Andur said:
Just remember you are shorting yourself on all AoE's and flanking using hexes.
Burst 1 = 9 squares but only 7 hexes. Holds true all the way up the line.
In the large scheme of things, I suspect that this is a very minor issue since PCs typically do not face armies where every PC is completely surrounded.
For example, if the Fighter is flanked by two Orcs, a Burst 1 centered on the Fighter will affect all 3 of them (and typically not the Fighter if it is a burst that only affects enemies) regardless of whether squares are used or hexes are used.
Sure, there are situations where 1 or 2 more enemies could have been targetted, but in the large scheme of things, I do not consider that a major balance issue.
Andur said:
Flanking on large+ creatures loses 1 per size category of options to flank from.
Does it? It depends on the hex flanking rule used (which you didn't say what yours are).
For a large creature, one hex flanking rule I am considering allows for 4 possible flanking hexes for a given PC. A different rule allows for 2 possible flanking hexes. The most the 4E flanking rule allows for with a large opponent by medium PCs is 2 possible flanking squares and sometimes, just 1.
Yes, there are 16 squares around a single large creature. But, how many times are there 16 PCs flanking a single large sized opponent (or even 8 NPCs flanking a single PC)? I suspect the frequency of this in games is very very slim. There are plenty of hexes around a large foe for PCs to flank around.
So depending on what flanking rules are used, hexes have more flanking options than the 4E for large+ creatures. Just a few less spaces around the creature for the first flanking PC. Not a biggy.
