After going through the disastrous TPK during our one-shot session, the group has decided that they like to move on to a long term campaign.
I proposed to the group that we should go through all the published modules from Wizards and so we are picking up H1 Keep on the Shadowfell this coming weekend. From there, I intend to move along through each module and tie them together as an episodic campaign.
It's been a while since I've run a campaign so I've been a little rusty in trying to get things organize and remember what should you prepare during the pre-campaign.
I've wanted to run a pre-campaign session where I could get the players together and discuss a little about how are we going to tie their characters into the setting. Unfortunately, work called up and I had to cancel the pre-campaign met.
So we had to do most of the char gen and discussion over a local forum where most of my players are members of (it even has a sub-board for D&D so it was appropriate to have them there anyway) and would go straight for the session this Saturday. While I would have much prefered a face-to-face meetup because then ideas could be bounced back and forth between the players and the DM on the spot but through the forum, we managed to most of the character generation process, questions and answers done.
Despite the hassles that we had with the character builder, our group once again decided to give it a second-shot and it was important that I lay down some houserules of how should the character generation process be done.
On the day of work, I managed to bump into one of my old players and he mentioned that he was interested in trying some 4E. That's quite a nice blessing in disguise as our group had only 4 players and an addition would make it an ideal 5-man party.
Eventually, I asked the other group members and they were ok with the new player (which most of them happen to know the guy IRL). I passed him my char gen houserules and a link to the free version of the character builder. Hopefully, there won't be any mishaps again this time.
While the Character Builder really does make generating a character a really quick process, I don't think that it really reduces the amount of time spend on creating a character in a campaign. What the Builder does is that it gives players more time to spend on deciding their character backgrounds (which is probably where all the time should be spent anyway).
Since this was going to be a campaign with episodic links, I figured that it would still be best if the players could come up with background information for their characters so that I could tie them into the Nentir Vale.
I think my biggest mistake at this point is that I forgot to give them any information about the setting that they would be play in but I expect that they would be able to come up with some generic ones and I can work the details in with them after that.
Although they have already chosen their backgrounds from PHB 2, so far only 2 out of my 5 players have fully fleshed out their character background and I'm only wondering do the remaining players need a little information to help them with their decision. What I can do to rectify this problem at the moment is post up some little information about the setting that they playing in on the forum and hopefully we can flesh out the details on the session itself.
I'm starting to feel my way into running and organizing a campaign but it feels like I'm back to square one and have lots to do at the moment.
Do you think that I should have done the pre-campaign face-to-face meetup or should have posted up the information much earlier to help with their character background process?
Let me know as I enjoy the feedback.
July 31, 2009
July 29, 2009
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #12
Labels:
Pathfinder
Pathfiner Roleplaying Game Preview #12
The last base class preview is reserved for what can be one of the most complicated class to play since 3.x. Let's take a look at the wizard with Ezren, 10th level male human wizard.
Ezren
Male human wizard 10
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +12
Defense
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +2 deflection, –1 Dex)
hp 57 (10d6+20)
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +11
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +3 club +8 (1d6+3)
Special Attacks hand of the apprentice (9/day, +11 ranged), metamagic mastery (2/day)
Spells Prepared (CL 10th)
5th—cone of cold (DC 21), teleport, wall of force
4th—dimension door, enervation, ice storm, stoneskin
3rd—dispel magic, fireball (DC 19), fly, haste
2nd—bull's strength, invisibility, mirror image, scorching ray (2), web (DC 18)
1st—alarm, magic missile (3), ray of enfeeblement, shield
0—detect magic, light, mage hand, read magic
Statistics
Str 11, Dex 9, Con 12, Int 22, Wis 15, Cha 9
Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 21
Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Casting, Defensive Combat Training, Empower Spell, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Scribe Scroll, Silent Spell
Skills Appraise +19, Fly +12, Knowledge (arcana) +19, Knowledge (engineering) +19, Knowledge (geography) +19, Knowledge (history) +19, Knowledge (planes) +19, Perception +12, Spellcraft +19
Languages Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Orc
SQ arcane bond (cane), cantrips
Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds, scroll of dispel magic, wand of magic missile (CL 9th, 50 charges); Other Gear ring of protection +2, cloak of resistance +2, bracers of armor +4, cane (treat as a club), bead of force, blessed book, headband of vast intelligence +2 (Perception), pearl of power (3rd level)
Some slight changes to the wizard class features, spells and feats.
- Specialist wizards gain bonus spells as in 3.x but universalist wizards now gain a couple of powers; Hand of the Apprentice and Metamagic Mastery.
- Hand of the Apprentice allows a wizard with a standard action to make a thrown weapon attack with a melee weapon within a range of 30 ft. The wizard uses his Intelligence modifier instead of his Dexterity to make the attack roll but still uses Strength modifier to determine the damage. It cannot perform a combat maneuver and can only be used 3+intelligence modifier times per day.
- At 8th level, a universalist wizard gains metamagic mastery which he can use 1/day and gains an additional usage for each 2 levels beyond that. With metamagic mastery, the wizard can augment a spell he has prepared with a metamagic effect without increasing the spell level. The wizard must spend one usage of his mastery for each level increase the metamagic feat would normally cost. A wizard cannot use metamagic mastery to augment a spell that would normally become beyond his highest casting spell level.
- Specialist wizards can still cast spells from their prohibited schools but it cost an additional memory slot to memorize the spell.
- The Scry & Teleport combo is now much riskier since Scry only counts as 'view once' for the purpose of teleportation which means there is a 25% chance of something going wrong.
- Wall of Force (and other force barrier spells) have 30 hardness and 20 hitpoints per caster level.
- Fly comes with a bonus to the Fly skill which means that untrained flyers won't be performing aerial acrobatics.
- Web grapples any target within the area of effect if they failed their saving throw. Those that succeed can only move if they make a successful Grapple or Escape Artist check. Those who enter the area of effect are grappled and stopped on the first square they enter if they failed their saving throw and those that succeed move through the area as difficult terrain.
- Ray of Enfeeblement allows the target to make a Fort save to reduce the Strength penalty by half.
- Arcane Bond allows a wizard to get a familiar or to bond with a weapon. A bonded weapon allows the wizard to cast one spell that he knows and capable of casting without preparation, once per day. He can also enchant the weapon as if he has the feats as long as he meet the minimum prerequisite level of the feat.
- However, the wizard must make a concentration check to cast spells if he does not have his bonded weapon in hand.
- Combat Casting gives a +20 bonus to Concentration check.
- Arcane Strike uses a swift action to give +3 enchantment bonus to his bonded weapon for one round and it stacks with Hand of the Apprentice.
- Defensive Combat Training uses the character's level as the base attack bonus to calculate his CMD.
Although most of the arcane spells in Pathfinder seems to have been nerfed for the most part but I think this gives a better fighting chance for PCs and NPCs by removing the one-spell kill deadliness.
I like the balance they have done for the universalist and specialist wizard which makes both of them an equally powerful options for anyone who is playing as a wizard.
What do you think about the Pathfinder wizard?
July 28, 2009
Burning Question - And We All Met in a Tavern...?
Labels:
Burning Question
My group will be starting our first 4E campaign soon and campaign openers are still something that I haven't found my niche yet. Other than having each character write a little background about themselves, the second step is usually determining how the party get together which I have been wondering about this these past few days.
So for this week's Burning Question.
During your campaign opener, how do you get the party together?
Do you just handwaive it and say 'You all met in the tavern' and proceed with your first plot hook or do you have a session that plays out how the party gets together, giving them a more underlying purpose other than just happening to share a few rounds of drinks together.
For me, as a DM, I would try to go for the latter (which is what I'm trying to do when the campaign starts) because I want the characters and players to have a real reason to be together. While the 'everyone met in the tavern' is a simple way, I feel that it is a little cheap since the players worked a little on their background.
So what do you do? How would you introduce your party members to each other and bring them together?
I would like to hear your thoughts or stories about your most memorable campaign opener.
So for this week's Burning Question.
During your campaign opener, how do you get the party together?
Do you just handwaive it and say 'You all met in the tavern' and proceed with your first plot hook or do you have a session that plays out how the party gets together, giving them a more underlying purpose other than just happening to share a few rounds of drinks together.
For me, as a DM, I would try to go for the latter (which is what I'm trying to do when the campaign starts) because I want the characters and players to have a real reason to be together. While the 'everyone met in the tavern' is a simple way, I feel that it is a little cheap since the players worked a little on their background.
So what do you do? How would you introduce your party members to each other and bring them together?
I would like to hear your thoughts or stories about your most memorable campaign opener.
July 26, 2009
Questing's Readings - 19/7/09 & 26/7/09
Labels:
Advice,
DM Advice,
Questing's Readings
First of all, sorry for not posting last week's Questing's Readings. Not having a permanent internet connection sucks right now and I'm still considering alternatives of getting a different ISP. On the other hand, that's not too bad a thing since I will be compiling posts that I've enjoyed last week together with the ones from this week. So that you would will enjoy the double goodness coming from the RPG Bloggers Network.
Before we move on with the readings, some news of what's been happening in the RPG bloggersphere. Critical Hits and Mad Brew Labs from the RPG Bloggers Network have been nominated for the Best Website alongside with websites like Dungeon-a-Day run by Monte Cook, Kobold Quarterly by Wolfgang Baur and Obisidian Portal, the campaign wiki providing service.
Although it probably isn't fair to have blogs and commercial websites in the same category but it is still quite a big achievement for the network to have 2 of its members listed out of the 5 nominees. I have featured both of these blogs in Questing's Readings before and it will be a hard choice to make between the two for the content that they have generated over the past year.
Critical Hits has been pretty much my go-to website for any RPG-related news which has a crew of writers that have good connections with the industry. These are the guys that I look up to in regards to gaming journalism and they have also produced some indepth analysis especially in the 4E mechanics.
Not to mention that Dave Chalker, Danny Rupp and Graham Poole are part of the founding members of the RPG Bloggers Network which has been the next best thing for the online RPG Community since ENWorld (who award the ENnies), in my opinion.
Mad Brew Labs has always been about thought provoking posts. Although I don't share all of his taste but we both share an interest in understanding RPGs from an academic point of view. In fact, his blog was the first that came into mind when I first posted up what is still one of the most commented post I've done for this blog.
Outside of his blog, I have known Micheal Brewer to be very active in the RPG/Blogger community with his most recent participation as the host of the June RPG Blog Carnival, the RPGBN Shared Setting and co-founding NeverMet Press.
So I would ask you to go over to both of these blogs, read through what they have to offer to make up your mind and give your votes to these guys to support the underdogs. Hopefully this will win us some recognition among the judges in charge of the ENnies to give bloggers their own category the next year.
Now let's head over to what is going to be a long post ahead of us with lots of link love to posts (and blogs) that weren't nominated but are equally deserving for their great content. Throughout both weeks, we have some bloggers sharing topics on dealing with character deaths,, staging the 'epic' and character development.
A Butterfly Dreaming
What are the Best 4E Ability Score Arrays?
A very good look and thought about the possible combination of scores you can get from the 22 point buy and the ability score arrays from the PHB. This is interesting if you are a bit of math geek and useful for the min/maxer.
Advanced Gaming & Theory
Creating a Meaning Festival
Some ideas on how to run and roleplay an archery and jousting contest with some ways of implementing them into your campaign as potential plot hooks.
At Will
Is it a Fight or a Skill Challenge?
A good reminder that DMs should not be too rigid in deciding how PCs should overcome an encounter and let the players decide. This plays against the argument that 4E does not encourage roleplaying and it is something to keep in mind.
A boss in parts
An attempt to implement into 4E an often seen monster design concept in console JRPGs with a few examples. This is certainly an interesting approach to monster design for 4E.
Beneath the Screen
A DM's Dilemma: Dealing with Deadlines
5 advice on what you should do if you are having less time to play with your group or are moving away from town. Even if you are not in this kind of situation, I think it is still good advice for DMs in order to run a fun game.
5 Tips for Dealing With PC Death
5 advice on how to handle PC deaths and how they can sometimes be an opportunity for more roleplaying.
Campaign Mastery
Ask the GMs: An epic confusion, or how to stage a blockbuster finish
Someone asks the GMs whether their epic-spellcasting villain should go all out with his powerful arsenal at first when going against the PCs in the climatic final encounter. See what Johnn and Mike have to say. It's long but it has really good advice.
Fame & Fortune
staging epic conflict
Sort of a follow-up to Campaign Mastery's post on epic fights but this focuses more on how to make epic campaigns without being cheesy.
Inkwell Ideas
Game Design Tips from the Paizo RPG Superstar Contest
Some general advice and guidelines given by the judges of the Paizo RPG Superstar content in designing magical items. Most of these advice are not system specific and it would be good reference for those who are intending to join in next year's contest.
Jonathan Drain's D20 Source
Five Ways to Make Your Player's Life Easier
This could be summarize into talking with your players, giving them the spotlight and be willing to compromise which are generally good practices as a DM.
You're Dead!
A look into death throughout the editions and why death should not always be a harsh penalty because of the level, financial and equipment loss that it incurs.
Beyond "You Hit": Describing Damage
A very interesting way of describing damage based on ability scores, monster type and character class.
The Art of the One-Shot Adventure
The benefits of one-shot adventures and how to implement them into your ongoing campaign.
Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer
A Discussion on Trust
An interesting look on the concept of trust, trustor and trustee and how it can be applied in-game between NPCs and PC with a few examples from his current campaigns.
Newbie DM
Don't make the PC's ride your newbie railroad!
5 ways to improvise when your PCs goes off the track. This is normally good advice for new DMs who tend to railroad but it's good advice all around.
RoleplayingPro
Addressing Metagaming
Distinguishing lesser and greater metagaming with the latter being more destructive to the game. There are some advice on how to handle greater metagaming.
Building Memorable D&D Characters: Race & Class
Building Memorable D&D Characters: Backgrounds
A very good list of pointers to think about when developing your character background based on your class, race and the backgrounds from the Player's Handbook 2.
Sly Flourish
Four Tip's From Robin's Laws
4 general tips taken from the GMing bible by Robin Laws if you haven't read it before.
Four Tips for Kings of the Trollhaunt Warrens
P1 King of the Trollhaunt Warrens is the first paragon tier adventure module from Wizards and it is the first chance for the PCs to experience high level action and exploration. The four tips here recommend doing some groundwork much earlier before adventure begins to increase the satisfaction when the players go through it.
Stargazer's World
Interview with Wolfgang Baur
An interview with the man behind Kobold Quarterly, his nominations in this year's ENnies, his career, his future plans and love for the pesky buggers.
A Gamer in Japan Pt 2 - Location, Location, Location
Ever wondered where do Japanese gamer meet to play? I'm surprised to read that Japan has a gaming retail chain that also caters to RPG gamers.
Stupid Ranger
Developing Your Roleplaying
DM Your Way To Better Roleplaying
Dante and Stupid Ranger giving out simple ways for players and DMs to promote more roleplaying on the table.
tenletter
Maslow's Sandbox Game (Or Needs-Based Player Hooks)
An interesting idea of how to create plot hooks based on the character's needs according to the Maslow pyramid.
The Gherkin Patch
The Iron Triangle of Game Design
A very interesting article based on the constraints of software engineering and how it can also be applied to game design with playability, simulation and universality as the three points of the triangle.
It's a little long and can get quite heavy at times but it does paint an interesting portrait of the limits of designing the 'perfect' system.
Before we move on with the readings, some news of what's been happening in the RPG bloggersphere. Critical Hits and Mad Brew Labs from the RPG Bloggers Network have been nominated for the Best Website alongside with websites like Dungeon-a-Day run by Monte Cook, Kobold Quarterly by Wolfgang Baur and Obisidian Portal, the campaign wiki providing service.
Although it probably isn't fair to have blogs and commercial websites in the same category but it is still quite a big achievement for the network to have 2 of its members listed out of the 5 nominees. I have featured both of these blogs in Questing's Readings before and it will be a hard choice to make between the two for the content that they have generated over the past year.
Critical Hits has been pretty much my go-to website for any RPG-related news which has a crew of writers that have good connections with the industry. These are the guys that I look up to in regards to gaming journalism and they have also produced some indepth analysis especially in the 4E mechanics.
Not to mention that Dave Chalker, Danny Rupp and Graham Poole are part of the founding members of the RPG Bloggers Network which has been the next best thing for the online RPG Community since ENWorld (who award the ENnies), in my opinion.
Mad Brew Labs has always been about thought provoking posts. Although I don't share all of his taste but we both share an interest in understanding RPGs from an academic point of view. In fact, his blog was the first that came into mind when I first posted up what is still one of the most commented post I've done for this blog.
Outside of his blog, I have known Micheal Brewer to be very active in the RPG/Blogger community with his most recent participation as the host of the June RPG Blog Carnival, the RPGBN Shared Setting and co-founding NeverMet Press.
So I would ask you to go over to both of these blogs, read through what they have to offer to make up your mind and give your votes to these guys to support the underdogs. Hopefully this will win us some recognition among the judges in charge of the ENnies to give bloggers their own category the next year.
Now let's head over to what is going to be a long post ahead of us with lots of link love to posts (and blogs) that weren't nominated but are equally deserving for their great content. Throughout both weeks, we have some bloggers sharing topics on dealing with character deaths,, staging the 'epic' and character development.
A Butterfly Dreaming
What are the Best 4E Ability Score Arrays?
A very good look and thought about the possible combination of scores you can get from the 22 point buy and the ability score arrays from the PHB. This is interesting if you are a bit of math geek and useful for the min/maxer.
Advanced Gaming & Theory
Creating a Meaning Festival
Some ideas on how to run and roleplay an archery and jousting contest with some ways of implementing them into your campaign as potential plot hooks.
At Will
Is it a Fight or a Skill Challenge?
A good reminder that DMs should not be too rigid in deciding how PCs should overcome an encounter and let the players decide. This plays against the argument that 4E does not encourage roleplaying and it is something to keep in mind.
A boss in parts
An attempt to implement into 4E an often seen monster design concept in console JRPGs with a few examples. This is certainly an interesting approach to monster design for 4E.
Beneath the Screen
A DM's Dilemma: Dealing with Deadlines
5 advice on what you should do if you are having less time to play with your group or are moving away from town. Even if you are not in this kind of situation, I think it is still good advice for DMs in order to run a fun game.
5 Tips for Dealing With PC Death
5 advice on how to handle PC deaths and how they can sometimes be an opportunity for more roleplaying.
Campaign Mastery
Ask the GMs: An epic confusion, or how to stage a blockbuster finish
Someone asks the GMs whether their epic-spellcasting villain should go all out with his powerful arsenal at first when going against the PCs in the climatic final encounter. See what Johnn and Mike have to say. It's long but it has really good advice.
Fame & Fortune
staging epic conflict
Sort of a follow-up to Campaign Mastery's post on epic fights but this focuses more on how to make epic campaigns without being cheesy.
Inkwell Ideas
Game Design Tips from the Paizo RPG Superstar Contest
Some general advice and guidelines given by the judges of the Paizo RPG Superstar content in designing magical items. Most of these advice are not system specific and it would be good reference for those who are intending to join in next year's contest.
Jonathan Drain's D20 Source
Five Ways to Make Your Player's Life Easier
This could be summarize into talking with your players, giving them the spotlight and be willing to compromise which are generally good practices as a DM.
You're Dead!
A look into death throughout the editions and why death should not always be a harsh penalty because of the level, financial and equipment loss that it incurs.
Beyond "You Hit": Describing Damage
A very interesting way of describing damage based on ability scores, monster type and character class.
The Art of the One-Shot Adventure
The benefits of one-shot adventures and how to implement them into your ongoing campaign.
Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer
A Discussion on Trust
An interesting look on the concept of trust, trustor and trustee and how it can be applied in-game between NPCs and PC with a few examples from his current campaigns.
Newbie DM
Don't make the PC's ride your newbie railroad!
5 ways to improvise when your PCs goes off the track. This is normally good advice for new DMs who tend to railroad but it's good advice all around.
RoleplayingPro
Addressing Metagaming
Distinguishing lesser and greater metagaming with the latter being more destructive to the game. There are some advice on how to handle greater metagaming.
Building Memorable D&D Characters: Race & Class
Building Memorable D&D Characters: Backgrounds
A very good list of pointers to think about when developing your character background based on your class, race and the backgrounds from the Player's Handbook 2.
Sly Flourish
Four Tip's From Robin's Laws
4 general tips taken from the GMing bible by Robin Laws if you haven't read it before.
Four Tips for Kings of the Trollhaunt Warrens
P1 King of the Trollhaunt Warrens is the first paragon tier adventure module from Wizards and it is the first chance for the PCs to experience high level action and exploration. The four tips here recommend doing some groundwork much earlier before adventure begins to increase the satisfaction when the players go through it.
Stargazer's World
Interview with Wolfgang Baur
An interview with the man behind Kobold Quarterly, his nominations in this year's ENnies, his career, his future plans and love for the pesky buggers.
A Gamer in Japan Pt 2 - Location, Location, Location
Ever wondered where do Japanese gamer meet to play? I'm surprised to read that Japan has a gaming retail chain that also caters to RPG gamers.
Stupid Ranger
Developing Your Roleplaying
DM Your Way To Better Roleplaying
Dante and Stupid Ranger giving out simple ways for players and DMs to promote more roleplaying on the table.
tenletter
Maslow's Sandbox Game (Or Needs-Based Player Hooks)
An interesting idea of how to create plot hooks based on the character's needs according to the Maslow pyramid.
The Gherkin Patch
The Iron Triangle of Game Design
A very interesting article based on the constraints of software engineering and how it can also be applied to game design with playability, simulation and universality as the three points of the triangle.
It's a little long and can get quite heavy at times but it does paint an interesting portrait of the limits of designing the 'perfect' system.
Word of Wizards - 25/7/09
Labels:
4E,
News,
Word of Wizards
This week, Wizards has started the preview excerpts from Adventurer's Vault 2 by showcasing a new type of magical items called Immurements. Each immurement is practically a portable terrain that can be unleashed onto an area until the end of the encounter.
There's a couple of new armor and shields previewed as well that comes with a backstory and possible plot hooks to implement them as treasures in your game.
With the release of the Eberron Campaign Guide and Seekers of the Ashen Crown adventure module, Wizards has also posted up their respective art and map galleries.
On the miniatures preview, we are shown a range of Foulspawns miniatures that will be in Legendary Evils as well as the huge Ultimate Tyrant.
Voting for the ENnies has already started and Wizards are looking for your votes for their nominated products that will be competing for Product of the Year, Best Game, Best Rules, Best Monster of Adversary, Best Aid or Accessory, Best Adventure, Best Miniature Product and Best Cover Art and other categories.
So if you really want to support Wizards, head on over to the ENnies voting booth and place your vote before August 1st.
This week's rundown.
Monday (20/7/09)
Adventurer's Vault 2 Excerpts: Immurements
Eberron Campaign Guide Art Gallery
Eberron Campaign Guide Map Gallery
Tuesday (21/7/09)
Legendary Evils Preview 4
2009 ENnie Award Nominees
Wednesday (22/7/09)
Seekers of the Ashen Crown Art Gallery
Seekers of the Ashen Crown Map Gallery
Friday (24/7/09)
Adventurer's Vault 2 Excerpts: Armor - Story Items
Next week is expected to have some interesting content with more excerpts, a podcast episode and a D&D Alumni article.
There's a couple of new armor and shields previewed as well that comes with a backstory and possible plot hooks to implement them as treasures in your game.
With the release of the Eberron Campaign Guide and Seekers of the Ashen Crown adventure module, Wizards has also posted up their respective art and map galleries.
On the miniatures preview, we are shown a range of Foulspawns miniatures that will be in Legendary Evils as well as the huge Ultimate Tyrant.
Voting for the ENnies has already started and Wizards are looking for your votes for their nominated products that will be competing for Product of the Year, Best Game, Best Rules, Best Monster of Adversary, Best Aid or Accessory, Best Adventure, Best Miniature Product and Best Cover Art and other categories.
So if you really want to support Wizards, head on over to the ENnies voting booth and place your vote before August 1st.
This week's rundown.
Monday (20/7/09)
Adventurer's Vault 2 Excerpts: Immurements
Eberron Campaign Guide Art Gallery
Eberron Campaign Guide Map Gallery
Tuesday (21/7/09)
Legendary Evils Preview 4
2009 ENnie Award Nominees
Wednesday (22/7/09)
Seekers of the Ashen Crown Art Gallery
Seekers of the Ashen Crown Map Gallery
Friday (24/7/09)
Adventurer's Vault 2 Excerpts: Armor - Story Items
Next week is expected to have some interesting content with more excerpts, a podcast episode and a D&D Alumni article.
July 23, 2009
{Quest Log} Let's This Party Started Part 5
In my previous entry, the players were just ready to go into the final encounter. Last week, we finally wrapped up that encounter with a session that took a good chunk of 1 to 2 hours. The following is a summary of what happened and my thoughts on the session.
The Final Showdown
At this point since it was intended to be a short session and a couple of players were running short on time, all the plot had been thrown out of the window and the PCs just wanted to get their weekly dosage of 4E combat. In case, you had forgotten who the PCs are, here's a little recap for you.
The PCs burst into the final room with a tough climatic fight ahead of them. This was what they were up against;
EL 4
Once initiative was rolled, the rogue and fighter went in first and wrecked havoc on the enemy lines, heading straight for the warcaster. This was followed by the warlock who hurled his dragon breath but it only managed to kill one minion while the rest of the enemies made their save.
The PCs were getting a big head start and things were looking well for them when I saw that they have penetrated the enemy lines, breaking their formation which ruined my initial tactical plans, separating the hobgoblins to benefit from their Phalanx Soldier ability. I certainly wasn't expecting the PCs to break through the lines and head straight for the warcaster which they assumed was the easiest to take out.
Then things turned out for the worse once I started moving my minions around, followed by the Bugbear Warrior and the Commander flanking the dragonborn and knocking him down in a single round.
The warcaster held up pretty well on its own despite being engaged in melee combat early on. Shock Staff was a real pain and I was surprised to see that it could deal so much damage.
Things pretty much went downhill for the PCs after that with them rolling badly and my dices were getting hot. Sad to say, despite the PCs efforts, the session ended with a TPK.
Post-Session Wrap Up
At the end of the session, I talked to the players about what went wrong and here are some of the reasons which I felt were the main factors of their defeat.
It was still a great session in the end despite the TPK. I think the players have learned a thing or two about combat in 4E which seems to be more tactical than cinematic in the sense that the PCs would have to think more in numbers than in dramatic effects.
I certainly learned a bit more too and would think that the warcaster would make a good melee opponent without the commander.
After this one-shot, the group decided that we would like to play in a long term campaign. I proposed that we go through the WotC modules as I try to string them together into a campaign and we would be char gening this coming weekend.
So stay tune for our next adventure starting with H1 Keep on the Shadowfell!
If you have any thoughts about how this session went or have any suggestions on correcting any mistakes that we have done, please feel free to drop a comment! We would love to hear your thoughts!
The Final Showdown
At this point since it was intended to be a short session and a couple of players were running short on time, all the plot had been thrown out of the window and the PCs just wanted to get their weekly dosage of 4E combat. In case, you had forgotten who the PCs are, here's a little recap for you.
- Zed, level 1 human rogue
- Durnkash, level 1 dragonborn fighter
- Narakh Nukem, level 1 dragonborn warlock
- Chant, level 1 tiefling bard
The PCs burst into the final room with a tough climatic fight ahead of them. This was what they were up against;
EL 4
- 1 Hobgoblin Commander (Level 5 Soldier/Leader)
- 1 Bugbear Warrior (Level 5 Brute)
- 4 Hobgoblin Grunt (Level 3 Minion)
- 1 Hobgoblin Warcaster (Level 3 Controller/Leader)
Once initiative was rolled, the rogue and fighter went in first and wrecked havoc on the enemy lines, heading straight for the warcaster. This was followed by the warlock who hurled his dragon breath but it only managed to kill one minion while the rest of the enemies made their save.
The PCs were getting a big head start and things were looking well for them when I saw that they have penetrated the enemy lines, breaking their formation which ruined my initial tactical plans, separating the hobgoblins to benefit from their Phalanx Soldier ability. I certainly wasn't expecting the PCs to break through the lines and head straight for the warcaster which they assumed was the easiest to take out.
Then things turned out for the worse once I started moving my minions around, followed by the Bugbear Warrior and the Commander flanking the dragonborn and knocking him down in a single round.
The warcaster held up pretty well on its own despite being engaged in melee combat early on. Shock Staff was a real pain and I was surprised to see that it could deal so much damage.
Things pretty much went downhill for the PCs after that with them rolling badly and my dices were getting hot. Sad to say, despite the PCs efforts, the session ended with a TPK.
Post-Session Wrap Up
At the end of the session, I talked to the players about what went wrong and here are some of the reasons which I felt were the main factors of their defeat.
- Initiative Mess Up I was the one holding onto the initiative which I had written down on a notepad. During several rounds I messed up the order of who goes first, sometimes resulting in some characters having their turn skipped completely. Although I gave them extra turns to compensate for those lost turns, I think this was one major deciding factor which caused them to lost a tactical edge and the encounter overall.
- Bad Dice Day As weird as things like this shouldn't happen, it does. One of the players had just bought a new set of dices and while we were playfully rolling the d20 before the session started, it didn't roll any higher than 15 with most of the rolls being within 1 to 5. This carried over into the session and it was enough to get this player believe in dice superstitions. Hopefully he won't punish them in a microwave or something.
- Taking a Breath One question that I posed to them after the session was how ready were their characters for the encounter. Most of them were slightly wounded when they decided to barge in with just a few hitpoints shy from their total.
This was clearly my fault in the encounter and while I know there are many ways to overcome this, I will be looking for an alternative that best suits my group.
On the other hand, things could also get worse if the DM was having a good dice day. My minions went through two dragon breaths from the dragonborns in the party and each breath only managed to take down one minion. Damage dices rolled above average on average which dished out lots of damage with the bugbear warrior rolling d12 and the warcaster shock staff (which recharged on every turn btw) rolling 2d10s.
Thankfully this was only a one-shot but I have seen bad dice days ruining the mood and energy of the session and sometimes even cause the death of campaigns.
So, yeah. We pinned down one major factor of the loss to crappy dice-rolling.
I don't know if going into a tough encounter with just a few hitpoints away from your max makes you unprepared for combat but after how the session went, I'm inclined to think that a even a single hitpoint difference is going to make a huge difference. At least that's my theory.
Another underlying factor that I might consider is that the PCs didn't spend their Second Wind throughout the combat. I'm not sure if they were taken out too quickly to let them use it or they were aiming too hard to take down the warcaster or the commander. But forgetting to spend your Second Wind when things aren't looking good is probably one way to swing the combat your way so it's best not to forget using them.
It was still a great session in the end despite the TPK. I think the players have learned a thing or two about combat in 4E which seems to be more tactical than cinematic in the sense that the PCs would have to think more in numbers than in dramatic effects.
I certainly learned a bit more too and would think that the warcaster would make a good melee opponent without the commander.
After this one-shot, the group decided that we would like to play in a long term campaign. I proposed that we go through the WotC modules as I try to string them together into a campaign and we would be char gening this coming weekend.
So stay tune for our next adventure starting with H1 Keep on the Shadowfell!
If you have any thoughts about how this session went or have any suggestions on correcting any mistakes that we have done, please feel free to drop a comment! We would love to hear your thoughts!
July 22, 2009
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #11
Labels:
Pathfinder
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #11
This week's preview, we have Merisel, 6th level female elf rogue sneaking in to bring us the new rogue.
Merisiel
Female elf rogue 6
CN Medium humanoid (elf)
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +12
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +4 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 42 (6d8+12)
Fort +4, Ref +10, Will +4; +2 vs. enchantments
Defensive Abilities evasion, trap sense +2, uncanny dodge
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 rapier +9 (1d6+2/18–20)
Ranged dagger +8 (1d4/19–20)
Special Attacks sneak attack +3d6, surprise attack
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 10
Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 20
Feats Dodge, Mobility, Nimble Moves, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +13, Climb +10, Disable Device +18, Knowledge (local) +9, Perception +12, Sleight of Hand +13, Stealth +13, Swim +10
Languages Common, Elven, Gnome
SQ finesse rogue, trapfinding +3, trap spotter
Combat Gear dust of tracelessness, potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of invisibility (2); Other Gear +2 studded leather, cloak of resistance +1, +1 rapier, daggers (8), handy haversack, masterwork thieves tools, ring of feather falling, rope of climbing
Some key changes made for the rogue.
- Rogues now gain Rogue Talents which are something similar to the Rogue's Special Abilities in 3.x but they get a scaled down version much earlier starting at 2nd level and every 2 levels after that. Once they reach level 10, then do they rogue talent which function similar to the Special Abilities in 3.x.
- Examples of rogue talents available and what they do;
- Finesse Rogue grants Weapon Finesse as a free feat.
- Surprise Attack causes enemies to be flat-footed during the surprise round even if they have already acted.
- Trap Spotter allows the rouge to make a Perception check when she moves within 10 feet of a trap.
- Slow Reactions causes an enemy that is damaged by the rogue's sneak attack not able to make AoO for 1 round.
- Some other talents gives a bonus to balance and sneaking checks and even allow the rogue to cast certain spells.
- Sneak Attack now works on construct and undead.
- Trapfinding grants a bonus to Perception for spotting traps and a Disable Device bonus equal to half the rogue's level. It also allows rogues to disarm magical traps
- At 20th level, rogues gain the Master Strike class feature which lets the rogue kill, paralyze or put to sleep a target hit by her sneak attack.
- Dodge now grants a +1 bonus to AC and CMD against all targets.
- Nimble Moves allows a character to ignore 5 feet of difficult terrain each round while moving.
- Traps are now scaled up to CR 20 with higher level traps dealing damage over a longer duration and/or multiple targets.
- Poison now deals damage over a certain duration (call its frequency) and has a cure condition which indicates the number of saves that the character has to make to stop further damage.
The rogue seems to have gone through the least amount of change since the changes that were introduced in the beta. I like the change they have done to Dodge which makes things much easier to track than having a 'mark' to get the bonus.
What do you think of the pathfinder rogue?
July 21, 2009
Burning Question - Your Eberron Campaign Idea?
Labels:
Burning Question
The 4E Eberron Campaign Guide is released today and no doubt Eberron DMs who have been able to get their hands on it are planning their next campaign.
One major shining point of the setting is that can accommodate different types of campaigns from high action, pulp adventures to dark political intrigued campaigns or a mixture of both.
So for this week's question,
What is your next campaign idea for Eberron in 4E?
While I won't be able to get my hands on the Eberron Campaign Guide anytime soon but the setting does not seem to be greatly affected by the transition to 4E, unlike the Forgotten Realms. So most of my 3.x campaign ideas still remain intact.
For me, I much prefer the political aspect between the Five Nations and would like to try running a campaign where the PCs are hired as freelancers by the Breland King's Citadel, acting as black ops agents to do the dirty work of the Crown or counter-espionage against rival nations.
Would like to hear what are you planning for your Eberron campaign.
July 18, 2009
Word of Wizards - 18/7/09
Labels:
4E,
News,
Word of Wizards
Although there's barely been any new excerpts coming out this week, Wizards have not been lax at all to leave the website high and dry. There's still been great content, previews and interviews on the upcoming miniatures, novels and encounter stat blocks to use for your game.
First up, Wizards have posted up the Eberron adventure that was given out on Free RPG Day, Khyber's Harvest as a free download. So if you missed out on getting a hard copy of it or none of your FLGS were participating on the event, at least you can now get a soft copy of it. What better time to use it, now that the Eberron Campaign Guide will be released next week.
At the same time, the art gallery for Divine Power is also up. Despite there being a few recognizable reused art, it still has a great range of new art that will be useful as character portraits and illustrations.
This month's Vicious Venues is centered on the Sunfields, a patch of land owned by a jealous farmer. Although it might sound harmless at first but wait till the PCs cross the farmer and his not-so typical bees which can lead to a brutal encounter.
If having bears and bees tearing you apart isn't really your thing, then you might be interested in some pulpy encounters from Seekers of the Ashen Crown, the Eberron module that will be released next month.
This week's miniature previews was mainly blue. The color blue that is shared by the Talon Slaad, Slaad Spawn and the Storm Titan followed by the Frost Titan, Chillfire Destroyer and Rimefire Griffon.
There's even something for novel readers. This month's Spotlight Interview is centered on the novel department of Wizards which discusses about the process of creating storylines for D&D worlds such as Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance and Dark Sun and how game products and novels can influence each other. There also some hints on what is coming up in future novels like The Ghost King, the final book in Drizzt's Transistion trilogy and what will be in the newest Dragonlance novel, Dragons of the Hourglass Mage.
Speaking of novels, if you've read The Stowaway, written by Geno and R.A. Salvatore, you might be interested in finding out the 4E D&D stat blocks for the Stowaway's Stone and the half-demonic Asbeel.
One surprise that came out this week was the 4E conversion for the Exemplars of Evil which may be understandable since it was one of the products that was released during the limbo period when 4E was first announced. Hopefully there will be more conversion articles in the future.
But the biggest surprise (which I've saved for the last) is the screenshots of the Monster Builder. This feature that will be available for D&D Insiders will contain more than 2,000 monsters and 10,000 powers from all published materials by Wizards. It will also allow you to edit them such as adding levels to certain monsters and it will help you recalculate the attack bonus etc.
Find out all these and more from the rundown below for this week.
Monday (13/7/09)
GenCon 2009 Schedule
Divine Power Art Gallery
The Stowaway: Demon & The Stone
D&D Monster Builder
Tuesday (14/7/09)
Legendary Evils Preview 2
Khyber's Harvest
Wednesday (15/7/09)
4th Edition Conversion: Exemplars of Evil
Vicious Venues: The Sunfields
Seekers of the Ashen Crown Excerpts
Thursday (16/7/09)
Legendary Evils Preview 3
Friday (17/7/09)
Spotlight Interview: Novels
Next week will be the release for the Eberron Campaign Guide, Divine Power, Seekers of the Ashen Crown and the PHB Heroes 2 miniature set. Other than that we'll be starting to see the excerpts from Adventurer's Vault 2 and possibly another miniature tips and tactics for a monster from Legendary Evils.
This is the first week since I'm using this new format so if you have any thoughts on this week's rundown or the new format, feel free to drop a comment.
First up, Wizards have posted up the Eberron adventure that was given out on Free RPG Day, Khyber's Harvest as a free download. So if you missed out on getting a hard copy of it or none of your FLGS were participating on the event, at least you can now get a soft copy of it. What better time to use it, now that the Eberron Campaign Guide will be released next week.
At the same time, the art gallery for Divine Power is also up. Despite there being a few recognizable reused art, it still has a great range of new art that will be useful as character portraits and illustrations.
This month's Vicious Venues is centered on the Sunfields, a patch of land owned by a jealous farmer. Although it might sound harmless at first but wait till the PCs cross the farmer and his not-so typical bees which can lead to a brutal encounter.
If having bears and bees tearing you apart isn't really your thing, then you might be interested in some pulpy encounters from Seekers of the Ashen Crown, the Eberron module that will be released next month.
This week's miniature previews was mainly blue. The color blue that is shared by the Talon Slaad, Slaad Spawn and the Storm Titan followed by the Frost Titan, Chillfire Destroyer and Rimefire Griffon.
There's even something for novel readers. This month's Spotlight Interview is centered on the novel department of Wizards which discusses about the process of creating storylines for D&D worlds such as Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance and Dark Sun and how game products and novels can influence each other. There also some hints on what is coming up in future novels like The Ghost King, the final book in Drizzt's Transistion trilogy and what will be in the newest Dragonlance novel, Dragons of the Hourglass Mage.
Speaking of novels, if you've read The Stowaway, written by Geno and R.A. Salvatore, you might be interested in finding out the 4E D&D stat blocks for the Stowaway's Stone and the half-demonic Asbeel.
One surprise that came out this week was the 4E conversion for the Exemplars of Evil which may be understandable since it was one of the products that was released during the limbo period when 4E was first announced. Hopefully there will be more conversion articles in the future.
But the biggest surprise (which I've saved for the last) is the screenshots of the Monster Builder. This feature that will be available for D&D Insiders will contain more than 2,000 monsters and 10,000 powers from all published materials by Wizards. It will also allow you to edit them such as adding levels to certain monsters and it will help you recalculate the attack bonus etc.
Find out all these and more from the rundown below for this week.
Monday (13/7/09)
GenCon 2009 Schedule
Divine Power Art Gallery
The Stowaway: Demon & The Stone
D&D Monster Builder
Tuesday (14/7/09)
Legendary Evils Preview 2
Khyber's Harvest
Wednesday (15/7/09)
4th Edition Conversion: Exemplars of Evil
Vicious Venues: The Sunfields
Seekers of the Ashen Crown Excerpts
Thursday (16/7/09)
Legendary Evils Preview 3
Friday (17/7/09)
Spotlight Interview: Novels
Next week will be the release for the Eberron Campaign Guide, Divine Power, Seekers of the Ashen Crown and the PHB Heroes 2 miniature set. Other than that we'll be starting to see the excerpts from Adventurer's Vault 2 and possibly another miniature tips and tactics for a monster from Legendary Evils.
This is the first week since I'm using this new format so if you have any thoughts on this week's rundown or the new format, feel free to drop a comment.
July 17, 2009
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #10
Labels:
Pathfinder
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #10
This week's preview is on the Barbarian with Amiri, 17th level female human barbarian.
Amiri
Female human barbarian 17
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +21
DEFENSE
AC 26, touch 14, flat-footed 24 (+9 armor, +4 deflection, +2 Dex, +3 natural, –2 rage)
hp 252 (17d12+136)
Fort +19, Ref +10, Will +14; +4 vs. enchantment
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge, indomitable will, trap sense +5; DR 4/—
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee +4 frost keen adamantine greatsword +31/+26/+21/+16 (2d6+19/17–20 plus 1d6 cold)
Ranged +2 frost composite longbow +21/+16/+11/+6 (1d8+9/x3 plus 1d6 cold)
Special Attacks greater rage (41 rounds/day), rage powers (fearless rage, increased damage reduction, intimidating glare, knockback, powerful blow +5, renewed vigor [4d8+6], superstition +6, terrifying howl [DC 27])
BASE STATISTICS
AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26 (+9 armor, +4 deflection, +2 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 201 (17d12+85)
Fort +16, Will +11
Melee +4 frost keen adamantine greatsword +28/+23/+18/+13 (2d6+14/17–20 plus 1d6 cold)
CMB +24; CMD 40
Skills Climb +27
STATISTICS
Str 24 (30), Dex 14, Con 16 (22), Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +17; CMB +27; CMD 41
Feats Bleeding Critical, Blind-Fight, Critical Focus, Greater Vital Strike, Improved Iron Will, Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Power Attack, Toughness, Vital Strike
Skills Acrobatics +22, Climb +30, Intimidate +19, Perception +21, Survival +21
SQ tireless rage
Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds (6), potion of haste (2); Other Gear ring of protection +4, amulet of natural armor +3, cloak of resistance +3, +4 frost keen adamantine greatsword, +2 frost composite longbow (Str +7), +5 moderate fortification hide armor, bag of holding (type II), belt of giant strength +6, cube of force, ring of freedom of movement, scarab of protection, winged boots
The barbarian is one of the classes which had gone through some considerable changes since the beta. Here are some of them highlighted.
- Barbarians no longer have a number of rages per day but instead have a number of rounds of rage per day which can be spend throughout that day. They start with 4+Con mod and gain an extra 2 rounds for every 2 levels beyond the first.
- Barbarians no longer have rage points from the beta and rage powers are limited to once per rage or day which they start gaining from level 2 onwards.
- Fearless Rage which can be gained at level 12 makes the barbarian immune to shaken and frightened conditions while raging.
- Increased Damage Reduction increases the barbarian's DR to DR 5/- while raging.
- Intimidating Glare is a move action that causes an adjacent foe to be shaken for 1d4 and one additional round per 5 points exceeding the DC.
- Knockback allows the barbarian to make a bull rush attempt in place of a standard attack which deals damage equal to her strength mod and push the target back without having to follow it if successful, once per round while raging.
- Powerful Blow allows her to add +5 damage to one melee roll (the bonus damage increases at higher levels) as a swift action, once per rage.
- Barbarian can use Renewed Vigor to heal 1d8+con mod hitpoints starting at level 4, once per day. The amount she heals scales at higher levels.
- Supersition gives the barbarian a morale bonus to save against spells, supernatural and spell-like abilities while raging. However, she can no longer be a willing target so that means she has to resist spells cast even by allies.
- Terrifying Howl can only be taken at 8th level and the barbarian must have Intimidating Glare. As a standard action, she causes all shaken enemies within 30 feet to become panicked for 1d4+1 rounds if they fail their saving throw. After that, those that made a save are immune to this power for 24 hours.
- The barbarian still gains higher damage reduction, greater and mighty rage, uncanny dodge and trap sense at higher levels.
- Acrobatics and Knowledge (nature) are now class skills for the barbarian.
- Critical Focus gives a +4 bonus to confirm a critical hit.
- Critical Bleeding causes 2d6 points of bleed in addition to the critical.
- Improved Iron Will allows the character to reroll one will save per day before the result is revealed.
- Toughness grants 1 hitpoint per level but has a minimum of 3 hitpoints which means that level 1-3 PCs get 3 hitpoint and 4 when they hit 4th level.
- Power Attack grants a +2 bonus on damage rolls for each -1 to attack rolls. If using a double-handed weapon, the damage bonus increases by 50% while off-hand weapons only get half of the benefit. Starting at base attack +4 and for every 4 base attack thereafter, the bonus damage increases by 2 while the attack penalty increase by 1.
I like the idea of rage powers but I cringed when I read about Rage Points in the beta so I'm glad that they have simplified it for the final print. I also liked that they've added Acrobatics and Knowledge (nature) to the class skill which I thought were missing in 3.x.
Changes done to Toughness, Improved Iron Will and Power Attack is overall really nice which makes them much more worthwhile to take than before.
Any thoughts on the pathfinder barbarian?
July 16, 2009
{Quest Log} Let's Get This Party Started 3 & 4
First of all, sorry for not updating last week. I'm still trying to balance my life between play time and work time and working at a game store doesn't help very much because priorities can get a little mixed. It has not only affected my biological clock but also my blogging routine which some of you may know has been greatly reduced.
So, to make up for last week I will be making this entry doubly long for your reading (or despairing) pleasure.
Final Prep
After two weeks of bad planning and schedule clashes on my part, we confirmed 4 players and set a date for character generation using the free character builder and discuss on when and where should we be playing. The party consist of:
Normally, the cafe is meant for people who wants to play any of the boardgames they offer but after speaking with the owner, he was alright with us bringing in our own grinds, miniatures, dices and the whole lot as long as we paid for drinks.
For the adventure, in between procrastination and working hours, I planned out 5 encounters with a goblinoid theme. As I said in my previous post, goblins are a very versatile monster race. With the right mix of minions, lurkers, soldiers, controllers and leaders, you could easily make encounters ranging from EL 1 to 4.
I was having the most trouble designing a skill challenge. My initial approach was trying to scientifically build a skill challenge that would present a challenge at the same time allowing the PCs to shine. Although it would be rewarding for the characters, it actually places a limit on your imagination when you are thinking of matching both criteria. In the end, I went with designing a skill challenge that matches with the narrative of the adventure than matching it with the characters.
With the framework of encounters and skill challenge laid out, all that was left is to create a narrative to tied them up together. I was actually stumped for ideas that wasn't cliche at first until the very last hours before the game was about to start. After writing some general notes and sketching out the battle grinds for each encounter, I was prepared enough for the game.
Character Builder FAIL!
What I am about to say about the Character Builder may seem like I'm blaming it but I believe it's more of a matter that the character builder just doesn't sync with our group style. It might actually be because we are just not used to it or expect too much from it.
Nevertheless after this one-shot, we pretty much agreed that we won't be using the Character Builder again until something convinces us otherwise. In terms of usability and convenience, it actually created more hassle for us than solve them.
One issue that I have about the builder is during the equipment stage. When Chant's player double clicked on the equipment that he wanted, the builder added it into his character list at no cost. Without realizing at first that he was 'buying' equipment for free and when we later found out that he was not being charged for it, we sold the items which caused a great imbalance in the amount of cash he was having.
Although it didn't affect the one-shot game since they didn't had to spend anything for the adventure, it was still weird that double-clicking an item in the equipment stage, adds rather than buys the item.
Another minor complaint that I have for the builder is that while giving us the character sheets filled in is very nice, it isn't transferable if the other computer doesn't have the builder. This made printing out the sheets a problem for us since the group didn't have a printer connected to a PC that has the builder in it. In the end, we had to borrow the cafe's printer and plug it into my laptop.
It would have been better if there was a way to turn the completed character sheets into a pdf file or something that doesn't require the builder.
After the character generation, I asked one of the more experienced players if they prefer using the builder or doing things with good old pencil and paper and his answer reflected my sentiments exactly about the builder. While the builder is really fast, our style of character generation is more to planning the progression of the character than to simply put them together.
On the other hand, the inclusion of the power cards in the character sheet was very handy to the extent that it feels like a must-have for the 4E table. However, a couple of the players who were completely new to the system found it a little confusing to understand the numbers.
One of them in particular didn't understand how the builder could calculate out a certain number for his powers and it was hard to deduce the modifiers since it doesn't state out the exact calculation. The other player who was playing the rogue, thought that the formatting of the numbers made it harder to understand how much damage he dealt including his sneak attack and didn't realize that he had made a mistake until after the session.
That basically sums up our experience with the builder and we probably won't be using it again to generate characters except for filling in the numbers and printing out the sheets after we have made our choices on paper.
The One-Shot Session
The gist of the adventure is that the PCs have to track a warband of goblins that raided a heavily armed caravan, looting everything particularly magical items which belonged to the town wizard who hired them. After following them to the nearby marsh, they find the goblin encampment beside a half-sunken eladrin keep and enter it to find the stolen goods.
Combat was generally fun with some good laughs at the 4E mechanics like the warlock giving the enemies the finger as his way of cursing them. I didn't feel the grind that some complained about combat. In fact, I, as the DM, was having more fun during combat than I was in 3.x because the battle changes almost on every turn when monsters and PCs throw powers at each other.
I managed to see forced movement in play with the bard using Shout of Triumph and my goblins using Goblin Tactics which really adds a tactical dimension to battles. I noticed that there's quite a large disparity between the damage being dealt by PCs and monsters with the latter doing much less when they are fighting toe-to-toe against the PCs.
When the PCs reached the skill challenge which was to find a way into the half-sunken keep whether by swimming or climbing to the top of the battlement, I used the DC in the rules update and it was easily overcome when the PCs simply decided to just take 10 on them. It wasn't a real challenge at all and the PCs didn't even notice that they had just went through one.
Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Maybe the DC was just too low or I shouldn't have allowed them to take 10 for skill checks in a skill challenge.
I didn't even bother counting successes and I'm not sure if there's a point of doing that. I just let them through as long as they came up with a solution that sounds reasonable enough to overcome the skill challenge.
Anyone has some suggestions or something to point out about running skill challenges?
Wrapping Up and Post-Session
We didn't manage to finish the one-shot after 5 hours but we ended with a good cliffhanger at the entrance of the last encounter. Everyone had a great time despite moments in between encounters where I slipped due to lack of detailed preparation.
We are currently planning for the next session which should be a short one just to go through the final encounter. I'm thinking whether I should add in another encounter to extend the gaming hours. What do you think about putting two EL4 encounters back-to-back with a short rest in between? Do you think the PCs (they are level 1 by the way) would be able to hold it up?
Overall, 4E seems to stick well with me and the new players despite the technical stumbles we had before the game. It would be interesting to see whether this game would be our system of choice for a long term campaign which we might do after we finish with this delve.
So, to make up for last week I will be making this entry doubly long for your reading (or despairing) pleasure.
Final Prep
After two weeks of bad planning and schedule clashes on my part, we confirmed 4 players and set a date for character generation using the free character builder and discuss on when and where should we be playing. The party consist of:
- Zed, Human Rogue
- Chant, Tiefling Bard
- Kurndash, Dragonborn Fighter
- Narakh Nukem, Dragonborn (infernal) Warlock
Normally, the cafe is meant for people who wants to play any of the boardgames they offer but after speaking with the owner, he was alright with us bringing in our own grinds, miniatures, dices and the whole lot as long as we paid for drinks.
For the adventure, in between procrastination and working hours, I planned out 5 encounters with a goblinoid theme. As I said in my previous post, goblins are a very versatile monster race. With the right mix of minions, lurkers, soldiers, controllers and leaders, you could easily make encounters ranging from EL 1 to 4.
I was having the most trouble designing a skill challenge. My initial approach was trying to scientifically build a skill challenge that would present a challenge at the same time allowing the PCs to shine. Although it would be rewarding for the characters, it actually places a limit on your imagination when you are thinking of matching both criteria. In the end, I went with designing a skill challenge that matches with the narrative of the adventure than matching it with the characters.
With the framework of encounters and skill challenge laid out, all that was left is to create a narrative to tied them up together. I was actually stumped for ideas that wasn't cliche at first until the very last hours before the game was about to start. After writing some general notes and sketching out the battle grinds for each encounter, I was prepared enough for the game.
Character Builder FAIL!
What I am about to say about the Character Builder may seem like I'm blaming it but I believe it's more of a matter that the character builder just doesn't sync with our group style. It might actually be because we are just not used to it or expect too much from it.
Nevertheless after this one-shot, we pretty much agreed that we won't be using the Character Builder again until something convinces us otherwise. In terms of usability and convenience, it actually created more hassle for us than solve them.
One issue that I have about the builder is during the equipment stage. When Chant's player double clicked on the equipment that he wanted, the builder added it into his character list at no cost. Without realizing at first that he was 'buying' equipment for free and when we later found out that he was not being charged for it, we sold the items which caused a great imbalance in the amount of cash he was having.
Although it didn't affect the one-shot game since they didn't had to spend anything for the adventure, it was still weird that double-clicking an item in the equipment stage, adds rather than buys the item.
Another minor complaint that I have for the builder is that while giving us the character sheets filled in is very nice, it isn't transferable if the other computer doesn't have the builder. This made printing out the sheets a problem for us since the group didn't have a printer connected to a PC that has the builder in it. In the end, we had to borrow the cafe's printer and plug it into my laptop.
It would have been better if there was a way to turn the completed character sheets into a pdf file or something that doesn't require the builder.
After the character generation, I asked one of the more experienced players if they prefer using the builder or doing things with good old pencil and paper and his answer reflected my sentiments exactly about the builder. While the builder is really fast, our style of character generation is more to planning the progression of the character than to simply put them together.
On the other hand, the inclusion of the power cards in the character sheet was very handy to the extent that it feels like a must-have for the 4E table. However, a couple of the players who were completely new to the system found it a little confusing to understand the numbers.
One of them in particular didn't understand how the builder could calculate out a certain number for his powers and it was hard to deduce the modifiers since it doesn't state out the exact calculation. The other player who was playing the rogue, thought that the formatting of the numbers made it harder to understand how much damage he dealt including his sneak attack and didn't realize that he had made a mistake until after the session.
That basically sums up our experience with the builder and we probably won't be using it again to generate characters except for filling in the numbers and printing out the sheets after we have made our choices on paper.
The One-Shot Session
The gist of the adventure is that the PCs have to track a warband of goblins that raided a heavily armed caravan, looting everything particularly magical items which belonged to the town wizard who hired them. After following them to the nearby marsh, they find the goblin encampment beside a half-sunken eladrin keep and enter it to find the stolen goods.
Combat was generally fun with some good laughs at the 4E mechanics like the warlock giving the enemies the finger as his way of cursing them. I didn't feel the grind that some complained about combat. In fact, I, as the DM, was having more fun during combat than I was in 3.x because the battle changes almost on every turn when monsters and PCs throw powers at each other.
I managed to see forced movement in play with the bard using Shout of Triumph and my goblins using Goblin Tactics which really adds a tactical dimension to battles. I noticed that there's quite a large disparity between the damage being dealt by PCs and monsters with the latter doing much less when they are fighting toe-to-toe against the PCs.
When the PCs reached the skill challenge which was to find a way into the half-sunken keep whether by swimming or climbing to the top of the battlement, I used the DC in the rules update and it was easily overcome when the PCs simply decided to just take 10 on them. It wasn't a real challenge at all and the PCs didn't even notice that they had just went through one.
Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Maybe the DC was just too low or I shouldn't have allowed them to take 10 for skill checks in a skill challenge.
I didn't even bother counting successes and I'm not sure if there's a point of doing that. I just let them through as long as they came up with a solution that sounds reasonable enough to overcome the skill challenge.
Anyone has some suggestions or something to point out about running skill challenges?
Wrapping Up and Post-Session
We didn't manage to finish the one-shot after 5 hours but we ended with a good cliffhanger at the entrance of the last encounter. Everyone had a great time despite moments in between encounters where I slipped due to lack of detailed preparation.
We are currently planning for the next session which should be a short one just to go through the final encounter. I'm thinking whether I should add in another encounter to extend the gaming hours. What do you think about putting two EL4 encounters back-to-back with a short rest in between? Do you think the PCs (they are level 1 by the way) would be able to hold it up?
Overall, 4E seems to stick well with me and the new players despite the technical stumbles we had before the game. It would be interesting to see whether this game would be our system of choice for a long term campaign which we might do after we finish with this delve.
July 14, 2009
Pathfinder Core Rulebook Preview Video
Labels:
News,
Pathfinder
Those who attended Paizocon have most likely taken their first glimpse at the final printed version of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook. For those who weren't that lucky, Paizo has just posted up a preview video in the Paizo blog that flips through the content of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.
For you convenience, you can watch the video below or you could head over to the preview video link to watch it at a larger resolution.
Needless to say that Paizo's production value is top notch and it is making me drool. In fact, the layout reminds me about the 3.x Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide which is a good looking book too.
For you convenience, you can watch the video below or you could head over to the preview video link to watch it at a larger resolution.
Needless to say that Paizo's production value is top notch and it is making me drool. In fact, the layout reminds me about the 3.x Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide which is a good looking book too.
Burning Question - Walking Off the Beaten Path
Labels:
Burning Question
Today's question is taken from this week's 'Ask a Pro' column from the Paizo blog and I think it is one question that many DMs would have face once when running a published adventure/campaign.
As the DM, I usually try to make my plot hooks as interesting as possible for the characters to go my way. But in the event of a derailment, I eventually try to tied their current course of action back into the main plot, skipping or replacing missed encounters if I have to.
Another method which is a last resort and I'll only use it when I'm really stumped for ideas of steering things back into the right direction or when things are getting out of hand, is directly telling them what the plot hook is. Normally my players would take a hint but this could not be fulfilling if the characters seem to be enjoying what they are doing now than being forced to go on the tracks.
What would you do?
You are running an Adventure Path, and one of your players is ignoring the obvious hook. Do you gently nudge him in the planned direction, or do you go with the flow and see where this digression might take you?
As the DM, I usually try to make my plot hooks as interesting as possible for the characters to go my way. But in the event of a derailment, I eventually try to tied their current course of action back into the main plot, skipping or replacing missed encounters if I have to.
Another method which is a last resort and I'll only use it when I'm really stumped for ideas of steering things back into the right direction or when things are getting out of hand, is directly telling them what the plot hook is. Normally my players would take a hint but this could not be fulfilling if the characters seem to be enjoying what they are doing now than being forced to go on the tracks.
What would you do?
July 13, 2009
Questing's Readings - Psion Edition
Labels:
4E,
Questing's Readings
Wizards have released the complete version of the Psion class from Player's Handbook 3 for DDI subscribers which introduces a different type of power mechanics that has no encounter powers but giving them power points to augment their at-wills.
Psion and psionics in general has always been one of those hotly debated topics in D&D because some either loved it or hated it. One thing's for sure, Psions and psionics has always been an exception rather than the rule in D&D and even though I was certain that 4E has streamlined it when they announced a psionic power source. It seems that the designers has managed to carry on that tradition.
So in this special edition of Questing's Readings, these are the posts that bloggers from the RPG Bloggers Network had to say about the new Psion class and what are their thoughts about psionics in general, now that its arrival into the game is inevitable.
It also has some good spoilers (or teasers) for those who don't have a subscription for DDI to read the full psion class.
A Hero Twice A Month
A new class and new mechanics
At-Will
Beneath the Surface" Has anyone played the Psion yet?
Critical Hits
4E: Psion - by the Numbers
Dungeon's Master
Psionics Suck!
GarGamer
Psion Review/General Stuff
Geek Ken
Preview: the Psion Class
Ideamancer
Psion: How to multiclass?
Points of Light
Debut: Meet the Psion
Angra, Tiefling Psion
WeeBeeGamers
New D&D Class: The Psion
Psion and psionics in general has always been one of those hotly debated topics in D&D because some either loved it or hated it. One thing's for sure, Psions and psionics has always been an exception rather than the rule in D&D and even though I was certain that 4E has streamlined it when they announced a psionic power source. It seems that the designers has managed to carry on that tradition.
So in this special edition of Questing's Readings, these are the posts that bloggers from the RPG Bloggers Network had to say about the new Psion class and what are their thoughts about psionics in general, now that its arrival into the game is inevitable.
It also has some good spoilers (or teasers) for those who don't have a subscription for DDI to read the full psion class.
A Hero Twice A Month
A new class and new mechanics
At-Will
Beneath the Surface" Has anyone played the Psion yet?
Critical Hits
4E: Psion - by the Numbers
Dungeon's Master
Psionics Suck!
GarGamer
Psion Review/General Stuff
Geek Ken
Preview: the Psion Class
Ideamancer
Psion: How to multiclass?
Points of Light
Debut: Meet the Psion
Angra, Tiefling Psion
WeeBeeGamers
New D&D Class: The Psion
July 12, 2009
Questing's Readings - 12/7/09
Labels:
DM Advice,
Questing's Readings
This week is an invaluable week for DMs. There's a bunch of posts with great advice on DMing, a couple design tips, resource links and even business tips coming out from the RPG Bloggers Network. So without further a due, let's get on with the readings.
Examiner.com
A wealth of RPG worldbuilding advice
If you haven't been following Uncle Bear's excellent worldbuilding series, then here is the one stop post to catch it all compiled together.
Gaming Brouhaha
Want to inject more roleplaying in to your 4E game?
Some ideas of using characters' personal goals and beliefs and rewarding descriptive play as good ways to bring the roleplaying that 4E seems to be 'missing'.
JavaWorld's Daily Brew
10 Business Lessons I Learned from Playing Dungeons & Dragons
A demonstration of what you learn from the gaming table can be applicable and, in fact, sometimes useful in real life. This post is taken via The Escapist on Life Lessons from D&D.
Inkwell Ideas
RPG Resources of the Day: 101 Fantasy City, Town and Village Maps
RPG Resources of the Day: Two Sites with Hundreds of Real Historical City Maps
The first post contains maps of fictional and fantasy maps while the second one contains real and historical cities from different periods. This is really a great list to mine from.
Jonathan Drain's D20 Source
Golden Rules of Game Mastering
Two very important rules that every GM (and player) should know about GMing.
Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer
New Players in Old Campaigns
Inserting new player into an ongoing campaign with veterans can be a pretty delicate task. If not done properly, it can slow things down tremendously. So here's a 3 question checklist to ask yourself if you have done your part as the DM to make them comfortable not only to the rules but to the ongoing campaign.
Player Advice: Information Management
The only post this week that is for players. A list of really good questions to ask yourself when playing your character to make informed decisions. This is particularly useful for espionage themed games and it can be useful for DMs as well.
Musings of the Chatty DM
4e Lessons: The Penny Arcade/PvP D&D Podcast, Part 1
4e Lessons: The Penny Arcade/PvP D&D Podcast, Part 2
Chatty's observation about 4e classes and DMing from the three D&D podcast sessions with the Penny Arcade/PvP crew and Wil Wheaton. There's some pretty interesting points brought up in the second part of the series, especially the one differentiating the types of DMs that Chris Perkins and James Wyatt are from Chatty's perspective.
Newbie DM
The DM binder, folder, or notebook
What is a DM binder and what should it contain in it. He even shows what is in his own DM binder. I'm starting to believe that you can actually run a game with this alone without having to do any prep at all.
RoleplayingPro
Back Behind the Screen , and in Front of the Computer
4 things you can do when you are suffering from gaming withdrawal or just aren't getting enough out of your gaming.
Sly Flourish
Four Skill Challenge Tips
Designing and running skill challenges has always been a challenge for DMs who are new to it. So here are four simple tips to make it easier to run and things to keep in mind when designing them.
Examiner.com
A wealth of RPG worldbuilding advice
If you haven't been following Uncle Bear's excellent worldbuilding series, then here is the one stop post to catch it all compiled together.
Gaming Brouhaha
Want to inject more roleplaying in to your 4E game?
Some ideas of using characters' personal goals and beliefs and rewarding descriptive play as good ways to bring the roleplaying that 4E seems to be 'missing'.
JavaWorld's Daily Brew
10 Business Lessons I Learned from Playing Dungeons & Dragons
A demonstration of what you learn from the gaming table can be applicable and, in fact, sometimes useful in real life. This post is taken via The Escapist on Life Lessons from D&D.
Inkwell Ideas
RPG Resources of the Day: 101 Fantasy City, Town and Village Maps
RPG Resources of the Day: Two Sites with Hundreds of Real Historical City Maps
The first post contains maps of fictional and fantasy maps while the second one contains real and historical cities from different periods. This is really a great list to mine from.
Jonathan Drain's D20 Source
Golden Rules of Game Mastering
Two very important rules that every GM (and player) should know about GMing.
Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer
New Players in Old Campaigns
Inserting new player into an ongoing campaign with veterans can be a pretty delicate task. If not done properly, it can slow things down tremendously. So here's a 3 question checklist to ask yourself if you have done your part as the DM to make them comfortable not only to the rules but to the ongoing campaign.
Player Advice: Information Management
The only post this week that is for players. A list of really good questions to ask yourself when playing your character to make informed decisions. This is particularly useful for espionage themed games and it can be useful for DMs as well.
Musings of the Chatty DM
4e Lessons: The Penny Arcade/PvP D&D Podcast, Part 1
4e Lessons: The Penny Arcade/PvP D&D Podcast, Part 2
Chatty's observation about 4e classes and DMing from the three D&D podcast sessions with the Penny Arcade/PvP crew and Wil Wheaton. There's some pretty interesting points brought up in the second part of the series, especially the one differentiating the types of DMs that Chris Perkins and James Wyatt are from Chatty's perspective.
Newbie DM
The DM binder, folder, or notebook
What is a DM binder and what should it contain in it. He even shows what is in his own DM binder. I'm starting to believe that you can actually run a game with this alone without having to do any prep at all.
RoleplayingPro
Back Behind the Screen , and in Front of the Computer
4 things you can do when you are suffering from gaming withdrawal or just aren't getting enough out of your gaming.
Sly Flourish
Four Skill Challenge Tips
Designing and running skill challenges has always been a challenge for DMs who are new to it. So here are four simple tips to make it easier to run and things to keep in mind when designing them.
July 11, 2009
Word of Wizards - 11/7/09
Labels:
4E,
News,
Word of Wizards
There's been so much update this week at Wizards that I haven't been able to catch up with them at all. So some of this week's links might be directed straight at Wizards' website rather than my own posts on them.
This week, the excerpts from Divine Power and Eberron Campaign Guide have concluded which will open way for the next batch of excerpts. This time sadly, it will only come from one book which is Adventurer's Vault 2. However, on the other end, the previews of the Legendary Evils monster miniature line has started.
The features of this week has been mainly centered on Divine Power which were covered by this month's Steal This Hook! and the D&D Podcast. In addition, Wizards have also introduced a new feature called Out-of-the-Box Encounter which teaches you how to effectively use your miniatures in-game.
There's also a video interview with R.A Salvatore who has just released the second book in the Transistion trilogy, The Pirate King.
So if you haven't really been able to catch up with these updates, like me, here's the rundown.
Monday (6/7/09)
Previews for July and Beyond
Divine Power Excerpts: Virtuous Paladin
Eberron Campaign Guide Excerpts: Drooam & Encounter
Wednesday (8/7/09)
July 2009 Character Builder & Compendium News
Success Along the Adventure Path 8
Steal This Hook! Threats of a Divine Nature
Out-of-the-Box Encounter: Aboleth Slime Mage
Book Nook: R.A. Salvatore
Thursday (9/7/09)
Legendary Evils Preview 1
Friday (10/7/09)
Eberron Campaign Guide Excerpts: Q'barra & Table of Contents
Divine Power Excerpts: Avatar of Death
Next week, there will only be one excerpt from the Eberron adventure module, Seekers of the Ashen Crown. Other than that, we can expect to see this month's Vicious Venues and Spotlight Interview. There's also a conversion article for Exemplars of Evil from 3.x which might be interesting
Subscribers will have a lot to look forward starting with a Class Acts article and Design and Development: Psionics on Monday followed by Familiars of Eberron on Friday.
Also, I have a little announcement to make. After considering the feedback that I asked in last week's Burning Question, I've decided to reduce the Word of Wizards feature down to a weekly one. Which means that I would no longer be posting single post on each and every update that appears on the Wizards website as soon as their up. Instead what I'll do is something much more like these weekly compilations on every Saturday with direct links to all the items that were added to the Wizards website during that week.
Although this changes are effective starting next week but I don't mind listening to any feedback that you might have on these changes (or if you missed the Burning Question from last week, be sure to drop some feedback). Of course, I will like to thank everyone who has supported me for doing this longest running feature of the blog.
This week, the excerpts from Divine Power and Eberron Campaign Guide have concluded which will open way for the next batch of excerpts. This time sadly, it will only come from one book which is Adventurer's Vault 2. However, on the other end, the previews of the Legendary Evils monster miniature line has started.
The features of this week has been mainly centered on Divine Power which were covered by this month's Steal This Hook! and the D&D Podcast. In addition, Wizards have also introduced a new feature called Out-of-the-Box Encounter which teaches you how to effectively use your miniatures in-game.
There's also a video interview with R.A Salvatore who has just released the second book in the Transistion trilogy, The Pirate King.
So if you haven't really been able to catch up with these updates, like me, here's the rundown.
Monday (6/7/09)
Previews for July and Beyond
Divine Power Excerpts: Virtuous Paladin
Eberron Campaign Guide Excerpts: Drooam & Encounter
Wednesday (8/7/09)
July 2009 Character Builder & Compendium News
Success Along the Adventure Path 8
Steal This Hook! Threats of a Divine Nature
Out-of-the-Box Encounter: Aboleth Slime Mage
Book Nook: R.A. Salvatore
Thursday (9/7/09)
Legendary Evils Preview 1
Friday (10/7/09)
Eberron Campaign Guide Excerpts: Q'barra & Table of Contents
Divine Power Excerpts: Avatar of Death
Next week, there will only be one excerpt from the Eberron adventure module, Seekers of the Ashen Crown. Other than that, we can expect to see this month's Vicious Venues and Spotlight Interview. There's also a conversion article for Exemplars of Evil from 3.x which might be interesting
Subscribers will have a lot to look forward starting with a Class Acts article and Design and Development: Psionics on Monday followed by Familiars of Eberron on Friday.
Also, I have a little announcement to make. After considering the feedback that I asked in last week's Burning Question, I've decided to reduce the Word of Wizards feature down to a weekly one. Which means that I would no longer be posting single post on each and every update that appears on the Wizards website as soon as their up. Instead what I'll do is something much more like these weekly compilations on every Saturday with direct links to all the items that were added to the Wizards website during that week.
Although this changes are effective starting next week but I don't mind listening to any feedback that you might have on these changes (or if you missed the Burning Question from last week, be sure to drop some feedback). Of course, I will like to thank everyone who has supported me for doing this longest running feature of the blog.
July 10, 2009
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #9
Labels:
Pathfinder
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #9
This week we look at the new monk with Sajan, 8th level human monk.
Sajan
Male human monk 8
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 21, flat-footed 19 (+2 armor, +1 deflection, +3 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 monk, +3 Wis)
hp 63 (8d8+24)
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +9; +2 against enchantment
Defensive Abilties evasion, slow fall 40 ft.; Immune disease
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft.
Melee flurry of blows +9/+9/+4/+4 (2d6+2 plus 1d6 fire) or mwk shortsword +9/+4 (1d6+2/19–20)
Ranged shuriken +9/+4 (1d2+2)
Special Attacks stunning fist (8/day, stun, fatigue, or sicken, DC 17)
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8
Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 29
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Extra Ki, Greater Disarm, Improved Disarm, Improved Unarmed Strike, Scorpion Style, Stand Still, Stunning Fist, Weapon Focus (unarmed strike)
Skills Acrobatics +14 (+30 jump), Climb +13, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +14, Swim +13
Languages Common
SQ fast movement, high jump, ki pool (9 points), maneuver training, purity of body, still mind, wholeness of body
Combat Gear oil of greater magic fang (+3), potion of cure serious wounds (2); Other Gear mwk shortsword, shuriken (20), ring of protection +1, light fortification bracers of armor +2, flaming amulet of mighty fists, headband of inspiring wisdom +2, monk's robe
Some changes highlighted for the monk
- Flurry of Blows uses the monk's level as its base attack bonus.
- Monks get the Stunning Fist feat for free and can apply different effects other than stunning at higher levels such as fatigued until rest or sicken for 1 minute at 8th level, stagger for 1d6+1 rounds at 12th level, permanently blind or deafen at 16th level and paralyze for 1d6+1 rounds at 20th level.
- Monks can use Quivering Palm once per day.
- Monks add their level to their CMB and add their Wis and Monk AC bonus to their CMD.
- Monks now have ki points equal to 1 per two levels plus their Wis mod which they can spend to get certain benefits like adding extra attack to their flurry of blows at 4th level, gain +20 to a single check at 5th level, heal themselves by spending 2 ki points at 7th level and can eventually use ki points to use dimension door or become ethereal.
- As long as the monk has 1 ki point remaining, his attacks are considered magical for overcoming damage reduction, lawful at 10th level and adamantine at 16th level.
- Amulet of Mighty Fist now add melee weapon properties to the unarmed attacks of the monk with a reduced price.
- Bracers of Armor now also add armor properties such as light fortification.
The introduction of ki points is quite interesting and would make an otherwise dull class fun to play. I didn't had any problem with the attack bonus of the monk in 3.x before but using the monk's level for determining flurry of blows attack bonus is going to make them even more deadly.
Overall, I think they've added more stuff to the monk than really improving or adjusting the flaws of the class which doesn't get me overly excited.
Any thoughts on the pathfinder monk?
Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Avatar of Death
Labels:
4E,
News,
Word of Wizards
Divine Power Excerpts: Avatar of Death
The Avatar of Death is death incarnate who has temporarily taken mortal form and have come to realize her true form when she reaches 21st level and has the Death Knell feat. With this knowledge, the avatar knows no fear for death and can only wait to rejoin with the eternal essence of the Raven Queen or some other deity of death.
Upon realizing her true destiny, the avatar gain Foresight of Morality (21st level destiny feature) which increases her intelligence and wisdom by 2. She makes certain that Death Comes to All (21st level destiny feature) which makes her powers ignore 20 necrotic resistance.
Woe to those who would attempt to bring death to avatar before her time. When an avatar dies, she returns with a Deadly Revival (24th destiny feature) if she dies for the first time on that day. She regains hitpoints equal to her bloodied value and all enemies within 10 square of her are vulnerable 15 against necrotic damage until the end of her next turn.
She is the Harbinger of Demise (30th level destiny feature) bringing certain fatality to those who are on the verge of death. When an enemy ends their turn adjacent to her with 25 hitpoints or less, they immediately die.
To those that would try to avoid death's embrace with spiritual and physical healing, she brings Inevitable Death (level 26; daily). Each enemy within close burst 5 gain 10 vulnerability against all damage and cannot regain hitpoints through regeneration or healing powers (save ends).
Any thoughts on the Avatar of Death?
Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Q'barra & Table of Contents
Labels:
4E,
News,
Word of Wizards
Eberron Campaign Guide Excerpts: Q'barra & Table of Contents
The final excerpt from Eberron Campaign Guide details on the monsters and the natural resources that can found in Q'barra revealed through Nature checks. From this excerpt, Q'barra might be the new de facto homeland of the dragonborn in Khorvaire.
Finally, there's the table of contents of the book which has altogether 7 section, not including the introduction and the appendix which contains the sample adventure. Here are the following sections to expect;
- Introduction
- Adventures
- The City of Towers
- The Five Nations
- Greater Khorvaire
- Beyond Khorvaire
- Dragonmarks
- Gods and Cosmology
- Appendix: The Mark of Prophecy
- Index
- New Monsters
I'm pretty excited about the campaign guide because it has a whole section on the City of Towers. It might only be 8 pages which won't be enough to compress all the info from the Sharn: City of Towers supplement in 3.x but it's one of the hallmark location that I would start all my Eberron campaigns in.
Another section that makes me happy is that they have included the King's Citadel under Breland in the Five Nations section. The section on dragonmarks might be interesting since it dedicates about 2 pages to each of the dragonmarked houses.
Word of Wizards - Legendary Evils Preview 1
Labels:
4E,
News,
Word of Wizards
Legendary Evils Preview 1
The preview for the second set of monster miniatures, Legendary Evils has started and it will be the first set featuring huge-sized miniatures since they changed the format of distribution for D&D Miniatures. Each booster will come with 1 visible huge miniature, 1 large rare, 1 medium or small-sized rare and 2 commons.
This set will have 8 huges, 12 large rares, 12 medium/small rares and 8 commons.
Now onto the miniatures in this preview.
Any thoughts on these minis?
The preview for the second set of monster miniatures, Legendary Evils has started and it will be the first set featuring huge-sized miniatures since they changed the format of distribution for D&D Miniatures. Each booster will come with 1 visible huge miniature, 1 large rare, 1 medium or small-sized rare and 2 commons.
This set will have 8 huges, 12 large rares, 12 medium/small rares and 8 commons.
Now onto the miniatures in this preview.
Elder Green Dragon
It might not look much but I'm assuming that it'll look awesome since it's has to be a huge miniature. It's good that they have updated the new 4E look for the green dragon but to me it doesn't matter as long as its green.Githzerai Mindmage
Githzerai Cenobite
This set second set finishes up on the githzerai appearing in Monster Manual. One major spoiler revealed in this preview is that the githzerai will be appearing as a playable race in Player's Handbook 3 so these guys can definitely be used to represent your characters as well.Hoard Scarab Larva Swarm
Useful as a three dimensional representation of a pile of gold for the unsuspecting player.Psychic Sentinel
Based on the Psion-killer monster from the 3.x Psionic Handbook, it is now a servitor for the githzerai and is a Level 12 Elite Soldier. This could also be used to represent a large fire elemental monster.Any thoughts on these minis?
July 9, 2009
Word of Wizards - Out-of-the-Box Encounter: Aboleth Slime Mage
Labels:
4E,
News,
Word of Wizards
Out-of-the-Box Encounter: Aboleth Slime Mage
Wizards is introducing a new feature that will look into the story elements of each miniature and making the best use of it with effective tactics and terrain recommendations. To start it off, they decided to show how you create an encounter with the Aboleth Slime Mage.
It has some really good advice and nice suggestions which makes this a very useful feature. This is especially good for DMs who are using these monsters/miniatures for the first time on their PCs. I will be looking forward to more of these article in the future.
Word of Wizards - Steal This Hook! Threats of a Divine Nature
Labels:
4E,
News,
Word of Wizards
Steal This Hook! Threats of a Divine Nature
Wizards have come up with 3 divine-themed plot hooks with sidebars to give you some ideas on how to tie them in with the new mechanics of Divine Power and Eberron Campaign Guide, both that will be released this month.
Sudden Retirement
Rumors that the dwarf priest of Moradin is retiring with no successor apparent or named is raising concerns in a town.
This plot hook can be expanded in two ways. First, the PCs could be hired to investigate the underlying reason for this sudden announcement. Could the priest be running from a past or is a doppleganger involved? The second way is deal the aftermath of this announcement. With no heir apparent named, potential successors are scheming to gain power. This could result in mysterious disappearances of candidates, candidates trying to prove their worth or maybe one of the PCs is nominated?
This plot hook doesn't necessarily have to be happening to the church of Moradin as long as its any other church that could be badly affected by the sudden retirement of their high priest.
The Dread God
The PCs have an appointment with someone who they are close to and somehow she never turned up for the meeting which is unusual. Later they find out that the body of their friend has been found....drained of blood.
A cult is possibly involved that could be led by a vampire or a monstrous demon that requires blood sacrifice. Finding out the identity of its members and the location of their gathering spot will be the main challenge.
But why is their friend victimized? Was she simply a coincidental victim or maybe she was a member of the cult?
Hidden Blessing
The PCs hear about the tale of Praxus, a noble paladin who went to war and never returned. There is a statue of him in the town center and a farmer insists that she saw the statue moved.
Could the statue really be Praxus petrified by a medusa? An animated statue placed by some mysterious sculptor? Or Praxus trapped in the stone form by other powerful beings?
What will happened if Praxus is released from the stone form? Will he want vengeance or bring destruction to the town where he is revered as a saint?
Word of Wizards - Success Along the Adventure Path 8
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Word of Wizards
Success Along the Adventure Path 8: Beyond the Mottled Tower
In the encounter with a pair of green dragons (Anthrosk and Calauxin) there are 2 recommended miniatures to represent Calauxin. So I've marked them with an asterisk to indicate that they are interchangeable.
Dungeon Tiles
- Against the Giants
- Arcane Corridors
- Dungeon Tiles
- Hidden Crypts
- Ruins of the Wild
- Streets of Shadows
Miniatures
Against the Giants
- 1 Thunderblast Cyclone (#9)
- 1 Young Adamantine Dragon (#52)*
Blood War
- 1 Centaur War Hulk (#15)
- 1 Bluespawn Stormlizard (#30)
Dangerous Delves
Deathknell
- 1 Spectre (#42)
Demonweb
- 2 Mezzodemon (#4)
- 1 Skull Lord (#27)
- 8 Troglodyte Brute (#51)
- 1 Troglodyte Curse Chanter (#52)
Desert of Desolation
- 2 Shadar-kai Assassin (#35)
- 2 Fire Archon (#50)
Dungeons of Dread
- 1 Immolith (#15)
- 2 Warrior Wight (#17)
- 8 Magma Brute (#19)
- 2 Ascendant Hellsword (#21)
- 1 Wyvern (#42)*
- 1 Emerald Orb Wizard (#44)
- 1 Spectral Magelord (#46)
Giants of Legend
- 4 Githyanki Renegade (#16)
Night Below
- 1 Berserk Flesh Golem (#46)
Underdark
- 1 Duergar Champion (#35)
War of the Dragon Queen
- 1 Large Green Dragon (#38)
- 1 Redspawn Fireblecher (#52)
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