So... what has changed?

But if you're playing in a game I'd recommend the Rules Compendium. It has all the rules needed to play (except Rituals) in one convenient smaller size. And there are a few tiny rules updates included in it, as the skill DCs have changed again (Making the easy DCs easier, and the hard DCs slightly harder), the only other change I've found that I can easily remember that characters charging with reach weapons can now end their charge adjacent, rather than one square away.

so i think i have done well in ordering this book in the internet. the Ritual rules i already have in the PHB,unless it have a update in it or stay the same?
 

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so i think i have done well in ordering this book in the internet. the Ritual rules i already have in the PHB,unless it have a update in it or stay the same?

Sadly, Essentials does not include the Ritual rules.

Which makes me wonder if we'll see them reprinted/updated in one of the Class Compendium articles. Two of the classes (Cleric and Wizard) have Ritual Caster, and if the articles are intended to be used by players brought in through Essentials, then they'll need to have the rules for rituals in order to fully benefit from the class.

Though, I think a better place to put them would be to make the Ritual Index article non-paywall (since it's primarily just a list with sources) and include them in there, so you have the ritual rules and a list of all the rituals to date in one place.
 

Rituals haven't changed. If you have the Player's Handbook 1, you have what you need.

It's true that the Essentials books don't mention rituals, and some people have interpreted that as meaning that rituals have been cut out of the game. They haven't. They're still there. They still work just fine. Enjoy your rituals!
 

It actually requires a Ritual to see the Rituals in the Essentials books. However, since nobody knows how to cast that Ritual, the Essentials Rituals remain invisible... for now.
 

So I went and bought the Rules Compendium and ordered the other two current Essentials books. Having glanced through them at the local bookstore they seem a little... lacking but if they're just additional "lightweight" options then it's okay as I still have my freedom from the other books without feeling like "I want to play a Cleric.. I have to be a Warpriest?".

As my DM and I were discussing, the entire Essentials line feels like a way to both clean up some rules and help bridge the gap of the rules for somebody who has just finished the new "Red Box" and wants to continue playing with their friends. Almost (not really but...) like the old "D&D" and "AD&D" of yore; you played D&D until you needed more rules and flexibility and then swapped to AD&D. That's nearly the same vibe I'm getting from this line - their assumption is you start with the Red Box, pick up the Essentials and use that for a while, and when one of your players wants to try something new for their character it's "Oh hey I can just pick up <splatbook> and it has that information"

My only minor concern is what are they doing about the miniature "requirement"? They cancelled the D&D Minis line, so how are you meant to get the figures? Do they plan on providing tokens or something for sale? I know the boardgames have a ton of minis (played Wrath of Ashardalon the other night, it was.. interesting) but how does Wizards plan to handle the whole grid/figure layout for 4e now?

I am genuinely curious to see what direction they go with this moving forward. I've heard that either the Essentials line is only going to be for 10 books or so and then stop, or that it's going to be the basis for everything else coming down the pipe. To be honest it doesn't sound too bad as of right now; I'd prefer more options but since it doesn't invalidate the stuff in the older books I'm okay with using those for the extra options.

Might be time to renew my DDI sub...
 
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1. The Red Box is not really the way anyone should start with 4e, in my opinion. I think it's more of a nostalgia hook. If you played D&D 25 years ago as a kid and see the Red Box in Target, you might pick it up to play with your kids. The fact that certain things change as you go from the Red Box to "real" 4e (either Players Handbook or Heroes of the... books) makes it a bumpy on-ramp.

2. Yes, WotC is moving toward flat tokens for monsters. They included tokens in the Red Box, the DM Kit and the Monster Vault, and I expect they will do the same for the Nentir Vale Monster Vault and other boxed sets. Also, the secondary market for minis is still out there.

3. Essentials as a product line is complete now. It's ten PRODUCTS, not ten BOOKS. The only official Essentials books (please, let's not rehash Heroes of Shadow) are Heroes of the Fallen Lands, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, Rules Compendium, DM Kit and Monster Vault. The other five products are the Red Box, a set of dice, and three Dungeon Tile sets (see here for a good run-down).
 

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