Curious about options from other games

[caedrus]

I'm starting up a C&C campaign and really like the idea behind skill challenges from 4e. Has anyone tried them? How well did they work with the SIEGE engine? How did you set them up?

Also, I'm trying for a world with a little less emphasis on magic. I especially don't want the cleric to be just a healer, they should get to use other spells while spreading the word of their god. To help with this, I have thought about using reserve hit points ala Iron Heroes. 4e's healing surges are a bit too much but I like the idea of a limited source of self-healing such as reserve points. Has anyone tried these? Would they be unbalancing in place of cure spells?

[finarvyn]

In general, C&C works pretty well with most rules I've imported from other games. The key is mostly to be sure that any imported rule doesn't conflict with existing rules or do the same thing as existing rules.

I think that you can use a lot of the 4E challenge rolls directly with the SIEGE mechanic, but be careful since SIEGE is desinged to springboard off of prime stats and 4E doesn't have those. Not a major problem, though.

The question about clerics and non-healing is also easy to address. Your hit point reserve idea is certainly a good one, or you could make healing potions easier to find. Or use a scene from Fellowship of the Ring where Aragorn uses healing herbs to work "magic" and maybe assume that non-clerics can obtain and use those. Or just allow characters to "bind wounds" after each encounter (I always allow a freebie d4 wound binding, but in a non-healing magic style game you could up it to a d8 or something like that.)

Give 'em a try and see what happens. C&C is pretty easy to work with and will allow for a lot of house rule tweaks. Let us know what you try and how it works out for you!

[KaiserKris]

I'm really not too familiar with skill challenges, so I'll let someone else answer that.

As for healing, one thing that I did with my group, that consisted of a wizard, a ranger, a rogue and a fighter, was to allow the ranger, who had a Wisdom prime, the ability to patch up their allies after a combat. Three times a day, they could heal 1d4+Wis modifier hit points. For me, hit points represent, to a great extent, current fighting capability and in a world with less magic, I think it'd be safe to have them bounce back a bit faster. Modify natural healing/day with someone's Constitution modifier. Let a successful Heal check actually heal some hit points. Stuff like that.

[caedrus]

Thanks guys. That whole healing with herbs/using a heal check to bind wounds is exactly the feel I'm looking for. Hit points aren't necessarily physical damage, but wearing down over time until you hit 0, which is when you start taking the real damage. Getting your second wind, healing minor cuts, and things like that is what I was using the reserve points for. The binding and herbs can just be the fluff for that happening.

[GameOgre]

If you like skill challenges then go for it! Just keep in mind the prime issue when creating them. The Castle Keepers Guide has some Siege Options that I would use if I was going to run them for C&C.

[nwelte1]

I don't think the prime issue will be a concern since 4e has trained skills. If I recall a trained skill gets an automatic +5, effectively creating a result similar (not identical) to having prime attributes.

I just remember read the skill section and thinking, this is the siege mechanic simply reskinned.

[serleran]

You can use various whatevers. I personally would avoid adding anything like these to my games but that is for aesthetic reasons... and because I don't like them.

[caedrus]

You can use various whatevers. I personally would avoid adding anything like these to my games but that is for aesthetic reasons... and because I don't like them.

That was helpful.

[LordSeurek]

You can use various whatevers. I personally would avoid adding anything like these to my games but that is for aesthetic reasons... and because I don't like them.

That was helpful.

Bah, this is as helpful as Serl gets!!

J/k hoss

L.S.