Massive D&D 4th Edition Update


New Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition Character Sheets released from WOTC
Corrin Halfling Paladin
Erasis Human Cleric
Kathra Dwarf Fighter
Riardon Eladrin Ranger
Skamos Tiefling Wizard
Tira Half-Elf Warlock

Players Guide to 4E Quick Play Rules.doc
Raiders Oakhurst v1.doc

Second Son Adventure.pdf

New 4e Magic Items:

The list below is broken up into the following:
+1 Example Item (Level 2) [Enhancement Modifier, Name, Level of the item]
Implement (Example) [Describes the type of Implement, wand, holy symbol ect]
Enhancement:
[Applies the listed modifier to specified type of roll]
Critical: [Extra damage done when scoring a critical hit]
Power (Example): [Provides an additional power when using the item]
Body Slot: [The armor slot this magic item uses]
Property: [Gives additional properties when using the item]

+1 Vicious Longbow (Level 2)
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls with weapon
Critical: +1d12 damage


+1 Symbol of Life (Level 2)
Implement (Holy Symbol)
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls with implement
Critical: +1d6 damage
Power (Milestone): Free Action. Activate when you use a power that heals damage. Add +1d6 to the healing provided.
Recharge: Milestone

+1 Dwarven Plate Armor (Level 2)
Enhancement: AC
Property: Gain a +1 item bonus to Endurance checks.
Power (Daily): Free Action. Regain hit points equal to your healing surge value. You don’t spend a healing surge when you use this power.

+1 Cloak of Resistance (Level 2)
Body Slot: Neck
Enhancement: Fortitude, Reflex, and Will defenses
Power (Daily): Minor Action. Gain resist all 5 until the start of your next turn.

Belt of Vigor (Level 2)
Body Slot: Waist
Property: You gain a +1 item bonus to the healing provided by your healing surges.

+1 Heavy Shield of Protection (Level 3)
Body Slot: Arms
Enhancement: Armor Class and Reflex defense
Power (Encounter): Standard Action. You and an adjacent ally gain resist all 5 until the end of your next turn.

+1 FROST WARHAMMER [LEVEL 3]
This is a good weapon for a fighter to wield.
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls with weapon.
Critical: +1d6 cold damage.
Power (Encounter): Free action. Activate when you hit with this weapon. The target takes +1d10 cold damage and is slowed until the end of your next turn (Cold).

+1 STAFF OF THE WAR MAGE [LEVEL 3]

This is a perfect implement for a wizard.
Implement (Staff)
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls with implement.
Critical: +1d8 damage
Power (Daily): Free action. Activate when you use a power with a burst or blast effect. Increase the size of the burst or blast by 1.

+1 DELVER’S LEATHER ARMOR [LEVEL 3
This armor is good for a character in light armor, such as a warlock.
Armor: Any
Enhancement: AC
Power (Encounter): Free action. Gain a +2 power bonus to a saving throw.

+1 AMULET OF HEALTH [LEVEL 3]
This amulet is suitable for a character of any class.
Body Slot: Neck
Enhancement: Fortitude, Reflex, and Will defenses
Property: Gain resist poison 5.

IRONSKIN BELT [LEVEL 5]
This belt is suitable for a character of any class.
Body Slot: Waist
Power (Encounter): Minor action. Gain resist weapons 5 until the end of your next turn.

GAUNTLETS OF OGRE POWER [LEVEL 5]
These gauntlets are good for a fighter, ranger, or paladin.
Body Slot: Hands
Property: Gain a +1 item bonus to Athletics checks and Strength ability checks (but not Strength attacks).
Power (Daily): Free action. Activate when you hit with a melee attack. Add a +5 power bonus to the damage roll.

New 4e Monsters:

Chillborn
Medium Natural Animate (Undead)
Level 6 Soldier

AC 22, FORT 21, REF 17, WILL 17, HP 48, Bloodied 24, Init +5, Spd 4
Senses: Perception +3. Immune: Poison, Resist: cold 10, nec 10, wpn 10
Weakness: Massive Dmg, Vuln rad 5
Attacks: Melee Slam +14 vs AC; 1d6+6 AND Followup
Followup +9 vs Fort; Immobilized 1 rd
Ice Reaper: +5 cold dmg to Immobilized or Stunned
Abilities: Massive Damage: Destroyed by single atk of 24+ dmg
Wintry Cloud: Creatures take 2 cold dmg at start of their turns for each chillborn within 5 (max 8 dmg)
Str +9 (22), Con +5 (15), Dex +5 (14), Int -1 (2), Wis +3 (10), Cha +5 (15)

D&d 4.0 BodakBodak Skulk
Bodaks are heartless creatures that kill for the sake of killing, serving their own desires or the desires of an even crueler master.
Medium shadow humanoid (undead)
Level 16 Lurker
XP 1,400
Initiative +16
Senses Perception +10; darkvision
Agonizing Gaze (Fear, Necrotic) aura 5; a creature in the aura that makes a melee or ranged attack against the bodak skulk takes 5 necrotic damage before the attack roll is made and takes a -2 penalty to the attack roll.
HP 124; Bloodied 62
AC 29, Fortitude 29, Reflex 27, Will 29
Immune disease, poison; Resist 15 necrotic; Vulnerable 5 radiant; a bodak skulk that takes radiant damage cannot weaken a target until the end of its next turn.
Speed 6
Slam (standard; at-will) * Necrotic
+21 vs. AC; 1d6 + 5 damage plus 2d6 necrotic damage, and the target is weakened until the end of the bodak skulk’s next turn.
Death Gaze (standard; encounter) * Necrotic
Range 10; targets a living creature; +19 vs. Fortitude; If the target is weakened, it is reduced to 0 hit points; otherwise, the target takes 1d6 + 6 necrotic damage and loses 1 healing surge.
Spectral Form (standard; at-will)
The bodak skulk turns invisible and gains the insubstantial and phasing qualities. It can do nothing but move in spectral form, and it can return to its normal form as a free action.
Alignment Evil
Languages Common
Str 21 (+13) Dex 19 (+12) Wis 15 (+10)
Con 22 (+14) Int 6 (+6) Cha 23 (+14)
Tactics: The bodak skulk approaches undetected using spectral form and then waits for an opportunity to gain combat advantage. When it’s poised to attack, the bodak reverts to normal form and attempts to weaken a foe with its slam attack. It fixes its death gaze on the first enemy it weakens.

Bodak Reaver
Medium shadow humanoid (undead)
Level 18 Soldier
XP 2,000
Initiative +16
Senses Perception +17; darkvision
Agonizing Gaze (Fear, Necrotic) aura 5; a creature in the aura that makes a melee or ranged attack against the bodak skulk takes 5 necrotic damage before the attack roll is made and takes a -2 penalty to the attack roll.
HP 175; Bloodied 87
AC 31, Fortitude 31, Reflex 30, Will 31
Immune disease, poison; Resist 20 necrotic; Vulnerable 5 radiant; a bodak skulk that takes radiant damage cannot weaken a target until the end of its next turn.
Speed 5
Greataxe (standard; at-will) * Necrotic, Weapon
+23 vs. AC; 1d12 + 6 damage (crit 2d12 + 18) plus 1d8 necrotic damage, and the target is dazed and weakened (save ends both).
Death Gaze (standard; encounter) * Necrotic
Range 10; targets a living creature; +20 vs. Fortitude; If the target is weakened, it is reduced to 0 hit points; otherwise, the target takes 1d6 + 6 necrotic damage and loses 1 healing surge.
Death Drinker * Healing
If a living creature is reduced to 0 hit points within 5 squares of the bodak reaver, the reaver gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls until the end of it’s next turn as well as 15 temporary hit points.
Alignment Evil
Languages Common
Str 22 (+15) Dex 21 (+14) Wis 16 (+12)
Con 23 (+15) Int 10 (+9) Cha 23 (+15)
Tactics: This bodak reaver wades into combat wielding its greataxe and taking advantage of its agonizing gaze. A bodak reaver will sometimes slay an allied minions to reap the benefits of its death drinker power.

Bodak Lore: A character knows the following information with a successful Religion check.
DC 20: Bodaks are undead humanoids with strong ties to the Shadowfell. Its visage is so ghastly that it can kill with a look.
DC 30: When a nightwalker slays a humanoid, that nightwalker can ritually transform the slain creature’s body and spirit into a bodak. The bodak then acts at the nightwalker’s behest, serving whomever its master dictates.

Encounter Groups: An enslaved bodak collaborates with other shadow or undead creatures.
Level 18 Encounter (XP 10,000)
2 bodak reavers (level 18 soldier)
1 cambion hellfire magus (level 18 artillery)
2 slaughter wights (level 18 brute)

BoneclawD&d 4e Boneclaw
Boneclaws are magically constructed undead built to hunt and slay the living. Liches, deathpriests of Orcus, shadar-kai necromancers, and other vile individuals use them as guards and agents. Their skewerlike claws contract and extend from moment to moment, sometimes instantly reaching a length of 10 feet or more before slowly contracting.
Large shadow animate (undead)
Level 14 Soldier
XP 1,000
Initiative +15
Senses Perception +13; darkvision
HP 136; Bloodied 68; see also necrotic pulse
AC 30, Fortitude 24, Reflex 27, Will 25
Immune disease, poison; Resist 20 necrotic; Vulnerable 5 radiant
Speed 8
Claw (standard; at-will)
Reach 3; +20 vs. AC; 1d12 + 6 damage.
Necrotic Pulse (immediate reaction, when first bloodied; encounter) * Healing, Necrotic
Close burst 10; undead allies in the burst regain 10 hit points, and enemies in the burst take 10 necrotic damage.
Relentless Opportunist
If the boneclaw hits with an opportunity attack, it makes another opportunity attack against the same target the next time it provokes during its current turn.
Threatening Reach
The boneclaw can make opportunity attacks against all enemies within reach (3 squares).
Alignment Evil
Languages Common
Skills Intimidate +16, Stealth +18
Str 17 (+10) Dex 23 (+13) Wis 12 (+8)
Con 16 (+10) Int 10 (+7) Cha 18 (+11)

Tactics: A boneclaw impales foes with its claws, relying on its threatening reach to discourage enemies from fleeing.

Lore: A character knows the following information with a successful Religion check.
DC 20: Boneclaws are intelligent undead constructs that enjoy hunting and slaying living creatures.
DC 25: One creates a boneclaw by means of a dark ritual that binds a powerful evil soul to a specially prepared amalgamation of undead flesh and bone. The exact ritual is a closely guarded secret known only to a handful of liches and necromancers. Cabals that wish to possess the knowledge of boneclaw creation have resorted to diplomacy, theft, and clandestine warfare to acquire the ritual.
DC 30: Although rumor holds that the first boneclaws were created by a powerful lich in the service of Vecna, the truth is that a coven of hags led by a powerful night hag named Grigwartha created the first boneclaw over a century ago. They invented a ritual that combines the flesh and bones from ogres along with the trapped soul of an oni. Although the materials can vary, the ritual is the same among those who know it.
DC 35: Grigwartha trades her knowledge of the boneclaw creation ritual for favors she can later call upon. As such, she has a vast network of individuals and creatures that owe her a debt for the ritual.

Encounter Groups: Boneclaws can appear in any setting, always serving evil. They act as guardians, soldiers, and even assassins.
Level 14 Encounter (XP 5,000)
2 boneclaws (level 14 soldier)
1 lich (level 14 elite controller)
1 shield guardian (level 14 soldier)

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What gives? Why the hell does a level 1 have so many powers, and why does the warlock have powers she can only use once per day? A warlocks whole bag of tricks is that they just keep the magic flowing! What kind of bull is it that they get daily spells/encounter spells?

I’m loving all of this so far. They’ve addressed all of the gameplay issues wherein 3rd edition faltered.

No stat boosting magical items? What gives? We’ve had those since 1st edition…WotC is ruining this game.

I like everything I’m seeing. They said Magic items would be less important, and seeing these items definitely says that they’ve done so. Magic items seem more niche now, about solving a specific problem or helping with a particular weakness. Now we haven’t seen any Level 15 or 30 magic items so things may change higher up and we’ll see, but good start. Also, yay, now we can run the Dungeon of Identical Kobolds!

I’m confused, does the Warlock have to use an implement to cast his invocations (now spells?) and Eldritch Blast? What gives? And what’s with the Half-Elf Warlock having “Ray of Frost” as an At-Will power?

To those confused about Warlocks, I think you just can’t assume they are in any way related to previous edition versions of a Warlock. It is a whole new idea now.

PCs seem to be balanced around the idea of always having something to contribute. That means they have to spread out things more.

Addressing other comments –

Raltaki:
WotC has made it clear that they want characters *at all levels* to have varying and distinct options to use while in combat (hence the number of powers at low levels).

Warlocks get these more powerful encounter/daily abilities becasue, as WotC stated, the thing that made warlocks unique – the ‘keep the magic flowing’ is now a general game mechanic instead of class based ability, as such they redesigned the class to fulfill its ability as a ranged striker (single target damage dealer), and maintain the warlock flavor (I am a badass and command the darker powers without remorse or mercy)

Morlok –
Fireball has (up until now) been 1d6/level as well. Surprisingly, change can be good. I agree with this change because by 20th level most melee classes were their magic items first, and their class second…

Tedesche –
It looks like it (re: implement) but that doesn’t change the class concept much? In one hand you are holding a wand forged from the bone of a dragon or lich, in the other you hold a cruel dagger. From my understanding implements are necessary for spell completion as a focus for the magical energies. By introducing implements it has allowed for wizards to create all new types of magic items that affect certain spells directly.

Re: Ray of Frost. You will notice that ‘Wizard Attack 1’ is listed next to Ray of Frost. Which, to me signifies it is a wizard ability. Note the feat section says some abilities have been ommited but directly added. Perhaps one of these feats allows for the use of an at-will wizard ability….*shrug* that is all speculation on my part.

My take –

Very interesting indeed. I like the marking idea that defender classes have, and the prey stalking mechanic for the ranger seems good if a bit wonky (NEAREST enemy? why not any enemy within range? Maybe that can be changed with feats or later abilities, but still seems a bit odd). The cleric has moved in a direction I like a lot, with actions that buff *while* doing something else – wasting a round on a buff in combat always sucked.

From the character sheets my biggest mechanical question lies in the “what is a second wind” and how do healing surges work exactly.

from my understanding from here and other sites ‘Second Wind’ is a dwarf thing, probably similar to the healing surges. daily use heal to full or act as healed to full or something along those lines to play off of dwarven toughness

In “Star Wars Saga Edition”, each Character has the ability to use “Second Wind” once per day, that is s/he heals a number of hit points (a quarter of maximum hit points if i’m not mistaken) as a reaction (swift action).

Effectively it’s kinda an auto heal options usable once per day.

Maybe, just maybe, the 4th ed DnD use the same system?

Actually, according to the rules put down on the primer from the Experience weekend, taking a second wind action (standard action) you can expend a healing surge to get back your surge value and get a +2 defense bonus for 1 round. (quick-play-rules.doc)
Magic users with at-will spells/prayers/whatever. Finally!

you see this just changes the aspect of the warlock. They originally cast spells like monsters. No items no components just raw magical energy flowing through them. Now, however, they depend on magic wands. I cant get over how harry potter-ish that makes them look. I wonder if they will open up rules that allow for other implements… Ie id prefer to have some kind of staff over a wand, also does this mean that pit fiend needs his wand to cast magical spell-like abilities?

Alternatively this could have just been a mechanics issue with the feat system. They could have designed a lot of spell casting feats around the implement and not giving one to a warlock would have left them out in the cold. Ideally Id like to think that this would be the only reason behind such a annoying alteration.

Warlocks don’t need implements — no one does. Implements help, but they aren’t necessary. You’re better with one, but not crippled without one.

I’m pretty sure SOME spells require an implement.

In 4E i believe that the half-elf gets an at will power from another class of the same type (Arcane, divine, or martial) as a racial feature. that explains the warlocks wizard spell.

Man, did they nerf Gauntlets of Ogre Power.. I am going to stick with 3.5. This is such a massive change that it does not feel like D&D anymore. It feel more like WoW

GAUNTLETS OF OGRE POWER [LEVEL 5]
These gauntlets are good for a fighter, ranger, or paladin.
Body Slot: Hands
Property: Gain a +1 item bonus to Athletics checks and Strength ability checks (but not Strength attacks).
Power (Daily): Free action. Activate when you hit with a melee attack. Add a +5 power bonus to the damage roll.

Yeah, this does have a WoW feel to it, and that is not good in my opinion. none of this interests or excites me at all, and due to the fact I have well over 800 3 – 3.5 books and resources…I’m not changing over for this, this is boring and I can simply take what I like from it and incorporate it into my game.The rules are not even that different in the long run. It’s like taking the engine of a video game and upgrading it. there are differences on the outside, but still the same thing inside.
sorry Wizards, I’m not falling for $E like I fell for 3.5

Oh my god!!! I dont think i’m ever gonna play these rules. I was a late starter to dnd, starting with 3.0 rules then loved the 3.5 as it made one of my fav classes loads better which seems to now have dissappeared = Monk. And my other, sorceror with all its funky abilities seems to have gone as well. In my opinion they have ruined it.

I love just about everything I’ve seen about 4e thus far. It’s cleaner and easier to understand than 3.5e, looks to run much faster, and characters are truly heroic even at 1st level. Yes, this is very much like an MMORPG feel and I think that’s a fantastic thing. I wrote up a set of rules last year called Young Players Options that did very similar things and it went over great with my then 10 and 12 year old daughters.

they have made 4.0 extremely simular to many of the MMORPG’s, if we wanted to play a mmorpg we would go out and buy one, we want to play dnd, where the rules are a little higher quality and complexity. what happened to the quality you say, well it went out the window in a desperate grab for the love of hardcore fans that jumped out to comit suicide

I, for one, am extremely excited about 4th edition. I can’t say I like everything I see. My fondest memories rooted in 2nd edition, the ‘feeling’ of 4E being like a MMORG is a little worrying, however, this whole 4E is WoW wagon is over generalizing. It’s still DnD. It will be as much of a MMORG as you and your players allow it to be; the creativity is still in the hands of the players. And come on people, DnD wasn’t perfect, especially 3/3.5…Wizards has been smart to pick up a thing or two from the MMORGs.

Read some of the designer blogs and the DnDXP recaps and it might peek your interests again. I really do believe they are laying the foundation for a really great game. Then again, sometimes memories are best left as such, so who knows?

the game looks like its gonna be based off the characters, instead of their equipment, which seems like a decent change to me.
there is a lot which is ‘different’, and ‘different’ always puts people off, but theres nothing to stop you playing the older versions. besides, not everything is known yet, so you cant get a full opinion of the new version yet.

I for one, after playing the new intro adventure am very much excited about 4.0! It does take ideas from video games. I think the marking idea really allows character to fill their roles much better. I love the idea of playing a fighter and actually being able to do something past level 5!

It borrows from MMO’s only in that it forces players to work together as a team. The game I played was still D&D through and through. We still pulled out the beers, I was still playing with real people. We still role-played! And most importantly no one spoke in abbreviations “I’m going on an LBRS run to get some new DPS BBQ N3WB”

I don’t know why people think the gauntlets of ogre power remind them of WoW! Hell, WoW is all about the christmas tree effect (stacking magic items to make your character) I think this system is much better!

I don’t know what to think of 4E. Yeah, items have been powered down, all classes seem to be magical, and a predominant MMORPG feel does exist. BUT, Wizards don’t have as many restrictions and other classes still get powerful as they level up, and as Frick said, now items don’t make the character. They fixed some things and screwed some things up, but that’s why we get updates and new versions. I can’t say 3.5 was perfect either, besides, maybe they’ll make 4.5 edition?

As for the complaints about classes disappearing (i miss them too), there are additional Player Handbooks coming out with more classes and races to allow them to return. I mean, the P.H. II brought back the Druid better than ever 😀 There may still be hope.

I feel I can play both editions with a sense of fun…but a different sense of accomplishment.