Supers

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

In 3e, Passive Defense added to the value of Active Defense scores, just as DB (Defensive Bonus) does in 4e. Also, the 4e calculation of an Active Defense as something like "3 + skill / 2" shows the 3e lineage. In 4e, the "3" is just a uniform value applied to all defenses in place of the no-longer-existent PD to keep in numbers in the right range and avoid having to redesign the whole combat system just to get rid of PD. The 3e version would have been "PD + skill / 2", where PD was a stat based on your armor type, including shields.

One of the difficulties with PD was that it was possible to collect enough of it to have a major effect on active defences. Several 3e combat skills (Brawling, Fencing, Judo and Karate) gave a Parry of two-thirds skill rather than half.

This meant that a fencer with skill 15 could get a Parry of 15: 10 from 2/3 skill, PD2 DR 2 leather armour, PD 1 from a buckler, PD 1 from a basket hilt and +1 to active defences from Combat Reflexes. Since Fencing allowed two unpenalized parries per turn, or unlimited parries if you took an All-Out Defence, this was a bit too good.

Fencing was Physical/Average, so it cost [8] for DX+2, and you could get that skill of 15 if you had DX 13 (which was only [30]). This was achievable for a starting character on [100+40+5]. But Fencing at DX+3 would cost another [8], for a total of [16], and wasn't cost-effective.

The redesign of attributes, skill costs and combat for 4e was much subtler than the changes to powers/psionics design, but very effective. It allowed sensible character design at a wide range of power levels, rather than concentrating on getting the maximum out of a standard starting level.