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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lizard" data-source="post: 4621415" data-attributes="member: 1054">Whereas, in 3e, the kobolds racial attributes (small size, low strength, high charisma) lead to specific combat roles that maximize their strengths and minimize their weakness.In 4e, you can begin with the idea of "I want a small, sneaky, race which focuses on ranged attacks", and then build some monsters which model this -- but there's nothing in the mechanics which enforce the concept. A kobold has a high AC because of his role as Artillery or Skirmish, not because he has a high dex -- I can decide, for some reason, that a particular kobold has a Dex of 4, and it will not 'bubble up' to his combat stats; they remain fixed unless I manually change them. Really, the only reason monsters in 4e even HAVE stats is so you can figure out their untrained skill checks; for the majority of combats, the stat line might as well not exist.I prefer a more organic, more intricate approach. With 4e, I need to make sure to shape every part of the monster by hand, after the initial work is done; if I want it to have a better AC, I raise it, and if I want to justify that somehow, I have to decide what the cause is -- does it wear more armor? Does it have a higher dex? Is it a mutant with thick hide? Contrariwise, in 3e, if I want it to have a higher AC, I buy it armor, or raise its dex, or give it Dodge, or whatever.4e: Start with combat stats. Justify them if you want to; you don't need to.3e: Build a character. See what kind of numbers you get.Which is "better" depends on your mood and goals. I enjoy the 3e approach because you can discover things about the world by seeing the consequences of racial traits.(The NPC rules in 4e seem to take a half-step in this direction, but it's been explicitly stated they weren't used to build the monsters and that there are no fixed or absolute racial traits -- you can have non-shifty kobolds, for example.)</blockquote>

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