My Personal Gaming Epiphany for 2010

 
While putting yesterday's post together I realized I needed to share one of my realizations that  really only came about this year. 
I realized a while back that different games had the "fun" in them distributed differently. When I was running 3rd edition D&D most of my fun as the DM came in the prep work while the actual playing of the game was kind of a chore a lot of the time. Call it 75-25 in favor of prep.

When I ran D20 Star Wars it was about 50-50 as the players really broke out of their box and had fun with it.

With most Super Hero RPG's it's been about 50-50 as it's fun to design villains and plots and it's fun to see what the PC's do with those. It's a strong 50-50

Then I finally got to run a Savage Worlds campaign and it went to 25-75 and it was a revelation - prep was very light and was mainly the "good parts" - characters and plots - without a lot of mechanical grind. Even combat, usually the most complicated part of a typical RPG, plays very quickly and is not the time sink that it is in almost every other game.

Then I went to D&D 4 and I found the same thing. I had heard that prep was easier with with 4E but I didn't see how until I had actually run a few sessions and designed a campaign. Lessening both the prep time and complication for the DM combined with smoothing out combat and task resolution makes the game much more fun to play and much more rewarding. This has been a huge revelation for me in 2010 and has revitalized my interest in maintaining multiple campaigns in a big way. It's the main reason 4E has become the main game for me when it comes to actual playing time.

The funny thing is that I then discovered the same thing with the Basic D&D campaign. It's easy to prep for and easy to run as combat is simple and it leaves a fair amount up to the DM by leaving out a skill system. I know this feature is a part of the old-school manifesto but it's worth testifying - it does exist and it is real. It encourages a more fast and loose playstyle that fits well with the uncomplicated combat system. Which is the other "feature" of old-school D&D - combat is over in a hurry, at least at low levels.

I have discovered that having fast-playing combat rounds makes a big difference. With Basic D&D you really only have a few options and no multiple attacks, so each player's turn goes quickly which means each round goes quickly. Savage Worlds has a similar speed because the action system is simple and clear and also because most opponents are mooks - one wound puts them down and out of combat, leaving the climactic parts of the fight to a few "wild cards" who can take multiple wounds. D&D 4E took a page from this with the minion rules where one hit point puts them out of the fight. Another part of this is systems that use opposed rolls  where a combatant is either in or out of the fight which eliminates the potential grind of chewing through a mass of hit points. Mutants and Masterminds and even d6 Star Wars use a similar kind of system.

Now there is one important difference. with 4E; It does not feature opposed rolls - it embraces a massive hit point system for PC's and for many opponents. Normally that should lead to longer combats and often it does but 4E offsets this with minions and by giving each PC a nice clean action system (similar to Savage Worlds) while also giving them more choices within those rounds. Character-specific At-Will, Encounter, and Daily powers combined with a list of maneuvers anyone can do means that each class has many choices during combat but the organization of the power cards means that those choices are easily referenced during play. Combat does take longer than a fight in Basic D&D or Savage Worlds but it's typically more interesting per-round than those games and each player's turn still typically takes less time than in say D&D 3E. Eliminating multiple attacks per round made a huge difference there.

Now I'm a crunch guy going way back. I mapped out many a dungeon on graph paper way back when. I built vehicles for GURPS. I built ships and tanks and guns using Fire, Fusion, and Steel for both Traveller New Era and Traveller 4. I still have hundreds of variant mech designs for Mechwarrior and Battletech campaigns. I still have Champions Heros and Villains from 25 years ago (complete with magic-marker costume designs) because I might need them again some day. I've been playing rules-heavy simulationist tactical RPG's for 30 years where facing, cover, armor values, penetrations values, and fractional accounting all mattered and I've had a ton of fun with them. But it has gotten harder over the years to work in those games as jobs and kids and girlfriends or wives have soaked up a larger fraction of my time. Software tools have made some of that easier to do, from mapping software to spreadsheets but it's still an issue of prep time vs. play time. Plus, when a fair chunk of your game prep requires a spreadsheet, then it's starting to look suspiciously like work instead of fun.
 
A slight digression: I've owned and played SFB and ASL for many years. They are massive, heavily detailed boardgames intended to simulate reality in exhausting detail. It can take an hour or more to resolve one turn. I spent many years playing them and I still have a pile of stuff for them in my garage but I haven't played either one in 10 years. It takes a lot of time to learn the rules, a lot of time to set up a scenario, and a lot of time to play the game even after you get past the learning stage. I have also found that a lot of times winning the game comes down to who can find a situation where they know the rules better than the opponent and can take advantage of it - it turns into a game of "gotcha" won when a player discovers he can pull obscure rule A212.51 where Russian conscripts in a wooden building hex in december of 1941 or 42 will refuse to fire at an opponent more than 2 hexes away as they are busy setting up a still rather than watching for enemy troops. It's not really tied to player skill, it's tied to player memorization capability.

As boardgames got more and more complicated a "light game" movement started in the 90's and has led to the Euro Games revolution and the popularity they enjoy now. Wargames finally saw some of this especially in the last 5 years with Command and Colors and Combat Commander and similar games that cover traditional wargame subjects but use things like block pieces and cards for combat resolution and to handle details rather than 500 pages of rules and a bunch of tables. The level of historical results tends to be similar to the older way of doing things but a turn takes 5 minutes instead of an hour. There are also usually only 5-10 pages of rules to learn, lowering the barrier to entry for teaching the game. Both of these are huge wins and make for a much better game overall. There is a place for a game with 5,000 1/2 inch counters on an 8' X 6' map of the Eastern Front but it's not something you can set up and finish in an evening. With the newer boardgame designs I can and isn't that why we buy games? To play them and have fun? Preferably with friends and not alone in a basement trying to refight D-Day solo because no one else wants to learn the rules or put up with kids and cats knocking over stacks of counters? It's a design revolution and it's a good one in just about every way.

RPG's are undergoing a similar change as what board wargames have been doing for the last 5 years. Sure, there will still be some old-school rules-heavy unique subsystem games - I wouldn't have it any other way. But more and more I think you will see one of two approaches:

1) The rules light fast to play and fun to play systems like Savage Worlds where speed of play trumps realism. There is room here for debate over how much detail to include vs. how much to skip to streamline play. The main advantage here is that you can get a lot more done in an evening of play than you can with an older more detailed ruleset. Comparing original flavor Deadlands to SW Deadlands Reloaded there is much less detail in the newer version and fewer unique mechanics for different characters which is a loss, but combat and task resolution is so much quicker in play now that a group can move through a lot more adventure in a set period of time than they could  in the old one. Combat is still interesting and exciting but it takes a tenth of the time it used to. Plus with less focus on details it encourages players to come up with interesting actions rather than looking up the rules for doing everything and encourages DM's to do the same - less book-flipping at the table is a good thing IMO and it makes a huge difference in how time is spent. Mongoose Traveller is this type of game as are Castles and Crusades and maybe the Cinematic Unisystem. Heck, D&D Basic from 1981 follows much of this philosophy and we didn't really even realize it at the time.

2) The still rules heavy game that still plays more cleanly while retaining interesting options in-game approach that is 4th edition D&D. It's not a "lite" game by any means but there is clearly a "system" here and it's easy to figure out how something should work even if there's not specifically a rule for it. It's a "system" and not "a list of stuff you can do" which is what some previous versions of D&D (and other games) felt like. Presentation is a big thing here too as "powers" and "power cards" are much easier to manage in play than 10 pages of 1st level M-U spells and their descriptions, especially when the insidious character builder automatically sticks the modifiers in right there on the card. I believe Shadowrun 4 moved in this design direction, Hackmaster Basic moves in this direction, and DC Adventures/MnM 3E move in this direction. There is detail in the game but it's applied specifically where it will do the most good and not all over where it will bog down the whole game.

These "new design philosophy" games have made prep quicker and easier than some of the more complicated games of the recent past. They also make it easier and quicker to play without losing much detail and without giving up meaningful choices during play. They are effectively more bang for your limited playing time buck and for those of us who still have dreams of playing like we did back in those summers between school years it's a huge win and a very welcome change in design philosophy. It lets me get more done and have more fun than I have in a long time and to me that's really the point of the whole thing anyway.

I noticed this shift after my first session of Savage Worlds. I saw it again when I broke out Basic D&D and then was pleasantly surprised when going through the 320 page 4E Player's Handbook that "hey, this is really pretty simple". I realized that I was getting a lot more out of each session than I had been when running my 3E games. I'm not trying to run down 3E -I had a lot of fun running it for 9 years - but it's just a different feel. Between the design goals, the mechanics of these newer-style games, and the presentation of them, I feel like there is a real improvement in the way they play vs many games of the past or ones with different design philosophies. I used to come out of game sessions drained, worn-out, ready to go to bed and not wanting to look at the game for a day or two. Now I am energized before, during, and after and kind of sorry when the time comes to stop - there's so much more we can do! My players seem happier too. It makes it a lot easier to run multiple games over a weekend - kind of like when we were 13 and that was normal for us. It's a good thing and I hope it continues for a long time to come.

It's the End-of-October Gaming Update

Well I thought I would take a break from the usual updates and reviews to collect my thoughts about where my gaming situation stands. These are the kind of working DM posts I like to see on messageboards so hopefully someone else likes them too.

D&D 4E is the hot interest for me right now. It's taken over the majority of my actual playing time plus most of my planning time as well. Something just clicked for me when re-reading it in the spring and now I have 2 active campaigns and binders of ideas and outlines for about 4 more piling up on a bookshelf nearby. I have a few issues with how a few things changed and a few issues with why things changed but the main feature is that it just works. It has my creative juices flowing again and it has my players trying different approaches to things far more than they have in the last 5 years. Heck, least session they actually avoided a frontal assault on a defended position by using skills and succeeding at a skill challenge! That has not happened for a long time in a D&D campaign (and has ended a campaign or two as a result) and was pretty amazing to watch. I expect 4E to be the main game for our group for quite some time to come - maybe even long enough to run all of those campaigns I'm thinking up.

The Phlan campaign is up to Session 11 and Session 12 will happen tonight so I have some writeups to post.  It's going well and the middle of the heroic tier has really crystallized over the last few weeks as far as what I want to include. I had a vision of the beginning and the end points since before we started but the middle had a fair amount of blank space and that's really coming together now. We've been playing almost weekly recently so it's humming along nicely. The party is at 3rd now and will soon hit 4th.

The Gray Vale campaign had session 3 a week or so back and may work in session 4 this weekend but Halloween may cut it short too. It's on an every other weekend schedule at best so progress is a little slower but they are at 2nd level and headed to 3rd.

D&D Basic is still on the radar. The recent flurry of excitement and disappointment over the new red box has kept this spark alive, plus I like the little campaign area I came up with for it. We at least need to finish up B1 or B2 before I let the dust gather on it again, though I would like to work in Isle of Dread too. We'll see what time allows. It's definitely second priority behind the apprentices 4E campaign but it will progress again soon. The party here is at 2nd or 3rd except for the Elf who is still at 1st though he is very close.

AD&D is still in my head too, but is probably on the back burner for now. I still want to do the Temple-Giants-Drow-Demonweb campaign but I'm having a tough time finding a consistent place to fit it in on the schedule. There isn't a lot of rules overhead with this as I have acquired PHB's for everyone it's just a matter of finding a good regular time that people can make. I was thinking Sundays but with football season in full swing I don't necessarily want to give that up and Sunday afternoons are also when I sometimes fit in the apprentice campaigns. now the plan is to let them play in this one too, but it would come at the expense of the Basic game and maybe some of the 4E campaign too. With busy kids Sunday afternoons are about the only time we don't have some kind of commitment to something. Plus some of my other players just aren't available Sunday afternoons. I will figure it out eventually but for now it's hanging out there in space waiting to begin.

Star Wars d6 - a really fun game that can be run quite well with just a rulebook and one adventure - though of course I do have a shelf full of supplements for it. We haven't played in a while because I have all 3 apprentices playing in it and that means I have 4 schedules to sync up - tricky. It may get worked in this weekend, we'll just have to see.

Necessary Evil has been squeezed out to a degree because 4E is the cool new kid and because I only have my 4 original players in it. With the D&D group expanded to 6, the idea was that we would play NE on those nights when only part of the group was available. The problem is that almost everyone has been available almost every time, so we aren't having to fall back on it. This is not a terrible problem to have but it does mean that NE has been quiet for a while. I do love the system -it's the opposite of D&D in many ways - and it will be played more in the future.

Potential additions:

I've been thinking about working in one more RPG to accommodate one last combination of available apprentices and I'm leaning towards superheroes. I thought about more D&D but one of them is younger and might not quite be ready for all of it yet. I thought about Star Wars Saga edition but I don't want to run two different versions of Star Wars at the same time. I'm really leaning towards Marvel Superheroes because the characters are familiar, the color chart thing makes it pretty easy to adjudicate, and I have lots of stuff for it including maps and counters and heroclix figures. I want it to be low-maintenance and high-fun in actual play and I think that system might just do the trick. I'm not 100% just yet but I'm looking at material and figuring out what we might do. Savage Worlds is another option but I'm not sure what to run for them with it. Deadlands might be a little much but Pirates could be fun. My other thought is to pull out Heroquest or Warhamer Quest and let them fight their way through a truly boardgame version of D&D.

All of these Apprentice games might seem like they are competing for space but they really aren't - at any given time I typically only have 3 of them at home with only 2 of them interested in playing a game, so one challenge is to have a sort of standing option ready to play with whichever combination of kids is available. Progress may be slow but as long as they're having a good time then it's time well-spent.

Other Random Thoughts:

I really like Hero System but it usually takes a while for a new player to learn it well and it can look intimidating too. I do like it though. Maybe down the road a bit.

The new 4E-based Gamma World is out now and it looks interesting. I have every version of GW published to date and it's a game I really have become attached too over the decades but I'm not sure when I would work it in. I will probably pick it up soon but I wouldn't mind firing up a 2nd edition game of it right now and the only reason I can't is time and Apprentice availability.

I've though about switching over whole-hog to d20 games for all of my campaigns and shelving everything else for now to build on that whole similar-system-synergy and make it easier for new players. D&D 4E, Star Wars Saga, and Mutants and Masterminds (2E -I haven't gotten in to 3E yet) would cover enough cool things that I could run for years and be just fine and the players would have some serious system knowledge after just a short time. There are some differences (powers vs. talents vs...powers?) but I don;t think that would be a huge issue. The problem is I really like some of my other systems.

Traveller is a great classic game that is in a real renaissance now with the Mongoose edition but I think that with kids at least it will always lose out to Star Wars when it comes down to "we have 2 hours - which game do you want to play" so it will be awhile before it gets used again.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is another great game and is really not for kids so it will have to wait until the grown-up group comes up with serious extra time or decides that D&D sucks - so it will be awhile here too.

Rifts - ah Rifts. The kids would probably be all over it if I showed them all the books.The system is a cluster-f nightmare of 80's heartbreaker design but it does work to a point. It's just ugly and largely makes no sense. I think after the clean design of 4e and the elegant simplicity of Savage Worlds and Star Wars d6 that I may lack the ability to fight through this anymore.  A Hero conversion is a possibility but it would take some work and I'm not sure it's worth it when I have a half-dozen other games I can run and have a bunch of fun with a tenth of the preparation.

Anyway I have one more "thought" post in me and then the session summaries will resume next week so stay tuned.

Guardians of the Vale - Session 3 - Raid on Loudwater!

Returning to Loudwater the party brings in the kobold heads as proof of their deed and a the dragon head as well. Gratified, the head of the town watch rewarded them well and included a bonus for slaying the dragon.

Now before they departed the dungeon the team had also cut out some of the dragon's major organs and they soon found a buyer for those and a dragonhide discovered in the lair AND the dragon's head, which was soon mounted over the town's gate. All in all it was quite a profitable expedition for the group.

The team's relaxation and money-counting in the town square was rudely interrupted when a section of the town's defensive wall blew apart and a force of goblins scampered in. Townspeople -and our heroes- stood in place open mouthed then began to run screaming from the scene. The party recovered and moved to engage.

The paladin and the druid moved to engage one cluster of goblins while the dwarf and the elf moved to stop another. A well in the center of the town square along with numerous trade wagons made moving and fighting somewhat more complicated but the goblins were not going to get by without a fight.

The paladin took down a couple of goblins then moved to block a few more. The druid took down one then was wounded and then wounded again and had to drop back out of the fight to recover. The paladin thought the fight was going his way until he was bull-rushed by one of the goblins, pushed back, and went plummeting into the well, crashing into the water 20' down. Wounded, soaked, and generally bedraggled he was very unhappy with this new situation. With the paladin stuck and the druid wounded this side of the fight was not looking good.

Meanwhile the elf ranger was dropping goblins quickly, firing away into the mob swarming through the square from atop a trader's wagon. The dwarf warlord was holding his own in hand to hand, letting the elf's powerful bow do it's work. This worked well until a goblin dressed in robes pointed a rod at the elf and blinded him with some kind of magic while the dwarf faced off with a bigger and meaner goblin who was clearly not afraid of one dwarf.

The combat swirled around the eastern half of the square as the goblins moved towards the curiosity shop. The elf shook off the blindness and jumped into hand to hand combat alongside the dwarf. The druid recovered and moved to join them, shifting into beast form and slashing up some goblins along the way. The three remaining heroes formed a rough line and attempted to block the goblins off but had a rough time of it as the goblin wizard blasted and blinded them, opening a path for his minions to kick down the door to the shop. The fighting raged until only the wizard and one bodyguard were left. The bodyguard toppled over at the hands of the dwarf. Then the goblin wizard tried to escape but was slain, ending the raid.

The Paladin had been trying to climb out for some time and finally he gave up and called for help. Two villagers hiding under a nearby wagon heard him and pulled him up out of the well but the fighting was over before he could rejoin.

In the aftermath of the raid the team talked to Garwain, owner of the shop that had been targeted by the goblins. He identified the item that the Goblins had picked up, a magic item brought in for trade by a wizard who picked it up in a nearby dungeon. Lady Moonfire  showed up as well to survey the damage and find out what had happened. She identified the dungeon as the Barrow of the Ogre King and offered the PC's 100 gold apiece to seek out the barrow and stop the goblins from any further raids. They accepted and prepared to move out.

DM Notes: This is the adventure in the FR Campaign Guide. I thought it would be a good companion to the starter adventure in the DMG and fighting outside would be a nice change to fighting in the tunnels and rooms of Kobold Hall. The incident with the Paladin being shoved into the well nicely illustrated what all those push, pull, and slide powers are for and then it turns out he isn't trained in athletics nor does he have a great STR bonus. He eventually quit trying to climb and used diplomacy which worked better for him although it was a little slower than climbing out directly would have been.

I let the apprentices rebuild their characters when they levelled up to 2 as they now have a better grasp of how the game works and what certain powers do and what is good and what they like. They are much happier now.

So the party has moved up a level, earned some gold, and picked up a few magic items and they are ready for their next big quest. Stay tuned for Session 4 - Into the Barrow of the Ogre King!

Guardians of the Vale - Session 2

Last time an impetuous dwarf charged down a secret tunnel and found himself face to face with a white dragon. This time...the fight!

The rest of the party moved in and an epic combat followed. The heroes opened with movement and ranged attacks while the dragon closed in and unleashed it's freezing breath on them. Staggering, the team spread out and began trying to carve up the beast. The Elf Ranger stayed back firing arrow after arrow into the thing. The Shifter Druid blasted it with lightning (Storm Spike!) several times as the Dragonborn Paladin and the Dwarf Warlord moved to surround it and engage it in melee from opposite sides. This was working alright until the paladin took a terrific beating in a flurry of claws and teeth and fell to the ground. The dwarf redoubled his effort and the druid shifted into beast form and charged in to attack. The druid did manage to pour a healing potion down the paladin's throat and he revived in short order, rejoining the fight. As the beast staggered under the renewed assault it lashed out in a fury with tooth, claw, and breath. One by one the heroes fell out of the fight until the bloodied and battered dragon was facing only the Elf Ranger. Realizing the fight was coming down to a one-on-one duel the wounded ranger dropped his bow, drew both swords, and charged the mighty beast. As it struck at him, he plunged both swords deep into the dragon, driving past white scales and into the heart of the beast. With a final groan it leaned over and collapsed, slain at last. The bloodied elf moved to each of his companions, reviving them one by one (though not before finding a treasure chest and some loot and picking out his own favorite piece) and soon a battered and weakened party of heroes could be seen leaving the small complex known as Kobold Hall, headed for Loudwater.

DM Notes: This was an epic fight that lasted 15 rounds, the longest 4E combat we have had in any campaign. Part of this was because there are only 4 characters in the party (not 5), part of it is because they are still relatively new to the game, and part of it is because they had already used their dailies and some action points against the kobold chief and did not take a long rest before facing the dragon. It was looking a little grim during some of the fight as the paladin dropped and at one point the druid dropped and in the end the paladin, druid and warlord were all down leaving a not-undamaged ranger to face off with the dragon alone. Fortunately the damage had already piled up and the dragon didn't have much left but the players didn't know that and I'm glad he took the right approach - charge!

Overall I was happy with the way the fight went and especially with how it ended but it did drag on a bit. Having only recently learned about action points themselves they were surprised to find out that some monsters get them too - that was fun. Maybe next time they will be better prepared and will tear through things a little faster. A solo fight at 1st level can clearly be a little tough but they survived while feeling like they overcame a real challenge and that's how it's supposed to be.

After this the party returned to Loudwater and advanced to 2nd level, ready to embark on a new quest.

Motivational Monday

4E Essentials Heroes of the Fallen Lands - A Review

 

  

This is a 368 page softcover digest sized book with a cover price of $19.95. The interior is full color. This and its future companion, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms and the just announced Class Compendium: Heroes of Sword and Spell are intended to be the "class books" for the Essentials line and are intended to be paired up with the Rules Compendium to give a player everything they need to play their character in a D&D 4th edition campaign.

So how is it? Well, it's a) pretty good in general and b) it has a very old-school take on the classes it contains. This is a very long post but I've found that with 4th edition a lot of the differences crop up in minor details so it's worth spending some time digging in to really understand what is new and how it compares to previous material. Consider yourself warned...

The book starts out with 30 pages of the rules of the game. It's probably enough to give someone an idea of what's going on but it's not a full set of the rules. (I do think a boxed set with this book and an adventure module would be better than the red box we got though. Make it a special training adventure and reference back to the page numbers in the HotFL book and you could really help someone learn how to play). It's good enough to get started, especially if you have an experienced player teaching them too.

Then there are  25 pages on character creation - ability scores, alignment, level advancement - the general part of how characters work.

Following this are 13 pages (wiith good examples) of how powers work and what the descriptions and terms mean. This almost seems like a waste of space at first glance but since so much of the game is presented in terms of a "power" I think it is important to make sure anyone trying to play the game has a solid introduction and reference to the concept and the presentation. This is the best breakdown yet of these things and it's a good move.

Next is the meat of the book: 170 pages of character classes, builds, powers, paragon paths, and epic destinies. Now overall compared to a PHB the selection here is limited. We get 5 new builds for existing classes, 1 built-in Paragon Path for each build, and 1 Epic Destiny that is usable by all classes. PHB's in the past have had from 12-16 builds of new and existing classes plus 4 or more paragon paths for each class (plus racial paragon paths) plus 4 or more epic destinies. So volume-wise it's not impressive. Quality-wise it's very good because each one is very old-school (as in AD&D-style) in its approach. Let's look at them class by class:

Cleric - the single build included is the Warpriest and it remains a divine leader class and build. In 4E terms it's roughly similar to the Battle Cleric build in the PHB 1 but it has some important differences.  Now the problem with the PHB 1 cleric was that strength was the key stat for melee attacks, wisdom powered ranged attacks, and charisma was a kicker stat for many powers - trying to keep 3 stats up to a decent level is very difficult so it was almost impossible to make a general old-school cleric that could fight in hand-to-hand and throw nasty spells and heal his companions well. Most people specialized, and since there were plenty of melee characters much better at bashing heads than a cleric they specialized in ranged radiant damage and healing - thus the term "laser cleric". It appears that the goal of this new cleric build is to make the generalist old-school cleric a) possible and b) reasonable by not making it a sucktastic spread-too-thin choice. It does this by making all of the warpriest powers (if they are an attack) wisdom vs.something. No more strength, no more charisma - it's already more effective than the battle cleric could be. It's the most single stat focused build I've seen other than the Wizard so slap down that 20 wisdom and go nuts!

The warpriest adds another level of customization by adding Domains. Now domains go all the way back to 2E as a cleric feature. Back then they mainly affected what spells you could choose. In 3E they determined what bonus spells you could choose at each level. This is a new version for 4E and they determine your initial at-will powers, some of your encounter powers, and some daily powers, as well as granting some class features at certain levels. The storm domain looks very flavorful with a lot of melee, close burst and close blast powers - it's basically what you would expect of a cleric of Thor: up front smacking down orcs and blasting them with lightning and thunder.  The sun domain  is mostly radiant damage melee attacks with a secondary healing or defensive effect - use a healing surge, take another saving throw, gain some temp hit points - but it also has a fair number of blinding effects at the mid to high levels too. I think both builds look solid, fun, and flavorful so what more could you ask? More domains of course! I'm betting we see those through the online DDI stuff or an expansion book down the road. Mechanically both builds rely on Wisdom for attacks with Con showing up as a kicker for heals and some other utility powers. I expect to see a lot of Dwarf Warpriests in the near future.

The old school feel continues with the other class powers and features too: Level 1 Channel Divinity power = Smite Undead; Level 2 utility powers - Bless, Cure Light Wounds (among others); Lvl 6 utility power Cure Serious Wounds (among others); Level 8 utility power Resurrection; Lvl 16 utility power: Cure Critical Wounds (among others); Lvl 22 utility power: Heal (1 other choice). Some of these were in the PHB 1, but combined with the other traits of these classes you can replicate many of the powers of an old-school cleric in 4E AND not suck while doing it - it's a triumph of design and intent over rigorous adherence to system rules and I am very impressed.

Fighter - for fighters we get two builds, the Knight and the Slayer.The knight is another defender but for the first time in 4E the Slayer is a Fighter build that's labeled a striker - odd, but let's see how they work.

Knight - Starts with the usual defender numbers and weapons but also starts with plate proficiency - nice. This is mainly a sword and board fighter - two-handers should look at the slayer.  In a change from other fighters though they do not mark. Instead they have an aura (radius 1) that inflicts a -2 to hit on all enemy attacks that don't include the knight. That's actually nice because it affects multiple targets - you're not tagging them one at a time. The knight also gets another power - whenever an enemy in the aura shifts or makes an attack not targeting the knight then you can melee basic vs the enemy and even on a miss they take your strength mod in damage - however it's an opportunity action, not an interrupt . So this has much of the capability of a regular fighter mark but it works out differently in practice.The knight is not going to be quite as good at locking down movement (he doesn't stop movement like a fighter's combat superiority power) but he is better at punishing an enemy for violating his aura via the miss effect on his battle guardian power. It's an interesting difference but not a clearly better or worse option than what other fighter builds have.

The other big change with the knight is that they do not have daily powers. Daily powers for martial characters is something that bothered me when I first read 4E and while I've mostly made my peace with it I can see it being an issue for some people. This build eliminates that issue. This fighter has a selection of "stances" (starts with 2 gets more as they level up) which is basically a defensive or offensive posture - bonus to damage, bonus to hit, move self, move enemy etc - and combines this with their melee basic attacks and encounter powers to decide how they want to fight this round. Most of the powers gained as you level up boost your to-hit bonus or your damage bonus while a few give you a bonus to movement or defenses. There isn't a lot of flash here- it's all about hitting and doing damage and occasionally doing something else, which is very much the fighter from Basic, 1E, and 2E and even some in 3E. In short it's the old-school fighter in almost every way which should make a lot of people very happy. The only really important stat is strength. Con shows up in a few places but that's it.

Slayer -  This is an odd animal at first glance - it's tagged as a striker, but it has defender hit points and surges and has scale armor proficiency, so it looks more like a PHB 1 fighter up front. It is aimed at two-hander (or great weapon) fighters and focuses on the greataxe or the two-handed sword. It also eschews dailies and traditional at-wills for stances + melee basic attacks. Most of the stances are based on boosting to-hit, damage, or movement. Most of the powers of the class are focused on damage boosts but there are a surprising number of mobility boosts, saving throw bonuses, and even a couple of heals in there, including an ally heal at level 6! It's a very focused class - do more damage and do it a lot - but it has some nice little wrinkles like that which should make it fun to play. Strength is again the main stat with Dex showing up as an important kicker stat in some powers so it's worth pumping up too, probably over Con. .

Thief - The thief is a rogue build that is again a martial striker.  This one is much like the fighter builds in that it skips at-wills and dailies for "tricks" that combine with melee basic attacks to give you options. The tricks allow the thief extra movement, extra damage, combat advantage, free stealth checks, and some status effect options. They are more versatile than the fighter stances and there are more of them. There are two important class features beyond this though: 1) They start wih weapon finesse which lets them use Dex instead of Str for melee attacks. (that's a bonus to attacks and damage BTW) and they have the backstab power which is +2d6 at 1-10, 3d6 at 11-20, and 5d6 at 21-30. It's once per encounter at lvl 1 but goes to twice per encounter at 3rd, 3 per encounter at 11th, and 4 at 13th - that's pretty nasty. The only restrictions are that it's only with certain weapons (light blades, shortbow, hand crossbow, or sling) and they must be granting combat advantage but that isn't difficult to set up with the various tricks. The higher level powers include a lot of movement and shifting, some defensive boosts and that's really it - it's going to be a very mobile character that can set up conditions fairly easily that let it absolutely rip an enemy apart in a few strokes. The primary stat here is Dex Dex Dex. Charisma shows up in a few places but your other stats will really be dictated by what skills you want to excel at - you get a decent selection of them so let that be a guide. It's another very stat-friendly build.

Wizard - the wizard build here is the mage:  an Arcane Controller that follows the traditional 4E power structure of at-wills, encounters, and dailies. Out of all the classes in this book this one is the closest to its existing companion builds - they get the spellbook feature (covered better here but really not different) the same cantrips as the PHB wizard, and they all start with the revised auto-hit magic missile which is nice old-school flavoring. The only new wrinkle here is the "school" feature so let's look at that.

Each mage picks a school at first level : Enchantment, Evocation, or Illusion. This is somewhat similar to 2E or 3E specialty mages and how they did things but it has more mechanical impact since spells are handled differently now. The school choice determines your other at-wills (you get three with this class build - magic missile and the two from your school). Evocation is ranged elemental damage of various types, Enchantment is a lot of psychic damage and your target hits someone close by, and illusion is a lot of psychic damage plus some secondary status effect. They are almost all ranged/close blast/area burst and all are Int vs. some non-AC defense. Most of the evocation spells are "creature" and not "enemy" targeting but the enchantment and illusion spells tend to be more selective. Primary stat is still Int Int Int. One nice wrinkle here is that mages do get some skill boosts by school at certain levels which helps broaden their talents. There's nothing revolutionary here compared to existing wizards, but if you want to play a blasting mage this is a good way to go, and if you want to specialize in enchantments and illusions there's a lot to be said for taking this path. New schools have already started appearing on DDI according to reports and it will be interesting to see what else they add.

After classes there is the lone epic destiny included in this book. It's solid but not flashy. I think it fits the fighter types and maybe clerics better than other classes. Considering it includes yet another stat boost, a 20 hit point boost and a +1 to fort, reflex, and will it definitely will make a character tougher, but it's not very flavorful for wizards and maybe even the thief.

The last big change in the book is the race section. This is 30 pages on  Dwarf, Elf, Eladran, Halfling and Human and the change is that now instead of a fixed +2 to two stats for the non-human races it's a fixed +2 to one stat and a +2 to one of two other stats. Dwarves used to be +2 Con, +2 Wis. now they are +2 Con and a +2 to either Wis or Str. I'm fine with this change as it eliminates almost all need for subraces  and gives a player more options while retaining the main flavor of a race. Humans are still a +2 to any one stat but lose the bonus at-will and gain a new encounter power: A retroactive +4 to an attack or saving throw. It's nice but I like the bonus at-will better for most characters. There's more background on the races and it's a better presentation to a new player so this section is a "good" almost all the way around.

The skill section is 16 pages and includes more examples and revised target numbers for a lot of things. It's an improvement over the PHB 1.

The Feats take up about 15 pages and have dropped the whole heroic/paragon/epic restriction and now just scale with tier or level . This is a much more efficient way to present them and one I heartily approve of. There are some nifty new feats too so most players should be quite happy with the options here.

The equipment section is much smaller. It includes the basic gear. weapons and armor from the PHB 1 minus superior weapons and any of the new stuff from the Adventurer's Vault. Not a huge issue. The magic item section is pathetic though, and if you thought the PHB1 had a limited selection, well, this is much much smaller, really a token effort that looks more like a "we had to have it" placeholder than a real usable selection of items. There is another magic item book coming so I assume that's where the bulk of it will be found.

Then a glossary and in index wrap the book up

So what do I like about the book overall? I like the old-school flavored class builds and I like the lower price point - those are both good moves.

Would I recommend it to a new player? Well, if they were just getitng into it and had no one to play with who already knew the game then it's really a toss-up between this and the PHB 1 - the PHB 1 gives you more classes and races and a more detailed breakdown of the rules.  If you are joining an established group then this book is pretty good and is probably the way to go.

What do I not like - not much. The magic item section is weak. I am not a huge fan of the change to the human racial power but that's a small complaint. The 5 class builds and 5 races in this volume do seem very limiting compared to the 16 class builds and 8 races in the PHB 1 but it is a cheaper book.

Overall this isn't quite the home run that the Rules Compendium is but it's very good and has a strong dose of traditional D&D flavor without some of the rules artifacts and "weird" races that bothered people when 4E first came out. Call it 4 stars for this vs. 5 for the Compendium if you need a numerical rating. It's a very strong effort, I consider it a "win" and I am looking forward to the next book in the line to see what they do with the other classes.

4E Essentials Rules Compendium - A Review

It's a 320 page digest-size softcover. It contains all the rules for the game. It's 11-something dollars on Amazon. It's good. Buy it if you play the game at all. It's not an "Essentials" book - it's THE 4th Edition D&D Rulebook now - period.

I could write a lot more about this, but that's what really matters. In a completely different fashion from the disaster that is the Essentials Red Box this thing is a home run on all counts. It's up to date. It's complete. It has a table of contents, a glossary, and an index. It has all of the non-character rules from the PHB. It has stuff from the DMG's like encounter building, terrain, and traps.

Stuff that's not in it: Skill Powers, Hybrids, Rituals, Martial Practices. Monsters. Magic Items.

The biggest change in it is probably the magic item rarity where items are now divided into common, uncommon,and rare. I kind of like this approach as it gives one more way to measure the relative value of an item before placing it in the campaign and it expressly mentions that uncommon and rare items cannot be made in the current game world. It limits the off-the-shelf items available to PC's and makes magic a little more exotic - both good things. On the other hand, as a DM I'm going to decide on the placement of every single item in the game anyway, so it's not like this is going to suddenly either open up or restrict what my PC's end up owning. It's probably a good change but it's not a huge change.

What about new players? Should they start here? Probably not. See yesterday's post about that. But it would make a great Xmas or birthday gift after starting someone on the PHB.

Given the importance of DDI to the company, I wonder if books like this (and the other Essentials books) might not be the way to go in the future. I love my full color hardbacks of the modern era after 2 decades of black and white, but if most players are going to use the online version of the rules for character and monster building then maybe $20 softcovers are better than $30 hardcovers. I don't know what percentage of D&D players pay for DDI but maybe more of them would do it if the books were cheaper - it's just a thought on my part.

If that was the approach I almost think this one should be labeled "2010 Edition". Just go ahead and announce that every year, say at Gen Con, that you're going to release the Rules Compendium for that year which will include all of the updates from the past year in a new printed version.  This would keep the off-line players in at least the same ballpark as the online players AND it would mitigate the RPG publishing problem that sales decline once the core books have been published and purchased. this way you would have a new core book once a year, on top of whatever supplements and things are published the rest of the year. I think it would sell alright.

Anyway, Rules Compendium: The D&D book I will use the most over the next year and the book with the widest appeal to all 4E players & DM's.  It's as good as it should have been, which is a good thing for all of us. Thank you WOTC I hope this one does very well for you.

4E Player's Handbook 3 - A Review

Another nice-looking 224 page hardback rulebook, this one was published in 2010 and to me is where we start to get into the more optional races and classes.

We get 4 new races:

• Githzerai - yeah, those guys from the Fiend Folio, but not the coolish ones on the cover. the also-rans from inside. They don't do much for me in a traditional D&D campaign but if you're doing something out in the planes then they probably have a place. 
• Minotaurs - I admit I like having these as a race. They were playable in an old 2E Dragonlance supplement but this version is balanced for the rest of the game and make for a nice alternative to goliaths in the big bruiser department. Not really a traditional D&D race but at least they aren;t from another plane. Plus in my projected mythic Greece campaign they fit in really well. 
• Shardminds - My first WTF race in 4E. Then I read the background and they are kind of cool, being the remnants of an ancient magical gate that was destroyed and let in all those nasties from the Far Realm like Beholders and Mind Flayers and Aboleths. There's just no way to fit them into something like a traditional Greyhawk campaign but in the Realms you can fit in darn near anything and in a planar campaign they would fit in fine as another group of aliens out in the void.
• Wilden - another WTF race that doesn't rally fit into a classic campaign but is probably easier to work in than crystal-people. These guys are sort of guardians of nature, plantlike humanoids from the feywild looking to sort some things out. They have aspects (sub-races) based on the seasons kind of like Forgotten Realms genasi and their elemental aspects.   

 So the races are a little mixed. This also marks the new approach to racial attribute bonuses. Previously each race received +2 to each of 2 different stats. Dwarves were +2 Wisdom and +2 Con, for example. Beginning with this book (and continuing into the new Essentials books) each race has a fixed +2 to one stat plus the choice of a +2 to one of 2 other stats. Dwarves are now a +2 to Con and then a +2 to either Wisdom or Strength. I'm mostly fine with this as it does increase race/class flexibility, but it needs to stop there/ or else risk losing all flavor. As long as one of the stats stays fixed then I'm OK with it and hopefully that's where it will stay. Plus I see it as a better answer than adding in numerous sub-races like we saw in Unearthed Arcana, 2E, and 3E. Want to play a Mountain Dwarf? take the +2 to Strength and call it a day.

We also get 4 racial paragon paths, one for each new race.

We then get 6 new classes, 4 of which are based on the new Psionic power source. Most of these vary from the usual power structure in that they get at-will's and dailies but no encounter attack powers. Instead the at-will's are augmentable via psionic power points. Most of them have 2 levels of augmentation with increasingly strong effects. At the levels where they would normally get a new encounter power, instead these classes get to choose a new at-will power but they can only have 3 at-wills at a time. This gives these classes a lot of flexibility during fights as they can decide when and how much to amp up each power. Power points are rather stingily doled out through the levels and the costs to augment various powers increase with level so the options never get out of balance. I wasn't sure about it at first and I would still like to see them in action but I have warmed up to the idea after going through the book again.

Ardent, psionic leader, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. Some healing, lots of ally movement and transferred attacks, and some teleports. Most attacks are Charisma vs. AC, melee weapon, and have some kind of secondary effect. This looks like a fairly interesting class, especially when you add in the flexibility of the augment powers.

Battlemind, psionic defender, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. This one's mark does automatic damage equal to the damage the marked enemy inflicted - automatically, no to-hit roll. That could get very nasty at any level.. Most attacks are melee weapon, Con vs. AC. There are a lot of powers that add damage resistance, a fair number of damage + debuff attacks, and some aspect powers that act like a fighter stance power. They look pretty tough and the augments give them a lot of flexibility too.

Monk, psionic striker, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. Monks do not get the augmentable ability  of the other psionic classes. Instead they follow the normal at-will-encounter-daily structure of previous classes. Armor is weak, weapon choices are limited. Almost all attacks are Dex vs. Reflex so hitting should be easier than some. Most are also melee 1 or melee touch. Many have a target of more than one creature or are close burst 1 or 2 so there are multitarget options, always nice for a striker.

Psion, psionic controller, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. Armor and weapons are traditional wizard-type weapons. Most powers are Int vs. Will, ranged 10. There are some area bursts, but most of the powers target one creature. There's a fair amount of forced or limited movement inflicted by these things - slide, push, slow, immobilize, prone, etc. I can see the felxibility from the augments being a lot of fun here but the focus on single-target effects is going to play a little different from other controllers.

Runepreist, divine leader, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. Decent armor selection, simple weapons only. Most attack powers are melee weapon, Str vs. AC, target one creature but there are quite a few close burst powers in the mix too. Those bursts include a lot of ally buffs and the 2 builds tend to take one of two paths: Ally buffs or enemy debuffs, and there's not a lot of crossover between the two. It's interesting but I wonder how effective it is compared to a Warlord, who covers some similar ground.


Seeker, primal controller , 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. Light armor and a focus on missile weapons, either bow types or thrown weapons. Most attack powers are Wisdom vs. AC, Ranged Weapon, target one creature. There are a few area bursts but the vast majority are single-target ranged attacks. It seems almost over-focused but if you're looking for a super-archer or a super ax-thrower this one might be up your alley.

Next we get Hybrid Classes. This is a new form of multi-classing where you get 1/2 of one class's abilities and 1/2 of another class's abilities and combine them into one character. With the warnings on this section I would almost call this an experimental rule section.  I do agree with some of the sidebar commentary that they fit best as a 5th or 6th character rather than as a cornerstone as I have heard mostly bad things about them and I am not sure that the versatility is worth the effectiveness that you give up. Still, it's an interesting option and more like multi-calssing in some older editions of the game than the feat based multiclassing in the PHB 1 & 2.

After this we get 6 new epic destinies that are aimed at the classes presented in this book. More = better so this is good.

Next up is Skill Powers and this is a great addition to the game. All classes get utility powers at certain levels which are mostly non-attack abilities (though not necessarily non-combat abilities as there's a lot of healing and movement tucked into them) and sometimes a player may not see a utility power that they like. Skill powers are additional utilty powers for each level at which utilities are available. The character has to be trained in the relevant skill, but other than that it's a one for one swapout or option that any character can take. Acrobatics and athletics give a lot of movement options, bluff has one that lets you un-mark yourself, diplomacy has a daily that lets you buff your allies with a stirring speech for the next encounter, and there are a lot of re-roll the skill check or substitute a different skill check powers as well. It's a really nice addition and an example of how a modular plug-in design enables easy future expansion.

Then we get 17 pages of feats - good.

Then we close with 18 pages of magic items and a few pages of terms and a glossary.

Overall it's a good book, but it's very much optional in my opinion. If you really like psionics, then it's worth picking up. If you don't like them then you can probably pass. Beyond the class and race stuff the part I really like is skill powers but they probably aren't worth the price of the book all by themselves - unless it's cheap. Being a completist I had to pick it up myself but out of the 10 characters in my 2 campaigns right now none of these races or classes is being used and no one has asked about any of them. Considering that the races are all new (to core D&D anyway) and the classes are all new other than the monk, and that the monk was always kind of an oddball class anyway then it's really not an essential or even particularly useful resource for a typical D&D campaign. The main fit that I see is if you're doing an extrplanar/planescape/spelljammer type campaign - in that case it could add a lot.

As far as recommending it to a new player - probably not. I would recommend the relevant power book for a player based on whatever kind of character they were currently playing before I would steer a new player towards the PHB 3. If someone is coming in to D&D 4 from earlier editions and has an interest in psionic characters then it might be a good fit but for most it's PHB1-PHB2-Power Book - and then maybe PHB3.

4E Player's Handbook 2 - A Review

So the PHB 1 gave us most of the previous core D&D classes and races reworked for 4th edition. It was a good start but if you were thinking about converting an old campaign it was not a complete guide. The PHB 2 came out in 2009 and finishes up the rest of the adaptation process and mixes in some new stuff as well.

The 224 page hardback starts off with new races:
Deva - Effectively they are the aasimar from the Forgotten Realms 3E campaign guide. There's a reincarnation element added in but they are descended from extraplanar good guys - the opposite of Tieflings.

Gnome - Pretty similar to older editions, some built in tricky/sneaky abilities

Goliath - new to me, they're the big bruiser race. Think 1E half-ogres without the bad childhoods or evil tenencies and you pretty much have it.

Half-Orc  - Same idea as before but with a +2 Str and a +2 Dex they are a very versatile race for the way 4E is set up and not just the barbarians they were in 3E.

Shifters - Sort of half-weres there are 2 types with different stat and skill bonuses. They're an interesting addition wiwthout being over or under powered.

One new addition in the PHB 2 is the addition of racial paragon paths. Previously all paragon paths have been tied to a particular class and sometimes a particular build within that class. There are 12 included here, effectively 1 per race. It's a good concept and adds to the choices available to players, always a good thing.

It also adds 8 new classes:
Avenger - a divine striker, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. It's mainly a single target melee damage and lockdown class. Think "Paladin Bounty Hunter". There are a lot of powers that are boosted if there is no enemy adjacent to the target and a lot of move-to-the-target powers. Starts with only cloth armor so it's even more of a glass cannon than rangers or rogues.

Barbarian - a primal striker, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. Another single-target melee striker, this one has better armor and slightly better hit points and surges than the avenger. Barbarians have various types of rage they can enter which remain until the character decides to leave them and receive various bonuses for being in them. They hit hard and they are very tough - what more could you ask for?

Bard - an arcane leader, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. The bard is a very versatile leader class - better skills, lots of movement abilities (ally slides) some healing, ritual casting, and nice utility powers. Clerics are better at healing, warlords are probably better at combat boosts, but the bard is just a very solid all-around leader class.

Druid - a primal controller, 2 builds, paragon paths. A lot of nice ranged elemental type powers with the slightly odd addition of beast form powers. The trick here is that certain powers are beast form only. When in beast form, you can use only those powers. When not in beast form you can not use those powers. This creates a bit of a split personality as the druid wants to stand back and throw lighting or frost blasts or something part of the time but will likely not use their beast powers if they do this for the entire battle. this leads to the weird situation of the melee -seeking controller, and given a controller's hit points, surges, and AC, that's rarely a good idea, even with the boost from being a primal class. The one saving grace here is that a druid's attacks mostly target reflex, with some fortitude and some will. None are vs. AC even in beast form. This helps make the melee powers more likely to hit than the usual melee attack powers of other classes.. It's an interesting combination and I like a versatile character, but I'm not yet convinced it's an effective one.

Invoker - a divine controler, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. Channel divinity, ritual casting, some nice summoning powers, and a whole lot of ranged multi-target damage. The invoker combat powers are almost all ranged or area burst powers with no melee and few close burst or close blast type powers. This purity of concept lets the invoker stand back and blast away like an old-school specialty wizard - there's little reason to close in on your enemy. They are also one of the few classes to have significant summoning powers which can be fun to play with too.

Shaman - a primal leader, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. Shamans have a spirit companion and a lot of the normal leader boosting effects come out of this spirit animal, meaning it needs to stay in close to the party. Most of the shaman's melee powers are performed through the spirit as well so the spirit probably needs to be up near the defenders and strikers in a typical fight. The shaman's other powers tend to be ranged 5 or close burst or blast 5 with some 10's showing up occasionally. This means that while the shaman doesn't have to be  on the front line he probably needs to be close behind. There's a pretty good amount of healing there, and the other powers tend to be ranged damage effects.

Sorcerer  -arcane striker, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. Dragon sorcerers get a lot of bonuses tied to melee combat while Chaos sorcerers get effects like the old 2E wild mage where the die roll result brings in some kind of variable effect. About half of the sorcerer powers end up being burst or blast type shots and even some of the single-target powers have a secondary target that can be affected. One could go with the draconic sorcerer and focus on the close bursts and close blasts (many have a draconic magic kicker effect) or you could go with chaos and make a more standoff type mage blaster. Both have the interesting angle of being a  striker that focuses on area blasting effects - a multi-target striker, which has been a rare animal up to now.

Warden - primal defender, 2 builds, 4 paragon paths. Wardens are an extra-tough defender with light armor - extra HP, easier saves, and multi-target marking. Their powers are mainly melee weapon, strength vs AC for at-will's and encounters but their dailies are almost always some other interesting effect - a form of some kind, a burst or blast effect - something more interesting than another melee strike for X damage.

So the new classes are interesting and quite varied. What else is there?

• We get 6 epic destinies mainly aimed at the classes in this book
• We get backgrounds - a mechanical reward for coming up with some kind of character background. The benefit is a small bonus tied to one skill and is fine in scope - I see no unbalancing effect from it.
• 12 pages of feats
• 14 pages of magic items
• 6 pages of rituals
• 5 pages of rules updates and clarifications

 I think it's a solid book and it completes the old-school class and race set needed for a conversion.* Out of the 10 characters in my current 2 games, 4 of them are classes from this book and 2 of them are races from this book as well - a pretty good showing I think. If someone is getting started in D&D as a player this is probably the book I would recommend as the next thing to get after the PHB1. Now Wizards just announced a new class book that will cover the PHB1 classes in an updated format, so some of my opinions might change next year (maybe Rules Compendium + Class Compendium) but until them I think the PHB 1 + PHB 2 gives a player a nice wide selection of things to play in pretty much any D&D campaign.


*other than the monk, but hey - we're talking about monks. They shouldn't be that important anyway : )

Motivational Monday