D&D 4E Essential 4e: Heroes of the Forgotten Lands

[abyssaldeath]

Alright, I stand corrected on this one, but why does this book only cover Heroic Tier feats? And IIRC, some of these books were (at least originally) billed as containing Heroic Tier stuff only? Don't get me wrong; I'm not arguing just for the sake of arguing. I would be happy to be wrong about this.

Feats are no longer going to be separated by tier. From this point on we will be getting feats that, as long as you meat the requirements, can be taken by anyone of any level.

 

[Fiery_Dragon]

Rituals are not in Essentials because they are not an Essential element of the game, and if none of the classes in the Essentials products can use Rituals it would be a bad choice adding them.

To the generous soul with the book:

Can you please confirm:
- how many at will powers a Rogue gets to choose at first level?
- how many at will powers a Wizard gets to choose at first level?

The red box Games Day PCs make this a little unclear.

Can you describe the 2 page character sheet? The same as the PHB or a 2 page version of the Red Box one?

Yes, my take on it is that Rituals are not Essential to the game. My last group played 20 sessions without ever using a ritual. I think they're a cool idea, and I'm glad that I have the Expanded D&D Universe books and online tools to incorporate them in my game, but when I'm teaching the game to friends for the first time, I don't mention rituals at all.

At First Level, A Rogue gets Sneak Attack, Backstab, Weapon Finesse, First Strike and 2 Rogue Tricks.

At First Level, A Wizard gets Apprentice Mage, Mage's Spellbook, Mage Cantrips, Magic Missile, 2 At-Will Powers, 2 Encounters Powers for Spellbook (cast 1/day), Two Daily Powers for Spellbook (cast 1/day)

Though I don't have the Red Box, the Character sheet in the back of the book looks like the one I've seen in the Red Box online pictures.

 

[Primal]

you have misread a lot:

1. it is not 4e revised. This was tagged by amazon.com and some posters keeping naming it 4.5!

2. it covers paragon and epic, but not in a customizable way like it is in 4e core books.

3. essentials now proves to be what was announced: A simplified version, that is 100% compatible with full rules, shamelessly exploiting 4e's exception based desgin.

A personal taste: I would have liked it, if the wizard and the cleric subclasses had built in rituals so that newer players get a better grasp of them. But hey, whatever!

Well, to be honest, I don't care whether it's 4.5 or not; all I care about is being offered a chance to play with the revised/updated rules. However, I want the "classic" versions of each class, because I feel the 'Essentials' subclasses are a bit too specialized for my taste.

I didn't get the books when they came out; a friend of mine did, however, and I read them. At that point I posted a slightly positive review on this forum but concluded that it wouldn't be what I and my group were looking for. Even if I had preferred 4E to 3E, I still would have wanted to wait for third printing or so because of errata. I didn't know that they wouldn't include errata in subsequent printings, because they wanted to sell the 'Deluxe' edition (75 euros -- which is around 100 bucks -- per book over here).

After a couple of years of playing PF RPG I would like to play and run 4E for a change. Maybe it was due to watching all those Chris Perkins videos? Maybe it was the hype around the 'Essentials'? All that aside, I'm amazed that I still cannot get the version of the rules I'd like to -- unless I'm willing to spend a week or two just updating the books with a black marker or pencil (a slight hyperbole, but you get my point). And I'm not really keen about paying 60-120 bucks a year for the online tools, because I only use books during gameplay (and I intend to keep it that way).

I mean... damn.

 

[Fiery_Dragon]

I had hoped, raise dead would be a ritual mentioned in the warpriest chapter. Just a mention: you can use the raise dead ritual once per day. And have it listed like a power.

Resurrection is an 8th-level Cleric Utility power. Req: You must use this power at the end of an Extended Rest. Target: One creature who died no more than 24 hours ago. Effect: The target is restored to life with full hit points and healing surges. Target takes -1 to attacks, skill checks, ability checks and saves until it has reached 3 milestones or taken 3 extended rests.

 

[Fiery_Dragon]

God damn. My love for you right now is absolutely infinite.

Excellent!

 

[Jack99]

Resurrection is an 8th-level Cleric Utility power. Req: You must use this power at the end of an Extended Rest. Target: One creature who died no more than 24 hours ago. Effect: The target is restored to life with full hit points and healing surges. Target takes -1 to attacks, skill checks, ability checks and saves until it has reached 3 milestones or taken 3 extended rests.

Nice stealth errata

 

[Aegeri]

I noticed in your list of expertise feats you didn't give one for polearms, flails or picks. Do these weapon groups just not have an associated expertise feat?

 

[FabioMilitoPagliara]

After a couple of years of playing PF RPG I would like to play and run 4E for a change. Maybe it was due to watching all those Chris Perkins videos? Maybe it was the hype around the 'Essentials'? All that aside, I'm amazed that I still cannot get the version of the rules I'd like to -- unless I'm willing to spend a week or two just updating the books with a black marker or pencil (a slight hyperbole, but you get my point). And I'm not really keen about paying 60-120 bucks a year for the online tools, because I only use books during gameplay (and I intend to keep it that way).

I mean... damn.

MAYBE if you ask nicely to Wizards people they can make a D&D Primal edition

no really I think this is a good starting point for playing 4th edition, the class are different build than the ones in previous book so it's not a big deal, if you really want all of 4th edition you have just to buy everything (and I can testify you that you will need a lot of space on the bookshelves....) and print out the various update

but I would start with essentials, rituals is just a list of power how to read them is in Rules compendium so you could just take the famous 1 month subscription print all the rituals from the character builder in a nice format and there you are

 

[Fiery_Dragon]

Would you mind listing the names of the Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies?

Does [Fighter] Weapon Training give a flat +1 to everything?

The Paragon Paths contained in this book: Devout Warpriest, Stalwart Knight, Mythic Slayer, Master Thief, Enigmatic Mage

The Epic Destiny contained in this book: Indomitable Champion

Yes, just the one Epic Destiny for all classes. It does say that others are listed in additional D&D supplements and on DDI.

Fighter's Weapon Talent gives +1 to all weapon attack rolls.
Knight's Shield Finesse (ignore check penalty when using shield)

 

[vaultdweller]

Some Feat notes:

Great Fortitude: +2 FORT (+3 at 11th, +4 at 21st)
Implement Focus: +1/tier damage with proficient implement, can take more than once
Improved Defenses: +1/tier to FORT, REF, WILL
Iron Will: +2 WILL (+3 at 11th, +4 at 21st)
Lightning ReflexesL +2 REF (+3 @ 11, +4 @ 21)
Resilient Focus: +2 to Saves
Skill Focus: +3 to a skill, can be taken more than once
Superior Fortitude - req STR 15 or CON 15, gives same as Great Fortitude plus resist 3/tier ongoing damage
Superior Reflexes - req DEX or INT 15, same as Lightning Reflexes, plus gain CA against all enemies during first round
Superior Will - req WIS or CHA 15, gives Iron Will benefits plus save vs. dazed or stunned at the start of your turn (even if an affect wouldn't normally end on a save)
Weapon Focus: +1/tier damage for a weapon group, can take more than once.

There's no reference to old feats, either to allow or disallow or replace or include them. The Essentials books seem like a self-contained subset that makes up a complete game, but are compatible with the "greater game" as it were.

Are those defense feats all Feat bonuses, or are any untyped?