Nefertiti flashes a quick, sweet smile and Wil. "You're my hero, sweetie," she sings with a giggle as she cautiously moves away from the dragonshield. Hearing Armalai shout about the spellslinger, she makes a 'releasing' motion with her hands and a flock of multi-colored elemental bats manifest from her hands before flying off in its direction. As they fly, she tries to summon eldritch flame to mark him so that her flock of scary bats may find him.
Move Action: Shift to L,12. Minor Action:Darkfire on Wyrmpriest (P,17). -Attack:1d20+9=19 vs. Reflex Standard Action: Chromatic Orb on Wyrmpriest (P,17). -Attack:1d20+6=23 vs. Reflex (+2 if the Darkfire hit). -Damage:3d10+8=21radiant damage and the target is dazed (save ends). Takes an additional 1d6=5 damage if at maximum hit points.
Standard Action * Arcane, Implement, Psychic One creature (Ranged 10); +6 vs. Will 1d10+8 psychic damage plus 1d6 against enemies at maximum hit points; make a secondary attack if the roll is even. Secondary Attack: -One creature (Ranged 5 of the last target hit by this power); +6 vs. Will -1d6+1 psychic damage; if the roll is even, repeat this attack until it is not even or until all enemies have been hit.
Minor Action One creature (Ranged 10); +9 vs. Reflex Target grants combat advantage, and cannot benefit from inivisibility or concealment until my EONT
Standard Action * Arcane, Fire, Implement One creature (Ranged 10); +6 vs. Reflex 2d8+8 fire damage plus 1d6 against enemies at maximum hit points; until my SONT, any enemy that moves adjacent to the target takes 1d6 fire damage.
Standard Action * Arcane Close burst 10 (Nefertiti and one ally) Each target moves a number of squares equal to their speed +2. Each target can fly during this movement but falls if they do not land by the end of the movement.
Standard Action * Arcane, Implement, Varies One creature (Ranged 10); +6 vs. Reflex 3d10+8 fire damage plus 1d6 against enemies at maximum hit points; roll a d6: 1 - Bright Yellow Bat: Radiant damage, target dazed (SE). 2 - Flaming Red Bat: Fire damage, each adjacent creatures takes 3 fire damage. 3 - Reeking Green Bat: Poison damage, ongoing 5 poison damage (SE). 4 - Shocking Turquoie Bat: Lightning damage, slide the target 3 squares. 5 - Frozen Blue Bat: Cold damage, target immobilized (SE). 6 - Sinister Violet Bat: Psychic damage, targets takes a -2 to AC (SE). Miss: 1d10 damage. Random effect as above.
I realize in the flavor that she uses Chromatic Orb before Darkfire but that's all it is: flavor. She would use the darkfire first to gain the combat advantage. Also, I finally got off my lazy arse and did my combat statblock. I hope it's cool that I 're-skinned' most of my powers.
Next up: Armalia, Riardon, Wil, Antsy, Flint, Nefertiti
The quickblade feints an attack on Nefertiti, before doubling back and striking at Wil - but misses.
The dragonshields maintain their advantage over their opponents, though one's attack burshes off of Flint's shield. The other two strike Riardon and Armalia.
The wyrmpriest makes his way deeper into the foliage, but the purple glow of the darkfire is a tell-tale sign to where he is hiding.
Map Features: Lighting: Daylight Ceiling: N/A Boulders: 5' high. DC 15 Athletics & 4 move to climb. Difficult terrain moving around on top. Outcroppings: 50' high. DC 20 Athletics (multiple times) + ~200 movement to climb. Foliage: Lightly Obscured & Provide Cover in & through. Difficult terrain to move in. Road & Grass: Mostly dirt, some cobblestones. Knee-high grass. No penalties to movement or concealment/cover.
Kobold Dragonshield(small natural humanoid, reptile, soldier): Short Sword (standard) does some damage, but hit or miss the target is marked; Dirty Tactics (standard) can do quite a bit of damage, and the target is immobilized or slowed; Shifty (minor) lets him shift; Dragonshield Tactics (imm. reaction) lets him shift in reaction to adjacent movement.
Kobold Quickblade(small natural humanoid, reptile, skirmisher): Short Sword (standard) does some damage, even more if he's been mobile; Fleet Footed (move) lets him shift a short distance; Shifty (minor) lets him shift. Kobold Wyrmpriest(small natural humanoid, reptile, soldier): Spear (standard) does some damage; Sonic Orb (standard) does damage based on their lineage, in this case thunder; :blast: Dragon Breath (standard, recharge ) blasts an area based on their lineage, in this case probably thunder; Shifty (minor) lets him shift; :blast: Incite Faith (minor) helps an ally within the burst.
• Ad Hominem— Attacking the person's circumstances, not addressing the argument. • Ad Hominem Abusive (Personal Attack)— Insulting the person, not addressing the argument. • Ad Hominem Tu Quoque— Saying the person's inconsistent, not addressing the argument. • Appeal to Authority/Belief/Common Practice/Consequence of a Belief/Emotion/Fear/Flattery/Novelty/Pity/Popularity/Ridicule/Spite/Tradition— Using emotion instead of Fact. • Bandwagon— Use of peer pressure. • Begging the Question— Assuming premises which haven't necessarily been agreed to. • Biased Sample— Using a sampling which may not properly represent the whole. • Burden of Proof— Shifting it to the wrong side. • Circumstantial Ad Hominem— Attacking the person's interests in supporting their argument. • Composition— Assuming that the whole has the same qualities as individual parts. • Confusing Cause & Effect— Assuming that one thing causes another because they appear in conjunction. • Division— Assuming that the individual parts have the same qualities as the whole. • False Dilemma— Assuming that only two options exist. • Gambler's Fallacy— Assuming the odds have changed because of past occurances • Genetic— Assuming a perceived defect in the origin of a claim is proof of a defect in the claim. • Guilt by Association— Attacking others who agree with the claim. • Hasty Generalization— Assuming a quality based on too small a sample size. • Ignoring the Common Cause— Assuming there is no outside cause of two connected things. • Middle Ground— Assuming the midpoint of two extremes must be correct. • Misleading Vividness— Assuming a colorful anecdote outweighs statistical evidence. • Poisoning the Well— Using unprovable claims about the person instead of addressing the argument. • Post Hoc— Assuming that something caused something else simply because it happened first. • Questionable Cause— Assuming that one thing causes another. • Red Herring— Using irrelevant evidence to divert a discussion. • Relativist Fallacy— Asserting that a claim may be true for some but not for the speaker. • Slippery Slope— Assuming the inevitability of one event based on another. • Special Pleading— Claiming exemption without justification. • Spotlight— Assuming individuals that get the most attention to be indicative of the whole. • Straw Man— Misrepresenting the opposing argument. • Two Wrongs Make a Right— Justifying something unethical/immoral as response or pre-emption to something else unethical/immoral.
Response to those who like to compare 4e to a Video GameShow
Also, I find that the "D&D 4e is like an MMO" argument is often a sign of someone who is deliberately being obtuse and/or is potentially ignorant of actual MMO play. As someone who only ended a 6-year World of Warcraft addiction a year ago, I can say that most of your bullet points actually don't match up to the truth of it.
In D&D 4e, you can choose a hybrid, you can choose to play one class as though it were another (people played Warlords as Bards frequently, when the edition first came out, and Rangers were refluffed to Monks), you can focus your class on its secondary role (a Warlock who is more controller than striker, for instance), you can multiclass, and you can create a particular concept (a mounted lancer, a charger, etc.) within the mechanics via feats, choice of powers, and choice of skills. You decide which set of stats you use--are you a Chaladin, Straladin, or Baladin?--and you have ultimate influence on how your character turns out in the end. Yes, powers require you to be using a particular weapon within your class's available selection, but the powers are not themselves tied to the gear. Powers tied to weapons or armor are typically powers that belong to the item, not to the character class that's most likely to use it.
Yes, there are only so many powers available, and these will be what you do in battle; this is all that the designers created. Yes, there is a time-frame in which they can be used; this has always been the case, even in the days of Vancian casting. Yes, there are suggested builds, but you can routinely ignore those if it pleases you; the only parts of a class you have to take are the class features, and even those have options at this point. But the only way that this can be considered at all conflatable with MMO character building/playing is if you are deliberately ignoring all of that.
In WoW, you choose a class and you're done. No multiclassing or hybridization, no way to mimic one class with careful building of a different one. There is a firm dividing line on what is a WoW class. No secondary roles or creative concepts, either; you're going to be what the class sets out to be, and that's it. You'll always have the same stat allocation as another of your class, because you get set numbers as you level up, and you've got at best four options--and that's only the Druid class--to build, and if you plan on running dungeons, particularly heroic level ones, or raiding, you'd better not even think of deviating from the single defined best build on the talent tree for what you want to do. It was only recently, with the complete tear-down and recreation of talent trees for Mists of Pandaria, that there was a concept of there being anything but the one best build that people who calculated such mechanical advantages (the folks on Elitist Jerks, for example), and the people who did things like achieve "World First" at various top-tier raids set precedent for.
Also, no class will ever not have a specific set of powers; all Priests in WoW have the same baseline, with deviation only based upon their talent tree specialization, where a D&D4e player could take whatever power in their class pleases them. Any Retribution Paladin will be the same as any other in terms of powers, because that is what a RetPally is. Any Assassination Rogue will always have the same powers as another, etc. All powers are always on specific cool-downs, but will always be there when they start a battle, where a 4e PC might enter an encounter with only At-Wills, or without their Daily powers due to what plot has done up until that point. Furthermore, no power that is not already specifically tied to an item will ever "require" you have that item, to my recollection. Classes get all their powers based on class; gear only gives bonuses to stats, possibly cuts down cast times for abilities or cooldowns, grants temporary extra bonuses to stats (the latter two most often on the raid tier equipment), and on rare occassions an extra power that may or may not be valuable, as some are only special effects instead of valuable abilities.
Most honest/open response on why DDN needs to be InclusiveShow
I've always felt it is in the best interests of D&D to be as inclusive across the playerbase as they can be and still have a game. I've never felt though that making a game that was inclusive within a group was very useful or even desirable. DM's and players can decide amongst themselves what options or restrictions they want for their games. I tend to lean to the DM to make most of those decisions but again that is a group specific thing.
Having said that. I get the distinct impression that there are a lot of players on these boards who come from groups that generally ruled against their own desires. It's almost like they are an oppressed minority from a gaming perspective. I also get the impression that they tend to advocate against things that if available their fellow group members might like and vote them down on.
Do a lot of you feel this way?
Just for clarification...here are some examples... 1. Alignment restrictions as an option. 2. Alignment Mechanics 3. Martial healing 4. Races being included or not.
I know my perspective is not that I often play at tables where my likes are not represented. Instead, my perspective comes from the many years I spent being a bad DM. I was a bad DM because my guidance came from the books, and the books gave bad advice. The books told me that alignment was a useful approach to roleplaying, so I went with it even though it felt kind of weird to me. Now I know that, at least in my style of running games, alignment destroys rp. I trusted the books to give good advice, and it messed up my game. Now I'm much more mature as a DM, so I know how to take advice with a grain of salt. And I still learn new stuff every session I run.
I don't want future DMs to go through my problems again. There's a big enough DM shortage as it is. DMing well is hard.
The biggest thing I had to unlearn in my process of becoming a good DM was the idea that the game is a simulation of a world. I understand many DMs prefer a more simulationist approach, although I am always skeptical simply because I would have said the same thing until I learned and grew as a DM. This doesn't mean their approach is completely invalid, but it still gives me a personal twinge when I see a regression back to 3e era sim style gaming.
I also have noticed many groups where one or two old-school players run a whole group's playstyle because the newer players aren't even aware there are other ways of doing things. The newer players tell me stories of things they hated in the session, and I end up explaining to them how those things they hate are very fixable, and in fact are fixed in the newer edition of the game their older players have told them is terrible.
In regard to things like martial healing, I don't think it's necessary for it to be in the game for the game to be fun. However, the attitude that says martial healing is terrible and shouldn't exist is an attitude that, to me, reveals a wrongheaded approach to the game. Therefore, my fight for it to be an option is to help legitimize the more narrative approach that I think is what most players want, but many don't know is possible, because they've never been exposed to it.
Wil's eyes darken as the kobold slashes into the wounded Flint instead of turning its attention to him. The swordsman's blade trembles with arcane energy as he thrusts the blade at the dragonshield's chest causing the roiling magic to rush down the length of the blade seeking egress into the creature.
He then performs a quick retreat step to the side as he attempts to reposition the pair of kobolds more to his liking while maintaining his arcane hold on the smaller of the pair.
"Come along now like the good little wretches you are." MechanicsShow
Standard:Booming Blade @ O13: 1d20+10=19 for, if hit: 1d8+5=7pts of damage. Minor: Aegis on M13; Move: Shift to N12
Antsy works his jaw, trying to get his ears to pop. He sees Wil shouting, but doesn't hear a thing. He raises his voice, hoping that some sound will get through the magical silence they've put in place. "IT'S NO USE WIL! THEY PUT UP A CONE OF SILENCE! NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU!" The kobold flinches back as Antsy screams in his face and the warlord takes the opportunity to slip a jab past the kobold's shield. The sword makes a satisfying sucking sound and he pulls it back and Antsy figures out that he just popped the silent bubble.
having trouble with invisible caste just now - using CoCo Roller for this turn only. (hopefully) Standard: MBA vs Dragonshield 28 vs AC; 11 damage Move: Shift to Q,14 End of Turn: Save vs Deaf = 10
Standard Action Melee weapon Target: One creature Attack: An ally of your choice makes a melee basic attack against the target Hit: Ally's basic attack damage + 2 (int modifier)
Standard Action Melee weapon Target: One creature Attack: +10 vs AC Special: Before you attack, you let one ally adjacent to either you or the target shift 1 square as a free action. Hit: 1d8+5 (+1d6 vs targets at maximum hit points)
Standard Action Ranged 5 Target: One ally Effect: The target makes a basic attack as a free action against an enemy of your choice that you can see and is within 10 squares of you.
Minor Action Close burst 5 Target: You or one ally in burst Special: You can use this power twice per encounter, but only once per round. Effect: The target can spend a healing surge and regain an additional 1d6 hit points.
Immediate Reaction Personal Trigger: An enemy hits you Effect: You make a basic attack against the triggering enemy, and one ally within 5 squares of you can move his or her speed and make a melee basic attack against the triggering enemy as a free action.
Standard Action Melee weapon (Reliable) Target: One creature Attack: +10 vs AC Hit: 2d8+5 (+1d6 vs targets at maximum hit points). As a free action, one ally you can see can make a basic attack against the target with a +2 power bonus to the attack roll.
No Action Close burst 3 Target: You or one ally in burst Trigger: You roll initiative Effect: The target shifts half his or her speed
If something adjacent to Antsy attacks him and hits, he will use [ ]Vengence Is MineShow
Trigger: An enemy hits you Effect: You make a basic attack against the triggering enemy, and one ally within 5 squares of you can move his or her speed and make a melee basic attack against the triggering enemy as a free action. Antsy's Melee Basic AttackShow
Standard Action Melee weapon Target: One creature Attack: +10 vs AC Hit: 1d8+5 (+1d6 vs targets at maximum hit points)
Armalia preferred as ally if within 5 squares. (Flint is second choice, Wil is third).
Flint's body begins to ripple with the telltale signs of injured bloodlust, and he sidesteps towards the kobold that stuck at him during the transformation. Eyes gleaming with rage, he bellows and swings his bastard sword down at the kobold.
Minor: Longtooth Shifting - Gain +2 to dmg rolls and regen 2 while bloodied.
Move: Shift to O:14
Standard: Word of Exchange on O:13 Rune State: Protection Atk: 1d20+9=18 vs AC Hit: 1d10+5=11 dmg and the DS takes -2 to all defenses, and the next ally to hit the DS gains +4 AC until the end of my next turn.
Rune: Protection - Adjacent allies gain resist 2 all damage.
Riardon steps back and raises his orb towards the kobold who attacked him. "Do as I command," he whispers as his orb glows. The kobolds eyes flash and it stumbles to a spot between Armalia and Flint then lashes out at his ally.
Standard Action:Charm of Missplaced Wrath vs P,14 Attact:1d20+6=17 On Hit Effect:You slide the target up to 5/6 squares (To N,14). The target is then dazed until the end of your next turnss Effect: The target makes a basic attack against M,15 as a free action. The basic attack gains a +2 power bonus to the damage roll.
Armalia slumps against Flint's back and feels as if she's had the wind knocked out of her. She almost falls as he shifts away to do battle with another kobold. She watches in amazement as another kobold comes over and finishes killing the one that she's been fighting. She shrugs and picks the axe straight up, pulling the blade out of the ground where it lodged when Flint worked his magic and the strength went out of her arms. It slices the kobold straight up the middle and it falls to the ground dead.
Standard=Great axe attack on kobold in N-14 for 26, damage is 9 and the kobold is dead. (Invisible Castle says kobold in M-15, but this is revised for Steph's move.)
Map Features: Lighting: Daylight Ceiling: N/A Boulders: 5' high. DC 15 Athletics & 4 move to climb. Difficult terrain moving around on top. Outcroppings: 50' high. DC 20 Athletics (multiple times) + ~200 movement to climb. Foliage: Lightly Obscured & Provide Cover in & through. Difficult terrain to move in. Road & Grass: Mostly dirt, some cobblestones. Knee-high grass. No penalties to movement or concealment/cover.
Kobold Dragonshield(small natural humanoid, reptile, soldier): Short Sword (standard) does some damage, but hit or miss the target is marked; Dirty Tactics (standard) can do quite a bit of damage, and the target is immobilized or slowed; Shifty (minor) lets him shift; Dragonshield Tactics (imm. reaction) lets him shift in reaction to adjacent movement.
Kobold Quickblade(small natural humanoid, reptile, skirmisher): Short Sword (standard) does some damage, even more if he's been mobile; Fleet Footed (move) lets him shift a short distance; Shifty (minor) lets him shift. Kobold Wyrmpriest(small natural humanoid, reptile, soldier): Spear (standard) does some damage; Sonic Orb (standard) does damage based on their lineage, in this case thunder; :blast: Dragon Breath (standard, recharge ) blasts an area based on their lineage, in this case probably thunder; Shifty (minor) lets him shift; :blast: Incite Faith (minor) helps an ally within the burst.
• Ad Hominem— Attacking the person's circumstances, not addressing the argument. • Ad Hominem Abusive (Personal Attack)— Insulting the person, not addressing the argument. • Ad Hominem Tu Quoque— Saying the person's inconsistent, not addressing the argument. • Appeal to Authority/Belief/Common Practice/Consequence of a Belief/Emotion/Fear/Flattery/Novelty/Pity/Popularity/Ridicule/Spite/Tradition— Using emotion instead of Fact. • Bandwagon— Use of peer pressure. • Begging the Question— Assuming premises which haven't necessarily been agreed to. • Biased Sample— Using a sampling which may not properly represent the whole. • Burden of Proof— Shifting it to the wrong side. • Circumstantial Ad Hominem— Attacking the person's interests in supporting their argument. • Composition— Assuming that the whole has the same qualities as individual parts. • Confusing Cause & Effect— Assuming that one thing causes another because they appear in conjunction. • Division— Assuming that the individual parts have the same qualities as the whole. • False Dilemma— Assuming that only two options exist. • Gambler's Fallacy— Assuming the odds have changed because of past occurances • Genetic— Assuming a perceived defect in the origin of a claim is proof of a defect in the claim. • Guilt by Association— Attacking others who agree with the claim. • Hasty Generalization— Assuming a quality based on too small a sample size. • Ignoring the Common Cause— Assuming there is no outside cause of two connected things. • Middle Ground— Assuming the midpoint of two extremes must be correct. • Misleading Vividness— Assuming a colorful anecdote outweighs statistical evidence. • Poisoning the Well— Using unprovable claims about the person instead of addressing the argument. • Post Hoc— Assuming that something caused something else simply because it happened first. • Questionable Cause— Assuming that one thing causes another. • Red Herring— Using irrelevant evidence to divert a discussion. • Relativist Fallacy— Asserting that a claim may be true for some but not for the speaker. • Slippery Slope— Assuming the inevitability of one event based on another. • Special Pleading— Claiming exemption without justification. • Spotlight— Assuming individuals that get the most attention to be indicative of the whole. • Straw Man— Misrepresenting the opposing argument. • Two Wrongs Make a Right— Justifying something unethical/immoral as response or pre-emption to something else unethical/immoral.
Response to those who like to compare 4e to a Video GameShow
Also, I find that the "D&D 4e is like an MMO" argument is often a sign of someone who is deliberately being obtuse and/or is potentially ignorant of actual MMO play. As someone who only ended a 6-year World of Warcraft addiction a year ago, I can say that most of your bullet points actually don't match up to the truth of it.
In D&D 4e, you can choose a hybrid, you can choose to play one class as though it were another (people played Warlords as Bards frequently, when the edition first came out, and Rangers were refluffed to Monks), you can focus your class on its secondary role (a Warlock who is more controller than striker, for instance), you can multiclass, and you can create a particular concept (a mounted lancer, a charger, etc.) within the mechanics via feats, choice of powers, and choice of skills. You decide which set of stats you use--are you a Chaladin, Straladin, or Baladin?--and you have ultimate influence on how your character turns out in the end. Yes, powers require you to be using a particular weapon within your class's available selection, but the powers are not themselves tied to the gear. Powers tied to weapons or armor are typically powers that belong to the item, not to the character class that's most likely to use it.
Yes, there are only so many powers available, and these will be what you do in battle; this is all that the designers created. Yes, there is a time-frame in which they can be used; this has always been the case, even in the days of Vancian casting. Yes, there are suggested builds, but you can routinely ignore those if it pleases you; the only parts of a class you have to take are the class features, and even those have options at this point. But the only way that this can be considered at all conflatable with MMO character building/playing is if you are deliberately ignoring all of that.
In WoW, you choose a class and you're done. No multiclassing or hybridization, no way to mimic one class with careful building of a different one. There is a firm dividing line on what is a WoW class. No secondary roles or creative concepts, either; you're going to be what the class sets out to be, and that's it. You'll always have the same stat allocation as another of your class, because you get set numbers as you level up, and you've got at best four options--and that's only the Druid class--to build, and if you plan on running dungeons, particularly heroic level ones, or raiding, you'd better not even think of deviating from the single defined best build on the talent tree for what you want to do. It was only recently, with the complete tear-down and recreation of talent trees for Mists of Pandaria, that there was a concept of there being anything but the one best build that people who calculated such mechanical advantages (the folks on Elitist Jerks, for example), and the people who did things like achieve "World First" at various top-tier raids set precedent for.
Also, no class will ever not have a specific set of powers; all Priests in WoW have the same baseline, with deviation only based upon their talent tree specialization, where a D&D4e player could take whatever power in their class pleases them. Any Retribution Paladin will be the same as any other in terms of powers, because that is what a RetPally is. Any Assassination Rogue will always have the same powers as another, etc. All powers are always on specific cool-downs, but will always be there when they start a battle, where a 4e PC might enter an encounter with only At-Wills, or without their Daily powers due to what plot has done up until that point. Furthermore, no power that is not already specifically tied to an item will ever "require" you have that item, to my recollection. Classes get all their powers based on class; gear only gives bonuses to stats, possibly cuts down cast times for abilities or cooldowns, grants temporary extra bonuses to stats (the latter two most often on the raid tier equipment), and on rare occassions an extra power that may or may not be valuable, as some are only special effects instead of valuable abilities.
Most honest/open response on why DDN needs to be InclusiveShow
I've always felt it is in the best interests of D&D to be as inclusive across the playerbase as they can be and still have a game. I've never felt though that making a game that was inclusive within a group was very useful or even desirable. DM's and players can decide amongst themselves what options or restrictions they want for their games. I tend to lean to the DM to make most of those decisions but again that is a group specific thing.
Having said that. I get the distinct impression that there are a lot of players on these boards who come from groups that generally ruled against their own desires. It's almost like they are an oppressed minority from a gaming perspective. I also get the impression that they tend to advocate against things that if available their fellow group members might like and vote them down on.
Do a lot of you feel this way?
Just for clarification...here are some examples... 1. Alignment restrictions as an option. 2. Alignment Mechanics 3. Martial healing 4. Races being included or not.
I know my perspective is not that I often play at tables where my likes are not represented. Instead, my perspective comes from the many years I spent being a bad DM. I was a bad DM because my guidance came from the books, and the books gave bad advice. The books told me that alignment was a useful approach to roleplaying, so I went with it even though it felt kind of weird to me. Now I know that, at least in my style of running games, alignment destroys rp. I trusted the books to give good advice, and it messed up my game. Now I'm much more mature as a DM, so I know how to take advice with a grain of salt. And I still learn new stuff every session I run.
I don't want future DMs to go through my problems again. There's a big enough DM shortage as it is. DMing well is hard.
The biggest thing I had to unlearn in my process of becoming a good DM was the idea that the game is a simulation of a world. I understand many DMs prefer a more simulationist approach, although I am always skeptical simply because I would have said the same thing until I learned and grew as a DM. This doesn't mean their approach is completely invalid, but it still gives me a personal twinge when I see a regression back to 3e era sim style gaming.
I also have noticed many groups where one or two old-school players run a whole group's playstyle because the newer players aren't even aware there are other ways of doing things. The newer players tell me stories of things they hated in the session, and I end up explaining to them how those things they hate are very fixable, and in fact are fixed in the newer edition of the game their older players have told them is terrible.
In regard to things like martial healing, I don't think it's necessary for it to be in the game for the game to be fun. However, the attitude that says martial healing is terrible and shouldn't exist is an attitude that, to me, reveals a wrongheaded approach to the game. Therefore, my fight for it to be an option is to help legitimize the more narrative approach that I think is what most players want, but many don't know is possible, because they've never been exposed to it.
Nefertiti slinks away from the quickblade that feinted hitting her, trusting that Armalia and Wil will make it an ex-quickblade very soon. She looks to the wyrmpriest and scowls, crouching down slightly and creatinga small spider whose color shifts and changes at random. The spider scurries off to find its mark but is squashed by the kobold priest, causing Nefertiti to frown and pout.
Standard Action * Arcane, Implement, Psychic One creature (Ranged 10); +6 vs. Will 1d10+8 psychic damage plus 1d6 against enemies at maximum hit points; make a secondary attack if the roll is even. Secondary Attack: -One creature (Ranged 5 of the last target hit by this power); +6 vs. Will -1d6+1 psychic damage; if the roll is even, repeat this attack until it is not even or until all enemies have been hit.
Minor Action One creature (Ranged 10); +9 vs. Reflex Target grants combat advantage, and cannot benefit from inivisibility or concealment until my EONT
Standard Action * Arcane, Fire, Implement One creature (Ranged 10); +6 vs. Reflex 2d8+8 fire damage plus 1d6 against enemies at maximum hit points; until my SONT, any enemy that moves adjacent to the target takes 1d6 fire damage.
Standard Action * Arcane Close burst 10 (Nefertiti and one ally) Each target moves a number of squares equal to their speed +2. Each target can fly during this movement but falls if they do not land by the end of the movement.
Standard Action * Arcane, Implement, Varies One creature (Ranged 10); +6 vs. Reflex 3d10+8 fire damage plus 1d6 against enemies at maximum hit points; roll a d6: 1 - Bright Yellow Bat: Radiant damage, target dazed (SE). 2 - Flaming Red Bat: Fire damage, each adjacent creatures takes 3 fire damage. 3 - Reeking Green Bat: Poison damage, ongoing 5 poison damage (SE). 4 - Shocking Turquoie Bat: Lightning damage, slide the target 3 squares. 5 - Frozen Blue Bat: Cold damage, target immobilized (SE). 6 - Sinister Violet Bat: Psychic damage, targets takes a -2 to AC (SE). Miss: 1d10 damage. Random effect as above.
Antsy frowns at the glowing spiders running by, something tickling in his brain. He runs his tongue along the inside of mouth, trying to see if any of the mushrooms got in when he fell to the ground. He glances back at Nefertiti and mentally shakes his head. Nah. Couldn't be.
) blasts an area based on their lineage, in this case probably thunder; 
