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Nihilarian posted:An interesting idea for a time based monster would be to roll for the amount of actions they get each round. For example, if they roll a 1 they get no actions but if they roll a 5 they get 2 standard and a move action. Could be kinda swingy, though, and you'd have to make a list. 2. Monster loses its move action. 3-4. No change. 5. Monster gets an extra move action. 6. Monster gets an extra standard action.
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Aug 27, 2014 17:10
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Vorpal Cat posted:less arrow dynamic
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Sep 8, 2014 21:41
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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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If you're feeling lazy, just reskin a dragon from the Monster Vault. You don't want to know how many of my solo fights were reskinned or slightly modified dragons. On one occasion, I reskinned a dragon as another dragon. Twice. For the same fight. (It was a 'three phase fight' thing, which is the best way to do solos.) Edit: Bold for emphasis. The pre-Vault solos are hot garbage.
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Nov 25, 2014 22:33
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My Lovely Horse posted:The paladin in my party throws out THP for the entire party on a regular basis. For most characters the amount is in the neighborhood of a single healing surge value. Not having to heal that back after the battle adds up quickly.
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Dec 31, 2014 15:20
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ImpactVector posted:warlord if you count the barbarian as their weapon
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Jan 2, 2015 17:41
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Note to self: Write a surge-stealing class that turns them into a temporary resource.
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Jan 4, 2015 11:49
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The Bloodknight, an attempt at an alternate Vampire. This is the first draft for a really dumb idea I had while sitting in a car sometime during the weekend. Just the first level so far (plus a couple level 2 powers I thought of), because I want to see what people think of the concept before I sink more time and energy into ten levels worth of powers. I'd like to hear what people think, both in terms of balance, and in how well it reaches the stated goal. Ideas for good feats would be nice, too.
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Jan 7, 2015 02:45
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Okay, wow, I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn't realize it'd be that bad. Back to the drawing board. Edit Gonna try giving it a major overhaul. I was playing pretty close to the chest in terms of not wanting to make things overpowered, but I apparently went way too far the other direction, so let me toy with things. Edit2 Completely overhauled the class features. Gonna take another crack at the powers... tomorrow. For now, I will sleep. girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Jan 7, 2015 |
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Jan 7, 2015 05:55
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Mordiceius posted:Has anyone here ever made a more "MMO boss gimmick" style encounter? thespaceinvader posted:Yep http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2010/04/1511/
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Jan 16, 2015 19:28
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I really, really shouldn't do this... But I've been considering getting back into 4e DMing, and I could be convinced to run a Skype/Virtual Daivve (or Skype/Roll20) game.
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Jan 24, 2015 19:51
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Well, it'd be nice to not have to be Forever DM.
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Jan 24, 2015 20:00
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Lord Justice posted:I might be interested in something like that, I haven't played DnD in like 2 years at this point, poo poo sucks. Has Roll20's backend improved at all? I last used it two years ago for Gau's PvP tournament thing and it was terrible, tokens barely had any information you could put on them (no defense entries, really?), and making Macros was awful.
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Jan 24, 2015 20:40
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Anyone who wants in (I've already got one who contacted me), hit me up on Skype, we'll figure out scheduling. My Skype is poisonmushroomerin.
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Jan 24, 2015 21:28
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thespaceinvader posted:Immune to Dominate is an epic destiny feature, not a theme feature holy poo poo.
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Feb 11, 2015 23:05
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Mordiceius posted:Are there any classes I can suggest that are used to using ranged weapons at melee range?
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Feb 22, 2015 21:52
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Treasure parcels are a very formalized system for making roughly sure that players don't fall behind on the Red Queen's Race that is 4e equipment. If you're using IBs, you can kind of disregard it entirely.
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Mar 2, 2015 16:42
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:Does anyone have a link to a good essay about "what killed 4e" that isn't just gravedancing or stupid random poo poo? I wasn't able to find one using Google, and I feel this might be a topic worth writing about. One thing that I'm concerned about is that the 3.5 people are quite literally erasing reality and saying that the system failed because it was rejected en masse, when it seems to me that it died mostly from bad bloat, bad adventures, a few fundamental math problems that were easily fixed, and of course the most important thing - Mearls deciding to kill it dead because it wasn't "real D&D".
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Mar 25, 2015 22:37
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Countblanc posted:The line of books died, sure, but like no one I know IRL plays 4e anymore while 3.5 is alive and well. The game of 4e is pretty dead in a way that many other no longer supported RPGs aren't.
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Mar 25, 2015 22:46
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Last week, I went to a D&D game, invited by one of my coworkers. 3.5e, Forgotten Realms. I went in with a kind of goofy concept (Zhi Bhest, a bard with a whip and Improved Trip who uses Perform (Oratory) by telling bad jokes). It was decided, mostly without any of my input, that my character was a eunuch and an escaped former harem-boy. The DM then repeatedly called me/my character "ISIS" and "towelhead". I spent most of the combat being ineffectual because the DM shut me down for being a rules lawyer every time I tried to bring up the only thing that made my character worthwhile (the Attack of Opportunity rules). This was on top of the campaign being built mostly around the PCs being agents for the DM's old character, a self-insert with twin katanas, twin pistols, illegitimate children in every possible region of FR, and like 40 levels in every class. I don't think I'll be going back. (To make it relevant to this thread, I mentioned 4e in passing, and basically the entire table responded with kneejerk hostility.)
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Mar 25, 2015 23:02
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ProfessorCirno posted:A lot of it simply comes down to "How dare you tell me what to do!" I've seen a lot of 3e fans spew incredible amounts of hate at 4e because it expected people to actually play and act like a team, and not a group of lone wolves coincidentally in the same place at the same time. Lots heaped no small amount of scorn on the "leader" role because literally "YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME, DON'T CALL YOURSELF MY LEADER!" Not because it's a bad post, it's a good and accurate one, but just because it'd be loving hilarious.
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Mar 31, 2015 03:12
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Section Z posted:I'm sorry, I'm too busy taking a BG that gives me a free military weapon proficiency on my Rouge for Rapier prof without a feat to take "Use another stat for your base HP" Born under a bad sign.
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May 21, 2015 02:31
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I know it's not quite 4e, but would anyone be interested in a PBP or Skype game of one of the D&D Adventures boardgame? Wrath of Ashardalon, specifically. I have all the assets together, and have had them for a long time, but I've never gotten to use them.
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May 22, 2015 23:58
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cybertier posted:Why 4th actually IS the goon-favorite D&D? It would be much appreciated. This is done primarily by tossing out the "fighter, rogue, cleric, wizard" foursome, and instead building off of a four-roles base. Defenders, who take the hits, Strikers, who give the hits, Controllers, who hinder the enemy, and Leaders, who help their allies. Essentially, the MMO roles of Tank, DPS (ranged or melee), hexer/disabler/etc, and healer/buffs-giver. In the old paradigm, a fighter is a Defender, a rogue is a melee Striker, a cleric is a Leader, and a wizard is a Controller. If you're not interested in that part of D&D, however, then... honestly, what you're looking for probably isn't D&D any more. It's a much different game from the old 1e and 2e. I'd recommend either one of the retroclones (for the genuine experience) or Dungeon World (if you just want to have cool adventures in a fantasy setting). Now, if you are interested, if you want a base of solid combat that you can build off of and roleplay around with relative impunity, there are still a few drawbacks. 1. Learn to love reskinning. If there's a concept you want to play, but don't like the fluff, or you want to use a monster in your fight but can't think of a reason for a squad of duergar to show up in the middle of a forest, reskin. Change the fluff. 2. You can't really just bounce the numbers around. The math is tuned a specific way, and if you start deviating from it too far in either direction, combat kind of just falls apart. This includes loot, which is why the Inherent Bonuses rules are so useful. 3. Kind of a fusion of the first two: Players are expected to build a competent character in one or more of the combat Roles. Your class' primary stat should always be at least an 18. 20, if possible. If you want to play, for example, a Fighter with low STR, you're going to have a miserable time and just drag yourself and your friends down. Instead, find (for example), a melee Striker whose powers are based of DEX instead, and reskin. 4. If you're missing one or more of the roles, encounter design gets a bit trickier. For example, a party with no Defender is going to have trouble keeping their squishies from taking the heat, and one with no Controller is going to have a hard time dealing with mobs or enemies with a lot of maneuvering and momentum. 5. The out of combat rules are a little... malnourished, and the skill list has been pared down dramatically as well. You might have to get creative with a few things now and again. 6. As you get up into the higher levels (especially Epic Tier, levels 21-30), players and DMs start to get a little weighed down with options and the balance of the combat kind of comes apart. 4e isn't perfect, I'll admit. It's a little front-loaded, and makes assumptions that a new player might not immediately catch on to (like the aforementioned 'make your primary stat your best, no exceptions'), and the out-of-combat rules feel rather secondary at times. But it's still the most solid and sound combat with the most legitimate building options in a roleplaying game that I've played or seen. girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 18:37 on May 31, 2015 |
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May 31, 2015 18:34
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cybertier posted:Thanks for your excellent reply. It'll still be tricky, though, and I'd recommend playing softball with encounter design at first until you really get a handle on what the players are capable of handling. quote:Reskinning and optimized building shouldn't be a problem. My players are used to reading guides for their 3.5 and PF characters, so expect some solid character from them. quote:How quick is preparation? Can I think about some rough adventure plans and build up encounters when they show up in game (With heavy reskinning of course) or do I *have* to have them prepared in advance? What I will say is this: Do not bother with filler encounters. Each fight should be interesting in some way. 4e combat takes too long to constantly have random encounters and bar fights just for XP and what not. Think of it like a scene in a movie. No matter how many or few fight scenes a movie has, in a good movie, each of them is interesting and novel in some way. A good way to start designing an encounter is to think about how you want your players talking about it later. Bad Example: "Remember the time we fought the goblins on our way to [City]?" "Which one?" Good Example: "Remember that time we fought the goblins who had stolen a loving catapult and we had to fight our way up that hill while they were shooting boulders down at us?" "Haha, yeah, that was great." quote:"Inherent Bonuses" - Where can I find more of this besides whats written in the OP? Side note: One Rules Compendium, one Monster Vault (for all the neat monsters, pogs, etc), and one D&D Insider account will probably be all you'll need. Maybe one or two of the "Heroes of ____" books, if you really like building your characters at the table together. quote:Also I'd like to point back to my questions in my post before: girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 20:08 on May 31, 2015 |
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May 31, 2015 20:04
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Having either helping or not helping shouldn't be favored. Different benefits and complications, sure. Or using it as context to evaluate their motivations, sure. But a big picture/help everyone dilemma shouldn't have a binary right or wrong answer.
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Jun 9, 2015 16:07
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Moriatti posted:So I'm converting Planescape to 4e for a let's play/podcast I'm running of Infinite Staircase/Modron March/A few others.
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Jun 14, 2015 20:20
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Gort posted:Does anyone even use XP any more?
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Jun 21, 2015 01:39
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Honestly, I think thirteen unique enemies (that is, counting all minions of a certain type as 'one') a level is kind of pushing it, much less full fights.
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Jun 21, 2015 01:57
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I will admit that one thing Essentials did well was create a couple classes that can easily be played with your brain on autopilot and still contributing if you're mostly playing for the social or roleplay aspect. I mean, there's other builds that do that, too (lazylords come to mind) but credit where credit is due, "classes with strong at-wills" is not a bad goal. Quick example, if someone new to 4e came to me and said "I don't care about all those powers or whatever, I just want to hit stuff with a greatsword", I'd probably roll them up a Slayer. girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 11:57 on Jul 5, 2015 |
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Jul 5, 2015 11:53
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Onmi posted:Before NEXT came out I tried to transition my party from their current PF game to 4e since I really liked the stuff I read on it. Unfortunately most would not make the jump, so sadly I never got to DM or play a game of 4th edition.
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Jul 15, 2015 20:10
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GimmickMan posted:Arcane characters would have frostcheese, I guess? But hey, I'm not complaining. Vanilla Icestorm is still one of my favorite 4e characters I've ever made.
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Aug 17, 2015 23:31
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That drat comic actually resparked my desire to DM. gently caress.
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Aug 19, 2015 03:39
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thespaceinvader posted:Slayers are beasts if you build them correctly, but mediocre using only essentials materials. But then, everything other than Wizards pretty much fits that particular description.
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Aug 23, 2015 22:57
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Is it safe to say that Wizards has lived past its age? There's no big names there any more, no big ideas outside of the eternal money machine that is MtG. And now that the RPG business has evolved back into something more auteur driven, more independent, I can't see D&D having much of a future except as a famous IP to hold on to. Edit Especially since the days of having to buy splat books in order to get decent content died with the internet.
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Sep 16, 2015 21:53
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I kinda fondly remember the 1001 Mournlands Encounters thread. There were a few gems in there amongst the  and the 
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Sep 16, 2015 22:29
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ProfessorCirno posted:Games Workshop is sincerely on a whole different level from everything else.
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Sep 17, 2015 04:37
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Read my lips: No new taxes.
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Oct 12, 2015 07:50
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Someone please save the Necromancer's Handbook, that's been hugely useful for the Skeleton Computer discussions.
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Oct 29, 2015 06:35
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:Sorry, to be clear, by that I meant 'do I just hand out improved defences and expertise for free, or do I make them spend a feat to take them?' - I was planning on going with forcing them to spend a feat, rather than giving people 2 free feats.
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Oct 30, 2015 00:13
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