Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Lacyon" data-source="post: 4571294" data-attributes="member: 63046">I think there are some that a DM can do to alleviate this within the system.&nbsp;Background: I've read complaints (here and elsewhere) about fights dragging on past their welcome in 4E. I've also read complaints to the effect of Defenders being boring or unsexy, because their bonus damage (either Divine Challenge or Combat Challenge attacks, OAs, and other things) rarely come into play. And now we have complaints that Defenders are screwing things up by running out of surges too quickly relative to other characters.&nbsp;All of these complaints hint at a similar root cause: the DM is playing conservatively with his monsters. Move them around the battlefield, risking OAs and trying to spread their attacks around more often. You should find that combats pass more quickly. Defenders gain some &quot;sexiness&quot; because they get some extra attacks. And Fighters won't be the guy who runs out of surges first and demand rest.&nbsp;(Of course, this kind of thing is on a continuum. Do it too often and you'll get the problem in reverse, where the monsters just get shredded and everybody but the fighter is running ragged. Best to mix it up a bit - it's okay for the Fighter to sometimes be the guy who runs out first.)&nbsp;If these aren't sufficient for your needs (i.e., you really want to up the number of encounters in a &quot;day&quot;), you can always give out more healing surges, either flat out or as a bonus reward for completing certain goals. You can adjust the time requirements on extended rests, introduce mechanisms to recharge daily powers, or do any number of other things. The big advantage 4E has in this realm is that you can easily do this without losing class-balance - everyone can benefit from these kinds of recharges instead of just casters. You just have to tweak the numbers to match what you want.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lacyon, post: 4571294, member: 63046"] I think there are some that a DM can do to alleviate this within the system. Background: I've read complaints (here and elsewhere) about fights dragging on past their welcome in 4E. I've also read complaints to the effect of Defenders being boring or unsexy, because their bonus damage (either Divine Challenge or Combat Challenge attacks, OAs, and other things) rarely come into play. And now we have complaints that Defenders are screwing things up by running out of surges too quickly relative to other characters. All of these complaints hint at a similar root cause: the DM is playing conservatively with his monsters. Move them around the battlefield, risking OAs and trying to spread their attacks around more often. You should find that combats pass more quickly. Defenders gain some "sexiness" because they get some extra attacks. And Fighters won't be the guy who runs out of surges first and demand rest. (Of course, this kind of thing is on a continuum. Do it too often and you'll get the problem in reverse, where the monsters just get shredded and everybody [I]but[/I] the fighter is running ragged. Best to mix it up a bit - it's okay for the Fighter to [I]sometimes[/I] be the guy who runs out first.) If these aren't sufficient for your needs (i.e., you really want to up the number of encounters in a "day"), you can always give out more healing surges, either flat out or as a bonus reward for completing certain goals. You can adjust the time requirements on extended rests, introduce mechanisms to recharge daily powers, or do any number of other things. The big advantage 4E has in this realm is that you can easily do this without losing class-balance - everyone can benefit from these kinds of recharges instead of just casters. You just have to tweak the numbers to match what you want. [/QUOTE]

Verification