Proficiency Profligacy

Skills are back. I liked the simplicity that we saw in the previous packet, where regular ability checks were used for everything. I'm fine with adding skills as a separate module, but I was hoping they would not be included in the core game. In this latest iteration of the rules, skills are specialized ability checks. If you have proficiency in a skill, you can add a proficiency bonus to the ability check. The proficiency bonus is determined by your level; it starts with +1 at level 1, and gets up to +6 by level 20.

Proficiency also extends, logically, to armor and weapons. If you have proficiency with a weapon, you add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll. You use the same proficiency bonus for attack rolls that you use for skill checks, but there are a couple of additional points to keep in mind: The proficiency bonus is not added to armor, and characters who lack proficiency in a given weapon must also take disadvantage on attack rolls with that weapon.

I can live with all of that, but proficiency extends into other areas of the game, as well. Characters also gain (through background, race, class, feats, etc.) proficiency in various tools. A "tool" is, generally speaking, a type of equipment, but for some reason mounts also count as tools.

But wait, there's more! You can also gain proficiency in...saving throws. Huh? If I'm a bard, my character has proficiency with Intelligence and Charisma saves. I get what they're doing here -- they're providing a level-scaling bonus to saving throws -- but it's kind of clunky. I'd like to see them revisit the whole idea of "proficiency" before they release the final game product.

De-Fanged

Last night I finished up Perils of the Lost Coast, the introductory adventure for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, using the human fighter Valeros. In this scenario I had to defeat a dragon called Black Fang along with his skeletal henchmen. (Side note: This scenario is based on the adventure included in the Pathfinder Beginner Box set for the Pathfinder roleplaying game, and it was also depicted as a tale in the Pathfinder comic book. They sure got a lot of mileage out of that dragon!)

Valeros carved up monsters left and right, but his lack of a magic weapon meant that a pesky shadow could not be slain, and it ended up plaguing him several times during his exploration of one of the scenario locations. The beefed-up undead in another location also delayed his progress. Time was running out, and Black Fang was still nowhere to be found. I was exploring the final location (a temple containing numerous beneficial items to loot) when the dragon turned up on the very last card. I found this to be an amusing contrast to my game with Amy, when the villain turned up on the very first card we explored.

Now that I've completed this adventure, it's time to move on to the Rise of the Runelords adventure path!

Payback

I played through the second scenario of the Pathfinder Adventure Card game for the second time last night. My first attempt was with the cleric Kyra, and she ended up losing three times to the master villain before defeating him. This time, I went back to the fighter Valeros and he pounded that wanker into next week. I think I'm going to stick with Val as my permanent solo character for the rest of the campaign.

Thoughts on the Not-Quite-Final Playtest Packet

So I guess this wasn't quite the final packet; they're still going to send us an update for the druid. In any case, this new material includes our first look at the bard class as well as several races making their D&D Next debut. Here are my initial thoughts...

• The barbarian received a badly needed nerfing (no more advantage on Strength-based attacks while raging). Whew! Now my beloved paladin won't totally suck in comparison.
• The bard seems like a mishmosh of 2e, 3e, and 4e bards, but overall I think it works. It seems like a fun class, especially for multi-classing. 
• Speaking multi-classing...it's like in 3e, where you can pick up levels of various other classes. The only stipulation is that you need to meet the ability score prerequisites of the new class you're adding.
• I still like paladins, but they're quickly becoming a complicated class -- spells, oaths, proficiencies, fighting styles, auras! The class is also becoming very spell-heavy; I feel this iteration of the paladin is kind of "cleric-lite" with a few fighter bits thrown in. I'm also disappointed that one of the paladin's most iconic features -- his loyal mount -- is no longer a core part of the class. Apparently, the mount is going to be a spell, but it's not provided in this packet.
• Humans still get the overpowered and boring +1 to all ability scores. I think it's safe to say they've ignored the gaming community's feedback on this one.
• The new races -- dragonborn, tiefling, drow, warforged, and kender (really?!) -- seem pretty solid. However, the drow receives a massive penalty when out in the sunlight (disadvantage on all attack rolls! yikes!), so I may need to establish a house rule to avoid that penalty in the Druid Cycle world, where dark elves often go adventuring on the surface with no ill effects. 
• I love the kender's racial ability to find random non-magical items in their pockets; like the rock gnome's ability to create clockwork devices, it's a great bit of flavor will have genuinely useful applications in the game.

Fourth Time's the Charm

After playing through the first Pathfinder Adventure Card Game scenario four times with four different characters, I decided to try out the second scenario using the cleric Kyra. This scenario involved chasing a mad scientist around town, disarming his poison traps along the way. Kyra was not well suited for disarming traps, but I had enough blessings (cards that provide bonuses to various skill or combat checks) and allies to get rid of the traps quickly. Everything went off the rails, however, when I encountered the poisoner himself. He defeated me in combat three times before I finally brought him down. The poisoner was not an especially dangerous foe -- I was just rolling 1s and 2s on every die. (Now I know how Kevin feels!) The only thing that saved me from certain doom was Kyra's healing power; after each defeat, I spent a turn healing before facing the poisoner again. I may try the scenario a second time using Valeros (the fighter). He lacks Kyra's healing power, but he's off-the-charts great in combat.

Seoni Starts

Amy and I didn't get a chance to continue the adventures of Merisiel and Harsk last night, so I played through the first scenario yet again -- those bandits must be getting sick of me by now -- this time using the sorceress Seoni. This was my first game using a character who is primarily a spellcaster. Previously I had been using characters whose main attacks involved melee or ranged weapons. Those of you who are familiar with 3e D&D or the Pathfinder RPG will recall that the sorcerer class has a smaller number of spells than a wizard but can cast them more frequently. This distinction is maintained in the card game, as well, in that Seoni only had three spells but was able to "recharge" them automatically. Recharging does not, however, allow you to use a card over and over; when you recharge a card, it goes on the bottom of your deck and you may draw it again at some future point in the scenario. With only three spells, and with only one of them a purely offensive spell, I often found myself without a good magical option to play. As such, I had to burn through my hand to use Seoni's special power, which is to discard a card in order to fire off an arcane attack. I still managed to score a relatively easy victory over my bandit foes, but I don't think I'll continue solo adventuring with Seoni. As of now, I think the well-rounded cleric Kyra may be my best option for the single-player game.

Pathfinder Team-Up

Amy joined me last night for a Pathfinder Adventure Card Game scenario. We played through the first chapter of the introductory adventure -- my third go-around with that scenario, each time with a different character. This time I was Harsk, the dwarf ranger, while Amy played the elf thief Merisiel. These characters make for an interesting team because they're at their best when traveling alone. Merisiel gets a combat bonus when she's the only hero at her location, and Harsk (an expert with ranged weapons) can give a combat bonus to an ally, but only if that ally is at a different location from his own. Given their special abilities, we spent most of the scenario split up, exploring separate locations.

Our play styles turned out to be different, as well. I tended to try to close locations as quickly as possible so as to trap the villain in one place, whereas Amy was interested in "farming" the locations for possible boon cards (treasure, allies, weapons, etc.) even when she knew the master villain wasn't present. We had time plenty of time for additional exploration because of a remarkable event that happened on the very first turn. As I was explaining the rules to Amy, I flipped over the first card of the first location, and there was the master villain himself! He escaped, of course, because the game doesn't allow you to win on the first turn, but spotting him so early in the scenario allowed us to narrow down his next hideout. When we finally got around to taking him on, we had both incurred a fair amount of damage -- Harsk and Merisiel both have their strengths, but defense and healing aren't among them. Still, we took out the bandit lord without too much difficulty and now we're ready to move on to the next scenario!

Final Playtest Packet

The final public playtest packet for D&D Next has been released. Click here to visit the download page. I strongly encourage you to read over this material and provide feedback -- it's our last opportunity to help shape the next edition of D&D.

Temple of Elemental Evil

The classic D&D adventure Temple of Elemental Evil is available for free as a PDF download, but only for a limited time! Get it here.

Character Decks

Building a character in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game entails building a small (15 card) deck that represents the character's spells, armor, weapons, allies, and so forth. I've found that building characters decks can be a fun exercise in learning the game and its tactical intricacies. After beating the first scenario with Valeros, I built a deck for the cleric Kyra and I'm running her through the same scenario. So far, she plays a lot like Valeros -- she's been bashing monsters with her mace, so I haven't yet had occasion to use her spells or healing power. I've also built decks for the dwarf ranger Harsk and the elf rogue Merisiel, as these will be the characters that Amy and I use when we try out the game from a multiplayer perspective. I'll let you know how these characters play when we get a chance to give them a test drive.

"Hey, look! A Dungeons & Dragons ride!"

Happy thirtieth birthday to the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon television series. I loved this show as a kid (confession: and as an adult!), and so did one of the writers at GeekDad.

Valeros Victorious!

Sunday night, I played through a Pathfinder Adventure Card Game scenario using the human fighter Valeros. In yesterday's post I described the setup, so this time I'll give you a narrative summary of what happened.

Tasked with defeating a group of bandits, Valeros needed to select a location to investigate. He seemed ill suited for completing (or "closing") the woods, so I decided to begin with the farmhouse. Val immediately encountered a nasty enchantress whose magic inflicted some damage that his armor could not absorb. After that inauspicious beginning, Val hacked his way through several other creatures and picked up a bit of loot along the way. His natural melee combat skill, combined with his trusty longsword, made short work of all his foes. Even the bandit leader's henchman -- the last foe in the deck -- was no match for Val.

Having cleared out the farmhouse (more like a monster hotel!), I then sent Val to the town's waterfront district. His first encounter there, on the very first card I turned over, was the other bandit henchman! That was a stroke of good luck. Val cut him down with ease, and thereby was able to close out this location without the need to explore it further. By closing these two locations, I also ensured that the master villain would be unable to escape to them later in the scenario -- Val had cornered the bandit leader in the woods.

The woods proved to be more difficult. First Val ran into a shadow that he could not defeat because of his lack of a magical weapon. His lowest point came when he failed (badly!) his combat check against a horde of rats. His armor absorbed the damage, but it was still pretty humiliating for this mighty warrior! Moments later, however, Val scored an unlikely success on a Dexterity check (he needed roll an 8 on a 1D8) to avoid a pit trap. The next card revealed the bandit leader himself. This fight wasn't much of a challenge -- Val hit him hard enough to kill him twice over. With the death of the bandit lord, the scenario was over. Val earned another treasure and claimed a resounding victory in his first adventure.

Luck played a big role, however. Had the second bandit henchman not appeared at the beginning of the waterfront location, Val would have had to face numerous other challenges that probably would have depleted his resources. I also found that a couple of serious obstacles for which Val had no applicable skills remained unrevealed at the bottom of the first and third location decks. It wouldn't have been so easy if the cards had come up in a different order.

So how was it, overall? I friggin' loved it. This game rules! I can't wait to try out other characters in solo play, and to rope Amy into joining me for a few multiplayer scenarios. I can't endorse this game highly enough. I hope you'll seriously consider picking up a copy and giving it a try.

Zero Charisma Trailer

I know I promised another Pathfinder update, but I couldn't resist sharing this information about Zero Charisma.

Valeros Ventures Out

Last night I played through my first solo scenario in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. Shown below is an image of the prepared cards...

On the top row, on the left-hand side, we have the Blessings deck. This deck functions primarily as the timer. At the beginning of each player's turn, the player flips over a card from this deck. If the deck runs out of cards, the game is over and the players lose. In the middle is the scenario card, which describes the plot of the scenario and the various locations that I'll need to visit. On the right is the token card for my hero, the human fighter Valeros, and the deck containing cards for his weapons, armor, and other goodies. The three locations for this scenario -- the woods, the waterfront, and the farmhouse -- are shown in the bottom row. Each location contains the monsters, traps, treasure, and other cards that might be discovered at that location.

The setup takes a while. For each location, I need to draw a specified number of cards from various decks and combine them into a location deck. Cards are drawn face-down and shuffled together, so although I would know from the location card that a given location must include, say, four monsters, two allies, two blessings, and so forth, I have no idea which monsters, allies, and blessings I'll encounter, or in what order. Each turn, I can explore a location and reveal one or more cards from the location deck. If it's a monster, I need to fight it. (Fortunately, Valeros is very good at fighting!) If it's an item, I can roll to try to acquire it.

Mixed in with all this stuff are cards for the main villain and his henchmen. For my scenario, the plot is to wipe out the bandits who have been plaguing the town. There's a main bandit leader as well as two unnamed bandit henchmen. To insert these foes into the decks, I mix them up and shuffle one into each location deck. I know that each deck will include one of these foes, but until I encounter them, I won't know which foe will be found in which location.

Now it's time for Valeros to venture out in search of the bandits! How did he fare? That will be the subject of my next post!

Getting Started

I've now read through the hundreds of cards in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and I've given the rulebook a once-over, as well. After viewing this excellent video that explains how to play the game, I think I'm ready for my first solo scenario.

Rulebook Download

Folks interesting in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game can download a PDF of the rulebook here. I have yet to try an actual game scenario -- I'm still poring over the hundreds and hundreds of cards.

Mazes and Monsters and Morons

I just spotted this listing on Amazon. I love Tom Hanks (who doesn't?!), but I have nothing but contempt for this movie and the book on which it's based.

Pathfinder Unboxing

It's here! Ready to see the awesomeness of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game? Here's Matthew with the box. It's a big box.

The next photo shows the inside, but before I removed the cards from their wrapping. See all the extra space? The box is designed to hold many future expansions.

This game is unlike traditional collectible card games because the players select hero characters and work cooperatively toward a common goal. In that respect, it's a lot more like a fantasy roleplaying game...but without a gamemaster! (The story unfolds as the players draw cards from various decks, but the extent to which this game can tell a compelling story without a human gamemaster remains to be seen.) The base set includes one full-length adventure ("Burnt Offerings"), the first chapter in a campaign called Rise of the Runelords. Subsequent adventures will be released every two months.

There are no rules for creating a unique character, but the base set includes seven pre-made characters who should be familiar to you if you have the Pathfinder Beginner Box or if you're reading the excellent Pathfinder comic book. Shown below is my favorite Pathfinder hero, Seoni.

As you play through the scenarios in each adventure, your heroes will acquire loot! Here's one of the all-time classic treasures, a healing potion.

Scenarios take place at a variety of typical adventuring locations. I like the Treacherous Cave because it reminds me of an episode of the old Dungeons & Dragons cartoon from the '80s. (It was the episode in which Warduke captured Dungeonmaster, but I digress...)

Throughout the scenarios, you're fighting monsters (like the bugbear below), overcoming traps, searching for treasure, etc. They really cover all the bases in simulating a tabletop roleplaying game experience.

At first glance, this game looks like a blast...and it also looks ridiculously complicated. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say about it as I start to learn the rules and play through some scenarios. Stay tuned!

No News

No news is good news, unless you like to do blog posts about gaming news. Alas, it's been a slow week. Some good stuff on the horizon, though: my copy of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game finally shipped, and the final public playtest packet for D&D Next should be released in the next week or so. Expect plenty of posts to follow!

Great Minds Think Alike?

As you probably know, 2013 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Druid Cycle campaign world, and my goal for the year was to shake up the status quo. I want this world to feel demonstrably different in the wake of climactic events like the battle against Ekhis and deaths of Sir Roberts and Pyrrhus. Well, just wait till you see how different it's going to feel by the time 2014 rolls around, because we still have one major event -- coming up at the very end of the year -- that will change this world forever.

I've been laying the groundwork for this event all year, and it's interesting to note that the Big Two of superhero comics, DC and Marvel, have similar storylines in their current/recent crossover events. I won't say anything more, but if you've been reading comics lately, you may have a clue about what I have in store for the Druid Cycle heroes by year's end...

Hunters 2

My latest iPad game is Hunters 2, from the makers of Warhammer Quest. I've only played through the introductory mission so far, but based on every review I've seen (such as here and here), I think this game is going to rock!