Manbearcat
Legend
Alright, should get some mileage out of this. Lets take a look at the effectiveness and application of the various Skill Utility Powers (Skill Powers, Theme Powers, Race Powers, Class Powers, Paragon Path Powers) on the following aspects of play:
1) Skill Challenges
2) Combat Stunting
3) Combat Application
Post on the level 6 Fighter Utility Strong Focus from other thread sblocked below:
[sblock]
1) 4e is a scene-based game. The (pretty much) exclusive locus of action is the encounter (combat or non-combat). The above is an Encounter power. That means it is available every scene for the Fighter who has it.
2) Its only keyword is Martial. That means this ability is born out by the Fighter's willpower, training, and dedication to honing physical prowess. That keyword says something about the character whose acumen/career is governed by it.
3) In the fiction, the effect line's mechanics means that in the crucible of conflict, the Fighter's physical capabilities will not flag due to being bulwarked by an uncommon steely will.
4) Further, note that this descriptor is basically fully open. Application isn't narrowed by a more specific fictional trigger (such as when climbing an obstacle or making an impossible leap). Consequently, this means that once every scene at the player's discretion, the Fighter is augmented with a +2 or +3 (depending on build) to an Athletics check.
5) Further, note the action economy; Minor Action. This would be the equivalent of Bonus Action in 5e.
6) Finally, consider that the vast majority of DCs at level 6 will be Medium, or DC 15.
All of the above work to provide the player of the Fighter what is called Author Stance capability. So here are the likely uses in 4e at level 6:
a) Noncombat scene resolution (the Skill Challenge). The group is scaling a treacherous cliff face. Two scenarios.
a1) It is a Complexity 1 SC (requiring only 4 Medium successes before 3 failures). Say I present the situation such that there are Perytons that nest up in these mountains (avian predators who would love a vulnerable snack, thus telegraphing the likely prospect for a sticky situation on a micro-failure). The face is crumbling significantly and nearly sheer in one section, and much more hospitable in another (the effort to navigate a narrow, but sure-footed, ridge that spirals up to a landing that is a short hand-climb from the top). However, the former is clearly the most expeditious route. I offer the PCs the prospect of a Group Athletics Check at the hard DC (23) for 3 successes (versus 2 successes if they go the other route - Medium DC Acrobatics). Decision-point for the players. The Fighter has a +14 Athletics check (+2 from Background/Race/Theme +3 level +4 Str +5 trained). Harnessing his steely will (Strong Focus Encounter Power) will grant him a further +3, bringing the necessary roll from a 9 to a 6. Now a 70 % chance to anchor the Hard Athletics check, meaning that only 1 of the other 3 characters need to achieve DC 23 to ensure they're halfway through their climb (1/2 group needs to reach the DC for success in a Group Check)! He leads the way, showing the best hand and footholds. The group follows and they're making tremendous gains...but (after which I would change the situation with some sort of complication as the scene is still in the balance).
a2) Consider that same situation, but they went the easy route. Now they're on the landing. The Dwarven Cleric says he feels the stone calling to him. He thinks there is a passage somewhere nearby that will grant them less risky ascent to the plateau's summit (removing the exposure to Peryton attack!). Alright, let's find out. He rolls his Dungeoneering + 9 (untrained, but racial + level + Wisdom). Gets a 5 or less. Failure!
Well, he finds purchase from the exposed ascent up the cliff face! A large crack in the face is nearly obscured by boulders. The Dwarf peers in. The sound of leathery wings unfolding. The thunderous roar of a lion. They've stumbled on a Manticore's lair! The beast begins its charge from the dark out to the landing!
The Fighter declares that he is sprinting up to the field of boulders in front of the den. He is going to throw everything he has into rolling it into the mouth of the lair to prevent the Manticore from attacking them on the narrow landing, so far from the ground. Very genre appropriate. I give them the option of upping the stakes a bit with another Hard DC for 2 success rather than 1. That would mean cementing the results of the scene as victory if he is successful (thus rendering the piddly hand climb to the top a triviality...we would just transition to the top afterward). The pumped Fighter player says let's do this! His Ranger buddy declares huzzah, he'll help as well! (1 Secondary Skill @ the Easy DC, 11 in this case, allowed in a C1 SC to augment a Primary Check). He runs up and throws his back into it after the Fighter leads the way. He succeeds and grants the Fighter a +2. The Fighter steels his will and summons his aptitude for exploiting leverage born on the back of endless training and focus (uses his Encounter Power Strong Focus). +19 total. Only needs a 4 or better to "win" the scene.
b) Combat Stunting. Its Indiana Jones. You're on a long, rickety rope bridge (Difficult Terrain every few squares) which spans a chasm. Enemies are coming from both sides. The Fighter wants to sway the bridge to knock his enemies prone or perhaps knock them off. He wants to try to knock them off (which would be a Slide 2 in this case). Alright, I tell him if he can pass the High DC, I'll let him have the Slide 2. Mechanically if you "Force Movement a target into Hindering Terrain (such as off a rope bridge into a deadly fall), the targets gets a Saving Throw (10+ on a d20) to be prone in the square next to the square where he would fall instead. The Fighter tells his allies to "HOLD ON" (they wrap the ropes around their arms and squat, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom style!).
c) Various Combat Move Action Declarations such as Countermeasures (Skill Checks) to avoid Hazard effects (rushing floodwaters, quick-sand, etc), Escape a Grapple, Climb or Jump an Obstacle (etc).
I hope that makes clear how 4e's play principles ("say yes or roll the dice", "go to the action", "change the situation dynamically/fail forward"), resolution mechanics, and PC build architecture (the "tactical abilities"that have been alluded to) synergize to signal archetype, open up decision-point space for players in combat and noncombat scene resolution, and embolden players to actually make manifest within the fiction (by way of player author authorship) that signaled archetype.[/sblock]
Level 2 Skill Power:
General:
1) The above is an At-Will power. That means it is available every scene (more than once) for the PC who has it.
2) It has no keywords so source is entirely neutral. This could be a robust ledger of secrets, a series of contacts, or merely the uncanny ability to pick up bits of information through observation + social grease and the equally uncanny ability to retain it.
3) In the fiction, the trigger and effect line's mechanics mean that once you've sunk your teeth into a social setting, your savvy swells so profoundly that all manner of mysticism, from rote to forbidden/dangerous knowledge, and ancient lore is at your command.
4) Further, note that this descriptor is basically fully open. It isn't narrowed by a more specific fictional trigger (such as when things have just gone wrong; perhaps a failed check). Consequently, this means that once every urban/settlement scene, at the player's discretion, the PC's breadth of action declarations is opened up considerably. Application requires a prior Streetwise check, but most noncombat resolution in social environs opens itself up to player moves that call upon the skill.
5) Action Economy is a Free Action, as is the case with all sub Skill x for Skill y. When you consider that most augments (and this is surely an augment) are minor actions, that is no small thing for combat stunting.
6) Finally, consider that the vast majority of DCs at level 2 will be Medium, or DC 13. A Sorcerer/Bard/Cha-lock/Chaladin player committing a Utility spot to this will likely have +12ish Streetwise. That means, by mere fiat, they are positively advancing urban/settlement scenes (likely twice) via moves that leverage this skill/Utility. Rogues, Fighters, Warlords (any others where Cha is a legit secondary attribute) will enjoy a +9ish, so they merely need to roll a 4 or above.
All of the above works together to provide the Secrets of the City player both a broadening of available moves and legitimate Author Stance capability in an urban/settlement scene (likely twice). So here are the likely uses in 4e at level 2:
a) Noncombat scene resolution (the Skill Challenge). One of the PCs receives a missive from his sister. Her husband is a merchant. For the last several months he has been shaken down by a rogue faction of the Wizard conglomerate that runs the city where they reside. One day last week, out of frustration, he refused to pay the protection money. A few days ago she found him murdered in his shop. The authorities will do nothing. So the PCs aims are to locate the members of this cabal, exact revenge/mete out justice, and make things right for the PC's sister and her fatherless children. Complexity 5 SC @ L +1 (12 success, 5 secondary skills, 6 advantages, 8 moderate, 4 hard DCs). Lets go with our Fighter again and give him +10 Streetwise (Background + Trained + Cha mod 2 + level). Two scenarios. In both scenarios, the Fighter has earned some insight into the faction's infrastructure and membership by way of a Streetwise @ medium DC (needing only a 3 to hit that). Maybe via a banker who keeps track of the Residuum transactions. Perhaps via an alchemist who refines materials for Rituals. Regardless, he has created 1 success toward the challenge, changed the fiction positively, and met the prereq for Secrets of the City.
a1) We're late into the conflict (let us say 9 success and 2 failures). The PCs have just accrued their second failure in the challenge (perhaps they uncovered a Vecna influence amongst the governing Wizards and thusly tried, and failed, to gain the backing of the city's High Priest of Ioun). When they return back to the PC's sister's home, they discover that a very discrete magical sensor is in the porch rafters. The bad guys have been watching the house and clearly know the PCs' identities! But maybe this is an actual opportunity! The PC Wizard wants to try "reversing the stream" momentarily. Get a glimpse into the origin of the divination so they can locate the rogue Wizard Faction's hidden base of operations; high DC of 21. The Wizard PC has a +13 Arcana. The Fighter has learned the complex arcane passwords to bypass the classic Wizard Wards of this city. Through that knowledge, he helps the Wizard with his efforts. Streetwise as Arcana +9. Secondary Skill @ Easy DC is 9. Automatically passes so the Wizard gets a +2. Now the Wizard PC only needs a 6 or better to pass the high DC.
a2) Consider that same situation as above. However, I decide to change the situation dramatically, going for broke on the prior accrued failure by launching an immediate and severe reprisal from the Wizard cabal (L+3 encounter which would be one of the High DCs for the SC). The PC Fighter's sister and her children are a very high potential for collateral damage here, which would basically defeat the entire point of things (I'd make them Princess-build Minions with some stuff to potentially protect them and have the PCs play them). Their deaths would yield the final failure in the SC. However, the Fighter knows the infrastructure of this city like the back of his hand. Thinking quickly, he ushers their slight forms down a storm drain and into the protection of the sewer! Streetwise as History +9 vs Medium DC 13. Only needs a 4 for a Primary Skill success.
b) Combat Stunting. Arcana and has less use than Athletics (the primary stunting check), but it definitely has plenty of use both in terrain powers that are an established component of the battlefield and for spellcaster PCs who want to interact with the battlefield or perhaps subtly modify an At-Will.
So this is a city governed by Wizards. There are bound to be glyphs/obelisks/nodes of power. I would definitely include stuff like that in the encounter L+3 I'm talking about directly above. So maybe there is an Obelisk of Attraction, constructed as a means against invaders or uprisings. Whoever gets their first (good guys or bad guys) can enact the Obelisk's power. The PC Wizard rolls low initiative while the Fighter goes fairly early! However, if there are Advantages left in the SC, I'd let the PC Fighter use it (surely citing the dire nature of the situation and/or his newfound familiarity with the Wizard Conglomerate's means) to knock the high DC down to medium for the below stunt.
c) The Combat Application is fairly narrow and situation. You're talking about Action Declarations (typically Standard Actions) where the PC is using a Countermeasures (Skill Checks) to avoid Hazard or Trap effects. So you're talking about Religion to sanctify a cursed/corrupted altar or Arcana to drain the power from an eldritch machine or seal a portal to the Far Realm that is spewing out enemies/mutating mists (etc). Something like the Arcana one might come in play in the above combat if the bad guys opened a portal to their tower to allow more bad guys to spill in.
Alright. That is enough from me. I'll probably do the level 6 Athletics Skill Power Mighty Sprint (clearly my group's favorite) next. Unless someone wants to go ahead and evaluate it before me!
1) Skill Challenges
2) Combat Stunting
3) Combat Application
Post on the level 6 Fighter Utility Strong Focus from other thread sblocked below:
[sblock]
1) 4e is a scene-based game. The (pretty much) exclusive locus of action is the encounter (combat or non-combat). The above is an Encounter power. That means it is available every scene for the Fighter who has it.
2) Its only keyword is Martial. That means this ability is born out by the Fighter's willpower, training, and dedication to honing physical prowess. That keyword says something about the character whose acumen/career is governed by it.
3) In the fiction, the effect line's mechanics means that in the crucible of conflict, the Fighter's physical capabilities will not flag due to being bulwarked by an uncommon steely will.
4) Further, note that this descriptor is basically fully open. Application isn't narrowed by a more specific fictional trigger (such as when climbing an obstacle or making an impossible leap). Consequently, this means that once every scene at the player's discretion, the Fighter is augmented with a +2 or +3 (depending on build) to an Athletics check.
5) Further, note the action economy; Minor Action. This would be the equivalent of Bonus Action in 5e.
6) Finally, consider that the vast majority of DCs at level 6 will be Medium, or DC 15.
All of the above work to provide the player of the Fighter what is called Author Stance capability. So here are the likely uses in 4e at level 6:
a) Noncombat scene resolution (the Skill Challenge). The group is scaling a treacherous cliff face. Two scenarios.
a1) It is a Complexity 1 SC (requiring only 4 Medium successes before 3 failures). Say I present the situation such that there are Perytons that nest up in these mountains (avian predators who would love a vulnerable snack, thus telegraphing the likely prospect for a sticky situation on a micro-failure). The face is crumbling significantly and nearly sheer in one section, and much more hospitable in another (the effort to navigate a narrow, but sure-footed, ridge that spirals up to a landing that is a short hand-climb from the top). However, the former is clearly the most expeditious route. I offer the PCs the prospect of a Group Athletics Check at the hard DC (23) for 3 successes (versus 2 successes if they go the other route - Medium DC Acrobatics). Decision-point for the players. The Fighter has a +14 Athletics check (+2 from Background/Race/Theme +3 level +4 Str +5 trained). Harnessing his steely will (Strong Focus Encounter Power) will grant him a further +3, bringing the necessary roll from a 9 to a 6. Now a 70 % chance to anchor the Hard Athletics check, meaning that only 1 of the other 3 characters need to achieve DC 23 to ensure they're halfway through their climb (1/2 group needs to reach the DC for success in a Group Check)! He leads the way, showing the best hand and footholds. The group follows and they're making tremendous gains...but (after which I would change the situation with some sort of complication as the scene is still in the balance).
a2) Consider that same situation, but they went the easy route. Now they're on the landing. The Dwarven Cleric says he feels the stone calling to him. He thinks there is a passage somewhere nearby that will grant them less risky ascent to the plateau's summit (removing the exposure to Peryton attack!). Alright, let's find out. He rolls his Dungeoneering + 9 (untrained, but racial + level + Wisdom). Gets a 5 or less. Failure!
Well, he finds purchase from the exposed ascent up the cliff face! A large crack in the face is nearly obscured by boulders. The Dwarf peers in. The sound of leathery wings unfolding. The thunderous roar of a lion. They've stumbled on a Manticore's lair! The beast begins its charge from the dark out to the landing!
The Fighter declares that he is sprinting up to the field of boulders in front of the den. He is going to throw everything he has into rolling it into the mouth of the lair to prevent the Manticore from attacking them on the narrow landing, so far from the ground. Very genre appropriate. I give them the option of upping the stakes a bit with another Hard DC for 2 success rather than 1. That would mean cementing the results of the scene as victory if he is successful (thus rendering the piddly hand climb to the top a triviality...we would just transition to the top afterward). The pumped Fighter player says let's do this! His Ranger buddy declares huzzah, he'll help as well! (1 Secondary Skill @ the Easy DC, 11 in this case, allowed in a C1 SC to augment a Primary Check). He runs up and throws his back into it after the Fighter leads the way. He succeeds and grants the Fighter a +2. The Fighter steels his will and summons his aptitude for exploiting leverage born on the back of endless training and focus (uses his Encounter Power Strong Focus). +19 total. Only needs a 4 or better to "win" the scene.
b) Combat Stunting. Its Indiana Jones. You're on a long, rickety rope bridge (Difficult Terrain every few squares) which spans a chasm. Enemies are coming from both sides. The Fighter wants to sway the bridge to knock his enemies prone or perhaps knock them off. He wants to try to knock them off (which would be a Slide 2 in this case). Alright, I tell him if he can pass the High DC, I'll let him have the Slide 2. Mechanically if you "Force Movement a target into Hindering Terrain (such as off a rope bridge into a deadly fall), the targets gets a Saving Throw (10+ on a d20) to be prone in the square next to the square where he would fall instead. The Fighter tells his allies to "HOLD ON" (they wrap the ropes around their arms and squat, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom style!).
c) Various Combat Move Action Declarations such as Countermeasures (Skill Checks) to avoid Hazard effects (rushing floodwaters, quick-sand, etc), Escape a Grapple, Climb or Jump an Obstacle (etc).
I hope that makes clear how 4e's play principles ("say yes or roll the dice", "go to the action", "change the situation dynamically/fail forward"), resolution mechanics, and PC build architecture (the "tactical abilities"that have been alluded to) synergize to signal archetype, open up decision-point space for players in combat and noncombat scene resolution, and embolden players to actually make manifest within the fiction (by way of player author authorship) that signaled archetype.[/sblock]
Level 2 Skill Power:
General:
1) The above is an At-Will power. That means it is available every scene (more than once) for the PC who has it.
2) It has no keywords so source is entirely neutral. This could be a robust ledger of secrets, a series of contacts, or merely the uncanny ability to pick up bits of information through observation + social grease and the equally uncanny ability to retain it.
3) In the fiction, the trigger and effect line's mechanics mean that once you've sunk your teeth into a social setting, your savvy swells so profoundly that all manner of mysticism, from rote to forbidden/dangerous knowledge, and ancient lore is at your command.
4) Further, note that this descriptor is basically fully open. It isn't narrowed by a more specific fictional trigger (such as when things have just gone wrong; perhaps a failed check). Consequently, this means that once every urban/settlement scene, at the player's discretion, the PC's breadth of action declarations is opened up considerably. Application requires a prior Streetwise check, but most noncombat resolution in social environs opens itself up to player moves that call upon the skill.
5) Action Economy is a Free Action, as is the case with all sub Skill x for Skill y. When you consider that most augments (and this is surely an augment) are minor actions, that is no small thing for combat stunting.
6) Finally, consider that the vast majority of DCs at level 2 will be Medium, or DC 13. A Sorcerer/Bard/Cha-lock/Chaladin player committing a Utility spot to this will likely have +12ish Streetwise. That means, by mere fiat, they are positively advancing urban/settlement scenes (likely twice) via moves that leverage this skill/Utility. Rogues, Fighters, Warlords (any others where Cha is a legit secondary attribute) will enjoy a +9ish, so they merely need to roll a 4 or above.
All of the above works together to provide the Secrets of the City player both a broadening of available moves and legitimate Author Stance capability in an urban/settlement scene (likely twice). So here are the likely uses in 4e at level 2:
a) Noncombat scene resolution (the Skill Challenge). One of the PCs receives a missive from his sister. Her husband is a merchant. For the last several months he has been shaken down by a rogue faction of the Wizard conglomerate that runs the city where they reside. One day last week, out of frustration, he refused to pay the protection money. A few days ago she found him murdered in his shop. The authorities will do nothing. So the PCs aims are to locate the members of this cabal, exact revenge/mete out justice, and make things right for the PC's sister and her fatherless children. Complexity 5 SC @ L +1 (12 success, 5 secondary skills, 6 advantages, 8 moderate, 4 hard DCs). Lets go with our Fighter again and give him +10 Streetwise (Background + Trained + Cha mod 2 + level). Two scenarios. In both scenarios, the Fighter has earned some insight into the faction's infrastructure and membership by way of a Streetwise @ medium DC (needing only a 3 to hit that). Maybe via a banker who keeps track of the Residuum transactions. Perhaps via an alchemist who refines materials for Rituals. Regardless, he has created 1 success toward the challenge, changed the fiction positively, and met the prereq for Secrets of the City.
a1) We're late into the conflict (let us say 9 success and 2 failures). The PCs have just accrued their second failure in the challenge (perhaps they uncovered a Vecna influence amongst the governing Wizards and thusly tried, and failed, to gain the backing of the city's High Priest of Ioun). When they return back to the PC's sister's home, they discover that a very discrete magical sensor is in the porch rafters. The bad guys have been watching the house and clearly know the PCs' identities! But maybe this is an actual opportunity! The PC Wizard wants to try "reversing the stream" momentarily. Get a glimpse into the origin of the divination so they can locate the rogue Wizard Faction's hidden base of operations; high DC of 21. The Wizard PC has a +13 Arcana. The Fighter has learned the complex arcane passwords to bypass the classic Wizard Wards of this city. Through that knowledge, he helps the Wizard with his efforts. Streetwise as Arcana +9. Secondary Skill @ Easy DC is 9. Automatically passes so the Wizard gets a +2. Now the Wizard PC only needs a 6 or better to pass the high DC.
a2) Consider that same situation as above. However, I decide to change the situation dramatically, going for broke on the prior accrued failure by launching an immediate and severe reprisal from the Wizard cabal (L+3 encounter which would be one of the High DCs for the SC). The PC Fighter's sister and her children are a very high potential for collateral damage here, which would basically defeat the entire point of things (I'd make them Princess-build Minions with some stuff to potentially protect them and have the PCs play them). Their deaths would yield the final failure in the SC. However, the Fighter knows the infrastructure of this city like the back of his hand. Thinking quickly, he ushers their slight forms down a storm drain and into the protection of the sewer! Streetwise as History +9 vs Medium DC 13. Only needs a 4 for a Primary Skill success.
b) Combat Stunting. Arcana and has less use than Athletics (the primary stunting check), but it definitely has plenty of use both in terrain powers that are an established component of the battlefield and for spellcaster PCs who want to interact with the battlefield or perhaps subtly modify an At-Will.
So this is a city governed by Wizards. There are bound to be glyphs/obelisks/nodes of power. I would definitely include stuff like that in the encounter L+3 I'm talking about directly above. So maybe there is an Obelisk of Attraction, constructed as a means against invaders or uprisings. Whoever gets their first (good guys or bad guys) can enact the Obelisk's power. The PC Wizard rolls low initiative while the Fighter goes fairly early! However, if there are Advantages left in the SC, I'd let the PC Fighter use it (surely citing the dire nature of the situation and/or his newfound familiarity with the Wizard Conglomerate's means) to knock the high DC down to medium for the below stunt.
c) The Combat Application is fairly narrow and situation. You're talking about Action Declarations (typically Standard Actions) where the PC is using a Countermeasures (Skill Checks) to avoid Hazard or Trap effects. So you're talking about Religion to sanctify a cursed/corrupted altar or Arcana to drain the power from an eldritch machine or seal a portal to the Far Realm that is spewing out enemies/mutating mists (etc). Something like the Arcana one might come in play in the above combat if the bad guys opened a portal to their tower to allow more bad guys to spill in.
Alright. That is enough from me. I'll probably do the level 6 Athletics Skill Power Mighty Sprint (clearly my group's favorite) next. Unless someone wants to go ahead and evaluate it before me!
