Has anyone used the 0th level character rules?

Has anyone used the 0th level characters rules from Dragon 403? If you have could you please tell me how well they work? From a first glance they seem like they would be interesting to use but they also seem a little odd at the same time.

We tried it. There was a bit of interesting things they could do, but the system was pretty clunky... The ability score transition wasn't all that great either, and the attack powers didn't account for all primary ability scores of their class array in their use (Monks, for example, didn't want to worry about Cha at the time of the article being published, never mind Int). The Arcane and Psionic powers were a particular disappointment. Every other power source could do damage worth a damn with their attacks save for those. We had to give em a 1d6 damage value and add an attack line to the Arcane power to make them viable for anything that wasn't a minion...

All in all, I wouldn't recommend use as presented, and if you don't feel like house ruling it, I wouldn't recommend use at all. It didn't add much role playing depth to the game in the least and the mechanical aspects were disjointed from the game at large.

Personally, for 0th level I'd reduce the starting hit points by the amount they gain each level (i.e. 4, 5 or 6), limit them to one at-will attack with no class encounter or daily powers and give them only 60 gp of starting gold.

This will leave them with their most basic class abilities, a functional at-will attack, and whatever extras their race and/or theme grant them. The 60 gold pieces is enough to afford a suit of chainmail, a longsword, a dagger, a backpack, hemp rope and flint & steel. If you're lucky one of the party members who needs lighter armor can scrounge up a torch or maybe even a lantern.

That seems right about the level of desperation for a 0-level party to me.

I actually rather like the sound of that more than the actual rules presented. I might use that when I start another 4e campaign.  

My understanding of the 0-level rules was to allow the players to "feel out" different power sources and roles before settling on what they would play. They seemed interesting, but I haven't had an opportunity to try them out.

skwyd42 wrote:

My understanding of the 0-level rules was to allow the players to "feel out" different power sources and roles before settling on what they would play. They seemed interesting, but I haven't had an opportunity to try them out.

Same. I'm planning to try them out with some newbies if I get the chance.