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6 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 1:24PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Apr 15, 2001
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D&DN makes me laugh at times. Signaature spells are more or less encounter powers by any other name and they have already added at wills. They may have 4th ed written all over them but 3.5 had them in the Book of Nine Swords IIRC and 3.5 aso had at wills in the form of reserve feats and Pathfinder has elements of at wills and encounter powers as well even if they are disguised as 3/times per day or XYZ number of rounds per day.
Not saying they need to bring back AEDU across the board but it makes sense for things like the Dragonborn race and it would be a great way to make the races more interesting as well. Elven accuracy for example fits with elves being accurate with bows and it could be applied to magic attacks as well for elven wizards and clerics. Not all races for example need to have a racial power as long as they have something that is relevent for them.
Now this leads to class design. I'm not 100% convinced that the new monk is very good and I do not like that they seem to be adding expertise dice every martial class- fighter, monk and rogue so far. The Warlock would be a good candidate for some encounter powers IMHO. Balance can be important but we all now what is broken from 3.5 and 4th ed and I would like to see some classes designed a bit more like 2nd ed ones. In pre 3rd ed some classes were more or less designed along the lines of "winging it".
I'm starting to loath ED dice. The concept is good but I have concerns it is going to be overused and it ruins the whole bounded accuracy thing in terms of skill checks with skill mastery and mighty exertion. I do not want to see ED dice used on classes like the Ranger, Paladin and maybe Warlord. One could even make encounter powers optional via feats like in 4th ed and Star Wars Saga. If one doesn't want to use them for whatever reason don't take the feat.
The concept of encounter powers is a great one IMHO. 4th ed may have overused them as every class had them and a large part of 4th eds class and role structure was built around AEDU. One doesn't have to bring back AEDU at all but I can see a use for encounter powers replacing XYZ times per day/round abilities from pre 4th ed D&D going back to 1st and 2nd ed class abilities as well.
Reducing a character to a list of dice rolls and modifiers is not role playing*
*pg 30, AD&D 2nd Ed DMG, 1989.
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6 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 1:26PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Aug 28, 2005
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I am going to agree with this. Encounter powers were fanatastic, especially for races. I don't know why they're avoiding them when they're such a great way to work so many things.
Why, yes, as a matter of fact I am the Unfailing Arbiter of All That Is Good Design (Even More So Than The Actual Developers) TMSpeaking of things that were badly designed, please check out this thread for my Minotaur fix. What have the critics said, you ask? "If any of my players ask to play a Minotaur, I'm definitely offering this as an alternative to the official version." - EmpactWB "If I ever feel like playing a Minotaur I'll know where to look!" - Undrave "WoTC if you are reading this - please take this guy's advice." - Ferol_Debtor_of_Torm "Really full of win. A minotaur that is actually attractive for more than just melee classes." - Cpt_Micha Also, check out my recent GENASI variant! If you've ever wished that your Fire Genasi could actually set stuff on fire, your Water Genasi could actually swim, or your Wind Genasi could at least glide, then look no further. Finally, check out my OPTIONS FOR EVERYONE article, an effort to give unique support to the races that WotC keeps forgetting about. Includes new racial feature options for the Changeling, Deva, Githzerai, Gnoll, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Orc, Kalashtar, Minotaur, Shadar-Kai, Thri-Kreen, Warforged and more!
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6 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 1:33PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Jul 29, 2012
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Yeah, Signature spells, a bad "obfuscation" of the per-encounter deal; talk about immersion breaking and board-game/skirmish action, IMO.
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6 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 2:17PM
#4
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Yeah, Signature spells, a bad "obfuscation" of the per-encounter deal; talk about immersion breaking and board-game/skirmish action, IMO.
Yep. That's about right.
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6 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 2:22PM
#5
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Date Joined:
May 16, 2004
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I really like encounter powers.
Now, where will this thread go from here, I wonder?
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6 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 2:37PM
#6
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My like/dislike of encounter powers depends on the proposed power. On one end I like the fighter class pretty much as is though I would like more variety of maneuvers and I love Expertise Dice (was going to abbreviate that but decided discretion was the better part of discussion). On the other the wizard traditions I am neutral to the signature spell only because they have to rely on it so heavily at low levels. But perhaps that could be solved by allowing greater access to picking signature spells.
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6 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 3:10PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jun 15, 2006
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I suggest a module about overerxertion.
Some no magic tricks only could be used once because they are about surprise factor. I can´t imagine a fighter can´t do trick A because is tired but he can do trick B and C. If character is tired shouldn´t can more efforts until after resting.
I think some martial encounter powers can´t be spent without a Stor save againt overerxetion effect or only if the character has got the special condition "full of energy".
"Say me what you're showing off for, and I'll say you what you lack!" (Spanish saying)
Book 13 Anaclet 23
Confucius said: "The Superior Man is in harmony but does not follow the crowd. The inferior man follows the crowd, but is not in harmony"
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6 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 4:29PM
#8
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I just worry that with DDN trying to distance itself from 4E, it'll lose some of the good ideas. After all, signature spells are just like encounter spells but you can only have one, ever!
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6 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 5:24PM
#9
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I think the idea of powers (spells, maneuvers, whatever) that aren't at will but recharge more often than daily is okay. I just think there needs to be something other than "encounter" to define it. I didn't like the 4e system of encounters, I like more freeform progression through an adventure-be it dungeon crawl or diplomatic encounter. Luis Carlos brings up a good point that if a character is too tired (or otherwise unable) to pull off one tough stunt, how can they pull off another? Maybe there could be a pool of rechargeable spells, and once every X minutes the character could use one of them. Just an idea
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6 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 5:54PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2009
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I think the idea of powers (spells, maneuvers, whatever) that aren't at will but recharge more often than daily is okay. I just think there needs to be something other than "encounter" to define it. I didn't like the 4e system of encounters, I like more freeform progression through an adventure-be it dungeon crawl or diplomatic encounter. Luis Carlos brings up a good point that if a character is too tired (or otherwise unable) to pull off one tough stunt, how can they pull off another? Maybe there could be a pool of rechargeable spells, and once every X minutes the character could use one of them. Just an idea
I have 1 encounter power it allows my character to do a super leap... when I do it I strain a calve muscle it... which I can bull past for most of my moves but pretty much makes that one move a one shot. Once I get an opportunity to relax and stretch it.. Im up for another.
Spells dont call on just one source of power and like physical activities they strain different elements of the psyche how long that part takes to recover is ummm shrug (could be ten minutes an hour a day).
I have encounter power I can supress pain temporarily because I emotionally investing in one action the success of which triggers endorphins... I have to calm down to pull it off again, its not fatiguing actually.
I have an encounter power that is a trick ... which once its revealed is pretty much not going to be work against anyone who seen it used recently. (you might attempt it at a penalty but usually it often wont be worth it)
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