Help! I need the wisdom of those who went to D&D XP

[The Human Target]

So I know we have a thousand of these threads already, but the inner rules lawyer in me couldn't be silenced.

I know I could use the clearing up of several things, since I'm going to try and run a 4E preview game this weekend using the released first level characters and monsters we've glimpsed so far.

I imagine a whole lot of black dragons are going to kill a whole lot of PCs this weekend.

Any input anyone can give me or others is gratefully appreciated and the gamer karma it bestows will grant you many critical hits for years to come.

My questions as of now....

1) How does concealment work? (concerning the warlock power shadow walk)

2) How is cover determined?

3) What benefits do sunrods give when used, and how long do they last?

4) Does the eladrin's fey origin have any important in game effects?

5) Did skills like bluff, diplomacy, or thievery come into play? If so what were the DCs like and what effects could you as a character create?

6) What could you do with a heal check?

7) Did low light vision come into play and how did it work?

8) How does range work? A longbow has a range of "20 squares normal/40 squares max"- are there range penalties of some sort for firing over 20 squares but under 40?

9)Were there any traps at all? Or locked doors/chests? If so how did opening them work?

10)How do critical hits work, and do skill checks critical?

11) How do bursts work?

12) How long do Temporary hit points last?

13) A question about the Warlock's Curse ability- Do cursed NPCs remain cursed beyond the ecounter (assuming they survive)? Is there a limit to how many curses a Warlock can have active?

 

[The Human Target]

This is what it sounds like, when doves cry.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Dude, you know most of us that went are East Coast US and asleep at 2 am, right?

2) How is cover determined?

Similar to SWSE. Your best corner to every corner of the foe has to be unobstructed.

4) Does the eladrin's fey origin have any important in game effects?

Fey Step seemed pretty damn important. Teleport 5 squares as a move action per-encounter.

6) What could you do with a heal check?

I think stabilize, allow target to use a surge (once), remove a condition.

8) How does range work? A longbow has a range of "20 squares normal/40 squares max"- are there range penalties of some sort for firing over 20 squares but under 40?

Don't know; every encounter was within 20 squares.

9)Were there any traps at all? Or locked doors/chests? If so how did opening them work?

There were traps, but we had no rogue, so opening/disarming, etc., didn't come into play. Setting them off however did.

10)How do critical hits work, and do skill checks critical?

Crits are on a roll of 20, so long as 20+attack bonus would be a hit. In other words, if you have a +6, and the target has an AC of 27, a natural 20 would be a hit (because 20 always hits) but it wouldn't be a crit (because 26 wouldn't normally hit). Crits do max damage. No idea on skills.

11) How do bursts work?

Just small area of effect; roll vs. every target's defense.

12) How long do Temporary hit points last?

Until the end of the encounter.

13) A question about the Warlock's Curse ability- Do cursed NPCs remain cursed beyond the ecounter (assuming they survive)? Is there a limit to how many curses a Warlock can have active?

Doubtful. I don't think anything lasts beyond an encounter.

 

[SuperJosh]

11) How do bursts work?
Since it confused me until I found out, I just want to add that something with "burst 1" does not take up 1 square it takes up 9 squares. the 1 square that is the "point of origin" and then 1 square on each side and corner. Also "close burst" considers the caster the point of origin, close burst 1 so it would take up the 8 squares around the caster. Also you roll individual attacks vs each person in the radius, but only 1 damage.

13) Warlocks curse reads "you do +1d6 damage on the enemy. Lasts until end of encounter or enemy is defeated." I have 2 opinions here. 1) it does +1d6 damage, NOT 1d6 damage. I take that to mean the warlock has to HIT the target for him to take the extra damage. If he runs away he is not getting attacked. and 2) if he runs away you could say he is defeated or the encounter is over and so the curse would end.

 

[Benimoto]

1) How does concealment work? (concerning the warlock power shadow walk)

As I saw it played at DDXP, it was was +2 AC/Def for concealment and +5 for full concealment.

2) How is cover determined?

The same as the minis game.

3) What benefits do sunrods give when used, and how long do they last?

Dunno.

4) Does the eladrin's fey origin have any important in game effects?

I didn't see any.

5) Did skills like bluff, diplomacy, or thievery come into play? If so what were the DCs like and what effects could you as a character create?

In the first preview adventure, there was a "skill challenge" where we had to escape from the guards. The players could choose to use any skill they thought was applicable, describe their action and then roll against 10 (easy), 15 (medium), or (20) hard. If you failed an easy check, it would give you a -2 to future checks, and if you succeeded on a hard check, it gave you a +2. Everyone in the party got two checks, and I guess if we got a certain number of successes total, we succeeded in the encounter. There might have been some other mechanics at work that the DM was checking, but we didn't know about. I suspect that although we could pick any skill to use, only successes on certain skills actually helped us escape.

6) What could you do with a heal check?

Standard action: grant somebody their second wind if they hadn't used it, and stabilize a bleeding character.

7) Did low light vision come into play and how did it work?

It didn't come into play, apparently.

8) How does range work? A longbow has a range of "20 squares normal/40 squares max"- are there range penalties of some sort for firing over 20 squares but under 40?

Like Rodrigo said, everything was within 20.

9)Were there any traps at all? Or locked doors/chests? If so how did opening them work?

There was one closed door, which we needed a DC 20 strength check to break down.

10)How do critical hits work, and do skill checks critical?

Critical hits (on a 20) deal maximum damage on all dice. Some magic weapons added extra critical dice, which we rolled. I never saw a skill check critical.

11) How do bursts work?

Like in the minis game.

12) How long do Temporary hit points last?

Until the end of the encounter, and they don't stack.

13) A question about the Warlock's Curse ability- Do cursed NPCs remain cursed beyond the ecounter (assuming they survive)? Is there a limit to how many curses a Warlock can have active?

I don't know anything more than what's printed on the character sheet. The Warlock's curse added 1d6 to any successful hit he made.

 

[The Human Target]

Dude, you know most of us that went are East Coast US and asleep at 2 am, right?

Heh, patience has never been one of my virtues.

Thanks a lot guys, this has been really helpful so far. I just want to run the game as closely to the rules as possible, to give an accurate showing of what 4E will be like.

If anyone else cares to chime in, feel free.

 

[keterys]

Looks like most answered:

3) Sunrods were a 5 square radius of light.
5) Thievery could've been used to deal with the traps, though we mostly just avoided them instead. For the skill challenge, you basically make up anything plausible and work it into the story. There were no restrictions on only certain skills worked - it was limited by your ability to figure out something to do with the skill.
7) Low light vision allows you to see in dim illumination, such as at night, but it doesn't double your range like in 3e. Also, light sources (like the sunrod) illuminate / don't. No 'shadowy'.
8) -2 to hit past the normal range.

 

[The Human Target]

Fantastic!

Looks like I'm not going to have to fudge much running the game now.


Oh, and a back up question- they used the same Death and Dying rules that the previewed on the WotC site didn't they?

 

[TerraDave]

Traps: Just to confirm: perception to find traps, theivery to disable (the warlock had theivery, and from what I could tell it is a class skill, or all half-elves are theives). You can also attack them.

Area attacks: you make seperate attacks on each target in the burst. I think this is to prevent one 20 from being a TPK. Also, there was the other area attack (like acid arrow), where you do a main attack on one target, and then a less attack on adjacent targets. Plus: our DM said that you could hit your allies with these, or, in other words, had to make sure you didn't.

Warlocks curse: Its one of the many: minor actions to reinforce your role. It and hunters querry are a way to do more damage to your nearest target. So as a striker, you are adding damage, but you have got to get around anything between you and the target.

Concealment: I think this is a -2 to attacks. Being blind (but having an idea where the target is) is -5.

 

[The Human Target]

Okay, I lied.

I could actually use a little bit of clarification on burst.

The Wizard spell Scorching Burst is "burst 1 within ten squares", so does that mean the Wizard can target any square to be the center of the effect area up to ten squares away? And that the area of the burst is 9 total squares.

So the spell Sleep has a "burst 2 within 20 squares" area. Does that mean the Wizard can target any square to be the center of the effect area up to 20 squares away? And that the area of the burst in this case is 12 total squares?