Quickstart rules from D&DExp

[Mercule]

I'll have to see how "roll a 10" saves (and durations based on those saves) work. I'm not overly warm to them, ATM, but I could see where they would work well enough.

 

[HeinorNY]

1-1-1-1 confirmed!
Picture spam removed by admin.

 

[catsclaw227]

I hope that every large and larger monster has a threatening range.

So you want a horse to threaten 10'?

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

Before they had a big defensive aspect- you had an attack of opportunity on people charging you (as well as the possibility of set defense). Now they are offensive weapons. Thats... conceptually strange, given their typical use.

Now you're actually expected to have an ally in front of you when you use a spear. Doesn't seem that strange to me. Welcome to the phalanx.

I for one like the prospect of actually being able to slip in under reach from time to time without having to invest heavily in Tumble to do so. Reach is good, but you don't need to pole vault around the battlefield to get past it.

 

[helium3]

The language, as I mentioned before. 'You're blithering idiot children aren't you? Aren't you? So were going to talk down to you a lot'.

Eh. Like other posters have said, I think the intent is to use simple language for folk whose ability with reading comprehension ain't so good.

I'm more irritated by grammar errors I found from a quick once over. At least, I think they're errors. Anyhow, that's like, half my quota of nerd rage for the day at least. I may need to Camp pretty soon.

Daily powers are not so much. with the 6 hour 'camping' (and this is the language issue again) bit, its more a 3x per day power.

I just think it's funny that, unless there's some incentive not to that we haven't seen yet, there's absolutely no fix for the "15 minute workday" that some of the more rabid 4E Stalkeratti are constantly going on about. Basically, the way 4E sounds from the quick guide, players can "Nova" all they want, the DM just doesn't have to worry as much about a TPK when attacking them with monsters on the way back to their Camp.

durations frankly make me sad. 1 round, encounter or so random you can't rely on it (just tilted in favor of it will end after a round)

The way they've changed durations makes sense if we can assume that failing that save multiple times really really hurts.

Not in a save or die way, but in a _poop I failed my save again this round, I better make my save next round or I'm toast.Exactly like hold person worked, basically.

Only, it's a hold person that you always have at least a 50% chance of getting out of every round. With those odds, a player's gonna get held for four rounds once every 16 times the spell hits them.

So, if effects that use this mechanic are the replacement for save or die, I'm cool with it. You get hit with the spell and at first it's no big deal because, "hey, you just gotta come up heads." But then, five rounds later when you've rolled five tails in succession and are staring into the Abyss, there's a palpable sense of dread because you've EARNED your fate with some spectacularly incompetent rolling.

healing surge. You can do it to yourself once per encounter? That doesn't take much of the burden off the cleric (or warlord). And are there healing powers that don't use up healing surges? If not, there isn't much space for encounters before camping. maybe 2-3 encounters.

This must be why there are those "the priest hits and you are healed" powers. That way, the healing battery is still operational AND the player still gets to do something "wicked awesome" at the same time. I think the in game assumption would be something like:

You're hurt. Hurting real real bad. So hurt the soft pitter-patter sound of your blood raining down onto flagstone hurts too.

Then, Most Holy Radiant Groupie of Pelor Jozan McChesterbottom, steps up to the Frostwing Flameblaster Gnoll that just finished shanking you into the bloodied condition, cocks his head in your direction and flashes you his big guildmarked blindingly white sideways corncob of a smile.

You've done this a million times before so you know what's next. Up goes the thumb of his clenched left fist. Then comes the sly wink. Then, "This one's for you, Lidda."

The whole time this is going down the Frostwing Flameblaster Gnoll just stands there like a big dumb bag of meat ripe with XP to harvest. Course, it's obvious he's never seen an Adventurer before, since he's, like, alive. So he just watches and scratches one of his tattered dog ears. Besides, none of his "monster powers" are of the "interrupt" variety so he couldn't do anything to stop what's about to happen anyway.

Then comes the swaggering turn, and let me tell you NO ONE can make a turn swagger like Jozan McChesterbottom. (Except maybe that Warlord that died last month when she failed to shrug off the effects of that Beholder's greenish ray for a full minute. Yeah, she could make turn swagger too, and better. Only, she's dead now so it's not like you care anymore.) Then comes the wind-up. Then comes the SMACKDOWN with Jozan's ridiculously oversized mace, the head of which is shaped like a big smiling sun.

Seriously, you've thought about it nearly every time you've Camped since Jozan joined the party and you STILL can't figure out how it is that he can pick that thing up, much less use it as anything but a place to tether his horse. I mean, fer Melora's sake, it's a chunk of solid iron the size of a watermelon!

None-the-less, HOLY SMACKDOWN OF HEALING SMITE triggers with a wet meaty thump and a spicey dash of skull-being-crushed crackle. The Frostwing Flameblaster Gnoll barks a keening gurgle'ish wail from the ruins of its muzzle. Clearly it's unhappy about at not getting to use it's Bloodied Power. Then it flops like cold blood pudding as little coins, magical trinkets and glowing numbers start shooting out of the messy pile of uncooked sweetmeat that used to be its head.

And you? Well you feel just freaking fantastic! I mean, you are CRUSHING on Jozan SUPER HARD right now and you shed a single tear at the ironic appropriateness of his surname.

Then you shrug off your moment of ennui and brandish your sharp and stabby dagger in the direction of the Bloodclub Ligamentrender Ghoulfluffer Flumph (who is clearly the monster fufilling the mastermind role in this encounter). Baring your even tinier (and not nearly so white) hafling teeth in a feral snarl of rage that only nomadic boat dwelling near-kender can manage, you prepare to unleash the full might of your most deadly daily power still available, "IMPROVISED CORPSE TRAMPOLINE OF SKY RENDING OPPORTUNITY ATTACK AVOIDING STABBITY DOOM."

Sure you're losing blood so fast you'll be dead in five minutes if no-one applies a tourniquet to your neck. But you know what? You just don't care. Why? Because this fights gonna be over in one and you STILL haven't used an Action Point.

Overall, it comes across as absurdly gamist.

If you don't want a gamist experience, don't play 4E. What's so awful about that?

 

[Glyfair]

Now you're actually expected to have an ally in front of you when you use a spear. Doesn't seem that strange to me. Welcome to the phalanx.

The Phalanx works well on the battlefield, in the typical D&D combat is another matter. On the battlefield you are facing a mass of opponents (who are often in formation) where having your weapon cover an area is important, you don't have to have aim the weapon at a specific target. When you aren't facing a mass of opponents it's different.

Yes, a polearm can be very effective in combat with small numbers when you are defending a small area (saying holding a hallway). However, I think micromanaging that level of difference in D&D would be a mistake.

 

[Derren]

Now you're actually expected to have an ally in front of you when you use a spear. Doesn't seem that strange to me. Welcome to the phalanx.

Except that enemies can walk up right to the first rank of the phalanx and attack them with shortswords without being bothered by the huge wall of spears.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I just read the quickstart rules and there are some very interesting bits:
1. Defined roles - Okay, yeah knew that, not at all impressed with it, but don't hate it either.
2. Powers - Jolly good.
3. Attack against static defense - Yes, definately, like it.
4. Actions - Yes, awesome.
5. Healing - SO AWESOME. Even if I didn't move to 4E, I'd steal this hardcore.
6. Rests - Yeah, neat, like 6 hours a lot more than 8 hours, oddly enough.
7. Attacks - Meh, that's ok I guess, seems a little over-simplified and thus likely to be riddled with exceptions within a handful of splatbooks.
8. Action Points - Oh, that's rather less exciting than I anticipated. I hope there's more to them in the final deal. The reset mechanism is kinda cool but the limit on spending 1/encounter is idiotic.
9. Movement - I think my feelings on 1-cost diagonals are known. Definately not a selling point for me.
10. Saves - Yes, very nice.
11. Durations - HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. We shall see. Could be cool, could be retarded.
12. Reach - Yes, good.
13. 3 Rules - All sound good.

Overall, sounds like 4E will rock, but may need some tweaking to me my group's needs/wants.

I really suspect that I might end up running some sort of bizarre hybrid of 4E with bits of 3E and even 2E and other games stuck on a year or so from now.

 

[HeinorNY]

Except that enemies can walk up right to the first rank of the phalanx and attack them with shortswords without being bothered by the huge wall of spears.

The phalanx readies an action.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Well, Since this is a multi-day thing, I personally would welcome simple easy to read and grok language for tomorrow mornings games following staying awake late tonight. But to each his own.

But how does it help to keep the riff-raff out! A good (and thus valuable/desirable) role-player still understands the rules when he is drunk and it's 4 o'clock in the morning. And the rule-book is not in his native language.