D&D Essentials - What they are and who they're for

[MerricB]

Ok, let me get back on topic here - 4e Essentials. The reason I think there might be a transition barrier is that the Starter Set is only 96 pages total. The combat chapter alone in the PHB is 32 pages. The full Rules Compendium is slated to be 320 pages. The numbers suggest to me that the rules in the Starter Set might be significantly truncated.

Certainly they'll be truncated. Not many 1st level characters need to know about Petrification. Or Stunning.

Prone? Yes, they'll probably need to know about that.

However, we're talking only about the Starter Set here, not the rest of the Essentials line. Starter sets always leave things out. But once we get to the new Rules Compendium? It's going to include the rules for everything. We know from the previews that Paragon Paths, Epic Destinies and suchlike are in the Heroes books. Rituals might be excluded, but why? To force people to buy the core books *in addition* to the Essentials line so they can run D&D?

Sorry, but no. That's not going to happen.

The Essential line - once past the Starter Set - will be the full game. It'll be the full game explained in a manner better for new players rather than experienced D&Ders.

The only part of it that won't be the full game is that it won't have every class, feat and power in the core books. They are, frankly, not needed. Instead, a new range of feats and powers (as well as a few core feats/powers) will be presented. Which makes these books interesting to old players in addition to new players: more options.

Ultimately, there won't be much difference between:

A player with Player's Handbook + D&D Insider and a player with D&D Compendium + Heroes of the Fallen Lands + D&D Insider

Both players should be able to create any character in D&D, and have the rules to play it.

Cheers!

 

[Argyle King]

I think the idea for Essentials is good. I'm just probably not the target audience.

On the positive side: If people are struggling with the 4E rules, it's probably good to have some sort of beginner set. I had thought part of the 4E design included this, but what's easy for me might not be for somebody else, so I can appreciate the need.


On the negative side: I find myself wanting to look at Essentials before buying any more 4E products. It's been said that the reason for so much errata lately is to get the current books in sync with Essentials and the post essentials vision of 4E. If that's the case, it seems like I might be better off just waiting to get the Rules Compendium before I get anything else. However, before I get the RC, I want to have an idea of what direction 4E is heading in; if I feel like it's moving further in a direction I don't like, I think I might just stick with the handful of books I own now.

I'm also starting to feel as though DDI is starting to become somewhat necessary. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I'm leaning toward 'not good.'

 

[doctorhook]

I'm also starting to feel as though DDI is starting to become somewhat necessary. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I'm leaning toward 'not good.'

D&DI isn't necessary at all, just extremely handy for A.) looking at all the options, and B.) being up-to-date about revisions to the rules.

If you only have the PHB, and that's the only thing you want to buy, then you can still play 4E with just that. You don't even need to download the free updates if you don't want to.

D&DI is a long way from being "necessary". It just happens to be the most useful D&D accessory.

 

[Argyle King]

D&DI isn't necessary at all, just extremely handy for A.) looking at all the options, and B.) being up-to-date about revisions to the rules.

If you only have the PHB, and that's the only thing you want to buy, then you can still play 4E with just that. You don't even need to download the free updates if you don't want to.

D&DI is a long way from being "necessary". It just happens to be the most useful D&D accessory.

B. is one of the reasons I plan to wait until Essentials comes out to buy anything else. I'd like to be up to date about the revisions, but that by itself isn't enough for me to want to buy a DDI account. Ideally, the Rules Compendium will contain most of the updates I want.


I'm not saying DDI is bad; it's a nice resource, but it's just not for me - at least not at the moment. Unfortunately (and partially due to my own choices,) this has lead to me feeling somewhat out of touch with 4E when it comes to wanting to participate in Game Days and things of that nature.


Like I said, I'm waiting to see what the end product of Essentials looks like. For one, it will contain updated rules. For two, it should give me an idea of what the future vision of 4E (and D&D in general) is intended to look like.

 

[doctorhook]

I'm not saying DDI is bad; it's a nice resource, but it's just not for me - at least not at the moment. Unfortunately (and partially due to my own choices,) this has lead to me feeling somewhat out of touch with 4E when it comes to wanting to participate in Game Days and things of that nature.

That's fair, although IMHO, folks ought to stop forcing others to be so official about D&D. It's a game, after all; it's intended to be fun! I hope there aren't idiots out there berating and removing players for merely not being up-to-date with errata...

 

[malraux]

I hope there aren't idiots out there berating and removing players for merely not being up-to-date with errata...

One of my favorite events was telling the wizard player that Grasp of the Grave had finally been correctly errated. His response was "I'm never updating CB ever again."

 

[firesnakearies]

One of my favorite events was telling the wizard player that Grasp of the Grave had finally been correctly errated. His response was "I'm never updating CB ever again."

Yeah, original Grasp of the Grave was completely ridiculous. Especially with a few of the old Salves of Power, so you could use it every encounter. We totally ruined SPEC1-2 with that power.

I'm very glad when broken stuff gets changed in the updates.

 

[doctorhook]

One of my favorite events was telling the wizard player that Grasp of the Grave had finally been correctly errated. His response was "I'm never updating CB ever again."

Hahaha!

Let me clarify my comments: I hope there aren't idiots out there berating and removing players for merely not being up-to-date with errata... unless they deserve it.

 

[Argyle King]

Hahaha!

Let me clarify my comments: I hope there aren't idiots out there berating and removing players for merely not being up-to-date with errata... unless they deserve it.

Not that I'm aware of; if there are, I haven't met them.

For me, it was more an issue of not being entirely sure how powers work from one game to the next. I suppose this isn't entirely different than different groups having different house rules, but house rules don't tend to change as often as some of the 4E rules have over the past few months. I appreciate the errata, and it's good to know the rules are evolving and being made better, but it's a little rough to keep up at times.

Again, some of this is due to my own ideals & choices and not feeling the need to buy into DDI right now. To clarify a little more about why I feel DDI isn't for me - I don't feel as though I would get enough use out of many of the features to justify the cost versus spending money on alternative brands of entertainment. This is in no way a slight against it; for many people it is great; I'm just not one of those people.

This is one of the reasons why I plan to look at Essentials before buying anything else. It will be an updated set of the rules which are in a format that I'll enjoy more than combing through pages of errata on my computer screen, and it is also a format which is more portable. While I can take my laptop to a D&D session, I prefer not to because I feel as though it creates a barrier between myself and the table. If I like the look of Essentials, I may pick up a few products. If I find Essentials and the future vision of D&D to be moving further away from what I want out of a rpg, I may skip out on the rest of 4E.