D&D 4E Inquiry: How do 4E fans feel about 4E Essentials?

[Mannahnin]

I would kill for even an optional add on book that had a class (you don't have to call it fighter) that was martial and in line with wizard/ckeric for capability...

I thought the 4E Fighter was great; especially once you added in Martial Power and Martial Power 2. 4E was the first time I ever really enjoyed playing a single-classed Fighter and never felt overshadowed by casters.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I would kill for even an optional add on book that had a class (you don't have to call it fighter) that was martial and in line with wizard/ckeric for capability...

I don't think that was necessary. The fighter was seriously good at locking down stuff.

My very first campaign (as GM, not counting a very short playtest) included a dragonborn fighter PC. Said fighter breathed dragon fire on opponents (as a minor action), which didn't kill them, but the player told me they were all marked. I refused to believe that until I re-read how Combat Challenge works. It was ... amazing, and made me really like the 4e fighter.

My experience with the 4e fighter was great from the beginning.

 

[LoganRan]

I thought the 4E Fighter was great; especially once you added in Martial Power and Martial Power 2. 4E was the first time I ever really enjoyed playing a single-classed Fighter and never felt overshadowed by casters.

That is interesting.

I mostly play martial characters despite the fact that they have largely been marginalized in WotC versions of D&D. Makes me wonder if I might have missed out on something by skipping 4E.

 

[aco175]

I remember thinking that Essentials was for new players to get into the game. I did not buy it, but my brother did and we may have used a few of the classes or powers on top of the regular 4e classes. The monsters looked like they may be easier/better but I had already modified a lot of the monsters by then.

The 5e box sets are similar in that they are aimed at new players or DMs to get into the game. The basic rules are light for this purpose.

 

[HammerMan]

I don't think that was necessary. The fighter was seriously good at locking down stuff.

My very first campaign (as GM, not counting a very short playtest) included a dragonborn fighter PC. Said fighter breathed dragon fire on opponents (as a minor action), which didn't kill them, but the player told me they were all marked. I refused to believe that until I re-read how Combat Challenge works. It was ... amazing, and made me really like the 4e fighter.

My experience with the 4e fighter was great from the beginning.

I meant now for 5e

 

[Mannahnin]

That is interesting.

I mostly play martial characters despite the fact that they have largely been marginalized in WotC versions of D&D. Makes me wonder if I might have missed out on something by skipping 4E.

It was something. Being a Fighter and having as big a list of cool abilities as the casters was sweet. They had more non-combat stuff with the Rituals system, but Martial Power 2 books bridged that gap a bit with Martial Practices.

 

[HammerMan]

It was something. Being a Fighter and having as big a list of cool abilities as the casters was sweet. They had more non-combat stuff with the Rituals system, but Martial Power 2 books bridged that gap a bit with Martial Practices.

not just fighter but rogue ranger and warlord too. all 4 martial classes had brilliant play for being able to think and react with abilities... on it's own it was great, but by nerfing the casters too it made an almost perfect game...

 

[Garthanos]

That is interesting.

I mostly play martial characters despite the fact that they have largely been marginalized in WotC versions of D&D. Makes me wonder if I might have missed out on something by skipping 4E.

That is definitely one of the appeals was martial classes were front and center with fully half the classes in the PHB being martial

 

[Garthanos]

It was something. Being a Fighter and having as big a list of cool abilities as the casters was sweet. They had more non-combat stuff with the Rituals system, but Martial Power 2 books bridged that gap a bit with Martial Practices.

I did a lot of expansion on those.... or worked towards it with many more Martial Practices added including a pretty open ended Warlordy one I called Marshal Troops. I should get back on developing that.

 

[Garthanos]

This was where I was at.

D&D 4E - List of Potential New Martial Practices

The martial power source needs to evoke the awesome and heroic ie not the everyday or mundane, to this end many of the practices presented here draw inspiration from characters from ancient Celtic, Greek and Norse myth as well as figures from Arthurian legend and still others from epic literary...

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