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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
What was the big difference between 4e and "essentials"?
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<blockquote data-quote="masteraleph" data-source="post: 7451947" data-attributes="member: 6694750"><p>You're correct that none of the Essentials classes came with Ritual Caster as a default (they could, of course, take them).</p><p></p><p>We used them a lot in a home game, but that was partially because we had a Wizard who enjoyed being a Skill/Ritual monkey. Took the Cantrips to use Arcana in place of various skills, and Arcane Mutterings (level 2 skill power that does the same thing), Sage of Ages for his Epic Destiny, a zillion items for swapping in, and of course, tons of rituals. Phantom Steed got a lot of use, as did some of the area control rituals (IIRC we locked someone into a tower and getting them out would've required a level 40 enemy to do so), some of the information rituals were really good, etc. And of course, he had a catchphrase- "There's a ritual for that!"</p><p></p><p>Rituals shine, as MwaO noted above, when you are in Paragon or Epic, or even upper Heroic and the lower level ones cost trivial amounts. Phantom Steeds, at 70gp a pop, is trivial, especially when your default Arcana roll is over 40. Want to use Streetwise? Use Level 2's Seek Rumor. Want to walk through a wall? Passwall (at 1000gp per use, it's still expensive when you get it at level 12, but at level 22, when you should be getting upwards of 100000gp?) To be fair, though, it's not that different from previous editions and spell components- it's just that much of the time, players ignored spell components. How many 2e players carried around fur and the appropriate rod to cast Lightning Bolt, or compressed bat guano and sulphur for Fireball, let alone for any more esoteric spells?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="masteraleph, post: 7451947, member: 6694750"] You're correct that none of the Essentials classes came with Ritual Caster as a default (they could, of course, take them). We used them a lot in a home game, but that was partially because we had a Wizard who enjoyed being a Skill/Ritual monkey. Took the Cantrips to use Arcana in place of various skills, and Arcane Mutterings (level 2 skill power that does the same thing), Sage of Ages for his Epic Destiny, a zillion items for swapping in, and of course, tons of rituals. Phantom Steed got a lot of use, as did some of the area control rituals (IIRC we locked someone into a tower and getting them out would've required a level 40 enemy to do so), some of the information rituals were really good, etc. And of course, he had a catchphrase- "There's a ritual for that!" Rituals shine, as MwaO noted above, when you are in Paragon or Epic, or even upper Heroic and the lower level ones cost trivial amounts. Phantom Steeds, at 70gp a pop, is trivial, especially when your default Arcana roll is over 40. Want to use Streetwise? Use Level 2's Seek Rumor. Want to walk through a wall? Passwall (at 1000gp per use, it's still expensive when you get it at level 12, but at level 22, when you should be getting upwards of 100000gp?) To be fair, though, it's not that different from previous editions and spell components- it's just that much of the time, players ignored spell components. How many 2e players carried around fur and the appropriate rod to cast Lightning Bolt, or compressed bat guano and sulphur for Fireball, let alone for any more esoteric spells? [/QUOTE]
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What was the big difference between 4e and "essentials"?
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