To decide upon the party roles, and character needs.

Hello. I'm leaning toward a bard, cleric, or artificer for this one, but I can go further afield if others have their hearts set on those (or other Leader-role types).

I am playing a wizard with and former prisoner of Gorizbadd.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:58, Thu 06 Jan 2022.

Welcome, all. We have three players who've expressed an interest in playing 4e. I've had two suggesting games and resources.

I've posted my current resources. A small collection, but nothing fanciful or vast. The current leaning is to stay in the 'Shining Lights' world. Fair enough. No lore I'm familiar with, so there is that. I believe Candidate-3 is hoping for the Slaying Stones AP since their first post is tying into that AP.

Feel free to post your ideas, and suggestions here so all can chime in and offer feedback. If we get really in-depth, then I'll set up the wiki to be the repository of knowledge.

I don't want any over-powered, game-breaking craziness, but I also want to allow for the best experience to engage the wider audience. So, that said, if you can get me pointed to resources that matter (Or public opinion here says it's cool) then you can use whatever expanded resource options you want. However, this means YOU (The players) are dictating the character creation rules you want to see used and agree is fair for all.

I'm gonna come out the gate hot here with a proposal: We ban Twin Strike. It's such a dominant At Will power that the whole game warps around it. Any other class or race capable of picking up an At Will almost always takes it. It's so dominant Rangers basically forget they have any other At Wills. To deal similar damage to a mildly optimized Ranger just spamming Twin Strike, other classes have to often use encounter powers to make up similar DPR numbers.


Incidentally, I've never gotten to actually play a Striker before since they seem to be overwhelming the most popular 4e role, so I'd like to give it a try.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:14, Thu 06 Jan 2022.

We've had different experiences; Twin Strike is nice, but there are equivalent at-wills for several other classes - the barbarian and fighter both have them, at the very least - and they certainly never became go-tos for everyone else?

Well, part of is it my experience in the CharOp community, I think. The ability to apply static bonuses and damage riders twice as an At Will is just a really strong ability in a way no other class At Will measures up to, numbers wise.

Speaking of numbers...

I do remember the necessity of various 'math fix' feats that RPOL games at the time often just gave everyone for free (rather than requiring everyone to sink actual feats just to correct developer mistakes). Are we doing something like that?

I assume you mean Improved Defenses and the Weapon Expertise feats? Certainly wouldn't mind just getting a flat +1 feat bonus to Attacks and NADs.

That said, I think Essentials' introduction of the (Weapon Type) Expertise feats mostly adds good riders to the baseline stuff to make them worth the feat slot rather than being a straight feat tax. Improved Defenses not so much.

Those were the ones.


Candidate #4, do you have a character preference?

I am very flexible when it comes to what I play. I played a fighter back when I played before, but want to make sure we have our role bases covered. Im leaning towards Rogue or the Seeker class.

That would mean two strikers, one leader, and one controller - but that's still quite doable. (You don't have to have every role-primary covered for a party to function.) Of course, if we get a 5th or 6th then who knows?

Although never ideal, I'm not opposed to a player controlling two characters. My experience is a mixed bag. One PC gets more spotlight and the other usually just do things when needed. But it's an option.

There are pdfs that you could google using the titles Heroes of the Fallen Lands and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms through google docs. These are the titles of the player's handbooks regarding 4e essentials.

I don't mind playing a Defender if Candidate-4 wants to play a striker. Probably a Swordmage, then.

If you go Rogue, I could go Swordmage w/ Aegis of Ensnarement and provide Combat Advantage for you to capitalize on.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:42, Fri 07 Jan 2022.

I'm now debating between Artificer and Runepriest.

The Artificer can cover Thievery needs (less necessary with a rogue), and their item creation is crippled if the Essentials rarity system is in place (Wizards itself later admitted that rarity was hot garbage), but they can throw huge amounts of temporary hit points around and have decent buffing and control.

The only other wrinkle is that it would make three of the PCs Int-based Arcane types! Still, that could be part of why they ended up in a group together.


The Runepriest really leans on tactical positioning (okay if we'll have a grid battlemap, problematic otherwise) but can throw out huge bonus numbers and is a front-liner (better for the rogue). Their actual healing ability is only so-so, but they throw out even more buffs when they use it.



Any thoughts/preferences? I could still go back to other options if neither of those looks good.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:01, Fri 07 Jan 2022.

I use maptools for maps if/when actual combat is needed and post the screenshot of them in a thread. I might have to create them though. Unless I can find them. The ones in the modules have legends that look messy and could confuse others.

I'll tokenize your characters once you present photos. I usually create a thread for portrait media for PCs and NPCs alike.

Artificer would be fine if you want to go that route. A group of mostly Arcanists might be fun.

Runepriests tends to feel bad to play in a smaller party. They tend to struggle to fill the leader role because they have such a diversity of options. There's also a lack of feat support for them. That said, If you've already played one before and enjoyed it, I'd be fine with it.

If you want a class that does repositioning well and can fight in melee if built right, maybe Cunning Bard or Skald would be good? It would also solve our obvious lack of Charisma.

I can fill in whatever role we are weakest on.

Are all the books available? I think I still have everything up until essentials.
I don't know what rules people are playing, but when I GMed I had some basic rules.