Greetings from Hong Kong!

Hello Front Porchers from Hong Kong! We're going to attempt a record breaking feat, as John and I are attempting to have a short gaming session from across the globe, literally! We'll keep you posted on how it turns out, but for now, here's a few images from the other side of the world.

Intercontinental Game Action

It was nearly thirteen years ago (Yikes! Was it really that long ago?) that Timothy and I brought The Druid Cycle to another country when we did some solo adventures with his wizard Cathbad while traipsing across the UK.

Very soon, if all goes as planned, we'll have our first-ever Front Porch game from Asia. Stay tuned for more details!

D&D Classics

Dudes, this is dangerous. I probably shouldn't have navigated to this site, but it's too late. Damn you, Wizards! It's been many months since I bought any D&D product, but that's probably going to change in a big way as I start picking up classic D&D modules -- now re-released as PDFs. Oh, world of Greyhawk, I've missed you...

More Lore

There are a lot of goodies in today's Legends & Lore column from D&D Next leader Mike Mearls, including an announcement that the barbarian class will be available in the next iteration of the playtest.

Nathuz

Last night Matthew and I tried Nathuz, another set in the Lego Heroica series. This adventure takes place in a series of caverns and puts the heroes up against giant bats and golems(!). Nathuz adds another character class (the rogue) and incorporates rules for purchasing additional weapons and magic items. Heroica is starting to shape up as a pretty robust dungeon crawl for kids. The only downside: epic freak-out when the five-year-old lost after a hard-fought game...

Draida

Matthew and I cracked open the first of our two Lego Heroica boxes. This set is called Draida, and the storyline is that the heroes have arrived to liberate the kingdom's harbor, which has been overrun by goblins. The Heroica game rules as presented in Draida are pretty simple, even for a kids' game. Matthew and I played through the scenario three times in a row. He mastered the rules quickly and had a blast. Still, there aren't really enough options to give this set a lot of replay value (for instance, there are only two hero characters, the barbarian and the wizard), although we can mix things up a bit by re-configuring the areas and the placement of the monsters. We're likely to see more advanced rules (such as purchasing items with gold obtained during the adventure) when we open the larger of our two sets. Good game so far...with a bit more complexity, it could be a great gateway to D&D.

Lego Heroica

Timothy, my Lego-lovin' pal, this one's for you!

Lego has a number of board games (the intended age group varies depending on the game) in which players build the board, the game pieces, and other components, and then sit down to play the game. I just found out about their series of fantasy games, known as Heroica (official site here and more info here). They looked like pretty cool dungeon-crawl quasi-roleplaying games, so I picked up a couple of them in the clearance aisle at Target this afternoon. Matthew and I will run through them this evening to see how they play. He's familiar with the basics of tabletop RPGs (character classes, rolling dice to hit, moving miniatures around a map, etc.), so I think he'll pick up Heroica quickly even though, at five, he's a bit younger than the recommended age of seven-plus.

Mumbley Peg

Speaking of Timothy's "other" blog, he's written a fantastic post about our first trip to Wales together. Long-time Porch players may recall that the language, mythology, geography, and history of Wales are the major inspirations for the Druid Cycle campaign world.

So why is the post titled "Mumbley Peg"? Well, you'll just have to read Tim's story and find out!

Even More Bloggery!

This has nothing to do with gaming, but I just wanted to share the news that our very own Timothy is now a major contributor to a great blog called The People's Wheels. If you like cars, you'll love this blog. I've enjoyed reading his posts and I continue to marvel at Tim's encyclopedic knowledge of cars. He's also spurred me to start thinking about branching out into another blog of my own. For me, the obvious choice would be superhero comic books. I'll have to mull it over...

Pathfinder's Difficult Path

Issue #4 of Dynamite's Pathfinder comic book comes out today. Naturally, I'm excited; I'll be heading up to my friendly local comic book store over my lunch hour to pick up my copy. I am a bit concerned, however, that this book isn't going to last much longer.

I took a look at the sales figures this morning. Back in August, issue #1 ranked 165th on the Diamond Comic Distributors sales charts, with 14277 copies sold. I'd call that a solid debut for a niche book from a non-Big Two publisher. Issue #2 (October) fell to 9361 copies and 204th on the list. Of course, there's almost always a decline after the first issue of a new series. Issue #3 (November) moved up to 200th but sold only 8681 books. If Pathfinder were a DC or Marvel publication, sales in this range would almost guarantee its cancellation. I'll be the first to admit that I don't have a good handle on what constitutes a good number for a smaller publisher like Dynamite, but I'll be very interested to see how #4 fares.

More D&D Next Goals

Mike Mearls has a very interesting new article on design goals for D&D Next. He gives an overview of what would be included in the basic rules package, and hints at what would be reserved for add-on modules. The basic rules sound a lot like Basic D&D from the old days, and Mearls specifically references that product in his article. I remain cautiously optimistic about the end result, especially after the major steps forward in the last playtest packet.

More Fun With Cards

Continuing our recent theme of cards and gaming, here's an article that describes a variety of uses for 3x5 cards in D&D campaigns.

"You died far too soon"

For me, the Virtual Front Porch is primarily comprised of emails  between my stalwart GM, John, and myself. Sometimes, in those thousands of emails that pass between us during a month, one touches me in a way that I can not accurately describe. This is one of those emails:

Thesan clapped Lwcus on the shoulder. "Well said. I hope for the same thing -- many years of good friendship!"

It was not many years. You died far too soon, Lwcus thought to himself, as he stamped his feet in the snow. He had not known many Knights of Mithras in his long life, so standing next to Seneschal Senchan reminded him of the time he had spent with Commander Thesan. Now, won't those blasted Naxxians give us the time of day? The children's lives are at stake, not to mention my own!

"I only hope the elves will show me the same friendship that you did," the Knight continued. "I am rather less than optimistic."

"I'll make sure they do," said Priam, from far ahead of them.

Thesan smiled. "I didn't realize you could hear us all the way up there."

"These pointed ears aren't just for show," the elf replied.

"So you heard me make a fool of myself by prattling on about courting Cerys?"

"My excellent hearing is also quite selective, I assure you."

Thesan laughed. "It's been a long time since I traveled in good company. I am more accustomed to dealing with...hard men."

"We've certainly seen more than our share of those since returning to First Home," said the elf. "With a few notable exceptions, Duke Arswyd's men are a cruel lot, especially Taro."

"I know the name," said Thesan. "Perhaps one day I will face him, and get justice for those he has wronged."

He killed you, Thesan. He killed you, but you died trying to save her. I will always love you for that.

"Let's stop here for the night," said Priam. "There are some trees up ahead; that should make a nice, secluded campsite."

"We are within a day's ride of Caer Eurfryn," said Thesan. "Those men are loyal to Duke Arswyd, are they not?"

"They are, but we chose this route knowing that we would have to pass near Caer Eurfryn. Unless you all want to press on without rest, I think we need to take the risk of spending one night in their territory."

Thank you, John, for creating a world that can bring a tear to my eye. Somehow, even knowing the outcome of this particular thread of story, the journey to that foregone conclusion is as gripping as anything else I've ever participated in.

New D&D Minis

Nice! Gale Force Nine will now be creating official D&D miniatures. Check out the pics here.

The Deck of Encounters

Reading Timothy's recent post on Spellfire got me thinking about the upcoming Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. I can't wait! But more on that in another post.

Today, I'm going to reminisce about another card-based gaming product, a little gem from the '90s called The Deck of Encounters. As part of the AD&D Official Dungeon Master Decks series, this product included dozens of index-card-sized cards that each contained the necessary information (story hook, monsters, treasure, etc.) for a single tactical encounter. The cards also identified the threat level and environment (urban, dungeon, wilderness, etc.) for ease of reference.

I loved this set. I rarely used the encounters exactly as written, but they provided the seeds for a lot of adventures. They also spurred my interest in the possibility of a "DM-less" game in which a group of players can get together, week after week, for a true roleplaying experience that requires little or no preparation on anyone's part. It's a tall order, but I'm hoping the Pathfinder game can pull it off.

2013 Game Event: Revealed!

The year-long game event to celebrate our twenty-fifth anniversary is called The Harbingers, and it's time to get started! If you want to participate, please send me an email and let me know whether you'd like to run your own character, or take part simply as an observer. If you plan on playing a character, I'll respond with a player packet that includes everything you need to know.

The Harbingers is like no campaign we've done before. It's something of a crossover of a quarter-century's worth of Front Porch campaigns and worlds, infused with the themes that we're developing in our current games. I have no idea whether or not this will be successful, but I can't wait to find out!

Spellfire

I don't remember Spellfire CCG, but then again, I wasn't as involved with D&D beyond the world that John included me in, but it's still an interesting read.

Both of these seem like something I might actually have been interested in, if only Magic hadn't been too geeky for even me.

Druid Cycle Teaser

I have big plans for the Druid Cycle in 2013! After the explosive season finale cliffhangers in the heroic-, paragon-, and epic-tier campaigns, we'll now pick up the action in our twentieth anniversary season. As I've mentioned before, one of the major characters of this game world is marked for death in 2013. Who will it be? And what other surprises are in store? Well, in honor of this milestone year, we're bringing one of the most famous player characters out of retirement, along with a well known NPC hero and one of the worst villains in Druid Cycle history. And players, you won't have to wait long to see any of them!

2013 Is Here!

Happy 2013! Ask any Colgate alum and they'll tell you that 13 is a special number. Well, 2013 is a very special year for the Front Porch Gaming Guild because it's our twenty-fifth anniversary as well as the twentieth anniversary of our Druid Cycle fantasy campaign world. I look forward to a great year!

Knightmare

And to think this is the same nation that gave us Doctor Who...

After watching a few clips of this, I just don't eve know what to say. It's a UK show called "Knightmare" (was spelling it with a K supposed to make it fun again?). 

This interesting article sums it up rather nicely:

 "...four weedy pre-pubescents from the Home Counties, dressed in pastel-colored polo shirts and looking like they would quite like to go home now, please. Three of the team members acted as “advisors,” sitting in front of the magic mirror and making notes on enchanted clipboards. The fourth player, or “dungeoneer,” got to enter the actual dungeon." 

 Sort of like a VR world where...no one really got to experience anything. And to think we just used to run around outdoors and bash each other with sticks and squirt each other with supersoakers...

2013 Game Event: Part 3

Over the last few weeks, I've revealed some key details about the yearlong game event for 2013. Today I'll touch on the story's major theme. If you've been playing in a Druid Cycle game recently, you probably won't be surprised to learn that our game event is going to focus on the timeless, world-spanning struggle between Ekhis and the Ternion. (Ekhis and the Ternion? Sounds like the name of some cheesey Europop band...) By now you probably know that the Ternion are the "good guys" in this struggle, but the twist for our game event is that each player will get to decide which faction he or she supports. Your fellow players won't know where you stand (unless you blab, of course), and given the shadowy nature of these characters, you may not even be sure you're actually supporting the side you think you're supporting...

Happy Holidays!

My posts will probably be infrequent over the next couple of weeks, but before all the Christmastime craziness sets in, I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.

Critically Delicious Since 2011

Not sure how much actual gaming would go on if we were eating our die...

The Skill Die

The skill die is a new mechanic in this iteration of the D&D Next playtest. When you make a check for one of your skills, you also roll your skill die (which starts as a d4 at Level 1 and increases thereafter) and add the result to your check. So, your overall skill check becomes an ability check (d20 plus the relevant ability score bonus) plus the skill die result. (Side-note: Rogues can spend their skill die to perform tricks, just as fighters and monks can spend their martial damage dice to perform maneuvers.)

I'm not sure about the skill die. It seems to be a replacement for the static, level-based skill improvement of 4e and the skill points of 3e. In my estimation, both of those earlier models are better. With the static improvement of 4e, you always know what you're going to get, even if you can't customize your skill improvements. The skill point system of 3e allowed players to focus on improving the skills of their choice, at the expense of less-favored skills. The skill die system, however, does not allow for any customization, and the results of skill checks will be more "swingy."

Two data points don't make a trend, but I fear the rise of swingy math in D&D Next. We already have the advantage and disadvantage system, wherein the player rolls twice and takes, respectively, the higher or the lower of the two. Now, with the skill die system, you roll your d20 as part of the check and then you roll the skill die rather than add a static bonus. In any system in which you're rolling more dice rather than adding (or subtracting) static numbers, you're going to have a wider swing in the possible results. In earlier forms of D&D, my character might get cursed and be forced to make an attack roll at, say, -4. If my attack roll total was 16, I'd subtract 4 and get a 12. In D&D Next, that -4 penalty would be replaced by disadvantage on the roll. So I roll twice and get, perhaps, a 19 on one roll and a 3 on the other, and be forced to take the 3. That's a difference of 16! Is a "swingier" system worse? It certainly makes the game more unpredictable.

Monks and Rogues

Monks and rogues are no longer gimpy, watered-down fighters. Monks get cool ki abilities that are granted by their choice of monastic tradition. Rogues no longer have maneuvers (as fighters and monks still do), but they have maneuver-like abilities called skill tricks. The iconic Sneak Attack feature was fixed (previously it was just a conditional version of the fighter's extra damage ability), but the player's choice of rogue scheme (acrobat, assassin, thief, etc.) might replace Sneak Attack with a different talent, such as the incredibly awesome Assassinate, which is ideal for sniper builds and stealthy back-stabbers. Rogues also get a nifty feature called Ace in the Hole, which allows them to turn an attack roll or failed check or saving throw into a 20. All good stuff.

Clerics and Wizards

Good news to report for both of the D&D Next spellcasters. For clerics, Turn Undead resumes its rightful (in my opinion) place as a Channel Divinity power. The various deity templates each grant a couple of Channel Divinity options -- as well as different armor and weapon proficiencies, domain spells, and special abilities -- so clerics of different faiths will play quite differently. Clerics also receive expertise dice (now renamed "martial damage dice") and, ultimately, a flat damage bonus. All classes that engage in melee combat will receive martial damage dice and this additional martial damage bonus. Fighters and monks can spend martial damage dice to perform maneuvers (just as with expertise dice), but for clerics the martial damage dice can only be used to enhance damage rolls. This way, clerics don't get the fancy maneuvers of their martial companions (they do have spells, after all) but they don't fall behind in terms of raw damage output.

Another interesting change is that clerics and wizards now prepare spells the same way. Both classes prepare a number of spells equal to one plus their wizard or cleric level. This is unlike a strict Vancian system in which the spellcaster must choose exactly which spells he or she will prepare for a given day; if I prepared Knock but have no reason to cast it, I've essentially wasted that spell slot. In the current playtest rules, however, I could prepare, say, Magic Missile and Sleep. If I can cast two spells per day, I could cast each of them once, or either one of them twice. I like the flexibility.

We've Got Ourselves a Game!

The latest version of D&D Next is a major step forward. As you know, the previous iteration had me very, very worried about the future of the game. This time, I think they nailed it. The complexity of the core game is quickly approaching 3e/4e levels, and there are still some bugs in the system (several armor types are still useless due to superior choices in the same price range, humans still receive stat bonuses that are way too high, etc.), but overall this is a solid game with five flavorful and distinct character classes that should all play well at the table. Over the next couple of days, I'll follow up with other posts commenting on specific features.

Another Playtest Packet

There's a new D&D Next playtest packet available for download. In the previous iterations of the playtest, I provided numerous posts with my analysis of the rules. This time, with the holidays approaching and everyone in my family sick, I suspect my commentary will be much more limited. I think I'm also coming down with a case of Playtest Packet Fatigue. Don't get me wrong -- I'm still very pleased to be able to participate in the playtest and to help shape the future of my all-time favorite game, but I can't help feeling a bit burned out at this point. However, I haven't seen the new rules yet, so maybe all that will change...

2013 Game Event: Part 2

My goal for our yearlong game event is to tell a story that resonates with events in other Front Porch campaigns, past and present. If you participate in this event -- either as a player or as an observer -- you'll see a lot of familiar names and themes, and you may even learn some vital information that pertains to the storylines of your usual characters.

To keep the focus squarely on the story, I'm going to go very, very light on game mechanics. Those of you who have participated in email-based adventures know that tactical encounters tend to slow things down. Weeks or even months can pass as we slog through round after round of combat.

We do need some sort of game rules, of course, so I considered a number of options. As you know, the game will be set in the contemporary city of Demeter (home to the superheroes of Tales of the Ternion) but since it's not going to be a superhero story, I've decided against Mutants & Masterminds. It isn't sci-fi, like the Cyberwars / Ragnarok campaign, so I'm not going to use Gamma World. It seems to me that the best choice would be d20 Modern, which is well suited for a "realistic" setting and is based on the familiar D&D 3.5 rules. I'll provide more information once we get started (including a link to the rules and a quick way to create a character), but for now I'll sign off with a promise to reveal the major theme of the story in my next post in this series.

New Look!

Timothy has created a new look for the site. What do y'all think?

Notice the tabs at the top. Currently there's a "Home" tab with the main blog content, as well as a "Front Porch Gallery" tab that contains some photographs. (I assume Timothy has a stockpile of highly embarrassing photos that he plans to inflict upon us in the coming weeks, months, and years!) What other tabs should we include? Leave a comment and let us know!

"Were the ancient Egyptians the inventors of Dungeons and Dragons?"

As the article notes, it's fun to think of D&D spanning the centuries...

The Chosen Children, Part 7: Maeve

We now turn to the seventh and final member of the chosen children. Maeve is the infant daughter of King Arawn and Queen Brynne, the eladrin (high elf) rulers of the forest-realm of Annuvin.

So, to recap in order of birth, we have Neanias (half-human, half-deva), Devon (human), Florian Romlin (elf), Roan (dragonborn), Tancred (dwarf), Adair (half-human, half-tiefling), and Maeve (eladrin). These kids will grow up to be the next generation of Druid Cycle champions...but only if the current generation keeps them safe so that they survive to adulthood!

2013 Game Event: Part 1

Ready for more details about the mysterious game event that I have planned for next year? In last week's "Anniversary Events" post, I revealed that the game would be email-based, run throughout 2013, and allow for active participation or fly-on-the-wall observation. The next detail I'll reveal is that the game will take place in a contemporary time period in the fictional US city of Demeter, home to the fledgling Tales of the Ternion superhero campaign. However, this game will not be a superhero campaign. In the next post in this series, I'll talk a bit about the rules system that we'll use; in the meantime, check out the handful of other Tales of the Ternion posts, particularly the very excellent city map that Timothy created for us.

"My inn's as clean as..."

My internet connection has been spotty lately, but at least I was able to download Baldur's Gate for my iPad. I've started up a new game with an archer ranger, and my five-year-old is trying out a shapeshifter druid. After spending some time in Candlekeep, he picked up the catchphrase of the local innkeeper: "My inn's as clean as an elven arse!" Now he's saying it non-stop. Amy is not as amused as I am...

Baldur's Gate for iPad

Just in time for the weekend! Baldur's Gate for iPad is here!

Mounts!

The paladin may be my all-time favorite D&D class (or maybe it's the fighter...or cleric...), and one of my favorite aspects of this class is the paladin's mount. Check out this article on the D&D website about the history of mounts in early editions of D&D and how they will be used in an upcoming 4e adventure.

Engagement Ring

Not sure that I'd ever go this far, but for some people it may just be the ticket to eternal love...

Baldur's Gate Delay

D'oh! The iPad version of Baldur's Gate has been delayed again...

Virus Warning

EN World has long been one of my favorite roleplaying sites, but lately my browser and my antivirus software have been giving me lots of warnings that EN World may be a dangerous site to visit. I'm sure Morrus and the gang are working on correcting whatever's going on, but for the time being, I'd advise against going to that site.

Anniversary Events

Now that the calendar has turned to December, we're less than a month away from our twenty-fifth anniversary. We had a few comments about options for the celebration, and a few folks voted in the poll, but I don't feel that I have a lot of data about what people would like to do. However, I used the information that I received as a starting point and came up with a preliminary plan...

• An online one-shot adventure: We'll gather in a chat room or use a free browser-based online gaming application to play a self-contained, one- or two-evening adventure. Suggestions for the rules system include Gamma World, Mutants & Masterminds, and "old school" D&D. I'd be up for running one of these events, and if anyone else is interested in gamemastering another session, just let me know. Depending on the level of interest, we could end up with a few of these throughout the year.
• A retrospective video: I have some photographs (especially from our early days), and I invite others to send photos, video clips, anecdotes, funny quotes, character sheets, maps, and anything else that you'd like to be included. I'll take whatever you give me and put it all together into a video, which I'll then provide to everyone on DVD or via a download site.
• A super-awesome top-secret experimental project: I'll give you a couple of hints now, and then more throughout the month. Here's all you're going to get for today: It will be an asynchronous (i.e., email-based) game event taking place between January and December. You can participate as a player (with a character you control) or as an observer (you get copied on the emails to keep up with the story, but don't actually control a character).

Let me know what you think!

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.

Feats and Specialties

As in the previous D&D Next playtest iterations, specialties provide a suggested package of feats that focus on a common theme. Below, I've described my reactions to some of the changes to feats and specialties.

• You now have the option to choose your own feats. For character optimizers like me, the concept of the specialty is probably irrelevant now.
• There are rules for retraining, as in 4e. I'm pleased; I feel that retraining is one of the better innovations of 4e and it's great to see it cross over into 5e.
• I'm not fond of the Restore Life feat. It seems to make battlefield resurrection too easy. A character cannot take this feat until ninth level, but still...you can resurrect a dead character (dead for less than one minute and with at least one Hit Die remaining) and all it costs you is two uses from a healer's kit?
• Hide in Shadows seems broken because you get so many goodies for only the cost of a single feat: training in the Sneak skill, the ability to hide in dim light, and short-range low-light vision.

Next up...maneuvers!

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

Looks like there's another playtest we can join. Paizo has announced the development of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, to be released in 2013. Check it out!

Skills and Backgrounds

I'll start our in-depth look at the latest D&D Next playtest materials with some thoughts on skills and backgrounds.

The most important point is that skills are no longer tied to specific abilities. Depending on the context, a single skill could be applied to different ability checks; for example, Disable Device could be applied to an Intelligence check or a Dexterity check. I think this is the right move, as it makes the skill system more flexible and gives players more room for creativity.

Some reactions to particular skills:

• The new Drive skill, as the name implies, is for driving wheeled vehicles. Timothy is going to love this one!
• Sciences and Warfare are now included among the Knowledge skills, and I highly approve.
• The general 4e Perception skill has been replaced by Spot, Listen, and Search, as in 3e. I preferred a single skill to cover these tasks, but I can't complain too much about this one.
• I'm pleased that Track is a skill again.
• Use Rope has been added to the skill list. Really? This one seems kind of pointless to me. I realize it existed prior to 4e, but there are probably a dozen other 3e skills or 2e non-weapon proficiencies that I would have picked over Use Rope for inclusion in the D&D Next core skill list.

Backgrounds remain the primary way that D&D Next characters acquire skills (although races and classes can also grant skills). In my opinion, backgrounds are one of the strongest features of D&D Next. Below are some changes that I thought were particularly noteworthy.

• Backgrounds now grant four skills, not three. Sounds good to me.
• The housing crisis appears to have hit the D&D world: The poor Commoner has lost his house! In the previous version, this background granted the character a dwelling. Now...it's gone. Why?
• There's a new option to create your own background by choosing four skills and one of the traits from the sample backgrounds. I love it! I'm sure I'll build custom backgrounds for all my characters.

Tomorrow we'll take a look at specialties and feats. 

Opening Salvo

I was disappointed to find that a number of issues from the last iteration of the playtest still remain in the current version. Here are some problems that stood out:

• Humans remain grossly overpowered. They still receive a +2 bonus to one ability score and +1 to all others.
• The armor system still needs some work. There is essientially only one viable choice in each category (light, medium, heavy) for first-level characters. Why does ringmail armor even exist? No one will ever choose it over chainmail as the heavy armor for a low-level character. And am I missing something, or are splint and banded exactly the same in every way?
• The herbalism feat still feels broken. I'll take it every time if I'm playing a cleric.
• The blank character sheet remains almost completely useless.

I'll have a lot more to say about the new playtest packet in the coming days, but in a nutshell, I think this version is a major step backwards. Why? There aren't any fundamental alterations to the system, but a lot of the little changes seem (from my perspective) to make the game more complicated and less fun. I'll follow up with a series of posts that tackle each issue (skills, feats, maneuvers, etc.) in turn.

More Playtest Action!

Click here to check out the latest iteration of the D&D Next playtest. I'll post some commentary once I've had a chance to digest all the new stuff.

Ultimate Paint Set

On the heels of my earlier comment about expensive Citadel paints...behold, the Ultimate Paint Set! It's an eye-popping $450. Maybe I'll just stick with good old-fashioned Testors.

Sandy Not Dandy

With the storm coming in, I'll be thinking about all my family and friends -- including many Front Porch players -- back in the northeast. Hunker down and stay safe.

New Poll

Don't forget to vote in the new poll for how we should celebrate our upcoming twenty-fifth anniversary. You can find the poll at the bottom of this blog page.

The Chosen Children, Part 6: Adair

In this installment of our series on the seven chosen children, we consider the infant Adair, who was just born late last week (in "real time," that is; in "game time" it's only been a few hours!). Adair is unique in that he is half human and half tiefling -- the first such character in the Druid Cycle campaign world. (For those who aren't as familiar with 4e D&D, the tieflings are a race of humanoids who still bear the physical signs -- devil horns and tails -- of the pact of allegiance that their ancestors swore to the demonkind.) Adair is the son of the human Seneschal Senchan (Kevin) and the tiefling warlock Astera. His birth means that only one chosen child remains...

New GW Store

I headed over the mountains on Saturday for the grand opening of the new Games Workshop store in Sacramento. This is the third GW store I've visited (the others were in Toronto and in Thousand Oaks, California), and I've found that they're all basically the same -- lots of tantalizing products (tantalizing until you see the price tags, at least. Sixty bucks for the starter paint set?!) and friendly but pushy staff. Still, it was fun to hang out and watch all the games in progress. If I hadn't been there with two rambunctious little boys, I would have stayed longer and asked more questions. I'll make it a point to do a solo visit to the Thousand Oaks store the next time I'm in town. And perhaps if they open a store in the Reno area (not bloody likely, but one never knows) I'll become a frequent patron -- for the free painting lessons if nothing else. Oh yeah, I'd have to buy that sixty dollar paint set first...

Let's Celebrate!

Our twenty-fifth anniversary is coming up in just a few short months, so let's celebrate! What are your thoughts on how we can best mark this momentous occasion? Vote in the poll at the bottom of the blog -- or, even better, leave a comment and let's get the discussion started!

D&D on PBS Idea Channel

Check it out...

XCOM

X-Com is back! I may well be the last gamer in America to find out, but on the off chance you haven't heard yet, the classic humans-vs.-aliens strategy game is getting a reboot. I have very fond memories of playing the original turn-based X-Com a dozen years ago with Matt when we both lived in Rochester. Good times!

Tape Measure (of Doom)

This, my friends, is one bad-ass tape measure.

Dark Vengeance Printed Materials

I've posted about the models from the new Warhammer 40,000 starter set, Dark Vengeance, but I thought it would also be useful to comment on the excellent print materials that are included in the box. Aside from the model assembly guide (an essential document, to be sure, but why are there absolutely no painting instructions/tips whatsoever?), the set includes a quick start guide, a quick reference sheet, and a mini rulebook. The quick start guide is marked "Read This First," and with good reason. It teaches you the rules as you play, providing all the basic information in easy-to-digest quantities. The document is printed on rigid, high-quality paper, and it's chock full of color illustrations (including many photographs of miniatures that are so well painted that I'm intimidated even to try!). The quick reference sheet, meanwhile, includes all the major tables, some rule summaries, and complete rosters for the two included armies. The real prize of the set is the mini rulebook, and like the quick start guide it's replete with beautiful illustrations. As I understand it, the complete game rules are contained within this pocket-sized book, so purchasing Dark Vengeance obviates the need to buy the expensive 6th edition hardcover rulebook. Since I'm new to 40k I have nothing to which to compare this set, but I'm very pleased with everything it contains.

Matt's Models, Part 3

Today we have a couple more photographs that showcase Matt's artistic talents.

First up, two nasty Defilers...

And now the complete army of Chaos...

It's safe to say that my fledgling army of Dark Angels will not be taking these guys on any time soon!

Matt's Models, Part 2

Here's a second helping of Matt's awesome 40k models!

Three tough-as-nails Space Marines...

A posse of Terminators...

Tune in tomorrow for our third and final installment!

Matt's Models, Part 1

You've seen the unpainted Warhammer 40,000 models that I assembled from my Dark Vengeance starter set. But what do 40k models look like when they're painted? Feast your eyes on Matt's tremendous painting skills!

First we have the charming Daemon Prince...

Here's a Chosen toting a plasma gun...

Check back tomorrow for more!

Minor Playtest Update

Head over to the D&D Next Playtest page to download the latest playtest packet. This version includes mainly an updated Caves of Chaos adventure, an updated bestiary, and new rules for magic items.

Dark Angels & Chaos Space Marines

I've finished assembling the two starter armies from my Dark Vengeance set.

First up, the heroic Dark Angels...

Now the forces of Chaos...

Next, I'll crack open the rulebook and start learning how to play the game. Don't ask me when I'm going to start painting the minis...

From the Craigslist Files...

Woman DM needed for D&D based Adult Bachelor Party

What more is there really to say?

Pathfinder #2

It's been two long months since the dazzling debut of the Pathfinder comic book. Issue #2 is finally here, and it doesn't disappoint. The writing is great and although the style of the art still doesn't grab me, at least it's growing on me. As with the first issue, there's tons of gaming content in the back, including another playable combat encounter and a removable game map. If you're a comics fan and a gaming fan, this book should be no-brainer.

Vengeance Is Mine!

At last, my copy of Dark Vengeance has arrived! Here's a pic of the box...

And here are some of the contents: the sprues with the model components, the mini rulebook, the quick start guide, bases, dice, templates, etc.

With the "help" of my five-year-old and two-year-old, I quickly snapped together a couple of the models, a Ravenwing bike and the dreaded Helbrute...

Further updates to follow as I delve deeper into the 40k hobby (lifestyle?).

Pathfinder #2 Preview

The second issue of the Pathfinder comic book comes out on Wednesday. Here's a preview.

Druid Cycle Player Matrix

I love a lot of aspects of 4e D&D, and one of my favorites is the concept of level tiers. For those who aren't familiar with 4e, character levels 1-10 are known as heroic tier, 11-20 are paragon tier, and 21-30 are epic tier. There are specific game mechanics associated with these tiers (for example, players can select a paragon path at level 11 and an epic destiny at 21), but I find them more useful for organizing characters and storylines.

In the Druid Cycle campaign world, we have a lot of stuff going on. Currently there are eight players and a total of sixteen characters. (Timothy alone accounts for six of those heroes!) Some characters are very active, while others may not see any action for months at a time. How do I keep track of all these moving parts? In a handy-dandy spreadsheet, of course! The rows are the names of the players, and the columns are for the three tiers (heroic, paragon, epic). I put the character names in the individual cells, along with their class and level. This allows me to see the breakdown of the characters in the different tiers (at the moment, we have seven in heroic, six in paragon, and three in epic) and which characters would be suitable for which storylines.

Not surprisingly, then, we have three multi-player Druid Cycle stories going on, one for each tier. (This doesn't include the many solo adventures.) The heroic-tier folks are adventuring in the lost city of Tadjeser, the paragon group is searching for the Castellan's Journal, and the epic-tier guys are hunting Ekhis and his minions. Now, as it turns out, all three of these storylines are related, but perhaps that's a topic for another day...

Perfect Timing

Nice! Just days after deciding to get into Warhammer 40k, I've learned that Games Workshop is opening a store not too far away in Sacramento. The grand opening is October 20. I'll be there!

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising

In the office cafeteria yesterday, my colleagues and I were discussing Wittgenstein over a game of backgammon, and then someone brought up a movie that I thought you'd enjoy. It may not be easy to find, but if you're an RPG enthusiast (and if you're not, why are you reading this blog? Surely not just for the subtle Simpsons references embedded in my posts...), it's worth your time.

So It Begins...

Well, after years and hemming and hawing, I've decided to jump into Warhammer 40,000. I placed an order for the new Dark Vengeance starter set. Regular updates to follow!

Beowulf Returns

As a player and a gamemaster, I've borrowed a lot of themes and imagery from the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. My fondness for this poem dates back to my undergraduate days. Years later, I devoted a chapter of my dissertation to Beowulf, and concurrently I studied the various adaptations of the poem in modern popular culture (films, novels, music, etc.). You can see the fruits of that labor here. One of my favorite pop culture adaptations was DC's short-lived Beowulf comic book series (1975-76). The comic's connection to the poem was tenuous at best (e.g., the hero's foes included UFOs and Dracula), but it was a hell of a lot of fun. As such, I was pleased to learn that DC has included Beowulf as a backup feature in the new Sword of Sorcery comic. It's very different from both the poem and the original comic, but it looks cool so far.

Email Alert!

Just wanted to draw your attention to a cool new feature...email alerts! Check out the "Follow Us by Email" field on the right-hand side of the blog. You may need to scroll down a bit to see it. Enter your email address in the field and click "Submit." That will sign you up for Front Porch blog updates. Every day that new content is added to the blog, you'll receive an email notification.

Holy Parasocial Bonding, Batman!

This isn't directly related to gaming, but since I do make occasional superhero-related posts, here's a link to an interesting study on the effects of comic book characters upon readers' sense of self. I wonder if anyone has studied whether roleplaying game characters have an effect upon players' sense of self.

Another Look at D&D Next Character Creation

As you know, I've been an enthusiastic supporter of D&D Next / 5e. They still have a lot of bugs to work out, of course, but on the whole I think they've been on the right track.

However, here's an interesting article from Critical Hits that suggests 5e is already on the path to unwieldy complexity in character creation options.

Return of the Castellan's Journal

Just like that, we're back in business!

The Castellan's Journal storyline from a Druid Cycle campaign of yesteryear has returned with a new twist (everybody's undead!) on old characters. In a matter of days, we came up with 4e versions of Tim B's cleric (now invoker) Selmac, Kevin's monk Degare, and Timothy's sorcerer Alexander. Our heroes are now reunited, plotting to escape from servitude aboard the pirate ship of one of their longtime nemeses. Next stop? Recover the no-longer-disintegrated Castellan's Journal and prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

Side-note: Other players from that long-ago campaign are also welcome to join!

"Non-traditional" uses of D&D?

I'm all for it! From Chris Speck's blog, "Squeezing English lessons out of mainstream culture and technology"...
"I played Dungeons and Dragons for many years as a teenager and enjoyed the role-play, the creation and the dice rolling and it’s only recently that I’ve got back into the game. I’ve never taken it too seriously and so, I thought,  why not try it with my EFL / ESOL students. After all, it is a game that requires a lot of talking, communication, reasoning, reading and even some writing – all the skills you need to use a language. This adventure wouldn’t make a good lesson, it’s something you could do as part of an English club or similar."

The rest of the article is very interesting, and a really fun way to help people learn!

ADND - Rules

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was the most well thought out version since the boxed set.  It was made by TSR & added a lot of practical rules & background.

Today we will cover the rules:
* Rules were created about firing missle fire into melee.  It is a very realistic, but didn't bog down gameplay.
* Multiple swings & a more balanced spell system helped balance all classes.
* Classes were customized alowing for each class to be unique.  It also had more classes to chose from than first edition.
* It also introduced 'character points' to build custom characters.  This is being reintroduced (except as an XP system) in Wizards of the Coast DND 5e.
* It also introduced special manuals.  While costly, they introduced unique background.
* It allowed players to play multiple class characters (2 or more classes together).  There were also rules that decreased or increased the XP needed to level if you exceeded basic ability class minimums.

In the following weeks, I will discuss the races, classes, & details each week.

The Castellan's Journal

One of my favorite aspects of the Druid Cycle campaign world -- second only to keeping in touch with some of my oldest and dearest friends -- is the rich narrative history that we've created over the past 19 years. However, some of that history jumped out and smacked me in the face the other day.

It all started when I got a call from Tim B, who expressed interest in resurrecting (literally and figuratively) his character from a storyline called The Castellan's Journal (see my recent post chronicling the history of the major Druid Cycle story arcs), which we started about ten years ago. This adventure lasted for parts of three years and was conducted online in a private chat room. The storyline focused on a powerful magical artifact (the aforementioned journal) and the heroes' efforts to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Although this adventure ended in 2004, I've always considered the journal to be one of the iconic magic items of the Druid Cycle world. With Tim B about to return to his old character, I thought it would be ideal to bring back this fabled book for another go-around. I managed to dig up my notes from that earlier adventure, including the summaries I had written of each game session. It was there that I discovered a potentially show-stopping problem.

The Castellan's Journal no longer existed.

Gulp. It was right there in black and white: Rather than allow their enemies to obtain the book, the heroes elected to destroy it using a sphere of annihilation. How could I have forgotten that?

The major continuity problem resulting from this discovery is that the book has made some appearances in Druid Cycle adventures over the past few years. Player characters have held it and studied it. At least one player knows its current location. On top of all that, I still want to use the book as the focal point for the return of Tim B's character.

What can be done? I think the only remedy is a retcon worthy of that other great DC -- not the Druid Cycle, but DC Comics. Their tangled, contradictory storylines are the stuff of legend, and each successive attempt to correct the problems only ends up adding more layers of complexity. (My beloved Hawkman has endured more than any other superhero in that respect.) But despite the decades of retcons, we keep coming back to the DC Universe because they're telling great stories about characters we love.

So...here's my retcon: The heroes of yesteryear fully intended to destroy the Castellan's Journal, but it turns out that the sphere of annihilation was a ruse -- it was actually a portal that transported the book to the clutches of the dragon-lord Ironside, who held it for a time until his home was destroyed during the recent Quintessence Rifts story arc. From that point, the book's travels are just as they have played out in the campaign.

There you have it. Is it perfect? No, but it doesn't have to be. I have big plans for that book and for Tim B's old character. As much as I respect and cherish the history that we've forged in past adventures, I'm not going to let a nearly-forgotten episode bog us down.

Retcon...and move on!

Dudes, I Called It First

I was reading the latest issue of DC's superlatively awesome Earth 2 last night, and one of the characters referred to the Big Three superheroes -- Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman -- as the Ternion. Dudes, I totally called it first. As you know, faithful blog readers, we have a new superhero campaign in the works called Tales of the Ternion -- although "my" Ternion is not a trio of superheroes. Current Druid Cycle players will also recognize the Ternion as the three mystical beings -- the Hierophant, the Cataphract, and the  Demiurge -- who discovered the secret of immortality. Yes, the Ternions from these two campaigns are related, but it will be a very long time before players discover how and why.

Anyway, DC Comics, please stop stealing my cool words!

I'd like to chomp on some of THAT cake...

What an awesome cake...

Demeter

For the best results to view the map, please visit here and download the map. It's around 12 megabytes, but well worth the effort!