquote data-quote="Lonely Tylenol" data-source="post: 4738796" data-attributes="member: 18549">Yes, I knew about that.&nbsp; I also know that a 3-point system works better than an 8-point system for off-the-cuff adjudication.&nbsp; It keeps choices simple so you can make decisions quickly.I use the same strategy in my science writing tutorials to teach the kids to evaluate each others' assignments as part of an exercise.&nbsp; I start with a 3-point scale: good/fair/poor.&nbsp; It's dead simple to figure out where any given assignment sits on a scale like that, without even applying any kind of objective criteria.&nbsp; Likewise, it's easy to figure out hard/normal/easy without having to think too long about it.I also think that the inherent scaling in 4E is an improvement that keeps things simple.&nbsp; Most of the time, checks are normal difficulty.&nbsp; I don't have to figure out what &quot;normal&quot; means every time I ask for a check, because there's a background assumption that normal for paragon characters is not normal for epic characters, and vice versa.&nbsp; If I call for a check, I can assume it's a normal DC unless I have some reason to think that it might not be.On a somewhat different note, I notice that DC 40 is &quot;nearly impossible.&quot;&nbsp; How difficult is it to make a 10th level character who can hit DC 40 fairly reliably?&nbsp; Let's say they have a conservative 16 in a skill-friendly ability score, and max ranks in a class skill.&nbsp; That's +16 right there.&nbsp; With skill focus and a +2 to 2 skills feat, that's +21.&nbsp; Add in synergies, good ability scores, magic items, etc. and you're pulling off impossible things fairly reliably.&nbsp; Certainly by 20th level, you're doing ten impossible things before breakfast.The point there is that it's pretty darn easy to do very difficult things using the 3E skill system, especially if you're a fan of optimized builds.&nbsp; The flip-side of that is that if you only stick a few ranks into a skill, it becomes completely useless within a few levels since the DCs will usually scale to provide a challenge to those characters who are putting max ranks into their skills.&nbsp; Which means that 3E was already doing DCs that scale by level, but without designing the system to specifically assume that was going to happen.&nbsp; In designing 4E, they just said, &quot;hey, we scale DCs by level.&nbsp; Why don't we use that as a design principle instead of an outcome?&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lonely Tylenol, post: 4738796, member: 18549"] Yes, I knew about that. I also know that a 3-point system works better than an 8-point system for off-the-cuff adjudication. It keeps choices simple so you can make decisions quickly. I use the same strategy in my science writing tutorials to teach the kids to evaluate each others' assignments as part of an exercise. I start with a 3-point scale: good/fair/poor. It's dead simple to figure out where any given assignment sits on a scale like that, without even applying any kind of objective criteria. Likewise, it's easy to figure out hard/normal/easy without having to think too long about it. I also think that the inherent scaling in 4E is an improvement that keeps things simple. Most of the time, checks are normal difficulty. I don't have to figure out what "normal" means every time I ask for a check, because there's a background assumption that normal for paragon characters is not normal for epic characters, and vice versa. If I call for a check, I can assume it's a normal DC unless I have some reason to think that it might not be. On a somewhat different note, I notice that DC 40 is "nearly impossible." How difficult is it to make a 10th level character who can hit DC 40 fairly reliably? Let's say they have a conservative 16 in a skill-friendly ability score, and max ranks in a class skill. That's +16 right there. With skill focus and a +2 to 2 skills feat, that's +21. Add in synergies, good ability scores, magic items, etc. and you're pulling off impossible things fairly reliably. Certainly by 20th level, you're doing ten impossible things before breakfast. The point there is that it's pretty darn easy to do very difficult things using the 3E skill system, especially if you're a fan of optimized builds. The flip-side of that is that if you only stick a few ranks into a skill, it becomes completely useless within a few levels since the DCs will usually scale to provide a challenge to those characters who are putting max ranks into their skills. Which means that 3E was already doing DCs that scale by level, but without designing the system to specifically assume that was going to happen. In designing 4E, they just said, "hey, we scale DCs by level. Why don't we use that as a design principle instead of an outcome?" [/QUOTE]

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