4E: Pit Fiend stat block

[Talya]

This strikes me as a problem of association on your part. You associate these (apparently) Saga-like mechanics with Star Wars, so they don't agree with your palate when toted as D&D. However, for many people out there who've never even glimpsed Saga Edition, this is not the case.

You can tell an Amazonian who's never tasted chicken that the anaconda he's eating tastes like chicken, but he'll probably just look at you like you're crazy and say something like, "No, it tastes like anaconda." If you then treated him to a dish of chicken to prove your point, he'd probably conclude that chicken tastes like anaconda rather than vice-versa, and your point would go unproven.

I am one of those never-tasted-Saga-before proverbial Amazonians. So these mechanics strike me only as interesting glimpses of a new system, not Lucas-flavored D&D. Based on that, I'd say that the Star-Wars-y taste you're experiencing is probably part of your own perception and not inherent in the mechanics.

This is all absolutely true. I didn't say otherwise.

I also said, long before 4e was announced, along with many of people who now applaud everything WotC defecates about 4e, that while Saga rules are simple and quaint and probably nice for the star wars setting, almost none of it would work well or feel right in D&D.