D&D 4E Have you ever run 4e using just Essentials?

[Jacob Lewis]

Before I get into this topic, let me just say that I'm not here to spark a debate. This is not about how anyone feels about Essentials, now or then. I've been working quietly in my own corner for some time now, focusing on my own thing. But I am genuinely curious to hear if anyone has some actual experience to share with me, and anyone else who reads here. This isn't just theory-crafting or speculation. I'm actually working on something like this, for myself. But I can still appreciate a different perspective.

Anyway. I've been using Fantasy Grounds Unity and learning to build modules for myself. Even though the software includes the bare-bones system to support 4th Edition D&D, there is nothing I can purchase to make my life any easier. Everything needs to be put in by hand, or parsed with independent tools, resources, etc. The latter helps, but its not always clean or perfect, and you end up with a lot more information than you need, which can also impact program performance.

Of course, I don't need everything all at once. Just enough to get things going. But it also gave me a unique opportunity to cultivate, cleanse, and streamline the game for my own purposes. And since I anticipate a number of potential players would be new to 4e anyway, I decided to go with a focus on Essentials for now. (If I do a pre-Essentials/Core option later, I'd build a separate thing for that.)

Without the burden of extra books and previous designs, I've been incorporating a few things to kinda fill out the options for players. For example, I included the largely generic Character Themes from Dragon (Issue 399), as well as the racial utility powers (various issues) for each Essential race. These add optional utility powers, giving players some added flavor beyond race/class.

I've also incorporated (and in some cases adapted) certain elements from other sources, like the Neverwinter Campaign Setting and the Player's Options series. These expanded the number of powers for many Essential classes without overloading them. (Mages are the exception, but I reserve that wizard characters are the most complex to play and should have a lot more options than the rest.)

One book that surprised me was Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium, which added some new feats to go with some of that new equipment. The Strike Specializations in particular gave the Knight, Scout, and Slayer classes some much needed attention. (We'll get back to them in a minute.)

As I'm nearing the completion of this personal project, I am faced with some decisions that I still haven't decided for myself. So I hope to find outside council for additional guidance and insight. Actual experience would be more helpful, as I can guess and speculate on my own as well as the next person. Here's what I need to decide:

1. Should I allow Fighters, Rogues, and Rangers to gain Daily powers? These are typically gained at levels 1, 5, 9, and then replaced at 15 and 19. (I'm not looking past level 20 at this point.) Since they are not competing with pre-Essential builds, there is no issue of balance across that line. I'm just looking to give them a little more to do like other classes so they're not just doing "basic-hits" all day long.

2. Are Rituals still usable? I suspect the answer is yes, but they were rarely mentioned or included in anything since Essentials came out. It is definitely something I want included in the game. I just want to know if there were any changes or modifications I might have missed and don't know about.

Honestly, those are the only two I'm on the fence about. But I'd really like to know if anyone has done anything similar (or different). If so, what was your experience? Did you run into any issues? Was it even noticeable? What would you have done different?

Feel free to comment below with your own ideas, if you have any. But again, I will remind everyone this is not meant to spark a debate about Essentials, whether you're for or against. That said, I look forward to a productive discussion.

 

[GreyLord]

I've run essentials only. I prefer to run with the Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Cleric only if given the choice as the classes of Druid, Ranger, Paladin and Warlock are much more complicated.

I wouldn't give them extras beyond what is offered in the books already.

Rituals are still usable, but if running an essentials only game, good luck finding enough to really make using the rules reasonable.

When running essentials I'll use

Heroes of the Fallen Lands
Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms
Monster Vault (both the original and Nentir Vale)
Dungeon Master's Kit

Normally do not use Rules Compendium, nor did I buy it. I lot of people loved it. It is possible there are extra rules in that book that aren't in the others and make it more complex, but as I never used it, I don't know.

Occasionally I would also allow Heroes of Shadow, and Heroes of the Elemental Chaos options as well in Essentials only games.


I currently have a travel kit that if I travel with a certain group, we will play a game of essentials while we travel. That kit is in a small bag which contain dice, the two heroes books, and Monster Vault (and nothing else). In the past few years, when running essentials, that's basically all I use to run it.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

@GreyLord Thanks for the feedback! That was very helpful. I appreciate it.

I've run essentials only. I prefer to run with the Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Cleric only if given the choice as the classes of Druid, Ranger, Paladin and Warlock are much more complicated.

I hear ya. But since I am creating a rules module for Fantasy Grounds, I decided to go all-in so I would only need to do this once.

I wouldn't give them extras beyond what is offered in the books already.

You're probably right. I don't believe doing so would upset the balance, but it may not be worth the trouble. Some players might enjoy feeling less burdened by having fewer options. If I end up seeing a lot more clerics and wizards, however, I may revisit that.

Rituals are still usable, but if running an essentials only game, good luck finding enough to really make using the rules reasonable.

None of the Essential classes gets the Ritual Caster feat for free. That, to me, signals that rituals were not intended for Essentials. Or at the very least, they were optional.

I think that is a good way to keep it: as an option for players. If a player wants to use rituals, they take the feat. And rituals will be made available at a cost. If not, it doesn't upset the game and no one will miss them.

Normally do not use Rules Compendium, nor did I buy it. I lot of people loved it. It is possible there are extra rules in that book that aren't in the others and make it more complex, but as I never used it, I don't know.

Its convenient having all the rules in one book. That's all.

Occasionally I would also allow Heroes of Shadow, and Heroes of the Elemental Chaos options as well in Essentials only games.

I did scrape those for some additional stuff. Funny enough, I used to be very down on the Shadow book. But now I find there are a lot more options I am willing to allow. Maybe I'm growing up as a DM? (Nah.)

I currently have a travel kit that if I travel with a certain group, we will play a game of essentials while we travel. That kit is in a small bag which contain dice, the two heroes books, and Monster Vault (and nothing else). In the past few years, when running essentials, that's basically all I use to run it.

That is refreshing to hear! I already created both Monster Vaults for FGU, so I am almost set!

Now I'm curious. What do you use for treasure (magic items)? Those books don't offer much by themselves. And are you using the random parcels from the DM kit, or the earlier ones from DMGs?

 

[GreyLord]

@GreyLord Thanks for the feedback! That was very helpful. I appreciate it.


I hear ya. But since I am creating a rules module for Fantasy Grounds, I decided to go all-in so I would only need to do this once.

You're probably right. I don't believe doing so would upset the balance, but it may not be worth the trouble. Some players might enjoy feeling less burdened by having fewer options. If I end up seeing a lot more clerics and wizards, however, I may revisit that.

None of the Essential classes gets the Ritual Caster feat for free. That, to me, signals that rituals were not intended for Essentials. Or at the very least, they were optional.

I think that is a good way to keep it: as an option for players. If a player wants to use rituals, they take the feat. And rituals will be made available at a cost. If not, it doesn't upset the game and no one will miss them.

Its convenient having all the rules in one book. That's all.

I did scrape those for some additional stuff. Funny enough, I used to be very down on the Shadow book. But now I find there are a lot more options I am willing to allow. Maybe I'm growing up as a DM? (Nah.)

That is refreshing to hear! I already created both Monster Vaults for FGU, so I am almost set!

Now I'm curious. What do you use for treasure (magic items)? Those books don't offer much by themselves. And are you using the random parcels from the DM kit, or the earlier ones from DMGs?

On travel games, I mainly use what is in the Heroes books.

If expanding on that, I'll use all resources, including things I make up off the top of my head. An example: One particular Item I like to award to high level characters comes from AV2 (so not essentials) but I don't use the items in the book, instead I just make it off the top of my head using the Jagged property to increase the critical range by x2 (so, 19 or 20 normally).

 

[cavalier973]

Allow rituals through scrolls, is my advice. They can be fun to find and use. After the characters have advanced a few levels, an adventure hook might be finding one of the last scholars who can teach ritual casting.

The rules compendium had the final rules for DCs and skill challenges and such, and the alternate rules for generating ability scores. You could probably find this info…somewhere…free of charge, though.

I’d vote “no” on dailies for martial characters. You might allow them some other benefit—such as allowing them to use two action points per encounter. A house rule that I’ve considered is that PCs that do something cool without using a power (such as swinging on a chandelier to push an enemy into the fireplace) would get an immediate action point that must be used before the end of the encounter. Maybe only martials get that.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Allow rituals through scrolls, is my advice. They can be fun to find and use. After the characters have advanced a few levels, an adventure hook might be finding one of the last scholars who can teach ritual casting.

That's not a bad idea. If nothing else, it saves me some extra work before I find out if players are interested in that option. Thanks!

The rules compendium had the final rules for DCs and skill challenges and such, and the alternate rules for generating ability scores. You could probably find this info…somewhere…free of charge, though.

I have several sources for that, including my physical books. For anyone else, you can find it for free (and legal) in the official Errata updates for DMG and DMG2.

I’d vote “no” on dailies for martial characters. You might allow them some other benefit—<snip>

I've heard a lot of "no's" on this, but I have yet to hear any substantial reasons why not. In my mind, I don't see that an extra daily power or three is going to skew anything. Least of all if the only other classes in the party are also Essentials.

I'd really like to hear a case against the idea that explains why its actually a bad idea (i.e. how it negatively affects the game itself, or the enjoyment of it). Despite what other people have told me (in the most insulting and unhelpful ways possible... not here, of course), I can and do read into these details about the game quite extensively, and give it more than adequate consideration. It is, in fact, when I fail to find any downsides or flaws in my ideas that I look to outside perspectives to make sure I am not missing something.

So, if you or anyone else please, help me find the flaw in this. Or help me find a solution to make it work. At the very least, be open to explore the idea and not just shut it down because <reasons unknown but widely accepted by the anonymous majority>.

 

[cavalier973]

I say “no” because of personal preference, that’s all.

For me, it’s like adding a trailer hitch to the back of a sports car. Yeah, it probably has the horsepower to pull a trailer, but that’s not the purpose of a sports car.

The essentials martial classes were designed to be sleek and fast-running, in my opinion. Adding daily powers thwarts the purpose of those classes.

I agree with you, though, that they probably won’t mess up the playability.

I don’t know how you are going about implementing these rules, but is it possible to implement daily powers through magic weapons or items? A “sword of brute striking”, for example?

 

[cavalier973]

I don’t remember in which book (or Dungeon/Dragon magazine article) they are found, but I recall that there are some things called “martial practices” that add elements to a character. Also, boons.

Narratively, you could have the slayer or knight impress some elder warrior who then trains them in his special maneuver, which grants them a daily power. In game terms, when the eFighter reaches particular levels, a daily power is either gained or improved.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

I say “no” because of personal preference, that’s all.

I can accept that answer. Every time.

The essentials martial classes were designed to be sleek and fast-running, in my opinion. Adding daily powers thwarts the purpose of those classes.

Agreed. But they also had the goal of blending seamlessly with the core classes. So players have the option to play a simple fighter or the more complex version. Since I am removing that option, I wanted a compromise to make sure all classes had a little more oomph!

Let's look at it realistically. Every class gets their daily powers at the same levels. In the heroic tier, its 1st, 5th, and 9th levels. In Paragon, they replace their 1st level daily powers at 15th, and their 5th level daily power at 19th. (Epic tier is too far out for me to worry about at this point, but it follows a similar progression).

So by level 9, a character will never have more than 3 dailies to deal with. As a martial character, your main attacks are basic weapon attacks with passive modifiers from stances, a few class features, and possibly some feats. Then there is the all-pupose boost powers, like power strike, that you use again and again during an encounter.

Does the 3 extra one-off powers make it too complex? I don't think it will. It is still less complex than the cleric or the wizard, which I think is a good spot for fighters and rogues.

Furthermore, I don't intend to open up the entire library of all powers ever written. Like most classes in Essentials, I'd only want to include 3-4 picks for each level, most likely those introduced in the first PHB (and updated in the Class Compendium series).

Truly, I am still on the fence about it. But I wish to hear different opinions (and stronger arguments) besides my own.

I agree with you, though, that they probably won’t mess up the playability.

I really don't see how it could. Even if it did skew things a bit, 4e isn't so tightly wound that a DM couldn't compensate easily for any adjustments.

I don’t know how you are going about implementing these rules, but is it possible to implement daily powers through magic weapons or items? A “sword of brute striking”, for example?

Hmm... I really need to give that one some thought.

 

[Haplo781]

I say “no” because of personal preference, that’s all.

For me, it’s like adding a trailer hitch to the back of a sports car. Yeah, it probably has the horsepower to pull a trailer, but that’s not the purpose of a sports car.

The essentials martial classes were designed to be sleek and fast-running, in my opinion. Adding daily powers thwarts the purpose of those classes.

I agree with you, though, that they probably won’t mess up the playability.

I don’t know how you are going about implementing these rules, but is it possible to implement daily powers through magic weapons or items? A “sword of brute striking”, for example?

Weird how Essentials casters didn't need to be "sleek and fast-running".