Winter on Earth, Autumn in Caen, and hell to the person who took my handphone.

Hey all,

Rainy season in Singapore is officially on, wrecking havoc on my regular "Tennis at 5pm/8pm" readied actions.

Talking about relentless natural forces, the folks over at WotC have churned out several new DnD 4e articles, with the latest one rounding out the fighter (again), with new powers given to shield, polearms and spear builds.

Due to their DDi concept of a monthly e-magazine chock full of class/power/item/feat/skill updates, power creep in 4e is inevitable and quicker to rear its ugly head due to the sheer number of new options the game has to be given with each passing month.

Of course, these choices are all purely optional because not everyone has access to a DDI paid subscription, or a DM who agrees to non-corebook content. But if they read the largely accessible DnD 4e forums, the said information is readily available and a few players might feel short-changed at not being able to incorporate the content into their game. Worse still, they might lament that the adventure is not flexible enough to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of 4e.

Take Winged Horde for example, a new Wizard at-will that came out in Class Acts 381 last month. It is basically a vs. Will area burst 1 (expandable to 2) which targets only enemies for 1d6 + Int + modifiers, and stuck on with a situationally cool ability (target cannot make opportunity attacks until the end of the caster's next turn.)

And its nearest competitor and former Wizard area burst staple- Scorched Burst -- a vs. Reflex area burst 1 (expandable to 2) which target unfortunate friends and foes alike for 1d6 + Int +modifiers and has a perennially constant effect of doing nothing else apart from damage. Hooray for "massive" damage vanilla powers.

This is but one of the many powers that have been rendered dead weight due to new content coming out. It is true that the wizard has been improved tremendously since its 4e inception, but when you put in goodies such as Winged Horde, I think certain older powers must be changed to fit other roles.

[For example, why not boost the damage of Scorched Burst from a 1d6 to a 1d8? It can have a slightly higher base damage at the cost of not being able to aim "smart" and having no control element whatsoever. The 1d8 will also do less than other area striker builds while maintaining a role in the wizard at-will powers as being the most "damaging" elemental area burst in their arsenal, thus making it less obsolete.]

Also, WotC has to help out other lesser used classes as well instead of just piling the love onto one or two already established classes.As I was mentioning before, the 4e fighter class has seen many passes made at it, and this article further broadens the already deep and much improved class. Do not get me wrong, I love my fighters and my paladins and what not, but aren't rogues, warlocks and clerics in the game too?

Emphasis must be given to the malnourished, and the players will be happier with broader choices in a wider range of classes.

Anyway, that is just 4e imploding on its own, as I seriously fear it might crumble under its ever-increasing weight.

But on a brighter note, the situation on my side looks fine. My regular playgroup enjoys playing with new content, including embracing all of the November Nerfs (tm) with as little ranting as humanly possible.

We just need to continue to strive to find a balance between encounter grinding and meaningful skill challenges so as to mold the 4e system into a more open-ended RPG. The players will then able to choose actions without fear of complicated rules that takes minutes to complete. (Yes, jumping horizontally and vertically or even both at the same time, I'm looking at you!)

Weekly, inroads to smoothen out our brand of  4e have been made. I have had long discussions with Shane about ambiguous rules and the need to speed up session play. We clarified our group's take on the Blind/LoS rules, "stealth before combat" house-rules and several other minor details on delaying/readying.

Now, time for some Secret Information!

*shrouds the next few paragraphs in shadowy swirls*

I am in the midst of penning a short prelude (lv 5 to 7?) preceding the current timeline in my campaign.

This installment goes back about half a decade in time, when Maya was still a sleepy infant settlement ruled by Hevok the Barbarian. Watch out for a certain Smutt McScurvy- a young pirate eyeing a particular drinking establishment in town. Unique in itself, the party could be sailing the high seas for treasures untold! 

With all that is currently brewing in Southeastern Caen, players will be able to better understand how Maya and her inhabitants first started out, and differentiate first-hand between fact and popular myth. 

Chapter 2 seems likely to start in January or so, so be ready for several primer articles ushering in new mechanics/background information this month.

Until then, stay dry and safe, talk to y'all soon.