D&D 4E Experiment With 4E
- Thread starter arcanaman
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Quite.
But supposing you borrow the rulebooks, then I suggest you just try it. I think talking about it is really pointless, as most of the good bits come with playing, not reading and thinking.
My one clearest observation though is as a DM- it is way more fun, easy and interesting to build and play encounters.
But supposing you borrow the rulebooks, then I suggest you just try it. I think talking about it is really pointless, as most of the good bits come with playing, not reading and thinking.
My one clearest observation though is as a DM- it is way more fun, easy and interesting to build and play encounters.
Shabe
First Post
On a constructive note, the combats definitely are more interesting for players and monsters (at least during 1st level), everyone has options and the party really have to work together as a team to survive the tougher fights.
When running 4th ed, to help with marking, quarrying and cursing, i'd get some coloured paper clips and bend them into circular-ish shapes to throw over monsters when they get afflicted with any of those conditions, bloodied markers are quite handy to, for players and monsters alike.
Creating a combat encounter is a lot easier as well, as you just add up the xp value of the monsters you are chucking into the fight and away you go.
The DMG is a well written guide to new dms and quite a nice reminder for experienced dms.
The Monster Manual is a bit limited fluff wise compared to 3e but it you will probably know the fluff associated with monsters by now.
Although all the classic monsters are not present in the MM its easier to whip up monsters or apply templates.
The options for your character are a little limited at the moment, but then again you don't have the plethora of splatbooks yet.
The system will take getting used to, much like any new system.
There are a few "quirks", many are mentioned on these boards.
When running 4th ed, to help with marking, quarrying and cursing, i'd get some coloured paper clips and bend them into circular-ish shapes to throw over monsters when they get afflicted with any of those conditions, bloodied markers are quite handy to, for players and monsters alike.
Creating a combat encounter is a lot easier as well, as you just add up the xp value of the monsters you are chucking into the fight and away you go.
The DMG is a well written guide to new dms and quite a nice reminder for experienced dms.
The Monster Manual is a bit limited fluff wise compared to 3e but it you will probably know the fluff associated with monsters by now.
Although all the classic monsters are not present in the MM its easier to whip up monsters or apply templates.
The options for your character are a little limited at the moment, but then again you don't have the plethora of splatbooks yet.
The system will take getting used to, much like any new system.
There are a few "quirks", many are mentioned on these boards.
vazanar
First Post
Ignoring the pdf.
I was a big fan of 3e, still like it. Even more the OGL.
I read the 4e rules and liked some concepts but my group wasn't sold on the switch.
Then we played it. We only have a few sessions. However, in play 4e makes more sense. Its not a good feel from reading the rules. I found that combat ran a bit smoother and our less rule nut players (rpgers) were far more involved in combat.
The powers push tactics more. The healing surge also makes an intresting limit to the day. Minions are fun, since they are dangerous but easy to kill and run as a dm.
Im starting to design some adventures and campaigns and can say that is far easier. My biggest complaint is the lack of monsters at some levels, and very few solos. However, there are pretty good guidelines to make monsters so thats a plus.
Verdande
First Post
I, actually, view the lack of fluff as a benefit, as it makes monsters more easy to "bend" into homebrewed campaign worlds. No more wasting space for little facts about monsters that aren't going to be used or won't have anything resembling the fluff presented.
I agree whole heartedly. Where before I had a tendency to not really give my full effort to most encounters, now I find that the new rules make being a DM a lot more fun. Instead of watching the PC's just mow down everything in their path they can actually be damaged and stuff now.
Master Witch
First Post
The pros and cons
I would have to agree with Shabe on the over all. The building of encounters is fast with the XP frame. Our group uses 1x1 squares placed under the miniatures to try and keep track of all the marks and conditions. All of the affects and conditions make the game more fun but at the same time it’s a lot of stuff to keep track of. In my opinion 4E strength is also its weakness, all the abilities that players can do. My first level ranger has 5 cards worth of powers and I could probably write up a few more things that I just have on my character sheet. Our cleric has nine cards. By the way the cards are never pointed out in the book but I could not imagine trying to keep track of all the powers without them. The days of the fighter yelling his DnD battle cry of “I hit with my sword” are gone. They have made every class a wizard with a spell book. They just call them powers.
Now don’t get me wrong I love 4E. The minions rock. Battle is much more colorful with all the new powers. Right now we are just starting out and it takes time to learn everything but with a little work I think 4E is a great game.
I would have to agree with Shabe on the over all. The building of encounters is fast with the XP frame. Our group uses 1x1 squares placed under the miniatures to try and keep track of all the marks and conditions. All of the affects and conditions make the game more fun but at the same time it’s a lot of stuff to keep track of. In my opinion 4E strength is also its weakness, all the abilities that players can do. My first level ranger has 5 cards worth of powers and I could probably write up a few more things that I just have on my character sheet. Our cleric has nine cards. By the way the cards are never pointed out in the book but I could not imagine trying to keep track of all the powers without them. The days of the fighter yelling his DnD battle cry of “I hit with my sword” are gone. They have made every class a wizard with a spell book. They just call them powers.
Now don’t get me wrong I love 4E. The minions rock. Battle is much more colorful with all the new powers. Right now we are just starting out and it takes time to learn everything but with a little work I think 4E is a great game.
arcanaman
First Post
No I mean a freind loaded the pdf files on to my
hard drive, Clerics don't have domains anymore and wtf unaligned
unicorns these things just don't make sense to me however there are
somethings I really like like dragonborn and the eldrain becoming a player
race. If there gonna have teiflings were are the asiamars?
The Little Raven
First Post
The PDFs that were illegally leaked are not entirely accurate, especially the Monster Manual. Plus the mods don't really like discussion about them.
Look at the books themselves for accurate information.
They don't need them. They've got other things to represent their relationship to their god.
Unicorns are not friendly, happy-go-lucky beasts. In folklore, they tended to get fierce with non-virgins (who would often use virgins to hunt them).
In the unemployment line, because goodie-two-shoes are boooooooooooooring.
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