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<blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 5436984" data-attributes="member: 52734">Well, I stating they weren't standardized (the C1 uses a bell-curve check, the S2 uses a linear check) and I don't actually remember ability checks as skill checks being discussed in the 1E DMG or PHB (again, don't have my books with me - if someone knows, just point me to it).&nbsp; Third, back in the day, players were rewarded if the wizard/cleric/druid had memorized &quot;just the right spell&quot; for the situation - using up a precious spell slot for a jump spell or a fly spell would have allowed someone to easily clear either obstacle*.&nbsp; Nowadays, with individual character resources much expanded (i.e., more abilities, powers, items, spells, etc.) it has become the norm to punish having an &quot;I win button&quot; or prevent the use of an oft-available resource from constantly dominating play. For ex., if you have 5 different &quot;encounters&quot; in one day, and you can only use Finger of Death in one of them, it doesn't break the game as when you can do it every encounter, every day.&nbsp; This was a big problem in 3E - moreso with noncombat spells actually, stemming from the fact that restrictions on spellcaster powers were greatly relaxed.&nbsp; 4E tried overcompensate by scaling back the power and splitting the troublesome noncombat stuff out to rituals and making it cost money and time to retard their use.&nbsp; I personally feel this was the wrong way to go about it, but WotC has seemingly abandoned the premise of drawbacks of any type, as has most of the current fanbase.* of course, it probably would have only given one person a free pass, and more often than not the cavaet of &quot;don't split the party, you don't know who is waiting for you on the other side&quot; would get the lone individual into deeper trouble)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Stormonu, post: 5436984, member: 52734"] Well, I stating they weren't standardized (the C1 uses a bell-curve check, the S2 uses a linear check) and I don't actually remember ability checks as skill checks being discussed in the 1E DMG or PHB (again, don't have my books with me - if someone knows, just point me to it). Third, back in the day, players were rewarded if the wizard/cleric/druid had memorized "just the right spell" for the situation - using up a precious spell slot for a jump spell or a fly spell would have allowed someone to easily clear either obstacle*. Nowadays, with individual character resources much expanded (i.e., more abilities, powers, items, spells, etc.) it has become the norm to punish having an "I win button" or prevent the use of an oft-available resource from constantly dominating play. For ex., if you have 5 different "encounters" in one day, and you can only use Finger of Death in one of them, it doesn't break the game as when you can do it every encounter, every day. This was a big problem in 3E - moreso with noncombat spells actually, stemming from the fact that restrictions on spellcaster powers were greatly relaxed. 4E tried overcompensate by scaling back the power and splitting the troublesome noncombat stuff out to rituals and making it cost money and time to retard their use. I personally feel this was the wrong way to go about it, but WotC has seemingly abandoned the premise of drawbacks of any type, as has most of the current fanbase. * of course, it probably would have only given one person a free pass, and more often than not the cavaet of "don't split the party, you don't know who is waiting for you on the other side" would get the lone individual into deeper trouble) [/QUOTE]

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