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Message: <blockquote data-quote="B.T." data-source="post: 6073096" data-attributes="member: 84465">Something that I've been pontificating on recently is the distinctiveness of abilities in contemporary D&D. I really don't want to see abilities that are slight modifications of other abilities. The 4e fighter's Precise Strike (in its original format) is something I don't want to see again: a +2 bonus on attack rolls in exchange for a little less damage. Yawn. Might as well bore me to death. A good example of an interesting power is fireball in previous editions: prior to that 3rd-level spell, there is no other way of dealing mass AOE damage, and suddenly here's a power that does a boatload of damage in a huge area. It doesn't need special rider effects on it to make it unique or interesting.As an example of this, I'm going to take a pretend power called Aimed Shot. The idea, of course, is that you're lining up a perfect shot:Go away.Better Power Example:The bonus is noticeable and almost guarantees success. However, it's still just boring math.The advantage mechanic from 5e. Rolling 2d20 instead of 1d20 increases your chances of hitting and scoring a crit. It's easier to adjudicate than piling on more math bonuses, too.Adding damage to the attack is a nice touch, I feel, because the additional two dice of damage are going to make more of an impact in the battle, and they represet hitting a soft spot of an enemy.This is how I feel a decent power should look. Now, let's talk about the action economy and whatnot. In terms of 4e, this would probably be an encounter power: 1/encounter, the ranger gets to make an aimed shot as a standard action. This feels somewhat lackluster to me. 1/encounter, the ranger (or whoever) gets to do something special with his bow. It doesn't really have a tactical element to it beyond estimating your enemy's AC and remaining hit points.A full-round action better represents the time taken to aim, I think. (Yes, I'm aware that 4e doesn't have full-round actions.) Unfortunately, for an encounter power, it's probably a little weak. I can't move and I can only use this 1/encounter? To make using this power a little better, we could always add more damage. Unfortunately, this runs the risk of unabalancing the power, and it doesn't really make the archer's combat style "feel" that different from everyone else. He gets to do his thing 1/encounter. Big whoop. Doesn't much matter. Even enemies aren't really going to care once he uses this power because it's done and gone.The reason I think that this ability works well is because it makes the archer a very dangerous foe as long as his enemies ignore him. As long as he is not engaged, his attacks are more likely to hit, and they are going to do a considerable amount of damage. Now, the one problem I have with this version of the power is that the archer can simply retreat once an enemy gets close to him. He shoots, the enemy approaches, the archer moves back, and then continues his assault. Of course, within a dungeon, this isn't such a problem, but in an open area, it might be. I would consider revising the power one step further:Obviously, that's a bit more complicated, but it introduces a more tactical conundrum: the archer has used Aimed Shot and is about to get a significant bonus to his next attack, but the enemy turns and focuses on him. Should he take the shot or retreat?Anyway, my rambling is done, so discuss.</blockquote>

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