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MM excerpt: phane
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<blockquote data-quote="Majoru Oakheart" data-source="post: 4176666" data-attributes="member: 5143"><p>I'm not saying it can't do that. I'm saying that you likely won't see published monsters that rely on that as mechanics. Sure, it's really easy to say "give me your character sheets, I'm now using copies of you as characters." It just is more complicated to run a PC, even a first level one than it is to run a monster. And that is on purpose.</p><p></p><p>Take for example monster stats everyone has seen so I can talk about them, the Black Dragon who is 4th level.</p><p></p><p>He has darkness, breath weapon, bite, claw, double claw, fear, and bloodied breath.</p><p></p><p>The premade PCs that have been released have Basic Melee, Basic Ranged, 2 at will powers, 2 encounter powers, and a daily power. Plus 1 or 2 class abilities and possibly a racial power and the use of 1 or 2 magic item powers. And all of that is just at first level.</p><p></p><p>Keep in mind, that the dragon is a solo monster and has many more abilities than the average creature because it needs to be more interesting since it is the only monster in the encounter.</p><p></p><p>For instance, the Halfling Paladin can:</p><p>-attack with +6 to hit AC and do 1d6+3 and gain 3 temporary hitpoints</p><p>-attack with +5 to hit AC for 1d6+2 damage(or 1d6+5 against a marked target)</p><p>-mark a target as a minor action</p><p>-heal someone within melee range as a minor action 3 times per day</p><p>-give an ally an immediate saving throw with +3 as a minor action OR give himself +2 damage this round as a minor action but not both during the same combat</p><p>-reroll an attack roll against him an an immediate action</p><p>-attack with +6 to hit AC for 2d6+3 and give an ally +3 to their ac for one round (once per encounter)</p><p>-attack with +3 vs Will for 3d8+3 (half damage on a miss) and the enemy takes 1d8 damage on any round he makes an attack(half if the original attack missed) (only once per day)</p><p>-attack as a basic attack with +5 to hit AC for 1d6+2 with his shortsword</p><p>-attack as a basic ranged attack with +3 to hit AC for 1d6+2 with his throwing hammer which has a range of 10/20.</p><p></p><p>Also, keep in mind that he has a +5 bonus to save against fear and +2 to his AC against OAs and +2 to his AC if he is adjacent to two larger enemies.</p><p></p><p>Which one of the above powers is his "best"? Is it better to mark someone this round or give the bonus save to an ally? What about healing? Is it better to gain temporary hitpoints and do less damage or more damage without the hitpoints? Is it best to use the encounter ability now or will an ally need the bonus to AC more next round when they might be hit by more enemies?</p><p></p><p>Compare that to the Skeleton Warrior. It has 2 powers: Attack(and mark the enemy), and get pluses to hit and damage on OAs. You know what it is going to do every round: attack enemies and try to position itself so that PCs have to provoke OAs to move past it to get at its allies.</p><p></p><p>That's the design philosophy of 4e: make the monster so simple that even if you open the book to the page with the monster on it for the first time 30 seconds before you roll for init you'll be able to understand how to run it. The same can't be said for the above paladin.</p><p></p><p>I'm also saying that there is a better way, mechanically, to design a "mirror universe" PC in 4e. Although I can't say how it works and it may not satisfy some people.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Majoru Oakheart, post: 4176666, member: 5143"] I'm not saying it can't do that. I'm saying that you likely won't see published monsters that rely on that as mechanics. Sure, it's really easy to say "give me your character sheets, I'm now using copies of you as characters." It just is more complicated to run a PC, even a first level one than it is to run a monster. And that is on purpose. Take for example monster stats everyone has seen so I can talk about them, the Black Dragon who is 4th level. He has darkness, breath weapon, bite, claw, double claw, fear, and bloodied breath. The premade PCs that have been released have Basic Melee, Basic Ranged, 2 at will powers, 2 encounter powers, and a daily power. Plus 1 or 2 class abilities and possibly a racial power and the use of 1 or 2 magic item powers. And all of that is just at first level. Keep in mind, that the dragon is a solo monster and has many more abilities than the average creature because it needs to be more interesting since it is the only monster in the encounter. For instance, the Halfling Paladin can: -attack with +6 to hit AC and do 1d6+3 and gain 3 temporary hitpoints -attack with +5 to hit AC for 1d6+2 damage(or 1d6+5 against a marked target) -mark a target as a minor action -heal someone within melee range as a minor action 3 times per day -give an ally an immediate saving throw with +3 as a minor action OR give himself +2 damage this round as a minor action but not both during the same combat -reroll an attack roll against him an an immediate action -attack with +6 to hit AC for 2d6+3 and give an ally +3 to their ac for one round (once per encounter) -attack with +3 vs Will for 3d8+3 (half damage on a miss) and the enemy takes 1d8 damage on any round he makes an attack(half if the original attack missed) (only once per day) -attack as a basic attack with +5 to hit AC for 1d6+2 with his shortsword -attack as a basic ranged attack with +3 to hit AC for 1d6+2 with his throwing hammer which has a range of 10/20. Also, keep in mind that he has a +5 bonus to save against fear and +2 to his AC against OAs and +2 to his AC if he is adjacent to two larger enemies. Which one of the above powers is his "best"? Is it better to mark someone this round or give the bonus save to an ally? What about healing? Is it better to gain temporary hitpoints and do less damage or more damage without the hitpoints? Is it best to use the encounter ability now or will an ally need the bonus to AC more next round when they might be hit by more enemies? Compare that to the Skeleton Warrior. It has 2 powers: Attack(and mark the enemy), and get pluses to hit and damage on OAs. You know what it is going to do every round: attack enemies and try to position itself so that PCs have to provoke OAs to move past it to get at its allies. That's the design philosophy of 4e: make the monster so simple that even if you open the book to the page with the monster on it for the first time 30 seconds before you roll for init you'll be able to understand how to run it. The same can't be said for the above paladin. I'm also saying that there is a better way, mechanically, to design a "mirror universe" PC in 4e. Although I can't say how it works and it may not satisfy some people. [/QUOTE]
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