D&D 4e General /4eg/

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Why aren't you playing a fox hengeyokai?

How would you roleplay a fox hengeyokai avenger of Bane?

>>49420322
>Why aren't you playing a fox hengeyokai?
Because it's forced way too much to the point that everyone hates it already.
Next question please.

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>>49420340
Why aren't you playing a pixie Desert Wind who suplexes enemies with Dragon's Tail at-will?

>>49420397
Because I can't find a game.

>>49420397

I'm in a 4e game where one PC is quite literally that. Although refluffed as a Fire Mephit, but that's basically just a burning pixie.

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>>49420405
Let's start one. ERP in the Feywild. I'll be a crossdressing shota trap fox hengeyokai shaman. Sounds good?

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>>49420436
>>49420397

Found the art he had commissioned for the character, it's a nice piece.

Blaize is originally from the City of Brass, so they and the GM did a cool thing where rare planar knowledge is second nature to them, while common knowledge from the prime material is beyond them. Blaize was very confused the first time we had to explain to her the difference between Dogs and Hellhounds, when she tried to set fire to one because she thought it had lost its fire and was suffering.

>>49420475
Fuck, at this point I'm maybe even desperate enough.

>>49420514
Those wings look like shit.

So I've only played Pathfinder and 5e, but have always been curious about 4e. What are the best things about it? Is it worth trying out? How would I start?

>>49420662

Better balanced, clearer mechanics with no obfuscation, a lot more GM side support.

>>49420662
>What are the best things about it?
It's the most mechanically solid edition ever published, with minimal Caster/Martial Disparity out of all versions of D&D (and spinoffs) ever published, relatively clean rules and clarity.

>Is it worth trying out?
Yes.

>How would I start?
It's unfortunately virtually impossible to find a 4e game these days. Almost the only option is if you have a whole group willing to try it out available at hand.

>>49420594

I thought it was a really cool take on the whole 'Wings of fire' thing.

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>>49420662
The worst things about it are FUCKING FEAT TAXES and whole classes and builds being ass.

Fucking Essentials.

>>49420777

This is true. Everyone should get an Expertise feat and Improved Defenses free.

Although that keys into something I've been pondering for a slowly forming 4e homebrew I've been working on with some friends for a while now.

Avoiding the math issues is one thing, but is it worth still giving characters a 'Weapon Style' option of some sort? Giving you some sort of unique benefit for your preferred sort of weapon? Or is it better to leave people more flexible?

>>49420834
Why not try Strike!?

>>49420870

Because it's shallow and dull, missing out on a lot of what made 4e an interesting system.

>>49420834
>>49420777
But...muh perfect out of the box perfectly balanced game!

Hypocrites.

>>49420834
Wouldnt it just be easier to lower enemies defenses by 1?

>>49420882

Except nobody actually says that. 4e has issues. On launch, it had fucking massive issues. MM1/2 monster math was awful.

And it was still way, way better balanced than 3.PF ever was.

Absolute perfect balance is impossible to achieve. That doesn't mean it isn't worth aspiring to.

>>49420870
Stop shilling Strike!

Why does /tg/ keep shilling Strike!?

>>49420949
I think it's just one guy, but anyways, back to 4e discussion!

Anyone have interesting PC death stories? I know I don't, just got the last campaign I was in when a friend got MC'd by a Lady of Spiders into one-shotting another friend.

>>49421036
Why not just a dryad?

>>49421441
Not playable.

Describe your 4e campaigns, anons! Worlds, allowed races/classes, campaigns in them, etc.

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>>49421632
Feywild ERP.

>>49421689
Fuck you.

>>49421632
Noone here actually has a game.

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>>49421632
Dark Souls meets Steel Ball Run

>Grand race across a continent that just had a small armageddon occur in it
>No horses, exotic mounts only
>Some of your party-members are under a horrible curse
>Conspiracies everywhere
>Some guy will give you vague hints, call you incompetent and laugh at you
>No Dwarves or psionic classes

>>49421767
Then previous games as well.

Just started a new campaign, after a few stints in other games. I am supremely happy because 1. I finally get to be a player again after 6 or so years 2. New GM is green but has a lot of great ideas. He's an historian and the game is set in late-medieval Italy and draws heavily from literature of the time (and the guy knows his shit). It's quite different from the games I usually run, but that's a welcome change of pace.

Also, let me say that I'm not a fan of how dogmatic we 4e fans are in these threads. Every time I read the OP I can't help thinking that the three points are making a big deal of things that work ok out of the box.

>>49421837
My last campaign was basically JoJo on crack.

funin.space guy here, google is being a bitch saying the compendium is spam and doesnt index all of it

anyone good at webdev that could hook me up with an alternative search?

>>49422441
I'm not having any issues from the funin site. Only complaint I have is it's not better organized (specifically for feats and powers since you have to open so many of them to find ones for the right level for your class/race/etc).

>>49423223
ya, sorry about that, im hoping that someone that knows what hes doing is able to get me a better search
especially because google isnt indexing everything, theres about 8k sites not indexed yet that you wont find with the current search

>>49423252
Huh, that is crazy. Oh well, I have like no skills in that regard but hopefully someone will handle it.

>>49421028
It has to be at least two guys, cause this time, it wasn't me!

>>49422441
What are you using server side? I'm a PHP dev.

I'm also going to sleep now, but if the thread is up tomorrow, I'll look at it.

>>49424159
literally just apache and html files on a centos 7 server
the only thing remotely special are the symbolic links in the folders to link back to images/styles because that was easier than redoing the links to those in 25k html files

>>49421767
Well, I HAD a game.

Then we had a huge club event at my college and we got 42 interested prospects. Even if a third of that actually sticks around, we'll have to put our current campaign on hold.

What's so special about fox hengeyokai?

Anyone have any good suggestions for making Beastmaster Rangers less shit? One of my PCs is going to Vadallis Griffonrider but I want her to not be useless in the meantime. Thinking about just houseruling some of the attacks to be Ranged/melee instead of melee only, allowing them to abuse flanking and tank with the pet instead.

Also, anywhere to find a comprehensive list of adventures published by level and/or all of the missing 4E web content WotC deleted?

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>>49428164

Beast Mastery is good for four things and four things only:

1. Allowing archer rangers to take a raptor companion and use it as a mobile Hunter's Quarry proxy.

2. Allowing a pixie ranger to ride a raptor companion as a mount by default.

3. Allowing any ranger to take a horse companion and use it as a mount with the Beast Rider feat.

4. Allowing any ranger to enter the Vadalis Griffonmaster paragon path and enjoy flight by way of mount.

Your player is aiming for #4, which can justify Beast Mastery. In the meantime, you can have her simply use a raptor companion for #1, and ensure that she takes up a standard archery build.

Choosing the Fey Beast Tamer theme is also a good idea, especially with the somewhat overpowered young owlbear that significantly ramps up the party's offense. A ranger can have both a beast companion and a fey beast.

>Also, anywhere to find a comprehensive list of adventures published by level and/or all of the missing 4E web content WotC deleted?
Dungeon Magazine #200 contains a comprehensive index of adventures from that magazine, but you will have to index anything past then manually. You can try searching here for online content: http://ddi.wizards.com/DDiTools.aspx

>>49421632

Eberron! Edgy first-time-D&D-back-story-my-tribe-was-killed-and-its-my-fault Halfling Ice Druid (they are trying), Human Lhazaarian Merchant-Prince Swordmage, Dwarven Vault-tester Rogue, House Vadallis Mounted-archer Ranger, Dragonborn Cyrian Warlord.

They have all been roped into a race against time to find 5 lost artifacts by an old druid who left them cryptic hints, opposite the Wyrmbreaker, who is manipulating various factions to recover said items to fulfill prophetic demands.

Already got my BBEG for each leg planned out with some contingencies if they don't bite, fleshing out some different hooks. My only rule was no Psionics or Kalashtar because I don't want to deal with separate loot tables and am not going to be using those plot lines/hooks at all. Unfortunately nobody went Warforged or Artificer, but they are playing it well regardless.

>>49428299

Thanks! For narrative reasons I have them using the Griffin already but templating it and using the rules for the Cat companion, with in-world reasons for why it can't fly yet. I'll take a look into possibly stretching it to the raptor template if that helps them contribute more.

I have all the Dungeon/Dragons downloaded since I'm still a Tools subscriber, guess I'll just suck it up and browse manually.

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>>49428393

Use the raptor to represent a baby Vadalis-bred griffon, which then experiences an abrupt growth spurt into Huge size upon reaching 11th-level.

In the Eberron setting, House Vadalis performs magical genetic engineering upon its beasts, so oddities of growth are to be expected.

>>49428440

Thankfully its only Large so it can still fit through most doors and hallways with slight effort.

...oh wow, thats REALLY good for providing flanking bonuses later on, isn't it?

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>>49428762

Yes, the Vadalis-bred griffon is only Large-sized, not Huge. That was my error.

The griffon is best used by an archer to render themselves immune to non-flyers' melee attacks in outdoor environments.

I wish to nova super hard

How do I nova super hard? Which class is best at nova? Which items are best for nova? Which powers are best for nova? Which PPs and EDs are best for nova?

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>>49428965

Nova builds only start to come into their own by the paragon tier; they have difficulty assembling the proper nova ingredients during the heroic tier.

Typical "nova" classes are the Strength/Wisdom two-weapon ranger with Lashing Leaves and an assortment of multiattacks and minor action attacks; and the hybrid barbarian|warden who makes ample use of Wildblood Frenzy, Savage Growl, Thundering Howl, Storm of Blows, and Hurricane of Blades.

As always, "frostcheese" and "radiant mafia" builds improve the effectiveness of any damage-focused build.

Paragon paths depend wholly on class.

By the epic tier, "nova" builds usually want a generic +2/+2 epic destiny such as Destined Scion for consistent offense, or a psionic multiclass and the Master of Moments for a highly improved minor action economy.

What level are you starting at, how high a level do you expect to reach, what free feats do you have, and what is the rest of the party composition?

>>49429128
We're starting mid-paragon, level 15, and are probably going to head into epic

I was looking at combining the str/wis ranger with the punisher of the gods ED to get stupidly huge nova rounds at level 30 thanks to the capstone feature combined with ultimate confrontation, but prior to level 30 that ED looks pretty weak

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>>49429422

If you would like to build for something truly outrageous, look no further than this page for a variety of methods of breaking 4e's combat system:
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/User:Sigma_7/Broken_(4e)

Otherwise, your best bets are probably barbarian|warden, Strength/Wisdom two-weapon ranger, and Rain of Blows fighter (slayer). For added durability, you could consider a barbarian|cleric or a Spiked Chain Training cleric|ranger; Battle Cleric's Lore is quite helpful.

Multiclassing into avenger via Disciple of Divine Wrath can also help a nova round. If you take up a hybrid barbarian, ask your GM if you can purchase alternative rewards such as Five Stars, Five Strikes, which considerably increases your chances of triggering Rampage.

Do you have anything against "frostcheese" or "radiant mafia" builds? The errata to Lasting Frost keeps it quite potent, but slightly less ideal for nova rounds due to the delay in the application of the cold vulnerability. With a level 15 start, you are just a level away from enjoying the full power of the Morninglord with a Radiant Weapon and a Siberys Shard of the Mage.

By RaW, can a character with monk unarmed strike dual wield monk unarmed strike with itself?

It would be weird if they couldn't, considering that you can dual wield monk unarmed strike with a spiked gauntlet

>>49424221
Well, does it have PHP capability? You can check by adding a "test.php" with the contents "<?php phpinfo(); ?>".

If it does, it should be easy to jump through all the files and run a simple text search.

>>49431596
it does now.

is this good enough, or do i need more?

http://funin.space/test.php

>>49431836
Good enough, I'll make you a search in about 20.

>>49431845
thanks man

>>49430277
>unarmed
I believe so, yes. I mean, I remember it working on the character builder.

>>49420514

Blaize is a ball to play. Especially since she sees the world in such an odd way compared to most people.

After being burned out by Warhammer I've had an odd urge to play some 4E skirmishes again.

>What are the top tier classes at the moment?
>What XP budget is standard now for battles?
>Any sweet new miniatures ?
>Do people still play with those optional roleplaying rules? They were cool.

>>49420662

Oddly enough, I'd say that the non-combat is some of the best about it.

It's not like 3.X where you have the 'I can do stuff out of combat' guys with a heap of non-combat spells they can just put in a scroll or wand and use whenever they want.

Non-Combat is either 'Slow-ass ritual' or 'Skills'. Nothing really in between. This means that everyone is on more or less the same playing field.

In addition, the skills were heavily cut down and they decoupled 'Amount of skills' from 'High Int' so everyone can do a few important things.

>>49420662
>Low entry cost compared to similar games like mage Knight/ warhammer.
>Well balanced tactical grid combats
>Unique in that it pits one player against a group of players.
>Wide variety of classes but they all essentially play the same meaning no imbalance.
> D20 system makes for easy combat resolution
>Optional fun roleplaying rules to link skirmishes together.

Meh, I'll bite

>>49432084
>>49432126

>Wide variety of classes but they all essentially play the same meaning no imbalance.

1.) they use the AEDU power structure (which isn't even always true, see psionics), but that's a very wide definition of "being the same".
2.) same power structure doesn't prevent imbalance (see: the broken shit in 4e)

>Optional fun roleplaying rules to link skirmishes together.

3.) If you run it as pure skirmish wargame, there's no point in conserving dailies and healing surges, and many of the actually utility utility powers don't really function.

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>>49432084

>What are the top tier classes at the moment?
This is highly dependent on level, party composition (e.g. a generic attack-granting warlord will have a hard time in a group lacking in strong basic attacks), and specific build. Nevertheless, if I had to list down pure-classed, non-hybrid specimens of each role that actually accomplished their job well from levels 1 to 30 without any problems and without any specific type of optimization required (e.g. charge optimization), I would say:

Controller: Primal Predator druid (protector), most invoker builds, Dishearten/Mind Thrust psion, most wizard builds.

Defender: Most fighter builds that avoid Constitution and avoid two-handed non-polearms, most paladin builds, Aegis of Shielding swordmage, Strength/Wisdom warden.

Leader: Intelligence/Constitution artificer, Virtue of Cunning bard, Virtue of Valor bard, most cleric builds that avoid Wisdom/Charisma, Strength/Wisdom runepriest, Elemental Spirit shaman, most warlord builds that avoid Wisdom.

Striker: Whirling Slayer barbarian, most monk builds that avoid Strength, archer ranger, two-weapon ranger, Brutal Scoundrel rogue, Cosmic Magic sorcerer, Wild Magic sorcerer, Sorcerer-King Pact warlock.

>What XP budget is standard now for battles?
Page 285 of the Rules Compendium contains the most up-to-date rules on XP budgets for encounters.

>Any sweet new miniatures ?
I believe Wizards of the Coast is still producing D&D miniatures, yes.

>Do people still play with those optional roleplaying rules? They were cool.
I think that D&D 4e's skill system is leaps and bounds better than 3.X or Pathfinder's, but it 4e's skills are still rather sketchy. Dungeoneering, Endurance, and Heal are all too narrow. It is completely trivial to game the skill system, push skill bonuses sky-high, and avail of many skill substitutions. Anything remotely close to a "skill challenge" in 4e can be trivialized by someone who thinks to optimize for skills, most especially Arcana.

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>>49432183

Disclaimer: I do not operate at "the highest level of optimization." If 4e optimization is on a scale of 1 to 10, I would normally operate and give advice on a 6 or a 7 on the scale. I do not recommend "frostcheese," "radiant mafia," critical hit recursions, or teleportation abuse unless the player is absolutely seeking a top-end character.

I do, however, consider characters such as heroic-tier non-charging avengers, rogues other than Brutal Scoundrel rogues, shamans other than Elemental Spirit shamans, and the like to have inherent issues in their class design that makes them not *quite* capable of delivering as promised.

All of these are still leaps and bounds ahead of, say, vampires and seekers, but a player should not expect a Virtue of Prescience bard to be as useful as a Virtue of Cunning bard, or an Intelligence/Wisdom psion to have the same impact on battle as a Mind Thrust/Dishearten psion.

>>49431861
Sorry, had to work.

Rename your index to index.php and put this under the link leading to the compendium:

<form id="SearchForm" method="get" action="index.php">
<input name="search" />
<input type="submit" value="search"/>
</form>
<pre>
<?php
if(isset($_GET)){
$folders = scandir('compendium');
unset($folders[0]);
unset($folders[1]);

foreach($folders as $folder) {
$dir = 'compendium/'.$folder;
$files = scandir($dir);
unset($files[0]);
unset($files[1]);
foreach($files as $file) {
$path = $dir."/".$file;
if(strpos(file_get_contents($path),$_GET['search']) !== false) {
echo"<a href='$path'>$file</a>\n";
}
}
}
}
?>
</pre>


Very rudimentary. Maybe I'll make a better one when I get home.

>>49421767
I play a game with my group of long time friends every 2 weeks for about 5 months now. We are having a session this weekend.

>>49432572
D-do you have a slot? I'd kill for a 4e game.

>>49421632
It's generic fantasy land with a variety of different kingdoms neighbouring a big central and commercial one.
Our characters are a Goliath Barbarian, a Drow Ranger, a Human Swordmage/Figther (that would be me), a Human Mage and a Dragonborn Cleric.
The plot is basically our characters taking jobs that come to our doorstep, sometimes helping the kingdom, trying to help people in need, deliver justice to bad people and generally travelling around.
It's nothing too grand or flashy, but I like the down-to-earth way that our adventures go.

>>49432615
We always like to welcome new players, but it really depends... I live in Brazil and we always meet in person.
Do you happen to live in HU3-land? Or maybe you'd like to give online play a shot?

>>49432666
>I live in Brazil and we always meet in person.
Well, fuck.
I live in Serbia.

>Or maybe you'd like to give online play a shot?
All my games are online - IRL games virtually don't exist here in removekebabland.

>>49432672
Well, all of my friends understand english and only one of them speak it poorly. I suppose I could try talking to them if you are really interested. I'll be brutally honest tho, we tried playing the game online and we couldn't really make it work. We used Skype and no one could focus properly. If you have any idea how we could go about this, I'm all ears.
Is there any contact info you could give in case this thread goes to hell?
>>49432651 This is me btw.

>>49432714
>Is there any contact info you could give in case this thread goes to hell?
Skype:bzflater

>>49432714
>We used Skype and no one could focus properly. If you have any idea how we could go about this, I'm all ears.
Did you try combining skype with shit like roll20? Roll20 is awesome.

>>49432522
thanks man, already seems better than google, definitely more results

think you could get it to work with keywords or things like that? so if i search feat:thing it checks only the feats folder?

i hope im not being a shit by having you do this for free

>>49432722
Alright. I added you on Skype. I have to leave now. Any questions or anything really, just send a message over Skype.

>>49432778
No worries, it's quite simple. I'm going to have a break coming up, I'll do something about it then.

>>49432801
Check if this works for you:

<form id="SearchForm" method="get" action="index.php">
<input name="search" />
<input type="submit" value="search"/>
<br />
Folders:
<?php

$folders = scandir('compendium');
unset($folders[0]);
unset($folders[1]);
foreach($folders as $id => $folder) {
echo"<input id='check$id' type='checkbox' name='folders[]' value='$folder' checked='checked'><label for='check$id'>$folder</label>\n";
}
?>
</form>
<?php

if(isset($_GET)){
$getFolders=$_GET['folders'];
$folders = array_intersect($folders, $getFolders);
foreach($folders as $folder) {
$dir = 'compendium/'.$folder;
$files = scandir($dir);
unset($files[0]);
unset($files[1]);
foreach($files as $file) {
$path = $dir."/".$file;
$content = file_get_contents($path);
if(strpos($content,$_GET['search']) !== false) {
echo"<a href='$path'>$file</a><br/>\n";
echo"<div>$content</div><br/>\n";
}
}
}
}
?>

Remove the >echo"<div>$content</div><br/>\n";
line if you'd rather just the links come up (or could make a checkbox for that as well).

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>>49432964
thats pretty fucken cool man

the only problem is when theres a really long entry next to small ones, because then theres 1/3 or 2/3 of empty space while the long one goes on

also, for some reason the links to the sites are all on the right side after the first 3 instead of on top of their thing or only on the side as an index and the search terms dont persist

>>49420882
4e players will be the first ones to tell you there are issues. Unlike previous editions though, it works much better RAW and a lot of the issues that do exists are solved by handing out a few +1's or +2's, instead of having to rebuild entire systems from the ground up like you would in other editions.

>>49420887
This is what I always wondered, if it would just be easier to, behind the scenes basically, reduce attacks and defenses by 1/tier.

I haven't played since I thought of it, so never seriously did the math.

>>49433094
>4e players will be the first ones to tell you there are issues.

No, that's /pfg/.

>>49433066
Can't fix it right now, just remove
>echo"<div>$content</div><br/>\n";

Alternatively, you could try tinkering with it. I think the problem is that there's an open tag left in the HTMLs somewhere, so maybe putting an extra </div> like
>echo"<div>$content</div></div><br/>\n";
could fix it

>>49433156
Actually, one more upgrade before I return to work for good

<form id="SearchForm" method="get" action="index.php">
<input name="search" value="<?php echo empty($_GET['search'])? '' : $_GET['search'] ;?>" />
<input type="submit" value="search"/>
<br />
Folders:
<?php

$folders = scandir('compendium');
unset($folders[0]);
unset($folders[1]);
foreach($folders as $id => $folder) {
if(!empty($_GET)){
$checked = in_array($folder, $_GET['folders'])? 'checked' : '';
} else {
$checked = 'checked';
}
echo"<input id='check$id' type='checkbox' name='folders[]' value='$folder' $checked /><label for='check$id'>$folder</label>\n";
}
?>
</form>
<?php

if(isset($_GET)){
print_r($_GET['folders']);
$getFolders=$_GET['folders'];
$folders = array_intersect($folders, $getFolders);
foreach($folders as $folder) {
$dir = 'compendium/'.$folder;
$files = scandir($dir);
unset($files[0]);
unset($files[1]);
foreach($files as $file) {
$path = $dir."/".$file;
$content = file_get_contents($path);
if(strpos($content,$_GET['search']) !== false) {
echo"<a href='$path'>$file</a><br/>\n";
echo"<div>$content</div><br/>\n"; //delete this if it causes problems
}
}
}
}
?>

Should remember the search now

>>49433187
now it displays the array of checked things before the content, how to get rid of that?

Array ( [0] => associate [1] => class ) [actual results go here]

gonna try fixing the content display

>>49433289
Whoops, delete the
> print_r($_GET['folders']);
line

So... I'm not the only one who has ripped off Fell's Five, right?

did some tweaking of the search results, pls gib opinions

>>49433305
one last thing, is it possible to have it be a soft AND search?

as in, "[term a] [term b]" currently only displays results with "[term a term b]"
would it be possible to make it display "[term a] [unrelated text] [term b]" as well?

>>49420881
Just wondering; what core concept is it missing out on?
Is this about its non-combat section?

>>49433835
>>49433948
Put the results iframe a bit lower (top in line with, the results box maybe) it covers some of the search stuff.

AND search should be possible to do with regexp. I'll look into it next break.

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>>49434076
can you post a screenshot for me? only have my setup available and it seems fine here.

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>>49434099
I'm on a laptop with a pretty small resolution.

>>49421632
Setting is basically Ravnica from MtG without Planeswalker, with a Pantheon of Gods with the greater ones associated with each guild. Started Level 1 I think 3 years ago, sessions are supposedly weekly or worst monthly and we got to level 11 one month ago. For now it's been a godly but slooow campaign.

>>49433948
here
<?php
if(isset($_GET)){
$getFolders=$_GET['folders'];
$terms = explode(' ',$_GET['search']);
$folders = array_intersect($folders, $getFolders);
foreach($folders as $folder) {
$dir = 'compendium/'.$folder;
$files = scandir($dir);
unset($files[0]);
unset($files[1]);
foreach($files as $file) {
$path = $dir."/".$file;
$content = file_get_contents($path);
$found = true;
foreach($terms as $term){
if(strpos($content, $term) === false) {
$found = false;
}
}
if($found) {
echo"<a href='$path' target='result'>$file</a><br/>\n";
}
}
}
}
?>

>>49434151
damn son, thats a pretty huge difference to mine, the checkboxes and text are huge as fuck, not sure how to make it look good for all resolutions

changed it to 10% of vertical space, how's that for you?

also, for some reason the topbar is transparent even though nothing in the css makes it that way, fuck everything

>>49434392
you're the man

>>49434412
I'll help you out when I get home. CSS can be quite esoteric on occasion.

>>49434443
actually, turns out i was just retarded, i wrote t-index instead of z-index

does the search bar look ok now?

>>49434492
Trust me mate, you don't want to see it. Catch you later.

>>49434532
feel free to contact me via discord:kenwiel#2520 or skype:kenwiel so we dont shit up the thread

>>49421543
Halyads are

>>49434392
>>49434412
>>49434443
>>49434532
If I could make a suggestion? Adding in a couple of javascript text boxes or buttons with "Select All" and "Clear [or remove] All" would be handy, 'cause I'm sure most people would rather use them than click 18 checkboxes.

Also maybe in the
>echo "<a href='$path' target='result'>$file</a><br/>\n";
line, replace the sole mention of $file with something like
>str_replace("-", " ", substr($file, length($file)-5, length($file)))
instead? That way you get the actual item name so you can ctrl+f for your search term on the results page.

Reason: I searched for the Not It power but trying to find it in the result list wasn't working--because I wasn't searching for "not-it."

Might be getting into "too much effort" territory here though.

>>49434691
Fuck

>substr($file, 0, length($file)-5)

>>49434691
if you can make it replace '---' with ' - ' and all other '-' with ' ', then ill add that fix, because some results (http://funin.space/compendium/backgrounds/Nibenay---Gifted-Dancer.html) do have that special case

>>49434728
Hm. I'll work on that. I suck at regex, though.

Also the search is case-sensitive. "nibenay" returned no results but "Nibenay" had plenty.

>>49434759
should work with a regex maybe? dunno how it is in php, but first doing
"---" -> " - " and then
"[a-z]-[a-z]" -> "[a-z] [a-z]"
may do the trick

also, discord for people helping me fix shit

https://discord.gg/sS9vd

What 4e races make the best waifs/husbandos?

>>49420698
Roll20 is a good start.

>>49434999
The only 4e-exclusive example is Vryloka (+ charisma, tendency towards a desire to fit in with human society, effectively all the positives of a vampire waifu/husbando with none of the downsides)

>>49435343
What about hengeyokai? Which web fey would you fuck?

>>49419885

>How often do you get to play 4e games in this grim dark age of Pathfinder and 5e?

Never. If I wanted to play an game trying its hardest to be an MMO, I'd play WoW.

The only thing 4e did right was make combat interesting. 5e took a step back there.

>>49436917

>Never. If I wanted to play an game trying its hardest to be an MMO, I'd play WoW.

Why do people keep repeating this nonsense statement? It's either an expression of ignorance or a straight up lie.

>>49436976

4e was dumbed down in almost every way to appeal to the MMO crowd.

It keeps getting repeated because it is true.

>>49421632
I am DMing an Eberron game, because Eberron is the shit. It's the campaign setting as-is, I haven't made many major adjustments. All races and classes are allowed; I'm doing a bit of adjustment to allow the fire mephit player mentioned upthread to play a not-shit character (couple bent rules for his monk).

In spite of that I've almost TPKed the party more than a couple times. Hooray for keeping it challenging?

I'm also playing in a Fallout-inspired post-apocalyptic game. Again, everything is allowed race- and class-wise. I'm playing a human battlemind with the elan bloodline feat; between powers and gear she has 5-6 ways to gain varying amounts of Resist All damage so she is hilariously hard for the DM to harm.

The campaign is about rebuilding civilization, basically; we are one of three-four known settlements, survivors of the big magical world war that scoured ninety-something percent of the rest of the world clean of living things. We get to remake the world and basically start establishing our own culture and traditions and stuff. It's pretty neat so far. It's also an ERP so "growing the population" becomes a bit literal

Might also be transitioning a game from PF to 4e, and that one's based in a sort of vaguely Dark Souls-inspired not!European gothic horror fantasy thing. Humans are the default race while other base ones are allowed, if distrusted. Everyone's playing a human. Dunno what we're doing for class makeup as we haven't pulled the trigger on switching systems yet.

>>49436976
To get (You)s out of it.

>>49437140
A not shit character? Why would a DW Pixie Monk be shit and need rules bending?

>>49436976
>>49436917
>>49437031

I'm serious here but why do people say it tries to be an MMO? I've heard it as a passing statement whenever 4e is mentioned. I'm gonna assume the game uses the MMO holy trinity of tank/healer/dps and has aggro tables and gear treadmills to clear content?

>>49428299
I used it to take my great dane familiar adventuring with me. Then I took every ranger ability that lets you flee from foes as a reaction.

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>>49437298
That, along with standardized powers making it look vaguely like an tooltip for a class ability.

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>>49437279

Desert Wind monks struggle against anything with fire resistance (e.g. all devils) or variable resistance (e.g. all demons) even with a Gift of Flame, but other than that, I cannot see why such a character would need mechanical assistance given the Blistering Flourish + Desert Wind Flurry of Blows synergy.

>>49437298
>>49437330

Idiots can't deal with a lack of obfuscation. They assume removing the layer of bullshit between the player and the rules means the system is 'dumbed down'. It's stupid as all hell.

>>49437279
Couple things:

IIRC Desert Wind has less support than other monk styles, being as it was from Dragon magazine. Also the fire issue that 2hu brought up.

Basically the "help" is me relaxing the restriction on the Burn Everything feat from wizard-only to anyone. (Seriously the best feat name in 4e.)

I think there was one other thing but it was also comparatively minor. It's not like there's a whole rickety scaffold of houserules to hold up the character; just a couple things really.

>>49433126
>Pf players
>Admitting faults in pf

Kek

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>>49438081
Go ask kitsune capital /pfg/.

So I'm thinking of running a 4e game with only humans. The party will only face down animals and non-humanoid monsters for a few levels before wandering into a mystic vale and shifting over into the feywild whereupon they then must find a way to get home, but as they struggle to try and do so they learn that the BBEG is trying to collapse the spheres of reality to remake them in his image. This sparks them into wanting to take him down to not only save their home but also to actually find their way home too.

Thoughts?

>>49438392
Are you gonna try to squish it all into heroic tier? Nothing wrong with that, but you have to keep pacing in mind since the system is spread out over 30 levels.

Personally, it's kinda cliche, but I tend to view the tiers as "Save the nation/save the plane or world/save the multiverse." Obviously this doesn't have to hold true for everyone, but it feels like a solid division of capabilities.

Beyond that, it sounds like a fun plot time, one I'd play in. Are you going to allow the players to retrain their race at some point, or do you intend them to remain human through the whole thing?

>>49438560
It'll run through at least Paragon. BBEG is a cruel and dark fey (thinking of using the Prince of Frost stuff from the Dragon and Dungeon articles, maybe a little modified).

Later on the players may get cursed and have their "true soul" revealed wherein they can retrain their race (sounds like a dickish fey thing to do, right?).

Later on in 4e's lifespan WotC started to experiment more, but they never really had a chance to really explore the design space of the system, so here's a question- Do you have any ideas for interesting or unusual ways classes could interact with the AEDU structure? Variants like Psions or secondary mechanics like a Runepriests Rune States, anything goes. I'm curious what sorts of things occurred to people.

>>49438690
It does indeed at that. I like the sound of it, anon. Got an open spot~?

>>49438856
Maybe. I'll be looking at how well I can set something like this up on Roll20 shortly, I'm in a game on another site right now but I'll keep the 4e general up-to-date on it in the near future.

>>49438894
For what it's worth, I use roll20 for the game I DM and it works splendidly, even with a free account (read: no dynamic lighting). It's effort to put maps together and litter it with tokens, but the end result is worth it.

>>49438955
Sounds good.

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>>49438847

I am loathe to "shill" so flagrantly like this, but the core and expansion classes of Strike!, a 4e quasi-retroclone, achieve remarkably interesting permutations of the at-will/encounter/daily subsystem. I am particularly fond of the bombardier and the evoker.

>>49438894
>>49438955

I would gladly join your game, but unfortunately, Roll20 simply will not cooperate with my ISP no matter what I do.

Besides, even with fey themes, a human-only party is a difficult sell for me both thematically (I prefer to play elves, eladrin, hengeyokai, and the like) and mechanically (I truly prefer +2/+2 ability score races for optimization's sake, especially for lightly-armored classes that use Dexterity or Intelligence as a secondary score).

>>49439480
That evoker is bloody amazing and honestly everything in that expansion playtest does a lot of really cool unique things, it's pretty impressive.
Getting rid of dailies is also an amazing idea, thanks Strike.

>>49439480
>>49439511
Stop shilling Strike!

Why does /tg/ keep shilling Strike!?

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>>49439569
*inhales deeply*
is gud shit bruh

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>>49439702
This

>>49437359
>>49437732

Yeah, it was allowing the Burn Everything! Feat (Tied to a Dex basis rather than an Int Basis) for a Desert Wind Monk.

>>49437298
>aggro tables
U wot? Are you referring to marking here? Because it's nowhere close to aggro

>>49440656
He seems to not actually know what dnd 4e is and is asking if it's like those things.

>>49437298
Because it uses powers that are highly tactical. There are no aggro tables though defenders are able to mark their targets and make them pay for not targeting them. Gear is highly essential but there are rules to replace magic items with just increased skill in armor and weapons and such. It plays more like FF Tactics when combat begins and the skill challenges when coupled with RP moves the story along quite nicely.

Do you all use a WotC setting or do you homebrew your own?

>>49442633
I don't really use official settings, not outright.

In my group (which plays more than DnD) the setting is more or less made up for the game, and players can just make locations or groups up as desired.
Sometimes people (or the GM) will use DnD stuff or stuff associated with the game (if it's a different game with its own setting) in the creation if they want.
So it becomes a vague mix of GM/player desires and creations building off of each other.

>>49442988
Sounds about like my setting. We steal freely from pretty much everywhere. The setting is a massive hodgepodge but it works.

>>49442633
I'm from >>49437140 so you can see that my group uses a mix of published and homebrewed.

Is it a pain to still find the physical books?
I do want some table resources.

>>49443939
Not really. Amazon and Ebay still have them and even many bookstores (my local B&N still has a shelf of the books mixed in with 3.5 and 5e books which triggers my autism all the time and I reorganize them into their proper editions EVERY TIME! seriously, who the fuck goes back in and just mixes them all up again?)

>>49444164
No flgs has any of the books, and hasn't for years now.

>>49444270
Some do, but yes, most do not.

My biggest issue with 4e is creating engaging foes for the party to fight mechanically.
The numbers are easy enough, but what goes into making unique abilities for them that challenge the group such that they just don't get ganged on to death?

>>49444543
What is your issue, we might be able to help some.

>>49444543
The MM3 as well as the campaign books (e.g., Forgotten Realms, Eberron) I think do a good job with "These guys do sorta-weird things."

>>49444586
Well, just looking for general tips for solos/bosses who can take on pc groups.
Like say, how would I make a keyed up orc chieftain bruiser without just giving him big numbers? I want to keep the battle engaging and moving inventively.
>>49444608
Word.

>>49444627
Good for solos:
- out-of turn actions or acting on several initiative orders
- extra saves
- minion summoning / splitting off
- dependence on terrain features (gets +5 when attacking from above / insubstantial while magical beacon over there works / can teleport at-will between those five spots / etc)

Just look at what other NPCs do, especially released later in the edition's life, and appropriate mercilessly

>>49444833
>gets +5 when attacking from above
That refers to damage, BTW and isn't a precise number.
Also, if you boost attack, the bonus should be like +3 at most

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>>49444627
>>49444833
>>49444865

In all seriousness, I would drop solo monsters from the system altogether. Tactical combat thrives on a strong impetus for everyone to keep moving and position themselves carefully. That impetus is greatly lessened by the introduction of a solo monster.

I would keep to minion, standard, and elite monsters. In the event that I absolutely required a "solo" monster, I would represent the beast as multiple separate monsters with autonomous, free-roving body parts.

>>49444966
While I agree generally, I'd say Solos are okay, as long as they aren't actually alone. Or can move freely and advantageously abuse the terrain, I suppose.

>>49444966
Mechanically I agree with you, but there is great value in having "boss fights" against foes that aren't gigantic

There are multiple other ways around it, Like making a solo monster two elite monsters with their health pools stacked, so when you take off half its health it "changes phase" and starts using different powers and battle strategies. Or by giving the solo monster multiple turns per round. Or by following the MMO method and having it summon standard monsters for you to fight along side it.

Or all of the above, they all work together

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>>49444998

>Solos are okay, as long as they aren't actually alone
Which goes back to, "Why not just use an elite?"

>Or can move freely and advantageously abuse the terrain, I suppose.
An elite who can do this with many an ally by their side will be even more interesting.

>>49445114

>Like making a solo monster two elite monsters with their health pools stacked, so when you take off half its health it "changes phase" and starts using different powers and battle strategies.
This is a terrible idea because all you have done is create a monster with the offensive strength of a single elite, yet double the hit points. This leads to a "padded sumo" effect.

>Or by giving the solo monster multiple turns per round.
Neither solves the fundamental issue of a lack of impetus for the solo *and* the party to keep moving and using terrain.

>Or by following the MMO method and having it summon standard monsters for you to fight along side it.
An elite who does this will probably be more interesting, and wreak less havoc on the encounter-building guidelines and estimates.

Everything anyone can do to make solo monsters more interesting can be applied to elites as well, and those elites can be used as components of especially interesting battles.

>>49445281
Again, you are solving it mechanically while ignoring their purpose

Being boss fights

Elites die too quickly to make decent boss fights on their own, you need to find some way to make them last longer while also keeping them interesting for the whole fight. That's what solo monsters are supposed to be. They're just failures at that because while they last longer, they're never interesting enough to make the increased time worth it

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>>49446105
I say each solo needs to be unique with a minimum of 2 things or maximum of 5 things it can do out of its initiative phase (once per turn but never all at once) to keep them moving. Then you pair them with a few minions, maybe 2 other regular monsters so the party can't just dogpile them and bam! A fight to remember!

One way to do solos is to just staple 3 or 4 monsters together. The solo gets a turn for each component monster and they each have a few unique powers. When it takes enough damage to kill one of the component monsters, that part dies and it loses 1 of its turns and whatever powers were associated with that monster.

That said, it still doesn't fix any of the other issues with solos.

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>mfw i find a 4e game

It's perfectly fine to occasionally have a fight that's more or less just stand and bang, but you need it to be dangerous enough to be really tense. It's a very dramatic kind of thing when used appropriately. When there's no more tricks to play and there's no longer anything to do but to go all in and hope the enemy goes down before you do.

Just do it very, very rarely.

>>49446890
How is that different from just using 4 monsters? Or do they occupy the same space? Then how does the movement work?

>>49446155
>>49446890
Amusingly enough, even then, I've had players simply plow thru with good synergy and a few good crits.
This still doesn't give me advice on creating unique abilities for enemies that are not simply cribbed are refluffed from the book.
>eh, didn't expect too much anyway, so thanks, I wager

>>49450084
Well, how unique is "unique"?

>>49450084
Well, what abilities are you thinking of?

I mean, 4e has a fuckload of monsters, so whatever you come up with won't necessarily be as unique as you think it is. Nor does it have to be. Uniqueness is overrated.

Anyway, making an ability is sorta easy in the sense that you have the recommended effects laid out by tiers (i.e. stay away from dominate in heroic) and from there on it's only just a matter of reverse engineering the impact the ability has on the fight and balance it from there.

For example, if there are no minions in a fight, but the elite keeps summoning 2 at a turn (free action or perhaps some sort of effect), if you expect a 4 round fight, you should add the difficulty of 4 rounds worth of minions to the fight (halved, since the later ones will get less opportunities to act).

Auras can be broken down into their effects being equivalent to the effect/damage a monster is supposed to be "worth" turn. Movement abilities can be considered a method to gain/remove CA.

Situational abilities you can try to base on the improvised damage table.

You can reverse engineer just about anything you have in mind, so the only limits is creativity and finding a way to math it out.

>>49444627
>how would I make a keyed up orc chieftain bruiser without just giving him big numbers?

Solo monster design is essentially the same as encounter design, so it's pretty dependent on where and how you've encountered him
Let's see, no precise numbers, as I don't know required level:
1) Orcs tend to have a trait that boosts them once they hit 0 HP. Extra action in Monster Vault, should work well
1.5) Just one extra attack is not a lot. He either should get another or deal more damage than normal and more reliably.
2) He's a warchief, so you could have a Reinforcements power. Either one use or rechargable, summons (as in, they run in from off-map) a standard orc or a bunch of minions. Preferrably the latter.
3) Boosting minions is a good idea. Give him a minor War Cry that helps him and his allies. +2 to hit until the start of next turn or a free shift (or both) is pretty good.
4) Maybe make his max HP less than normal and give him regen, possibly once he get Bloodied. It encourages killing him as soon as possible before he's had time to heal

All of the above really depends on the chieftain's actual personality and it's generic as it gets
Would love to see other anons' takes

>>49450431
>Solo monster design is essentially the same as encounter design, so it's pretty dependent on where and how you've encountered him
Forgot to add to this:
Give him some sort of push attack and put hazards on the map. Be it a bonfire, spiky throne, a shield wall of orcs or whatever.

>>49450431
>>49450447
Basic scenario I had in mind is pcs crashing thru a orc warcamp (basically a traveling village) and they see a huge tent flying the chieftain's banner.
Chieftain is either in the tent (occupied if the pcs snuck in) or sitting in a chair outside it, a la Takeda, if he knows some wannabe heroes are making a ruckus.
There would be a spiked stockade around his tent, several roaring fires, and he would be surrounded by 2 of his chief lieutenants, his thunderspeaker (shaman) and his godspeaker (some divine fucker).
Lieutenants would actually engage first, then when they fall or nearly do so, the chieftain would step in.

>>49450610
Party level?

>>49450699
If this happens, it will be somewhere near 8-10.
Past that, they will be in the Feywild, and I really need to brush up on my knowledge of the place.

>>49450610
Not the anon you are replying to.

Okay, with 5 of them it'd be better to just stat him as a normal "leader" type monster, and have a 5v5 (assuming there are 5 PCs). Unless you make the 2 liutenants elites too, they will be absolutely murdered (although a fight with 2 elites and then immediately followed by 3 elites could be really harsh, but interesting)

Here's what I was thinking before your comment:

Build him as a "two elites fused together" solo.

He starts combat as a leader, calling 4 guards, two with shields, spears and javelins, and two wth axes (he himself also has a huge axe). The shield guards are minions, with a "ram charge" power that knocks enemies prone. The axe guys get bonus when they attack prone targets.

The shield guys prepare their charge to knock prone enemies who'd attack their allies, but don't act on their turn. The Axe guys try to attack knocked down enemies.

Until bloodied, the chieftain uses at-will powers to shift and grant extra attack sto allies. When bloodied, he calls 4 guards again, but also starts raging. He stops giving actions and gains an extra attack (he has the same "more damage vs downed opponent" benefit his guards have), the shield guards go on the offensive to knock enemies down and the axe guards now try to give flanking to him. Also gains a "rage aura", when a minion dies while in it, he gets to attack once more.

If you need a justification for why the guards are only minions they are his sons, who are too young and inexperienced to be doing this shit.

>>49450876
Well, I didn't plan on rushing them while the lieutenants were still alive, more like "hmm, these bastards may be worth a shit, gotta do everything myself" set up.
The speakers of the heavens are not actually planned to get involved unless the players corner them or are aggressive towards them. They have stats purely because pcs will be pcs.
But I like the cut of your jib. I'm new to running games in the system, and what I really want is to learn the tempo of the game when it comes to engaging battles v. "I use this power, he uses his" situations I've seen from other DMs.

>>49450974
Well, with two "noncombatant" casters... eh, it's not something that really works, the moment they cast a single spell the players will be on them.

But they could be used as an excuse to cast giant growth and haste (I think those are existing powers, but I mean "broken" versions of them) on the warchief, so you could justify him doing all kinds of crazy shit, then fuck off.

>>49419885
dice+1d100

>>49452407
They aren't going to do anything but take cover behind anything big enough to cower behind.
They are advisors to the chieftain, not warriors, and possible plot devices. But if the pcs attack them, I want to be prepared.

How do you handle plane hopping?
I know the cosmology has changed a lot since 2e, so is there any things of importance that came up in Dragon Mag?
>don't have any of those

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>>49454072

4e's writers did their absolute best to slowly reintroduce concepts from AD&D 2e Planescape into 4e's World Axis cosmology. This is how Dragon Magazine #417 wound up making the baernaloths, the yugoloths, the Heart of Darkness, Maeldur et Kavurik, Tenebrous, Pelion, and the Last Word all canon in 4e.

The Feywild and the Shadowfell are the two planes that are easiest to access via "fey crossings" and "shadow crossings" respectively, detailed in the Manual of the Planes. These can be activated only under certain conditions, but the Fey Passage (level 6) and Shadow Passage (level 8) rituals can brute-force them open. The flavor segments of Heroes of the Feywild and Heroes of Shadow offer more methods of reaching those two mirror planes.

The Astral Plane and the Elemental Chaos are trickier to reach. Rituals such as Elemental Transference (level 12), Astral Soujourn (level 15), and Planar Portal (level 18) can take you to them, but otherwise, you will have to rely on the abstruse methods described in The Plane Above and The Plane Below to reach either plane.

Towns and cities containing planar portals change all of this and make the planes far more accessible. Gate-towns, described in pages 208-209 of the Dungeon Master's Guide 2, unerringly connect point A in plane X to point B in plane Y. They are very useful to planewalkers.

And then we have Sigil, City of Doors, described in pages 25-29 of the Manual of the Planes, pages 186-203 of the Dungeon Master's 2, and various issues of Dragon and Dungeon Magazine. It is connected to innumerable points in other planes, so it is, as it was in AD&D 2e, the ultimate hub for any planewalker.

>>49454072
Plane Hopping? Depends really. Shadowfell and Feywild are "overlapping" planes that you can just fucking wander into at times, though some rituals force a crossing as well. Going into the Elemental Chaos is usually a ritual but can, in some really rare instances, be like the Feywild and Shadowfell and be crossed into but these areas are dangerous. The Astral Sea I think always requires some sort of ritualized crossing (not 100% sure on this though) but one can enter any of the demiplane areas there by simply passing into them. However, to get from the prime to one of these deific demiplanes it requires a high level ritual or that gods literal assistance.

Why do Vampires suck (no pun intended) so much?

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>>49455110

1. Unless they take the Durable feat, a vampire will only ever have two healing surges to spend each encounter. This is a downgrade from conventional characters, who can spend three or four healing surges in an encounter and then participate in a Comrades' Succor level 1 ritual later.

2. Vampires have too few meaningful class features compared to other strikers.

3. Trying to "hunt off-screen" with Blood Drinker runs into the "legitimate targets" rule in page 108 of the Rules Compendium.

4. The three at-will powers are actually quite good, though Taste of Life could use better scaling at the paragon and epic tiers. The level 1, 5, 9, 15, and 25 daily attack powers are solid as well and nothing worth complaining about. On the other hand, Blood Drinker and the level 3, 7, 13, 17, 19, 23, and 29 class features are all terrible under the context of a striker who is supposed to be killing opponents.

The vampire could have used a base of three healing surges, the ability to "hunt off-screen" and top off their healing surges between encounters, an extra class feature (perhaps mobility-related), better scaling for Taste of Life, a stronger Blood Drinker class feature, and improved benefits at levels 3, 7, 13, 17, 19, 23, and 29. That would have made it a far better "out of the box, no customization or choices necessary" striker.

I miss 4e. If any real Eberron stuff comes out for 5e (lol) it'll soften the blow, but I'll still wish I was playing 4e.

Hail and Sacrifice brethren. For too long, I've been the lone 4e proponent in my patch of darkness. My books collect dust on the shelf, and the people I can wrangle to game only want the hated 3.PF.

Am I doomed to have trawl and slave on roll20 to regain my lost glory? I would love to consistently run 4e and Fourthcore again, but I need souls willing as I to do it. (Lord knows I'm sitting on enough modules to do it)

Someone mentioned PC deaths earlier. I'll see about typing up the ballad of Prof. Rock, HTA when I'm on lunch next hour

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>>49455433
I miss it too. 5e is good and me and my group enjoy it, but I miss the crazy shit I could pull off in the game as any class.

>>49455637
You should have a group like mine, who will play all manner of games, so long as they are fun.

>>49455758

God I wish. They all have their own quirks (some quite endearing, others less so) but getting them to agree on a game (much less a time) is like pulling dragon's teeth.

>>49455309
What do you think of hybrid vampires? Disregarding the fact it's a straight downgrade for whatever other class you choose, any combos capable of dragging vampire up to acceptable?

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>>49456096

The only mechanically reasonable way to go about being a vampire in D&D 4e is asking your DM to, as part of their free feat tax package, allow you to take Vampirism and Thirst for Blood as bonus feats:

http://funin.space/compendium/feat/Vampirism.html

http://funin.space/compendium/feat/Thirst-for-Blood.html

These are sidegrades, after all, so they should be free. Additionally, ask your GM to key the regeneration from Enduring Soul off your highest ability modifier, not just your Charisma modifier.

What houserules do you all use in your 4e games? I'm thinking of letting everyone take Improved Defenses at level one but not having it as a feat (just tied directly into the characters).

>>49455637
Hop on the sup/tg/ IRC server. You'll have people playing 4e in no time.

>>49456581
Free Improved Defenses at level 1, free Expertise feat of their choice at level 1. Pretty standard math fixes. I've not dealt a lot with anything else that could regularly be called a "houserule," given they're one-off scenarios.

>>49455309

What would make Blood Drinker better/usable?

Something that seems kinda odd when I looked over them is that they seem really, really conflicted in what they are. All the ranged powers look like they'd be decent on a controller-based vampire but get no bonus from the actual striker features.

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>>49457160

Blood Drinker, when taken as a pure-classed vampire or as a hybrid vampire, should allow you to use a vampire at-will attack power immediately after you gain the healing surge. I do not think this would be out of line with some of the better striker level 1 encounter attack powers.

The ranged powers work just fine with Hidden Might, save for Domineering Gaze and Irresistible Gaze, which are nevertheless acceptable due to being dominates. They are not one of the class's issues.

>>49457276

Ah, for some reason I thought the ranged powers didn't work with Hidden might.

Could the beastmaster ranger be fixed by changing the beast's statblock to one like the sentinel druid's companion?

>>49458396
*or is more needed

>>49456581
Free improved defenses and free versatile expertise

Also a bunch of random little fixes, like Thaneborn barbarians getting charisma-to-AC, Psions getting three wild talents at level 1, and several classes getting free pre-errata melee training (Battleminds, rogues, monks, bards, swordmages and avengers)

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>>49458438

>Thaneborn barbarians getting charisma-to-AC

I would give all pure-classed barbarians the following class feature:

Spirits of Skin and Pelt: You use your highest ability modifier other than Strength to determine your AC when you are not in heavy armor. You gain a +1 feat bonus to AC while you are in leather or studded leather armor, and a +3 feat bonus to AC while you are in cloth armor.

Rageblood Vigor and Thunderborn Wrath barbarians suffer enough with their low Reflex and Will.

I would also give pure-classed barbarians five trained skills rather than three, and the following class skill list: Athletics, Bluff, Diplomacy, Endurance, Insight, Intimidate, Nature, Perception, Stealth, Thievery.

They are also to receive their choice of three wilderness knacks from the following list: Ambush Expertise, Beast Empathy, Herb Lore, Mountain Guide, Watchful Rest.

Whirling Slayer barbarians should also treat all one-handed weapons as having a +3 proficiency bonus, and those that already had a +3 proficiency bonus instead have their [W] increase by one step.

All of the above should go a long way towards making pure-classed barbarians actually worthwhile compared to their hybrid counterparts.

>>49458818
>>49458903
The fuck?

>>49458928
Double-posts happen.

>>49456581
I'm currently running Epic tier, so all of these might not apply at first.
- A free defensive feat (Improved Defenses, Great Fortitude, Superior Will, etc.) that can be retrained to another one later. Always counts as a feat taken at level 1 though.
- A free expertise feat. If you class already grants you expertise as a bonus feat, you gain Toughness instead.
- All monsters have 50% hp and deal double damage.
- All monsters have 1-2 defensive properties (insubstantial, +3 to all defenses, variable resistance, etc.)
- All elite and solo monsters have an improved way of avoiding effects (saves against all effects at beginning of turn, immunity to movement-impairing effects, ability to spend action points or lose actions in order to remove effects, etc.)
- Many solos have Legendary Actions from 5e (can be used X times per round at the end of a creature's turn). This spreads out the damage even for monsters with single-target powers, so the monster doesn't just kill 1 PC each round.
- Player-facing attack rolls (players roll to dodge attacks instead of me rolling to hit; players add their defense stat to a d20 roll and compare it to a DC equal to the monster's attack bonus +22).
- Most elites and solos have miss damage/effects on natural uneven defense rolls. Some just have miss effects (mostly area attacks though). This basically makes 50% of all misses "grazing hits" instead.
- Escalation die mechanic from 13th Age.
- 1 Action Point per short rest, but can't "save" normal action points for later.
- A player can spend 1 healing surge during a short rest to recover to full hp (or 2 healing surges if the PC is bloodied).

>>49459348
>- Escalation die mechanic from 13th Age.
Care to elaborate?

>>49456581
Only houserule I use is 1 action point per encounter. Milestones don't add much to the game and, at least for my group, were a pain in the ass to keep track of. I also use a slightly different initiative system.
On the other hand, I homebrew a ton of stuff.

>>49459976
At the beginning of the second round of combat, I place a d6 on the table with 1 facing up. At the start of each subsequent round, it goes up by 1. The die only goes to 6. The players add the escalation die's current number to attack rolls. Stronger enemies interact with the escalation die as well (for example as a bonus to critical hit range or adding 5 x escalation die to damage rolls). It means that every player eventually gets to hit with most attacks, and that it makes more sense to save daily powers for later in the encounter. It literally escalates the encounter as time progresses, so it never ends with "whelp, let's spend 2 rounds trying to hit this Soldier that's still around."

>>49460030
Some features trigger off of milestones. You could just hand those out for every consecutive encounter; that way you'd get the 1 action point per encounter and whatever milestone effects PCs might accrue

>>49459348
Oh right and I hand out levels after 5 milestones instead of tracking XP. Same math, but easier to keep track of. Also makes it easier to award roleplaying XP.

>>49460037

Sounds like it makes Defenders increasingly more useless as the battle goes on as the -2 to hit becomes more and more worthless.

It really sucks for Paladins, who have non-attack punishment. Fighters at least get more punishing as it goes on, Paladins get nothing.

>>49460154
Monsters don't get the escalation die bonus to attack rolls, only PCs do, monsters interact with it in other ways

>>49457276
>>49455309

Man, I'd love to see a good version of Vampire...but it sounds like way too much work even for Touhoufag.

What sort of mobility power would be good? Giving them access to Phasing somehow? (To represent moving through shadows/mist form)

>>49460890
I'd rather see vampire converted into a theme, rather than a whole class

>>49460890
Something like...

Bat-swarm form
>you turn into a bat and swarm around an enemy before reforming
encounter
move
Effect: Shift your speed. During this movement, you enter occupied squares, but you must end your turn in an empty square. Make the following attack against an enemy whose square you entered as a free action:
Swarm attack
DEX vs REF
Hit: 1d10+DEX damage.

So you get mobility+ a damage boosting power (something vampires lack).

>>49461142
>>49456266

Hmm...I wonder how hard it would be to do.

I mean, there IS a heap of powers for trading out...

I wonder which things would be important to keep in a theme then. Blood Drinker as your Encounter power? (Tied to any at-will?)

>>49461480
Basically the contents of Vampirism and Thirst for Blood for features, maybe throw on the necrotic resist and such as well. Too busy to look over what would be a sensible distribution of the things right now.

>>49461480
>>49461501
If it's a Dark Sun style theme, you could just give blood drinker for free, port all the other vampire 1-10 powers as power swaps, give them auto scaling and be done with it. Perhaps give access to lesser versions of features like hidden might or enduring soul as feats. The vampire noble pp could be left entirely intact.

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>>49459348

I would recommend *against* using the escalation die in 4e, as it provides a negligible benefit to characters whose specialty is high-accuracy attacks (e.g. avenger, rogue), making them much weaker in comparison to characters who have middlingly accurate yet potent attacks on a hit (e.g. two-weapon ranger).

13th Age's PC attack bonus vs. monster defense math was built with the escalation die in mind.
4e's equivalent math was .not.

Consider a level 8 rogue with Dexterity 22, a +2 dagger, Light Blade Expertise, and Nimble Blade. Their attack bonus with combat advantage (trivial with the options a rogue has available to them, such as the Acrobatic Strike at-will and the Cunning Stalker feat) is: 4 half level + 6 Dex modifier + 3 proficiency + 1 feat + 2 enhancement + 1 Rogue Weapon Training + 3 combat advantage with Nimble Blade = +20. Just how high is such an attack bonus?

Level 4 soldier, level 6 controller/lurker/skirmisher, level 8 brute, some level 6 artilleries, some level 8 artilleries: AC 20 (hits on a natural 2+, so 2 points of attack bonus are wasted)
Level 5 soldier, level 7 controller/lurker/skirmisher, level 9 brute, some level 7 artilleries, some level 9 artilleries: AC 21 (hits on a natural 2+, so 1 point of attack bonus is wasted)
Level 6 soldier, level 8 controller/lurker/skirmisher, level 10 brute, some level 8 artilleries, some level 10 artilleries: AC 22 (hits on a natural 2+)

This might be impressive, but consider that one of the rogue class's somewhat unique gimmicks *is* constant accuracy.

Imagine what would happen if the escalation die was to be introduced here: the rogue would receive *absolutely nothing* from it, thereby making the rogue weaker in comparison to the rest of the party. This would be particularly insulting when there are already enemies that the rogue's points of attack bonus are being wasted against.

Paladins' Divine Challenge is also weakened compared to other defenders' attack-granting mark punishment.

Some useful links to add to the next OP:
Guide compilation: https://web.archive.org/web/20150929123504/http://community.wizards.com/forum/4e-character-optimization/threads/1478896
Offline character builder: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pmxfg1d1a1ouu2v/4e%20CB.zip?dl=0
Offline compendium: http://www.mediafire.com/download/xuf1a608bv05563/Portable+Compendium+New.rar

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>>49459348

>- All monsters have 50% hp and deal double damage.
>- All monsters have 1-2 defensive properties (insubstantial, +3 to all defenses, variable resistance, etc.)
>- All elite and solo monsters have an improved way of avoiding effects (saves against all effects at beginning of turn, immunity to movement-impairing effects, ability to spend action points or lose actions in order to remove effects, etc.)

This collectively adds up to an awful, awful idea.

The paradigm you are creating becomes "do not bother with nondamaging effects; simply go first, use preselected abilities to blow past special defenses, and then unleash an elite/solo-killing nova."

Nova builds are already among the best possible combat styles by the paragon tier. There is absolutely no good reason to make them even *better* while simultaneously discouraging the application of nondamaging effects.

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Thought's on the Berserker variant of the Barbarian?
How well does it pull off the defender + striker thing?
Are there any particular feats/powers that are significantly worse/better for them than they are for the basic Barbarian?

http://blogofholding.com/?p=512

MM3 on a business card.


The thing about the escalation die, was it was proposed before math fixes to monsters came into effect. So it was just a quick and dirty way to speed up slow combats.

>>49462352
Lots of AC, semi-decent striker, bit of a failure as a defender

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>>49462352

First of all, it is important to note that the Player's Handbook 2 barbarian is shoddily-designed, especially in terms of defenses. A barbarian is almost always better off as a hybrid barbarian, unless that barbarian wishes to be a Whirling Slayer.

The barbarian (berserker) is billed as a defender/striker, but really, it has very little potential as a striker. Even compared to a pure-classed Player's Handbook 2 barbarian, a berserker in "striker mode" brings very little to the table other than decent striker powers... which a Player's Handbook 2 barbarian already has.

As a defender, the berserker has mark enforcement comparable to a heroic-tier warden: focused on adjacent enemies, yet hardly spectacular against any one. It is not quite as good as a fighter (knight) with Hammer Hands, but it will do at the heroic tier.

The problems with the berserker as a defender are twofold: it has a completely awful selection of encounter and daily attack powers throughout its entire career, and it has no feat support at the paragon and epic tiers. You will be envious of fighters, paladins, and wardens, all of which have immensely superior encounter and daily attack powers and paragon and epic feats.

There is one, and only one, good build I have ever found for a barbarian (berserker), and it still flounders in the field of encounter and daily attack powers and paragon and epic feats just like every other defender berserker. It is a voidsoul genasi Strength/Intelligence Arid Desert berserker with Unarmored Agility as their first feat and Empty Mind as their second feat. This results in a defender with very high AC (21 at level 1 in cloth armor and no shield!), high Fortitude, high Reflex, and punishment for enemies who dare to attack Will. Pick up a Shielding Weapon for even higher AC. This build has near-impregnable defenses going for it, and that is about it.

Play a Wildblood warden if you wish to be a primal defender, or a barbarian|cleric for a primal striker.

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>>49462514

I have to wonder how you consider the barbarian (berserker) a "semi-decent striker" when it compares poorly to a Strength/Dexterity pure-classed Player's Handbook barbarian, which itself is on shaky ground as a class compared to its hybrid incarnation and to other pure-classed strikers.

>>49421632

Homebrew setting. Most of the known world has been swallowed up by magical blight due to the arcane disaster that ended the reign of the greatest empire (mageocracy built on slave labour). The remaining world is made up of successor states to the old empire in awkward coexistence with more modern states which have rejected slavery and are dominated by a dynamic new monotheistic religion. It's a period of rapid religious change and there's a power race at the moment between various extraplanar entities to align themselves with mortal religions to benefit from the power of mortal belief, since the cabals of the old empire are no longer around to actively court them.

The PCs were hired by an archaeologist with particular interests in a certain cult that spread in the dying days of the old empire. Enough weird freaky shit happened while they were working for him to convince them to stop but now he's disappeared and his daughter is working with them to find him.

Also they're trying to foil the warmongering schemes of a nobleman who is trying to use some of their early adventures as a casus belli against the neighbouring state to further his own commercial interests.

And along the way they have managed to precipitate the birth of what is essentially a sentient embodiment of the magical blight, which might prove to be interesting.

I don't really have rules on what classes/races are allowed because I've always been able to trust my players not to do anything extreme. The party is a human fighter, human cleric and half elf rogue.

>>49456581
I use most of the common ones, like improved defenses for free, versatile expertise for free and sometimes pre-errata melee training for free

I also have a few homebrew buffs and nerfs to some options. Like nerfing Battle cleric's lore because it of it's bullshit ability to jump armor tiers on hybrid characters, giving all non-hybrid classes at least 4 trained skills and a variety of shifts and changes to all class options that have their primary and secondary stats under the same NAD, sometimes shifting that class options stat priorities, (stormheart wardens are str/dex, not str/con, and have had all their power riders changed to fit), sometimes giving them their secondary stat to another NAD (new cleric feature: Bastion of faith: A cleric can use their charisma modifier to determine their fortitude defense, if this is the case, they can not use their charisma to determine their will defense, this is a permanent decision, and can only be changed by retraining upon level up)

Bampo

>>49454323
>This is how Dragon Magazine #417 wound up making the baernaloths, the yugoloths, the Heart of Darkness, Maeldur et Kavurik, Tenebrous, Pelion, and the Last Word all canon in 4e.
I must have missed those articles. They kind of suck though, to be honest.

>>49461916
It was mostly an issue when the players numbered 8-10. Now that they're back to 5 (split the group into two smaller groups), I might go back to a +50% damage/-25% calculation. I should say that the PCs are capable but not very optimized.

The problem with 8-10 players fighting two solos is that the players simply hand out 5 crowd control effects to each monster and then proceed to hit them for the rest of the encounter without them hitting back. This way, at least there's some excitement.

>>49466899
>+50% damage/-25% calculation
Why not just +-0?

Is there any noteworthy 3pp content for 4e?