After about 2 weeks of hiatus, I'm slowly starting to find my stride back into blogging. After spending some time to think and looking back at some of my older posts, I might decide to experiment with a few ideas, ditch some of my regular features and go for an entirely different direction with this blog. That might be up in a future announcement if I find it worth mentioning.
In the meantime, I've tried not to miss anything that is happening in the RPG Bloggers Network and enjoyed some of the readings that I wanted to share. This week we have some insight in party composition and combat length in 4E, an interview with Erik Mona and some other general advice.
Campaign Mastery
Types of Combat Hazards - Environment
This post makes you think your combat environment in three dimension instead of just visualizing it on the flat battlemat.
Dungeon's Master
Playing In An Unbalanced Party
A demonstration of what happens when you play in a party mainly filled by one of the particular roles in 4E. While the results are not entirely surprising but it does raise the question of whether roles play an important role in effective party composition.
GamesTopica.Net
Who hold the Responsibilities for Effective Characters?
An interesting examination of defining character effectiveness and whether it's the rules or the DM which should give the PCs a situation to shine in. There are some interesting thoughts on character effectiveness and I agree that it is up to the DM to make it worthwhile for PCs to be effective in some situations other than combat.
Inkwell Ideas
Final Results of the RPG Blog Readership Survey
The final results of the RPG Blog Readership survey are out. Although it can be a little hard to digest especially the ones with subjective answers but this is surely useful for any RPG blogger who wants to know how other bloggers respond to their content.
Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer
Pacing your Game
Some really good advice on how to set the pace of your game with good pointers of do's and don'ts. There are also some useful examples to learn how to set your pacing for different situations.
Musings of the Chatty DM
Friday Chat: The Issue(s) of Combat length in D&D 4e
The Chatty DM talks about the problem of combat length in 4E, what contributes to it, his own solutions and some other alternatives. While my group doesn't seem to feel the Grind (yet), this is quite a good read nonetheless.
RPG Blog II
Erik Mona Interview: Pathfinder, Customer Service, and Old School
An interview with Erik Mona on the topics in the title. The most interesting part that I find in this interview is about his thoughts about the Old School Renaissance.
Sly Flourish
Four Tips for Running Solo Creatures
Some DMs might find that solo creatures aren't working as they thought it should and they have been know to contribute to the grind that some people feel in 4E. These are some good tips that demystify that expectations and how to use solo creatures for effectively in combat.
August 30, 2009
August 14, 2009
Questing GM Going on Hiatus
If you noticed that for the past two weeks, I haven't been doing any updates and all the weekly features that should be up are not. As to all my readers, I truly and sincerely apologize if you were expecting a more timely update. I'm not trying to make any excuses, especially to datelines that I set for myself for my readers but I've been going through some rather hard times of late.
I wouldn't normally take this place to talk about my problems but I've decided that I owe everyone, at least, an explanation for my sudden absence.
Some of you may have noticed from my Twitter several weeks ago that I've cut my internet connection recently due to horrible connection problems which has greatly affected my accessibility and time that I can spend going online on a daily basis. I'm sure that I've missed out a lot of what's happening in the past weeks, not only at Wizards but also in the RPG Bloggers Network. Catching up (if I ever intend on doing that) will take some time.
However, I've managed to find a solution, in between the weeks, that would hopefully put me back online on a more regular basis.
But more importantly, which I believe is the greatest cause of the sudden drop and lack of updates, is that I'm going through gaming and blogging delirium. It's something that every gamer and blogger goes through at some point and after religiously blogging about gaming for the past year almost without stop, I'm quite surprised that it has only hit me now rather when everyone gets discouraged in the first few months of starting their own blog.
I'm starting to have doubts about my own content and effort in producing them which are starting to deviate from the purpose of this blog. I have to rethink and reevaluate the direction of this blog and where I'm going with this.
As of now, the Questing GM is going to be on hiatus. Every adventurer needs some downtime to go through some character development, when not hacking at monsters for XP and treasure.
How long will I be away? I can't really give a good estimate. I could be bouncing back next week, next month or, god forbid, next year. I just some time to regather my thoughts on what am I doing and take care of the other more important things in my real life. I might still chime in once in a while, just to say a thing or two but they won't be on a fixed schedule.
I'm very sorry to disappoint you all but I'm really grateful to all my readers, the RPG Bloggers Network, my followers in Twitter and the gaming community for making this a good run while it lasted.
Hopefully I will see you all again very soon. Perhaps in a new incarnation.
For now, I bid you all sweet water and light laughter, until we next meet.
I wouldn't normally take this place to talk about my problems but I've decided that I owe everyone, at least, an explanation for my sudden absence.
Some of you may have noticed from my Twitter several weeks ago that I've cut my internet connection recently due to horrible connection problems which has greatly affected my accessibility and time that I can spend going online on a daily basis. I'm sure that I've missed out a lot of what's happening in the past weeks, not only at Wizards but also in the RPG Bloggers Network. Catching up (if I ever intend on doing that) will take some time.
However, I've managed to find a solution, in between the weeks, that would hopefully put me back online on a more regular basis.
But more importantly, which I believe is the greatest cause of the sudden drop and lack of updates, is that I'm going through gaming and blogging delirium. It's something that every gamer and blogger goes through at some point and after religiously blogging about gaming for the past year almost without stop, I'm quite surprised that it has only hit me now rather when everyone gets discouraged in the first few months of starting their own blog.
I'm starting to have doubts about my own content and effort in producing them which are starting to deviate from the purpose of this blog. I have to rethink and reevaluate the direction of this blog and where I'm going with this.
As of now, the Questing GM is going to be on hiatus. Every adventurer needs some downtime to go through some character development, when not hacking at monsters for XP and treasure.
How long will I be away? I can't really give a good estimate. I could be bouncing back next week, next month or, god forbid, next year. I just some time to regather my thoughts on what am I doing and take care of the other more important things in my real life. I might still chime in once in a while, just to say a thing or two but they won't be on a fixed schedule.
I'm very sorry to disappoint you all but I'm really grateful to all my readers, the RPG Bloggers Network, my followers in Twitter and the gaming community for making this a good run while it lasted.
Hopefully I will see you all again very soon. Perhaps in a new incarnation.
For now, I bid you all sweet water and light laughter, until we next meet.
August 6, 2009
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #13
Labels:
Pathfinder
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #13
Now that we're done with the base classes, Paizo is giving us a taste of how they have worked on the prestige class. Enter Seltyiel, 20th level fighter/wizard/eldritch knight.
Seltyiel
Male half-elf wizard 5/fighter 5/eldritch knight 10
LE Medium humanoid (elf)
Init +9; Senses low-light vision; Perception +21
DEFENSE
AC 25, touch 19, flat-footed 20 (+6 armor, +4 deflection, +5 Dex)
hp 174 (15d10+5d6+70)
Fort +18, Ref +17, Will +12; +2 vs. enchantments, +1 vs. fear
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 keen axiomatic shocking burst longsword +24/+19/+14/+9 (1d8+7/17–20)
Ranged ray +22 (by spell)
Special Attacks force missile (9/day), intense spells +2 damage
Spells Prepared (CL 15th)
7th—grasping hand, prismatic spray (DC 23), spell turning
6th—chain lightning (2, DC 22), disintegrate (DC 22), form of the dragon I, greater dispel magic
5th—cone of cold (2, DC 21), polymorph, teleport, wall of force
4th—dimension door, ice storm, stoneskin, wall of fire (2), wall of ice
3rd—dispel magic (2), fireball (4, DC 19), fly (2), haste (2)
2nd—invisibility (2), mirror image, scorching ray (3), see invisibility
1st—magic missile (3), shield (2), true strike (2)
0 (at will)—detect magic, mage hand, mending, ray of frost, read magic
Prohibited Schools: enchantment, necromancy
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 23, Wis 8, Cha 10
Base Atk +17; CMB +19; CMD 38
Feats Arcane Armor Training, Critical Focus, Critical Mastery, Disruptive, Empower Spell, Greater Weapon Focus (longsword), Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Lightning Reflexes, Penetrating Strike (longsword), Power Attack, Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Spellbreaker, Staggering Critical, Tiring Critical, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)
Skills Diplomacy +26, Fly +28, Intimidate +23, Knowledge (arcana) +29, Knowledge (planes) +29, Perception +21, Spellcraft +29, Stealth +25
SQ arcane bond (bat), armor training +1, bravery +1, diverse training, elf blood, spell critical, weapon training (heavy blades +1)
Combat Gear cube of force, potion of cure serious wounds (4), quicken metamagic rod, rod of cancellation, scroll of limited wish (2), staff of evocation, wand of lightning bolt (CL 10, 50 charges); Other Gear +2 keen axiomatic shocking burst longsword, +4 etherealness leather armor, belt of physical perfection +2, boots of teleportation, cloak of resistance +5, hand of glory, headband of vast intelligence +6, orange prism ioun stone, pearl of power (two spells), ring of protection +4, ring of regeneration, ring of wizardry (III), vibrant purple ioun stone (dimension door, shield)
Some highlight notes and changes from the 3.x Eldritch Knight
- Eldritch Knight gains a bonus feat on 1st, 5th and 9th level.
- A 1st level Eldritch Knight gains Diverse Training which allows him to add his Eldritch Knight levels to his wizard and fighter levels for the purpose of determining level to qualify for feats only.
- A 10th level Eldritch Knight gains Spell Critical which allows the Eldritch Knight to cast a spell that targets or include the target into the area of effect as a swift action that does not provoke an AoO on the target that is hit by a critical hit.
- Form of the Dragon I allows the caster to change into a medium-sized dragon of any color which grants its attacks, breath weapon and other resistances or abilities.
- Polymorph allows the caster to become a humanoid, animal or elemental.
- The Arcane Armor Training feat allows the character to spend a swift action to reduce the chance of arcane spell failure by 10%.
- Critical Mastery (a fighter-only feat) allows the character to apply the effects of two critical feats when hitting with a critical hit.
- Staggering Critical causes the target to be staggered. Tiring Critical causes the target to be fatigued.
- The Disruptive feat (fighter-only feat) causes any arcane spellcaster adjacent to the character a +4 to DC when casting defensively.
- Spellbreaker (fighter-only feat) allows the character to make an AoO when an adjacent spellcaster fails a defensive casting check.
- Penetrating Strike (fighter-only feat) allows him to ignore 5 points of DR (except for DR/-) which increases to 10 points with Greater Penetrating Strike (16th level fighter-only feat).
- An Evoker gains Intense Spell at 1st level which gives a bonus to damage spells equal to 1/2 of the wizard level.
- Evokers can also cast Force Missile which acts like Magic Missile, once per turn.
- Half-Elf gives +2 to one ability score of his choice, the Skill Focus feat for free and pick two favored class.
- Ring of Regeneration regains 1 hp per round and makes the character immune to bleeding damage.
Although this preview is all about the Eldritch Knight but I'm more impressed by the fighter-only feats. I'm curious as to what they have done with Polymorph but this preview does not seem forthcoming with the details other than the shapes that the caster is allowed to assume.
After the tidbit from the Wizard preview, I'm quite delighted to see the special abilities that specialist wizards get which seems interesting to play.
Any thoughts on the new Eldritch Knight or feats?
August 4, 2009
Burning Question - What Do You Look Forward to the Most in a New 4E Supplment?
Labels:
4E,
Burning Question
Although splatbooks and supplements are not necessary to run a game but they have been one of the mainstay in the D&D product line, often expanding the horizon of players and DMs to further improve their game. Since the launch of 4E, these are the supplements that have released for DMs and players alike
Players
Each of the player supplements have offered new builds, powers, paragon paths, feats, equipments and the occasional new rules which is mainly mechanics and crunch.
On the other hand, DM supplements are usually packed with useful information that is mostly comprised of fluff, new monsters, ideas and advises for encounters, plot hooks and one or two new features with rules to be implemented into their game.
So this week's Burning Question is;
What Do You Look Forward to the Most in a New 4E Supplement?
Do you prefer new feats over powers? New builds over paragon paths? Or always watch out for any new rules options as a player first?
Similarly, if you are buying a DM supplement what are looking forward first? New fluff about the setting (even those for the generic setting) or new crunchy monsters? Advice and ideas over plot hooks? Or you rather like seeing new rules that you can use or bend to suit your game?
Personally, I prefer DM supplements than player supplements because I'm a fluff addict. I love to read more about my favorite settings and try to devise plot hooks out of them. While I don't mind the occasional advice and ideas, the thing that I look at last are the monsters and new rules.
As a player, the first thing that I'll probably want more is new builds. New rules would probably come second before powers and feats.
Share your comments whether as a player, a DM or both! What do you think makes or breaks the new supplement for you?
Players
- Martial Power
- Arcane Power
- Divine Power
- Adventurer's Vault
- Forgotten Realms Player's Guide
- Eberron Player's Guide
- Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons
- Open Grave
- Manual of the Planes
- Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide
- Eberron Campaign Guide
Each of the player supplements have offered new builds, powers, paragon paths, feats, equipments and the occasional new rules which is mainly mechanics and crunch.
On the other hand, DM supplements are usually packed with useful information that is mostly comprised of fluff, new monsters, ideas and advises for encounters, plot hooks and one or two new features with rules to be implemented into their game.
So this week's Burning Question is;
What Do You Look Forward to the Most in a New 4E Supplement?
Do you prefer new feats over powers? New builds over paragon paths? Or always watch out for any new rules options as a player first?
Similarly, if you are buying a DM supplement what are looking forward first? New fluff about the setting (even those for the generic setting) or new crunchy monsters? Advice and ideas over plot hooks? Or you rather like seeing new rules that you can use or bend to suit your game?
Personally, I prefer DM supplements than player supplements because I'm a fluff addict. I love to read more about my favorite settings and try to devise plot hooks out of them. While I don't mind the occasional advice and ideas, the thing that I look at last are the monsters and new rules.
As a player, the first thing that I'll probably want more is new builds. New rules would probably come second before powers and feats.
Share your comments whether as a player, a DM or both! What do you think makes or breaks the new supplement for you?
August 3, 2009
Questing's Readings - 2/8/09
Labels:
Questing's Readings
July is gone and the month's blog carnival roundup is already up over at 6D6 Fireball where bloggers give their thoughts on all things related with D&D. From how it has change their lives to its well being and the future.
Now we're in August and that can only mean one thing in the gaming world. It is that time of the year where gamers would make their annual gaming pilgrimage to gaming mekkah; GenCon!
In line with this month's major convention, Chgowiz from the Old Guy RPG Blog will be hosting this month's blog carnival with the topic on conventions, Ren Fairs, carnivals and festivals whether in-game or out-of-game.
Readings has been a little slow but this week we've got good posts on worldbuilding, DMing tips and even a useful initiative trackers.
Beneath the Screen
Learn To Say "Yes"
Good advice on how to improvise and how to handle moments when players have derailed your plot. It even mentions a mistake that DMs tend to make to put their players in line.
Dungeon's Master
Condition Tracker
A very simple yet useful initiative and condition tracker pdf to use on your table.
Inkwell Ideas
10 Ways to Vary Your Game World's Cultures
10 aspects of culture for worldbuilders to consider when they are creating a new race or society. It is really a good list of things to consider and it can really differentiate each culture from the next.
GamesTopica.Net
Social Rewards in RPGs
Some thoughts on why social rewards in RPGs are not popular and some ideas on how to implement them mechanically.
Not just in Character, but in Style too
How hard is it to get your players to roleplay the way you want them to so that it suits your campaign genre or style. Is there a way to encourage roleplaying in style.
Mike's Mind
Turn by Turn: IniTracker
An introduction and step-by-step on how to use a free online initiative tracker.
NewbieDM
Beginner tips for effective narration
Some very good advice for DMs who are having trouble with their narration. It even gives you some pointers on what makes an effective narration, what should you describe and what are the common pitfalls that leads to boring or confusing narration.
Sly Flourish
Four Questions with Robin Laws
An interview with Robin Laws asking 4 questions about how he runs his 4E game. He's got some unique and specific advice about running 4E combat and skill challenges.
UncleBear
The Why of Worldbuilding
Why asking yourself questions like an annoying four year old could help create a better world.
Worldbuilding 101: Designing a soundtrack
Uncle Bear giving some great ideas on how to use music in your game for more than just setting the mood for your encounters.
Now we're in August and that can only mean one thing in the gaming world. It is that time of the year where gamers would make their annual gaming pilgrimage to gaming mekkah; GenCon!
In line with this month's major convention, Chgowiz from the Old Guy RPG Blog will be hosting this month's blog carnival with the topic on conventions, Ren Fairs, carnivals and festivals whether in-game or out-of-game.
Readings has been a little slow but this week we've got good posts on worldbuilding, DMing tips and even a useful initiative trackers.
Beneath the Screen
Learn To Say "Yes"
Good advice on how to improvise and how to handle moments when players have derailed your plot. It even mentions a mistake that DMs tend to make to put their players in line.
Dungeon's Master
Condition Tracker
A very simple yet useful initiative and condition tracker pdf to use on your table.
Inkwell Ideas
10 Ways to Vary Your Game World's Cultures
10 aspects of culture for worldbuilders to consider when they are creating a new race or society. It is really a good list of things to consider and it can really differentiate each culture from the next.
GamesTopica.Net
Social Rewards in RPGs
Some thoughts on why social rewards in RPGs are not popular and some ideas on how to implement them mechanically.
Not just in Character, but in Style too
How hard is it to get your players to roleplay the way you want them to so that it suits your campaign genre or style. Is there a way to encourage roleplaying in style.
Mike's Mind
Turn by Turn: IniTracker
An introduction and step-by-step on how to use a free online initiative tracker.
NewbieDM
Beginner tips for effective narration
Some very good advice for DMs who are having trouble with their narration. It even gives you some pointers on what makes an effective narration, what should you describe and what are the common pitfalls that leads to boring or confusing narration.
Sly Flourish
Four Questions with Robin Laws
An interview with Robin Laws asking 4 questions about how he runs his 4E game. He's got some unique and specific advice about running 4E combat and skill challenges.
UncleBear
The Why of Worldbuilding
Why asking yourself questions like an annoying four year old could help create a better world.
Worldbuilding 101: Designing a soundtrack
Uncle Bear giving some great ideas on how to use music in your game for more than just setting the mood for your encounters.
August 2, 2009
Gary Gygax Statue for Lake Geneva
Labels:
News
Gail Gygax, wife of the late E. Gary Gygax will be proposing to the Lake Geneva Park Committee to place a statue of her husband at Library Park in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Gail supposedly had discussed her desires to have a statue of Gygax before his death and wish to turn this dream into a reality.
"Gary gave millions of men and woman a reason to open a book - I discussed my desire for the statue with Gary just before he passed - he was pleased. I hope I can make the project a reality."
Gail will be approaching individuals from the film, computer and gaming industry for the project.
Members of ENWorld, where this news was posted on, have speculations of what the design of the statue should look like.
Taken from this thread.
Gail supposedly had discussed her desires to have a statue of Gygax before his death and wish to turn this dream into a reality.
"Gary gave millions of men and woman a reason to open a book - I discussed my desire for the statue with Gary just before he passed - he was pleased. I hope I can make the project a reality."
Gail will be approaching individuals from the film, computer and gaming industry for the project.
Members of ENWorld, where this news was posted on, have speculations of what the design of the statue should look like.
Do you think a statue of Gygax himself is the best way to immortalize him? How about a statue of an adventuring party, equipped for dungeon exploration? The human in the party could be given Col Pladoh's face.
Come on now, what Gary really deserves is a 25mm lead miniature. I'd buy one of those.
A stone table with Gary seated at it as if DMing would be cool, especially if no one minded groups coming and using the table for games.
If they should base the design of the statue based on [the cover of AD&D First Edition PHB] with Gygax being one of the "thieves" and the idol's eye being a d20.
Taken from this thread.
Word of Wizards - 1/8/09
Labels:
4E,
News,
Word of Wizards
Excerpts from this week shows a couple of new magical weapons suited for the primal classes and a couple of rods useful against undead and formorians from Adventurer's Vault 2.
For miniatures, we get to see the Remorhaz, Adult Brown Dragon, Hezrou and a couple of new draconians and goblins. Although the previews series concludes this week, but watch out for the remaining miniatures from the Legendary Evils set in this month's upcoming Preview for August and Beyond.
The cleric's role as the healer in the party is now but history in 4E. With the recent release of Divine Power, take a look back at the evolution of the cleric through the editions to see what has changed and what has not.
Other than the usual goods, Wizards have also made a couple of announcements.
The winners have been decided for the Don't Split the Party contest which reunites a gaming group that has been playing together since highschool and college but have been separated by circumstances since 1993. Wizards will be awarding them with badges and all expense paid accommodations to this year's GenCon which is happening in August.
The beta version of the D&D Monster Builder is now available to DDI subscribers which allows DMs to access and modify any of the published 2,500 monsters including ones from Monster Manual 2. This tool is the first in an array of future tools from DDI's online D&D Adventure Tools but, unlike the Character Builder, will not have a demo version and is exclusively for anyone with a DDI subscription account.
If you have a copy of Elder Evils, you might want to check out the 4E conversion for the encounters in the book by Wizards which includes a separate pdf for statblocks.
As for the monthly magazine wrap-up, Wizards have posted the art and map galleries for this month's issue of Dungeon and Dragon. One remarkable difference in this month's gallery is that Wizards have included marked and unmarked versions of their maps which is hopefully something that they would continue to do for future issues.
This week's rundown.
Monday (27/7/09)
Adventurer's Vault 2 Excerpts: Weapons
Tuesday (28/7/09)
Legendary Evils Preview 5
Wednesday (29/7/09)
Never Split the Party Contest Winner
4th Edition Conversion: Elder Evils
Dungeon 168 Art Gallery
Dungeon 168 Map Gallery
Thursday (30/7/09)
D&D Monster Builder Beta Launch
Legendary Evils Preview 6
Friday (31/7/09)
D&D Alumni: The Cleric
Dragon 377 Art Gallery
Adventurer's Vault 2 Excerpts: Implements
The editorial calendar for August is out and next week, we'll be seeing more excerpts from Adventurer's Vault 2. Insiders who are also fans of psionics would be delighted to see the Githzerai making its 4E debut as a playable race this coming Monday.
For miniatures, we get to see the Remorhaz, Adult Brown Dragon, Hezrou and a couple of new draconians and goblins. Although the previews series concludes this week, but watch out for the remaining miniatures from the Legendary Evils set in this month's upcoming Preview for August and Beyond.
The cleric's role as the healer in the party is now but history in 4E. With the recent release of Divine Power, take a look back at the evolution of the cleric through the editions to see what has changed and what has not.
Other than the usual goods, Wizards have also made a couple of announcements.
The winners have been decided for the Don't Split the Party contest which reunites a gaming group that has been playing together since highschool and college but have been separated by circumstances since 1993. Wizards will be awarding them with badges and all expense paid accommodations to this year's GenCon which is happening in August.
The beta version of the D&D Monster Builder is now available to DDI subscribers which allows DMs to access and modify any of the published 2,500 monsters including ones from Monster Manual 2. This tool is the first in an array of future tools from DDI's online D&D Adventure Tools but, unlike the Character Builder, will not have a demo version and is exclusively for anyone with a DDI subscription account.
If you have a copy of Elder Evils, you might want to check out the 4E conversion for the encounters in the book by Wizards which includes a separate pdf for statblocks.
As for the monthly magazine wrap-up, Wizards have posted the art and map galleries for this month's issue of Dungeon and Dragon. One remarkable difference in this month's gallery is that Wizards have included marked and unmarked versions of their maps which is hopefully something that they would continue to do for future issues.
This week's rundown.
Monday (27/7/09)
Adventurer's Vault 2 Excerpts: Weapons
Tuesday (28/7/09)
Legendary Evils Preview 5
Wednesday (29/7/09)
Never Split the Party Contest Winner
4th Edition Conversion: Elder Evils
Dungeon 168 Art Gallery
Dungeon 168 Map Gallery
Thursday (30/7/09)
D&D Monster Builder Beta Launch
Legendary Evils Preview 6
Friday (31/7/09)
D&D Alumni: The Cleric
Dragon 377 Art Gallery
Adventurer's Vault 2 Excerpts: Implements
The editorial calendar for August is out and next week, we'll be seeing more excerpts from Adventurer's Vault 2. Insiders who are also fans of psionics would be delighted to see the Githzerai making its 4E debut as a playable race this coming Monday.
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