Essentials and Eberron Campaign Guide

[LuckyAdrastus]

The RPGA recommends the following:

Open Grave: place in cardboard box then seal with duct tape
Draconomicon (Chromatic): dig hole in backyard, place book in, cover with dirt
Draconomicon (Metallic): open freezer, place beneath frozen peas
Manual of the Planes: hide in secret hidey-hole in attic
Plane Above: stuff up chimney flue
Plane Below: wrap in cellophane then put between mattress and box spring
Eberron Players Guide: mix large vat of jello, suspend book within
Eberron Campaign Guide: give to 11th grade teacher to hold for you
Forgotten Realms Players Guide: slide beneath tighty-whiteys in underwear drawer
Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide: fine to leave out in presence of Red Box, as most people claim it deserves to die a slow death anyway

I think this is excellent advice for players worried about the impact of Essentials on 4e. Without steps like these, how else can we protect our books from Essentials warpriests and slayers?

I've heard that WotC named the slayer build after their propensity to materialize out the the book (as shadow wraiths) and cut apart 4e books.

Also, they melt your D&D minis and drink the resulting sludge.

 

[froth]

what about artificers?

what about the magic item creation dragonmarks?

wouldnt it stand to reason it does affect them , as you are supposed to only be able to craft common items? much of eberron centers around creating magic items. if any supplement was going to be effected, its ebberon. im interested in seeing what if anything they do about it. maybe nothing, but with magic item creation changing, its certainly fair to speculate

 

[jimmifett]

So, as seen in other threads from ppl that actually have one of the essentials books, it is not 4.5, doomsayers were wrong, you can pull your books out of the fireplace.

 

[Aegeri]

DM's prerogative, which is precisely what the book actually says and the DM is free to stick the bar up/down. In my Eberron campaign I've raised the crafting allowance to uncommon items as well (but not Rare), while in my Dark Sun campaign my PCs are unable to make common items (except maybe a limited subset).

The current rules absolutely bone artificers and anyone who tries to craft things though.

 

[drothgery]

So, as seen in other threads from ppl that actually have one of the essentials books, it is not 4.5, doomsayers were wrong, you can pull your books out of the fireplace.

There are more changes between Essentials + Rules Compendium + Monster Vault + DM's Kit, as printed, and PH1/PH2 (for the corresponding races/classes) + DMG 1/2 + MM1/2 as printed than there were between 1e and 2e. This is not DOOM, and in a lot of cases it's just getting errata/rules updates into print, but many of those of us who claimed Essentials was effectively 4.5 (or, in my case, 4.5 + backward compatibility hacks) did not think it was a bad thing.

Nothing that's been revealed fhas changed my assessment.

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

There are more changes between Essentials + Rules Compendium + Monster Vault + DM's Kit, as printed, and PH1/PH2 (for the corresponding races/classes) + DMG 1/2 + MM1/2 as printed than there were between 1e and 2e.

Um, no. Some of the details have changed but the systems have not. There is nothing systematically different between a PHB1 Fighter and an Essentials Fighter. Combat uses the same rules, they choose skills from the same list, their hit points and healing surges work the same way, and no races or classes have been eliminated. Just because some of the numbers changed and some new classes and powers were added doesn't mean it's a new edition.

Form 1E to 2E, many parts of the system itself changed: Combat changed. Non-weapon proficiencies were added. Half-Orcs and Assassins were eliminated from the game. Rangers were dramatically changed - not as an optional class build, but as in "they work this way now." You weren't going to see a straight up 1E fighter played in a 2E party. Converted, sure, but not just played.

So your hyperbolic assertion is a little over the top. In most true edition changes, some existing things change dramatically and something usually goes away altogether - so far in Essentials nothing has. That the new fighter doesn't use marking isn't enough - that's an expansion and a new option. If all fighters drop marking and switch to something else, well then maybe you have something.

 

[tyrlaan]

The current rules absolutely bone artificers and anyone who tries to craft things though.

Meh, I'm playing an artificer in a game now and all I do is a lot of enchantment transferring. Really, item crafting doesn't seem to be all that much worth it thanks to the economy of 4e. Our GM asks for a wishlist from us and items get peppered in as we advance. So short of incidental items, what would I bother making anyway?

I dunno, maybe this changes at the higher tiers, but right now being able to make magic items doesn't feel all that important right now, so I can't say I'm worried about being hosed with new magic item commonality rules.

 

[LuckyAdrastus]

So yeah, if it wasn't clear, I was joking in my earlier posts. I thought the idea of Essentials somehow interfering with the ECG (a DM book that is 95% flavor, 5% monster stat blocks) would be inherently ridiculous enough that my sarcasm would be obvious. But I guess the 4.5 crowd is so... fervid, that even this concern could come up with them. So, my failure on sarcasm-fu. I actually never intended to mislead anyone, so my apologies!

Well, OK, after I saw that people were believing me to genuinely be a 4.5 guy I kinda posted like it once or twice (but more ridiculous each time).

On the artificer topic:

a) I was talking about the ECG, not the player rules, but whatevs.

b) we don't know what the rarity rules are in complete. We don't know what magic items will have which rarity. Until we know the rules, it is hard to say what will happen

c) there is no reason to assume that any new rules will be implemented in a stupid way -- e.g. the possible removing of the daily item cap makes one Cannith Mastermaker PP feature obsolete, but perhaps it isn't being implemented that way, or maybe they will errata the PP to give it something else. Who knows? Anyway, assuming the rare and uncommon items are still in the character builder (which seems likely) there is zero effort for a DM to say "you can craft item X b/c i think it OK, even though it is rare."