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Oh my god you can import a location map into Masterplan and attach encounters to arbitrary points on the map. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING Gardmore Abbey spoilers: my random Secret Collector is the paladin and his motivation is to hinder chaos. One of my players already announced she's gonna make a Wild Sorcerer. Couldn't have worked out better if I'd set it up myself.
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Jan 15, 2017 19:10
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So, legit question: what's the most commonly accepted interpretation of how Unarmed Strikes and Ki Foci work for monks, and the whole weapons-as-implements thing? Because I'm wondering how far behind I'd fall behind the curve for just using my fists or some wrist wrappings and womping on stuff? This is assuming no Inherent Bonuses.
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Jan 18, 2017 00:23
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Unarmed strikes should function like any other weapon, meaning you can use your ki focus' enhancement bonus for unarmed attacks. So, assuming you kept upgrading your focus' enhancement bonus like anyone else upgrades their chosen weapon/implement, you wouldn't fall behind at all. One thing to note though: as a monk you'll barely be using unarmed strikes, since monk attacks are implement attacks with preset damage dice rather than weapon attacks with [W] dice. The only time you'd use unarmed strikes is probably for MBAs.
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Jan 18, 2017 00:35
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Unknown Quantity posted:So, legit question: what's the most commonly accepted interpretation of how Unarmed Strikes and Ki Foci work for monks, and the whole weapons-as-implements thing? Because I'm wondering how far behind I'd fall behind the curve for just using my fists or some wrist wrappings and womping on stuff? This is assuming no Inherent Bonuses. The real issue you have is that ki focuses are not so great as implements for the monk (who is a goofy aoe striker, save for the desert wind version, who has to end up abusing a particular blade enchantment to get good damage). They also have really good defences, thanks to being Dex primary, so they play sort of like a off defender off striker hybrid. Just use whatever the best implement is and reflavour it. Just tell the rest of the group and dm that you're hitting the monster like this: http://i.imgur.com/QJ29INU.gif (which is some of the most beautiful real world striking I've ever seen in my life).
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Jan 18, 2017 02:34
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I've been running a star pact warlock focusing on using a bloodcurse rod to splash curses on everything, and have just about hit Paragon level. From what I can see, Student of Caiphon seems the smart choice, but does anyone have any other suggestions for what might be better in the long run? The DM is pretty laissez fair when it comes to buying gear and whatever, so mostly anything is on the table.
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Jan 18, 2017 02:58
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No, if you can specialize in the proper damage types Student of Caiphon is a fairly broken in half Paragon path. I think there's a way to turn your curse dice into radiant damage which depending on your interpretation just makes you get the expanded crit range on everything.
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Jan 18, 2017 03:42
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I would totally be willing to reflavor an Accurate dagger implement as a claw and just be Vega. That said, assuming I don't know if I'll have access to specific gear or get beyond heroic, what traditions should I be looking at?
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Jan 18, 2017 03:54
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Unknown Quantity posted:I would totally be willing to reflavor an Accurate dagger implement as a claw and just be Vega. That said, assuming I don't know if I'll have access to specific gear or get beyond heroic, what traditions should I be looking at? Traditions? Do you mean paragon paths? Monk Powers? EDIT: By going strictly barehanded, you miss out on Starblade Flurry at paragon, which is absolutely nuts for a monk of any stripe. Legit Businessman fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Jan 18, 2017 |
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Jan 18, 2017 05:05
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Drewjitsu posted:Traditions? Do you mean paragon paths? Monk Powers? "Tradition," as in school, so Desert Wind, Centered Breath, etc.
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Jan 18, 2017 05:41
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Loel posted:My players, dont read this bit WHEN LAST WE MET OUR HEROES  So, I put a skull pillar in the center of the platform that radiated 10 necrotic, idea being they would stay towards the rim. Then the gargoyles would harass them. The fight would be about managing the threat of falling, the necrotic aura, and the gargoyles, all while dodging the holes in the floor. ... In this base, our barbarian just leapt in the hole to see what would happen. He couldnt see a thing, so they dropped a torch too.  Uh. Eight ghouls.  Party jumps down to go help. As an aside, the alternate death rules were HELLA popular. Everyone loved rallying and inspiring, and we only had one failed death check. No one went blaze of glory. Everyone had a lot of fun.  the party rallies!  Found the Dwarven Book of Grudges, it spanned multiple book shelves.  Also found a desecrated temple. Some players swore to the unnameable cave gods (trading surges for lore), while one traded a promise not to loot for dwarven bonuses.  In here they found Ze Most BEE-yoo-tiful woman. Barbarian: I want to have sex with her. Me: Sure. Itll cost you 2 permanent healing surges, and I won't roleplay it. Barb: What do I get? Me: The best experience of your life. Barb: ... I don't want to. Meanwhile, everyone asked her what she could be, and she said 'whatever you want me to be.'  Change in figurines here. She tells them they'll be greatly rewarded if they free her. They ask how, and she says give a feather of hers to someone who accepts willingly.  They use their old questgiver, and the succubi gives them a pile of gold  Heroes!  edit: Oh, forgot to mention. The nightmare rules / escalation die / less hp mobs worked great, fights were done in half the time, and we got some RP in too. Definitly getting close to the sweet spot. Loel fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Jan 24, 2017 |
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Jan 18, 2017 06:03
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Monks suffer from not actually being finished when they got shipped. Originally they were meant to be a half and half class - as in, half their powers would be weapon attacks, the other half implement. At some point they got mutated into full implement, but that mutation never, well, finished happening, so there's a lot of stuff that stands out as not quite working (such as how they in fact gain absolutely no benefit from their own unarmed combatant stuff). They also got feats meant to showcase each potential monk weapon...except there wasn't actually one for unarmed combat (at least initially; one came later, but still isn't that good), and with how weapon enchantments work, you didn't really have any reason to NOT use weapons, and two different weapons at that, so you can benefit from both feats. The real big thing about monks is that they multiclass and hybridize real good, though only in some specific cases. If you're not going hybrid, then eye the gently caress out of rogue, fighter, and maybe even sorcerer or ranger powers. In particular, rogues have Low Slash / Tumbling Strike, fighters have Rain of Blows, sorcerer (note this is only if you're desert wind) has the always cheesy as gently caress Flame Spiral and also a minor attack in Lightning Cuts, and rangers...well, daggers are throwing weapons, right? ALSO IMPORTANT: clear up with your DM how three specific powers work. They are all found in Paragon. They specifically are: Dance of the Stinging Hornet, A Feather's Weight, and Death's Chilled Embrace. The main question is their movement technique section, which states "You can use the attack technique at any point during this movement." On the super legalistic point of view, this is identical to wording that some monsters have that explicitly lets them attack during their move action. On the more flavorful point of view, A Feather's Weight general idea would deny it working this way (as it's a power intended for dashing in, smacking them, and then dashing out, rather then smacking them and then smacking them a second time), while Dance of the Stinging Hornet absolutely supports it (as it's intended for you to leap onto an enemy's back and start beating the poo poo out of them as you ride them around rodeo style). As far as traditions go, Stone Fist isn't that great because of how poorly it scales. The others are good, though pick and choose based on what you want your monk to do. Desert Wind stands out as being both unique, and changing a lot on how you'll play your monk. Kurieg posted:No, if you can specialize in the proper damage types Student of Caiphon is a fairly broken in half Paragon path. I think there's a way to turn your curse dice into radiant damage which depending on your interpretation just makes you get the expanded crit range on everything. In all honesty, as great as the expanded crit range is, I've always felt it's REAL draw was turning curse boons into MBAs. I dunno if I'd call it broken though - when all is said and done, you're still a warlock. Expanded crit range is nice and all, but you don't have the stack of multi-attacks or other action attacks that other classes get that really takes advantage of it.
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Jan 18, 2017 08:34
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I've been kicking around the idea of a simplified 4e character sheet that offloads complexity to power cards for a while now. It's by no means a finished product, but by amalgamating smart ideas from lots of homebrew character sheets I think I've managed to get everything relevant to my players onto a single side of A4. https://imgur.com/a/TZQSH The idea of this sheet is to avoid dense blocks of numbers, put key stats in big boxes for easy reference, and provide lots of scratch space for scribbling down reminders and doodling things. My group use power cards a lot and I wanted to avoid repeating any information that was on those (apart from the skill checks and basic info cards which they seem allergic to), instead giving them a space where they can note down what powers they should be using at what times. The inventory section is based on the anti-hammerspace item tracker because we hate encumbrance rules. It was originally going to go on the back of the sheet but at a certain point I pushed for a single sheet to keep everything visible at all times. This hasn't seen actual play yet so it might be a disaster, but I'd be keen to get any initial feedback on basic things I might have missed, sections that seem too big / small etc Edit: there's no specific place for gold as we're running a campaign where cash is largely irrelevant, but it can easily go under light items Party Boat fucked around with this message at 09:46 on Jan 18, 2017 |
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Jan 18, 2017 09:16
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That looks handy, Ill see what my group thinks. Edit: I really like it, but they are still deciding which format they like best. To the dungeon!  As you remember, we were heading to the base of Durlag's Tower  Getting quite a collection of figurines  I made the terrain a mix of full block and double move areas to channel the party into the center  Dragonborn Druid peeking over the wall  Five basilisks rush out of the pit!  I was really pleased with the tactics here, they kept pushing basilisks back and rearranging the team, and I kept using mesmer to group them into AOEs  They ended up hammering the left group while the right group hit them repeatedly. The Rally/Inspire/Blaze is *really* popular  Finish him!   So I had the basilisk pit lead into a cave in of the engine room, room 12 on the map  Bit of exploring, the squisher traps did like 40 damage. I marked the north hallway as BAD FEELING HALLWAY, and left the south hallway open. In the CRPG, the north hallway is instant death.  So they Ritualed Mounts, went speed 15, and rushed it anyway. I made them roll 50/50, failure gets a death check.  THE RIDDLE ROOM. They have some good guesses so far, Sword and Wine being two. Told them they had to explore the dungeon to find them.  Entrance way on the Durlag map, we're coming from the other direction. I described a table, untouched silver furnishings, and tapestries.  They saw the spiders on the ceiling. After some discussion, provoked them.  I was using the Displacer Beast stats, which confused the hell out of them. At first they thought it was a hivemind spider, then they asked if there were mirrors powering an illusion. I said sure, why not. Marked a bunch of mirrors, and the party immediately began smashing them.  It was a really, really fluid fight. They had mounts (speed 15), and I said if you destroyed a mirror you came out of another one. The displacer spiders were speed 12, shift 6 and double reach attack. Since the party couldn't consistently hit them, they decided to pull them into mirrors and leave them in the mirror world.  I had spiders do (save ends) to see when they came out, but it made them stunned. So the party managed to push them into mirrors long enough to break them while they were inside. Fun fight If I knew they were heading that direction, I would have doubled the number of spiders and mirrors.
Loel fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Jan 24, 2017 |
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Jan 18, 2017 09:39
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My group looks to be set to go by mid-February (exams should go jump in a fire, 0/10, would not recommend), and I was thinking of fixing them up with some Power Cards. My store only has 5-6 sets, and I know for sure that it doesn't include the Shaman (which one has already made), so I figured I'd make them in Magic Set Editor. Does anyone happen to have any good MSE templates for 4e Powers? I've seen something on Google, but I wanted to check here before trying to find the exact result I'd stumbled upon ~2 months ago. Worst case I can just make them based on the old Magic frame, but where's the fun in that?
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Jan 30, 2017 11:07
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Serperoth posted:My group looks to be set to go by mid-February (exams should go jump in a fire, 0/10, would not recommend), and I was thinking of fixing them up with some Power Cards. My store only has 5-6 sets, and I know for sure that it doesn't include the Shaman (which one has already made), so I figured I'd make them in Magic Set Editor. If you need the CB, I can help out.
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Jan 30, 2017 15:29
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dwarf74 posted:Why are you doing this instead of just printing them using the character builder? Mostly to look better, compared to the kinda bland ones from the Builder. And I didn't know that builder could print them directly (although even if it can't, I knew I could copy the text so it was a small, but welcome, difference) It'd still be the same text, just in a cooler font/layout.
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Jan 30, 2017 16:07
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Serperoth posted:My group looks to be set to go by mid-February (exams should go jump in a fire, 0/10, would not recommend), and I was thinking of fixing them up with some Power Cards. My store only has 5-6 sets, and I know for sure that it doesn't include the Shaman (which one has already made), so I figured I'd make them in Magic Set Editor. I used the Thindariel ones for clear and readable cards like this, and made more graphical ones like this using the MTG "Modern" style. I also made simplified character sheets on a per-character basis in OpenOffice Draw like this. Sometimes I expanded them with a box like in the bottom-right of this, to give new players a list of all of their action options. UrbanLabyrinth fucked around with this message at 10:11 on Jan 31, 2017 |
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Jan 31, 2017 10:07
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UrbanLabyrinth posted:I used the Thindariel ones for clear and readable cards like this, and made more graphical ones like this using the MTG "Modern" style. The character sheets look pretty good, nice way to have everything relevant in one bit, I'll see if my crew would like something like that. And yeah something like the Thindariel ones is what I'm looking for, just vertical. I guess i can throw a buck or two over to Tintagel for this, or copy/adapt your Magic card formatting. Any reason you went with Modern and not Classic?
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Jan 31, 2017 10:51
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Serperoth posted:The character sheets look pretty good, nice way to have everything relevant in one bit, I'll see if my crew would like something like that. There was a vertical and a horizontal option, but I found the vertical made the text wrap into too tight a column if I used the number display boxes on the side. I think modern was just the default option for the normal magic cards, so I just ended up there when I tried using that format. If your group like the character sheets, I can send you some of my odt files and you can edit from there.
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Jan 31, 2017 13:39
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I wrote a spell card creator a while back when I got roped into playing 5e, and it's configurable enough to work for 4e. The interface is crap, but it puts out some decent looking cards:   If you do try it out, shoot me a PM if you run into any issues or have any questions. I haven't been in any D&D games in a while so it's been a while since I've messed with it. ImpactVector fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Jan 31, 2017 |
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Jan 31, 2017 16:13
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UrbanLabyrinth posted:I used the Thindariel ones for clear and readable cards like this, and made more graphical ones like this using the MTG "Modern" style.
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Jan 31, 2017 16:40
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So what are the coolest and best things you've ever reskinned the solos from Threats to the Nentir Vale into?
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Jan 31, 2017 23:37
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PMush Perfect posted:Holy crap, those are some nice sheets. How'd you do them? Do you have templates you'd be willing to throw up? I don't have templates, I generally just edited from the last one I did but there were some significant changes I made from campaign to campaign. I've put all the .odg (OpenOffice Draw) files I could find here if you want to fiddle around and make your own.
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Feb 1, 2017 09:51
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Alright, so let's talk Defenses real quick. Specifically at Epic tier. There are three feats - Epic Fort/Ref/Will - that give untyped +4 bonuses to those defenses. They are old, old feats from back before Improved Defenses was even a glimmer in the developers' eyes. On one hand, they can be used to shore up dangerous holes in character's defenses and prevent enemies from auto-hitting on a 2. My question is simple - if a character pushes a defense into the Unhittable-at-level range (that is, beyond Level+23) is that... (a) A good thing you should expect out of Epic-tier characters, to be utterly immune to all attacks against a single defense... or (b) A bad and unintended side-effect of a constantly-changing game with an under-developed and oft-ignored Epic tier that breaks what should be stable, solid, consistent math at all levels. A Fighter in my 26th-level game currently has a 51 Fortitude defense. I am going back and forth in my head about this.
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Feb 1, 2017 17:23
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My kneejerk armchair designer reaction is that any one character can't possibly be "immune" in all four defenses all at the same time, so it's really a matter of stretching your encounter design skills so that you're always able to hit any of these four defenses in every fight.
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Feb 1, 2017 17:33
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From a flavor perspective, by Epic tier, it is entirely reasonable that, say, your paladin's devotion is so legendary that they are, in fact, of unassailable willpower. I'd say build encounters around it, though occasionally including enemies who use area attacks against that defense, so the player in question can feel good and smug about no-selling a god-killing poison or what-have-you.
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Feb 1, 2017 17:46
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PMush Perfect posted:From a flavor perspective, by Epic tier, it is entirely reasonable that, say, your paladin's devotion is so legendary that they are, in fact, of unassailable willpower. I'd say build encounters around it, though occasionally including enemies who use area attacks against that defense, so the player in question can feel good and smug about no-selling a god-killing poison or what-have-you. Unless everyone in the party is taking all the defensive feats, in which case they are probably saying "please stop throwing enemies at us that hit our defenses on a 2."
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Feb 1, 2017 22:15
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Frankly, Epic 4E barely works. Roles start blending into each other/becoming irrelevant, your item kit is more important than ever, and monsters stop being able to compete on an even keel with players who have been specializing in one strategy, compounded by 20+ levels of options to reinforce said strategy. This leads to most fights becoming rated well above character level in order to stay interesting. I would recommend almost every character take 2 or even all of the Epic defense feats at some point, if not ASAP (it differs from character to character). Those and the epic initiative bonus, because going first is super important in epic. That being said, most characters will still end up with 1-2 defenses 10 or below everything else, and epic monsters tend to do a lot of damage that cannot be prevented.
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Feb 1, 2017 22:43
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dont even fink about it posted:Frankly, Epic 4E barely works. Roles start blending into each other/becoming irrelevant, your item kit is more important than ever, and monsters stop being able to compete on an even keel with players who have been specializing in one strategy, compounded by 20+ levels of options to reinforce said strategy. This leads to most fights becoming rated well above character level in order to stay interesting. I'd say that this isn't the case if your players don't really research the game online. My players basically only think about the mechanics of their characters when we're actually at the game table, so we didn't have any issues at all like what you describe.
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Feb 2, 2017 18:57
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Do yours also forget how the system works inbetween sessions as a result? Last month a guy I played 4E with for the past 5-6 years was incredulous that opportunity attacks are 1/turn, not 1/round. Half that time he played a fighter.
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Feb 2, 2017 19:03
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My Lovely Horse posted:opportunity attacks are 1/turn, not 1/round You what? Holy poo poo, I gotta pay more attention to my marks
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Feb 2, 2017 23:54
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Noxin of Shame posted:You what? When something moves or makes a ranged attack while in a square you're threatening, you make an opportunity attack, which can happen 1/turn. As a fighter you get +WIS to this attack if you chose Combat Superiority (you chose Combat Superiority, right?). You don't get +WIS to your Combat Challenge interrupt attack.
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Feb 3, 2017 00:25
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Noxin of Shame posted:You what? e: Like, you can use Combat Challenge as an interrupt against a marked enemy who shifts, but you can't stop them from shifting. And you can make an OA against any enemy who moves without shifting, with bonuses to the attack, and stop them from moving. dwarf74 fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Feb 3, 2017 |
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Feb 3, 2017 00:27
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ImpactVector posted:Just to be clear, interrupts are still 1/round. So Combat Challenge can only trigger an MBA 1/round when something shifts or attacks something that isn't you while adjacent to you. Ah, yes. Unsurprisingly I get them confused all the time. c.f "Do yours also forget how the system works inbetween sessions as a result?" My fighter-bro also took the Devoted Challenge feat, so Wis to attacks (and damage) on combat challenge, which further blurs the lines between the two.
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Feb 3, 2017 00:37
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And if you're a knight or berserker, you make your Defender Aura punishment attack as an OA, not an immediate like most defenders. Meanwhile, paladins don't take any action to deal damage with divine challenge/sanction, freeing up their immediate actions and opportunity actions for other punishment opportunities.
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Feb 3, 2017 00:52
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Naming the features "Combat Challenge" and "Combat Superiority" was a really bad idea. Should have tied Superiority closer to Opportunity Attacks by name to make the connection clear. Not that it helps you when you first play 4E, pick the fighter because you think it's the basic easy class and immediately have to wrap your head around the opportunity/immediate and move/shift distinctions. Putting the final touches on my campaign end boss. I can't decide what a good additional effect for a necrotic attack is - weakened or losing a healing surge? So far everyone's always had a few surges left when they went into extended rests, so they should have some to spare. And surge damage seems like a neat idea to get the paladin to panic a bit, because he's been saving his Lay on Hands specifically for this fight. By contrast weakened just feels like a "make the fight longer" effect.
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Feb 3, 2017 09:15
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Direct surge damage was one of the few things that put the Fear of God into my group.
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Feb 3, 2017 09:19
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Surge damage directly attacks a 4e player's most valuable resource. Do it.
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Feb 3, 2017 09:32
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Oh and if this is a campaign end boss you can probably afford to get weird with it. Maybe the boss has a "fountain of souls" or something that he drinks from to heal. The players can make use of it as well - but doing so will have a narrative consequence. Turn them undead / haunt them with voices of the damned etc
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Feb 3, 2017 09:47
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That actually gives me an idea. The boss' gimmick is using seven different elements in his attacks. In phase 1 of the fight he gets 7 elemental minions, in phase 2 they turn into elemental zones, and I hadn't had an idea for phase 3 yet, but what about this: the boss retreats behind a shield, and the minions return as full fledged enemies. Whoever takes one down gains that elemental power, and they're the only thing that can damage the boss behind his shield. Thematically it should be satisfying to turn the boss' own power against him and defeat him through other means than "grind his HP down to 0", tactically it makes for a good challenge (say if you hold elemental power, the enemies will concentrate on you, so if you've taken down three at once that's great, but you have to keep yourself alive for three turns to use all powers), and mechanically it just makes a nice change from wailing on a big solo monster all the time. So thanks for sparking that idea, however far removed it is Now to figure out how many HP each of those elementals should have after the party has already gone through 2 stages of boss fight. I gave each stage 200 HP, so 30-40?
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Feb 3, 2017 10:07
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