Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 5168847" data-attributes="member: 22779">I've found myself frequently multitasking at the table, so, I know exactly how people feel.  It's not that hard to keep half an ear on things and then go off to do other stuff.  Particularly when a round of combat can take upwards of fifteen minutes before my turn comes up again.  And I know for a fact, I'm not the only one.Why did you do that?  Why make up "counter attack" rules?  For simulation reasons or to further engage the players or both?While, yes, earlier D&D did have some very rudimentary AOO rules - you couldn't retreat without taking attack, the effect was to basically turn combat into bingo.  I call a number and a damage, you call a number and damage, wash rinse repeat.  Tactics were mostly non-existent because the mechanics didn't reward anything other than standing in one place and whacking away.I do agree that the rudimentary mechanics were there.  But it took 3e and then 4e to realize that engaging players ALL THE TIME is a good idea.  You have to actively pay attention to the combat or you'll miss out on actions.  In 1e or 2e, I didn't have to pay any attention, other than write down the damage I took.  I wasn't EVER going to act on another player's turn, and it was extremely unlikely I'd get to act on a monster's turn.  After all, how many monsters are quaffing potions in combat?  You're looking at this from a purely DM's perspective.  The DM might get to roll AOO's in 1e, but the players almost never will.  Very, very few mechanics exist that allow me to actively do anything on another player's turn in 1e or 2e.  Even 3e is pretty limited this way.  Certainly pre-4e, no other player is going to impel me to take an action on his turn.Yet, in 4e, pretty much every class has mechanics that will impel both the monsters and the other players to take actions out of turn.  Many monsters also have abilities that act out of turn.  This has been my biggest eye opening in finally playing 4e.  How much attention the game forces you to pay in order to play.  It is not unusual to act on other character's turns EVERY round.  Not every character, of course, but, once or twice a round seems to be about average.  This is a huge departure from earlier D&D.</blockquote>

Verification