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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 3794116" data-attributes="member: 18280">JK, I'm going to be selective in answering because some of this would result in the same old back-n-forth, and I believe that we are both hoping to get actual insight into the other's viewpoint.  Fair enough?Well, we both agree as far as this goes.However, the more frequently, and the greater ease, with which you can renew resources, it is also true that the less carefully you must micromanage them.  As an easy example, you might have only one sword-swing per round (limited at any given moment), but because it can be done each round (easily and often renewed) you don't need to micromanage this resource very carefully.I would rather say, "If you have four fireballs per day, you could potentially also have 4 fireballs per encounter.  If, on the other hand, you only have 1 fireball per encounter, the decision of when to use it could be very significant."Imagine that you have 4 fireballs per day.  You are going into a dungeon that, thanks to your divination spells, you know has only one significant encounter, and you know that you can eliminate it with a single fireball.  In this case, the decision of when to use any of the remaining fireballs, or even the final fireball, is relatively insignificant because you know the outcome.Conversely, imagine that you have one fireball each encounter, and fireball is your most potent per-encounter ability.  Unless there is a strong reason not to you will automatically lead with your fireball, because there is no cost associated with doing so.  From a tactical standpoint, it is always better to lead with your best capabilities unless there is a reason not to.So, the decision of when to use the one fireball per encounter could be "very significant" only insofar as there is some reason not to use it immediately.  There is a difference between an effect being significant and a decision to use that effect being significant.Simple illustration:  I am playing a video game, and I unlock a cheat code that allows me to kill all enemies with a single blow.  Once I have decided to use this cheat code, the ability is certainly significant.  The decision to use it in all subsequent combats, however, is not.  It requires no thought, no choice, no investment, nothing.The per-day paradigm is all about "when".  "Should I use my potent spell now, or should I save it?" is as much a "when" question as an "if" question.However, for a "when" question (or, for that matter, an "if" question) to arise, there must first be some reason that the immediate and obvious answer is not either "now/yes" or "not now/no".A 3e wizard faces no "when" or "if" question re: fireball when the 10th level D&D party encounters a lone kobold.  The answer is obviously "not now/no".  This because the fireball is overkill for the encounter, and might be needed later.  Likewise, if the fireball will automatically reset when the kobold is dead, there is no "might be needed later" and therefore no concern about overkill for the encounter.  The answer is an obvious "now/yes".I think it would be worth our while to confine, for the moment, our enquiry within the space of a single encounter.Imagine, if you will, a party of four PCs, each of whom has 30 hit points.  Despite their class, the each have a mixed bag of at-will, per-encounter, and per-day powers.  Despite the fluff, each of these powers is roughly equal:At-will:  Needs an attack roll, hitting roughly 25% of the time on an APL encounter, does an average of 6 hp damage to a single target (analagous to the use of sword, bow, etc.). Per-encounter 1:  Special attack that does not require an attack roll, can do an average of 24 points of damage to a single target, or 6 points to 4 targets. Per-encounter 2:  Special abilitiy that allows you to use your at-will ability, and also heal all comrades 6 hp damage. Per-encounter 3:  Special ability that allows you to use your at-will ability, and also heal yourself 24 points damage. Per-day 1:  Special ability that allows you to do an average 50 points of damage to a single target.  Using it also means that you can no longer use per-encounter ability 1. Per-day 2:  Special ability that allows you to do an average 25 points of damage to two targets.  Using it also means that you can no longer use per-encounter ability 2.Note that I do not think that these are the abilities inherent in 4e.  They are simply for illustrative purposes.  Do feel able to discuss encounters using these as a guideline?RC</blockquote>

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