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Help: Gap between AC and defenses seems too large.
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<blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 5570098" data-attributes="member: 1165"><p>Okay, that seems to be fine then.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>He has a Strength of 19, and did not take Iron Will. His feats are Goliath Greatweapon Proficiency (Gain proficiency, +2 damage with two-handed simple or martial melee weapons), Markings of the Victor (Roll twice for first attack roll each encounter), Battle Awareness (MC: Fighter, Intimidate; immediate interrupt basic attack once per encounter) </p><p></p><p>I've run two 4e campaigns. The first was shortly after it came out. No one had the character builder. This one I started last year, and virtually every PC was built with it.</p><p></p><p>I'm wondering if the builder is accurate. I've only actually caught one error - the builder was nerfing the telepath's damage by one, but now it seems like the numbers aren't really making sense.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I have to wonder why WotC invented the AC-boosting feats then. If PC AC scores weren't too low, and the Armor Expertise feats are "fix-feats", why invent something to fix a problem that doesn't exist?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I already learned that lesson in my first campaign. The final boss, Kalarel, was 4 levels above the party and a solo (which at the time gave him +2 AC). He also only had one encounter power. That wasn't fun. (That's what happens when a DM new to a system uses a monster "as-is".)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The 4th-level "sweet spot" wasn't an issue I hadn't considered. But I think I'll have to sprinkle in more NAD-targeting monsters anyway, if only to challenge the rogue. (The last encounter he was in, he did drop, but that's only because one opponent had a damage-dealing aura, and another was able to do auto-damage in a small AoE every time he used an implement power.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>With the exception of the shaman, their builds are actually pretty standard, and nobody is deliberately focused on boosting NADs. I don't think they've spread about stat points oddly. The math might be valid (or not, I'm going to take a closer look at the Character Builder, a program I've never used before and it's looking buggy to me) but even if their NADs <em>are</em> high, <em>that's</em> not causing me any encounter design problems at all.</p><p></p><p>I'm going to have to target NADs at least a little; I've got an odd situation where the rogue's AC is higher than the defender's. I could try to stick those extra vs NAD attacks onto soldier-punisher abilities, rather than making things like "Furious Bash" only a standard encounter attack power. (But not <em>too</em> often, given the rogue's very low Fort/Will defenses.)</p><p></p><p>I don't see how they can optimize their attack bonuses either. Everyone but the shaman put an 18 into their attack stat, although nobody has a "+3" weapon like a sword.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As I hadn't wanted to make Essentials stuff available to PCs just yet, they didn't have access to Implement/Weapon Expertise. So they're looking at +2 (lvl) +4 (stat) +1 (inherent) = +7 vs NAD and +9 vs AC (since nobody but the rogue has a sword-like weapon). This puts them on the low end of acceptable attack bonuses. (I haven't seen any evidence of math errors on the attack bonuses, either.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Right, but I'm thinking of handing out the attack expertise feats for free now.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(Psi)SeveredHead, post: 5570098, member: 1165"] Okay, that seems to be fine then. He has a Strength of 19, and did not take Iron Will. His feats are Goliath Greatweapon Proficiency (Gain proficiency, +2 damage with two-handed simple or martial melee weapons), Markings of the Victor (Roll twice for first attack roll each encounter), Battle Awareness (MC: Fighter, Intimidate; immediate interrupt basic attack once per encounter) I've run two 4e campaigns. The first was shortly after it came out. No one had the character builder. This one I started last year, and virtually every PC was built with it. I'm wondering if the builder is accurate. I've only actually caught one error - the builder was nerfing the telepath's damage by one, but now it seems like the numbers aren't really making sense. I have to wonder why WotC invented the AC-boosting feats then. If PC AC scores weren't too low, and the Armor Expertise feats are "fix-feats", why invent something to fix a problem that doesn't exist? I already learned that lesson in my first campaign. The final boss, Kalarel, was 4 levels above the party and a solo (which at the time gave him +2 AC). He also only had one encounter power. That wasn't fun. (That's what happens when a DM new to a system uses a monster "as-is".) The 4th-level "sweet spot" wasn't an issue I hadn't considered. But I think I'll have to sprinkle in more NAD-targeting monsters anyway, if only to challenge the rogue. (The last encounter he was in, he did drop, but that's only because one opponent had a damage-dealing aura, and another was able to do auto-damage in a small AoE every time he used an implement power.) With the exception of the shaman, their builds are actually pretty standard, and nobody is deliberately focused on boosting NADs. I don't think they've spread about stat points oddly. The math might be valid (or not, I'm going to take a closer look at the Character Builder, a program I've never used before and it's looking buggy to me) but even if their NADs [i]are[/i] high, [i]that's[/i] not causing me any encounter design problems at all. I'm going to have to target NADs at least a little; I've got an odd situation where the rogue's AC is higher than the defender's. I could try to stick those extra vs NAD attacks onto soldier-punisher abilities, rather than making things like "Furious Bash" only a standard encounter attack power. (But not [i]too[/i] often, given the rogue's very low Fort/Will defenses.) I don't see how they can optimize their attack bonuses either. Everyone but the shaman put an 18 into their attack stat, although nobody has a "+3" weapon like a sword. As I hadn't wanted to make Essentials stuff available to PCs just yet, they didn't have access to Implement/Weapon Expertise. So they're looking at +2 (lvl) +4 (stat) +1 (inherent) = +7 vs NAD and +9 vs AC (since nobody but the rogue has a sword-like weapon). This puts them on the low end of acceptable attack bonuses. (I haven't seen any evidence of math errors on the attack bonuses, either.) Right, but I'm thinking of handing out the attack expertise feats for free now. [/QUOTE]
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