D&D 4E New to 4ed. : what do i have to know/look out for?

[doctorbadwolf]

Not about balance so much as it is about fun. As a great example, I had a PC whose concept was that he was an Eladrin Swordmage|Battlemind who would deliberately:
A) Go into a Warlock Paragon Path that rewarded Teleportation without actually taking the obvious at-will Teleportation option. And this was in part because I liked Caiphon, the purple star's flavor.
B) Use a Rapier and because I thought Light Blade Expertise would be fun, not take any implement powers from Swordmage.
C) Be a Knight from Myth Drannor, because, hey, I'm a Gish and that's what Eladrin Gishes do. But his backstory was he was an Eladrin Rogue, sent to a prison city, who was possessed by a long-dead Knight from Myth Drannor. Who might occasionally get recognized as that Rogue and had some really odd skills for being a Knight, such as bad scores in Stealth and Thievery. Who btw, worshipped Selune. Not because I wanted the feat Silvery Glow, but I just happened to like the moon flavor for the Knight. Wasn't even planning to take it. Also way before Ghost from the Past Theme, too.

Now what could go wrong? Well, I found a Sunblade(longsword) that was a special ancient relic, important to Knights from Myth Drannor. Did I mention Sunblade? Well, it happened to be a purple Sunblade.

And just like that, a bunch of my build ideas went out the window, because I had to have that Sunblade for my PC. Not because it was particularly good - Sunblade is an appeal to be in a Radiant Mafia party and I don't think I was once. It literally was essentially custom designed for my PC in a way that I didn't think possible in a globally played game. Ancient Eladrin Knight of Myth Drannor who has a Pact with a Purple Sun finds an ancient relic that's a Purple Sunblade holy to the Knights of Myth Drannor.

And while I was definitely able to optimize around it, it was a lot of fun to have my ideas disrupted and have to go a different route.

That does sound fun. It doesn't sound more fun, to me, than making a character who has his father's sword, which reveals it's true power over time, and eventually becomes even more powerful than it was in his father's hands, which we represent by giving the player a new sword every once in a while and calling it the same sword.

Both are fun, for sure.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

That does sound fun. It doesn't sound more fun, to me, than making a character who has his father's sword, which reveals it's true power over time, and eventually becomes even more powerful than it was in his father's hands, which we represent by giving the player a new sword every once in a while and calling it the same sword.

Both are fun, for sure.

Yeah, [MENTION=2093]Gilladian[/MENTION] 's dwarf in our first campaign kept getting upgraded versions of the same axe that her father made for her when she rescued him from slavery. I forget exactly what it started as, but it got to be a flaming axe, and then a demon slaying axe, etc. That was fun.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Yeah, @Gilladian 's dwarf in our first campaign kept getting upgraded versions of the same axe that her father made for her when she rescued him from slavery. I forget exactly what it started as, but it got to be a flaming axe, and then a demon slaying axe, etc. That was fun.

Nice!
I love stuff like that.