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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2011 - 12:55PM
#61
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Since this seemed the most suitable thread for it I'm going to post my question here. Do forgive me if I misplaced it.
First of all I put in an order for the red box, the essentials core rules and the essential book with the four iconic characters (fighter etc). Despite the fact a lot of people on this forum bash the essentials line I would like to say I am very positive about the idea of the 'essentials' line and it's what finally pulled me in. So keep such handy books coming! They're great to draw in newcomers.
And I hope in the near future to slide into a local group as a Knight (Fighter) or Blackguard.
Now as for my questions:
1) Given that the local D and D groups are (for now) full I'll probably only have one other person to play with. How effective is it to just have 1 player and does it cause problems if I were to GM and play an NPC partymember (say a bodyguard of my player's mage) for the rpg?
2) I skimmed through the Dark Hero book in the store. Being a huge fan of the Neverwinter Night and Dark Knights, I always liked the idea of a Blackguard. How compatible would a Blackguard be as a multiclass from a str/con based fighter. And more importantly, is it even advisable to start of with an 'eviller' party than is the cliché?
3) In this thread I noticed people mentioning conversions are necessary from the red box to the essentials line. Were certain aspects of the charactersheets dropped in it or highly simplified?
My apologies in advance if my questions are stupid.
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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2011 - 4:58PM
#62
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Since this seemed the most suitable thread for it I'm going to post my question here. Do forgive me if I misplaced it.
First of all I put in an order for the red box, the essentials core rules and the essential book with the four iconic characters (fighter etc). Despite the fact a lot of people on this forum bash the essentials line I would like to say I am very positive about the idea of the 'essentials' line and it's what finally pulled me in. So keep such handy books coming! They're great to draw in newcomers.
And I hope in the near future to slide into a local group as a Knight (Fighter) or Blackguard.
Now as for my questions:
1) Given that the local D and D groups are (for now) full I'll probably only have one other person to play with. How effective is it to just have 1 player and does it cause problems if I were to GM and play an NPC partymember (say a bodyguard of my player's mage) for the rpg?
2) I skimmed through the Dark Hero book in the store. Being a huge fan of the Neverwinter Night and Dark Knights, I always liked the idea of a Blackguard. How compatible would a Blackguard be as a multiclass from a str/con based fighter. And more importantly, is it even advisable to start of with an 'eviller' party than is the cliché?
3) In this thread I noticed people mentioning conversions are necessary from the red box to the essentials line. Were certain aspects of the charactersheets dropped in it or highly simplified?
My apologies in advance if my questions are stupid.
Welcome to the hobby  As a first step when your stuff arrives, I'd recommend getting together with the other player and running through the Player's Book in the Red Box. It contains a solo adventure that you can take turns running through, with one of you rolling for the bad guys. At the end of that you'll have a character created and a good idea of the basic rules.
After you've finished that I'd suggest that you dig out Heroes of the Fallen Lands and the conversion doc (wizards.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/...) and convert your characters. The changes are very minor so it's not a big deal, although the fighter from the PB is a Slayer, so you might want to convert it to a Knight instead.
Next you'll be ready to start the adventure contained in the DM's book (The Twisting Halls), which is where your other questions come in:
1. It's possible to play with a DM + 1 player, but if you're going to play an NPC companion, you have to remember that the player(s) should be the star(s) of the show. Playing a stereotypical, stupid but loyal henchman would work well, letting the PC make the decisions and take the glory.
You'll also need to modify the encounters in the Twisting Halls to make them survivable. This is fairly easy - just remove enough monsters to reduce the total XP of the encounter to half. For Encounter 2 I'd keep the numbers as is, but treat it as two separate encounters and reduce the dragon's damage. Reduce its attack dice by 1 size and halve any dmg modifiers (e.g. 1d12+6 becomes 1d10+3). I'd probably reduce its HP to around 88 and drop its XP to 400.
2. I don't think there is a multi-class option for Blackguards yet, but you could always just play a Blackguard. I wouldn't recommend it for the NPC henchman though - save it for when you can enjoy playing it as a PC. As for playing an evil party - I'd suggest that you leave it up to your player. As the DM it's up to you to decide the consequences of any evil actions they might take...
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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2011 - 10:38PM
#63
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Thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated!
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2 years ago ::
Jul 05, 2011 - 1:00AM
#64
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Date Joined:
Sep 26, 2001
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How effective is it to just have 1 player and does it cause problems if I were to GM and play an NPC partymember (say a bodyguard of my player's mage) for the rpg?
Really not very, in any version of the game and 4e emphasized the team aspect of play more than ever. Oddly, while in a two or three character party, the Controller is often the first role to go, a controller might make a viable solo PC - while defenders and leaders have ally-focused features that become worthless when alone, and strikers don't, controller is probably the only role where the absence of a party can actually make it slightly /more/ effective.
Adjusting encounters is a matter of reducing the experience budget, of course. If you do this by reducing the number of monsters (meaning a standard solo-adventurer encoutner will generally be vs a single level-apropriate standard monster), a Striker would probably be the best choice for the solo PC. If you reduce the exp budget by reducing the level of the monsters, or 'demoting' monsters from Solo to standard or standard to minion, then a Controller could do very well.
2) I skimmed through the Dark Hero book in the store. Being a huge fan of the Neverwinter Night and Dark Knights, I always liked the idea of a Blackguard. How compatible would a Blackguard be as a multiclass from a str/con based fighter. And more importantly, is it even advisable to start of with an 'eviller' party than is the cliché?
Heroes of Shadow is dark in tone, but the PCs created with it do not have to be evil. Evil PCs aren't usually a great idea, though the 'evil campaign' can work, the more conventional 'good guy' (LG/Good) or 'anti-hero' (Good/Unaligned) has a lot more story potential. Most of the 'dark' or 'anti-hero' or even 'evil' PC ideas work fine with Unaligned.
3) In this thread I noticed people mentioning conversions are necessary from the red box to the essentials line. Were certain aspects of the charactersheets dropped in it or highly simplified?
The Red Box isn't a complete or perfect introduction to 4e or Essentials, but it doesn't require any serious 'conversion.' The notable issues are just a matter of changes that were aparently made to the Essentials rule set after the Red Box was set in stone. So a few things work differently for a Red Box Mage or Slayer, for instance, than for a HotFL Mage or Slayer. When the two conflict, the Red Box is the less authoritative source.
In summary, I'd call solo-PC campaigns and 'evil' campaigns 'advanced techniques.' They're doable, but probably not a great idea for a first campaign. If there's organized play in your area, I'd suggest attending that for a while to get some more experience, and meet other new players who might be looking for a game to join.
Love 4e? Concerned about its future? Join the Old Guard of 4e"You want The Tooth? You can't handle The Tooth!" - Dahlver-Nar. "If magic is unrestrained in the campaign, D&D quickly degenerates into a weird wizard show where players get bored quickly" - E. Gary Gygax
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2 years ago ::
Jul 05, 2011 - 1:17AM
#65
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Thanks for the feedback!
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2 years ago ::
Jul 06, 2011 - 8:28AM
#66
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What Dice do you roll for Skill checks? A d20? Can someone explain Skills in the simplest of terms?
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2 years ago ::
Jul 06, 2011 - 8:36AM
#67
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What Dice do you roll for Skill checks? A d20? Can someone explain Skills in the simplest of terms?
roll a d20 and add bonus from skill training (+5), appropriate stat modifier (for example, if you have 14 charisma, you get a +2 bonus to charisma related skills), plus 1/2 your level. items and backgrounds and themes, and paragon paths/epic destinies may also give bonuses
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2 years ago ::
Jul 06, 2011 - 8:44AM
#68
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What Dice do you roll for Skill checks? A d20? Can someone explain Skills in the simplest of terms?
roll a d20 and add bonus from skill training (+5), appropriate stat modifier (for example, if you have 14 charisma, you get a +2 bonus to charisma related skills), plus 1/2 your level. items and backgrounds and themes, and paragon paths/epic destinies may also give bonuses
So lets the CHaracter has a Dex of 14 (total) and he says he wants to shimmy along a ledge.
He must Roll UNDER 14 on the D20? To pass a skill check?
If he rolls over he slips?
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2 years ago ::
Jul 06, 2011 - 8:54AM
#69
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no, there will be a 'dc' that indicates what has to be hit, for what you are saying it will be an acrobatics check, for sake of argument, call it a dc 14 acrobatics check. the d20 plus all the other stuff i mentioned must meet or exceed that number, its not like old ability checks and non weapon proficiency checks where you had to get under or equal to an attribute
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2 years ago ::
Jul 06, 2011 - 8:58AM
#70
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no, there will be a 'dc' that indicates what has to be hit, for what you are saying it will be an acrobatics check, for sake of argument, call it a dc 14 acrobatics check. the d20 plus all the other stuff i mentioned must meet or exceed that number, its not like old ability checks and non weapon proficiency checks where you had to get under or equal to an attribute
Ok...where do you reference what the DC's are? Where does one check DC's? (lol, I know when you answer this I am going to be off to the store again!!!).
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