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pretre wrote:I'd agree with Balance here. 4E has less of the linear/quadratic issue that plagues earlier D&D editions. It also has a good formula and incentive for continuing combats without fight/rest/fight/rest/fight/rest. Our party (or at least I) likes to see how many milestones we can rack up before resting.

I have a group that gets upset if you don't do the fight/rest/fight/rest pattern. I like to see that they are moving away from that a bit and packing more into encounters so that Healing Surges actually mean more so that striker actually isn't as survivable as a defender.

4E prohibits that though. You can have as many short rests as you want but only 1 extended rest per 12 hours.

I guess if the party is actually fighting for 30 seconds and then resting for 12 hours, but that's crazy.

Edit: If I was the DM, I would gently prod them away from that. Time limits, random night encounters every couple days, etc.

I feel I should probably buy some dice at some point rather than just using an online dice sim.

Does anyone have any recommendations on quantities of dice for 4th ed?

If you're just playing, then head down to your FLGS and buy a little thing of Chessex dice. They generally have one with 1 of each type of D.

Here's an online supplier. Set of 7 costs about 6 bucks.
http://www.trollandtoad.com/Gaming-Supplies/1211-483-1204p1n10.html

If you're looking for bulk... That's going to be tougher.

I was wrong!
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=pound+of+dice

Oh wow, that is only 11 pounds :O

I am so on it.

pretre wrote:4E prohibits that though. You can have as many short rests as you want but only 1 extended rest per 12 hours.

I guess if the party is actually fighting for 30 seconds and then resting for 12 hours, but that's crazy.

Edit: If I was the DM, I would gently prod them away from that. Time limits, random night encounters every couple days, etc.

I'm talking about short rests. We aren't fighting for 5 rounds (30 seconds) and then resting for 8 hours. In the recent Lair Assault the whole thing takes place in a 4 minute time period (or 20 rounds, which is 12 seconds a round even though the book says 6, but that is another issue) from when the pc's enter the lair. There are multiple rooms and traps that must be overcome w/o a rest. It really ratchets up the intesity as every Encounter becomes more important and each healing surge precious. It just adds an element of tension that is missing from a lot of mods that follow the room, short rest, room, short rest, Comrade's Succor, room, short rest pattern.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

corpsesarefun wrote:I feel I should probably buy some dice at some point rather than just using an online dice sim.

Does anyone have any recommendations on quantities of dice for 4th ed?

Going to assume you have buckets of d6s since this is a Warhammer site

2-4 d20
2-4 d12
2-4 d10
2-4 d8
2-4 d4

Oh, I completely missed your point then. I think the fight / short / fight / short is good but mixing it up can be fun sometimes.

I do like time limits on adventures. Running Crucible of the Gods right now. Good times.

pretre wrote:4E prohibits that though. You can have as many short rests as you want but only 1 extended rest per 12 hours.

I guess if the party is actually fighting for 30 seconds and then resting for 12 hours, but that's crazy.

Edit: If I was the DM, I would gently prod them away from that. Time limits, random night encounters every couple days, etc.

I have heard that some groups play that way. Some GMs are very passive and may take 'player choice' and 'sandbox' a bit too far, so the PCs spend so much time on a dungeon it's more of an archaeological expedition than a SWAT team raid. Many of the early D&D adventures were in this mold: A classic adventure, Keep on the Borderlands was heavily based around building up the Keep as a sort of hub, and the players could go explore the monster-infested caves nearby at their leisure. I don't remember KOTB having any real "plot" beyond this, although the follow-ups added nasty stuff deeper int he caves, I think.

I don't remember this style of GMing being that fun when I was 12, and I doubt it would be now, at least for me. And that's both as a player and a GM. I want some adventure and plot, even if I also just want to play the dungeon and smash things sometimes. Still, it's a valid style if you're into it, but don't be surprised if players take advantage of an 'easy' GM and abuse the privilege like this.

I think early D&D (before my time) had some influence from adventure stories where travel was a big deal, so spending a 'season' adventuring in one spot made perfect sense.

Didn't 1st ed KotB have rooms that refilled if you left or took too long? I'll have to dig up my copy when I get home.

pretre wrote:Didn't 1st ed KotB have rooms that refilled if you left or took too long? I'll have to dig up my copy when I get home.

There might be... it's been a long time. Still, it was a very 'static' experience and some players would consider a refilling room an opportunity. "Hey, guys! We've got an XP Generator!"

lol yeah. I haven't played it in quite a while. I'll let you know if I remember when I get home.