D&D 4E 1st level 4E characters are already Heroes

I've seen some grumbling about the name of the new Warlord class, so I thought I'd post this anecdote.

In the saturday 4E seminar James pointed out that in the new edition, even first level D&D characters are Heroes. Right out the gate, they are head and shoulders above the local populace. This is no longer a game where your first level character can be dropped by a single hit from a peasant's club.

From a practical standpoint, I'm guessing this means that 1st level 4E characters are comparable to 2nd or 3rd level 3E characters. 1st level 4E characters aren't wimps. They're heroes and adventurers.

This is a great idea. It solves a couple "metagame" issues, like how 1st level 3e characters start the game in their late teens or early 20's, and before their next birthday are hewing armies and creating pocket dimensions. Or how 1st level characters aren't supposed to know that a troll regenerates or a skeleton needs smashing weapons, but of course the players do, and so everyone sorta-but-not-really pretends to be ignorant. That's not fun.

So yeah, give me a 1st level warlord: a scarred leader who's been around the block a few times, and is poised to ascend to greatness.

-z

PS: Here's to hoping that 4E will have some sort of Traveller-style character background generator, wherein your 1st level warlord's initial training, first few commands, and current situation is laid out.

As one that dislikes the name 'Warlord' for a base class, I like your reasoning and can accept the name on those terms. Thanks!

So does that mean we may get more than 4x the normal amount of skill points at first level?

Cool. My first 4E PC is going to be from Kara-Tur. He'll wield a katana and have the ability to manipulate time!

Cool. I'm hoping this is like what SW Saga does.

This change will add two more playable levels to my games, because we currently start at 3rd.

Cheers, -- N

Mind you, I think the "just out of training, wet behind the ears" stage of a PC's life can be interesting to play through as well, and probably works better for introducing new players to the game. If 4e doesn't have rules for that stage, I just might have to write them up myself.

Being "heroes at first level" doesn't necessarily translate to a character level in 3.5 terms. It could just mean that they can do "heroic things," ie, stuff beyond the level of normal mortals. This could reflect itself in terms of cinematics, rather than attack bonus.

In other words, a "heroic" first level character may have mastered some secret sword technique of the ancients, but still have the same BAB and hit points as a non heroic first level character.

Power bloat built right in from the beginning! What a wonderful idea! Next they'll tell us how PCs get MEGADAMAGE and monsters just have regular damage.

Think Kevin Siembieda will sue them over intellectual copyright infringement?

FireLance said:

Mind you, I think the "just out of training, wet behind the ears" stage of a PC's life can be interesting to play through as well, and probably works better for introducing new players to the game. If 4e doesn't have rules for that stage, I just might have to write them up myself.

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I'd go the exact opposite route. If I just came into a new game and we're attacked by an equal number of short uglies with sticks and we have to run like hell or die, I'm not coming back to play the next time.

RPGs are about fun, that's not fun to me. Nor any gamer I know. As stated before, that adds playable levels to my games as well. Skipping over the embarrassing early levels has become essentially a house rule with our group.

No one wants to get their ass handed to them by goblins. That's the definition of not fun.

Pale said:

Power bloat built right in from the beginning! What a wonderful idea! Next they'll tell us how PCs get MEGADAMAGE and monsters just have regular damage.

Think Kevin Siembieda will sue them over intellectual copyright infringement?

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Not sure if you're joking or not, but as you point out: it's not bloat if the base power level is set from the beginning. There's a REASON the commoners turn to the adventurers when the monsters attack, after all. Instead of Bob Rogue and Bob Expert both having 6 hit points, in 4E it's looking like a 1st level character will actually be tougher than the locals. Someone worth looking toward for help.

I imagine monsters will *not* all receive the same bump. Another anecdote was that they want to get away from the standard "four adventurers vs. one monster per encounter". They want the base encounter to instead be "four adventurers vs. four monsters per encounter".

So, that tells me that monsters are punier. We'll see more mooks, more critters that are scary to commoners and a threat to adventurers only in groups. They'll save the big, single monsters for dramatic final encounters.

So all of the above says to me: 4E will be more like Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Boromir vs. the orcs on Amon Hen, more like Inigo Montoya vs. the guards in Prince Humperdink's castle. More heroic fantasy, where PCs are mighty heroes cutting through swarms of foes.

Sounds good to me.