Essentials Only Campaigns

[SupremeBadgerLord]

Given that the redbox isn't releasing early at premiere stores, I expect the redbox and Heroes of the Fallen lands to be available very close to one another.

I'm starting with redbox and allowing a complete rebuild at level 3-- possibly even at level 2.

Not true.

Core stores will have the product for sale starting on 27 Aug.

 

[josha]

I'm going to DM one of said games for a group of entirely new players.
I want them to get a good, retro idea of what D&D is before I show them, say, PH3.

 

[deadsmurf]

My main attraction to an essentials only game is the reset on the wacky races back to more traditional D&D races. I was getting a bit tired of telling "a goliath, a minotaur, a wilden, a warforged and a dragonborn walk into a bar" jokes.

I started with BECMI and still like the idea of Humans, Halflings, Dwarves and Elves being the races you can pick from. 4E is starting to feel a bit like always playing a monster campaign.

...

But Essentials has Dragonborn, Tieflings, Eladrin, Half-Elves, Drow and Half-Orcs in it too.
Most of them are in the second book though.

 

[nnms]

...

But Essentials has Dragonborn, Tieflings, Eladrin, Half-Elves, Drow and Half-Orcs in it too.
Most of them are in the second book though.

I basically see Eladrin as just being high elves. Half-Elves are pretty classic themselves. They're more human and less "other" than elves are.

I've never been completely sold on dragonborn, tieflings or half orcs. None of them bother me per se and I'm alright with having them in the game. Tieflings are basically mutated humans. I find them a bit on the "too monstrous" side (they look like devils). Half Orcs have always been a bit tragic in their origins (the whole orc-human rape thing) but you can have magical means of creation as well.

Drow are... interesting. As monstrous as it gets while still looking like a demi-human as far as old school sources go. I'm willing to look at them as another elf type, I guess. In my game Drow will likely not be "evil" as a rule nor even live underground as a rule.

I think it's a matter of percentage of "freak" races vs more classic ones. I've marked what races I consider to be outside of what I see as classic D&D races below. Everyone's got a different measurement. In Essentials we have:

Humans
Half Elves
Halfling
Elves
Dwarves
Eladrin
Half Orc ?
Drow*
Tiefling*
Dragonborn*

So we have 10% undecided, 30% freaks and 60% classic type races. Half Orcs aren't too monstrous. As far as being classic goes, they've been a PC race since 1977. in 4E, they're actually much, much more human looking.

4E:
http://api.ning.com/files/6tMSBWmZ6...ydCnpGpFjQQo0ZRJ3gDPB9dF1M7GupJg/halforc2.jpg
3.x:
http://www.toplessrobot.com/PHB35_PG25_WEB.jpg

The 2nd book thing is also important. My campaign is starting with red box. It's going on after red box with "heroes of" books. The only time a PC Drow, Half Orc, Tiefling or Dragonborn is going to show up is if people make new PCs after we start.

The most important thing: I've clearly communicated with my potential players what they campaign is going to be about and we're all in this together.

 

[nnms]

Current non-Essentials races (and my arbitrary assignment of whether or not they're freakish/monstrous)

Dragonborn *
Dwarf
Eladrin
Elf
Half-Elf
Halfling
Human
Tiefling *
--
Deva *
Gnome
Goliath *
Half-Orc
Shifter *
--
Githzerai *
Minotaur *
Shardmind *
Wilden *
--
Changeling *
Drow *
Genasi *
Kalashtar *
Revenant *
Shadar-Kai *
Warforged *

66.67% Monstrous/Freaks! 16 out of 24 choices are the type of thing I don't like that much as protagonists in my games (though I am fine with as a smattering).

I think running an Essentials only campaign starting with all redbox characters will go a long way towards minimizing those races. And I'd much rather tell the players "Here's the books we are using" than "Okay, here's a giant list of banned stuff crossing many different books and DDI artilces."

 

[nnms]

Not true.

Core stores will have the product for sale starting on 27 Aug.

I'm not sure that's the case up here in Canada. My local shop gets everything early (it's the highest type of store you can be) and when I asked about the red box, the owner told me the wizards rep that gave him a demo copy told him he can't break the Sept 7 release date and to report any other store in town that does.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I'm considering only playing races and classes that are Essentials-based, just 'cuz I'm liking them so much harder than the other stuff.

Though that's my choice as a player, not so much about the campaign.

It's interesting to see the racial issue mentioned. I do think Essentials will be pretty good for that "back to basics" kind of feel. Which has its appeal, certainly.

 

[nnms]

Everyone has different preferences. I'll happily play a Revenant Rogue|Assassin in an all weirdo game, but I'd rather play in a classic human-centric type fantasy game.

 

[Rex Blunder]

I don't who could object to an Essentials-only game, or any anything-only game, for that matter. A limited palette is a chance to play with restricted options, which avoids sprawl, analysis paralysis, and the same boring, optimal choices you made for your last character. Limits are good.

Besides, Essentials seems to have its own flavor, and that flavor is VIKINGS

 

[Dice4Hire]

If I do Essentials (still undecided) I would do an Essentials-only game to see how it works by itself before throwing in all the other 4E stuff.