D&D 4E Things 4E Did Well & Should be Kept in Some Form

[Connorsrpg]

4E Hit Points - new thread

[MENTION=55917]DicE[/MENTION]forHire & frankthedm

So you can continue the discussion on 4E HPs, I created a new thread on Hit Points in general, so we can keep the lists rolling

 

[Harlekin]

5. The races. Yeas I like new races, and the distinction of Elf and Eladrin.
6. Cosmology. More for the back story of monsters. (Though this need not be in core rules, I do like the explanation of homes for the Fey, what undead are etc).

• I second the consistent cosmology.
• I also like Dragonborn, they save D&D from being too much of a Tolkien rip-off.
• Cool, varied things to do for every character.

 

[Stormonu]

1) Minions (though they could use tweaks in the Paragon and Epic tiers)
2) Monsters as self-contained stat blocks
3) Static defenses
4) Prolific use of keywords to handle mechanics
5) Two-page spread for PC races (1 page w/ picture and mechanics, other page with "fluff" material about the race
6) Page 42

I also liked Dragonborn & Teifling as PC races, but don't think they should have been "core".

 

[Aldarc]

1) Static Defenses
2) Wizard/Fighter Balance
3) Simplified stat blocks for monsters and NPCs.
4) Trying to decrease dependency on someone playing a cleric.
5) At-Will magical abilities and attacks for wizards, sorcerers, and the like. (Even if it does the same basic damage as a weapon, it does wonders for the class flavor.)

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Most things about monsters
Minor actions
One bad roll seldom takes you out of the entire combat

 

[herrozerro]

*The Monster Statblock, separating PCs and NPC rules.
*Skill Challenges

 

[Greg K]

This is everything that I liked about 4e despite not being a fan of the game as a whole:

1. Removal of Level Drain
2. Removal of 3e XP Costs
3. Balance between the classes at all levels

4. Races
a. Removing the non-biological aspects of race (should have gone farther) and making them feats.
b. Elf/Eladrin Split

5. Classes
a. Ranger as non-spellcaster
b. Warlord (with caveat)

6. Hit Points (with caveat)
a. more to start with
b. No hp bonus per level from con

7. Character Builds as examples for for tailoring the class

8. Heroic Tier Multi-classing

9. Saving Throws (with caveat)
a. Single progression

10. Combat
a. Martial characters get cool things to do (w/caveat)
b. Death and Dying
c. Non divine healing (w/caveat)
11. Disease Track
12. Magic Missile requiring a to hit roll
13. Skill Challenges (w/caveat)
14. Rituals (w/caveat)
15. Feywild
16. Backgrounds/Themes
17. PHB2: Bard (with caveat), Barbarian (with caveat), Druid, Shaman (w/ caveat), Gnome, Half-Orc
18. Minions

 

[Rechan]

1) Prime stat used for most attacks. Multiple-Attribute Disorder died in 4E. No need to resuscitate it.
2) Abilities picked up in multi-classing were of a power level commensurate with your own character's level. Not since 1st Ed. has multi-classing really been rewarded right out the gate. (Just my opinion!)
3) Monsters as a stat-block. No spell lists!
4) The power-level curve in 4E was perfect. Levels 1-20 in 4E felt like levels 4-14 in 3.5E, which was always my "sweet spot."
5) No skill points or cross-class skills. It was overly cumbersome. 4E's skill system needs some work, but I think it's a better starting point than going back to 3.x.
6) Static defenses. 'nuff said.

This is everything that I liked about 4e despite not being a fan of the game as a whole:

1. Removal of Level Drain
2. Removal of 3e XP Costs
3. Balance between the classes at all levels

4. Races
a. Removing the non-biological aspects of race (should have gone farther) and making them feats.
b. Elf/Eladrin Split

5. Classes
a. Ranger as non-spellcaster
b. Warlord (with caveat)

6. Hit Points (with caveat)
a. more to start with
b. No hp bonus per level from con

7. Character Builds as examples for for tailoring the class

8. Heroic Tier Multi-classing

9. Saving Throws (with caveat)
a. Single progression

10. Combat
a. Martial characters get cool things to do (w/caveat)
b. Death and Dying
c. Non divine healing (w/caveat)
11. Disease Track
12. Magic Missile requiring a to hit roll
13. Skill Challenges (w/caveat)
14. Rituals (w/caveat)
15. Feywild
16. Backgrounds/Themes
17. PHB2: Bard (with caveat), Barbarian (with caveat), Druid, Shaman (w/ caveat), Gnome, Half-Orc
18. Minions

This stuff.

I will add:

1. No save-or-die (Well, save-or-sit-out-for-a-few-rounds is still there, but still) and ability score damage.

2. Alignment no longer has mechanical significance.

3. Races.

 

[FireLance]

Previously posted in another thread, but worth repeating:

1. Powers For Everybody
Every character should have options beyond "I make a basic attack." You should not have to play a spellcaster to unleash a more powerful attack or trigger some beneficial effect when you need it.

2. The Encounter Power
There should be encounter powers to straddle the middle ground between vanilla at-will abilities and more significant daily powers.

3. Healing Surges
Healing surges ensure that healing powers generally keep pace with character hit points as they go up in level. As a reserve of endurance that usually goes beyond what the PCs can bring to bear in any single encounter, they also enable multiple encounters per day while retaining the possibility that PCs could be dropped in any encounter. Possibly, they could be reflavored and renamed as hit point restoring powers instead of healing surges, e.g. instead of having 12 healing surges, a paladin could have 12 daily uses of cure light wounds.

4. Skill Challenges
Skill challenges provide a structure to supplement the normal free-form approach for resolving non-combat challenges that are more complex and require more than a single skill check. Perhaps they could explicitly be made more flexible - for example, the DM could award multiple successes and even automatic successes for good ideas.

 

[Argyle King]

Cosmology

Lessened power curve between levels

The idea that combat should involve multiple creatures rather than a group of PCs whacking upon 1 CR appropriate monster.

Leaders being allowed to be more than a 'heal bot.'