How good is the D&D Character Builder software?
The character builder looks promising. Did you try it yet?
Dungeon Mastering Reviews: Adventurer's Vault
So you’re wondering if it is worth your hard earned treasure to unlock the wonders of the Adventurer’s Vault? Let us break it down for you.
Pyramid of Shadows review
Mike Mearls and James Wyatt from WOTC provide us with classic D&D adventure in a cool setting. I will be using some if not all of it.
D&D4e learning curve - simple rules, complex game
The D&D4e rules are simple yet the characters are complex. And that can combat encounters last forever. Come flying out of the blocks with these tips!
6 Comments
12:17 am on August 20th, 2008
Breaking the DM is apparently even more fun…You should tackle that post, it’s right up your alley.
Great post Yax! Enjoy the rest!
9:51 am on August 20th, 2008
One of the things we did in getting use to 4e, was to have some beta gaming. That is, we all made up our characters and the GM ran a series of mini-adventures and encounters. We were allowed, during this time, to change any part of our character in-game. If a power was not working for you the way you thought, change it up for another one. Between games, you could make up different characters, change classes, or races.
It was also during that time, that we really worked out how to play within our roles (not letting the strikers get tied up in Melee, etc.), and we started to figure out how to use our powers as a team, not as individuals. We did this for a few weeks, until the group really got settled into their characters, tested out their powers, and found what they liked best.
Our actual campaign starts in two weeks. At that time, all character builds are locked, and we start playing the official campaign. I highly recommend the beta gaming concept.
12:33 pm on August 20th, 2008
I like the beta gaming concept. I’m pretty sure that a couple of sessions would be good enough considering that characters can change 1 power every time they level up.
3:32 pm on August 20th, 2008
Power cards. I think they are probably the number one thing that expidited the games I played in during GenCon (9 games @ 40 total) with the RPGA. Having to flip through the books takes a ton of time. Also, I would say printing effects and every action from the combat section on cards would be worthwhile too.
Besides the cards, having very visible items to identify minis that are marked, quarried, cursed, bloodied, make the game faster as well. This way you can make quick decisions about options instead of waiting for a DM or player to look up/calculate/remember who has what.
Also, if you have all these things available, make sure players are aware where they are in the iniative sequence and have them be prepared with their action ahead of time. I would go so far to tell players they have a 30 second to 1 minute cap on making their decision, defaulting to a standard melee or ranged attack if they reach that time limit. If most everyone is a newbie, increase the time and scale it down as they get better.
Make cards for characters as well, and have them fold it and place it as a nameplate in front of them. Have them include their init mod, passive insight and perceptions, their AC and Defenses (and any potention modifiers to these), and their best three skills and their values. This keeps the DM from having to ask and players looking up, “What’s your perception?” “Does a 21 beat your Reflex?” and whatnot.
The beta gaming would be icing on the cake.
6:24 am on August 26th, 2008
Power cards and quick reference sheets (like Cliff’s Notes, for important rules) are extremely helpful.
Another thing you could do is have players experiment with creating a few characters on their own before the first game, just to get a feel for the process and so they can browse through feats, powers, and skills at their leisure without holding everyone else up.
10:30 am on September 23rd, 2008
Power cards are a neccessity, esp. because you can opt to change powers at each level. As for having a visual to determine status changes we use coloured tiles (cut from construction paper and lamenated) we place the appropriate colour under the PC’s miniature, once players learn the colour code it’s simple to see who’s under what change. A player’s log is another handy tool, keeping track of choices, annecdotes, treasure, and much more. It help’s when a campaign is long running and creates continuity.