D&D 4E Rob Heinsoo on 4E PHB

[UngeheuerLich]

why not scale powers with level? it seems easier an more space saving than listing them as different powers

 

[Keenath]

I don't know who you play with, but this is Gospel Truth. D&D players, by and large, *don't* wanna share. DMs, myself included, are an untrustworthy lot.

Ugh, QFT. I don't know about myself being untrustworthy, but one of my players likes to use books as coasters for his drink and dog-ear pages to keep track of important spots. There's no way I'm lending him my brand-new PHB!

So, new Powers replace old ones. I can see why that is.

Now, my question: Would it break the foundations of the earth if you house ruled that you still kept your old powers?

You would have an ever increasing list of powers, for those who don't like the idea of losing them through replacement, and you're still limited in your actions a round. I can see your power increasing this way, though. Maybe limit the number of Daily powers?

I think you've misunderstood what he said.

He said that sometimes you will pick a new power that's essentially an upgrade of a previous power, and when you do that, you'll want to go trade out the old one. The trade is purely voluntary.

For example, suppose you had a 2nd level power that did 2[w] damage and made the target take a -2 on all his defenses until the end of his next turn. Later you get a new 6th level power that deals 3[w] and the target takes a -4 on his defenses.

When you get that new power, you should then take advantage of whatever retraining or ability swapping is available to trade out your old 2[w] attack for a different 2nd level power -- perhaps one that you passed over before because the damage and defense-breaking was more valuable, but you now have room to put into your power list.

why not scale powers with level? it seems easier an more space saving than listing them as different powers

Well, the earlier power may not offer the same benefits. It could be that the new power deals the same damage but has an added effect -- if you had a plain 2[w] power and your new one deals 2[w] plus debuff or something that's not in the original.

Anyway, I think it's more clear to have a newer, higher level power than to have an older power that says, "At this level add thus and such; at that level add thus and such" -- that'd be a huge pain to keep track of. You want the powers to be pretty clear in what they do.

 

[Verys Arkon]

My bet is that the dead levels are the levels where you pick an ability from your paragon path.

Or perhaps those are the levels you get a feat instead of a power, similar to Saga's alternating Feat and Talent progression? Since you get a feat every other level, it could explain why there is no level 12 or 14 Wizard power? Other dead levels could be for the paragon path, like level 11?

 

[Brown Jenkin]

why not scale powers with level? it seems easier an more space saving than listing them as different powers

Because it is not fun to not get a power.

 

[Piratecat]

Because it is not fun to not get a power.

I'd phrase this as "getting powers is fun."

It sure is in 3e, at least. I don't know a lot of people who like dead levels. *shrug*