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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 5885750" data-attributes="member: 87792">And that's why I was citing Gygax.  The 1e wizard was still considered too powerful.Agreed.  I'd be happy with two types of minion that were permanent for Necromancers.  The first is the shambling zombie.  Not a serious threat except in large numbers.  And the second is the programmable skeleton.  Not a combat threat - but excellent at doing manual repetative tasks.  And armed with pikes or in a shield wall a military force. Seriously I'm going to try to sell you on some of Essentials later in the post, but Monster Vault and Monster Vault: Threats to Nentir Vale are two of the best monster manuals ever written.Here I disagree.  The design goals for Essentials are more like AD&D or even OD&D than they are like 3e.  There's none of the annoying fiddliness of 3.X and they are much more about archetypes than about options.  And IMO pre-Essentials 4e had gone almost as far as it could go, so they needed something new, expanding the system.  Martial Power 2 was an excellent book - and I believe there was some space for Arcane Power 2 (although it would have been a disappointment).  But there are only so many splatbooks you can produce and have the splatbooks extend.  (I also believe that Essentials is about there - the last big hole I saw in Essentials was the "simple blast mage" - filled by the Elementalist Sorceror who has absolutely no dailies and only a single type of encounter boost power based on their at wills).Non combat utilities have always been amazing - far better than anything 3.X ever offered.  But this doesn't cut wizards apart from other characters.Pre-Essentials was limited.  Mages were conjurers or evokers.  And there were no simple classes.Who says it is.  IME it works well between 4e and OSR.But I'd seriously recommend getting a copy of Heroes of the Fallen Kingdoms to see what the fuss is about.  The Mage is flat out more evocative than the Wizard despite changing very little (being an Illusionist, an Evoker, or an Enchanter is far far more interesting than an Orb Wizard, a Staff Wizard, or a Wand Wizard).  The only downside being they didn't give it Ritual Caster.  But ultimately very little has changed (you now get a choice of cantrips and get Magic Missile (post errata) as a cantrip, and some minor bonusses to replace the implement bonusses and Ritual Caster).The Slayer is a simple "I hit it" class - and absolutely wonderful for NPC fighters.  Two handed weapon.  Melee basic attacks.  Two stances and encounter powers that just add 1[W] after you attack.  The Knight on the other hand is a simple defender.  No marks to worry about - instead you own the space around you and everyone in it is de facto marked while adjacent (a real mark trumps that).  Again no daily attack powers and only encounters to boost.  Both good for people who want to say "I hit it".But the real gem of a class is the thief.  If it's from any previous game it's definitely pre-3e.  Encounter-backstab and no dailies.  And some useful tricks that allow lots of roguey stuff in addition to your encounter powers.  The whole thing looks vanilla but fits together well.  And breaks the 4e design precepts (and every other version of D&D's).  Just don't make it a charge-build; that's the cheesy way.When 4e fans say they don't like Vancian Casting, what they are normally IME trying to get at is the whole thing that says "Wizards must have more flexibility than anyone else".  Vancian Casting is disliked because it is a way to give wizards Awesome Powah while locking other classes into tight little niches.  And it's a lot of book keeping.  The prepare some spells daily isn't itself a problem to any 4e player I'm aware of (4e having daily powers and giving wizards choices).Re: Flying Dungeons <a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?345265-How-do-you-kill-a-dungeon" target="_blank">I sometimes love RPG.net threads</a></blockquote>

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