The ideas are interesting, if somewhat likely to be unplayable, in practice.
Actually, 4E promises to be -more- of a resource management intensive game than 3E -- the idea is that all classes get per-day, per-encounter, and at will abilities -- so in addition to wizards deciding whether -now- is the right time to use their valuable per-day spells, fighters must decide when use their per-day techniques, rogues must decide when to use their per day manuvres, and paladins when to use their per-day smites. And any class that can use rituals must decide when it's worth spending the cash and time on a ritual (the category where "spells you quest for" is going, as well as most spells that you want available but which either you don't want to cast during combat, or don't want people casting during combat -- remove disease, teleport, identify, etc).
Effectively, they're not just trying to get rid of the 5 minute day, but also trying to give all characters more interesting options than whether to charge or who. They're not, of course, trying to make all classes equivalent -- among other things, different characters ascribe different importance to different types of powers -- wizards per-day powers are the strongest in the game, but their at will powers are noticably weaker than that of, say, a fighter. And different classes focus on different kinds of powers -- a wizard's big spells will tend to damage/hinder a group of enemies or focus on a personal defense, whereas a paladin's smites are more likely to damage an opponent and have a secondary effect, like aiding an ally, improving the paladin's defense, or getting an opponent's undivided attention.
I get the impression that powers will tend to be accquired at a slower level than they are in 3E -- what this says to me is that it's likely that more powers will scale with level with fewer becoming obselete over time, but later ones giving more attractive options, though I could be wrong in this.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-01-13 04:54 am (UTC)Actually, 4E promises to be -more- of a resource management intensive game than 3E -- the idea is that all classes get per-day, per-encounter, and at will abilities -- so in addition to wizards deciding whether -now- is the right time to use their valuable per-day spells, fighters must decide when use their per-day techniques, rogues must decide when to use their per day manuvres, and paladins when to use their per-day smites. And any class that can use rituals must decide when it's worth spending the cash and time on a ritual (the category where "spells you quest for" is going, as well as most spells that you want available but which either you don't want to cast during combat, or don't want people casting during combat -- remove disease, teleport, identify, etc).
Effectively, they're not just trying to get rid of the 5 minute day, but also trying to give all characters more interesting options than whether to charge or who. They're not, of course, trying to make all classes equivalent -- among other things, different characters ascribe different importance to different types of powers -- wizards per-day powers are the strongest in the game, but their at will powers are noticably weaker than that of, say, a fighter. And different classes focus on different kinds of powers -- a wizard's big spells will tend to damage/hinder a group of enemies or focus on a personal defense, whereas a paladin's smites are more likely to damage an opponent and have a secondary effect, like aiding an ally, improving the paladin's defense, or getting an opponent's undivided attention.
I get the impression that powers will tend to be accquired at a slower level than they are in 3E -- what this says to me is that it's likely that more powers will scale with level with fewer becoming obselete over time, but later ones giving more attractive options, though I could be wrong in this.