The more I play it the more it shines.

[Ydars]

Nightchilde; your assertion that "maths doesn't reflect reality" is very strange. I agree, that over a game session the numbers can seem very non-random but over the course of several hundred rolls statistics win EVERY time. Maths EXACTLY models reality, if you have got the maths right. As far as I can tell (in the middle of my maths degree) Stalker has got it right and WoTC also agree that there is a problem with this system.

Did you use the +5 DC at the bottom of the table or just the DCs as written. I am convinced that the +5 only applies when you use an individual skill and not when using skills during skill challenges.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Maths EXACTLY models reality, if you have got the maths right.

*clunk*

Does your math have a factor in it for a) players who can non-randomly throw d20s? For the average skew of manufacturing?

Heh. The system is a little wonky though. Skill DCs are wonky all through out 4e. I never use book DCs. Not even in 3e.

 

[beeflv30]

??

Contrary to popular opinion, 4E does have a lot of little niggly rules that need to be remembered.

Fur example. Have you been adding the +2 to your defense scores that you get until the end of your next turn from using your second wind?

We didn't until one of the players told everyone about doing it at the game day event. Even then, he told us the duration was until the end of the encounter rather than the end of your next turn.

Is that true about second wind? Eratta?

As for what I think of 4e so far, Awesome!
Combat has never been so much fun with no players sitting around during combat because there resources are gone.
Everything is laid out nicely and easy to find, like combat actions.
Have not run into the skill challenge problem yet, but it looks like something I will have to visit this site for to find solutions to it , when it comes up.

 

[Storminator]

Thanks Storminator; your suggestion looks like a good fix for low level. Do you know if it scales with increasing complexity?

I have no idea. I'm thinking it's probably a good baseline, but I want to play it out a bit. I'm just running 1st level right now.

PS

 

[Wormwood]

??

Contrary to popular opinion, 4E does have a lot of little niggly rules that need to be remembered.

The amount of brainspace freed up from no longer needing to track the interraction of a dozen or so bonus types vs. a dozen or so attributes (and their derivative values, of course) leaves me plenty of room to tick off the occasional "+2 to Defenses" when it come up.

The fact that I can handle this math without a spreadsheet is improvement enough.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Is that true about second wind? Eratta?

As for what I think of 4e so far, Awesome!
Combat has never been so much fun with no players sitting around during combat because there resources are gone.
Everything is laid out nicely and easy to find, like combat actions.
Have not run into the skill challenge problem yet, but it looks like something I will have to visit this site for to find solutions to it , when it comes up.

It's not errata. It right there in the second wind description!

 

[beeflv30]

It's not errata. It right there in the second wind description!

My book PHB page 291:You gain a +2 bonus to all defenses until the start of your next turn.
Could this be a typo or is the book correct?

 

[Center-of-All]

No, the book is correct, it's only until your next turn, not for the duration of the encounter.

 

[Gothmog]

Gotta agree with you guys- the more I play 4e, the better it is. We just had an 8 hour gaming session last night, and its the best gaming I've had in the last 10 years! Things move very quickly, combats are deadly and dynamic, and there is almost NO referencing the core books during the game. We made up power cards for each person with all the relevant info on them, and find it very easy to keep track of conditions during the combats. We haven't had any problem with skill challenges either- I'm not exactly sure why some people think they don't work. The DM just has to use good judgement and be fair during them.

The group I DM and the group I'm playing in have also found the roleplaying to be of MUCH better quality than what we experienced under 3e. I'm not sure why this is- maybe because the rules are more transparent and not in the foreground like they were in 3e, but we're having a blast with it. These are all guys I gamed with in 3e as well, and they went from stat-obsessed powermongers in 3e to actually ROLEPLAYING their character and acting according to his personality rather than optomizing or taking the most advantageous action. I know two guys and one young lady in the group I DM say they feel less constrained by the rules in 4e than they did in 3e, so take that for what its worth.

 

[Particle_Man]

The biggest learning curve for me is that some powers can miss and still have an effect on play.