D&D Encounters: March of the Phantom Brigade

[peach]

if they used the PHB, they would only need 1 player resource. so now those of us who've bought/played using PHB/PHB2 now need to buy 2 more books just to play - that stinks. especially if it's for the same class/race combos - where's the value add? don't get me wrong - i have no problem with additional books as long as there's something additional to what's already existing.

 

[BobTheNob]

it seems like a ploy to get even more of my (limited) money. so should i just sell my core books and use the money to help offset the cost of buying essentials?

Using essentials only gives them a very narrow scope to plan the adventure against. Makes it easier.

They are also moving toward essentials and I suspect they only retain the core product because they would have lost alot of angry people if they said overnight "Core is no longer supported, essentials only!"

Its just one of those things were, they released a product, then with years of experience figured out they could design it better for everyone involved and were left with the legacy system (i.e. core) which was still being. What do you do with it? They wont retire it, but dont expect anything new for it.

Im guessing its essentials only from this point on.

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

if they used the PHB, they would only need 1 player resource. so now those of us who've bought/played using PHB/PHB2 now need to buy 2 more books just to play - that stinks. especially if it's for the same class/race combos - where's the value add? don't get me wrong - i have no problem with additional books as long as there's something additional to what's already existing.

No you don't have to purchase the books unless you want to. They have provided 6 pregen characters for you to play with for the Season.

And the books are just more options for 4th edition anyhow there is no reason to really not pick them up.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Well, it is easy to expect a game company to require its newest products for something like Encounters. Lotta home games or other shop games to use all of 4E.

 

[thalmin]

are you saying that i can't use a PHB core PC for the upcoming Encounters season?

Officially it is only Essentials, but officially the DM can change that.

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

Officially it is only Essentials, but officially the DM can change that.

I think thats Officially it is Essentials only, but unofficially the Event organizer can empower their DM's to accept other options.

 

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

As someone who hates Essentials and has organized and DMed Encounters the past two seasons, I have no problem with Encounters requiring Essentials characters.

If you don't like the character restrictions on Encounters, Encounters is not for you. Do not play it.

Do not play Encounters if you do not want to play a Level 1 character using the Essentials books. If you want an organized play experience but can't stand these restrictions you should either wait for the new format coming this fall or work with your FLGS to get a Living Forgotten Realms game going.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I do not like the idea of Essentials. It takes many preexisting classes and wraps them up in delicious bacon and makes me want to use them. The spreading of rules multiple times through multiple sourcebooks however, is a deliberate cash grab.

Many of my friends fiend many of the builds in the Essentials books better, or at least, more to our liking, than the core material. Figther PHB vs Slayer? I find this depends vastly on preference but if you thought the Fighter should be the guy doing the damage and not the guy controling the battlefield in melee... one or other is for you.

Warpriest versus PHB1 Cleric? Storm domain please.

Rogue PHB1 versus Thief? Uh... backstab ability? Yes please.

There's a lot of positive stuff in the Essentials package but due to the nature of it being a resell/upsell, it probably hasn't been the easiest thing to grasp or use.

 

[Nullzone]

Something else that should be noted is that starting with this season they are heavily emphasizing the creation of your own character; anyone who walks in and wants to use a pregen is doing so with the level 1 cards you see at wizards.com, the pregens never level up. If you want to track xp and level up, you'll need to make your own sheet.

Edit: To be more precise, the issue is that xp is going to be tracked and accrued by the individual player, independently of the content of the season; your very first week of attendance during the season you start at L1, 0xp, and go forward from there, regardless of how deep in the season you are. So you can play with a pregen for the full duration of L1, but as soon as L2 hits you'll need to make your own sheet for it.

 

[peach]

[MENTION=559]Bob[/MENTION]: "core not supported, essentials only" is exactly what WTOC is saying for Encounters. as posted by squareknot:
Quote:
Originally Posted by WotC Announcement
You can create a character using Heroes of the Fallen Lands, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, and any Dragon magazine article content that has the icons of those two books on the article’s title page.