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Alex : If they had allowed the "One unique thing" to be combat-related, it would
always be combat-related and would probably not have as much bearing on the character's story and his relation to the world around him,
which is the stated goal of having a One unique thing.
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Telengard and others re: the Escalation die concept. It's not a one-way ticket to pwnage, though it does give the party an advantage of up to +6 attacks after 6 rounds. I believe it's a good idea, as it probably (haven't playtested it) gives battles a more fluid and dynamic feel. It's also worth noting that this can encourage wizards to
not cast annoying (to everyone else at the table, that is, including the GM) encounter-ending or encounter-avoiding spells right off the bat. The system encourages them to keep their biggest fireworks and tricks for a bit later, when the momentum is just right for them to hit.
Also, I've not seen anyone mention that the rules explicitly mention the possibility of
decreasing the escalation counter, whether by a party acting defensively or retreating, or by virtue of the enemy's tactics or abilities :
De-escalation: The escalation die represents increasing
momentum in the battle. If the GM judges that the characters are
avoiding conflict rather than bringing the fight to the bad guys,
the escalation die doesn’t advance. If combat virtually ceases,
the escalation die resets to 0. Some monsters might lower the
escalation die when they appear, or by using a power.
Page 162.
For that reason, I would say that contrary to what Telengard assumes, many types of monsters will be
more reliant on proper tactics to offset their almost immediate disadvantage if they try to stay in the party's face too long. Ambushes that surprise the party, monsters that RETREAT and come back the next day (wtf has anyone ever seen that happen in DnD?), possibly with more friends, use of terrain that could hamper or prevent the party from outright slugging the monsters (remember, if the party is not actively attacking the enemy, the escalation doesn't... uhm, escalate), etc. I think that might spice things up a whole lot more and encourages the GM to think more flexibly in order to truly challenge the adventurers.
Lastly, regarding the warrior's to-hit advantage, he maintains his relative superiority over everyone else, no matter what the escalation is at. For lowly mooks, this may not mean much, but for that armored troll that just sucker-punched the wizard's brains out his skull, maybe the fighter/barbarian/paladin will be the party's one best shot at taking the beast down with an epic strike(tm)?
Anyways, looking forward to seeing this system in action.