Alright....because I said THIS on a local gamer's forum:

QuoteThere has been talk of starting a weekly 4/e game here at the store.

Nothing definite yet.

Hell, I could give it a try, even tho I'm more comfortable reffing GURPS.

It led to THIS comment in a different thread :

QuoteIf Ed was serious, we have enough for 5 players with Ed running at the game store. That is if everyone is still interested. My Friend wants to play, but the when is the question. Sundays are out, we already RP at the store on sundays unless it is Sunday evening. We would have.......

They are talking about DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 4th edition. Yeah - that means me the GURPS Promoter (unacknowledged by SJG) would be DM-ing a D&D game.

Any advice guys?


 Help in running it?

 Things I should remember?

Charts that might be useful for someone who hasn't tried to run "D&D" since 2004


- Ed C.

Preparation before the game saves you tons of time during the game.

So:

Print off or photocopy monster stats beforehand, and annotate changes directly on the sheet. I recommend leaving them unstapled, but using paperclips to hold the sheets of all the monsters in a particular encounter together so that you have them on hand and can easily consult them without having to flip.

Have sketches of the expected battlefields prepared beforehand. You can always change them, but it's good to have the broad strokes already worked out. Hold onto them after the game. With a few changes each time, two or three well-done ship maps can serve for dozens of maritime encounters, for example.

You can find free printer-ready power cards on the internet if you look around (4chan has numerous sets people are working on). Pass them out to players in the correct combinations so they know their powers.

Have a couple of filler encounters that are well-balanced and interesting in your back pocket for when you can't think of anything else. My recommendation is always to have an encounter ready where the PCs are facing a greater number of weaker humanoids led by a single stronger leader, since this is common enough. Pick whatever mechanical profile you want, and then simply adjust the trappings to fit it. Eight minions, an elite soldier or controller, and a single back-up of the other role will work for anything from the captain of the guard trying to arrest the PCs to hobgoblin warbands rampaging through the countryside.

Wing it whenever you need to. People occasionally seem to forget it's OK to do that when you're playing D&D.

Wing it ?

 Trust me after years of GURPS I know how to wing it!. That game practically encourages it.

I'm planning on using PAIZO-made map cards and sheets that I already have or Dunfeon Tiles that we sell at the store.

- Ed C.

While the combats will be more boardgamey that GURPS, you can do a lot of wild and crazy stuff with the skill challenges IF you play them fast and loose and encourage back and forth interaction instead of just dice rolls for skill checks.

Power cards are a great idea.  Keeps bookflipping to near zero.

Coming from GURPS, you will probably have a lot of fun tweaking the monsters.   The DMG has some great advice on how to use the math behind the system to easily mod the monsters.

If you have no time to prep events, consider having your store become an RPGA sanctioned event.  Lots of stores do RPGA stuff and WotC will supply you with 60+ adventures per year within Forgotten Realms.   Unlike in past RPGA campaigns, each adventure is now vetted by WotC, definately playtested and the author is paid so we are expecting a much higher level of quality than previously.

Quote from: Koltar;226651They are talking about DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 4th edition. Yeah - that means me the GURPS Promoter (unacknowledged by SJG) would be DM-ing a D&D game.

Any advice guys?

It High Fantasy. For my D&D 4th edition campaign I was going to use an alternative version of my Wilderlands campaign where apocalypse occurred and monsters have taken over much of the world. Basically it is an alternate history of something one of my player groups did in the 1980's.

Heroic Tier would be about the exploring the world around the settlement, defeating local menace, learning about a threat to the said settlement and climax in defeating the big bad.

Paragon Tier would be about the party exploring outwards. Learning about what happened in the apocalypse. What caused it and the truly big bads behind it. This will climax in the party going against the big bads that keep the Wilderlands in thrall and hopefully by defeating them they will free the Wilderlands from the monsters.

Epic Tier will be about the fact that the true leaders of the apocalypse are not in the Wilderlands but out in the Outer Realms dishing out payback to the Gods. This will start with the party learning about this and heading out to help the Gods. In the climax they will be decisive element in the battle that will finally vanquish the demons that caused the apocalypse.

The idea here is to create a high fantasy campaign in three acts geared to the three stages of 4th edition play. Now presented with this post perhaps some will say I am railroading. However I create an epic SITUATION that the players can choose to deal with (or not). The situation that I created has three levels the local view, the world view, and universe view.

Whatever High Fantasy setting/campaign you create for 4th edition you should keep those perspective in mind.

Heroic Characters are going to be dealing with local threats.
Paragon Characters are going to be dealing with worldwide threats
Epic Characters are going to be dealing with threats to the Universe.

The scale of my plot could be considered over the top. You could go with Barony, Kingdom, Worldwide as your focus.

Quote from: Koltar;226651Help in running it?

 Things I should remember?

Charts that might be useful for someone who hasn't tried to run "D&D" since 2004

Get the Player Handbook PDF and/or Monster Manual if you can afford it. You that to copy and paste power descriptions for easy reference.

Because 4th edition D&D has the same learning curve as Magic the Gathering. You are going be learning a simple set of core rules followed by many exception written out in the power descriptions. Like you have the cards of Mtg in front of you .Likewise have the 4th edition powers descriptions in front of you.

The interplay of combat and non-combat is similar to GURPS if you have used Advanced Combat with as many options you can throw in. Whatever you do in your GURPS game to keep advanced combat from feeling like a wargame do the same in D&D 4th. Because of the exception based system there are fewer things you will have to memorize or look up.

Non combat D&D 4th is way lighter on the rules than GURPS. I suggest reading this http://www.lulu.com/content/3019374. If you try to run non-combat D&D 4th like GURPS non-combat it is going to suck. In the non-combat realm D&D 4th reverts to old school AD&D and earlier. The players should be prepared to think and not rely solely on dice rolls.

The skill challenge system is useful for the few rules you will want them to make but that also expect players to come up with creative solution to generate successes. The D&D 4th Edition rulebooks has exactly three short sections for non-combat rules Skills, Skill Challenges, and Rituals.

You will find that Preparation for D&D 4th to be easier than previous edition or GURPS. They give you the math behind encounters and the system reflects that math so you can build the exact kind of challenge you want for the party. Unlike some of the nagging nabobs there is no rule saying that encounter must be balanced. They just give you the tools to figure it out if you want.

If GURPS appealed to you because  of its grounding in realism. Then you will find, like I did, that D&D fun to play but GURPS will continue to be your primary system. D&D 4ths' feel is High Fantasy 24/7.

Hope this helps.

Rob Conley

Try to use skill encouncers, more the better... also at first run several tzrainign combat encouncers, so players can get used to it, develop some working tactics and so they won't be dying all taht quickly. Don't overuse combat encouncers, or you might not get to the actual RP.

Be crative, when desinging cobat necouncers, have time limitations, lava pits, traps, dangerous terrain, traps, and so on, not only monsters on flat square map. And try not to forget to use as much minions as posible.

Bah...here is my advice.  First read the Players Handbook cover to cover (except the detail things, like power descriptions and such, just skim those).  Then skim the PH again, noting the important things you saw the first time, but just to ingrain them in your brain.  Then read the DMG once (you can skim over some of the material that you already know, but it is kind of fun and refreshing, so if you have the time, read that too).  Third, skim the MM.

That's really it.  Once you see the differences between the cinematic D&D4E and other RPGs and how the game is balanced from a mechanic (and GM) point of view...all you have to do is simply run it like everything else you've been running all your RPG life.

Seriously, other than most likely wanting a battlemat and a good selection of minis, and having a good grasp of the new rules, it's the same as running anything else.  If you're a good GM you'll be able to pull it off with no trouble at all.

One of the nice (or not nice things, depending on your point of view) is that 4E is sort of like Warhammer battles games in that every player is responsible for a good working knowledge of how his army (or in this case, character) works.  You only have to worry about what your NPCs do, the players need to keep track (and be honest, of course) about their player's abilities.

Show up and run Castles & Crusades instead.  When they complain, tell 'em it was my idea.  They'll come looking for me and won't be able to find me, 'cause I'll be at a movie.  They're off your back and you owe me.

Wait, no.  This idea is stupid.

D&D 4e is not "High Fantasy", remember that first


1. Also remember you can run it however you want...so If you don't like this bit or that bit...feel free to ignore it or change it. Make sure you enjoy the game you're running.

2. Prep, Prep, Prep! Putting relevant monster stats on notecards, drawing out your combat maps before hand. Setting up your skill encounters before hand will all help you keep the game flowing. There's a LOT of rules for the game, so keep the ones you need close at hand.

Using index cards for initiative puts the relevant PC and monster information at your fingertips, including defenses, passive skill checks, and any special immunities or resistances they may have. Monster stat blocks are pretty tight, so you can fit them on a single card.

Just photocopy them. If space is a consideration, cut out only the statblock and recycle the rest of the sheet. Like I said, it lets you annotate directly on the page, and spares you the trouble of having to copy tons of crap out by hand.

Don't be afraid to just wing it either.

Use the DMG sections about throwing together an encounter. Do it on the fly a couple of times. The MM is actually a good tool for this. It's setup for just this kind of seat of the pants off the ranch encounters.

You'll never guess what happened....


No , go ahead.


Last Tuesday I met with TWo of the guys that wanted to play. took notes., let them talk ...tell me what kind of game they might be interested in. One of them had heard that I was into GURPS and brought some old 3rd edition GURPS books with him.

So I went to that get together and possible character creeation thinking I was going to be running DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 4/e for a few weeks.

NOPE....didn't happen. They surprised me.

One of the guys said he didn't like how much WotC had changed D&D with 4th. Then jhe said that he had always liked the gist of the GURPS combat system - and he starts asking me questions about GURPS 4/e.

I tell them I've run the past few years and the variuous campaign ideas that I've had , but had no oppurtunity to run.

 They then talk themselves into asking me to run a GURPS:BANESTORM game for them.


No "steering" was involved ...I was very impartial and objective and just listened.


We had our first BANESTORM session earlier today . It was really wild. One player is a real nutball as his PC, an NPC I play has bet one of the PCs whether or not the guy lasts two fictional weeks in the game world.  (So now one PC has to keep the other one alive - just to win the bet.)


Oh yeah  - one of the guys bought a G: CHARACTERS book. Tonight the recently added player also bought a GURPS CHARACTERS book. A "Win-win" situation all around for the store and I .


- Ed C.