Author Topic: 4e combat speed  (Read 20545 times)

clockworkjoe

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Re: 4e combat speed
« Reply #15 on: February 08, 2011, 08:26:02 PM »
MMOs got their terms from MUDS which derived their words from tabletop games so you have it backwards.

Tanks, healers, glass cannons, etc are all old hat for tabletop games too.


Salkovich

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Re: 4e combat speed
« Reply #16 on: February 08, 2011, 08:26:41 PM »
MMOs got their terms from MUDS which derived their words from tabletop games so you have it backwards.

Tanks, healers, glass cannons, etc are all old hat for tabletop games too.



Plus, who cares? Words are words.
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Moondog

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Re: 4e combat speed
« Reply #17 on: February 08, 2011, 08:29:56 PM »
All positively excellent points, and quite valid.

Just sayin' it all sounds similar.
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Salkovich

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Re: 4e combat speed
« Reply #18 on: February 08, 2011, 09:11:27 PM »
All positively excellent points, and quite valid.

Just sayin' it all sounds similar.

Well, and that's the truth. Terminology is going to get lifted from things that are similar.
Look at Police terminology and Armed forces terminology.
Or Delivery Services versus Newspaper distribution.
Or podcasting versus radio.
Or Fiction versus Screenwriting.

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"If you are asked, 'Would you like Abraham Lincoln', your answer is always YES."

Moondog

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Re: 4e combat speed
« Reply #19 on: February 08, 2011, 09:15:54 PM »
Makes sense.
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Re: 4e combat speed
« Reply #20 on: February 09, 2011, 04:03:35 AM »
Don't do combat. Skill challenges for all!!!!!

This, kinda.
Only not.

D&D4E is a pretty cool game (It kills all the nomsters and doesnt afraid of nothing).
Assembling and running encounters is incredi-easy from the GM's side, almost effortless if you do a little reading at the start.

However! D&D, both 3.X/Pathfinder/etc. and 4E have an unspoken requirement of tactical thinking from the players to run smoothly.
Personally, I like this. It rewards understanding & analysis of the game system.
That said, I'm well aware that thinking, especially analytically, != fun for many people. If the frontload of work is a funsuck for a large part of your group, do yourselves a favor and use a different game.
Savage Worlds springs to mind, though I have exactly 0 experience with it. If there's not a fantasy kitbash out there for ORE, some published author is falling down on the job. Hell, it could be that some of the OD&D fanstuff out on the web would suit.
Sure, these options involve effort, maybe some cash, and identifying what you actually want your game to do. I think, though, that it's a better alternative to letting the system bog down the game your group actually wants to play.

Let me be clear and repetitive: I loves me some 4E. I think it's a great game, but it is complex in ways that aren't spelled out in the books. I think anyone would be better off to find a system that does what their group needs, rather than play half-assed, un-fun D&D.


Alternatively: invest in the 4E Player's Strategy Guide, accessible through this elegant and finely crafted link: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd_products_dndacc_253820000
It's got a lot of sillycool fluff that's kinda hit or miss, but there are some bits that actually detail the underlying logic of focus fire, etc. Always nice to have a better reason for doing things than simply because we said to.

 

VoodooTwiztid

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Re: 4e combat speed
« Reply #21 on: May 09, 2011, 07:45:01 PM »
I double the damage from the monsters & cut their HP in half. this makes for quick & dangerous combats. I also like to use "moving combats". The combat moves from one scene to another without pause. The PCs fight their way out of town, past enemies, through the dock, take over a ship & launch it. This makes it so they don't have to take their opponents to 0 HP, just enough to get by them. It also provides opportunities for skill challenges.