No, seriously.

As advertised on our podcast:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mi/20090408a

 http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mi20090408a_card.jpg

Now for some people, electronic gaming is a great evil.  I know many people who don't like any number generation that isn't analog, but it's hard to toss your dice across half a state.  Problem solved.

 http://gamesbyemail.com/News/DiceOMatic

Rob and I briefly discussed the topic of healing in 4e this evening. How does everyone feel about the number of surges for various classes?  Do strikers have enough?  Do defenders have too many?

Are the rules on death and dying fair?  If so why, if not how could they be corrected?

Here is my grumpy-old-man complaint. Second wind should be a move action, not be standard action.  4e healing is intended to not detract from "doing things", as I understand it. In the few kinds of situations in whch I have found myself tempted to use a second wind, I was always far better served by using tactical powers and/or movement. AND GET OFF MY LAWN!

Are healing potions worth bothering with?  If not, what about other items, like armor etc., which allow the expenditure of a healing surge at the expense of not using a different magical item daily power?

 On a slightly related topic, how do various temporary hitpoint powers influence this discussion?

XKCD is a fun web comic I have been reading for a while now.  In general the material covered is math geek or computer geek related, but this particular panel... well, here you go:

http://xkcd.com/244/

At first appearance, Sam appears to be a normal lad of 8 or 9 years old. Loose fitting peasant clothing and soft shoes conceal a number of small stilettos, each well balanced for hurling. A heavily patch worked leather jack (at least one size too large) makes a passable attempt at armoring Sam's light frame, as few opponents are likely to attack the legs of someone under four feet tall. The well worn brass hilts of a pair of gypsy style long curved knives can sometimes be seen in the shadows of the leather sleeves, and a broad elven style arrowhead hangs about her neck on a leather thong like an amulet.

'Nuff said.

Ok, so since we seem to have reached an impasse, perhaps we should discuss potential solutions to this issue.  We have all been gaming together for years (some as many as 10 or more) and I feel we should be able to get past this.  Our host was kind enough to start a mass email on the topic, but I feel that it might get the attention it deserves here.  It is my hope that we can stay constructive in this thread so that others may potentially benefit from our ideas.  I am sure that we are not the only group with people on both sides of the 4e fence.  So What things can we do to make this enjoyable for everyone?

While I may risk being called a whiner should I continue to complain about 4e DnD, Our last game did highlight a major flaw in the game as I see it.  When inter-party conflict began, there was no real way for most characters to intervene effectively.  Now I will be the first to admit that I remain unaware of any rules which allow for subdual or non-lethal fighting apart from the rule on p295 of the player's handbook which allows you to designate a "killed" opponent as merely unconscious, and you don't have to even declare that intent until the creature is effectively deceased!  Obviously, this will make bar brawls far more costly in resources for any involved party member, since there is no way to recover that damage more rapidly or easily than if you had taken the same damage from being hacked at with an axe.

Some few of us have changed our emails, and others are not part of the group emails all the time. I hope that everyone will be kind enough to respond to this post with their current "gaming" email adress. For the sake of completeness mine is removed@foryourowngood.com