D&D 4E How I Fixed 4e

[Lacyon]

Interesting trivia bit: at one point, we thought about doing milestones pretty much the way you describe.

This is so unsurprising it almost hurts

We decided against it because we figured that for story-based games, the DM would have a natural progression of scenes, while for a dungeon-based game it might be a pain to label some encounters as important and others as trivial.

That's pretty much what I figured. It's not at all difficult to adjust, IMO.

 

[Rel]

Just so this is out there, I have huge respect for Ari and I may yet pick up the APG. And I'm proud to say that, independant of ever hearing about his ideas for injuries, I immediately thought of using the Disease Track for Wounds. However, upon further consideration, I decided that it felt a bit cumbersome to do so. I wanted to be able to resolve it in only a few quick rolls. So I've been steering clear of the Disease Track in general.

I'm still not completely satisfied with the implications of my current Wounds system for the reasons that Lackhand points out. I'll continue to update here as I sort that out and I am very open to other suggestions about that idea and others.

Finally, to Mr. Mearls, I promise that your comments above will serve to feed my already monstrous ego and make me even more insufferable than I already am. For that, I am forever in your debt.

 

[Voadam]

Skills "What does your character do for enjoyment when not adventuring?" The answers to those questions become skills at which the PC is trained. We figure out an applicable ability modifier and we now have a skill bonus to that skill. Voila.

Now if I have an occassion where that PC's ability at Blacksmithing or Lute Playing or Woodcarving or Origami comes into play, I've already got a number to use. It also gives me a guide for things that the PC is interested in to mold plothooks around as well as a tool for introducing plot elements in a way that relate specifically to that PC. So I can, for example, have the PC with the Blacksmithing skill roll to notice that the weapon of the Hobgoblin Lieutenant bears a forge-mark from a neighboring kingdom. Was the weapon stolen or are the Hobgoblins being funded by an enemy nation?! That sort of thing.

Anyway, it costs the PC nothing and the player can invest as much or as little roleplaying in these skills as they like. It's pure bonus.

Isn't the answer to what do you do for enjoyment often going to be "Drinking and wenching!"

 

[Rel]

Isn't the answer to what do you do for enjoyment often going to be "Drinking and wenching!"

Yes. And the only way to get really good at it is to be Trained.

 

[garyh]

Isn't the answer to what do you do for enjoyment often going to be "Drinking and wenching!"

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That's what I'd do if I had a million dollars.

 

[Rel]

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That's what I'd do if I had a million dollars.

Would you buy me an exotic pet?

 

[garyh]

Would you buy me an exotic pet?

I'd buy you a mule to pull your dungeon cart.

 

[RFisher]

Would you buy me an exotic pet?

If I had a million dollars, I’d still eat Kraft dinners.

(Except I’ve lived in TX all my life so I call them “macaroni and cheese”)

 

[Jack99]

I'm allowing freeform rituals. If you want to do an unknown ritual, you pay a lot more than normal in materials and time. If you want to do a ritual faster than normal, you pay more in materials and accept a failure chance.

Its all pretty ad libbed, and I'm not sure I'd want the core rules to have this, but it works well for a house rule.

Been considering something along those lines. How long have you been experimenting with that rule?

 

[Belen]

Thanks for kicking this one around with me. I'm still not quite settled on a solution but probably better to have that discussion here rather than clutter the Pkitty thread.

Wounded: I think you should consider using the condition track from Saga edition to handle the wounds. It is MUCH simpler and you can use it to have broken bones etc. This allows you to retain all the HP and healing surges, but make it something special to heal condition damage.