D&D 4E Possible houserule for mini-less 4e combat

[Dragonblade]

Nice system, Dragonblade. I like its simplicity.

One additional use of TPs springs to mind. If a character or monster wishes to use environmental features against an opponent they need to pay for it. Knocking a goblin into a nearby bonfire with Tide of Iron might cost 2 TPs, for example.

Thanks!

Thats a great idea, too! One of the reasons I wanted to post it was to get feedback on costing and other possible things you could spend TPs on. My goal was to create a system that dovetailed nicely with the existing rules and was fairly intuitive and easy to use.

I ran a lot of sandbox 1e and 2e games years ago when I was much younger and even though I love 4e's design, I do find it that I spend a lot of time prepping encounters in advance and I wanted to find a way to get back to running quick on the fly combats but still allows movement powers to grant some advantage but without being too good or too complicated.

 

[Dragonblade]

10Tps is ludicrously expensive for a scenario that basically boils down to "if there are 2 of you and one of him, you can flank".

That might be oversimplifying, but not by much: a team that wants CA can get it with relative ease. The 10TP figure you suggest would make rogues practically worthless in a fight.

In fact, the amount that it costs to get CA will probably end up being so low as to make it not worth tracking TP.

That's a very valid point. Obviously, this wouldn't replace DM common sense. Mostly my concern was party locking down a monster with say a paladin, and then the PCs all burning move actions to build up lots of TPs quickly while drawing OAs. Which if the monster takes then they get hurt by the paladin's mark.

Although such a tactic could be considered a feature and not a bug!

You could lower the TP cost to gain combat advantage but then could run into a scenario where its too easy to gain combat advantage. How many PCs should be able to get CA in a round? A lot of powers key off combat advantage and it does provide a nice +2 to hit. Maybe the cost should be cheaper if it makes combat more exciting and faster. Thoughts?

Or another solution would be to cap the number of TP's a character can earn in a round and then lower the cost of getting combat advantage. I haven't really had a chance to playtest extensively so feedback is welcome!

 

[Dragonblade]

The core system seems simple and elegant. I agree with others that the number may need to be tweaked a bit...as they often do, but the core foundation looks like a good start.

Thanks! That means a lot coming from you, Stalker0! I'm a big fan of your posts and the way you deconstruct the rules.