|
Doctor Borris posted:This is a technical question about DnD Insider. I use it, and would like to know how to download compendium info to a local drive. Under the magazines there is an actual download button but I do not see anything like that under Compendium entries, additionally compendium entries seem to come one at a time like for monsters. Can someone help me here? It keeps getting mentioned as a thing to do. If you are using masterplan, there is a plugin that lets you do that (though only for the same computer). Wizard obviously doesn't want people to invalidate their online service by taking out the data.
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2014 11:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 12:53 |
|
|
Challenging my party with more and harder encounters went really well. We got through four combats last session and they're still good for a fifth, and finally used their item powers for once. They might even be good for a sixth fight after that, we'll see. Now, though, I need a way to challenge a fully rested party in one combat that keeps them from just steamrolling the thing, without making that combat much longer than a regular one. I'm thinking there could be a boss, he has an endless supply of minions (both monster type minions and regular monster lackeys), take down the boss and win the fight but all his dudes are in the way. But they're really good at taking down the boss. Or I come up with a boss that has two or three separate forms, or I just make it clear it's the final fight of the storyarc but there's no extended rest right after and make it just a normal encounter, I guess. Storywise, the boss is the grey eminence of the city who's set things up so he controls the city as well as the goblins and bandits outside, so they all funnel cash to him. Local revolutionaries have figured him out and want him gone so they can take the city in the confusion. e: I could also just give them only a partial extended rest before that fight, say everyone gets full HP, 1/4 of their total healing surges, and a choice between recovering their daily power or a further 1-2 surges. Just pulling numbers out of my rear end here. Not to open this can of worms again but man if the power economy leads to situations where I have to plan poo poo like that, per-encounter ressources really are the way to go. My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 10:37 on Jul 7, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 10:25
|
|
|
Okay, I got another question for the resident 4e experts! This time, it's about monsters. As I mentioned previously, I wanna have my next big campaign take place in a djungle setting: unexplored, insanely hostile forests with lots of diseases, lots of survival and lots of weird flora/fauna. The latter is especially important: I've come up with lots of critters and whatnot, some dangerous, some weird/cool, some benevolent. Because I'm a big huge nerd with a pen and too much free time, I've basically drawn many of these creatures, plants, fungi and whatnot: chimera-like critters that combine attributes from several real-life animals. There's a cockroach rat, man-faced dogs, cephalopod-elephants and others. Of course, the problem with these self-made creatures is that I have no idea which of the ten billion 4e monsters would be a good match. I can adjust numbers and add key abilities just fine, but if possible, I'd like to base them on well-designed existing monsters. Rather than searching all the books, I'd hoped I could get some pointers here on which beasties to pick! Here's some key creatures - maybe someone who knows the books has an idea or two what monster that could be. - A floating kraken that camouflages among the tree tops and drags up unsuspecting prey; - A zombie-disease transmitting monkey that controls the undead to catch more victims; - A hermit crab-like being that induces hallucinations and sloooooowly eats the zoned-out victims; - A giant herbivore with tentacles (the cephalopod-elephant), which waltzes through dense forests; - A fast-running mushroom that absorbs prey with fast-growing roots - it needs to run, or else its own roots anchor it to the ground; - A giant floating turtle that cuts down trees with its snapping jaws; - some kind of swarming moth that sets things on fire by engulfing them; - A huge flying snail with arms that hunts by manipulating nearby vines/trees; - and a big snake that camouflages as a tree, which possesses another, smaller snake as a tongue. I guess it wasn't a very smart move to come up with fantasy critters before finding a monster to base it on, but, well... Hope someone knows cool monsters to use that would fit to the rough concept! I really don't feel confident enough yet to come up with completely original monsters. CR doesn't matter that much, I can always change numbers. Any help / pointers to cool resources appreciated. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 14:08
|
|
|
My Lovely Horse posted:e: I could also just give them only a partial extended rest before that fight, say everyone gets full HP, 1/4 of their total healing surges, and a choice between recovering their daily power or a further 1-2 surges. Just pulling numbers out of my rear end here. Not to open this can of worms again but man if the power economy leads to situations where I have to plan poo poo like that, per-encounter ressources really are the way to go. IF you go this route, it's worth considering that 4 surges is by definition enough to bring a PC up from 0 to full health, and 2 surges is exactly their bloodied value. Thus, if I'm doing a "Limited Rest" scenario, it's something like: "Short Rest" => Spend up to two (2) Healing Surges OR regain up to two (2) Encounter Powers OR some combination of the two "Extended Rest" => Spend up to four (4) Healing Surges; Regain 2 (two) Healing Surges OR regain up to TWO (2) Daily Powers OR some combination of the two I like giving players two surges, because if a player is Bloodied then it's enough to make them not Bloodied but not quite full, and if they were not bloodied than it's still enough to let them top off.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 15:12
|
|
|
Torquemadras posted:- A floating kraken that camouflages among the tree tops and drags up unsuspecting prey; -Cave Fisher Angler, swap climb speed for fly speed -Adept of Orcus, maybe find something to replace the ranged attacks (or reskin them to zombie minion attacks) -Mind Flayer of some kind? They're pretty drat high level though, and have really nasty effects (stuns and dazes are mean) -Carrion Crawler Scuttler -Maybe an Adderbrood Dark Drake? Don't really know how to simulate the "must run" thing, but they don't take opportunity attacks from slowed people, so you could do that on your own without much issue. -Skinwing Behemoth -Stirge Suckerling Swarm, retype ongoing damage to fire (remember to fix Blood Frenzy too) -Cave Fisher Line Spiker? Angler would probably work here too -Cave Roper, set speed to 6
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 16:51
|
|
|
ImpactVector posted:Some ideas for you: Thanks a lot! Those monsters should do nicely. I'll probably beef up the Cave Fishers quite a lot, and the Carrion Crawler would do nicely with some trample damage as well... (Love that scuttling ability.) That's a great starting point.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 17:27
|
|
|
It's incredible the number of times I've reskinned a dragon to something else.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 17:47
|
|
|
Gort posted:It's incredible the number of times I've reskinned a dragon to something else.  Gamma World owns.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 17:54
|
|
|
Hey guys, could someone point me to something, official rules or not, for flying ship to ship combat? I can probably wing the rules myself but wanted to see if there was some precedence
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 19:00
|
|
|
crime fighting hog posted:Hey guys, could someone point me to something, official rules or not, for flying ship to ship combat? I can probably wing the rules myself but wanted to see if there was some precedence I'm using simpler versions in my Zeitgeist campaign.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 19:11
|
|
|
crime fighting hog posted:Hey guys, could someone point me to something, official rules or not, for flying ship to ship combat? I can probably wing the rules myself but wanted to see if there was some precedence Otherwise, have you played or do you have access to the new Star Wars RPGs by Fantasy Flight? Ship combat in that is kind of neat, and you could probably steal a few ideas from that.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 19:15
|
|
|
crime fighting hog posted:Hey guys, could someone point me to something, official rules or not, for flying ship to ship combat? I can probably wing the rules myself but wanted to see if there was some precedence There's vehicle rules in Adventurer's Vault. Never used them though, can't speak to their effectiveness. If you have ddi they're also in the compendium.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 20:44
|
|
|
Hubis posted:IF you go this route, it's worth considering that 4 surges is by definition enough to bring a PC up from 0 to full health, and 2 surges is exactly their bloodied value. Thus, if I'm doing a "Limited Rest" scenario, it's something like: I think I'll keep it simple though and make a gimmicky combat with infinite minions and a boss. It's the conclusion of the assassin's storyarc so I'll make the boss hard to reach except if you happen to have one particular skill set. They can still just steamroll it if they want but I'll drop hints that there are some extra XP to be had if they let the assassin have the spotlight.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 07:47
|
|
|
Oh man. I just skimmed the Monster Manuals / Vaults for some additional beasties, and what do I find? Instant death effects.  I thought those had been eliminated entirely - after all, it seems pretty hard to actually die otherwise, with the death saves and healing starting from 0 hp (assuming a merciful DM who doesn't attack unconscious people). But now I've found at least two monsters (mind flayers and undead beholders) that, after hitting you with a certain move, allow two failed saves before you're dead instantly. I've decided to put in a reskinned Mind Flayer as an extra-nasty roaming monster (with lousy perception to allow the PCs to avoid it at first), but one attack + two failed saves until death sounds a bit harsh.Am I coddling the players too much here, or is that still perfectly fine even in 4e? In 3e, I always avoided save-or-die / save-or-suck like the plague, because everybody hated those...
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 13:32
|
|
|
You gotta watch out for Mind Flayer Tormentors too. If they reduce you to 0 with their tentacle attack you die instantly because they just slurped your brain out through your ears. However they are level 20 and that's the point at which death is starting to become less and less of a severity. At 24 most epic destinies gain a form of immortality but even at 20 you should have a dozen ways to interrupt the attack or cast Raise Dead afterwards or whatever.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 13:42
|
|
|
They've got to hit first. Then you have to fail two saving throws, that's two whole rounds that pass. In those two rounds, you can try to escape a mind flayer's grab, your buddies can try and pull you out or push the mind flayer away, they can give you additional saving throws with a heal check (which, if it fails, doesn't count towards failed saving throws for that effect, remember), some of them are bound to be able to give you saving throw bonuses... Think about it less as an unfair punishment for bad luck that comes out of nowhere and more as introducing a situation where tension runs high quickly and everyone scrambles to get their buddy out of a really tight spot.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 13:44
|
|
|
Yeah, there's a vast difference between "You saw a bodak and died" and "You got poisoned and worst-case scenario you died of it three rounds later and there's a bunch of ways to get out of it". Anything that kills via grab is laughably easy to get out of - use any forced movement power on the enemy and the grab ends. Loads of classes get those at-will.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 16:33
|
|
|
The 4e save or die poo poo is pretty drat tame and rare compared to previous incarnations. Yes it can happen, but it also tends to be pretty clearly communicated and there are plenty of outs.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 16:55
|
|
|
S.J. posted:The 4e save or die poo poo is pretty drat tame and rare compared to previous incarnations. Yes it can happen, but it also tends to be pretty clearly communicated and there are plenty of outs. Also, they don't happen until mid-paragon tier at the earliest, in contrast to the save-or-suck effects that were in play from level 1 at earlier editions and literal save-or-dies that sprang up around level 7ish.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 17:08
|
|
|
And, as mentioned, Raise Dead is like a level 9 (?) ritual
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 17:45
|
|
|
Yeah, and if you have an Essentials Cleric in the party, starting at Level 8, once a day they can just point at a dead guy, say "BE ALIVE!" and they are alive again. For free.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 18:02
|
|
|
Gort posted:Anything that kills via grab is laughably easy to get out of - use any forced movement power on the enemy and the grab ends. Loads of classes get those at-will. True, I guess. Though the undead beholder I saw killed via ray vs. Reflex; it could use two rays as standard action and use a ray against anyone starting in reach, as any (or most) beholders could, so there's three countdowns to instant death already, worst case... It WAS CR16 or something, though, so I guess it's fine. I'll try to find a sweet balance between knocking dudes below 0 hp regularly and straight-out trying to murder players. Enjoy the roaming brain-eating critters, players. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 18:15
|
|
|
How can something be a "countdown to instant death"? You will die RIGHT NOW in ten minutes
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 18:21
|
|
|
Gort posted:How can something be a "countdown to instant death"? Bah! Stupid RPG terms, ruining my language. Fine, then, let's call it "countdown to maybe death"
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 18:35
|
|
|
I'd probably call it the "final countdown" but that's just me
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 18:56
|
|
|
Hit points are basically the most convoluted instant death mechanic ever.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:03
|
|
|
Dr Cheeto posted:I'd probably call it the "final countdown" but that's just me If you can kill them before the song finishes, you survive.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:04
|
|
|
Rexides posted:Hit points are basically the most convoluted instant death mechanic ever. Hit points are a great system and I prefer them to just about every alternate RPG health system I've ever seen. Just because D&D has danced around defining what they actually are doesn't make them bad, especially because the hit point conceit is incredibly common in gaming. What is actually happening when you lose hit points is entirely contextual and that's great. If only the entire system was as intuitive. The only point at which things get weird is when you go into negatives, which is a byproduct of several design goals. The DM has to be pretty determined, you have to be very unlucky, or you have to be very foolish before you actually die in 4E. In most cases, the skeleton warrior has to repeatedly stab you while you are helpless on the ground. Anyway, it's already been established by the fine minds of TG that hit points are luckmeat.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:14
|
|
|
Last weekend I entirely by accident reduced a PC to negatives so badly she was 1 HP away from actual death. It can happen faster than you think, and it reminded me that I still don't have a contingency. Of course, the beauty of 4E is that the leader could get her up and running again in the same turn.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:26
|
|
|
I was mind-controlled and crit the monk to -9 yesterday luckily to die in 4e you need to be reduced to -bloodied which even at level 3 is like -18 for her
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:28
|
|
|
My Lovely Horse posted:Last weekend I entirely by accident reduced a PC to negatives so badly she was 1 HP away from actual death. It can happen faster than you think, and it reminded me that I still don't have a contingency. Of course, the beauty of 4E is that the leader could get her up and running again in the same turn. Having ravenous monsters continue to gnaw at downed characters is a great way to force the players into doing something other than alpha-striking a single monster at a time and I highly recommend it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:29
|
|
|
Prism posted:If you can kill them before the song finishes, you survive. Actually kind of digging the idea of creating an IRL time limit for the players. I was thinking of a ticking-time-bomb kind of encounter where the party would encounter a group of terrorists and then have to deal with the bomb they set up. Adding a timer to that situation that isn't measured in rounds would really ratchet up the tension, I think!
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:33
|
|
|
Mind you when I say "entirely by accident" I mean more like "first a bunch of minions focused fire and brought her to low single digits and then a standard enemy sealed the deal" which now that I think about it, if you did want to kill a PC, sounds like the one thing that'll reliably do the trick. But that's why I like 4E, I can play monsters smartly and for keeps and almost always the PCs have a way to do a big comeback.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:34
|
|
|
I have accidentally murdered two rogues because the rogue jumps in to get the first big hit off before anyone else has moved, and then the monsters are able to flank, destroy, and also get a crit/roll max damage a couple of times because they are next up in initiative. Monks are also really good at getting clowned like this, especially because they want to head toward the biggest cluster of monsters. I don't generally have monsters gnaw/stab downed characters, even though I'm known as a hard DM.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:34
|
|
|
Do any of you regular DMs often fudge results? I feel like my job as a DM is to make the game exciting, without robbing the players of their characters' lives, unless they're particularly unlucky or careless. That's not to say I'm afraid to kill off a player, but I would want to engineer the situation rather than have them die to a lucky goblin or something. EDIT: That's not to say I won't fudge results the opposite direction, either. I sometimes make encounters more difficult because the players are getting too lucky. The idea is to have a sense of danger and tension, in my opinion, without making the players suspect you're going to save them. Pussy Snorkel fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Jul 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:39
|
|
|
Dr Cheeto posted:Actually kind of digging the idea of creating an IRL time limit for the players. I was thinking of a ticking-time-bomb kind of encounter where the party would encounter a group of terrorists and then have to deal with the bomb they set up. Adding a timer to that situation that isn't measured in rounds would really ratchet up the tension, I think! I don't like it because some people simply do not play or decide quite as quickly, but in-game they're moving at the same rates. (I also do my gaming online currently, and disconnects are occasionally a thing, plus I'm not nearly as good at placing templates in Maptools as half the party and thus do so slower.) It can work, I just personally don't like it. If I was to give them a RL time crunch, what I would do is give each person only so long to make their decision as to what to do or they spend a turn not doing much useful, rather than giving the group a maximum amount of RL time But even then I probably wouldn't; it punishes not having every rule memorized too much if you don't have time to check it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:39
|
|
|
Prism posted:I don't like it because some people simply do not play or decide quite as quickly, but in-game they're moving at the same rates. (I also do my gaming online currently, and disconnects are occasionally a thing, plus I'm not nearly as good at placing templates in Maptools as half the party and thus do so slower.) I would certainly not implement it in a game without players physically at the table, and I was thinking about just doing it for the "skill challenge" bit where the terrorists have been neutralized one way or the other and the party is sitting in front of the bomb. Skill challenges seem freeform enough to me for this to work. Maybe the timer goes up or down depending on how many rounds they spent beating on the terrorists.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:43
|
|
|
What a Judas posted:Do any of you regular DMs often fudge results? I feel like my job as a DM is to make the game exciting, without robbing the players of their characters' lives, unless they're particularly unlucky or careless. If the session has gone on and I've been rolling like a beast while the players have been doing everything right but getting their asses handed to them via bad rolls, I'll shave off some damage here or there to keep hope alive. That said, my players are pretty competent and making/playing strong characters so this wasn't very necessary. I think in my level 1-30 campaign we played over 3 years I only suffered 2 PC deaths and both were able to be resurrected right after they died.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:47
|
|
|
OneThousandMonkeys posted:Hit points are a great system and I prefer them to just about every alternate RPG health system I've ever seen. Just because D&D has danced around defining what they actually are doesn't make them bad, especially because the hit point conceit is incredibly common in gaming. What is actually happening when you lose hit points is entirely contextual and that's great. If only the entire system was as intuitive. I was joking, but if you want to see my take on an alternate HP system I am about to post a thing on the July Contest thread. What a Judas posted:Do any of you regular DMs often fudge results? All rolls in the open, no take backs  Which is something I believe you can do in 4E without having to worry about ending the campaign early.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:47
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 12:53 |
|
|
quote:All rolls in the open, no take backs Pretty much, and you get to listen to the entire table groan at a 20 or jeer at a 1.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 19:49
|
|