Kobold Skirmisher

[hong]

I'm not entirely sure that this isn't done for convenience for the delve.

The 6th level minion only has 10 hp, so it's conceivable that 1st level minions don't have hp.

 

[Peter LaCara]

I'm not entirely sure that this isn't done for convenience for the delve.

I don't know why that would be. I mean, it's not significantly harder to write or run "HP 5" on a character sheet than "Dies in one hit." What's nice about doing it this way is that it scales. Those Legion Devil minions the Pit Fiend spawns? Those die in one hit, too. Granted, their defenses and damage are going to be way higher and they're going to have synergies that play off of other devils, but the theory is the same.

There's lots of fun things you can do with this mechanic, too. If you want to model Smaug, or some other extremely highly defended thing that has a single weak point, you could throw the PCs against a minion 10 levels higher than them. That'd be an interesting fight for a change of pace.

 

[Peter LaCara]

The 6th level minion only has 10 hp, so it's conceivable that 1st level minions don't have hp.

Wait, which 6th level minion?

 

[Primal]

I guess I have a problem with:
Paladin:"I use Lay On Hands to heal that idiot kobold torchbearer. Again."
DM:"Doesn't work, he has no Surges."

Maybe this is an edge case which doesn't come up much. If it's the only situation where there's something "missing" from monsters which makes PC/NPC interaction problematic, I can probably live with it. If it's one case of many...

(It wouldn't surprise me if there's something like 'monsters have 1 surge per three levels' or the like...)

(This issue also applies to non-combat NPCs. Can the village priest heal? Can the PC cleric save the dying bartender?)

What I want to know is that can you use/trigger Healing Surges outside combat? Imagine, for example, how PCs encounter a dying NPC that the group's Paladin or Cleric wants to heal.

Paladin: "I'll use my Lay on Hands to heal him!"
DM: "Uh, you can't -- you can only do that in combat."
Paladin: "Err... okay, I'll draw my sword and take a swing at Bob the fighter!"
Fighter: "Hey, don't use any At-Will powers... just make a normal attack and trigger the Surge on that poor bastard."
DM: "... um ... okay, roll for initiative."

 

[hong]

Wait, which 6th level minion?

Critical Hits has some more monster stats from the Dungeons of Dread DDM expansion:

http://www.critical-hits.com/2008/02/29/want-to-play-4e-dd-tonight/

The vampire spawn is a 6th level brute minion with AC 18, Fort 15, Ref 16, Will 15, and 10 hp.

 

[The Little Raven]

What I want to know is that can you use/trigger Healing Surges outside combat?

Yes. The primer says that during a short rest, you can use as many healing surges as you need to recover as much as you want (up to your daily limit).

Your NPC situation would probably be just fine, and count as an encounter because encounters don't always mean combat.

 

[Primal]

What I'm really seeing here is that the combat rules bear more resemblance to DDM than 3E. For example, I don't like the fact that all monsters have one or two *unique* abilities that are inherently linked to its "role" in combat (e.g. that bugbear "strangler's" weird 'Meat Shield'-ability). In a gamist system it creates awkward situations in which NPCs and monsters are overly simplistic with one or two "special" abilities that the PCs cannot ever learn, and vice versa (unless the NPCs take 'heroic' character levels, of course). Like some others, I'd my monsters to have a role outside combat, in the setting, and the stat block should reflect that, too.

Moreover, I see the game divided into two essential functions: highly complex combat sequences that bear more resemblance to board games than RPGs and in which you are *required* to be tactically "savvy" to "win" against DM (this was also noted in one of the playtest reviews -- the DM *has* to try his best to compete against PCs). I don't see this encouraging role-playing in combat. If anything, I could see meta-gaming becoming even *more* emphasized during combat as everyone is trying to "outwit" the DM.

I'm not against everyone getting their "primary" ability modifier to attack and damage -- we have even house-ruled that wizards have to succeed in INT check (DC 15) to aim spells in certain circumstances (e.g. during a chaotic melee). Yet if everyone is able to do more or less the same amount of damage in combat, why create a list of 1000+ or so Talents/Feats/Class Powers? In the end, wouldn't it be easier to create them "on the fly" by picking some stuff from the list (e.g. "I want to inflict an extra +D6 and shift the kobold one square, and both of them are allowed on level 1")? This would also encourage more role-playing in combat, as the players describe how the "stunt" actually works, and it would let them be more innovative and improvise. Anyway, that's how I see it.

Then there's the 'non-combat' stuff which is apparently pretty well-designed are more to my taste (e.g. those "big vs. small intent" social rules in DMG). Yet I'm a bit hesitant about NPCs being mechanically treated like this: "Armorsmith Ortros - can create any metal armor up to Chain Mail. His stuff is of good quality, but not exceptional." How would Ortros defend himself in combat? What if one of the PCs wants to compete in a Armorsmithing check with him? How does his ability translate into the mechanics?

 

[Primal]

Yes. The primer says that during a short rest, you can use as many healing surges as you need to recover as much as you want (up to your daily limit).

Your NPC situation would probably be just fine, and count as an encounter because encounters don't always mean combat.

That's good to know. I hope they also "fix" the Dying rules so that nobody starts to attack their "hovering" buddies in hope that they'd roll a natural 20 and jump back into the fight. :\

 

[Gimby]

That's good to know. I hope they also "fix" the Dying rules so that nobody starts to attack their "hovering" buddies in hope that they'd roll a natural 20 and jump back into the fight. :\

That's already addressed in the way the dying rules work - it turns out that the "recover 1/4 of your hit points" part was the 3e translation of "able to trigger a healing surge". It still costs you a resource to get the healing and you can freely spend those surges out of combat anyway, so I don't see this problem arising.

 

[med stud]

That's good to know. I hope they also "fix" the Dying rules so that nobody starts to attack their "hovering" buddies in hope that they'd roll a natural 20 and jump back into the fight. :\

That tactic just sucks. In a dangerous situation, relying on 5% odds to get 1/4 of your HP is just plain worthless.