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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Castellan" data-source="post: 4267124" data-attributes="member: 639">You know, I didn't think I'd like this, but I can see some value in it. Yes, on some level, it's kinda dumb -- let's face it, a 16th level minion with 1 hp is really silly, but I understand the basic concept behind it.Yes. Bad idea.I never, ever liked half-orcs as a PC race. I always thought it was goofy. Especially because you've got elves and half-elves, so why not at least let the PCs play orcs (i.e. have it in the core rules)? I didn't disallow half-orcs in my games, but I very strongly suggested any other race.Now, Dragonborn? Ugh... Completely arbitrary. Even if I someday adopt 4e (not likely) the Dragonborn will be banned from my game. If I'm playing a Planescape game, the Tieflings are OK, but otherwise, they're out, too.When this ability is rare, or each player has one unique "always available" ability, I think it's OK. This was taking it too far.QFT. This is not -- and never should be -- considered a MMORPG.Any time you take die rolls away from PC generation, I think it's bad. Let's face it: Chuck Norris and Jack Bauer do not have the same base hit points with only a variance based on Con bonus. It makes the game too "clinical." Randomly-generated monsters that the PCs fight can have the average hit points listed in the MM, but that's it. I would never do that to the players. The possibility for greatness or the lack thereof is a good thing.That extends into the "too many hit points" comment. It's OK for 1st level players to fear death. Really. I know it sucks. I had a specially-designed bard in a recent campaign who died at 1st level. It sucked, because I had really worked hard on his personality, and was looking forward to playing him through a long career. I could also drive home from work this evening and be hit by a truck and killed. Sometimes, PCs die. It sucks. It's part of life in D&D just like reality.Agreed. This is silliness.Yeah. I'd like some of what the design team was smoking. I want my players to succeed, but wouldn't it have been easier to publish one 4e core book that simply said, "If you're a player running a Player Character, You Win!!!"?I've read some explanations for this, but it still makes no sense. I grew up with the BECMI D&D rules, so the Law-Chaos axis makes sense even without the Good-Evil. But the lop-sided alignment chart that exists now (and what the heck is "unaligned?" Seriously, does PC have to mean Politically Correct in D&D, too?) is dumb.This, along with so many other elements of 4e exemplifies one of my biggest beefs with this version of the game.In previous versions of the game, it was possible for characters to experience the heights of success and the depths of failure. It was possible (though unlikely) to roll a character with amazing stats, hit points, and to have a brilliant in-game career. It was equally possible to roll a character who couldn't life a toothpick or form cogent sentences. Most players would experience a game that fell somewhere into the hump of the bell curve and experience a somewhat average life with spikes of success and failure (not unlike real life, I would assume).Now, however, it feels as if the game designers lopped off the shallow ends of that bell curve and left us with only the hump. It's a world of averages, with average players (I'm just as good as everyone else, gosh darn it!), average monsters, and average world mechanics, all doing average things. It's sterile, and boring, with villains being identified only by a red outline around their avatars so the players know who to beat up.It's just not for me.... Oh, and my biggest complaint about the whole thing... If my dungeon group is running from the Hobgoblin King (who we thought we could take on, but didn't count on him having his demonic mistress for aid) and we run through a door, and discover we're out of spikes, I don't want the wizard saying, "Listen, chaps. Can you sort of distract that fellow for about 10 minutes while I Wizard Lock this door? It won't take a second... Well, once the ritual is done, anyway."*sigh*Now... you kids get off my lawn!</blockquote>

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