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Hey, been the go-to GM for quite a while in my group and I can't really stand any other edition of D&D. I have a group of 4 (sometimes 5) level 1 adventurers, and I am using mastermind as has been suggested. It has been a long slog manually adding in a bunch of monsters as it seems it does not come with any libraries. I have 2 major questions: 1. Has anyone tried the encounter deck suggested in the DMG? It seems like a neat idea but I am not sure if the range of monster levels it includes would work that well, and just adding in an extra monster when you draw a soldier or brute seems like it would make things kinda hard. 2. How do you speed up fights? My biggest issue with 4e is how long the fights and rounds take, I use the new MM3 math to alleviate some of the problem, but do you guys have any tricks you use that helps at your table?
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Nov 19, 2014 19:46
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How exactly do I add the insider add-in to Masterplan? I have the download I am just not sure what to do with it. Edit: Never-mind, I just had to RTFM. Ash Rose fucked around with this message at 08:16 on Nov 20, 2014 |
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Nov 20, 2014 08:11
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I am not sure if this is the thread for this, but would this be the place to run home-brew monsters past people?
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Nov 20, 2014 18:22
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Ok then, for context, this guy is meant to be shortly reoccurring antagonist for the party to deal with. The party ranges from evil to unlalligned, and all take place in what is the D&D equivalent of Smash TV. This guy is gonna be a smug do-gooder who the crowd loves. I am afraid that the +2 AC from being a soldier mixed with his aura may make him frustrating to hit, but I really want to give him flavorful paladiny so-self-righteous-it-hurts abilities.
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Nov 20, 2014 18:58
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Here is another whack at this guy, removing the healing from his moves and replacing crowd favorite entirely. Yes, being a standard monster is intentional. He is meant to be in a encounter with other gladiators, the party should be level 3 and 4 players strong when they fight him for real. He will be accompanied with an artillery spellcaster, A melee brute and a yet undecided 4th combatant, all of which will be level 3. I am considering making him an elite and dropping the 4th guy.
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Nov 20, 2014 19:31
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edit: ok, I am redesigning him as an elite and will show him alongside his retinue when I am ready to run him past you guys again, thanks very much for the feedback.
Ash Rose fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Nov 20, 2014 |
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Nov 20, 2014 19:50
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Ok, I think I have at least captured what I want this encounter to look like now. Tactics: Beryl does his best to be in the middle of the party, marking the most dangerous looking people and blasting people with his encounter whenever it is available. The Invoker keeps its distance as it blasts people in Beryl's aura with its ranged attack, using Get Thee Hence if it is in a bad situation. The Tosser makes a beeline for anyone in the back trying to snipe or anyone making a run for the invoker, and grabs them and tosses them directly next to Beryl. Player Countermeasures: Stay loosely grouped as to avoid masses of people getting hit with judgement, tie the dwarf down with a defender or controller and gib the invoker asap. I changed up crumbling facade to also trigger if Beryl is all that is left to help the fight end quicker, let me know what you guys think.
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Nov 20, 2014 20:49
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Gort posted:Generally speaking I will always make a character with a name at least an elite. That is probably a good rule of thumb, I think I spent too much time looking at official 4e adventures where they model bosses as standard monsters that are higher level.
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Nov 20, 2014 21:00
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Torquemadras posted:History 15 check for the player's to realize, anyone can then use Minor action to taunt the poo poo out of Beryl, causes -1 morale penalty to attack rolls. That's what I'd do. That is so in line with the tone of the game I might just have to use it.
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Nov 21, 2014 18:06
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So uh, latest problem, I can't seem to import stuff using the masterplan plugin, I use the exact same username and password for DDI and it works fine on their website, but the plugin does not seem to recognize it. Is the plugin in the OP out of date?
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Nov 22, 2014 18:49
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I'm running a game for some friends and I ma really taking to MasterPlan, but for the life of me I can't find out how to do short and extended rests with it.
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Jan 17, 2016 02:03
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Hey, since Masterplan seems to not let you transfer libraries between PCs, which sucks since I like building stuff on my desktop, what programs do most folks use these days?
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Nov 11, 2016 01:08
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dwarf74 posted:It just checks the PC name. You can kludge it. Gotcha, and I am gonna assume compendium import does not work at all now?
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Nov 11, 2016 02:04
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Noxin of Shame posted:Is the DDI Character Builder down for everyone or just me? It has gone kaput as far as I know, too bad there is no offline character builder floating around that is a poorly kept secret.
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Nov 28, 2016 04:52
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Mordiceius posted:Has anyone found a good way to speed up combat encounters? I feel like they were always the main thing that would slow down my games. As for making turns faster, help players have their accuracy and damage ready to go, things like the character builder sheets' power cards help a lot, and try to not use/discourage temporary bonuses, as these slow down turns trying to figure out the new math.
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Nov 28, 2016 22:14
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Yeah, at the very least make that dominate last until the end of the head's next turn, save ends on dominate on an at-will is absurd, hell, any kind of dominated on an at-will is too much, dazed would be more reasonable.
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Dec 2, 2016 06:00
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Your typical encounter for 7 level 4 PCs is 7 level 4 monsters, which is the beauty of 4e encounter design imho. That translates out to 1,225 xp. I would suggest going with some elites, which count as 2 monsters to drop your workload, or have several monster be the same kind of monster. If you want to have a lot of weaker combatants, definitely go for minions instead of lower xp monsters, minions count as 1/4 of a monster, so while a level 1 monster is 100 xp, a level 1 minion is 25
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Dec 5, 2016 23:19
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Spiteski posted:Going to be running a long term Zeitgeist game online thanks to suggestions from goons in this thread. I would be down depending on the schedule.
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Dec 6, 2016 10:43
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Loel posted:So I knock my players to 0hp a lot, and I dont like the dying mechanic. Think Ill playtest this next session. 4e is purposely designed to have players hit the mat in a standard/hard encounter in order to ratchet the tension, this will lead to dead characters on the reg for a normal campaign. If you want more tension for the moments characters do go down, make it so they need to have someone get to them asap, not the very relaxed affair of the normal game where you heal downed players not because you are in fear of them passing but because you want them in the fight again to swing the encounter back in your favor. Maybe require someone else to get adjacent and roll a Heal stabilization check to return them to 0, then you can heal them, or something so its not just 'well, it's the healer's turn, get within 5/10/15 and use a minor action'. Its not a great solution, but I really don't think ' 42% chance of death' on hitting 0 is good idea in a sytem where hitting 0 is built in part of the drama the game is trying to create in a normal fight.
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Jan 12, 2017 04:43
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slydingdoor posted:Don't try to jam a PbtA move into 4e, it'll hurt. You know I never thought about it, but you could totally use that on someone who is at less than 0 couldn't you, I just saw there were rules for stabilizing dying people and figured that was the only thing you could do.
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Jan 13, 2017 01:59
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:I kinda feel like 2nd winding in combat is a mistake because it blows your standard. I mean if you absolutely have to, you have to, but getting a heal a minor is so much better. That's why I always love playing Dwarves, never have to waste a standard.
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Jan 13, 2017 02:09
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:I agree, but I've also never seen a good dueling system. Burning Legend, which is a sub-game made in an alternate setting book of Exalted was a ton of fun for duels, as it was pretty much just a fighting game in tabletop form. Very rock-paper-scissors, but pretty engaging though.
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Mar 2, 2017 03:57
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PMush Perfect posted:The offline CBuilder is what everyone uses now, and I think there's still people who have complete Masterplan libraries floating around, too. I'd say they'd probably appear in your PMs, but you don't have them. Drop an e-mail address, see what kind goon can help. Boy, those sure would be cool things to show up in someone's PMs, sure would.
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Feb 3, 2018 07:06
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UrbanLabyrinth posted:Anyone wanna boot up the builder and count how many, say, a 1st level human wizard can choose from? 477 for a pretty basic human wizard, fairly inflated due to there being a feat for proficiency with all the martial weapons you are not trained with, but still, a whole loving lot. Ash Rose fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Feb 11, 2018 |
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Feb 11, 2018 03:31
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Having a bit of a brain fart, if I was building a character that used a staff for an implement, and a quarterstaff for a weapon, can they be the same item? If I get one as a magic item, can it function as both a +1 implement and a weapon?
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Feb 17, 2018 05:52
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Generic Octopus posted:Staff = Quarterstaff, they're the same item. So, to be clear, if I got a +1 magic quarterstaff, it gives +1 to hit and damage when used as an implement, and +1 to hit and damage when used as a weapon?
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Feb 17, 2018 06:02
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Generic Octopus posted:Yes, Rad, thanks very much, I was 90% that was how it worked but I kept second guessing.
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Feb 17, 2018 06:29
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Ok, so in trying to make a weird fighter build, I think I messed up the math on the character builder a bit. I took the Master of the Fist monk multiclass feat that lets you nab the monk unarmed strike, which is a +3 proficiency d8 attack(also lets you use ki foci), and paired it with brawler style which grants a +2 enhancement bonus. I grabbed a +3 ki focus as a level 11 character, and the builder seems to think I have a +4 enhancement bonus. From where I am, I would think it should be +3 since the enhancement bonus from brawler style and the ki focus should not stack since they are the same bonus, but even if they stacked it should be +5 so I am kinda lost there. The final to-hit bonus it has is +19, and by my reckoning it should be +18 (+5 STR, +5 1/2 level, +3 prof, +2 feat(expertise), +3 enhance) Meanwhile, in the AC department, I have +3 wyvernscale armor, a fighting heavy shield, and again the brawler style. The armor gives +12 including enhancement, +15 for 10 and 1/2 level, +2 for the shield, and where it gets weird is brawler style which... quote:A fighter who selects the Brawler Style class feature instead of Fighter Weapon Talent, while wielding a weapon in the primary hand and having the off hand free or grabbing a creature, gains a +1 bonus to AC and a +2 bonus to Fortitude. Finally, there is the weirdness of the Fort save, which does not seem to want stack brawler style and the stout shield feat, with and without a heavy shield, it shows the same number for the fort save, but bizarrely, without the shield it shows 2 misc bonuses of 1 and 2 respectively, but with the shield it shows 2 misc bonuses of 5, and -2, and I have no loving clue where it would be getting any kind of minus. Am I missing something or are these just weird edge cases the builder does not account for?
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Feb 25, 2018 08:14
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Ok, so turns out I am dumb, The attack math is correct because the Brawler Style bonus increases to +4 at paragon, the AC and Fort ones are still kinda weird though. edit: also it messed up the math for hitting with the fighting shield, not adding the ki focus to it at all, is it some silly nonsense like the shied not counting as a weapon I am proficient with? Ash Rose fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Feb 25, 2018 |
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Feb 25, 2018 18:09
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TheDemon posted:I don't know the specifics of your build, but weapon proficiency and armor proficiency for shields are different things. I mean, the text from dragon #385 pretty clearly states it is a military weapon. Dragon #385 posted:This shield is considered a military weapon and Though the text in character builder is a little different character builder text for fighting shield posted:This shield can be used as a one-handed melee weapon with +3 proficiency, 1d6 damage, heavy blade, offhand. It grants a +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls when used as a melee weapon nad it deals 1d6 extra damage on a critical hit. Not sure why that one does not have the text referring to it being a military weapon, but either way it is pretty clearly a weapon and it you are clearly meant to be proficient with it since it has a proficiency bonus
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Feb 25, 2018 20:14
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My Lovely Horse posted:Is the shield in the right hand in the builder? Might not work if it's just assigned to the off-hand slot. It is in the main hand.
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Feb 25, 2018 20:52
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Nalesh posted:Trying to look for fun feats to give my duelist rogue, went for daggers instead of a rapier even though it has some fun feats. What would be some interesting ones to grab? Currently at level 5 with cunning stalker and backstabber. If you are looking for fun, maybe look for some ranged feats like distant advantage, since those daggers are also thrown weapons which auto-return if they are magic, and many rogue powers work on ranged attacks.
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Feb 27, 2018 00:15
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gradenko_2000 posted:multiclassing has only ever made DnD worse, and the multiclass feats should have been where it stopped if they were going to do it at all Strong agree, one of the worst aspects of class design in 3.x is that many of the classes lack the essential aspects of themselves until like level 3-4 because the devs are terrified of good things being sniped at level 1.
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Mar 15, 2018 23:24
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Ferrinus posted:Narrative reasons. Specifically, knowing that you did 1d10+5 at level 1 but now deal 1d12+11 at level eleven, such that if you ran into a level one enemy - or a level one adventurer - you'd paste 'em. I dont wanna discount that outright for folks who enjoy it, but like the 'narrative' of linearly increasing stat numbers is a very specific and kinda bizarre sort of narrative to tell. Like 'narratively' if I run into another Kobold with a sling it will always be the same strength as the ones I happened to fight on my first adventure because kobolds with a sling are a monolith is just kinda wonky. To say nothing of stories where you might want to be set back occasionally instead of constant steady progress of 'power'.
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Mar 2, 2021 23:24
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Kurieg posted:Pour one out for the Runepriest. What could have been a neat new class with its own flavor ended up being basically a "weird cleric with less options" and that's a tragedy.
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Apr 29, 2021 17:03
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Do... do you not get that the list was a shitpost I am genuinely not sure if these responses are a bit.
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Nov 14, 2021 13:36
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Seconding the notion that restricting short rests is bad, and also maybe you should rethink having healing be represented by some kind of Estus/crimson flask, HP in 4e is not a 1-to-1 for wounds, its an abstraction of your ability to stay upright and can include ideas like your luck running out, getting exhausted after extended dodging/blocking/minor hits, etc. I guess it would be true to Soulsborne for you to take a few hits and then magically heal it away with a little drink but like... is that the part of Souls games you are trying to emulate? I feel like focusing on near misses and staggering blocks is going to get you closer to that gritty feel, and narratively have one big hit be the thing that sends a player sprawling onto the floor after a lapse in defense leaves them open.
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Jan 25, 2023 03:47
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Jack B Nimble posted:Sure, yeah. This is a more "gamey" setting in that there will be very few NPCs and no real society, economy, etc; but that doesn't mean I need to emulate absolutely everything in a souls borne and you're completely right that HP is an abstraction, good point. Ah I see. So yeah, I'd say lean into the menace of things. Give the monsters room to be spooky and threatening, lean into creatures that ambush to get that Darksouls feel of "oh god I am fighting more creatures than I though, I need to get this under control ASAP or im gonna die", traps are also a must as well as hidden items or rooms. You might even want to approach how describe things through the cinematic lens of a video game, I know in a lot of games I'll talk about like, the camera angle of a certain "shot" to make it easier to imagine, if the players find a boss, give it an intro 'cut-scene' to sell it as a threat. Consider even there being items in precarious positions a character might exploit, but dont punish a failure on a jump roll with death, make it a near miss that drains precious surges, simulating the desperate attempt to clamber back onto safe ground or landing poorly, having a character separated out as they try to grab an item is an ideal time to have lurking enemies appear while the party is separated by a risky jump or two. Also think about how you want to handle social skills if you are going to have so few NPCs, if you plan on there just not being a lot of opportunities to talk to folks, stress to players that they wont get a lot of utility out of those skills, or find fun and clever uses to incorporate them. In general try to incorporate a variety of environmental hazards to test different skills, runes or puzzles that rely on Arcane insight or Divine lore to circumvent safely. Finally, avoid things that require players to succeed on a roll to move forward, make the fail/pass of the rule determine if the party gets through unscathed or perhaps lose equipment, or have obstacles bar the way to optional but tantalizing prizes instead of the path forward. Ash Rose fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Jan 25, 2023 |
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Jan 25, 2023 04:27
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This is a situation where I would suggest busting out a different system to handle those segments. 4e is largely uninterested in the things that players do that isn't adventuring, which honestly I prefer to the kind of ham fisted attempts 3.x takes at incorporating non-adventure elements.
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Jan 27, 2023 12:37
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