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[DnD 4E Discussion] Staff Fighter and Pyromancer essentials builds released on time!

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Posts

  • SkyCaptainSkyCaptain IndianaRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Pinfeldorf wrote: »
    SkyCaptain wrote: »
    For those of you who've found people through Meetup: how did you actually go about meeting the person(s) prior to gaming with them? I don't want to end up as a lampshade in some dude's basement when he invites me to his "lair" nor do I want someone to put a horse's head in my bed when I accidentally kill their wizard at my place.

    Dinner at a public place and drive separately, like you would for a first date with someone you don't know.

    Who goes on a date with someone they don't know, really? Internet blind dates, based on every story I've ever heard from anyone that's done one, end horribly if the people don't at least talk on the phone first.

    I've gone on several "blind dates" I arranged through OkCupid. I've also joined a couple D&D groups in the past just based on email and im communication. I'm still alive and still have all my organs. :mrgreen:

    SkyCaptain on
    The RPG Bestiary - Dangerous foes and legendary monsters for D&D 4th Edition
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Or at least all of the organs you think should be there. But what if Skycaptain, instead of taking something out... SHE PUT SOMETHING IN.

    DUN DUN DUNNNN.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • smeejsmeej Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    SkyCaptain is actually a robot, don't listen to him.

    SKYcaptain? SKYnet? Hmmmmmm?

    smeej on
    IT'S A SAD THING THAT YOUR ADVENTURES HAVE ENDED HERE!!
  • Hexmage-PAHexmage-PA Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Amigu wrote: »
    Does anyone else find the concept of Orcus really lame? Maybe it's just because I got into warhammer first but to me he just looks like an obesse blood thirster. I also don't like mixing undead and demons which is probably also a warhammer hang up.

    Now Torog... there's a good villain.

    Although I'm not going to use the S&M aspects, they're pretty cheesey. I'm only going to focus on him being the god of entombement. A tortured god who restrains all things he holds dear for fear of losing them. Patron of dark and sorrowful places. The King that Crawls.

    So bad ass

    I really think Torog has potential as a patron for Unaligned PCs:

    The King Who Crawls – The followers of this god are few, and those who do worship him dare not speak his name. They refer to their master as the King Who Crawls and beg him to keep the terrible monsters of the Underdark imprisoned deep below the world's surface. The King Who Crawls is an evil god who embodies torture as well as imprisonment. His more benevolent devotees imprison their wicked brethren, sparing the common man from predation while simultaneously turning the imprisoned into scapegoats for their cruel god's amusement.

    Hachface wrote: »
    Pinfeldorf wrote: »
    What can you tell me of Ramenos, the Bullywug god of laziness, drunken proliferation and overeating?

    As of 2e, Ramenos belongs to a group of deities who in ages past sponsored primordial races, but whose powers waned as their worshippers were supplanted by the mammalian demihumans. His layer of the Abyss is called Smaragd, which he shares with the yuan-ti deity Merrshaulk (who has been replaced by Zehir in 4e). He apparently spends most of his time there in a deep slumber as he bathes in a pool of liquor, which he of course absorbs through his skin. The prayers of the bullywug no longer rouse him and he seems destined to sleep his way into nothingness. He's basically suffering from some sort of cosmic depression.

    Ramenos is actually mentioned in Demonomicon as a primordial whose innards serve as their own layer of the Abyss. His consort, the female slaad lord Urae-Naas, lives inside his guts. She seems to have much in common with her lover, as she is so fat that she has to drag herself along.

    As for Merrshaulk, he still exists in 4E. A Dragon article mentioned a group of humans whose ancestors worshiped the demon lord Merrshaulk (histaachi are also mentioned in that article and nowhere else, which I've extrapolated to mean that histaachi are a creation of Merrshaulk and not Zehir). Plane Above states that Merrshaulk dwells in a complex on Tytherion, in the same general area of Zehir. Given that the Races and Classes 4E preview said Zehir was originally going to be called Set (a Forgotten Realms deity that took Merrshaulk's place as a patron of yuan-ti), I take this to mean that Zehir has cowed Merrshaulk into servitude or even subdued him completely.

    Hexmage-PA on
  • KilroyKilroy timaeusTestified Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Dagon is definitely my favorite demon lord. But I do have a bit of an obsession with entities of dark and forgotten knowledge.

    I really want to do a campaign where the PCs get caught in a conflict between worshipers of Vecna and cultists of Dagon.

    Kilroy on
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Not to mention all the delicious tentacle goodness between Dagon and Demogorgon.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • TurksonTurkson Near the mountains of ColoradoRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Not to mention all the delicious tentacle goodness between Dagon and Demogorgon.

    This just made me cringe. Bad Aegeri! Bad!

    Turkson on
    oh h*ck
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Turkson wrote: »
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Not to mention all the delicious tentacle goodness between Dagon and Demogorgon.

    This just made me cringe. Bad Aegeri! Bad!

    Once you've seen it you can't unsee it.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • KilroyKilroy timaeusTestified Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Not to mention all the delicious tentacle goodness between Dagon and Demogorgon.

    I thought about throwing the Far Realm in the mix for maximum tentacles.

    Kilroy on
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Also, I got some time to do some playtests of my upcoming games: Dark Prophecy and Raiders of the Lost City. I must say that testing those games at level 1 with themes vs. without showed me how great themes are. Themes make encounters less 'swingy' (EG the PCs just miss with their encounter powers repeatedly) and give more tactically interesting encounters at levels 1-3ish. This is an area I've often felt the need to adjust my encounter design and often remove things (like solos from). Themes don't actually seem to make a party more powerful, they seem to make low heroic parties more consistent damage wise and reduce "grindy" encounters. Hard encounters still absolutely maul and kick themed PCs assess, so if the game is working as expected I can't help but want to adopt them into all my games.

    My complaint with themes? There aren't enough of them and we desperately need Eberron/Forgotten Realms/Core flavor themes too. They are too great a mechanic to confine solely to Dark Sun. I do know core themes are on the way, but will FR or Eberron get any? Sadly I don't know, but I can hope! Either way though, my playtest party in Raiders of the Lost City was mauled horrifically with or without themes (same encounters, themed PCs vs. non-themed). So it doesn't look like it breaks the game, just IMO makes it more fun due to more options at heroic leading to less "I do my at-will.... again" in hardish fights.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • MrBeensMrBeens Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Hexmage-PA wrote: »
    Amigu wrote: »
    Does anyone else find the concept of Orcus really lame? Maybe it's just because I got into warhammer first but to me he just looks like an obesse blood thirster. I also don't like mixing undead and demons which is probably also a warhammer hang up.

    Now Torog... there's a good villain.

    Although I'm not going to use the S&M aspects, they're pretty cheesey. I'm only going to focus on him being the god of entombement. A tortured god who restrains all things he holds dear for fear of losing them. Patron of dark and sorrowful places. The King that Crawls.

    So bad ass

    I really think Torog has potential as a patron for Unaligned PCs:

    The King Who Crawls – The followers of this god are few, and those who do worship him dare not speak his name. They refer to their master as the King Who Crawls and beg him to keep the terrible monsters of the Underdark imprisoned deep below the world's surface. The King Who Crawls is an evil god who embodies torture as well as imprisonment. His more benevolent devotees imprison their wicked brethren, sparing the common man from predation while simultaneously turning the imprisoned into scapegoats for their cruel god's amusement.

    Hachface wrote: »
    Pinfeldorf wrote: »
    What can you tell me of Ramenos, the Bullywug god of laziness, drunken proliferation and overeating?

    As of 2e, Ramenos belongs to a group of deities who in ages past sponsored primordial races, but whose powers waned as their worshippers were supplanted by the mammalian demihumans. His layer of the Abyss is called Smaragd, which he shares with the yuan-ti deity Merrshaulk (who has been replaced by Zehir in 4e). He apparently spends most of his time there in a deep slumber as he bathes in a pool of liquor, which he of course absorbs through his skin. The prayers of the bullywug no longer rouse him and he seems destined to sleep his way into nothingness. He's basically suffering from some sort of cosmic depression.

    Ramenos is actually mentioned in Demonomicon as a primordial whose innards serve as their own layer of the Abyss. His consort, the female slaad lord Urae-Naas, lives inside his guts. She seems to have much in common with her lover, as she is so fat that she has to drag herself along.

    As for Merrshaulk, he still exists in 4E. A Dragon article mentioned a group of humans whose ancestors worshiped the demon lord Merrshaulk (histaachi are also mentioned in that article and nowhere else, which I've extrapolated to mean that histaachi are a creation of Merrshaulk and not Zehir). Plane Above states that Merrshaulk dwells in a complex on Tytherion, in the same general area of Zehir. Given that the Races and Classes 4E preview said Zehir was originally going to be called Set (a Forgotten Realms deity that took Merrshaulk's place as a patron of yuan-ti), I take this to mean that Zehir has cowed Merrshaulk into servitude or even subdued him completely.

    Ramenos. Ramen noodles. Coincidence? I think not.

    MrBeens on
  • TorgoTorgo Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    You should implement Kikubaaqudgha, one of the gods from Dungeon Crawl, just to hear your players try and pronounce his name.

    I had an Orc Paladin who was a Priest of Beogh, the Orc god of Dungeon Crawl. He was Orc Jesus.

    Torgo on
    History is a spoiler for the future. (Me on Twitter)
  • poshnialloposhniallo Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I thought about my idea earlier (where people suggested Goliaths etc) and I thought of a way to make a Dwarven underground town more interesting.

    It's called The Silent Fall or Quiet Rest or something like that but less lame, and it's a small dwarven town on a rockshelf on the edge of a massive drop-off underground. No-one knows what's on the other side or at the bottom. It's just a big fucking cliff dropping away into the darkness.

    The dwarves live on the edge of it because there are important crystals to be gotten (quietly), and to guard one of the ways to their hidden city, but they are scared of the chasm and the things that sometimes emerge from it, and of the risk of landslides, so the whole place is quiet. Quiet dwarves drinking strong drink in the tavern. Padded shoes and indoor voices. A leader who is careful and taciturn. Kinda like engineers in Iraq on danger-pay, a hardship assignment.

    The PCs need the dwarves to trust them because they know (and block) the way back to the surface. The dwarves want to keep their city as secret as possible. So the PCs will end up talking to people etc trying to find something they can do to impress the leader.

    Whatever they end up going to kill or whatever will have a dwarven artifact of Moradin in its treasure trove. The real test of trust will be whether the PCs give it back to the dwarves. The leader knows the monster(s) had it and will keep sending them out on missions (that they will find out from the other dwarves by using social skills) until they work out what's going on and give it back. Insight rolls, being clever, etc.

    I quite like that. Trapped in a silent city trying to earn the trust of the dwarven leader, killing duergar etc forlornly until they finally give back the artifact.

    Much better than 'Kill something to get to the entrance back to the surface'.

    I'm also looking forward to a skill challenge coming up where they try to talk some orcs into letting them cross a rope bridge. The orcs have a barricade but actually hardly any soldiers. They have dead orcs propping up spears and bows. The orcs have no food, and if they shoot the PCs they will fall off the bridge and all their food (and flesh) will be gone. So the PCs are trying to get the orcs to accept food for passage, but some PCs will be making stealth rolls instead to edge forward along the bridge in case they fail the challenge and there's a fight (or the PCs just decide to attack). Meanwhile some PCs might be able to spot that none of the orcs behind the barricade are moving...

    I'm such a twat to my players really.

    poshniallo on
    I figure I could take a bear.
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Just so you know, if you don't have it already go looking for a map of the Seven Pillared Hall from Thunderspire Labyrinth. It's absolutely terrific for an underground town and has lots of routes out to just about anywhere you'd want to adventure towards. I think you can find maps people have recreated of it that can be printed out at full glorious color so you can use it as well. It would be worth the effort for what you're doing if it suits your purpose.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • SipexSipex Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Those dwarf city and orc bridge challenges are pretty awesome.

    Sipex on
  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Torgo wrote: »
    You should implement Kikubaaqudgha, one of the gods from Dungeon Crawl, just to hear your players try and pronounce his name.

    I had an Orc Paladin who was a Priest of Beogh, the Orc god of Dungeon Crawl. He was Orc Jesus.

    Having a ton of Orc followers was awesome.

    Tofystedeth on
    steam_sig.png
  • HachfaceHachface Not the Minister Farrakhan you're thinking of Dammit, Shepard!Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Are there illithids on Athas?

    I mean, there will probably be illithids on my Athas. But I'm just wondering if we have a canon ruling on that.

    Hachface on
  • SquintsSquints Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I ordered a Red Box, just for the hell of it. I may run a game, if people are interested in trying it out on a PbP basis.

    Squints on
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Hachface wrote: »
    Are there illithids on Athas?

    I mean, there will probably be illithids on my Athas. But I'm just wondering if we have a canon ruling on that.

    I'm pretty sure, yes, if I remember right... I don't have my books at work. :P

    Psionic Power being a big thing there and all.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Squints wrote: »
    I ordered a Red Box, just for the hell of it. I may run a game, if people are interested in trying it out on a PbP basis.

    I'd play your game. Essentials kind of has a D&D 1.0 feel to it... just with 4E rules. I like it.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Chanus wrote: »
    Hachface wrote: »
    Are there illithids on Athas?

    I mean, there will probably be illithids on my Athas. But I'm just wondering if we have a canon ruling on that.

    I'm pretty sure, yes, if I remember right... I don't have my books at work. :P

    Psionic Power being a big thing there and all.

    I don't know for sure either, but I assume so. When you're trying to determine if illithids are appropriate for a setting, here's the two things you should ask:

    1. Are there brains in the setting?

    2. Do your players hate illithids?

    If the answer to both is yes, then they're in the setting.

    Terrendos on
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I don't specifically remember there being illithids on Athas, but they shouldn't be hard to work into the setting. Like, at all.

    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.
  • SquintsSquints Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    That, and I need advice for my Artificer in the Worldship game going on in this board.

    Tordek

    It's a difficult leader class to play. Basically, I can heal twice an encounter like most leaders. Unfortunately to replenish my heals in a short rest I have to spend surges - meaning less surges for myself. Most Leader classes get their healing powers back for free, no?

    Anywho, my advice is with his Daily Power. I think I need to change it - I have yet to use it, but Flameburst Armor basically lets me give someone resist fire and I can use a standard action to give auto 5 damage to all enemies in burst 1. It also marks all hit enemies, so I suppose I would use it on a tank. The problem is I need to be in melee touch to ogive someone the power, and I have to use a standard every turn to "ignite" it. Auto-5 is okay, but our DM Aegof is throwing demons at us with 80+ HP and I assume some of them have fire resistance. Perhaps I should switch it out for Obedient Servant or Punishing Eye. Icebound Sigil seems to be the worst of the bunch,

    Squints on
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    How do so many people misread the Artificer's healing?

    You heal twice per encounter for free. Your allies don't have to spend the surges to heal. After the encounter, any ally or you can expend a surge to recharge the healing powers.

    So basically you get 2 free heals every day that don't cost anyone surges.

    Terrendos on
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    I don't specifically remember there being illithids on Athas, but they shouldn't be hard to work into the setting. Like, at all.

    It already has a giant floating genital tentacle monster in the Floating Mantle. So I don't see Illithids being a terrible fit, especially given the other mutants (aberrations) in the setting and the fact they are naturally psionic.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I thought I had first heard of illithids through Dark Sun... though we're also talking like 18 years ago, so my memory could be fuzzy.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • SquintsSquints Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Terrendos wrote: »
    How do so many people misread the Artificer's healing?

    You heal twice per encounter for free. Your allies don't have to spend the surges to heal. After the encounter, any ally or you can expend a surge to recharge the healing powers.

    So basically you get 2 free heals every day that don't cost anyone surges.

    I agree with this, and don't say anything to the contrary. But we are also getting our asses kicked and no one has surges to spare because they are using them to heal themselves in short rests.

    "You determine the effect of a healing infusion at the time you use the power, not at the time you create it. When you use a Healing Infusion power, you expend one of the infusions you created during your last extended rest. During a short rest, you or an ally can spend a healing surge to replenish one of the infusions expended." To me that says 1 surge= 1 healing power replenished. 2 surges = 2 powers. If I use 2 of them in a battle, myself and/or an ally needs to spend a total of 2 to replenish them.

    Squints on
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    The way I read it, you sacrifice the healing surges during the extended rest... so you're already down two surges from the get-go, but you have the two heals... and then you can use more healing surges after the encounter to replenish the heals in a short rest, or you can take an extended rest and start over from scratch.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Yeah, you take two (later three) healing surges from other party members or yourself (doesn't matter who they come from, but only 2 total) and then use them in the encounter. The character you use it on doesn't spend a surge, because whoever you took the infusion from already spent it. This means the artificer is fantastic for managing a parties usage of healing surges.

    Edit: They do expire at the end of an extended rest, meaning you have to make new ones each day and so you don't get free surges.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • SquintsSquints Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    "At the end of an extended rest, you create two healing infusions that last until the end of your next extended rest."

    It doesn't say anything about using surges to make the first 2.

    Squints on
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Squints wrote: »
    "At the end of an extended rest, you create two healing infusions that last until the end of your next extended rest."

    It doesn't say anything about using surges to make the first 2.

    How do you create healing infusions?

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I read it as implied that you spend surges to create the initial 2.

    It doesn't come for free, but you can take 2 surges from the Wizard who stays back from the combat before and use them on the Fighter who's taking all the damage during the encounter.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Chanus wrote: »
    I read it as implied that you spend surges to create the initial 2.

    You can in fact read it either way, as it says only that you need to use healing surges to recharge them during a short rest and they are "created" after an extended rest. If healing surges are required or not for the creation isn't stated, which I will on a second reading suggest indicates it could be free.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • SquintsSquints Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    It would make sense if they were free, it would suck to start every extended rest already down 2 surges. :(

    Squints on
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Squints wrote: »
    It would make sense if they were free, it would suck to start every extended rest already down 2 surges. :(

    That's the thing though... How many surges does your Wizard (to use the same example) normally use? Take two from the Wizard.

    Every party has at least one class that could give up two surges (or two that could give up one each) if it means two more for the guys taking all the hits.

    That's the benefit... but TANSTAAFL and all that.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • AegofAegof Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    In Worldship that class is... the artificer. The controller is a hybrid druid|invoker, who, as it happens, had no surges left going into the fight they're in right now. Both strikers are melee fighters and of course the defender needs his surges for not dying.

    Aegof on
    I'm providing ambience.
  • graymergraymer Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    So played 4E for the first time last night at Encounters since 2E AD&D 10 years ago.

    Combat is certainly more dynamic, and the mechanics behind the game itself seem to be very well thought out. My session lacked a bit in the RP department, but I think it was due to the nature of the DM. I ended up getting Yuka, the Mul Brawler, and was a sticky little bastard. It was a lot of fun.

    Looking forward to next week and meeting others in the area.

    graymer on
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Of course, the Fighter could "prepay" for his heals with those surges too.

    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.
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Reading it again and looking over the forums (Question and Answer forum at Wizards, a surprisingly sane forum most of the time), I would think it's actually free (this is the consensus).

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Reading it again and looking over the forums (Question and Answer forum at Wizards, a surprisingly sane forum most of the time), I would think it's actually free (this is the consensus).

    Well of course, if you're going by consensus. "Would you guys rather pay for this thing or get it for free?" :P

    Which if them's the rules, them's the rules I guess. I have no problem with the pre-pay idea though.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
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