Tag Archives: D&D 4E

A Rant on the Wizards Goblin

Sometimes I forget about the differences between D&D as intended by the developers and D&D as I play it (and have always played it, and how it’s played by the people I know, etc.) Reading today’s Dragon’s-Eye View, I saw … Continue reading

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Dealing with Character Death

The death of a character is rarely a happy event. Sometimes it’s a well-deserved comeuppance for terrible play (he said, glaring knowingly at the mirror-man sorcerer), but usually it’s a series of unplanned circumstances that leave the player and the … Continue reading

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This Story Is Happy End

I really don’t like endings. I don’t like it when a book ends, or a TV shows hits a season finale, or I have to say good-bye to a longtime friend. Little endings, like the end of an episode or … Continue reading

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When a Player Misses a Session

Meteors. Zombie swarms. Conventions for Japanese cartoons. Jesus. There are probably a thousand things that can prevent a player from attending the session, and I’ve heard two-hundred thirty-eight of them. So when something explodes and a player can’t attend a … Continue reading

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Designing for Parties Missing a Role (4th Edition)

I’ve talked a few times about designing sessions for balanced parties and how hard it is. But some parties don’t have the luxury of being balanced. Sometimes, nobody wants to fill a certain role, or there just aren’t enough people … Continue reading

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4th Edition Themes (the Mechanic That Should Have Always Been)

Recently, I said this: The items are also neat, though I’m starting to be bothered by 4th Edition’s insistence on adding more and more item slots. First it was tattoos, then divine gifts, and now primordial shards and elemental gifts. … Continue reading

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Heroes of the Elemental Chaos

I like Heroes of the Elemental Chaos. When I got Heroes of Shadow, I found that it was mostly just an expansion to the staggeringly limited Encounters line, in that it wasn’t good but it was the best there was. … Continue reading

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CRs, and Why They Mean So Little

Last night in our 3.5E campaign, we fought an entomber, from Libris Mortis, the Book of Bad Latin (also undead). The entomber’s primary mechanic is, shock of shocks, entombing. Every time it connects with an attack, the target has to … Continue reading

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Secondary Skills

I have plenty of complaints about the skill system in 4th, but the thing I missed the most is the skills that fell by the wayside. I understand rolling skills like Listen, Spot, and Search into Perception, and I don’t … Continue reading

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The Seven Party Roles (Examples)

So what does it mean to have roles that aren’t defined by the system? In 4th Edition, a fighter is a defender. Though you can build one with striking or controlling, it’s a rare fighter that doesn’t function at all … Continue reading

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