Monotony of the best power

I've been reviewing my many lingering draft posts. Though never published at the time, this was one of the first posts I wrote for this blog—when my group was just starting to play 4e, and I hadn't discovered the OSR. Even knowing what I know now, I think the point is still valid and worth posting.

I've always liked having mini's at the table, so that's not a problem for me. Tactical concerns are natural for a game that has its root in Chainmail. Since D&D is no longer a wargame, however, it might be better if those tactics were left as a matter of player style rather than enshrined in the core rules. Including a catalogue of tactics provides players with ready options, but tends to make them lazy about looking for alternatives not spelled-out in the book. Such detailed rules can easily serve as a constraint rather than an inspiration.

The 4e mage (and most everybody) uses their best power—the same power—in most combat rounds, over and over again, which turns out not to be an improvement in terms of combat variety over previous editions (fighter attacks with his sword again; mage uses his sling again to save his big spell for the end). As in previous editions, this pattern is exacerbated by lazy DM-ing. I need to give the players situations or set pieces that challenge them to do something out of the ordinary.

The only thing I would add in retrospect is that the interminable combats in 4e make the problem worse.

Part 1: The Malevolent Mystery of Marshburg

On Sunday afternoon I ran my first 4e game—part of an adventure I call The Malevolent Mystery of Marshburg. The session went pretty well, particularly in light of how long it's been since I've written an adventure or DM'd, and that none of us have played 4e. My players even asked if we could continue the adventure tomorrow after work, which was a nice complement.

In five hours we gathered rumors in town, found the dungeon site, explored a half dozen rooms, and completed two major encounters. Kobolds were defeated. A trap was disarmed. One PC was reduced to zero hit points, but recovered. All but one of the Goblins were killed, and that one managed to escape by spiking a door shut between him and the PC's. (If the players can do, why not the monsters?)

I tried to run certain aspects of the game in "classic mode". The trap was disarmed through dialogue between me and the players rather than a simple role, for example.

4e feels more like a tactical miniatures game than any previous edition, but that's all I'm prepared to say until we give the game a fair run-through in a number of sessions.

Would not a turn by any other name be 10 minutes?

Before 4e, if I recall correctly, a round represented 10 minutes of game time, and turn represented 1 minute of game time. AD&D (or was it one of the OD&D supplements?) introduced the 6 second segment. So, 1 round = 10 turns = 60 segments = 10 minutes.

Fourth edition (PHB page 266) defines a turn as the 6 seconds during which you, the player, take your actions. A round is the same 6 seconds, during which everyone takes their turn. So, 1 round = 1 turn = 6 seconds.

As far as I can tell, 4e is silent on the issues of non-combat time, movement, and encumbrance. The closest related rule I found was the table about duration of light sources (PHB page 262), which specified that a candles and torches last 1 hour, and a lantern burns for 8 hours per pint of oil.

Stymied by 4e module conversion

I just (mostly) finished preparing my first fourth edition D&D adventure. I had planned on doing a quick conversion of U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, but was frustrated. I ran into enough things which were omitted or entirely changed in 4e (no more Charm Person spells? No more Illusionists?) that I eventually decided to create an entirely new adventure vaguely inspired by Saltmarsh. I'm running my Malevolent Mystery of Marshburg tomorrow, and will report on how it goes. If my players remember Saltmarsh, they'll be in for a surprise.

Anyone thinking of doing a quick conversion of an old module for 4e should be wary.