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fatherdog posted:We always use variously shaped chocolates for minions. That is a god drat genius idea.
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Jun 9, 2016 03:09
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:Normal XP leveling in 4E is way too slow, and it's far too slow for a game of its nature. If you run two combats per game night, it takes approximately five weeks to level. Extending that out to level 30, that's nearly three years. And it isn't a game where the powers you have at a given level are going to stay that interesting for over a month of game sessions, especially if you're running one of the Essentials classes. It's a tactics-focused game, it needs to stay fresh and evolve frequently to stay interesting... And most importantly, D&D has always been centered on leveling as a goal and major part of the experience. Personally I've grown bored of characters even at epic level when the leveling isn't fast enough. The Zeitgeist AP has you levelling every 2-3 sessions which feels like a good pace.
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Jun 13, 2016 01:52
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The best/funniest thing about gold as XP was my ludicrously defensive cleric in an OSR game being the sole survivor of two all but one TPKS, cashing in huge dollar and being 2-3 levels higher than everyone else and totally unkillable for the rest of the campaign
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Jun 16, 2016 14:00
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I'm in adventure 4, so grain of salt but: There are lots of NPCS: they provide face cards so print them out and hand them out. There is lots of foreshadowing so read ahead and incorporate the themes You want a whiteboard or cork board at the table to.let the PCS do the police board thing - particularly in adventure 2 but also in adventure 4.
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Jul 8, 2016 09:46
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Just flat out ban non Zeitgeist themes. There is to much material for them, particularly the vengeful weirdo elven cultists to waste it.
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Jul 8, 2016 15:27
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dwarf74 posted:Yo, Kaza42! One of the later Zeitgeist adventures actually has an epic level hex crawl in it (though I'm just about to start adventure 5) Generic Octopus posted:My 2 cents on Essentials is that, while the classes have limited options on a round-by-round basis, they remain effective members of the party, and some people are more comfortable with the limited toolbox. Using an Essentials Martial like the Scout, Thief, or Knight/Slayer doesn't result in the same awkward power gulf that exists in 3.5e or 5e. The primary complaint is that they become boring, but if you don't find them boring then it's not a big deal. Yeah, I'm running two games and have a knight in one and a (sloppily) Elementalist in another running around with original classes. They stay in touch with the other classes. The knight's biggest problem is that it has absolutely nothing to deal with forced movement in heroic, I can only imagine how bad it is if you are a dwarf. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Aug 19, 2016 |
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Aug 19, 2016 02:18
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Kaza42 posted:Which one? I'm not starting at epic level, but it could be useful to take inspiration from Adventure 12.
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Aug 19, 2016 03:47
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The Crotch posted:It's worth noting that the DM-oriented Essentials books are some of the best 4e has to offer. Rules Compendium and the two Monster Vaults are all extremely useful. I reckon the Rules Compendium is the best rulebook for at the table use of any game I've played. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 05:36 on Aug 19, 2016 |
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Aug 19, 2016 05:27
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I don't understand why they just didn't given them wizard dallies as dallies
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Aug 28, 2016 10:21
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gradenko_2000 posted:For content: I actually got a group withdraw from a fight the other day. They were Vampire Monks with an unarmed attack that hit for 2d8+15 damage, but they had a Flurry of Blows that let them make these attacks thrice. They managed to drop the group's level 9 Warlord to unconsciousness within a single round after all three attacks hit, so the Wizard dazed them on his turn, then the Fighter made an executive decision to run in, grab the Warlord, and run out. Yeah, this is what I get for posting in Auspol. I need to buy a new avatar.
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Aug 29, 2016 02:53
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Someone I know is thinking about starting up a 4e game but he is concerned he tends to have a fairly mixed group show up on the day. There are probably 4 people who are there 100% of the time and 3 people who have much more mixed attendance levels. Do you guys have any advice for managing party composition and encounter scaling?
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Aug 31, 2016 22:50
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ImpactVector posted:4e can kind of slow down if you don't have enough damage in the party, so you may want to encourage the group to do at least a halfway decent job of distributing the roles. If you have 2 defenders in the 100% crew and your only strikers are the flakes, then things may go kind of slowly. Yeah this is what I meant by party design sorry - dealing with an AFK guy in universe is easy. I was thinking you're best off making the 100% crew the leader defender and two strikers (Due to the loss of a player in my game the core 4 has only one striker which can be very sad), and then letting the flakes play whatever but giving them a strong guiding hand towards striker things, or at least classes like the Bezerker and Brawler Fighter than can play off the primary defender or Pyromancers or Evokers that are doing pseudo striker things. Edit: So a 4+3 party would look like Core: Defender Leader Striker Striker Flakes: Striker Striker / Bezerker / 2nd Defender Striker / Controller Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Sep 1, 2016 |
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Aug 31, 2016 23:28
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Other stuff ive seen work is have him impose big environmental effects, particularly if you can contrive an excuse for them to be fighting alongside allies. For example if he pops 20 allied minions a turn, converts all terrain to difficult and throws a big rock at PCs from range he feels dangerous while not actually doing a ton.
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Sep 5, 2016 07:15
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Probably one for the CharOp thread, but if I was making a Ranger/Bard hybrid, what's a reliable way of generating RBAs without using your standard to make good use of powers like Lesser dimensional step? Rebounding bow is an obvious standout. Basic idea is ranged rangers are kind boring to play, so spam out the twin strikes with standards but have a fun selection of bard powers to hoover up all your interrupts with. If I can reliably generate some RBAs I can even throw Skald's aura on it. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Sep 6, 2016 |
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Sep 6, 2016 02:07
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Really Pants posted:A friend who's playing a Warlord. Yeah, I'm one of the flakes in the earlier core/flakes discussion so I was trying to be self sufficient but this is an obvious winner.
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Sep 6, 2016 02:18
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thespaceinvader posted:If you post in CharOp I'll tell you that Ranger|Bard is a pretty awful hybrid so What's wrong with it? On paper it looks okay - you're basically a Ranger with a bunch of immediate interrupts from bard. If I could crack the RBA problem you don't even really need Charisma. A melee ranger | cleric hybrid looks a lot better but no divine classes makes it a lot harder Barbarian Bard looks pretty good, I presume you use the Barbarian armored agility as your hybrid talent.
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Sep 6, 2016 23:55
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quote:
My thinking was that the ranger ones like Duck and Draw (which is really good!) require you to be attacked, whereas the trigger on Prescient warning is easier to manage. But having spent some more time dicking around with it I am leaning towards agree with you. I guess my real question is if you where looking at some sort of hybrid striker/leader that cannot use divine classes, what would you play? Things I want: A) something resembling striker damage so I don't make combat drag on to much B) 'fun' to play with interesting and real decisions to be made every turn of combat C) A fairly contained gimmick so I don't have to rely on other party members and other people don't need to consider flakey me, but at the same time having a decent MBA/RBA so I can be used for whatever enabling is rocking around. D) No divine classes - GM was thinking eberron and then flipped to dark sun. E) I enjoy complex builds. I was going to go with a Melee Ranger / Cleric hybrid with tactical warpriest and be a striker/defender/leader thing (you've got twin strike, and multiattacking ranger powers to bring the damage, you have a couple of good minor action heals and good defenses so you are durable, and it's melee while tactical warpriest gives you a mark so you need to think carefully about positioning) but the non divine classes blew that up. Yukari posted:One idea that I had while thinking about bard/Barbarian was the idea of a melee bard/Warlock abusing eldritch strike. You can take skald training to get a skald aura and then proc it + curse with eldritch strike. If you can find a way to reliable give yourself non standard action RBAs I was thinking you use the Skald aura (because your standard action is going to be twin strike forever) and can take powers like lesser dimensional step for more enabling. The bard warlock build is pretty cool though I guess it suffers from the 'you could just play a half elf' I think a Valorous war chanter half elf with Skald training is going to be awesome from level 11 onwards. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 01:00
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Unknown Quantity posted:I was about to say Barbarian/Runepriest but then you said no divine. Uh...Warlock/Artificer gets you Eldritch Blast or Eldritch Strike and Con/Int synergy? But seriously, striker/leader isn't an especially supported combo, especially with your no-divine condition. Defender/Leader's a great deal more open. I don't need it to be Striker / Leader. I can be Striker / literally anything as long as it's fairly self sufficient. I was looking at Striker/Defender Darksun makes it a pain in the butt because it takes Paladin off the table which is another great class for wedging in there - Sorcerer/Paladin has good damage, high defenses and a bunch of mass marking powers to suck them in so you can blow them up with a big AoE powers.' Warlock/Artificer looks good. Ranger / Sentinel (Druid dailies ontop of ranger at will + encounter + 2 pets) looks like being silly but fun as well. Ranger / Shaman is another option but doesn't seem to gel well when I actually make a build. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 01:48
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Unknown Quantity posted:If you're fine with Striker/anything, Warden/Barbarian is good, and I can definitely attest to Warlock/Swordmage. Swordlock is really good at laying down tons of -2s and screwing with people in general, especially if Paragon is an eventuality and you get access to Sigil Carver. Yeah, Warlock | Swordmage looks like a really solid option, I'm assuming you go shielding and spam out Hellish Rebuke on the target you've marked so he has a totally impossible catch 22.
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Sep 7, 2016 02:01
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Generic Octopus posted:That, and the Sigil Carver lvl 16 feature + E. Strike. Yeah, OK that's pretty good. Gotta play human or retrain at level 16 but yikes - e: That even works against AoEs. Bunch of fun options kicking around, the warlock PP that deals auto damage to your marked targets would be fun too.
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Sep 7, 2016 02:09
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Unknown Quantity posted:You can also in theory use Vestige pact at Paragon if you want even more ways to put your curse on things. Warlock's Curse + Eyes of the Vestige to double-curse on turns after you've marked someone to have 1 mark and 3-4 curses by turn 2, for instance. That's a brutual choice - do you twofold pact into Infernal to let you take both Hellish Rebuke and Eldritch Strike without being human, or Eyes of the Vestige to spread your curse around. Looks good! I might get some better answers via play as I level up, but can pencil something in.
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Sep 7, 2016 02:46
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quote:
Yeah, there is definately a lot of stuff you can do with the Swordlock. I'd just looked at the Darth Vader build, but as a 5th or 6th man I'm not sure it's what the team needs. If I'm striking and off-defending the extreme emphasis on survivability and punishment is not required - but stuff like Caution of Dispater looks really good. ProfessorCirno posted:Or you eschew the defender part entirely, go assault swordmage with your warlock, and build up for damage. Or you do that, but do it by also dropping warlock and stapling barbarian onto the swordmage, because that is a thing that absolutely works. I've looked at the Barbarian | Swordmage thing, but I'm not totally sure how it's supposed to work. Are you basically just building a barbarian, loading up with immediate interrupts and if you proc Aegis of assault that is a sweet bonus? That's probably a good start for a 5th-6th man build. (Also, you're fighting with a longsword and swordmage warding until paragon, then switching out for Armored agility and a big fuckoff two handed right?) Edit: Howling strike requires a two hander so armored agility from day 1. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 04:19
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Unknown Quantity posted:There are, as I recall, three near-perfect matches for hybrids. Swordmage|Warlock, (Tiefling) Paladin|Warlock, and Cleric|Invoker. All three can perfectly complement one another's abilities, be incredibly modular in the case of the first, make something that combined is actually stronger than the sum of its parts in the case of the second, or fit so perfectly that you'd think they were initially one super-class split into two different roles in the third. What do you think of Hybrid Cleric | Melee Ranger? There is a lot of cleric stuff that you can use that keys off strength, it gives you an awesome AC and doesn't cost much. I feel like it's perfect if you're stopping pre epic, and the tradeoffs may be worth it even if you are going to 30.
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Sep 8, 2016 04:36
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Anyone with experience of using 3D tiles (like dwarven forge) able to give advice on how much 'table coverage' you need to be usable? I'm trying to finalise the pledge manager for the secret weapon kickstarter. Inputs: Core sets have 1.8 square feet of pieces (~1.5 for a DF set from KS 1 with all stretch goals, though DF has more 'set dressing') I run mostly 4E with some OSR and other games Kinda wondering how many core sets to get? Feels like 3 to 5 is the right answer. Crudely calculating (assuming 25% of the map is empty space) 4 sets would cover a 3 x 3 play area with some pieces left over, which almost feels like overkill.
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Sep 13, 2016 04:46
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I'm using CBloader and occasionally get this weird bug - options won't appear in menus as selectable, but if I export the character to clipboard, use notepad to edit the power or paragon path in and re-import it displays fine I've ran the cleanup tool and rebuilt the DB and it keeps happening - any ideas? http://imgur.com/a/BPkTH ^ Example - dimensional vortex doesn't exist.
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Sep 14, 2016 07:49
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My Lovely Horse posted:Is everything checked as available in your campaign settings? Nope, this is ticked Lord Justice posted:I've had a similar problem with Monk powers, among other things not showing up at all. Are you running Windows 8.1 and is the Builder program located in x86/Program Files? If so, you're probably running into write problems with permissions, even if you run it as admin. The solution I found worked was just installing it somewhere else; in this case, a folder on my desktop, and everything displayed properly then. Might want to give that a shot. Hrm, I've got it on several computers and only some have the issue, but they have it installed in D:\My Docs\Documents\D&D Others have it installed in C:\D&D so I might try that. Weird.
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Sep 15, 2016 00:21
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Bard/Black guard seems workable if you go fake Skald. Ranger/Shaman works and so does Ranger/Druid. Warlord/Ranger seems playable as well. The reality seems to be twin strike is insanely good and there are enough no attack warlord powers that you can get away with anything on one of those two. Warlord/Artificer is a classic OP build as well (Google killswitch) Yukari posted:What are other good hybrids that include leaders that aren't STRclass/Cleric based?
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Sep 15, 2016 10:22
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ProfessorCirno posted:The only real problem with Cleric|Barbarian is that you aren't Fighter|Barbarian, which I feel fits better. Or Monk|Barbarian, which not only works, it works real well in ways it shouldn't. How does this work - strength/dex using monk mobility to set up charges? Or am I missing something.
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Sep 16, 2016 03:33
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I'm remaking my own version of the MM3 math on a business card to 'build in' Level 1 damage forever and fix the monster HP scaling issue address here: http://dmg42.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/boot-on-face-of-level-1-damage-forever.html and http://blogofholding.com/?p=782 By my reckoning that changes the formulas as follows: Defenses & to hit - Same Damage: 7 + 2xlevel (this is slightly to high at paragon and epic), with % modifiers the same, round down HP by role: Skirmish: 24+5/lev Controller: 24+5/lev Soldier: 24+5/lev Bruce: 26+7/lev Artillery: 21+3/Lev Lurker: 21+3/lev Does this look right/playable? I'm converting WoTBS on the fly as I go so the MM3 business card concept makes it a lot easier, but I like the higher damage/lower HP concept. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Sep 21, 2016 |
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Sep 21, 2016 04:12
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gradenko_2000 posted:I used to use the "MM3 business card follow-up" HP levels that you linked to, but I've since gone back to just using the original MM3 business card math, or even just the default published HP count right on the book, because a well-optimized group is going to demolish your fights fairly easily. Ha, OK - I was inspired by a post in (your?) blog that referenced the MM3 followup math. I guess my design intent is to have very hard hitting fights and was hoping the much higher monster damage would offset the lower HP counts. In terms of context, e.g. about well optimised: * Running WoTBS * Got 4 players but leaving the number of monsters as per 5 players (except when they are using stupidly underlevelled monsters, then I convert them all to minions). * Using the MM3 business card math for the monsters to hit, HP and defences * Using the level one damage math. * Groups is well built, but not great characters. For example, everyone is either 20/16 or 18/18 in their attack stats and have intelligently chosen feats (Rogue/Warlord/Barbarian/Knight, with a ranger who shows up sometimes) but not lasting frost + wintertouched combo * Group is fairly tactically focused, particularly the Warlord. I have been really happy with it, but I have noticed that sometimes the fights are dragging on just a bit to long, often the players have got into a position where they cannot lose, but are out of encounters so spend a round or two using at wills to burn down the last couple of monsters, or I have the monsters run away if thematically appropriate. Then again, my games are only level 9 and 10 respectively so I haven't seen the high end novas that look possible in mid paragon and epic in action. Do you think I should leave in the fuller fat HP totals as the paragon/epic nova potential will be to much?
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Sep 21, 2016 07:35
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gradenko_2000 posted:It's been my experience that no matter how high the monster damage is, if they're disabled / killed before they get to attack, and then again before their attacks actually manage to score hits, then it doesn't really matter. Yeah, I basically told everyone to not play straight controllers and everyone has been down with that: Party 2 is a predator druid, ranged ranger, Warden, Elementalist and strength cleric. Good point though that I hadn't considered. I might just give it a whirl and see how it goes.
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Sep 21, 2016 08:33
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Obligatum VII posted:Something people often forget is that enemies that are not completely mindless will generally retreat or surrender once it is clear they are losing. If you keep mindless enemies fairly sparse, it's entirely fitting to have most fights end in what remains of the enemy running away. Yeah, I kinda miss the morale rules from pre 3.5 editions. I use the 2d6 roll under thing except minions don't count as people, and no-one runs away ever while a solo or elite is still fighting.
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Sep 22, 2016 06:01
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I was talking about this with one of my players - could you just move to a pure milestone based recovery system? I'm just not totally sure what assumptions 4E is making about number of extended rests per encounter. Another option is as the game basically wants 6-8 encounters per level, you could give people 1 'long rest' token per level they can cash in at any thematic time.
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Sep 27, 2016 04:16
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I mostly DM, but from what I can see if you want tactical play the Defender and Controller role have a lot, as does an attack granting or tactical leader. So I'd suggest torpedoing the guy moving to ranger by playing a defender, second option being maybe play a tactical warlord (strength/int), but a better option might be to ask for the book restrictions to be relaxed for the specific purpose of playing a hybrid. The case I'd make is 'because you have a larger party I want to play a hybrid so I can cover off multiple roles' but this has the side benefit of letting you play something ridiculously complex with tons of options and moving parts. Swordmage/warlock, barbarian/swordmage, paladin/warlock, Ranger/Warlord would all be workable and have lots going on. If you're totally stumped though, here is a fighter build that is mostly PHB stuff, with some stuff from martial power - https://web.archive.org/web/20150916222949/http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/2692911 that you could probably replace. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 02:45 on Oct 11, 2016 |
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Oct 11, 2016 02:39
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There is also a feat in the game that gives hammer users secondary stat as damage on a miss so pretty sure you could include that level of damage on a miss and not have problems
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Oct 20, 2016 07:44
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Is there anything actually wrong with just saying you can gather two shrouds a round for the rest of the encounter? If you want the theme though I'd just say shrouds popped on the target count for double. Has added value that you can just pop it when you want to use it so unlikely to waste it.
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Nov 1, 2016 13:41
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ImpactVector posted:The only real issue is that it sounds like the power is worded such that you only double shrouds on one enemy. So it'd be a pretty significant boost to do it for the whole encounter. That was my line of logic yeah.
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Nov 1, 2016 14:28
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If you want control and CON/INT a swordmage/warlock can do that pretty well
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Nov 5, 2016 15:10
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Australian eculptyus trees explode when they get hot which is an effect you could incorporate
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Nov 12, 2016 20:52
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NachtSieger posted:Might nothing, definitely steal it. Those auras conceptually own. Just don't make them as... auto-hit as the Cataclysm Dragon auras are. By that, I mean the auras begin at iirc 5, then increase by 5 per turn into it hits 15. There's practically no way to actually avoid it in advance, and I've never found that fun at all. I think a good way to do it, imho is have it as a donut aura representing waves of fire coming out. Then you have real choices to make about where to stand! Pain in the arse to draw on a map though. Trying to come up with a better solution myself.
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Nov 21, 2016 06:39
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