Follow-Up / Revision to Yesterday's 4th Edition Post
I realized late last night that in yesterday's post about having fun with any edition (in this case, 4th Edition), there was nothing really "4th Edition-y" about my recap. That background could've been applied to any edition of D&D (which, really, was part of my point in the first place - that any edition can be used to have fun).
But, to keep the posts a little more on topic, I edited yesterday's post to include some of the mechanics that made that game fun. For those of you who already read yesterday's post, this is part I added:
Mechanics-wise, the DM did some really fun things with the various characters' "Powers", which I have to admit are one of my least favorite things about reading the 4th Edition Player's Handbook. I hate read page after boring page of a bunch of different powers that all start to sound the same after awhile. However, the DM had read them and made sure that our powers all worked together to create some interesting in-game effects. I remember specifically that my character, Tapp, had a power called "Lead by Might". The trigger was "When you strike someone in melee, even if it's Nale" (who, as a reminder, was the name of the "left head" of our shared Ettin character). The effect was "The target follows your commands until the beginning of your next round, though it can't use encounter, daily, or rechargeable powers."
Nale, on the other hand, had a power called Bright Idea. The effect was that he automatically succeeded at one INT or WIS based check (in effect, he used this power instead of rolling. It could also be used in combination with an Action Point to figure out what to do next if the party was stuck. This was made all the more hilarious because, again, Nale had an Intelligence of 6 and was the dumbest character in the entire group.
I really thought the DM did a great job of taking the mechanics of 4th Edition and making them much more interesting when applied to the characters he had created for us. It didn't really feel like we were playing a tabletop version of a MMORPG, which is a criticism I hear levied against 4th Edition all the time (and one I've made myself).
But, to keep the posts a little more on topic, I edited yesterday's post to include some of the mechanics that made that game fun. For those of you who already read yesterday's post, this is part I added:
Mechanics-wise, the DM did some really fun things with the various characters' "Powers", which I have to admit are one of my least favorite things about reading the 4th Edition Player's Handbook. I hate read page after boring page of a bunch of different powers that all start to sound the same after awhile. However, the DM had read them and made sure that our powers all worked together to create some interesting in-game effects. I remember specifically that my character, Tapp, had a power called "Lead by Might". The trigger was "When you strike someone in melee, even if it's Nale" (who, as a reminder, was the name of the "left head" of our shared Ettin character). The effect was "The target follows your commands until the beginning of your next round, though it can't use encounter, daily, or rechargeable powers."
Nale, on the other hand, had a power called Bright Idea. The effect was that he automatically succeeded at one INT or WIS based check (in effect, he used this power instead of rolling. It could also be used in combination with an Action Point to figure out what to do next if the party was stuck. This was made all the more hilarious because, again, Nale had an Intelligence of 6 and was the dumbest character in the entire group.
I really thought the DM did a great job of taking the mechanics of 4th Edition and making them much more interesting when applied to the characters he had created for us. It didn't really feel like we were playing a tabletop version of a MMORPG, which is a criticism I hear levied against 4th Edition all the time (and one I've made myself).
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