Running PHB Only

[MadLordOfMilk]

I have a love-hate relationship with all of the support for 4e. On one hand, yay, lots of new content and fixes! On the other hand, the game keeps changing constantly, and I feel far too out of touch with the "current" 4e. So, I was considering running my games with just the PHB! I really like the idea, but I'm having trouble foreseeing any potential problems/issues with it, or ways I might be able to improve it.

Has anyone done this, and if so, do you have any advice?

I should probably use errata, but is any of it overkill for just the PHB when it only gets broken by other books?

Are there any house rules I should consider applying?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Shadowslayer]

You can run an amazing campaign using only the PHB, however it depends on the players you have. If you have a guy that buys all the books and stuff, well, he's going to want to use them.

My old rule that managed to weed some of riff-raff out was that if you wanted to use something out of the expansions, then someone at the table had to actually own the expansion. (no pirated pdfs) That was the price of admission, so to speak. And my guys were cheap, so it worked.

I guess I can thank the DDI for laying the smackdown on my tactic though.

 

[Legildur]

Our group applies the same restrictions as Shadowslayer - you gotta have a hard copy to use. But characters are built using the Character Builder for ease of use and transportability.

That being said, we've also had a rule that nothing outside the PHBs or the Power series (martial, primal, arcane, divine), even if you buy it; so no Adventurer's Vaults, Heroes stuff, or campaign specific (such as Eberron). Also, no hybrids

Those restrictions provide enough variety to make interesting characters without freaking out the DMs or resulting in hours planning a character build because of the myriad of options. It's not that we can't afford the various splats, it's just that with responsible full-time jobs and families, we can't afford to spend much time on administration of the game.

The time constraints are why we like 4E in the first place as it allows the DMs to get away with minimal preparation time - and we're about fun, not min-max builds. However, I do admire some of the fantastic builds I've seen.

 

[Garthanos]

Restricting how I have players use content ( ... Character builder is just too easy... ) would take more effort than just going with it. I dont have any ummm game hackers and my players even tend to under optimize perhaps that is a difference. Hybrids arent any more complex than anybody else been using them almost since they showed up on DDi shrug worrying about it makes more work ... though if somebody wanted psionics it would be an experiment that is for sure ;p we havent done any phb3 classes yet.

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

Thanks for the advice!

I don't mind going PHB + ___ Source books right now, but I'm already a bit iffy about it as I've lost interest in keeping track of them, and I know there are going to be a ton before 4e is done. It might work for now, but I feel as though I might just come back to the same problem.

I'm thinking maybe just stick to the main line of PHBs, or even just PHB 1 & 2?

Mandating book purchases sounds like a good way to filter stuff out, but I also feel as though it punishes my players who don't have much money compared to the few who just go out and buy random splatbooks for the hell of it because they can afford it. Gah.

I think part of the reason I want to run with just the PHB is a sort of "back to the basics" level of understanding. I feel like the sheer volume of splatbooks/content has caused me to lose touch with the system, and even the characters that regularly play in my game. There's absolutely no way for me to take it all in anymore, I feel like there's just too much. Especially in the magic items & feats departments

 

[Jools]

There are a few balance issues, even if you included the errata the PHB paladin is a lot worse than the PHB fighter for example. Still doable though. I'd recommend widening your to net to PHBs 1 & 2. PHB2 is often thought of as WOTC's class design pinnacle.

 

[Legildur]

... I'd recommend widening your to net to PHBs 1 & 2. PHB2 is often thought of as WOTC's class design pinnacle.

I would second that. It provides the players with a few more options to achieve the same basic ends without getting ridiculous.

Mandating book purchases sounds like a good way to filter stuff out, but I also feel as though it punishes my players who don't have much money compared to the few who just go out and buy random splatbooks for the hell of it because they can afford it. Gah.

Sorry, I didn't explain myself fully above, but our table operates on as long as anyone at the table has the book, then the options are available to ALL players via the Character Builder. I think we have 2xPHB2, 1xPHB3, 2xMP, etc.

 

[Obergnom]

When 4e started, we as a group decided to go for PHB1+2 plus one Power Book per source and a Adventurers Vault book for each PHB, as we assumed that would make the game feel complete. 8 books in total (oh, and FRPG), but...

It worked for us ... we usually start a new campaign every 6 Month and just began our third campaign with the same options available (No new stuff since Primal Power) and we really begin to get a good overview of what is possible within the (limited) system we use.

 

[Gruns]

Hmm... I dont see this as being a worthwhile option as long as the Character Builder is around. It's just too easy to have everything right there for you. As Garthanos pointed out, it's actually more work to bother restricting stuff. If you want to preserve the core of 4E or whatever, you could limit yourself to the PHB1 classes, and allow the other stuff. A few of the PHB2 classes are sort of 'core', too. Things didn't start getting really dumb until PHB3.
In the end though, do what's most fun for you.
Later!
Gruns

 

[Obergnom]

...it's actually more work to bother restricting stuff.

Creating a .camp file is not that much work actually. Though it is a bit stupid that new stuff gets added by default, thus you have to update it once a month.