D&D 4E 4E Essentials: Dungeon Masters's Kit in Hand

[luide]

Iron Armbands of Power and Bracers of Archery have been made uncommon.

Versions that only affect basic attacks are common (Bracers of Mighty Striking and Bracers of Perfect shot).

 

[Obergnom]

Yes, I know. But they are better than the rare Gauntlets of Ogre Power. That does not seem reasonable.

 

[nookiemonster]

Yes, I know. But they are better than the rare Gauntlets of Ogre Power. That does not seem reasonable.

The Gauntlets also give a +1 bonus to Athletics and all Strength checks at one level lower than the Iron Armbands, which have no such bonus. In addition, the Gauntlets are hands slot/power bonus items. That means you can use a shield with them (occupies arms slot) or stack Bracers/Armbands (arms slot, item bonus). The increased flexibility (can be used with pretty much any build that uses Strength), lower level, and bonus makes them strictly better than the Iron Armbands, and for most Essentials builds there's going to be zero difference between the Bracers of Mighty Striking and Iron Armbands anyway.

In fact I can see Knights preferring the Gauntlets, since one-handed weapon users tend to be a little short on the damage, and tend to wear heavier armour as well, so getting +1 to mitigate your armour penalties and +2 on damage when you really need it is pretty good for a low-level Knight IMO.

 

[Plane Sailing]

So here is the Staff of the Magi

Lvl 15 +3, goes to Lvl 30 +6
Implement (Staff)
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d6 per enhancement bonus
Property: You gain an item bonus to Arcana Checks equal to the staff's enhancement bonus.
Power (Encounter): Minor Action. An adjacent conjuration or zone is destroyed. All its effects end, including those that would normally last until a target saves.
Power (Daily): Free Action. You regain the use of an expended arcane encounter power of the Staff's level or lower.
Power (Daily * Zone): Minor Action. You create a zone in a close burst 2. The zone lasts until the end of the encounter and remains centered on you when you move. As a move action, you can slide each creature within the zone 3 squares.

Not a bad item.

Although a bit sad considering its heritage in OD&D/AD&D !

 

[FabioMilitoPagliara]

So here is the Staff of the Magi

Lvl 15 +3, goes to Lvl 30 +6
Implement (Staff)
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d6 per enhancement bonus
Property: You gain an item bonus to Arcana Checks equal to the staff's enhancement bonus.
Power (Encounter): Minor Action. An adjacent conjuration or zone is destroyed. All its effects end, including those that would normally last until a target saves.
Power (Daily): Free Action. You regain the use of an expended arcane encounter power of the Staff's level or lower.
Power (Daily * Zone): Minor Action. You create a zone in a close burst 2. The zone lasts until the end of the encounter and remains centered on you when you move. As a move action, you can slide each creature within the zone 3 squares.

Not a bad item.

this is more like it!

 

[korton01]

So it looks like the Holy Avenger and the Vorpal Weapon didn't change at all. However they are still decent magic weapons.

They stepped away from treasure parcels and went back to the random roll. You Roll a d20 once for each line of the table for the party's level (Not level of the encounter) So Typically you will roll once for Coin, once for gems, once for art objects, and once for magic items.

Here's an example, the treasure table for 6th-level characters looks like this:

(11+) 8d8x10 gp
(14-19) 1d4 gems worth 100gp (20+) one gem worth 500gp
(18+) 1d3 art objects worth 250gp
(13+) one magic item of level 1d4+6

You add modifiers to each roll based on the number of members of the party. For every group that has above 5 players you add +2 per player to a roll, for every group with below 5 you give the roll -2 modifier, and a nat 20 always garners the best result.

After having read the Harkenwold Adventure. Its pretty damn cool. Has quite a few cool elements in it. Good fights, Some decent skill challenges, and a really need way to handle the players helping defend a town under a massive attack. Lots of town and npc info, and side bars how to role play most of the major NPCs. Plus its got a neat Epilouge.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Funnily you can slide yourself

Great item!

 

[ArcaneSpringboard]

So here is the Staff of the Magi

Lvl 15 +3, goes to Lvl 30 +6
Implement (Staff)
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d6 per enhancement bonus
Property: You gain an item bonus to Arcana Checks equal to the staff's enhancement bonus.
Power (Encounter): Minor Action. An adjacent conjuration or zone is destroyed. All its effects end, including those that would normally last until a target saves.
Power (Daily): Free Action. You regain the use of an expended arcane encounter power of the Staff's level or lower.
Power (Daily * Zone): Minor Action. You create a zone in a close burst 2. The zone lasts until the end of the encounter and remains centered on you when you move. As a move action, you can slide each creature within the zone 3 squares.

Not a bad item.

Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!

 

[Zaran]

They stepped away from treasure parcels and went back to the random roll. You Roll a d20 once for each line of the table for the party's level (Not level of the encounter) So Typically you will roll once for Coin, once for gems, once for art objects, and once for magic items.

Here's an example, the treasure table for 6th-level characters looks like this:

(11+) 8d8x10 gp
(14-19) 1d4 gems worth 100gp (20+) one gem worth 500gp
(18+) 1d3 art objects worth 250gp
(13+) one magic item of level 1d4+6

I don't understand why they would make this change. This is way more complicated and I thought they were trying to make things less complicated in the Essentials line. Was there a major uproar about fixed treasure parcels that I don't remember?

 

[Riastlin]

I don't understand why they would make this change. This is way more complicated and I thought they were trying to make things less complicated in the Essentials line. Was there a major uproar about fixed treasure parcels that I don't remember?

I agree, it seems odd to me. The only problem I really ever heard/had with the parcel system was the idea of wishlists -- which presumably still exists. Personally, I think the random treasure table would be better handled as an alternative to the standard parcel system. Frankly, some randomness is nice so as to prevent predictability, but to completely do away with the parcel system seems to go against the entire 4th Ed. mantra of making things simpler.