I also got the opportunity to play with the quickstart rules. I was going to make a thread about my impressions until I saw this one, so I thought I'd weigh in.

First of all, combat is usually my least favorite part of a game. I tend to enjoy it for the first few rounds, but it always ends up dragging on. I'm pretty sure that the introductory fight lasted for the better part of an hour, but I figure I can partially chalk this up to the fact that we were playing with a couple of 12 year olds, and we'd never used these rules before. In general, it seemed to move at a decent clip.

I guess it did kind of feel like an MMO, but to me it actually felt more like... i guess what I'd think of as a RTS game like Warcraft III or Starcraft turned into a turn-based thing. Maybe a little Fallout-esqe. I played the Wizard, and while I didn't really have a problem with using a may-miss Magic Missle every round (with a huge range, actually, which made me feel a bit like artillery), I was a little dissapointed by my spell setup. There were lots of blasty spells, but the closest I could get to utility was a Sleep spell I could use one a day and a Light/Create Noise spell.

While HP was boosted quite a lot, I got hit once, and it ended up doing over half my HP. Meanwhile, the Fighter soaked up quite a significant amount of damage compared to me. I took that to indicate I shouldn't be fooling around in combat, considering I still think I'd go down in two decent hits. The Fighter and Paladin, on the other hand, didn't have too much to fear from Kobolds, though the Fighter would have gotten chewed up quickly. It looks like bad tactics will still get you eaten, but I need to play some more to find out.

I've got no idea what the rules are for out of combat. There were some skills we didn't get around to using, and even though we had formed the ghost of a background and personality about five minutes in, there wasn't much of an oppertunity to put them to use.

It seemed that the fighter took 2 damage every round he was on fire.  Was this a set amount or was it rolled and just happened to come up every round?

Quote from: wulfgarIt seemed that the fighter took 2 damage every round he was on fire.  Was this a set amount or was it rolled and just happened to come up every round?

I haven't seen the adventure, so can't be sure, but it was probably a set amount. All of the continuous damage the PCs can do is a set amount every round. For instance, Acid Arrow's damage is 2d8+4 and ongoing damage 5 (save ends). That means that at the start of your turn you take 5 damage, then at the end of your turn you make a save (10 or higher on a d20). If the save is successful the ongoing damage ends.

Quote from: wulfgarIt seemed that the fighter took 2 damage every round he was on fire.  Was this a set amount or was it rolled and just happened to come up every round?

Set amount listed in the description of the power on the monster card.

The notion of combat is now abstract is reinforced by the Warlord's abilities found here

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/TieflingWarlord.zip

QuoteLead the Attack Warlord Attack 1
Under your direction, arrows hit their marks and blades drive home.
Daily ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: +6 vs. AC
Hit: 3d8 + 3 damage. Until the end of the encounter, you and each ally within 5 squares of you gain a +5 power bonus
to attack rolls against the target.
Miss: Until the end of the encounter, you and each ally within
5 squares of you gain a +1 power bonus to attack rolls against the target.

QuoteWolf Pack Tactics Warlord Attack 1
Step by step, you and your friends surround the enemy.
At-Will ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Special: Before you attack, you let one ally adjacent to either you or the target shift 1 square

Also show an example of multiclassing where the Warlord takes a wizard's power at 2nd level.

Thanks for the link. I like the Warlord, he looks like he'll make combat even more dynamic and active.

One thing that does disturb me a little was when the rogue moved past the kobold.

Not that I object to moving around the battlefield to get into a good spot, thats all well and good. What bothered me was that the Kobold got and AoO.

Not that NPC's having AoO's bother me the least, seeing as how I like all the rules to work the same way more or less.

No, what bothered me was the Kobold HIT with the AoO and the Rogue kept right on moving past him.

See, that right there disturbs me.  I dislike me some 'unstoppable moves' in combat. They breaky me sense of 'how things work'.  Diving through the Giant's legs to swat his backside only works of the Giant has a chance to stop you. Being able to hit you as you go by, but not stop you? No maky the sense.

Now, this could lead to something like 'reflex to keep going' or what have you, but an extra roll just slows things down.  What IS the rule for 'stopping someone from sliding past you to smack you ass hard'?

I think this is where the "hit points: abstract or not?"  issue crops up again.

Did the Kobold actually hit the Rogue, or did the Rogue need to use up some luck, karma, energy, stamina (etc) to get past the Kobold without getting hit.

Bah. Even if you use the abstract HP, this is the scene in the movie where Short-Round dives for the legs and the Thuggee whips the sword down hitting the ground in front of him, bringing him up short.

In short, aborting the move by means of an AoO...

which appears to be absent...

I caution against the dangers of drawing too many non-combat-related conclusions from this purely combat-oriented report.

Quote from: EngineI caution against the dangers of drawing too many non-combat-related conclusions from this purely combat-oriented report.

Well, skimming through the PHB, I see very little that has anything to do with stuff outside of combat. Over 95% of all powers and abilities (including wizard "spells") are combat related. About the only non-combat things are skills like Bluff and Diplomacy, although there is a rule about how to use Bluff in combat.

Quote from: GoOrangeWell, skimming through the PHB, I see very little that has anything to do with stuff outside of combat. Over 95% of all powers and abilities (including wizard "spells") are combat related. About the only non-combat things are skills like Bluff and Diplomacy, although there is a rule about how to use Bluff in combat.

Is that the released, live, official, PHB? Or are you referring to the quickstart?

Someone on rpg.net posted that they have the core books:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=396755

I haven't read the thread yet, so who knows, maybe the guy is a bullshitter...

EDIT: Oops, I didn't mean to imply you were a bullshitter, GoOrange.  Didn't process the fact that you said you had the books...so the rpg.net guy is for real, yo.

Quote from: James J SkachIs that the released, live, official, PHB? Or are you referring to the quickstart?

Buy.com has shipped books early, and the PDFs have begun to circulate.

Quote from: GoOrangeBuy.com has shipped books early, and the PDFs have begun to circulate.

that's why I asked - because with news of the books shipping, it helps to get clarification...

I didn't doubt you, I was just making sure I understood about what you were speaking...