eriktheguy
First Post
I see what your dealing with here evilbob. I know exactly how you feel. When I saw 4th edition I loved pretty much all the changes. The new ways attacks were handled, defenses, spells etc. I loved everything. Over time I started to notice the same mistakes you did, and it started to really bug me.
4e is far more balanced than 3e, so I wondered why these little errors bothered me so much. After all, 3e had more errors that were worse, so I should be happy with what I have. Now I think the problem is that 4e IS more balanced, and that's why we notice the problems.
In 3e, things were all over the map (imho). Fighters in my party could have a difference of around +8 to hit between them and some did about 50 more damage a round. I didn't need to worry about TPK too often because the CR 18 creature I threw at the level 15 party would go down in 1 round. A magic weapon could be imbalanced, but compared to everything else it would just be a blip on the radar. I don't know if current 3.5e is any better, but thats not my point.
In 4e, where the balance is (imho again) way better, one imbalanced item can make a huge difference. We didn't notice the raisins in our cake with 3e because the cake was full of cockroaches! But now that the batter is sweet and pure the raisins alone are enough to make us gag.
And we should gag. This system has far more potential than 3e did as far as creating a balanced and relatively error free system. Unfortunately Wizards chooses to update rules errors with things like feat taxes (addressing the expertise feats) and generally do not like to admit that they made a mistake. This means that any serious rules changes and balance issues probably won't be taken care of until 5e.
So yeah, I completely feel your pain. As far as addressing the issue, I use house rules or bans for imbalanced powers/items/feats as I would in any edition. Lots of book keeping but I don't see any simpler solution.
I think the bloodclaw weapons are broken. I allow the player to take x damage to deal x extra damage, and an additional +1 extra with two handed weapons. Even still I think these weapons are a great bargain for strikers. Good luck with your campain.
4e is far more balanced than 3e, so I wondered why these little errors bothered me so much. After all, 3e had more errors that were worse, so I should be happy with what I have. Now I think the problem is that 4e IS more balanced, and that's why we notice the problems.
In 3e, things were all over the map (imho). Fighters in my party could have a difference of around +8 to hit between them and some did about 50 more damage a round. I didn't need to worry about TPK too often because the CR 18 creature I threw at the level 15 party would go down in 1 round. A magic weapon could be imbalanced, but compared to everything else it would just be a blip on the radar. I don't know if current 3.5e is any better, but thats not my point.
In 4e, where the balance is (imho again) way better, one imbalanced item can make a huge difference. We didn't notice the raisins in our cake with 3e because the cake was full of cockroaches! But now that the batter is sweet and pure the raisins alone are enough to make us gag.
And we should gag. This system has far more potential than 3e did as far as creating a balanced and relatively error free system. Unfortunately Wizards chooses to update rules errors with things like feat taxes (addressing the expertise feats) and generally do not like to admit that they made a mistake. This means that any serious rules changes and balance issues probably won't be taken care of until 5e.
So yeah, I completely feel your pain. As far as addressing the issue, I use house rules or bans for imbalanced powers/items/feats as I would in any edition. Lots of book keeping but I don't see any simpler solution.
I think the bloodclaw weapons are broken. I allow the player to take x damage to deal x extra damage, and an additional +1 extra with two handed weapons. Even still I think these weapons are a great bargain for strikers. Good luck with your campain.
