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D&D 4E Help me understand 4e
- Thread starter justrob
- Start date
badmojojojo
First Post
My group is still primarily playing core 4e but I'll say that buying this has been the best spent $13 (on amazon).
Neonchameleon
Legend
WTF? This sounds like DM problems.
Could you post a character sheet and what you are using for an encounter please?
Attached is one of the characters. PDF from character builder. It's not the latest update of the character, but not too far back.
As for an encounter, I don't have any of my notes with me, but I usually build them by the book in terms of XP and difficulty. Actually, with the crap rolls these guys get, they tend to be able to take on much higher level baddies than normal.
Majoru Oakheart
Adventurer
It's hard to let go of this idea, I know, I used to have it as well. Flavor doesn't come from your stats. If one character has a 18 Str, 18 Con and a 13 Cha and plays their character as a dashing fighter who likes to pick up women vs the 16 Str, 16 Con, 16 Cha character who roleplays the same way, you'll find that the only difference between the two characters is +2 to cha based skills...which isn't a big deal.
And combat will go a decent amount faster with one character than the other.
Gamma World has this the right way, you aren't allowed to choose what your primary and secondary stats are. They are automatically 18 and 16 respectively. I pretty much tell new players that they should get an 18 in their primary stat immediately. Then, they can rearrange the rest of their stats however they like. It isn't min/maxing, it's just playing the game the way it's designed.
Ahhhhhhh, I see what I'm doing wrong there. I'm telling you what the average AC for these monsters I'm using is vs what the actual needed to hit is. Still, even taking into account that discrepancy, my people are STILL rolling like hell.
Majoru Oakheart
Adventurer
Yeah, 4e is rather prone to long, drawn out battles periodically due to bad luck. Although, a tactical party finds ways to stack the odds badly in their favor so to minimize luck. Starting with an 18 or 20 in your prime stat is a start...however, you can get +2 for flanking, +1-5 each round from buffs from the leader/your own powers. The total of which can be equal to or greater than the bonus written on your sheet, especially at early levels.
Neonchameleon
Legend
About one hit in two attacks should be fine
(I was thinking of one DM I've played with who was spending his entire encounter budget on one or two higher level monsters - often soldiers. 15s to hit were not uncommon - one monster we faced at third level had AC24 - and another was a roc that gained the ability to hover...)On a random note, I'd consider offering the player of that two weapon ranger a free retrain to Scout when it's officially out. Which would allow raising dex to 18 and dropping strength to 14 for +1 to hit, damage, and AC for only a minor change in character design. (And hopefully none at all in character concept). Same combat style (although long and short sword rather than two longswords - the bow appears to be secondary? - it will lose out on quarry damage (and twin strike although that won't matter too much here) but there'll be a further +1 to hit with the sword mastery; throw in expertise instead of the quarry feat bump and you'll be +10 with a weapon rather than +7). Same skills. Same utility power options. And no need to remember which monster your quarry is. Stances to replace powers are often seen as simpler and certainly lead to less analysis paralysis.
I'm going to chalk this up to my not fully understanding the intricacies of 4e combat. I'll admit I run these a little lose but I'll take some time to really study it when I get the compendium.
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