Llacheu's page

Scott and 137ben

Thank you both for your replies. We've heard the same, but for some reason we just can't shake that feeling ... It's unfounded, but still there.

I've followed the 5E testing closely. One of my play group actually did the whole test from start to finish while the rest of us declined. He loves 5E, but as a whole our play group is sticking with 4E for now.

We all use the online 4E CB, Compendium, etc and all subscribe to D&D Insider. We're a little nervous to see what they do with the current online tools when the move happens next month for the 5E official launch.

Thanks S'mon.

Those are some good ideas for the queen. Thanks for sharing.

Hmm, the links no longer work for me. Any way you can re-post or upload the conversions Scott? I have been running this adventure path for my group and we start A History of Ashes Saturday. It would be great to get some ideas other than my own on how to convert this to 4E. I love the adventure content and my players are having a blast by the way.

I'd be interested in that skill challenge if you can find it and re-post it here please.

In regards to your question on going with 1/2 hps double damage type house rules for combats I don't think it's needed. I don't use this for my group and they do just fine. I do however take great care to give them a good mix of different types of mobs in each encounter. Some minions, some middle toughs, and then at least one good AC/HP baddy. This gives the players a feeling of being a true hero able to slay beasts in a single blow, but at the same time keep things challenging for them.

However, I rarely go with large groups of mobs unless they are a majority of minions who die with the first hit. Otherwise the combat will indeed slow way down and everyone will feel like they are sinking in quick sand after round 4 and still seeing half the mobs still alive!

Remember you can sometimes convert combat encounters into skill challenges. I recently did this with the sunken plague ship combat encounters found in "Seven Days To The Grave." The shipwreck as originally written in the AP module contained 3 or 4 small combat encounters that really didn't translate well to 4E. So I devised a skill challenge for investigating the 4 areas of the ship. The PCs had a limited amount of time before magic wore off and they would drown. Each success allowed them to spend less time exploring an area while each failure added more time to explore the area. The players commented on the feeling of urgency and tension building the skill challenge provided. Out of 60 minutes allotted, the party explored all areas within 59 minutes and successfully completed the skill challenge.

I admit I'm in the 40+ crowd but I DM for a group that has players in their 20s and 30s. I'm the old cuss. I can see the new blood coming into the fold. However, from these age groups (20s, 30s, 40s) only one out of the 6 had never played D&D before. It was the youngest of our group, the 20 something year old. Demographics are as follows.

20s: 1
30s: 3
40s: 2

I wouldn't say it's dominated by the 40+ crowd per se, but I would really like to get some real world statistics. I know I'm generalizing here, but when only 1 out of 6 (in our group anyway) is a newbie and a youngster then I'd be surprised if the larger groups weren't scaled to coincide with older ages.

I would like to thank everyone for your thoughts.

There will always be some new blood to come in and play the current version of D&D (whatever it may be)... but who knows what the demographic distribution is and how it has changed in recent years? My guess is that less and less young people are doing paper and pencil games and going the route of MMORPGs. I would love to see some hard numbers on this kind of thing.

The one thing that bothered me with 3.0 when it came out originally was the promise for support playing on a virtual table top. Later on, D&D Insider looked like it was going to deliver on that promise, but then did not. Honestly, if there is one thing that Wizards could do to help ensure the success of any edition of D&D at this time is to seriously consider developing a complete, easy to use set of tools for playing D&D online in a way that enhances the experience.

A solid set of tools could be sold and additional components for those tools: maps, tokens, music, artwork, expansion packs, could all be sold in addition to the rule books. I think this would be a great thing for Paizo to look into doing as well for Pathfinder.

Good points Whisky. I agree those tools would make me take a serious look. However, there are free tools out currently by avid gamers that are very good. One such tool is 4ETurnTracker which I personally use when I DM for my group. The tools would have to be comprehensive and affordable. They'd have to compete with both free and established products like FG2, etc.

Hello everyone!

I'm a long time troller (reader) of the boards and finally signed up to post. I have some random thoughts and questions I want to share so apologize up front if I'm a little unfocused.

I've been thinking a lot about 5E and keep coming back to the question of lifespan of the product. Let me explain if I can. I've been playing D&D since I was about 9-10 years old. That's over 30 years and I've got material from every edition. I believe since D&D burst onto the big stage in the early 80s I'm not alone in this regard. So can another addition really sway me to buy more products? Or will it continue to splinter the player base?

At this point, for me, the answer is no I won't be buying 5E. Why, simply because I really enjoy 4E. I love a lot of the changes and even if I'm in the less vocal minority I don't see a new addition earning my purchasing dollars. Now please be kind and don't rip me a new one because I like 4E. I have probably 200% more 3.5 books and material than 4E. It's just my gaming preference. I know other gaming groups who stayed with 3.5. I and most of my gaming friends are going to stick with 4E. So if these statements hold true that means even less will migrate to 5E. Especially if the rumors are true and the base design is returning to the glory days of old. What can they offer me that I don't all ready have?

Is 5E doomed before it even starts? I know there has been a lot of threads and discussion surrounding this, but I want to know if age has anything to do with it? I'm sure my age has a lot to do with it so that begs the question does the product age have anything to do with it? Does Wizards or Piazo have any research showing the numbers regarding age groups. Is 5E just going to splinter the player base more because the majority of us pen-n-paper gamers are older and there is plenty of previous products to use all ready?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I'm interested in hearing more optional rules governing this. I currently have a Wounds/Injuries house rule in place for my players. They were very resistant at first but now, after 6 or 7 sessions, love it.

http://4eturntracker.com/

4eTurnTracker!

I run my laptop with a second monitor for the player window. My group loves it. Combat is a breeze and goes much faster now.