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P.d0t posted:If you were to throw in a houserule that any Weapon power used with a light blade can use DEX in place of the default ability mod, would it break the game in some way? "Hmm your primary stat and your rider are now the same score? Seems fair and balanced"
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Oct 27, 2014 07:56
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:"Hmm your primary stat and your rider are now the same score? Seems fair and balanced" Then again in the spirit of DTAS just saying "you can use your Dex for the attack roll on any light blade using weapon power; if that power would normally derive a secondary effect from your Dex mod, subtract 2 from the final bonus to that effect" would basically get you where you'd normally be mathematically anyway.
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Oct 27, 2014 08:09
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P.d0t posted:If you were to throw in a houserule that any Weapon power used with a light blade can use DEX in place of the default ability mod, would it break the game in some way? Probably, yes, as it would open up every multitap power in the game. Blade Cascade, Storm/Hurricane of Blades, Rain of Blows. Same with paragons - hello Shock Trooper or Blade Dancer. Dex already has it's strong points - covering both AC and Ref along with initiative AND lots of stat requirements for striker-esque feats, alongside lots of minor action powers. It would be almost entirely pointless not to be a light blade+dex striker, regardless of class.
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Oct 27, 2014 08:17
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Generally, yes it would. Dex is already an uberstat (AC, Reflex, Initiative, some useful skills) without making every single STR-primary multi-attack also DEX-based. The spirit of DTAS is to completely divorce attack progression from stats *at all*.
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Oct 27, 2014 19:23
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NachtSieger posted:What do you have? Also, get Mark of Healing if you can. I tried to get Mark of Storm, but my GM is too clever for me. There's a pair of homebrew tweaked feats. Taranis Secretkeeper is Divine Secretkeeper with Nature as an option and Golden Brilliance is a lightning/radiant version of that Sehanine feat I can't remember the name of. I'm running all lighting/radiant damage with the Gifts for the Queen and a Lightning Weapon. Here's what I have: Taranis Secretkeeper: Ritual Caster Human: Golden Brilliance Level 1: Weapon Proficiency (Greatspear) Level 2: Ancient Lore of the Dawn War Level 4: Polearm Expertise Level 6: Light of Order Level 8: Taranis Secretkeeper Level 10: Linguist Level 11: Improved Defenses Level 12: Hafted Defense Level 14: Fleet-Footed Level 16: Skill Power (Elemental Countermeasures) Level 18: Superior Will
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Oct 27, 2014 20:51
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ProfessorCirno posted:Probably, yes, as it would open up every multitap power in the game. Blade Cascade, Storm/Hurricane of Blades, Rain of Blows. Same with paragons - hello Shock Trooper or Blade Dancer. Dex already has it's strong points - covering both AC and Ref along with initiative AND lots of stat requirements for striker-esque feats, alongside lots of minor action powers. It would be almost entirely pointless not to be a light blade+dex striker, regardless of class. isn't that sort of kinda the reason Melee training got nerfed after the slayer showed up?, So apparently there is a benefit to the resourceful magician that I wasn't aware of. Once you get to lvl 16, if you retrain the wizard multiclass feat at will, it actually becomes an at will as opposed to an encounter. A similar thing happens with the warlock one in which it will allow you to change the at will encounter with an actual lvl 1 warlock encounter (which in turn allows you to pick it for one of the replaceable encounter at higher lvls). Is this some sort of glitch or am I missing something that explains all of this. It seems pretty amazing to have 4 at wills (covering range basic, melee basic, enabler and area), but if incorrect I shouldn't abuse that kind of error.
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Oct 28, 2014 00:19
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Sorta - they way over-nerfed Melee Training, the DEX-slayer wouldn't really be viable even if it could get full DEX mod to damage. In only Essentials, because the Slayer generally isn't really that viable with only essentials (it strikes by using pre-E materials almost exclusively; gouge, impaling spear, surprising charge, charge kit generally, etc) nor would it be viable with everything but ONLY because all of the best +melee striker options are STR-primary (a couple of Rogue powers excepted, but those are limited to light blades which suck for Slayers) - you make Rain of Blows and Trip Up dex-primary and you take the slayer from middling-to-decent, up towards top tier, and more to the point you take the melee ranger into the stratosphere because it can now use ALL of the ranger powers without needing to split-stat, and the melee version can actually have decent AC. Etc etc. The ResMag thing is probably a glitch. CB is not a rules source. ResMag's a great path though nonetheless. By mid-Paragon, though, if you're in a fight and wind up using at-wills something's probably gone wrong (or all your encounter powers are minor or immediate, at which point you better have a good at-will). You have four encounter powers, four standards, first three rounds, fight's over. At-wills are almost irrelevant past 11th level unless you have things like Twin Strike, Commander's Strike, Spirit Infusion etc, or you charge or mark/aura-punish a lot.
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Oct 28, 2014 00:32
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thespaceinvader posted:CB is not a rules source.
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Oct 28, 2014 07:30
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Or OAs. Or Immediates/Readies. That one's a product of badly-applied errata, actually. The errata made curse 1/turn, but it wasn't properly added to the builder.
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Oct 28, 2014 19:17
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Hey guys, I posted earlier about ideas for a 5000 year old tower/foundry the PCs have to go through to learn their next objective and got some good replies. I think I figured out that what's controlling the foundry after all this time is an ancient, quasi-magical artificial intelligence that has a self-preservation complex to retain the civilization's history despite the fact the civilization is loooooooong gone. In short: it's gone nuts, the PCs are trapped inside and need to 1. learn what they want to learn. B. Escape or kill the AI. So the session could be a bit like... Portal, but not as goofy and no Portal guns. The AI tries to put them through trials for its amusement at first but bores quickly, trying to kill them. I think if I pull it off right my group will love it. Gonna sketch out the encounters tonight. I'm asking this: I need a good map generator. I've downloaded one or two in the past and suck at making maps myself. I figured I'd hit randomize a bunch till I find something I like and tweak it a bit. I've never gotten Maptool to properly run on my computer, but I guess I can give it another shot.
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Oct 28, 2014 20:50
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I use Terrain Inspiration Generator occasionally to create patches of weird terrain for stuff.
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Oct 28, 2014 21:12
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Has anyone been playing Cardhunter? You know how everyone says why didn't they make a 4e video game? I've been playing card hunter and it's got a lot of similarities with 4e combat in that it has a lot of pushes and slides, except it doesn't have ability scores and the at-wills, encounters, and dailies are balanced by rarity in your deck. Also like 4e its all about the PvE because the PvP kind of stinks.
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Oct 28, 2014 23:43
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I played it briefly during beta and I found it very fun. However, this is a pure TT game, and for all the crap people have been slinging at 4e for it's "disassociated design", at least it didn't make being able to even attack someone in a given turn a random factor* *Although it sort of did...
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Oct 29, 2014 11:50
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Out of curiosity, is removing the different individual weapons and armors and replacing them by neatly-defined groups (light, medium or heavy armor, light shield, medium shield or heavy shield, simple light, simple one handed, simple two handed, martial light, etc.) to make damage rolls and the like standarized a bad idea math-wise? It's something I'd love to crib from 13th Age, where it doesn't matter if your fighter is using a scimitar or an arming sword, a martial one handed weapon is a martial one handed weapon.
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Nov 3, 2014 07:23
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So, mathematically is there any difference between say 2d6 with a brutal 1 weapon and 2d5+2? To my mind, they're the same, but dice math is hard for me. I want to figure out a way to handle that on things like roll20.
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Nov 3, 2014 07:25
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djw175 posted:So, mathematically is there any difference between say 2d6 with a brutal 1 weapon and 2d5+2? To my mind, they're the same, but dice math is hard for me. I want to figure out a way to handle that on things like roll20. I believe Roll20 actually has a reroll function, so rather than just using '/r 2d6' you use '/r 2d6r1' to automatically drop 1s and reroll them, or '/r 1d12r<2' if you have brutal 2 and so on.
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Nov 3, 2014 15:22
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Orokos does too. 2d6r2 will reroll anything lower than a 2. 3d6r2k2 will roll 3 dice, rerolling 2s and lowers, and only keep the 2 highest dice. http://orokos.com/roll/?action=dicehelp
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Nov 3, 2014 15:44
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:The entire point of taking an axe is getting brutal [W] rolls and qualifying for a few +damage-focused powers. But yeah even Axe Expertise is kinda dumb compared to the side benefits on other expertise feats. Edit: Also you guys are talking about levels 25, so that probably also makes a difference as I'm running a campaign for like level 2 through 15
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Nov 3, 2014 16:21
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djw175 posted:So, mathematically is there any difference between say 2d6 with a brutal 1 weapon and 2d5+2? To my mind, they're the same, but dice math is hard for me. I want to figure out a way to handle that on things like roll20.
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Nov 3, 2014 16:52
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Power Player posted:Are you totally gimping yourself by going two-handed axe, or is it still at least good damage-wise without any good side-benefits? Axe is OK if you're not planning to drop feats or paragon paths into your weapon choice, and it pays dividends the more you pick out powers with lots of weapon dice. Also Gouge is pretty good because you can pick up spear things. E: If you want to be a charge kit DPR king, axe is probably the best option, but there are some edge cases where this is not true. Name Change fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Nov 3, 2014 |
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Nov 3, 2014 19:42
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If you want to be a charge kit DPR king Gouge is the best choice unless you really, really want to be the world's most boring Thief or some sort of weird Executioner hybrid. Seriously, Axes suck
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Nov 4, 2014 00:23
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Which (if any) of the 4E Encounters seasons were worth running?
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Nov 4, 2014 06:14
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thespaceinvader posted:If you want to be a charge kit DPR king Gouge is the best choice unless you really, really want to be the world's most boring Thief or some sort of weird Executioner hybrid. Gouge is an axe as far as the system is concerned. It is also a spear.
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Nov 4, 2014 06:30
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UrbanLabyrinth posted:Which (if any) of the 4E Encounters seasons were worth running? If you're looking for a lengthy adventure with a serviceable—if a bit generic—plot, Keep on the Borderlands (Season 3) fits the bill—just be sure to tell anyone familiar with the original Keep that they shouldn't have any expectations of it being the same as the old module. For the most part, they all kind of have a different theme to them, so if there's one that really catches your/your group's fancy, it probably can't hurt to try it out, given the following proviso. Just be sure you know what you're getting into, which is primarily combat-heavy, railroaded adventures where combat encounters are sandwiched by brief roleplaying opportunities and skill challenges. The two I mention above at least either make the most out of it or change the formula a little bit. Dungeon's Master also has a bunch of Encounters resources, including weekly recaps and end-of-season report cards, if you feel like wading through some or all of them.
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Nov 4, 2014 06:46
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UrbanLabyrinth posted:Which (if any) of the 4E Encounters seasons were worth running? As a player, I will concur with Auralsaurus Flex, I really enjoyed the Lost Crown.
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Nov 4, 2014 14:21
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UrbanLabyrinth posted:Which (if any) of the 4E Encounters seasons were worth running?
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Nov 4, 2014 15:46
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They currently have everything up to Season 18, excluding Seasons 12-16, on Wizards' DriveThruRPG page (the last two seasons are found under the D&D Next section). I don't believe the maps are included, but I also haven't purchased any of them yet, so I can't say for sure either way.
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Nov 4, 2014 18:41
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So it took a few adventures, but Zeitgeist 4 finally has some funky, bad, easy encounters. I'm referring to the confrontation between Damata and The Family.
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Nov 5, 2014 19:27
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UrbanLabyrinth posted:Which (if any) of the 4E Encounters seasons were worth running? Everything before Murder in Baldur's Gate is an approximately ten-session-long railroad adventure where the GM's creative input is limited to "read this text aloud, provide this fight." That's the first fourteen seasons, which are designed to be babby's first coke hit for free. I doubt any of these will be satisfying to an experienced group, and on top of everything else some of the fights have balance problems. At Murder in Baldur's Gate and onward, they introduced roughly the same level of quality you get in their better published adventures, i.e. branching plot paths, longer campaigns, separate books to cover NPC attitudes and motivations, and plot problems with multiple viable solutions provided in the book. I didn't personally like MiBG because it involves a lot of Forgotten Realms-typical NPCs who are untouchable and cooler than you, along with zero dungeons or dragons.
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Nov 5, 2014 22:11
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Are there any interesting fights there that you can transplant to your plots, or are they all designed with people who struggle to understand what a healing surge is in mind?
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Nov 5, 2014 22:30
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:Gouge is an axe as far as the system is concerned. It is also a spear. It's both, and the spear part is what makes it most possible to actually boost its damage. Seriously, aside from Rending (which I grant you is good) what axe options are you thinking of that massively buff damage?
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Nov 5, 2014 23:22
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thespaceinvader posted:It's both, and the spear part is what makes it most possible to actually boost its damage. Brutal damage, basically. I mean at this point we are talking about a gouge when we say two-handed axe, although critting with an executioner axe is fun. There also a few axe/hammer/etc. powers that add Con to damage. I think my actual favorite charge build is an elven swordmaster (shift 2 after charging!) or bugbear versatile duelist rogue (d12s!) though.
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Nov 5, 2014 23:41
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Brutal is gently caress-all in the grand scheme of things. Brutal is half a point of damage per point of brutal per [W] so at most (unless you're a bugbear or an eternal defender using a large Ex Axe) it's +1 average damage per [W]. It's pretty tiny, compared, for instance, to Impaling Spear, which is on average +2 to hit with MBAs (and if you're charging, you're probably making a bunch of MBAs). Or, for that matter, to Surprising Charge. And, crucially, it's not exclusive to axes, by any means. Deadly Axe is about the only axe-exclusive +damage feat, and it's OK I guess, if you can get expanded crit range. With a gouge it's about half a point of DPR less than normal Weapon Focus, from memory, if you have 19-20 crits which you can get at 11th level via Draeven Marauder PP. Most of the +CON to one hit powers are poo poo for damage as well; damage in 4e comes almost exclusively from hitting more times, not from making one hit bigger. Which is another reason why spears > axes; the extra hit from Rain of Blows, for instance, is far better than +CON to a single hit from whatever +CON power. Hammers and Flails are great for defending, light blades and spears are great for damage, heavy blades are great for at-wills-as-OAs and polearm related cheese. Axes... don't really have a niche any more. They're not great for damage, they don't have real utility, they have very few strong enchantments exclusive to them, and the only really good one is only really good because it's also a spear. It's probably the best 2HW in the game for the vast majority of characters at the moment (Fullblades and Spiked CHains accounting for most of the rest) because it's dual typed. FWIW, my favourite charge build is the swordchucking slayer. You do human Slayer, Swordmaster PP, taking Cleave as your human at-will, and Deft Hurler Style for your feat. Now you can charge one dude and huck your Farbond Spellblade at another dude when you arrive. It's poo poo for damage, but it's fun. The expanded crit range rending axe gouge slayer is hilarious though. I think I got to 200+ damage in a single standard action at 11th level when I manage to crit twice, hit once with Rain of Blows. On a charge (Boots of the Mighty Charge). With Surprising Charge. And Inevitable Strike. And Power Strike triggering off one of the crit-triggered MBAs. I'm not sure I actually bothered adding up all the dice to be honest. It was a character where I could literally get one of those 3x3x4 blocks of d6s and roll all of them as a standard action. Fun.
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Nov 6, 2014 00:40
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I admit I don't "get" charge builds. I got enough of that in previous editions! I guess my "favorite" would be warlock|executioner if only because you can get a lot of other weird, fun, and cool stuff to do when you aren't charging 24/7. But even then I inevitably try to do things that aren't charges and gently caress it all up.
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Nov 6, 2014 00:54
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Yeah Warlock|Executioner can get a lot of stuff on charge, but can also grab a bunch of off turn or minor action stuff to use so they aren't just charging the whole time.
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Nov 6, 2014 01:00
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ProfessorCirno posted:I admit I don't "get" charge builds. I got enough of that in previous editions! I guess my "favorite" would be warlock|executioner if only because you can get a lot of other weird, fun, and cool stuff to do when you aren't charging 24/7. But even then I inevitably try to do things that aren't charges and gently caress it all up. It's not much of a build; it's take three easy-to-afford items (the lynchpin item is available at level 2!) and suddenly your DPR is 2-4 times your normal baseline because charging is ridiculously over-supported. So if you are playing a melee character with the idea of doing damage first and foremost, you really should be doing it. What makes it ridiculous is finding the options to tweak it even past that.
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Nov 6, 2014 01:02
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:Everything before Murder in Baldur's Gate is an approximately ten-session-long railroad adventure where the GM's creative input is limited to "read this text aloud, provide this fight." That's the first fourteen seasons, which are designed to be babby's first coke hit for free. I doubt any of these will be satisfying to an experienced group, and on top of everything else some of the fights have balance problems. Sorry, should have been clearer - needed something convenient to run for a one-shot RPG group with minimal 4E experience at a meetup, and with potential to play on if desired. Encounters seemed to fit the basics of that, although it certainly is a bit rigid.
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Nov 6, 2014 02:18
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UrbanLabyrinth posted:Sorry, should have been clearer - needed something convenient to run for a one-shot RPG group with minimal 4E experience at a meetup, and with potential to play on if desired. Encounters seemed to fit the basics of that, although it certainly is a bit rigid. If you want something with zero prep necessary, designed for beginners, they are OK. But as a way to evangelize the fun of D&D they are pretty weak.
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Nov 6, 2014 02:20
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If I want zero prep beginners work for a one shot I'm probably breaking out Dread or Fiasco. Not anything D&D-ish.
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Nov 6, 2014 02:51
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:It's not much of a build; it's take three easy-to-afford items (the lynchpin item is available at level 2!) and suddenly your DPR is 2-4 times your normal baseline because charging is ridiculously over-supported. So if you are playing a melee character with the idea of doing damage first and foremost, you really should be doing it. What makes it ridiculous is finding the options to tweak it even past that. Yes and no. You have to be a character built around an MBA for it to work, and it turns all your actions into charging, which is why I'm sorta so against it; it ends up boring me to tears. It's sort of the Ranger problem (I TWIN STRIKE AGAIN!), but even more pronounced.
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Nov 6, 2014 03:08
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