dirklancer
Explorer
Do you think that inherent bonuses are the way to go for this? I am just thinking of the fact that modern characters typically use the same general equipment such as favored vehicles, guns, etc...
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D&D 4E 4E Essentials Modern
- Thread starter dirklancer
- Start date
AbdulAlhazred
Legend
Well, I think the concept of say a 'bionic arm' working like a magic item is good. OTOH in a lot of modern type settings equipment is easy come easy go. A group of mercs isn't likely to be all that concerned about which M16 they're using and a 'magic' assault rifle seems a bit of an odd concept. OTOH a character might acquire an alien weapon or some kind of one-of-a-kind super special spiffy weapon. If the genre was super heroes though I can see Iron Man's armor granting an enhancement bonus.
So I think something like inherent bonuses would be good as a default. You can still acquire extra special gear that grants an additional bonus or some kind of special power. This works with the DMG2 version of inherent bonuses though, an item above the nominal bonus enhancement still gives you the better bonus.
So I think something like inherent bonuses would be good as a default. You can still acquire extra special gear that grants an additional bonus or some kind of special power. This works with the DMG2 version of inherent bonuses though, an item above the nominal bonus enhancement still gives you the better bonus.
dirklancer
Explorer
I don't have the DMG2, so its good to know that... :^)
Ok, cool. I was thinking the same thing about how disposable equipment tends to be in these settings, so that was why I was going with the inherent bonuses.
Here is another question. Do you think it is better to go with general categories of weapons for this? I know some people want to know the exact stats of every single gun, but I am always ok with just things like "light pistol" and "SMG."
Ok, cool. I was thinking the same thing about how disposable equipment tends to be in these settings, so that was why I was going with the inherent bonuses.
Here is another question. Do you think it is better to go with general categories of weapons for this? I know some people want to know the exact stats of every single gun, but I am always ok with just things like "light pistol" and "SMG."
dirklancer
Explorer
Two more Core and career options done. This one is the Tough Hero with the Bodyguard, and the Smart Hero with the Techie.
AbdulAlhazred
Legend
I don't think the 4e combat system is concrete enough for the difference between a 9mm pistol and a .45 ACP to be measurable. There just aren't enough knobs and buttons in there to be tweaked to represent the rather subtle differences in makes and models of weapons.
So yeah, I'd have just general categories. A pistol is a pistol, a rifle is a rifle, etc. There can always be a few minor differentiations where it makes sense, maybe a rifle with a scope on it gets different range categories or something.
I'd think the main types would be something like rifle, shotgun, pistol, and then maybe is it automatic or not. Ammo is likely fairly abstract, as is the nature of an 'attack', so things like 1 model of pistol has 9 shots and another has 15 is pretty much lost in the woodwork. I'd even say that mostly the differences between say a firearm and a laser pistol is somewhat abstract. Maybe weapons can have damage types associated with them so that would allow them to be distinguished. You could have keywords for stuff like that.
dirklancer
Explorer
I am using a lot of the keywords from Gamma World for attacks, which includes things like Laser and Radiation. For the power sources I am using Martial, Interaction, Tactical, and Technical so far.
Agreed on the system and how to handle weapons. The people who like guns can get more specific with it if they use this. I may distinguish between revolvers and semi-auto pistols just because of the loading differences. Then like you said: Pistol, Shotgun, SMG, Rifle, Assault Rifle, then heavy weapons. And different categories within such as light and heavy.
Now what would you suggest for Burst and Autofire properties? I am going to make them weapon properties and I am a bit stumped as to how they operate mechanically. My initial thoughts for Burst was to give a bonus to attacks at the cost of more ammo. For Autofire I was thinking of either a damage bonus or splash damage to a target in an adjacent square at the cost of more ammo. Thoughts and suggestions?
Agreed on the system and how to handle weapons. The people who like guns can get more specific with it if they use this. I may distinguish between revolvers and semi-auto pistols just because of the loading differences. Then like you said: Pistol, Shotgun, SMG, Rifle, Assault Rifle, then heavy weapons. And different categories within such as light and heavy.
Now what would you suggest for Burst and Autofire properties? I am going to make them weapon properties and I am a bit stumped as to how they operate mechanically. My initial thoughts for Burst was to give a bonus to attacks at the cost of more ammo. For Autofire I was thinking of either a damage bonus or splash damage to a target in an adjacent square at the cost of more ammo. Thoughts and suggestions?
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
I had generally avoided this thread since seeing this post, but did want to know something; it might get me back in.
Where is Inspiration? Seems like a lot of the cooler talents are missing.
dirklancer
Explorer
Not sure what you mean. I don't recall having any inspiration talents listed, but tell me what you mean and maybe I can figure out what you think is missing from it.
dirklancer
Explorer
Scratch that... I went back to your post early on and see what you meant. I have it in there as an at-will for a career called the Negotiator, which is your expert at diplomacy. That career is Charisma based and has an at-will called "Inspirational Presence," which I have the name for but I haven't gotten to that career yet to work out the details. In the end I tried to keep the Charismatic core class a bit more general so it applies to your bolstering types and your slimy weasel types. But I did make note of it and was working it in. Hopefully that will pull you back in because I welcome suggestions to make this work.
AbdulAlhazred
Legend
Not sure about auto/burst fire. In the real world it is more useful as a way of forcing your enemy to keep his head down and being able to threaten a whole kill zone vs really being effectively greater damage, but also in the real world being hit by a bullet is generally pretty close to fatal too.
In game terms 4e doesn't really have established norms for this kind of thing. 4e weapons don't generally create special effects in and of themselves, though they may allow power or feat based special effects. So you could go that way (IE have powers, feats, or class features that key off of burst/auto type weapons). OTOH that feels a bit odd, a machine gun is after all a machine gun no matter who's hands it is in. The problem there is if they always add in some special effects then they simply are flat out the weapon of choice, nobody will bother with a pistol if they can carry an SMG. OTOH if those special effects have drawbacks, it might work. After all spraying bullets around isn't necessarily very safe for your allies. Such weapons do tend to be a lot less effective in untrained hands too.
So maybe one way to do it would be to allow trained warrior type classes like Soldier some kind of at-will area fire power that they can use with burst/auto weapons. Your average Technician that picks up an AK47 can blast away but it won't really do anything special (he puts a bunch of bullets in the ceiling).
You run into a similar question with shotguns, they should obviously work differently than say a piston regardless of who's hands they are in. This is one area where the whole 4e style of combat system has isn't really ideally suited to modern warfare.
In game terms 4e doesn't really have established norms for this kind of thing. 4e weapons don't generally create special effects in and of themselves, though they may allow power or feat based special effects. So you could go that way (IE have powers, feats, or class features that key off of burst/auto type weapons). OTOH that feels a bit odd, a machine gun is after all a machine gun no matter who's hands it is in. The problem there is if they always add in some special effects then they simply are flat out the weapon of choice, nobody will bother with a pistol if they can carry an SMG. OTOH if those special effects have drawbacks, it might work. After all spraying bullets around isn't necessarily very safe for your allies. Such weapons do tend to be a lot less effective in untrained hands too.
So maybe one way to do it would be to allow trained warrior type classes like Soldier some kind of at-will area fire power that they can use with burst/auto weapons. Your average Technician that picks up an AK47 can blast away but it won't really do anything special (he puts a bunch of bullets in the ceiling).
You run into a similar question with shotguns, they should obviously work differently than say a piston regardless of who's hands they are in. This is one area where the whole 4e style of combat system has isn't really ideally suited to modern warfare.
