Character Creation

The Big Adventure, by Guillaume Bonnet

The 4th Edition of D&D is, at the time of me writing this, easily the best balanced version of the game that's ever been released - but that doesn't mean that it's completely balanced. It's just better - fighters are still relevant at high levels, and wizards don't have to hide in a corner for the first third of them. For the sake of my (and generally Pat's) games, we, the insatiable tinkerers we are, have made a number of tweaks to the system baselines. You can find an overview here of things changed or tweaked, generally on a baseline level. If it's a complete addition or overhaul to the system, it may get mentioned here, but it generally has its own page somewhere on the site.

At 1st Level

Everyone, even heroes - and for the purposes of this paragraph, we're assuming heroes, even though I tend to prefer no-name schlubs as the starting point in my games - has to start somewhere. In D&D, that's first level. Changes that you're going to run into right away are listed in this section.

Ability Scores

All races - including humans - increase two ability scores by +2 at first level. In all cases, one ability score increase must be from among the two or three listed for the race in its original 4E source, while the other increase can be any of the six ability scores, though not the same as the first increase. (That is, you can't stack increases for a +4 to a single stat at first level.)

We have done this because 4E is balanced heavily upon your primary attribute - to the point that it's a significant disadvantage to not be able to boost the stat at creation. Long-term, it'd be nice to have a different fix for that - but in the short term, it's easiest to say that PCs are special, and yes, the world's strongest halfling ever can be as strong as a half-orc.

Classes

Some classes are just off-limits. The binder, blackguard, executioner, hexblade, vampire, sha'ir, and witch - don't play them. Don't try to play them. Not only are they badly designed, they literally can be thematically replaced by another class who can do everything they can and more. Except for the vampire. That one is just really, really badly designed. If it's appropriate to the campaign and you feel a strong need to play a vampire, we'll figure out a way to do it that doesn't result in a character who violates numerous fundamental assumptions of the system.

As an aside, the blackguard wasn't actually terrible, it just had an exceptionally narrow focus. We have broadened the concept of a heavily-armored divine striker into the vindicator custom class.

Feats

All characters receive two feats at first level. Humans (and any other races that receive a bonus feat) still gain that granted by their race. Feat progression is unchanged from core thereafter.

This doesn't help balance the system at all. We just like feats, and I like low-level games where people never got to have many. So bonus feat for everyone!

Skills

All classes can train four skills from their class skill list. Classes that get specific skills for free gain those in addition to the four choices.

Unlike in 3rd Edition, 4th doesn't balance classes around having more out of combat utility than others in exchange for sacrificing combat skill. As such, there's no reason to award some classes a larger number of skills than others.

Themes

Themes, as introduced in the Dark Sun Campaign Setting, are allowed, barring those actually from the book that introduced them. That means no Athashian Minstrel, Dune Trader, Elemental Priest, Gladiator, Noble Adept, Primal Guardian, Templar, Veiled Alliance, Wasteland Nomad, or Wilder.

Themes are one of my favourite late introductions to the 4E system, giving heroic-tier characters a third "pillar" that defines their character (along with race and class). The Dark Sun specific themes, however, don't work under quite the same rules as every theme published thereafter, and create some weirdness because of that.

Backgrounds

Backgrounds, in the mechanical sense (well, also the roleplaying sense, but that's not the point of this page) are also encouraged. We have put together a more flexible list of backgrounds that doesn't mandate hunting for the one that both sounds right and offers access to the skill you think your character should have. I'll be getting a page up of the exact backgrounds, but the short version is to pick any two of the following:

  • +1 to a skill and add it to your class skill list;
  • +2 to a skill;
  • You can reroll checks using a specific skill, but must use the second result, even if it is lower;
  • Gain a +1 bonus to Initiative;
  • Gain training in one simple or military weapon;
  • Gain a +1 bonus to all d20 rolls made with an action granted by an action point;
  • Gain resist 2 (or increase your existing resistance by 2) against acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, poison, psychic, or thunder damage.

At Higher Levels

In addition to the changes at first level, there are a handful of other changes that will apply across further levels.

Inherent Bonuses

Apply inherent bonuses, as per the rules in the Dungeon Master's Guide 2. This means you act as though you have a +1 weapon or implement at level 2, and increase the bonus every 5 levels thereafter (7, 12, 17, 22, 27). At level 4 and every five thereafter (9, 14, 19, 24, 29), you act as though you have magical armor and a necklace of the same bonus.

In addition, you gain a +1 feat bonus per tier (+1 at level 1, +2 at level 11, and +3 at level 21) to all attack rolls and non-armor (Fortitude, Reflex, and Will) defenses. This makes expertise and improved defenses feats mostly obsolete, though some specific expertise feats have additional benefits that make them still worth taking>

Two reasons for doing this here. One: neither Pat nor I enjoy awarding a constant string of magical items during a game - me even less so than Pat. But the system absolutely expects characters to have the mathematical bonuses those items grant, or fights become increasingly difficult. The inherent bonuses system in the DMG2 addresses that somewhat. However, the system also expects characters to have the bonuses to attacks and defenses from feats - while you can technically choose not to take them, the feats are so far beyond all others in the scale of their benefits, they become de facto choices that all characters end up taking. Thus, not actually choices at all. Fake choices are bad, and they should feel bad. Yes, this frees up two feat slots for most characters that they would have spent on those feats, and that means PCs are slightly more powerful than in core. That's okay - I can make the monsters and encounters a little more difficult, too, and I prefer that to making something on an list of choices effectively required.

Ability Scores

At levels 4, 8, 14, 18, 24, and 28, instead of increasing two ability scores by +1, increase all ability scores by +1.

This is probably a more controversial change than the above, but like those, it was designed to fix some issues with the math - namely that some character builds had horrible issues with their defenses falling very low, relatively speaking, as they went up levels, because their class features keyed off of increasing two paired attributes (Strength & Constitution, for example)... but those class builds don't actually generally award anything in particular to make up for that, making them weak choices from a mechanical standpoint when they are often great choices from a conceptual one. Since I don't like the idea of a character concept failing at the table because the mechanics don't click well, we've done this to fix it.

It does mean that feat prerequisites become substantially easier to meet by mid-paragon tier. And it means that characters have no unexceptional ability scores by that time, too. While that's a side effect I don't particularly love, it's part of a bigger issue I have with the system where it's difficult to have a below-average characteristic to begin with, and that you are mechanically strongly discouraged from concepts such as a very smart fighter or a nimble wizard, or the like. Until I find a way - assuming there is one, without redoing the fundamentals of the system - to change that, this is a stopgap fix.

Attack Powers

Characters do not have to drop an existing attack power after level 9 in order to learn new ones. Instead, characters can only use three class level-granted encounter attack powers per encounter, and three level-granted daily attack powers per day.

This is a small buff to character versatility, but not to power maximum. We implemented the rule because it was bothersome that a fighter, for instance, was only capable of knowing a small number of moves and had to literally forget one he had used his entire career in order to learn a new one. It's a little less bothersome with non-martial classes, but still somewhat.

Do note that encounter and daily attack powers granted in some other fashion - such as a theme, racial feature, feat, or the like - aren't counted against the limit. It's only those you specifically choose at level-up and would have to drop after level 9 that are affected by this.