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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Argyle King" data-source="post: 5515075" data-attributes="member: 58416">The thing which first springs to mind for me is the comparison of the numbers a PC can regularly generate (even with just at-will powers) versus the numbers which the 'physics engine' the rest of the game world is built with.  For example, it's far easier for a group of PC to destroy a trap than it is to bother with a skill challenge to disarm one.When I was first learning 4th Edition, I tried to create encounters which I thought would be cool.  One such encounter involved having the PCs on one gondola while the enemy was on another.  In my mind I envisioned how I thought it would play out.  In actual play the PCs just targeted the gondola.  Looking at what HP the books suggested I give to an object, I was surprised to find how easy it was for a player to destroy something like that.  Needless to say, there was what I felt an extreme anticlimactic end to the battle in little more than a round.While I did anticipate it would be a tactic they would try, I did not think it would be so easy.  After a few other attempts which ended in a similar fashion, I changed how I was trying to build encounters to be more in line with ye olde basic dungeon crawl.  Granted, this example is probably outside of exactly what we're talking about, but -in a sense- it falls in line with some of the non-combat spells a mage once had.  Also, in a similar manner, I've seen a few skill challenges skipped over by applying brute force via powers.Other examples would include the way in which the orb wizard originally worked.  Knowing that it was possible to load an impossible save onto a creature during an encounter was something a GM often had to take into consideration.  In particular, it often meant needing to stop using solos or it meant giving a BBEG a sidekick who could grant save bonuses.  After errata, it has gotten better, but it can still be something which causes problems.If we're focusing on powers only, I've seen Magic Circle used quite a few times in a manner which had the potential to derail an encounter.  One included taking the time to draw one around the BBEG's lair.  This lead to him not being able to get out of his uber-fortress.If I look back through my notes*, there are others, but those are the ones which are fresh in my mind.*I often mark down in my notebook things which seem to work oddly, unique situations which arise in game, and etc.</blockquote>

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