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Things from 4E Not Done Well
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<blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 5771334" data-attributes="member: 3400"><p>One thing about 4e that I think is done poorly is how it handles stats, choosing your best one for your defenses and how this matches up with the stats a class wants to invest in.</p><p></p><p>I don't think it was wrong to start out with the premise that PCs could choose which one of the 3 pairings would affect your defenses. Where it goes wrong is in the way it doesn't balance off the classes and what stats they need with that change. Take, for example, the artful dodger version of a rogue. I can pretty safely dump 3 stats because the artful dodger has good synergy (or at least no whammies) with exactly one of each of those stat pairs - Dex (of course), Charisma (for artful dodging), and Con (for more surges). I can get by without Str, Int, and Wis which pretty much affect only my skills and leave me terrible at opportunity attacks. But if I want to be a brutal scoundrel, I now have to think about investing in both Strength AND Con. It's even more noticeable for fighters who want surges AND strength damage/hit bonuses. The mistake 4e makes is not making sure ALL classes can dump (or have to focus on as the flip side) the same number of stats. If I had my druthers, I'd consider making them all at least somewhat concerned with all 6 stats by making each one of the pairing the primary offensive stat and basing offensive powers off those and making the others purely defensive. For fighters, Strength affects attacks, Con determines Fort defense. This works great, conceptually, for Str/Con and even Cha/Wis pairings. The only pair it's iffy on is Int/Dex, but that pairing is always a little wonky, including within 4e now.</p><p></p><p>The way I see the stats, I want to have each one of them have some bite to them. I don't want there to be obvious dump stats for classes. I want all characters to have to grapple with the trade-offs of being multiple-attribute dependent in some way. A particular benefit may be relatively unimportant for certain character concepts, but I still want them to realize they're giving something up based on their build and that they have chosen to do so.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="billd91, post: 5771334, member: 3400"] One thing about 4e that I think is done poorly is how it handles stats, choosing your best one for your defenses and how this matches up with the stats a class wants to invest in. I don't think it was wrong to start out with the premise that PCs could choose which one of the 3 pairings would affect your defenses. Where it goes wrong is in the way it doesn't balance off the classes and what stats they need with that change. Take, for example, the artful dodger version of a rogue. I can pretty safely dump 3 stats because the artful dodger has good synergy (or at least no whammies) with exactly one of each of those stat pairs - Dex (of course), Charisma (for artful dodging), and Con (for more surges). I can get by without Str, Int, and Wis which pretty much affect only my skills and leave me terrible at opportunity attacks. But if I want to be a brutal scoundrel, I now have to think about investing in both Strength AND Con. It's even more noticeable for fighters who want surges AND strength damage/hit bonuses. The mistake 4e makes is not making sure ALL classes can dump (or have to focus on as the flip side) the same number of stats. If I had my druthers, I'd consider making them all at least somewhat concerned with all 6 stats by making each one of the pairing the primary offensive stat and basing offensive powers off those and making the others purely defensive. For fighters, Strength affects attacks, Con determines Fort defense. This works great, conceptually, for Str/Con and even Cha/Wis pairings. The only pair it's iffy on is Int/Dex, but that pairing is always a little wonky, including within 4e now. The way I see the stats, I want to have each one of them have some bite to them. I don't want there to be obvious dump stats for classes. I want all characters to have to grapple with the trade-offs of being multiple-attribute dependent in some way. A particular benefit may be relatively unimportant for certain character concepts, but I still want them to realize they're giving something up based on their build and that they have chosen to do so. [/QUOTE]
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