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Moriatti posted:Speaking of, is elimentalist the go-to for the type of player who plays "use magic missile every round" wizards? I have a player who usually doesn't bother looking at their character options. 100%. The Elementalist is an actual artillery style blaster magic-type, stand back and chuck Damage at them until they fall down, no complexity about it, and they're the best at it, too.
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Jun 29, 2017 07:30
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Players in my campaign - don't read this! Are there any existing monsters that are set up to take different damage depending on where they're targeted? I'm setting up a boss encounter with a monstrous plant and wanted to have damage reduction applied to it apart from if it's hit in an exposed weak spot. It'll be immobile so the plant itself and the weak spot will be drawn directly on the board. I'm thinking of having wall effects that it can reposition to block line of sight to the weak spot as well as various powers that push the players around the battlefield. I'm aware that this is completely different to how monsters are normally modelled in D&D, but if it's been done before I'd like to get some insight into how best to do it.
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Jun 29, 2017 07:51
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What you could do is set it up so that the whole monster has a shared health pool, but have seperate discrete sections, each with its own abilities, and a single initiative roll but each part acts at +5 intervals to the initiative (glowing weak point acts at like +20, so it can set up walls and poo poo to protect itself, drive in the fact that this is the point they need to target). Give non weak point parts of the plant immunity or high resistances to attacks, to point out 'Hey glowing weak point right here, come attack it if you can.' But if players want to try to slog through the plant's resistances to kill it, power to them. For walls, make them minions so the party controller can have fun just completely blasting open sections of the room. Have the plant try to isolate members of the party as well with slides, forcing them to try to regroup or fight split. Also, when I think plant, I think of status effects and poison, so play around with those as well, have them make saves and force the leader to utilize their save-ends powers. berenzen fucked around with this message at 08:50 on Jun 29, 2017 |
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Jun 29, 2017 08:48
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I'd just do it as 2+ monsters with a communal health pool, yeah.
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Jun 29, 2017 08:57
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That's exactly what I was looking for, thanks! The party have already encountered orcs that have been parasitised and used to spread the plant's reach, so having a variety that are covered in bark and provide cover would work well with that. Already planning on lots of ongoing effects and ways to isolate people, it'll definitely have something similar to the wall of thorns power. Party Boat fucked around with this message at 09:37 on Jun 29, 2017 |
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Jun 29, 2017 09:34
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Party Boat posted:I'm setting up a boss encounter with a monstrous plant and wanted to have damage reduction applied to it apart from if it's hit in an exposed weak spot. 
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Jun 29, 2017 10:57
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If it's immobile, melee characters should have considerable difficulty getting up close and staying there, since the other basic way for monsters to avoid melee attacks is to move out of melee. Surround the weak point with difficult terrain and give it an aura that lets it push PCs if they end their turn in it, that way melee guys can still get close and get an attack in but they'll have to spend more move actions. If you really want to finetune it to be tough, make the difficult terrain, aura size and push distance so that the melee guys would need to spend a move action and charge each turn - that way they can only get in MBAs, and it rewards characters with charge options. If you do this, you must give the melee characters something else worthwhile to do (defenders can keep a brute sub-enemy away from the ranged folks, strikers could try to take down a particular sub-enemy whose death actually reduces the difficult terrain...). The wall minions could also have an MBA that grabs targets, so they can snag passing melee characters with opportunity attacks.
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Jun 29, 2017 11:17
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Party Boat posted:Are there any existing monsters that are set up to take different damage depending on where they're targeted?
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Jun 30, 2017 03:20
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It looks like the offline character builder thread is long since defunct, and the wiki and associated websites seem either deleted or only hosting the files for download. I have created some custom content using the existing .xml files as a template but can't figure out how to actually add it to the builder - anybody care to enlighten me please? I feel like I must be missing something obvious.
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Jul 3, 2017 01:37
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Lemniscate Blue posted:It looks like the offline character builder thread is long since defunct, and the wiki and associated websites seem either deleted or only hosting the files for download. I have created some custom content using the existing .xml files as a template but can't figure out how to actually add it to the builder - anybody care to enlighten me please? I feel like I must be missing something obvious. Don't you add the files .part to User/Documents/ddi/CBLoader ?
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Jul 3, 2017 02:22
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Spiteski posted:Don't you add the files .part to User/Documents/ddi/CBLoader ? Okay, I did that. The custom content doesn't seem to show up. Namely, when creating a new character the custom race is not listed as a choice, and pretty much everything is based off that (racial powers, feats, etc). Did I miss a step? EDIT: How do I force CBLoader to recheck that folder for new stuff? I think it's loading from its previous content check without updating its .part files.
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Jul 3, 2017 20:02
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Lemniscate Blue posted:Okay, I did that. The custom content doesn't seem to show up. Namely, when creating a new character the custom race is not listed as a choice, and pretty much everything is based off that (racial powers, feats, etc). Did I miss a step? I'm just guessing sorry, it worked for me when I added the zeitgeist .part files from the end of the CBLoader thread. So not sure beyond that.
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Jul 3, 2017 22:11
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Try launching it with -e in the command line?
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Jul 3, 2017 22:48
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Party Boat posted:Try launching it with -e in the command line? Forced the reload, but something broke it. It gets to "Applying new elements", then gives me a popup error box: code:Then it downloads everything from wizards.index, tries to reload from the DDI/CBLoader folder, and crashes back to the command line. EDIT: Is there a way to check and see if there's a fatal flaw in my .xml? I'm not a coder, so it's very possible.
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Jul 3, 2017 23:45
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You could try copying an existing one and changing the name, to (maybe) rule that out.
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Jul 3, 2017 23:49
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Subjunctive posted:You could try copying an existing one and changing the name, to (maybe) rule that out. Do you mean for example changing "40-gear.part" to something else?
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Jul 3, 2017 23:55
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Lemniscate Blue posted:Do you mean for example changing "40-gear.part" to something else? Or copying an entry for an existing race and just changing the name. I don't have CBL in front of me right now, sorry.
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Jul 3, 2017 23:59
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Subjunctive posted:Or copying an entry for an existing race and just changing the name. I don't have CBL in front of me right now, sorry. This worked and "Test Race 1" showed up as an option, so there's something screwy with my code I guess. Thanks for the help so far - any ideas how to figure out where I screwed up?
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Jul 4, 2017 00:22
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Spiteski posted:Don't you add the files .part to User/Documents/ddi/CBLoader ?
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Jul 4, 2017 00:24
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Lemniscate Blue posted:This worked and "Test Race 1" showed up as an option, so there's something screwy with my code I guess. Thanks for the help so far - any ideas how to figure out where I screwed up? Only to keep changing that entry a bit at a time into your new one, I guess.
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Jul 4, 2017 02:34
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Lemniscate Blue posted:This worked and "Test Race 1" showed up as an option, so there's something screwy with my code I guess. Thanks for the help so far - any ideas how to figure out where I screwed up?
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Jul 4, 2017 07:48
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Chaotic Neutral posted:If you pastebin it, we can take a look and see. Thanks, I appreciate that. Here it is: https://pastebin.com/N226TLUZ
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Jul 5, 2017 15:06
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What are some good ways to refluff the Bard's requirement for playing a musical instrument in things like Song of Rest and Bard-specific rituals? I'm building one and I don't see this guy as an artist at all, more of a supernatural charmer and luck manipulator. Tiefling, most likely. (Briefly I was toying around with the idea of making him a painter, refluffing wands as a magic paintbrush; for Song of Rest he'd sketch the previous battle's most exciting moment, for that one Bard ritual that makes one person your friend he'd paint that person's portrait. Don't think I'm gonna use that but I kinda like it too much to just get lost in my notes so there's a freebie for ya.  )
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Jul 6, 2017 20:19
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Does my man charm supernatural forces? Maybe he has contracts or something? Alternatively, he just does the most implausible, unlikely way to accomplish a task and that works? For instance, camp preperation ritual: Your guy is able to contact an elemental from the fire plane and convince him to be your intern (unpaid, of course) and have him create an updraft to fluff out the tent, start the fire, gather stones, etc., the ritual is spent with you directing him. He will only fulfill the job description in the contract (ritual) to the letter, though: You're not paying him. Or Your dude spends the ritual time stacking sticks and flint like dominoes. At the conclusion of the ritual, he tosses a coin at a stick, causing everything to fall into place and richocheting off of the flint, sparking the fire. Obviously that'd be on a ritual by ritual basis, but those are where I was thinking.
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Jul 6, 2017 20:29
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My Lovely Horse posted:What are some good ways to refluff the Bard's requirement for playing a musical instrument in things like Song of Rest and Bard-specific rituals? I'm building one and I don't see this guy as an artist at all, more of a supernatural charmer and luck manipulator. Tiefling, most likely. What if he's just sweet-talking the universe? Like spoken verse but persuasive.
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Jul 6, 2017 21:28
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I've never played 4th edition before but with our 5th edition game coming to an end, I might try a one-shot of 4th and see how my players will like it. So questions: How hard is it for new players to hop into 4th edition? Mind you, they are completely new to D&D period, and for how simplified 5e is, some players still struggle with "roll damage, plus add stats modifier, plus add spell bonus because of hunter's mark." which they then instantly forget for attack number two. Second, how does 4th edition handle Wizard Bullshit? I.E. Charm people, fly, delete castle walls for easy breach points, teleport the entire party back to a safe place, cast Wish and basically solve every problem that isn't kill the thing? On the other hand, if I have a player that really wants to play a thief or rogue that can teleport between shadows, how does 4th handle using powers outside of combat?
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Jul 7, 2017 14:58
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User0015 posted:I've never played 4th edition before but with our 5th edition game coming to an end, I might try a one-shot of 4th and see how my players will like it. So questions: 1. Get and use the character builder. 2. 4th has the strongest approach to intra-party balance that D&D has ever seen.
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Jul 7, 2017 15:00
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User0015 posted:I've never played 4th edition before but with our 5th edition game coming to an end, I might try a one-shot of 4th and see how my players will like it. So questions: I wrote a thing about how to simplify 4e down to a form similar to 5e: https://songoftheblade.wordpress.com/2017/05/07/simplified-modifiers-for-dd-4e/ Wizard bullshit is largely solved by simply not letting Wizards do that. Rogue teleportation is largely solved by letting them do that. Every power in the game has an "in-universe" description so that you have some idea of how its physical manifestation might be used in an out-of-combat context, although the game itself also encourages changing that up depending on the character concept. What's arguably missing are guidelines on restricting the use of powers aside from "encounters can't be used oftener than once every 5 minutes" and "dailies can only be used once per extended rest"
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Jul 7, 2017 15:07
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User0015 posted:Second, how does 4th edition handle Wizard Bullshit? I.E. Charm people, fly, delete castle walls for easy breach points, teleport the entire party back to a safe place, cast Wish and basically solve every problem that isn't kill the thing? 4E also takes an approach where the effect of powers is very clearly defined. A power might be called "Charm Person" but its effect will not be "target becomes friendly" where you get to argue over just what that entails. Rather it might be "the target cannot attack you for one round." quote:On the other hand, if I have a player that really wants to play a thief or rogue that can teleport between shadows, how does 4th handle using powers outside of combat? For one, you get Attack and Utility powers. Attack powers require a valid target to be used; generally that's going to be an enemy, as there's a rule that basically states "no you can't attack a harmless ant just to get the additional benefit." Utility powers can be used freely at any time. However, you also get restrictions on the use of powers. At-Will powers can be used completely freely, Encounter powers need a five minute rest to be recharged, Daily powers an extended 8-hour rest. In theory nothing keeps you from using one Encounter power in five minute increments with short rests inbetween, in practice it's frowned upon. But it's also very easy to reflavour actions in 4E. Your rogue can feel free to take any action that involves him moving and say "I teleport", as long as doing so doesn't invalidate any other mechanics that are going on. They also don't get to benefit from effects that occur when they "really" teleport (which would be defined by the presence of a "teleportation" keyword in a power). It requires a bit of buy-in on everyone's side but it works, maybe better for some things that aren't this particular example but it does. (Eladrin Fey Pact Warlocks are an excellent basic class that gets a whole lot of "real" teleportation with the keyword and all.) e: I'm acutely aware of the problem with players forgetting what stat mods to add. Keep in mind most attack and damage rolls in 4E are fairly static - if your attack bonus is +7 for one thing it's usually +7 for all your attacks no matter when. You may get temporary modifiers in combat but it's a lot easier to remember "my usual attack bonus, plus 2 from Joe's spell" than "okay, +4 from Strength, +2 proficiency, +2 from Joe's spell, that's +8. Oh no, missed by 1. Oh wait, +1 from half my level!" My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Jul 7, 2017 |
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Jul 7, 2017 15:36
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My Lovely Horse posted:But it's also very easy to reflavour actions in 4E. Party balance all but requires that there be at least one Leader, one Defender, and one Striker, in descending order of necessity. Past that, people can pick whatever they want. I'd recommend starting at Level 3. You don't get any of the really cool power/monster variety that makes 4e shine until that point, but it's early enough to not overwhelm people with options. (Edit: This is also a great excuse to start in medias res.) Also worth mentioning: Use monsters from Monster Manual 3 or the Monster Vault. The older monsters are built on some wonky math that they later fixed, and end up being big boring sacks of HP that aren't very threatening. Sure, you can use one of the old monsters and fix the math if you really want to, but why do that when you can use the good math and reskin everything. Also also, use a lot of minions. Minions are a great way to make a fight seem more threatening on the surface while also making players with area attacks get to feel like badasses. I'd recommend making it clear which are minions, though, so no one ends up feeling salty when they expend a big power on something that ends up having only 1 HP. And finally, steal DMing tricks from video games. There are people who will call 4E "video game-y". That's going to happen no matter what you do, and those tricks get used because they work, so don't be ashamed of having, say, a collapsing boss arena that gets a little smaller every round. Or having a mini-boss Elite, who uses weaker versions of a later Solo's powers/mechanics. Or cutting a solo's HP in half, and when that form dies, it has a "second form" that's actually a different solo monster reskinned (and also with half HP). girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 16:04 on Jul 7, 2017 |
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Jul 7, 2017 16:00
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PMush Perfect posted:reskin everything
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Jul 7, 2017 16:13
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slap me and kiss me posted:1. Get and use the character builder. It will also sometimes display common situational modifiers you get from feats, etc at the bottom of the card, but there is still some memory required for things like combat advantage or buffs from other players. The builder also keeps your players from going insane. There's about as much paperwork for your average 4e character as there would be for a 5e spellcaster. I have literally never built a 4e character by hand. The first time I tried, I sad "gently caress this" half way through and ponied up for a DDI sub. I have a very low tolerance for busy work though. If you're just doing a one-shot, it might be a good idea to just come with pregens. And if you want, I'm sure the people here would love to help you make some.
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Jul 7, 2017 16:15
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ImpactVector posted:To expand on this, if your players build their characters in the builder, it can print off sheets of cards with their powers listed on them with all your usual values baked into them. Thanks, I'm mostly an ideas guy.
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Jul 7, 2017 16:18
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I feel that the character builder's comprehensiveness has become somewhat of a flaw. It has every option. All the Dragon magazines, all the supplements, all the Essentials stuff. Being a new player and having to build a wizard, fighter or cleric using the builder as a primary source is an intimidating prospect. I'd consider limiting sourcebooks, at least to begin with.
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Jul 7, 2017 16:38
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I've always been able to build a character I wanted with 4e even without reskinning. There are a lot of options and once you go mad with hybriding you can pretty much have your pick (for a cost). Like, teleporty shadow-rogue? Yup, I can probably do that.
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Jul 7, 2017 16:49
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My Lovely Horse posted:I feel that the character builder's comprehensiveness has become somewhat of a flaw. It has every option. All the Dragon magazines, all the supplements, all the Essentials stuff. Being a new player and having to build a wizard, fighter or cleric using the builder as a primary source is an intimidating prospect. I'd consider limiting sourcebooks, at least to begin with. The great thing about the builder is that you can go into the options and toggle things on or off with the click of a button.
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Jul 7, 2017 16:57
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TheDemon posted:go mad with hybriding Probably strongly discourage players from doing this. Hybrids are fun, but relatively easy to make extremely bad, especially for someone who hasn't got a solid grasp on the game yet.
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Jul 7, 2017 17:36
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It should be noted that the character builder doesn't exist officially anymore, you are going to have to homebrew an older Windows app if you want it. People in this thread hooked me up and it's pretty easy to install (it gets worrisome because one point in the Homebrew, it feels like it's hanging up and not working, but it is. ...I'd definitely be willing to make some pregens though if that's a oneshot thing you're looking for. I might even have some of the ones I made a while back in my dropbox still. EDIT: Here they are! They are all level 1 though, I'll probably redo them at some point, we will see. Moriatti fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Jul 7, 2017 |
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Jul 7, 2017 18:28
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I also still have my old pregens.
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Jul 7, 2017 18:31
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TheDemon posted:I've always been able to build a character I wanted with 4e even without reskinning. There are a lot of options and once you go mad with hybriding you can pretty much have your pick (for a cost). Like, teleporty shadow-rogue? Yup, I can probably do that. Luckily a warlock -> rogue reskin is dead simple. They even have similar skill sets and a feylock is dex-based. Plus, if you're trying to rationalize teleportation, you likely want it to have some magic flavor anyway. Just ignore all the master/pact flavor and you're all set.
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Jul 7, 2017 18:46
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