New to D&D - Level x magic item?

[riotshieldnation]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned DDI as an alternative for buying books. As a somewhat new DM myself, Wizard's online D&D membership has been a great tool for me. While it doesn't really teach you -how- to play or run things (for that, the books have no substitute) you can avoid, for the most part, buying stacks of books just to get access to new races/classes/feats etc.
The character builder is updated somewhat regularly and, again while it doesn't teach you how to make characters, it does so a majority of the work for you. I find a monthly payment a much more attractive alternative to buying book after book. Plus you get all the other little tools and access to the online articles. The tools may leave something to be desired, but they can be helpful if you want to use them.

All this being said, if I had my druthers, an infinite about of storage space and disposable income, I'd rely solely on the books. There's something gained from flipping through books as opposed to click through internet tabs.

Trit

I'd like to second this. If you're afraid of spending too much too soon for only bits and pieces of the whole, DDI with its compendium is a good alternative. Plus it comes with the character creator, which I have found to be invaluable to my campaign (especially with my brothers and their half knowledge of 3.0, assuming things didn't change. Protip: things changed a lot.)

I also love just making characters for some reason; seeing all the different class powers and whatnot is enjoyable to me, and having all the sourcebook powers there online is a great way to save me time and money.

One problem with this could be information overload, though. The way it seems to be going, you'd really have to do your homework to keep up with your kids .

 

[the Jester]

A DDI sub is great, but limited. You can only refer to it if you have a computer at the table, which a lot of people find horribly distracting and mood-breaking. If the power goes out, you're suddenly missing stats for the monsters you need and the pcs' powers. If the tools end up discontinued, you have a virtually-unplayable system in your hands.

That said, having all the info at your fingertips IS awesome, and if you don't mind the drawbacks, it's a great way to get a good overview of everything... if you want to spend hours going through it on a screen.

 

[DadToD&DBoys]

The DDI looks interesting. Do they often give out promotion codes for a DDI subscription? I'll look through the material that came with the Red Box and the DM Kit to see if I missed something. I agree that there is a great nostalgic feeling of having nothing but books and dice and pens and paper spread out on the floor.

Dad to D&D Boys

 

[the Jester]

I don't think I've seen any promo cards for DDI, but I rarely look at the ads in stuff.

 

[DadToD&DBoys]

Being new to all this I've actually been going through EVERYTHING in the boxes and I didn't remember seeing any promo stuff for DDI either so I've just signed up. I must say that WOTC has a knack for giving negative impressions. Who are their marketing people?

Where I live, I think it's called 'negative billing' (maybe it's 'reverse billing'), anyway it's just a slimey thing to do. A cable company tried to do it a few years back and there was such negative public feedback that a law was established making it illegal here.

Negative billing is where a retailer charges the customer for something by default (whether you ask for it or not) and you have to tell them to stop billing you for what you don't want.

In order to subscribe to DDI you have to choose the 'auto renewal' - you have no choice. After you've subscribed, you have to go into the details of your subcription and turn off automatic renewal (if you don't want it). It's not hard to cancel, but easy to miss when you're subscriibing and checking off that you agree to the terms of the subscription.

Again, not a complaint aimed at anyone here (but you may want to check your WOTC subcription if you didn't want it to 'auto renew' your subscription).

Dad to D&D Boys

 

[DadToD&DBoys]

Character Builder Question

The Character builder is pretty cool.

We've created my youngest's Dragonborn Knight as close as we could to his existing fighter. On the Character builder character sheet there is a section with Melee details. Under basic attack it has a box (Strength vs AC) and another for damage. The Strength vs AC, is that the bonus to the attack roll? It seems high.

Is there a view where I can see how the bonuses are calculated? The number in Strength vs AC is 11. When I calculate the melee attack bonus I get:

Strength (20) bonus = +5
1/2 Level (2) bonus = +1
+1 Lifedrinker greataxe = +1
Weapon Proficiency = +2
Master at Arms = +1

For a total of +10 to melee attack bonus. Am I reading something wrong?

Thanks,

Dad to D&D Boys.

 

[the Jester]

Hmm, Expertise maybe?

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Nope, its not expertise (he already has Master at Arms as his "expertise" bonuse)

Rather its Weapon Talent, something all knights get:

WEAPON TALENT
You gain a +1 bonus to the attack rolls of weapon attacks.

 

[DadToD&DBoys]

Thanks Dr. If you hadn't of shown me that I never would have seen it buried way down at the bottom of the Fighter (Knight) class features.

Dad to D&D Boys

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Hey there Dad, I just wanted to say welcome to the boards. You have stumbled upon the BEST D&D message board on the internet. If you have any question this is the place to get it answered.

I just wanted to chime in a bit to give you my opinion on why you are so confused. To put it in non game terms...picking up the Red Box and just getting into 4e DnD now (meaning January 2012ish timeframe) is like having just walked into the last half of the third Lord of the Rings movie and trying to figure out who is doing what to whom and why.

While 4e hasn't been out all that long by other DnD editions standards, it has been out long enough that it had a complete overhaul/revamp in the product line. Furthermore, its far enough along in its run that work has already begun in earnest on its replacement (5e, the topic de jour at the moment) that there are not going to be a whole lot more items coming new down the 4e pipeline.

When 4e first rolled out the first three books were the BIG 3 (which are always the first three books of a DnD edition), the Players Handbook, the Monster Manual, and the Dungeon Masters Guide. Owning all three of these books would let you game for years. At a rather quick pace many many more books were added to the lineup adding more player classes, more player races, more magic items, and even more GM information. All of these books were hardback.

Then Wizards of the Coast (the guys who make the DnD game) decided to "revamp" the game and repackage everything so that newer players could jump in and play without having to slog through the huge amounts of books that had been published.

This is where the Essentials line came in. You can tell the Essentials books from the books before them because they are much smaller (in width/height terms) and softback. The Essentials books contains all the information needed to play 4e, but presented in a tidier all-collected-in-one-spot format. It also re-invented some of the original classes published in the original Players Handbook, but tweaked them a bit to run slightly differently than their previous cousins of the same name.

Also around this time they introduced the Red Box as a one-stop everything-you-need-to-play introduction to 4e but which is fairly useless if you are going to buy into actually getting into the full game of 4e.

So, all that being said there are multiple answers to "What exactly are the basics I need to play 4e?" One answer is to go all the way back to the beginning of 4e and pick up the original BIG 3. Another answer is to stick with the newer material and only get the Essentials, ignoring the hardback books. I personally would suggest that in your case the Essentials is the way to go.

So you have several items in the Essentials line to think about getting...

1. Heros of X books: These books allow you to play certain classes and races as described earlier in the thread. Both give the players the info they need to build a character and level them up. Either is fine but both allow all the Essentials character options.

2. Rules Compendium: This is like the 4e D&D Rules Encyclopedia. If there is a game rule it's gonna be in there. It's not a necessity, however for a new GM it would probably be handy to have a one-stop goto book to look things up.

3. Monster Vault: 256 pages of monsters and the cardboard counters for them. Handy when you start designing your own adventures when you need more options and want more variety of things to attack your players.

4. Monster Vault - Threats to the Nentir Vale: Even more monsters to attack you players if the first Monster Vault runs empty or gets boring.

5. Dungeon Masters Kit: Some maps, tiles, counters and such to begin crafting your own adventures along with advice on GMing. Also a GM screen which is handy if the Red Box doesn't have one.

6. Finally there are a lot of different sets of tiles out there if you like a more visual game on the table. There are tons of different sets but the three "starter" sets are Dungeon Tiles Master Sets: Dungeon, Wilderness, or City. These have a huge COOL factor when all laid out on the table.

7 (Not Essentials). Last, but not least, the ultimate is COOL factor is getting some actual plastic minis instead of the monster/character tokens. While its a bit late in the game to start a collection (without forking out some serious cash) all cool dads would buy their young players a painted mini for their character. Check your local game store for singles that aren't too pricey.

These 7 products will last you many many many years of gaming goodness if the kids stick with it.

DS