So, how many are avoiding Essentials?

[Mercurius]

This is probably worthy of a thread in itself, but it seems to me that there are people who think that Essentials is an addition to "classic" 4E and there are people who think that Essentials is a replacement for "classic" 4E.

For those in the former group, Essentials is just another bunch of options. The operative verb is not "switching", but "adopting".

It isn't an either/or thing; in fact, it is somewhere between the two. But I agree that one doesn't have to replace "classic" 4E with Essentials and that one can view the bulk of it as additions ala Martial Power, but there are also more wide-ranging systemic effects, like magic item rarities and a bunch of little tweaks that I'm not aware of but have heard about.

I also agree with whoever said that the Rules Compendium is a "must have." I have used that little book with greater frequency at the table than any other game book in memory. It is a gem.

 

[Piratecat]

We see Essentials as an addition, not a replacement, and I love almost everything I've seen so far. I'm currently encouraging several of my players to look at Essentials next time they're character building. I'm also really excited about the Monster Vault.

So, not me. I'm fine with both Essentials and non-Essentials PCs... whatever the players want.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I've noticed all the Essentials threads on here and I am wondering how many of us are still playing ordinary 4th Ed with no intention of going over.

I don't, and no one in my group does. We came to 4E from SW saga, a natural step. We've also invested quite a bit of time and $$$$ in 4E, and see no reason not to continue with things as they are. And we're also in the middle of a big campaign, why change horses midstream?

4E is not something we are completely satisfied with, particularly those of us who have played older editions, so all these changes seem a little...much.

I expect others have said this before me, but it probably bears repeating. There is no "going over" so to speak. It isn't an either/or proposition. Given that the E classes can just fit right into an existing campaign like any other new class could I don't really see how it would be possible to "switch in mid stream".

As far as I'm concerned if a player wanders in with an Essentials character sheet and wants to play the character then it will be treated no different than if someone brings any other character to the table. I know all the rules I need to know to run the game, beyond that it is a non-issue.

As far as core rules go we've pretty much always kept up with the errata here. Honestly it has only impacted a character maybe twice in the whole game and only slightly. Some of the RC level rules patch has SOME very modest implications. In theory we decided to use the new item rarity system. I think the players really wanted it mostly because it lets them use their daily item powers more often, lol. It will amuse me to send them off to the ends of the Erth to find ingredients for their next item they want to craft, but that will be fun for all.

So I guess you could say we're "using" Essentials. In a way. For established games the whole thing is kind of a tempest in a teacup. There is no 'conversion', you just keep playing exactly the same as you have been for the last 3 years...

 

[Obryn]

I've noticed all the Essentials threads on here and I am wondering how many of us are still playing ordinary 4th Ed with no intention of going over.

I don't, and no one in my group does. We came to 4E from SW saga, a natural step. We've also invested quite a bit of time and $$$$ in 4E, and see no reason not to continue with things as they are. And we're also in the middle of a big campaign, why change horses midstream?

4E is not something we are completely satisfied with, particularly those of us who have played older editions, so all these changes seem a little...much.

First, I have to ask for some clarification - what do you mean by "going over" to Essentials? I'm honestly confused by the terminology, given what's actually in the Essentials books.

We're using the options from the books, but it's seriously not a different game. Am I "going over" to Essentials? Really doesn't feel like it.

I'm running Dark Sun 4e, and at last count, two of my 6 players are using Essentials versions of classes. (I had an Executioner Assassin in the game, too, but he's a flake.) They work seamlessly alongside "normal" 4e characters. Some of the non-Essentials classes are taking Essentials feats, and vice-versa.

There' no way I'd run Essentials-only, but the newer Essentials classes work entirely seamlessly in a game with traditional 4e classes.

Edited to add:

4E is not something we are completely satisfied with, particularly those of us who have played older editions, so all these changes seem a little...much.

If your table hasn't taken a look at the Essentials classes at all, you might enjoy taking a look, given that you're coming from older editions. Really, Essentials classes hew a lot closer to 3e (or even AD&D) classes. And trust me as someone who's doing it - they work seamlessly alongside everyone else and can slide right into an existing campaign.

-O

 

[Mengu]

Essentials is just an addition, not a switch. Are my players able to pick up feats from Essentials? Sure. Are they going to be ditching their characters and playing essentials classes and races only? No way. Am I going to allow a player to retrain racial stat bonus or racial abilities based on Essentials stuff? Sure. Is my Fighter player likely to switch a Slayer? No more than he's likely to switch to a Barbarian (so, no he won't). If a new player wants to play a Warpriest will I let him? Sure just like I let a player come in with a Sorcerer after PHB2 was released.

As far as I'm concerned, essentials is sort of a combination book of PHB4, and MP3, AP2, DP2. It has new classes (I consider Slayer, Knight, Thief to be classes), allows some old options to be used with these new classes, provides new options for old classes, provides new build options for the Wizard, and has the Warpriest straddling that thin line between new class and new build.

For my game (and my fellow DM's games), Essentials is not a replacement to anything. It's an addition.

 

[the Jester]

I do not agree in any way with this.

Essentials is a far bigger change than Martial power was.

Essentials doesn't change much, it just adds stuff.

Obviously there are those that disagree, but since you can play a PH fighter alongside a knight just fine, I think they are wrong.

 

[blalien]

A few of my players are using feats and such from Essentials. I don't see how anybody who regularly plays 4e would have any incentive to switch to an Essentials class.

 

[Mengu]

Essentials doesn't change much, it just adds stuff.

Well... technically Essentials does change quite a few things. Many wizard powers now do half damage on a miss, rogues can sneak attack once per turn instead of round, melee training got changed, weapon focus got split into weapon and implement focus, two weapon fighting got an update, rapier became military weapon, item rarity was introduced, etc. Some are good changes some are dubious. But this is no different than errata (or updates, or whatever you want to call it). And if you were playing with updates before, there is no reason to ignore the updates in Essentials.

Having said that, most of Essentials is new material and as such, additions.

 

[Aegeri]

All of those things are parts that rumours were saying were going to be errata. In fact, well before essentials there was rampant speculation that races would pick up stat choices like the Changeling in Eberron. So if you were looking at the rumor mill at Wizards most of those "Changes" were called out as things Wizards were planning on changing/errataing anyway. Essentials is really a way of publishing those updates in one place.

Without essentials I am convinced they would have done it anyway.

 

[darkwing]

I've noticed all the PHB2 threads on here and I am wondering how many of us are still playing ordinary PHB1 with no intention of going over.

I don't, and no one in my group does. We came to PHB1 from World of Warcraft, a natural step. We've also invested quite a bit of time and $$$$ in PHB1, and see no reason not to continue with things as they are. And we're also in the middle of a big campaign, why change horses midstream?