Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is This How it is Supposed to Be?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 6130964" data-attributes="member: 72555"><p>Damage per Second is a problem with some 4e builds. One way to approach 4e characters is to build up effectiveness per round, while neglecting effectiveness per second.</p><p></p><p>Many low-damage effects, condition tracking, and the like all increase bookkeeping.</p><p></p><p>On top of this, the DM has to really be on the ball to keep the game going along. The DM has to move creatures instantly without looking for advantage, has to know every effect like the back of their hand, and has to have a system for keeping track of monster HP/defences/status that doesn't take time -- a slow DM can easily double each player's turn, and then take three times as long themselves for the Monster's turn, as they have to record and add up damage and effects on monsters.</p><p></p><p>I say "don't look for advantage" as the DM because, if you want to challenge the players you can just use tougher or deadlier monsters.</p><p></p><p>Having characters that are optimized both for damage per round and damage per second is also key. And having players understand that their goal is to finish their turn in the least amount of time possible...</p><p></p><p>As an example, you can have everyone use power cards, cut into individual squares. If you have your standard action power card alone, face up, in front of you when your turn happens, give the player a +1 to attack (or, if generous, a +1d4). If you prefer to be cruel, say that if you don't have your standard action power card alone, face up, in front of you when your turn starts you have to use your designated default at-will (unaugmented) power, and reserve the +1d4 die to hit to attacks that occur in the first minute of your turn (use a chess timer or something).</p><p></p><p>You'll be amazed at how fast combats start to fly.</p><p></p><p>If your players are relatively low op, and find that challenging combats take too many rounds, halve monster HP and boost non-minion monster counts by 50% (ie, increase the XP budget by 50%) while using only MM3 and MV monsters.</p><p></p><p>On the player side, you can concentrate on building characters with high DPR and high DPS (damage per round and damage per second). Status effects are fun and effective, but they don't end combat any faster.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="NotAYakk, post: 6130964, member: 72555"] Damage per Second is a problem with some 4e builds. One way to approach 4e characters is to build up effectiveness per round, while neglecting effectiveness per second. Many low-damage effects, condition tracking, and the like all increase bookkeeping. On top of this, the DM has to really be on the ball to keep the game going along. The DM has to move creatures instantly without looking for advantage, has to know every effect like the back of their hand, and has to have a system for keeping track of monster HP/defences/status that doesn't take time -- a slow DM can easily double each player's turn, and then take three times as long themselves for the Monster's turn, as they have to record and add up damage and effects on monsters. I say "don't look for advantage" as the DM because, if you want to challenge the players you can just use tougher or deadlier monsters. Having characters that are optimized both for damage per round and damage per second is also key. And having players understand that their goal is to finish their turn in the least amount of time possible... As an example, you can have everyone use power cards, cut into individual squares. If you have your standard action power card alone, face up, in front of you when your turn happens, give the player a +1 to attack (or, if generous, a +1d4). If you prefer to be cruel, say that if you don't have your standard action power card alone, face up, in front of you when your turn starts you have to use your designated default at-will (unaugmented) power, and reserve the +1d4 die to hit to attacks that occur in the first minute of your turn (use a chess timer or something). You'll be amazed at how fast combats start to fly. If your players are relatively low op, and find that challenging combats take too many rounds, halve monster HP and boost non-minion monster counts by 50% (ie, increase the XP budget by 50%) while using only MM3 and MV monsters. On the player side, you can concentrate on building characters with high DPR and high DPS (damage per round and damage per second). Status effects are fun and effective, but they don't end combat any faster. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is This How it is Supposed to Be?
Top