D&D 4E 4e Balance System

[Camelot]

I'm trying to create a lot of my own homebrew 4e stuff. Have the devolopers managed to create any good system to make balanced 4e races, classes, items, powers, etc?

We know the following.

At-Will Powers

Attack

Weapon vs. AC

Implement vs. NAD

Damage

1[W] + best ability weapon damage

1dx + best ability implement damage

Level 21

Increase to 2[W] + best ability weapon damage or 2dx + best ability implement damage.

I could go on stating really obvious things, but what I want to know is how to adjust those effects to make them balanced if you want something drastically different. For example, would a fighter at-will that does normal damage but inflicts a -2 penalty to attack rolls of the target for a turn be balanced? How do we know? Not just for powers, either, but everything.

If the answer is "playtest a lot," then can anyone give me tips on how to playtest when I personally know very few players who know how to play 4e well?

 

[FireLance]

I could go on stating really obvious things, but what I want to know is how to adjust those effects to make them balanced if you want something drastically different. For example, would a fighter at-will that does normal damage but inflicts a -2 penalty to attack rolls of the target for a turn be balanced? How do we know? Not just for powers, either, but everything.

If the answer is "playtest a lot," then can anyone give me tips on how to playtest when I personally know very few players who know how to play 4e well?

If playtesting is not an option, then the best approach is just to eyeball the other officially released powers and abilities to see if there is something similar. Admittedly, this can be a lot of work, but if you have a DDI subscription, the Compendium is a great help.

For example, the fighter at-will power you mentioned seems quite similar to the paladin at-will enfeebling strike. The paladin power does have a restriction in that it only works on a target that the paladin has marked. If you don't want to duplicate the power by imposing a similar restriction, you could add another one: for example, the fighter must be using a flail, or the penalty only applies to targets other than the fighter.

Note that just because another class has a power that imposes the same effect at a particular level and frequency (at-will, encounter, daily), it does not mean that a similar power would be balanced for any class. Some classes get certain effects earlier because they are more appropriate to the role or the theme of the class.

 

[Camelot]

Wow, natural 20 on the mind reading check. That power I designed to be used by a flail fighter, so I have the attack roll with a -1 penalty unless the wielder is using a flail. So, it's not only flails, but easier to do with flails (hit the target in the back of the head to disorient).

Thanks for the input. Unfortunately, I don't have DDI and I don't have the money to get it. I already pay $30ish a month for the books, and a friend lets me view a few of their DDI articles (I hope I don't get sued for saying that...).

Yeah, the class thing is a bother. Each class's class features might not be balanced compared to those of other classes even of the same role, so the powers balance all the classes out. Thus, you can't always look at a paladin power and make one similar to a fighter power. For example, the fighter doesn't get its Strength modifier to Sure Strike, but the ranger does to Careful Strike. Clearly Careful Strike would be better, but it would be too good for a fighter.

I've tried literally playing D&D with myself. It's not easy running five characters and the monsters all at once. I freqently forget to apply situational feats and use immediate interrupts, and it's just messy and not useful. I'm wondering if there is an easy way to playtest with oneself, or if there is a website dedicated to playtesting, at least with 4e as an option? Or even, if anyone here is willing to help me playtest?

 

[FireLance]

I'm wondering if there is an easy way to playtest with oneself, or if there is a website dedicated to playtesting, at least with 4e as an option? Or even, if anyone here is willing to help me playtest?

I don't know of any websites dedicated to playtesting, but this House Rules forum is usually a good place to get feedback.

 

[Camelot]

That makes sense. Huh.

...

Well. I went looking and found that I am already here.

=)

If anyone has any other ideas, I'd appreciate them. If anyone wants to see my homebrew creations to help me get feedback on the specific ones...check out my blog, The Dungeon's Dragon.

 

[Starfox]

The way to get good specific feedback here is to pose pretty specific questions. The best way is probably to post your writeup of things you're having trouble with. So, if you're making a new class, pick one specific feature you're having trouble with and put it here for people to comment on.

Try and avoid wall of text, and asking people to go look at your website generally doesn't help a lot either.

 

[Camelot]

Erm...thanks. This post is making me look rather foolish...

 

[BobTheNob]

Erm...thanks. This post is making me look rather foolish...

Not at all. You have an objective, you are seeking to expand your game, and to achieve it you are seeking the advice of peers. Keep it up I say.

To add my two cents, What I find with powers is that there is a fair bit of "bleed" from class to class. As time goes on, every new power tends to make classes more and more ubiquitous.

Focus on the theme of the class and try to fit powers into that. Ask yourself how it fits into the pattern of the class. e.g. Fighter powers are best when the service "stickiness" or "close combat control" (or, at least, that my observation to date) so when coming up with a new fighter power, try to make it something that fits into or compliments this pattern

 

[Camelot]

Okay, how about this: I'll post another thread that I'll put any problem stuff in, so I can get some feedback on the specific problems that I think are there?

I'm sorry about the advertising. It's my first personal site ever, and I kind of got a bit too excited. =)

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Starfox]

It is by no means wrong to advertise your site here, its just not very efficient. ENworld readers only follow links if you've alreacy caught their interest, and hardly ever if the link is in the sig. Actually, you hardly even see signatures - its a defense mechanism any savvy forumite soon develops.

I have learned the hard way that if you want people to look at things on the internet, you have to make it very easy for them to see it. Opening a new site is a lot of work by internet standards.