4E has been (probably) the most extensively pre-viewed new edition of Dungeons and Dragons in its 30-year history. We've all seen a thing or two that we object to. With the qualifier that we've yet to see the entire rule-set, and understanding that everyone retains the right to change their mind or "try it out", what house rules do you already forsee using in your campaigns?
My group has always taken a hard line on death. We want it to be meaningful in a significant way. An entire sub-system of house rules has grown around that concept.
First, rule zero of death in our games is that death is final. There is no coming back.
Second, because death is final, we allow characters to to negative ten-plus-con-bonus before they are dead.
Third, for the same reason, we spend a mandated five minutes after a character dies, reconsidering all of the events that led to that death and making sure that no bonuses were forgotten, no debuffs missed on the bad guys, etc.
Finally, we allow new characters to start at half the average xp total of the group, at the player's discretion.
So how does that translate over into 4E? At the Epic levels, epic destinies codify the temporary nature of death to the point that you can't simply tweak them to remove the undesired effect. It makes the use of epic destinies, as they stand, impossible for us to incorporate.
But I like the idea of a third-tier specialization track, so we'll put some time and effort into creating a number of epic destinies that are consistent with a theme, but avoid incorporating immortality into the template (at least until the destiny is complete).
We've long used enduring campaign worlds where the old characters live on as legends and real-world actors who influence future campaigns. I think that is a good devise that adds depth and color to the world. I believe that most players will choose a destiny that leaves their character "in the world" for that reason. We think of it as retirement, and in retirement, characters naturally go off to pursue their individual passions, be it creating a school or becoming a farmer or getting into politics. They aren't a group anymore, so their influence doesn't become overwhelming. The DM has the choice of deciding how successful the former characters become, and they are his characters at that point, to do with as he wishes.
My group has always taken a hard line on death. We want it to be meaningful in a significant way. An entire sub-system of house rules has grown around that concept.
First, rule zero of death in our games is that death is final. There is no coming back.
Second, because death is final, we allow characters to to negative ten-plus-con-bonus before they are dead.
Third, for the same reason, we spend a mandated five minutes after a character dies, reconsidering all of the events that led to that death and making sure that no bonuses were forgotten, no debuffs missed on the bad guys, etc.
Finally, we allow new characters to start at half the average xp total of the group, at the player's discretion.
So how does that translate over into 4E? At the Epic levels, epic destinies codify the temporary nature of death to the point that you can't simply tweak them to remove the undesired effect. It makes the use of epic destinies, as they stand, impossible for us to incorporate.
But I like the idea of a third-tier specialization track, so we'll put some time and effort into creating a number of epic destinies that are consistent with a theme, but avoid incorporating immortality into the template (at least until the destiny is complete).
We've long used enduring campaign worlds where the old characters live on as legends and real-world actors who influence future campaigns. I think that is a good devise that adds depth and color to the world. I believe that most players will choose a destiny that leaves their character "in the world" for that reason. We think of it as retirement, and in retirement, characters naturally go off to pursue their individual passions, be it creating a school or becoming a farmer or getting into politics. They aren't a group anymore, so their influence doesn't become overwhelming. The DM has the choice of deciding how successful the former characters become, and they are his characters at that point, to do with as he wishes.
