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After playing 4e for a while I think that there is certaintly some room for powers that stack on stop of one another make it them slightly more powerful. These would be encounter or daily powers that would require the successful use of another power to be used. These Combo powers could be created by either a single character or multiple ones (such as Vivi and Steiner's Sword Magic from FF9) What do you think of this idea?
So I am looking to subject my players to a lot of horror (YEAH!) over the next 6 weeks for about 12 two hours sessions. I am looking to find the most horrorific adventures I could find to try to assemble into a truly horrifying campaign. Also, the pcs will be playing fantasy versions of themselves, starting at level 1. Ps. Yes I know Nick Logue is famous for this type of stuff.
Hello, Most of you know me as a stalwart 4e supporter. Recently, I have been invited by my original gaming group(I played with these people since I was 8) to come play and online game with the "guys" since we all live in different states. We took a vote and we decided to play 3.5 edition rules. I mentioned Pathfinder (as I like paizo and their products) and they asked for the differences. I know with software there tends to be something that points out the key changes like ( Dwarves get XX instead of XX). Is there anything similar to this for PFRPG? If there is it would save my group and I the time of reading everything just to see if we want to play it or not. I appreciate the help. Azigen
I had a very interesting and fantastic dream last night. The story was about a dwarf and his quest for vengeance against an Evil King. The Evil King was about to undergo some form of ritual by some dark priests to become even more unstoppable and powerful and bend the world to his might. It was decided that the dwarf and his group of adventurers would infiltrate the Evil King's caslte and try to stop him. During that process the wizard made it to the King during the beginning of the cermony ( some type of dance where we all got seperated) and engaged in a titanic magical battle with his former master. He ended up being blasted onto this table destroying it. As he lay their dying, my dwarf grabbed an empty beer stein and used some power on it to fill the stien with a healing liquid. The only dialogue from the night was "Drink this Better Beer, and live to join the fight with us again". So for fun, how would you create this power? Spoiler: Here is the list of characters for those interested: Dwarf - Clan killed due to opposition of Evil King. Swore a grudge against the king and his minions. Most similar to an artificer in D&D terms. almost an artificer/warlord. Human Wizard - Apprentice of the Evil King's Court wizard but switches to the side of good after having his sister killed. He was our guide through the castle during the ceremony. Human Thief/Ranger - Legendary scout who was noted for helping those in need. He escaped from the Evil King's castle and was our key to getting inside. Eladrin Knight - who belonged to the church that opposed those who were to perform the ritual on the Evil king. More of a Paladin/Cleric Bastien- Son of a demi-god of justice, Bastien was a honorable fighter known for his prowess with any weapon. Not sure what race he was if any definable in D&D terms. Coran - An assassin we hired for extra muscle. He was a Thief/Magic User who could inscribe magic works onto shuriken and other weapons
Im very interested in this book, I would like to know more about it before purchasing it though. Does anyone have some specifics?
Apparently, playing dungeons and dragons is a left thing to do. {Link)
Some people got there FRCS early. List of Gods Spoiler: Deities of 4e Realms: Greater Gods: Amaunator: Sun
Gods: Serve the greaters Angharraadh: Wisdom
Exarchs/ Demigods: Ascended mortals mainly, some have mortal worshippers Abbathor
Primordials: Akadi
Archdevils: One for each of the nine Baalzebul
I am sorry if this was already posted but it looking like the Bonus tools are now up. Check them out here.
They can be found here.
From here. Reynard the Innkeeper
Are your serious? They let someone write up a RPGA character nicknamed NARD?!?! This is just bad. Isn't this the exact kind of naming they suggest avoiding? Sheesh. This sort of ruins the idea of a cantankerous old innkeeper who longs for his younger days. His friends must not like him. This begs for a werewolf and grab. "WOLFMAN'S GOT NARD!" Ugh! /end disgust.
Here are the updated sheets. I've broken them apart by level. I have .doc and pdf formats, but will only be linking pdfs here. I'm googley eyed from doing this so its possible I messed something up. If so let me know and I will fix and upload it. Dragonborn Paladin Lvl 1
Dwarf Fighter Lvl 1
Half-Elf Cleric Lvl 1
Halfling Rogue Lvl 1
Human Wizard Lvl 1
Tiefling Warlord Lvl 1
PCs have ALWAYS been a cut above everyone else in the core rules.A cut above, yes. But 4e has gone well beyond that. You couldn't create a Chapter 1 Sam Gamgee with the current rules. My memory is fuzzy and I don't have my 2nd edition books handy, but didn't one of the previous editions have 0th level NPCs? I know this is a shoehorn fit but why can't you say the fresh off the farm players are level 0? They need 500 (This is purely a rough guess) to get to level 1. They start with only their basic class features, racial powers, and at will powers. Give them half hp, and healing surges. At this point even minions become extremely deadly and the aid of some third party would come to play (keeping with our LOTR theme.. Strider or Tom Bombadil). Once they make it to 1st level they get all of the regular 1st level stuff. Skill challenges are still a feasible source of experience. Call them Apprentices. What does everyone think of this as a House Rule attempt to resolve this? Enjoy! Azi
I am looking for any beginner play aids (to make players kit with) that people have stumbled across for new players (both to 4th and to D&D altogether). So far I have found this. I am looking for a simplistic character sheet that doesn't include powers as they will be using power cards. Any suggestions?
Found here. This is likely to have some people up in arms. Please keep it civil, intelligent, and informed. I look forward to discussing this with you(even if you don't agree with me)!
Something to give you Players once each character has completed their epic destinies.
Here is a great Blog by Keith Baker Posted in spoiler for Firewall goodness
Spoiler: I'm still in transit to Alaska (nothing like watching the sun set at 1 AM), but I have internet access, and something came up I wanted to post about. I'll preface this by saying that this isn't supposed to be some sort of great revelation - like my recent skill challenge post, this is just my personal reflections on my 4E experiences. If it's of any use to anyone else, great - if not, hey, it's a blog, for goodness sake. Deal with it. ;-) Recently I was involved in a discussion about the intended audience of 4E, and what WotC was trying to accomplish with the design. The following point came up: I suspect the real issue for many people in terms of roleplaying support between 3.5 and 4e is the lack, in 4e, of mechanical definition for non-combat abilities -- craft, profession, perform... and limited multiclassing (making it difficult to define a character with an interesting past reflected in their class levels). Now, some of these things are simple fact. 4E doesn't have Craft or Profession. This loss takes away an easy hook for character background ("I used to be a bartender, as reflected by my Profession skill."). I've also talked with many people who enjoy the world simulation aspect of Craft - the ability to determine just what their character can accomplish in the week between adventures, and how his work compares to that of the local smiths. Perhaps something will be added in the future, but it's plain and simple fact that it's not there (which I am slightly amused by, since it's somewhat at odds with the statement that 4E is a pen-and-paper MMO... Crafting being an important subsystem of most major MMOs). Performance isn't a total loss, as there are certain forms of performance that can be represented by other skills. As I mentioned earlier, I ran a skill challenge in which the PCs had to perform an improvised play to gain admittance to a guild enclave. None of them had a Perform skill as such, but they had skills they could justify as being relevant: Bluff for general acting, Diplomacy for that dramatic monologue appealing to the audience, Intimidate for the guy playing the villain, Acrobatics for gymnastics and tumbling, and so on. However, while it's easy enough to say "Bluff is your acting ability", there's no way to represent your skill as a harper. And while a DM might say "You want to be a poet – use your Diplomacy skill for that" presumably not EVERYONE with Diplomacy is a great poet. So certainly, the loss of Craft, Performance, and Profession removes a flavor tool present in 3E. However, I disagree with the idea that it's mechanically "difficult to define a character with an interesting past" in 4E. It's certainly difficult to do that with CLASS LEVELS, because that's not the mechanic 4E uses for this purpose. Class levels determine your combat abilities, and it's intentionally difficult to dramatically change your combat role. But once you step out of combat, the skill training system makes it easy to develop cross-class skills – and because heroic tier feats have less of an impact on your combat abilities than 3E feats, it's not a major sacrifice to use your feats on noncombat abilities. The amalgamation of skill groups further helps with this. I have a changeling (doppelganger) cleric-thief in one of my games, and while he hasn't actually taken any rogue POWERS, through the use of two feats (Sneak of Shadows to gain Thievery and Skill Training - Stealth) he has gained decent ability in what would have been five skills under 3.5, without any significant sacrifice of his clerical abilities. In 3.5, he'd HAVE to multiclass to get that level of skill, and that would drop his clerical power. He doesn't have the COMBAT power of a rogue - but *out* of combat, he feels like a 3.5 rogue. But the main point I wanted to address was whether it's possible to "define a character with an interesting past". The changeling cleric is one example. His idea was that while raised in the church, he was faced with corruption in the ranks - and that now, as a pilgrim, he seeks to understand these darker aspects of human nature so that when he returns he will be better equipped to face it. He began with Skill Focus (Stealth), as this was tied to how he'd discovered the corruption to begin with; at second level he took Sneak of Shadows, reflecting his deeper study of these arts. Again, he doesn't FIGHT like a rogue - but his noncombat abilities directly reflect his past and evolving story. Just to continue to ramble at great, unnecessary length, let me go ahead and present two additional characters. Both are first level human fighters, and both have 18 Strength; I want to develop an interesting backstory, but I'm not going to sacrifice my primary stat to get it. LUCAS grew up on a farm; he became an adventurer after his village was destroyed by the soldiers of a cruel overlord. He's not terribly bright or well educated, but he's got a good heart, a lot of common sense, and a good sense of people. His experience with animal husbandry has taught him how to heal, though his friends might be disturbed when they hear him talk about birthing foals while patching their wounds. His combat skills come both from his brute strength – built up by his time laboring on the farm – and from time spent hunting with his spear in the woods. LUCAS
There's lots of other ways I could have gone here. Obviously I could switch that Skill Focus to play to the element of my background I want to be the strongest; I went for Insight because it's going to allow me to contribute to social situations (I'm not intimidating or diplomatic, but my common-sense, folksy insights often help out). If I traded Nature for Perception and Insight for Stealth, I've got more of the spear-hunter – I don't fight like a ranger, but with a +9 Stealth (assuming scale armor), I'm capable of sneaking around alongside ranger or rogue. Now what Lucas DOES lack is Profession (Farmer). However, it's my past as a farmer that justifies my Nature and Heal skills – and it's something that I can roleplay to during skill challenges involving them. And if it actually came to, say, identifying farming equipment, as a DM I'd likely just give this to Lucas for free because it obviously fits his background. Taking another path, we've got GRIM. He was born in a back alley in the big city, and his sheer strength and force of will was the only reason he survived. He began as a bouncer in a bar, and then became an enforcer for a local crime boss; unfortunately, a feud with a rival gang went against his side, and he's been forced to flee the city and take up a life of adventure. His notable trait is the one he takes is name from – his intimidating demeanor. But he also knows his way around the streets. GRIM
Because of the nature of skill challenges, Grim's still going to be useful even if you have a rogue or warlock who's focused on the social skills; since it's not just a single-check resolution, if a challenge calls for Streetwise, the more skilled characters the better. Now, you could say "You CAN make these characters, but would you? I'd take Con 16 (with the subsequent drop in other scores), Toughness and Weapon Focus." Personally, I'd take either of these characters over the Toughness-Weapon Focus route, both because they have more flavor and because in the campaigns I'm in, the +10 Streetwise will be much more useful than five more hit points. If your DM actually uses skill challenges in a significant role, the +3 bonus from Skill Focus is far more significant than the +1 damage from Weapon Focus. I'm playing a paladin in one of my campaigns, and as of fourth level, I've used every feat on enhancing and expanding my skill selection, and my utility power is Astral Voice – improving my *Diplomacy*, not my combat ability. So, these characters DON'T have Profession skills. And I can't give them Craft skills - and I know that there are people for whom that's a severe loss. However, both do have mechanical abilities that reflect their diverse backgrounds, and they're just two examples of what you can do. I've seen a lot of posts saying that 4E characters are inherently cookie-cutter images of one another, that the game is simply a tactical wargame; my point is that it IS possible to develop characters whose game abilities reflect their past and play a role in their present. But again, that's just me rambling. ;-)
I knnow this power source is a bit aways, but a look at the Swordmage powers brought up some interesting concepts. One of the things that Wotc said they were doing away with was having things just to fill space. Like if there is a fire type demon then thier should be an ice type too. Does this mean that each power source will get a character class for each role? Or do you think that they will only put out character classes that add to the game? Lets look at Monk class. Many people say that the monk will most likely be a striker.
Spoiler:
Monk At a glance, the player with a 3E monk might think that he’s out of luck until the 4E monk releases—there’s no unarmored, unarmed melee fighter option anywhere in the Player’s Handbook. However, with your DM’s permission you can create a martial-arts striker who captures much of the monk’s style by following this process: Choose the two-blade ranger build (p104). (Don’t worry, this will make sense in a minute.) Give up your leather and hide armor proficiencies, gaining a +3 bonus to AC when wearing no armor or cloth armor. You’re now only a point behind the normal ranger’s AC. Gain a +2 bonus to Will defense (in addition to the ranger’s normal defense bonuses). Replace Dungeoneering and Nature on your class skill list with Arcana, Diplomacy, Insight, and Religion. Choose five trained skills from your class list. Give up your martial weapon proficiencies. Grant your unarmed strike a +3 proficiency bonus, increase the damage to 1d8, and add the off-hand property. Now you’re wielding two melee weapons that are as good as the martial melee options available to the ranger. Rename Hunter’s Quarry as Monastic Battle Focus, and lose the Prime Shot class feature. (You thought you were getting that +2 bonus to Will for free, didn’t you?) Focus on mobility-oriented powers, particularly those that reward a high Wisdom score (such as evasive strike, yield ground, and weave through the fray). As desired, you can rename those powers with a flavor that befits your monkish heritage (peerless balance of the crane instead of fox’s cunning, for example). Pick up feats to recreate other 3E monk class features—Evasion, Fleet-Footed, Long Jumper—and use multiclass feats (p209) to replicate the supernatural features. For example, the warlock has several teleportation powers reminiscent of abundant step.
Yet Mike Mearls confirmed that a monk will do more than grab a guy. He suggested something like "grappling". Spoiler:
Q: What happened with Grapple? A: They streamlined it by kicking it and saying “don’t come back”. Mearls read an article on ENWorld about the black box theory: throw in stuff in one end, result comes out. You don’t know what’s going on inside. For grapple, the end result is you have a guy held who can’t move. 3e was not a black box, it showed each step. Grab (as it is now called) is just to stop somebody from moving, not a full-on wrestling system. You’re just trying to stop someone moving. Get the intent, then support it. The monk will be able to take grappling powers. So what do you think the 4e monk will end up as? A Striker with a side of Defender? What about other classes that could presumably use the Ki Power Source such as classes like a ninja? What do you imagine a Ki leader being like? I would love to know your thoughts.
Does anyone know if the fonts that are in the PHB will be released by wizards or a third party as a play aid?
Having to cast a ritual in combat is an interesting and evocative idea. Something, such as s summoning a monster to aid you, could be done for dramatic effect by either the players or the BBEG. However, they simply take too long. Most encounters wouldnt last long enough for you to feasibly play this out (unless it was a siege). So does anyone have any idea how one might use action points to influence casting times ala the Artificer from Eberron? I mean I can see this beautiful scene where the pcs have to defend the ritual caster from a horde of monsters while he finished the spell. But how would you actually go about it?
I've never really liked the name Warlord for the class. I was thinking about changing the name.. and I think Paladin might actually be a better fit for it.
Spoiler:
Main Entry: pal·a·din Pronunciation: \ˈpa-lə-dən\ Function: noun Etymology: Middle French, from Italian paladino, from Old French palatin, from Medieval Latin palatinus courtier, from Late Latin, imperial official — more at palatine Date: 1592 1 : a trusted military leader (as for a medieval prince) 2 : a leading champion of a cause That considered I would swap the paladin class to Exemplar. Since they now represent such a wide variety of dieties I think that is a good name for them. Spoiler:
ex·em·plar Pronunciation: \ig-ˈzem-ˌplär, -plər, eg-\ Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin, from exemplum example Date: 15th century : one that serves as a model or example: as a: an ideal model b: a typical or standard specimen <an exemplar of medieval architecture> c: a copy of a book or writing d: idea 1a What are your suggestions? |
