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David Kaehler
United States
Champaign
Illinois
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Maddtrippin wrote: So was my intimidate roll no necessary? Should we wait for you to tell us what to roll and what the difficulty would be?
Rolling extra dice doesn't hurt (I can ignore them if not needed), but I just didn't want people thinking they had to roll to do everything. Rule of thumb is: if you are unsure, just ask.
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David Pierce
United States
Costa Mesa
California
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ok, thanks!
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I was not expecting for Krane to back down! I was starting to think this party was not meant to be
But thinking about it, he has accomplished what he wanted and it makes sense for him to play along now, since he seems to want to see where things are going...
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nick mucia
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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Krane isnt particularly aggressive, just bored and mischievous. He just wants an adventure, (also, the beer went to his head a bit and he sobered up fast when he realized he might actually have to get into a serious fight).
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David Kaehler
United States
Champaign
Illinois
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Since this is my first time running a PBF game, I have some questions for everyone.
1) I noticed a lot of you are using a different color for your dialog. Would you like for me to do this as well with NPCs?
2) I have been quoting everyone's post (I got the bright idea today to change the username to character names) and then rearranging them, and then saying what happens. Do you like the way I am currently doing it or would you prefer something like this?
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Andy Perry
United States
Addison
Texas
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I just did the different color because I thought that was how we do it. If we don't need to I'll stop, or if people find it easier I can continue.
The way you are doing it is great. The other looks fine to me too, so what ever is easier for you I guess. Sorry that just puts me squarely on the fence heh.
On another note I have been sent away for work next week. I'll have accsess to the Internet via my phone only so my responses my be shorter, sorry. I'll try to keep up. They just sprung this trip on me.
I thought Kranes play was great. Ayrien just had no real response to it, so I took the easy way out heh.
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Dave Ricchiazzi
United States
Buffalo
New York
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1) + 2): It's been fine how you've been doing them.
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Stossel wrote: 1) + 2): It's been fine how you've been doing them.
I agree, I like the way it is now.
Also, I'm leaving for work out of town and may not be able to post again this weekend. I'll post if I can go online before monday, but don't wait for me.
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nick mucia
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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Hey guys, let me know if you are getting annoyed by the way I play. I am usually a little crude and a little light-hearted. If you want a more serious campaign I can be a little more reserved, but right now I just want to help advance the story line and have a few laughs.
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nmucia wrote: Hey guys, let me know if you are getting annoyed by the way I play. I am usually a little crude and a little light-hearted. If you want a more serious campaign I can be a little more reserved, but right now I just want to help advance the story line and have a few laughs.
Don't worry, personally I like a more lighthearted game. Argos may not have the same relaxed approach to adventuring, but don't let him discourage you 
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David Kaehler
United States
Champaign
Illinois
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Sorry about the late posting guys. I am a bit busy with work for the next week, so I may not be posting as often as I normally would. I will try to keep it at least once per day, but in all likelihood, I will probably post closer to every other day for the next week or so.
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Andy Perry
United States
Addison
Texas
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Hi all,
Work has me traveling all over for the next month or so. I'm here all this week but then will be away again the following. I'll try my best to keep up but just skip me if need too.
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David Kaehler
United States
Champaign
Illinois
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Combat
One of my favorite parts of DnD 4e is the combat system. It is a fairly balanced system that is tactical and really allows for parties to synergize together in a satisfying way. Since combat system is an abstraction of "real fighting", so I will attempt to explain what each component represents mechanically and thematically.
Overview
Combat is handled on a map in a series of rounds, each representing about 6 seconds in real time. During a round, each participant will take a turn that describes what they do. While there is a definite turn order, which is determined by initiative (described below), each turn takes place almost simultaneously in real time. During your turn, you will usually have access to three normal actions (1 Minor Action, 1 Move Action, 1 Standard Action), as well as Free Actions. You can take the actions in any order that you wish. I will describe each kind of action below.
Starting Combat
1) Combat first starts with a map that is provided by the DM. It will have the locations of the enemies and the party members on it, usually noted by tokens or miniatures. It will also show any relevant terrain and hazards.
2) Then each participant rolls initiative. Like most other things, you roll a d20, and then add your initiative modifier to it. This determines turn order. For our campaign, I will roll initiative for everyone and determine turn order when I post the map.
3) If either the enemies or the party was surprised, then the other group has a surprise round. A surprise round is a round where only one side gets to take 1 action and the other side grants combat advantage.
4) Then the first round of combat starts, with everyone taking their turn in order.
5) Combat ends when a victory condition is met. Most often the victory condition is one side was defeated or fled. However, sometimes you might have a combat encounter where you only need to last X rounds until help arrives or defeat one "boss" monster or something like that.
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David Kaehler
United States
Champaign
Illinois
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The Actions
Minor Action
Minor actions are usually simple/easy things to do and most of the time are not damaging attacks. They usually encompass actions that enable you to do some other more awesome action or supporting actions. Some examples are: stowing/retrieving an item, picking some item up off the ground/surface, opening a door/chest, and making some kinds of skill checks.
Move Action
Move actions allow you to move around the battlefield. Normally you do one of three things with a move action. You can Shift, which means you move 1 square only but don't provoke opportunity attacks. You can Move, which means you move squares up to your speed and provoke opportunity attacks. You can Run, which means you move squares up to your speed+2, provoke opportunity attacks, grant combat advantage, and suffer a –5 Penalty to Attack Rolls until the start of your next turn. You can also turn a Move Action into a Minor Action if you want, but not the other way around.
Standard Action
Standard actions are usually the the attacks you make and the really cool fun stuff. The most common things to do with a Standard Action is use an attack power, Charge an enemy, Second Wind, or take Total Defense. Some skill checks in combat require standard actions rather than minor actions. When using a power, refer to the power card for how to use it. You can also change your Standard Action into a Minor Action or Move Action, but not the other way around.
- Charging
----- Charging allows you to move up your speed in towards an enemy and then make a Melee Basic Attack against it. You also gain a +1 bonus to hit. However, you do provoke opportunity attacks, must move at least 2 squares, and each movement must bring you closer to the target (so you can't run in a circle to charge). Finally, charging allows you to take no more normal actions.
-Second Wind
----- Using a Second Wind allows you to heal yourself. You spend a healing surge to gain a healing surge value of hp, and also gain +2 to all defenses until the start of your next turn. You can only do this once per encounter.
-Total Defense
----- You gain a +2 bonus to all of your defenses. This is only ever used in the most dire of situations.
Free Action
Free actions are actions that don't require concentration, are really easy to do, and/or are very fast. Some examples include talking or dropping an item. You can take "unlimited" free actions, even when it is not your turn, but the DM might stop you at some point. Don't expect to have a full conversation in between turns. The one important exception is: you can only make 1 free action attack per turn.
Opportunity Attacks (OA)
Opportunity attacks are when you take advantage of an opening or an enemy letting its guard down. You can only make OAs on an someone else turn and are limited to 1 OA per turn. When you make an OA, you make a Melee Basic Attack against the target before the trigger action takes place. This can lead to denying an enemy an action or killing it before it can complete what it tried to do. Things that provoke OAs are:
1) An enemy leaves a square adjacent to you
2) An enemy makes a ranged or area power while adjacent to you
Immediate Actions
Immediate actions are limited to once per round and are similar to OAs. They come in two kinds, Immediate Reactions, which happen after the triggering action, and Immediate Interrupts, which happen before the triggering action.
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David Kaehler
United States
Champaign
Illinois
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Other Actions
Action Points
Action points allow you to have the spotlight shine on you. In combat you can spend an action point to take an extra Standard Action on your turn, which can be downgraded if you want. As a DM, and this is not RAW (Rules As Written), I allow action points to be spent to do stunts that are normally impossible or very improbable to happen or change the story/plot.
After an extended rest, you start with 1 action point. After every 2 milestones (encounters), you get 1 more. DMs may also give them out as bonuses. You may only spend 1 action point per encounter.
Ready an Action
Readying an action means you prepare to do something in reaction to some other event. An easy example is "I will shoot at the first thing that walks through the door". It takes a Standard Action to ready an action. When you ready an action, you must choose what specific action to ready and what the trigger is. When the trigger happens, you do the action as an Immediate Reaction and your initiative changes to be right before whatever triggered your action.
Delay
Delaying means you decide to skip your turn and move it down in the initiative order. Some examples of when this is used are: a wizard delaying before casting an area spell to avoid hitting allies or a rogue delaying so that an ally can get into flanking position before he sneak attacks.
Making Attacks
Making an attack is fairly simple. For each attack, it will tell you what ability to attack with and what defense it targets, as well as what the range on the attack is. When you make an attack, you will roll 1d20 and your bonus to and compare it to the monster's defense. If you hit, you deal damage. For this game, always roll damage right when you roll the attack roll to speed things up a little bit. Here is an example of how to make an attack.
Quote: Icy Skewer: Melee, +8 vs AC, 1d10+8 Cold damage
I will use the above attack on a creature adjacent to me.
Icy Skewer 1d20+8 = (7) + 8 = 15 vs AC
Cold Damage 1d10+8 = (4) + 8 = 12
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David Kaehler
United States
Champaign
Illinois
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Sample Turns
When playing, you should always try to be as descriptive as possible. I will post two sample turns to show what is good and what is bad. When I play, I tend to start talking in first person, while some others in my group use third person. Both are good, so don't feel like you must use one or the other.
Bad Turn
Move Action: I shift to A6.
Standard Action: I use Icy Skewer on the enemy.
Icy Skewer 1d20+8 = (6) + 8 = 14 vs AC
Cold Damage 1d10+8 = (1) + 8 = 9
I end my turn.
Good Turn
I barely duck out of the way of the troll's club, avoiding it by only an inch. I notice my comrade come at the troll from behind, so I deftly side step around the creature and try to keep its attention. (Move: Shift to A6). I call out "Taste my blade fiend!" as I swing my icy blade upwards at the troll's neck. (Standard: Icy Skewer)
Icy Skewer 1d20+8 = (4) + 8 = 12 vs AC
Cold Damage 1d10+8 = (10) + 8 = 18
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David Kaehler
United States
Champaign
Illinois
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I just finished the combat basics. If you have any questions, let me know and I can try to clear it up. I also posted a link to the "Quick Start Rules" in the first post.
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David Kaehler
United States
Champaign
Illinois
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How is everyone feeling about the experience so far? Is there anything I can improve upon?
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Andy Perry
United States
Addison
Texas
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It's been great for me so far. Only thing I'd ask is if I, or anyone I guess, miss something obvious you keep letting us know. Even if it is after the fact, so we can learn. For example in that last encounter was there anything we did or didn't do that would have been obvious to people who have played before.
But it's been great.
Cheers,
Andy
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David Pierce
United States
Costa Mesa
California
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I agree with Andy! The experience has been great! Has there been anything we should have done that we did not?
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Yep, nothing to comment on other than that it has been very fun! Let's keep this going
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David Kaehler
United States
Champaign
Illinois
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I wouldn't say you guys missed anything obvious, but I am surprised at some actions taken. For example, being so quick to give the gold to Rusty, but refusing to spare a copper for the beggar. I will update the IC thread tonight, giving everyone a chance to post again before the guards are there.
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Maybe everybody knows this, and correct me if I'm wrong, but to give a quick overview of D&D's monetary system:
1 gold piece (gp) = 10 silver pieces (sp), and 1 silver piece = 10 copper pieces (cp).
Prices are a bit crazy in D&D, but to give some perspective, prices for some common items:
wine bottle: 5 gp
ale pitcher: 2 sp
meal (common): 2 sp
meal (feast): 5 gp
10 day rations: 5 gp
typical inn room: 5 sp
I found some sources on the web saying 1gp would be worth between $30 and $60, but you can't take that very seriously due to how unreasonable pricing is in D&D. Adventuring stuff, for example, tends to be very expensive.
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Andy Perry
United States
Addison
Texas
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Cool thanks, and to be clear I honestly know nothing about this stuff unless I've learned it here. I'm surprised to learn that there are "set" prices. The money system etc, I know nada.....I just thought giving the gold to rusty is something Ayrien would do, never having any money, I was imagining him feeling uneasy finding so much, so just did it, maybe I should have run it past people before. But it seemed people were just doing as they wished with decisions, any how it makes sense in some regard as we aren't really a bonded group yet, with most of us just having met.
It is a funny pace the whole thing, it's like slow in some regards then bam suddenly things have progressed to a stage without much group input in a direction I would not have guessed.... Not that I'm complaining or that it bothers me at all it's just different
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pez105 wrote: I just thought giving the gold to rusty is something Ayrien would do, never having any money, I was imagining him feeling uneasy finding so much, so just did it
I think that's the most important, doing what your character would do. It was a cool moment, not something you see everyday but it made sense for your character. I guess only Argos saw you do it, and he's a good guy, so you're fine, heh! Of course, being human and knowing very well the value of money, Argos held his breath for a moment at the sight of the gold switching hands.
About the pace, I guess that's expected in a play-by-forum game?
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