D&D 4E 4Ed Dragon Compendium & DDI

[Dannyalcatraz]

Our current DM is trying us out in 4Ed, and since

1. previous DM wants a break from being behind the screen
2. nobody wants to step up and run something besides D&D except me...and nobody wants to play what I suggested
3. the current DM actually seems to be pretty decent

we'll probably be playing 4Ed for at least a little while. Long enough, at least, that he and others are contemplating getting a DDI sub.

In light of this, I was looking at the Dragon compendium for 4Ed. How much of what is in there is part of DDI? I'm trying to gauge the likelihood of being able to use info contained in its pages for Magnus Skyhammer, my Starlock (MC: Ranger).

In addition, I'm wondering if anyone has USED any of the Starlock stuff in that article- some looks cool, but is it really?

 

[Black Knight Irios]

Our current DM is trying us out in 4Ed, and since

1. previous DM wants a break from being behind the screen
2. nobody wants to step up and run something besides D&D except me...and nobody wants to play what I suggested
3. the current DM actually seems to be pretty decent

we'll probably be playing 4Ed for at least a little while. Long enough, at least, that he and others are contemplating getting a DDI sub.

In light of this, I was looking at the Dragon compendium for 4Ed. How much of what is in there is part of DDI? I'm trying to gauge the likelihood of being able to use info contained in its pages for Magnus Skyhammer, my Starlock (MC: Ranger).

In addition, I'm wondering if anyone has USED any of the Starlock stuff in that article- some looks cool, but is it really?

There is good warlock stuff in that article, anyway, you're better of buying a DDI subscription b/c you get dragon stuff that isn't in the annual.

DDI gives you all books/dragons/etc. and you can search it.

If you intend to spend money spend it on something that is overall more useful.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

DDI isn't useful to me at all- I'm a Mac user who runs 0% Windows emulation.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

DDI isn't useful to me at all- I'm a Mac user who runs 0% Windows emulation.

You should have said so from the beginning.

Can't you run windows on a Mac as well?


If your fellow players get a DDI sub just look up stuff with their DDI sub.

Dragon Annual 2009 just for a single article seems like a waste of money.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Yes, I can run Windows on Mac if I want to...its not worth it to me.

Other issues aside, $30 to buy Parallels (or something similar)*, $120 for Windows 7...just so I can pay for a sub for DDI?

Better for me to spend $30 on the compendium.

* Technically not required, but lets you pop back & forth between Windows and Mac OS without rebooting or whatever.

 

[Chris Knapp]

DDI isn't useful to me at all- I'm a Mac user who runs 0% Windows emulation.

I don't know. The compendium alone is worth the price of admission. And that works on your Mac.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It would only be worth it to me if it were fully functional, which it isn't: at the very least, the Character Builder does not run on Mac OS.

...Besides, the only products/services I subscribe to deliver physical things to me. I don't subscribe to anything purely electronic. I don't buy pdfs. I don't buy mp3s. I don't do digital downloads of anything but the occasional game for my Mac. And never intend to, except possibly for business purposes.

So, back to my question as opposed to my quirks & preferences? Has anyone seen the content in play? Good or Bad? Balanced or broken?

 

[fanboy2000]

DDI isn't useful to me at all- I'm a Mac user who runs 0% Windows emulation.

I have a Mac and a DDI subscription. The compendium works the same way under a Mac as it does under Windows. (I use Safari, but I'm certain that it's fine under Firefox.) Also, all the Dungeon and Dragon articles are compiled into PDFs that open just fine on a Mac.

the only products/services I subscribe to deliver physical things to me. I don't subscribe to anything purely electronic. I don't buy pdfs. I don't buy mp3s. I don't do digital downloads of anything but the occasional game for my Mac. And never intend to, except possibly for business purposes.

I wrote the above before I saw this. Sorry.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Its all cool- I'm not a hothead or anything- I'm just trying to get the thread back on track.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

There are some nice and solid feats depending on build. Twofold Pact is taken by the majority of warlocks.

IIRC, some of the powers are good as well.

The PP has 18-20 crit@lvl11 if you use the right powers or if you use the right implement which is not hard to do. The recent nerf won't bother you much since you're playing a warlock. The rest of the PP is at least usable.

Or just browse this guide: The Power of the Dark Side: The Warlock's Handbook, look for feats, powers and a PP that are tagged DA09.