Merc Work - Knock Knock!

[Rain Yupa]

I'd rather not abuse my position for personal gain, so instead of sending out another guild-wide broadcast, I'll try posting out here in the main forum. I have a LOT of character sheets for Merc Work, but now, only 7 people are posting - 6 are in a party, and 1 is waiting for other people to pipe in so he can go on a group with them.

Perhaps posting here publicly will get attention from some wayward players. Or maybe even get the attentions of some new ones.

New missions are up, and we need YOU!  

[Suicidesoldier#1]

I'd go, but I'm in another mission. xd  

[InsaneKatKing]

i'd like to join in, but i just recently joined the guild and am a little nervous. Been a few years since i've played, while i remember most of the rules, i've got an srd for 3.5 and pathfinder from a friend, so i might take a while to post. that and, well, when classes begin again, i'll not be on as often as i'd really like to. that and i don;t know 4.0 all that well.  

[Rain Yupa]

4th edition looks a long more complicated and overbearing at first than it really is.

Honestly, you have to know less information to play 4th edition than 3rd edition, from my own personal experience.

I don't think there will be much to be nervous about. No one is that unfriendly around here, and as a DM, I try to be understanding and patient with my players, especially ones just learning the system. I can provide any aid you might want.

This isn't a reply of me trying to cajole you to play. Merely a promise that it won't be that bad if you do decide to. smile  

[InsaneKatKing]

Rain Yupa

Understandable. and i'm always willing to learn to play things. Hell, i learned to play magic by watching a single duel between a couple of my friends. if you wouldn't mind having a newbie along and giving me a hand everyonce in a while on subjects that i am utterly lacking in knowledge on, i suppose i'd be willing to join in.  

[Rain Yupa]

InsaneKatKing475

Rain Yupa

Understandable. and i'm always willing to learn to play things. Hell, i learned to play magic by watching a single duel between a couple of my friends. if you wouldn't mind having a newbie along and giving me a hand everyonce in a while on subjects that i am utterly lacking in knowledge on, i suppose i'd be willing to join in.

Well, what DO you know about 4th edition?

Also, as for posting times, if you can manage posts 3 times a week, I'd be happy. More often = moar happeh. I would say posting would probably take 5-10 minutes of your time once you get the hang of things.  

[InsaneKatKing]

Rain Yupa

InsaneKatKing475

Rain Yupa

Understandable. and i'm always willing to learn to play things. Hell, i learned to play magic by watching a single duel between a couple of my friends. if you wouldn't mind having a newbie along and giving me a hand everyonce in a while on subjects that i am utterly lacking in knowledge on, i suppose i'd be willing to join in.

Well, what DO you know about 4th edition?

Also, as for posting times, if you can manage posts 3 times a week, I'd be happy. More often = moar happeh. I would say posting would probably take 5-10 minutes of your time once you get the hang of things.

I know absolutely nothing about 4.0 to be blunt. I stopped playing at 3.5 and never picked it back up cause no one plays where I live. I've got friends with 4.0 and i've heard that not too much has changed from 3.5, but that's from other players i haven't chatted with in a while.  

[Rain Yupa]

InsaneKatKing475

I know absolutely nothing about 4.0 to be blunt. I stopped playing at 3.5 and never picked it back up cause no one plays where I live. I've got friends with 4.0 and i've heard that not too much has changed from 3.5, but that's from other players i haven't chatted with in a while.

The bolded section isn't quite accurate sweatdrop

4th edition is quite a bit different than 3rd edition. In my experience, warriors (fighters, rangers, barbarians, etc) rule the first half of the game in 3rd ed, whereas spellcasters rule the later levels of the game. 4th edition tends to remain balanced through and through.

Now, instead of simply "attacking", you have powers to use instead. Every class gets two "at-will" powers which are always a bit more useful than a regular melee/ranged attack, but not by much. You can use those as your standard action every round, if you wanted.

Then there's "encounter" powers, where you can learn up to 4 as you advance in level. You can use each one once per encounter, and you can recharge them as long as you rest for 5 minutes between encounters.

Finally, there's "daily" powers, which you can use, as you might guess, once per day (up to 4 different powers as well). The only time you can recover them is with an extended rest of at least 6 hours, and only once per day. They tend to be REALLY powerful and can potentially turn the entire tide of battle.

You also get "utility" powers at some levels too, which can be useful either in combat or out of combat, depending on what you choose. They can either be encounter utility or daily utility. They'll never harm an enemy, but can grant you one-time bonuses (such as shifting your character out of harm's way, or increasing your resistance to damage for a turn, etc etc).

There's four "roles" of classes. There's Strikers, who specialize in dealing lots of damage (Ranger, Rogue, Warlock, Avenger, Barbarian, Sorcerer, Monk); there's Defenders, who can take lots of damage and pin down one or more foes to prevent them from attacking their comrades (Fighters, Paladins, Swordmages, Wardens, Battleminds); there's Leaders, who grant bonuses to teammates to increase their efficiency in battle, as well as help heal wounds (Clerics, Warlords, Bards, Shamans, Ardents, Runepriests, Artificers); finally, there's Controllers, who help mold and sway the current of battle, blasting entire groups of enemies or crippling a single target's efficiency (Wizards, Druids, Invokers, Psions, Seekers).  

[Rain Yupa]

What I always recommend people is for them to pick a race and class they're familiar with, and build a character, focusing purely on what that character can do. Once they see it in play and how it works compared to other players' characters, then I feel they tend to learn more.

Like a 3rd edition player new to the game, playing a fighter, and learning what wizard or cleric spells do what as he encounters them. smile

Want to try this out?  

[InsaneKatKing]

Rain Yupa

What I always recommend people is for them to pick a race and class they're familiar with, and build a character, focusing purely on what that character can do. Once they see it in play and how it works compared to other players' characters, then I feel they tend to learn more.

Like a 3rd edition player new to the game, playing a fighter, and learning what wizard or cleric spells do what as he encounters them. smile

Want to try this out?

The fastest way for this cat to learn is to partake in the action. I suppose i'll give it a try. I was generally partial to being an elven druid, but was thinking of going with something a little less casting oriented and being a fighter or barbarian, probably a fighter.  

[Rain Yupa]

InsaneKatKing475

Rain Yupa

What I always recommend people is for them to pick a race and class they're familiar with, and build a character, focusing purely on what that character can do. Once they see it in play and how it works compared to other players' characters, then I feel they tend to learn more.

Like a 3rd edition player new to the game, playing a fighter, and learning what wizard or cleric spells do what as he encounters them. smile

Want to try this out?

The fastest way for this cat to learn is to partake in the action. I suppose i'll give it a try. I was generally partial to being an elven druid, but was thinking of going with something a little less casting oriented and being a fighter or barbarian, probably a fighter.

Fighters are cool because how they operate, as a defender, is that if they attack an enemy (or enemies, with certain powers), they "mark" that opponent, whether they hit or miss. A fighter up in yo grill is something an enemy just can't avoid! All other defenders require actions (usually minor) to mark opponents, but Fighters can do it for free. In addition, for the standard fighter builds, you choose either two-handed weapons or one-handed weapons, and you get +1 to all attack rolls with those weapons.

When an enemy is marked, it takes a -2 to all attack rolls against the heroes, except for the character that marked it. In addition, when an enemy tries to shift (5-foot-step) around a fighter after he's marked it, OR if it attacks an ally after he's marked it, he gets a free attack on that enemy 1/round. If any enemy ever provokes an Opportunity Attack (using a ranged attack while adjacent to the fighter, moving away without shifting when adjacent to the fighter, etc), they add their wisdom bonus to the attack roll to hit.

===============

Barbarians showed up in Player's Handbook 2, and are probably the most devastating striker class, when it comes to straight-up damage. Barbarians get a bonus to their AC and Reflex defenses* when not in heavy armor. Also, their daily powers are known as "Rages". It allows them to hit with a powerful strike, then you get a bonus that lasts for the rest of the encounter. Starting at 5th level, you can "sacrifice" your unused Rage Daily Powers when under the effects of another rage for a really powerful hit. Finally, if you score a critical hit as a barbarian, you get another basic attack as a free action.

The class options for the basic barbarian are Rageblood Vigor, which gives you charge a different enemy 1/encounter when you reduce one opponent to 0 hp, as well as granting you temporary hit points every time you kill something. The other option is Thaneborn Triumph, which gives an area attack when you kill something 1/encounter that lowers all their defenses for a round (making them easier to hit), and whenever you bloody an enemy (reduce it to 1/2 their total HP), the next attack from you or an ally against that enemy is granted a bonus to the attack roll.

===============

Druids appear in Player's Handbook 2 as well, and are a bit different than you might remember. Starting at level 1, you can wildshape into a medium-sized beast (of your choice, but the choice will not grant any additional benefits); some of your powers require you to be in Beast Form, while others are spells you can only do in your humanoid shape. Druids are Controllers, and are kind of the only melee controller in the game (in their Beast Form). You could easily focus on a lot of Beast Form powers, a lot of spells, or a median between the two.

The class options for a druid both rely on you not wearing heavy armor. The Primal Guardian (more of a defensive controller) lets you use your Constitution modifier to determine your AC, instead of your Dexterity or Intelligence (meaning you can dump both those stats and focus on your toughness instead!). The Primal Predator aspect (for a more offensive controller) gives you a +1 to your movement speed (which is measured in squares now, or 5' increments).

===============

With that said, what sounds like the one you'd like to play most?











*In 4th edition, rather than attacking someone with a spell and they have to roll a saving throw against it, you now instead attack that "defense". So to hit someone with a Fireball, you roll a d20 and add your attack roll bonus, and compare it to their Reflex defense. If you meet or beat it, then you hit, and they take full damage.  

[InsaneKatKing]

Rain Yupa

Fighters are cool because how they operate, as a defender, is that if they attack an enemy (or enemies, with certain powers), they "mark" that opponent, whether they hit or miss. A fighter up in yo grill is something an enemy just can't avoid! All other defenders require actions (usually minor) to mark opponents, but Fighters can do it for free. In addition, for the standard fighter builds, you choose either two-handed weapons or one-handed weapons, and you get +1 to all attack rolls with those weapons.

When an enemy is marked, it takes a -2 to all attack rolls against the heroes, except for the character that marked it. In addition, when an enemy tries to shift (5-foot-step) around a fighter after he's marked it, OR if it attacks an ally after he's marked it, he gets a free attack on that enemy 1/round. If any enemy ever provokes an Opportunity Attack (using a ranged attack while adjacent to the fighter, moving away without shifting when adjacent to the fighter, etc), they add their wisdom bonus to the attack roll to hit.

mhmm. makes me think of tanks dps and crowd control to use wow terms. which i'm more inclined to be a tank. So, i'll go with a fighter.  

[Rain Yupa]

Do you have either AIM or MSN-M? This could go by a lot quicker, smoother, and less copyright-infrigically if you did. smile

Also, sign up for the forums here. They have an online character sheet which is infinitely useful, and we use that (well, one of several sites with such sheets; that one's just my favorite) for all of our games.

It only takes a few minutes to sign up, and you never actually have to use their forums.  

[InsaneKatKing]

Rain Yupa

Do you have either AIM or MSN-M? This could go by a lot quicker, smoother, and less copyright-infrigically if you did. smile

Also, sign up for the forums here. They have an online character sheet which is infinitely useful, and we use that (well, one of several sites with such sheets; that one's just my favorite) for all of our games.

It only takes a few minutes to sign up, and you never actually have to use their forums.

i does have an msn, which will be sent via pm if you don't mind.

as for mythweavers, i've already set up an account and can work on a sheet whenever ready for it. (saw this was one of the two sites the guildies used for sheets and saw this one was by far the easier of the two, so i went ahead and go an account on it.)  

[Suicidesoldier#1]

I learned how to play 4E in a day.

It's so easy it's awesome.


I recently got 3rd edition, which ironically is pretty much going to be my last book (lmfao).

I've got everything else, except for martial 2.

I read it and got it down in about 6 hours.

The longest part was learning how to multiclass, mostly becuase each class has specific rules.