Previous 4th Power Posts Well, I missed my first deadline by not posting feats last week. They ended up being more tricky than I thought. 4e and d20 feats all seem to be more combat-oriented, which was always my complaint with systems like Call of Cthulhu d20. Anyway, I had a hard time coming up […]
4th Power Project: Skills
I’ve got some core classes (which are pending some revisions), some at-will powers, and some other powers. Next step is relatively simple (but not without some thought): skills. While skills are not trivial in 4e, they play a much greater role in modern games, and have a greater variety. This is not just because of […]
4th Power Project: Classes, Part 3 (Other Powers)
The beginnings of some at-will powers were posted last week– not all of them by any means, but I figured it was a start. Now as I mentioned then, at-will powers should come up fairly often, and be the stand-bys. The other powers are Per Scene (formerly Per Encounter) and Per Session (formerly Per Day.) […]
The 4th Power Project: Classes, Part 2 (At-Will Powers)
So here’s what I think of as the next step, or at least a defining portion of the next step: at-wills. At-will powers accomplish a few important things in the game. They serve as the powers you will use the most, and throughout your entire career adventuring. They are the fall backs when you don’t want to use any of your encounter or dailies (expendable resources) and are more all purpose.
The 4th Power Project: Core Classes, Part 1
Here’s some actual crunch: the core classes. Just as in d20 Modern, there’s one base class for each ability score. This setup is intuitive, and also allows for the different kind of teams you see in so many shows and movies.
The 4th Power Project: Core Design Elements
This week I’m going to tell you what my goals for the game are and some broad strokes as far as the rules go. However, I’m going to cover two things up front, which may disappoint some of you.
The 4th Power Project: Background and Kickoff
I am happy to announce a new series of columns here at Critical-Hits, authored by myself. It represents something we’ve never tried doing here before, coupled with a project that I’m quite excited about, and I hope you will be too.
I Am A Liberal Gamer
I’m a big proponent of change in game design. If something isn’t working, don’t just patch it, teardown and rebuild. This puts me in opposition to what I will respectfully call the “Conservative Gamer” contingent, who prefer that games preserve much of their makeup from edition to edition. But, that’s not for me. I prefer to see innovation in game design.
Ultimate D&D Universe
In a way, the transition from the previous editions core setting to 4e’s core setting was an attempt not unlike the attempts by DC and Marvel Comics to clean up their continuity so as to allow new readers (players) an easier entry point and to recreate the continuity to fit together better. DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths was the trend-setter there, but the analogue that works better for me is Marvel’s Ultimate line.
Paying the Buy-In
When starting a new campaign (or even just planning a one-shot), it’s tough to get people into a new game. Thus, the game usually ends up being D&D. Now, there’s nothing wrong with it being D&D, but with so many RPGs out there, I enjoy a bit of variety when I can get it.
Why is it so tough? Because the “buy-in” total for the game is too high.
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