General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
The character chapter that has the new races, classes, paragon paths and feats runs from pages 12 to 125. The Magic chapter runs from 126 to 145 with first ten pages being fluff and the last nine being crunch (items and artifacts). Chapters 3, 4 and 5 are all fluff and run from page 146 to page 207. Chapters 6 and 7 are crunch and run from pages 208 to 255. The book has an epilogue which is a little bit of fluff to finish the book at the end.
So out of 260 pages, roughly 169 pages of crunch and about 91 pages of fluff. A bit lighter on the fluff side, but for 4e fans, this book has a lot of crunchy goodness that can easily be plucked and used in any campaign. This book definately makes me want to break out DA1 and convert it to 4e as a fun hook to pull heroes into Blackmoor.
I am a 4e player - I was just asking about the fluff/crunch ratio, mostly because I am interested in fluff. At this point in time, I have more than enough classes to fill my campaigns - although if Ari wrote these, I may need to take a harder look. Either way, thanks for answering, consider another book sold.
Cheers
__________________
355 hours played
Gnoguh, human fighter/cleric (kensei->adamantine soldier)
Carric, elf cleric/ranger (radiant servant->saint)
Torn, tiefling wizard/cleric (divine oracle->sages of ages)
Truxas, human feylock/bard (feytouched->feyliege)
Tagron, human rogue (daggermaster->deadly trickster) 21th level Musings of an Epic Virgin
At this point in time, I have more than enough classes to fill my campaigns - although if Ari wrote these, I may need to take a harder look.
I didn't--the bulk of my work on that book was in the monsters--but from what CA showed me and the discussions we had, they're definitely worth a harder look.
__________________ Ari Marmell
aka
Mouseferatu
--Rodent of the Dark
I didn't--the bulk of my work on that book was in the monsters--but from what CA showed me and the discussions we had, they're definitely worth a harder look.
I was wondering how long it would take you to pop in on this thread - Thanks for clarifying your role in the making of the book. Since it is out, is there anything else you want to tell us?
__________________
355 hours played
Gnoguh, human fighter/cleric (kensei->adamantine soldier)
Carric, elf cleric/ranger (radiant servant->saint)
Torn, tiefling wizard/cleric (divine oracle->sages of ages)
Truxas, human feylock/bard (feytouched->feyliege)
Tagron, human rogue (daggermaster->deadly trickster) 21th level Musings of an Epic Virgin
I didn't--the bulk of my work on that book was in the monsters--but from what CA showed me and the discussions we had, they're definitely worth a harder look.
14 new monsters, hmm...sounds like we are going to see quite a few monsters that did not appear in the 3E Blackmoor line?
PS: Does this mean your current campaign is set in Mystara? (Not that the DA1 plot cannot be used with any setting..)
Havard
Yes and no. My two weekly games are set in the Nentir Vale. However, when I run demos I often set them in the Known World of Mystara. I sprinkle in alot of name and place references from the setting, although I use the current 4e pantheon. I am a big fan of the setting as it was presented in the BECMI. I never really feel bound by setting canon.
And as a nice bonus, I still have the big poster map of Blackmoor laid out in hexes that came with DA1.
Yes and no. My two weekly games are set in the Nentir Vale. However, when I run demos I often set them in the Known World of Mystara. I sprinkle in alot of name and place references from the setting, although I use the current 4e pantheon. I am a big fan of the setting as it was presented in the BECMI. I never really feel bound by setting canon.
Canon is supposed to be more of a guideline anyway isnt it?
Quote:
And as a nice bonus, I still have the big poster map of Blackmoor laid out in hexes that came with DA1.
Sweet! I would love it if Code Monkey includes some poster maps in their future Blackmoor products as well.
http://dungeon-crawl.blogspot.com
Tools & tips you can apply immediately to your D&D game! Encounters inspired by the movies, suggestions to speed up your game and reduce bookkeeping, and more!
It doesn't help that I can't find this book available on Amazon in hardcopy, nor on DrivethruRPG in PDF form.
Anyone got a list of resources for purchasing this book? All I could find (other than second-hand sources like an Amazon store, but not Amazon itself) were a couple of RPG specific sellers (RPG shop, Orcs Nest).
http://dungeon-crawl.blogspot.com
Tools & tips you can apply immediately to your D&D game! Encounters inspired by the movies, suggestions to speed up your game and reduce bookkeeping, and more!
http://dungeon-crawl.blogspot.com
Tools & tips you can apply immediately to your D&D game! Encounters inspired by the movies, suggestions to speed up your game and reduce bookkeeping, and more!
It doesn't help that I can't find this book available on Amazon in hardcopy, nor on DrivethruRPG in PDF form.
Anyone got a list of resources for purchasing this book? All I could find (other than second-hand sources like an Amazon store, but not Amazon itself) were a couple of RPG specific sellers (RPG shop, Orcs Nest).
Is it only dead-tree?
It's on RPGnow now as well.
__________________
355 hours played
Gnoguh, human fighter/cleric (kensei->adamantine soldier)
Carric, elf cleric/ranger (radiant servant->saint)
Torn, tiefling wizard/cleric (divine oracle->sages of ages)
Truxas, human feylock/bard (feytouched->feyliege)
Tagron, human rogue (daggermaster->deadly trickster) 21th level Musings of an Epic Virgin
I just downloaded the PDF. I really like the art in the book and now will have to see what it looks like in print because art always look better on the printed page to me. The new classes look interesting. They are creative and not just other classes reworked that I was fearing.
From my quick look through my one complaint is no table that lists all the feats and their requirements.
Gah...! I saw that Noble Knight had it on their site for a few bucks less than most of the prices listed here, but now it seems to have vanished from their product list.
Got my copy in from Noble Knight yesterday so I haven't gotten through the whole thing yet. Some off the cuff remarks:
While I only have the Goodman Games 3e setting book it already looks like 90% of the art is recycled from the 3e books. Not necessarily a problem (I'm okay with budget-shaving if it gets the setting into our hands again), just an observation. Likewise, I get deja vu in certain sections as paragraphs of text were lifted whole cloth from the 3e setting book. Things that jumped out at me were Dave Arneson's introduction, description of the docrae, paragraphs in the dwarf and westryn elf section, etc. I'm assuming this will get worse when I get into the setting description. I think the paper quality is better than the old Goodman book; at least on par with the Advanced Player's Guide (the only other non-WotC GSL book I own), which was very good and durable.
I like the way they handle tieflings. It really ties them to the inherently magical nature of the North. I'm a little disappointed certain PHB2 races weren't addressed (*cough* gnomes *cough*) but that may have something to do with the development cycle of this book and where the GSL was at the time.
I'm a little put off by the Arcane Warrior. I get it's designed to mimic a paladin (but with an arcane spin), but I hate, hate, HATE when MAD is built into a class. With its method of marking you're either forced to ignore the Str/Wis build and always be a Str/Int Arcane Warrior, bump both Int and Wis evenly and therefore never use implement attacks (since your Wis will be way behind Str), or accept that your mark's side-effect will become a joke as you progress through paragon into epic tier. That not withstanding, it does succeed in being distinct enough to exist alongside a Swordmage without either totally stepping on the other's toes. With all the elemental effects I could see this as great synergy with the genasi.
I haven't read enough of the other classes to really give a valid critique of them yet. However, at first glance I wonder how a mystic defends with poor AC and if a wokan is truly best called a "hybrid" role. It seems like the powers either lean controller or leader so you could play it either way or as a poor man's version of both. It's definitely an interesting spin on the idea of multiple builds in a class. As for the mystic - I suspect I'll find the secret to its ability to be a defender once I do more than skim it.
I think it was a bad decision not splitting the feats out into heroic, paragon, and epic sections. I could understand if it was a space/cost decision that prompted it, but with them all together they really should have given us a table with them split out. As it is, you have to flip through the whole section to find feats and pay attention to [PARAGON] and [EPIC] after the feat name to know which tier it belongs to.
I realize I'm coming across a little critical here. Let me say this: what I've read so far is good. It seems like a solid (not so) little book with a far better grasp of the rules system and what makes for a good PC option than the 3e setting book had. Plus, hey, thouls! Rock on! And sand people, so we've officially got our first four-armed PC-friendly race statted up. I was surprised/pleased to see that back in the back of the monster section. It seems reasonably balanced considering. I'm not sure I'd let them in as a PC race since you could effectively build a tempest fighter that still can use a shield, but it does prove the dual wield/defensive weapon rules are so well designed that dual-dual wielding PCs don't gain anything over two-armed PCs.
__________________ The Last Word: We could tell you, but then it would have to kill you. --Piratecat
I've checked the North American online retailers detailed earlier in the thread (Paizo, Noble Knight, Gamer's Attic/RPGShop), and no one seems to have it for order. I can't believe I may have missed this release. I'm finally in a financial position where I can order it, and I can't find it anywhere.
Has anyone had better luck finding it anywhere? Thanks in advance.
Must be the former. After all, we all know without doubt that 4e is not selling as well as previous editions.
I stand corrected Joe, you are obviously correct. My bad. Maybe I should switch back to 3.x, since I will probably never be able to find someone to play 4e with me....
__________________
355 hours played
Gnoguh, human fighter/cleric (kensei->adamantine soldier)
Carric, elf cleric/ranger (radiant servant->saint)
Torn, tiefling wizard/cleric (divine oracle->sages of ages)
Truxas, human feylock/bard (feytouched->feyliege)
Tagron, human rogue (daggermaster->deadly trickster) 21th level Musings of an Epic Virgin
- I was just asking about the fluff/crunch ratio, mostly because I am interested in fluff. At this point in time, I have more than enough classes to fill my campaigns - although if Ari wrote these, I may need to take a harder look. Either way, thanks for answering, consider another book sold.
(Not that the DA1 plot cannot be used with any setting..)
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
