Baldur's Gate...Enhanced!

I played through the original Baldur's Gate computer game earlier this year and had a blast. Now this D&D classic is returning with a new enhanced edition. This version includes the original game, its expansion pack (Tales of the Sword Coast), lots of fixes and features from Baldur's Gate II, plus new NPCs, new areas, and new adventures! The PC version came out yesterday, but I'm holding out for the iPad version...that's right, there's an iPad version too! (An Android version is also in the works.) The iPad game was supposed to be released yesterday as well, but bug fixes required them to push the release back until next week (fingers crossed that it won't be any later). Another cool feature is enhanced multiplayer support, including cross-platform play. Who wants to join me for a game?

200th Post

We're not even through our first year yet, and we're already up to 200 posts! Thanks again for reading and for your sharing your thoughts. It's great that the Front Porch once again has a vibrant online presence.

Carcassonne

I got home from work yesterday and Amy told me that she had taught our five-year-old son how to play Carcassonne. (A great game, by the way!) If the little dude is playing Carcassonne, maybe he's ready for Dungeon! 

2013 Poll

Time's running out! The voting period will soon be over for the poll on our 2013 anniversary celebration. I also encourage you to leave a comment with more specific feedback. Then, over the next week or so, I'll take all the information and come up with some ideas for specific activities.

Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of Neverwinter

Have you been playing Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of Neverwinter on Facebook? Yeah, I haven't either. I gave it a shot during the playtest phase, but it didn't really grab me. I liked the turn-based 4e-style game play and the bite-sized quests, but the game encouraged (required?) grinding the same adventures over and over again. It got old quickly.

Anyway, this short-lived D&D video game is going to be shut down on November 30. A new D&D Facebook game will take its place in December. I'll give it a try and let you know if it might be worth your time.

"Monsters are people too"

Yet another way that D&D has assisted the real world!

12-year-old uses Dungeons and Dragons to help scientist dad with his research

A Thanksgiving Preview

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Among the many, many things for which I'm thankful (family, friends, career, etc.) is a wonderful group of fellow gamers.

As you know, 2013 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Druid Cycle campaign and the twenty-fifth anniversary of our little gaming group. We'll come up with a suitable way to celebrate those anniversaries (be sure to vote in the poll at the bottom of the blog if you haven't done so already!), but today I just wanted to give you a little sneak preview of sorts...

The epic-tier Druid Cycle heroes (played by Timothy, Kevin, and Scott) are currently investigating the mysterious Ekhis, whom I've indicated will be the major villain over the next several years of the campaign. What they don't know (well, until they read this blog post, anyway...) is that we're heading for a major "season finale" cliffhanger in mid-December to cap off a great 2012 and get the storyline set up for our shocking, spectacular twentieth year.

Remember, one of the most important characters in the history of this campaign world is marked for death in 2013. But who? And when? Get ready for a wild ride!

Community: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

I've recently come across the hidden gem Community on NBC. It's a fantastic show with some great concepts and themes. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, S2E14 is just one of those episodes.

While leaving much to be desired in the way of accurately describing game mechanics (which, in all honesty, would be nearly impossible to do in a 22 minute show), it does an amazingly good job of catching the ribald humor (Hector the Well Endowed), how players can get wrapped up in a good story, despite themselves, and most interestingly, the somewhat awkwardness that arises between two males playing out a somewhat romantic encounter. It also treats the subject matter with deference while at the same time poking fun at the conventions of the RPG world.

I highly recommend you check out the entire series. It's a little hard to jump right in with this singular episode without understanding the motivations behind the other characters, but still worth checking out!

Kobolds Ate My Baby

Matt and I are probably the only Front Porch players who will care about this, but for what it's worth, the delightful Kobolds Ate My Baby RPG is now available in digital format.

Myths of the Far Future: Player's Guide

Check it out! Here's a free sci-fi RPG based on the 4e D&D rules.

Note for Timothy: This might be better than Gamma World for our Ragnarok / Cyberwars campaign...

The Isle of Dread

The game module included in the latest D&D Next playtest packet is The Isle of Dread, a sandbox environment that's chock full of King Kong-style escapades (ancient jungles! giant apes! rampaging dinosaurs!), but with little guidance for the Dungeon Master. The adventure requires a lot of preparation; I'm reminded again that 4e adventures spoiled us with their carefully crafted encounters and DM-friendly layout. Of course, 4e adventures also tended to be monotonously linear and scripted...but I digress.

The Isle of Dread is adapted from a 1981 adventure that was included in the D&D Expert Set. While the Basic ("red box") Set introduced me to the D&D game, the Expert Set introduced me to the D&D world -- TSR's campaign setting of Mystara and its many nations. Mystara was the setting for my first campaign as a player (run by Brian, the older brother of my good friend Kevin, in the mid-to-late '80s) and later my first campaign as a DM (which started in 1989 and was the last Front Porch campaign actually played on my parents' front porch).

I may not be especially pleased with the current state of the D&D Next rules, but I did feel a genuine tinge of nostalgia when I saw that The Isle of Dread was included in the packet. I have fond memories of poring over those maps (so many maps!) and planning expeditions into the untamed wilds of that mysterious and dangerous island. Perhaps one day I'll return there...but only after Wizards fixes the damn game rules!

First Look at the Monk

Meh...

The monk is...okay. The hit points, hit dice, key abilities (Wisdom and Dexterity), weapon proficiencies, armor proficiencies (none!), and attack bonus all seem appropriate when compared to the other core classes of D&D Next. The class includes some familiar D&D monk features like self-healing and immunities, and a "ki" feature that allows monks to use special offensive or defensive powers a certain number of times per day (starting with one at first level).

Like fighters and rogues, monks use expertise dice to perform combat maneuvers each round. Those expecting a return of the ridiculously overpowered engine of destruction from 3e D&D, however, are in for a big disappointment. The D&D Next monk, like the rogue, is simply a less-powerful version of the fighter. The monk is forced to share most combat maneuvers with those other two classes, and the handful of monk-only maneuvers are a mixed bag at best:

• Deflect Missiles: You can spend expertise dice to deflect a projectile weapon, catch it, or catch it and throw it back at the attacker. Sounds like a cool 3e-style feature, right? The problem is that you need to expend two expertise dice to catch a projectile, and three to catch it and throw it back. Expertise dice are a scarce resource; I'm not sure many players will be willing to "invest" so many dice on this maneuver, especially because the damage for a missile thrown back at the attacker is very low.
• Flurry of Blows: It blows. Okay, that was cheap...but not inaccurate. This maneuver may be good for wiping out low-hit-point minion-type creatures (it gives you the ability to attack more than one foe on your turn), but in terms of pure damage output, the Deadly Strike maneuver is better. Fighters get that maneuver for free, and monks can pick it up later.
• Hurricane Strike: When you hit, you can spend expertise dice to throw the enemy away from you. This one seems reasonably useful. 
• Iron Root Defense: You can spend expertise dice to gain damage resistance, but only if you don't move. This is cool, but aren't monks supposed to be mobile?
• Step of the Wind: You can spend expertise dice to increase your speed, walk up vertical surfaces, or even walk across liquids. This looks like a very useful maneuver.

The worst part about monks and maneuvers? Players can't make their own selection until fourth level.

The 5e Monk Is Here!

Big surprise out of Wizards today...the D&D Next monk character class is now available for playtesting! I can't wait to check it out!

Miscellaneous Updates

Finally, I'll share some random thoughts on other changes that appeared in the latest playtest packet.

• Ability scores. The good news is that you now have rules for buying ability scores with points (as in 4e) but the bad news is that...well...you don't end up with very good stats.
• Your Level 1 hero levels up to 2 after...160 experience points. You need 480 more to get to Level 3, 840 more to get to 4, 1920 more to get to 5, etc. I'm sure there's a pattern here, but frankly I'm too tired to figure it out. Any math whizzes want to tell me what's going on?
• Two-weapon fighting was nerfed almost as badly as the rogue's sneak attack. When a character attacks with two weapons, both attack rolls receive disadvantage. Yikes! The character also cannot add the relevant ability score bonus to the damage on hits.
• In the Bestiary, the hit rolls for the monsters seem rather low. I haven't tested this out in an actual game session, but that's my gut reaction.

I've spent a lot of time over the past week pointing out everything I don't like about the latest release, but later I'll share something that warmed my heart as soon as I saw the title...The Isle of Dread.

Seems about right...

Wizard Updates

Like the rogue, the wizard got taken down a peg. Let's assess the damage...

• All that cool necromancy stuff from the previous version is gone. Remember the Necromancer specialty and his undead minion? They've completely vanished.
• Wizards now select a tradition that determines some aspects of their spellcasting. Three traditions (Academic, Battle Magic, and Illusion) are included in this packet. Hopefully our dear departed Necromancer will get his own tradition soon.
• They've reduced the number of spell slots (this goes for clerics too). What we get instead are "signature" spells (see below).
• Signature spells are akin to Encounter powers from 4e. If a wizard prepares his or her signature spell, the wizard can cast it every ten minutes throughout the day. The first-level wizard now has only one Level 1 spell slot, so the player is therefore incentivized to memorize the signature spell (determined by the wizard's tradition) over any other Level 1 spell. Why waste your one precious spell slot on one use of Sleep or Magic Missile (that's right, Magic Missile is no longer an At Will spell!) when your Battle Magic wizard could memorize the signature spell Thunderwave and cast it every ten minutes? I foresee a lot of thunderwaving going on in 5e.
• Level 0 spells are no longer At Will by default. Now specific Level 0 spells are At Will for specific wizard traditions. Lame and confusing? Check, and check.
• Speaking of Level 0 spells, Burning Hands has been nerfed down to Level 0, and could be At Will depending on the wizard's tradition. Two of the three Level 0 offensive spells (Burning Hands and Shocking Grasp) require the wizard to be up close and personal with foes. In the unlikely event that I ever played a wizard, I wouldn't be keen on having my basic attacks conducted from such close range. I'd much rather have my spam attacks be ranged. In the current rules, Ray of Frost is the only Level 0 ranged attack spell. I'd really prefer that Magic Missile returned to Level 0 status.
• One tradition, the Academic, has no signature spells but instead can cast any memorized Level 0 spell as an At Will and receives one additional spell slot of his or her highest level. This tradition is more similar to earlier D&D Next wizards, but in return for more flexibility, this wizard gives up the ability to cast the signature spell every 10 minutes.

What next? There are some other changes that didn't feat neatly into any of the preceding categories, so I'll cover these miscellaneous changes in another post.

From Politics to Comics

Upset about the election outcome and need something to take your mind off of it? Or chuffed with victory and looking for a way to celebrate? Well, either way, it's Wednesday, so that can only mean one thing...new comics today! I'll be reading Pathfinder, Earth 2, the first issue of the rebooted Iron Man, and a Hawkman guest appearance in Green Arrow.

As I've said a few times over the last couple of months, even if you're not into comic books, you ought to check out Pathfinder. It's the best comic out there for roleplaying game enthusiasts.

Cleric Updates

The cleric received a number of tweaks in the latest playtest iteration. Overall, I'm still satisfied with this class and it's running a close second to the fighter, which became my favorite D&D Next class (the uber-awesome sorcerer and the warlock have not received updates yet) after the introduction of Expertise Dice in the previous release. Here are some salient points about the updated cleric:

• Clerics are customized by the player's selection of a deity archetype rather than a specific, named god. As a DM, I rarely use the published D&D settings, so I like this new method a lot better than having to choose a god from the standard D&D pantheon (Moradin, Pelor, etc.). This way, players in the Druid Cycle campaign world can select the template that best matches their god, such as the "lightbringer" template for Mithras.
• All clerics now have access to all forms of armor. This is consistent with pre-4e versions of the game, but I kind of liked how previous D&D Next versions tied the armor proficiencies to the domains/deities.
• Turn Undead had a brief career as a spell, but now it has returned to being a class feature. I'm pleased with this change, but I'd prefer a 4e-style Channel Divinity feature that would allow clerics to substitute a different power if desired. I should add that the new Turn Undead feature is complicated and kludgy, so I hope it gets streamlined a bit before the final release.
• Some cleric spells (of the healing and buffing varieties) are now identified by the term "Word of Power," which means that the spell can be cast in addition to taking another action, such as attacking. This is an important change because it eliminates the place of the weak Healing Word spell from earlier iterations, and it brings the cleric's healing mechanism closer to the 4e model, in which healing was a minor action (minor actions, of course, no longer exist in D&D Next).
• My beloved Spiritual Weapon remains a great spell, but it's been bumped up to a second-level spell. If I remember correctly, it was a second-level spell in pre-4e editions, so I'm not disappointed by this change.

In our next installment, we'll consider changes to the wizard.

Legacy System

If you didn't catch Mike Mearls's latest article on the D&D site, check it out.

As you know, I'm not a big fan of the latest iteration of the D&D Next playtest rules. However, I was very encouraged by what I read in this article, especially about the so-called "legacy system." Here's the key quote:

We want a game where you can continue looting dungeons to level 20 if that's what you want. If you want the game to change, you can implement options we're calling the legacy system. Under this system, a rogue can found a thieves' guild, a cleric can establish a temple, a fighter can gain a stronghold and followers, and a wizard can research new spells.

Right on! This was one of my favorite aspects of old-school TSR 2e D&D. I'd love to see something like this show up in Next. With the new-and-improved backgrounds giving PCs a defined place in the game world right from the get-go, the legacy system will allow them to leave their mark on the world when they reach the higher levels of play. I can't wait to see this stuff in the playtest!

Maneuvers

In the previous verson, fighters got access to cool combat maneuvers utilizing Expertise Dice. By expending Expertise Dice on a round-by-round basis, the fighter could add to his or her damage output, offset damage inflicted by foes, inflict damage on a miss, etc. Maneuvers give the fighter a lot of tactical options. In the latest iteration of the rules, maneuvers and Expertise Dice have been expanded to rogues. Good news for rogues, right? Well, maybe not...

• Sneak Attack has been nerfed worse than anything I've ever seen before. Remember how powerful it was in the previous version? Now it's just a conditional version of the fighter's Deadly Strike maneuver -- the maneuver that allows the fighter to use Expertise Dice to inflict additional damage. The rogue's Sneak Attack maneuver does the same thing, except the rogue must have advantage or the target must be adjacent to one of the rogue's allies. Players of rogues should be up in arms about this change; in my opinion, this is one of the worst aspects of the current playtest rules.
• Fighters and rogues share a lot maneuvers, to the point where I'm feeling that we've lost a lot of what makes each class special and distinct. The rogue is the one who really suffers here. Does the fighter really need access to Spring Attack and Tumbling Dodge?
• Fighter maneuvers like Volley and Whirlwind attack allow you to attack multiple foes by expending Expertise Dice. The fighter just keeps getting better.
• Expertise Dice now refresh at the end of your turn, not at beginning of your next turn. This may seem like a trivial change, but it's actually quite significant. Now, the player no longer needs to consider holding one or more Expertise Dice in reserve to use as reactions for countering enemy attacks. This will essentially eliminate "wasting" Expertise Dice that were held in reserve but were not needed.

Before turning to the next topic (spell-casters), I think it's worth pausing for a moment and considering just how badly rogues fare in this current iteration. The fighter trumps the rogue's signature combat ability and, all other things being equal, will have a better hit roll and wield higher-damaging weapons. The fighter also gets a second attack at sixth level. The rogue gets...a few more skills. Not good.

Dungeons & Dragons Made Simple

I like it, I like it a lot! Let's all try this out sometime?

Dungeons & Dragons Made Simple - remember to print the page BEFORE cutting it out with scissors.