Today is the last day to enter a comment to enter to win my copy of Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition Domain of Dread: Histaven, their FreeRPGDay booklet.
Leave a comment here before midnight Central Standard Time!
New-School Rules, Old-School Style
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Death of FourthCore? Say it ain't so!
Over at SaveVersusDeath.com, Sersa has made the announcement that he is finished with his Dungeons and Dragons "Fourthcore" work. I don't know Sersa, but I have a mighty respect for the work he's done with Fourthcore, which is his design philosophy for adventures within the 4E D&D ruleset.. His announcement, pretty quickly, garnered numerous comments on the SaveVersusDeath blog, including one from yours truly. His work certainly caused a stir in the 4E community, but I only ever saw positive things (until today, over at the At-Will webchat, but that was just one jerk who really didn't get what Fourthcore is about) mentioned about it. In fact, this fall, Wizards of the Coast is implementing a new, weekly, organized play event that, for all intents and purposes, is clearly inspired by the Fourthcore material Sersa has written.
Now, my regular readers know that my gaming time is rare these days. I have not yet had a chance to run any Fourthcore material. I did review Revenge of the Iron Lich and I loved it. Fourthcore is for elite DMs and players, and definitely not for the squeamish. Everyone has to be on their toes and must bring their A-game. I wish like hell I could come up with some of this type of stuff. I'm going to try, dammit. There are numerous bloggers and others who are determined to keep producing Fourthcore material, because it's more than just one guy. He's influenced a lot of 4E game tables in a lot of ways. He certainly has opened my eyes to the possibilities inherent within the D&D 4E system.
I would like to see Fourthcore continue. I can't officially throw my hat in the Fourthcore arena until I produce some proper content that matches up with the Fourthcore design philosophy. It'll probably be about gnolls.
Now, my regular readers know that my gaming time is rare these days. I have not yet had a chance to run any Fourthcore material. I did review Revenge of the Iron Lich and I loved it. Fourthcore is for elite DMs and players, and definitely not for the squeamish. Everyone has to be on their toes and must bring their A-game. I wish like hell I could come up with some of this type of stuff. I'm going to try, dammit. There are numerous bloggers and others who are determined to keep producing Fourthcore material, because it's more than just one guy. He's influenced a lot of 4E game tables in a lot of ways. He certainly has opened my eyes to the possibilities inherent within the D&D 4E system.
I would like to see Fourthcore continue. I can't officially throw my hat in the Fourthcore arena until I produce some proper content that matches up with the Fourthcore design philosophy. It'll probably be about gnolls.
Free RPG Day Review and Giveaway: Arcanis, the World of Shattered Empires Fast Play Book
Out of all the booklets I got for FreeRPGDay, Arcanis: the World of Shattered Empires intrigued me the most, probably due to the Ancient Roman style guy and vampire mage on the cover. I wasn't familiar with the setting, as I never really got into the 3rd Edition of D&D, but it was apparently an award-winning setting of the D20/OGL era, and now its publisher is giving it its own system.
The booklet clocks in at 30 pages and includes basic rules suitable for a night of play, four characters, a short adventure, and a blank 2-sided character sheet. The art inside is excellent and I imagine it will probably all appear in the full rulebook when it is released at Origins.
The resolution system seems to me to be an amalgam of mechanics cobbled together from different sources. Arcanis' roots are in the d20 system. The core mechanic of this system is to roll 2d10 (your Action Dice), roll the die associated with whatever attribute is appropriate (from among the following: Might, Prowess, Quickness, Vitality, Charisma, Insight, Logic, and Resolve), add any relevant modifiers and try to beat a target number. All the attributes have both a score (all the pregenerated heroes have scores from 3-7) and a die size (d4, d6, etc).
There is an exploding die mechanic.There are "Fate" points which can be used in a number of ways to bend the rules. Characters have three different defense scores: Avoidance, Discipline, and Fortitude (which might as well have been d20's Reflex, Willpower, and Fortitude, but I digress). Armor has a Rating that soaks up damage.
Characters also have access to weapon tricks and spells, which seem pretty similar to 4E's powers.
There are two different types of damage a character can sustain: Stamina and Wounds. Typically, a character has a high stamina score, and when it is depleted from damage, you fall unconscious. A character can handle only a few Wounds before possibly dying.
It seems to be expected that combat be handled using a 1-inch square mat or Dungeon Tiles and miniatures. It features an interesting Initiative Clock feature for combat. Basically, instead of having set turns and rounds and such, each action you take happens after so many ticks of the "Clock".
Overall, it is definitely interesting, but too many fiddly bits for my liking. And I like 4E D&D!
The included adventure is a fairly straightforward affair designed to introduce the basics of the combat system with a bit of roleplaying thrown in for good measure.
I'm also a bit of a grammar nazi. Poor grammar, syntax, and misspellings stick out like sore thumbs to me. There aren't a whole lot of those types of errors in the booklet, but there were enough to make me take notice. It seems as if it may have needed another edit.
I know this hasn't been the most glowing review I've done, but it's my two cents. If you were a fan of the Arcanis setting in the good ole days of the D20/OGL, and are interested in getting the upcoming game, it's definitely worth a read-through! I will select one winner at random from among all the comments left below.
The booklet clocks in at 30 pages and includes basic rules suitable for a night of play, four characters, a short adventure, and a blank 2-sided character sheet. The art inside is excellent and I imagine it will probably all appear in the full rulebook when it is released at Origins.
The resolution system seems to me to be an amalgam of mechanics cobbled together from different sources. Arcanis' roots are in the d20 system. The core mechanic of this system is to roll 2d10 (your Action Dice), roll the die associated with whatever attribute is appropriate (from among the following: Might, Prowess, Quickness, Vitality, Charisma, Insight, Logic, and Resolve), add any relevant modifiers and try to beat a target number. All the attributes have both a score (all the pregenerated heroes have scores from 3-7) and a die size (d4, d6, etc).
There is an exploding die mechanic.There are "Fate" points which can be used in a number of ways to bend the rules. Characters have three different defense scores: Avoidance, Discipline, and Fortitude (which might as well have been d20's Reflex, Willpower, and Fortitude, but I digress). Armor has a Rating that soaks up damage.
Characters also have access to weapon tricks and spells, which seem pretty similar to 4E's powers.
There are two different types of damage a character can sustain: Stamina and Wounds. Typically, a character has a high stamina score, and when it is depleted from damage, you fall unconscious. A character can handle only a few Wounds before possibly dying.
It seems to be expected that combat be handled using a 1-inch square mat or Dungeon Tiles and miniatures. It features an interesting Initiative Clock feature for combat. Basically, instead of having set turns and rounds and such, each action you take happens after so many ticks of the "Clock".
Overall, it is definitely interesting, but too many fiddly bits for my liking. And I like 4E D&D!
The included adventure is a fairly straightforward affair designed to introduce the basics of the combat system with a bit of roleplaying thrown in for good measure.
I'm also a bit of a grammar nazi. Poor grammar, syntax, and misspellings stick out like sore thumbs to me. There aren't a whole lot of those types of errors in the booklet, but there were enough to make me take notice. It seems as if it may have needed another edit.
I know this hasn't been the most glowing review I've done, but it's my two cents. If you were a fan of the Arcanis setting in the good ole days of the D20/OGL, and are interested in getting the upcoming game, it's definitely worth a read-through! I will select one winner at random from among all the comments left below.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Reminiscing is Magic
On Saturday, three of our minions returned home after spending Friday night with my in-laws, and the oldest boy, K (who I recently began teaching to play D&D), had a brand-spanking-new starter deck of Magic: the Gathering cards, along with a half-dozen booster packs. The children had been playing with Pokemon cards for a while (much to my consternation, as they would often leave them all over the house), but my father-in-law convinced K to try Magic.
He was thrilled. So was I.
Now, I'm sure many of my readers from the OSR probably don't care much for Magic or other CCG's, but for me, that game was a core part of my formative gaming years, in middle school in the mid-90s. We had already been playing Star Wars, Heroes: Unlimited, and Robotech when the priest at our parochial school introduced us to Magic, and soon after, DragonQuest. I hadn't played Magic in years and years, but I still had a nice-sized box of my old cards, which I immediately got out of the basement and me and the boy started building up some decks so I could teach him the game.
Our other D&D kids wanted to learn as well, and for some reason I was woefully short of lands (except Islands. Tons of goddamn islands. Where the hell did all my Plains and Forests go?) so I made a run to the Fantasy Shop and picked up the Magic Deck Builder box, which included about 250 or 300 cards, including 125 lands and a number of booster packs, to get started.
So I spent the weekend teaching my three oldest minions to play Magic, and had a great time reminiscing over my old cards. They're still in pretty good shape, and seem mostly competitive against the new cards. It's all in how you build your deck, really. We all had a blast playing, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the kids start developing strategies and building decks. And of course, the fantasy feel of it all is like crack for my D&D imagination space.
Life is good.
But don't worry, I'm not gonna start talking all-Magic, all-the-time here. This blog is still going to be primarily about 4e D&D. It was just nice get back to my roots a little bit, and share that gaming goodness with my family. And I may have found a new source of inspiration, so there may be some Magic-based 4e D&D thoughts in the near future.
He was thrilled. So was I.
Now, I'm sure many of my readers from the OSR probably don't care much for Magic or other CCG's, but for me, that game was a core part of my formative gaming years, in middle school in the mid-90s. We had already been playing Star Wars, Heroes: Unlimited, and Robotech when the priest at our parochial school introduced us to Magic, and soon after, DragonQuest. I hadn't played Magic in years and years, but I still had a nice-sized box of my old cards, which I immediately got out of the basement and me and the boy started building up some decks so I could teach him the game.
Our other D&D kids wanted to learn as well, and for some reason I was woefully short of lands (except Islands. Tons of goddamn islands. Where the hell did all my Plains and Forests go?) so I made a run to the Fantasy Shop and picked up the Magic Deck Builder box, which included about 250 or 300 cards, including 125 lands and a number of booster packs, to get started.
So I spent the weekend teaching my three oldest minions to play Magic, and had a great time reminiscing over my old cards. They're still in pretty good shape, and seem mostly competitive against the new cards. It's all in how you build your deck, really. We all had a blast playing, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the kids start developing strategies and building decks. And of course, the fantasy feel of it all is like crack for my D&D imagination space.
Life is good.
But don't worry, I'm not gonna start talking all-Magic, all-the-time here. This blog is still going to be primarily about 4e D&D. It was just nice get back to my roots a little bit, and share that gaming goodness with my family. And I may have found a new source of inspiration, so there may be some Magic-based 4e D&D thoughts in the near future.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Free RPG Day Review and Giveaway: Dungeon Crawl Classics Adventure Starter
This is the second of a series of reviews and giveaways of my FreeRPGDay haul! So leave a comment below if you want a shot at getting this copy of Dungeon Crawl Classics Adventure Starter. Note that if you live outside the United States, I must request that you pay for shipping. More details here!
I must admit first that I have not yet had the time to dig into my download of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Beta Test Rules, even though they are pretty much necessary to use this booklet. It says so right there on page 1. Of course, that's just if you lack imagination and resources. Ninety-nine percent of the content of this book is system-neutral (or at the very least, system-vague), that it would be entirely too easy for even a fair to middling Dungeon Master to convert it to whatever system might be running at your table. Seriously. The stuff in here is gold, but just rip it off for your own system at home. Don't bother with the zocchi dice. That's just a bullshit marketing ploy to try to get you to buy a bunch of goofy dice you'll only ever use a few times. Is Goodman Games getting into the dice business? Actually, yes. Yes they are. Imagine that.
That being said, this is still a pretty excellent sixteen pages, which is why I am hesitant to let it go as part of this contest. That, and the art. The art is great. There are three full-page illustrations (out of sixteen pages!), plus two full-page dungeon maps that are works of art in their own right, and art on several of the other pages. However, I'm thinking I will make a copy for my DM binder and then send it off to our lucky winner, purely on account of the fact that Goodman Games gave away dead-tree copies of this booklet on FreeRPGDay, and is now selling PDFs of it for $5.
Wha?
Now, I don't know anything about the guys behind Goodman Games. I haven't read their Beta Test rules for DCC. All I know it, a couple weeks ago the OSR Blogosphere blew up, out of nowhere, over this Dungeon Crawl Classics thing. I kind of have a feeling that it will fade away as quickly as it blew up. I certainly don't speak for anyone in the OSR but myself, but I can see this being a "niche of a niche" game, kind of like Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
The two dungeons are solid and interesting, although they feel pretty similar to a lot of what I've seen published in the One-Page-Dungeon format. They are short, but offer plenty of opportunity for interaction with the environment and creative problem-solving, as well as plenty of killing-stuff-and-taking-their-stuff. I'm looking forward to adapting these two dungeons to work in 4E, but that's a whole different post.
Want it? Leave me a comment!
I must admit first that I have not yet had the time to dig into my download of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Beta Test Rules, even though they are pretty much necessary to use this booklet. It says so right there on page 1. Of course, that's just if you lack imagination and resources. Ninety-nine percent of the content of this book is system-neutral (or at the very least, system-vague), that it would be entirely too easy for even a fair to middling Dungeon Master to convert it to whatever system might be running at your table. Seriously. The stuff in here is gold, but just rip it off for your own system at home. Don't bother with the zocchi dice. That's just a bullshit marketing ploy to try to get you to buy a bunch of goofy dice you'll only ever use a few times. Is Goodman Games getting into the dice business? Actually, yes. Yes they are. Imagine that.
That being said, this is still a pretty excellent sixteen pages, which is why I am hesitant to let it go as part of this contest. That, and the art. The art is great. There are three full-page illustrations (out of sixteen pages!), plus two full-page dungeon maps that are works of art in their own right, and art on several of the other pages. However, I'm thinking I will make a copy for my DM binder and then send it off to our lucky winner, purely on account of the fact that Goodman Games gave away dead-tree copies of this booklet on FreeRPGDay, and is now selling PDFs of it for $5.
Wha?
Now, I don't know anything about the guys behind Goodman Games. I haven't read their Beta Test rules for DCC. All I know it, a couple weeks ago the OSR Blogosphere blew up, out of nowhere, over this Dungeon Crawl Classics thing. I kind of have a feeling that it will fade away as quickly as it blew up. I certainly don't speak for anyone in the OSR but myself, but I can see this being a "niche of a niche" game, kind of like Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
The two dungeons are solid and interesting, although they feel pretty similar to a lot of what I've seen published in the One-Page-Dungeon format. They are short, but offer plenty of opportunity for interaction with the environment and creative problem-solving, as well as plenty of killing-stuff-and-taking-their-stuff. I'm looking forward to adapting these two dungeons to work in 4E, but that's a whole different post.
Want it? Leave me a comment!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Free RPG Day Review and Giveaway: D&D 4E Domain of Dread: Histaven
This is the first of a series of reviews and giveaways of my FreeRPGDay haul! So leave a comment below if you want a shot at getting this copy of Dungeons & Dragons 4e Domain of Dread: Histaven. Note that if you live outside the United States, I must request that you pay for shipping. More details here!
I'm going to say right up front that I really like these 14 free pages. I haven't even read my new Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond yet, which Domain of Dread: Histaven is supplementary to, but this little booklet is exactly what a 4e module should look like.
There are no balanced encounters here. There are no tactical maps. There are stat-blocks, there is a chilling, deep story that must be solved by roleplaying and not combat, with numerous facets that can be discovered in multiple ways, and just enough sideways treks, distractions, and red herrings to keep your players curious and asking questions.
It's very similar to the "Vor Rukoth" adventure setting in that regard, but more elegant in its focus and simplicity. Erik Scott de Bie has done a fine job writing this. It is well thought out and perfectly delivered.
I was totally expecting some worthless 3-combat delve with a shadowfell twist to it. Domain of Dread: Histaven is just the opposite. This little module exemplifies everything the Shadowfell should be about; and I haven't even read Gloomwrought and Beyond yet!
I'm going to say right up front that I really like these 14 free pages. I haven't even read my new Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond yet, which Domain of Dread: Histaven is supplementary to, but this little booklet is exactly what a 4e module should look like.
There are no balanced encounters here. There are no tactical maps. There are stat-blocks, there is a chilling, deep story that must be solved by roleplaying and not combat, with numerous facets that can be discovered in multiple ways, and just enough sideways treks, distractions, and red herrings to keep your players curious and asking questions.
It's very similar to the "Vor Rukoth" adventure setting in that regard, but more elegant in its focus and simplicity. Erik Scott de Bie has done a fine job writing this. It is well thought out and perfectly delivered.
I was totally expecting some worthless 3-combat delve with a shadowfell twist to it. Domain of Dread: Histaven is just the opposite. This little module exemplifies everything the Shadowfell should be about; and I haven't even read Gloomwrought and Beyond yet!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Review of Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale
Yes, I got this shrinkwrapped package set on Free RPG Day. No, I did not get it for free, though I did get it for half-off as part of my FLGS's sale that day. No, I'm not giving it away as part of my Free RPG Day Review Giveaway. Sorry, but I like it too much!
Contents first. There is a 127-page book, which is the full size of a regular 4E book, but soft cover. In the shrinkwrap are eight sheets of heavy cardstock with the monster tokens we've all come to know and love, and also a double-sided battlemat with four different maps to do battle on. Honestly, I like the poster-maps, but I really can do without the tokens. I'm sure a lot of people use them, but I like my miniatures. I would have preferred a hard-cover book, but that's really just niggling details. Let's get to the meat of things.
I've already given a glowing review of the Essentials Monster Vault. This book, honestly, is even better. This is probably because all the fluff is specific to locations and history in the Nentir Vale, the default 4E heroic-tier "Points of Light" setting that is described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. This book is so good, in fact, that it is the main reason I have decided to use the Nentir Vale as the setting for my 4E campaign with my kids that just got started. This book provides you with all manner of villainous groups to harry your PCs with, from dragons and barbarians to fell creatures and twisted monstrosities from the far realm.
Some of my favorite monsters from the book:
Blackfang Gnolls: what's scarier than pirate gnolls riding dinosaurs? Gnolls with giant bat wings that eat your face on their way to sacrifice you to Yeenoghu, that's what.
Cadaver Collector: A golem that collects cadavers for its necromancer master. When left along for too long with no bodies to collect, will go searching for some. If it can't find any, it will make some.
Calastryx the three-headed red dragon. Nuff said.
Harken's Heart: a group of cursed druids? Return of the Heirophant druid? Yes please, I'll have some more of that please.
The Hunter Spiders: a cave-in has left a group of drow stranded on the surface. They're up to no good, obviously.
Hurly-Burly Brothers: Troll brothers who hate each other and can only be killed when they are close to each other, and often cause all kinds of havoc beating the shit out of each other.
Mooncalf: This one kind of came out of left field for me, but it's a giant octopus with bat wings that flies around causing all manner of destruction and death. From the Far Realm, naturally.
The Wandering Tower: an ancient, gigantic mimic that disguises itself as a building and eats you after you go inside. This one single entry is probably the best read in the whole book.
The majority of the monsters presented in the book are in the heroic tier, and a good chunk are paragon-level threats. There are a lot of unique, named NPCs/monsters in the book, with enough history and personality to give any halfway-decent DM plenty to work with in-game.
Overall, the Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Go pick it up. It was officially released today.
Contents first. There is a 127-page book, which is the full size of a regular 4E book, but soft cover. In the shrinkwrap are eight sheets of heavy cardstock with the monster tokens we've all come to know and love, and also a double-sided battlemat with four different maps to do battle on. Honestly, I like the poster-maps, but I really can do without the tokens. I'm sure a lot of people use them, but I like my miniatures. I would have preferred a hard-cover book, but that's really just niggling details. Let's get to the meat of things.
I've already given a glowing review of the Essentials Monster Vault. This book, honestly, is even better. This is probably because all the fluff is specific to locations and history in the Nentir Vale, the default 4E heroic-tier "Points of Light" setting that is described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. This book is so good, in fact, that it is the main reason I have decided to use the Nentir Vale as the setting for my 4E campaign with my kids that just got started. This book provides you with all manner of villainous groups to harry your PCs with, from dragons and barbarians to fell creatures and twisted monstrosities from the far realm.
Some of my favorite monsters from the book:
Blackfang Gnolls: what's scarier than pirate gnolls riding dinosaurs? Gnolls with giant bat wings that eat your face on their way to sacrifice you to Yeenoghu, that's what.
Cadaver Collector: A golem that collects cadavers for its necromancer master. When left along for too long with no bodies to collect, will go searching for some. If it can't find any, it will make some.
Calastryx the three-headed red dragon. Nuff said.
Harken's Heart: a group of cursed druids? Return of the Heirophant druid? Yes please, I'll have some more of that please.
The Hunter Spiders: a cave-in has left a group of drow stranded on the surface. They're up to no good, obviously.
Hurly-Burly Brothers: Troll brothers who hate each other and can only be killed when they are close to each other, and often cause all kinds of havoc beating the shit out of each other.
Mooncalf: This one kind of came out of left field for me, but it's a giant octopus with bat wings that flies around causing all manner of destruction and death. From the Far Realm, naturally.
The Wandering Tower: an ancient, gigantic mimic that disguises itself as a building and eats you after you go inside. This one single entry is probably the best read in the whole book.
The majority of the monsters presented in the book are in the heroic tier, and a good chunk are paragon-level threats. There are a lot of unique, named NPCs/monsters in the book, with enough history and personality to give any halfway-decent DM plenty to work with in-game.
Overall, the Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Go pick it up. It was officially released today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)