A bit of background:
When 4e came out, I fell in love. I had started gaming with 3.0 (and then 3.5), but had gotten tired of certain things about the game, and 4e was a breath of fresh air. Fighters could keep up with wizards, save-or-die was gone, healing surges gave everyone a modicum of self-healing, defenses instead of saves actually standardized the entire core mechanic!
Unfortunately, after a few years, the weight of 4e began to drag on me as well. Combat length made it hard to feel like progress was being made, classes within a given role felt too same-y. It was time to explore other options.
And I found 13th Age. I loved it. Still do. It kept most of what I loved from 4e, and added some of its own excellent twists. I love the Background system, the escalation die, the ways it kept the combat balance I wanted without making classes feel too similar. Pretty much everything.
But lately, I've found myself missing a lot about 4e.
I miss Paragon Paths - splitting off from your core class a bit to differentiate yourself from others.
I miss multiclass feats - the ability to add a bit of flavour and versatility with only minor investment.
I miss tactical fights - marking, flanking, cover, fights where positioning, terrain, and strategy matter.
I miss forced movement - pushing, pulling, jockeying for position. Part of tactical fights, but not completely.
I miss 4e monsters - this one's mostly on me, but I feel 13th Age monsters default to being a bit simpler than 4e ones, and I just need to remember to give my 13th Age monsters additional interesting abilities. Weirdly, I'm torn about whether I miss rolling dice for monster damage, which means I'm probably good without it.
I miss PCs being able to set up combos - part of tactical fights, but meaning those situations where multiple party members contribute to one amazing outcome. Example: Fighter marks the baddie, while the Rogue gets into backstab position. The Warlord issues a challenge, allowing the monster to attack him, while simultaneously allowing the Rogue to backstab, and also triggering the Fighter's mark ability.
Some of these wouldn't be easy to reintroduce. True combo-creation would require a complete overhaul of the classes, for example.
Others, I really want to do something for. This thread will be for brainstorming and compiling solutions to them. All help is welcome!
When 4e came out, I fell in love. I had started gaming with 3.0 (and then 3.5), but had gotten tired of certain things about the game, and 4e was a breath of fresh air. Fighters could keep up with wizards, save-or-die was gone, healing surges gave everyone a modicum of self-healing, defenses instead of saves actually standardized the entire core mechanic!
Unfortunately, after a few years, the weight of 4e began to drag on me as well. Combat length made it hard to feel like progress was being made, classes within a given role felt too same-y. It was time to explore other options.
And I found 13th Age. I loved it. Still do. It kept most of what I loved from 4e, and added some of its own excellent twists. I love the Background system, the escalation die, the ways it kept the combat balance I wanted without making classes feel too similar. Pretty much everything.
But lately, I've found myself missing a lot about 4e.
I miss Paragon Paths - splitting off from your core class a bit to differentiate yourself from others.
I miss multiclass feats - the ability to add a bit of flavour and versatility with only minor investment.
I miss tactical fights - marking, flanking, cover, fights where positioning, terrain, and strategy matter.
I miss forced movement - pushing, pulling, jockeying for position. Part of tactical fights, but not completely.
I miss 4e monsters - this one's mostly on me, but I feel 13th Age monsters default to being a bit simpler than 4e ones, and I just need to remember to give my 13th Age monsters additional interesting abilities. Weirdly, I'm torn about whether I miss rolling dice for monster damage, which means I'm probably good without it.
I miss PCs being able to set up combos - part of tactical fights, but meaning those situations where multiple party members contribute to one amazing outcome. Example: Fighter marks the baddie, while the Rogue gets into backstab position. The Warlord issues a challenge, allowing the monster to attack him, while simultaneously allowing the Rogue to backstab, and also triggering the Fighter's mark ability.
Some of these wouldn't be easy to reintroduce. True combo-creation would require a complete overhaul of the classes, for example.
Others, I really want to do something for. This thread will be for brainstorming and compiling solutions to them. All help is welcome!