Dawnforge?

[Akennedy]

I just recently bought a campaign setting (by fantasy flight games) called Dawnforge ( a d20 system game ) for the grand, sum, total of 3.00$ Canadian. I figured even if it was a sucky setting, i could pick out the good ideas and trash the rest. My question to the playgrounders is: Has anyone heard of it, and does anyone know what it's like?

[Burley]

Play it and love it. I'm running a Dawnforge game right now, and all my players love it.
Here's a few great things about the game:
-It runs on D&D. It's not just d20. It uses the monster manual, DMG, PHB everything.
-If you want to get a feel for 4e, play Dawnforge. 4e is pushing their racial level thing, and Dawnforge started that. Races and Classes get special stuff each level, as well as stat boosts. It adds a little more customizablity to your characters. You could have two human characters, but they'll be completely different.
-It keeps your characters from getting boring. Since you races get stuff every level, players don't have to worry about 'dead levels'. I always hate it when all I get is a bonus to a fort save or something stupid like that, and everybody else is getting improved evasion or disintegrate. It's like getting a feat every level, that are really flavorful. Certain elves can weave moonlight into clothing, and gnomes can get detect magic at will.
-There are a lot more races to pick from in Dawnforge. You've got 2 different elves (3 more if you have the supplement), 4 humans, gnomes, halflings, dwarves, Orcs, Minotaurs, Yuan-ti, tieflings and a couple more, I think. It's very flavorful.

A couple things that are more subtle:
-No more Dieties. Dawnforge takes place at the dawn of the world, so, there aren't any dieties, yet. There are, however, immortals who will eventually rise to become dieties. I think this keeps players on their toes a bit more. The world is harsh and unforgiving, and you are not playing some special chosen one and your maker isn't gonna "bail you out of this one."
-With the absense of Gods and Goddesses, the divine classes from the PHB have been remade. Cleric became a Shaper, spontaneous divine casters who align themselves to aspects of the world, like nature or life (basically: domains), which gives them spells. Druids become Shamans, who are much more barbaric than their future generations will be. [Side Note: These new classes make it more difficult for players to go CoDzilla. I consider that a bonus.]
-The monk, though not always considered divine, was also replaced, with the far-more functional Spirit Adept. These guys are what monks were meant to be. Jumping from Mountaintop to Mountaintop, ripping buildings apart, running on the points of spears. Yeah...they can do that kinda crap...it's practically a class skill. They hit more, they hurt more, and they can use whatever weapon they want. (Why use a shuriken anyways?)

I can't keep going, or I may wet myself. It may be the excitement of somebody else picking up a copy of such a wonderful game setting...or it could be the three pots of coffee I had this morning. (Work maky me Sleepy.)

Good luck, Akennedy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Feel free to Private Message me if you have questions, or want to swap experiences. I'll be happy to empart my...er...wisdom?

[Akennedy]

Well thank you for such the extensive review, I don't imagine I'll run a campaign in it soon, but I'm definitely going to give it an extensive read. Thank you very much, sir, as you have given me motivation to read though the book! Before I was going to just skim it and pick apart what I like and dislike. Now, I'll maybe even try to run a game!

[UserClone]

I have long been interested in DF; where did you find it so gosh darn cheap?

[Akennedy]

Ebay:P

I'm just kidding. Living in Canada, I found it in the Great Canadian Dollar Store. I was quite pleased! The book says it should sell for 35 I think :P

[Sir_Elderberry]

-If you want to get a feel for 4e, play Dawnforge. 4e is pushing their racial level thing, and Dawnforge started that. Races and Classes get special stuff each level, as well as stat boosts. It adds a little more customizablity to your characters. You could have two human characters, but they'll be completely different.

4e doesn't have racial levels. There are a lot more first-level racial benefits, and races get their own powers (Eladrin get a 5-square move action teleport, for example) but these benefits don't grow with you.

[Zeful]

I think it has to do with the racial feats thing and a general thought of 15-20 racial feats that introduce new stuff.

[Yakk]

4e doesn't have racial levels. There are a lot more first-level racial benefits, and races get their own powers (Eladrin get a 5-square move action teleport, for example) but these benefits don't grow with you.

4e, level 1 to 10, races get new powers.

In essence, each class has a subclass every 10 levels.

1 to 10 it is your race
11 to 20 it is one set of prestige classes.
21 to 30 it is a second set of prestige classes.

[Sir_Elderberry]

4e, level 1 to 10, races get new powers.

In essence, each class has a subclass every 10 levels.

1 to 10 it is your race
11 to 20 it is one set of prestige classes.
21 to 30 it is a second set of prestige classes.

Hm, ok, I know someone who is playtesting 4e, and as such I've read the current beta-PH. This is not in there. Maybe it's just not implemented yet (as it isn't complete, admittedly).