#4th Edition

[trafficzine]

Tick, tock, towards zero heads the clock!

Edition four is approaching VERY soon, and that IS a threat. Keep an eye out for some sneak peeks in the coming week!

[paperanddice]

Rimefire Griffon and Thunderfury Boar

A few more advanced animals and monstrosities. There’s a few more fun ones to dig out as I keep reading through the book, and I’m looking forward to exploring a few more of them.

Rimefire Griffon Large elemental, unaligned Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 152 (16d20 + 64) Speed 25 ft., fly 50 ft. Str 24, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 18, Cha 10 Skills Perception +7 Damage Immunities cold Damage Resistances fire Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 17 Languages - Challenge 8 (3900 XP) Keen Sight. The Rimefire Griffon has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. Actions Multiattack. The Rimefire Griffon makes two attacks; one with its bite and one with its claws. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d8+7) piercing damage and 16 (3d10) cold damage. Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d6+7) slashing damage plus 16 (3d10) cold damage. Rimefire Blast (Recharge 5-6). The Rimefire Griffon exhales blistering heat in a 25-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 45 (10d8) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success.

The rimefire griffon is a very interesting monster, an elemental mix of ice and fire, though the fire is less immediately obvious. The original has equal resistances to fire and cold, but I decided to make it only resistant to fire instead of immune like cold, so that players who make a guess as to its weakness aren’t punished quite as badly. Rimefire blast in 4e recharged through the griffon landing bite attacks on creatures, which is a really cool idea, with the implication being that its siphoning the heat off of the creature it’s biting, but mechanically that seems more complicated than within the standard 5th edition design ideas. Their fluff is very heavily locked within the 4th edition cosmology, so it would need some heavy rewriting to fit.

Thunderfury Boar Huge fey, unaligned Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 225 (18d12 + 108) Speed 40 ft. Str 24, Dex 15, Con 22, Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 9 Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons Senses passive Perception 11 Languages - Challenge 10 (5900) Reactive Stomp. Whenever the boar knocks a creature prone, it can make a Stomp attack against it as a bonus action. Relentless (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). If the boar takes 20 or less damage that would reduce it to 0 hit points, it is reduced to 1 hit point instead. Thunderous Charge. If the boar moves at least 20 feet straight towards a target and then hits it with a Tusk attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 14 (4d6) slashing damage and 14 (4d6) thunder damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. Actions Tusk. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d6+7) slashing damage. Stomp. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one prone creature. Hit: 17 (3d6+7) bludgeoning damage. Thunderfury (Recharge 5-6) The boar unleashes a burst of thunder from its body. Each creature within 10 feet of the boar must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or take 36 (8d8) thunder damage and be knocked prone, or half as much damage and not be knocked prone on a successful save.

Thunderfury boars are native to the Feywild. They are too fierce for true domestication, but they are sometimes kept and goaded into battle by canny fey. I designed this monster so that if it gets off a charge it will devastate a target, and it has thunderfury for the next rounds, but without its charge its melee attacks are much weaker.

[cardboard-crack]

[thecreaturecodex]

Banderhobb

Image by Howard Lyon, © Wizards of the Coast. Accessed at Steve’s Gamer Blog here

[This series of conversions is going to be targeting monsters that originated in D&D 4th Edition. As bad as 4e’s reputation is in gaming circles, it had a lot of creative and interesting monsters packed into it. Like the banderhobb, which regularly turns up on “best of” monster lists and is just about the only 4e exclusive updated to 5th Edition. The banderhobb’s origin and flavor text changed from 4e to 5e, so what’s one more alternative backstory, right?]

Banderhobb This vile creature resembles a cross between a bear and a frog, forced to stand upright. Its oversized head is mostly mouth, and it gazes with a blank, hungry expression.

Banderhobbs are the creation of drow fleshwarping techniques applied to bugbears. The seeming contrast between brute strength and furtiveness found in the source material is exaggerated to a great extent in banderhobbs—although they are ten feet tall and massive, they are capable of supernatural stealth. In captivity, banderhobbs are favored as abductors by the drow, being used on surface raids to gather slaves or in hostage taking between rival houses. Due to their ability to hide and teleport, however, many banderhobbs eventually escape and forge their own destiny.

A wild banderhobb is still consumed by an urge to kidnap and consume mortals, and may enter villages and cities on seemingly aimless raids. Due to their unique physiologies, they can decide whether or not to digest a swallowed creature, and may torture their captives with repeated cycles of consumption, partial digestion and regurgitation. They are expert trackers, and those that escape a banderhobb rarely escape for long.

Although banderhobbs remember nothing of their life as goblinoids, they sometimes find themselves reentering the orbit of goblinoid tribes, seemingly by instinct. Bugbears view banderhobbs as kindred spirits and may adopt a banderhobb as a mascot and guardian. Banderhobbs, unlike most fleshwarps, can breed true, and so communities of banderhobbs exist in places where the drow have never ventured.

Banderhobb       CR 6 XP 2,400 NE Large aberration Init +5; Senses darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision, Perception +11, scent Defense AC 19, touch 10, flat-footed 18 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +9 natural) hp 76 (8d8+40) Fort +7, Ref +3, Will +8 Immune fear; Vulnerable light blindness Offense Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft. Melee bite +10 (2d6+7 plus grab) or tongue (pull plus grab) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (20 ft. with tongue) Special Attacks pull (10 ft), swallow whole (2d6+7 bludgeoning plus paralysis, AC 13, 7 hp) Statistics Str 20, Dex 13, Con 20, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 9 Base Atk +6; CMB +12 (+16 grapple); CMD 23 Feats Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Stealthy, Vital Strike Skills Acrobatics +10, Climb +18, Escape Artist +12, Perception +11, Stealth +16, Survival +11; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth Languages Goblin, Undercommon (cannot speak) SQ compression, hide in plain sight, shadow jump Ecology Environment underground and temperate forests Organization solitary or pair Treasure incidental Special Abilities Hide in Plain Sight (Su) A banderhobb can use the Stealth skill even while being observed. As long as it is within 10 feet of an area of dim light, a banderhobb can hide itself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. It cannot, however, hide in its own shadow. Shadow Jump (Su): A banderhobb gains the ability to travel between shadows as if by means of a dimension door spell. The limitation is that the magical transport must begin and end in an area with at least some dim light. A banderhobb can jump up to a total of 200 feet each day in this way. This amount can be split among many jumps, but each one, no matter how small, counts as a 10-foot increment. A banderhobb can bring a swallowed creature with it if that creature is paralyzed. Swallow Whole (Ex) Each round a creature is swallowed by a banderhobb, it must succeed a DC 19 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for one day. The save DC is Constitution based. In addition, a banderhobb can choose whether or not to deal damage to a swallowed creature.

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Shadowrun (4th Edition) Cover Art by Mark Zug

[pathfinder-fan-page-blog]

I'm only familiar with D&D 4e, but I'm thinking about buying Humble Bundle's pathfinder deal. How hard would it be for me to learn a new system? How hard would it be for my friends (whose interest in playing varies from super-excided to psudo-interested) to pick it up? (They've only played a one-shot of 4e.) Is Pathfinder way better and how so?

So you’re interested in trying out Pathfinder! That is great news! and this Humble Bundle is the perfect chance to get your teeth into the system! 4th edition and Pathfinder are similar in that both systems have Fantasy Races, Hit Points, Skills, Classes, and take place in fantastical worlds. They are also similar in that they are based around the rolling of D20s but that the systems do differ quite a bit.Learning a new system can be tricky, however as far as ‘learning curves’ go, Pathfinder is very forgiving, and having some knowledge of table top games from 4th edition can make learning Pathfinder a lot easier. 

Pathfinder also has a very large community eager to help new players. The Pathfinder Reddit and Paizo Forums are both perfect places to ask questions which people are almost always quick to help answer.

I personally prefer pathfinder by far when comparing the two systems, however it does boil down to a matter of tastes in the end. Pathfinder (In my honest opinion) has far more customization then 4th edition, and is a much more ‘flexible’ system, meaning it allows diverse assortment of characters to be played at the table, however that does come at the cost of being a bit more complex then 4th edition (some don’t like this).In the end I strongly urge anyone who is interested in even just looking into Pathfinder to consider buying into the Humble Bundle they have up right now!

[askmovieslate]

Seriously, that 5th edition is way too easy, there’s no challenge left.

I will give you this, though. Anyone who still wants to play with 1st edition rules is mental. That was Dark Souls before Dark Souls, and it’s way harder than that on that regard. Sometimes I have the feeling Gary Gygax was secretly a sadist, what with some of the modules he wrote.

...what? Of course I know a lot about D&D, it’s owned by Hasbro.

[rogue-hammer]

Malfeitor

Malfeitor. Overlord of the Black Crusade, High Lord of The Black Psalm warband.

[lethesomething]

Haikyuu characters playing a tabletop rpg

Whelp, this got out of hand quickly.

Akaashi: the cleric

This is the healer that is perpetually angry with his stupid party members for wandering into traps and getting their asses handed to them. He quietly fumes the entire time. Do they not know how much a resurrect spell costs?

"Bokuto-san, could you stop dying for five seconds so I can heal the rest of the party just once?"

Bokuto: the shaman

He picked the class because he thought it would get him an owl familiar. Spends the entire time trying to get said owl familiar. He's also the one that wanders into traps and picks fights with store owners and core npc's. Tsukki suggested he rename his character to Leeroy Jenkins and while he didn't understand the reference, he did like the name. Now there's a half naked shaman called Leeroy. He goes 'Hoot' a lot. Claims it's in character.

"This is a game, isn't that what we're supposed to do? Let's go fight that giant bear!"

Tanaka: the rogue

He is that rogue that flips switches to 'see what they do', only to spring an electricity trap while the whole party is standing knee deep in water. Yeah.

"I roll to intimidate the dragon. Yes I'm serious. Look at this face! You think I'm not serious? You wanna go? Huh? Huh!?"

Nishinoya: the monk

The only one that managed to dodge that electricity trap, somehow. Super dependable in a fight, completely useless in social situations, especially when female npc’s are involved.

"I'm renaming this ability Rolling Thunder and you can't stop me."

Suga: the druid

Gets very in character. Talks to all the little animals on his way. Very supportive of his team. Always has some health potions on hand and some mana ones for poor Akaashi.

"Can I transform into something less menacing than a spider? Like a squirrel? A large, deadly murder squirrel?"

Asahi: the paladin

Likes the fact that he can wear all that armour, hates having to tank. No one told him at character creation that he would have to stand in front and take hits.

"I run away.... Why do I have to roll to be able to run away? Ok, I rolled 1, can I leave now? I just fell flat on my face? AAAAAH!"

Daichi: the wizard

Slow to warm up to the whole fantasy thing, but now he’s having the time of his life.

"I cast Ice Wall behind Asahi so he can't weasel his way out of this."

Hinata: the fighter

He is so into this and so very bad at it. His build is shit but he makes up for it with enthusiasm.

"That is so cool! Gwaaaaaaah! Can I dual wield? What's over there? Can we go over there? I wanna see what's behind this door."

Kageyama: the sorcerer

Doesn't understand what's going on half the time. His party members keep shouting at him and none of this is remotely volleyball related. He does, however, know that he has something called Fireball. Everything gets a Fireball. Everything.

"Hinata, dumbass! Why are you complaining about being on fire? You shouldn't have stood in my way! I don't care if the door is made of stone, it was worth a shot."

Yamaguchi: the ranger

Cautious player with some good ideas. Sadly, he is on permanent Kageyama duty.

"No, you can't cast Fireball right now. One: we are in an armoury. There are literally kegs of gunpowder everywhere. And two: you are out of mana, see?"

Tsukki: the bystander

Wouldn't play unless he could be a lizardman spellsword and that was not an option, so he's sitting in the corner, making snarky comments.

"Suuuure, this world doesn't have talking lizardmen, but somehow Kageyama is playing a character with high wisdom. Very realistic."

Oikawa: the bard

Put all his points into charisma and very little else. Insists on staying in character and singing all his actions, musical style.

"I waaaalllk.. two steps. I cast, cast, cast Charm on this beautiful girl to make her give me the keyyyyy.... What do you mean she just transformed into a hideous monster?"

Iwaizumi: the warden

Secretly such a big nerd. Really likes the idea of nature magic and somehow nailed all the stats for a power build. His character is practically impossible to beat.

"I pass my turn to watch Oikawa get beat up by the hideous monster."

Ushijima: the audience

Refuses to play. He sits on the couch reading a volleyball magazine and quietly observes the mayhem with a look of mild confusion on his face.

"..."

Tendou: the artificer

He is the crazy gnome inventor that the world is just not ready for. His homunculi and contraptions are utterly insane, but they get the job done. He once made a golem out of bedpans and wheels of cheese. It kicked ass.

"Ok, I want a grenade that explodes into live, angry, piranhas, what do I need to roll? Specifically for the angry part. It is very important that they're angry."

Kuroo: the assassin

Plays chaotic neutral to a tee. Comes up with both the best plans and the stupidest ideas. Will find ways to sneak into the fortress, but gets distracted by gold, runs into the guards with pockets jingling and leaps through a window, leading the military force of a small country on a chase back to his party with a big smirk on his face.

"Oops."

Lev: the swashbuckler

He found the class in an obscure note at the back of the rulebook and now he's pretending to be a pirate in the middle of a desert. He thinks he's the best but only rarely do his hits actually connect or do damage. He fights with a foil, ffs.

"Yaku-san, shouldn't you be playing a gnome or a dwarf or something?"

Yaku: the barbarian

Specifically, a half-troll barbarian. The biggest, meanest badass with the biggest, nastiest looking double handed war hammer he could get his hands on.

"I punch Lev in the face. Do I need a reason? Ok, I am temporarily mind controlled by an evil spirit with incredibly good judgement and I punch Lev in the face."

Kenma: the dungeon master

Currently regretting his life choices. He is so done. SO done.

"No Lev, I just told you that you got your face smashed in. Your charisma is in the negatives right now, you cannot charm your way out of this. And Akaashi cannot fix it, he's out of mana."

[trafficzine]

6…5…4…3…2…1…

Enjoy this preview of our zine, courtesy of @evenmoreevil!

[paperanddice]

Winterclaw Owlbear Huge monstrosity, unaligned Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 252 (24d10 + 120) Speed 40 ft. Str 24, Dex 14, Con 20, Int 2, Wis 16, Cha 12 Skills Perception +7 Senses darkvision 60 ft. passive Perception 17 Languages - Challenge 11 (7200 XP) Ice Walk. The winterclaw owlbear can move across icy surfaces without needing to make an ability check. Additionally, difficult terrain composed of ice and snow doesn’t cost it extra movement. Keen Sight and Smell. The winterclaw owlbear has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or smell. Actions Multiattack. The winterclaw owlbear makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (2d10+7) piercing damage plus 5 (1d10) cold damage. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8+7) slashing damage. Frost Wail (1/Short Rest). The winterclaw owlbear shrieks, releasing a freezing wind that causes ice to form around nearby creatures and objects. Each creature within 15 feet of the owlbear must make a DC 17 Strength saving throw, taking 35 (10d6) cold damage, or half as much damage on a successful save. A creature that fails this saving throw is also coated in ice and restrained. A creature can repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, breaking free and ending the effect on itself on a successful save. The Ice can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 12; hp 20; vulnerability to bludgeoning and fire damage; immunity to cold, poison and psychic damage). Objects in this area are heavily coated in ice, which remains until it either melts away or is broken off.

The winterclaw owlbear actually has absolutely no dedicated text in the 4th edition Monster Manual. I expanded on the full abilities of Frost Wail, which immobilized in 4e, an exact condition that hasn’t been copied over to 5th edition, so I went with the slightly more punishing restrained condition. I also added on the additional way of breaking the ice off, since that seems like it should be an option. One very weird thing about this monster is that it didn’t have any cold resistance in its original form either. I decided to leave that to preserve the abilities of the monster somewhat, but I don’t think it would cause any problems to give it cold resistance if you wanted to when running it.

[diceprophet]

My First D&D Character: Mathayus Vermillion

Hello. I Wanna Play a Game.

‘Twas a few years ago, during a long and tedious winter solstice during college when my best buddy @black-sypher suggested that we give Dungeons and Dragons another shot. We had once attempted to get into tabletop gaming, but our first ever DM wasn’t particularly good at teaching us the system, so it didn’t stick the first time. This time, however, the experience would catapult the both of us headfirst into this hobby that would inevitably mutate into an obsession that persists to this day. And so, we cracked open the D&D 4th Edition Red Box and set off on an excellent adventure of magic, bloodshed, and horrible decisions.

Assuming a Role: Asshole with a Heart of Bronze

For my first legitimate character ever, I wanted to be a sword-fighter version of Marvel’s The Punisher. As a bastardization of the classic lawful good crime-fighter, I wanted to fervently believe in my own personal quest to purge the world of criminals and protect the innocent from injustice, all the while being blind to my own raging bloodlust and needlessly cruel methods. So I assumed the role of the deeply troubled elf fighter, Mathayus Vermillion.

(All legitimate artists, I apologize if my horrible doodle induced any ocular bleeding.)

As demonstrated, I based his character design and armor on my own personal kendo uniform. Throughout my time in University I had learned much of the sword arts, and therefore wanted to role-play a character who reflected traditional samurai ideals of death before dishonor. And thus, a character was born.

Programmed With Another Tragic Backstory

Mathayus was an elven outcast; his people had long exiled him to live the rest of his life in disgrace and shame. The years of living alone and unloved had morphed him into a hateful and vengeful adventurer with a greatsword to grind, preferably on the skulls of evildoers. 

His promising future was torn asunder during his first real adventure, in which his beloved mentor took him along to slay an evil archmage whom was terrorizing their village. During the battle, Mathayus was unknowingly enchanted by illusion magic, and deceived into loosing several arrows with deadly precision upon his own master. Mathayus’ slew the wise old man whom he loved like a father, an event which forever traumatized him. Since that day, he swore that he would never use a bow ever again, and took up the sword instead.

His hatred for evil and mistrust for magical users had caused Mathayus to become incredibly mentally unstable. In regular conversation, he would appear mild-mannered and disciplined, but when confronting even the most minor of criminals, he could devolve in to an angel of death, devoid of all mercy or compassion, and slaughtered many in his wake.

Moments of Stupid Awesome

Mathayus was incredibly headstrong and annoyingly cocksure, which often got him into trouble, but surprisingly never got him killed. He often called death for a quick booty call, but would never stay the night afterwards. Here are some of his most noticeable accomplishments.

Using a zombie’s severed arm as an improvised weapon to critically hit another zombie in the chest

Willingly splitting the party (despite the constant warnings from the party paladin) and somehow surviving a solo nighttime adventure while under constant attack

Hulking out when backed up against a corner and Kool-Aid-Manning a poor bastard through a brick wall

Throwing his greatsword across the map like the ending to Braveheart and impaling a fleeing orc in the back

Fighting a massive tentacled lake monster and getting a miracle crit that cut through one of the tentacles that was entangling him

Ending on a Whimper

Mathayus went on a series of incredible adventures with a paladin, a wizard, another fighter, and a rogue. We fought off assassins, marauding zombies, and even slew a powerful lich, but sadly our fellowship didn’t last. For various IRL reasons, mostly due to conflicting schedules and other adult obligations, the players could no longer complete the current storyline, so we parted ways. But even with the lackluster finish, I will always look back with nostalgic eyes at the crazy adventures of the homicidal swordsman with the biggest hate-on for crime. It was an avalanche of epic battles, feels, and close calls. It was a story filled with laughs, arguments, and long discussions about morality. And most importantly, it was the kicking-off point for my own journey into this hobby, and I am grateful to have experienced it.

So, who was your first long-term character? What crazy adventures did they get into, and how did their journey end?

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Into the Unknown - The Dungeon Master by Ralph Horsley

[incorrect-mtg]

Flavor Text Highlights - Core Sets (4th-10th Edition)

<- Previous Set | Next Set ->

This entry will be the largest one yet, with 4 cards for each category. All new flavor texts of pre-M10 core sets will be taked into account.

Cool - Truce (5th Edition)

Not all victories require defeat. —Onean idiom

Phyrexian Hulk (7th Edition)

It doesn’t think. It doesn’t feel. It doesn’t laugh or cry. All it does from dusk till dawn Is make the soldiers die. —Onean children’s rhyme

Regeneration (7th Edition)

“Why should death always have the last word?” —Llanowar druid

Llanowar Elves (5th Edition)

One bone broken for every twig snapped underfoot. —Llanowar penalty for trespassing

Funny -

Might of Oaks (7th Edition)

“Guess where I’m gonna plant this!”

Sizzle (8th Edition)

“Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire.” —Jaya Ballard, task mage

Temporal Adept (9th Edition)

“If yesterday was two days ago tomorrow, will the day after tomorrow be today or yesterday?” —Temporal Manipulation 101 final exam, Tolarian Academy

Manabarbs (10th Edition)

“I don’t know why people say a double-edged sword is bad. It’s a sword. With two edges.” —Kamahl, pit fighter

Worldbuilding -

Ornithopter (6th Edition)

“It has been my honor to improve on the Thran’s original design. Perhaps history will remember me in some small part for my work.” —Urza, in his apprenticeship

Wrath of Marit Lage (8th Edition)

“Marit Lage lies frozen in a glacier’s heart. Still her dreams take form in our world, stealing the heat from our souls.” —Halvor Arenson, Kjeldoran priest

Ascendant Evincar (10th Edition)

His soul snared by an angel’s curse, Crovax twisted heroism into its purest shadow.

Blackmail (9th Edition)

In addition to killing peasants, punishing subordinates, and raising an army of nightmares, Braids somehow found time for her favorite hobby: petty extortion

Emotional -

Pacifism

Without warriors there can be no war.

Agonizing Memories

“I think little of the foes I’ve slain. But I’m haunted by the friends I’ve sent to die.” —The Southern Paladin

Icatian Scout

“In these, our final days, I offer this. Though we could not save Icatia, we gave our children time to grow, and love, before it fell.” —Ailis Connaut, diary

Grafted Skullcap

“Every day, I fight for my life and win. Every night, I fight to remember my name and lose.”

<- Previous Set | Next Set ->

[cyle]

re-reading my set of D&D 4th edition books (the edition nobody likes to talk about), i totally forgot that they had introduced the concept of class "roles" instead of just classes. so instead of just having your standard Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, etc, they also had the concepts of Striker, Controller, Leader, and Defender. this helped further clarify what each class could really be practical for in a group, in the way that World of Warcraft (around the same time) redefined different class and spec combos into the roles of Tank, Damage, and Healer.

in WoW you can still be a Paladin as a class, but it has three "specification" tracks, and each one is a different "role" (and totally different play style). you can be a Holy Paladin (healer), Protection Paladin (tank), or Retribution Paladin (damage). part of the reason they did this was to make it easier to pick what you wanted to be responsible for in a party of five people working through a dungeon together, but also it just made onboarding to those roles very straightforward for casual play. D&D at the time was struggling with that same group onboarding problem.

for example, the traditional Fighter class in D&D 4th edition has several "specifications" for different roles: the Knight class is a Defender Fighter, the Slayer class is a Striker Fighter, to name two examples. they're both considered "Fighter" for rules purposes and advanced options, but they have different progression tracks and abilities to unlock per level. eventually, every class in D&D 4th edition got one or more different versions per role, meaning you ended up with dozens of class/role choices. the same as World of Warcraft... there seem to be only ~10-12 classes to choose from, but each has ~3-4 specs, meaning you have 40+ choices, and you can choose based on either what class you like or what role you like. that's pretty cool.

then, in D&D 5th edition, they totally dropped this "role" concept. like, entirely. i kinda miss it tbh. it helped add clarity and options at the onset of character creation, in a different way than 3.5 had (which was a technical mess imo, and turned players into soup) and 5th edition kinda skipped in favor of whole-platform ease-of-onboarding (i could write a whole essay just on this). i ran a 4th edition campaign for years and thought it was pretty good, especially since 4e is so action-oriented, which can be a struggle if you have players who aren't really sure what to do with the class they chose.

anyway, random thoughts as i spend an evening digging through different tabletop roleplaying game rule sets and reminding myself what i like about them.

[derahexsharesart]

Ray of Enfeeblement

Character created with Illustrator, composition animated in After Effects and exported to GIF format using Photoshop. Credits to Videohive for the fire effects stock footage, which was used and modified.