The Character Builder and House Rules

[Garthanos]

Axing a few feats is easy (just tell the players not to select those feats), but it's tough to do this across the board.

I havent needed to but the campaign section allows you to toggle off feats or I could be having a senior moment ....

 

[Scribble]

I havent needed to but the campaign section allows you to toggle off feats or I could be having a senior moment ....

Yeah, you can go through and select individual feats/power/whatevers to allow or not allow in the campaign.

Then the DM sends this to the players and they can upload the campaign settings.

 

[Garthanos]

Just being able to include html notes would be nice...

 

[Bold or Stupid]

I just levelled a PC to 11 with a House Ruled PP. The Power I added has turned up a powercard. Basically a Utility card with the rules text I wrote.

 

[Garthanos]

What I really, really want is the ability to change fluff text/power names/class names but keep the same rules.
.

Oh abso posolutely and in spades!!!! to boot.
Not wierd at all... I would be shimmering.

 

[Garthanos]

Being able to "make it your own" and visualize it as you want is something pnp games really have over the online digital ones... (yes you are also free to make the adversaries act more intelligently too) but the game residing in our imagination is an empowerment that they need to support. If I am held back instead of enabled in this by there tool... well the tool and the game loses.

 

[Rel]

Being able to "make it your own" and visualize it as you want is something pnp games really have over the online digital ones... (yes you are also free to make the adversaries act more intelligently too) but the game residing in our imagination is an empowerment that they need to support. If I am held back instead of enabled in this by there tool... well the tool and the game loses.

Well I don't disagree with your assertions about what PnP games have over computer games. But if the tool isn't helping you get the job done then just don't use it. I think that the Character Builder is a great piece of software if you're playing a RAW version of 4e. And it's working perfectly well for my heavily houseruled version too because of the particular nature of my house rules not really coming into conflict with the CB. But were that not the case I would simply not use the CB and just make the character sheets by hand.

I guess I'm saying I don't see how the CB can be judged to be a hindrance to a good game. It either helps or you don't use it.

 

[Garmorn]

Well I don't disagree with your assertions about what PnP games have over computer games. But if the tool isn't helping you get the job done then just don't use it. I think that the Character Builder is a great piece of software if you're playing a RAW version of 4e. And it's working perfectly well for my heavily houseruled version too because of the particular nature of my house rules not really coming into conflict with the CB. But were that not the case I would simply not use the CB and just make the character sheets by hand.

I guess I'm saying I don't see how the CB can be judged to be a hindrance to a good game. It either helps or you don't use it.

I think what he means is what I ran into during 3rd Edition. If the tool (program) did not help the game as the DM needed then the tool was discarded. Word of mouth advertising then hurt the tools sells. The game also suffered as the DM normally had to find a less optimal method of doing the same thing, costing time an effort that could have been spent else where.

 

[Garthanos]

I think what he means is what I ran into during 3rd Edition. If the tool (program) did not help the game as the DM needed then the tool was discarded. Word of mouth advertising then hurt the tools sells. The game also suffered as the DM normally had to find a less optimal method of doing the same thing, costing time an effort that could have been spent else where.

Yup... Advertising how D&D is better ... the tools have to support that feature in my case the emphasis is expressing my game world in terms of skinning and the power of imagination.. I barely have to change the hardware of game play at all and aside from storing my alternate text as deltas, and a reference to the original it isn't rocket science programming wise either.

 

[Voda Vosa]

I think we all agree that they should do it. It'll be good for everybody