And so ends another Con4eR, an online 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons convention, and what fun it was. Apart from anything else, this was only the second time in recent memory that I’ve actually got to play this marvellous game. My responsibilities as a DM keep me connected to the game, but not some of the nice depths to character generation and play.
Attendance was quite low this time around, so I will need to think about timing and levels of interest for a possible number of new dates next year. In the background the Con4eR Discord has increased by about 25 members since announcing the Con4eR 2 dates, and has now reached the heady heights of 60 members. This is more than I expected when setting off, and more people are joining every day. I take from this a continuing and vibrant interest in actually getting to play 4th Edition as the Discord isn’t really there for anything else other than to support getting the actual play online convention up and running. Interesting to see what we get next year.
It was a particular thrill to run a game set in Kallahn, the old fantasy world that I drew in a flurry of hex paper and crayons back when I was probably no more than twenty, nearly forty years ago. It’s a gaming world that has seen life in play through Chivalry & Sorcery 2nd Edition, GURPS 3rd Ed, various iterations of the Basic Role Playing engine, and FUDGE. That’s a list of games that you don’t see mentioned together very often these days and, in fact, you might have to look some of them up. So, to run a game set in Kallahn again, this time using 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons, felt really good. It was nice to display just a taste of Kallahn, a world that has found new cartographic expression through Wonderdraft, a mapping software tool that has turned my old crayon hex grids into sumptuous, near poster quality expression.
I run a game set near the Dragonspire Mountains and a rare pass to the north that has been blocked, preventing trade and communication to the fortress city of Menelcar. The player characters were commissioned by the King of Thrail to investigate and clear the pass, so that merchants and messages could run through the mountains once again. I had too much fun running an assassination attempt in an inn, which ate a lot of game with rich roleplaying and a cinematic fight. It’s a scenario I will use again.
I was fortunate to play In a game run by Paul, a very experienced DM, who deftly demonstrated what a metric tonne of online commentary will tell you is impossible with 4e. We played off grid using ‘theatre of the mind’, and played through about six exciting combat challenges, as we tried to save people at the ‘Fall of Fallcrest’. I had a really great time! It turns out that 4th Edition is flexible and capable of operating either on attractive map grids, or in your head, along with just about any other version of D&D; who knew?
This time around I got to play a Barbarian, with a bit of cathartic ‘Rage’ going on, expressed through the customary very cool powers. I must say I really like the class and will be going back to it. Perhaps the 5th Edition badge of the Barbarian being a simple class for simple folk, could put you off? I found the 4th Edition Barbarian to be a resilient striker able to hold their own in the line against quite formidable foes .
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| A range of Javan’s destructive powers |
One of the things that I learnt this time was that some care needs to be taken in creating characters that make good sense. I think because I use the character builder software, I naturally get all the power options, all the time! It’s easy just to click on cool stuff, without considering how the blend of powers combine to make them effective for your character. The combination of Classes, Feats and Powers can create ‘character routes’ that ideally need to be observed to give you a rounded character that makes sense. My Barbarian had some mistakes as part of the build, which meant that I couldn’t use my Rage Feature. As I worked through, I realised that a lack of this feature meant that I couldn’t use some of the aspects of the other Powers taht I had selected from the Builder sweety shop. This has proved quite instructive, and reinforces the old adage that you often learn by doing, and for me, by playing.
I both ran and played on Role VTT. It does most of what I want and is cementing itself as the VTT for me.
I’m going to set up some more dates for 2022. The convention calendar is actually quite packed, and I’d like to avoid dates where there are wonderful small-scale conventions in the UK. I really love the play experience that 4e gives you. I’m so looking forward to some more online 4e play.