Playing 4th ed for the first time - Interview with the GM Part I

This is where I interview myself after our first session of playing DnD 4th ed. It was a home made adventure that lasted one evening. The interview is split up in 4 parts.

So, I figure you have just run your first full game of DnD 4th?

That is correct. We ran a short module with a couple of encounters and two skill challenges.

Was this a pre-made module, or something that you created yourself.

This was something I wrote. We didn't have a module available, and also I wanted to see how 4th ed was to write modules for.

That's an interesting topic, and we'll get back to that later. Now, Can you in one sentence describe the overall impression with 4th ed?

That's a hard one... but I think I'll have to go with this: It's not a set of tools, it's a box of parts that fit together

Can you elaborate on that?

Well, many RPG's are labeled as toolboxes, with which you can build whatever you like in detail. My impression with 4th ed is more that it gives you a number of parts or modules. You can then combine these parts in a number of ways, but each of the parts are fairly ready-made.

What are the effects of this?

I'd say it's both good and bad. The bad thing is that you are more bound to how the creators of the game intended things to play out. The good thing is that it's a lot faster to prepare and run modules, or to build characters.

Can you give details on how this would effect character creation?

I'll do my very best. In DnD 3.5, and many other games, if you wanted to build a fighter, you built him from the ground up (more or less). You could choose if you wanted him to be fast or strong and so on. You had a lot more freedom in how to build the character. In 4th ed, the fighter is limited to what the game designers envisioned him to be. On the other hand, chargen is much quicker, you assign your stats, choose race and class, pick one or two feats, assign a few trained skills, pick your powers (four choices all in all), choose a weapon and armour and then you are ready to go.

Speaking of quicker. 4th ed is said to have been more streamlined and fast. What is your take on this.

To some extent I'd say they succeeded with this. The combats played out fairly fast, and as long as you had your power descriptions in front of you, even the more colorfull attacks where resolved in about a minute or so.

Did you get some comments from your players?

Yes. I think we all had a good time with a game, which is the most important thing. However, the number of new terms in the game caused some confusion at times.
Another comment was that 4th ed made roleplaying easier, because there where fewer die-rolls, so you could spend more time on actually playing the character.

Finally, I think that we where a little surprised on how it played out. I think we anticipated the "gamey" aspects of the game to be more noticable and up front, but on the contrary, the game felt more roleplaying-y than we thought it would

Interesting, I guess that we will come back to that more in part III of this interview. For now, thanks for your answers. We'll see each other again for part II of this interview, which looks at your experiences in preparing a game for DnD4.

Cantrips - A charming detail with 4th ed wizards

Today I made a number of characters for 4th ed to get a better grasp of the system. When I got to making a wizard, I saw it: Cantrips!

It's nothing spectacular, and definately nothing new, but that doesn't matter. This is what makes a wizard a wizard. Not blasting fireballs or bolts of lightning. It's the small things. Like magically pouring himself a glas of wine, or lighting the candles on the table with just a wave of his hand.

These things are worthless in combat, but golden for roleplaying situations.

Komran, Human Paladin for DnD4

Here's another character. This time I opted for a Paladin. Since I wanted him to be a competent warrior I focused a bit on the physical stats. This meant that I had to sacrifice either Wisdom or Charisma. This time, I went for a charismatic but maybe not to bright paladin. Later on, when choosing powers, that was rather limiting, since many powers used wisdom-modifier in one way or the other.



Komran, Human paladin of Pelor

Str 16 (+3); Dex 12 (+1); Con 14 (+2); Int 10 (0); Wiz 11 (0); Cha 15 (+2)
Hit Points 29; Bloodied 14; Healing Surge 7; Healing surges / day 12

AC 19; Fortitude 15; Reflex 13; Will 14
Size: Medium Alignment: Good Vision: Normal Speed: 5
Initiative +1
Languages: Common, Draconic

Armor: Plate armor (+8, -2 to physical skill checks), light shield (+1)

Class Feats
Channel Divinity , Divine Challenge (At-will, minor, close burst 5 one creature, mark target)
Lay on hands (At-will, 1/day, minor, touch, spend healing surge to let ally regain points)

Feats
Healing Hands (+2 to lay on hands), Blade opportunist (+2 to OA w. heavy or light blade)

Skills
Religion (+5), Diplomacy (+7), Insight (+5), Heal (+5), Endurance (+7)
Passive insight 15, Passive perception 10

Basic attack
Longsword (+6, damage 1d8+3)

At-will powers
Enfeebling Strike (Std, Melee, one creature, +5 vs AC, 1D8+2, if target marked gets -2 to attack for 1 round)
Valiant Strike (Std, Melee, one creature, +6+1/adj. nmy vs. AC, 1D8+3)
Holy Strike( Std, Melee, one creature +6 vs. AC, 1D8+3 radiant, if target marked +wiz dam)

Encounter powers
Radiant smite (std, Melee, one creature, +6 vs. AC, 2D8+3)

Daily powers
Paladins Judgement (std, Melee, one creature, +6 vs. AC, 3D8 +3, one ally within 5 sq. spend healing surge)

Zirath - Dragonborn Warlord for DnD4

So, after reading through the DnD-books, I decided to build myself a Warlord (something I've mentioned in some of my previous posts). For my race, I choose Dragonborn, since that's something I've (obviously) never played, and I wanted to see what they where about.

From what I can judge, he is a decent warrior, able to attack and deal out fair amount of damage himself. I guess that against a Fighter he will having some serious problem. However, already at 1st lvl he can give his allies increased maneuverability, speed and endurance. He has a couple of ways to make his allies fight just a little longer with some extra hit points.

Zirath, Dragonborn Warlord

Str 18 (+4); Dex 12 (+1); Con 13 (+1); Int 10 (0); Wiz 11 (0); Cha 16 (+3)
Hit Points 25; Bloodied 12; Healing Surge 7; Healing surges / day 8

AC 16; Fortitude 15; Reflex 11; Will 14
Size: Medium Vision: Normal Speed: 5
Initiative +3

Armor: Heavy Chainmail (+6 armor, -1 speed)

Class Feats
Combat Leader (+2 init within 10 sq), Inspiring Presence (ally spends act.pt heals 3 and is allowed to roll saves),
Inspiring Word (Encounter x2, Minor, close burst 5, one ally incl self, target can spend healing surge and regains additional 1d6 hit points)

Racial Traits
Dragonborn Fury, Draconic Heritage,
Dragn breath (Encounter, Fire, Minor action, blast 3, +6 vs. Refl, 1D6+1 dam)

Feats
Inspired recovery

Skills
Endurance (+6), Heal (+5), History (+7), Intimidiate (+10)
Passive insight 10, Passive perception 10

Basic attack
Flail (+6, damage 1d10+4)

At-will powers
Wolf Pack Tactics (Std, Melee, one creature, before attack one ally may shift, +6 vs AC, 1D10+4)
Vipers Strike (Std, Melee, one creature, +6 vs. AC, 1D10+4, If target shifts provokes OA from ally)

Encounter powers
Leaf of the Wind (std, Melee, one creature, +6 vs. AC, 2D10+4, Target and you or ally swaps places)

Daily powers
Bastion of Defence (std, Melee, one creature, +6 vs. AC, 3D10 +4, hit: all allies within 5 sq gets +1 to all defences to end of encounter, effect: allies get temp hit points of +8)

DnD4 Countdown 0 - It's here and I've got it

So, it's finally here!

After a visit to my gaming store, I got home with the three books (and a 16 minis and a voucher for a dm screen and some character sheets).

So, after a quick look through it, what are my first impressions?

• The books doesn't look as good as the 3.5 did. I'm sorry, but I don't like the new design. It's a bit to plastic. Oh yeah.. the new D20-logo? Sorry, it's pure ugly.
  
• The interior, on the other hand is very nice. Perhaps not winning any design awards, but definately good looking.
• Another aspect of the design is readability and overview. In this area, the game shines. On the hour long trip on the train I flipped through it, and many concepts where easy to grasp and very clearly described. Chapters and pages are very nicely layd out, with accesibility and readability as high priorities.
• The sections for each class are big. All powers (at-will, encounter and daily) are described in this part. I'm not sure it's good or bad, but it feels strange after being used to class-sections no longer than 1 or 2 pages.
• My guess about the warlord seems to hold true. It's definately a class I will be playing soon. Perhaps with a dragonbord, that seems like an interesting class (which is interesting since I never considered that race before getting the books.

So, time to create a couple of characters and go out and play.

DnD4 Countdown 1 - Almost there!

About a year ago, wizards posted a semi-cryptic message on their website, hinting at something big was to be announced. They even had a big countdown-clock on the site.

We all know what happened: They announced that 4th edition of DnD was in the works (and also that their servers crashed right after the counter reached 0:0:0).

Since that day, there have been rumours, speculations, previews, simple playtests etc. Of course, we saw allegations that 4th ed is a dumbed-down version to cater for the WoW-infected children of today. There's also the usual "DnD has turned into a miniatures game" and similar complaints.

This is exactly the things that was said when 3.0 and 3.5 was released, and I guess we will hear it again when a hypothetical 5th ed is released.

Yes, you can use it as a boardgame/ miniatures game. There are propably some elements from WoW in DnD4. But, at it's core, I still believe that DnD4 can cater to different tastes and can be played in a multitude of ways.

During the year, Wizards have given us lots of previews, statements and hints. They have made some hefty claims about how the game will play, and I for one am looking forward to see how these claims are met.

One point which is met with a lot of scepticism is the dnd insidier application. I guess no-one really knows how it will turn out in the end. It's definately something I will look into though.

To sum up: We know a lot about the game already, but tomorrow is when we (or at least I) can start get a more complete picture. Some questions will be answered directly from reading the rules, and others will require a few sessions of gaming to figure out. Either way, the wait is very soon over, and we can start to enjoy this new game.

.. as long as I can stop myself from getting Trail of Cthulhu, which I also saw on one of the shelves of my DFGS (distant friendly gaming store). If I fail my will save, my next post may as well be about that game.

DnD4 Countdown 2 - 5 additions I hope for

While the books will containg many hours of joy, there are still things I hope to see in the future.

• Rules on mass combat. Sooner or later, the characters can grow and become leaders of armies, waging wars against other kingdoms. I see no problem why the basic rules wouldn't scale so that you have troops of different classes. Each troop can have at-will powers, encounter powers and "daily" powers (maybe changing the terms slightly). The all out attack with the big cannon is a daily power, while an ordinary volley of arrows is an at will power. This and the rules for swarms should make the addition of mass combat rules quite easy.
• Castles and Courts. I'd like to se a sourcebook on how to build castles and how to do courtly intrigue. It doesn't have to be extremely detailed, but just guidelines on how a castle looks, what defences it can have etc. This way I can play Sir Huffin, brave knight. I'd save damstrels in distress, excell in tournament games and be blessed by the king himself
• More specialised magic users. Instead of just a wizard, I'd like to see intersting takes on Necromancers, Illusionists or perhaps even some kind of artificers.
• Martial arts. Let's hope for classes and powers that simulate ninjas, shaolin monks and karate experts. Come on, don't stop with just the monk, give us over-the-top action.
• The Deep Dark - Imagine underwater andventures with hidden ruins and ancient secrets. Sects of deep ones worship the horror hidden deep beneath the ocean waves, in temples with astec and incan influences.
  

DnD4 Countdown 3 - Five characters I want to play

• Any kind of warlord. The more I read about the warlord, the more fun it seems. I want to shout orders to the fighters, telling them to push on and to shake that measily flesh wound of. See my post about Warlords/ sergeants for more info.

• Half-elven Ranger. I know, this is a bit cliché, but so far the different editions of DnD have failed me in making it possible to play a decent flashy, rapier wielding swashbuckler type. I will be very interested in seeing if DnD4 can accomplish this.
• A human Paladin. You know, I want to ride in full plate armour, wielding my lance, bracing my shield and fighting for all that's good and decent. Lancelot and Ivanhoe, here I come!
• Dragonborn or Tiefling Warlock. I'm intrigued by the idea of a dark character that is basically good, but that flirts with evil powers to get stronger. Does the end really justify the means?
• The angry axe. That is, a large axe with an angry dwarven fighter attached to the non-sharp end. I know it's trite and way to old, but there's something primal and simple with a dwarven warrior.
  

DnD4 Countdown 4 - A week of fives

This final week before the release, I'll be presenting a number of lists concerning DnD4. Todays list is "Five things I'm excited about in DnD4". I know I have written a few posts that seem fairly critical to the game, so I thought I'd make up for that in presenting what I'm looking forward to in DnD4. So, here goes

1. Fantastic worlds
   
• It seems DnD4 is going back to a more simple, straightforward setting that opens up for more freedom and creativity for the DM. The basic setting, as described, doesn't contain lot's of history, politics or civilisation. It just is. This makes it easier for me to just slot in whatever incoherent and fun story I want. If I want there to be ruins that hold the secrets about who is the rightful heir to the "old kingdom" (whatever that is), there is ruins.. and an old kingdom.. and an heir. Also, take a look at my post Starting settings simple
  
2. Ease of preparation
• It seems like DnD4 will be a lot easier to prepare modules for. Take the above example. I want the ruins to be populated by goblins that are ruled by a warlock. He has a personal guard of undead around him. All these things are readily prepared in the Monster Manual, and even if I wanted to flesh the Warlock out in detail that won't take long. Focus is on the story and excitement, not adding modifiers.
3. More group tactics.
• One thing that I have noticed is that there are a lot more rules that encourages group tactics (or at least some sort of coorperation). This holds mostly true for the leader-types, but the rest of the classes also get their share of powers and attacks that can be used to good effect when used in conjunction with others.
4. Reaching lvl 30.
• This is a long term plan, but still. I like that they have added the quest for immortality in the end. It doesn't just end with "the characters settle down and become a barkeep", but the character can actually be a demi-god, influencing millions of people in the future.
5. An interesting setting publishing model
• Some time ago WotC presented a model for publishing settings. Actually, it's nothing remarkable, but that's what I find remarkable. Instead of having a small number of settings that will be bloated with sourcebooks, they will have a larger number of settings (there's even rumours of Spelljammer... yay!) with a limited series of books. Basically one GM Guid and one Players Guide for each setting, and that's it. There are those that doesn't like that, but it's a model I very much approve of.

Look forward to other lists later this week.

DnD4 Countdown 5 - Editing 101

Todays post is not so much about DnD4 as it's an observation on a trend in rpg-writing in general. Earlier today, I saw this text describing the new game from White Wolfe called Hunter: the Vigil. Although I'm excited about the game, something about the text didn't click at all.

Now, let me first point you to the writers guidelines at Steve Jackson games. In this case, take a look at #6. It's about overuse of words and long sentences. In the guidelines it's said that a lot of words can be taken away without losing the intended meaning. I will add to that, and say that in some cases you can actually add feeling and intensity through removing "padding text". I have encounterd (and read about it) numerous times.

So, today I actually sat down and trimmed the text. Partly this was to actually understand it better myself. I'm aware that it's not perfect, but I think that the trimmed text conveys the message and substance across better than the original one.

Around the world, the vast majority of hunters face the supernatural armed with little more than their wits, willpower, and whatever supplies they can gather from the local sporting goods store.
Some hunters, though, by dint of powerful backers or stores of ancient relics or a supposed fallen angel in the family tree, have access to tools beyond those that ordinary men and women can acquire. Some would argue that these tools make them every bit as unnatural as the things they profess to hate—how much difference is there, really, between a witch who calls down lightning from the sky and a man who has implanted a swarm of insect monsters into his body to use as a weapon?
Others counter that, to destroy the monsters that hide in the shadows with any chance of success, a hunter needs every edge he can get. Endowments, unlike the powers of supernatural beings, are not their own category of Trait. They are simply a new category of Merit, and are purchased with Merit dots just like any other.

And the trimmed version:

Hunters face the supernatural armed with wits, willpower, and whatever supplies they find in a sporting goods store.
Some hunters, though have access to tools beyond those that ordinary men and women can acquire. Some would argue that these tools make them just as unnatural as the things they hunt—how much difference is there between a witch who calls down lightning from the sky and a man who has implanted a swarm of insect monsters into his body?
Others counter that, to destroy the monsters a hunter needs every edge he can get. Endowment are not their own category of Trait. They are simply a new category of Merit, and are purchased with Merit dots just like any other.

It might need additional work, but overall, this text is clearer and has more punch than the first one. One could argue that some info on the origins of these powers should be added (the "stores of ancient relics..."-part), but in this case I would make it a separate paragraph, rather than making an already long sentence even longer.

As I said, I have seen this trend in RPG-publishing some time now (with my fellow countrymen being major offenders here. Swedish RPG's are often written horribly bad). My hopes are that DnD4 will be written clearly and elegantly but not all to dry or formal.