Some thoughts on D&D 4E

by **Worm** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 6:54 am

bruce wrote:Platinum pieces are now worth 100 gp, and "Astral Diamonds" are 100pp. Yay! We finally have some reasonable way to carry around the wealth required to buy high-level goodies.

[/quote]
Carrying around tons of gold just makes you feel cool though!

by **loafergirl** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:42 pm

Okay, now having played an encounter it's going to take some adjustment. A lot more to keep track of with the daily/per encounter/ etc... stuff. But add to that that battle times are much greater. It's no longer 12 goblins, and 2 head goblins, now there are several groupings of goblins at various difficulties with their own initiatives...

by **kythri** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 1:27 pm

bruce wrote:Platinum pieces are now worth 100 gp, and "Astral Diamonds" are 100pp. Yay! We finally have some reasonable way to carry around the wealth required to buy high-level goodies.

Has this REALLY been an issue for people, one that they couldn't resolve without 4th Edition?

Not only does the 3rd Edition or 3.5 PHB and DMG contain a TON of information on various monetary values for things like gems or trade goods, but, heck, how hard is it to issue a super-simple house-rule regarding exchange rates, or to simply create a new gem with a specific value, if that's what it takes?

Multiple campaigns I've played in have had some form of banking. The current campaign we're running has one of the churches running banking throughout the known lands (hello, Knights Templar, anyone?).

by **bruce** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 7:04 pm

loafergirl wrote:Played call of Cthulhu (sp???) a couple of times, was rather interesting, I liked it. never hears of Dogs in the Vineyard. I am amused by Oscar Wilde =)

That was a really fun game.

It's based on a historical event: Oscar Wilde came to Leadville, which at the time was a rather tough place, and gave a talk.

The scenario in my game was this:

The player characters were kicked awake by the sheriff in the drunk tank, and told that this Englishman was coming to town on the morning train, and was going to be giving a speech that night, and they'd better make sure he came to no harm in between.

And then Oscar showed up, already drunk, and proceeded to, er, sample the delights of Leadville with great and to-some-residents-disconcerting enthusiasm.

We had brothels and whiskey and propositioning grizzled miners and Chinese laundries with opium and a pistol duel and everything. It was great.

Bruce

by **loafergirl** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 12:33 pm

bruce wrote: I want to play Trail of Cthulhu. I also want to play Dogs In The Vineyard with a group that likes that sort of thing (not mine). I probably will end up playing "Three-Point Fudge", which is a Fudge-based game I put together that plays like GURPS Very Very Very Lite.

Here's the character sheet (and character creation rules):

http://www.fsf.net/~adam/3ptfudge.pdf

Bruce

Played call of Cthulhu (sp???) a couple of times, was rather interesting, I liked it. never hears of Dogs in the Vineyard. I am amused by Oscar Wilde =)

by **bruce** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 8:07 pm

bruce wrote: Here's the character sheet (and character creation rules):

http://www.fsf.net/~adam/3ptfudge.pdf

And here's a filled-out character sheet, from the game we did recounting a particular day in Leadville, CO, in 1882.

http://www.fsf.net/~adam/Oscar.pdf

Bruce

by **bruce** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 8:05 pm

loafergirl wrote:
bruce wrote: something more free-form.
Like what, Paranoia? =)

-LG

I want to play Trail of Cthulhu. I also want to play Dogs In The Vineyard with a group that likes that sort of thing (not mine). I probably will end up playing "Three-Point Fudge", which is a Fudge-based game I put together that plays like GURPS Very Very Very Lite.

Here's the character sheet (and character creation rules):

http://www.fsf.net/~adam/3ptfudge.pdf

Bruce

by **loafergirl** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:56 pm

bruce wrote:
Yeah, but of course then death becomes merely a temporary inconvenience. I like the fact that (in my 3.5 game) the (now 20th-level) cleric refuses to learn True Resurrection and makes the party rely on the druid casting Reincarnate. Most of the party has become Elf Chicks as a result of that. Well, and a Dwarf Chick. I keep hoping for a badger.

Perhaps a large wooden badger?
Our last 3.5 campaign was a bit different as we were playing undead characters... in the undead world when you're done, you're done.
And this time the DM has dubbed we must play our own genders, as it was getting a bit confusing for a while with most of the women playing men, and vise versa actually.

The tactical combat is working out pretty well. I wouldn't mind if my players got sick of it though and we could move to something more free-form.

Bruce

Like what, Paranoia? =)

-LG

by **bruce** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:04 pm

loafergirl wrote:The attack of opportunity system WAS a pain in the ass.

And "opportunity attacks" are TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Er, wait.

loafergirl wrote:I find it very common that we'll have a good campaign and be having fun, but once characters start reaching higher levels it's always a life death battle and the DM is finding it more difficult to keep the group cohesive etc...

Yeah, but of course then death becomes merely a temporary inconvenience. I like the fact that (in my 3.5 game) the (now 20th-level) cleric refuses to learn True Resurrection and makes the party rely on the druid casting Reincarnate. Most of the party has become Elf Chicks as a result of that. Well, and a Dwarf Chick. I keep hoping for a badger.

loafergirl wrote:Have you played yet Bruce?

Yeah, we played through the sample dungeon in the DMG, and then we played through the Irontooth battle in Keep on the Shadowfell and if I'd been playing Irontooth honestly, there would have been a TPK. As it was we had plenty of people missing two death saves, but no one missed the third.

The tactical combat is working out pretty well. I wouldn't mind if my players got sick of it though and we could move to something more free-form.

Bruce

by **loafergirl** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:44 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I nuked the D&D base because it wasn't getting enough ACTION. Whoops!

Christ, I wish I could play Internet D&D with video conferencing. I am really surprised that they released 4.0 off the ten-year schedule and didn't make it completely compatible with the Internet?

I think a thread is fine, probably doesn't need a base. I don't plan on going all "Dead Ale Wives" on you. We're just talking new game mechanics and theory not casting magic missile at the darkness =)

I'm not surprised TSR - bought by Wizards of the Coast - bought by Matel??? Wizards breathed new life into it but made it a little too Magic-ee, Matel is making modifications that make it more marketable. And making it fully internet accessable means that it's going to get leaked everywhere and then it's not as profitable.... like 4.0s pdf files.

-LG

by **loafergirl** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:37 pm

It's half stolen from video games like "Get Over Here" pulling your opponent towards you two spaces.... Mortal Kombat Scorpion anyone????

And it has lost a lot of it's roots, BUT...

The attack of opportunity system WAS a pain in the ass.

And it does make sense to extend the levels and the reworking they did to the spell system seems much cooler, as apposed to the 8th lvl wizards w/5th lvl spells or whatever, it's level appropriate, and the progression is steadier.

The actual level changes should, in theory, help extend playtimes for parties... I find it very common that we'll have a good campaign and be having fun, but once characters start reaching higher levels it's always a life death battle and the DM is finding it more difficult to keep the group cohesive etc...

More levels = more gaming in that sweet spot after you don't have to worry about getting killed by an ant bite, but before your character becomes legendary.

Have you played yet Bruce?

-LG

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:44 am

I nuked the D&D base because it wasn't getting enough ACTION. Whoops!

Christ, I wish I could play Internet D&D with video conferencing. I am really surprised that they released 4.0 off the ten-year schedule and didn't make it completely compatible with the Internet?

by **loafergirl** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 9:48 pm

and here i started another thread about this same subject oblivious due to my absenteeism.

Yeah I have similar feelings, but next Friday I should be testing out the new combat rules, perhaps they will balance out the suckiness of the alignment issues and changes in race.

-LG

by **bruce** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:11 am

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:That baby had best learn to ROLL SOME DICE.

Did they eliminate the differently-sided dice from D&D? I can't remember if they did that for 3.5 or not. Making all the dice rolls d20 seems like it would come from the same braintrust that looked at the spell "fireball" while stroking their mutton chops going, "hmm, yes, I can improve this spell, it is more a fire burst is it not, hmmm."

No. To hit rolls are d20. But damage is all kinds of dice still.

Bruce

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:57 am

(If they DID eliminate all the dice except for the die 20, I was honestly not aware. It's like when I was making fun of the new Battlestar Galactica show to Ben in gchat, and I said, after a few minutes, "What else did they do, make Adama hispanic?" and then got logged off at.)

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:55 am

That baby had best learn to ROLL SOME DICE.

Did they eliminate the differently-sided dice from D&D? I can't remember if they did that for 3.5 or not. Making all the dice rolls d20 seems like it would come from the same braintrust that looked at the spell "fireball" while stroking their mutton chops going, "hmm, yes, I can improve this spell, it is more a fire burst is it not, hmmm."

by **bruce** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 9:34 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:Honestly, Bruce, the new changes all sound terrible.

I dream of a day with more free time. We'll get there -- probably late next year, after the wedding and honeymoon.

By which time there will probably be a baby in my life. And I will never be able to play D&D again.

I played 4th ed. tonight. It wasn't terrible, and it still seemed like D&D.

Bruce

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 5:49 pm

Honestly, Bruce, the new changes all sound terrible.

I dream of a day with more free time. We'll get there -- probably late next year, after the wedding and honeymoon. And I would love to play, over the Internet, D&D, first edition with you and some of your friends. I bet Dayna would like it, too.

I am speaking from ignorance with what I am about to say: I really, really thought TSR/WOTC would embrace the Internet for their next edition. I thought they'd have it completely integrated. I played in a session with some guys from the ifMud last year, and we were able to use Java-made tools that let us see our dudes on a shared screen. I would have thought that WoTC would have official versions of all that stuff.

And it honestly feels like just yesterday that version three came out. In the manual for Necrotic Drift, Jarret makes fun of the low cost of entry to play the game (just new rulebooks every ten years!) but Christ, it really seems skewed.

Actually, I will look up the release dates for the different versions!

...

1977 AD&D 1st Edition
1989 AD&D 2nd Edition
2000 D&D 3rd Edition
2008 D&D 4th Edition

Oh. So it was sooner. 12 years between 1 and 2. 11 years between 2 and 3. And now 8 years between 3 and 4.

"Too soon....!" -- Audience, to Gilbert Goddfried

by **Lex** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 3:12 pm

I would play that.

by **pinback** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:51 pm

bruce wrote: The Four Roles (Leader,

bruce wrote: Defender,

bruce wrote: Striker,

bruce wrote: Controller

Some thoughts on D&D 4E

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