D&D 2E 2e Kits into 4e Themes

[Knightfall]

First, let me say that I was a huge fan of character kits in 2e. I collected all of the Complete Handbooks and loved almost all of them.

I find that 4e character themes are very similar but with a more balanced design philosophy. I'm a bit disappointed that WotC has canned the book that was going to give us more themes, yet it leaves the idea of new themes wide open for the fans to create.

Therefore, my plan is to try to convert some of my favorite 2e kits into 4e themes.

Note that I am hoping to get some help and/feedback from everyone since I'm a bit of a newb when it come to designing stuff for 4e. All help will be appreciated and if another EN Worlder want to run with an idea, then I say do it!

First on my list are two of my favorite kits -- the blade kit for the bard and the stalker kit for the ranger.

Note: I have the 2e core rules/expansion CDs so I have access to most of the 2e Complete books.

Bard Kits
Blade (in progress)
Herald
Skald
True Bard

Druid Kits
Outlaw
Savage
Wanderer

Fighter Kits
Barbarian
Beast-Rider
Myrmidon

Paladin Kits
Inquisitor
Skyrider
Wyrmslayer

Priest Kits
Amazon Priestess
Fighting-Monk

Ranger Kits
Justifier
Stalker

Thief Kits
Buccaneer
Swashbuckler

Wizard Kits
Patrician
Witch

 

[Knightfall]

Theme Format

Theme Name

TRAITS
Secondary Role: --
Power Source: --
Granted Power: --

THEME POWERS

Granted Power [Theme Name Feature]
Encounter


Level 2 Utility Power

Power Name [Theme Name Utility 2]


Level 3 Encounter Power

Power Name [Theme Name Attack 3]


Level 5 Daily Power

Power Name [Theme Name Attack 5]


Level 6 Utility Power

Power Name [Theme Name Utility 6]


Level 7 Encounter Power

Power Name [Theme Name Attack 7]


Level 9 Daily Power

Power Name [Theme Name Attack 9]


Level 10 Utility Power

Power Name [Theme Name Utility 10]

 

[Knightfall]

First Draft of the blade theme...

Blade

TRAITS
Secondary Role: Striker
Power Source: Martial
Granted Power: You gain the I will cut you power.

BLADE POWERS

I Will Cut You [Blade Feature]
Encounter ◊ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Primary ability vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] damage plus ability modifer damage, and the target is weakened (save ends).
- Level 11: 3[W] damage plus ability modifer damage.
- Level 21: 4[W] damage plus ability modifer damage.

Level 2 Utility Exploit

Weapon Display [Blade Utility 2]
Encounter ◊ Martial
Minor Action | Personal
Target: One weapon you're holding
Effect: The weapon whirls around in your hands, behind your back, and over your head. Its movements are distracting; the first creature you attack with a weapon affected by this power grants combat advantage to you for that attack.

Level 3 Encounter Exploit

Weapon Mastery [Blade Attack 3]
Encounter ◊ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Melee or Ranged weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Primary ability vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + ability modifier damage, and you gain combat advantage against the target.
Level 13
- Hit: As above, but 3[W] + ability modifier damage.
Level 23
- Hit: As above, but 4[W] + ability modifier damage.

Level 5 Daily Exploit

Blade's Gambit [Blade Attack 5]
Daily ◊ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Melee or Ranged weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Primary ability vs. AC
Miss: Half damage.
Hit: 2[W] + ability modifier damage, and you may shift a number of squares equal to your primary ability modifer as a free action. The target is also slowed until the start of its next turn.
Level 15
- Hit: As above, but 3[W] + ability modifier damage.
Level 25
- Hit: As above, but 4[W] + ability modifier damage.

Level 6 Utility Exploit

Defensive Spin [Blade Utility 6]
Encounter ◊ Martial, Stance
Minor Action | Personal
Effect: You assume the defensive spin stance. Until the stance ends, you gain a +2 power bonus to AC and Reflex. If you end your turn adjacent to an ally, this stance ends.

Level 7 Encounter Exploit

Trick Throw [Blade Attack 7]
Encounter ◊ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Ranged weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Primary ability vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + ability modifier damage, and the target is immobilized until the end of your next turn.
Level 17
- Hit: As above, but 3[W] + ability modifier damage.
Level 27
- Hit: As above, but 4[W] + ability modifier damage.
Special: If the hit is a critical then the target is also stunned (save ends).

Level 9 Daily Exploit

Offensive Spin [Blade Attack 9]
Daily ◊ Martial, Stance, Weapon
Standard Action | Close burst 1
Effect: Before the attack, you move your speed. You gain a +4 power bonus versus all opportunity attacks against you during this movement.
Target: Each enemy you can see in burst
Attack: Primary ability vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + ability modifier damage.
Effect: You assume the offensive spin stance. Until this stance ends, as a free action you can deal damage equal to your primary ability modifier to any enemy that starts its turn adjacent to you. Any enemy you deal damage to is slowed until the end of your next turn.
Level 19
- Hit: 3[W] + ability modifier damage.
Level 29
- Hit: 4[W] + ability modifier damage.

Level 10 Utility Exploit

Spymaster [Blade Utility 10]
Daily ◊ Martial
Minor Action | Personal
Effect: ???

 

[TarionzCousin]

I Will Cut You [Blade Feature]

Please note that even cute blonde girls can take the Blade theme:

I'm very interested in seeing what you come up with.

 

[Knightfall]

Please note that even cute blonde girls can take the Blade theme:

I'm very interested in seeing what you come up with.

My feeling is that this will be slow going since I need to learn more about how to design material for 4e. Case in point, I'm not sure what I want for the Blade Utility 10 power.

 

[Knightfall]

Stalker

TRAITS
Secondary Role: Striker
Power Source: Martial (or Primal?)
- Stalkers are at home in the wild and in urban environments, so I'm thinking martial is likely the better choice.
Granted Power: Stalker's Strike

STALKER POWERS

Stalker's Strike [Stalker Feature]
Encounter


Level 2 Utility Power

Blend In [Stalker Utility 2]
- camouflage is important to stalkers

Level 3 Encounter Power

Hidden Blade [Stalker Attack 3]
- unseen weapon strike

Level 5 Daily Power

Silent Strike [Stalker Attack 5]
- stalkers often attack from a hidden position

Level 6 Utility Power

Uncanny Persuasion [Stalker Utility 6]
- stalkers are persuasive and intimidating

Level 7 Encounter Power

Sunder the Soul [Stalker Attack 7]
- ???

Level 9 Daily Power

Foebane [Stalker Attack 9]
- something based on the idea of favored enemies that can include guilds

Level 10 Utility Power

I See It All [Stalker Utility 10]
- stalkers have great memories

 

[Knightfall]

Calling... [MENTION=31304]TarionzCousin[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1210]the Jester[/MENTION] for some opinions.

 

[the Jester]

To be honest, I don't have the DS CS book, so I'm not fully familiar with themes. I don't think I'm a good person to go to for feedback on this. Sorry!

I will say that, in general, I don't like the way themes have been implemented, because they are 4e's worst example of power creep. Other than themes (and backgrounds), 4e has been very good about keeping the playing field level so that a PH1 pc has approximately equal power as an Essentials pc. Themes and backgrounds are the two things that throw an extra bone to pcs; much like kits in 2e, I don't use them.

 

[TarionzCousin]

To be honest, I don't have the DS CS book, so I'm not fully familiar with themes. I don't think I'm a good person to go to for feedback on this. Sorry!

I will say that, in general, I don't like the way themes have been implemented, because they are 4e's worst example of power creep.

I don't have the Dark Sun books either.

I like Themes and Backgrounds. I want the PC's to have better defined characters and I know that rewarding them mechanically is one way to do that. I have to adjust all of my monsters anyway, so I don't mind a little power creep if it adds some flavor as well.

 

[Raunalyn]

Personally, I love themes. The Blade theme you have here, in particular, I can certainly enjoy and relate to, and I would allow this one in my DS game with no worries.

As to power creep; this only comes into effect if you play DS. Athas is notoriously brutal, so the designers built in an extra mechanic to help the players survive. So, at 1st level, all characters choose a theme and get an extra encounter power, thereby making them more powerful than a standard D&D world PC.

However, this mechanic can very easily be implemented in a standard D&D world without the danger of power creep. Simply, at 1st level, allow the player to choose a theme. Instead of receiving an extra encounter power, they have the choice to choose the theme's power in lieu of the class encounter power. Then, from that point on, they would progress with themes just like Dark Sun does.