4th & Dragon : Dungeons and Dragons...and stuff

I like this in general. Most of the utility spells will now take some time and allow the proper skills to save money and time in comparison. Still, the rituals can allow for big flexibility if the caster has a big selection with him (together with the components) and to me this enhances the mystical flavor of casting spells.

Also, the component cost seems like a nice system that will allow for the components to restrict things that were possible in 3.x to do multiple times if the character are at a remote location.

ditto, really adds to the flavor.

"The subject returns with a death penalty: –1 to all attack rolls, skill checks, saving throws, and ability checks. This death penalty fades after the subject reaches three milestones.”

I don’t know, death seems more like an ‘inconvenience’ than anything else now.  Die, get resurrected, a few encounters later it is like nothing ever happened.

I think in whatever 4E world I DM or create, resurrection will be next to impossible.

I like the risk of killing a victim when trying to Cure Disease.

I like the rituals except for one thing, the ritual scroll.  Why the hell should the scroll go poof when you use it?  It’s just a set of instructions.

As for the death penalty, it’s better than level loss.  Far easier to keep track of and enforce.  Three milestones is 6 encounters, so it doesn’t exactly go away quickly.

I am glad they are bringing back casting times, it is one of the things I didn’t like about 3.0. Some spells just shouldn’t be a blink of the eye.

the thing with ritual scrolls is that even if you don’t have the ritual casting class ability you can use them, so from a story telling standpoint it makes sense.  you really wouldn’t expect your average fighter to call upon deific power from another plane of existence would you?

Well, that’s pretty much what the scroll is accomplishing.

I’m thinking I might remove scrolls, and then make books limited use. Better yet, make them dangerous to use repeatedly, as they attract the attentions of Things That Should Not Be. Hehehe....

I don’t particularly care for that mechanic so I might be changing things around a bit.  I’ll probably remove scrolls and let anyone cast a ritual from a book, but then require those without the Ritual Casting ability to use extra residuum or something.  I’ll have to read over the complete rules before I know exactly what I’ll do.

But then there’s no risk involved.  The death mechanic is one of the major things I don’t like about WoW.

What about the death mechanic in City of Heroes? I actually use (er… used) a mechanic similar to that game for my 3.5 D&D campaign. Characters would essentially gain a negative level until they gained xp equal to halfway between the level they were at and the level they were headed to. They were also unable to level up until this “debt” was paid.

I hadn’t thought about it until now, but it was very similar in thought, and even in play, to what 4e has done.