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AEDU "powers", unless they're magic, need to die, at least semantically.
I'm fine with a warlock having a "power" to blast you to smithereens. I'm not okay with the rules explicitly writing down every millionth permutation of "I throw sand in their eyes" or "Knockout blow" or "Roll n stab" in a power card. For one, the combinatorial explosion is just mind-boggling, you'll need an infinite number of powers to accomodate all the neat-o-things that players can come up with.
Think of all the Three Stooges gags : Would you want every way they get laughs to have an explicit name? Maybe you do, if you're running a combo with someone else with forethought, like a football team with a coach, but that in itself implies the players themselves come up with the combo cards, then repeat them ad infinitum and NOT being all pre-written down by the rules people and if you can't think of it, you can't do it. Sure, 4e had this thing called Page 42, but in years of playing that edition I've never seen it used, once. People stuck to their powers, and the fact that I could attack three times in a row as a ranger in one round meant that I had to forget throwing a dagger "at one enemy and charging another". The problem with the martial "encounter" powers, narratively then becomes...why can't I remember how to throw sand in the ogre's eyes? Or try it again. Maybe the next ogre, who sees how you did it to his friend, will avert his eyes from you when he sees you reach for your sand-pouch, but that should just give disadvantage, not mean that you can't even attempt it.
I cannot express how much I detest the idea that there's all these "powers", some of which I could do last level, which I cannot chose from because hey it's like a spell now. That's what powers means to me : writing down improvisational combat maneuvers in an aliteration of mind-crushing boredom. Just freestyle it. Hey there's a lantern with oil over there, teetering over the enemy's battle plans, if I magic missile or throw a rock at the lantern, that shouldn't be prevented by the rules or even require looking up "do I have permission to do that?" Why can't I target things with my attacks? Some enemies are constructs, and thus are "things", but not in 4e. All enemies are creatures, that are alive or undead, or something. I can target a square but not an object? What use is this stupid power when I can't be allowed to do cool things with it?
The straight-jacketing of targetting, intended use, scope, and conditions to use things, which don't make sense at all and probably won't end up being balanced anyway, don't belong in a rules system where you are expected to wing it. That's the actual fun of the game. To have all the possible moves you can do pre-programmed or baked into the system, reminds me of chess. I don't want to play chess, I want to be able to improvise spitting in the enemy's eyes to distract him then knee him in the balls to cause him to lose his next action while I escape with the necronomicon. Kneeing someone in the balls would be a "power" in 4e. I'm pretty sure it is : Low slash. So why can't I just "do it" ? I saw some guy do it in a tavern, and here's a perfect opportunity to try it. I don't want "balance" to mean I need to get explicit training in every little thing, with a limit to the number of things I can learn.
Fighters getting "powers", especially if they're encounter or daily as opposed to "when you crit and cause more than 1/2 the HP in damage, you can instead knock the opponent out"-type things. I hope that's what maneuvers are like. Who knows. I just know if one guy learns a combat maneuver he should be able to teach it to the other fighter, and they should be able to trade tricks. None of this "but it won't fit in my limited memory slots for cool moves". When I did kung fu and other martial arts, I'd never forget the last form I learned because I learned a new one, and if a guest sifu from a northern shaolin style shows up for a week, we can all learn his special attack forms and not forget our main style.
The mind, well you can stuff a lot of things in there....I'd much prefer some kind of "combo" system, where you do a slash, kick the shin, elbow to the face, then head butt to knock the enemy back...so "opening move" (closing in, avoid their defense, trigger their expected riposte and feint to get through), then strike some vital targets as the main attack(s), then if everything lands well and you crit, you can do a helicopter kick "finishing move". That's WAY more interesting than just pushing the red button "finishing move". I'd rather have some contingencies to make combat more dynamic and fluid, if we're talking about a combat maneuver optional system.
Just so long as they don't call a kick to the nuts a "power", I'll be cool with that. It's not a "power", it's a bloody kick to the nads. Let's not get too semanticky up in here.