4e

[Steven Hutton]

Just running something up the proverbial flag pole here. Would anyone be interested in playing a couple of adventures of 4th Edition D&D?

Like I say I'm just trying to gauge the general level of interest in playing games in that system. Optimally it'd be great if someone wanted to run a campaign (probably when some of the current on going campaigns have come to thier conclusion). But I've got a whole bunch of the books and although I'd much prefer to play (because I'm a terrible, terrible, awful DM and I hate it) I'd be quite willing to run a couple of out of the box adventures like "Keep on the Shadowfell" etc. Assuming people arn't too busy/are interested/etc.

For those people who've played 4e before and not liked it this might be a good chance to look at how the system has matured with the adition of various splat books. It's really aged well in my opinion.

[james]

As you don't have a date set, but are looking for levels of interest, I would like to add my own name down. I really like 4th ed.

James.

[baldyorc]

me too, and i can run it as dm if wanted.

[deathdealer]

i quite like the idea of 4th ed so yeah put me in the interested box

[dad orkboss]

i may be interested if there is a game on.
i have not played d&d since the early 80s.

[Steven Hutton]

Man, you'll hardly recognise it. Imagine a D&D where the Psionic rules don't constitute an actual assault on the mind of the reader.

[Big Dave]

Hmm... how loudly do I need to say it?

DAVE WANT IN!!!!

[Steven Hutton]

Well, it seems like enough people are interested at least. Looks like Brug Loftheart (Half-Orc Rogue) might get his chance for adventure (and to escape his haunting memories of his dark past) after all. Or possibly Bannor the Goliath Barbarian could earn his True Name or Bronn the Goliath Warden could regain his lost honour or Wrath the Tiefling Psion might finnaly get revenge against the Mind Flayers that enslaved him.

I've been mentally preparing for this for a lot longer than I realised.

[Steven Hutton]

Obviously you're all (well, not all, some) busy with other Campaigns at the moment but I don't know... just don't sign up for any new ones or something.

Anyone feel like volunteering to DM should the opportunity arrive.

[tayryn]

depends on when this is on I am happy to DM. Currently I could only offer 1 Sunday a month due to WFRP 2nd ed. I do prefer to run published campaigns but am quite capable of converting mods from older editions of D&D.

I would rather DM 4th ed than play it as I am not fond of it as a player...

[Goznaz]

me me me!

[tayryn]

is that DM or player?

[Steven Hutton]

Right! I've loaned Mark some of my D&D supplies and since he was the first to volunteer I've asked him to DM us through one of the early published 4e adventures. I figured we could always start with the short adventure from the DMG (just to get the rules down) then I'll buy Keep on the Shadowfell (which I know we've mostly done before but maybe familiarity will make it less brutal).

I'd like to do at least the basic first adventure (which I'm sure I have the dungeon tiles for somewhere) on a Sunday and then figure something out after that.

Assuming that's acceptable to everyone?

Anyway, now is the time to start figuring out when people are available. So I'm pretty much available every Sunday from here to eternity but since I'm not willing to wait til eternity it'd be nice if we could find a Sunday within the next month or so when everyone who has expressed an interest in playing is free.

So that's Gonaz, Big Dave, James, Orkboss, Me and Deathdealer with Mark as DM. (Joe has graciously agree'd to bow out so that we don't end up with unmanageable numbers).

[Steven Hutton]

Ok, Secondary point and by no means an emergency but I guess people should start thinking about characters. I (some people may be surprised to hear) really up on thinking up backstories and histories for my characters and tend to go into a lot of detail. I find that it really comes brings the game to life if the characters all have an interesting backstory and mean more to thier players than just "Halfling Rogue".

The 4th Edition supliments allow for a huge variance of races/classes etc but since we're (at least until I decide to renew my D&D insider subscription) limited by the splat books that I've aquired I'll list the available options here and a brief description of them if I can be bothered.

Background:

As with all editions of D&D your Stats are Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intellegence, Wisdom and Charisma. And will be familiar to everyone I'm sure.

Races come with special powers dependant on thier race and a +2 bonus to typically two stats. While any race can be a member of any class obviously some are better suited than others (Dwarfs for example get +2 Con and +2 Wis and can heal in battle as a minor action. This makes them well suited to the Fighter class.) Races also come with a +2 bonus to two skills but I can't remember them all and refuse to look them up. Suffice to say that elves are stealthy and half orcs intimidating. They're usually pretty obvious.

In 4e classes can be loosely grouped into archetypes. Each class is best suited to a certain archetype but can always be built to perform other functions aswell. E.g. A Fighter is a Defender archetype who focuses on protecting his allies. But he can double as a secondary Controller (to hinder his enemies) or Striker (to deal single target damage). A Warden is also a Defender who can specialise as a Controller or Striker but needless to say his playstyle is entirely different to the Fighter.

Striker: Focused on dealing damage to a single target in a variety of ways. Most parties take two characters of classes that could be considered strikers. Strikers usually have high damage every round but are comparatively fragile. Rogues, Avengers, Rangers, Barbarians & Sorcerers are all types of Strikers.

Defender: Usually upclose combatants with high defences and health. Defenders concentrate on hindering the enemy and protecting thier more fragile allies. Fighter, Warden, Paladin are all defender types.

Controller: Damage to multiple enemies and lots of battlefield controll, debuffs and hinderance. Essential to parties in the long run. Wizards & Druids are example controllers.

Leader: Healers and buffers, some prefer to hold back while others are much more combat focused. Leaders provide battlefield healing and many other benefits to parties in the know. Clerics, Warlords, Bards and Saman are all Leaders.

So, Races that I have access to rules for (although there are certainly LOADS more races/classes etc that I don't have in my library).

RACES:

Dragonborn. +2 Str & Cha. Dragonmen with a powerful Elemental Breath Wweapon attack.

Dwarf. Con + Wis. Can heal in battle and wear heavy armour with ease. Your typical fantasy dwarves really.

Eldarin. Dex and Int. Your more magical "High Elf" style elves. Haughty but with a seriously awesome Fey Step teleport power.

Elf. Dex and Wis. Your more rustic "Wood elf" types. Can reroll to hit once per fight.

Gnome. Con & Cha. Honestly, who cares?

Goliath. Str & Con Big mountain fold 8ft of stoic warrior pride.

Half-Elf. Con & Cha. A real jack of all trades. Can pick a power from another class when starting out.

Halfling. Dex & Con Do we care? No we dont.

Half Orc/ Str & Dex. Very fast very agressive but without the int/cha penalties of yesteryear.

Human. The REAL REAL Jack of all trades. +2 to one stat of your choosing and a bonus feat.

Shifter Longtooth/Razorclaw Str/Dex & wisdom. Your basic humans with animal characteristics. Micro furries. Have a shifting power which grants buffs for the rest of the fight.

Tiefling. Cha & Int. Humans with the devil in them. Horns tail. Devil powers. Really good racial feat selection.

Classes:

Avenger: Your holy warrior with a 2Handed weapon. Relegious Zealot. Likes to seperate an enemy from the fight for a one on one duel and then kill him very dead. Main benefit is ability to make two attack rolls and pick the highest. Naturally very accurate. Great at killing enemy ranged nukers and feeble wizards. Striker. Primary Stat Wisdom.

Barbarian. Striker. Main stat is Strength. 2Handers essential. Big Damage, good toughness. Can fly into a berserker rage at the drop of a hat and taking on new properties and buffs according to the Primal Spirit he has chosen to channel. Did I mention BIG DAMAGE. With a side order of scary if you're into that.

Bard. Bards are gay. (Generate lots of temporary HP for the party, Leader, Cha based. Surprisingly ok with a sword.)

Cleric. Leader. Wisdom. Can be the ultimate combat healer or a decent hand 2 hand fighter and party buffer. Can be an INSANE HEALING MACHINE with the right build. The most leadery leader of all. Owns the undead. Grants good bonuses to the party. A strength build can make them pretty handy with a mace.

Druid. A controller who can shape shift between beast and human forms. Versitile. Either has awesome debuffing and ranged stuff as a humanoid or epic immobilisation and damage up close as an animal. Whichever build they're very AoE focused. Wisdom based.

Fighter. Strength. The fighter. Master of all weapons can pretty much fight any way you like. Tends to pin enemies down once he starts fighting them. Tough but tough. Lots of options. Has a number of decent damage options with 2handers or duel wielding. No real optimum stat combo. Undisputed lord of opportunity attacks. Significantly less boring than in previous editions.

Invoker. Religious priestly types channel the aspect of thier god directly as a controller for large AoE damage (like the cleric & avenger they OWN the undead) and many buffs and debuffs. Good at creating zones of effect on the table. Wisdom is the main stat.

Paladin. MAD (Multiple Ability Dependant) defender. Your typical fantasy holy knight. Smite the undead and the unrighteous and do good works. Wears the heaviest armour and does not mess about. Good at controlling groups of enemies and has about a million workable builds. Can channel holy powers and is a passable secondary healer. Toughest tank but not really a noobs best option.

Ranger. Ranged or Mele DPS (can also have an animal pet to fight with him) has the highest known damage potential of any class. Str or Dex is the main stat. Good for people with a Legolas/Aragorn fetish. Personally I find them boring.

Rogue. Dex. Striker. Really high accuracy and great mobility. The undisputed master of stealth. The rogue relies on good positioning and combat advantage to get his damage bonus in combat but has terrifying potential in the right hands... SNEAK ATTACK!

Shaman. A leader capable of channaling the power of his guardian spirit. Can place his spirit guide in a point on the table and channel his healing/buffing/debuffing powers through there. Great battlefield controll and excellent party support. A good H2H fighter too.

Sorcerer. Cha. Striker. Really fragile but armed with a Bazooka. Big, splashy damage with quite often unpredictable consequences. Tends to add big static modifiers to the damage he does. Not as versatile as the wizard but makes up for it with sheer brute force. Try not to hit your own team though.

Warden. Strength. Defender. The AoE defender. Deals with groups of enemies better than anyone else in the game and also has the highest HP and endurance of any class in the game so far. Channels the power of primal spirits and can take on thier aspects with his forms changing the way he fights. Has a habit of turning into a big angry tree or winter given human form. Not the best damage though and has trouble stopping runners. His Daily powers are amazing though.

Warlock. Con. A striker concentrating on ranged damage over time (not all at once), debuffs and mobility. Has a pact with a (usually not entirely nice) entity for a measure of it's dread magical powers.

Warlord. Leader Strength. Lead from the front. A decent healer in the fray but concentrates much more on getting stuck in. Great at granting bonus attacks and opportunity attacks to his allies and makes tough enemies seem way weaker with his presence. More the general than the soldier but a dynamic combat presence nevertheless. Good armour and damage for a leader too.

Wizard. The first (and for a while the only) controller. Int a speciality. Insanely versatile. Capable of knowing a huge array of different spells/powers and changing them about as needed. Deals a lot of AoE damage over big areas. Can clear whole rooms when done right and is also capable of debuffing enemies into next to nothingness. Makes Gandalf look a bit lame to be honest.

Parties

A typical 5 man party is 2 strikers, 1 defender, 1 leader, 1 controller. So it'd be nice it we could manage something similar (with one bonus). I've got ideas for all those archetypes so people can pick what they want and I'll fill in the gaps. Anyway, starting to think about what class/race combo you're interested certainly wont hurt. Plus it lets other people know so we don't end up with 5 strikers. (Which actually may not be that bad).

So that was your 4e primer if you needed it. Not really what I intended when I started writing this but hey... whatever.

[Big Dave]

Being picky, I know, but you missed out the swordmage class (Int, Defender. Bunch of magical attacks channelled through his sword. Protects allies by making them take less damage when hit or doing surprise charges on anyone who dares attack his buddies.) and the Genasi (Str & Int. Choice of elemental themed powers, including knockdowns and flight) that goes with. There's also some Eberron races and the Artificer but... who cares about them?

Also, the Player's Handbook 3 comes out next week, with psionics! It's definitely adding the Monk, Battlemind (new name of psychic warrior), Ardent, Psion, Seeker (primal controller with bow type, looks cool) and the Runepriest, as well as (presumably) a few more races.

Like Steven, I've got ideas for all 4 roles and don't mind which one I have to take. I'm free pretty much every week, and I can pop down this week with some of the books if people want a better idea of what each class can do.

[Steven Hutton]

Yeah, I thought it was best if I only mentioned the races/classes that I actually had the rules for. Since I'm not planning on picking up PHB3 (at least not soon) I only included the classes form PHB1 & 2 and left out stuff like Sword Mages, Warforged etc. I didn't want someone going "OOOH! Shadar Kai Assassin!" only for me to have to say "Actually I don't have the book for that."

Although I do fancy a Tiefling Psion for a bit of mindcontroll action.

Naturally this is just a premliminary if someone thinks they fancy playing a Warden (or whatever) then I'll bring in my books so they can have a closer look.

[Steven Hutton]

I'm totally going to have to get PHB3. The battlemind looks amazing.

[james]

Alas I have a thing for healers. Human Cleric with the insane healing build please. Killing stuff with two handers > does not want.

If someone else is desperate to play this role then I'll go warlock, probably with a different race.

James.

[Steven Hutton]

Oh thank god! Now I don't have to be a smelly healer. Does anyone (Dave) have devine power? Because some of the very best Cleric healing stuff is in that book. I guess if you just rock a human with Wisdom 18 and Cha 14-16 you'll be a healing machine whatever happens.

Also, thankgod I don't have to heal.

[Big Dave]

Have all the player books, basically. PHB, PHB2, Forgotten Realms and Eberron guides, Martial Power 1 & 2, Arcane Power, Divine Power, Primal Power... And the character builder and insider subscription. So, yes, I am looking at the assassin class and chuckling evilly to myself (in between bouts of sneezing. Not feeling well).

Still happy to play whatever, just had my first proper read of the assassin and it seems fun.