L4W Discussion Thread V

stonegod · Jul 8, 2010

That appears to be the case.

renau1g · Jul 8, 2010

Yeah..barbarians got a kick in the pants with this one...

Mewness · Jul 9, 2010

The free action thing is kind of clumsy. Hopefully they'll revisit that one. And the magic missile change seems completely unnecessary to me, but then I have never cared much for D&D "icons" anyway.

(This said by a player who once did a victory lap around the room carrying a plastic mind-flayer mini that was used in my first actual battle with a mind-flayer. Ahem.)

I liked the changes overall, though. Hooray for the fightbrain!

Oni · Jul 9, 2010

I really don't think the Magic Missile change was a very appropriate use of errata. They didn't change it to fix a mechanical problem or a balance issue, they just changed it to make it different, it's not like the printed version made it into the book by mistake or something, and it's been like two years since 4e came out, such a bizarre change to make after all this time. It's gotten to the point where the original books are practically useless as reference if you want to play the game in its current incarnation.

renau1g · Jul 9, 2010

I agree with you on that Oni, especially with last updates errata to the Tiefling racial power. That's two of PHB's powers that had 0 issues changed.

Those changes should have been in essentials or in an Unearthed Arcana type supplement.

evilbob · Jul 9, 2010

Oni said:
It's gotten to the point where the original books are practically useless as reference if you want to play the game in its current incarnation.

I agree completely, except remove the word "practically". I don't purchase the books anymore. (DDI's cheaper anyway.)

This is also why I've never played in two different skill challenges that use the same rules. I've given up on understanding how those work and I just try to figure it out case-by-case. It may be the most interesting mechanic ever invented: they've hidden it so well I'll never know.

TwoHeadsBarking · Jul 9, 2010

Oni said:
It's gotten to the point where the original books are practically useless as reference if you want to play the game in its current incarnation.

While that's true for "veterans" like us, if I were new to d20, I'd hate to try to learn the rules from DDI. It would be like trying to look something up in the dictionary without knowing how to spell it. Except you also don't know what the word you're looking for is. Sure, the definition is there, but how would you find it?

evilbob · Jul 9, 2010

That's a fair point, too.

Maybe that's why they're releasing this new "essentials" product. Sort of a rules update + newbie package all in one.

Too bad you can't just download a new copy of the hardcover books each time they change 'em...