So there will be 1 troll on this thread, I can already tell

[Summer-Knight925]

Let me start this off by saying I have been playing D&D since 1999, not that long but considering I was born in 1993, it means over half my life I have been a gamer

I have DMed before, but for 3e

I started a group with some friends who really liked it and want to play more, and...just yesterday one of the players bought some 4e stuffs and wants to play that

so my big question is

how do Dragon breath recharge work?
basic game mechanics?
monster scaling? (as in what is to powerful what is to weak)
good starting points?


now sadly I was only lent the DMG and the MM, when I need the PHB quite a bit right now and do not have any money to spend, so im kinda SOL on that, but i just need help starting and everything

if anyone could help me that would be awsome and you would gain 27 cool points (which are like the platinum pieces of experience points...if XP were coppers)

 

[twilsemail]

how do Dragon breath recharge work?

Recharge powers are detailed on pg. 7 of the MM.

As an example for a dragon, the Young Black Dragon on p. 75:

The Dragon can use his Breath Weapon once*. It is a conditional encounter power. Which means you can use it once per fight, unless certain conditions are met.

*At the start of each of its turns, you roll a d6. If a 5 or a 6 is rolled, the power is recharged.

In addition, the first time in a blattle that the dragon is bloodied (brought to 1/2 max HP) the breath weapon recharges. If the Breath Weapon is not already spent, the dragon does not gain a second use of the power.

basic game mechanics?

There are hundreds of pages of these, do you need help with anything in particular? If you're looking for a primer, I'd recommend picking up the Rules Compendium from the Essentials line when you've got the money to burn.

monster scaling? (as in what is to powerful what is to weak)

The DMG has a section on Encounter building. I'd recommend not using monsters more than 4 levels above your Party. I'd also say that "Solo" is a misnomer. These beasties really want friends. They're just worth a lot more XP when budgeting.

good starting points?

See above recommendation on the Rules Compendium.

Something else you may want to try is hitting up the D&D Encounters games if there are any in your area. There will likely be people at the game willing to hold your hand through the rough beginning portion of your 4e career.

 

[Summer-Knight925]

if its no more than 4 levels higher than the average party's level...then there is like no monsters out there for 1st levels, Drow are lvl 11, it just seems like low levels fight goblins, kobolds and zombies the entire time

and i need to be familiar by next weekend and don't have money to burn (and won't have any) by that time, so getting the rules compendium isnt gonna work

but when I get $100 I'm gonna go by the rules compendium, the DM's ket and the Monster Vault, after that purchase I know everything will be better...right?

 

[JustKim]

Here's a short list of some important changes to watch out for when switching systems from 3E to 4E: 3E to 4E: Stumbling Blocks Claw/Claw/Peck

 

[Dannager]

if its no more than 4 levels higher than the average party's level...then there is like no monsters out there for 1st levels, Drow are lvl 11, it just seems like low levels fight goblins, kobolds and zombies the entire time

According to the D&D Compendium, there are no fewer than 858 monsters from levels 1-5 (the range that 1st level characters might fight). Even if you have nothing but the original Monster Manual, there are still 105 different monsters from levels 1-5 that you could use.

Just running off the Monster Manual list, in addition to goblins, kobolds and zombies there are: giant rats, skeletons, fire beetles, giant scorpions, drakes, stirges, wolves, hyenas, kruthiks, constructs, jellies, dragons, orcs, hobgoblins, were-creatures, giants bats, pseudodragons, undead hounds, imps, ghosts, crocodiles, elementals, wights, chokers, dark creepers, panthers, spiders, gelatinous cubes, bugbears, slaads, vine horrors, hippogriffs, gnolls, ettercaps, vipers, and ghouls. Just to name a few.

 

[Herschel]

Goblins, Kobolds and Zombies are fine for a bit. You can play around with them and vary your terrain a lot and things will stay fine for a while. There's a good deal of variety within those sets and adding things like basic ranged attacks is really easy if you need to.

That said, with the MM there are a lot more options.

 

[twilsemail]

if its no more than 4 levels higher than the average party's level...then there is like no monsters out there for 1st levels, Drow are lvl 11, it just seems like low levels fight goblins, kobolds and zombies the entire time

There are about 100 monsters in the MM1 under level 6. Check the back of the book. There's a table with all of the monsters, sorted by level.

There should be a pretty decent variety including 2 or 3 dragons, some drakes, humans, and a variety of other monsters.

and i need to be familiar by next weekend and don't have money to burn (and won't have any) by that time, so getting the rules compendium isnt gonna work

Try checking out your FLGS to see if they've got a game happening in the mean time. Wednesday, May 11th, is the first session of a new season of Encounters.

There are a few pbp games around the internet that you could scan to try and familiarize yourself with, but they're a pretty different format from what you're going to be working with.

Otherwise, steal the PHB and crack it open. Dedicate the first session to party building (this shoud happen as a group anyway). In 4e it's more important to have the roles filled than to have a party of DPS.

If the first session is spent generating the party and their story, that gives you another week or two to learn the rules, neh?

but when I get $100 I'm gonna go by the rules compendium, the DM's ket and the Monster Vault, after that purchase I know everything will be better...right?

Those books should help a great deal, yes.

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

basic game mechanics?

Try the free quickstart rules:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/quickstartrules.pdf

 

[webrunner]

Here, let me get this out of the way so you wont have to deal with it later:

Anyway, as for your questions, there is a quick start rules primer here: Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Try DnD although it's a bit out of date.

Monster scaling is pretty easy, but you often wont have to do it. For a party of X players of level Y, just use X level Y normal monsters, X/5 solos, X/2 elites, and/or x*4 minions.

You can also go up-down a few levels, and the xp values of the monsters should add up to the same (for example, at level 1, a party of 5, a regular difficulty encounter is 500xp.)

The BASIC game mechanics are basically the same as 3.5: roll d20, add modifiers, check against difficulty, success/failure/crit/whatever.

The main differences are in the characters themselves (the power system). Incidentally, one of the biggest changes in 4e, the at-will/encounter/daily everyone has the same thing, is absent from essentials so you might not have to worry about it (ie, a PHB warrior has two at-will attacks they'll usually use instead of basics. An essentails warrior has at-will stances that modify his basic attacks)

 

[Herschel]

Here, let me get this out of the way so you wont have to deal with it later:

I was looking for a better one so I chose