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[DnD 4E Discussion] ITT we all get behind gnomes.

AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered User regular
edited April 2010 in Critical Failures
ITT people try to tell you the way you like to pretend playing as a fantasy elf or dwarf is wrong. Plus you're probably a jerk. Why are you such a jerk?

Here is a Dungeon:

Dungeon-1.jpg

Here is a Dragon:

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Hence the name. As an added bonus he's got a free sorcerer on him too! Also, as a bonus picture here is Bane.

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He's so dreamy <3

And no, he's not going anywhere from the OP. He wants you to love his manly pectoral muscles, his huge thigh muscles and bulging tip of the long hard shaft of his spear. Wizards even has a wallpaper of him, clearly showing they do seem to understand the joke at work here.

Speaking of before we go any further here, want to get the perfect way of starting 4E? Don't know where to go though? Try Wizards generously offering both a revised and improved version of Keep on the Shadowfell and the Quickstart rules? What will this cost you?

Absolutely nothing as it's completely free. Download them here.


Dungeons and Dragons is a pretty old game, originally being created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974, both of whom have passed way now. Since then it's had various iterations and editions, with the latest edition being 4th edition, published by Wizards of the Coast. The basic rules consist of three books:

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As the name suggests, this is for players and also details the games core rules like combat.

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This book details the various monsters and other things that populate the worlds of most DnD worlds.

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This is for the DM and contains useful things like how much experience you have to make an encounter, treasure tables and rules for creating your own monsters.

If you want to play DnD, you usually only need the players hand book. Running a game requires those base three books.

Some stuff shamelessly stolen from the original post about the races and classes you can play as in the Players Hand Book, with some additions about the PHB2 races and classes by Terrendos.
First off, races now provide only benefits and no negatives.

Here are the PHB I races:
The Dragonborn:
Not those pussies from 3E's draconomicon, these guys are badasses with a racial breath weapon. They make excellent Warlords, Paladins, and Fighters.

The Dwarves:
They're wise and tough as nails, pretty much the best categorization of the tough dwarf I've seen in tabletop roleplaying games. They make great Paladins, Clerics, and Fighters.

The Eladrin:
The "Elves" of last edition were split into two different races this time. The eladrin live in ridiculously magical feywild cities and make good wizards, warlords, and rangers. They can also teleport as a racial ability. Sweet sorcery, bro.

also Elves Elves lol.

The Elves:
The other half of the elves from last time, they're forest living guys who are really accurate. They make good rangers, rogues, and clerics. See what I mean by Elves lol?

The Half-Elves:
Proof that humans will screw anything. They're pretty tough and personable, and make excellent multiclassers. They make good warlords, paladins, and warlocks.

The Halflings:
Short, fat... actually no, these are about as far from tolkien's halflings as a fat american on his couch eating potato chips is from a bush tribesman in africa. Except they both speak english. Halflings continue their tradition of being really lucky and quick, as well as make excellent rogues, rangers, and warlocks.

The Humans:
Look in the Mirror. They're good at everything again and are the most adaptable, again. They make good anythings.

The Tieflings:

Their ancestors made pacts with devils and we're not half-breeds anymore, also we fought a war against Dragons. We get angry really well as a racial ability. We're also merciless, etc. We make good Warlocks, Warlords, or Rogues.

Also they really AREN'T the same tieflings we've had for 20 years.

We also have a bunch of new races now since PHB II came out
Deva: Former spirits under the service of good gods fighting an unending war against darkness. Must remain tirelessly good lest they be reborn into Rakshasa. Good avengers, clerics, invokers, and wizards.

Gnome: Small Feywild natives who learned trickery during slavery to fomorians. Curious, stealthy, and small, these short Elflike creatures make excellent bards, sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards.

Goliath: Mountain-dwelling nomads, covered in pebble-like bone growths that make them extra tough. Tall, massive, and strong, goliaths revere primal spirits and make excellent barbarians, fighters, and wardens.

Half-Orc: Channelling the strength of orcblood and the decisive, resourceful nature of humans, some say these warriors were hand-made by Kord himself. Others consider them an abomination. They don't much care, so long as they've got food and battle. Half-Orcs are excellent barbarians, rangers, and rogues.

Shifters: Descended from lycanthrope ancestors, these animal-like men see nearly everything in terms of hunter and prey. Able to draw on their ancestor's instincts, they are excellent druids, fighters, rangers, wardens, and surprisingly good clerics.

And now DDI is adding a few more to the game as well.
Revenant: These guys have come back from the dead or were prevented from dying by some other force (the Raven queen in the default cosmology). They're unique because they actually have the undead subtype and can take feats that make them fully undead. Fun with a cleric in the party that's for certain! They make for decent assassins (another new class coming out in DDI), rogues and warlock.

And if that wasn't exciting enough, we have PHB 3 races on top of that! We're just getting absolutely spoiled now:
Githzerai: They are a planar race formerly enslaved by the Illithids whom have curbed their more war like tendencies. They spend their time stabilizing parts of the elemental chaos through the sheer force of their will and practicing being awesome monks. Apparently they make great "seekers" as well as monks, the seeker being a new PHB III class. It's also NOT a psionic class.

Minotaur: The horrible monster of labyrinths and killing people is now... a playable race. Possibly because the 2010 campaign setting could very well by Dragonlance, which has more sociable minotaurs than other settings. Minotaurs presumably will be strength/con; making great Fighters and Barbarians in particular.

Wilden: A new race with all kinds of potential in the world. They were born to fight intrusion by monsters from the Far Plane and are basically plant people.

Then there are the races from the campaign setting books. First Forgotten Realms:
Drow: Classic villains turned into PC races by the popularity of Drizzt, essentially another kind of elf with some different powers. I will say they make amazing rogues because of their darkfire and cloud of darkness racial powers.

Genasi: Half-elemental planars who join the ranks of the Deva and Tiefling as being plane touched PC races. They make good wizards and depending on your elemental type they can suit a wide range of classes. They also make good swordmages.

And the Eberron players guide added a bunch of them as well.
Changelings: These guys, when you want to be derogative that is are classically known as "Dopplegangers" but most people to be polite call them Changelings. Like the name suggests, they can change how they appear and they make terrific rogues or wizards (they get a choice of stat boost!).

Kalashtar: These are a humanoid race who have bound themselves to dream spirits called Quori. They have some racial psionic talent (communication by telepathy for example) and should obviously fit in well with the Psion and other psionic classes.

Warforged: People usually refer to them as robots but these guys are more of a metal and plant "cyborg" than a robot. They have pretty strong racial abilities and make fantastic fighters and especially barbarians.

Players Handbook 3 added some more races! Before clicking, it's worth noting that all these races get a fixed bonus score and then a choice of adding +2 to one of two other stats, like the Eberron changeling, which is a good decision.
Githzerai: Everyones favourite astral monks are back and now a player race! They make pretty decent monks (as you would expect), and their stat spread make them okay for many other classes (as they get +2 wisdom and a choice of +2 int or dex.

Minotaur: Yeah, minotaurs are now a playable PC race, probably inspired off the more noble and civilized minotaurs of dragonlance. They haven't changed much since their dragon racial write up, but do get strength and their choice of con or wisdom - making them more flexible in what classes they can play.

Shardmind: These are the leftovers of a defensive gate or similar from the Far Realm that shattered, leaving them behind. Sentient crystal people like constructs, Shardminds get +2 int and then a choice of +2 wisdom or charisma making them excellent psions and wizards.

Wilden: Plant People from the feywild who are a "young" race that has arisen to fight the abominations of the far realm. They get +2 wisdom (this was definitely the +wisdom book) and +2 con or dex.

Introducing the Classes:

Every class now has a "Role" within the party, and a party is recommended to have every role represented to succeed, though it need not have to. It is considered "pro" to have proper party balance.
The Cleric:
Is classified as a Leader.
He's the priest of a god with some pretty wicked spells to heal his allies and disable his enemies. Usually at the same time. Rarely will the cleric spend entire turns casting Cure Light Wounds.

The Fighter:
Is classified as a Defender.
He's a badass with a sword and board or a Two handed weapon, his job on the battlefield is to keep the enemies from stomping his friends, and he can do so with a variety of weapons, which all behave differently depending on how you choose your powers.

The Paladin:
Is classified as a Defender.
This guy is the champion of a deity, who uses some pretty powerful melee spells to lay waste to the enemy. He does alot of glowing holy magical energy damage, too. He also uses either a sword and shield or two handed weapon. His crappy spellcasting from previous editions has been replaced by a whole host of wicked awesome prayers that can heal his allies and smite his enemies.

The Ranger:
Is classified as a Striker.
This guy can use either a bow or two one handed weapons to mercilessly mutilate his enemies. He can also designate specific enemies as his quarry, this includes a giant glowing red arrow above their head.

The Rogue:
Is classified as a Striker.
Is only good for picking locks and disarming traps, not really though. Sneak attack has been toned down a bit, but the rogue's huge damage boost makes up for it, because he really tears shit up with some pretty awesome powers.

The Warlock:
Is classified as a Striker.
Makes soul selling pacts with either Fey, Demons, or Cthulhu. Fires blasts of eldritch energy and murders people. Also, curses people so that he deals even more damage. Strikers are nuts.

The Warlord:
Is classified as a Leader.
This is the new class focused on tactics and inspiring your fellows. He's pretty cool and can actually replace a cleric in your party very effectively, and he brings a different playstyle to the table too. Cleric Inc. hates him for breaking its monopoly on this role.

The Wizard:
Is the only Controller.
The wizard is good at killing lots of enemies, very fast. He's not as amazingly and unstoppably powerful as he used to be, but still is pretty cool.

The Swordmage:
Is classified as a Defender.
The Swordmage was released in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. He combines arcana and swords to make wonderful stabby magic. But probably not swordchucks.

We also have some new PHB II classes just to add to the excitement and the EPG has the artificer!
Class: Avenger
Classification: Striker
Power Source: Divine
Primary Abilities: Wisdom, Intelligence, Dexterity
"My god has words for you. This blade will show you to him."
Avengers are excellent at isolating and eliminating single targets. Other followers do what should be done. You do what must be done. Pro: roll two attacks under certain circumstances. Con: Reliant on enemies for static damage boosts.

Class: Barbarian
Classification: Striker
Power Source: Primal
Primary Abilities: Strength, Constitution, Charisma
"My strength lies in the fury of the wild."
Barbarians are savage warriors, channeling primal energy through themselves and their massive weapons. Darting back and forth across the battle, your fierce shouts make the enemy quake in fear. Pro: Big damage dice, lots of damage potential. Can fly into mighty rages. Con: Rages are daily powers, so don't expect to use them a lot. Also low defenses that get lowered during certain attacks.

Class: Bard
Classification: Leader
Power Source: Arcane
Primary Abilities: Charisma, Intelligence, Constitution
"I play the song of my ally's victory over your corpse."
Bards are artists, channeling magic through unbelievable skill with music, drama, or poetry. Your skill with blade, book, and hymn are the stuff of fables. Pro: lots of fancy rituals to help in conversation. Can take as many multiclass feats as she wants. Con: Comparatively less healing than clerics, and less effective hazing abilities.

Class: Druid
Classification: Controller
Power Source: Primal
Primary Abilities: Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity
"I am the seeker. I am the stalker. I am the storm."
Druids are the most effective and purist channelers of primal fury and embody all aspects of nature, from the calm of the still leaf to the fury of the thunderbolt. Pro: Alternates between caster form and wild shape for effectiveness in every situation. Con: Too many At-Will choices, fewer burst options than Wizard/Invoker.

Class: Invoker
Classification: Controller
Power Source: Divine
Primary Abilities: Wisdom, Constitution, Intelligence
"Mighty Pelor! I beseech ye! Smite these wicked foes with your unending light!"
Invokers are invested with a pure spark of their chosen god, rather than being merely ordained by corrupt priests and weak rituals. They are the purest of their god's mortal agents. Pro: Arguably a better controller than Wizard, plus gains access to the sweet Channel Divinity stuff. Con: Less overall damage potential, less powerful rituals, and lacking the utility spells that make wizards such good generalists. Also I'm not that fond of the PP choices.

Class: Shaman
Classification: Leader
Power Source: Primal
Primary Abilities: Wisdom, Constitution, Intelligence
"The spirits surround me, guiding my movements and obeying my commands."
Blessed with a mighty spirit companion that aids his allies, the Shaman is a primal, spiritual force. His mighty companion serves as both a focus for his attacks and as a shield to protect both him and his allies. Pro: Protector spirit makes an excellent backup Defender or Striker. Con: You have to give up your actions to command it.

Class: Sorcerer
Classification: Striker
Power Source: Arcane
Primary Abilities: Charisma, Dexterity, Strength
"The difference between you and me? You wield magic. Magic wields me."
Sorcerers are natural founts of arcane power, resulting from either a history of dragon's blood or a product of mysterious, chaotic forces. Either way, you practically bristle with barely-contained magic, parcelling it out as needed in battle. Pro: Potential for very high damage and lots of cool effects. Con: Those effects are typically random, some of which can hit your allies.

Class: Warden
Classification: Defender
Power Source: Primal
Primary Abilities: Strength, Wisdom, Constitution
"Get past me? You might as well try to push the mountain aside."
Wardens are protectors of the earth, drawing on primal spirits to protect their allies from harm, and the natural world from the encroachment of those who would corrupt it. Pro: You are a brick wall, but harder to hit and probably more resilient. Con: You're not supposed to wear heavy armor, and marking all adjacent enemies means you're going to need all that toughness.

and the EPG Artificer

Class: Artificer
Classification: Leader
Power Source: Arcane
Primary Abilities: Intelligence, Constitution and Wisdom
"Let me just help you with your wounds in a minute, right after I finish making this...."
The Artificer is a really solid leader, capable of taking other characters healing surges and making his healing powers out of them. This helps to spread around the parties healing surges so everyone can keep fighting longer. They can use a variety of weapons and fighting styles (ranged, melee and binding constructs like a summoner wizard), making them pretty flexible in general.

finally last but not least is the new DDI exclusive class, the Assassin
Class: Assassin
Classification: Striker
Power Source: Shadow
Primary Abilities: Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma
"Please don't mind while I stab you with my Fullblade here - oh you were expecting a dagger? Well that can be arranged after I'm done disemboweling you..."
The Assassin is the first "exclusive" DDI class to be published and is pretty interesting. They can apply "shrouds" to enemies that they can use when attacking to inflict greater damage on their enemies. They also have a wide variety of weapon proficiencies and can teleport between creatures at-will. It's a pretty solid class for a DDI exclusive effort, with the only real flaw being they don't have their Ki-focus elements out just yet.

Of course now we have even MORE classes with PHB 3 and dear god I'll try to restrain myself here about the new additions to the family "Psionics".
Class:Monk
Classification: Striker
Power Source: Psionic
Primary Abilities: Dexterity, Strength and Wisdom.
"HYAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
The Monk is a great new striker with unprecedented mobility in 4E. Like the name would suggest they are masters of unarmed fighting and if you've ever wanted to punch a dragon in the face with your iron fist of pure Bruce Lee inspired rage - this is definitely the class to play. They can get a pretty solid unarmed attack and using ki-focuses means they can turn any part of their body into a lethal weapon. Any.

Part.

:winky:

Overall this seems like a solid addition to the striker family of classes.

Class:Runepriest
Classification: Leader
Power Source: Divine
Primary Abilities: Strength, Constitution and Wisdom (IIRC)
"The runes are the language of the gods and I am the interpreter of their words through my hammer into your skull."
A new leader with some pretty strong all purpose party buffs. They get different "runes" that apply either a damage bonus to the party or a large defensive buff. Seem pretty handy and they like stirring it up in melee. I will say I love this class, but I must honestly feel bad for the strength cleric who has been almost kicked in the gut with the nerf to righteous brand and this class just outdoes it in every way as a close up divine melee leader.

Class:Seeker
Classification: Controller
Power Source: Primal
Primary Abilities:
"My arrow flies straight and true to pin the enemy down and punish them for their transgressions..."
A ranged controller that uses a bow and is pretty interesting. In many ways there is some overlap with the ranger here, though the seeker is unusual in that it has a lot of ranged basic attacks that are encounter powers and similar (they play nicely with a warlord that can grant ranged basic attacks as a result). Many of their powers create zones and similar around a target they hit and it's certainly an interesting idea.

Class:Psion
Classification: Controller
Power Source: Psychic
Primary Abilities: Intelligence, Charisma and Wisdom (I think)
"I am Mentock the Mind Taker and I am here to take your mind!!!"
The first psionic class shown that uses a power point system to "augment" at-will powers into encounter powers using power points (PPs). The class seems to suffer from numerous problems, such as higher level at-wills not being equivalent to some lower level powers that scale better and due to taking less PPs can be used far more often in an encounter. Personally I feel the experiment with PPs was not a good decision.

Class:Battlemind
Classification: Defender
Power Source: Psychic
Primary Abilities: Constitution, Wisdom and Charisma
"Those that ignore me will be burned by their own attacks with the power of my mind!!!!"
The battlemind is the psionic defender and has similar issues to the psion as it shares the same PP system. Unlike a fighter its mark isn't as easy to enforce, albeit can be highly damaging in the right situations and I think they will be a good secondary defender.

Class:Ardent
Classification: Leader
Power Source: Psychic
Primary Abilities: Charisma, Constitution and Wisdom.
"By carefully manipulating my allies minds, I shall make them fight better without them even realizing my presence!"
This is a psionic version of the warlord, but not as mechanically strong as the warlord and again has the same general PP flaw that all three of these psionic classes share. They do have a lot of close burst and similar powers that have interesting effects on allies and they do like sticking it up close to enemies as well. Of the three psionic classes, they're not too bad and I think was one of the better thought out power point using ones.

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Thanks Manticore and Terrendos!

The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
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  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    A lot of stuff has been released currently as well and I have most (actually all) of it, so I'll give some minor thoughts on each and update as stuff comes out:

    Campaign Settings

    Forgotten Realms

    frcg.jpg

    Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide
    Forgotten Realms Players Guide
    Scepter Tower of Spellgard

    This was the first of the campaign settings released for 4E Dungeons and Dragons about a yearish or so ago. It marks a significant departure from the previous editions versions of the Forgotten Realms, which is either something people hate a lot, are indifferent to or quite like. It has enough detail that any new DM will find it a useful resource for making a campaign and providing an overall world to set that campaign in. It does not have the depth of lore or similar that previous editions have had, which is what leads to a lot of the negativity surrounding the setting. The players guide IMO is a useful resource even if you don't actually like the realms as a setting. Although a fair chunk of the book is dedicated to the FR, the Swordmage, races (Drow and Genasi) and feats make it a worthwhile purchase for anyone.

    The adventure is decent quality, but requires a lot of work compared to the 'core' adventure series to get fully implemented into a campaign. It also starts at level 2, which is a real pain for DMs wanting to just jump right into a 4E campaign with the adventure and some fresh level 1 PCs. We have a thread for FR as well here.

    Eberron

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    Eberron Campaign Guide
    Eberron Players Guide
    Seekers of the Ashen Crown

    We have a thread for Eberron related things here.

    Eberron is the second setting released and it's pretty good IMO (maybe I am biased though if you read my campaign threads on this forum). It has a lot of solid themes to the game, as it's based heavily on a kind of pulp action + noir feel that really does work. The books are absolutely gorgeous and especially the main campaign guide is worth mentioning, because the cartography of the map of the world is truly great and its packed full of great ideas and detail about Eberron. It is definitely around the top books released for 4E so far IMO. Like with FR, I feel the EPG is really worth buying as well just for the extra feats and mechanics (dragonmark feats are easily applied to other settings with little mechanical fiddling). I will say though some DMs may not like the more "magitech" feel to the Eberron specific Warforged race and Artificer class, so make sure you check with your DM before buying this for your FR or whatever setting game.

    Once again though I must complain that the adventure starts at level 2. Why on earth do they do that? It's very good though and it's a fun adventure, but I still wish they would make these adventures from level 1 so you can jump right into the fun without having to make further encounters (or starting your PCs at level 2).

    Dark Sun

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    Dark Sun Campaign Setting
    Dark Sun Creature Catalog
    Marauders of the Dune Sea (Adventure).

    The 2010 campaign setting and boy does it look like a doozy! It looks and sounds like they are doing some major changes to this setting for 4E, not just in changes from its original 2E incarnation but how they approach the setting from a 4E design standpoint. One particularly interesting thing with this particular setting is that it does not having a player specific book, instead it goes with a campaign guide that suggests changes to existing races and its second book is a creature catalog of nasty beasts. Personally I like this idea and am interested to see how it ends up working when it is released.

    In what I feel is a lovely piece of common sense, Marauders of the Dune Sea starts at level 1, HUZZAH!

    Released books

    Adventurers Vault

    This is an excellent book for anyone, with a huge swathe of new awesome magical items and other things to bling your characters out with (or so you don't find yourself handing out bags of holding every single game as a DM because you can't think of anything else). This is a fantastic book.

    Draconomicon

    This is an excellent DM resource or just for anyone who loves dragons as well (It has some great artwork in it IMO). A nice smattering of new monsters, especially in the heroic tier as well as new options, new chromatic dragons and ideas for running encounters with Dragons. I highly recommend this book for any DM, but it doesn't have much utility for players.

    Manual of the Planes

    Good resource for DMs and a useful introduction to the planes. There is a new "race", Bladeling in the book and some Paragon Paths, but I wouldn't buy this if you're a player primarily. The book makes a lot of assumptions about the cosmology that may conflict with the Forgotten Realms and Eberron as well, which can make life something confusing if you're using those settings. Despite this, it's still useful and will provide plenty of ideas for running planar campaigns.

    Martial Power

    This is the best supplement for players released since 4E came out. Has a lot of new, interesting and fun options for martial characters, namely Fighters, Rangers, Rogues and Warlords. Good balance as well and has lots of great new paragon paths and more. I can recommend this book to absolutely anyone.

    Open Grave

    IMO, hands down the best supplement for DMs released thus far if you want your campaigns to have anything at all to do with the undead. Good adventure hooks, a wide array of excellent new monsters from filling out low level undead to providing even more high level undead monstrosities, this is an absolutely terrific book. Of course, if you don't like the undead much you won't find anything of interest in here and in a similar manner to the Draconomicon, there is nothing here for people playing in games to really make much use out of.

    Dungeon Delve

    Delayed somewhat and contains a large bunch of adventures of various levels and such. Is actually fairly interesting and really handy if you need an adventure now to put into your game in rapid time. I recommend this actually, especially if you have a collection of Dungeon Tiles.

    Players Hand Book II

    I think this was a big moment for 4E in many ways, a really good balanced and thought out book would vindicate many of the decisions in 4E as well as really add some more depth and variation. A bad book however would probably really derail the success 4E has enjoyed thus far and the general verdict is it's an excellent book. It's well balanced with the first book, a couple of feats and epic destinies aside but everything in general is really well thought out: most especially the new classes are great and so are the new races. It's really added a lot to the game and IMO is one of the best supplements (and most important) supplements in 4E. I would almost say if you're a player this book is as much a must have as the original.

    Arcane Power

    This is an excellent book if you like the pew pew style of classes. The summoning wizard is a great option and the new wizard at-wills are amazingly good. Tomes are a terrific new addition to implements and every arcane class got some more new and awesome feats, powers and paragon paths. I highly recommend this book, but be aware that like Martial Power there are some things in here just a bit out of whack power wise. Nothing game breaking though, but certainly more powerful than core book options.

    Monster Manual 2

    Overall this is a very solid book and seems to have taken some new directions with regards to solos and minions. Solos have less HP and defenses, but do more damage and seem to have more actions per round. Minions have been given control functions or do plain annoying things on death (like immobolise whoever killed them). Has a bit of a sense of humor as well compared with other supplements (Bullywug and such are notable for being a bit out there).

    Divine Power

    This has given a really substantial power increase to divine classes (for example Clerics now clearly rule the roost in terms of healing potential), Strength paladins now don't suck as much and it again provides lots of new options. It does feel a little on the power creep side in some ways though.

    Adventurers Vault 2

    This is a pretty solid book in terms of new magic stuff. It doesn't manage to go as overboard in my opinion with the power levels of many items as the original adventurers vault did as well. There are always going to be specific items that will be problematic in certain campaigns, but it's a nice addition and can really expand the variety of items you can give out to your PCs.

    Dragon Magazine Annual

    I don't own this and yes I know it's a 4E book that I don't own so I am epic failing, but it is my understanding this has some changes and altered material from stuff previous published in Dungeon (Punisher of the Gods got some alterations I hear). The articles in it are some pretty decent ones though, so if you want a print version of some of the better dragon articles I would suggest getting it. Or just get a subscription and get more stuff for cheaper - I dunno (I'm trying to sound unbiased but I don't really see the advantage in this over getting a subscription for a month and downloading the compiled issues).

    Dungeon Masters Guide 2

    This is a really nice book, detailing updated skill challenges, adding some new options for campaigns that want to reduce the number of magical items (temporary boons for example) and has a wonderful section on Sigil: City of Doors for planar based campaigns. The updated monster creation guidelines are also very appreciated and this is a really solid book if you're running any game of DnD.

    Primal Power

    This is basically the same sort of affair as all the other "X power" books. Most of the new options are pretty good from a cursory look and its definitely added some more versatility to some classes that needed it a bit like druids. The new swarm druid build is pretty good and everyone who wanted Diablo 2 like dual weapon barbarians will certainly be pleased.

    Draconomicon 2

    This is an excellent book of as high quality (or better) than the original Draconomicon. Lots of references to the Catastrophic dragons in this book as well and it's pretty clear it works as a resource to be used in conjunction with the original book. The new metallics are very nice, one of which has an interesting breath weapon that makes a minion and it does indeed have stats for Bahamut. Expect someone bored to put a fight club with Bahamut vs. Tiamat - though Bahamuts 2 levels may be the key difference. It also has a big bunch of other monsters and indeed is a great resource for DMs.

    The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos

    Plane Below is very awesome, though some of the monsters don't come off as well as I would like. But once again it's another source book jam packed with useful information and should find a use in any paragon/epic campaign. It doesn't really feel like something you can easily use in heroic tier though.

    Players Handbook Races: Dragonborn

    I've not got this or read it, any comments on this book would be appreciated (and still would be!).

    Underdark

    Still reading through this, but my impression is that it's really good and you can make doors with giant teeth and such. Plus it has one of the most horrific pieces of art in 4E DnD (Torog - oh boy is he one twisted puppy).

    Also.

    Doors. With. Giant. Teeth. I mean, what's more horrifying than a door that eats you? That just ain't right.

    Martial Power 2

    Recently released, has added some good new options for martial classes and seems a pretty solid book.

    Players Handbook 3

    I will write more in this space later, but there is some divided opinion about the book and now I've read it all I'm not sure how I feel about it.

    The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea

    On the other hand compared with the recently released Players Handbook 3 this book instantly returns to the excellent form that most books released have had. If you're planning on running a planar campaign IMO this book is almost indispensable.

    Released Adventures

    The H series of adventures are essentially dungeon crawls with varying quality. To be honest, you're expected to do the footwork in writing the background and story for many of these, which are often somewhat flimsy.

    H1: Keep on the Shadowfell

    This is a straightforward dungeon crawl. It's worth noting that it can be downloaded for free now and in an updated form here! Like many of the adventures in this series, I am certainly not kidding when I say that it really is a very long dungeon crawl. It has a lot of combat encounters and a loose story connecting them, so it does require some work in that department. Still the fold out maps are nice and its a decent adventure (especially with the improvements in the downloadable version).

    H2: Thunderspire Labyrinth

    This is a really solid adventure and is one I enjoyed a lot. It's again, a dungeon crawl (but you should expect that from all of these) but has some really fun encounters and some interesting traps.

    H3: Pyramid of Shadows

    Personally this is the one I didn't really like all that much after running it. Although it's a zany adventure it has a few problems with some encounters being fairly poorly balanced and I felt it was way to long to have my PCs stuck somewhere. I ended up cutting it short by a lot.

    P1: King of the Trollhaunt Warrens

    This was a really fun adventure and was a good introduction to the paragon tier. I also liked the backstory behind it and the general design of the dungeons. It also has by far one of the most useful maps that I own, which is a small section of a town.

    P2: The Demon Queen's Enclave

    Again I really enjoyed this map and the backstabbing between the various Drow factions and politics that you can potentially insert (if you so desire). It has my least favourite of the fold out maps, but still a nice adventure anyway and they really are doing well with making interesting encounters.

    P3: Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress.

    One of the main reasons for buying this was so I could see the stats of Shadow Dragons and while they are okay, they don't really do enough damage and can be very tedious to fight (blinding people constantly for example). The adventure itself is still pretty nice though and I approve of it.

    E1: Deaths Reach.

    I haven't really had a lot of time to read this in depth!

    E2: Kingdom of the Ghouls.

    By far, this has the greatest final encounter in any of the modules that I've seen. It's also awesome all the way through and is by far and away my most favourite module out of this series.

    E3: Prince of Undeath

    This is the final of the adventures and should be coming out next month; highlight is new (hopefully non-sucky) stats for Orcus. I am very curious to see if Orcus has friends or not for that fight and its EL. Personally I must concede that I am going to be buying this partly for the new Orcus stats. It's out next month =D

    There is also another series of adventures coming out after this starting next year.

    There are also larger "super" adventures too.

    Revenge of the Giants

    Oddly this was a hardcover book compared with the previous softcovers for the other adventures. It's a very nice adventure though, has a good length and can be easily adapted to fit into FR or Eberron. Personally I will be running this in my IRL game later on in the year because I like it sufficiently enough. I am hoping the Tomb of Horrors super adventure is of similar quality.

    Upcoming Stuff

    Hammerfast
    HS1: The Slaying Stone
    Players Strategy Guide. This is notable again because it has art from Gabe of this forum for it. I'll probably be buying it for that. Yeah I'm such a whore, WHATEVER.
    Monster Manual 3
    Players Handbook Races: Tiefling
    Demonomicon
    Dungeon Master's Guide 3
    Vor Rukoth
    Tomb of Horrors
    Gamma World

    Future Release Speculation and Rumours

    There was a release schedule for late next year published as well, which includes the Monster Manual 3 (with Lloth apparently in it, making a good trio of high level Daemons - albeit Lloth is also a God so I am curious how powerful she will be in comparison).

    There will be a book on Daemons later next year probably in the line of Open Grave or Draconomicon. Personally that is the book I am looking forward to the most.

    Gamma World, which is a pretty zany sounding card based way of playing a "DnD 4E light" type game will be out later in the year.

    Useful Stuff Provided By Wizards and other people

    To go with some of the links provided from the previous threads, Wizards have an Art and Map Gallery here. This is free and provides a lot of useful maps and art for use in your games to pillage at will. The OP dungeon is shamelessly stolen from there ;)

    Additionally I recommend this site, which has a wide collection of fantasy art and such forth. Some of it is distinctly NSFW however, so consider yourself warned. They love naked women.

    Another useful site is the Cartographers Guild forums. Many talented map artists at this site who make a range of maps, both large scale continental maps, town maps and dungeon maps. Some of the maps here IMO are a bit too fancy, with excessive mapsizes for use with maptools but there are some real gems on here as well. Incidentally, the guy who did the cartography for the Cormyr article in Dragon Magazine posts here as well. Here's an example.

    Infidel has provided us with a handy 4E stat calculator. Especially useful if you don't have the character builder to do it for you. The most common problem I find with 4E games is people messing up their initial point buy by a couple of points. In an unexpected twist, this is because some people tend to give themselves less points overall and accidentally gimp their character as opposed to going over the limit.

    He's also produced a handy online character sheet device, which can be found here. Seems to work pretty well and is very handy and is even becoming a popular alternative to Mythweavers around these forums.

    Cheap miniatures seems to come up quite often in the thread, given that a good mini or three can make 4E a lot easier to run (probably an understatement). One place to get them is ebay, but the number and quality (even type) may be hit and miss. Another online seller of DDM is Dragon Justice, which sometimes has a good range and sometimes not. Really if you look around online you can get a good bunch of models for a fairly cheap price.

    There is a general campaign design and advice thread that I have been writing for a while over here. If you're a new DM this might be worth checking out.

    Finally, a major collection of the games errata was released recently in a big PDF from wizards that you can get here.

    Also, as a reminder, don't discuss pirating books in this thread. It's not going to get you anything except some infractions and probably a ban. So just don't. Plus Chris Perkins is totally going to come around to your house and ruin your shit. Not to mention eat your dinner and steal your dice.

    We have a general CF IRC channel too if you're that way inclined. You'll need some chat client to use it, or something.

    irc.slashnet.org
    #criticalfailure


    Apparently this was SUPERSUGAs idea.

    Penny-Arcade Podcast series!

    Also, given this forum is Penny-Arcade we should in fact note that Gabe and Tycho, Scott Kurtz of PVP and after the first series Wil Wheaton sat down and played some DnD together and recorded it. There are currently three seasons and you can find links to download them all below for much good times. This is a good way of getting new people interested in DnD I've found as well.

    Series 1: Part one. Part two. Part Three. Part four. Part five. Part six. Part seven. Part eight.

    Series 2: Part one. Part two. Part three. Part four. Part five. Part six. Part seven. Part eight.

    Series 3: Part one. Part two. Part three. Part four. Part five. Part Six. Part Seven. Part Eight.

    There is also Robot Chicken's writers playing DnD
    . This is getting pretty funny as they are clearly starting to relax and get into the game.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Speaking of, for those of you who just can't get of Bane's manly thighs I managed to track down the artist who did Bane originally. He's done a lot of awesome art and it's well worth looking through for some inspiration. His legend of the five rings stuff is terrific IMO.

    Oh and he has a lovely 1600x1200 wallpaper as well.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • tzeentchlingtzeentchling Doctor of Rocks OaklandRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Hooray new threadiness. Looking forward to rambling about the newest broken thing, neat feats, Dark Sun, and vagueries of building adventures.

    tzeentchling on
  • PantheraOncaPantheraOnca Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    can someone explain the cross class thing that someone mentioned in the previous thread from dark sun?

    PantheraOnca on
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    New thread is lame.

    Old thread was the bomb.

    Also I should add that I'm still bitter about Righteous Brand, more so since Runepriests seem to be everything that the Battle Cleric isn't (that is to say, actually good).

    Terrendos on
  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Hachface wrote:
    If any edition were going to do it right it would've been this one. Shame shame.

    Honestly 3.5 psionics wasn't too bad, probably the best of the lot. There were a couple powers that were just fucking stupid but the same could be said of spells.

    1st - Completely random, surprising the number of people who could consistently roll 100 on d%.
    2nd- Created results wildly at odds with other classes, kept similar random super awesome if you roll good bit.
    3.0- Some absurd powers and borderline unplayable because of the stat requirements for powers. Random super powers removed.
    3.5 - Some absurd augments of powers, generally not to bad. It's a point based Sorcerer kind of thing.

    It's like consistency with the previous version is to take a bad part and include it in the new version.

    DevoutlyApathetic on
    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • TiamatZTiamatZ Ghost puns The Banette of my existenceRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    You forgot to update the PHB 3 race section Aegeri...

    Or do you intend to fully update all PHB3 related info once it's released?

    TiamatZ on
  • HachfaceHachface Not the Minister Farrakhan you're thinking of Dammit, Shepard!Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Cannot wait for Dark Sun.

    Hachface on
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I did indeed update the PHB 3 race section:
    Githzerai: Everyones favourite astral monks are back and now a player race! They make pretty decent monks (as you would expect), and their stat spread make them okay for many other classes (as they get +2 wisdom and a choice of +2 int or dex.

    Minotaur: Yeah, minotaurs are now a playable PC race, probably inspired off the more noble and civilized minotaurs of dragonlance. They haven't changed much since their dragon racial write up, but do get strength and their choice of con or wisdom - making them more flexible in what classes they can play.

    Shardmind: These are the leftovers of a defensive gate or similar from the Far Realm that shattered, leaving them behind. Sentient crystal people like constructs, Shardminds get +2 int and then a choice of +2 wisdom or charisma making them excellent psions and wizards.

    Wilden: Plant People from the feywild who are a "young" race that has arisen to fight the abominations of the far realm. They get +2 wisdom (this was definitely the +wisdom book) and +2 con or dex.

    It's in the big mass of spoilers in the first part of the OP. I'll probably adjust that later so it's more obvious that all the information is in there (as it's now a hybrid of one of the original original posts and material I've added to it and from Terrendos).

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • InfidelInfidel Heretic Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I was scared for a moment that Bane would have been given boobs or something.

    Infidel on
    OrokosPA.png
  • HorseshoeHorseshoe Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Hachface wrote:
    If any edition were going to do it right it would've been this one. Shame shame.

    Honestly 3.5 psionics wasn't too bad, probably the best of the lot. There were a couple powers that were just fucking stupid but the same could be said of spells.

    1st - Completely random, surprising the number of people who could consistently roll 100 on d%.
    2nd- Created results wildly at odds with other classes, kept similar random super awesome if you roll good bit.
    3.0- Some absurd powers and borderline unplayable because of the stat requirements for powers. Random super powers removed.
    3.5 - Some absurd augments of powers, generally not to bad. It's a point based Sorcerer kind of thing.

    It's like consistency with the previous version is to take a bad part and include it in the new version.

    yeah, in the current edition it's the augments that stayed over.

    it kinda makes the psionic power source the one that breaks away from 4th edition's pattern of power selection.

    which is too bad.

    (psionics in 3.5 was only really terrible when multiclassing got involved... but i suppose multiclassing was probably the most broken thing in general about 3.5)

    Horseshoe on
    dmsigsmallek3.jpg
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Steve Argyle has pretty much done most of my favourite Dungeons and Dragons pieces. He also has a pretty delightful sense of humor with regards to the comments he makes about some of the things he's drawn.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Infidel wrote: »
    I was scared for a moment that Bane would have been given boobs or something.

    Not until the Banewars where he dies and is replaced by a reborn Mystra.

    Incenjucar on
  • HorseshoeHorseshoe Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Incenjucar wrote: »
    Infidel wrote: »
    I was scared for a moment that Bane would have been given boobs or something.

    Not until the Banewars where he dies and is replaced by a reborn Mystra.

    hey

    spoiler alert

    Horseshoe on
    dmsigsmallek3.jpg
  • IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Horseshoe wrote: »
    Incenjucar wrote: »
    Infidel wrote: »
    I was scared for a moment that Bane would have been given boobs or something.

    Not until the Banewars where he dies and is replaced by a reborn Mystra.

    hey

    spoiler alert

    Man it's totally not a spoiler anyone with a decent Int check could figure it out from reading the Calendar of Whatshisname the Mad.

    2011 will be the Year of Elminster Bagging LadyBaneStra

    Incenjucar on
  • samurai6966samurai6966 Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I love how he talks about this one picture. Great Artist. I have many MtG cards with his artwork in card protectors just so I can't ruin them.

    samurai6966 on
  • RiusRius Globex CEO Nobody ever says ItalyRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Today's Kalashtar article is awesome stuff. And I haven't even gotten to the crunch yet.

    Edit: fucking damn it. The whole first part of the article takes several opportunities to say that while Kalashtar are psionic, it's just flavor and they work well in classes that aren't necessarily from the Psionic power source.

    An example; "Kalashtar are well suited to many psionic classes, and their natural telepathy suggests this path. But the flavor normally associated with a class is just that: flavor. As long as the mechanics remain intact, flavor can be changed. The shaman is a primal class, but at its core, it is a class based around interacting with spirits. In the long run, it makes little difference if these spirits are tied to the natural world or the world of dreams."

    Then you get to the crunch, and only one of the five total feats doesn't require a Psionic class, general or specific. What does the one feat do? Gives a +2/+3/+4 feat bonus to damage rolls with Psychic powers, which is decent I'll admit, but it doesn't really add much to my Kalashtar Cleric =(

    Rius on
  • PinfeldorfPinfeldorf Yeah ZestRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I love how he talks about this one picture. Great Artist. I have many MtG cards with his artwork in card protectors just so I can't ruin them.

    Oh, I feel http://www.steveargyle.com/?cmd=gallery_ext&art_id=353&show_detail=179 is better.

    But, yes, much props to artists who can not only be self-critical, but self-joking...if that were a term.

    Pinfeldorf on
  • smeejsmeej Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Self-deprecating?

    If an eladrin is falling towards the ground from a height of several hundred feet and uses fey step before hitting the ground, does he land safely or does teleportation retain velocity? Does he turn into a splat five squares away?

    smeej on
    IT'S A SAD THING THAT YOUR ADVENTURES HAVE ENDED HERE!!
  • hippofanthippofant ティンク Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    smeej wrote: »
    Self-deprecating?

    If an eladrin is falling towards the ground from a height of several hundred feet and uses fey step before hitting the ground, does he land safely or does teleportation retain velocity? Does he turn into a splat five squares away?

    If a charging Barbarian is force-moved as an immediate reaction to their move, do they end up using their Rage Strike on their party cleric instead?


    (I'm pretty sure these are both, DM rule as you will situations.)

    hippofant on
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    hippofant wrote: »
    smeej wrote: »
    Self-deprecating?

    If an eladrin is falling towards the ground from a height of several hundred feet and uses fey step before hitting the ground, does he land safely or does teleportation retain velocity? Does he turn into a splat five squares away?

    If a charging Barbarian is force-moved as an immediate reaction to their move, do they end up using their Rage Strike on their party cleric instead?


    (I'm pretty sure these are both, DM rule as you will situations.)

    If the Barbarian still has movement left, he can keep charging towards the enemy. If he runs out of movement, the charge fails because the designated target (who is designated at the beginning of the charge) is not in range and the Barbarian effectively turns his standard action into a move action. If the power is an encounter or daily, it is not expended.

    In the former case, I would say that you can't stop your descent with a teleportation power.

    Terrendos on
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Not in an immediate reaction, because it is reacting to when the movement ends and so the barbarian cannot get any further - making the attack instantly miss. Ironically, if it was an immediate interrupt he could continue moving after the creature moved. An odd case where an immediate reaction is strictly superior to an immediate interrupt (and a strange rules quirk).

    The PC does not have to attack his ally though.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I think it depends on the exact wording though; if it's an immediate reaction like "an enemy moves adjacent to you" then the Barbarian could continue.

    Terrendos on
  • FelixSomethingSomethingFelixSomethingSomething Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Relevant to breasts:

    217533671_TbUSk-L-2.jpg

    FelixSomethingSomething on
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Horseshoe wrote: »
    (psionics in 3.5 was only really terrible when multiclassing got involved... but i suppose multiclassing was probably the most broken thing in general about 3.5)

    If you want, I can quote the new rules on multiclassing into psionic classes from the PHB3.

    DarkPrimus on
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Terrendos wrote: »
    I think it depends on the exact wording though; if it's an immediate reaction like "an enemy moves adjacent to you" then the Barbarian could continue.

    The barbarian stops in the square adjacent to you as part of the charge and tries to attack, the reaction triggers to the movement and moves away. The charge attack instantly fails.

    The reason for this is the reacting creature starts a "loop" effectively asking "Have you stopped moving?" and doesn't react to the movement until the triggering creature basically has to say yes. Then reacts to the completed move interrupting the attack and shifts back - the attack instantly fails. Immediate reactions basically always screw charges - you should never charge creatures that can react to your charge - because they simply start the "is your move complete" loop and you're finished.

    This is why it's an extremely funny oddity in the rules that immediate reactions are superior in this instance to an immediate interrupt. An immediate interrupt cannot stop the movement, you can keep chasing after something that interrupted your charge if you have movement.

    Remember, the reacting creature with regards to your move can say "I'll react to the end of his movement". You cannot continue moving when your movement has ended. Personally I don't think it should work like this, I think an immediate interrupt should function like the reaction does and vice versa. But that isn't how it works oddly.
    Relevant to breasts:

    217533671_TbUSk-L-2.jpg

    This is the comic I had in mind. It's worth noting it was far better without the text in the third panel.

    Edit: Also, with the charge discussion remember that you have a target square you need to reach before attacking. When you reach that square you stop moving THEN you attack. This is why the immediate reaction thwarts you, because you end in a stalemate that (by the rules) you can never win. They can wait until your movement resolves, you cannot keep maintaining your movement when you've reached the closest square because that is where your movement ends and you can attack. Because it's a reaction, there is nothing you can do when they shift away as you're left stuck in the square at the end of your charge movement but before you can attack. The immediate interrupt is screwed because he can't do what the guy with the reaction does, he interrupts your movement but he cannot wait until your movement is over and then shift. This is why you can chase him around.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • MaticoreMaticore A Will To Power Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Hachface wrote: »
    Cannot wait for Dark Sun.

    I'm thinking a sentiment to this effects should be on every page of this thread.

    Maticore on
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Maticore wrote: »
    Hachface wrote: »
    Cannot wait for Dark Sun.

    I'm thinking a sentiment to this effects should be on every page of this thread.

    I just checked their upcoming product calender, and apparently Psionic Power comes out the same day.

    I guess I should be glad my birthday's the tail-end of July, since come August 3rd I'm going to be giving a ton of money to my LGS.

    DarkPrimus on
  • Mr_RoseMr_Rose 83 Blue Ridge Protects the Holy Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I love descriptions like this for some reason:
    Creatures that interact with the affected creature can make an Insight check against your Arcana check to perceive the deception only if the affected creature does something blatantly wrong, such as being unable to speak Giant or failing to regenerate. - from today's Ritually Speaking article "Donning Trollflesh" ritual.

    Mr_Rose on
    ...because dragons are AWESOME! That's why.
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  • HachfaceHachface Not the Minister Farrakhan you're thinking of Dammit, Shepard!Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I hate it when I fail to regenerate.

    Hachface on
  • ArkadyArkady Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Addnedum to a post I made in the last thread; runepriests get 8 total rune feats. 4 at heroic and 2 each at paragon and epic.

    Arkady on
    untitled-1.jpg
    LoL: failboattootoot
  • ravensmuseravensmuse Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    It is six in the morning. What am I doing on here?

    Shaking my cane at you whippersnappers bitching about TSR and 2e. Back in my day...

    Would there be enough interest in a 2e pbp, I wonder? Enough people with books? Maybe we'll make a gauntlet run through Ravenloft's bordellos and see who comes out on the other side.

    ravensmuse on
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  • HachfaceHachface Not the Minister Farrakhan you're thinking of Dammit, Shepard!Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    ravensmuse wrote: »
    It is six in the morning. What am I doing on here?

    Shaking my cane at you whippersnappers bitching about TSR and 2e. Back in my day...

    Would there be enough interest in a 2e pbp, I wonder? Enough people with books? Maybe we'll make a gauntlet run through Ravenloft's bordellos and see who comes out on the other side.

    I hate pbps but I would seriously consider joining this. If it were MapTools I wouldn't think twice.

    Hachface on
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    When does PHB3 come out that all you people are getting copies already?

    Is it soon, and I've just completely lost track of the print schedule under the weight of my classwork?

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • DelmainDelmain Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Man, new thread is so much better than old thread

    Delmain on
  • DortmunderDortmunder Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Terrendos wrote: »
    I think it depends on the exact wording though; if it's an immediate reaction like "an enemy moves adjacent to you" then the Barbarian could continue.

    The barbarian stops in the square adjacent to you as part of the charge and tries to attack, the reaction triggers to the movement and moves away. The charge attack instantly fails.

    The reason for this is the reacting creature starts a "loop" effectively asking "Have you stopped moving?" and doesn't react to the movement until the triggering creature basically has to say yes. Then reacts to the completed move interrupting the attack and shifts back - the attack instantly fails. Immediate reactions basically always screw charges - you should never charge creatures that can react to your charge - because they simply start the "is your move complete" loop and you're finished.

    Are you certain of that?

    I remember the question of Move-triggered IRs and IIs coming up shortly after 4e was released. If I remember correctly, one of the designers (I think it was Mearls) stated on an Enworld thread that each individual square of movement counts as an Interrupt-able or Reaction-able action, and that if the triggering creature still has movement left, they can continue movement after the IR/II.

    So, even if the monster Forces IRs you away when you move adjacent, if you still have movement left you could continue the charge.

    Am I remembering that correctly? Or did it only apply to IIs and not IRs (or vice versa).

    Dortmunder on
    steam_sig.png
  • Kane Red RobeKane Red Robe Master of Magic ArcanusRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Regarding teleportation to stop a fall, I would rule that the distance travelled during the teleport is removed from the distance for calculating falling damage, but the rest of the fall will still deal damage. E.g. An Eladrin ranger falls from a 100ft cliff, she Fey Steps the last 25 ft, and takes damage as if she had fallen 75 ft. (Are squares still assumed to be five feet)?

    Kane Red Robe on
  • ahcobrasahcobras Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Are implement users (like Monks) at a disadvantage to their attack rolls compared to the weapon-wielding classes? Our group started a new game this weekend, and my monk's to-hit was noticeably less than our rogue's.

    ahcobras on
  • soxboxsoxbox Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    ahcobras wrote: »
    Are implement users (like Monks) at a disadvantage to their attack rolls compared to the weapon-wielding classes? Our group started a new game this weekend, and my monk's to-hit was noticeably less than our rogue's.

    The to-hit is lower, but they're targeting defences other than armour class. Typically AC is at least 2-3 points higher than other defences, so a +4 vs Reflex is roughly equivalent to a +7 vs AC.

    Note that there's non-AC targetting weapon powers - such powers tend to be pretty awesome because they're super-accurate, but tend not to have as good kickers as AC-targetting powers.

    soxbox on
  • HachfaceHachface Not the Minister Farrakhan you're thinking of Dammit, Shepard!Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Regarding teleportation to stop a fall, I would rule that the distance travelled during the teleport is removed from the distance for calculating falling damage, but the rest of the fall will still deal damage. E.g. An Eladrin ranger falls from a 100ft cliff, she Fey Steps the last 25 ft, and takes damage as if she had fallen 75 ft. (Are squares still assumed to be five feet)?

    Unless you somehow fall during your turn and have an action handy, I would rule that any non-immediate teleportation power cannot help you during a fall.

    Edit: The avenger power Resonant Escape, for instance, is an immediate reaction that lets you teleport 3 squares after being the target of a melee attack. If an enemy pushes your avenger over a ledge, I think it would be uncontroversial to rule that Resonant Escape would allow you to completely avoid falling.

    But an eladrin's Fey Step I could only see working under this kind of scenario:

    1. You use your standard action to attack an enemy.
    2. The enemy has an immediate interrupt that stops your attack and in the process pushes you off a ledge.
    3. You are now falling, but it's your turn, and you have a move action remaining. Then you could Fey Step out of harm's way.

    This chain of events does not strike me as common.

    Hachface on
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