WotC_Rodney: Trap Fun!

[Donovan Morningfire]

Why do I have this image of Rodney at some point doing a bad impression of Admiral Ackbar shouting "It's a trap!"

especially in light of him wanting to give Mon Cals in Saga Edition a racial ability of the same name

 

[catsclaw]

There's really nothing 4e-specific in there, but it reminds me of the way we used to design dungeons way back when. The trip and bull rush maneuvers in 3e can do what the rogue in this scenario did.

Trip wouldn't, since you can't make the defender move any squares with it. And with Bull Rush, the rogue already starts at a -4 disadvantage for size (and probably more like -8, assuming a bar-lgura has 4 legs). Throw in the likely strength difference, and Bull Rush is less and less attractive.

 

[Adso]

to me it read like she "struck" the creature

She did.

The rogue in question—an elf named Nayalil, played by my friend Lisa—did make an attack called a tornado strike to pull off this particular exploit. It also helped that she won initiative against the barlgura.

Here is a picture of the table after the exploit's effect

Picture of Block Crushing Demon

Nayalil is the white-haired woman in the red dress in the upper right hand corner, the barlgura is the poor unfortunate under the block (mostly you just see his base).

 

[Lord Zack]

This sounds cool and makes me really happy, but I still have one concern. And that is whether or not you'll be able to do certain maneuvers with out actually having a power. Like will you be able to grapple, push or trip some one without a class feature? It doesn't take that much training to be able to grab some one or trip them.

 

[Simm]

Having looked at the picture, that is a crazy impressive gaming rig.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

This sounds cool and makes me really happy, but I still have one concern. And that is whether or not you'll be able to do certain maneuvers with out actually having a power. Like will you be able to grapple, push or trip some one without a class feature? It doesn't take that much training to be able to grab some one or trip them.

I think it was confirmed in that thread about a monster's "Human Shield" ability that basic grappling rules WILL be in the PHB, but advanced grappling powers and such won't.

I'm guessing grapple, trip, charge and bull rush will remain "core" combat options, but they may be supplemented or replaced by powers. (So the fighter might have an Avalanche Charge encounter ability that's way better than the standard charge action, but the latter should still be around for non-specialists.)

 

[Novem5er]

In the photo, I love the black mat underneath the dungeon tiles! It really make the tiles stand out and give the feeling of solid walls around all the rooms.

I actually had the same idea and recently bought some black vinyl, which makes the caverns of the Underdark tiles look great. My only complaint about the vinyl is that it's a little shiny, and I would have preferred something really flat that absorbed ambient light.

Great game report, though, and I can't wait to try 4e combat.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Mixing old school with 4E to catch us old school gamers off guard. A cunning trap.

I'm in with those wanting to know if the rogue did this under core rules or if it was done using the source book rules being tested.

 

[jasonbostwick]

I just noticed the packs of coloured sticker dots in the picture above.
A few are stuck on some of the grid squares, that's a good way to track persistent effects!
I'm not sure if that is all they're being used for, but they'd be great for tracking uses of per encounter and per day abilities as well. I'll have to go pick some up at the dollar store.

 

[Adso]

Mixing old school with 4E to catch us old school gamers off guard. A cunning trap.

That's just how I roll, baby.

I'm in with those wanting to know if the rogue did this under core rules or if it was done using the source book rules being tested.

Player's Handbook.