Insight's D&DXP Blog

Hi all,

I'm heading out to Washington DC later today to participate in the D&D Experience. For the uninitiated (and I can't imagine too many readers of this tread would be), D&D Experience is going to be THE place to get the first look at D&D 4th Edition.

I'm going to attempt to live blog or live-ish blog as is possible during the event. I'm signed up for both of the Living Forgotten Realms events, and I'll hit the 4th Ed Dungeon Delve (a 30-minute event time trial sorta thing) as many times as is possible. Assuming there's sufficient wireless access at the Hyatt Regency (the event location), I'll live blog. If that's not a possibility, I'll record my thoughts and post when I get back to my hotel.

For my posts, I'm going to include as much crunchy goodness as I can get my hands on. That includes my own characters (I'll try to post a character sheet or two) as well as others' characters (where possible), and also actions taken during the game events. For the purposes of clarity, I may need to post adventure-specific information. When this happens, I'll post in a spoiler block so that those of you interested in playing the event won't get mad

I probably won't have any more posts today (its not quite noon eastern and we haven't left yet -- 6 hr drive to DC from where I live). Expect some juicy info tomorrow and beyond.

Today's the big day (missed Thursday due to travel)!

In case anyone hasn't seen, WOTC has posted the Quick Play Rules: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd : click the 'Quick Rules Primer' link.

I'll have more to post later today.

Off Topic:

OMG

I drove in Washington DC today. I highly recommend those of you with a shred of sanity to NEVER EVER TRY TO DRIVE IN WASHINGTON DC OR THE SURROUNDING AREA! And especially DON'T USE GOOGLE MAPS TO GET AROUND! IT'S WRONG!

I spent an hour and a half (at least) getting from my hotel to the D&DXP's hotel. This is a straight-line distance of 3 miles!

And I also got lost on the way back! Because I missed a left-hand turn off the freeway (a terrible idea in any circumstance) - which was very poorly marked btw - I spent nearly 2 HOURS! trying to just get back to where I could take that exit and get back to my hotel.

Anyway, a cautionary tale. Beware.

Downtown DC is a nightmare to drive in. Roads are stacked on top of each other in places, so you can't tell from a map where you are supposed to be. And critical freeway exits are poorly marked.

But more to the point, how was the con?

OK on to the blog. I thought I'd start first with some general observations apart from the character sheets (see below for those - I have all six that have been released at the event).

[sblock=Bone Shard Skeleton] This is sblocked because the Bone Shard Skeleton appears in one of the preview adventures. Anyway, the Bone Shard skeleton 'explodes' when it reaches 50% damage (a condition called Bloodied). As an immediate action, it does damage against all creatures in range. The Bone Shard Skeleton also does this when it dies.[/sblock]

Combat Advantage: When you gain Combat Advantage against a target (which happens when it is flanked, runs, or some other possibly situations), you gain a +2 bonus to hit. Rogues and others may gain special abilities associated with having Combat Advantage on a target.

Damage Types: I have seen Cold, Fire, Radiant, and Necrotic damage types. Fire attacks seem to have the chance to set the target aflame.

Enemy HP: In both the dungeon delves and the preview adventures, we used 1st level characters. We had between 23 and 33 HP. There were creatures that had 40+ HP, and some reportedly had 70+ HP. This seems rather unbalanced. It's a small sample size, so maybe this is an aberration rather than the rule.

[EDIT] Implements: Some spellcasters use implements to cast spells or use powers. An implement is something like a wand or a staff. Our characters started with wands (Warlock and Wizard) or a holy symbol (Cleric). Normally, implements don't do a whole lot, other than that you can't use the power/spell without the implement. We came across some magic items that were implements and added to the powers' and spells' damage and attack rolls. There is a question right now whether or not you can gain the benefit of more than one implement at one time.

Incorporeal: Take 50% damage reduction. Not sure if any effects or spells bypass this reduction.

[sblock=NPC Barbarians]In the preview adventure, the NPC Barbarians, when 'bloodied', would go into a sort of rage, which added +4 to hit and +1d6 damage.[/sblock]

Saving Throws: Certain lingering effects can last for a long time. In order to escape this effect, you get a saving throw. Unlike the 3.x saves, this is a straight d20 check (you might sometimes get a bonus to this roll). 1-9 means that the effect continues, while a 10-20 means that the effect ends (this ends up being a 5% statistical advantage for the defender). Another sort of saving throw is when you are at negative hit points.

You no longer die at -10 HP. Instead of dying at -10, you die at - (CON score) (I think). In any event, when you are down and at negatives, you get a save to see if you die. Roll a d20. If you roll 1-9, you gain a Death Token. Three of these are you're worm food. If you roll 11-19, nothing happens. if you roll 20+ (again, sometimes you gain a bonus to this saving throw), you get to use a healing surge (see the quick start rules for this; I'm not going to rehash the stuff there).

So, there are two ways to die: get to negative (CON score) or gain 3 Death Tokens.

Shadows (Undead): If the target can't see you at the beginning of your action, you can attack and with a hit, the target is weakened (50% reduction in damage). Lasts until your next turn.

Skill Challenges: These are cool awesome a great idea! In essence, the DM gives the characters some sort of task. [sblock]In our adventure, the PCs had to escape the city, being chased by the guards.[/sblock] The players get to decide how to deal with the situation, using whatever skills they can think to use. You might use Diplomacy to talk your way out of a situation, or Stealth to sneak away, or Knowledge (Religion) to contact local religious officials for aid. And so forth. What I like is that the players use their imagination to meet the challenge, and have a number of options to deal with it. As a player, you decide whether you want to take on a Low, Medium, or High Challenge. To resolve this challenge, you make a skill check (DC 11, 15, or 19, respectively). If you succeed, and don't quote me on this, I believe you succeed in whatever it is you're trying to do.

Swarms: Reduced damage (50% ?)from attacks that target a single source, but take full damage fro attacks that target an area (such as a burst power).

Undead (General): Take extra damage from the radiant damage type. I believe this is +5 or +50% (not sure).

If I encounter anything significant tomorrow, I'll certainly post again tomorrow evening. I'd also like to post some overall observations about less mechanical concerns, and my overall impressions of 4th ed so far.

Magic Items List #1

After the first preview adventure, we were handed a list of magic items we could use in future dungeon delves or preview adventures. I don't believe these are legal in actual LFR adventures to come.

+1 FROST WARHAMMER [LEVEL 3]
This is a good weapon for a fighter to wield.
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls with weapon.
Critical: +1d6 cold damage.
Power (Encounter): Free action. Activate when you hit with this weapon. The target takes +1d10 cold damage and is slowed until the end of your next turn (Cold).

*** ANALYSIS ***
This was by far the most popular item with the fighters. The per encounter power is very nice (slow + dmg). Item level may or may not have anything to do with the item's effectiveness (see the items of the same level below).

+1 STAFF OF THE WAR MAGE [LEVEL 3]
This is a perfect implement for a wizard.
Implement (Staff)
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls with implement.
Critical: +1d8 damage
Power (Daily): Free action. Activate when you use a power with a burst or blast effect. Increase the size of the burst or blast by 1.

*** ANALYSIS ***
This was the most popular item for all spellcasters with implement as a power descriptor (for our group, this was the Wizard, the Warlock, and the Cleric). The +1 adds to attacks and damage for spells/powers cast that have the implement descriptor. Pretty nice. The crit is when you crit with a spell (not sure if this works when you attack with the staff itself, or even if you can attack with the staff itself).

+1 DELVER'S LEATHER ARMOR [LEVEL 3]
This armor is good for a character in light armor, such as a warlock.
Armor: Any
Enhancement: AC
Power (Encounter): Free action. Gain a +2 power bonus to a saving throw.

*** ANALYSIS ***
We couldn't really use this item, because it was unclear how it worked. All of us in armor didn't know whether this armor was better than what we were wearing. Note the 'power' bonus type from this item.

+1 AMULET OF HEALTH [LEVEL 3]
This amulet is suitable for a character of any class.
Body Slot: Neck
Enhancement: Fortitude, Reflex, and Will defenses
Property: Gain resist poison 5.

*** ANALYSIS ***
A Level 3 item, but grants 'resist poison' 5. It may be that all resistances are in groups of 5 (so unrelated to the item's level). It may reduce the damage from poison, or perhaps give you a bonus to your defenses against poison.

IRONSKIN BELT [LEVEL 5]
This belt is suitable for a character of any class.
Body Slot: Waist
Power (Encounter): Minor action. Gain resist weapons 5 until the end of your next turn.

*** ANALYSIS ***
A Level 5 item. Note that it gives you an ability 'resist weapons' rated at 5. Does resist weapons reduce the damage from weapons? No one used this in our games, so we're not sure. I'll try to ask a GM tomorrow.

GAUNTLETS OF OGRE POWER [LEVEL 5]
These gauntlets are good for a fighter, ranger, or paladin.
Body Slot: Hands
Property: Gain a +1 item bonus to Athletics checks and Strength ability checks (but not Strength attacks).
Power (Daily): Free action. Activate when you hit with a melee attack. Add a +5 power bonus to the damage roll.

*** ANALYSIS ***
Another Level 5 item. Note that it adds 5 to the damage roll, but this is a Daily use power. Note the 'item' bonus to skill checks and so forth. Another bonus type?

The delver's leather armor reads like you use a free action to gain +2 to a save. There's no restriction on uses/day or anything, so that's effectively +2 to all saves. That sounds way too powerful for a level 3 item, so something must be missing.

EDIT: oops, missed the "encounter" bit. So, 1/encounter, you get +2 to a save. That seems more reasonable.

hong said:

The delver's leather armor reads like you use a free action to gain +2 to a save. There's no restriction on uses/day or anything, so that's effectively +2 to all saves. That sounds way too powerful for a level 3 item, so something must be missing.

Click to expand...

The effect is 1/encounter, so not as powerful as it first sounds.

EDIT: heh

I'll post the characters tomorrow. I'm bushed!

Insight I was wondering if you could give a more indept explanation of Skill Challenges.

So such things, like; how do the players decide the difficulty? Besides DC difference what else changes with the difficulty? What is the benefit of choosing a higher difficulty?