Community

A subject a lot of us have seen on these boards but, oddly enough, hasn't been very well addressed by the Wizards as of yet.

Resource Pools, or more specifically, the division of the three pillars into different resource pools.

If you're unfamiliar, the summary is so:


At level up, you make selections of feats and powers to improve your character. Currently in the 4ed, you can get rougly one feat every 2 levels and powers sporadically. Those feats encompass everything from weapon bonuses and multi-classing to skill training and expertise. In theory that sounds like a swell idea, and the staggering list of options certainly helped make it a viable system. Powers as well had some utility "Out of Combat" options that could do anything from telepathy to magical vine-ropes. The problem? In practice Player's typically choose combat powers, often times almost exclusively. This leads to a over-emphasis on combat and meta-gaming and down-plays role-playing and exploration for those unable to resist the temptations of a badass monster slaying characters (+13 Vs. Will). Furthermore, such exclusivity can lead to uselessness in the other two pillars of play if you have a suave bard or skilled rogue--For the price of better combat, you can rarely contribute outside of combat.

As such, many players have called for a separation of Resource Pools. A specific system could entail recieving a feat every level up; Every even level up you get an "Out of Combat" feat, and every odd level up you get an "In Combat" feat. Thus, every character will have equal participation potential inside and outside combat. Another system could split this even further, with acquired feats exclusively for all three pillar (Combat, Socialization, Exploration).


If you want to discuss the topic, you can head to this topic here:

community.wizards.com/dndnext/go/thread/...


I know there are some good blogs by users here for further (And more detailed) readings on the subject, but I couldn't find them. I'm sure they'll crop up soon.


As you may have gleamed, this topic is to vote! Post what you think and I'll update the results a couple times a day if I can.


In D&DNext, I want Resource Pools to be...

a) All Resources are shared in one pool, as it currently is now (4e).
b) There are two Resource Pools, In Combat and Out of Combat.
c) Each Pillar of D&D has it's own separate Resouce Pool.
d) None of the Above (Please describe, if it recieves support it will be added with haste)

e) "I'm in favor of two pools: in-combat and out-of-combat.  However, what I want is a minimum level of competence in each, with anything beyond that level of competence being a player specialization choice." - MechaPilot

Results

a) 0
b) 8
c) 3
d) 3

Apr 26, 2012 -- 5:23PM, Qmark wrote:

In fact, I'm having a hard time trying to thing of a feat that's not somehow relevant to combat, or a skill that somehow is.

Any thing that boosts skill checks.

Guild feats.
Enduring Stamina feats.
Learning and Lore feats
Skill Focuses
Skill Training

Anything that grants languages.

Ect.

Ect.