D&D 4E Testing "Try 4e" house rules

[Chimera]

Interesting. My objections would have been less about the wizard's power, and more about why the rest of us couldn't touch the guy without Fighter McFightsalot around.

Really? That never entered my mind. Killing people is Fighty McFightsalot's job #1. He's optimised to hit and damage people, with high strength, feats and a big magic sword. The other two guys we have are also strong killers, but they're not all about dealing damage like our missing man.

I would never expect my GM to nerf an NPC just because the one guy who tends to end fights really quick isn't there. All it really means to me is that the fight lasts longer before we take him down.

What became a problem here was watching the Wizard pretty much take the guy down himself, doing more damage consistently every round over a long combat than two warrior types, because he had an ability to ALWAYS hit and ALWAYS do damage, without ever running out of the ability or being threatened himself.

 

[kennew142]

We tried an 'At Will' power out for the group Wizard last session in our WotBS campaign. It ended up being way too powerful and now they're retooling.

The PC is a 5th level Wizard. They gave him a 3d6 damage + Blinding against a Save, At Will power. We were short our primary fighter and the rest of us were pretty beat up, so it ended up being 'sit back and heal while the Wizard summons a monster and blasts the heck out of the bad guy' fight, which was just too much for me and I had to raise my strong objections.

I wouldn't try to create at will powers at this point in the lifespan of 3e. The reserve feats in CM do a pretty good job. The elven wizard in our AoW campaign (APL 18) has been using them for most of the campaign. They work really well. He doesn't really prepare many attack spells, but uses his reserve feats to do damage. This leaves him a lot of room for utility spells.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

As Chimera's GM...

I tried to mix in EoM and at-will, and the combination made for a cool ability except for the lack of limitations. The trade off of no bonus spell slots didn't even impact play at all. I knew the upcoming battle was going to be difficult without the main tank, so I was not too concerned with overdamage...but apparently not concerned enough

The Wizard and I have traded some emails and talked about a second version, but I am also considering dropping it as he plans on taking a reserve feat in a coming level... one I am not too sure on.


Actually most of the combat went very well. The heroes fought a protracted battle with the minions, who pulled a fighing withdrawal back up to thier boss.. it was when the Fiendish Dire Ape came into the picture and cornered the last enemy, allowing the party to hide around the corner and heal up, that it got a bit weird. Partly because I had the boss retreat the wrong way...but oh well


We are looking at trying out the death and dying rules this next session. I hope to have as positive a result as others here.