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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Argyle King" data-source="post: 7651910" data-attributes="member: 58416">What I want is PCs who are part of the world; not above it.  That doesn't preclude them from being above average; I'd just simply prefer the PCs not be so far beyond the world that there is a disconnect.  On the other end of the spectrum, non-PCs struggle with the world around them.  When you put the two pieces side by side, it's pretty noticeable.For me, the most success I had with 4E was when I stopped trying to design encounters as though it was a fantasy game.As a player, I'm aware you are not restricted to the character sheet.  I only used the disarm as an example; another example would be a trip or a grapple which is actually effective.  The problem I found with page 42 -when used in conjunction with 4E- was that either the improvised actions were not worth it compared to powers or they were worth it and then the question of "well, why wouldn't I do this all the time instead of using my powers?" came up.  I prefer being able to create encounters without worrying that the numbers the world is built upon aren't so easily broken by the PCs.  Some time ago, I spoke on this topic by using the example of an encounter I designed on a suspended gondola.  The PCs were on one gondola; the enemy was on a second gondola.  In my head, I thought it would be cool.  In actual play, it was barely any effort at all for the PCs to destroy the enemy gondola and send them all to their doom.  The power the PCs could generate was so overwhelming compared what the game said the hardness and HP that the suspension mechanism of the the gondola should be that it turned what was supposed to be a cool encounter into one that really wasn't even an encounter at all.  I *did* expecting cutting down the enemy gondola to be a valid tactic.  However, I expected it would take far more effort than what it did.  Now that I have more experience, I realize that I should ignore the numbers proposed by the DMG, but I didn't know that at the time I was a new DM.  My point being that -even with the changes proposed in the OP- the PCs are still built in such a way which is way beyond the rest of the world they live in.</blockquote>

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