10 Ways to Play 4th Edition NOW!

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Well I've updated the list, I'm thinking we should try to make it more book-neutral if possible. Not everyone has a vast library.

I would agree since I fall into that category. I don't own SW Saga, Complete Mage, Bo9S, etc. In fact, I'm sure I don't own a single book that 4E changes will be based upon. The ONLY 3.5 book I'm considering investing in right now is Iron Heroes and even that would likely go unused.

I'm sure it's all very very, but at this point I'm not sure I see this kind of list working for 4E the way it did for 3E. It sounds very much like a game of Hybrids and Headaches. For myself, I think I'd rather just stick with the 3.5 and take 4E when and AS it comes officially.

The 4E changes just aren't conducive to an "everyone can do this now" kind of list without owning several books and maintaing a MORE complicated hybrid game system for it, when the point of 4E is actually simplification.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

I would agree since I fall into that category. I don't own SW Saga, Complete Mage, Bo9S, etc. In fact, I'm sure I don't own a single book that 4E changes will be based upon. The ONLY 3.5 book I'm considering investing in right now is Iron Heroes and even that would likely go unused.

I'm sure it's all very very, but at this point I'm not sure I see this kind of list working for 4E the way it did for 3E. It sounds very much like a game of Hybrids and Headaches. For myself, I think I'd rather just stick with the 3.5 and take 4E when and AS it comes officially.

The 4E changes just aren't conducive to an "everyone can do this now" kind of list without owning several books and maintaing a MORE complicated hybrid game system for it, when the point of 4E is actually simplification.

Well I think that many of the points can currently be used without any headaches, such as flipping saves to defenses. I also don't have Bo9S or CM, so if anyone can come up with a generic suggestion to simulate the abilities available in those books it would be great. The signature spell idea I made up seems like a vaguely balanced way to inject some per-encounter goodness and keep mages useful. Adding a generic one-off fighter attack would be nice to complement this.

I'll see if I can summarise the modified grapple/trip/etc rules from SWSE for point (2) and complete the compound list of skills for point (6).

 

[Dice4Hire]

I admit I was pretty skeptical about this thread and the ideas, but it has improved a lot, and it makes a lot of sense. If I could get the missing parts form Saga, that would help

About spells, why not let spellcasters cast their highest level spells once per day (say the top two spell levels), the next level once per hour and the lowest ones once per encounter? And 0 level spells at will? If the spellcaster is low, they can only cast 0 level spells once per encounter?


I have no clue ho to do a stat block, but it is just an idea.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

I admit I was pretty skeptical about this thread and the ideas, but it has improved a lot, and it makes a lot of sense. If I could get the missing parts form Saga, that would help

About spells, why not let spellcasters cast their highest level spells once per day (say the top two spell levels), the next level once per hour and the lowest ones once per encounter? And 0 level spells at will? If the spellcaster is low, they can only cast 0 level spells once per encounter?


I have no clue ho to do a stat block, but it is just an idea.

I think making 0th level spells at will is an excellent idea, even at 1st level it will just give arcane casters a 1d3 ranged touch attack which is hardly game breaking. The difficulty with a tiered spellcasting system is separating the 3.X concepts of spontaneous and prepared casters. If we keep top level spells as they are, then perhaps say that after each encounter you can recover a number of spell levels equal to the highest level spell you can cast but one. So a 5th level Wizard must prepare spells as normal, but after his first fight he can recover either 1 2nd or 2 1st level spells (making sure not to end up with more than his usual maximum allotment). Too complex?

 

[Baby Samurai]

5) Let characters with special ablities such as Smite or Rage use them once per encounter instead of limiting them per day.

Actually, the rage special ability is still per day even in Saga, only certain feats let you rage more than 1/day.

 

[Baby Samurai]

-Ditch the 5 ft. step.

-Charge is a Standard action (move up to your speed).

-Withdraw is a Move action (move up to half speed).

-You may sacrifice a Standard and/or a Move action for a Swift action.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

For introduction of encounter based spell management into D&D 3.5, I posted some suggestions for house rules here:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3766219#post3766219

airwalkrr also posted a house rule in this are, though it might be a bit further away from the encounter-based paradigm:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=206918

 

[Horacio]

For introduction of encounter based spell management into D&D 3.5, I posted some suggestions for house rules here:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3766219#post3766219

airwalkrr also posted a house rule in this are, though it might be a bit further away from the encounter-based paradigm:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=206918

I like a lot your rules, Mustrum_Ridcully. I had been toying with several rules to get encounter based spell management, but I think I'm going to get a slighly modified version of yours.