What I absolutely love about 4th edition thus far

[Wolfspider]

Ash, from the Evil Dead movies.

 

[PrecociousApprentice]

I'm calling shenanigans (sp?) on Ash. That dude was too cool. The first movies only sorta count because they sucked. Then they rehashed it and it sucked again. Only when they rehashed it the last time, and really came to terms with the ultimate suckitude of the first two, did they not suck. Then, the dawning of a new age began, and the greatest movie ever filmed was created. In Army of Darkness Ash was the greatest hero of all time. Anyone that can take some random crap, some losers, and a chemistry book, and turn it into an undead legion killing army is not an everyman in any sense of the word. And like I said, I am arbitrarily deciding that the first two don't count because they sucked hard.

But the fit with the Hero with a Thousand Faces is rather good. Do you think that Campbell was actually talking about Ash the whole time? I have a new pet conspiracy theory.

 

[Fobok]

Even in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, a fantasy touted my many as more 'down to earth', has very few characters who stayed normal. Started out? Sure. And while I can see emulating it as giving a reason to come up with level 0 rules, everybody does pretty amazing things before long.

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

Even in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, a fantasy touted my many as more 'down to earth', has very few characters who stayed normal. Started out? Sure. And while I can see emulating it as giving a reason to come up with level 0 rules, everybody does pretty amazing things before long.

I can pretty much imagine Arya Stark as a 5-7 level 4th edition rogue... and she's still only a pre-teen... And you can practically see Jon Snow "level up" during his chapters...

However, any Song of Ice and Fire game should have rules for mid-to-large battles in it*


* Disclaimer: I never got to see the official D20 version, by Guardians of Order

 

[Gargoyle]

I'm calling shenanigans (sp?) on Ash. That dude was too cool. The first movies only sorta count because they sucked. Then they rehashed it and it sucked again. Only when they rehashed it the last time, and really came to terms with the ultimate suckitude of the first two, did they not suck.

Blashemy!

I named my firstborn Ash after the Evil Dead movies.

And I'm not joking.

Then, the dawning of a new age began, and the greatest movie ever filmed was created. In Army of Darkness Ash was the greatest hero of all time. Anyone that can take some random crap, some losers, and a chemistry book, and turn it into an undead legion killing army is not an everyman in any sense of the word. And like I said, I am arbitrarily deciding that the first two don't count because they sucked hard.

But the fit with the Hero with a Thousand Faces is rather good. Do you think that Campbell was actually talking about Ash the whole time? I have a new pet conspiracy theory.

But see, without Evil Dead I and II, Army of Darkness doesn't make sense. He had to go through all the crap in the first two to get to awesomness he was in the third. Now if they'd just make a fourth using the alternate ending as a start....

 

[Gargoyle]

Something I find really interesting about 4e is that hit points don't necessarily measure physical damage, they measure the resolve of the character to stay up on his feet and fighting. Actual physical damage occurs, but isn't really tracked anywhere. This means that someone at full hit points may have healing injuries but has as much staying power as someone uninjured. Someone at 1 hp may be gutted, but inspiration from the warlord forces him back to his feet to fight, even if his innards are dangling out a hole in his belly.

It's a big disconnect for me when compared to 3e, but I think I like it in actual play.

But hit points do still track physical damage too, in addition to all that other stuff. Thus: bloodied, and of course dying...HPs are more abstract than ever, and I think that's great.

I love it because it makes so many more descriptions of "damage" possible, you don't have to imagine numerous cuts and bruises and near decapitations, it's more fun to imagine the heroes just getting their "second wind" and coming back. Very cinematic.