4e playtest report - with comments [Archive] - Wizards Community

4e playtest report - with comments [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Colmarr
08-31-07, 02:48 AM ... created a mostly human party of 1st level PCs who are all affiliated with a local count. The warlord, Domna, is the baron’s youngest daughter, and Tian, the rogue, is Domna’s lifelong friend and also the son of the leader of baron’s personal mercenary troop. Sasha, the wizard, is daughter to the baron’s chancellor, and guarding her is Robozcniek, a warforged fighter. Rounding out the group is Heron, an eladrin ranger who was a childhood friend of Tian and Domna...

An Eladrin in a 1st level party? Seems like LAs are well and truly gone.

I wanted to whip up something that showcased the new game’s tech, but I wanted to do it quickly. Using Own K. C. Stevens’s A Dark and Stormy Knight as inspiration, I designed a haunted tomb under a tor. One of the count’s barons had been rewarding retiring soldiers with frontier land near the tor, and these farmers recently spotted goblin scouts ranging toward a fallen tower built atop the tor by citizens of a long-gone hobgoblin kingdom. Then a little girl disappeared, along with some livestock. The count dispatched Domna and her friends to investigate the situation.

After traveling to the outlying farmsteads, which were fortified yards surrounded by fields, and speaking with one of the farmers, the PCs determined that one home might have come under attack the night before. They investigated, and they soon saw the farm’s stockade gate was open and the inner yard, where livestock was usually kept at night, was empty but drenched in blood. Heron noticed some large wolf tracks leading into the yard, and the party cautiously entered, expecting goblins.

Right they were. To the east, Heron spotted saddled wolves in the barn and a goblin archer in the barn’s loft. Tian spied another goblin peeking out of the modest farmhouse to the north. Neither chose to warn their oblivious comrades, so a surprise round was my players’ first contact with 4th Edition combat.

Their second impression came squarely from the three arrows with which Heron skewered the hapless goblin sharpshooter in the loft. That poor goblin fired on Heron, missing but triggering an immediate counterattack from the ranger, who followed up with two more arrows on his turn.

This seems to be contrary to the suggestions that multi-attacks will be rarer. But saga has a feat called Double-Attack, so maybe something like it will be in D&D4E.

The sharpshooter was dead before the third arrow struck home.

Taking a cue from Heron’s boldness, thinking the fight might be over quickly, Tian rushed to the house despite protests from Domna that he was overextending himself and thereby the party. Tian arrived at the closed front door and threw it open, but couldn’t quite reach the javelin-wielding miscreant within.

Too far out in front, Tian and Heron soon learned their mistake. The wolves rushed Heron, easily flanking him and pulling him to the ground. The goblin skirmisher in the house hurled a black-shafted javelin at Tian and scored a critical hit! Tian lost more than half his hit points in one blow, and to add insult to injury, the goblin then scampered out of the house’s open back door to a tree on its west side.

But then the first regular round started. Domna rushed a wolf and missed it, after shouting encouragement to her friends (providing a small bonus to them)

Anyone know anything about the Warlord class? It sounds a bit like the D&D minis Marshall class. Maybe my collection of books is too small, or is it a new 4E class?

The wolves continued to tear at Heron, almost sending the unfortunate ranger to death’s door. Sasha used a wizard strike

WTF is this? Presumably one of the new at-will caster abilities, but it seems to draw distressingly from the LotR "breakdancing wizards" IMO

with her staff, not only injuring a wolf, but also pushing it away from the prone Heron

a low-level at-will ability providing a push back effect? It sounds like the mobile combat they keep mentioning is a reality.

This gave Heron the room he needed to stand, move away from his assailants, and regain a few hit points with a second wind.

Ooh, sounds groovy. This is a mechanic from another system, but I'm not sure which. Anyone know how it works?

On his first regular turn, Tian used his second wind, then pursued the goblin by leaving the front door and running to intercept at the tree. He missed the wily skirmisher with his attack. The goblin cackled and backed away, then hurled another javelin at Tian—for another natural 20! Down Tian went, dying. Moving closer to Tian, the skirmisher started to reach for the knife on his belt to finish the rogue off. Robozcniek cut that thought short, literally, running across the battlefield, then charging

This confirms that charging is now a standard action.

the skirmisher and finishing the little dastard with one swift longsword stroke.

On the second regular round, Domna struck the wounded wolf, trying to keep it off Heron. That wolf attacked Domna, but she fended it off with her shield

Fluff or mechanics? Hmmmm.

But the uninjured wolf smelled blood, and it took Heron down again, this time knocking the eladrin out. Sasha maneuvered to blast both wolves with another strike from her staff, pushing the one attacking Heron away again. Robozcniek rushed across the battlefield a second time, and he terribly wounded the wolf that had been attacking Heron.

As the initiative count came to the top again, Domna used her tactical acumen to attack in such a way that the wolf she hit opened itself up to Robozcniek. The warforged struck true, and the wolf collapsed in a heap. Badly wounded and alone against many enemies, the remaining wolf tucked tail and ran, but Sasha was having none of it. She pulled out all the stops

Presumably what comes next isn't at-will :D

and set off a fiery blast around the fleeing beast. It tumbled down, still smoldering.

Their first real battle over, the heroes still standing aided their fallen friends—who had learned a valuable lesson. Investigation of the farmstead and more adventure remained ahead of them.

I gotta say, overall it sounds pretty interesting for a 1st level combat...
BilopTheFleshwarper
08-31-07, 03:12 AM 1. what's an eladrin?
2. rapid shot or something like that
3. sounds like a variant of marshal
4. looks like low level wizards won't suck any more.
5. yep, not so much suck...
6. second wind sounds like some kind of per day or encounter to make combat a little less cumbersome and fun again, small HP gain, extra actions, like hero points in M&M...
7. sounds like action points spent not a change of actions required.
8. fluff
9. sounds like a use of a real spell or a seriously powerful 1/day or week ability.
10. yeah combat should kick but in the new edition...
11. take it to the 4th ed boards....
Kouk
08-31-07, 11:14 AM The level 1 characters also appear to have more hit points.
Mistress_Alexis
08-31-07, 11:28 AM The level 1 characters also appear to have more hit points.

Well in SAGA characte get 3x max die roll + con modifier for HP, so someone with a d10 hit die and Con 14 has 32 Hp at first level, very survivable, I play SAGA and it lets you have interesting encounters at low levels, character at low levels arnt strong, but can take a hell of a beating, just watch out for Threshold and Condition.

PS: Second Wind is from Saga, if they are porting it right in, character can spend 3 swift actions (sacraficing their move and standard) to regain HP and move up the condition track. The reason its 3 swift action and you loose the two other actions, as class options, allow it to be downgraded to 2 so you can still take the other action of choice but only 1 of them.
Khadmus
08-31-07, 11:34 AM An eladrin is a Good outsider. CG, I think.
RobbyPants
08-31-07, 12:36 PM WTF is this? Presumably one of the new at-will caster abilities, but it seems to draw distressingly from the LotR "breakdancing wizards" IMO
From what I've heard, they were planning on chaning things so wizards (or mayby all casters) at low levels weren't "one hit wonders". I imagine it's something along the lines of a low-level reserve feat, or the warlock's eldritch blast. I've done similar things in my current game. I'm allowing unlimited use of most cantrips and orisions. Having Ray of Frost and Acid Splash at will gives casters more options. Even still, they're weak enough that they don't see much use.

Well in SAGA characte get 3x max die roll + con modifier for HP, so someone with a d10 hit die and Con 14 has 32 Hp at first level, very survivable,
Interesting. I've done the exact same thing a while ago when I was retooling the d20 modern rules.

An eladrin is a Good outsider. CG, I think.
Yep. They have a pretty hefty LA in 3.5
Nephlite
08-31-07, 05:23 PM Yep. They have a pretty hefty LA in 3.5

Think Eldarin is just flavor text: it is really a human in 4.0? I mean, you are allowed to describe your stuff how ever you like.
Duelpersonality
08-31-07, 07:26 PM Think Eldarin is just flavor text: it is really a human in 4.0? I mean, you are allowed to describe your stuff how ever you like.

Eladrin is some pretty hefty "flavor" text, and he did say that the group was mostly human, so at least one that is not.
RobbyPants
08-31-07, 08:23 PM Think Eldarin is just flavor text: it is really a human in 4.0? I mean, you are allowed to describe your stuff how ever you like.
From what I was reading on the 4E races preview, they're planning on giving races new abilities as their level increases. Thus, you can play a diluted version of some more powerful races at 1st level. Think Savages Spiecies progression. The only difference from now is that all of the weak races have been given more powerful abilities to make up for it (effectively giving all the LA +0 races a higher LA, and spreading it through the later levels).

So, from what I understand, the PC probably is an Eldarian. It just won't have reached its full potential yet.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Colmarr 08-31-07, 02:48 AM	... created a mostly human party of 1st level PCs who are all affiliated with a local count. The warlord, Domna, is the baron’s youngest daughter, and Tian, the rogue, is Domna’s lifelong friend and also the son of the leader of baron’s personal mercenary troop. Sasha, the wizard, is daughter to the baron’s chancellor, and guarding her is Robozcniek, a warforged fighter. Rounding out the group is Heron, an eladrin ranger who was a childhood friend of Tian and Domna... An Eladrin in a 1st level party? Seems like LAs are well and truly gone. I wanted to whip up something that showcased the new game’s tech, but I wanted to do it quickly. Using Own K. C. Stevens’s A Dark and Stormy Knight as inspiration, I designed a haunted tomb under a tor. One of the count’s barons had been rewarding retiring soldiers with frontier land near the tor, and these farmers recently spotted goblin scouts ranging toward a fallen tower built atop the tor by citizens of a long-gone hobgoblin kingdom. Then a little girl disappeared, along with some livestock. The count dispatched Domna and her friends to investigate the situation. After traveling to the outlying farmsteads, which were fortified yards surrounded by fields, and speaking with one of the farmers, the PCs determined that one home might have come under attack the night before. They investigated, and they soon saw the farm’s stockade gate was open and the inner yard, where livestock was usually kept at night, was empty but drenched in blood. Heron noticed some large wolf tracks leading into the yard, and the party cautiously entered, expecting goblins. Right they were. To the east, Heron spotted saddled wolves in the barn and a goblin archer in the barn’s loft. Tian spied another goblin peeking out of the modest farmhouse to the north. Neither chose to warn their oblivious comrades, so a surprise round was my players’ first contact with 4th Edition combat. Their second impression came squarely from the three arrows with which Heron skewered the hapless goblin sharpshooter in the loft. That poor goblin fired on Heron, missing but triggering an immediate counterattack from the ranger, who followed up with two more arrows on his turn. This seems to be contrary to the suggestions that multi-attacks will be rarer. But saga has a feat called Double-Attack, so maybe something like it will be in D&D4E. The sharpshooter was dead before the third arrow struck home. Taking a cue from Heron’s boldness, thinking the fight might be over quickly, Tian rushed to the house despite protests from Domna that he was overextending himself and thereby the party. Tian arrived at the closed front door and threw it open, but couldn’t quite reach the javelin-wielding miscreant within. Too far out in front, Tian and Heron soon learned their mistake. The wolves rushed Heron, easily flanking him and pulling him to the ground. The goblin skirmisher in the house hurled a black-shafted javelin at Tian and scored a critical hit! Tian lost more than half his hit points in one blow, and to add insult to injury, the goblin then scampered out of the house’s open back door to a tree on its west side. But then the first regular round started. Domna rushed a wolf and missed it, after shouting encouragement to her friends (providing a small bonus to them) Anyone know anything about the Warlord class? It sounds a bit like the D&D minis Marshall class. Maybe my collection of books is too small, or is it a new 4E class? The wolves continued to tear at Heron, almost sending the unfortunate ranger to death’s door. Sasha used a wizard strike WTF is this? Presumably one of the new at-will caster abilities, but it seems to draw distressingly from the LotR "breakdancing wizards" IMO with her staff, not only injuring a wolf, but also pushing it away from the prone Heron a low-level at-will ability providing a push back effect? It sounds like the mobile combat they keep mentioning is a reality. This gave Heron the room he needed to stand, move away from his assailants, and regain a few hit points with a second wind. Ooh, sounds groovy. This is a mechanic from another system, but I'm not sure which. Anyone know how it works? On his first regular turn, Tian used his second wind, then pursued the goblin by leaving the front door and running to intercept at the tree. He missed the wily skirmisher with his attack. The goblin cackled and backed away, then hurled another javelin at Tian—for another natural 20! Down Tian went, dying. Moving closer to Tian, the skirmisher started to reach for the knife on his belt to finish the rogue off. Robozcniek cut that thought short, literally, running across the battlefield, then charging This confirms that charging is now a standard action. the skirmisher and finishing the little dastard with one swift longsword stroke. On the second regular round, Domna struck the wounded wolf, trying to keep it off Heron. That wolf attacked Domna, but she fended it off with her shield Fluff or mechanics? Hmmmm. But the uninjured wolf smelled blood, and it took Heron down again, this time knocking the eladrin out. Sasha maneuvered to blast both wolves with another strike from her staff, pushing the one attacking Heron away again. Robozcniek rushed across the battlefield a second time, and he terribly wounded the wolf that had been attacking Heron. As the initiative count came to the top again, Domna used her tactical acumen to attack in such a way that the wolf she hit opened itself up to Robozcniek. The warforged struck true, and the wolf collapsed in a heap. Badly wounded and alone against many enemies, the remaining wolf tucked tail and ran, but Sasha was having none of it. She pulled out all the stops Presumably what comes next isn't at-will :D and set off a fiery blast around the fleeing beast. It tumbled down, still smoldering. Their first real battle over, the heroes still standing aided their fallen friends—who had learned a valuable lesson. Investigation of the farmstead and more adventure remained ahead of them. I gotta say, overall it sounds pretty interesting for a 1st level combat...
BilopTheFleshwarper 08-31-07, 03:12 AM	1. what's an eladrin? 2. rapid shot or something like that 3. sounds like a variant of marshal 4. looks like low level wizards won't suck any more. 5. yep, not so much suck... 6. second wind sounds like some kind of per day or encounter to make combat a little less cumbersome and fun again, small HP gain, extra actions, like hero points in M&M... 7. sounds like action points spent not a change of actions required. 8. fluff 9. sounds like a use of a real spell or a seriously powerful 1/day or week ability. 10. yeah combat should kick but in the new edition... 11. take it to the 4th ed boards....
Kouk 08-31-07, 11:14 AM	The level 1 characters also appear to have more hit points.
Mistress_Alexis 08-31-07, 11:28 AM	The level 1 characters also appear to have more hit points. Well in SAGA characte get 3x max die roll + con modifier for HP, so someone with a d10 hit die and Con 14 has 32 Hp at first level, very survivable, I play SAGA and it lets you have interesting encounters at low levels, character at low levels arnt strong, but can take a hell of a beating, just watch out for Threshold and Condition. PS: Second Wind is from Saga, if they are porting it right in, character can spend 3 swift actions (sacraficing their move and standard) to regain HP and move up the condition track. The reason its 3 swift action and you loose the two other actions, as class options, allow it to be downgraded to 2 so you can still take the other action of choice but only 1 of them.
Khadmus 08-31-07, 11:34 AM	An eladrin is a Good outsider. CG, I think.
RobbyPants 08-31-07, 12:36 PM	WTF is this? Presumably one of the new at-will caster abilities, but it seems to draw distressingly from the LotR "breakdancing wizards" IMO From what I've heard, they were planning on chaning things so wizards (or mayby all casters) at low levels weren't "one hit wonders". I imagine it's something along the lines of a low-level reserve feat, or the warlock's eldritch blast. I've done similar things in my current game. I'm allowing unlimited use of most cantrips and orisions. Having Ray of Frost and Acid Splash at will gives casters more options. Even still, they're weak enough that they don't see much use. Well in SAGA characte get 3x max die roll + con modifier for HP, so someone with a d10 hit die and Con 14 has 32 Hp at first level, very survivable, Interesting. I've done the exact same thing a while ago when I was retooling the d20 modern rules. An eladrin is a Good outsider. CG, I think. Yep. They have a pretty hefty LA in 3.5
Nephlite 08-31-07, 05:23 PM	Yep. They have a pretty hefty LA in 3.5 Think Eldarin is just flavor text: it is really a human in 4.0? I mean, you are allowed to describe your stuff how ever you like.
Duelpersonality 08-31-07, 07:26 PM	Think Eldarin is just flavor text: it is really a human in 4.0? I mean, you are allowed to describe your stuff how ever you like. Eladrin is some pretty hefty "flavor" text, and he did say that the group was mostly human, so at least one that is not.
RobbyPants 08-31-07, 08:23 PM	Think Eldarin is just flavor text: it is really a human in 4.0? I mean, you are allowed to describe your stuff how ever you like. From what I was reading on the 4E races preview, they're planning on giving races new abilities as their level increases. Thus, you can play a diluted version of some more powerful races at 1st level. Think Savages Spiecies progression. The only difference from now is that all of the weak races have been given more powerful abilities to make up for it (effectively giving all the LA +0 races a higher LA, and spreading it through the later levels). So, from what I understand, the PC probably is an Eldarian. It just won't have reached its full potential yet.