New Excerpt: Battle standards.

[greyscale1]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20080828b

A neat idea, feels somehow a little hokey, but meh.

The ring is pretty neat, and the solitaire is okay if a little formulaic.

 

[WhatGravitas]

A neat idea, feels somehow a little hokey, but meh.

Yeah, I like the mechanics of'em... but it just feels weird to have PCs lugging around standards and putting them up.

And the resist 50.

Cheers, LT.

 

[The_Fan]

Been pretty...er...standard throughout history, though only the Japanese came up with the brilliant idea of sticking the pole down a warrior's shirt so he had both hands free and it was more mobile.

..how long until some munchkin figures that his buddy counts as a surface?

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

I think it looks like a very interesting idea, and I think most PC parties would be glad to have one, espeically considering 4e longer battles.

I can also see them becoming an important part of an adventurers group life - in terms of taking the beloved standard of a king / military company / wizards guild with them to literally fight under their banner.

Plus - given that it can be uprooted by anyone, what happens if enemy forces attack it?

And it's just occoured to me that we can now play Capture the Flag with 4e!

 

[TerraDave]

Certainly different, can have a nice story element...but also could be the new "must have" item.

Not so sure we needed that.

 

[Phaezen]

And it's just occoured to me that we can now play Capture the Flag with 4e!

On Noes! 4E is a Komputa gaem!!1!one!!!

And now I need my medicine.

Phaezen

 

[Irda Ranger]

Interesting.

My only concern is the cost. A standard gives benefit X. For the same amount of money I could hire & equip 1,000 mercenaries for six months. I think the latter will give you more bang for buck in most cases.

 

[Andor]

Nice idea, but I don't like the 'plant it' execution. I'd rather it had to be wielded in the off-hand and maybe an additional benefit if wielded two-handed. Make 'standard bearer' into a real job.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Interesting.

My only concern is the cost. A standard gives benefit X. For the same amount of money I could hire & equip 1,000 mercenaries for six months. I think the latter will give you more bang for buck in most cases.

Well, that's the problem with most magical items. But adventures just are not "most cases". They are the special case, they fight foes where this tiny tiny extra bonus from upgrading between +3 to +4 might be worth all that money, because the army you could buy from it can't defeat the Demon rampaging your kingdom...

Of course, I'd prefer if there was some better way then to use gold pieces to handle this stuff...

 

[Nifft]

Interesting.

My only concern is the cost. A standard gives benefit X. For the same amount of money I could hire & equip 1,000 mercenaries for six months. I think the latter will give you more bang for buck in most cases.

That's if they don't eat, of course. "An army marches on its belly." (Warforged may vary.)

Cheers, -- N