D&D 4E Stunting in 4E

[Prophet2b]

I thought auto-scaling seemed kind of silly, too. And in some cases I think it may be. But in others, I'm not so sure. Take their example of knocking someone into a brazier. I think that the higher DC for being level 7 makes a certain amount of sense if the enemy is also that level. He is (conceivably) more experienced at fighting and possibly better able to avoid the attack.

However, for more "static" events (climbing, swimming, doing stunts off of a wall, etc.) with no enemy around, then I wouldn't necessarily scale the DC.

Also, if the enemy was lower level, then I would probably scale the DC according to the enemy, not the player.

I get the impression that this isn't WotC's intent for this table, but it's what I think (personally) makes the most sense.

 

[JesterOC]

the auto-scaling of DCs by party level (DMG p.42) seems really silly.

Not to me, the DC's are a tool for the DM to determine what represents a challenge for the average character of that level. That is good information. In my opionion it is more important than a chart of DC's for various stunts. Because it allows the DM to control the events better.

I would expect that a if a player of level 1 tries a hard stunt, then a player of level 30 trys the same thing, it will be an easy stunt.

It is a lot easier for a lvl 30 guy, but there is still a chance of failure. If you have table of DC's then as the player approaches lvl 30 many stunts available to 1st level guys will be become instant successes.

Static DC's pull the power of the storytelling away from the DM and places it in the players domain. This (Dynamic DC's) reduces the chances of the players abusing the system.

JesterOC
Edited for clarity.

 

[hong]

Not to me, the DC's are a tool for the DM to determine what represents a challenge for the average character of that level. That is good information. In my opionion it is more important than a chart of DC's for various stunts. Because it allows the DM to control the events better.

The DCs _should_ be a tool to represent a _level-appropriate_ challenge for the average character of that level. Not all uses of skills have to be level-appropriate.

I would expect that a if a player of level 1 tries a hard stunt, then a player of level 30 trys the same thing, it will be an easy stunt.

But that isn't what the book says.

 

[Kzach]

I came up with almost the exact same system about a month ago and posted it in the House Rules forum but got stuff-all responses.

The primary difference was that the benefit gained was combat advantage til the start of your next turn.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

So, just wondering how this stacks up, now that we have the actual books.

One thing that comes to mind: the auto-scaling of DCs by party level (DMG p.42) seems really silly.

Remember that you combine it with the damage expressions. So, if you want to deal the listed damage, you need to beat an equal level DC, because that's how hard it is to deal that amount of damage.

If you don't care about the damage, adjust the DC accordingly.

I would be careful with secondary effects applied to the stunts, though. A DC 15 check to trip a Tarrasque is probably not warranted. What ever the DC 15 check achieves, it will most likely not affect a Tarrasque. (Dropping over a barrel of oil might be DC 15, but a Tarrasque won't trip over it.)