D&D 4E 4e Rulebook for DDM is up!

[Delta]

The main difference in the stats between D&D and DDM are that both hit points and damage are in multiples of 5.

After all the power inflation, we should just divide everything by 5 and start all over again.

 

[mhensley]

After all the power inflation, we should just divide everything by 5 and start all over again.

I'm sure they thought of doing that but they wanted to keep it in the same scale as D&D. And it would work ok in D&D if you gave up rolling for damage.

 

[mhensley]

20's are still automatic hits and 1's are still automatic misses.

 

[DonTadow]

Hmmm... four attack types. Melee, ranged, close, and area of effect.
Perhaps a simplification of spell ranges? Close seems to cover bursts, cones, and lines...

This may just be a wargame thing. I see attacks broken out like this a lot in wargames that have corresponding rpgs without them. Though it is interesting.

IN my d20 variant I have 5 types of attack

 

[Dragonblade]

I wonder if Enervated is a taste of how energy drain works in 4e. Nice.

I like the saving throw mechanic. Your Save Defense determines whether you get affected at all, and then every round you have a 50% chance to overcome any ongoing effect. Its simple and elegant.

 

[Deverash]

Bursts are now targeting squares, instead of corners of squares. Which tends to make for square fireballs, but will be /much/ easier to figure out if somethings in or not.

 

[The Little Raven]

Not surprising. You can't buy a video game out of the box anymore without downloading patches for it right after you install it. Same concept, but in book form...

Book have had errata since before commercial video games released patches. It was usually in a successive book, or was incorporated into future print runs. A lot of old books needed errata, too.

 

[erf_beto]

I like the saving throw mechanic. Your Save Defense determines whether you get affected at all, and then every round you have a 50% chance to overcome any ongoing effect. Its simple and elegant.

I liked it as well.
Also, loved the way they folded Fort/Ref/Will into one single Defense: each mini has only one Defense score, but each attack describes wich Defense it targets (like 'vs DEF(Fort)'), and some creatures have abilities that give them bonuses to Defense against Fort, Ref or Will attacks. (ex: the 'Reflexy Rogue' mini has an ability that gives him DEF+5 against attacks vs DEF(Ref). Nice, allows customization without adding too many stats into the card.

 

[Counterspin]

Rerolling initiative every round is a holdover from the last version of DDM, and I don't expect to see it in 4e. Additionally, the first edition DDM had unified saves, so that's not really a difference either.

 

[Vrecknidj]

The phrase "damage reduction" does not appear in the rulebook.

Dave