D&D 4E Kill 200 Kobolds! (Or running 4E with just DDXP info)

[Olgar Shiverstone]

OK -- I've put together a short adventure with the info released so far. I'll put it in a new thread ... here.

 

[breschau]

Young Black Dragon Level 4 Solo Lurker
Large natural magical beast (aquatic, dragon) XP 875
Initiative: +11 Senses: Perception +9; darkvision
HP 280; Bloodied 140 See also bloodied breath
Ac 24; Fort 19, Ref 21, Will 18
Resist: 15 Acid
Saving Throws +5
Speed 7, fly 7 (clumsy), overland flight 10, swim 7
Action points 2

• Bite (standard; at will) * Acid
  Reach 2: +10 vs. AC; 1d6 + 3 damage, and ongoing 5 acid damage (save ends)
• Claw (standard; at will)
  Reach 2: +8 vs. AC; 1d4 +3 damage
• Double attack (standard; at will)
  The dragon makes 2 claw attacks
• Tail slash (immediate reaction, when a melee attack misses the dragon; at will)
  The dragon uses its tail to attack the enemy that missed it; reach 2: +8 vs AC; 1d6 + 4 damage and the target is pushed 1 square
• Breath Weapon (standard; recharge 5 6) * Acid
  Close blast 5; +7 vs Reflex; 1d12 + 3 acid damage and the target takes ongoing 5 acid damage and takes a -4 penalty to AC (save ends both).
• Bloodied Breath (Immediate reaction, when first bloodied; encounter) * Acid
  The dragon's breath weapon recharges automatically, and the dragon uses it immediately.
• Cloud of Darkness (standard; sustain minor; recharge 3 4 5 6) * Zone
  Close burst 2: this power creates a zone of darkness that remains in place until the end of the dragon's next turn. The zone blocks line of sight for all creatures except the dragon. Any creature entirely within the area (except the dragon) is blinded.
• Frightful presence (standard, encounter) * Fear
  Close burst 5; targets enemies: +5 vs. Will; the target is stunned until the end of the dragon's nest turn. Aftereffect: the target takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls (save ends).

Alignment: Evil Languages: Draconic
Skills: Nature +9, Stealth +17
Str 16 (+5) Dex 20 (+7) Wis 15 (+4) Con 16 (+5) Int 12 (+3) Cha 10 (+2)


So here's a question: what's the difference between a blast and a burst?

Hey, I'm totally confused about the recharge rate. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[fafhrd]

I think you roll a d6 each round. When your recharge numbers come up, the feature is then ready for use.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I think you roll a d6 each round. When your recharge numbers come up, the feature is then ready for use.

Sounds right. Eliminates counting rounds ... just roll and it's either ready or not.

 

[Dalamar]

The picture of the Monster Manual page that held the Choker had one recharge ability for the Feygrove Choker, and that was represented by a picture of a six-sider with six pips.

 

[breschau]

I think you roll a d6 each round. When your recharge numbers come up, the feature is then ready for use.

But...

Cloud of Darkness (standard; sustain minor; recharge 3 4 5 6) * Zone

So, like saves, you roll at the end of the following round. This roll is a d6, but which number? There's 4 listed. It wouldn't make sense to list them in that order unless it's: first roll on a 3 or better, second roll on a 4 or better... but that's silly. It would get harder to recharge until it becomes automatic. Or, this roll is a low roll... you have to roll a 1-2 on the first to recharge, if that fails, then a 1-3 to recharge. That would make sense except it's a low roll in a high roll system. The other option is that the numbers should be reversed: on the first round you need to roll a six to recharge, fail and it's a 5 or better to recharge, but then the sequence should be the other way about.

Recharge 6 5 4 3...

But then why not just list the cut off point number. If all recharges start on 6 and work down until it's auto, just list the cut off number, the last one you have to roll before auto.

Recharge 3 would be: first round on a 6, then 5... if the roll of 3 or better fails, then it's auto.

Weird.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I'll bet "Recharge 3 4 5 6" means you get a recharge if you roll 3-6 on a d6, versus a "Recharge 5 6" which would come back only on a 5 or 6. Since the breath weapon is more powerful than the cloud of darkness, it would stand to reason that it would be harder to recharge the breath weapon. Though why they don't list it as "Recharg 3-6" then I don't know ...

 

[Incenjucar]

From the news page:

"Furthermore, the dragon's breath weapon did not have the standard 3.x times/day regulation. Instead, his breath weapon "recharged" – the DM rolled a d6 to determine if the weapon was ready for use, again. If Andy rolled a 5 or higher, the dragon would have been able to use his breath weapon a second time. Andy noted after the game that the
design team was trying to get away from "durations" for most lasting effects. Instead, they were replacing them with a save-like mechanic – you cannot repeat X-action (or stop taking damage) until you have rolled Y or higher on a dZ."

 

[fafhrd]

A buddy of mine was musing that you roll a single die for all ability recharges. They may have written in each number simply for convenience. If you roll a 4, you can scan your page looking for all the 4s listed. Trivial for a player, but when a DM is running multiple monsters with various rechargable abilities, I think the marginal gain from explicitly stating the number is an aggregate advantage.

 

[breschau]

From the news page:

"Furthermore, the dragon's breath weapon did not have the standard 3.x times/day regulation. Instead, his breath weapon "recharged" – the DM rolled a d6 to determine if the weapon was ready for use, again. If Andy rolled a 5 or higher, the dragon would have been able to use his breath weapon a second time. Andy noted after the game that the
design team was trying to get away from "durations" for most lasting effects. Instead, they were replacing them with a save-like mechanic – you cannot repeat X-action (or stop taking damage) until you have rolled Y or higher on a dZ."

Ok, then why not list the number, instead of the whole sequence? "Recharge 6 5 4 3" seems silly when "Recharge 3" is what it means. At least the system itself is being streamlined, if not the stat blocks entirely.