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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lizard" data-source="post: 4014864" data-attributes="member: 1054">I'm still not grokking.I thought skills were Attribute Bonus+1/2 level. But if attribute bonus goes up with level, doesn't this send untrained skill checks straight into extra-ludicrous land?Joe the fighter, 10 Charisma. At tenth level, his bluff should +5 (1/2 level). But if his attribute bonus is ALSO 1/2 level, that makes it +10-- effectively for free. Same with every other skill. (So I guess this means that for a person with no stat bonuses, untrained skill=level)(I mean, bad enough you auto-increase in every skill every time you go up 2 levels, but double-dipping by attribute bonus going up as well? Sigh...)Anyway, onto the monster itself:DAMN those damage numbers are low! If PCs have the same level of damage output, fight will last a looooong time.One lousy AP? Sheesh.Strength apparently doesn't add to damage -- it does 1d12+11 but has a Str bonus of +24.Wonder what the "Noble Signet Ring" does? Bonus to social skills?We have "Religion", not "Knowledge(Religion)".Overall....sorry, it just ain't as scary as the 3e version, though that could be a lack of knowing the full implications of the mechanics. It's just so...sparse. It's like a stripped down stat block for the mini game, not something for a roleplaying encounter.I remember when they posted the stat block for Tiamat during the run-up to 3e. Man...that made me drool with wonder, and think of what a terror it would be to confront her. This...meh. It's not BAD, but it's not remotely kick-ass scary. The stat block holds no sense of mystery or wonder, there's very little there that excites me and makes me want to know what it all means.Shrug. I'd be more interested in the minions. At least new mechanics can't suffer by comparison to old ones.(And the whole 'exploding devils' thing is such a crock...it reminds me of (bad) Hero System mechanics, where people would buy '10d6 AE Explosion, Special Effect -- I summon a devil and have him run up and explode'. It's a cheap way of making a basic attack have some flavor text, and gussying it up with 'Irresistible Command' as a name is cheesier than William Shatner film festival. Why not just have the damn thing toss some fireballs around, instead? I suppose it add a minor tactical choice -- do I let the devil attack or make it go boom? -- but it just seems, I dunno, too self-consciusly clever and self-indulgent to me. The exploding devils are actually scarier than the pit fiend itself, and that can't be good...)</blockquote>

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