Race/Class Synergy in 4e: PHB2 Races

Following up last week's analysis of synergy between the Player's Handbook 1 races and the Player's Handbook 2 classes, this week I have analysis of the PHB2 races and all the core classes. Again I'm using the definitions posted at Incredible Vehicle for top, second and bottom tiers.

What I call a top tier combination is where a race’s bonus attributes map directly to a class’ primary and secondary. ... A second tier combo is one where a race has one attribute that maps to a primary or secondary. ... When a race has no attributes, or only a tertiary attribute, it’s third tier.

As before, top tier combinations are green, second tier white and third tier red.

		Deva	Gnome	Goliath	Half-Orc	Longtooth Shifter	Razorclaw Shifter
		Int, Wis	Int, Cha	Str, Con	Str, Dex	Str, Wis	Dex, Wis
Cleric	Str, Wis	1	0	1	1	2	1
	Wis, Cha	1	1	0	0	1	1
Fighter	Str, Con	0	0	2	1	1	0
	Str, Dex or Wis*	1	0	1	2	2	1
Paladin	Str, Wis	1	0	1	1	2	1
	Cha, Wis	1	1	0	0	1	1
Ranger	Dex, Wis	1	0	0	1	1	2
	Str, Wis	1	0	1	1	2	1
Rogue	Dex, Str	0	0	1	2	1	1
	Dex, Cha	0	1	0	1	0	1
Warlock	Cha, Int	1	2	0	0	0	0
	Con, Int	1	1	1	0	0	0
Warlord	Str, Cha	0	1	1	1	1	0
	Str, Int	1	1	1	1	1	0
Wizard	Int, Wis	2	1	0	0	1	1
	Int, Dex	1	1	0	1	0	1
Avenger	Wis, Int	2	1	0	0	1	1
	Wis, Dex	1	0	0	1	1	2
Barbarian	Str, Con	0	0	2	1	1	0
	Str,Cha	0	1	1	1	1	0
Bard	Cha,Int	1	2	0	0	0	0
	Cha, Con	0	1	1	0	0	0
Druid	Wis, Con	1	0	1	0	1	1
	Wis, Dex	1	0	0	1	1	2
Invoker	Wis, Int	2	1	0	0	1	1
	Wis, Con	1	0	1	0	1	1
Shaman	Wis, Con	1	0	1	0	1	1
	Wis, Int	2	1	0	0	1	1
Sorcerer	Cha, Dex	0	1	0	1	0	1
	Cha, Str	0	1	1	1	1	0
Warden	Str, Con	0	0	2	1	1	0
	Str, Wis	1	0	1	1	2	1
	Synergy "score"	25	19	21	21	30	24

Finally, a top tier race (deva) for the control wizard... in the same book with more controller classes. Ah well, better late than never. Longtooth shifters take the most-top-tier-builds title with five, followed by devas with four. Note that out of all the PHB1 races the maximum is three. You could build a well rounded party with nothing but shifters - the only role the longtooths (longteeth?) don't cover as a top tier build is controller, and the razorclaws have that covered with one of the druid builds.

Three of the new races get a Strength boost. Along with the dragonborn that means by choosing the right race you can get a Strength boost along with any other ability... except Intelligence. So there's still no top tier race for the tactical warlord (though all the PHB2 races are second tier for the build). Also, there's still no top tier race for the laser cleric and pretty paladin (Wis, Cha) builds or the scourge warlock (Con, Int) build. Interestingly, all the PHB2 class builds are a top tier build for one or more races.

Race/Class Synergy in 4e: PHB2 Classes

In my revised Race/Class Synergy in 4e post I said I would post similar analysis when I got the Player's Handbook 2. I got it, so here it is. Note that I still haven't found the time to answer the critical question of just how much the secondary ability boost is worth compared to the primary ability boost for the PHB1 classes, much less the PHB2. So for this post I'll still be using the definitions put forth by Matthew at Incredible Vehicle:

What I call a top tier combination is where a race’s bonus attributes map directly to a class’ primary and secondary. ... A second tier combo is one where a race has one attribute that maps to a primary or secondary. ... When a race has no attributes, or only a tertiary attribute, it’s third tier.

I'm going to look first at the synergies between the PHB1 races and the PHB2 classes, just because I find the classes in the book more compelling than the races. I'll be using the suggested primary and secondary abilities for the builds in the book. I'll work up a similar table for the PHB2 races and all the classes next week. Again, I'll color every top tier match green and bottom tier red, leaving second tier white. I'm again leaving out the human column because it's boring.

		Dragonborn	Dwarf	Eladrin	Elf	Half-Elf	Halfling	Tiefling
		Str, Cha	Con, Wis	Dex, Int	Dex, Wis	Con, Cha	Dex, Cha	Int, Cha
Avenger	Wis, Int	0	1	1	1	0	0	1
	Wis, Dex	0	1	1	2	0	1	0
Barbarian	Str, Con	1	1	0	0	1	0	0
	Str,Cha	2	0	0	0	1	1	1
Bard	Cha,Int	1	0	1	0	1	1	2
	Cha, Con	1	1	0	0	2	1	1
Druid	Wis, Con	0	2	0	1	1	0	0
	Wis, Dex	0	1	1	2	0	1	0
Invoker	Wis, Int	0	1	1	1	0	0	1
	Wis, Con	0	2	0	1	1	0	0
Shaman	Wis, Con	0	2	0	1	1	0	0
	Wis, Int	0	1	1	1	0	0	1
Sorcerer	Cha, Dex	1	0	1	1	1	2	1
	Cha, Str	2	0	0	0	1	1	1
Warden	Str, Con	1	1	0	0	1	0	0
	Str, Wis	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
	Synergy "score"	10	15	7	12	11	8	9
	PHB1 "score"	13	10	10	12	7	10	10
	Total "score"	23	25	17	24	18	18	19

Wow, the dwarves get some love in the PHB2 classes. They go from zero top tier classes to tied for three with dragonborn and elves. I must admit, though, I find the actual choices kind of strange: invoker, shaman, and druid? For dwarves? Really? At least it's the blasty druid build and not the beasty one or dwarven mines might be suddenly overrun with guys turning into boars and bears...

The half-elves get their first top tier class in the valorous bard. Eladrin get the shaft with no top tier choices and fewer second tier choices than anyone else. The halflings pick up a second top tier choice with the wild magic sorcerer. I feel a 4e remake of my 3e halfling wizard/elemental savant Madgog Flameslinger coming on...

Race/Class Synergy in 4e: Racial Abilities

Continuing from last week, this week I want to look at how the racial special abilities of half-elves, halflings and tieflings synergize with the different roles.

Half-elf Abilities
Dilettante: An ability that is all about lack of focus. A good one, but not really one that leans toward a specific role.
Dual Heritage: Also an ability that just provides more options, not a focus on a role.
Group Diplomacy: Skill check bonuses for allies are nice, but don't really focus on a role either.
Summary: No synergy. Ability-wise, a completely unfocused race (pretty much like humans).

Halfling Abilities
Bold: Like the dwarf's cast iron stomach, a bonus to saving throws is a special case kind of ability. Nice to have, but I wouldn't say it makes halflings more suitable for any particular role by itself.
Nimble Reaction: Protection against opportunity attacks while moving around the battlefield is good for melee strikers. Great for the rogue since positioning for sneak attack is critical.
Second Chance: The chance to turn one hit into a miss per encounter is good for roles that get attacked a lot, so this is good for melee strikers and defenders.
Summary: Melee striker - two good abilities. Defender - one good ability.

Tiefling Abilities
Bloodhunt: A situational +1 to hit is nice for anyone, but doesn't lean toward any one role.
Fire Resistance: Like the bonuses to saves for dwarf and halfling, a special case ability that doesn't fit any particular role.
Infernal Wrath: Another situational attack bonus. Since it's dependent on being hit, it's probably better for defenders and melee strikers again.
Summary: Melee striker - one good ability. Defender - one good ability.

No surprises here. None of these abilities come close to the primary ability boost in terms of utility, and the couple of good ones that are here mostly reinforce the roles that the ability boosts already prescribe.

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - Tactics

It has become too cumbersome to direct the cadre's various capabilities in an ad hoc manner. I will instead endeavor to draft a coherent battle plan based on our recent encounters.

Tactical Analysis - Recent Observations

Close Blast
I have written of the wizard's problematic close range blast spell before. In recent battles an improvised tactic of leaving a small gap in the front line through which he can project the blasts was working well. I shall endeavor to formalize this.

Hobb
Different cadre members possess the means to leave enemies dazed or otherwise vulnerable to Hobb's precision attacks. It has become tricky to coordinate these so as to take maximum advantage of the rogue's devastating strikes. I shall lay out a plan for alternating these dazing attacks with Hobb's strikes.

Tactical Analysis - Battle Plan

The following is intended to serve as a general purpose battle plan for the types of battles we have engaged in recently (medium-range engagements with hostile humanoids).

Initial goal
Form a front line with a small gap for the wizard. Enable Hobb and Adincari to strike hard from range.
Specifics: Marun, Calibraxis and I form a front line with Marun in the center, striking as the opportunity presents itself (including dragon breath if the enemy is clustered). The wizard opens with his frigid energy blast on the most dangerous-looking target and the others attack it while it is vulnerable.

Second goal
Hold the line while the wizard blasts and withdraws. Continue to provide a vulnerable foe for Hobb and Adincari.
Specifics: Calibraxis brands a target I can reach and looks for an opportunity to use dragon breath if he hasn't already. I use a calculated blow to expose that enemy to Adincari. Adincari lights up the target with dark and white flame, then Hobb strikes. Finally, the wizard moves into a gap and blasts. Marun covers his retreat. Calibraxis follows up with a thunderclap and the strikers attack that target. The wizard and Marun repeat the blast and withdraw maneuver.

Third goal
Once all our tricks for making opponents vulnerable are exhausted, get Hobb into an advantageous position.
Specifics: Calibraxis continues to brand every round to set up Marun. Marun continues to strike with my support, making sure to keep the enemy distracted. I fly Hobb behind the enemy line. V drops back and switches to his cloud of daggers spell. Adincari continues to blast. Hobb takes advantage of his position to deal damage while Marun keeps the enemy from attacking him.

Race/Class Synergy in 4e: More Racial Abilities

As promised last week, this week I want to look at how the racial special abilities of dwarves, eladrin and elves synergize with the different roles.

Dwarf Abilities
Cast-Iron Stomach: A bonus to saving throws against poison is a special case kind of ability. Nice to have, but I wouldn't say it makes dwarves more suitable for any particular role by itself.
Dwarven Resilience: Taking a second wind as a minor action = easier access to hit points and better defenses for a round. Like draconic heritage mentioned last time, a great ability for defenders. Also good for battle clerics and probably melee strikers.
Dwarven Weapon Proficiency: Proficiency with the throwing hammer and the warhammer is already granted by most classes that need it. This could add a little oomph to a battle cleric.
Encumbered Speed: Coupled with already-low dwarf speed, this just lets dwarves break even with heavily-armored characters of other races in the movement department.
Stand Your Ground: An excellent defender ability - marking and locking down enemies works a lot better when you can't be moved.
Summary: Defender - two good abilities. Battle cleric - two good abilities. Melee striker - one nice ability

Eladrin Abilities
Eladrin Education: Extra skill training is too general to apply directly to one role.
Eladrin Weapon Proficiency: Free proficiency with the longsword, like the dwarven proficiency above, could be good for a battle cleric. In fact, compared to the mace this translates directly into a +1 to hit with weapon attacks due to the proficiency modifier of a longsword, making this almost as good as a primary ability boost for that particular build.
Eladrin Will: A bonus to Will and saves vs. charm doesn't really jump out as fitting one role.
Fey Origin: Like the Will bonus, counting as fey for effects doesn't fit one particular role.
Trance: Not really role related. There's not really a "stay up half the night guarding the party" role.
Fey Step: Good for any role that depends on being in the right place. Warlord definitely, though even the cleric might find it useful. Great for the rogue since positioning for sneak attack is critical.
Summary: Battle cleric - one really good ability and one nice one. Warlord - one good ability. Rogue - one good ability.

Elf Abilities
Elven Weapon Proficiency: Proficiency with the longbow and the shortbow is already granted by the build that needs it most (archer ranger). The other ranged builds throw spells. An interesting rogue build might be crafted around this ability, except that the ranged weapon rogue powers explicitly only work with crossbows and slings.
Fey Origin: As with eladrin, counting as fey for effects doesn't fit one particular role.
Group Awareness: A bonus to Perception checks for allies doesn't fit one role.
Wild Step: Ignoring difficult terrain when you shift is handy in some circumstances, but it's too situational to really boost a particular role.
Elven Accuracy: Being able to hit reliably is for strikers. A chance once per encounter to turn a miss into a hit might be on par with a primary ability boost for anyone, actually, but it's even better for strikers who want to make sure they get that extra damage as often as they can.
Summary: Striker - one really good ability.

The synergy of eladrin proficiency with the battle cleric build is really interesting. Other than that, dwarves are good defenders and elves are good strikers. No real surprises there.

Race/Class Synergy in 4e: Tertiary and Racial Abilities

At less than two weeks old, Race/Class Synergy in 4e: An Analysis is now the most-viewed post in my blog's history, so I will again take a break from my riveting campaign logs and write some more about the subject. A lot of the comments on my first two posts have to do with the parts I left out: tertiary abilities and racial abilities, so I'll take a look at those.

First, we need to consider the value of these factors next to the value of the primary and secondary ability bonuses. The value of a bonus to the primary ability is clear - +2 to that stat will typically translate directly to a +1 to hit with every attack power geared toward the build. For example, since the very definition of a battle cleric attack power is that it is a melee attack power that uses Strength to hit, a +2 Strength bonus (the primary ability of the battle cleric) translates to a +1 to hit with any of those powers (and, as an added bonus, with the basic melee attack as well).

The value of the secondary ability is, based on my limited research, much smaller. For example, for the battle cleric, the secondary Wisdom ability is used solely for turning undead or for picking up a few devoted cleric powers. In fact, the tertiary Charisma is used for the secondary effects of more attack powers that a battle cleric might take (strengthen the faithful, inspiring strike, and sacrificial healing). It looks like more in depth research is needed to determine the true value of the secondary and tertiary abilities. The PHB guidelines for the builds might be off for more than just the ranger and paladin (as we saw last time).

The racial abilities will have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and will probably be the source of some debate. Rather than map them to builds or classes, it might make the most sense to map the racial abilities to roles. For instance, taking the first racial special ability for the first race in the PHB:

Dragonborn Fury: When you’re bloodied, you gain a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls.

This is like getting most of the benefits of a primary ability boost while bloodied, so at first glance it seems about half as good as a primary ability boost for any class. However, some roles (melee striker, defender) tend to get beat up more than others (ranged striker, controller). This ability is probably worth about 3/4 as much as a primary ability boost to defenders and melee strikers, 1/4 as much to controllers and ranged strikers, and 1/2 as much to everyone else.

The other dragonborn racial abilities seem to me to reinforce their suitability as defenders. Draconic heritage is simply more hit points from surges. Good for anyone, but great for defenders. Dragon breath at first glance is a controller power, but controllers do the same thing better and more often. It's really another good defender ability, because defenders want to be surrounded by real foes, not minions, and dragon breath with its puny damage is a great minion eliminator.

I'll have to give some thought to how I want to factor these abilities into my table, and whether I want to revise it yet again in the light of the battle cleric ability order apparently being off. The first order of business regardless will be a general overview of how all the other races' abilities synergize with the roles. I'll plan to cover dwarves through at least elves next week, then half-elf to tiefling the week after, then finally come back to reevaluating the weight of the secondary and tertiary abilities in the various builds. This is shaping up to be a far more complicated project than I originally planned...

Race/Class Synergy in 4e: Revised Analysis

At less than a week old, Race/Class Synergy in 4e: An Analysis is already the second-most-viewed post in my blog's history. That probably means I should take a break from my riveting campaign logs and write a followup. Also, Incredible Vehicle has posted a followup to the article that inspired my first article. Interestingly, his definitions of top, second and bottom tiers exactly match the definitions used in my first post.

What I call a top tier combination is where a race’s bonus attributes map directly to a class’ primary and secondary. ... A second tier combo is one where a race has one attribute that maps to a primary or secondary. ... When a race has no attributes, or only a tertiary attribute, it’s third tier.

Matthew at I.V. also analyzes "the preview/playtest classes (bard, barbarian, druid, invoker, and warden), Martial Power, and the Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide". I find analysis of the preview classes premature and I don't own Martial Power or the FRPG, so I won't be adding these classes. When I get PHB2 (which I plan on picking up as soon as it's out) I plan to post similar analysis of its classes and races.

Matthew has also done what xero commented on my first post to say I should do, which is to consider Wisdom the secondary ability for rangers instead of the tertiary as stated in the PHB. Matthew also made Wisdom the secondary ability for both paladin builds, which robs the dragonborn of their 3-top-tier-build status. I'm going to redo my table with these changes, since they make sense to me. Again, I'll color every top tier match green and bottom tier red, leaving second tier white. I'm also removing the human column because it's boring.

		Dragonborn	Dwarf	Eladrin	Elf	Half-Elf	Halfling	Tiefling
		Str, Cha	Con, Wis	Dex, Int	Dex, Wis	Con, Cha	Dex, Cha	Int, Cha
Cleric	Str, Wis	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
	Wis, Cha	1	1	0	1	1	1	1
Fighter	Str, Con	1	1	0	0	1	0	0
	Str, Dex or Wis*	1	1	1	1	0	1	0
Paladin	Str, Wis	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
	Cha, Wis	1	1	0	1	1	1	1
Ranger	Dex, Wis	0	1	1	2	0	1	0
	Str, Wis	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Rogue	Dex, Str	1	0	1	1	0	1	0
	Dex, Cha	1	0	1	1	1	2	1
Warlock	Cha, Int	1	0	1	0	1	1	2
	Con, Int	0	1	1	0	1	0	1
Warlord	Str, Cha	2	0	0	0	1	1	1
	Str, Int	1	0	1	0	0	0	1
Wizard	Int, Wis	0	1	1	1	0	0	1
	Int, Dex	0	0	2	1	0	1	1
	Synergy "score"	13	10	10	12	7	10	10

That simple change made a drastic difference. Dwarves, eladrin, halflings and tieflings are suddenly dead even in their synergy, with the dwarves leaping over the poor half-elves (who were second-lowest in the first analysis anyway and had their score drop as Cha became Wis for the avenging paladin). The elven wisdom bonus and the new emphasis on wisdom make them now second only to the dragonborn instead of third from the bottom in the first analysis.

Another thing I find interesting here is that even though no race is first tier for the laser cleric or pretty paladin build (Wis/Cha), every race except eladrin is second tier for them. Also, every race but dwarf is at least second tier for artful dodger rogue.

* I should have noted before: The PHB is clear about which abilities are primary/secondary/tertiary for every build except the guardian fighter. After strength as primary it just says "prioritize your Dexterity to take advantage of weapons that can be improved by Dexterity-based feats, or your Wisdom to make the most of the combat superiority class feature." For this reason I've awarded any race with a bonus in either Dex or Wis with a point for mapping to a secondary. However, the elf only gets one point** because Dex and Wis can't both be the secondary.

** I've also abandoned the fractional points I used in the first post as useless*** and nitpicky.

*** About as useless as all these endnotes.

Race/Class Synergy in 4e: An Analysis

I came across an interesting article on 4e at Incredible Vehicle Tuesday. The part about the three tiers of race/class combinations in particular I found thought provoking:

Some races are particularly well-suited for some classes. I think of it almost as a tiered system, where the top tier race/class combinations get you 20/16 or 18/18, second tier can get you 18/16 or 20/14. The bottom tier? I suppose you can always have an 18/14.

What this really comes down to is that since each race (except humans) gets +2 to exactly two scores, those scores can overlap with 2 (top tier), 1 (second tier) or 0 (bottom tier) of the primary abilities of each class. Matthew goes on to say in the comments:

But basically it seems reasonable that every race should be a top-tier contender (e.g. 20/16) in one or two builds, and a second tier (e.g. 18/16) contender in a bigger number of others. I’m not sure whether that’s the case, but I suspect that some races fare better than others.

I have the same suspicion, and I want to see it spelled out, so here's what I'm going to do: I cross each race with each class. For each class build in the PHB I take the abilities suggested as best/second-best score and compare to the abilities boosted by the race. For each match the race/class combo scores a point. Humans score 1 point for every class, presuming the ability boost chosen matches a primary ability of the human's class. I'll color every top tier match green and bottom tier red, leaving second tier white.

		Dragonborn	Dwarf	Eladrin	Elf	Half-Elf	Halfling	Human	Tiefling
		Str, Cha	Con, Wis	Dex, Int	Dex, Wis	Con, Cha	Dex, Cha	Pick one	Int, Cha
Cleric	Str, Wis	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	0
	Wis, Cha	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1
Fighter	Str, Con	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	0
	Str, Dex or Wis	1	.5	.5	.75	0	.5	1	0
Paladin	Str, Cha	2	0	0	0	1	1	1	1
	Cha, Str	2	0	0	0	1	1	1	1
Ranger	Dex, Str	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	0
	Str, Dex	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	0
Rogue	Dex, Str	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	0
	Dex, Cha	1	0	1	1	1	2	1	1
Warlock	Cha, Int	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	2
	Con, Int	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	1
Warlord	Str, Cha	2	0	0	0	1	1	1	1
	Str, Int	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
Wizard	Int, Wis	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	1
	Int, Dex	0	0	2	1	0	1	1	1
	Synergy "score"	16	5.5	10.5	8.75	8	11.5	16	12

So only four of the eight races are "top-tier contenders" in anything, and only one (the dragonborn, with a whopping 3 top-tier builds) is a contender in more than one. The eladrin war wizard and halfling trickster rogue are unsurprising, though it's interesting that the stereotypical tiefling infernal pact scourge warlock is actually a suboptimal choice compared to the deceptive warlock (based solely on ability bonuses).

The rest of the races run pretty even, except for the poor dwarf, who (ability-wise) is only suited to cleric, fighter, scourge warlock (even moreso than the tiefling, really, which is weird) and control wizard. Now, having seen a dwarf paladin in actual play I can state with some certainty that this table doesn't tell the whole story. Most of the dwarven racial powers are very handy for paladins, and the wisdom bonus synergizes with the tertiary ability of both paladin builds as well. Maybe in a future post I'll redo the table and tinker with the scoring system to give a higher score for synergy with the primary ability and a non-zero score score for synergy with the tertiary ability.

I also find it interesting/annoying that there are no top-tier PHB races for my two favorite 4e class builds: the tactical warlord and the control wizard.

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - Tactical Analysis

So far the drawn-out narrative of the Battle Journal bores even me. I think I want to try boiling it down to what Kain really cares about: optimizing his weird little cadre. So this post will be in-character notes on effective combos, areas for improvement and synergies that warrant further evaluation and/or modification...

Tactical Analysis - First Foray

Close Blasts
Both the wizard and the dragonborn have short-range area-effect blasting attacks. It has been difficult to get them in position to use these effectively without either catching other cadre members (typically Marun) in the area or isolating them too completely, thus allowing the enemy to surround them. Further evaluation is required. Perhaps the fighter's expertise at covering her allies' retreats could be of use here.

Hobb
The rogue's knack for catching foes off balance and pushing them around the field shows great promise. In one battle in particular he shoved a kobold slinger across the entire room, leaving it in a position where it was too threatened to fire upon us and within reach of Marun's falchion. I need to find a way to combine this ability with one or two of the others in the cadre to maximize its potential.

Adincari
The warlock is tricky to manage. Some of his powers are most effective when he is close to the enemy, but out of all the members of the cadre he is the most effective at long range. This dichotomy is exacerbated by certain of his other abilities which are most effective if he keeps moving around. It seems that no matter what he does on the battlefield, he is performing suboptimally in some area.

Telekinetic Leap
My own racial power is slightly problematic. I am simply unable to use it as often as I would like. In many battles there are two or even three allies in a position to quickly turn the tide if I could get both or all of them behind the enemy's front line. So far I have been making quick appraisals of the situation and attempting to select the cadre member who will strike the most decisive blow against our opponents, but this approach feels too haphazard. I need a system or methodology to guide my choice.

Tracking Ongoing Effects on the Cheap

I was going to do a post about this a while back but didn't get to it. Then recently Yax at dungeonmastering.com posted about the magnetic disc things from Alea Tools and I thought this would be a good time to suggest an alternate solution for the dirt poor gamers out there.

I've mentioned that my group has started using pipe cleaners to track ongoing effects. Well, OK, I started using them, and everyone looked at me funny, but they had to admit it works pretty well.

I picked up a single package of multi-colored pipe cleaners at the fabric store for a dollar. That's it, one dollar. For one dollar I got 20 pipe cleaners, two of each color, and each one makes four rings, so that's 80 markers in ten colors for a buck vs. Alea Tools' ten markers for 7 bucks or 24 for $15. Ouch.

I daresay the pipe cleaners do the job of marking just as well, especially with the wide variety of colors I got - red for bloodied, orange for on fire, forest green for ranger's quarry, sickly green for ongoing poison, white for divine challenge, pink for... well, no one seems to want to use the pink much.

I'll grant you that the magnetic markers look better, but do they look the twenty or thirty bucks better that you would need to even get close to the quantity and variety I picked up for a dollar? Nothing against the Alea guys, but I'll take the difference and go place another order at Miniature Market.

Heraldry and the Party

The other day I came across a heraldic device generator (I think one of the other RPG bloggers mentioned it, but I don't remember which one). I thought it would be cool to create a device for Kain's Cadre.

I came up with an initial design based simply on what I thought looked cool. Jen and the DM thought I should go back and redo it, bearing in mind the meanings of the symbols. We found another site that defined a lot of the terms used. With that in mind, we came up with this (which isn't all that different from my "looks cool" original):


The azure field is for loyalty. The sable pale and quartering are for constancy of military strength and fortitude. The lion is for deathless courage, and the gules (red) color is another reference to military strength.

We also hunted around for a motto, and wound up including a family motto from a site listing a huge number of them, added to something I made up to go with it, along with a variant of the Jem'Hadar's "victory is life".

"Strike with power, endure with strength, flourish with victory."

Reading Exceptions

The gleemax thread I referenced in the comments here continues to bug me. The memory of it nags at me and threatens to turn me into an xkcd character. This might be the longest post I've written, but I need to get this off my chest.

4th edition D&D uses exception-based design. Earlier editions use... something else, I guess. What the heck is non-exception-based game design called? I've exhausted my patience with Google and not found an answer. Anyway, exception-based game design requires a different way of reading rules. It seems that one of the most important is recognizing what is an exception and what isn't. This would seem to be obvious, but... well, just go read the gleemax thread (note: I only made it to about page 5 before I thought my head would explode, and as I write this the thread is still expanding at a rate of about a post every half hour).

OK, so there seem to be people who can't agree on what's an exception and what isn't. Since Commander's Strike started this, let's walk through it and see what's what. This is going to be similar to the post by MrCelsius on page 4, but I'm going to try to be even clearer and quote page sources to back me up.

Commander’s Strike Warlord Attack 1
With a shout, you command an ally to attack.

The name, class, type, level and flavor. Stock stuff and meaningless fluff. Let's move on.

At-Will * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature

These lines are nothing but keywords and types that can be found on dozens of other powers, and have definitions clearly laid out in the base rules. These are not exceptions. The key ones for our purposes are:
Weapon - the power's weapon keyword, which means "[the power] can be used only if you’re wielding a weapon" and "A weapon’s reach or range determines the reach or range of a power it’s used with." (PHB pg 56)
Melee weapon - the type and range of the power, clearly defined on PHB pg 56: "A melee power affects a target (or targets) within melee reach" and "[the power] allows you to attack a target within the reach of the weapon you’re wielding."

So the standard keywords tell us, not once but twice, that the Commander's Strike power works at a range of the reach of the warlord's melee weapon. The Target line tells us that one creature is designated by the warlord as a target, just like with dozens of other "Melee weapon" range powers. This will matter in just a moment...

Attack: An ally of your choice makes a melee basic attack against the target

Here we finally reach our first exception. Instead of the standard "Strength vs. AC" that would mean the warlord makes an attack, an ally attacks the target. There's another exception in here , wrapped in a non-exception. The effect of the melee basic attack is spelled out on page 287 of the PHB. We don't have to spell out an attack of Strength vs. AC or a range of Melee weapon for the ally - these are covered in the definition of melee basic attack and no exceptions to them are called out. However, we also know from the standard Target line above that the warlord chooses the target. Even though the standard target of a melee basic attack is one creature (chosen by the attacker), that target is superseded by the "against the target" exception.

Hit: Ally’s basic attack damage + your Intelligence modifier.

We end with another exception. This line could probably be left off if the warlord's Intelligence didn't modify the damage, since the ally's melee basic attack is defined to do melee basic attack damage (1[W] + Strength modifier damage, Increase damage to 2[W] + Strength modifier at 21st level) anyway.

Whew. Now having done all this digging and research, I also have to inform my warlord player that it clearly states on PHB pg 57 that "ally" does not include you, so she can't use Commander's Strike to give herself a damage-boosted basic attack as an at-will power any more...

Teamwork in 4e - "Hit him again!"

Today I want to compare the two parties I've been running D&D4e for. Specifically, I want to talk about the warlords. More specifically, I want to talk about Commander's Strike and party composition.

In the first party, Garback the Stabber was constantly using Commander's Strike to give Hatha the minotaur another attack. Since Garback used a scimitar while Hatha had Str 20 and a large maul, he got a lot of bang out of her basic attack.

When creating the second party, Laurel commented that she was impressed with how well Commander's Strike worked for the first party. She took it for her warlord, even carrying a reach weapon so she could more easily target foes with it. Unfortunately, the defender in the second party is a low-strength charisma-based paladin. Her basic attack is... unimpressive, to say the least.

The new warlord has gotten some mileage out of Commander's Strike with the ranger, but not nearly as much as she could teamed with a rogue or a fighter with a massive basic attack. With the paladin and ranger, she has gotten more use out of Viper's Strike. One very effective tactic they've used is to get the ranger and paladin next to the enemy, then the warlord Viper Strikes and the paladin attacks, marks, and shifts back. When the enemy shifts to go after the paladin, the ranger gets a free attack.

It's been said before but bears repeating: 4e is more about building a kickass team than a bunch of kickass individuals.