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This message has been edited to include all of the rules that this thread have come up with. RED lines are unconfirmed rules. Please PM me if you can find a page reference for an unconfirmed rule. PLEASE include a page and book reference when adding a new rule and please help me by PMing me page references if I missed any.

Alright, I thought I'd toss this topic out after a couple months of somewhat average gameplay (Approximately one 6-8 hour gaming session a week). Tell me what you think...

While I'll read most of the PHB, I couldn't at all claim that I've read and absorbed it cover to cover. Likewise, I've skimmed the DMG, but have yet to really sit down and commit myself to reading the whole thing.

As such, I thought that it might be worthwhile to post rules or observations that I've come across that I didn't really get or notice the first time reading the rules that differ significantly from 3.5e and before or that are just plain new to 4e.

I'd love to see other post similar discoveries that maybe the rest of us may have missed. Let me get this started with two examples and please, by all means, add on to this...


"Didn't realize it rule" #1 -
The number of times that you can use a daily power granted by a magic item is limited by level.

I didn't realize this. On page 226 of the PHB it points out that from level 1-10 you can only use 1 magic item daily power pre day. Regardless of the item. If you are level 1-10 and use a daily power from a magic item, you cannot use any daily power from any other (Or the same) magic item until after an extended rest. From level 11-20 this increases to two such uses and from 21-30 this becomes 3 such uses. I guess you'd better really think about it when it comes to using a magic item's daily use.


"Didn't realize it rule" #2 -
The monster stat block reads that on a successful attack, the target is marked. Where the heck does it spell out how a monster "mark" works?

A fighter has Combat Challenge, a paladin has Divine Challenge, both of which indicate marking a target, but how does a generic monster mark work? This bugged me for about a week, so I faked it, because I could not for the life of me find what a generic mark was. Well, I'm pretty sure I figured it out, even though it seemed kind of backwards at first. While I can't find anywhere where it states the result of what a generic mark does, I did find what to expect if you are under the effect of a generic mark. In the end, I thought it was kind of funny. "It doesn't say what happens when a monster marks you, but the effect of a mark is listed.". Head to page 277 of the PHB to see the result of being marked. A -2 penalty to attack rolls for any attack that doesn't target the creature that marked you. Simple enough. In the end, I don't see what was so difficult about it to begin with.

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#1 - (PHB 266) The number of times that you can use any daily power granted by any magic item is limited by the PC level. You CAN use more than one magic item daily power per day at Heroic Tier. The catch? You have to reach a milestone first.

#2 - (PHB 277) The effect of a monster marking a target is not described in the books, but the condition is. –2 attack if the marked target attacks anyone other the the monster that marks it.

#3 - (PHB 59) Powers with a hit that also have an effect still get the benefit of their effect even if the power misses. As the DM I didn't give some of my players the benefit from their attacks.

#4 - (PHB 267) No Action points can be used during Surprise rounds.

#5 - (PHB 60, and in the first page description of each character class) The starting HP of a character is their Class HP + their CON score, not their CON modifier. This is the most common 'oversight' I saw in players who've played 3.x before.

#6 - (PHB 208) The class-specific multiclass feats qualify you to take paragon paths from that class only if you have the prerequisites necessary for that particular path.

#7 - (PHB 287-288) Charge is a standard action, so you can still take a move action in the same round. However, using a charge ends your turn, so you can only move before you charge.

#8 - (PHB 201) Toughness feat only gives +5 HP At each tier.

#9 - (PHB 263) You can only take an extended rest once every 18 hours (Or every 12 hours if you don’t add in the time spent during an extended rest, but let’s not bring that one up again). Seemed fishy after my parties third extended rest in the 5th room of a dungeon

#10 - There are no more Full Round Actions, get over it.

#11 - (PHB 58) There is no more minimum of 1 damage from an attack. You can hit and deal 0 damage.

#49 - (PHB 263) There is a penalty for not taking an extended rest. You need at least 6 hours of sleep every day to keep functioning at your best. If, at the end of an extended rest, you haven’t slept at least 6 hours in the last 24, you gain no benefit from that extended rest.

#50 - (PHB 285)If you’re affected by an effect that prevents you from taking opportunity actions, you don’t flank.

#51 - (PHB 290) Close Blast or Close Burst do not have the keyword "Ranged" or "Area" and as such do not provoke OA.

#52 - (PHB 290) You can make an OA once on each other creatures turn, but you can make any number during the round.

#53 - (PHB 212) You don't add your dexterity bonus to ac if you wear anything other than light armour, but you have a choice between DEX and INT for light armor AC bonus.

#54 - (PHB 209) You couldn't use a power-swap feat on a power from your Paragon Path or Epic Destiny.

#55 - (PHB 76) When a fighters Combat Challenge is trigged due to a marked, adjacent enemy shifting, the shift is not interrupted. It's just that the triggered action (melee basic attack by the fighter) occurs before the shift is completed.

#56 - (PHB 295) You can only fail 3 Death Saving Throws TOTAL between short (or extended) rests. So if you go down, fail 2, get back up, go down again, and fail 1, you are D-E-D, dead.

#57 - Healing affects you differently when you are "dying". If you are Healed while dying, your negative Hit Points are reset to 0 before you gain Hit Points form the Healing Effect. If the Healing Effect requires you to use a Healing Surge and you have none left, your Hit Points are instead set to 1 HP. Temporary hit points don't cause you to stop dying.

#58 - (PHB 287)(Number your rules, demmit) With a reach weapon, you can make a charge attack and do NOT have to end the move adjacent to the charged enemy. "You must move at least 2 squares from your starting position, and must move directly to the nearest square FROM WHICH YOU CAN ATTACK YOUR ENEMY. You can't charge if the nearest square is occupied. Moving over difficult terrain costs extra squares of movement as normal."

#59 - (PHB 217) Even with a reach weapon, enemies do no provoke opportunity attacks unless they are adjacent to you.

#60 - () Only three things draw an OA: A non-shift move out of a threatened square, using a Ranged or Area power in a threatened square, or when it specifically created by way of a power.

"Didn't realize it rule" #3 -

Powers with a hit that also have an effect still get the benefit of their effect even if the power misses. As the DM I didn't give some of my players the benefit from their attacks.