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General Tabletop Discussion
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Proposal: Replacing Half Level Bonuses
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<blockquote data-quote="Smeelbo" data-source="post: 4672939" data-attributes="member: 81898"><p>Whereas I understand your motivation <em>(I was upset by the relative lack of customization in 4E)</em>, I think it works against the design of 4E in a way that will have negative consequences.</p><p> </p><p>Let me explain. 4E is based on the premise that characters should be balanced on a linear <em>Level vs Level</em> graph. This requires that all characters scale linearly with level, which is what <em>+ 1/2 level</em> does.</p><p> </p><p>One of 3.x's main flaws was that bonuses varied so wildly, that there was a minimal correlation between <em>Level vs. Level</em>. The difference between a character that focused on one skill or attack and more rounded characters is enormous, and rises with level. This gives us three basic cases for a party in a campaign.</p><p> </p><p>1) One or two maxers and the rest rounders</p><p>2) All maxers</p><p>3) All rounders</p><p> </p><p>Assuming the DM tries to appropriately challenge the party, these cases make his job more difficult. Challenges appropriate for maxers would not be appropriate for rounders and vice versa. It would almost as if they were playing different games, because balance against them is so different.</p><p> </p><p>Worse, in all three cases, the characters would diverge as level increased. The maxers would become much better at their max, and relatively more awful at their mins. Rounders might choose to acquire new abilities instead of increasing their existing abilities, and so their effective power would not rise as fast as their level as they become more and more diverse.</p><p> </p><p>What the 4E <em>+ 1/2 x level bonus</em> accomplishes is to minimize the difference between maxers and rounders. This makes it easier for the referee to make appropriate challenges for all the characters in the party. In addition, it makes it easier in theory for <em>Hasbro</em> to publish appropriately balanced materials, whether adventures, or new classes, powers, or magic items.</p><p> </p><p>So your proposed option makes it more difficult for both players <em>(more bookkeeping)</em> and the referee <em>(harder to design appropriate challenges)</em>. Further, it is not strictly necessary, as you can already do much of the job already with feats, such as <em>Skill Focus </em>or<em> Iron Will</em>.</p><p> </p><p>If you remove <em>+ 1/2 x Level</em> for attack, and replace it with your proposed system, enough players will choose to bump attack rolls each level that the gap between maxers and rounders will render what balance exists null and void. Max attackers will choose + Level for attack, rendering the defense given in the <em>Monster Manual</em> obsolete.</p><p> </p><p>I am greatly sympathetic towards your desire for customization, as I was a great fan of 3.5, but the more I examine 4E, the more impressed I am by its design.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Smeelbo</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Smeelbo, post: 4672939, member: 81898"] Whereas I understand your motivation [I](I was upset by the relative lack of customization in 4E)[/I], I think it works against the design of 4E in a way that will have negative consequences. Let me explain. 4E is based on the premise that characters should be balanced on a linear [I]Level vs Level[/I] graph. This requires that all characters scale linearly with level, which is what [I]+ 1/2 level[/I] does. One of 3.x's main flaws was that bonuses varied so wildly, that there was a minimal correlation between [I]Level vs. Level[/I]. The difference between a character that focused on one skill or attack and more rounded characters is enormous, and rises with level. This gives us three basic cases for a party in a campaign. 1) One or two maxers and the rest rounders 2) All maxers 3) All rounders Assuming the DM tries to appropriately challenge the party, these cases make his job more difficult. Challenges appropriate for maxers would not be appropriate for rounders and vice versa. It would almost as if they were playing different games, because balance against them is so different. Worse, in all three cases, the characters would diverge as level increased. The maxers would become much better at their max, and relatively more awful at their mins. Rounders might choose to acquire new abilities instead of increasing their existing abilities, and so their effective power would not rise as fast as their level as they become more and more diverse. What the 4E [I]+ 1/2 x level bonus[/I] accomplishes is to minimize the difference between maxers and rounders. This makes it easier for the referee to make appropriate challenges for all the characters in the party. In addition, it makes it easier in theory for [I]Hasbro[/I] to publish appropriately balanced materials, whether adventures, or new classes, powers, or magic items. So your proposed option makes it more difficult for both players [I](more bookkeeping)[/I] and the referee [I](harder to design appropriate challenges)[/I]. Further, it is not strictly necessary, as you can already do much of the job already with feats, such as [I]Skill Focus [/I]or[I] Iron Will[/I]. If you remove [I]+ 1/2 x Level[/I] for attack, and replace it with your proposed system, enough players will choose to bump attack rolls each level that the gap between maxers and rounders will render what balance exists null and void. Max attackers will choose + Level for attack, rendering the defense given in the [I]Monster Manual[/I] obsolete. I am greatly sympathetic towards your desire for customization, as I was a great fan of 3.5, but the more I examine 4E, the more impressed I am by its design. [B]Smeelbo[/B] [/QUOTE]
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