Online D&D 4E

Since all these guys want to start a pathfinder games I will see if anyone wants to play some Real AD&D with some 4E. As Pathfinder is not real D&D and is actually kinda stolen.  Not hateing on it to much I just miss playign some 4E. 

So just want to see if anyone want to play. 4E to me is a lot more fun than any of the before editions. It is simplified a little which some ppl like to say dumbed down but its really is fun. Starting at lvl 1-2 you truly feel like a hero or villian depending on ur campaign. Every class has spells or skills to use instead of being say a lvl 1 fighter or barb that just uses a reg attack every turn.  

Background on me

I used to co-run up to 50 ppl before in 4-6 man groups every week. I have a lot of good modules for 4E and have access to a lot more.  

1 of the great things about 4E is its a lot easier to DM a module specially for first timers. Though it still takes a great DM to truly make the modules really really fun but since they are written out pretty precise even a new DM can get you through it and still have fun. So we used to get a group of 7 ppl and each rotate Dm every week.  But that will be up to you guys I have np DMing every week if no one wants to rotate with me. Just need at least 4 to sign up but can handle up to 6-8. 6 is the norm max but the mods can be tweeked to handle 7-8. 

I'm open to any day anytime. On East Coast so preferably not to late into the night. 

Oh and here is what happen and why i call pathfinder stolen. The thing about 3rd Edition is that it was published under the Open Gaming License, or OGL. The core mechanical rules of the game, known as the D20 System, could be used, expanded upon and republished by third party companies, much like open source software. No one needed permission from Wizards of the Coast to publish something based on the D20 rules, resulting in an explosion of third party supplements, adventures and entirely new games  Wizards had licensed their two flagship gaming magazines, Dragon and Dungeon, to Paizo Publishing. In anticipation of 4th Edition, they revoked that license. Paizo in turn used the OGL to revise and refine the 3.5 D&D rules and create their own role-playing game, Pathfinder. Pathfinder is essentially D&D 3.75 but with no affilaction to Wizards of the Coast at all cept in using the D20 system. Hense why its called Pathfinder and not D&D.

Might be interested in this .Do you have some links for some research?

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Tool.aspx?x=dnd/4new/tool/characterbuilder is the Main site for All things D&D and will give you some good info. Unfortunately they have completely gotten rid of any way to use the builder without paying for it. It used to be offline and u just had d/led it and update it every few months either through an awesome site of modders or by payign for 1 month and updating it. Now the site has it online through the site only. There are other ppl who have made character builders but I like wizards version. Its now 10 a month or 6 a month if u pay for the year. I've been out of the loop for the last year so got to check out the updates myself. Trying to get a hold of my old buddy that ran the groups with me and see what he's got. Will get back to you when i get some more info. Didn't realize they ruined the old way on me so got to do some more research.

I've found if one person in the group gets a sub you can share that builder between everybody, you just can't both use the builder at the same time, which is usually fine, aside from the initial build its pretty quick to level up. It allows you to track up to 20ish characters at a time so everyone can save one, plus you can save to your desktop and not use the online storage bit anyways. It also gets you access to the search engine they have with all of the rules, items, paragon paths etc... which is nice, and the dungeon helper app which lets you build mobs and scale them to an appropriate level. I've not played in the last couple months but I've still got an active account, my group just got busy and we haven't played in a while.

Just throwing this out to you guys. I remember going to a few D&D Encounters (I think thats what they were called). Basically, anybody could come and join anytime because each session was a single encounter. We did it at our local game store. The reason I bring this up is because there might be some people that want to try some D20 but arent sure if they want to commit to a group. If would also give new DMS a bit of practice before trying to lead a full campaign. If I remember correctly, it was fairly easy to pick up and it focused more on combat than role-playing which (imo) makes it great for novices. Just popped in my head when seeing 4e because that is the only experience I had with that edition. Oh and just to throw it out there, AD&D and 4e are completely different ideas, other than the d20 aspect.

» Edited on: 2012-12-25 20:22:39

Stolen? They used the Open Game License to improve on something and make it more popular than the new 4E, fair and square. WotC didn't make an OGL for 4E because they didn't want anyone else to make money off of D&D any more, and 4E tanked so bad that they are already moving onto 5th Edition, while Pathfinder is still one of the most popular Tabletop systems out there. They got cut out of their publishing contracts and they made the best of a bad situation, using the OGL so that's not stealing, it's being highly creative and taking something that worked and cutting out the fat and making it easier to handle with less bulk. Personally I can't stand 4E but you don't see me making posts badmouthing it to people while you're trying to raise interest for players for your game. Not cool.

A plus to OGL, it let the company that ran my Live Action Role Play Game make table top games based on the live action game. Made by staff and members of the gaming community to boot. Some good times and funny stuff came out of the modules we made. So OGL allowed for others to make things the way they wanted with the same base of dicing rolls. Some of them turned out good and some of them flopped. Those that new how to publish and market their items correctly definitely got ahead, but in the end it was a lot of work to get successful and known. And my final thought is that different games and rule sets exist out there because we all don't like the same thing. Look at how many games you could be playing online and you definitely don't play all of those for multiple reasons. But really what makes any game that you don't play alone fun is the people you play with.

the OGL was a good thing i'm glad there is a lot more d20 games but d20 isn't AD&D its the rule system. And pathfinder is a straight rip off of the AD&D rules and world. And since i used to run and play in an 40-70 ppl group playing 4e every week it didn't tank as bad as you think. And all ready making 5E its been almost 5 years thats not exactly quick. They are also making 5E to shut down pathfinder. They are tired of ppl buying it so they are making 5e to combine whats good about both systems and bringing players back to wizards. Competition is fine not when u steal everything about it. Yes making it OGL let them do that but it was open to allow the D20 system to be used not to be used to completely rip off the product. That is like someone taking the exact story line and characters of GW1 and releasing a game called Guild Fights the same time GW2 came out. And taking most of the market with them. So yes i have an issue with pathfinder. I don't care if its the best stuff on earth i don't play it. And i didn't mention it to garner attention for my game i mentioned it cause i legitimately have a reason to tell people who have never played D&D that a game that has nothing to do with D&D is being billed as a D&D game. And to Radio ya Encounters is in a lot of cities now. They are interesting and a great way to get into the game. Usually they are every weds in most places. The Dm starts it at the same time as most of the country cause they send stuff out as text messages sometimes. But ya if anyone doesn't want to jump right in to a group those are great though you will have to find a store near you that runs it. Which isn't too hard. They usually always have new guys there also so you won't feel like the odd man/woman out.

I think my biggest issue has been that in the past 14 years I have not lived close to a gaming store and had other things going on in life to boot. Which probably explains why the last gaming group I played with in the 1998 to 2002 range, we all used 2.0. ::chuckles:: Along with a crazy die rolling character creation book to add random and crazy flavor to the game. Now I did not know Pathfinder stole actual world stuff. I don't know it well enough. Now if it is creaturs and such, a lot of them can be found in a lot of different games and books. It's more how they are presented in the scope of the world that makes them different. And well, Pathfinder is not making any money off me because all the info is out there free to be had and used.

Many companies made settings off of the d20 OGL that Wizards made available in 3.0/3.5 edition. They used the same classes, feats, skills, races, creatures, magic, etc that actual D&D 3.5 contained. Pathfinder does this, except it updated it a bit. Just about everything from 3.5 Player's Handbook and Monster Manual can be found in Pathdinfer's Player's Guide and Bestiary. You won't find, however, the iconic monsters from actual D&D that are Wizard's Intellectual Property (such as displacer beasts, mindflayers, beholders, and such). Someone would have to update those themselves for use in their games. I think the reason Pathfinder exploded was people were unhappy with the direction and changes Wizard made in 4th edition, and wanted to continue 3.5 play. Pathfinder gives them an outlet for 3rd edition play with new and updated material instead of sticking with all the old 3.5 books from 10 years ago. Everything in Pathfinder was available as open source material in the D&D SRD. Not everything from D&D was available in the SRD, which is why you won't find that in Pathfinder. I personally have no problems with 4th Edition. I liked some of the things they did to D&D. But I felt many of the things they did in 4th edition were unwarranted changes, and felt like they were making the World of Warcraft of table top RPGs (accessible to everyone, extremely easy to use). But my biggest gripe with it was their staggering of character classes/races. Release about 5 races and classes in PHB1, a year later you get another 5 classes and races in PHB2, and a year later repeat the process. That is what honestly turned me off of the whole 4th edition system. I genuinely wish you luck on getting a group together for 4th edition. It seemed like a fun system and I was looking forward to it, except for that part I mentioned that completely turned me off of it. And yes, Pathfinder is not D&D, but it's about the closest thing to it TO ME. Just habit is the reason I call it D&D.

They didn't steal any world stuff, they created their own campaign setting. All material under the OGL as far as monsters and rules were incorporated into the game and modified to fit their game. Some monsters were copyrighted by Wizards, such as Beholders, and were not used.

» Edited on: 2012-12-28 09:36:45

The last time I played D&D was 1994. I was just a teenager and it got me hooked on fantasy adventure novels which led into finding Wheel of Time series which led me to MMOs and so on and so forth. Actually now that I think about it. Final Fantasy on Nintendo was my first addictive RPG that I stuck my teeth into real good. I was in middle school when I did this. Wow. I wonder how current D&D models play. I was used to rolling dice for Tune stats, then play all day Saturday untill my parents made me go home. Nice! That was true Role Playing. I guess I miss Role Playing and should try it again. I have the right community for that now.

Yeah, Pathfinder isn't stolen. It operates under license. Personally, my favorite of the games under OGL is Castles & Crusades, which is a nice, lightweight system influenced by 1e AD&D. I think 4e is the worst edition that has come along as far as my personal preferences go, and I wasn't sorry to see it meet an untimely demise personally. I'm hoping D&D Next will end up being something I like. If not, I think no matter what edition you like there is already enough material around to play forever.

» Edited on: 2013-01-07 12:22:51