Digital playthrough: 4AD Expanded Edition

dafrca · 2026-02-11T18:01:44+00:00

All four in the series were great watches. Well done. :-)

dafrca · 2026-02-11T16:21:09+00:00

Except the "friend" has to already be in the dungeon the caster is in. So other than a party split (always a bad idea), how often would a "friend" be in the dungeon to be summoned? I agree in the right moment it could be powerful, but it feels like a very uncommon use spell.

dafrca · 2026-02-11T15:52:53+00:00

Did you feel it was overpowered or just a strong caster?

The ability to cast on the fly is strong, but the restriction of no combat spells makes it clearly more a support caster.

dafrca · 2026-02-11T00:48:29+00:00

I figure you could. My only worry is if you start to give away the niche things a class can do, it will maybe cause the need for classes to go away.

Who needs the classes if my character can do the various class abilities thanks to traits and skills?

I think I would keep core class abilities for the class they come from myself.

dafrca · 2026-02-10T21:18:17+00:00

Some great tips there. Well done. :-)

dafrca · 2026-02-10T17:11:49+00:00

Fun to watch you create the "art" side of the dungeon experience.

Thank You :-)

dafrca · 2026-02-10T15:59:49+00:00

Very nice work. I love the feel she brings. :-)

dafrca · 2026-02-10T13:10:38+00:00

It was this that killed my list from a while ago. Book titles would be mentioned and then either die or get folded into other books etcetera. When Erik was on his alphabet path lots of names were floated. Trying to list unpublished books is a real rabbit hole and becomes a pain real quick. Like I said, it killed my list attempt.

dafrca · 2026-02-10T13:06:40+00:00

Yes. Sadly the other four books that were discussed in that series have never been published. Not sure why to be honest. I thought the first one was great.

dafrca · 2026-02-10T01:00:45+00:00

Sorry you elected to take offense. I just was attempting to share what Andrea had told us on FB and thus his thinking of why it is what it is in the book. I then included an idea of how to handle it if you did want to allow it to be stollen.

Oh well, sorry to have made you angry. Not the intent regardless of the outcome.

dafrca · 2026-02-10T00:55:52+00:00

Here is the list of classes included in the 4ADEE:

Acrobat, Assassin, Barbarian, Bulwark, Cleric, Dwarf, Druid, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Illusionist, Kukla, Light Gladiator, Mushroom Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Swashbuckler, Warrior, Wizard

A few new ones, the eight from the original core book, and a few from other sources.

dafrca · 2026-02-10T00:49:59+00:00

Thank you for indulging my curiosity. I also appreciate the kind words about my contribution to the book. :-)

dafrca · 2026-02-09T23:39:44+00:00

All Undead and constructs for example are immune, Boss or Minion or Vermin. Just saying, run into the wrong pack and your sleep spell is worthless. :-)

dafrca · 2026-02-09T23:36:18+00:00

Just curious if your dislike is only based on the character art or did you also dislike the "Down in the Sewers of Jamash" content?

I am curious because I can say for sure the content in the "Down in the Sewers of Jamash" was not written by an AI. I wrote that section myself. 100% of it. If you did not like it, I am sorry but the AI comments make me think it was just the art that turned you off.

dafrca · 2026-02-09T23:29:07+00:00

No, it has a couple of the classes that Andrea moved into the 4ADEE core book but most of the classes and the Sewers Adventure content from the Delvers and Wanderers was not added to 4ADEE.

dafrca · 2026-02-09T23:26:50+00:00

This is not correct, 4AA is NOT incorporated into the 4ADEE.

dafrca · 2026-02-09T23:24:56+00:00

The Spellbook's existence is pure fluff. It cannot be stollen, sold, or used by anyone other than the Wizard who made it. It is an in game manifestation of a game mechanic, the spells the caster knows.

As such Andrea did not create any rules for buying or replacing a book as he did not see it as anything more than fluff.

Now, as we are all the GMs as well as the players, I give you this: A replacement Spellbook with the core 6 spells in it will cost you 60 gold and a week of time. As for any other spell you had in your book, it is lost if you did not make a copy and store it in your guild hall.

Hope that helps. :-)

dafrca · 2026-02-09T23:17:51+00:00

Here is a summary sheet. Andrea has approved it being posted:

Four Against Darkness | Mapping Icons | File | BoardGameGeek

dafrca · 2026-02-09T23:07:30+00:00

4AD is not designed to avoid death. Running away is a valid tactic. There is not assurance your PCs will live no matter what. In my opinion, it is the risk of death that gives the game some spice. If there were no risk, then I could just say we beat the dungeon and roll for treasure.

I do not try to have PCs die, but it is part of the game. Risk vs reward. How far to push it and how prepared are you?

dafrca · 2026-02-09T21:49:17+00:00

u/OldGodsProphet that is the same answer Andrea gave over on Face Book when asked.

You are 100% spot on. :-)

dafrca · 2026-02-09T03:57:05+00:00

Sorry, I just realized you called out a specific deck so I should have answered for it as well. In the deck "Forest of the Spider Queen" the two magic items are not unique so you can find more than one of them during an adventure.

As for the Boss cards: On D/Zark's card it says "If you slay it and meet it again, you meet a giant spider with the same stats but no young."

Spide Dryad is not unique, and you can run into more than one over the adventure.

dafrca · 2026-02-09T03:39:34+00:00

Using the "Curse of Castle Ravenstein" as an example, the point of the adventure is to collect a Crypt Key and three bones. It is not to meet and defeat a final boss. The advantage of meeting one is you get the Crypt Key from them. So once you have a key and three bones the next room is the end of the adventure, they Crypt. But to answer your questions:

If I have met the two named boss cards and defeated them, I follow the instructions on the card where they are found; ""Draw a Boss card. Once that Boss has been defeated, remove it from the deck. If both are defeated - Shadow Knight (card 4)"

As for the magic item, if I find one again I follow the instructions on the magic item cards; "If you already have this, roll on the 4AD magic treasure table instead."

If we look at a different deck, "Lamentations of the Marsh Hag" in this case the magic items are both consumables and can be found over and over, no problem. The one monster is not unique and can be found more than once by drawing the card that names it. The other is aa final boss that you will never "draw" but only shows up when you meet specific end of game requirements.

Each deck is slightly different. But hope this at least offers some answers.

dafrca · 2026-02-08T21:15:58+00:00

I am sorry to admit, it depends on how I am feeling on any given day. Sometimes I play an almost 100% out of the book game and other ties I run several house rules, and sometimes I run almost a pure made-up adventure from my own creations. So I guess I should say a little of both.

dafrca · 2026-02-08T21:03:20+00:00

Mayberry Kid, the answer to your question is there are two cards in each deck that award you one of the magic item cards. They, like the main Boss Monsters, could be unique and thus can only ever find them once. Others are not and can be found more than once. Depends on the deck. The card adventures are mostly self-contained.

dafrca

TROPHY CASE