D&D 4E What are the options for living without DDI?

[sabrinathecat]

Why is there a link in my last post? I didn't put it there. There's no note from a Mod or anyone putting anything there. It doesn't show up when I try to edit it. ???

 

[Lindeloef]

[MENTION=89838]sabrinathecat[/MENTION]
some words will trigger some auto linking, like Pathfinder for example.

 

[Mistwell]

A lot of recommendations in this thread are outright illegal.

 

[Larrin]

"Hi my name is Larrin, and I play 4e. Its been 1 years since I've had a DDI subscription."

True story.

My experience, for whatever that is worth:
What I've found is that while it isn't faster, it is somehow more satisfying to build by hand (for me). I have most of the books, so that helps, but there are definitely times when I miss the access to 'martial power 2' for example.

I know 4e pretty well, so for me DDI made D&D easier, but wasn't by any means actually necessary. For a beginner or the leader of a group without many resources, I can see how DDI seems like a necessity, but I think that in most cases it isn't as big a deal as it seems. If you are not going to have DDI, you might be fine without a replacement.

 

[Dungeoneer]

Another problem with relying on books is that you don't have the errata, or you have to incorporate it separately. Not such a big deal for the later books, but PH1 has errata out the wazoo.

And frankly, unless you want to stick with just one book, 4e character building is dauntingly complicated and time-consuming.

 

[Umbran]

A lot of recommendations in this thread are outright illegal.

Technically, they may be either violations of copyright, or of license agreements, depending on the details.

EN World does not support copyright infringement. Please don't use EN World to copy and distribute IP that doesn't belong to you.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Life has been much easier since I stopped running games that drove me crazy without software support. The DM of our 4E game still has DDI right now but if we are still playing when the plug gets pulled then we will level up with books and move on.

Those who didn't buy many books can learn a lesson from this. It is why Machete don't rent tabletop games.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

To paraphrase a certain D'Mite tune...

Get da books! Get da books! Get da 4th Edition books!
Get da books! Get da books! Get da 4th Edition books!
Get da books! Get da books! Get da 4th Edition books!
Get da books! Get da books! Get da 4th Edition books!

G-E-T D-A B-O-OHH-KAYYYYYYYY!
G-E-T D-A B-O-OHH-KAYYYYYYYY!
G-E-T D-A B-O-OHH-KAYYYYYYYY!
G-E-T D-A B-O-OHH-KAYYYYYYYY!

Not a download (what) not a PDF (who)
But a book playa, a real book playa (YEAHHH~!)
Not a download (what) not a PDF (who)
But a book playa, a real book playa (YEAHHH~!)
Not a download, not a PDF
But a book playa, a real book...

 

[adamc]

Technically, they may be either violations of copyright, or of license agreements, depending on the details.

EN World does not support copyright infringement. Please don't use EN World to copy and distribute IP that doesn't belong to you.

Wasn't intending to do anything illegal, although the comment that some suggestions may be isn't very helpful. (IANAL).

As far as getting the books go, I've already made my opinion of sorting through the many books clear: won't fly; if we're going to use books, it will be 13th Age. The 4e errata just make it that much worse.

 

[Obryn]

Masterplan: http://masterplan.habitualindolence.net/

Compendium Import: http://compendiumimport.codeplex.com/

Install Masterplan (unzip it somewhere).
In the Masterplan folder, create a folder named AddIns.
Put the Compendium Import DLLs in the AddIns folder.
Run Masterplan. Go to TOOLS > LIBRARIES and make sure you have at least one Library that exists. Go to Tools > AddIns > Compendium Import > Import Creature to begin the importing.
Put in your DDI information and download them by source/book. Some won't download, some will. Any that don't download would need to be entered manually.

I +repped you for this, but it is seriously the best thing.

I use Masterplan all the time - it makes everything run so wonderfully - and I've been doing manual imports from Adventure Tools. This is about 10,000x better and faster, and makes Masterplan even more amazing.