D&D 4E Star Wars Saga Edition as preview of 4e?

[Plane Sailing]

It is if 4e replacesfixes per day design.

Exactly. A magic system that had per-encounter balancing of spell use would fit in so much better with all the magic users in stories that I've ever read* than the vancian system.


*I've not read Jack Vance or any D&D inspired novels, obviously!

Cheers

 

[Plane Sailing]

BTW, Moridin - I get a database error reported every time I try to visit the website in your signature... anything serious?

 

[blargney the second]

Cool, I really like the look of the new force system. That looks like some solid design decision-making.
-blarg

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Exactly. A magic system that had per-encounter balancing of spell use would fit in so much better with all the magic users in stories that I've ever read* than the vancian system.


*I've not read Jack Vance or any D&D inspired novels, obviously!

Cheers

Actually, quite a few of the D&D inspired novels seem to work that way, too, if they delve into it at all; at least back when I read a lot of them, they generally weren't very good at following the letter or even the spirit of the rules.

Anyway, I much prefer per encounter from both game and genre emulation standpoints.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Well, this particular preview I don't see as being particularly relevent to any putitive 4e of D&D...

I've been reading these previews with an eye toward what I could nab for my current game, and as I read through this one I was thinking of how easy it would be to replace the current Bardic Music mechanics with a "Song Suite" system.

 

[SteveC]

Unless I miss my guess, it looks like iterative attacks have also been removed. I imagine that rapid shot or mighty swing cause extra damage but cost a full round action to perform.

Interesting.

--Steve

 

[Felon]

It struck me more as Bo9S maneuvers with being able to get them back after resting.

Yep, that was my first impression too.

 

[Felon]

Seems mighty swing and rapid shot have the same mechanic. Instead of extra attacks or just raw damage, you gain a +1d8 damage for a -2 to attack.

The bonus damage probably isn't fixed at +1d8, but rather like D20 Modern, you get an extra die of whatever type you would normally use for your attack. Couldn't see any attack penalty at work for either Mighty Swing or Rapid Shot.

Human apparantely get a bonus feat or trained skill, heck maybe both.

Death Star Boy got both. Han didn't have the human supercript, but he sure had lots of skills and feats. Oddly, though, his Pilot skill was a little low (14).

Dig that crazy jedi. He's got two--coun'tem--two skills. Initiative and Use the Force. That's it.

I like the basics of the use the force skill. Basically it lets force users do the things that all force users seem to do, without affecting the game too much that nonforce users feel left out. The only one I'd be a little skeptical of is the one that lets you determine if an action is bad or not. That could be a little bit strong since you can do it at such a low level.

Let's see, the DC is 15, and you get +5 right off the top just for having the skill, and you can take 10. Hmm...actually that holds true for most of the Use the Force tricks.

 

[Sammael]

Actually, I can see how Spellcraft can work in a manner similar to Use The Force, replacing the need for 0-level spells (which would be pure applications of Spellcraft), and also somehow folding the [Reserve] feats into it as well (as trained-only uses?). It needs work, but I think it could be interesting.

 

[Dark Psion]

Jensaarai Defender has Senses: Perception+5, but no Perception +5 in Skills.

Deathstar Trooper and Han Solo have the same Perception bonus in Senses and in Skills.

Otherwise the question of how you get skill training needs to be answered. Han Solo is a 9th level character with 7 trained skills (1 bonus) but Jensaarai Defender is an 8th level character with only 2 (or 3 if Perception should be there).

I was thinking from a 4E point of view, you could make Profession a feat that give you 2-4 trained skills (dependng on how they are handed out).

Also, the +2 skill bonus feats could easily be reworked to work with re-rolling.

Alertness: If you fail a Perception check, you may re-roll substituing your Wisdom bonus for your Intelligence bonus.
(Or in other words, you failed your Search check, now roll a Spot check)