Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Somebloke" data-source="post: 5057812" data-attributes="member: 67268">I have to strongly disagree with 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 (especially), 7, 8 and 9.  1) 1st level characters may be distinct from the town guard (although a fighter more or less fulfills the same job) but as you mentioned they are not overwhelmingly more powerful- and we haven't even discussed orcs, who would at equal numbers present a serious (n+3) challenge to 1st level characters. Characters are more developed than their monster-level equivalent and have a few more tricks, but not so much that there is a severe disparity.  2) As a DM I've run a number of skill challenges that worked brilliantly. Skill challenges are an art and a difficult one to master- for a new DM they can end up being clunky and repeditive (my first ones were, certainly) but done right they are a solid mechanic and help to flesh out noncombat encounters. Furthermore, once the DM has the basics down pat they can be easily generated or amended on the fly, creating plenty of room for initiative and creativity.  3) Again, sorry but I have had little problem as a DM with adjudicating on the fly- especially since the handy DC 10/15/20+1/2 level rule means I have a good baseline to go on if someone wants to try to sneak around/talk their way out etc. As I mentioned before, the skill challenge system means that even complex plans can be easily ruled on. This is a huge step from 3rd edition, whereby the DM often had to rely on 1 or 2 skill checks to determine pivotal events (or worse, a saving throw against a magical duex ex machina).  4) Rituals have proven less useful than I would have hoped for- absolutely. Just not as useless as you make out to be. So far I've seen rituals used for all manner of player shenanigans, effectively opening up new pathways or options for them to overcome noncombat challenges.  5) I agree with this. I've reduced hp by a quarter across the board to compensate- this seems to work well.  6) My group of 7 (including two NPCs) finished last session defending the top of an abandoned watchtower against 40 gnolls, including 24 minions. The challenge level is high but not outside of the player's ability to deal with as per DMG guidelines. The monster stats all fall within the DMG stats, too. The sole rule I have broken is making 6 minions = to 1 monster, and this is based on playtesting rather than an attempt to beef up the numbers for number's sake. Other encounters included 80 zombies + 2 wights against the 5 PCs. Both encounters were/are being enjoyed by the party. Prior to 4th edition if you wanted a mass combat you would have to rely on low, low level monsters- monsters that, as the 4th edition rulebook noted, the party would easily just roll over with a handful of area effect spells. 4e represents the first (and in my campaign at least successful) attempt to address this.  My suggestion is to try to use monsters 1-3 levels lower than the party as mooks- you will be able to throw more at them, especially in regards to minions (also- use more minions. The DMG has overestimated their power- something it did wrong).  7) A string of encounters, one after the other, is out of the question, although it really depends on what your DM's view of an encounter is (I've had no problems with reducing it to 30 seconds or lengthening it to several hours to suit the situation or event). Two encounters at level equivalent however is not going to tax the party, however.  8) There is a non-detection ritual if the DM says there is- jot it down on the monster sheet. The undead summoning rules are whatever the Dm says they are- jot them down on the monster sheet. This is not cheating since the monster generation rules are entirely about the DM creating what he needs. If anything, the quick, easy encounter generation rules (I can easily create an 'orc encounter' list from levels n-3 to n+5 and keep it on hand if the players do something unexpected in the orc lands) and the quick, easy writeup of encounters suggested in the DMG means that sandboxing is far, far easier in 4e than in 3e.  9) I will agree that starter characters at high level are slightly easier in 3e. So long as you are willing to accept a handful of builds for a handful of character classes- beyond this you were screwed. Overall, 4e has reduced complexity across the board.</blockquote>

Verification