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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hellcow" data-source="post: 4123100" data-attributes="member: 15800">I see your point. But as I said before, people AREN'T equally good at all things. You're never forced to choose between a combat ability and a noncombat ability. But you ARE forced to choose between two combat abilities, and between two noncombat abilities. As a rogue, it's not just a matter of "stabby" and "bashy" (in the sense of fire and ice damage); it's more about force and sheer damage vs finesse and trickery. Beyond that, as a rogue, just look at the skills and you'll see the choices you need to make. Are you the con artist, focusing on Insight, Bluff, and Streetwise? The cat burglar, focusing on Athletics, Acrobatics, and Stealth? This isn't just a matter of skills; there may be powers that tie to these things as well, allowing you to truly excel at a particular skill. And this is true of all classes. Some utility powers are aimed at combat; others are aimed at noncombat challenges, because noncombat challenges are integrated more strongly into the action.  Looking to my playtest parties, I have a warlock who's developed himself as a shady, fast-talking archaeologist; a wizard who is most definitely an expert scholar; and in the other group, a warlord who is an expert historian because of his interest in the empire of his goblinoid ancestors. And these people ARE the best at these particular skills, because of the decisions they've made. So don't assume that all characters are identical, even within a particular class; there's a lot of ways to individualize characters, and a lot of ways to develop a particular idea. Again, do I think this means you'll prefer it to 3E? Not especially, given the other preferences you've expressed. But I think you'll find that there's a lot more choices to make than you may think. It's certainly far deeper than "fire or ice".</blockquote>

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