This is a note from Chris Tulach, regarding the crazy changes to 4E:
When a found magic item is affected by an official rules update, the player does not receive any "compensation." They cannot turn the item back in to recover the slot, they cannot sell it at full price, etc. They can either keep it and use the new rules or they can sell it at 20% of market price. If the found magic item has an enhancement bonus (armor, implement, neck slot, or weapon items), the player can choose to convert the item into a +X magic item, where X is the current enhancement bonus of the item, instead of selling it or keeping it.
When a purchased magic item is affected by an official rules update, the player has the option to sell the item back at the price paid for it, including (if relevant) upgrades that the PC paid for, but not including any upgrades that the PC did not pay for.
When any class feature, feat, power, or paragon path is changed by an official update, affected characters receive free retraining in order to make the necessary changes. These free retrains do not count against the normal limit of 1 retrain per level or 1 class feature retrain per the life of a character. However, players are on the honor system not to retrain extraneous elements that are not connected to the rules that were changed.
So, for example, if a power changes and you want to retrain it, that doesn't mean you can also retrain all your other powers at the same time to "fix your build" because that one power changed. On the other hand, if the rules for double weapons change and you had invested multiple feats in a chain and chosen a paragon path or multiclass specifically to take advantage of the old rules, then rebuilding all of those items is fair. We cannot establish hard and fast rules for this because every case will be unique but we trust the players not to abuse this opportunity.
When an official rules update changes a class feature, feat, power, or paragon path in a way that would invalidate one or more of your magic items but the items themselves have not changed (for example, when avengers lost the ability to gain the benefit of Armor of Faith while wearing anything heavier than cloth armor), you have the option to use as many free Transfer Enchantment rituals as needed to move the enchantments from the affected items to new items of the appropriate type (such as chainmail armor to cloth armor).
All of the rules regarding Transfer Enchantment must still be respected; you may not create illegal items in this fashion (such as cloth armor with an enchantment that is restricted to chainmail only). If there is no legal item with the same enchantment then you may instead choose a new, legal item of the appropriate type whose item level is less than or equal to the item level of your old item. You receive no other compensation (such as a refund of previous Transfer Enchantment costs) when changing items in this fashion.
Players are on the honor system to make the minimum necessary changes. If your armor needs to change because of a class feature update, changing your (unaffected) weapon at the same time is not a legitimate use of these rules.
The Central NJ Gaming Group has updated its December calendar. Here is what we are playing:
December 1: WATE1-1 Heirloom (Level 1-4), DALE1-6 The Vesperin Initiative (Level 11-14) December 8: DRAG1-7 Crafts (Level 1-4), DRAG1-6 Night of Fallen Petals (Level 7-10) December 15: CORM1-1 The Black Knight of Arabel (Level 1-4), WATE1-6 Out of Hatred (Level 11-14) December 22: No D&D, but happy holidays! December 29: BALD1-1 Flames of Initiation (Level 1-4), BALD1-6 Brothers in Arms (Level 4-6)
Gaming is Tuesday at 7pm, at the following address: 127 Camden Street Roselle Park, NJ 07204
An question came up last night about shifting while prone.
The clear answer is: NO.
By definition:
PRONEYou can't move from your space, but you can crawl, teleport or be forced by a push, pull or slide.
It doesn't say you can shift, so sadly, no rolling along the ground in a very dextrous manner.
Another misconception, while we are on the topic, is that crawling does not provoke. You only provoke while crawling if you leave a threatened square, the same as if you were walking.
The Feast of the High Moon is near, and mercenary work across Faerun has dried up as everyone prepares for celebrations. The Feast of the Moon marks the start of the winter season, and is also a remembrance of things lost but not forgotten. Cities far and wide celebrate the Feast with unique traditions- some bizarre, some somber, and some macabre. You have heard of one such macabre festival in the farming village of Shadowtop- and you have decided to see it for yourself.
Shadowtop is a midsize Human settlement south of Hillsfar, on the border of the Cormanthyr forest. Their annual celebration revolves around the "March of the Dead", a horrific night of undead invasion more than 200 years ago. While the march itself is seldom talked about, the villagers began to make light of the invasion by dressing up as monstrosities and distributing treats to village children. Visitors to the village are encouraged to dress up as well, and are given hospitality for participating in the festivities.
As you make your way to Shadowtop, you encounter a number of like-minded individuals also heading to the festivities, and decide to form a small group (there is, after all, safety in numbers.) Your approach to the village is flanked by the great shadowtop trees for which the village is named- massive dark oaks with canopies that drown out light from the ground, keeping the forest floor clear of underbrush.
The sounds of screams and bright lights coming from the village seem very authentic- almost too authentic. Then you notice fires burning with an eerie purple glow... and the smells of blood and decay... and you hear the clash of steel. Either this is a VERY good reenactment, or something is terribly wrong...
Play this adventure! You will be sent on one of three paths to help save the people of Shadowtop. Sign-up and details are on our meetup website, www.meetup.com/njgamers/calendar/1157008...
Disruptive Strike (Ranger 3) happens to be one of my favorite abilities, as Rangers have saved my hide with it on numerous occasions. There is nothing like putting a huge penalty on a monster's attack that just irks them. But on a recent expedition, I saw it combined with something even worse- single use arrows.
Now I'm a firm believer in saving money, and greatly dislike consumable items as I don't think there is any adventure that should take from your pocket without a return. But a few items are so powerful at such a low cost that they may have a great return- if they save your ally from death or just make for a great laugh.
Disruptive Strike is an immediate interrupt, meaning that it takes place before the attack goes off. If an interrupt makes an attack illegal because they couldn't have done it for some reason, then it is lost- so if a dragon walks up and breaths, and you stop the breath somehow, the dragon lost that use of his breath weapon.
First, my favorite of the new arrows available, the lightning arrow, is a must for every archer. At least one or two anyway, just in case you need to save an ally's life (or possibly your own). At 30gp per shot, you can daze a target you just hit- thus reducing them to one action. If the monster walks up and attacks, you disrupt the attack and it is lost- as their single action was their move, thus invalidating the attack.
What if the monster took an attack as his first action? Then you need yourself something a bit more expensive, a Space-Shifting Bolt. It's a level 8 item and a whopping 125gp per arrow, but if a monster is about to kill your ally, it will teleport the monster one square away on a hit- thus invalidating the attack (assuming it doesn't have reach). I wouldn't recommend these until you are at least paragon level, but if you are a paragon archer, it's not bad having one in your quiver.
There is one other arrow I'd recommend to a paragon archer: the Dispelling Bolt. Also for 125gp, it lets you end a conjuration automatically if you hit its caster. That's better than a dispel magic, as it doesn't require a roll- and can save a life.
Lastly, if you are a fan of the Spitting Cobra Stance, I recommend a freezing arrow or two in your inventory (level 1, 30gp each). They slow a target on hit, so if you hit your target when he enters within 5 squares, he will most likely not be able to get to you. Remember that if he moved more than 2 squares before you hit him, his move ends immediately. It's a great way to keep someone at distance, if you are in trouble.
What if you aren't a bow archer? All of these arrows come in bolt and sling form too! You can find these and more in the Adventurer's Vault 2.
