D&D 4E 4E Core or Essentials?

[sst187]

You can handle that bit just as you always did. The battles really aree basically "set pieces" for the in combat mechanic of the game. If you want to graph your travels through the dungeon on paper, based on DM description, you still can.

If it is a small area/dungeon, you could potentially feasibly tile or draw the whole thing in full scale.

Some take a more fluid approach and "assume" the party to be mapping as they go but rely on the DM for actual reference in the parts they have seen.

All the above is largely in effect for dungeony crawls anyway.

Ok, that pretty much makes sense. Your players can map on paper and then encounters are set up on tiles or maps. I can see how that works.

 

[jbear]

Ok, that pretty much makes sense. Your players can map on paper and then encounters are set up on tiles or maps. I can see how that works.

Yeah, definitely. How I do it is completely based on description and imagination up until the moment an encounter that requires a battle map begins. I usually have these prepared beforehand and its just a question of taking out the relevant one. I print off to scale grid marked a4 paper and then cut and glue sheets together to make the proper size. I then draw the area with marker pens. The detail and care taken depend on the time i have free.

I also have a number of 'dungeon tiles' that came with a game called descent. It was expensive (around 100 euros I think) but it also came with loads ana loads of fantastic plastic minis and neat little tokens that I use to mark conditions. I use these tiles when I have to quickly build an encounter that has ocurred that I wasn' t prepared for. If they aren't suitable (the encounter is in a forest for example) I use my big blank grid map and build the detail with play dough or plastecine.

I think deciding to begin with Essentials is a good idea. If I understand correctly in January a book is coming out that rereleases most of the PHB core classes and forms a bridge between Essentials and Core 4e. That may be what you are looking for insofaras expanding options. January isn't far away and I'm sure that with either of the Heroes of the... books you have plenty to start a cool game with.

We just had our first child/parent game this weekend. I tailormade the characters based on what I have seen in the Essentials previews and we all had a blast. So here's wishing you many enjoyable moments shared with your son!

 

[renau1g]

Well, if there is an easy-to-find button that allows the user to easily avoid the glut of feats etc, I would agree. But if hte feat screen has a list of 1000+ feats, that may be a problem.

Well, one nice thing with the "new" CB (one of the very few improvements) is the recommended feat section. It's great for new players.

 

[Scribble]

Well, one nice thing with the "new" CB (one of the very few improvements) is the recommended feat section. It's great for new players.

It's also great for those of us who hate reading feats.

 

[renau1g]

No, it's far worse than the old CB for that purpose. There;s no summary provided, so you have to click on each one to know what it does. I can't stand that part of it.

 

[Nifft]

Let's not turn this into a Character Builder fight thread.

With a subscription, you get two important things:
- the Compendium (searchable and somewhat easy to read)
- the Character Builder (it checks your math)

No matter how much people complain about the new Character Builder, it's still WAY easier than buying all the books and applying the errata to them. (It's also WAY cheaper.)

I recommend you never buy the Core rule books or Power books or Monster books. Get a subscription for a month or two and see how you like it, then decide if you want a less expensive year-long subscription.

Cheers, -- N

 

[sst187]

Yeah, definitely. How I do it is completely based on description and imagination up until the moment an encounter that requires a battle map begins. I usually have these prepared beforehand and its just a question of taking out the relevant one. I print off to scale grid marked a4 paper and then cut and glue sheets together to make the proper size. I then draw the area with marker pens. The detail and care taken depend on the time i have free.

I also have a number of 'dungeon tiles' that came with a game called descent. It was expensive (around 100 euros I think) but it also came with loads ana loads of fantastic plastic minis and neat little tokens that I use to mark conditions. I use these tiles when I have to quickly build an encounter that has ocurred that I wasn' t prepared for. If they aren't suitable (the encounter is in a forest for example) I use my big blank grid map and build the detail with play dough or plastecine.

I think deciding to begin with Essentials is a good idea. If I understand correctly in January a book is coming out that rereleases most of the PHB core classes and forms a bridge between Essentials and Core 4e. That may be what you are looking for insofaras expanding options. January isn't far away and I'm sure that with either of the Heroes of the... books you have plenty to start a cool game with.

We just had our first child/parent game this weekend. I tailormade the characters based on what I have seen in the Essentials previews and we all had a blast. So here's wishing you many enjoyable moments shared with your son!

jbear ... Thank you very much! That is very kind of you. My thanks to all of you for all the great information!

 

[sst187]

Let's not turn this into a Character Builder fight thread.

With a subscription, you get two important things:
- the Compendium (searchable and somewhat easy to read)
- the Character Builder (it checks your math)

No matter how much people complain about the new Character Builder, it's still WAY easier than buying all the books and applying the errata to them. (It's also WAY cheaper.)

I recommend you never buy the Core rule books or Power books or Monster books. Get a subscription for a month or two and see how you like it, then decide if you want a less expensive year-long subscription.

Cheers, -- N

Nifft,

That is an interesting take on it. I have no problem with technology ... I actually work in IT. But, I am also quite "old school" in that I really like my hardcopy. I can see me using the online tools but I can also see me having some version of the books. Also, since I live in a fairly remote area I do not have much bandwidth so I am hesitant to rely solely on internet based anything.

 

[Nifft]

That is an interesting take on it. I have no problem with technology ... I actually work in IT. But, I am also quite "old school" in that I really like my hardcopy. I can see me using the online tools but I can also see me having some version of the books. Also, since I live in a fairly remote area I do not have much bandwidth so I am hesitant to rely solely on internet based anything.

The bandwidth required to browse the Compendium is trivial.

Take a look at the errata, and decide if you want to write in your books that much, especially the monster damage & defense changes.

Again, it's is VERY CHEAP to get a month's subscription and see how well you like it. If you don't like it, don't buy more. You're only out $10 (which is less than half the cost of one hardcover book).

Cheers, -- N

 

[sst187]

The bandwidth required to browse the Compendium is trivial.

Take a look at the errata, and decide if you want to write in your books that much, especially the monster damage & defense changes.

Again, it's is VERY CHEAP to get a month's subscription and see how well you like it. If you don't like it, don't buy more. You're only out $10 (which is less than half the cost of one hardcover book).

Cheers, -- N

No doubt a very compelling reason to use the online versions. I thought that the Essentials books were taking care of most of the changes an errata?