Thoughts on game philosophy, general geekdom, plot design, and the Dayton area gaming scene. Updating weekly!
Showing posts with label 4th Edition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4th Edition. Show all posts
Thursday, April 26, 2012
In Which The Warlock Watches the Worrisome...
Unfortunately for me, the PlatinumChick got me sick this past weekend, so I've spent the last two days hacking stuff out of my lungs and trying desperately to clear my sinuses clear. But, in the meanwhile, there's been a juicy bit of news launching its way through the various rpg news channels.
You see, after about 8 months after coming aboard the "D&D Next" design group, Monte Cook has announced his impending departure. Mike Mearls' response--ostensibly the Wizards of the Coast 'official' response--came shortly thereafter with a combination of outright shock and distraction technique, as the response contained the official announcement for the public playtest start date: May 24th.
Many have read a good deal into this, particularly given Cook's mention of "not wanting to start drama" and Mearls' seemingly-strange mention that "no one voice can rise above the others, unless it is the voice of D&D fans as a whole". While Cook mentions in a later entry that he had no personal issues with anyone on the design team, the whole situation smacks of corporate apologism and clashing personalities.
What's worse, this bodes incredibly poorly for the upcoming D&D brand. I was quick to criticize WotC's choice to bring Cook aboard in the first place, particularly given the apparent lack of knowledge Cook had regarding 4th Edition. But, as the saying goes, "you don't change horses mid-stream". With Cook's departure, the current design goals likely to be fragmented and internally opposed, for no other reason than, "that was XXXX's idea--I don't like where he's going with that".
I'll readily admit--I've signed up for the 5e/Next open playtest and intend to sit in on at least one game during this year's Origins Game Fair. As much as I hate to say it, people tend to forget that games are a business. And, at that corporate level, publishing has just as many problems as, say, a corporate takeover.
Will we see a coherent edition from D&D Next? Probably.
But, does this sound dark tidings for Wizards of the Coast? Undoubtedly...
Labels:
4th Edition,
D and D Next,
drama,
Dungeon and Dragons,
Playtesting
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Warlock's Review: "Manual of the Planes"
I took a little bit of heat from gaming-buddy Nick, when I didn't update this Sunday, but I wanted to make sure that I had all of my ducks in a row before putting forward this post. Believe it or not, I actually had to do some research for this one.
One of my favorite things regarding the entirety of D&D, since I began playing, has been the cosmological aspect of it. The Great Wheel, in particular, was one of my favorite concepts--the simple idea that there was a verisimilitude within the cosmos, between the various Heavens and Hells out there. Fittingly, one of my favorite campaign settings has been Planescape, with its wacky, Victorian philosophical factions, its plane-hopping nature, and the omnipresent city of Sigil looming overhead.
When 4e came out, I was slightly perturbed that The Great Wheel, a D&D institution since First Edition, went the way of the dodo. In fact, I asked Mike Mearls about this change, last year at Origins, just after 4e's release. While he was not able to give me a whole lot of solace in this regard, I kept an optimistic outlook regarding the new cosmology, and was looking forward to this release greatly.
One of the reasons for my optimism was newness. The Feywild, The Shadowfell, the Elemental Chaos...all of these seemed to reek of the old Modernist adage, "Make it new!" Unfortunately, upon my reading, this seems not to be the case.
Manual of the Planes, in format, is a typical 160 page, full-color, hardcover release from Wizards of the Coast, with all the high quality that comes with it. WotC is the gold standard for book design in the RPG world, and has been since 3e, and nothing has changed here. I could even overlook the reused 3eartwork, if not for a few major sections...
My geek senses kicked off in this regard as I read (ironically enough) the section on Sigil. As I read, I could have sworn that I had read the section before, despite the fact that this was the first read through of 4e's Manual of the Planes that I had done. Then I realized it!
To say the least, I was chagrined. I was promised newness, and this was borderline plagarism. Entire sections of text were copy-pasted, with changes only made to eliminate 3e mechanics. For example, text was copy-pasted on the City of Brass's architecture, but the 4e version is shorter only due to the Planar Handbook's mention of "Continual flame spells"--something that no longer exists in 4e.
Lazy writing aside, I was further surprised by the utterly laziness in design decisions on the creators' choices. The Elemental Chaos was promised to be a "more accessible" elemental plane system, but the only three locations presented therein are ZerthAd'Lun (a githyanki city), the aforementioned City of Brass, and a few Abyssal layers--all of which had seen extensive treatment in prior books, both 3e and 4e. Nothing new.
While I was pleased with the creativity showing in the Feywild section--based around pseudo-Celtic fey courts and the 4 seasons--this pleasure swiftly dimmed in my reading of the following section on the Shadowfell. If you know me at all, you know my games tend towards darker themes (Ravenloft, anyone?), so the idea of the Shadowfell had peaked my interest. However, despite the fact that its chapter is a full page longer than that of the Feywild (16 pages, compared to 15), it includes only 1 locale, and few other stats. Oh, and the Dread Emperor gets a full page...that wonderful throwback to the decidedly mediocre Book of Vile Darkness. Yeech.
There were bright spots in this book, primarily in the new material. The "domain of night", Tytherion, was an intreguing addition, and the inclusion of various fey demesenes were a plus. By and large, though, these areas were hit or miss. Shom, a blinding desert wasteland, is included, but few details are given save that it was once the home of the illumian empire. Were illumians really so popular that they needed a one-page entry? Somehow I doubt it. It would have been nice to see that page, and other wasted space, go towards giving Far Realm (a fan, and personal, favorite) a better treatment--it currently gets 3/4 of a page, with a sidebar on Mak Thuum Ngatha--or, for that matter, a section on Dreamspace or more information on spelljammers, which only get touched on.
Players get a wee bit of material at the end of the book, with a handful of paragon paths based on the planes. However, this chapter feels tacked on, and really brings little to the party in terms of creativity. It feels as if the designers each picked a core class and a plane, then cobbled together a paragon path to combine them. And the Doomguard reference in the fighter entry? It might have been nice had factions actually been discussed in any length in this book, but such was not the case.
All in all, Manual of the Planes is a decidedly mediocre book, made worse by recycled material, a lack of focus, and a dearth of usable campaign hooks and the like. While the Feywild section was strong, it's the lone real jewel in a sea of muddy water. I still love the mechanics of 4e, but right now, the 'fluff' of the system has yet to sell me.
One of my favorite things regarding the entirety of D&D, since I began playing, has been the cosmological aspect of it. The Great Wheel, in particular, was one of my favorite concepts--the simple idea that there was a verisimilitude within the cosmos, between the various Heavens and Hells out there. Fittingly, one of my favorite campaign settings has been Planescape, with its wacky, Victorian philosophical factions, its plane-hopping nature, and the omnipresent city of Sigil looming overhead.
When 4e came out, I was slightly perturbed that The Great Wheel, a D&D institution since First Edition, went the way of the dodo. In fact, I asked Mike Mearls about this change, last year at Origins, just after 4e's release. While he was not able to give me a whole lot of solace in this regard, I kept an optimistic outlook regarding the new cosmology, and was looking forward to this release greatly.
One of the reasons for my optimism was newness. The Feywild, The Shadowfell, the Elemental Chaos...all of these seemed to reek of the old Modernist adage, "Make it new!" Unfortunately, upon my reading, this seems not to be the case.
Manual of the Planes, in format, is a typical 160 page, full-color, hardcover release from Wizards of the Coast, with all the high quality that comes with it. WotC is the gold standard for book design in the RPG world, and has been since 3e, and nothing has changed here. I could even overlook the reused 3eartwork, if not for a few major sections...
My geek senses kicked off in this regard as I read (ironically enough) the section on Sigil. As I read, I could have sworn that I had read the section before, despite the fact that this was the first read through of 4e's Manual of the Planes that I had done. Then I realized it!
the text for Sigil, as well as the City of Brass and several other locations, was taken nearly word for word from 3e's Manual of the Planes and the Planar Handbook
To say the least, I was chagrined. I was promised newness, and this was borderline plagarism. Entire sections of text were copy-pasted, with changes only made to eliminate 3e mechanics. For example, text was copy-pasted on the City of Brass's architecture, but the 4e version is shorter only due to the Planar Handbook's mention of "Continual flame spells"--something that no longer exists in 4e.
Lazy writing aside, I was further surprised by the utterly laziness in design decisions on the creators' choices. The Elemental Chaos was promised to be a "more accessible" elemental plane system, but the only three locations presented therein are ZerthAd'Lun (a githyanki city), the aforementioned City of Brass, and a few Abyssal layers--all of which had seen extensive treatment in prior books, both 3e and 4e. Nothing new.
While I was pleased with the creativity showing in the Feywild section--based around pseudo-Celtic fey courts and the 4 seasons--this pleasure swiftly dimmed in my reading of the following section on the Shadowfell. If you know me at all, you know my games tend towards darker themes (Ravenloft, anyone?), so the idea of the Shadowfell had peaked my interest. However, despite the fact that its chapter is a full page longer than that of the Feywild (16 pages, compared to 15), it includes only 1 locale, and few other stats. Oh, and the Dread Emperor gets a full page...that wonderful throwback to the decidedly mediocre Book of Vile Darkness. Yeech.
There were bright spots in this book, primarily in the new material. The "domain of night", Tytherion, was an intreguing addition, and the inclusion of various fey demesenes were a plus. By and large, though, these areas were hit or miss. Shom, a blinding desert wasteland, is included, but few details are given save that it was once the home of the illumian empire. Were illumians really so popular that they needed a one-page entry? Somehow I doubt it. It would have been nice to see that page, and other wasted space, go towards giving Far Realm (a fan, and personal, favorite) a better treatment--it currently gets 3/4 of a page, with a sidebar on Mak Thuum Ngatha--or, for that matter, a section on Dreamspace or more information on spelljammers, which only get touched on.
Players get a wee bit of material at the end of the book, with a handful of paragon paths based on the planes. However, this chapter feels tacked on, and really brings little to the party in terms of creativity. It feels as if the designers each picked a core class and a plane, then cobbled together a paragon path to combine them. And the Doomguard reference in the fighter entry? It might have been nice had factions actually been discussed in any length in this book, but such was not the case.
All in all, Manual of the Planes is a decidedly mediocre book, made worse by recycled material, a lack of focus, and a dearth of usable campaign hooks and the like. While the Feywild section was strong, it's the lone real jewel in a sea of muddy water. I still love the mechanics of 4e, but right now, the 'fluff' of the system has yet to sell me.
Labels:
4e,
4th Edition,
Dungeons and Dragons,
Manual of the Planes,
Planescape,
Review
Sunday, October 05, 2008
In Which The Warlock Posts Some Character Info...
Well, now that I'm in not one, but two 4e D&D games, I suppose that you might want to hear about them!
I guess I'll start with the Tuesday night game, over at Wittenberg. I'm not hosting the logs here--they'll be hosted at the Wittenberg Role-Playing Game website, here:
The Logs of Gerald Nimbus
As for now, though, here's the background for Gerald Nimbus!
Name: Gerald Nimbus (real last name: Harmattan)
Age: 48
Race: Human
Location: Rawinsonde, a small human hamlet on the eastern continent.
Parents: Garius and Alanna (long since deceased)
Siblings: Cordran (older brother), Maya (younger sister)
Faith: Believer in the ancient spirits (primordials), whom were defeated by the gods. Reveres Ras Shamra (the Great Eye in the Storm), but fears Ithaqua (the Walker of the Frozen Wastes).
Fav. Food: Caraway and Fennel-crusted loin of lamb, served over risotto. Red wine is a must.
Pastimes: Meteorology, rain-making, storm-chasing, oil painting.
Party Role: Crowd control, multi-target damage, ritual usage.
Strengths: High Intelligence, knowledge skills, ability to inflict status effects.
Weaknesses: Middling Defenses, relatively low HP, lack of social skills (cha-based)
Background:
Gerald Harmattan was born in the small town of Rawinsonde, an isolated village that continued to worship the Primordials—beings of great power and might—well after they were defeated by the current pantheon of gods. While several attempts were made by the current churches—most notably the faiths of Corellon and Pelor—the natives drove them out, in favor of their own rites.
Gerald’s arcane abilities came into shape at the hands of Frau Hedda, an ancient crone and hedge witch, who followed the chaotic primordial Ras Shamra, better known as the Great Eye in the Storm. Hedda instilled in Gerald a firm belief that the future could be controlled and manipulated through the pure energy of a natural thunderstorm. As such, she began instructing him in storm magic—how to bring peaceful rain to those who were allied with you, while raining ice, lightning, and blasts of thunder upon those who dared slight you.
After Frau Hedda died, Gerald left Rawinsonde for points unknown. He had attempted to join a mercenary company—the Black Freighter—as a warmage, but his habits of storm-watching and the like earned him the company’s ire, and he left after his first 6 month campaign.
Instead, Gerald teamed up with an adventuring troupe known as the Emerald Eyes of Ekron. They traveled together for nearly 8 years, defeating several menaces, including a hobgoblin horde which Gerald very nearly decimated singlehandedly. However, as the group spent their night and spoils in a roadside inn, a storm brewed up. Gerald immediately went out into it to read the skies. Coming back in minutes later, he announced his retirement from the group, and left without further word. As it turned out, less than 3 days later, the Emerald Eyes were slain to the last man. Gerald then joined up with another group, the Phantom Riders. They too, were slain mysteriously after Gerald left. Again, their deaths came scant days after Gerald retired from the group, following a severe storm.
Gerald has only recently come across this adventuring group, and has been troubled deeply by his joining. Under the advice of one of the Phantom Riders—an elven scout named Caylen, who may be one of the few females Gerald could be said to have loved—he has taken up oil painting. However, the pictures have taken on a disturbing turn—one of great tempests and swirling bodies in the void…as a blizzard-bound behemoth with coal-red eyes looks on. The figure could only be Ithaqua…the long-dead spirit of frost that forever challenges Ras Shamra for the right to the stormy chariot.
Typically, Gerald gets along best with those adventurers who use their brain. Rogues and the like tend to get along with him well, as they use their wits to survive, as do more intelligent fighters and warlords. While not a traditionally “tactical” mind, Gerald’s time in the Black Freighter mercenary company has given him a rudimentary knowledge of squad-level strategy. Concurrently, Gerald typically butts heads with divinely powered warriors—clerics and paladins—believing them to follow false powers into acts of ignorance and zealotry, such as the conversion attempts on Rawinsonde.
As with his prior groups, Gerald has a tendency to freak out his companions with his bizarre behaviors during storms and the like. However, his storm-reveries often lead him towards great insights and prophecies as he “looks into the eye of Ras Shamra for wisdom”. This, coupled with his more-and-more disturbing oil paintings leads many casual observers to believe he’s insane. However, those who actually get to know Gerald—perhaps by sitting down and having a glass of wine with him—will soon learn otherwise.
Gerald often wonders about his former comrades, particularly Caylen. While he knows what the storm-reveries have shown him, he cannot help but hold out hope that she may somewhere be alive.
I guess I'll start with the Tuesday night game, over at Wittenberg. I'm not hosting the logs here--they'll be hosted at the Wittenberg Role-Playing Game website, here:
The Logs of Gerald Nimbus
As for now, though, here's the background for Gerald Nimbus!
Name: Gerald Nimbus (real last name: Harmattan)
Age: 48
Race: Human
Location: Rawinsonde, a small human hamlet on the eastern continent.
Parents: Garius and Alanna (long since deceased)
Siblings: Cordran (older brother), Maya (younger sister)
Faith: Believer in the ancient spirits (primordials), whom were defeated by the gods. Reveres Ras Shamra (the Great Eye in the Storm), but fears Ithaqua (the Walker of the Frozen Wastes).
Fav. Food: Caraway and Fennel-crusted loin of lamb, served over risotto. Red wine is a must.
Pastimes: Meteorology, rain-making, storm-chasing, oil painting.
Party Role: Crowd control, multi-target damage, ritual usage.
Strengths: High Intelligence, knowledge skills, ability to inflict status effects.
Weaknesses: Middling Defenses, relatively low HP, lack of social skills (cha-based)
Background:
Gerald Harmattan was born in the small town of Rawinsonde, an isolated village that continued to worship the Primordials—beings of great power and might—well after they were defeated by the current pantheon of gods. While several attempts were made by the current churches—most notably the faiths of Corellon and Pelor—the natives drove them out, in favor of their own rites.
Gerald’s arcane abilities came into shape at the hands of Frau Hedda, an ancient crone and hedge witch, who followed the chaotic primordial Ras Shamra, better known as the Great Eye in the Storm. Hedda instilled in Gerald a firm belief that the future could be controlled and manipulated through the pure energy of a natural thunderstorm. As such, she began instructing him in storm magic—how to bring peaceful rain to those who were allied with you, while raining ice, lightning, and blasts of thunder upon those who dared slight you.
After Frau Hedda died, Gerald left Rawinsonde for points unknown. He had attempted to join a mercenary company—the Black Freighter—as a warmage, but his habits of storm-watching and the like earned him the company’s ire, and he left after his first 6 month campaign.
Instead, Gerald teamed up with an adventuring troupe known as the Emerald Eyes of Ekron. They traveled together for nearly 8 years, defeating several menaces, including a hobgoblin horde which Gerald very nearly decimated singlehandedly. However, as the group spent their night and spoils in a roadside inn, a storm brewed up. Gerald immediately went out into it to read the skies. Coming back in minutes later, he announced his retirement from the group, and left without further word. As it turned out, less than 3 days later, the Emerald Eyes were slain to the last man. Gerald then joined up with another group, the Phantom Riders. They too, were slain mysteriously after Gerald left. Again, their deaths came scant days after Gerald retired from the group, following a severe storm.
Gerald has only recently come across this adventuring group, and has been troubled deeply by his joining. Under the advice of one of the Phantom Riders—an elven scout named Caylen, who may be one of the few females Gerald could be said to have loved—he has taken up oil painting. However, the pictures have taken on a disturbing turn—one of great tempests and swirling bodies in the void…as a blizzard-bound behemoth with coal-red eyes looks on. The figure could only be Ithaqua…the long-dead spirit of frost that forever challenges Ras Shamra for the right to the stormy chariot.
Typically, Gerald gets along best with those adventurers who use their brain. Rogues and the like tend to get along with him well, as they use their wits to survive, as do more intelligent fighters and warlords. While not a traditionally “tactical” mind, Gerald’s time in the Black Freighter mercenary company has given him a rudimentary knowledge of squad-level strategy. Concurrently, Gerald typically butts heads with divinely powered warriors—clerics and paladins—believing them to follow false powers into acts of ignorance and zealotry, such as the conversion attempts on Rawinsonde.
As with his prior groups, Gerald has a tendency to freak out his companions with his bizarre behaviors during storms and the like. However, his storm-reveries often lead him towards great insights and prophecies as he “looks into the eye of Ras Shamra for wisdom”. This, coupled with his more-and-more disturbing oil paintings leads many casual observers to believe he’s insane. However, those who actually get to know Gerald—perhaps by sitting down and having a glass of wine with him—will soon learn otherwise.
Gerald often wonders about his former comrades, particularly Caylen. While he knows what the storm-reveries have shown him, he cannot help but hold out hope that she may somewhere be alive.
Labels:
4th Edition,
Character Bio,
Dungeons and Dragons
Sunday, September 21, 2008
In Which The Warlock Gains a New Form of Geekdom...
In all my years of gaming--since about 6th grade, all be told--I've never been that high on using miniatures. Truth be told, I never really had the money for it. Out of all the friends that I played table-top D&D with, my family was the poorest. As such, I couldn't exactly just ask my parents to plop down much needed cash for little plastic or lead-based army men.
So, we improvised. We used our imaginations. We fudged things. Who cared if you were 5 feet away, if it meant laying the smackdown on the big nasty?! The focus was on the drama, the action, the combat.
However, I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something. Minis were the unknown territory for me...and while I suppose I feigned disinterest, I've always been intregued by them, whether ogling the massive battle set-ups at Origins or watching the Warhammer 40k battles at WittCon II. And now with 4e out there? It was time to make a switch in perspective.
So, I finally gave in. The PlatinumChick has always liked minis-painting, and I had even gotten her a quality set of paints for her birthday this past August. As such, when this past Wittenberg Game Day arrived, and there were few takers for most of the games, I decided to give the painting gig a go.
Now, mind you, I'm horrible at art. Completely. My stick figures come out lopsided. But, for whatever reason, I was actually able to put together a few satisfactory efforts.
I started with an elven archer--Jathalain, for those of you that read the Saltmarsh Diaries, and then moved onto a massive skeleton, and then rounded out my evening by working on a blackguard fig I had picked up more recently.
Overall, things didn't turn out too badly. Our brushes weren't always cooperative--particularly the fine detail brush, which was bent to at least a 60 degree angle--and the number of times I had to re-do certain sections was incalculable, but the end results were more than satisfactory.
The level of strain and the like, though, is massive, and it makes me all the more impressed with the wargaming-minis crowd, who put together massive armies in no time at all. I got a headache partway through painting the giant skeleton, and decided to stop and play a quick game of Yetisburg (yes, that's spelled right, and don't try to tell me there weren't Yetis and War Mammoths at Pickett's Charge).
Pics will be forthcoming, once the PlatinumChick fixes my now-broken camera. Grrr...
So, we improvised. We used our imaginations. We fudged things. Who cared if you were 5 feet away, if it meant laying the smackdown on the big nasty?! The focus was on the drama, the action, the combat.
However, I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something. Minis were the unknown territory for me...and while I suppose I feigned disinterest, I've always been intregued by them, whether ogling the massive battle set-ups at Origins or watching the Warhammer 40k battles at WittCon II. And now with 4e out there? It was time to make a switch in perspective.
So, I finally gave in. The PlatinumChick has always liked minis-painting, and I had even gotten her a quality set of paints for her birthday this past August. As such, when this past Wittenberg Game Day arrived, and there were few takers for most of the games, I decided to give the painting gig a go.
Now, mind you, I'm horrible at art. Completely. My stick figures come out lopsided. But, for whatever reason, I was actually able to put together a few satisfactory efforts.
I started with an elven archer--Jathalain, for those of you that read the Saltmarsh Diaries, and then moved onto a massive skeleton, and then rounded out my evening by working on a blackguard fig I had picked up more recently.
Overall, things didn't turn out too badly. Our brushes weren't always cooperative--particularly the fine detail brush, which was bent to at least a 60 degree angle--and the number of times I had to re-do certain sections was incalculable, but the end results were more than satisfactory.
The level of strain and the like, though, is massive, and it makes me all the more impressed with the wargaming-minis crowd, who put together massive armies in no time at all. I got a headache partway through painting the giant skeleton, and decided to stop and play a quick game of Yetisburg (yes, that's spelled right, and don't try to tell me there weren't Yetis and War Mammoths at Pickett's Charge).
Pics will be forthcoming, once the PlatinumChick fixes my now-broken camera. Grrr...
Labels:
4th Edition,
Dungeons and Dragons,
Miniatures,
painting
Monday, September 01, 2008
In Which The Warlock Fails to Deliver a Climax...
So, our much lauded Dark Heresy game has reached its end. And, if I may say so, it was something of a letdown.
I often joke with my players about my record of PK-ing. To say the least, I have a pretty lethal record in my games. To my credit, prior to Friday, I've only had one "true" TPK--one of my Ravenloft games, during college. Sure, my one-shots typically end out with a higher-than-average body count, but in campaign terms, there's generally a pretty high success rate.
As such, my joking was taken in stride as I set up a massive map of a quarantined morgue that the characters were set to investigate. I had anticipated that, if I was in fact going to kill them that night, it would probably be in there, fighting Daemons. Instead, they died in a car crash.
Let me set the stage for you, O Gentle Reader. Fred's Guardsman, Karn (better known as Karnnold, when he's talking like the svelte Austrian), has all of two actual skills to his credit--Drive Land Vehicle and Survival. So, Fred jumps on any opportunity to use these skills with both feet. Figuring that Drive might be useful here, I ask him for a Drive check, thinking that a success would lead them straight to the morgue without incident, while a massive failure might lead them through ganger territory.
Massive failure ensues. The characters start noticing thugs, armed with miniguns and the like, start to surround their ground transport.
Now, Chris, playing the Imperial Psyker Sigismund, works the same way as Fred...only he has psychic powers. He immediately jumps into action by casting Aura of Fear. He succeeds in high style, forcing a Willpower save from everyone around him--including the party, locked in the transport with him.
At this point, I should note that Nick's Cleric (the leader of the group), has a Willpower score of something close to 60.
Massive failure ensues. While Jule's Scum and Karn succeeds, both Will's Psyker and Nick's Cleric fail. They watch as phantasmal insects and snakes stream out Sigismund's mouth and start covering the floor and walls of the transport. Nick, notably freaked out, attempts to shoulder-block open the back hatch...and succeeds with a critical success.
With Nick's cleric now rolling on the ground, and the door flapping open, I immediately ask for a Drive roll from Fred to keep control of the vehicle.
Massive failure ensues, again. The transport ends up clipping a light pole on the passenger side and another Drive roll is asked for.
Yeah, you guessed it. Massive failure and all that jazz. The transport bounces off of the light pole and swings, ass-end first, into a nearby bar, croweded with patrons. The transport catches on fire, and everyone takes (as I roll) 30 damage.
Let me enlighten something right here. Dark Heresy isn't quite like D&D in terms of hit points. In DH, 8 points is a severe wound, and 12-15 wounds will take you right out of the fight and make you a greasy smear. 30 damage? They're cleaning you up with a sponge and a mop.
As such, it's Game Over. As the players found out, Imperial Planet Scintilla is later destroyed by the Tyrant Star, summoned by their mysterious decohedron.
And now? Well, it seems that my campaign world might just be getting some exercise. Jules has volunteered to start up a 6th level 4e game, using my world, and we spent the rest of the session writing up characters. My Dwarven Rogue is ready to jump into action!
I often joke with my players about my record of PK-ing. To say the least, I have a pretty lethal record in my games. To my credit, prior to Friday, I've only had one "true" TPK--one of my Ravenloft games, during college. Sure, my one-shots typically end out with a higher-than-average body count, but in campaign terms, there's generally a pretty high success rate.
As such, my joking was taken in stride as I set up a massive map of a quarantined morgue that the characters were set to investigate. I had anticipated that, if I was in fact going to kill them that night, it would probably be in there, fighting Daemons. Instead, they died in a car crash.
Let me set the stage for you, O Gentle Reader. Fred's Guardsman, Karn (better known as Karnnold, when he's talking like the svelte Austrian), has all of two actual skills to his credit--Drive Land Vehicle and Survival. So, Fred jumps on any opportunity to use these skills with both feet. Figuring that Drive might be useful here, I ask him for a Drive check, thinking that a success would lead them straight to the morgue without incident, while a massive failure might lead them through ganger territory.
Massive failure ensues. The characters start noticing thugs, armed with miniguns and the like, start to surround their ground transport.
Now, Chris, playing the Imperial Psyker Sigismund, works the same way as Fred...only he has psychic powers. He immediately jumps into action by casting Aura of Fear. He succeeds in high style, forcing a Willpower save from everyone around him--including the party, locked in the transport with him.
At this point, I should note that Nick's Cleric (the leader of the group), has a Willpower score of something close to 60.
Massive failure ensues. While Jule's Scum and Karn succeeds, both Will's Psyker and Nick's Cleric fail. They watch as phantasmal insects and snakes stream out Sigismund's mouth and start covering the floor and walls of the transport. Nick, notably freaked out, attempts to shoulder-block open the back hatch...and succeeds with a critical success.
With Nick's cleric now rolling on the ground, and the door flapping open, I immediately ask for a Drive roll from Fred to keep control of the vehicle.
Massive failure ensues, again. The transport ends up clipping a light pole on the passenger side and another Drive roll is asked for.
Yeah, you guessed it. Massive failure and all that jazz. The transport bounces off of the light pole and swings, ass-end first, into a nearby bar, croweded with patrons. The transport catches on fire, and everyone takes (as I roll) 30 damage.
Let me enlighten something right here. Dark Heresy isn't quite like D&D in terms of hit points. In DH, 8 points is a severe wound, and 12-15 wounds will take you right out of the fight and make you a greasy smear. 30 damage? They're cleaning you up with a sponge and a mop.
As such, it's Game Over. As the players found out, Imperial Planet Scintilla is later destroyed by the Tyrant Star, summoned by their mysterious decohedron.
And now? Well, it seems that my campaign world might just be getting some exercise. Jules has volunteered to start up a 6th level 4e game, using my world, and we spent the rest of the session writing up characters. My Dwarven Rogue is ready to jump into action!
Monday, July 28, 2008
In Which The Warlock Updates Randomly and Catches Up With the GrimDark...
I received a complaint recently from fellow Witt-Wegger Nick that I haven't talked much about our weekly Dark Heresy game on here. He's been really excited about his Cleric, who's become the de-facto party leader, and I've been so wrapped up with Origins and searching for a new job that I really haven't had the time to devote to the GrimDark of the far future.
So, Nick, this one's for you.
When we last blogged of our intrepid adventurers, they had managed to crash-land the ruined hulk of the Emperor's Ship Persephone on the planet Scintilla, capital planet of the Calixis sector. They were arrested almost immediately by the Adeptes Arbites, but were shortly sprung by High Inquisitor Globus Varaak--a mechanized husk of a corpulent man, who ran the library-fortress of the Tyrantine Cabal Inquisition.
Varaak immediately took on the group as his new Acolytes and set them about the task of finding out exactly why the Persephone crashed. This led first to the still-flaming, charred ruins of the ship in order to retrieve the logs of the late Captain Nestor Sammael. Sammael's log did little to build their confidence in their former captain, but it did provide several leads and the names of the bridge staff...the most intreguing being High Enginseer Praxilus, one of the Red Priests of the Machine God.
Having seen a red-robed figure escaping the ship as they were arrested, the Acolytes immediately turned to Hive Tarsus' temple to the Machine Lord to find out information. There, they not only found Praxilus, who was in a massive underground foundary, building new weapons for himself, but also a quest to seek out a missing tech priest--Iacton--who had disappeared into the northern wastes along the route of the walking city of Ambulon. After confronting Praxilus, the Enginseer provided him with his encrypted vox recorder, which included his own ship's log, then left for parts unknown.
Tracking Iacton through the wastes proved difficult, but the Acolytes soon found their way exploring a short cavern complex beneath Iacton's desert manor. Breaking into the manor, they soon found that Iacton was not all he seemed to be--using forbidden texts and heretical knowledge, the tech-priest was building himself an insectoid carapace in devotion to Nurgle, the Chaos-Lord of Flies. Terminating Iacton with extreme prejudice, the investigators found themselves in possession on a strange black gem, which radiated warp energy.
Upon returning to Varaak's fortress, our heroes found the Cabal in chaos. After debriefing, they soon found out that a high-ranking mole in the Adeptus Mechanicus was eliminated. Worrying that Iacton was the aforementioned mole, they reported on their activities, but were shocked to learn that the mole was a completely different tech priest.
After hacking into Praxilus' vox, our heroes did their best to piece together their new leads, and began investigating a new tech priest that had emerged--Praxilus' second-in-command Walpurgis. However, more successful avenues lead them to dig out Incarceratrix Cainye (and her relationship with First Mate Acutus), as well as an Adeptus Arbites Lieutenent who had gone through Academy alongside Comptroller Xephyron. Gaining the favor of two feuding Arbites Lieutenants, the group found themselves in possession of the necessary warrants to investigate the quarantined morgue where the found bodies from the Persephone were being kept. With that, the mystery continues next month...
Oh, and on a random note--Laura (of Life is Not Boring and Reviewing Everything)--nominated me for a blogging award! Thankee, Laura!
Oh, and on one more note--I've stared playing in a 4e game! Lionel has started us off at first level, in the 4e intro adventure "Keep on the Shadowfell". I'm now currently playing Ignatius, a rather anti-social Dwarven Warlock who holds a pact with Dispater, Lord of the Second and Master of the Iron Tower. With luck, our party will make it through the kobold defenders and win the day!
So, Nick, this one's for you.
When we last blogged of our intrepid adventurers, they had managed to crash-land the ruined hulk of the Emperor's Ship Persephone on the planet Scintilla, capital planet of the Calixis sector. They were arrested almost immediately by the Adeptes Arbites, but were shortly sprung by High Inquisitor Globus Varaak--a mechanized husk of a corpulent man, who ran the library-fortress of the Tyrantine Cabal Inquisition.
Varaak immediately took on the group as his new Acolytes and set them about the task of finding out exactly why the Persephone crashed. This led first to the still-flaming, charred ruins of the ship in order to retrieve the logs of the late Captain Nestor Sammael. Sammael's log did little to build their confidence in their former captain, but it did provide several leads and the names of the bridge staff...the most intreguing being High Enginseer Praxilus, one of the Red Priests of the Machine God.
Having seen a red-robed figure escaping the ship as they were arrested, the Acolytes immediately turned to Hive Tarsus' temple to the Machine Lord to find out information. There, they not only found Praxilus, who was in a massive underground foundary, building new weapons for himself, but also a quest to seek out a missing tech priest--Iacton--who had disappeared into the northern wastes along the route of the walking city of Ambulon. After confronting Praxilus, the Enginseer provided him with his encrypted vox recorder, which included his own ship's log, then left for parts unknown.
Tracking Iacton through the wastes proved difficult, but the Acolytes soon found their way exploring a short cavern complex beneath Iacton's desert manor. Breaking into the manor, they soon found that Iacton was not all he seemed to be--using forbidden texts and heretical knowledge, the tech-priest was building himself an insectoid carapace in devotion to Nurgle, the Chaos-Lord of Flies. Terminating Iacton with extreme prejudice, the investigators found themselves in possession on a strange black gem, which radiated warp energy.
Upon returning to Varaak's fortress, our heroes found the Cabal in chaos. After debriefing, they soon found out that a high-ranking mole in the Adeptus Mechanicus was eliminated. Worrying that Iacton was the aforementioned mole, they reported on their activities, but were shocked to learn that the mole was a completely different tech priest.
After hacking into Praxilus' vox, our heroes did their best to piece together their new leads, and began investigating a new tech priest that had emerged--Praxilus' second-in-command Walpurgis. However, more successful avenues lead them to dig out Incarceratrix Cainye (and her relationship with First Mate Acutus), as well as an Adeptus Arbites Lieutenent who had gone through Academy alongside Comptroller Xephyron. Gaining the favor of two feuding Arbites Lieutenants, the group found themselves in possession of the necessary warrants to investigate the quarantined morgue where the found bodies from the Persephone were being kept. With that, the mystery continues next month...
Oh, and on a random note--Laura (of Life is Not Boring and Reviewing Everything)--nominated me for a blogging award! Thankee, Laura!
Oh, and on one more note--I've stared playing in a 4e game! Lionel has started us off at first level, in the 4e intro adventure "Keep on the Shadowfell". I'm now currently playing Ignatius, a rather anti-social Dwarven Warlock who holds a pact with Dispater, Lord of the Second and Master of the Iron Tower. With luck, our party will make it through the kobold defenders and win the day!
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Origins 2008 Blog! Post-Con Wrap-Up...
Whew.
That’s about my whole mentality right now. Origins is a ton of fun, but it’s a massively exhausting venture. Now that I’ve finally gotten a chance to sit down and relax, I feel like I can give a little bit of a retrospective.
• I may have been a little too virulent in my distaste for the RPGA. While I’ve had quite a few bad experiences in the “Living” games, my game this year—“Return to the Moathouse”—was a really pleasant surprise. The other players, there, were a generally jovial group who really knew their game. I was a touch frustrated at the general lack of roleplaying, but it was really nice to see the tactical rules in action. I know that it’s a con game, so you typically get one or the other, but I may have to give the RPGA a second shot, now that we’re in 4e.
• 4e is a fantastic little system, but it definitely is going to require some changes to the way I game. I really like the speed of the rules, as well as the simplicity on the DMing end, but the way that combat is currently situated, it definitively needs a battlemap. My purchases, as I’ll talk a little bit later, kinda reflect that. That said, it really fosters imagination in terms of rituals and the like, which makes DMing authentic. I love it, but it’s going to take some changing on my end.
• I really should have had a little more variety in terms of my gaming. While all of my games were really well put together, I feel like I spent Origins playing the same things over and over—-WEGS, D&D, Dark Heresy, and Call of Cthulhu. Not that any of those are bad, but trying out some new things is all about what Origins is. I was somewhat jealous of Jules’ schedule, which had a fantastic variety. Her Saturday game alone—a d20 Modern conversion of the classic 2e D&D adventure “Expedition to the Barrier Peaks” was a unique little throwback. Lionel, as well, had a varied schedule, with a ton of new boardgames and the like. My schedule was fantastic, but was really very vanilla. Next year? Some spice!
• Late nights make for early-morning killers. The idea of playing Dungeon Slam! with El Willy and his crew has been a long time in coming, but doing it at 1:30 in the morning? Not such a great idea. Same thing with the Friday Midnight Session of WEGS…playing a game until 3:00 am utterly leaves you devastated the next day, no matter how late you sleep in. I was utterly astounded that so many of our little group wanted to play in a 2:00 am Mutant Academy game—luckily for them (sort of), it was cancelled, as the GM never showed.
• The gaming industry is really one of friendliness, across the board. All of the designers I’ve been able to meet—El Willy, Steve Jackson (last year), Mike Mearls, Michelle Nephew, Curt Covert—have been absolutely fantastic and completely receptive. Talking shop with Curt was an absolute pleasure, and gave me some solid ideas on how to change things. It’s Michelle, though, that’s given me the most to think about. I’m not a big note-taker, but I ended up with 5 pages of notes. And because of this…
• I have a ton of work to do on Dungeon Slam! A ton. That’s not even putting it mildly. I was somewhat embarrassed as the cards for the demo on Wednesday night were messy and hard to read, with all of the hand-written revisions I’ve made. Michelle had said that, when submitting to a company you want your product to be “as neat and as professional as possible, without spending”. The next few months are going to be hectic, as I keep working on DS 3.5e.
That’s about my whole mentality right now. Origins is a ton of fun, but it’s a massively exhausting venture. Now that I’ve finally gotten a chance to sit down and relax, I feel like I can give a little bit of a retrospective.
• I may have been a little too virulent in my distaste for the RPGA. While I’ve had quite a few bad experiences in the “Living” games, my game this year—“Return to the Moathouse”—was a really pleasant surprise. The other players, there, were a generally jovial group who really knew their game. I was a touch frustrated at the general lack of roleplaying, but it was really nice to see the tactical rules in action. I know that it’s a con game, so you typically get one or the other, but I may have to give the RPGA a second shot, now that we’re in 4e.
• 4e is a fantastic little system, but it definitely is going to require some changes to the way I game. I really like the speed of the rules, as well as the simplicity on the DMing end, but the way that combat is currently situated, it definitively needs a battlemap. My purchases, as I’ll talk a little bit later, kinda reflect that. That said, it really fosters imagination in terms of rituals and the like, which makes DMing authentic. I love it, but it’s going to take some changing on my end.
• I really should have had a little more variety in terms of my gaming. While all of my games were really well put together, I feel like I spent Origins playing the same things over and over—-WEGS, D&D, Dark Heresy, and Call of Cthulhu. Not that any of those are bad, but trying out some new things is all about what Origins is. I was somewhat jealous of Jules’ schedule, which had a fantastic variety. Her Saturday game alone—a d20 Modern conversion of the classic 2e D&D adventure “Expedition to the Barrier Peaks” was a unique little throwback. Lionel, as well, had a varied schedule, with a ton of new boardgames and the like. My schedule was fantastic, but was really very vanilla. Next year? Some spice!
• Late nights make for early-morning killers. The idea of playing Dungeon Slam! with El Willy and his crew has been a long time in coming, but doing it at 1:30 in the morning? Not such a great idea. Same thing with the Friday Midnight Session of WEGS…playing a game until 3:00 am utterly leaves you devastated the next day, no matter how late you sleep in. I was utterly astounded that so many of our little group wanted to play in a 2:00 am Mutant Academy game—luckily for them (sort of), it was cancelled, as the GM never showed.
• The gaming industry is really one of friendliness, across the board. All of the designers I’ve been able to meet—El Willy, Steve Jackson (last year), Mike Mearls, Michelle Nephew, Curt Covert—have been absolutely fantastic and completely receptive. Talking shop with Curt was an absolute pleasure, and gave me some solid ideas on how to change things. It’s Michelle, though, that’s given me the most to think about. I’m not a big note-taker, but I ended up with 5 pages of notes. And because of this…
• I have a ton of work to do on Dungeon Slam! A ton. That’s not even putting it mildly. I was somewhat embarrassed as the cards for the demo on Wednesday night were messy and hard to read, with all of the hand-written revisions I’ve made. Michelle had said that, when submitting to a company you want your product to be “as neat and as professional as possible, without spending”. The next few months are going to be hectic, as I keep working on DS 3.5e.
Labels:
4th Edition,
Dungeon Slam,
Dungeons and Dragons,
Origins,
RPGA
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Origins Blog 2008! Entry Four
Alert! Blog Entries this week were written one week prior, on Saturday, June 28!
Whew. Origins is winding down, and the Witt-Weggers’ trip out here is about to come to a close. We head out tomorrow morning, to head home and actually get some sleep for once!
After El Willy’s Midnight Madness game, I got only about 4 hours of sleep before waking up (an hour early! Gah!) for my two seminars of the convention. The first was more of an informative session, dealing specifically with the ins and outs of getting a game published with a small-press. Michelle Nephew was particularly informative, and the setting was really casual. I took something like 5 pages of notes, and am slowly realizing that my game needs a ton of revisions—time to get back after the playtesting!
The second seminar, on 4e with Mike Mearls, was really a pleasant indulgence. Mearls really is a receptive guy, who knows his audience in and out. He was eager to ask just about any question we put to him, which was nice, as I was really curious to see his input on the new cosmology. While I still miss my beloved Great Wheel, I can see why the design team went the way they did—the idea being that, if you’re going for a setting-less game, why include a specific setting to muck things up? Again, Mearls was really a stand-up guy, and I was lucky enough to get to thank him for the earlier (near?) encounter over with Amorphous Blob.

A very sleep deprived Andy, with Mike Mearls, creator of D&D 4th Edition
Meeting up with Lionel after the game (and a purchase of Hex Hex, from Smirk and Dagger), we swiftly tried to make it over to North Market to grab some lunch…only to be interrupted by Columbus’s Annual Pride Day Parade. Thwarted by fate, we settled for the overpriced convention center food and relaxed with Jules and Ebbs while playing the aforementioned Hex Hex.

The Columbus Pride Day Parade...keeping us from North Market!
We did manage some time at the dealer-room today, which was fantastic, as I was able to finalize my purchases. More on those in a later entry.
Dinner came swiftly, and along with it came Lionel’s parents and cousin, in from New Jersey. As such, we headed to Buca di Beppo, a homestyle Italian chain.
Let me tell you this. I don’t think the ball of pasta that was my Gnocci de Telefone will ever leave my stomach. The walk back was hard enough. Making it to our final game—“Fallen Angels” done in Dark Heresy—will be just as big a challenge.

Lionel and Ebbs around the table, in the GrimDark of the far future...
With that, I’m out! Our happy next entry will be from the wondrous comfort of our apartment, as I wrap-up my con coverage and this year’s purchases.
Whew. Origins is winding down, and the Witt-Weggers’ trip out here is about to come to a close. We head out tomorrow morning, to head home and actually get some sleep for once!
After El Willy’s Midnight Madness game, I got only about 4 hours of sleep before waking up (an hour early! Gah!) for my two seminars of the convention. The first was more of an informative session, dealing specifically with the ins and outs of getting a game published with a small-press. Michelle Nephew was particularly informative, and the setting was really casual. I took something like 5 pages of notes, and am slowly realizing that my game needs a ton of revisions—time to get back after the playtesting!
The second seminar, on 4e with Mike Mearls, was really a pleasant indulgence. Mearls really is a receptive guy, who knows his audience in and out. He was eager to ask just about any question we put to him, which was nice, as I was really curious to see his input on the new cosmology. While I still miss my beloved Great Wheel, I can see why the design team went the way they did—the idea being that, if you’re going for a setting-less game, why include a specific setting to muck things up? Again, Mearls was really a stand-up guy, and I was lucky enough to get to thank him for the earlier (near?) encounter over with Amorphous Blob.
A very sleep deprived Andy, with Mike Mearls, creator of D&D 4th Edition
Meeting up with Lionel after the game (and a purchase of Hex Hex, from Smirk and Dagger), we swiftly tried to make it over to North Market to grab some lunch…only to be interrupted by Columbus’s Annual Pride Day Parade. Thwarted by fate, we settled for the overpriced convention center food and relaxed with Jules and Ebbs while playing the aforementioned Hex Hex.
The Columbus Pride Day Parade...keeping us from North Market!
We did manage some time at the dealer-room today, which was fantastic, as I was able to finalize my purchases. More on those in a later entry.
Dinner came swiftly, and along with it came Lionel’s parents and cousin, in from New Jersey. As such, we headed to Buca di Beppo, a homestyle Italian chain.
Let me tell you this. I don’t think the ball of pasta that was my Gnocci de Telefone will ever leave my stomach. The walk back was hard enough. Making it to our final game—“Fallen Angels” done in Dark Heresy—will be just as big a challenge.
Lionel and Ebbs around the table, in the GrimDark of the far future...
With that, I’m out! Our happy next entry will be from the wondrous comfort of our apartment, as I wrap-up my con coverage and this year’s purchases.
Labels:
4th Edition,
Dark Heresy,
Dungeons and Dragons,
Hex Hex,
North Market,
Origins
Monday, June 30, 2008
Origins 2008 Blog! Entry Two
Alert! Blog entries this week were written one week prior, on Thursday, June 26!
Last year, I promised myself that I wouldn’t wake up so damned early for games. That…well, doesn’t seem to be the problem. Last night was a long one, and after today’s sessions, I’m utterly bushed!

Burn the heathens! In the name of the Emperor!
Dark Heresy last night was an absolutely pleasant surprise. I had somewhat been expecting something of a heavily tactical, minis-driven firefight, but the investigation elements of DH really came to the fore. Playing a Tech-Priest for the first time, as well, proved to be interesting, particularly when I managed huge successes on Tech-Use when trying to open our “mysterious device” and access its contents.

The mysterious device...oooh!

The device finally opens!
The highlight of DH, though, was Ebbs’ transformation: using his Psyker’s “Firestorm” ability, he rolled heftily on the warp chart…and became a Daemonhost! The game ended with him annihilating most of the party in warp-flame, amidst much Chaos. Tons of fun, all around.

Guess who likes the warp effect chart!

Tech-Priest Celadon stays to the rear...
From the end of DH, Lionel and Ebbs retired, as Dan and Jules joined me in waiting for El Willy and his crew for some Dungeon Slam! Only problem was…we didn’t count on the tornado! Herded by security, we were herded into the lower levels of the convention center where we waited out the storm.

"Dungeon Slam!" at Origins 2008

Watching the chaos as the WegsHogz throw down...

Turning the tables on Jules and the WegsHogz
By the time El Willy and his crew wrapped up, it was nearly 2:00 am, so our session with the Mad Mage was an utterly short one. I do think, though, that a reprinting will soon be in order—my cards are getting pretty well marked up!

"So, let's add that Luck bonus in..."

The Mad Mage's tower is tiring at 3 am!
The morning today began with a quick breakfast with a compadre from Wright State’s Adventurers’ Guild and a trip off to play Hell Rails. Unfortunately, I was the only player! As such, the organizers sidled me into a game of Union Pacific—a rather bland, PvP railroading game. I ended up winning the game, but I felt like it had much less to do with strategy and much more to do with simple utter luck of the draw.
Immediately thereafter, I trucked on over to the Rogue Cthulhu room for Beyond the Sea, a 1960s investigation, where I played Police Detective Dom “The Bug” Coccinello, who was looking into some mysterious murders surrounding a new casino opening. I love the style of the Rogue Cthulhu games, and this was no exception.

The Rogue Cthulhu Banner

The Great Cthulhu rises from the RC room floor!
Our GM—an old vet, Jennifer—ran us through a fantastic story, which ended in full Cthulhian style…with my character insane, and his private eye counterpart both insane and dead (by my hand, no less!). Fantastic session, made only better by the familiar Rogue Cthulhu faces.

"How much Sanity am I losing?"

Smiles from the Rogue Cthulhu game--"Beyond the Sea"

"We're stranded, going crazy, and probably going to die...there's nothing like Call of Cthulhu!"
Dinner was rushed, though I can’t help but mention North Market. It’s so easy to get sick of the fast food in the Convention Center Food Court, and the freshness at the Market is such a wonderful difference. I was running pretty ragged by the end of CoC, so a quick curry was really refreshing for me, before heading back to Hommlet in 4e.

Dan, Rachel, and Emily in the dealer room

Andy and Dan, being fabulous

The crew at North Market--Dan, Emily, Maranda, Lionel, Ebbs, and Rachel
After my earlier difficulties with the RPGA, I wasn’t sure what to expect with Return to the Moathouse, since it was being coordinated by the same people. That said, my first impressions of the game soon dissipated as we delved into a new version of the Temple of Elemental Evil’s Moathouse. The throwback was really fantastic, and the guys around the table were much more sociable than the last RPGA group that I had run with at Origins. I did feel a tic out of touch—all but one of the other players was from the Arlington area, in Texas—the jokes were flying and good tactical suggestions were offered on all sides. I’m not sure if this will cause me to re-evaluate my feelings on the RPGA—there’s still way too much paperwork and bureaucracy—but it’s a start, at least.

Fireball!
That said, playing my Tiefling Wizard was an utter blast, and my earlier opinion on 4e stood up to a higher-level game. Flaming Sphere is sheer fun, rolling around a boulder of fire across the battlefield, running over enemies. Brilliance!
As for tonight, I’m ready for a long nap. I feel like I have a long day tomorrow, with two games of WEGS (including the Friday Midnight Special!) and another Rogue Cthulhu journey, but I’m not the only one. Within two hours, Dan, Maranda, Rachel, and Ebbs head off to Mutant Academy…from 2:00 am till 5:30! Oi! They’re troopers…I’ll be sleeping by then.

Lionel feverishly sorts his new cards
Till tomorrow, fellow gamers…stay tuned!
Last year, I promised myself that I wouldn’t wake up so damned early for games. That…well, doesn’t seem to be the problem. Last night was a long one, and after today’s sessions, I’m utterly bushed!
Burn the heathens! In the name of the Emperor!
Dark Heresy last night was an absolutely pleasant surprise. I had somewhat been expecting something of a heavily tactical, minis-driven firefight, but the investigation elements of DH really came to the fore. Playing a Tech-Priest for the first time, as well, proved to be interesting, particularly when I managed huge successes on Tech-Use when trying to open our “mysterious device” and access its contents.
The mysterious device...oooh!
The device finally opens!
The highlight of DH, though, was Ebbs’ transformation: using his Psyker’s “Firestorm” ability, he rolled heftily on the warp chart…and became a Daemonhost! The game ended with him annihilating most of the party in warp-flame, amidst much Chaos. Tons of fun, all around.
Guess who likes the warp effect chart!
Tech-Priest Celadon stays to the rear...
From the end of DH, Lionel and Ebbs retired, as Dan and Jules joined me in waiting for El Willy and his crew for some Dungeon Slam! Only problem was…we didn’t count on the tornado! Herded by security, we were herded into the lower levels of the convention center where we waited out the storm.
"Dungeon Slam!" at Origins 2008
Watching the chaos as the WegsHogz throw down...
Turning the tables on Jules and the WegsHogz
By the time El Willy and his crew wrapped up, it was nearly 2:00 am, so our session with the Mad Mage was an utterly short one. I do think, though, that a reprinting will soon be in order—my cards are getting pretty well marked up!
"So, let's add that Luck bonus in..."
The Mad Mage's tower is tiring at 3 am!
The morning today began with a quick breakfast with a compadre from Wright State’s Adventurers’ Guild and a trip off to play Hell Rails. Unfortunately, I was the only player! As such, the organizers sidled me into a game of Union Pacific—a rather bland, PvP railroading game. I ended up winning the game, but I felt like it had much less to do with strategy and much more to do with simple utter luck of the draw.
Immediately thereafter, I trucked on over to the Rogue Cthulhu room for Beyond the Sea, a 1960s investigation, where I played Police Detective Dom “The Bug” Coccinello, who was looking into some mysterious murders surrounding a new casino opening. I love the style of the Rogue Cthulhu games, and this was no exception.
The Rogue Cthulhu Banner
The Great Cthulhu rises from the RC room floor!
Our GM—an old vet, Jennifer—ran us through a fantastic story, which ended in full Cthulhian style…with my character insane, and his private eye counterpart both insane and dead (by my hand, no less!). Fantastic session, made only better by the familiar Rogue Cthulhu faces.
"How much Sanity am I losing?"
Smiles from the Rogue Cthulhu game--"Beyond the Sea"
"We're stranded, going crazy, and probably going to die...there's nothing like Call of Cthulhu!"
Dinner was rushed, though I can’t help but mention North Market. It’s so easy to get sick of the fast food in the Convention Center Food Court, and the freshness at the Market is such a wonderful difference. I was running pretty ragged by the end of CoC, so a quick curry was really refreshing for me, before heading back to Hommlet in 4e.
Dan, Rachel, and Emily in the dealer room
Andy and Dan, being fabulous
The crew at North Market--Dan, Emily, Maranda, Lionel, Ebbs, and Rachel
After my earlier difficulties with the RPGA, I wasn’t sure what to expect with Return to the Moathouse, since it was being coordinated by the same people. That said, my first impressions of the game soon dissipated as we delved into a new version of the Temple of Elemental Evil’s Moathouse. The throwback was really fantastic, and the guys around the table were much more sociable than the last RPGA group that I had run with at Origins. I did feel a tic out of touch—all but one of the other players was from the Arlington area, in Texas—the jokes were flying and good tactical suggestions were offered on all sides. I’m not sure if this will cause me to re-evaluate my feelings on the RPGA—there’s still way too much paperwork and bureaucracy—but it’s a start, at least.
Fireball!
That said, playing my Tiefling Wizard was an utter blast, and my earlier opinion on 4e stood up to a higher-level game. Flaming Sphere is sheer fun, rolling around a boulder of fire across the battlefield, running over enemies. Brilliance!
As for tonight, I’m ready for a long nap. I feel like I have a long day tomorrow, with two games of WEGS (including the Friday Midnight Special!) and another Rogue Cthulhu journey, but I’m not the only one. Within two hours, Dan, Maranda, Rachel, and Ebbs head off to Mutant Academy…from 2:00 am till 5:30! Oi! They’re troopers…I’ll be sleeping by then.
Lionel feverishly sorts his new cards
Till tomorrow, fellow gamers…stay tuned!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Origins Blog 2008! Entry One
ALERT! Blog entries this week were written one week prior, on Wednesday, June 25
After a long and chaotic Tuesday, we arrived at Origins around 6:30. Lionel, Ebbs, and the gang had already signed into the rooms and had gotten registered, so the PlatinumChick and I were running behind, picking up our badges that evening and all but collapsing on Ebbs and Co.’s floor.

The Entry to Origins at the Greater Columbus Convention Center

The Wednesday Registration Line--Glad that we avoided this!
Wednesday, though, has had me up early—my first game of the con: none other than 4e D&D, in a revamped run-through of “Keep on the Borderlands”, courtesy of Amorphous Blob games. Having not had a chance to play 4e yet (or, for that matter, play with the AB group!), this was quite the opportunity.

"Keep on the Borderlands" with DM Andy
And, speaking of, it very nearly became something quite memorable. As we were sitting down, reading through our pre-gens, who showed up but Mike Mearls—senior brand manager for 4e! Because of the game, I didn’t get a chance to speak with him (nuts!), but the people who were there on generics really got a treat—noting the lack of DMs, and the number of wanting players, Mr. Mearls sat down and started rolling up an adventure for them! Man alive! Nothing like getting kicked out of a game, only to pick up another one with the creator of the bloody game!
I was honestly really impressed with that. As not only a busy lead designer and an Origins Guest of Honor, Mearls was probably busy beyond belief, but the fact that he’d set aside some time for people he’d never met, who weren’t even registered for a game in the first place really speaks to his character. Kudos to him.

"More bandits, eh?

"Attack!"
As for 4e? The system sparkles. I ended up playing a female tiefling warlord—Rubella—who was nothing short of a combination of Miss Piggy and Red Sonja. Because of this, I ended up spending most of the session hitting on the poor fellow playing the hunky half-elf cleric! Luckily he (and the rest of the group, as well!) were good-humored sports, and the role-playing was taken with the humor with which it was intended. Anyone who says you can’t role-play in 4e is sadly mistaken—it’s all in how you use the system.

Rubella's ready for action!"
Speaking of, the fun just kept rolling. Every round, I felt like I could do something where I could contribute—whether it was just providing an ‘Inspiring Word’ to heal a comrade (or myself, after nearly being taken down by a kobold!) or moving comrades around the battlefield with Wolf Pack Tactics. The system transition, which was something I had worried about, was all but nil; the powers were easy to pick up and just as easy to use.

The party skirmishes with some kobolds..."

"Are we really sure about this?"
Surprisingly enough, I was shocked to see that Amorphous Blob had their own prize table, much like Rogue Cthulhu last year…and even more so, when my fellow gamers nominated me to pick something out. I came away from my first game at Origins 2008 with a free copy of Mutants and Masterminds 2e, free of charge! Not a bad deal!
I left AB Games just in time to catch up with the rest of the Witt-Weggers en route to their Call of Cthulhu game, and left them to catch some lunch, luckily with Scott from Wright State’s Adventurer’s Guild. Scott and I chewed the fat about his own D&D PvP event here at Origins, then parted ways as he headed off for registration.
After a filling dinner with the Witt-Weggers at BD’s Mongolian BBQ, we were lucky enough to run into El Willy and his crew, just about to head to dinner. That saved us a call, as we were able to set up our plans to test Dungeon Slam! later tonight, after El Willy’s game!
Well, with that, I have to get prepped for some Dark Heresy, and then get primed to lay the smackdown on the WegsHogz in DS. There’s more to come, cats and kittens! Stay tuned!
After a long and chaotic Tuesday, we arrived at Origins around 6:30. Lionel, Ebbs, and the gang had already signed into the rooms and had gotten registered, so the PlatinumChick and I were running behind, picking up our badges that evening and all but collapsing on Ebbs and Co.’s floor.
The Entry to Origins at the Greater Columbus Convention Center
The Wednesday Registration Line--Glad that we avoided this!
Wednesday, though, has had me up early—my first game of the con: none other than 4e D&D, in a revamped run-through of “Keep on the Borderlands”, courtesy of Amorphous Blob games. Having not had a chance to play 4e yet (or, for that matter, play with the AB group!), this was quite the opportunity.
"Keep on the Borderlands" with DM Andy
And, speaking of, it very nearly became something quite memorable. As we were sitting down, reading through our pre-gens, who showed up but Mike Mearls—senior brand manager for 4e! Because of the game, I didn’t get a chance to speak with him (nuts!), but the people who were there on generics really got a treat—noting the lack of DMs, and the number of wanting players, Mr. Mearls sat down and started rolling up an adventure for them! Man alive! Nothing like getting kicked out of a game, only to pick up another one with the creator of the bloody game!
I was honestly really impressed with that. As not only a busy lead designer and an Origins Guest of Honor, Mearls was probably busy beyond belief, but the fact that he’d set aside some time for people he’d never met, who weren’t even registered for a game in the first place really speaks to his character. Kudos to him.
"More bandits, eh?
"Attack!"
As for 4e? The system sparkles. I ended up playing a female tiefling warlord—Rubella—who was nothing short of a combination of Miss Piggy and Red Sonja. Because of this, I ended up spending most of the session hitting on the poor fellow playing the hunky half-elf cleric! Luckily he (and the rest of the group, as well!) were good-humored sports, and the role-playing was taken with the humor with which it was intended. Anyone who says you can’t role-play in 4e is sadly mistaken—it’s all in how you use the system.
Rubella's ready for action!"
Speaking of, the fun just kept rolling. Every round, I felt like I could do something where I could contribute—whether it was just providing an ‘Inspiring Word’ to heal a comrade (or myself, after nearly being taken down by a kobold!) or moving comrades around the battlefield with Wolf Pack Tactics. The system transition, which was something I had worried about, was all but nil; the powers were easy to pick up and just as easy to use.
The party skirmishes with some kobolds..."
"Are we really sure about this?"
Surprisingly enough, I was shocked to see that Amorphous Blob had their own prize table, much like Rogue Cthulhu last year…and even more so, when my fellow gamers nominated me to pick something out. I came away from my first game at Origins 2008 with a free copy of Mutants and Masterminds 2e, free of charge! Not a bad deal!
I left AB Games just in time to catch up with the rest of the Witt-Weggers en route to their Call of Cthulhu game, and left them to catch some lunch, luckily with Scott from Wright State’s Adventurer’s Guild. Scott and I chewed the fat about his own D&D PvP event here at Origins, then parted ways as he headed off for registration.
After a filling dinner with the Witt-Weggers at BD’s Mongolian BBQ, we were lucky enough to run into El Willy and his crew, just about to head to dinner. That saved us a call, as we were able to set up our plans to test Dungeon Slam! later tonight, after El Willy’s game!
Well, with that, I have to get prepped for some Dark Heresy, and then get primed to lay the smackdown on the WegsHogz in DS. There’s more to come, cats and kittens! Stay tuned!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
In Which The Warlock Jumps The Gun (and Possibly The Shark)...
I've genuinely been debating on whether or not to do this. After receiving the books last Friday, I've been reading through the 4e core books, but have not (alas! alack!) been able to put together a game with the Witt-Weggers. As such, the opinion on them is still somewhat unformed.
Right now, I'm sure that very few people (relatively speaking) in the roleplaying world have actually played 4e. Many have, no doubt about that, but with the two mega-cons still coming up and the books only (officially) a week old, it's really difficult to provide an intelligent, well-researched review.
However, I'm a geek. One with regular Internet access, no less! Opinions are getting tossed back and forth like cannonballs across the D&D blogosphere....boy, now that's a phrase I never thought I'd type. People on ENWorld are very 4e friendly, already building fan creations and running play-by-post games. Paizo, on the other hand, has become a refuge for 3e grognard-ism, with some waiting for their Pathfinder release and others swearing that they'll never switch editions.
And me? Well, I'm here...waiting for Origins, for my big shot to play. But, in the meanwhile, I guess I'll give my two copper, as usual.
Let me put this out there, nice and clearly: This is only a "first impressions" review. This is in no way a playtest review. I have not yet played 4e, and all opinions that I'm about to divulge are based only on having read the books. Take that as you will.
Okay, legal-ese out of the way, here we go!
When 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons was announced, I was genuinely pissed off. I had a feeling it was coming--rumors had abounded about delays in Wizards of the Coast's product schedule and gaps in their release dates, but little was certain. When their site went all "4 Adventure!" during their stint at Gen Con, "my doom was nigh!" as I tell the wee ones at Summit.
If you've been reading this blog at all--you few, pathetic souls that do--you know I've been on the fence for a while. Well, based on actually sitting down and reading the books, I've finally picked a side--if 4e plays out half as good as it looks to, I won't be playing 3.5e again for a long, long time.
While 3.5 revolutionized the way that D&D worked, streamlining it in ways that were unfathomable to even the most veteran game designers, it seemed to be a victim of its own success. Simply the idea of a unified dice mechanic (d20 + ability + training vs. Difficulty Class) brought the whole gaming culture under its wing. Yes, others have done it before, but this is D&D we're talking about--it's so head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of sales, that they're not even on the same chart!
The problem with that with the streamlining came massive discrepencies. While 3e was massively playtested (with incredibly positive results), later products were put out with much less playtesting, including entire new rulesets which did not always mesh well with the model 3.5e was putting forth. The Psionics rules, as well as the rules set down in Tome of Magic come immediately to mind.
In addition, 3.5e was very much centered around optimization--regardless of what you did, you wanted your character to be "Teh Best Evar!" at it. As such, we saw builds arise that utterly defied logic. One of my biggest complaints about the D&D play at Origins last year--particularly through the RPGA--is that it utterly rewarded those who min/maxed their little hearts out. The guy playing a Str 22 Half-Orc Rogue/Fighter, comes to mind, particularly as he utterly demolished my Str 16 Paladin, wielding a polearm. Don't even get me started on any magic users--particularly clerics and druids, who were known to beat other classes at their own schtick without even trying.
But, that was 3e. This is 4e.
4e took a somewhat radical approach in deciding "Hey, wait a minute. D&D is meant to be a party-style game. How about we focus on a group, rather than each individual in the group?" As such, they finally took the veils off of their readers and gave each class a "role". Fighters and Paladins are "Defenders," for example--their role is to soak up hits that others can't take, deal moderate damage in melee, and provide a central point for others to move around.
Simple thinking, I know, but it sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. With all of the optimized builds out there in 3e, the idea of "what you're supposed to be doing to help the guys around you" got utterly lost. Did you hear about the charging paladin that could deal 16x his Strength mod on a lance-Power Attacked-Charge? Yeah...no more of that.
The decision to drop half-orcs and gnomes as races didn't quite bother me so much, though I was disappointed to not see Orcs as a fundamental player race. Dragonborn, though I loathe to write this, aren't really that bad, though the Tieflings seem somewhat out of place in what's supposed to be a "points of light" setting where civilization has been living in fear of demons and the like. That said, they are still a breath of fresh air into a particularly run of the mill set.
I was pleased to see that no race gets penalties to stats any longer--I can't count how many times that -Cha penalty has hurt my ideas for a Dwarven Paladin or Sorcerer. No more!
Classes are much the same, and I was not sad to see Bard go the way of the dodo. Seriously...bards? Little sing-y lute-players? This is a dungeon, man! Give me something serious!
Replacing Bards are the Warlords, martial captains based on the 3e idea of the Marshal. He fulfills the "leader" role, along with the cleric, as a light tank who buffs the party and can provide healing. Curious about this class, with which I had no prior experience, having not purchased the 3.5 Miniatures Handbook, I statted one up--as written, the idea is particularly unique. My warlord is particularly good at granting extra movement to allies, temporary hit points, and can trigger "healing surges" in a pinch, allowing allies to heal themselves.
Accompanying the Warlord (and replacing the Sorcerer, who is set to come out in a later supplement) is the Warlock, complete with 3 types of pacts--fae (from the realm of Faerie), infernal (typical deal with the devil), and star (holy Cthulhu, Batman!). Curious about this one, as well, I immediately statted up a warlock, as well. Ironically, this may in fact be my favorite class so far--the simple fact that I can drive foes insane by flinging them into Ry'leh (or whatever the D&Dism that matches it is) makes me a happy person.
Something new this time around is the idea that every class has "powers", which is peeled right from the earlier 3.5e release (and 4e harbinger) Book of Nine Swords. While I had feared that this might give a little more of the kung-fu flavor found in Bo9S, I was pleased to see that this wasn't the case. Rather...
No more do we have Wizards who can annihilate the battlefield in 2 rounds, then have to rest to refresh their spell slots. Similarly, no more do we have a Fighter or Paladin who's stuck with his +1 Longbow at 21st level, simply because the enemy's flying. While having a hard and fast limit on abilities seems somewhat contradictory to choice, the ability to retrain powers and feats at each level allows for customizability options par excellence. Find your group doesn't benefit from that one encounter-power? Change it out for something different next level. It's that simple.
I realize this post is starting run long (really long! oi!), so I'll highlight the next few important issues very briefly:
1) The skill system has been massively overhauled and is much simpler. The skill list is fully 1/4 of what it used to be in 3.5, which is spectacular. The skill challenge system, as put down in the DMG provides for great non-combat encounters that are still challenging for players.
2) CR, for all intents and purposes, has been scrapped. Instead, we get an even more customizable system--simply pick the level of encounter you want, and you get an XP budget based on the number of players you have. Buy the monsters you want, and let it rip. Simple, streamlined, and easy to keep track of.
3) Monsters are cool again. While they've dropped much of the "ecology" section, it's been replaced with combat advice and restructured versions of several monsters, which keeps them viable at multiple degrees of play--called in 4e "tiers". I will admit, the Monster Manual has been the least favorite of my new reading material, but it's had to compete with the PH, which is no easy task.
4) The amount of bookkeeping, overall, is much, much lower. The conditions chart, which was 4 pages long an edition ago, now takes up 2/3 of a page. The combat rules, which were a massive section in 3e, is maybe half of the size. The massive amounts of "out of combat" spells that were in every supplement--they're rituals now, and much easier to deal with.
5) Yeah, no more Great Wheel. :( Maybe they'll have a Planescape setting come out sometime...
6) 4e's tactical and movement focus seems to heavily push the battlemat. Then again, the same thing was said about 3.0 and 3.5e when they came out. That said, 4e makes me want to use a battlemat. That's saying something, considering that I've been gaming for 15 odd years with only sparing use of one. The abilities in terms of terrain and movement just seem to mesh with it so well, particularly as a DM.
I guess, all told, my verdict is massively positive. The things that drove me nuts about 3.5e--the prep time, the massive stat blocks, the rules bloat--have all been tossed out the window. That said, 4e really reminds me--bear with me here!--of WEGS! Simple, quick character creation...powers for every character...tactical combat...Eerily similar, no? Now, if only I could find some time to play!!!
Right now, I'm sure that very few people (relatively speaking) in the roleplaying world have actually played 4e. Many have, no doubt about that, but with the two mega-cons still coming up and the books only (officially) a week old, it's really difficult to provide an intelligent, well-researched review.
However, I'm a geek. One with regular Internet access, no less! Opinions are getting tossed back and forth like cannonballs across the D&D blogosphere....boy, now that's a phrase I never thought I'd type. People on ENWorld are very 4e friendly, already building fan creations and running play-by-post games. Paizo, on the other hand, has become a refuge for 3e grognard-ism, with some waiting for their Pathfinder release and others swearing that they'll never switch editions.
And me? Well, I'm here...waiting for Origins, for my big shot to play. But, in the meanwhile, I guess I'll give my two copper, as usual.
Let me put this out there, nice and clearly: This is only a "first impressions" review. This is in no way a playtest review. I have not yet played 4e, and all opinions that I'm about to divulge are based only on having read the books. Take that as you will.
Okay, legal-ese out of the way, here we go!
When 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons was announced, I was genuinely pissed off. I had a feeling it was coming--rumors had abounded about delays in Wizards of the Coast's product schedule and gaps in their release dates, but little was certain. When their site went all "4 Adventure!" during their stint at Gen Con, "my doom was nigh!" as I tell the wee ones at Summit.
If you've been reading this blog at all--you few, pathetic souls that do--you know I've been on the fence for a while. Well, based on actually sitting down and reading the books, I've finally picked a side--if 4e plays out half as good as it looks to, I won't be playing 3.5e again for a long, long time.
While 3.5 revolutionized the way that D&D worked, streamlining it in ways that were unfathomable to even the most veteran game designers, it seemed to be a victim of its own success. Simply the idea of a unified dice mechanic (d20 + ability + training vs. Difficulty Class) brought the whole gaming culture under its wing. Yes, others have done it before, but this is D&D we're talking about--it's so head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of sales, that they're not even on the same chart!
The problem with that with the streamlining came massive discrepencies. While 3e was massively playtested (with incredibly positive results), later products were put out with much less playtesting, including entire new rulesets which did not always mesh well with the model 3.5e was putting forth. The Psionics rules, as well as the rules set down in Tome of Magic come immediately to mind.
In addition, 3.5e was very much centered around optimization--regardless of what you did, you wanted your character to be "Teh Best Evar!" at it. As such, we saw builds arise that utterly defied logic. One of my biggest complaints about the D&D play at Origins last year--particularly through the RPGA--is that it utterly rewarded those who min/maxed their little hearts out. The guy playing a Str 22 Half-Orc Rogue/Fighter, comes to mind, particularly as he utterly demolished my Str 16 Paladin, wielding a polearm. Don't even get me started on any magic users--particularly clerics and druids, who were known to beat other classes at their own schtick without even trying.
But, that was 3e. This is 4e.
4e took a somewhat radical approach in deciding "Hey, wait a minute. D&D is meant to be a party-style game. How about we focus on a group, rather than each individual in the group?" As such, they finally took the veils off of their readers and gave each class a "role". Fighters and Paladins are "Defenders," for example--their role is to soak up hits that others can't take, deal moderate damage in melee, and provide a central point for others to move around.
Simple thinking, I know, but it sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. With all of the optimized builds out there in 3e, the idea of "what you're supposed to be doing to help the guys around you" got utterly lost. Did you hear about the charging paladin that could deal 16x his Strength mod on a lance-Power Attacked-Charge? Yeah...no more of that.
The decision to drop half-orcs and gnomes as races didn't quite bother me so much, though I was disappointed to not see Orcs as a fundamental player race. Dragonborn, though I loathe to write this, aren't really that bad, though the Tieflings seem somewhat out of place in what's supposed to be a "points of light" setting where civilization has been living in fear of demons and the like. That said, they are still a breath of fresh air into a particularly run of the mill set.
I was pleased to see that no race gets penalties to stats any longer--I can't count how many times that -Cha penalty has hurt my ideas for a Dwarven Paladin or Sorcerer. No more!
Classes are much the same, and I was not sad to see Bard go the way of the dodo. Seriously...bards? Little sing-y lute-players? This is a dungeon, man! Give me something serious!
Replacing Bards are the Warlords, martial captains based on the 3e idea of the Marshal. He fulfills the "leader" role, along with the cleric, as a light tank who buffs the party and can provide healing. Curious about this class, with which I had no prior experience, having not purchased the 3.5 Miniatures Handbook, I statted one up--as written, the idea is particularly unique. My warlord is particularly good at granting extra movement to allies, temporary hit points, and can trigger "healing surges" in a pinch, allowing allies to heal themselves.
Accompanying the Warlord (and replacing the Sorcerer, who is set to come out in a later supplement) is the Warlock, complete with 3 types of pacts--fae (from the realm of Faerie), infernal (typical deal with the devil), and star (holy Cthulhu, Batman!). Curious about this one, as well, I immediately statted up a warlock, as well. Ironically, this may in fact be my favorite class so far--the simple fact that I can drive foes insane by flinging them into Ry'leh (or whatever the D&Dism that matches it is) makes me a happy person.
Something new this time around is the idea that every class has "powers", which is peeled right from the earlier 3.5e release (and 4e harbinger) Book of Nine Swords. While I had feared that this might give a little more of the kung-fu flavor found in Bo9S, I was pleased to see that this wasn't the case. Rather...
...in 4e you get a unified progression of powers that all classes are able to follow, which keeps the classes balanced against one another in terms of ability.
No more do we have Wizards who can annihilate the battlefield in 2 rounds, then have to rest to refresh their spell slots. Similarly, no more do we have a Fighter or Paladin who's stuck with his +1 Longbow at 21st level, simply because the enemy's flying. While having a hard and fast limit on abilities seems somewhat contradictory to choice, the ability to retrain powers and feats at each level allows for customizability options par excellence. Find your group doesn't benefit from that one encounter-power? Change it out for something different next level. It's that simple.
I realize this post is starting run long (really long! oi!), so I'll highlight the next few important issues very briefly:
1) The skill system has been massively overhauled and is much simpler. The skill list is fully 1/4 of what it used to be in 3.5, which is spectacular. The skill challenge system, as put down in the DMG provides for great non-combat encounters that are still challenging for players.
2) CR, for all intents and purposes, has been scrapped. Instead, we get an even more customizable system--simply pick the level of encounter you want, and you get an XP budget based on the number of players you have. Buy the monsters you want, and let it rip. Simple, streamlined, and easy to keep track of.
3) Monsters are cool again. While they've dropped much of the "ecology" section, it's been replaced with combat advice and restructured versions of several monsters, which keeps them viable at multiple degrees of play--called in 4e "tiers". I will admit, the Monster Manual has been the least favorite of my new reading material, but it's had to compete with the PH, which is no easy task.
4) The amount of bookkeeping, overall, is much, much lower. The conditions chart, which was 4 pages long an edition ago, now takes up 2/3 of a page. The combat rules, which were a massive section in 3e, is maybe half of the size. The massive amounts of "out of combat" spells that were in every supplement--they're rituals now, and much easier to deal with.
5) Yeah, no more Great Wheel. :( Maybe they'll have a Planescape setting come out sometime...
6) 4e's tactical and movement focus seems to heavily push the battlemat. Then again, the same thing was said about 3.0 and 3.5e when they came out. That said, 4e makes me want to use a battlemat. That's saying something, considering that I've been gaming for 15 odd years with only sparing use of one. The abilities in terms of terrain and movement just seem to mesh with it so well, particularly as a DM.
I guess, all told, my verdict is massively positive. The things that drove me nuts about 3.5e--the prep time, the massive stat blocks, the rules bloat--have all been tossed out the window. That said, 4e really reminds me--bear with me here!--of WEGS! Simple, quick character creation...powers for every character...tactical combat...Eerily similar, no? Now, if only I could find some time to play!!!
Sunday, June 08, 2008
In Which The Warlock Enjoys 4e!
Well, friends and neighbors, I've made my decision. 4e rocks on toast. The problems found so frequently in 3e--the rules bloat, the necessity of prestige classes, the bizarre feat trees and prerequisites--are gone. Classes are but perfectly balanced, and I'll be happy to play any of them. I still miss things like the Great Wheel and the like, but the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.
So, on that note, here's a eulogy for the fallen system...
Friends, Gamers, geeks, lend me your ears;
I come to bury 3e, not to praise it.
The evil of any edition lives after it;
The good is oft interred with its bones;
So let it be with 3e. The noble designers
Hath told you 3e was broken:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath 3e answer'd it.
Here, under leave of WotC and the rest--
For WotC is an honourable corporation;
So are all the designers, all honourable men--
Come I to speak in 3e's funeral.
It was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But the designers says it was broken;
And WotC is an honourable corporation.
3e hath brought many joyous nights in dank basements
With many an orc slain and princess rescued:
Did in this 3e seem broken?
When with a character concept you were so inspired, 3e did abide:
The meaning of broken should be more closely defined:
Yet WotC says 3e was broken;
And WotC is an honourable corporation.
You all have rolled dozens of characters if not more,
With profession, craft, and knowledge skills,
Each character having his own alignment : was this broken?
Yet WotC says 3e was broken;
And, sure, it is an honourable corporation.
I speak not to disprove what WotC spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love 3e once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for it?
O Player base! thou art fleeting to a new edition,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with 3e,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
I can't (and won't!) take credit for this great transciption--it's from a guy named “ElDragon”, found on ENWorld.
So, on that note, here's a eulogy for the fallen system...
Friends, Gamers, geeks, lend me your ears;
I come to bury 3e, not to praise it.
The evil of any edition lives after it;
The good is oft interred with its bones;
So let it be with 3e. The noble designers
Hath told you 3e was broken:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath 3e answer'd it.
Here, under leave of WotC and the rest--
For WotC is an honourable corporation;
So are all the designers, all honourable men--
Come I to speak in 3e's funeral.
It was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But the designers says it was broken;
And WotC is an honourable corporation.
3e hath brought many joyous nights in dank basements
With many an orc slain and princess rescued:
Did in this 3e seem broken?
When with a character concept you were so inspired, 3e did abide:
The meaning of broken should be more closely defined:
Yet WotC says 3e was broken;
And WotC is an honourable corporation.
You all have rolled dozens of characters if not more,
With profession, craft, and knowledge skills,
Each character having his own alignment : was this broken?
Yet WotC says 3e was broken;
And, sure, it is an honourable corporation.
I speak not to disprove what WotC spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love 3e once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for it?
O Player base! thou art fleeting to a new edition,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with 3e,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
I can't (and won't!) take credit for this great transciption--it's from a guy named “ElDragon”, found on ENWorld.
In Which The Warlock Finds a Lost Post!
(Note--This was actually set to be posted right before 4e came out, but somehow got lost in Blogger somehow! Weirdness! At any rate, here's some humor for ya!)
It's official--The Warlock is changing over to 4e. The system just drips systematic coolness, and the streamlining efforts that were made have paid off in dividends. There are still some problems, but by and large, the difficulties made present by 3e are all but gone.
In light of this, here's a eulogy!
Friends, Gamers, geeks, lend me your ears;
I come to bury 3e, not to praise it.
The evil of any edition lives after it;
The good is oft interred with its bones;
So let it be with 3e. The noble designers
Hath told you 3e was broken:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath 3e answer'd it.
Here, under leave of WotC and the rest--
For WotC is an honourable corporation;
So are all the designers, all honourable men--
Come I to speak in 3e's funeral.
It was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But the designers says it was broken;
And WotC is an honourable corporation.
3e hath brought many joyous nights in dank basements
With many an orc slain and princess rescued:
Did in this 3e seem broken?
When with a character concept you were so inspired, 3e did abide:
The meaning of broken should be more closely defined:
Yet WotC says 3e was broken;
And WotC is an honourable corporation.
You all have rolled dozens of characters if not more,
With profession, craft, and knowledge skills,
Each character having his own alignment : was this broken?
Yet WotC says 3e was broken;
And, sure, it is an honourable corporation.
I speak not to disprove what WotC spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love 3e once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for it?
O Player base! thou art fleeting to a new edition,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with 3e,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
P.S. I can't really take credit for this whatsoever--this is courtesy of “ElDragon”, as found on ENWorld.
It's official--The Warlock is changing over to 4e. The system just drips systematic coolness, and the streamlining efforts that were made have paid off in dividends. There are still some problems, but by and large, the difficulties made present by 3e are all but gone.
In light of this, here's a eulogy!
Friends, Gamers, geeks, lend me your ears;
I come to bury 3e, not to praise it.
The evil of any edition lives after it;
The good is oft interred with its bones;
So let it be with 3e. The noble designers
Hath told you 3e was broken:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath 3e answer'd it.
Here, under leave of WotC and the rest--
For WotC is an honourable corporation;
So are all the designers, all honourable men--
Come I to speak in 3e's funeral.
It was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But the designers says it was broken;
And WotC is an honourable corporation.
3e hath brought many joyous nights in dank basements
With many an orc slain and princess rescued:
Did in this 3e seem broken?
When with a character concept you were so inspired, 3e did abide:
The meaning of broken should be more closely defined:
Yet WotC says 3e was broken;
And WotC is an honourable corporation.
You all have rolled dozens of characters if not more,
With profession, craft, and knowledge skills,
Each character having his own alignment : was this broken?
Yet WotC says 3e was broken;
And, sure, it is an honourable corporation.
I speak not to disprove what WotC spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love 3e once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for it?
O Player base! thou art fleeting to a new edition,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with 3e,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
P.S. I can't really take credit for this whatsoever--this is courtesy of “ElDragon”, as found on ENWorld.
Labels:
4th Edition,
Dungeons and Dragons,
Gaming Humor
Thursday, May 22, 2008
In Which The Warlock Prepares for Brain Surgery...
I realize it's been a tick since I last talked about this, but it bears mentioning. The Friday night Dark Heresy game utterly rocks on toast.
The plot so far has been very close knit and claustrophobic. The PCs, en route to the Calixis sector, were placed into cryogenic stasis. However, as they traveled, an unknown force ripped the ship in half, leaving them adrift in a decaying orbit around the capital of the sector, Scintilla.
The players discovered the last bit of this in last session, as they found their way to the Astropathic Navigation Cathedral, and then to the Piloting Chamber. The only problem was who found the Piloting Chamber--Brandon's character, an Imperial World Assassin.
Typically, only Psykers (powerful psionic characters) ever even see the Astropath chamber, much less the Piloting Chamber. When the Piloting Chamber is entered, mindless servo-drones essential "jack" the character in, using various neural cybernetic interfaces. And, by neural cybernetic interfaces, I mean "Data Jacks wired straight into your medulla oblongata and spinal cord".
Brandon, as you can imagine, did not have the appropriate neural jack.
Now, he does...sort of.
So, the session tomorrow opens with the characters under arrest by the Adeptes Arbites troops, and are being taken to the High Inquisitor of Scintilla, after crash-landing the half-ship in a massive conflagration. And Brandon? Well, his character's unconscious, at at the tender mercy of the Scintilla Chiurgeons...who have a bedside manner not unlike a combination of a Terminator robot crossed with Hannibal Lector.
This, needless to say, is going to be fun, as a GM.
Now, this is to say nothing of Fred's character, who was injured by a Daemon several sessions ago, and has an infection steadily spreading up his left leg.
Yay for GM fun!
In other news, I've kind of kept my opinions down on D&D recently. I've felt more than a little burned out on D&D for a while, and I'm only now really coming out of it.
I guess my disillusionment with D&D came with the finale of Dungeon magazine. I really enjoyed Paizo's run on it, and while I hadn't played any of the Adventure Paths, the concept of them intregued me as a DM tool, and I was actually kicking around the idea of running Age of Worms for quite a while. That is, until the finale of The Savage Tide AP.
You see, the capstone in The Savage Tide (no spoiler tags here--deal with it) is a confrontation with DemoGorgon, the Prince of Demons, in his own layer on the Abyss. The concept is brilliant: the players spend 4+ sessions wrangling allies--other Demon Lords, Archon Angels, the Witch-Queen Iggwilv, the Stygian Boatman Charon--and basically invade DemoGorgon's stronghold in a massive plane-shaking war. Awesome, epic stuff.
Or, it would be.
DemoGorgon's stat block was no less than 4 pages long. There's so much text there, which will almost never be used, that the game becomes a bad Cold War analogy--whoever strikes first manages to avoid the Mutually Assured Destruction of bad gaming mathematics. So we're clear, this was not a once-in-an-adventure thing. The adventure needed its own specialized appendix for all of the character stats in the adventure, which made running game painful.
I ran an epic game during my time at Wittenberg. While the concept was engaging--a Celestial-driven planar crusade--the game bogged down in the details. Players did more book-keeping than they did role-playing, as they tried to keep track of all of the massive details inherent to the 3.5e system. Others were upset when the wealth system seemed out of sorts as to what was expeted to get. The game became more about "the game" than "the story"...and that pissed me off.
I guess I'm a sucker for rules-transparency. I love Call of Cthulhu because if you're doing it right, the rules fade into the background. Dark Heresy is much the same way. I like D&D at its best when I do not actually use a battlemat--I tend to feel like that mat takes up more of the focus than the story does, which makes the game more tactical and less "cool".
I like the "cool" stuff. Fights over lava, bridges made of ice, the mud pits of White Plume Mountain...I'm all about that.
So, when 4th Edition came out, I immediately latched onto it--the "cool stuff" seemed more apparent. Everyone gets powers! The Warlock is now a base class! Monsters have genuine roles!
But, there were reservations...4th Edition scraps the Great Wheel cosmology, which I've loved for a long while. Dragonborn replaced Orcs/Half-Orcs as a base race...ugh. A dark, pseudo-gothic setting (i.e. Ravenloft) seems almost impossible to pull off, with rules as written. Something of an increased reliance on minis/tactical combat?
So, I got a little skeptical.
But, in the end...this is still D&D! And, the more previews that are released, the more my grognard-ism drifts away...which is a glorious thing, since one of the biggest selling points of 4th is the ease of DMing, through unified, simple rules. Here's for hoping that this is the case, but we'll see. The 6th approaches, and my check card's already locked and loaded...
The plot so far has been very close knit and claustrophobic. The PCs, en route to the Calixis sector, were placed into cryogenic stasis. However, as they traveled, an unknown force ripped the ship in half, leaving them adrift in a decaying orbit around the capital of the sector, Scintilla.
The players discovered the last bit of this in last session, as they found their way to the Astropathic Navigation Cathedral, and then to the Piloting Chamber. The only problem was who found the Piloting Chamber--Brandon's character, an Imperial World Assassin.
Typically, only Psykers (powerful psionic characters) ever even see the Astropath chamber, much less the Piloting Chamber. When the Piloting Chamber is entered, mindless servo-drones essential "jack" the character in, using various neural cybernetic interfaces. And, by neural cybernetic interfaces, I mean "Data Jacks wired straight into your medulla oblongata and spinal cord".
Brandon, as you can imagine, did not have the appropriate neural jack.
Now, he does...sort of.
So, the session tomorrow opens with the characters under arrest by the Adeptes Arbites troops, and are being taken to the High Inquisitor of Scintilla, after crash-landing the half-ship in a massive conflagration. And Brandon? Well, his character's unconscious, at at the tender mercy of the Scintilla Chiurgeons...who have a bedside manner not unlike a combination of a Terminator robot crossed with Hannibal Lector.
This, needless to say, is going to be fun, as a GM.
Now, this is to say nothing of Fred's character, who was injured by a Daemon several sessions ago, and has an infection steadily spreading up his left leg.
Yay for GM fun!
In other news, I've kind of kept my opinions down on D&D recently. I've felt more than a little burned out on D&D for a while, and I'm only now really coming out of it.
I guess my disillusionment with D&D came with the finale of Dungeon magazine. I really enjoyed Paizo's run on it, and while I hadn't played any of the Adventure Paths, the concept of them intregued me as a DM tool, and I was actually kicking around the idea of running Age of Worms for quite a while. That is, until the finale of The Savage Tide AP.
You see, the capstone in The Savage Tide (no spoiler tags here--deal with it) is a confrontation with DemoGorgon, the Prince of Demons, in his own layer on the Abyss. The concept is brilliant: the players spend 4+ sessions wrangling allies--other Demon Lords, Archon Angels, the Witch-Queen Iggwilv, the Stygian Boatman Charon--and basically invade DemoGorgon's stronghold in a massive plane-shaking war. Awesome, epic stuff.
Or, it would be.
DemoGorgon's stat block was no less than 4 pages long. There's so much text there, which will almost never be used, that the game becomes a bad Cold War analogy--whoever strikes first manages to avoid the Mutually Assured Destruction of bad gaming mathematics. So we're clear, this was not a once-in-an-adventure thing. The adventure needed its own specialized appendix for all of the character stats in the adventure, which made running game painful.
I ran an epic game during my time at Wittenberg. While the concept was engaging--a Celestial-driven planar crusade--the game bogged down in the details. Players did more book-keeping than they did role-playing, as they tried to keep track of all of the massive details inherent to the 3.5e system. Others were upset when the wealth system seemed out of sorts as to what was expeted to get. The game became more about "the game" than "the story"...and that pissed me off.
I guess I'm a sucker for rules-transparency. I love Call of Cthulhu because if you're doing it right, the rules fade into the background. Dark Heresy is much the same way. I like D&D at its best when I do not actually use a battlemat--I tend to feel like that mat takes up more of the focus than the story does, which makes the game more tactical and less "cool".
I like the "cool" stuff. Fights over lava, bridges made of ice, the mud pits of White Plume Mountain...I'm all about that.
So, when 4th Edition came out, I immediately latched onto it--the "cool stuff" seemed more apparent. Everyone gets powers! The Warlock is now a base class! Monsters have genuine roles!
But, there were reservations...4th Edition scraps the Great Wheel cosmology, which I've loved for a long while. Dragonborn replaced Orcs/Half-Orcs as a base race...ugh. A dark, pseudo-gothic setting (i.e. Ravenloft) seems almost impossible to pull off, with rules as written. Something of an increased reliance on minis/tactical combat?
So, I got a little skeptical.
But, in the end...this is still D&D! And, the more previews that are released, the more my grognard-ism drifts away...which is a glorious thing, since one of the biggest selling points of 4th is the ease of DMing, through unified, simple rules. Here's for hoping that this is the case, but we'll see. The 6th approaches, and my check card's already locked and loaded...
Labels:
4th Edition,
Dark Heresy,
Dungeons and Dragons
Monday, April 21, 2008
The Calm Before The (Molten?) Storm...
So, I'm in something of a role-playing lull right now. Things are a little on the slow side, but with madness on route that's ready to give me all the gaming I can handle.
While WittCon and GloryCon have come and gone, the next major convention that the PlatinumChick and I will be hitting is, in fact, Bookery Fantasy's annual TopaCon. That's not until Memorial Day weekend, so we have a fair amount of time to relax before it kicks off the madness that will be June.
However, we do have a few happy events between now and then, which will keep me occupied.
As I mentioned in my last post, I'm really jazzed about running Dark Heresy this week for our usual weekly crew. I've had an idea for an opening scenario mucking around in my brain for a while, so this will be something fun. Think Aliens meets The Thing, meets Fallout. Should be very interesting.
Lionel and Ebbs have also been diligently planning the Guild's great one shot/LARP for this semester. I can tell this one is going to be great, mainly because Lionel's been so tight-lipped about it. Usually, he and I hash out all sorts of ideas for games that either of us run, but this time? No, not so much. The only thing that I've been able to milk out of him is that it will deal with the Bermuda Triangle, and that the setting is a cruise ship. Now, knowing that my fellow Witt-Wegger Illuminatus just picked up the Call of Cthulhu Bermuda Triangle sourcebook...I get the impression there's going to be some good ol' fashioned sanity-blasting-horror-from-beyond! Woot!
May 2nd, though, kicks of Summer Blockbuster season with a film I've been aching to see: Iron Man. I'll admit, I was really skeptical when Robert Downey Jr. was announced to be playing Ol' Shellhead, but he's really convinced me. He has the smarmy arrogance necessary to pull off the smug Tony Stark. I'm sure I'll be seeing this one on opening day.
It's June that gets it all started, really. The day after I get out Summit, D&D 4th Edition is released, and the PlatinumChick and I head off to Wheeling for a friend's wedding. While we have the next weekend off, the next week is a massive one--my birthday, the 21st, is also Free RPG Day! Thank you, geeks of the world, thank you for a glorious birthday present--lots and lots of RPG swag. Woot!
And then, the big one...Origins. Plans are already set, rooms are already reserved, and we're waiting with baited breath for event registration to start up. It'll be great to hit up all the hot gaming action, meet up with the WEGS-Hogz yet again, and enjoy the massive spectacle.
Regarding Origins, I've finally decided what I'm going to do with my brainchild, Dungeon Slam! While I'm reluctant to show it off to the major populace, El Willy's been aching to play it. So, ideally, we'll pull up one of the open tables at the Convention Center and get our collective crews together to throw down in the Mad Mage's dungeon!
Further, I've come upon a great solution for a problem that's been plaguing Dungeon Slam! for a long time. You see, in Dungeon Slam!, you have 6 major stats:
Strength governs your To Hit and Damage.
Intellect governs your Spellcasting and Puzzle/Trap tests.
Toughness governs your Health and (possibly) your Defense.
Quickness governs your First Strike, Hazard tests and (possibly) your Defense.
Wits governs your Arcana amount.
And Luck...well, Luck really didn't govern anything, for quite a while. However, that's changed!
With our last playtest, we tried out a new rule. Typically, you could spend an Arcana to re-roll any dice roll (once only!). While this was useful, you couldn't necessarily guarantee any results--after all, you've gotta play the Odds and Gods, right?
Our new rule is that, while you can still spend an Arcana to re-roll if you so choose, you also have an option to spend an Arcana to add your Luck bonus to any dice roll. Only thing is that, if you do so, you cannot re-roll that test!
Basically, this gives the players a degree of choice. If it's a test they seriously need help on, adding the Luck score to the roll could make a massive difference. However, if you keep your Luck high, you're keeping your Wits low, which means you have less re-rolls and Luck adds in general. Plus, you're keeping yourself from re-rolling, which can mean the difference between life and death!
At first, I thought adding this rule would be somewhat unbalanced, but preliminary playtesting has shown the breakdown of Arcana use to be pretty equitable. On tests that have a 50/50 shot to succeed, players tend to use Arcana more for re-rolls than Luck adds. However, in more dire straits, the Luck add seems to be more popular--for good reason!
One of the nice side effects of this, though, is that it speeds up the game. Players are more likely to take on higher-level monsters faster, if they know they can add a +5 or +6 to their base die rolls. This leads to faster advancement and loot gain, which means that players start hitting Skull Sanctum a lot earlier. While play-time has been around 3 hours so far, pretty consistently, I wouldn't be surprised to see it trimmed down by a full half-hour simply because of the faster advancement!
It'll be exciting to see how this all hashes out before El Willy and Krew take a look at my project come June. Hopefully, I'll pick up a third revision printing, ready to go for the new sessions!
While WittCon and GloryCon have come and gone, the next major convention that the PlatinumChick and I will be hitting is, in fact, Bookery Fantasy's annual TopaCon. That's not until Memorial Day weekend, so we have a fair amount of time to relax before it kicks off the madness that will be June.
However, we do have a few happy events between now and then, which will keep me occupied.
As I mentioned in my last post, I'm really jazzed about running Dark Heresy this week for our usual weekly crew. I've had an idea for an opening scenario mucking around in my brain for a while, so this will be something fun. Think Aliens meets The Thing, meets Fallout. Should be very interesting.
Lionel and Ebbs have also been diligently planning the Guild's great one shot/LARP for this semester. I can tell this one is going to be great, mainly because Lionel's been so tight-lipped about it. Usually, he and I hash out all sorts of ideas for games that either of us run, but this time? No, not so much. The only thing that I've been able to milk out of him is that it will deal with the Bermuda Triangle, and that the setting is a cruise ship. Now, knowing that my fellow Witt-Wegger Illuminatus just picked up the Call of Cthulhu Bermuda Triangle sourcebook...I get the impression there's going to be some good ol' fashioned sanity-blasting-horror-from-beyond! Woot!
May 2nd, though, kicks of Summer Blockbuster season with a film I've been aching to see: Iron Man. I'll admit, I was really skeptical when Robert Downey Jr. was announced to be playing Ol' Shellhead, but he's really convinced me. He has the smarmy arrogance necessary to pull off the smug Tony Stark. I'm sure I'll be seeing this one on opening day.
It's June that gets it all started, really. The day after I get out Summit, D&D 4th Edition is released, and the PlatinumChick and I head off to Wheeling for a friend's wedding. While we have the next weekend off, the next week is a massive one--my birthday, the 21st, is also Free RPG Day! Thank you, geeks of the world, thank you for a glorious birthday present--lots and lots of RPG swag. Woot!
And then, the big one...Origins. Plans are already set, rooms are already reserved, and we're waiting with baited breath for event registration to start up. It'll be great to hit up all the hot gaming action, meet up with the WEGS-Hogz yet again, and enjoy the massive spectacle.
Regarding Origins, I've finally decided what I'm going to do with my brainchild, Dungeon Slam! While I'm reluctant to show it off to the major populace, El Willy's been aching to play it. So, ideally, we'll pull up one of the open tables at the Convention Center and get our collective crews together to throw down in the Mad Mage's dungeon!
Further, I've come upon a great solution for a problem that's been plaguing Dungeon Slam! for a long time. You see, in Dungeon Slam!, you have 6 major stats:
Strength governs your To Hit and Damage.
Intellect governs your Spellcasting and Puzzle/Trap tests.
Toughness governs your Health and (possibly) your Defense.
Quickness governs your First Strike, Hazard tests and (possibly) your Defense.
Wits governs your Arcana amount.
And Luck...well, Luck really didn't govern anything, for quite a while. However, that's changed!
With our last playtest, we tried out a new rule. Typically, you could spend an Arcana to re-roll any dice roll (once only!). While this was useful, you couldn't necessarily guarantee any results--after all, you've gotta play the Odds and Gods, right?
Our new rule is that, while you can still spend an Arcana to re-roll if you so choose, you also have an option to spend an Arcana to add your Luck bonus to any dice roll. Only thing is that, if you do so, you cannot re-roll that test!
Basically, this gives the players a degree of choice. If it's a test they seriously need help on, adding the Luck score to the roll could make a massive difference. However, if you keep your Luck high, you're keeping your Wits low, which means you have less re-rolls and Luck adds in general. Plus, you're keeping yourself from re-rolling, which can mean the difference between life and death!
At first, I thought adding this rule would be somewhat unbalanced, but preliminary playtesting has shown the breakdown of Arcana use to be pretty equitable. On tests that have a 50/50 shot to succeed, players tend to use Arcana more for re-rolls than Luck adds. However, in more dire straits, the Luck add seems to be more popular--for good reason!
One of the nice side effects of this, though, is that it speeds up the game. Players are more likely to take on higher-level monsters faster, if they know they can add a +5 or +6 to their base die rolls. This leads to faster advancement and loot gain, which means that players start hitting Skull Sanctum a lot earlier. While play-time has been around 3 hours so far, pretty consistently, I wouldn't be surprised to see it trimmed down by a full half-hour simply because of the faster advancement!
It'll be exciting to see how this all hashes out before El Willy and Krew take a look at my project come June. Hopefully, I'll pick up a third revision printing, ready to go for the new sessions!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
A Few Observations...Okay, So More than a Few...
It's late, but I feel like geeking it up....hence, blogging.
Now that the school year has started, Dungeon Slam! has been somewhat put on the back burner. This is not to say that work has stopped, but rather that (as usual) real life has to take precedence over the fantasy life. Alas.
That said, I came upon an interesting bit of information, as I've been researching the slider system that Arkham Horror uses to determine character statistics. I entered all of the values into an Excel file, which allowed me to sort them by column. The findings were....to say the least, a little bizarre.
It seems that, statistically speaking, there are definitively better characters than others. Ashcan Pete, for one, has no less than three separate sliders that exceed a value of 5. Sister Mary the Nun, on the other hand, starts with only one--the most useless stat in the game: Luck.
At this point, one might raise the argument that Sister Mary might have some other advantages over Ashcan Pete, but such is not the case. Ashcan starts with better gear and skills, including an ally, and the pair are tied in terms of money. The only advantage that Sister Mary has over him is the fact that she begins the game Blessed...even Ashcan Pete's special ability is better than Mary's.
This is something I'd like to try to avoid in Dungeon Slam! While I want each of the characters to play differently, I want them to maintain some sort of statistical balance, that way there are no "nuns" in my game.
Oh, and by the way? The best characters in Arkham Horror to play, from a statistical vantage-point, are Amanda Sharpe (the Student), Leo Anderson (the Expedition Leader), Dexter Drake (the Magician), and Jenny Barnes (the Dilettante).
In other news, the Witt gaming season kicked off with a board game night, over in Shouvlin. It seems like the WittFolk have some pretty solid plans for this year, which is a major plus, and will be getting a lot of community support. Always pleasant.
The night was capped off with a rousing game of Order of the Stick....which left me feeling somewhat mixed. The more I play Order of the Stick, the less I really enjoy that game. Every time we get about half-way into the game, the repetition of the gameplay just seems to overwhelm everyone, and the massive stacks of monsters overpower the players' ability to aid one another or to defeat the monsters single-handedly. We gave up on the game before even reaching Xykon's lair.
Because of this, I'm really beginning to wonder how much OotS was really playtested before it hit the market. The massive length of the game alone tips me off that games were never played that often in playtest-mode. I could only hope that Dungeon Slam! turns out a little better.
Speaking of Order of the Stick, Rich Burlew has apparently taken a sabbatical from his uber-popular webcomic due to some health issues. I somewhat wonder about this--no doubt that he's been ill. I won't dispute that fact whatsoever. However, details regarding his illness have been sketchy-at-best, and no one exactly seems to know what he has, or what the severity of the illness might be. I really enjoy OotS--I've bought both prequel books, in fact--but I'm beginning to believe that its creator might be making some excuses....
As I mentioned in my prior post, 4th Edition D&D is coming out. The previews I've seen look particularly good, as it seems like they're really trying to take care of some of the rules bloat that 3.5e grew into. The massive amount of books in 3.5e is incredibly overwhelming to anyone joining the game in this day and age, so having a more streamlined system (with fewer messy AOOs!), will make things much easier and happier. I'll be eager to see what happens in the near future with the D&D line. It definitely seems to be heading in the right direction.
The Digital Initiative idea, as well, seems to be pretty interesting. I would like more tangible previews in terms of content, though, before I decide to fork over cash for their functionalities.
I guess that's all....I'll catch up with more later, I suppose.
Oh, and the new Marvel Animated Feature, Dr. Strange? Pure gold. Yays. Makes me want to run a mystic-style game.
Now that the school year has started, Dungeon Slam! has been somewhat put on the back burner. This is not to say that work has stopped, but rather that (as usual) real life has to take precedence over the fantasy life. Alas.
That said, I came upon an interesting bit of information, as I've been researching the slider system that Arkham Horror uses to determine character statistics. I entered all of the values into an Excel file, which allowed me to sort them by column. The findings were....to say the least, a little bizarre.
It seems that, statistically speaking, there are definitively better characters than others. Ashcan Pete, for one, has no less than three separate sliders that exceed a value of 5. Sister Mary the Nun, on the other hand, starts with only one--the most useless stat in the game: Luck.
At this point, one might raise the argument that Sister Mary might have some other advantages over Ashcan Pete, but such is not the case. Ashcan starts with better gear and skills, including an ally, and the pair are tied in terms of money. The only advantage that Sister Mary has over him is the fact that she begins the game Blessed...even Ashcan Pete's special ability is better than Mary's.
This is something I'd like to try to avoid in Dungeon Slam! While I want each of the characters to play differently, I want them to maintain some sort of statistical balance, that way there are no "nuns" in my game.
Oh, and by the way? The best characters in Arkham Horror to play, from a statistical vantage-point, are Amanda Sharpe (the Student), Leo Anderson (the Expedition Leader), Dexter Drake (the Magician), and Jenny Barnes (the Dilettante).
In other news, the Witt gaming season kicked off with a board game night, over in Shouvlin. It seems like the WittFolk have some pretty solid plans for this year, which is a major plus, and will be getting a lot of community support. Always pleasant.
The night was capped off with a rousing game of Order of the Stick....which left me feeling somewhat mixed. The more I play Order of the Stick, the less I really enjoy that game. Every time we get about half-way into the game, the repetition of the gameplay just seems to overwhelm everyone, and the massive stacks of monsters overpower the players' ability to aid one another or to defeat the monsters single-handedly. We gave up on the game before even reaching Xykon's lair.
Because of this, I'm really beginning to wonder how much OotS was really playtested before it hit the market. The massive length of the game alone tips me off that games were never played that often in playtest-mode. I could only hope that Dungeon Slam! turns out a little better.
Speaking of Order of the Stick, Rich Burlew has apparently taken a sabbatical from his uber-popular webcomic due to some health issues. I somewhat wonder about this--no doubt that he's been ill. I won't dispute that fact whatsoever. However, details regarding his illness have been sketchy-at-best, and no one exactly seems to know what he has, or what the severity of the illness might be. I really enjoy OotS--I've bought both prequel books, in fact--but I'm beginning to believe that its creator might be making some excuses....
As I mentioned in my prior post, 4th Edition D&D is coming out. The previews I've seen look particularly good, as it seems like they're really trying to take care of some of the rules bloat that 3.5e grew into. The massive amount of books in 3.5e is incredibly overwhelming to anyone joining the game in this day and age, so having a more streamlined system (with fewer messy AOOs!), will make things much easier and happier. I'll be eager to see what happens in the near future with the D&D line. It definitely seems to be heading in the right direction.
The Digital Initiative idea, as well, seems to be pretty interesting. I would like more tangible previews in terms of content, though, before I decide to fork over cash for their functionalities.
I guess that's all....I'll catch up with more later, I suppose.
Oh, and the new Marvel Animated Feature, Dr. Strange? Pure gold. Yays. Makes me want to run a mystic-style game.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
The Sky is Falling! (and a Dungeon Slam! Update)
It appears that this year's Gen Con is going to be a doozy....
In addition to the release of WEGS (go read up on it, on the Official WEGS Blog!), it seems that the 4th Edition of D&D is nigh.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome&dcmp=ILC-DND062006FP
The countdown is nigh, and the stars are right, it appears.
The licenses for Dragonlance and Ravenloft have reverted back to Wizards. Wizards regains the licenses for Dragon and Dungeon from Paizo, and plans to make them part of the new "Digital Initiative" (now featuring a floating brain-in-a-jar!). And, the 2008 product schedule for 3.5e remains noticably sparse.
I suppose we'll all know the truth, come 6:30 PM tomorrow, when the Gen Con seminar announces whatever it is that's about to hit the fan.
I'll keep you posted, as I learn more.
In other news, Dungeon Slam! has really made some significant progress. I have a prototype board created, and many of the cards are finished. While I still need to work on the Spell deck and the Potion/Miscellany deck, and (most of all!) the Encounter decks, nearly all of the other cards are done. The characters are all but finished--all they need are the slider values for the 6 core stats. The room tiles, the Weapons/Armor deck, and the Skill deck are completed and are only waiting on the rest for playtesting. Even the manual's already written.
Y'know, I didn't think things would come together this fast, all told. Very surprising, but very pleasing. Again, more updates to come!
In addition to the release of WEGS (go read up on it, on the Official WEGS Blog!), it seems that the 4th Edition of D&D is nigh.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome&dcmp=ILC-DND062006FP
The countdown is nigh, and the stars are right, it appears.
The licenses for Dragonlance and Ravenloft have reverted back to Wizards. Wizards regains the licenses for Dragon and Dungeon from Paizo, and plans to make them part of the new "Digital Initiative" (now featuring a floating brain-in-a-jar!). And, the 2008 product schedule for 3.5e remains noticably sparse.
I suppose we'll all know the truth, come 6:30 PM tomorrow, when the Gen Con seminar announces whatever it is that's about to hit the fan.
I'll keep you posted, as I learn more.
In other news, Dungeon Slam! has really made some significant progress. I have a prototype board created, and many of the cards are finished. While I still need to work on the Spell deck and the Potion/Miscellany deck, and (most of all!) the Encounter decks, nearly all of the other cards are done. The characters are all but finished--all they need are the slider values for the 6 core stats. The room tiles, the Weapons/Armor deck, and the Skill deck are completed and are only waiting on the rest for playtesting. Even the manual's already written.
Y'know, I didn't think things would come together this fast, all told. Very surprising, but very pleasing. Again, more updates to come!
Labels:
4th Edition,
Dungeon Slam,
Dungeons and Dragons,
WEGS
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