Which Armor?

So, there are two simple methods to incorporate light, medium, and heavy armor into the game.

Method 1: Bring back the armor chart from 3.5

Method 2: In the 4th edition rulebook, there are 6 sections of armor.  Divide the first two into light, the second into medium, the final into the heavy category.

I'm leaning towards the former method.  The categories are already extant, and there's a very clear progression in how characters' armor improves in a few ways when he's able to get new stuff.  Full Plate giving 8 AC and +1 from DEX is pretty nice.  It also gives several different kinds of shields, each of which begs to be circumvented by a flail.  Naturally, just about everything concerning the MMs would have to change to incorporate this difference, but I think that it would be worth it, and not require too much effort.  If nothing else, just use it for humanoids that wear armor, and you're good to go.

Finesse Weapons

I hate the Weapon Finesse feat.  Your character gets only ONE feat at first level, and if your character concept is a rogue or some kind of DEX-based person without a high STR, then you have a stupid disadvantage to hitting enemies just because weapons to-hit and damage rolls use Strength.  With that in mind, as well as the stereotypes associated with such weapons, I thought of a list of certain weapons that could be considered "finesse," allowing one to use either STR or DEX at least on the to-hit roll.

So far, I've considered that the dagger, quarterstaff, one-handed spear, and rapier should be considered finesse weapons.  Also, I think it would be neat if every character could take the Weapon Finesse feat anyway, just then it would apply to all weapons.

I think this primarily helps those classes who may just want to use a weapon so they can use their DEX mod to help with fighting.

:D

Class Design: The Fighter Part 2

So, I've been thinking about two class features that would be cool for the fighter, given his lack of at-will powers to make it slightly more fun than "I hit it with my sword."  To that end, I think I should detail two class features: Fighter Weapon Specialization and Stances.

Class Design: The Fighter Part 1

One of the iconic classes of the game, the Fighter has the poor position of only being as good as his weapon.  In essence, the class concept is "I hit it with my X," which works in previous editions, yet is infernally boring without having extra combat options unavailable to other classes, as well as having interesting weapons to work with in the first place.

Which Classes?

Here's a big problem with 4th, much like with any other RPG: too many classes, no balance.

Which Skills?

Continuing my idea of how to improve 4th edition, I'm wondering on how to fix skills.  There need to be more, and most of those on the character sheet need to be unpacked.  I'll start with the skills I think should stay packed together:

Hmm.  Every rogue will take hide and move silently, but it should be an option to play a rogue who kinda plays against type by maybe not being much of a lock picker, but more of just a gearhead who likes disarming and making traps.  Furthermore, I think that plenty of characters can benefit from sleight of hand.  

Keep Stealth, diffuse Thievery.

I also dislike Perception and Insight.  Also, those passive Perception and Insight stats are stupid.  Toss them, bring back Sense Motive, Spot, Search, and just about all the other skills.  I think one of the funniest things that can happen to a party is having some of them being terrible Riders, which is part of what I think makes Siuan Sanche so hilarious.

Furthermore, reduce Craft, Perform, and Profession down to just a single skill each.  The additional spaces can be used for these.  Also, leave the knowledges as they are, rasae tabulae to be filled in.

Huh.  It's quite funny how easily fixed that was.  Now characters will be able to make themselves known for being skilled at something that the other characters may not have access to.  The question then becomes how to fix the class skills such that characters can actually make themselves differentiated by having enough different skills to be trained in.

;) Just a little differentiation to fix something that was over-corrected.

Anyone else think that the "Basic Attack" section on the 4.0 Character Sheet is unneeded and hilarious?

4th Edition D&D: What Worked, What Did Not

To begin, I find that only in 4th Edition has my character ever felt like he/she/it stands well above normal people in that he was able to take more hits, fight for longer, and be a damned hero at level 1.  Previous editions have you cringing from encounter to encounter with only very few healing sources available.  Cowardice is not heroic. :P

So, I'm going to start with the Character Sheet, and move on from there, going from concept to concept.