D&D 4E 4E Hack: "Fiction First" Playtest

Mircoles said:

You lost me with rolling stats.

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LostSoul said:

An update after many months.

The urban experiment didn't work. I need to put more thought into that.

While thinking about it, I decided that I didn't really want to play with some of the old group; they were far too reactive for the type of game I wanted. That led to a change in how I handled XP. Most of the XP is now by Quest or Goal, and I divide "regular" XP by 10.

Anyway. I got some new players (well, St and her boyfriend, whom I play 3E with), made a new hex map (and started coming up with a new hex map generation system), and started playing.

The most satisfying D&D I've played. As we play there are major changes I want to make to 4E - I want to change how damage is calculated, and I'm currently using a different method of generating NPC defences - but so far it's been great. The players have engaged with the settlement system, going so far as to clear some hexes and start up two different settlements.

Time is working well as a resource, as are GP and ritual components. The Lair component of the game is starting to influence player choices (it's only been 6 weeks in the game world, though we started back in December).

I've been making changes to the rules that we are using as we go along - mostly refinements, though XP is a big one. I updated the attachments with the "One-Page Booklet" I use; I tried to condense the information into as little space as possible without losing anything. It's missing a lot - lairs, wandering monster tables, how to DM, how to play - but I imagine some people can steal an idea or two for their own games. Or so I hope.

The eventual goal is to playtest more - we haven't done much with creating technology (some weapons and traps) and magic items - and work out some of the kinks that still crop up (figuring out how much tax revenue can be collected from a settlement is my next goal since it's a major part of our current game). After that I want to finish up the hex map generation, then put everything together - the one-page booklet for running the game along with a more detailed one that explains the colour/fiction behind the rules, and get St to do some illustrations.

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LostSoul said:

More than a few years!

Still playing the original campaign, though the players have changed over time.

Right now Dhalia is headed into the asteroid belt past Mars to find an "Astral Seed", a new pocket universe, guarded by... I forget her name, but a giant centipede exarch of The Jailer (Torog, we've changed the gods somewhat) whose duty it is to protect the seed. This being also has the goddess of the hobbits imprisoned and is in love with her. Dahlia has a small fleet of "rocket ships" - most of them use nuclear power, but the Plutonian (Githzerai) "squid ships" use portals. One of her ships is destroyer- or cruiser-sized, an Epic-tier craft.

It's pretty crazy but the basic rules seem to work in space / with laser guns without any changes, though we haven't had a real space combat. (There were some with smaller craft but no massive naval battle.) I built the map in the same way, translating elements into space terms. Space "weather" and "terrain" is rather fanciful but it works as a game element.

We've also played a number of other campaigns, one set in the Hyborean Age where Red Sonja made an appearance. Another that had a lot of overland travel and urban adventures. Another one that was all urban. (The urban rules work now.) I am a player in another campaign. Playing the game I really feel the time pressure, bouncing from one crisis to another, that I spent a lot of time trying to get into the game.

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With the reaction rolls and social conflict, I don't think I've changed much over time. You make the reaction roll or set the reaction (if known), do the free talk thing; when you're not sure how the NPC is going to react, you ask for a check. Then adjust the NPC's behaviour based on the result of the check.

I don't know if it's in the rules posted here, but a long time ago I started using bonus and penalty dice instead of adding up modifiers. It plays faster. There are a number of other changes I've made over time, but nothing major.

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LostSoul said:

The result of the reaction roll sets the number of successes needed in the skill challenge before three failures. "Uncertain, cautious, and wary", the most common result, is 6 and it goes up and down from there. That doesn't necessarily mean there will be any conflict, so there may not be any rolls needed. The PC only rolls when there is conflict and the way I determine that is if I don't know how the NPC will react. That seems to work.

I can go into more detail if you'd like.

The extra dice are bonus/penalty dice, which I find easier to use instead of adding or subtracting modifiers. There's a little more to it than that, but it's a complex issue about basic resolution - when to roll, what a roll means, etc.

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LostSoul said:

Doubtful; most of my notes are spread out all over the place!

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