D&D 4E What changes aren't being made in 4E that you think should be

[Fifth Element]

...I should probably reverse the order though. An attack that you completely dodge is a weak one. An attack that you block with a shield is a tougher one. An attack that you can't dodge, and can't block with your shield, but which is deflected by your armor is a pretty good attack. So I'll reverse the order, and my players can know from the description how close things were.

Agreed. I've just spent a few minutes putting together charts for each character in the game I'm running right now. I habitually describe close misses as just being deflected by a shield or something similar, but using this system can lend a different feel to each character. The heavily-armoured cleric will have blows deflecting off her armour a lot, while the nimble rogue will be ducking and dodging to avoid being hit. Good stuff.

 

[Mercule]

Down with squares, I wish D&D used *hexes.*

Side-slip movement rules annoy the crap out of me.

Side-slip movement annoys me, too. That's why I prefer squares.

I've never understood the preference for hexes. 90%+ of the environments (dungeons, cities, etc.) in D&D conform to a set of squares at least as well as a set of hexes. Most of the movement I see players wanting to do are along two perpendicular axes. Hexes do not handle lateral movements well, at all. In fact, I'd say lateral movement on hexes is significantly more kludgy than diagonal movements on grids. Diagonals are far less common, IMC, than laterals. Using hexes would shift an occasional issue (diagonal moves) to a frequent one (lateral moves).

So, no thanks. Please keep squares.

 

[rkanodia]

What about the distinctions between 'extraordinary', 'supernatural', 'spell-like', and 'spell'? I'd drop all of those in a heartbeat, and just label abilities according to their power source: 'martial', 'arcane', 'divine', and eventually, 'psionic'.

 

[kennew142]

Down with squares, I wish D&D used *hexes.*

Side-slip movement rules annoy the crap out of me.

Everyone has their own preferences. As for me - BOOH! HEXES! BOOH!

After years of games that use hexes (HERO and GURPS), I was so glad to get away from them. With squares, lateral movement is easy, maps drawn to the grid don't have a distorted appearance and distances are more easily read on the map.

This is an issue that divides into four camps (represented herein with extreme examples that seldom apply in real life):

1) I love hexes, they let me move along diagonals - without using decimals!

2) Squares are better than hexes; hexes creep me out.

3) I don't really care. Why are you guys fighting so much about lines on a battlemat?

4) Miniatures are the tools of the devil! Get off my lawn!

I would love to say that I'm in camp 3. They seem much more reasonable. But I'm in camp 2. Maps drawn on hexes just look wrong to me. I've tried to seek help, but no amount of therapy seems to work.

 

[Fifth Element]

This is an issue that divides into four camps (represented herein with extreme examples that seldom apply in real life):

1) I love hexes, they let me move along diagonals - without using decimals.

2) Squares are better than hexes; hexes creep me out.

3) I don't really care. Why are you guys fighting so much about lines on a battlemat?

4) Miniatures are the tools of the devil! Get off my lawn!

Put me in camp 3, I guess. I'm using hexes in my current campaign, but I'm not really strict on square-by-square or hex-by-hex movement. It's more just for a measure of distance, really.