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

[Hjorimir]

Just a crazy idea, but what if it worked like this: When you roll a number for a successful recharge you cross it off. So, for example, with a recharge of 3 4 5 6, let's say you rolled a 4. Great, you get your ability back, but cross off the 4 leaving you with a recharge of 3 5 6.

Just musing what purpose the format may have.

 

[Klaus]

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."

That quote is misinformed, since 3.x dragons don't have per day uses, only a recharge time of 1d4 rounds.

 

[rkanodia]

Perhaps some abilities will recharge on low numbers. Imagine a monster with a powerful move ability with Recharge 5 6, and a powerful attack ability with Recharge 3 4. He's got pretty good odds of getting one of them back each turn, but he can't get them both back on the same turn.

 

[Jhaelen]

Perhaps some abilities will recharge on low numbers. Imagine a monster with a powerful move ability with Recharge 5 6, and a powerful attack ability with Recharge 3 4. He's got pretty good odds of getting one of them back each turn, but he can't get them both back on the same turn.

Hmm, now, that's an idea!

 

[Stalker0]

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.

Or even recharge 3-6 would be a bit more concise and still give you all the info you need.

 

[Stalker0]

Perhaps some abilities will recharge on low numbers. Imagine a monster with a powerful move ability with Recharge 5 6, and a powerful attack ability with Recharge 3 4. He's got pretty good odds of getting one of them back each turn, but he can't get them both back on the same turn.

I highly doubt it. Remember, 4e is all about consistency and steamlining mechanics. One of the big things they did in 3e was "high= good". No more rolling a one is good in this instance and terrible in the next.

4e will stick with high = good, so I can't see them making a recharge rolling good on a 6 one minute, and then crappy the next.

 

[Klaus]

Or maybe the breath weapon first recharges on 3-6. After its next use, the 3 is crossed off, and the rechard is 4-6, and so on and so forth until only the 6 remains.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

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.

That's what I was thinking. It makes it faster to read.