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3 years ago ::
Sep 10, 2010 - 11:04AM
#1
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Date Joined:
Sep 28, 2006
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The Rules Updates for D&D Essentials is up. www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4...Discuss...politely.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 10, 2010 - 11:13AM
#2
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Date Joined:
Oct 30, 2008
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As a fan of two blade rangers, I applaud this document.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 10, 2010 - 11:20AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Aug 11, 2006
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I will be ignoring the rarity system in my games, but other than that part of the document, it also gets a thumbs-up from me.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 10, 2010 - 11:45AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Oct 24, 2001
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The two-blade ranger in our game is also very happy. (Or at least he will be when he receives my email.)
Here are the PHB essentia, in my opinion: - Three Basic Rules (p 11)
- Power Types and Usage (p 54)
- Skills (p178-179)
- Feats (p 192)
- Rest and Recovery (p 263)
- All of Chapter 9 [Combat] (p 264-295)
A player needs to read the sections for building his or her character -- race, class, powers, feats, equipment, etc. But those are PC-specific. The above list is for everyone, regardless of the race or class or build or concept they are playing.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 10, 2010 - 11:48AM
#5
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Date Joined:
Oct 25, 2009
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I'm laughing so hard it hurts. THIS is what everyone's been crying about? How many hundreds of posts have there been declaring this to be 4.5? And this is the summary of changes? Unless I'm missing something, I'm very underwhelmed.
Summary
- changes to racial stats (you love it or hate it... easy to ignore if you wish) - a few changes to class mechanics that are pretty invisible and would easily have slipped through a normal erratta without much comment. Except for sneak attack output potentially greatly increased, not sure how that will play out. Have to see it in action...
- effect on miss for wizard spells and few damage adjustments. Not exactly a game breaker.
- feat changes. Hit and miss. I like the scaling NAD bonus feats, melee training change is freaking people out but it's hardly 4.5. Again, nothing here that really shakes up the game.
- rapiers are no longer superior. This must be version 4.5 !! 
- implement proficiency, after a careful read I still can't figure out how this changes the old system to any great degree. It's certainly not a game changer.
- magic item rarity, IMHO the only profound change to the game that we see in this document. Couple this with the (strangely absent) new rules on magic item use and it could really change the way people build their characters. Does this make the update version 4.5? Not for me (I love it) but I can see why min/max players would freak out. In reality though, the DM can still distribute magic items in such a way that the old system still works.
- A change to the heal section in divine power. Uh... okay.
Conclusion: Are they changing the game? Yes, but they've been doing that every month since this version was released. This feels more like a normal monthly errata update than version 4.5
Final Verdict: My game barely changes. Wednesday night is safe.
Want to know more about the history of D&D, especially how to play older editions of the game? Check out Crazy Monkey's "Tour through the editions":
http://community.wizards.com/crazymonkey/go/forum/view/133793/225799/Asylum_Play-by-Post
The current edition is BECMI, the most popular form of Basic D&D and the adventure is the classic Red Box quest to kill Bargle the evil magic user. Check it out, learn about the games roots, and enjoy the story as it unfolds.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 10, 2010 - 11:51AM
#6
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Date Joined:
May 23, 2005
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The two-blade ranger in our game is also very happy. (Or at least he will be when he receives my email.)
It definitely gives you a reason to take that feat for sure.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 10, 2010 - 11:54AM
#7
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Date Joined:
Oct 25, 2009
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I just realized that these are player oriented errata only. There's nothing here from the DM guide with regards to treasure distribution. Will there be a part 2 to this document? A version for DM changes?
Want to know more about the history of D&D, especially how to play older editions of the game? Check out Crazy Monkey's "Tour through the editions":
http://community.wizards.com/crazymonkey/go/forum/view/133793/225799/Asylum_Play-by-Post
The current edition is BECMI, the most popular form of Basic D&D and the adventure is the classic Red Box quest to kill Bargle the evil magic user. Check it out, learn about the games roots, and enjoy the story as it unfolds.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 10, 2010 - 11:56AM
#8
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I just realized that these are player oriented errata only. There's nothing here from the DM guide with regards to treasure distribution. Will there be a part 2 to this document? A version for DM changes?
Probably will come when the DM Kit comes along (IIRC, that's going to be a month from now or so?) I'm guessing it's player-focused only because the big release is HoFL, and the Compendium doesn't, as I understand, have a lot of discrete rules element things in it to correct.
Could be wrong, though.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 10, 2010 - 11:58AM
#9
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Date Joined:
Sep 19, 2007
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I just realized that these are player oriented errata only. There's nothing here from the DM guide with regards to treasure distribution. Will there be a part 2 to this document? A version for DM changes?
This also only has to do with races and classes presented in the first "heroes book". So there will be a part 2 for that. Then there's also DM changes. Then there's stuff they missed in the first pass of part 1 (like the dwarf/eladrin racial feats if they arent supposed to apply to implements either). Then there's more common items.
This is just the start of the Errata due to essentials.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 10, 2010 - 12:04PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Aug 15, 2009
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I will be ignoring the rarity system in my games, but other than that part of the document, it also gets a thumbs-up from me.
Yeah, the rarity system is right out. (Bracers of Mighty Striking is a Common, so the Knight, Slayer, and Thief get their +2 damage easily, but Iron Armbands of Power is an Uncommon, so everyone else has to beg ask nicely? Uhkay...  )
And the Sling-wielding Rogue [Distant Advantage, Backstabber Feats], Druid [Swarming Locusts, Pounce (with Patient Hunter Feat) At-Wills], and Warlord [Direct the Strike] in the group I DM just had their damage potential boosted a fair amount by the Sneak-Attack-is-now-1/turn change, since it'll go to the Rogue (who pretty much always has Combat Advantage thanks to the Druid) instead of the Ranger or Fighter...
Curious to see what changes will come from Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, since that document pretty clearly only covers Heroes of the Fallen Lands.
“If the computer or the game designer is having more fun than the player, you have made a terrible mistake.”
-Sid Meier
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