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| Thread: D&D 4th ED Play-by-Forum Rules And Recruitment (OOC) |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 · NEXT» |
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KnightofHonour
Famous Hero
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posted October 06, 2009 02:06 AM |
bonus applied by Mytical on 21 Oct 2009. |
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D&D 4th ED Play-by-Forum Rules And Recruitment (OOC)
10/18/09 UPDATES:
-All Characters were sent to me and the adventure started on: http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=31415.
-Removed some pictures to be able to edit this post if necessary.
10/08/09 UPDATES:
-Found a Browser-based dice roller for us, so no need to download a program for it. It is free, just use the link and the dice roller page appears: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/dice/dice.htm.
10/06/09 UPDATES:
- Added "Charge" Combat Action explanation on subsection A.5 that was missing;
- Tried to add Sample Paragon Paths on subsection B.5, it seems I've reached some sort of posting limit on this particular post, because I can't add more 3 pages of text I had in mind. However I can still keep the updates;
- Got D&D Insider and unlimited lvl up for us =D.
Players:
lucky-dwarf
DagothGares
Keksimaton
B - E - T - A
mamgaeater
Foreword from the Dungeon Master (DM)
Welcome! I’ve been thinking for a time about creating a D&D game playable through the forums here with one goal in mind: having fun. It’s fun to be a DM and Roleplaying your favorite fantasy character. No need to say that, after all we are all RPG players in form of PC games and most played the early versions of D&D or are already players of the most recent one, the 4th edition. If you, for some reason, never played D&D or a PC party RPG and want to participate, don’t panic, I’ll tell all the basic rules necessary to play and provide you with all the coordinates so that we can actually play-by-forum. This OOC thread is kinda of a article/introduction to D&D 4th ED to this forums too, as I saw no other adventure with this system.
Playing-by-forum for D&D is actually quite common on the internet, you can find many sites with forums dedicated just to that. It is actually more practical than playing in a gathering at some place, since many people hail from different countries and don’t have the same time available. The forum solves that: every player can post when possible, and seeing as the HC has many active players it won’t be difficult to attract people to this game, very similar in terms of fantasy to our beloved Heroes Series. Most of you already know that, since this board here, the “Bard’s Glade Pyre” is dedicated to online adventures and I saw there were many of them.
However, as I said before, I noticed no D&D adventures, probably because you need to spend money and time to learn the rules and play accordingly. Don’t worry though, for I’ve recently started playing RPGs again and I have bought the Rule Books, Monster Books and some adventures of the 4th edition (and previous ones too), not to mention the bottomless pit of sources the internet provides. Also I have some basic skill with Photoshop and other image editing programs, so I’ll be sure to provide maps, pictures of creatures and places and all that to make the adventure richer.
So if you want to play-by-forum a original and rich adventure for D&D this is the place for your recruitment. I’ll provide all the necessary information below so you know what you need to do and may get interested. I won’t go into much detail on the story yet since it’s all a mystery from the beginning and you, the players are going to unravel, or not (lol I felt like a Wizards of the Coast salesman now xP). What I can tell is that the basic setting is going to be the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. The adventure will be for 5 lvl 1 characters and is entirely created by me. I'm going to start it as soon as we have players in a future RP thread.
I’m not a native english speaker so don’t be alarmed by spelling mistakes. Correct me if you feel like doing so, no problem.
Regards,
KnightofHonour
HOW IS IT GOING TO WORK?
1-) You look at Section A, Basic Rules of this post to get a basic understanding of how the game works. All the essencial is there, including the combat system;
2-) You look at Section B, Character Creation part of this post, start thinking about whatever combination of race, alignment and class you wish and start building your character, imagining a background story for him/her/it;
3-) You post here in the forum telling you are interested to play and may ask any questions, I’ll do my best to answer;
4-) If you are interested manifest your interest quick, since this is going to be a 5 character adventure, so we have 5 heroes/slots available. Once 5 proposals are sent, the slots are filled. I might make more adventures in the future so don’t be sad if you are out. Be sure you are going to post often and is really willing to participate before joining;
5-) Use this OOC/rules post only to discuss your party building or anything you wish as long it is topic-related, the adventure itself is going to take place on another topic, once we have all 5 party-members, and, as per-forum rule, the RP thread cannot contain discussion about rules and other things that are to be done on this thread instead;
6-) Read Section C, donwload Character Builder Tool (demo, needed) and Rock’N’Roll Dicer (freeware, optional, download if you don’t have dice at home) if you need it and send your character to me via any file hosting site. I’ll update this post with the participants.
SECTION A - BASIC RULES
A.1 – “Table” Rules
I’ll start with some basic rules of behaviour amongst the players that are normally called “table rules”. They are necessary to avoid total anarchy on the topic and on the game. They are as follows:
-Respect the rules and codes of conduct of the forum;
-No personal insults, however you can insult characters and NPCs in-game following the codes of conduct of the forum (unless we have permission to say “badwords”? I guess not xP);
-Even though you can romance other characters and NPCs this is not a topic for cybersex;
-Plz post regularly as others want the adventure to continue. If you don’t I’ll have some plot device to justify your disappearence OR someone from the group will play for your character too, meaning he or she will roleplay 2 characters in this period, if the missing player returns he may have his character back, if not, another may take his place;
-If a player disappears completely from the forums and doesn’t post for a long time another may take his place;
-Players may speak to each-other as characters or as they do normally on the forums and on the same post on the future RP thread. To do this simply especify your char name and the name of who he is talking to on the game world, using the color Red for character to character talk. Green is to be used for forum user to forum user talk.Blue is the color used for DM and NPCs speech in relation to both users and characters (so it’s only used by me);
-Keep forum user to forum user talks on topic;
-You can have fun and be humorous on the game but remember: everything you do in-game has consequences.
A.2 – House Rules
“House Rules” are rules that the DM apply to the game that would normally not be on it. Here I’ll put all the specific rules I’ll use that are normally not allowed on D&D 4th ED. If I change something later I'll tell all participants and update this post accordingly. See below:
-Encounters can be unusual and not necessarilly follow the rigid formula of the Monster Manuals;
-I’m using a reputation system similar to that present on Baldur’s Gate 2 PC game for your party;
-Party-members or the entire party may attempt to flee from combat to save their hides;
-Once a player chooses an action and takes it in-game he or she cannot go back, s plan carefully and act;
-I simplified some rules and modified other rules to make the game run smoothier. Nothing big;
-The DM may change anything in anyway to keep either the game more challenging, more rewarding or more entertaining. No changes in basic rules though, unless I interpreted something wrong.
A.3 – Combat
The basic thing you need to know to play a D&D game is how combat works. It is actually simpler than you may imagine. The combats are always “Encounters” and when a combat is going to happen it is the same as saying a encounter is going to happen. The basic mechanic of Encounters or Combat is this: the party finds monsters or monsters find the party, the combat begins and both sides have their own Turns on the same Round. On each Round the players and creatures have 1 Turn each and may take any actions available on that round. When all the creatures and players take their actions another Round starts. The combat ends when all have died, fled or are uncouncious on one of the sides of the combat. Players and monsters act according to their initiative rolls, see below for details.
The combat system is actually quite simple. It works this way:
THE BATTLE AREA: The DM gives you a map of the battle area, similar to what we have in H5 with battle tiles and such. Also the DM determines the position of all involved in the Encounter;
INITIATIVE ROLLS: You Roll a 1d20+1/2 your level (you gain a bonus only for levels divisible by 2)+dexterity modifier+any bonuses or penalties that may apply. The resulting number is your initiative number. All creatures and players act in the order of higher to lower initiative numbers for each round, when all turns ended a new round start and initiative has to be rolled again. The DM rolls the initiative for the monsters. In combat you can take a number of different actions, see section A.5 for Combat Actions in detail;
MOVE AND ENGAGE IF NECESSARY: Use your Speed Points or movement points given to you by the Character Builder Tool to move around the tiles and, if you are a melee character, you must get close to the enemies to hit them. Each Speed Point or movement number is equal to 1 tile in the battle map and you replenish you movement points at your next turn, just like in H5. In your turn you are not restricted to just a regular attack, in fact you will use most of the time your Powers that are free attacks improved in 4th ED. See subsection A.4 for details, you choose your powers in the Character Creation Tool. Also, remember you can take a number of actions in your turn, refer to subsection A.5 for Combat Actions in detail;
ATTACK: A regular attack is done by rolling 1d20+1/2 your current level (you apply the bonus of your closest divisible by 2 lvl so, for instance, you get +1 for lvl 2 and +2 for lvl 4)+any attack modifiers or bonuses. For powers it works the same way, but you use the attack modifier on the top left corner of the Power Card. See next subsection, A.4 to see how powers work. You don't actually have to do much math, just roll 1d20 and look to what modifier you should add on your Character Sheet, given by the Character Builder Tool;
DEFENSE: First look which type of attack the opponent is doing to you, for example: he may want to try to defeat you Armor Class, Will, Fortitude or Reflex defenses. Those are all given to you by the Character Builder Tool (see subsection C.1 to get it) on your Character Sheet. So you don’t actually have to do any math at all, just look there. The formula used for defense there is: 10+1/2 your level (for levels divisible by 2)+defense modifiers;
DEALING DAMAGE: If your attack roll is bigger than the opponent’s defense you hit him, dealing damage according to your power description or regular melee damage that depends on the weapon you are using+strength modifier. See your Character Sheet for strength modifier (given by the Character Builder Toll). The same works for ranged attacks and spells, but for ranged attacks you use dexterity modifier and for spells you see on the power description which modifier you use to add as the attack and damage bonus;
SAMPLE ENCOUNTER 2 VS 2:
So, using the Character Builder tool I quickly created 4 characters to simulate a combat with only regular attacks, using a simple tile battle map. On one side we have “Gargosh”, Barbarian lvl 1 and “Viconia”, lvl 1 Cleric of Ilmanter. On the other side we have “Malagor”, Wizard lvl 1 and “Joe”, Fighter lvl 1. I’ll simulate 1 Round with just simple attacks (no powers).
Here is how they are positioned:
What happens is the following:
1-) Initiative is rolled for each one in no particular order, what is important is the final result of each roll in relation to each other. So I’ll roll the Initiative for them:
Gargosh: 1d20+2 (dexterity modifier) = 5
Viconia: 1d20 = 17
Joe: 1d20+2 (dexterity modifier) = 12
Malagor: 1d20 = 6
With this they will act on this Round on the following order: Viconia (17), Joe (12), Malagor (6) and Gargosh (5). Notice there is a huge luck component here. Gargosh got completely unlucky and will act last.
2-) Viconia, acting first, uses her 5 Speed Points given by the Caracter Builder Tool to move close to Malagor (1 point) and spends a Standard Action (see subsection A.5 for all types of actions you can take) to make a simple attack roll. She rolls her attack:
Viconia attacks Malagor: 1d20+3 (strength modifier to attack roll) = [8]+3 = 12. Malagor has a 14 Armor Class Score so it means Viconia failed to obatin a attack roll higher than Malagor’s AC, missing her attack.
3-) Joe, being the next one to have a turn or to act, chooses to go for the aid of his Wizard ally and uses his Speed Points (6) to move across the tiles and stand adjacent to Viconia. He can now take as a Standard Action a regular attack on her.
Joe attacks Viconia: 1d20+4 (strength modifier) + 2 (bonus from weapon proficiency with his B*stard Sword) = [11]+4+2 = 17.
Now Viconia attempts to defend this attack, but she has 16 as AC defense and gets hit. Joe deals 1d10+4 (strength modifier) damage to Viconia = [5]+4 = 9. Viconia now has 24-9 = 15 HP.
4-) Malagor gets to act now and has no choice but to use his staff in this simple attack fight. He attempts to hit Viconia too on his turn. She is already adjacent to him so he spends no movement or speed points, just a Standard Action to attack.
Malagor Attacks Viconia: 1d20-1 (strength modifier) = [10]-1 = 9. He misses Viconia’s 16 AC in a ratter poor attack.
5-) Now Gargosh, "the fearsome barbarian from the steppes" as he calls himself, gets to act. He is the last acting for having the worst initiative roll. “All shall tremble before my might” he says. He chooses to attack Joe, as he sees him as a worthy opponent for this fight. He has enough movement points (6) to move across the tiles and spends a Standard Action as simple attack against Joe.
Gargosh Attacks Joe: 1d20+3 (strength modifier)+ 2 (bonus from weapon proficiency with Greataxe) = [10]+3+2 = 15. Joe, despite being a strong fellow, is not very agile, and gets hit by Gargosh, since he has only 11 as AC. Now Gargosh rolls his damage on Joe: 1d12+3 (strength) = 13. Now Joe has 28-13 = 15 HP left.
Conclusion: Now the round ends and everybody rolls initiative again. Now you also know the basics of combat for D&D 4th ED. And can start building up your character.
A.4 – Character Powers: The New D&D 4th ED most prominent feature
All classes now have acess to “Powers” that they can use to enhance the regular basic attacks and spells from start. Those powers are based on several of your char’s atributes so you may have a power that uses will as reference and a power that uses strength as reference for rolls. Those powers are chosen at character creation, using your Character Builder Tool (see subsection C.1 for free download). All powers come from a source, be it arcane, divine, martial, from the forces of nature, etc. The cathegories of powers are:
1-) At-Will Powers (green powers): you can use any time you want and for the quantity of times you want (once per turn in combat unless otherwhise described);
2-) Encounter Powers (red powers): can only be used once per encounter and the character needs to take a short rest to be able to use it again;
3-) Daily Powers (black powers): self-explanatory, this cathegory is for powers that can be used only once per day. Characters need a extended rest to be able to use a daily power again.
All you need to know is described whithin the power cards in the end of your Character Sheet, that you create via Character Builder Tool. On those cards you see the cathegory of power, type of damage dealt, if it works on close range or far away, if it has an area of effect that you choose (blast) or is given (burst), if it affects one or more creatures, etc. Below the requirements you see how the power works (how you roll the attack and the enemy rolls the defense). Let’s take the example below from Gargosh, Barbarian lvl 1:
From this we can see they are both At-will powers (green), the source is his might in conjunction with his tribal powers (primal), the instrument is his weapon and it affects only one creature at close range, since two-handed axes are close-combat weapons. Below the requirements, we can see that Gargosh must make an attack roll based on his strength against the enemy Armor Class, so it works very similar to how a regular non-power attack would work. Gargosh just needs to make a regular attack roll (1d20+strength and weapon proficiency combined to form modifier 5) against the enemy AC. If the Power affected several creatures Gargosh would need to roll his attack against each of the affected creatures. If he hits, he will affect the enemy in the way described on lvl 1 “Hit”. The [W] on the picture is where you put the kind of damage your weapon produces. So if it is a weapon that deals 1d12 damage, like in this case, it would be like this: 1[1d12]+1d6+3 (strength modifier) for “Howling Strike Power” damage. The powers progresses with the levels and can have special effects like the ones described on the cards, that are dependant of other powers the barbarian possesses or combat actions (see subsection A.5 for Combat Actions), if they are active or done. At the end we see a summary of the attack and damage given by the corresponding powers. “Howling Strike”, in summary: strength and weapon proficiency combined to form modifier +5 is used to attack rolls for this power, Damage for lvl 1 Hit is dealt rolling 1d12+1d6+3, as per Power Card Description.
Now let’s see a different example. Let’s put “Malagor, The Dark Wizard” against Gargosh in a power vs power usage example. Powers will be the most used form of attack now, basic attack whithout powers are necessary only for Opportunity Attacks (see subsection A.5 for details). First let’s see one of Malagor’s At-will powers:
As a Wizard he has acess to a wide array of powers just like spells. In this case here we see the source is Arcane and he is using a Wand to implement the spell/power. The +4 bonus is actually from his intelligence modifier, wands are used only to implement the powers, just like orbs and other wizard things. This is a basic Wand so it gives no bonuses of it’s own. Later you ma cme across Wands and other implements tat add bonuses to attack rolls of spells, additional to you intelligence and level modifiers.
Magic Missile is a ranged power and affects one creature. In this case he uses his intelligence for the attack roll modifier and the enemy must use his reflex defense to see if it is defensible. His attack roll would be like this: 1d20 + 4 (implemented with simple wand, +4 intelligence modifier). The damage, if he beats enemy reflex defense, would be 2d4 + 4 (intelligence modifier).
So let’s Suppose Gargosh and Malagor are fighting and Malagor uses Magic Missile Power against Gargoth:
Malagor rolls intelligence attack: 1d20+4 = 14
Gargosh looks into his reflex defense on the Character Sheet = 12 (it is calculated in this case with: 10+1/2 his level+2 deterity modifier) but you don't need to do the math, just look there.
Result: Malagor hits Gargosh with “Magic Missile” dealing 2d4 + 4 damage, subtracting from his HP, after making the damage roll, 9 damage. Gargosh now has 20 HP from his starting 29.
Now let’s try Gargosh attacking Malagor with a power. Gargosh aproaches Malagor and uses his “Howling Strike” attacking roll: 1d20+ 5 (+3 strength modifier +2 Greataxe Proficiency modifier) = 17. An average roll for Gargosh. Malagor looks into his AC value on the Character Sheet = 14, as it is a strength vs AC Power. Even though Gorgash made a poor attack roll, Malagor’s AC is lower and he was hit by Gargosh’s “Howling Strike” and suffers damage now equal to 1d12+1d6+3 = 12 as per Power Card description. Malagor now has a meagre 10 HP out of his starting 22.
Results: Gargosh hits Malagor with “Howling Strike” dealing 1d12+1d6+3 = 12 damage, leaving the wizard with only 10 HP out of his starting 22. Time for a “strategic retreat” I guess.
Conclusion: Now you know how to use powers and how simple their mechanic truly is. You can use your “At-will Powers” (green powers) all the time, once per turn, so be smart and don’t use a regular attack instead. Always use your green powers in place of a regular attack roll. Don't forget you have other powers too, see their requirements before using them and think twice.
SAMPLE CHARACTER SHEET:
On the Character Sheet everything is self-explanatory. However, let’s consolidate some important concepts. Lok on the Picture provided below. On the Ability Scores you see Gargosh’s attributes like strength, dexterity and their related modifiers. Those modifiers are used both in attack rolls and damage rolls and are cummulative to other bonuses like Weapon Proficiences your Character has to form the attack bonus of a power, like we just saw with Gargosh and Malagor quick fight. The Initiative number you see is a +1 bonus he gets to his initiative rolls.
To the right of his Ability Scores lies his Defenses, those are very important and are used to defend against all enemy attacks. The get a variety of bonuses but tey are all calculated for you by the Caracter Generator so you need only to look at te total defense value, like 12 for AC or 16 for Fortitude. The basic Formula is 10+1/2 your level if divisible by 2+ miscellaneous bonus from attributes and other sources. Don’t worry about the Math here, just look at the total number.
Further to te right you see his Speed Points, we already covered that. Just remember that it is 1 point per tile to move around. Also you can see Senses to the right and Racial Features below, refer to the subsection A.6 to a full explanation. See subsection A.5 for the explanation on things like Saving Throws and Second Winds.
Below Senses you see Attack Workspace, it is just the bonuses ou get to your attack rolls (1d20+ something) all summed up together. Here +5, for example, comes from strength modifier +3 and Weapon Proficiency with Greataxe +2. As you progress in levels your attack also increases +1/2 your level every level divisible by 2. So you get +1 at level 2, +2 at level 4 and so on. Again, don’t worry about the math here, just look the final number under ATT BONUS with your main weapon. It is the bonus for all your attacks, unless you power gives you additional bonuses or you are under the effect of a spell that would also add to attack rolls. You also see a Damage Workspace, it is pretty similar to the Attack Workspace in the sense that the final number under DAMAGE represents the damage you deal with your main weapon. Look at every power description you use to see everything that is added to this basic Damage value.
Class, lvl, experience, HP etc. are all self-explanatory. Refer to subsection B.5 to a full explanation on Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies. Ignore the field “RPGA number”.
Gargosh, Barbarian lvl 1:
A.5 – Combat Actions
In your turn you may take a set of actions:
1-) Standard Actions that are taken once per turn like attacking, using powers to attack and moving close to the enemy to be able to hit him in melee, drinking potions, improving a feat or power;
2-) Minor Actions once per turn like opening containers or doors, enabling a power that consumes movement points;
3-) Free Actions like speaking on the same turn, before the standard action is taken. Free actions cost nothing as you expect.
Minor and free actions don’t exclude your standard actions so you can, for instance, talk, open a chest and attack on the same turn, provided you hve the movement points for it. Free actions cost no movement points, but Minor actions do cost specific movement points. Your movement points are given by the Character Creation Tool when you create your character and improve every level, also each movement point is equivalent to 1 tile on the battle map, as we already covered on the last subsection. You must spend a movement point at the end of a movement to attack in sequence. You don’t spend movement points to attack targets within your reach afterwards. Every turn you have your full movement points back, similar to what we see in H5.
There’s another cathegory of points named Action points. All characters start lvl 1 with 1 action point and pretty much remain with just one during their adventures. All extra actions you might want to do on a Encounter in your turn, like using a extra power on a turn, making a extra attack on a turn, speeding up a turn, etc. consume an action point that can be used only once per combat. You regain Action Points after a full rest (12 in-game hours) or visiting special locatins called Milestones. Those locations may also increase your total Action Points for a time.
Other actions like Triggered Actions or Opportunity Attacks happens during your turns and the turns of the creatures if a player or creature moves to another location being originally close to an enemy or enemies. If that creature or player moves the enemies get a extra attack, an attack of opportunity roll triggered by a movement (regular melee attack). Those actions don’t consume a Action Point. You may sometimes see powers that work after some actions are triggered or when attacks of opportunity. Also, using any Ranged or Area attacks and powers, like spells or a bow, triggers Attacks of Opportunity to all adjacent enemies (a regular melee attack roll) against the one using the ranged attack or power. Everyone can make only one attack of opportunity per turn so if a monster stands between two wizards, for example, he will be able to opportunity attack only once. The move action, ranged attack or ranged power are NOT interrupted by attacks of opportunity, unless the target dies.
NOTE: Attacks of opportunity are always done on you if you are mounted. Also, if your beast can bite or attack in any manner, you can select if either you or it makes a opportunity attack. See Mounts below for more info.
SAVING THROWS
There are situations that you are going to be asked to roll a simple Saving Throw, this is done by always rolling 1d20 at the time specified by the DM. If the result is equal or higher than 10 the creature, creatures, NPCs or chars suceed the save, if the result is lower than 10 the target (s) is affected by whathever triggered the need for a Saving Throw. Do not confuse simple Saving Throws with your defenses like Reflexes, Will or Fortitude. Those are now used only in relation to each-other or to attack rolls, like we covered on the previous subsection.
IMPORTANT NOTE: you no longer make fortitude saving throws, reflex STs, will STs, etc. on 4th ED. You may only be asked to make a check with those, with the same mechanic of the skill checks, against a DC (DIfficult Challenge) given by the DM. See next subsection for detail on skill checks and DCs.
SAMPLE COMBAT ACTIONS
CHARGE – Quite simple to understand, you spend your standard action on a turn to charge against a enemy and make a basic melee attack in sequence. This is usefull for some Powers (see previous subsection) and when using mounts (see subsection A.6 for more details on mounts). You can also make a Bull Rush attack in place of the regular melee attack when charging. See below for What a Bull Rush is.
GRAB - In combat or not you may also attempt to Grab a creature that is smaller than you, of your same size or next size (sizes are: tiny, small, medium, large, huge, gargantuam). To do this the creature must be adjacent to you and you must take a standard action and roll a standard Strenght Attack vs Reflex defense. You sustain a grab as long as the opponent fails his saving throws on subsequent turns. You may release you opponent at your turn as a free action. When your opponent is grabbed by you it’s helpless and other characters may attack him, in that case, if they hit, they always score a critical hit. Attacking a helpeless victim and hitting it is called a Coup de Grace. While grabbing a victim you may also move him but you must make another strength vs reflex check to see if you suceed on moving him whithin your movement point area.
ESCAPE FROM A ENEMY THAT GRABBED YOU – Make a Acrobatics skill check (roll 1d20+your character’s skill modifier for that skill+any ability modifiers) vs Reflex (regular reflex defense) or Athletics skill (roll 1d20+your character’s skill modifier for that skill+any ability modifiers) check vs Fortitude (regular fortitude defense).
BULL RUSH - You may also attempt a “Bull Rush” maneuver that is a simple an attempt to push a single adjacent target in a direction of your choosing (1 tile away). You may find it usefull sometimes. To do it you announce you want to try a Bull Rush, it’s direction and make a standard attack roll vs opponent’s fortitude defense roll (done by the DM).
AID ANOTHER – You can either enhance a fellow party member defense or attack value. You may also enhanced his or her ability or skill check. To do so, announce it first, then make a basic attack roll vs an adjacent enemy, but take only AC of 10 for his defense roll. If you hit you don’t deal damage, but can help you ally granting him +2 to attack or +2 to all his defenses on his next turn. If you want to help your ally skill or ability check you do the same procedure, but grants, if sucessfull, +2 to his rolls on his next attempt at skill or ability usage. You need to be adjacent to your ally for this to work on both cases.
HEALING/DEATH IN COMBAT – You can heal yourself or another by: using potions, spells, powers, rituals or healing surges. Announce which one you want to do. Then, you spend one entire turn doing this action. “Healing Surges” are given to you on Character Creation Tool and are called “Second Wind” actions, used once per combat, but each character has a healing surge of it’s own and with particular properties. Anoter important thing you should know about powers is that when a characters looses half his hit-points it gains the condition “Bloodied”, this condition affects positively the powers of certain classes like the Barbarian. So when you see Bloodied on a power know that it means a character or creature with 50% of it’s original HP. A character Dies when he or she reaches 0 HP and fails a Death Saving Throw (a regular 1d20 against 10 roll) 3 times, that needs to be done every turn until healed or dead. In other words, you need to roll this save until healed or dead, failing 3 times means death. You can’t save yourself, only one of your companions can heal or stabilize you. If stabilized and not healed you don’t die, but you don’t heal either, you must be carried away and regain HP after a extended rest. To ressurect a dead character you must either have a ressurect spell or scroll or take his body to the nearest temple. It costs gold to ressurect someone in a temple. You may happen to find clerics that may also ressurect the dead char, for a fee or favor. See subsection A.6 for weight and carrying details.
RITUAL CASTING AS A COMBAT ACTION
Wizards now are limited by the Power Mechanic of 4th ED D&D. They have their spellbook where all his spells are stored. However you are limited to a number of spells that is non-dependant of your intelligence score. Even if your wizard is a 20 intelligence genius he is limited to power choices at level ups, not the traditional learning-and adding-spell-to-book mechanic. You have to choose from a table of powers/spells when you level up and that’s it. They are still strong on higher levels but on 4th ED is “good luck getting there” more than always, not to mention that the stronger spells are Encounter Powers on their majority so you have to rest after every combat if you want to use the really good spells.
You must rely on the help of your group fellows to survive through the early levels so keep that in mind if you intend to create a Wizard character. To reduce their weakness Wizards are now able to use “Ritual Casting” so you may choose during character creation a feat or skill allowing you to cast spells through rituals. Each Ritual Spell requires acess and study of a book containing that ritual, once learned you can add it to your book and use like a power, the kind of power depends on each ritual. However it takes 8 in-game hours to learn a ritual, you must take a short rest and the Ritual Must be of a level equal to yours (don’t forget to have a ritual book right on creation of your character with the Character Creation Tool if you wish him to cast ritual spells). Some rituals can be very usefull like the “Create magical Item” one (the DM can invent any kind of Ritual to add to the adventure). You may also learn Rituals by observing a creature for 8 hours using that ritual on this period, however you will be required to pass a variety of skill checks. You can also find and learn ritual from unusual sources, like armors or stone drawings. The most common source for rituals is buying them through a Merchant or Ritual Caster that sells his Ritual Spells for you, they are pricy though.
UNDERWATER COMBAT
Chars take -2 penalty to all attack rolls, unless using a spear or crossbow. Creatures that swin gain +2 to attack rolls against chars that don’t (Swimming is part of Athletics skill now). To swin and fight underwater a char must have Athletics as a skill and make a skill check against 10 DC for calm waters, 15 for rough waters and 20 DC for stormy waters. If the char suceeds he swins at half the speed he has on land (half speed points). If the chars fails the save by 4 he fails to swin and remains in place, loosing his turn. If he fails by more than 5 he sinks 1 tile down and risks suffocation by drowing. He must then make a endurance check against a DC of 20 or take damage determined by the DM. Chars whithout Athletics skill can only move 1 tiles per turn in water and cannot go deep. If in heavy armor all chars can't float and start to sink.
COVER AND CONCEALMENT
In some situations the characters may benefit from cover or concealment or come across covered and concealed creatures. It’s up for the DM to determine what type of cover and concealment is in effect and there are several cathegories for each. Also monsters and characters may use cover and concealment to their advantage. When in Small Cover (like behind a tree, pillar or partially visible) all enemies attacking that creature suffer a -2 on all attack rolls. When in Superior Cover (like behind a window or in some fortification) all enemies attacking that creature suffer a -5 to all attack rolls. Some terrains may grant those effects and other beneficial effects to some kinds of creatures, similar to how the Zerg benefited from the worm, purple ground in Starcraft. See subsection A.6 for more info on Terrain. Another cathegory, concealment, happens when characters fight in areas with dim light, fog or other effects that disrupt vision. Anyone cought whithin the concealed area suffers -2 to all attack rolls in Regular Concealement situations and -5 to all attack rolls in Total Concealement situation. Of course, creatures or characters that can see in the dark suffer no penalties when fighting in dark areas.
A.6 – Basics on Skills and Feats
SKILLS
On the Character Creation Tool you will have all the Skill options available and described for you. Here I’ll give the formula on how to use them. The skills are there to help you on the “profession” of our character so, for example, a good theif should have a high skill score on finding traps, getting stealthy, etc. to be sucessfull on skill checks and, consequently, on what he does to help himself and the party. The basic skills available on 4th ED D&D are all discribed on the Character Builder.
SKILL CHECKS
To make a Skill Check ask the DM or he will ask you and roll the following: 1d20+skill check bonus+any bonuses or penalties. Look into your Character Sheet, in the Caracter Builder Tool to see what your current skill check bonus is. You roll your skill checks against specific challenges given by the DM or uncovered by you, those have different Difficult Classes (DC). So, for instance, you party meets a strange creature and you are not sure what his intents are or what may offend it. So one with the History Skill, Religion Skill or Nature Skill runs a skill check against the DC rating of that creature, detailed on the Monster Manual and, should you suceed, knowledge about it is given to you by the DM.
IMPORTANT NOTE: you no longer make fortitude saving throws, reflex STs, will STs, etc. on 4th ED. You may only be asked to make a check with those, with the same mechanic of the skill checks, against a DC given by the DM.
PERCEPTION CHECKS/SURPRISING
A party member may make a Active Perception Check at any time, trying to discover things in the surroundings and if there are enemies that might surprise them. To make Active Perception Checks however, a character must have the “Perception Skill” (primary attribute: wisdom) and roll 1d20+wisdom modifier+Perception Skill modifier. It depends on the situation to determine against what number you are rolling a perception check, like when you want to listen trough a door, find a trap or listen to whispers. All characters have a default value of 10 for Passive Perception Checks + perception skill bonus if applicable. The DM constantly uses this passive value to determines if your chars automatically find something or are being surprised, regardless of having the perception skill or not (not having perception skill means you have only 10 passive points). The challenge value you are rolling the perception check against is determined by the DM in every situation and it is better to have perception as a skill, otherwhise you will be always rolling 10 against a wide variety of challenges, called DCs or Difficult Challenges.
Example: Your party is walking through some ruins with goblins on the other side of a wall. You don’t know that but a smart party member may want to roll an Active Perception Check of 1d20+wisdom modifier+Perception Skill modifier. The Goblins have only 10 as Passive Perception Check, so if you roll more than 10 you notice them somehow and can attack them by surprise, having a full round only to your party members to act. If no party members ask for a Active Perception Check the DM will compare the highest Passive Perception checks on each group (10+ Perception Skill Bonus from the highest on each group), the highest will notice the other first and get a surprise attack round. In other situations, like when both groups have a clear line of sight to each other, there are no surprising checks with bonus round.
OPPOSED CHECKS AND STEALTH
Some characters and monsters can attempt to surprise the enemy on intent by a variety of means, in this case I run a Stealth Check (roll 1d20+character’s skill modifier for that skill+any ability modifiers+enviroment condition modifiers) against the target or target member’s highest Passive Perception Check, if no Active Checks were asked. Those are called Opposed Checks. Stealth Checks depends on a target having a skill or spell active that determines the level of challenge or exact number of their stealth, rolled against the active or passive perception rolls of a party. Both monsters and characters can attempt to Ambush an enemy too, but they must first not be seen, have a sucessfull Active vs Passive check and must situate themselves on the scenery in a way that they remain unseen (Total Concealment or Superior Cover, see above, on this subsection, for more info). They must get close to the enemy in that way or wait for the enemy if it’s moving. If sucessfull they gain a free attack round. In some other situations the DM is free to determine if a part (monsters, NPCs or chars) is automatically surprised, no rolls are possible in this case. Those are Plot Surprises. The chars may attempt as many Active Checks as they want, but for passive checks only the highest score from the party is chosen.
INTERACTION WITH THE ENVIROMENT/TRAPS
It’s up to you and your immagination what to do with the given enviroment. In this section you saw you can push enemies provoking falls, prepare ambushes, use concealment and cover, etc. Also, remember you can Flank your enemy or be flanked. To do this simply move to one side of the enemy while one of your allies move to the other side. In this case you and your flanking allies gain Combat Advantage of +2 to all attack rolls. Remember you can Squeeze yourself through tight spaces to, for instance, pass from a room to another, but you lose -5 to all your rolls in this condition and the enemies gain combat advantage over you. You may take several actions “against” the enviroment. Ask me the action you want to take And I give you a DC number for you to roll against. Examples:
-Breaking Wooden Door: 16 DC;
-Breaking Barred Door: 20 DC;
-Force open porticulis: 23 DC;
-Burst Rope Bonds: 26 DC;
-Smash wooden chest: 19 DC;
-Smash Iron Box: 26 DC;
-Break Through Wooden Wall: 26 DC;
Regarding Combat Advantage you and your opponents gain it (+2 to attacks) when, for example, beyond other modifiers, also described:
-Attacker is prone (attacker suffers -2);
-Attacker is restrained (attacker suffers -2);
-Target has cover (attacker suffers -2);
-Target has superior cover (attacker suffers -5);
-Target Has Concealment (attacker suffers -2);
-Target Has Total Concealment (attacker suffers -5);
-Long Range (attacker suffers -2);
-Charge Attack (attacker gets +1).
Traps have become more “alive” and have been separeted into a sub-cathegory with hazards (like a potentially falling rock on a cavern, geysers, falling ice, etc.). On 4th ED you are much more likely to come across them WHILE fighting monsters and not when walking around. The nature of the trap will determine what skill check needs to be done for it to be uncovered. Usually a passive perception check done by the DM against a fix DC determines if you perceive a trap in time not to activate it. Some traps even act like monsters now, rolling initiative until you find a way to stop them. There are many types of traps and hazards ranging from alarm ones to auto-death ones. You, as players, can use your immagination to interact with traps and enviroment and even use it on your favour. See subsection A.6 for information on terrain.
INSIGHT
Another important skill is Insight, it is the “social conteurpart” of perception skill so, for instance, you make a insight skill check against a set DC to see if that creature or NPC is telling you the truth, and also sense some detail about the general social conditions of a place. Also you may see if the creature has “outside influence” on it’s mind or soul, etc. The relevant DCs are:
-10+Creature's level for sensing motives and attitudes;
-25+effect's level for sensing outside influence;
-15+effect's level for recognizing a illusory effect.
All chars have a basic Passive Insight value of 10, just like perception. The DM uses you highest skills: either perception, insight or nature, to determine your knowledge of a monster in a skill check. Some monsters require Religion or Arcana for skill checks to identify them, as the Monster Manual dictates.
FEATS
Feats are similar to skills in the sense that they help you improve your capabilities, but are different in the sense that they work in a more automatic way (they don’t require a “feat check” to work). Feats are more supportive qualities your character gets to enhance many of his aspects, including skills. The feat “Linguist” for example let’s you choose 3 languages for our character instead of just 1 extra. All feats have requirements though, this one is having 13 intelligence. Another feat “Ritual Caster” allows your char to cast ritual spells, but requires training on Arcana or Religion skills. There are many, many feats to choose from and every class has acess to many different feats that will allow you to perform better in combat, so read them carefull when building your character on the Character Builder Tool.
A.6 – Adventuring Life: everything not covered on other subsections goes here
As you progress whithin the adventure you will gain experience points that will be added to your character sheet (by you) until you level up. The Character Sheet is supplied by the Character Builder Tool (see subsection C.1 for details). When you level up you will have acess to more skills, feats and ability scores (strength, dexterity, etc.). I won’t go on detail on those since I assume all on this forum are familiar with this after playing the Heroes Series. Keep in mind that leveling up also means your challenge level in the adventure is going to increase. To level up just select the level up tab and the corresponding level on the Caracter Builder Tool. ALso, wen you leevl up, I'll tell you how much you need for the next level. Here are some examples of required experience to up a level:
-lvl 2: 1000 XP
-lvl 3: 2,250 XP
-lvl 4: 3,750 XP
-lvl 5: 5,500 XP
In our adventure the Characters are going to be able to “flee” a Encouter if they feel like doing so, but they are going to have to move to the edge of the battle map to do so and enemies will still be attacking them. Some enemies are vicious and fast so the will persue you, forcing the party to run for aid of the nearest city garrison, reducing their reputation. Running without resting for a long time may have some adverse effects on the party members. Fleeing may affect your reputation (see below).
In this Play-by-forum D&D 4th ED adventure, I’ll use as a house-rule a “Reputation System” borrowed from Baldur’s Gate 2. If you don’t know what Baldur’s Gate 2 is, and enjoy RPGs, run to a store that sells games right now and get it. Here we will have 3 kinds of reputation: Global Reputation, Local Reputation and Combat Prowess Reputation. The party starts with 0 in each one, meaning they are not particularlly well-known for anything yet. In the first 2 cathegories having a positive number means the characters are known for doing good deeds, they are a generally good-aligned party. Having a negative number means exactly the contrary. This will have many effects on our campaign so don’t worry about it much right now, just “be yourselves”. Characters may have good reputation scores localy on some places and have a negative stoce on other places. The total will define the Global Reputation Score. The third cathegory, Combat Prowess Reputation, is related to great feats acomplished by the adventurers, like defeating tough creatures and completing difficult tasks. Having a positive number means the adenturers are respected and even feared by others. Having a negative number means they are regarded as cowards, generally inept on their career or just lucky to get what they got, not particularlly skilled. Those 3 cathegories will interact with each-other during the course of the adventure (s) generating many interesting effects for you.
Regarding Rest, it is a common practice on te D&D 4th ED. Adveturers are required to take Short Rest (6 in-game hours) or Extended Rest (12 in-game hours) to restore their powers (see each power description). A Short Rest has the following effects: recovery of some powers and you can use healing surges to party-heal. A Extended Rest has the following effects: you’re all fully healed, you regain any hit points you lost, you have a full compliment of healing surges, you have your daily powers back, and you reset your action points to 1. You cannot take another extended rest for the next 12 hours. The party may rest were it sees fit to, but don’t be surprised if you try to rest in the middle of a dungeon and “something” comes for you. The safest place to rest is whithin the taverns of the realms and their availability depends on the DMs will and story.
Food IS necessary for survival, after all you are not plants. However it is easy to obtain. Be creative. To survive and fight well a human must eat a simple meal everyday (composed of at least 2 different food components like bread and meat). Some races may require more *cough* dwarfs *cough*. So keep track of your gold or you may not be able to obtain food trough trade... The DM will specify the required rations when you create your races. The DM will also keep track and warn you of the Day and Night cycles. You can survive one week without food or water and no more than 3 minutes without air. Keep in mind however that penalties will be applied for you if you don’t eat everyday. If you reach a situation where you cannot find food or water at all on the end of the one week period you must spend all your healing surges on your self to gain another day of life, If you don’t have all your healing surges I’ll allow you to make either a endurance check or a regular saving throw to see if ou are lucky and can carry one one more day without food or water. TIP: the Nature Skill allows you to Forage for food. Make a nature skill check against a DC of 10 to find food for 1 person. Make the same skill check against a DC of 25 to find food for 5 persons. The DCs will vary according to the enviroment you are in. You can only forage once per day and your group must wait 6 hours for you (short rest).
Talking about buying food, Trading is important in this game. You will be able to trade gold, items or a favor for a wide variety of things, like potions, mundane and magical items, scrolls, etc. Use temples, usually on cities, to trade gold for casting of divine spells like resurrection. Also you may buy scrolls and recharge items on arcane merchants. You can buy Mounts too and accessories for them, however don’t expect anything powerfull from regular stables. Buying armor for your mount and the bonus gained from it is called Barding. Remember that if you buy too much armor for your mount it will be slowed.
Travelling in 4th ED takes time so don’t think you are going from one side of the continent to the other in the blink of an eye. The DM will specify the time and rations you will need. There are going to be Mounts as transports and other, “special” things to make your life easier. Adventurer’s with the “Nature” skill may attempt to handle, teach tricks and tame creatures in the wild to serve as mounts. Other abilities may confer this power too and the ability to fly. Mounts can also be used in combat. You must make a Nature skill check to know how to handle the creature in combat and how to gain bonuses with it. It’s at the DM’s discretion how many days you must make skill checks untill you tame a beast or teach it tricks. Some mounts can be created trough Ritual Spells. Once you tame or create one, Mounted combat is pretty easy. You move as the mount moves. Either you attack or it attacks. Sometimes its powers allow for a bonus to your attack, or even special combo attacks, especially charge attacks. Mounts also need to eat and may have some special needs. Mounts are considered “allies” too, so any powers that affects allies, affects them too inside or outside of combat. Keep in mind that you may come across skills and feats that improve riding. With the “Mounted Combat feat”, for instance, your mount can use your Athletics, Acrobatics, etc. for itself. I'll give all relevant mounts and prices according to the place and level the characters are.
NOTE: To ride a creature it must be at least one size smaller than you. You cannot ride domestical cats or mouses (lol). Gnomes and other small creatures cannot ride tiny creatures. They must be at least of same size as them.
The Terrain is a component you must take into account now. Some types of terrain may reduce your movement points and that of your enemies, or improve the movement points of either side. You can create thtough some rituals and spells difficult terrain during combat on a area of your choice, so that you may delay the enemies advance towards you or your intended target. See below to examples of effects of terrain on movement:
-Difficult terrain: It costs you 1 extra Speed Point;
-Blocking Terrain: It prevents movement but provides cover;
-Challenging terrain: Requires a Skill or Ability Check to pass;
-Hindering terrain: Can have various effects like damaging or slowing you.
Terrain is not always negative for you and our party. Sometimes you may come across “Fantastic Terrain” that has sme magical or supernatural effect on it granting na array of benefits for te party. Note that, just like in H5, you are going to find impassible terrain and obstacles and will have to maneuver around them during battle. You may attempt to push some of them, but that costs a standard action.
In regard to the ammount of weight your character can carry it’s easy to calculate: just multiple his strength by 10 and the total is the number of pounds he or she can carry with no penalties. You can also carry 2 times this number on your back but you are slowed while carrying it, and to carry 5 times this number you must push it trough the ground, taking a long time to reach a destination to unload it. Your characters can attempt to grab an object and flee in the middle of a combat, however all enemies in adjacent squares get attacks of opportunitty against him (a regular attack roll).
To identify a magical item on 4th ED you just have to take a short rest (1 item per rest). If it’s a very special item however, you need to use someone with arcana skill to make a skill check to identify it for you or even discover a Ritual Spell to unlock it’s properties, at the discretion of the DM. DC challenges for Arcana checks also given by the DM.
Even though death, healing and resurrection has already been covered on a previous subsection, let’s talk about Clerics a little. On 4th ED some classes, specially the Clerics and Paladins, can use Holy Symbols as a implement to powers, just like wizards can use wands, as covered on subsection A.5. The symbols vary from god to god, taking different shapes and forms. Some classes can only wear Holy Symbols as a Necklace. The Clerics can either hold the Holy Symbol on one hand to use their powers, however they are not used to regular attacks, or use it as a necklace so it’s not a restrictive item. You can still use a weapon and a shield and use your Holy Symbol as a Necklace to implement and improve your powers. Holy Symbols are not NEEDED to cast the divine spells/powers, but you miss many bonuses when not using it. Also, Druids and Shamans gain a similar item: a Totem with similar functions to that of a Holy Symbol.
SECTION B - CHARACTER CREATION
B.1 – Creating your character from scratch
To create your character you have many sample options listed on this topic, but don’t forget to write a background for them yourself and use the Character Builder Tool on subsection C.1. A background story should countain things like past life experiences, goals in life, relations to particular groups or individuals, places you like or dislike, etc. that will make the game richer. Also it is a must for unusual characters you create (a good Goblin for example, creatures known for worshipping demons of the abyss). You have total liberty to create your background, just make sure it has to do with the race, class and alignment you choose. If you need a source for some specific race just look into the Character Creation tool, ask me and don’t forget that you can use the internet to search everything too. Look at the options on the subsections below and start building your character.
B.2 – Sample Available classes:
Here I’ll give basic info on some of the available classes. To keep the post shorter I’ll leave most of the details for you to read on the Character Builder Tool. Refer to subsection C.1 for download link (free demo). There are many more classes to choose on that program and you can choose them.
Cleric
Key Abilities: Wisdom, Strength, Charisma
Builds: Battle Cleric, Devoted Cleric
Avenger
Key Abilities: Wisdom, Dexterity, Intelligence
Builds: Isolating Avenger, Pursuing Avenger
Warrior
Key Abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, Constitution
Sample Builds: Battlerager, Tempest Fighter
Paladin
Key Abilities: Strength, Charisma, Wisdom
Builds: Avenging Paladin, Protecting Paladin
Ranger
Key Abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom
Builds: Archer, Beastmaster, Two-Blade Ranger
Rogue
Key Abilities: Dexterity, Strength, Charisma
Sample Builds: Cutthroath, Rogue, Trickster
Wizard
Key Abilities: Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity
Sample Builds: Summoner, War Wizard, Illusionist, Control Wizard
Warlock
Key Abilities: Charisma, Constitution, Intelligence
Builds: Deceptive Warlock, Scourge Warlock
Warlord
Key Abilities: Strength, Intelligence, Charisma
Sample Builds: Tactical Warlord, Inspiring Warlord
Swordmage
Key Abilities: Intelligence, Strength, Constitution
Builds: Assault Swordmage, Ensnaring Swordmage, Shielding Swordmage
B.3 - Sample playable Races/Racial Bonuses
To keep this post shorter and less lengthy for you to read I’ll let you read the race detail on the Character Creation tool, refer to subsection C.1 to get the link and download it for free. On this tool you can select any of the races detailed there and their available classes. I’m giving some samples of the names of playable races and basic modifiers below so you have a notion of them and start combining races and classes. The participants have a wide array of races and classes to choose from, you can build a part whatever way you wish, use this forum to freely discuss your party building. Read carefully the descriptions on the Character Builder Tool so you know what you are going to play with.
Human – +2 to ability score of your choice
Deva – +2 to intelligence, +2 to wisdom
Dwarf – +2 to constitution, +2 to wisdom
Drow – +2 to charisma, +2 to dexterity
Elf – +2 to dexterity, +2 to wisdom
Githzerai – +2 to dexterity, +2 to wisdom
Goliath – +2 to constitution, +2 to strength
Gnoll – +2 to constitution, +2 to dexterity
Half-Elf – +2 to charisma, +2 to constitution
Half-Orc – +2 to dexterity, +2 to strength
Dragonborn – +2 to charisma, +2 to strength
Tiefling – +2 to charisma, +2 to intelligence
Halfling – +2 to charisma, +2 to dexterity
Gnome – +2 to charisma, +2 to intelligence
Goblin - +2 to charisma, +2 to dexterity
Minotaur - +2 to constitution, +2 to strength
Eladrin (essentially High-Elfs) - +2 to dexterity, +2 to intelligence
B.4 - Choose your Alignment
Bear in mind that you are going to roleplay the character you are creating, so choose the alignment as you want his personality (you) to behave in the game. This is a ROLEplaying game so you are supposed to act like an actor when doing anything on the gameworld. To choose your alignment refer once again to your Character Builder Tool, see subsection C.1 for details.
B.5 – Paragon Paths/Epic Destinies
PARAGON PATHS
It is a speciallization of your character. It may improve upon what you have and/or allow you a new set of abilities and powers. As your class describes your basic role in the party, your paragon path represents a particular area of expertise within that role. They are similar to prestige classes on D&D 3.5 ED (like Dragon Disciple on Neverwinter Nights). You select a Paragon Path at level 11 only so our first adventure (for lvl 1 chars) is not yet seeing a playable character with a Paragon Path. More details for the sake of curiosity: you don’t stop your class progress after choosing a paragon path, selecting a paragon path gives you access to one encounter power at level 11, one utility power at level 12, and a daily power at lvl 20. All of which looks like this:
11th: Paragon path feature;
11th: Paragon path action point feature;
11th: Paragon path encounter power;
12th: Paragon path utility power;
16th: Paragon path feature;
20th: Paragon path daily Power.
HOWEVER, if you want to plan ahead to choose a paragon path of your choice you must select feats and skills that are it’s requirements. When you level up the Character Builder Tool gives you all the options and informations.
Link with more info: http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ex/20080423a.
EPIC DESTINIES
Epic Destinies are even more ambitious than paragon paths. They represent what your character want to achieve in life, like becoming a Lich, Archmage, gaining immortality, becoming a demigod, etc. His most megalomaniac dreams. The Epic Destinies begin to be available for your character once you have exausted your Paragon Path Choices on lvl 20, so Epic Destiny choices start at lvl 21. Some represent the end of an adventurer’s career once achieved. Immortality, for example, can only be achieved after all party members and you are lvl 30 and you faced the last and most difficult quest of your adventuring lifes. After that you complete your destiny as a character and is time to begin another. All Epic Destinies lead to immortality and the end of a career as adventure. As a DM, if we ever get there (which I certainlly hope so), I’ll add house-rules for this. Epic Destinies are optional, and you may start choosing them at later levels than lvl 21.
SECTION C – TOOLS FOR THE GAME
To play-by-forum we are going to need some basic tools that, fortunately, are readily available and for free. The main tool is the Character Builder Tool which you are going to use to create your character. I recommend you read at least the basic rules and power usage on this post before building your character.
C.1 – CHARACTER BUILDER TOOL (NEEDED)
Download the Character Builder Tool from: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/tool.aspx?x=dnd/4new/tool/characterbuilder by clicking “download demo”. If you want to subscribe (and pay) to get the full version it’s totally up to you. We need only the demo. Remember to buy basic equipment to your character too, you start with 100 gold for that, and equip it.
C.2 – ROCK’N’ROLL DICER (OPTIONAL)
If you don’t have dice at home no problem! Just use this handy program that rolls all the dice for you, for free. We trust you will be honest since challenge is important component in the game right? Download it from here: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/games/utilities/rocknrolldiceroller.html. If you have any doubts about how to use it just post it here.
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lucky_dwarf
Promising
Supreme Hero
Visiting
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posted October 06, 2009 03:36 AM |
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ive always wanted to play DnD but i will need to bookmark and comeback later, the post is so long.
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So much has changed in my absence.
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DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
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posted October 06, 2009 03:41 AM |
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where does the character builder give info about the paragon paths?
Will you accept evil characters?
I'm interested, by the way.
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If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
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KnightofHonour
Famous Hero
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posted October 06, 2009 03:45 AM |
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lucky_dwarf
Good you want to play you can be a dwarf if you wish. 
Sorry for the long post but I needed to teach the rules somehow so we don't have to stop the adventure all the time with me explaining something.
It's all quite simple, based on 1d20 rolls. If you prefer you can just read the Combat and Power Usage, I explain the rest on the course of the adventure.
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KnightofHonour
Famous Hero
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posted October 06, 2009 03:53 AM |
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Quote:
where does the character builder give info about the paragon paths?
Will you accept evil characters?
I'm interested, by the way.
Hey there,
Good thing you are interested too, I'm eager to play!
About the evil characters: sure I'll accept them, you can choose any race and alignment you wish. Remember you are going to roleplay it along with other possible good chars.
About the Paragon Paths you just get info about it after lvl 11. There's still a long way for us to get there. However on creation of your character you can see skills and feats that have paragon or epic on their description, so you need to get them as requirements for a future paragon path.
As you want to know about them, I'll post some available paragon paths. Check on the main post later.
For now check out this site with some Paragon Paths and their requirements: http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ex/20080423a.
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Berny-Mac
Promising
Legendary Hero
Lord Vader
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posted October 06, 2009 05:02 AM |
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omg, i am so doing this, but i need to read the post later, i am too tired (yawn). night, all...
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Skyrim RP? YES!
Here it is!
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KnightofHonour
Famous Hero
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posted October 06, 2009 05:38 AM |
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Quote:
omg, i am so doing this, but i need to read the post later, i am too tired (yawn). night, all...
That's great man, just ask if you have any doubts .
For some reason (probably text limit) I can't add more huge info on the main post so here is some more info on Paragon Paths Dagoth asked:
SAMPLE PARAGON PATHS
Here is a list of Paragon Paths available to you. Many of them just require you reaching level 11 alive. And remember: the prerequisites skills, feats and powers are going to be given as options to you on level up. If you want more info on one of them just google it, ask me or buy the D&D 4th ED Player's Handbook I and II.
Cleric
Paragon Path: Angelic Avenger
Prerequisite: Cleric Class, Survive until you reach lvl 11
Description:
"You become a special servant of your god, operating with angelic powers to promote the word of your faith. When you use your angelic powers, you briefly take on the aspects of an angel: Your face blurs into angelic blankness, astral wings sprout from your back, and your lower body blurs away."
Rogue
Paragon Path: Shadow Assassin
Prerequisite: Rogue Class, Survive until you reach lvl 11
Description:
You become a killing machine, striking from the shadows wit deadly and bloody efficiency, and turning attacks against you into pain and suffering fr your enemies. You believe in doing unto others before tey can do unto you, and you know how to deliver punishment as only a striker can.
Warlock
Paragon Path: Life-Stealer
Prerequisites: Warlock Class, Infernal Pact (a pact is a class feature, you either can have it or not)
Description:
Your pact with infernal powers as given ou the ability to steal and utilize the life energies of your enemies. This life energy provides you wit a new avenue to power, and ou hunger for it as a vampire craves for blood. See some features below:
Paladin
Paragon Path: Champion of Order
Prerequisite: Just be a Paladin and survive until lvl 11
Description:
You become a paragon of order, embracing this condition and fullfilling it with ever word and deed. The gods of order look favorably upon you as you champion te causes they promote and the ideals they exemplify, turning back the forces of the chaotic evil powers at ever opportunity. In the presence of chaotic evil powers at every opportunity. In the presence of chaotic evil creatures your weapon glows with radiant light.
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Keksimaton
Promising
Supreme Hero
Talk to the hand
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posted October 06, 2009 03:33 PM |
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I'll join. I'm going to need to fill up on some of that sweet D&D nectar.
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Noone shall pass, but no one besides him shall pass.
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KnightofHonour
Famous Hero
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posted October 06, 2009 09:26 PM |
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Quote:
I'll join. I'm going to need to fill up on some of that sweet D&D nectar.
Welcome then!
Any doubts I'm here to help.
Have you thought about your character already?
Regards,
KOH
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Keksimaton
Promising
Supreme Hero
Talk to the hand
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posted October 06, 2009 09:43 PM |
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At first I figured I'd go for a Halfling Warlord with Tourette's syndrome or just plain Coprolalia, but I'd rather hear out what kinds of characters others would like to play before I make anything official.
I'd like to play a leader/support class. I call dibs.
What about you guys?
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Noone shall pass, but no one besides him shall pass.
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DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
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posted October 06, 2009 09:59 PM |
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i'll go for a striker. Probably a tiefling scourge warlock with constitution as the base for the eldritch blasts.
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If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
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KnightofHonour
Famous Hero
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posted October 06, 2009 10:12 PM |
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Quote:
At first I figured I'd go for a Halfling Warlord with Tourette's syndrome or just plain Coprolalia, but I'd rather hear out what kinds of characters others would like to play before I make anything official.
I'd like to play a leader/support class. I call dibs.
What about you guys?
Hehe you can actually do this if you wish. I make special rules for your special conditions when necessary. 
OBS: You all don't need to be of the same alignment to play together, so don't worry about not playing because someone is good aligned or evil aligned. Just be yourselves. You can also discuss and agree to a mixed alignment party, a total good or a total evil one.
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B-E-T-A
Promising
Legendary Hero
Guess Who is Back?
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posted October 06, 2009 10:50 PM |
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A pure D&D forum RP? FINALLY! Now I just have to read through that loooong post tomorrow to see what the fouth edition brought along. Then we'll see what I make.
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There is no good or evil, only madness. The question is "Just how mad are you?"
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KnightofHonour
Famous Hero
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posted October 06, 2009 10:54 PM |
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Quote:
A pure D&D forum RP? FINALLY! Now I just have to read through that loooong post tomorrow to see what the fouth edition brought along. Then we'll see what I make.
Confirm later to me if you are really in then plz. I understand you and all the others must digest the long post of rules first.
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lucky_dwarf
Promising
Supreme Hero
Visiting
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posted October 06, 2009 11:06 PM |
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im in but what if you attempt bull rush and push the target off a cliff? What if he dodges? what happens to the attacker, does he fall to his death? How do you explain Aid Another in the RP?
EDIT: read everything.
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So much has changed in my absence.
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KnightofHonour
Famous Hero
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posted October 07, 2009 12:03 AM |
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Quote:
im in but what about cover? and if you attempt bull rush and push the target off a cliff? What if he dodges? what happens to the attacker, does he fall to his death? How do you explain Aid Another in the RP?
Good
I'll try to answer you:
what about cover?
Cover is a situation your character or enemies may be in. So if you are behind a pillar firing your bow, for instance, you are in Small Cover and anyone attacking you there gets -2 to their attack rolls. To do this I'll provide a map and tell if there's cover available, you may move there if you wish to benefit from it. Sometimes monsters may remain on their cover (like behind trees) to attack you and force you to get -2 to your attack rolls. See subsection A.5 for full explanation.
and if you attempt bull rush and push the target off a cliff
That's totally doable. You can push a target off a cliff if you wish. To do it you announce in your turn you want to try a Bull Rush using red text (example: [lucky_dwarf's char]: I'll attempt a Bull Rush against [monster x] in direction [y] or [towards the cliff]), it’s direction and make a standard attack roll vs opponent’s fortitude defense (given by the DM, me). If you suceed the opponent is pushed on that direction and falls if it fails in a Athletics Skill Check done by me. The conditions determine what kind of cliff is there, the damage for the fall and how can you get back, should you yourself fall. I'll provide you all necessary information for each situation.
Regarding what you know about monsters, your skills and that of your partners will determine what you know about a particular monster, so for instance, I run your skill checks on Nature skill for you to have a full description about a creature like a carnivore plant. Some basic stuff like it's HP, attack and Defenses are always given by me when you engage in combat against it.
What if he dodges?
He dodges if your attack roll is lower than his fortitude defense (I have all monster stats on the Monster Manuals). What happens is that you failed in pushing him on the intended direction and lost your turn trying to do this.
what happens to the attacker, does he fall to his death
It depends on the conditions I offer you. If it is a cliff with molten lava down there he is gone. However, there might be cliffs where the enemy may fall to a level lower than where the combat is happening, in that case he will both take damage determined by me (depending on distance of fall and on what it landed) and take some time (rounds) to get back into combat, if possible. I'll roll all his Athletic skill checks, or other skills/spells, to climb back to the combat. You may want to think twice before pushing something off a cliff however, since the following may happen: 1-) the creature is lost and you cannot get loot from it, if any, only experience; 2-) The creature may know a spell that allows it to fly so if you intended to push him to death it may not always work; 3-) The creature is coward and flees from the battle after the fall somehow, no one gets loot or experience.
How do you explain Aid Another in the RP?
To Aid Another first you must analyze the situation and see if you really need to improve his stats with the Aid Another maneuver, like described on subsection A.5. You or your allies may ask each-other for aid using either char to char text (example: [Dagoth's Char Name]: [lucky_dwarf's char name] plz Aid me!). Speaking is a free action in-game so you can do it how many times you wish in combat, whenever you want, as long as you are not muted. Or you can use forum user to forum user text to plan your strategies too, ask for aid, give advices, etc. (example: Dagoth I really think you should use "Aid Another" on my char, I need the temporary stats boost on this combat's next round/tunr. Or: Dagoth plz administer to my char your healing potion or cast a healing spell on me as soon as possible, he is close to death).
NOTE: For some reason I can't update the main post =(. After I write or change anything and click submit the screen stays white and I'm forced to go back. If anyone knows a solution plz tell me.
Latest Update:
lucy_dwarf is in too!
We just need confirmation from BETA and Berny-Mac now. No rush though you can take our time to read the rules, write background stories and discuss party building here.
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DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
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posted October 07, 2009 02:17 PM |
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Quote:
Infernal Pact (a pact you may choose at lvl 11)
You mean level one, right? Otherwise the characer creator is lying 
Also, is an intimidate used in combat a standard action or a minor or... ?
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If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
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Keksimaton
Promising
Supreme Hero
Talk to the hand
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posted October 07, 2009 02:35 PM |
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Would you suggest a complete newbie to use the "quick character" option in the Character Builder?
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Noone shall pass, but no one besides him shall pass.
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DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
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posted October 07, 2009 02:49 PM |
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I think it works okay from what I know, but then again, I don't know much. It also created a fighter with less HP than my warlock. As my rule of thumb, that doesn't sound right...
Though, I think it has a more personal touch if you mess around with it yourself and you also get to learn about the forgotten realms-setting more, but that's just me.
Question: if a hostile fighter is adjacent from my mage, does it render him unable to cast spells? Or does he have to do it a penalty? Or does he have to undergo an attack of opportunity to ge away and then cast a spell?
How many speed points do the actions cost?
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If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
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KnightofHonour
Famous Hero
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posted October 07, 2009 08:15 PM |
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@Dagoth
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Infernal Pact (a pact you may choose at lvl 11)
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You mean level one, right? Otherwise the characer creator is lying
Yes you are right at the time I interpreted the rule wrong. However, for some reason, I can’t update the main post to correct it. But you are right it is not chosen at level 11, it is a class feature: you either have it or not. If falls on a cathegory “pacts” that you can choose.
Also, is an intimidate used in combat a standard action or a minor or... ?
Intimidate is a skill that can be used in combat as a Standard Action or outside of combat in interactions with others.
In combat it works only on Bloodied Targets (half HP) and you force it to surrender should you suceed in a Intimidate Skill Check against his will defense (he drops his weapon if applicable and may flee, lay down literally until the end of combat or run to the edge of the battle map or outside of it, note that he can change his mind later). You can also force that target to take an action of your choosing, should you suceed (only move actions). If you failed the Intimidate Check however, you can’t try it again against the same target untill the end of combat. Note that some targets can’t be intimidated if they have insect intelligence or is undead, for instance.
Outside of combat the DM gives you a DC (difficult challenge) that you must overcome with a Intimidate Skill Check to suceed in obtaining information or trying to make a target do your bidding. If that target is unfriendly towards you (for a variety of reasons including reputation and actions you did it didn’t like), you get a -5 penalty to the skill check, and if it is hostile (he might attack you) you get a -10.
Question: if a hostile fighter is adjacent from my mage, does it render him unable to cast spells? Or does he have to do it a penalty? Or does he have to undergo an attack of opportunity to ge away and then cast a spell?
How many speed points do the actions cost?
Any number of adjacent enemies to you will get one attack of opportunity against you per turn, so yes if you use a ranged power or attack, like a spell they get opportunity attack against you (a regular attack roll with no powers) but beyond that you get no penalties and you can cast any spell you like, provided ou have the power available. Note that moving away from a adjacent enemy also provokes opportunity attacks. However your spell/attack or move action is NOT interrupted if you are hit by the enemies.
Attacks of opportunity cost no speed points, they are automatically triggered. You spend Speed points just to move around on the battle map.
TIP: ask allies to Bull Rush targets away from you, if you both act before it.
@Keksimaton
Would you suggest a complete newbie to use the "quick character" option in the Character Builder?
I would suggest you toy with the builder for some time. Create some quick ones and build detailed ones too. If you can’t understand something just ask here. You may create a quick character but you can’t choose his powers (and you don’t have detailed description on what you choose), they are automatically chosen for you on quick creation. So I recommend you take your time to build it fr the one you are going to roleplay.
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