"to-hit" isn't quite what it used to be

Still yet, this post is a few weeks late from when it's events actually occurred...getting close to being current. B^]


As I noted in my first 4e D&D experience (a bunch of folks probably already know this but I am just now learning), the theory of "to hit" (or "Attack Bonus") being a focus point in 4e is something that other players (vets, included) have advised me of. It was something that I could see a lack of with that 1st level Dwarf Fighter, but I blame that more on the sucky dice rolls. I wonder if I mistakenly grabbed one of my old 0-9 (twice) d20s. I really don't seem to recall rolling anything above a 9. Hhmmnn.... Sadly, that was not the case. I guess my forgot to keep my pimp-hand... err... dice-hand strong that night.

Regardless, I also noticed the new weakened "to-hit", bonus-wise, when making a higher level character. I mean look at the Weapon Focus feat, for example. I was used to it enhancing my + to hit (limited 3.5 experience, mainly via D&D Online), but in 4e it enhances your + to damage. Same with some other gear, and such. I could be wrong, but that's how it looks to me, and that's how others who play a few times per week for the past 6 months see it.

Here's some more example: Look at this 8th level Elf Ranger of mine:

his basic ranged Attack Bonus ("to-hit"):
1/2 level = 4
ability (20dex) = +5
no + for Ranger as a class
Prof (a GreatBow is a +2 prof weap) = +2
no + for any feats
Enhancment (magical weapon: +2 Vicious Greatbow) = +2
no Misc +

So hit Basic Ranged Attack bonus at 8th level = +13

Honestly, that's not as high as I (a 4e newb) was expecting. Obviously one should try not be too quick to judge these things vs previous versions without looking at the other aspects of the characters abilities and the game features/rules. So, I will hold some judgment here on trying to directly compare this to OD&D or 3.5 D&D or anything in between. It's just weird when you are used to a certain named feature doing one thing, and then a new rev changes that feature, yet keeps the same name. /shrug

The cool thing, however, is the potential damage on some of these attacks that this Ranger has. Some cool attacks/powers that he (hopefully) will use are 2 attacks (2 arrows) per use (Two-Fanged Strike, Twin Strike, Split the Tree, etc).

This GreatBow, although it took a proficiency feat to use (Exotic weapons are now called "Superior"), is a 1d12 bow. Yikes! Plus it's Vicious. Double yikes!!

Anyway, I would love to go on and on, cuz this stuff gets me all giddy, but I am such a newb still with 4e, that I need the books in front of me to reference in order to not totally hose up anything else I'm blabbering about.

I will say that the "Adventurer's Vault" and the "Martial Power" books are very cool, and I highly recommend them. Again, this is with a whopping one whole play session and one whole planning session under my belt....hahah...so take it as you wish.

Still, real play experience aside: I like books. Books are cool. These two books are neat. I buy books. I am a book dork. ;>]

In which I make a Ranger who actually ranges (4e D&D: round2)

Again, this post is about a month late from when it's events actually occurred. I'm a little bit behind, but I'm catching up. ;>] Anyway, here it goes...

So my next foray into 4e was a lot more "local"...we're talkin' like 5 miles from my house...cool. Anyway, there is a local gaming store (Blue Dragon Games) that has a few campaigns going with 4e (some still 3.5, and some other games too, but they are doing a lot of 4e there, so that's cool).

Now, I'm having trouble committing to a constant weekly group thing, as I have very little time as of late in RL. Well, they have scheduled some "sanctioned" RPGA events at the shop, including a series called Dungeon Delves (or something). It's basically broken down into sessions that include 2 encounters each, and are supposed to be sorta like 1-shot pickup games on a weekly basis. I think the deal is you can show up for one and miss the next, maybe show up for the 4th one, etc. We'll see. This is the sorta thing I need, since I cannot commit to a weekly thing fully.

So I went to the 1st session, and it turns out I was the only person on the planet that even knew about it, save the store owner and an employee/manager (DMing these). I only knew about it because I was in the store on New Year's Eve day, just out shopping (returning a gift or two from Christmas) and stopped in the store for a little browsing. They have added it to their website, so I hope there are some folks that show up next time.

Anyway, I got to at least make my character that night. The DM told me that everyone who joins in would have to make an 8th level character....whoah! Now that may be old hat to some, but a brand new system, with all new powers, skills, feats, classes, races, etc is kinda tough to jump into 8th level. But man, was it fun!

My 8th level dude, is a Ranger of the Elven variety.

He is actually going to "range" things. The Ranger in my 1st (level 1-2) group was a melee guy. This dude of mine will pop things from afar (whoah!). He has some sweet powers (at-wills, encounters, dailies) and feats, and even a little gear (you get to pick 3 magic items at that level, one at level (8), one below (7), and one above (9), so that helps out a little), mostly all geared to maxing his ranged damage.

He is gonna use a +2 Vicious Greatbow almost exclusively. The vicious is different than what I've seen before (3.5?, D&D Online/DDO). No damage back to the user, but it does nice work on a crit. Now I won't crit a lot, cuz they don't have the true improved crit stuff that I've grown used to (in DDO, especially), but when I do crit it will be massive!


In encounters Rangers get to tag their closest foe as their "quarry" once per round. Anyway, when you do that you get some nice bonus damage on them (1d6). With a feat that I took (Lethal Hunter) this additional 1d6 of quarry damage increases to a 1d8. Oh and as an elf, I can re-roll some misses, Eleven Accuracy or something....so on the big attacks, I can use a power to re-roll some of them...cool! This is gonna be fun!

Man, I just hope I get to actually play this dork, as it took forever to make him. The employee/manager of the store (the future DM of these sessions) was *very* helpful and sat there the whole time with me pouring thru the books and such. Another player who is frequently at the store, playing in several campaigns, was also very helpful with some of the creation process. It was pretty daunting for a 4e newb, especially making this guy 8th level to start.

It was a ton of fun, and I never even rolled a single polyhedron....ha!