Wotc_Huscarl on the Biggie Smalls playtest, part 4.

[Steely Dan]

the "minor action" thing is mentioned in the podcast as something carried over from SWSE.

There is no mention of minor actions in the Saga rule book.

 

[Walking Dad]

That brought the figurative roof down. Elves started popping out of the bushes all 'round. Two of them surrounded our redoubtable hero and with a flurry of blows (two attacks each), battered him down to just 1 HP!

That is really interesting. Multiple Attacks by using a Feat/Talent/Power?
Or standard 3.5 iterative attacks?

 

[Steely Dan]

Or standard 3.5 iterative attacks?

Iterative attacks have been confirmed as not existing in 4th Ed.

 

[Green Knight]

There is no mention of minor actions in the Saga rule book.

There are Swift Actions. That's probably what the Minor Action is. A renamed Swift Action.

 

[Walking Dad]

There are Swift Actions. That's probably what the Minor Action is. A renamed Swift Action.

How many types of action should be there?

In 3.5 we have:
- Free Actions
- Swift Actions
- Immediate Actions
- Move Actions
- Standard Actions
- Full-Round Actions

What do we have in SWSaga?

What is confirmed for 4e?

 

[Steely Dan]

What do we have in SWSaga?

-Swift
-Move
-Standard
-Full Round


They have confirmed that the Full Attack Action is no more in 4th Ed.

 

[Walking Dad]

-Swift
-Move
-Standard
-Full Round


They have confirmed that the Full Attack Action is no more in 4th Ed.

Hm,

Swift -> Minuscule Action
Move -> Minor Action
Standard -> Major Action
Full Round -> Very Major Action


Yeah, everything is new and shiny

@ Steely Dan: Thanks for the answer!!

 

[pweent]

Hm,

Swift -> Minuscule Action
Move -> Minor Action
Standard -> Major Action
Full Round -> Very Major Action


Yeah, everything is new and shiny

That said, I don't think that's quite how 4e will work. I bet there's a lot of reorganization behind the scenes. The podcast mentioned that in 4e, the move action was for movement only. My current guess is we'll see only three action types:

Minor Action (formerly Swift and Move Equivalent)
Movement Action (movement only)
Major Action (attack, cast a spell)

It wouldn't surprise me if we see powers that take each of these types of action - for example, "Tumbling Defense [move] - Move your normal movement speed through threatened areas without provoking opportunity attacks."

 

[Cadfan]

That said, I don't think that's quite how 4e will work. I bet there's a lot of reorganization behind the scenes. The podcast mentioned that in 4e, the move action was for movement only. My current guess is we'll see only three action types:

Minor Action (formerly Swift and Move Equivalent)
Movement Action (movement only)
Major Action (attack, cast a spell)

I'm sure we'll also see Full Round Actions. They might get renamed, but having an action type that uses up all your ability to act in that round is just so useful from a design perspective that I'm sure they won't get rid of it.

 

[helium3]

How is it faster? You can roll two dice at the same time. You can look at two dice at the same time. It's not like math is involved, you're not adding the results together. You are just choosing the higher of the two. How is it slower than rolling 1d20?

If anything, the 1d20+4 is slower since there is actual adding involved. Heh.

*nod*

This is exactly the case. It can become slower if the player starts agonizing over whether or not to use the ability, but in the 4E example it's "always on" so the use of the ability isn't what may slow things down.

I've been using a house rule similar to this in my homebrew for a while, only the class (cleric's in my case) only get a certain number of them per day and can use them as an immediate action for saves, skill checks, attacks and ability checks.

Doesn't slow things down at all and in many cases doesn't make much of a difference to the resolution of the action.

I don't see how this power combined with elven accuracy would slow things down. Once an encounter you get to trash both roll and do it again. What's the big deal?