Pushing the 4th edition envelope

[fjw70]

One thing I have done with my 4e group is to only use the even levels. For the last level-up they went from 8th to 10th and will go to 12th next. Basically it turns 4e into a 15 level game.

 

[jodyjohnson]

One thing I have done with my 4e group is to only use the even levels. For the last level-up they went from 8th to 10th and will go to 12th next. Basically it turns 4e into a 15 level game.

We did this for our last 1-30 campaign. Having to reprint character sheets 29 times seemed excessive.

I took a step further and switched up magic item tiers to just 3 (Heroic +2, Paragon +4, and Epic +6).

 

[cavalier973]

One could limit the number of healing surges regained with each extended rest; say, 1 surge for the first rest, 2 for the second successive extended rest, 4 for the third, 8 for the fourth, etc.

On another note, you could add a bonus for having less than a full compliment of healing surges. For example, any character with only half their healing surges gets a +1 bonus to attack rolls, skill checks, saves, etc. Characters down to only a quarter of their healing surges get a +2 bonus. Characters down to their last surge get a +4 bonus.

 

[cavalier973]

You could also fiddle with the starting equipment. Yeah, that dwarf is a Slayer with Axe expertise, but all he can afford is a short sword and leather armor. Be really stingy with weapons and armor. Characters have to be at least level 3 before they can even think about getting a suit of plate mail.

 

[I'm A Banana]

One thing I have wanted to try out is to only allow a short rest once per day and require a week's rest rest for an extended rest.

I find this works really well if you basically use the 4e Encounter XP Budget as a "Daily XP Budget" instead. Essentially, you drag out one 4e encounter to be an entire day's worth of encounters (each of which tend to be shorter).

I'll usually design a dungeon by using the XP budget for about 5 (typically 4-7) standard 4e encounters at whatever level the dungeon should be, then using the monsters I get to populate the various rooms and such. Then, I'll keep the value of each encounter dynamic: monsters in one room can run to inform the monsters in another, and if the PC's aren't careful, they could have the entire dungeon (5 standard encounters!) breathing down their neck. But if they are careful, they can usually get away with quick, simple combats (like 4 minions, or a single standard monster).

The dungeon is meant to take a "week" to clear, and resting in the dungeon is one of those moves that could result in suddenly having a lot more monsters on their hands than they are expected to handle.

 

[vagabundo]

Oh, here is something I came across recently:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191041

It is a bunch of interesting house rules for 4e.

 

[keterys]

The problem with spreading an encounter budget across multiple fights without short rest is that you roll initiative each time (presumably) which makes initiative far more important and means that initiative optimization can result in no combats being threatening, at all.

It's very easy for a group to kill several minions or a standard (or even an elite) before it gets to act; usually you make up for that by there being a bunch of other guys as well.

This can be particularly painful if you have a mix of initiatives, with a couple slower types and a few faster types, where the slower folks never act at all.

 

[The Human Target]

The problem with spreading an encounter budget across multiple fights without short rest is that you roll initiative each time (presumably) which makes initiative far more important and means that initiative optimization can result in no combats being threatening, at all.

It's very easy for a group to kill several minions or a standard (or even an elite) before it gets to act; usually you make up for that by there being a bunch of other guys as well.

This can be particularly painful if you have a mix of initiatives, with a couple slower types and a few faster types, where the slower folks never act at all.

Yeah agreed, its probably better/easier to use 2 hit minions and monsters with reduced hp.

 

[Balesir]

The problem with spreading an encounter budget across multiple fights without short rest is that you roll initiative each time (presumably) which makes initiative far more important and means that initiative optimization can result in no combats being threatening, at all.

I'm very wary of this in fact - my plan is that initiative starts when both sides are aware of each other (after any surprise, in the usual way) and ends/resets only when the party are aware of no monsters (including if they choose to withdraw beyond perception range) and choose to "stand down".

Parties being "aware of" each other will be determined by passive perception and passive stealth; I'll use the guidelines for the effect of distance, doors and walls, movement, battling and talking, to let me plot when the different monster groups will detect/be detected in different rooms in the "encounter area". I may well add perception modifiers for the perceiver moving and/or talking, as well as the target.

If the players choose to "stand down" when monsters are aware of them, surprise by the monsters is quite probable. Basically, they only get to use initiative for their own advantage if the monsters are unaware of them, whether they are aware of the monsters or not.

 

[Jhaelen]

Having to reprint character sheets 29 times seemed excessive.

Yeah, I normally only print a sheet every other level. I've found it works best to print only the odd levels, though. All it takes is a few notes to indicate things that change every level, e.g. hit point totals.