4E Player Cheat Sheet

Over at Big Ball of No Fun the other day, Callin talks about letting the players have a DM Screen in front of them, because a lot of the information there is useful for them.  The problem is, a lot of it isn't, and it also costs money. It would also take up a lot of table space if everyone had their own DM Screen.  

However, I really liked the idea of a player cheat sheet, so I made one. You can download it here. You need 8.5x14 (legal-size) paper for it. It's a PDF. Print on both sides of the sheet. The first side has all Conditions, the prices for meals and lodging, rules for death and dying, and actions that can be taken in combat. The second side has a run-down of all Skills and some uses for each one.  

D&D the CCG: Old School Inspiration: Deck of Many Things

So, while perusing Save Versus Death I came across his new Saturday Night Delve called "Revenge of the Iron Lich".  There was another post about using the "Deck of Many Things" in that delve and I thought I really ought to make my own Deck of Many Things using Magic Set Editor. I cracked open my AD&D 2E Dungeon Master Guide and started putting the deck together.  Here are some examples.

First of all, the art is obviously stolen from a variety of sources around the internets.  I would like to be able to give away a PDF file of these cards for people to use in their home games. Since my blog here is non-commercial, and I wouldn't be selling them in any way, is it okay to use art like that?  I feel like I'm probably stepping on peoples' copyrights a bit. So, the question I have for any Old School gamers who would like a printable Deck of Many Things is this: should I make a full deck with artwork and make it available as a PDF, or should I direct you to Magic Set Editor and make my Deck of Many Things file available without artwork, so you can insert your own?

Or, even better, can anyone direct me to some old-schoolish art that would be available for free-use somewhere?

4E Character Sheets on Legal Paper

So, in preparation for my new D&D game that will be starting in March, I went looking for some 4E character sheets out on the 'nets.  Specifically, I was looking for character sheets formatted to fit on 8.5x14 inch (legal) paper, mostly because I have a few reams of the stuff that I would like to use, and thought that size would work well for D&D.
My search proved fruitless, however, so I hunkered down on Excel and did it myself.  I started with another Excel character sheet I'd downloaded from a long-forgotten source (I believe it was posted either on EnWorld or the WotC forums).  The original worked pretty well, and I kept a lot of the functions in place.  This allows you to easily level up; changing the number of the level, on an even level, causes everything effected by a "+1/2 level" modifier to change appropriately.  All the skills and defenses are linked to their appropriate abilities.
Please note that I took out the section for "Equipped Magic Items" because I use custom card hand-outs for all magic items the players receive in-game.  I also use similar cards for Action Points, so there's nowhere to record how many of those you might have.
I made two different sheets, one in Landscape Orientation and the other in Portrait Orientation. Let me know what you think!

D&D the CCG: Let's Get Rid of Powers

I’m thinking of getting rid of combat powers for this card-based system.  The different powers and their various afflictions, choosing what to use, and keeping track of everything, are a lot of what slows down combat in 4E. Tactical considerations are an important part of the game, and can certainly be incorporated without overly-complicated powers.  

My system so far has no levels, as per traditional D&D, and instead growing more powerful is done through purchase of feats and skills with accumulated experience points. So instead of forcing players to buy combat powers every time they gain enough experience to train new abilities, we can simply allow them to purchase feats that gives them the option of inflicting different status ailments on their enemies in combat with their attacks.  Basically emulate a lot of the effects of higher level combat powers but do so through their “Basic Melee Attack” or “Basic Ranged Attack.”  

Getting rid of powers also has the added bonus of freeing me from a lot of copy-paste work.  This also would mean that I could take a lot of this work, and with a little creative energy, actually give it away as as system to people and not be worried about a cease-and-desist letter from WotC.  So basically what I’m shooting for is new-school options and customization, while retaining the old-school feel of things.  We’re bridging the Great Divide here people!

It also occurs to me that I should find a better name for it than D&D the CCG.  What originally started out as a theory on WotC’s next edition of D&D has become my very own Frankenstein monster, but I’m cool with that.  Any ideas?

Also, allow me to make something very clear.  What I’m building is not a Collectible Card Game with booster packs.  Every available card would be included.  This is purely a way of building a character for a D&D-type fantasy role playing game using only cards instead of a character sheet.  

Islands in the Sky: New Arkhosia

I know I said I would post up some more of the D&D the CCG cards, but I'm still working on it. I would like to have a full first level character put together to post up. This will require a bit more work.

In the meantime, I have an overview of another Island in the Sky for my eponymous campaign, which should be getting started in the first weekend of March.

New Arkhosia

New Arkhosia is the new Dragonborn empire. They are collecting islands and binding them to their large central mote, and have developed a means of magical propulsion to control the movement of New Arkhosia. 

New Arkhosia has a population of almost ten thousand dragonborn, and another twenty thousand subjects, primarily dwarves, goblinoids, lizardfolk and a smattering of other races. 

The dragonborn are militant imperialists, and are led by Emperor Drakkon the Red. There is an elected Senate, which largely serves to rubber-stamp the decrees of Drakkon. 

The main island is a testament to dragonborn militarism in every aspect. Barracks, smithies, training grounds, everything built with precision, simplicity, and purpose. 

New Arkhosia has mastered the magic of controlling the movement of its earthmotes. An eldritch engine deep in the bowels of the main island powers the movement of New Arkhosia, and also helps bind the other islands to the central mote. When they conquer a new island, the magic helps move it into place, and they build several bridges to connect and further bind them.  

The dragonborn also build powerful, fast airships. They are fully capable of not only defending their airspace from threats but also launching raids and invasions of islands they desire to bind to them. 

In the five years since Drakkon the Red took over the senate and cast himself as Emperor, the newly militant New Arkhosia has bound 72 islands to itself, some large, some small, all populated and rich in resources. Each individual island has its own Dragonborn Overlord. Most are cruel bastards who rule their domain with an iron fist. Certain islands are better assignments than others. All Overlords serve at the pleasure of the Emperor. To fail is to die. 

D&D the CCG: Ritual Cards

Over here there was a request for 4E Ritual cards.  Here's an example of one I'm fixing to use in my game.

Granted, this one is a pretty simple one with a limited amount of text, so it fits nicely on the card.  I also have to wonder how much of the information is really necessary to have right at a player's fingertips.  Market value? Category?  Hell, even casting time?  Anyway, I'd be happy to make more.  A lot of the rituals have considerably more text, so something a little more simple may be in order.

D&D the CCG: Quest for Balance

I'm only focusing on the heroic tier here. Paragon and Epic level games are beyond the scope of what I aim to do with this series, mostly because I have very little experience running or playing in that type of game, and also because it only really makes sense to start at the heroic tier. 

At first level, most characters start with the following: a racial encounter power, a few class features, a feat or two, 3 or 4 trained skills, 2 at-will powers, 1 encounter power, and 1 daily power. 

Whenever they gain a level, they get either a new power or feat. At levels 4 and 8 they get +1 to two ability scores.    

The ultimate question I'm faced with is one of balance.  How many points to start a level one character? How do the different class features balance against each other and how should that effect their cost? What's to stop a character from focusing purely on combat feats and powers and forego class features? Can something like that be balanced at all? Is that okay? 

How does the ability to Mark an opponent compare to, say, Sneak Attack potential? Certain classes have more armor and weapon proficiencies built in than others. 

One thing I'm definitely going to do is open up my old AD&D 2E books and see compare those classes to the 4th Edition. I know the concept of D&D as a card-based game is anathema to a lot of the grognards out there, but I think this system could have a very old-school feel to it in play. And honestly, character sheets bug the hell out of me. I can never find the information I need when I need it. 4th Edition especially, with combat powers, the character sheets are annoying as hell. I doubt cards are the answer for everyone, but my players love the cards I've introduced to the game, and they've definitely been a good addition. 

This is going to require extensive playtesting. But it should be fun! Tomorrow I will post up some example cards.