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<blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 4672547" data-attributes="member: 386">Well, it's different for monsters, though if you give them &quot;open-ended&quot; powers you could probably use them in different ways.&nbsp; There are rules for what the attack bonus is and how much damage the attack does; if your NPC's Fireball normally just does 3d6+4 in a Burst 2, changing it so that it knocks them prone should reduce the damage to (checking books) 1d8+5.Though, like I said, it's different for monsters.Why would you allow Fireball to knock bad guys prone?&nbsp; Because it doesn't break the game, and it might make it more fun, opening up avenues for creativity from the players that's lacking otherwise.&nbsp; It's basically a stunt, so just change the 3d6+Int mod damage to 1d6+Int mod damage and Prone.&nbsp; (That is, you switch to a low-damage Normal Expression because it carries significant control and targets multiple opponents.)&quot;DM, I want to use my Fireburst to blow away the rickety balcony the bad guys are standing on.&quot;Which happened in a game of mine.&nbsp; I hadn't planned on it; it was the player who did this.&nbsp; It worked wonders for them in the encounter.I've also had PCs burn webs, catching a ghoul that was in them for some extra fire damage.Silent Image is covered by the Prestidigitation cantrip.&nbsp; &quot;Produce out of nothingness a small item or image that exists until the end of your next turn.&quot;&nbsp; You can do it every round so I don't see why you can't &quot;keep it up&quot; from round-to-round.Now here's why I think it's easier to ad-lib creative stuff with 4E.&nbsp; The math seems to work well, so that I can trust it to resolve creative actions without having to worry about breaking the game.&nbsp; If a PC wants to do something with his action, I can use the monster's defenses as the DC.&nbsp; If he wants to use Mage Hand to disarm an enemy, I can have him roll Int vs. Fort.&nbsp; Or if he wants to shove an enemy back a square or something.I would love to have more guidelines on it - how much damage should I trade for a condition, and does that change at different levels? - but I think I have a pretty good instinctive feel for what's balanced and what's not, using the damage guidelines and what's possible with other actions as a baseline.&nbsp; (If Thunderwave pushes bad guys and deals damage, dealing no damage but allowing a slide at range 5 seems like a fair trade.&nbsp; Not always what you want to do, but in some situations a good choice.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="LostSoul, post: 4672547, member: 386"] Well, it's different for monsters, though if you give them "open-ended" powers you could probably use them in different ways. There are rules for what the attack bonus is and how much damage the attack does; if your NPC's Fireball normally just does 3d6+4 in a Burst 2, changing it so that it knocks them prone should reduce the damage to (checking books) 1d8+5. Though, like I said, it's different for monsters. Why would you allow Fireball to knock bad guys prone? Because it doesn't break the game, and it might make it more fun, opening up avenues for creativity from the players that's lacking otherwise. It's basically a stunt, so just change the 3d6+Int mod damage to 1d6+Int mod damage and Prone. (That is, you switch to a low-damage Normal Expression because it carries significant control and targets multiple opponents.) "DM, I want to use my Fireburst to blow away the rickety balcony the bad guys are standing on." Which happened in a game of mine. I hadn't planned on it; it was the player who did this. It worked wonders for them in the encounter. I've also had PCs burn webs, catching a ghoul that was in them for some extra fire damage. Silent Image is covered by the [i]Prestidigitation[/i] cantrip. "Produce out of nothingness a small item or image that exists until the end of your next turn." You can do it every round so I don't see why you can't "keep it up" from round-to-round. Now here's why I think it's easier to ad-lib creative stuff with 4E. The math seems to work well, so that I can trust it to resolve creative actions without having to worry about breaking the game. If a PC wants to do something with his action, I can use the monster's defenses as the DC. If he wants to use Mage Hand to disarm an enemy, I can have him roll Int vs. Fort. Or if he wants to shove an enemy back a square or something. I would love to have more guidelines on it - how much damage should I trade for a condition, and does that change at different levels? - but I think I have a pretty good instinctive feel for what's balanced and what's not, using the damage guidelines and what's possible with other actions as a baseline. (If Thunderwave pushes bad guys and deals damage, dealing no damage but allowing a slide at range 5 seems like a fair trade. Not always what you want to do, but in some situations a good choice.) [/QUOTE]

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