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For starting GM advice, has anyone mentioned Masterplan? It's a free piece of software that lets you design monsters, build encounters with them, and then handles a lot of the bookkeeping in the fight. When I was starting out GMing 4th Ed it was an absolute lifesaver to me. It's compatible with the Character Builder, so you can import your PCs from there. It used to be compatible with D&D Insider, too, so you could nab the statblocks of monsters from there. Sadly that got shut down due to  but you can still manually enter the statblocks yourself.
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Aug 5, 2014 09:35
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It's right there in the OP, along with a plugin that lets you import monsters. However, the library files you import them into are encoded and can only be loaded from the machine that did the import, so make sure to import them in all computers you are working with.
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Aug 5, 2014 10:05
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I want my party to hunt down some Gnoll cultists. any idea for the big bad boss of this gang of devil worshipers?
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Aug 5, 2014 10:35
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Herr Tog posted:I want my party to hunt down some Gnoll cultists. any idea for the big bad boss of this gang of devil worshipers?
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Aug 5, 2014 14:39
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I'm planning to give my party the choice between three temporary companions. Each of them should ideally add something unique to the party, but be easy to run because it's a six person party already (it's not supposed to be a permanent or obligatory thing at all). In the party, I've got a Battlemind, Bard (Virtue), Warlock (Fey) and Assassin as well as a bastardized Paladin who mostly acts as a secondary leader and an Invoker built towards striker. My companion choices are thematically a valiant knight, a idealistic murderer and an arrogant sorcerer. I'm thinking: Knight: Soldier (Leader), a front-line defender that can grant attacks, Warlord style Murderer: Artillery, the glass cannon, along the lines of a ranged rogue Sorcerer: Controller, probably closer to what a PC Wizard would be There's also an element of compatibility in balancing these, the way I'm envisioning these NPCs the party would probably clash least with the murderer (so he can be slightly less unique/useful) and most with the knight (so she can be slightly more). The sorcerer would add something they don't really have right now but is an utter dick. Option 4, no clash of personalities but little additional use, is to go it alone. Decent start?
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Aug 5, 2014 14:52
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I have a player (burly rogue) who wants a pair of Adamantium daggers, (he's a big comic nerd) so he asked me what they would do if they were made out of that. I can't remember but I think in 3.x they ignored an amount of hardness when attacking objects? I was thinking of just finding a magic weapon on character builder and reskinning it. Any flavor ideas though?
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Aug 5, 2014 18:00
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crime fighting hog posted:I have a player (burly rogue) who wants a pair of Adamantium daggers, (he's a big comic nerd) so he asked me what they would do if they were made out of that. I can't remember but I think in 3.x they ignored an amount of hardness when attacking objects? Adamantine weapons exist, 8+ items in Adventurer's Vault. Any untyped damage they deal ignores resistance equal to twice it's enhancement bonuss.
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Aug 5, 2014 18:06
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So I'm curious. I've heard that the fell taints from the mm2 are particularly dangerous or something for their level - I'm guessing it's incorporeal and the coup de grace power, maybe? Are there any other infamously overpowered/underpowered monsters beyond the mm3 math issue?
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Aug 5, 2014 18:21
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I remember Guard Drakes being horrendous back in the day. At level 2 they do D10+3 damage normally (high, but OK), or D10 plus nine for the onerous task of being within 2 squares of an ally. So they're three-hit-KOing party members and they have powers that encourage them to bunch up. Gort fucked around with this message at 18:28 on Aug 5, 2014 |
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Aug 5, 2014 18:25
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Lolthbound goblins, which have something like a blast 3 or blast 5 AOE that deals like 2d8+something damage at very low level, IIRC. If they win initiative and/or the party is bunched up, it's game over. Kruthiks, who have a broken damage aura (IIRC damage auras stack)
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Aug 5, 2014 18:54
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Arivia posted:So I'm curious. I've heard that the fell taints from the mm2 are particularly dangerous or something for their level - I'm guessing it's incorporeal and the coup de grace power, maybe? Are there any other infamously overpowered/underpowered monsters beyond the mm3 math issue?  v
girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Aug 5, 2014 |
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Aug 5, 2014 18:55
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What are the stacking rules in 4e regarding penalties, anyway? The first time my group played 1-30 we just had a defender and strikers, but this time round we have one of each role and the penalty stacking's getting pretty high. Is something like a -8 to attack rolls reasonably achievable against a solo at level 10?
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Aug 5, 2014 18:58
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Gort posted:What are the stacking rules in 4e regarding penalties, anyway? The first time my group played 1-30 we just had a defender and strikers, but this time round we have one of each role and the penalty stacking's getting pretty high. Unlike bonuses, penalties are really easy to stack in 4E, and yes, you can completely shut down a solo very easily with minimal effort, which is why ironically a solo needs some help to be challenging.
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Aug 5, 2014 19:06
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Gort posted:What are the stacking rules in 4e regarding penalties, anyway? The first time my group played 1-30 we just had a defender and strikers, but this time round we have one of each role and the penalty stacking's getting pretty high. Bonuses don't stack if they're of the same type (e.g. feat bonus, item bonus). As far as I know penalties don't use the same system, so you can stack up to the roof if you want. However, if they come from the same power they won't stack with each other (so you can't Singing Strike, AP, Singing Strike to inflict a -4 penalty). From the player's handbook: quote:Penalties: Unlike bonuses, penalties don’t have types.
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Aug 5, 2014 19:09
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frankenfreak posted:1 Controller (Leader) cult leader, 1 (elite?) brute half-devil-half-gnoll abomination (reskinned from whatever), add henchmen to taste, garnish with a destructible ritual focus (destroying it makes the abomination weaker) loving awesome. Thank you! I just found plenty of monsters to use for this too! OneThousandMonkeys posted:Kruthiks, who have a broken damage aura (IIRC damage auras stack) Do not! I love my bugs! My Lovely Horse posted:Decent start? Give your characters one. For the Murder I would use a Halfling trickster, level appropriately and give 'em combat advantage.
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Aug 5, 2014 20:08
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Gort posted:Is something like a -8 to attack rolls reasonably achievable against a solo at level 10? The 4e designers slowly learned that the d20 doesn't actually get more sides as you level, but this math bullshit was never completely fixed. Righteous Brand got errata, but Dishearten didn't. For my money, a -7 or -8 to attack is about as good as a stun.
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Aug 5, 2014 20:20
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My group regularly lays down a -5 right now at level 3, albeit as a 1-round encounter power (Witchfire). Still. Actually it didn't do them much good against the one big solo they went up against so far. Sure it shut it down for one turn but it was still drat near a TPK.
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Aug 5, 2014 20:24
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Yep. Probably worth noting that marks don't stack, though.
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Aug 5, 2014 20:25
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dwarf74 posted:I know my group trivially laid down -7's left and right by mid paragon. It's better, because you can make a monster completely waste its most powerful 1/encounter actions, and the effects that create penalties are usually at-will.
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Aug 5, 2014 20:32
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My Lovely Horse posted:My group regularly lays down a -5 right now at level 3, albeit as a 1-round encounter power (Witchfire). Still. None of that in this game so far, anyway... OneThousandMonkeys posted:It's better, because you can make a monster completely waste its most powerful 1/encounter actions, and the effects that create penalties are usually at-will. I ended up capping most Solo penalties at - 2, or giving blanket ways to shrug off any condition.
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Aug 5, 2014 21:24
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frankenfreak posted:1 Controller (Leader) cult leader, 1 (elite?) brute half-devil-half-gnoll abomination (reskinned from whatever), add henchmen to taste, garnish with a destructible ritual focus (destroying it makes the abomination weaker) Totally irrelevant, but Gnolls are Demon flavour, not Devil. 
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Aug 6, 2014 02:58
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Prison Warden posted:Totally irrelevant, but Gnolls are Demon flavour, not Devil.  Besides, a demon-flavored half-gnoll-half-devil abomination is even more terrifying!
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Aug 6, 2014 12:15
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We're doing Scales of War right now, and our DM is taking liberties with it (altering or outright cutting encounters he thinks are boring or stupid), and I haven't peeked at it, so I don't know whether this is in the original, but we just finished off fighting gnolls for a while, trying to summon/create an exarch of Yeenoghu. What I never noticed -- and I've been playing this game since AD&D -- is that "Yeenoghu" sounds like "You Know Who" when you say it out loud. I hope this story improves the encounters between your party and the devil-worshiping gnoll followers of You Know Who.
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Aug 6, 2014 15:47
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Can anyone make a good case against just using inherent bonuses and turning the magic item allotment into a strict wondrous item allotment instead? I feel like this will help me on my continuing quest to curb 4E PC power levels.
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Aug 6, 2014 18:05
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Majuju posted:Can anyone make a good case against just using inherent bonuses and turning the magic item allotment into a strict wondrous item allotment instead? I feel like this will help me on my continuing quest to curb 4E PC power levels. If any of your PCs are running Essentials classes, they will get bored with them faster if they never get items with fun encounter or daily powers. Aside from that, there is no case against inherent bonuses.
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Aug 6, 2014 18:10
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Majuju posted:Can anyone make a good case against just using inherent bonuses and turning the magic item allotment into a strict wondrous item allotment instead? I feel like this will help me on my continuing quest to curb 4E PC power levels.
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Aug 6, 2014 18:10
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homullus posted:If any of your PCs are running Essentials classes, they will get bored with them faster if they never get items with fun encounter or daily powers. Yeah I guess my counter against this is that wondrous items and rituals and problem-solving are more fun, but since 4E is a fundamentally combat-centric system it also feels like removing a key aspect of the game by not allowing weird item/feat synergies.
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Aug 6, 2014 18:16
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Majuju posted:Yeah I guess my counter against this is that wondrous items and rituals and problem-solving are more fun, but since 4E is a fundamentally combat-centric system it also feels like removing a key aspect of the game by not allowing weird item/feat synergies. I don't think you even need to let them have synergies, so much as things out of the ordinary -- Essentials classes don't have a lot of in-combat variety. Basically, inherent bonuses + wondrous items + a few daily combat tricks. And really, that's only if they're Essentials.
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Aug 6, 2014 18:20
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frankenfreak posted:Herr Tog specifically said his gnolls are devil worshippers. You are correct, I am the one who hosed up
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Aug 6, 2014 18:22
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I don't think inherent bonuses can replace magic equipment entirely. There are tons of special weapon/armour/etc effects that they can't really compare to. It's a replacement for the treadmill, not the whole shebang. Unless you mean just mean letting them get their 'core' set of stuff and going from there in which case I think it would work fine.
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Aug 6, 2014 18:37
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AXE COP posted:I don't think inherent bonuses can replace magic equipment entirely. There are tons of special weapon/armour/etc effects that they can't really compare to. Exactly, which is why the DMG advises to also use divine boons and grandmaster training when using inherent bonuses.
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Aug 6, 2014 18:48
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Rexides posted:Exactly, which is why the DMG advises to also use divine boons and grandmaster training when using inherent bonuses. Holy smoke I forgot these were a thing at all. This helps a ton! e: does anyone have the rules handy before I can look them up at home? From what I recall, you can have only one <boon/training/etc.> in total? Majuju fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Aug 6, 2014 |
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Aug 6, 2014 19:00
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Majuju posted:Can anyone make a good case against just using inherent bonuses and turning the magic item allotment into a strict wondrous item allotment instead? I feel like this will help me on my continuing quest to curb 4E PC power levels. Nobody will because IBs are great. That being said, using them doesn't tone down PC power levels.
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Aug 6, 2014 19:16
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Do IB also bring crit dice?
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Aug 6, 2014 19:19
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With 5e coming along, has anyone seen 4e stuff on clearance anywhere?
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Aug 6, 2014 19:23
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thespaceinvader posted:Nobody will because IBs are great. That being said, using them doesn't tone down PC power levels. It tones down (slightly) the number of 'gotcha' moments and the extent by which certain combos of feats & items can work together, same as cutting themes. I'm not necessarily looking to completely neuter players, but to prevent certain vicious murder-blenders from cropping up?
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Aug 6, 2014 19:23
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thespaceinvader posted:Nobody will because IBs are great. That being said, using them doesn't tone down PC power levels. Admittedly, it does nothing for terrible broken poo poo like rebreathers.
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Aug 6, 2014 19:26
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djw175 posted:Do IB also bring crit dice? I also forgot boons and grandmaster training were a thing. I'll have to look at how to incorporate those into my item regimen, because we do use items in addition to inherent bonuses.
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Aug 6, 2014 19:29
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I'm building a 13th level thief that uses short bows. Are there any must-have feats/gear/themes I should be looking into? Thanks!
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Aug 6, 2014 19:31
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Rexides posted:Exactly, which is why the DMG advises to also use divine boons and grandmaster training when using inherent bonuses. True, but those are hardly a replacement. People who want special damage types on their attacks, non-standard crit dice or crit effects and so on are all out of luck with IBs and boons. You're basically removing a big chunk of character customisation in order to avoid abusive stuff (although to be honest things like frostcheese ceased to be really cheesy years ago, since CA is so easy to come by now and you're sacrificing two feats and your weapon slot for +5 damage). I'd say you should still give out magic items, but sparsely, and once your players have their "preferred" items then you can start giving out wondrous items and poo poo like that and let the IBs take care of the numbers. If your players insist on running broken builds then just talk to them and ask them to change it. Majuju posted:e: does anyone have the rules handy before I can look them up at home? From what I recall, you can have only one <boon/training/etc.> in total? As far as I know boons are just reskinned magic items that don't need to be equipped. I don't know the rules specifically but given that there are some boons that come in multiples(e.g. Kingslayer's Curse) I think you can have more than one.
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Aug 6, 2014 19:44
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