WalterKovacs
First Post
A lot of ritual complaints comes down to style of play. If the PCs are proactive (trying to solve a mystery, find an object, track down a badguy, planning a heist, etc) than rituals can come in very handy. If they have some information about their target, they can use that, and a ritual, to gain further tactical advantage. However, in some parties, they are reactionary. They don't know ahead of time what kinds of rituals they'll need so they either over prepare (getting tons of rituals into their ritual book and lug around a bunch of material components, most of which they never end up using, which in turn makes them dislike ritual casting) or they under prepare (not knowing what to get, they bring only the essentials, if that, or just spend the money on magical items they know they will use). Certain rituals are great for ambushing enemies or setting up a great place for a fight ... however in many groups it's extremely rare that the PCs are the ones that will have the fight come to then ... more often, they are going to the fight, and the enemies are already there. Just like some of the lair based magic items ... they would be cool to use, but they require a campaign where the PCs are waiting for the fight to come to them. It can happen, but that seems to be a rarity amongst adventure/campaign types.
Heck, some parties rarely encounter locked doors ... the "solved in a single check" types of locks and tracks being replaced by mini-skill challenges or puzzles, etc. I've seen thievery more often used in trying to disable traps than pick locks, especially as most traps require multiple tries vs. a single check for a lock.
The old "wizard's knock makes rogue useless" complaint was, in part, because the rogue was already giving up combat effectiveness in exchange for more skills ... and when those skills are easily replicated by a wizard, who also got combat effectiveness as part of the package, it was pretty annoying. [Of course, that's why, as a rogue, I'd always max out my use magic device skill ... I can buy and use wands too]
With 4e, the rogue doesn't have to overcompensate out of combat to make up for being less than optimal in combat.
Heck, some parties rarely encounter locked doors ... the "solved in a single check" types of locks and tracks being replaced by mini-skill challenges or puzzles, etc. I've seen thievery more often used in trying to disable traps than pick locks, especially as most traps require multiple tries vs. a single check for a lock.
The old "wizard's knock makes rogue useless" complaint was, in part, because the rogue was already giving up combat effectiveness in exchange for more skills ... and when those skills are easily replicated by a wizard, who also got combat effectiveness as part of the package, it was pretty annoying. [Of course, that's why, as a rogue, I'd always max out my use magic device skill ... I can buy and use wands too]
With 4e, the rogue doesn't have to overcompensate out of combat to make up for being less than optimal in combat.