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xiw posted:Out of the list of monster sources in the compendium, which ones have post-MM3 / good math? Really though, the math might have been fixed, but monster design wasn't fixed until mv.
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Jul 20, 2014 04:40
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Yeah, post-MM3 is fine for minions, standards and elites, but if you want solos that are threatening... solo... MV:Nentir Vale starts getting scary. Check out Kalastryx.
thespaceinvader fucked around with this message at 13:07 on Jul 20, 2014 |
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Jul 20, 2014 08:24
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I think Monster Vault and Dungeon Delve were my favourite books 4e produced. I wish they'd done Dungeon Delve with the monsters from Monster Vault though.
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Jul 20, 2014 12:41
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A super duper very important change to MV solos was the way they dealt with action denial effects like Daze and Stun. For example, the dragons would get some extra form of attack, like a rampage or a triple bite or whatever, on their normal Initiative+10. However, if the monster couldn't take actions, it would skip the special move and end the disabling effect instead. So disabling attacks were still super good against solo monsters, because holy crap the dragon didn't shoot lightning at the whole party this round, but they also weren't game enders, because they usually lasted one round and even if you chained them, the dragon could still bite and claw your rear end, even if it didn't get its most awesome attacks off.
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Jul 20, 2014 13:35
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So like, imagine if you had some effect that did different things depending on whether you were fighting "a hundred low-level scrubs" or "the boss's right hand man" like you're playing in an "Enter the Dragon" campaign. D&D just started to do the barest inkling of that...
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Jul 20, 2014 13:55
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J. Alfred Prufrock posted:So like, imagine if you had some effect that did different things depending on whether you were fighting "a hundred low-level scrubs" or "the boss's right hand man" like you're playing in an "Enter the Dragon" campaign. So you'd have something like "Stunning blow - kills minions, stuns normal enemies, dazes elites, removes one action this turn from solos" kinda thing? That's probably a pretty good idea, at least that way when a player has a power that says it stuns enemies for a round and uses it on the dragon, he doesn't call bullshit when the dragon merely loses one of his many attacks that round instead of being stunned like his power card said it would.
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Jul 20, 2014 14:01
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Minion rules own, as both player and GM. As player, it's awesome to cut down armies of dudes, while the defender picks off the strongest guys. As GM, it's awesome to throw wave after wave after wave of punks at your friends, and just when they get bored... throw out a badass or two. Gort posted:So you'd have something like "Stunning blow - kills minions, stuns normal enemies, dazes elites, removes one action this turn from solos" kinda thing? This exactly. Limit the number of moves, but have the same basic things happen while still scaling, and <still making a move>. J. Alfred Prufrock fucked around with this message at 14:52 on Jul 20, 2014 |
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Jul 20, 2014 14:23
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So I'd just like to give another shout-out to the Zeitgeist adventure path. We're part way through the 3rd adventure, and while leveling is a bit rapid (seriously, every 2-3 sessions or so), it's amazingly fun. Where was stuff this good in 2009?
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Jul 22, 2014 17:49
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Question regarding psionic classes. I remember way back when they came out every psionic class but Monk was sort of busted because the power point system was cludgy and had problems so people were proposing solutions. Was a solid fix ever agreed upon or am I imagining this and they actually work fine?
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Jul 26, 2014 04:47
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I think the important thing is finding some way to get your Power Points back as an encounter power. Two good feats for it off the top of my head were Psyforged, and Psionic Vampire.
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Jul 26, 2014 04:49
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RagnarokAngel posted:Question regarding psionic classes. I remember way back when they came out every psionic class but Monk was sort of busted because the power point system was cludgy and had problems so people were proposing solutions. Was a solid fix ever agreed upon or am I imagining this and they actually work fine? Psionics over-rely on certain at-wills, power points really aren't their problem. As in, psions spam dishearten, battleminds spam Lightning Rush/Brutal Barrage, etc. Not because they have to, but because most of their dailies and other at-will options are not very good by comparison. Name Change fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Jul 26, 2014 |
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Jul 26, 2014 04:50
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I wanna give my characters a tribal feat as a reward in a a Dark Sun Campaign. How gently caress stupid am I?
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Jul 26, 2014 08:56
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Yeah, most of the Psionics problems were a: that later powers didn't actually get BETTER than earlier powers at all, and when they did, not by much, coupled to b: a mechanic that let you spam single powers rather than using a variety. One fix is to require, rather than have the option, of replacing low-level powers, but it's kludgy when the higher-level ones are worse. The problem with them is that when you get to mid-paragon, let alone epic, the amount of PPs you have increases, theoretically to allow you to use higher-level powers. In practice, what it allows you to do is use your heroic tier powers more times at higher augments.
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Jul 26, 2014 08:58
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PP-using powers should've been per-encounter powers. Like, you know how psionic paragon paths give you an encounter power that gets better if you spend PP on it the one time you use it? All of them should've been like that.
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Jul 26, 2014 09:24
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As long as there's some way to use the PPs when you're out of powers. What it probably ought to have been was a metamagic type thing - a set of things you can choose to do with PPs (add targets, exclude/include squares in area powers, change riders from statis to stat-based etc), and a normal set of weaker-than-usual powers which you enhance with your PPs.
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Jul 26, 2014 10:47
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Herr Tog posted:I wanna give my characters a tribal feat as a reward in a a Dark Sun Campaign. How gently caress stupid am I? Tribal feats are neat but hardly game breaking (or game affecting, really). It's a nice little bonus but I wouldn't make it their only reward.
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Jul 26, 2014 11:44
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Maybe compare the tribal feat's benefit to a boon or other non-treasure reward and balance it according to that?
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Jul 26, 2014 11:55
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RagnarokAngel posted:Question regarding psionic classes. I remember way back when they came out every psionic class but Monk was sort of busted because the power point system was cludgy and had problems so people were proposing solutions. Was a solid fix ever agreed upon or am I imagining this and they actually work fine?
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Jul 26, 2014 14:35
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AXE COP posted:Tribal feats are neat but hardly game breaking (or game affecting, really). It's a nice little bonus but I wouldn't make it their only reward. Thank you for the input. I interned it to be on top of them getting an important position in an organization.
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Jul 27, 2014 09:21
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So is there anyway to get reach on a dagger? I'm playing a weird-rear end sorcerer defender with Sorcerer Blade Channeling at its core so I'm wondering if there's a way I can expand my attacking range.
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Jul 30, 2014 16:07
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The only trick I can think of for expanding reach permanently on any weapon is the Arena Fighter/Staff Expertise combo. But then you'd have to hybrid Fighter.
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Jul 30, 2014 16:53
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AXE COP posted:The only trick I can think of for expanding reach permanently on any weapon is the Arena Fighter/Staff Expertise combo. But then you'd have to hybrid Fighter. On top of permanent ones, there are also powers in other classes that extend the reach of melee attacks. Fighters have Lunging Strike and Full Extension. The Misshapen theme has Altered Extremity. You get the idea.
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Jul 30, 2014 17:04
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djw175 posted:So is there anyway to get reach on a dagger? I'm playing a weird-rear end sorcerer defender with Sorcerer Blade Channeling at its core so I'm wondering if there's a way I can expand my attacking range. You do know you don't HAVE to use SBC, right? You can just use the powers as ranged attacks with the dagger as an implement if you want.
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Jul 30, 2014 19:03
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It's more that I'm the defender of the party so I'm in melee a bunch.
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Jul 30, 2014 20:43
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Staff Expertise, dude. And as a sorc, you're not going to be an effective defender. And being in melee is good for a sorc, Flame Spiral away merrily.
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Jul 30, 2014 20:52
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AXE COP posted:Tribal feats are neat but hardly game breaking (or game affecting, really). It's a nice little bonus but I wouldn't make it their only reward. The players seem excited by it, so it must of went well! Thank you~!
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Jul 30, 2014 22:48
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New DM here, looking for a spot of advice. I'm relatively new to the SA forums and didn't think to look for a 4e thread until today, but I've convinced some friends to rolls up characters for a game and I'd like to tap into the hive mind. I've never DMed before, but I've always thought I'd be good at it. I've played a smattering of tabletop RPGs (2e in high school, a few weeks of 3.5, a night's worth of 4e, some Hunter Hunted) but never been involved in a long, engaging adventure for any real amount of time. My group is small, (me, my gf, and another couple) and I'm far and away the most passionate about games. The last game we played (Hunter Hunted) was GMed by the other guy in our group and fell apart when we were scouring a town for clues over a few sessions. It never really got off the ground, and I'm taking that into consideration. ANYWAY, I've never been a DM, and I'm writing our campaign/adventure rather than going out of a book. I own the three core books, but none of the essentials. Because there's only 3 PCs, I'm planning on having NPCs that cycle in and out of the party to allow for more dynamic encounters. The players are rolling characters this Sunday, but it looks like they'll play as a Fighter, Warlord and Wizard, which gives me the striker classes to play with. Because our last game dried up when we spent too much time looking for quest hooks, or details held by individuals that the characters weren't aware of, I'm starting the campaign with a quick dungeon crawl and worry about building towns and side quests later. These are my questions and concerns: Do any red flags pop up when I say I'm running an NPC or ally alongside the characters? I read up on them in the DM guide, and but I don't want characters to think that I'm going to play favorites with the character I'm running. I tried making encounters with a 300 xp balance (for level 1s), but everything seemed to be [Bat, Goblin Blackblade, 3 Giant Rats] which seemed too light. All the NPCs I'll create will have large weaknesses (like being a one-armed rogue) to keep the players feeling powerful. I've always prided myself on my creativity, but I'm not sure how to work in character's abilities in my opening dungeon crawl. There are some things I think are obvious (Dungeoneering, Athletics, Arcana, Perception) but since everyone's a newbie I want to give every character a chance to excel. It's an abandoned fortress that goes in one side of a hill and comes out the other. More or less straight, lots of rubble and broken machinery, a cavern of to the side showing evidence of an invasion. Any ideas on things that players could find that might challenge their lesser used skills, at least until they get to a populated area and my companion can start trying to sell her drugs. Any other general advice for a fledgling DM? I want this to work, and I believe I have my player's faith. In time I'll look into buying more books, but I don't see a reason when I have pages of untested information in the books I have. I'm also going to read the other n-2 pages of this thread that I skipped over, since that's part of benefiting from a hive mind. Uh, thanks for reading?
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Aug 1, 2014 19:35
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On DMs running PCs, generally: don't. Build a companion character (or just an Essentials SLayer) and let them run it if they need it. but with that party, they probably don't. Best advice would be get the rules compendium, get a DDI subscription, don't use monsters from MM1 and MM2. And don't sweat them only having a 3-man party, just build your encounters with it in mind.
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Aug 1, 2014 19:45
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LawfulWaffle posted:
I was in the same boat about 4 months ago, never GM'd before, decided to write my own campaign, and had an inexperienced (to 4th ed) group. Since starting up I've been able to get my players up to level 5, keep the campaign moving forward and everyone's having a great time. Here's some advice from one inexperienced GM to another: If I could do it over again, I'd probably just go with pre-made adventures. I'm spending way more time writing than I anticipated and sometimes it's tough to have things ready for the next session. The DnD insider online tools are a lifesaver and well worth the money. The character builder makes sure that all of the stats are calculated properly and really helps everyone learn the game. The downside is the number of choices can be a bit overwhelming especially when it comes to feats, doing extra homework and giving your players guidance helps with this. The adventure tool really helps in finding appropriate monsters for fights. Speaking of monsters, re-skin everything! You are almost never going to find the perfect monster but if you find one with stats and abilities that you like just make it look like whatever you want. I haven't used NPC's very often but you might want to let the party fight without one in the beginning just so they learn how to complement each other and you learn their strengths and weaknesses. If you follow the guidelines for encounter creation you should be fine with 3 players even if they're missing a role. Good luck! Remember that whatever happens try to keep it fun and roll with the punches even if it isn't in the rule book.
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Aug 1, 2014 20:14
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thespaceinvader posted:On DMs running PCs, generally: don't. Build a companion character (or just an Essentials SLayer) and let them run it if they need it. but with that party, they probably don't. Knucklebear posted:If I could do it over again, I'd probably just go with pre-made adventures. I'm spending way more time writing than I anticipated and sometimes it's tough to have things ready for the next session. Thank you for the quick replies! Looking through the D&DI page now, despite seeing it on literally every other D&D thread. I was put off by the subscription, but I can stomach a $10 to try it for a month. That compendium looks sexy as hell. Did they apply the MM3 math to the previous (MM1 and MM2) creatures? I'm not very concerned about it (I will call this an unmitigated success if we last through three sessions) but it'd be nice to know if I should suspect varying formulas if I pull from the different manuals.
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Aug 1, 2014 20:36
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LawfulWaffle posted:Thank you for the quick replies! Unfortunately not, the monsters (to my knowledge) are completely as-they-appeared from the sources they appeared in. Of course, the tools let you tweak to your heart's content, so there's that. But it's always easy to just refluff monsters as entirely different monsters with the same theme, so there's nothing stopping you from using only MM3 and on monsters.
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Aug 1, 2014 20:42
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They kinda-sorta recreated most of the MM1 monsters in Monster Vault, though. Like, if you need a skirmisher for your Kobold lair, MM1 has a literal Kobold Skirmisher in it, but you'd probably be better off with using Kobold Quickblade, another 1st level skirmisher with updated math.
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Aug 1, 2014 20:51
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Darwinism posted:Unfortunately not, the monsters (to my knowledge) are completely as-they-appeared from the sources they appeared in. Of course, the tools let you tweak to your heart's content, so there's that. I don't have an active subscription right now (who has time for elfgames during summer), but I remember running the numbers on MM1 monsters on the online compendium, and coming up with the updated math. I could be wrong though. Knucklebear posted:Speaking of monsters, re-skin everything! I'd say reskin Solos mostly. A solo monster is an encounter by itself, so it's worth the time to find the one with the mechanics you'd like for the fight and reskin it. Normal monsters go down too fast to really matter of you pick one or the other, but you can still reskin if you think you found a really fun one whose fluff doesn't fit thematically with the adventure. I would also never reskin demihuman enemies because they usually come with a signature racial ability (kobolds' swift shift, orcs' death throes strike, etc) that really enhances the fluff because they are consistent between different enemies.
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Aug 1, 2014 21:15
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A solo monster is not an encounter in itself, usually (some of the later ones work that way) - they really do need some support or a skill challenge around them, or they get locked down then beat down. Less so with a 3p party maybe. Check out livingforgottenrealms.com for all of your premade adventure needs. The CALI3-x series and the various WATE series are particularly good.
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Aug 1, 2014 21:43
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Today I reskinned a hydra into a four-armed four-sword-wielding warforged, General Grievous style. Worked pretty well. And yeah, don't try and run a companion PC as a DM. If you must have something tag along, use a monster of the appropriate level and flavour.
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Aug 3, 2014 23:29
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If you're doing companion PCs, make a Companion Character from DMG2 and give it to the players to run. I wouldn't use a monster; their abilities are balanced around single-encounter lifespans, so their encounter abilities are daily-level in strength.
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Aug 3, 2014 23:36
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thespaceinvader posted:If you're doing companion PCs, make a Companion Character from DMG2 and give it to the players to run. Eh, add a standard monster to the usual encounters and pow, balanced. Most standard monsters only have one encounter power, if any at all, anyway. And a character using a single daily per encounter will hardly break the game, most of my players use several.
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Aug 3, 2014 23:43
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I've been pondering trying to homebrew an idea I've had stewing for a while. A chronomancer class inspired by the Tales of Maj'Eyal Paradox Mage. Manipulate time, build up paradox, watch as the timestream bends and buckles under your unrelenting abuse, resulting in anomalies. Is there any good tool out there for formatting a 4E class write-up or am I basically on my own as far as formatting goes?
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Aug 3, 2014 23:45
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Pretty much on your own I'm afraid.
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Aug 3, 2014 23:48
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Littlefinger posted:They kinda-sorta recreated most of the MM1 monsters in Monster Vault, though. Like, if you need a skirmisher for your Kobold lair, MM1 has a literal Kobold Skirmisher in it, but you'd probably be better off with using Kobold Quickblade, another 1st level skirmisher with updated math. There were also a bunch of MM1 monsters that were recreated in "Monster Manual Update" articles in later issues of Dragon/Dungeon.
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Aug 4, 2014 00:08
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