DnD 4.0

[Snidely Whiplash]

Hey friends, I'm running a DnD 4.0 game over on RPOL, it has a moderate post requirement (3 per week minimum) if you're interested in a well run game and compelling story check it out!
http://rpol.net/game.cgi?gi=59394&date=1395815258

[Zork Nemesis]

It sounds interesting; I never picked up on 4.0 rules though. My old group of friends used to play 3.5 as that was the current generation at the time but we had fun with it. We ended up being a group of uber-wealthy, uber-powerful evil dudes who terrorized a poorly run version of the Forgotten Realms with this awesome airship we stole from a bunch of gnomes. Though to be fair we didn't really have a proper campaign; we were basically just adventurers who got hit with an alignment reversal curse and we ended up exploring and going to where the strange and fantastic were. Usually we ended up with copious amounts of powerful artifacts and/or piles of gold after our adventures.

Can you give us a bit of information on what you're planning with this? I've always had a character concept I've wanted to try in a D&D setting but my group fell apart before I got the chance.

[Snidely Whiplash]

Well, my players have always had huge ambitions, so I created a realm that has a lot of open God slots. Three of my player's characters have ascended to God or DemiGod status, and every campaign I run contributes to the overall lore of the realm. Right now the Gods are engaged in celestial battle for Gira, with Evil gaining the upper hand. The hero's campaign will be basically to cleanse the air of the dark mist, drive back the evil that has taken over the entire world, and restore a civilized Gira, perhaps ascending to godhood in the process. Piece of cake.

The problem is the current state of humanity has nothing to offer as aid. The main civilization is ultra dogmatic and very primitive in its law. If the good Gods survive, they are consumed in endless battle and unable to aide what is left of humanity. The heroes will find that things aren't as they seem to be, something is keeping humanity subdued, and it's not solely the recent departure of the Goddess of Community. I like to let the storyline be inspired by the character's motives, with a basic threat that I want them to confront.

If you haven't tried 4.0 I would recommend it highly! I have run maybe a couple dozen DnD games and while I enjoyed 3.5 thoroughly, I felt 4.0 did some things that meshed well with my style. I have developed a pretty decent combat system for forum play as well, which I have found to be a huge factor. Let me know if you have any questions, I'm slowly posting more material as all of my old games have been deleted from 2-3 years inactivity, my computer with the writings on it is kaput, and I'm recreating a lot from notes.

[Zork Nemesis]

Going by what you say, my character idea doesn't necessarily fit the heroic role. I wouldn't go full evil, thinking a Chaotic Neutral who doesn't really care about the others. One of those "all about me" types who will use his companions to achieve his own personal goals but really doesn't care about what happens to them in the end. With your lore, I think he'd be someone who really doesn't give a damn about the Gods and their conflicts so long as they stay out of his way.

In terms of combat, I've always wanted to play a rogue-ish character who specialized in using a crossbow equipped with various payloads on the bolts. While I could just fire boring old bolts, I've considered jury-rigging my own ammunition to fire more creative projectiles: poison-tipped bolts, poison-filled hollow bolts, bolts tipped with unusual components such as a large blunt tip (for knockouts), a bolas (long-range tripping), or one of those shrieking stones. Hollow, glass bolts filled with acid or Alchemist's Fire which cause other effects upon contact with targets. Bolts filled with Tanglefoot Bag glue. Silver-tipped bolts for your average were-creature. I could go on, I had a huge list of potential ammo payloads. I'd have to check with you on balance though; most of these bolts would have to be penalized some way. Usually range and damage are affected; firing a bolt full of liquid is bound to affect it's flight somehow, nevermind the lack of aerodynamics on a giant blunt bolt.

Obviously getting my hands on some of these would also require access to materials and components, hence the Chaotic Neutral bit. I'd probably run a character who, despite not caring for others, would have plenty of underground connections to procure materials and such for these things. Perhaps I'd engage in illegal contraband trades or other errands in order to supply these channels or maybe conduct other illicit activities for/with these groups. Having a hand in the poison market is always beneficial.

[Snidely Whiplash]

very interesting.. I was trying to find a class similar to what you're talking about and I came across the Seeker, it's out of the PH3 which I am borrowing eternally from a friend. I've never seen one played before so i'm kind of interested. The power source is Primal so the flavor text would have to be adapted but they have powers with effects like: Hit: 1[W] + Wisdom modifier damage, and the target and each enemy adjacent to it take a -2 penalty to attack rolls until the start of your turn; or encounter powers like 1[W] + 1d8 + Wisdom modifier poison damage, and the target is slowed and takes a -2 penalty to all defenses until the end of your turn. I imagine switching the main ability to Dexterity and maybe Charisma as another key ability; I think I have my four players but we were lacking a Controller; in 4.0 there are 4 combat roles, striker, defender, leader, and controller. This class (Seeker) is a controller class so I wouldn't mind adding a 5th.

[Zork Nemesis]

I have no idea what a Seeker is, they weren't in 3.5. I don't have any source material on hand for newer edition rules so I don't have anything to really go on.

[Snidely Whiplash]

hey! I was looking around online and found some .pdf versions of Player's Handbook and Player's Handbook 3. http://cadwe.free.fr/cadr/DD4/Player's%20Handbook.pdf

If you're interested let me know, I've run lots of games with 4.0 newbies so I don't mind helping you out!

[Cpt._Keyes]

i did 3.5 and loved it...i might be interested in picking up 4...i ran a bit in the beta...and it seemed they went for more hack and slash...and less rp

[NerevarineKing]

I've never played DnD.

[Zork Nemesis]

I've never played DnD.

What have you been doing with your life?

[Snidely Whiplash]

I think the amount of role playing involved is up to the GM, I was probably too inexperienced in my 3.5 days to make many comparisons between 3.5 and 4.0 but combat design and flow seem much easier in 4.0

3.5 seemed to offer more flavor text for GMs to draw from, and more setting stuff; which I feel is lacking in 4.0

[Boss Llama]

Unless you're facing a real jerk of a rules-lawyer player, you should be able to readily steal settings and flavor text from one version for another. I know D&D is very rules-bound compared to pretty much every other RPG that came after it, but setting and flavor are all about creativity.

I've never done much in the way of D&D - I've been a Palladium player for 25 years - but I have done a little bit with a heavily customized 3.0 setting, and have the AD&D player handbook around for occasional consultation. FRPGs are the best

[ADevilishPotato]

I've never played DnD.

[crimsonshootingstar]

Most of the hardcore role players moved too pathfinder (D&D 3.75) when 4.0 came out because they kicked the role playing in the junk with that edition.

[metacide]

Most of the hardcore role players moved too pathfinder (D&D 3.75) when 4.0 came out because they kicked the role playing in the junk with that edition.

to*

Pathfinder improved on a lot of the rules that 3.5 had instead of completely reinventing the wheel. Most people went to Pathfinder because it was familiar to them, as opposed to 4.0 which had a large learning curve.

I did a year long campaign with some friends in a 4.0 setting (slightly customized for more robust characters) and the RP factor was still very present. Like Snidely said, the RP possibility is entirely up to the GM.

That being said I'm interested in hearing more of this campaign and possibilities.