Thanks. That explains why I missed it then. I read abilities and moved on without parsing the skills embedded in each entry.

Quote from: Omega;783948Thanks. That explains why I missed it then. I read abilities and moved on without parsing the skills embedded in each entry.

No problem, they should have been in the index, somehow.

The terse explanation of skills make it very easy for an eye trained with 3e and 4e to skip over.

Quote from: Will;783953The terse explanation of skills make it very easy for an eye trained with 3e and 4e to skip over.

"I'll remember that if I ever get 3rd or 4th" he said with shudder of eldrich dread.

My main point of criticism is the layout of the new D&D website.
I'll admit the previous site was a bit of a maze you'd navigate to find certain articles or downloads but at the Daiy.aspx was filled and you had several articles each week.

On the new site you have to scroll for miles, just to get past the header, and then every article is a page wide image that points to another flash/java/shockwave thingy.

I hope when there is more substance to 5e, the website will become a bit more accessible. And they bring the 2 magazines back.

Critcism: natural healing is too fast. I'd have rather seen a default system more like AD&D, with what we have as a variant healing system. This issue might be mitigated in the DMG.

Quote from: LibraryLass;782598I find lack of GM trust to pretty much sit at the core of most of the system-wonks that make up 4e's remaining base. It utterly perplexes me why anyone would play with someone they don't trust to be fair and reasonable.

My 4e players seem to trust me ok. I recently explained my completely-non-RAW skill DC system to them, with no complaints.
OTOH I do have trouble with Pathfinder, eg I got a complaint recently that the PCs were below RAW Wealth-By-Level.

Quote from: Monster Manuel;784048Critcism: natural healing is too fast. I'd have rather seen a default system more like AD&D, with what we have as a variant healing system. This issue might be mitigated in the DMG.

You can houserule that.

Quote from: BarefootGaijin;784100You can houserule that.

I know, but having longer healing as a house rule will seem like a "screw you" to some players since it's not in the PHB. I'd fight for it, but I'm not thrilled that that fight is likely to happen in the first place.

Quote from: S'mon;784071My 4e players seem to trust me ok. I recently explained my completely-non-RAW skill DC system to them, with no complaints.
OTOH I do have trouble with Pathfinder, eg I got a complaint recently that the PCs were below RAW Wealth-By-Level.

Same here, I have pretty much the trust of my group and we've been happily enjoying 4th Edition since 08'. The only differences is that, as a DM, it's easier for me to adjudicate things because referencing stuff is a lot easier PLUS I have an idea of the impact on allowing things and how that interacts with the game like the Action Economy. In the TSR days, it was far more common for DMs (IMO anyways) to just throw out DCs and checks and stuff without really undestanding the math behind it.

For example, playing as a 1st level fighter in an AD&D game (back in 98') I wanted to attack 3 goblins who surrounded me. He gave me some serious penalties that, in the end, helped make me miss all three attacks. Had I of known how strong the penalty was prior to making that decision, I would not have done that. Now-a-days, it's easier to assign a DC based on actions that sorta fall in the range of the action economy.

Quote from: Monster Manuel;784101I know, but having longer healing as a house rule will seem like a "screw you" to some players since it's not in the PHB. I'd fight for it, but I'm not thrilled that that fight is likely to happen in the first place.

You can rule how you wish, but my bad design comment was a bad joke.

Quote from: Monster Manuel;784048Critcism: natural healing is too fast. I'd have rather seen a default system more like AD&D, with what we have as a variant healing system. This issue might be mitigated in the DMG.

Nooooooooo! AD&D's healing system of 1 hp per day regardless of level is dreadful Farmers returning to perfect health in a few days, while mighty heroes need to convalesce for months.

The "healer" feat seems too useful. To the point of needing one of the non casters to be a healer. 1 hp for stabilization? That fixes the healer not being able to help themselves if they are KOed. And the 1d6+4+level between short rests? It's almost healing economy breaking.

Am I crazy an it's not that overly useful at lower levels?

Quote from: Monster Manuel;784101I know, but having longer healing as a house rule will seem like a "screw you" to some players since it's not in the PHB. I'd fight for it, but I'm not thrilled that that fight is likely to happen in the first place.

Not if you make it reasonable or base it off existing editions versions.

1/day + CON bonus/week & full heal in 1 month if it goes that long.

Or

Half your HD type +/- CON bonus/penalty per day and full heal in one week.

etc.

And remind the players that the DMG is going to give you MUCH more brutal methods as RAW so theyd better take this nice friendly method of yore while they can. heh-heh-heh...

I'm not too wild about the healing myself, but, honestly, if you make healing a slog, then you absolutely mandate you must have a cleric in the party.

Let's see, right now, a party goes from devastated to perfectly healed in one day.

If you make up "non magic" healing rules, well, the healing rules from the cleric will STILL take a party from devastated to perfectly healed in, what, 2 days, maybe 3, even at low level?

For your rules to be meaningful, then your non-magic healing rules will need to be twice that (recovering from sword wounds knocking a hero down to 1 hp aren't credibly going to take less than 4 days, I think). It could even be a week or more, depending on the rules you'll have to make up on your own...rules that will be criticized, and will become irrelevant, because, you know, your players will just get the message that they frickin' better have a cleric in the party, or else their recovering time will be double OR MORE without a cleric.

So, you may as well not bother. It makes it possible to at least consider not having a cleric in a party, and you don't have to waste time making up new rules nobody will like, or care about after a few levels at best.