Jezred's page

I do love the character builder. With all the errata and source material built in, it makes character generation easy.

The monster builder also saves a lot of time, especially since I convert a lot of older material from previous editions and level up current monsters.

The DMG discusses this topic to some length, and I think it does a good job summing up how to play with smaller groups and/or the absence of roles. I agree with most posters: defender-leader-striker, with at least 2 of the 3 melee-focused.

But since you labeled the topic Best Three Member Party, here is my interpretation using just the PHB:

Dwarf "Axe/Hammer & Board" Fighter
Dragonborn Inspiring Warlord
Elf "Archer" Ranger

The dwarf gets a second wind as a minor action and can dish it out using Dwarven Weapon Training/Weapon Focus/Weapon Expertise. Dragonbord pumps out the heals and has an close blast for those occasional minions (plus it deals some decent melee damage). Elf rains death from afar with the best maneuverability and a bonus reroll.

This is based purely on the stats and "roll-play". Have your players roll up whatever they want and adjust using the tips in the DMG.

I really don't like the treatment of duergar in any edition. From growth-hormone-rich psykers to Asmodius-worshipping quill-beards, I never liked them. I would like to see more of a link to the Norse mythos (aka the Dvergar). But then again all the Underdark races have roots from Norse counterparts:

Dvergr - duergar
Døkkálfar - drow (“dark elfs”)
Svartálfr - xvart/svart and/or svirfneblin (“black elf”)

To me, the Dark Iron Clan of dwarves from World of Warcraft seems more like what duergar should be. Maybe in 4E they could have reverted back to being servants of the Primordials. I dunno. I just don’t like their current incarnation.

When I convert adventures from previous editions I don't hold to the same level band that the original adventure did...

1. The current party will be 7th level when I am ready to run this, so I decided to stick with that level.

2. With first and second edition modules, they often mix monsters in the adventure that wouldn't necessarily work in 3E or 4E. For example, earlier in this adventure they fight small warbands of orcs and such, which is typical of middle heroic tier. However, later on there are giants and other creatures that are middle paragon tier. Thus I rarely convert modules straight across.

Instead I use the overall plot and adventure summary to drive the adventure, but I adjust the encounters towards the party level. Thankfully this adventure is much easier to convert than most I have in the past.

I was converting an old adventure, UK7 Dark Clouds Gather, for use in my 4E game. It is based on characters of roughly 7th level. I noticed that towards the end, giants began to feature prominently in the encounters.

Now, giants are normally paragon-level standard monsters. However, a party of 7th level characters would get decimated by a paragon-level monster. So I looked at the encounter again, which only called for one giant. This seems to work well. Then I remembered this quote from the DM tips:

I'm starting this thread a place for 4E dms to post tips for other 4E dms based on their experience running 4E. ... Monster Stat Blocks Monster stat blocks should be considered as being relative to the party... Example 1: In heroic tier gaming you might have the stat the local militia of a town as level 3 skirmishers or soldiers. This is a good reflection of their capabilities relative to a heroic tier party. However, as the heroes advance this stat block becomes obsolete, so when they are at paragon tier if you had need of the town militia again, you might consider restating them as higher level minions...

I wish to post my work to both show examples of what I am talking about as well as to get feedback on my work. Let me know what you think.

Example One called for a frost giant and a winter wolf. I designed this encounter as a young adult frost giant hunting with his winter wolf pup.

Frost Giant Hunter Level 7 Solo Brute
Large elemental humanoid (cold, giant) XP 1500
Initiative +5 Senses Perception + 6
HP 392; Bloodied 196
AC 21; Fortitude 21, Reflex 17, Will 19
Resist 10 cold
Saving Throws +5
Speed 8 (icewalk)
Action Points 2
m Icy Greataxe (standard; at-will) * Cold, Weapon
Reach 2; +14 vs. AC; 2d8 + 5 damage plus 1d6 cold damage (crit: 2d8 + 21 damage plus 1d6 cold damage).
M Frenzied Slash (standard; at-will) * Cold, Weapon
The giant makes two icy greataxe attacks against a single target.
M Dying Swipe (when the giant is reduced to 0 hit points)
The giant makes an icy greataxe attack.
M Icy Whirlwind (standard; recharge 5+) * Cold, Weapon
Close burst 2; +12 vs. Reflex; 3d6 + 5 cold damage and the target is knocked prone..
r Icy Handaxe (standard; at-will) * Cold, Weapon
Range 5/10; +13 vs. AC; 1d8 + 5 cold damage.
R Twin Hurl (standard; at-will) * Cold, Weapon
The giant makes two icy handaxe attacks.
Icebound Footing
When an effect pulls, pushes, or slides the frost giant, the frost giant moves 2 squares less than the effect specifies. Also, a frost giant can make a saving throw to avoid being knocked prone.
Alignment Evil Languages Common, Giant
Skills Athletics +13
Str 20 (+8) Dex 14 (+5) Wis 17 (+6)
Con 18 (+7) Int 10 (+3) Cha 10 (+3)
Equipment: Hide armor, greataxe, 4 handaxes

Winter Wolf Pup Level 6 Skirmisher
Medium natural magical beast XP 250
Initiative +8 Senses Perception + 5; low-light vision
HP 72; Bloodied 36
AC 20; Fortitude 19, Reflex 18, Will 16
Resist 10 cold
Speed 8 (ice walk)
m Bite (standard; at-will) * Cold
+11 vs. AC; 1d6 + 4 damage plus 1d6 cold damage, or 2d6 + 4 damage plus 1d6 cold damage vs. a prone target.
Combat Advantage
If the winter wolf pup has combat advantage against the target, the target is also knocked prone on a hit.
B Freezing Breath (standard; recharge when bloodied) * Cold
Close blast 3; +9 vs. Reflex; 1d10 + 4 cold damage. Miss: half.
Alignment Evil Languages Common, Giant
Str 18 (+7) Dex 17 (+6) Wis 14 (+5)
Con 16 (+6) Int 7 (+1) Cha 9 (+2)

Example Two is a hill giant.

Hill Giant Marauder Level 6 Solo Brute
Large elemental humanoid (giant) XP 1250
Initiative +2 Senses Perception + 4
HP 352; Bloodied 176
AC 20; Fortitude 20, Reflex 16, Will 18
Saving Throws +5
Speed 8
Action Points 2
m Greatclub (standard; at-will) * Weapon
Reach 2; +11 vs. AC; 2d10 + 5 damage.
m Meaty Fist (minor; at-will)
Reach 2; +11 vs. AC; 2d6 + 5 damage.
B Club Sweep (standard; recharge 5+) * Weapon
Close burst 2; +11 vs. AC; 2d10 + 5 damage and the target is pushed 2 squares and knocked prone.
R Rock Hurl (standard; at-will)
Ranged: 8/16; +11 vs. AC; 2d6 + 5 damage.
Alignment Chaotic Evil Languages Common, Giant
Skills Athletics +13
Str 20 (+8) Dex 8 (+2) Wis 12 (+4)
Con 18 (+7) Int 7 (+1) Cha 9 (+2)
Equipment: Hide armor, greatclub, rocks

Thoughts?

I've recently ran an encounter (The horned Hold Assualt in Thunderspire mountain) where the party "triggered" other encounters (a duergar escaped to warn others, who sent another duergar to warn even more)...

I think this is a common issue in the new 4E delve format. Every encounter seems to assume that the party has had a short rest since the last encounter. However, the dungeons are so densly packed at times that it is almost assured the party will incidentally trigger a second or third encounter. This has happened in other adventures, whether published, converted or home-made.

I like the idea of a moral victory or the tides of battle turning and the characters get most of the benefits of a short rest without having to take a full five minutes. I may have to use that when I know battles will spill over.

Again, sorry to derail for a moment. Just commenting on the encounter spill-over and giving kudos for a good solution.

We have always used the point-buy system, using the chart in PHB 1 as a guideline for "default arrays".

Have an 18 in the primary stat (after racial bonus, if any) is usually sufficient for the current game. I have played with a 16 in my primary stat(s) and been okay; that 5% “penalty” to attack rolls is only a minor setback. Before PHB2, I played a half-elf fighter/wizard who has 16s in his STR and INT. He still had decent attack rolls, but he also had a lot of flexibility due to Dilettante and multi-classing. This was before the Expertise feats; now-a-days he would be even more effective.

Those who choose to start with a 20 in the primary stat (after racial bonuses) are a bit “uber” in combat and very inflexible or less useful in many situations. I don’t recommend it.

Thank you for the feedback. I found some older FASA material via local gaming shops and eBay. Also, based on recommendations here and reviews elsewhere, I picked up Traveller RPG (MGP). I also reread the Decipher material I bought for my wife many years ago (she is a Trekkie, but not a gamer). I am happy with all the systems, each for different reasons.

I got to play one session of FASA Trek a couple of weeks ago, and I look forward to playing again.

I am sure with the Star Trek movie coming out, some Trek RPGs are being started or getting resumed after a long hiatus. My question: What system(s) are people using for their Star Trek RPG games?

Decipher?
Last Unicorn Games?
FASA?
Other? (I used FUDGE for a Trek one-shot)

I am mixed about the whole thing.

The whole maxing out stats to be viable is probably my biggest concern for 4E. When the character generator suggests putting a natural 18 in your primary stat, often requiring mediocre stats elsewhere, there is something wrong (especially when that natural 18 becomes a modified 20 for an ideal class-race combo). When an 18-20 primary stat becomes nearly necessary to be effective in your party role, especially for strikers, then it becomes an issue. No one in the party likes to miss when expending an encounter or daily power. Thus that high primary stat is needed for accuracy.

Before Expertise Feats existed, +hit was a huge factor in game play. Only stats and magic could give you a constant +hit. Other +hit came from situational factors, like Leader bonuses or Combat Advantage. Now +hit can be gained in other manners, but they all require a cost of some sort.

The Expertise Feats allow for more "non-ideal" race-class combos to exist. True, it requires a sacrifice of a feat, but that is a small price to pay, especially when considering the costs of multiclassing. The downside is that the feat allows for an ideal race-class combo, who may already have a 20 in a primary stat, to get even more hit bonus.

Overall, the Expertise Feats benefit both the RPers who want to play "non-ideal" race-class combos and the power gamers who want yet another +1 to hit to go with their 20 primary stat. As it appeals to two major crowds in the player base, I guess it can't be all bad.

Never mind. Detail canceled at last minute.

I am getting detailed to Dallas TX this coming week. I am looking for a group I can game with while I am down there (approx. 7 weeks) or a cool gaming store at which to play.

I plan on bringing my D&D 4E books, but I am game for about anything really. If given enough notice I can bring other books as well.

I am getting detailed to Dallas TX this coming week. I am looking for a group I can game with while I am down there (approx. 7 weeks) or a cool gaming store at which to play.

I plan on bringing my D&D 4E books, but I am game for about anything really. If given enough notice I can bring other books as well.

Anyway, to follow up on my earlier post, I did get a hold of my own copy from my ULGS. My initial impressions are confirmed. I really like 95% of the additional material. The unorthodox bard build/powers seems like a cross between a bard and an arcane archer. I am not sure I am groovy with it, but a ranged leader seems like a nifty idea. The new familiar rules are very interesting, but again I am not sure I am on board with them.

Again, really pleased with the "Power" books. I am looking forward to Divine Power, since I have been playing divine characters since the 80s.

Scales of War Game, which we blog about here:
http://madscales.blogspot.com/

Falchion Oversea, a deva avenger.
Asar, a gnome rogue.
Danar, a dragonborn paladin.
Samel, a deva invoker.
Jezred, a half-elf bard (NPCed by me).
Hogar, a half-orc warlord.

After discussing with the group, I might change to a sorcerer MCing into bard instead of a bard. The paladin, the invoker and the avenger (who is MCing into cleric) provide so much extra healing support that we seem to have too much healing and melee and not enough ranged support.

I went to my ULGS (Unfriendly Local Game Store), who said they would have it in tomorrow. I went next to my FRFS (Friendly Regional Franchise Store), who have all of today's releases in stock. I flipped through Arcane Power, especially the sorcerer secion as I am playing one. From my quick glance: if you liked Martial Power, you will probably like Arcane Power (unless you like Martial characters and dislike Arcane characters... then you may want to pass on this one).

So far I feel like the "Powers" books provide some of the best crunch for the dollar. Even as the group's DM, I like them more than the non-player geared stuff so far.

I love Fiery Dragon Productions. I have been a fan of the Creature Collections since 3.0. I was excited to hear that they would be doing 4E stuff. I have been waiting patiently for this "book" since the initially announced release date.

I plan on picking up all FDP's latest PDFs this weekend.

My thri-kreen talks like HK-47 from the Star Wars: KOTOR games if he were a primitive bug-man with a vocabulator problem.

I have made a couple of characters based off of the Red Mage from Final Fantasy.

I am a much more "tactile" collector of things:

books > PDFs
CDs > MP3s
DVDs > video downloads

That being said, I love having PDFs for gaming, be it for rules searching or designing modules. If I like the game enough, I will buy a copy of both the book and the PDF. I am under the opinion that a publisher should offer both together as a package deal. But then again, I guess that is what scanners/CD-DVD ROMs are for. (For personal use only; I despise piracy.)

I also agree that for out-of-print/never-were-in-print/hard-to-find copies of RPG books, PDFs are sometimes the cost-effective solution.

After reviewing PHB2 and comparing it, PHB and the FR Player's Guide, I am considering some house ruling to Paladins and Warlocks. While they are not the only two classes that have two "primary" stats (STR and CHA for paladins, CON and CHA for warlocks), they seem to suffer the most from the two stat system. It seems unjust that these two classes are handicapped for no particular reason. My thought is to make only one stat primary and two use the other as the secondary stat for those powers. So for warlocks, the CON powers use CHA for attack and damage bonuses and CON for secondary effect bonuses. For paladins, STR becomes the primary bonus and CHA the secondary bonus for normally CHA powers.

Has anyone else tried or discussed this?

Reading through this massive thread has reinforced some of my personal beliefs...

1. Gamers can have intelligent, if sometimes heated, discussions on real social issues.

2. The two-party system "sucks and should be destroyed" (borrowing from Henry Rollins). Partisan politics detracts from sound decision-making by enforcing the party line. I would like to see people actually run for office on their own merits rather than appearing as a tool of a political party.

I am a registered independent. I voted for Obama mostly because, given the facts and a choice, McCain-Palin didn't appeal to me. I was probably swayed a bit by the whole "history-making first black president" appeal, and I'll admit that. I did not feel that any candidate was perfect. My choices from the other political parties weren't that appealing. I just hope Mr. O can fulfill a fraction of his promises.

I will say that the first 90 days haven't even passed in Obama's first term. I am not ready to take up a pitchfork and charge town square yet. Any "fix" that will happen will not be a "silver bullet", as he put it, and recovery will be slow in coming. The economy will recover; history gives us hope for that. I am more concerned about the fight over health care reform and education reform. Hopefully these will get as much priority as the economy and not be consumed by the growing hype and concern of the economy (even though I am pissed about taking a 5-figure loss in my retirement plan... hopefully I'll get that back too.)

I wish I had something more witty or insightful to add to the conversation, but I am not feeling that clever right now.

Oh, and while I decline to join a political party, I love the Libertarian idea of less gov't, being conservative fiscally, and being laissez faire. So consider me a supporter of your 4 to 5-man party you got going on here. Let me know when your next rally convenes.

For me, personally, I statted up a few level one characters to see how they would look.

Deva Avenger: I am guessing that this one will be done to death, but I really do like it.

Half-Elf Bard: Multiclassing into warlock and taking a sorcerer at-will as an encounter. All sorts of blasty bits to balance his melee skills. Could be a lot of fun.

Razorclaw Shifter Druid: This becomes less of a controller and more of a striker/controller hybrid.

I will probably stat out a level one Deva Invoker to see how that goes. Since I DM and don't do a lot of RPGA stuff, it may be a while until any of these see play.

...Personally, I thought that the final encounter was badly designed. First, you were essentially forced to enter the encounter all bunched up, and it was hard to spread out and avoid some really nasty artillery demons because of all the difficult terrain. Second, I thought there was an excessive use of hindering terrain; I played two melee strikers and it just left me frustrated, especially when my barbarian got caught in the trap, which left him stunned and at negative hit points. Third, even though you can technically use monsters that are level+4 in 4e, IMO, you shouldn't really use higher-level soldiers (at least not that high; come one, an AC 31 versus characters with an attack bonus of +15! I loved that 25% chance of hitting). Maybe I was just cranky, but I found the whole thing to be an excercise in frustration, and walloping on the mezzodemon with whatever dailies we had left (thankfully, they had miss effects) didn't really make up for it.

I have also found that any monster at Level+3 or higher is a real pain for parties to deal with. Even a Solo at Level+2 is a potential TPK. I try to design my adventures with Level+-2 as a guide for monsters and try to keep solos at or near Level.

Again, thanks for the report. I will put it to good use.

This is not a product I am interested in, as I create my own cards using MS Word + 3x5 cards + glue stick, but I could see how this would be helpful to those less inclined to make their own.

Just popping in to second Matthew's interpretation. He seems to have it nailed.

I thought Avenger would be my favorite class, but Bard has always been my favorite class period. When the playtest came out, I was disappointed with the lack of melee abilities. Now that they have them, it is making a run for favorite. Still, the Avenger is pretty sweet.

As far as race, again it is a close race between Deva and Shifter. The Deva is a nice counter to the Tiefling and has a really cool backstory. The Shifter... well, it is pretty darn cool.

Anyone else here running a game? I'm reviewing the pre-gens and module to run at the local RPGA.

My basement is decked out in promo swag. Kinda nifty.

Jezred wrote:

I am guessing you have never seen or ran the adventure. The basic premise is that some of the books in the library have a lone monster trapped inside, either an abishai or a daemon. When the PCs open the book, the monster jumps out and attacks.

Jezred, why not simply change the premise behind the book? Instead of having a lone monster trapped inside, what if the books created a temporary portal so some alternate plane/whatever that spills a standard encounter's worth of critters into this location? I mean, it's not much a stretch to go from demon imprisoned in a book to demons imprisoned in a book.

Thank you all for your assistance in hashing this out.

Jezred wrote:

In both 2nd and 3rd I used the adventure as written: abishai and guardian daemons. This worked well: the adventure was written for 2E, and it translated well to 3E.

Then why would you have to switch to solo guardians now? Just use the same monsters. If abishai and guardian demons aren't available, just use monsters of the appropriate level with a similar role. You could even reskin the existing monsters as abishai and guardian daemons with no effort whatsoever.

Thus if I ran it as written, the PCs will face a lot of single monster encounters. If a make them standard monsters, the encounter will be over in one round most of the time and will not be a challenge. If I make it challenging to the PCs by upgrading them to Solo monsters, then the adventure will bog down into a series of long, annoying slugfests. Thus the adventure as written does not translate well into 4E.

In both 2nd and 3rd I used the adventure as written: abishai and guardian daemons. This worked well: the adventure was written for 2E, and it translated well to 3E.

One of my favorite Dungeon adventures, perhaps the favorite, is Ex Libris (Dungeon #29, Vol. V Issue 5). I have ran it in 2E and 3.xE, so I thought I'd add it into my 4E campaign.

Like many adventures designed in previous editions, the main problem I am having is designing encounters. In the module, most of the combat is against a solo book guardian or a small group of corrupted priests or NPCs. The corrupted priests, originally huecuva, will probably be replaced with wights or phantom soldiers/priests. I don't see a problem there.

The real problem is dealing with the book guardians. These were almost exclusively solo fights. I really don't want to slog through nearly a dozen Solo (as in a 4E Solo) fights to make the adventure work. Solo fights are fine every once in a while, but multiple solo fights together make for a boring and tedious dungeon crawl. So the question remains: what would be guarding those books?

I am having some writer's block, so any ideas are welcome.

OK, now that Fourth Edition has come about, I'm doing some shopping to see if there's a better system out there. I like sound rules, weapons' damage to be a single die (no bell-curves, please) and am looking for a fantasy milieu. What say you..?

What do I play now:
D&D 4E

I really like the current set of D&D. The rules are streamlined and simplified. Everyone can do something useful in every combat. Overall, my group and I are very happy with it.

Another part of the problem may be party composition: barbarian, warlord, cleric, warlock (me), and a rotating cast of wizard/ranger/spellsword?(whatever that magic/fighter from FR is) depending on who can make it. No one else really cares about will saves and immobilizing has been helpful only once or twice.

I guess you should determine how you want to play your warlock and what you want your character to do, then pick powers and feats that complement that style.

I've been playing 4E with some friends for a couple month's off and on and we're up to level 5. I've been playing a Star Pact Warlock...

Dire Radiance: extra damage if target moves closer to you.
Dreadful Word: -X Will defense.
Dread Star: Immobilize, -2 Will defense.
Ethereal Stride: teleport 3, +2 defenses.
Frigid Darkness: target grants Combat Advantage, -X AC.
Hunger of Hadar: controller blast, sustainable.

The obvious combo is 'Dreadful Word, Action Point, Will-based attack (such as Dread Star)'. The other obvious point is that you fill a role that assists everyone in the party by making the enemy easier to hit. If your party has someone who targets Will with his/her attacks, they will love you. Otherwise, Frigid Darkness is a monster by itself.

Accuracy is always an issue. You are maxed out stat-wise and have a magical implement, so that helps. I suggest you throw caution to the wind, always move as close as possible to a target (having one to two squares between you and the target is ideal), and blast it. While Eldritch Blast does more damage, Dire Radiance can "encourage" the target to not move closer to you to attack. Your Shadow Walk will help you survive combat, as will your high CON. Try to utilize Prime Shot and your Fate of the Void power as much as possible. If available, cursing a minion and blasting it in the previous round can set up a more accurate attack. As a half-elf, be sure to take the Action Surge feat for that Action Point-fueled attack. Also take Improved Fate of the Void to increase accuracy.

I also recommend the Dragon Magazine article. It sounds like you have the feat that allows you to retain powers. Some of the powers in the article are very useful. Not having it in front of me, I can't recommend any off hand, but look for synergies between your current and your newer powers.

Finally, since you haved a maxed Con, take some Infernal pact powers. Vampiric Embrace does decent damage and can give you some temp HP, which can be handy if you are advancing in front of the defender to enable Prime Shot. If you are going to be a front-line striker, Fiendish Resilience can give you an extra boost in temp HP once per day (and may be more to your liking than Ethereal Stride). If you aren't a fan of Hunger of Hadar, Avernian Eruption is beastly: automatic ongoing 5 fire as well as a chance to do 2d10+4 fire damage in an area burst.

I hope this helps. And the next time the rogue can Sneak Attack a target that is immobilized by Dread Star or grants Combat Advantage from Frigid Darkness (never mind the penalty to AC), make sure he thanks you.

EDIT: Looking at the Dragon Magazine powers now... Crown of Stars is a very powerful attack, as is Hands of Ihbar (which also targets Will). If your Intelligence is decent, Fury of Gibbeth is a striker-controller combo.

Samuel Weiss wrote:

Jezred wrote:

What I would like to see...

Celebrity Death Match resurrected.

Rollins vs. Coulter

That would be the pay-per-view clay-mation battle of the year.

No, the real fun would be Rollins vs. Nugent as the new Crossfire.
They can settle the serious issues the way real bards do - with guitar riffs.

I could get down with that. Rollins has cited Nugent as one of his musical influences. Apparently, he and Ian MacKaye used to go see the Nuge every time he came down to DC.

But I like the idea of Rollins vs. Nugent on any talk show or political show. That would be very entertaining.

Games I have wanted to play but haven't (yet)...

Deadlands (or any Savage Worlds product)
Battlestar Galactica
the newer World of Darkness stuff
Dark Heresy

What I would like to see...

Celebrity Death Match resurrected.

Rollins vs. Coulter

That would be the pay-per-view clay-mation battle of the year.

From my observations, Rollins and Coulter are two sides of the same coin. The difference is that when Rollins is taking it to the extreme, he is doing so in a sarcastic or satirical manner. When Coulter takes it to the extreme, she believes her own hateful rhetoric. (Of course, I am biased. I own 90% of Hank's albums and books and have seen him live three times. Ann, not so much.)

I don't have D&D Insider, but from what little I have read in this thread I like the idea of Sorcerers. The flavor seems appropriate, and it doesn't steal the thunder of the Warlock.

The more I read about the PHB2 classes, the more excited I get for its release. I have had the sucker pre-ordered as soon as it was announced. I miss my bards and druids, but I also look forward to the newer classes.

I am not too worried about "power creep" or 4E being dependant on source books. From the ones I have purchased so far, it seems that the books add to the experience without overshadowing the three core books. However, one could stick to the core books and still have many hours of playtime and fun.

Mostly I miss the days of getting crunch value for the money. When I first played D&D out of the red and blue boxes, it was sturdy paper, black & white print and art, and lots of text vs. illustrations. Now it is all high gloss but less sturdy paper, art and color everywhere, and less text per page. But that just might be my stingy, curmudgeonly attitude.

I guess I look at RPG books like novels. I like to let my imagination do the illustrating. Granted if they have illustration of a bizarre monster or item, that is helpful. But I conjure up an image of a red dragon or an orc on my own.

Likes:

1. Decreased Prep Time: Went from several hours to a couple of hours per session or adventure.

2. CRs Simplified: No more crazy math to figure out a CR. Two CR 1s make a 3? Four CR 1s make a 5? Forget that mess.

3. Streamlined Rules: Very nice.

4. Streamlined Monsters: Powers don't take up a full page of print, especially with outsiders.

Dislikes:

1. Magic Items: Trying to remember what everything does can be a pain. Everything is a +1 "special" item. In previous editions, having weapons or armor that had special qualities were less common (with 3.x E starting to buck the trend).

2. Damage Resistance: Tough to run an undead campaign when a dark pact warlock is involved, or a fire element themed adventure when tons of arcane powers deal fire damage. Everything is immune to poison and resistant to necrotic. Maybe resistance should be a percentage chance for immunity, but I could see how this would bog down the game.

Overall I love the new rules more than 3.xE. I have nothing against 3.xE, but I will not be running it any time soon (and if I did I would convert everything to True20).

This looks like a really great start! I'm about to go through this process, but have never done a 3e to 4e conversion. One thing I'm wondering about though is the 4e focus on larger skirmish battles rather than individual monsters. When I first thought about converting, I thought, hmmm, better find groups of monsters (with different roles) to fill the places of the individual 3e counterparts.

So, I was thinking of downgrading the main monsters, and then dropping in allies (monsters of similar type or random carnies of different varieties, belligerent lumberjacks, etc.) Did you consider that when doing your conversion?

I agree that extended rest presents a challenge. One option is to make the crazyness really take off the next day (rather than that night.) So, they have 1 day of fun at the fair, spend the night with Syntira, and then the crazyness emerges the next day... Agree that once the main encounters start, it will be pretty tough to squeeze one in.

A lot of 3.xE stuff I plan on using will not neatly fit in the 4E scheme of mob fights. I will continue to mob up some fights and elite up others to find a good balance.

Hmm . . . interesting layout for Source Role. With the 18 known classes at this point, there would be at least one class for each combinatintion (with Martial Strikers, Arcane Leaders, and Arcane Controllers doubling up) except for a Martial Controller... Yes, I know WotC said they probably wouldn't be able to fit every combination, but I just find it odd that a Martial Controller would be so hard to come up with.

MerrikCale wrote:

my question is , will there be a 3rd D&D movie?

...I heard the third edition of the d&d movie will be replaced by a 15 minute cartoon because they're trying to appeal to a new audience. Its actually an incoherent combination of little pieces of the old movies, but things have been "reconcepted", and it takes place 100 years in the future.

As long as I am posting, I will add that I saw the first D&D movie on opening day in the theater while on detail in Washington DC. After the closing credits started rolling, most of the folks in the theater gave a bewildered "Huh", which translates into both "What just happened?" and "I wonder if I can get my money back."

I stumbled upon the second movie on the SciFi Channel, and I was more impressed by this film. No, neither should be compared to Star Wars or LotR, but the second D&D movie had far more potential than the first.

If they "acutally" made a third movie, I would probably rent it out of curiousity and hope for the best.

The back end of the book, perhaps the last 1/3 or so (I haven't counted) is mostly crunch. In the end, it has creatures already detailed in 3.5, some new rituals that are revamps from earlier spells, and some old magic items that have been updated to 4e. There are some things, crunchwise, that are wholly new. Not sure how much those things would benefit 3.5 players beyond providing some inspiration.

I flipped through Martial Power last night. From first glance, I like the book. The additional options for the Fighter and Rogue are great and add a bit of diversity for the two classes. The Ranger looks decent, but I'd need to play a beastmaster ranger before I could say. The Warlord builds are very interesting: one is all or nothing and the other is a hybrid of the two PHB choices.

The rest of the book is decent. The paragon and epic paths/destinies look good. The additional feats add a lot of options without appearing overpowered or superior to the PHB feats.

Overall, I think this is one of the better books put out by WotC for 4E. This gives me high hopes for the other Power books, the PHB2 and the MM2.

I will be getting the Draconomicon today and will post something on that later.

If they did actually dare to take an extended rest, I'd definitely err on the side of ambushing them. Otherwise it's all over and they're left with nothing but grim, dark aftermath. Hopefully they'll realize that taking a break simply would not work though, once things go to hell.

I'd add in an encounter power to capture the Magic Circle Against Good Effect. Long duration protections are really against the spirit of 4.0 rules. However building something like this...

Thank you for the feedback. When I get to my conversion notes, I will post them on my blog and post the link here. It should be a lot of fun to both play and DM.

A lot of the Golarion fluff seems to lend itself extremely well to a 4e conversion. We already have gnomes as having a fey origin in 4e and the diabolic empire of Cheliax seems like a perfect place for tiefling characters to originate from. Besides, both the 4e assumed setting and Golarion give Asmodeus godhood.

Other than that, there are obviously some 4eisms which won't translate as well into Golarion. You'll have to come up with a way to differentiate elves and eladrin within Golarion. Also, if you want to go by 4e core you'll probably have to find a place for dragonborn.

Other than that, I see nothing in Golarion being inherently opposed to the assumptions of 4e. Just go for it.

The dragonborn are a little more tricky, but since the campaign world has both lizard men and kobolds, something can be hashed together for the dragonborn. The warforged could be relics from pre-Earthfall times. It's your Golarion; make it your own.

On a tangential thread, I am thinking that my 4E lycanthropes pass on lycanthopy. Diseases are easy to adjudicate in 4E, so it shouldn't be that hard to do. Just another little tweak I will need to convert.

I think if you and your group are open-minded and give it a fair try, you will like 4E. More than 3.x? That I can't guarantee. But the new rules are simple and user-friendly.

I have been running a 4E game since June, and I love it. I know there are some subtle things from 3.x that I miss at times, but 4E is so... well, everything I said above. I do not wish to go back to running 3.x, though I'd happily play it.

I have finished converting the module to 4E. I made several considerations when doing the work.

1. I kept the encounters at full strength instead of toning them down. While the seelie court with provide some help along the way, the players will be forewarned that the short time frame of the adventure will prevent extended rests. Thus they will have to make due with the resources at hand.

2. I simplified many of the aspects of the module. For example, since ice mephits aren't in the MM, I replaced the one in the module with something else, a young white dragon carved out of ice. The Modern Engineering Machines have the same stats except for how they attack (area vs. one target).

3. Since there isn't much treasure placed in the module itself, I will add some at the end (probably as rewards from both the town and the seelie court) depending out the adventure outcome. I will also add quest rewards depending on the outcome as well.

If you are interested in what I have, I can post more here.

I like dragons and all things draconic. These teasers are making me want to order Draconomicon more and more.

I've always wondered what makes a company replace a guy that's proven to deliver quality for the guy that doesn't when you know it will have to have an effect on the line, which hurts the entire company. Shortsightedness.

Replacing "trouble-makers" with "yes-men".

"Rightsizing".

Just to name a few.