Party Optimization Part two: Mechanics

We talked about creating a party that has similar goals and perhaps even an overarching theme such as all arcane characters in part one. Now we’re going to talk about making mechanical choices that will create a synergistic party. Once you have agreed on a party theme, or at least gotten some ideas how the characters could be connected, the next step is actually creating a party. When creating a party you want to look at how all the pieces fit together, instead of simply making individual characters on their own. Remember the goal here is to make a party that runs like a well oiled machine. Occasionally a party will work well together from happenstance. Additionally, if the characters and players all have similar goals a party can run smoothly as well. However, a party built together with a theme, with short term and long term goals, and with an eye towards working as a unit, can run sensationally well.

The first step to making a mechanically optimized party is to pick a theme. Your theme should include some basic story ideas, how the characters will interact and what the party will be good at. No one character can be good at everything and the same is true of adventuring parties. While you can certainly have a party that does a bit of everything, having a more focused party is going to shine brighter. You certainly want to cover your bases in party creation to make sure you don’t have any glaring holes. For example a party that is functionally blind or socially illiterate. The main thing is to come up with some sort of concept for your party such as our party always wants to go first, or our party never wants to miss. Of course you will never be able to fully reach those goals, but if you have them you can make informed choices to come close to reaching them.

There is some inherent synergy in choosing classes that share a power source. For example, arcane characters tend to have some great controller options across the board, divine characters tend to have a touch of leader in them, most martial characters have good basic attacks and warlords can give out basic attacks like candy. This is nice because the game rewards you for making a party with a theme. I’ve never been in a party of all arcane characters, but I imagine it would be fun frustrating all the monsters into oblivion.

Yeah it's kinda like that

Playing a group of characters that share a race has less inherent synergy. Still there are some options that can be synergistic, and even more options that can work well together on a basic level. A team of all Devas could work well, especially for a group of divine characters. The bonuses like up, and Devas make excellent Divine characters thematically. You will get a lot of mileage out of Memory of 1,000 lifetimes and the Deva’s resistances are a nice bonus. Some feats are particularly useful for a group of Devas. These include Radiant Power, Battle Intuition and Auspicious Lineage in the heroic tier. Shared Memories is an excellent feat, but is for Warlords only. One interesting tactic could be an entire party of multiclass Warlords. The multiclass Warlord feats out of Martial Power 2 are all excellent choices for this. The party would get a ton of benefits when anyone used an action point and the party’s memory power would become a poll available for all to use whenever needed.

If you never want to miss a party of all elves could be interesting. Elven bonuses would work well for a primal themed adventuring party if you wanted to go the hippy tree hugger route. There are plenty of good feats for Elven characters, but nothing terribly game changing. One interesting idea is to make a party which includes at least one Elf, at least one Eladrin, and at least one Drow to make use of Caelynnvala'sBoons.

No Beast will escape my tiny pixie wrath

Almost any race could work to build a themed adventuring party around. Some races have more support than others, but as long as the party tries to work together your party of pixie beast slayers should do quite well. The character optimization race guide wiki is an excellent resource if you are looking to make an optimized party of all one race. Another excellent place to look is this post on Dungeon's Master.

Here are some other thoughts you should keep in mind when building an optimized party. Your leader is a resource for more than just healing. Healing is an important aspect of any leader, but there is more to being a good leader than healing. There is an excellent guide to leaders here. The guide lists several aspects of being a good leader, and all of the leader classes excel at some aspects but not others. Keeping the other classes needs in mind while building your leader is a key to successful party optimization. Several classes, most notably the Blackguard, gain bonuses from having temporary hit points. Having a leader that gives out temps is great for those classes. A class like a barbarian that likes wielding big damage, low accuracy weapons would love a leader that helps with accuracy such as a tactical warlord.  On the other side very accurate characters like Avengers and Rangers would love a damage boosting leader like a Panther Shaman. The Panther Shaman works especially well with a Ranger because the damage roll bonus would apply to both Twin Strikes ramping up the damage even more.

Healing surges are a party resource. You are only as resilient as your weakest link. If you want to keep going after others have fallen you should start to think of healing surges as a party resource. There are a couple of really good ways to extend the party’s day by passing around surges. The Paladin can give out some healing by using Lay on Hands. Clerics, Shamans and Artificers have some good options for surgeless healing. Artificers in particular are good at this because their encounter heals can be replenished by any party member’s surges. If none of those options work well in your group you should make sure that someone has access to the Comrade’s Succor Ritual. It is a first level ritual and well worth the price.

Then the Jaguar ate his face! True story. 

Guild and Tribal feats are your friend. If you can get the whole party on board the guild and tribal feats are well worth the investment. The feats all give a solid benefit for taking them, and the benefits are improved for each other party member that takes them. If you have a good theme in mind the feats can help solidify it.

I hope you find some of these ideas helpful when you are building your next party. Even if you don’t want to make a totally optimized party, thinking about a theme for your party and making some choices together can lead to a richer gaming experience. In the future I would like to post a complete party that uses these ideas including some basic backgrounds and connections between the characters. If you have made a party cooperatively or just have some ideas for how it might work, please leave a comment below. Until next time remember don’t let your DM tell you no. It’s always, “Yes, and…?”

Weekly Homebrew: Syrantharax

As promised Syrantharax an Epic tier Solo Monster. I have divided him up into two parts.

The first part of the encounter he is polymorphed into human form. It would be interesting to have him be another type of humanoid for example elf, and then you could just give him Elven Accuracy or whatever other racial power you wanted him to emulate. You will want to start the encounter off with Tides of Despair so he has the aura available throughout the encounter. Once Syrantharax is bloodied he should transform into Dragon form.

Once there you should allow the players to attempt to dispel the aura either with dispel magic or some creative skill use. Hopefully by switching forms in the midst of combat Syrantharax will remain interesting throughout the entire encounter. However he should not fight to the death so if it gets to be a grind, simply have him start to try to negotiate with the players. If they seem averse to negotiation you can have him fly away to fight another day or simply surrender and beg for mercy if you don't want to bring him back later.

I hope you find a use for Syrantharax. If you have any thoughts on design or want to report how he worked in play feel free to leave a comment, or find me on Facebook or Twitter. Until next time remember, don't let your DM tell you no. It's always, "Yes, and...?"

Oh so late

I just got finished trying out a new Pathfinder game. I am still solidly in the 4e camp, but I did have a lot of fun sitting around the table with my friends. Sorry, but it looks like Weekly Homebrew is going to miss another week. I did get started on a monster that has an aura that dazes and deals ongoing damage, but I haven't gotten it all worked out yet. I'll hopefully have something worked out for next week. Until next time remember, don't let your DM tell you no. It's always, "Yes and...?"

Secret Warlock: Rules behind the World

In retrospect I really should have known better

I’d like to revisit the encounter with the Gaood, or evil tattooed fairies for this week’s post. I really enjoyed this encounter. I have made this character to be a Lord of the Winter Fey, so any time I get to incorporate that aspect of my character I really feel rewarded for bringing it to the table. The last time I was that excited I used the fact that I was a Lord of Winter to show an icy room who was boss. One of the best things about my DM for this game is she actually uses the background and personality information I give her in the game. I’m very happy with this because so often my DM’s have asked for background and then ignored it. I know I am guilty of this myself on occasion. I think using your characters’ hard work is better reward than any amount of mechanical bonus, not that I would mind a mechanical benefit. One more thought on this and then I’m moving on. I think all the 4e haters who say it’s all about combat and just a tabletop MMO should play with my DM. It might change their minds a bit.

I said I enjoyed the encounter, and I did, because I got to put on my Winter Fey Emissary hat and try to negotiate with the Evil Tatooed Fairies.  When we first ran into them they claimed to just be after some fun, and not to know who the Gaood were. Some of the other players believed them, or appeared to, but I had a feeling they knew more than they were letting on. In fact, I became convinced they were the Gaood in disguise. I enjoyed trying to convince the fairies to aid us, and I really enjoyed showcasing my supposed knowledge of the fey. All of this brings me to the part of the encounter that was frustrating, and to the point of today’s article.

The Wizard I wanted to be before

I have become a huge fan of Jim Butcher. I started reading the Dresden Files because of the SciFi Channel show. I loved the show, and I love the books it was based on. If you haven’t read them or seen the show you should check them both out. Harry Dresden is the Wizard I want to be now. I don’t want to spoil the series, but there is a pretty large focus on Fey creatures, particularly the Winter Court as the books go on. A lot of Aramil is inspired by the Dresden Files, and my understanding of how the world works is based a lot on how the world of the Dresden Files works. To a large degree I am playing Aramil as if he were a Winter Court Lord in the Dresden Files, and my expectations of how the world works is based on that assumption. The problem was I don’t think my DM was working from the same set of assumptions.

When I talk about the rules behind the world I don’t mean whether you are playing 3e or 4e or DnDnext. I am talking about the basics of how the world works. For example do the laws of contagion and similarity apply, or is there some other basis for magic? Does knowing someone’s true name give you power over them? Finally, most important for my character, how do the rules of hospitality apply when dealing with evil tattooed fairies. As I said my understanding of fey creatures is inspired by Harry Dresden with a pinch of Shakespeare for good measure.

Fuego! Evil Fairies!

 I am sure part of the problem stemmed from the fact that they weren’t actually fairies, but I was very disappointed when they acted in a way that I wasn’t expecting. I took pains to make an agreement with them that left little wiggle room, and I insisted that they declare us guests which in my mind would have given us some measure of protection. Even though they were not fairies I was very surprised that they would betray a guest, particularly one highly placed in the Winter Court. So when they started making my friends dance while I played the dirge, and when they turned my dirge into a disco I called down the wrath of winter on them. I was very upset and I am planning on getting sweet, sweet revenge on them in the next session, but the entire situation could have been avoided if I had a discussion with the DM regarding my expectations for how the world works, before I acted on them.

Whether you are a player or a DM I encourage you to examine your assumptions. Go ahead and have a discussion about some of the basics. Having a deeper understanding of the rules behind the world can help your immersion, and lead to a richer game experience. I imagine we would be fighting Evil tattooed pixies tonight no matter what I had done, but I would feel less a fool if I hadn’t made such a thing of them making us guests since it didn’t really seem to matter. Until next time remember don’t let your DM tell you no. It’s always, “Yes and…?”

Party Optimization Part One of Two: Theme and Story

Much has been written on the subject character optimization. I know Charop is a touchy subject, with bad feelings on both sides of the issue. For every person who simply wants to play a fun and effective character there is a pun pun waiting in the wings, and for every person who simply wants to play a concept and doesn’t really care much about the mechanics there is a person who plays a character who is CN and has a 3 cha just to be a douche. Sadly many times people in the opposing camps can’t see there is a middle ground. It is perfectly ok to want a character that is confident and effective in combat and out of it. It is also perfectly fine to play a character that has a personality and a backstory and doesn’t care what magic item or feat they are picking up next. I have done both, sometimes even on the same character.

Much can be accomplished by working together

I’ve actually gone pretty far afield here. I was saying that a lot has been written about optimizing an individual character. However, D and D is a social game, a cooperative game. You would think that some thought would be given to creating a whole party that works well together. Instead almost all of what you see is geared towards making a single character do well completely apart from any of the rest of the party. I have found this to be true in most of the research I have done, as well as at most of my game sessions. I have seen a very few synergestic parties, such as the radiant mafia, but they are rare. In addition most of the times I have tried to get my fellow players interested in even bare bones party creation I have been met with apathy if not outright derision. While 4e has done much to make party synergy possible, it has also done much to make it unnecessary.

With the self healing available to all characters and the general heartiness of most 4e characters, a case can be made that no attempts need to be made to organize your party, let alone optimize it. It is certainly possible to play 4e and be successful with a thrown together party of all rogues. However, just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s a good idea or would even work well. I can’t tell you how tired I am of hearing, “You don’t need to have a leader in 4e” whenever I ask my friends to sit and make a party with me. I tend to be more focused on the mechanics and I will address the mechanics in part two. For now it is just as important to have a party that will work together for story purposes.

The Thief is behind me isn't he?

If you have played D and D for any amount of time you have seen an example of a party that does not work well together. The most egregious examples can be attributed to individual characters. Some of these include the thief who insists on stealing from the party, the cleric who refuses to heal the necromancer, (A cleric who refuses to heal anyone is the subject of another post), or the Paladin who has to be sent for a sandwich anytime the party needs to actually do something. While some of this is just general douchery, much of it could have been avoided by simply discussing a party concept before the game started.

Even if you haven’t played with an asshat paladin or a steal everything that isn’t nailed down thief you have probably experienced a party that didn’t gel together for whatever reason. Having a party concept or theme would be most useful in story driven or roleplay heavy games because part of what moves the game forward is interactions between the players. Some of my favorite moments as a DM have been listening to the players talk to each other in character. It’s great because it gives me a chance to sit back and just enjoy the game for a while instead of constantly working to keep the game going. However, even in dungeon of the week style games having at least a little idea of how the party will work together can be very enriching. I have a couple of suggestions for building a party that has a theme, or at least some connections, which I think will greatly aid your games. You may still run into an asshat Paladin on occasion, but at least you will know about it before hand. Heck maybe you could make a whole party of them.

And I will execute great vengeance upon them
with furious rebukes; and they shall know
 that I am the LORD, when
I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

I have two suggestions that really are most important. I cannot stress how much each of them is the most important thing you need to do when making a party. In fact I am struggling to decide which is more important, because they are both that important. First, talk to your DM. It is very likely that your DM has some ideas about the campaign theme, and what types of characters will be appropriate. Additionally half of DMing is hooking characters and if you give the DM hooks that will not only work for your character, but for the entire party he will thank you.

Second, talk to the other players. Really all of my tips and suggestions boil down to having some effective communication before the game starts. If you are the type of player who likes to create a character and go and forget about the rest of the party, be open to some communication about the party. On the other hand if you are the kind of player who enjoys planning out party concepts, be sure you are willing to listen to what the other players want to play. If your concept of a party doesn’t include arcane magic and one of the other players always plays a wizard, at least be open to changing the concept. If you are the DM encourage your players to talk about a concept, or give them some options for a concept. Maybe you could even have a session dedicated to party creation. The rest of the ideas require having a discussion about what the party is going to be, and how to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Party of Wizards for the win

One way to tie the group together is by playing characters that all use the same power source. One of the greatest advances 4e made was making it possible to have a balanced party based around a single power source. Before 4e you had few options for healing that did not include the cleric, and if you wanted big flashy spells you picked the wizard. 3e had a few options, such as the bard, but the bard excelled at being the fifth man, and was a lot less good at being whatever fourth man he was trying to be. If you wanted to play a party full of mages, which is an interesting idea, you had to hope your DM crafted adventures just for you or you had to be very careful while playing until you were high enough level to break the game with your spells. Even then you still had no really good way to heal. Now in 4e it is possible to play a group of people from a single church or mage school or tribe without straining credulity.

Another idea is to have the characters all be the same race. One of the best campaigns I have played in used the Revenant race to keep us all tied together thematically while also giving us a great deal of freedom to be individuals. The story was that thousands of years ago we had each been great hero’s who were returning to save the world from some great danger. Unfortunately, the gods of evil tainted our return, bringing us back as undead and with only a fraction of our former power. Other races would work as well for creating a themed party, but I really like Revenants for versatility.

Another great idea for a themed party is to have all of the characters work for the same organization. If most of the players share a power source or a race, but a few want to branch out into something else, this would actually be the best option. It is easy to imagine a single human working for the Elven army. Of course some outliers wouldn’t make as much sense. Again doing some of the legwork in creating the game should make your DM happy, but always double check to make sure there isn’t a specific organization the DM would think especially appropriate.

It is entirely possible that you won’t be able to come up with theme or concept that works for all the players. There are even times when it isn’t appropriate to have a party theme. There are a couple of things to keep in mind when creating characters for a party that doesn’t have a theme. I contend that even if you don’t want to have a theme you do need to have some connections between the party members. I suggest that you form a connection of some kind with two other party members when making your backgrounds. If all the players do this it will create a web of connections which will make it easier to motivate the party as a whole, and will also give the party a reason to overcome the petty squabbles that often come with the adventuring life.

Just as bad as the
Asshat Paladin
Only smellier

Additionally when you are making a character you should find out what the other player’s dealbreakers are. I know of several people who hate undead and will not play with them under any circumstances. If that is the case you probably already have enough asshats at the table, don’t play an asshat Necromancer. If you have any dealbreakers you should also let the other players know.

Hopefully you can get the players at your table interested in having a pregame conversation about party theme and interconnections. I urge you to give it a try at your games and see if it doesn’t improve the relationships, not only between the characters but between the players as well. I will delve deeper into the mechanics of an optimized party sometime next week. Until next time remember, don’t let your DM tell you no. It’s always, “Yes, and…?”

Secret Warlock

As much as I wish it were an affair with a
Succubus was not in my backstory

I have recently started giving my characters background stories again. This can be a very rewarding activity particularly if you have a DM who pays attention to, and uses your backstory. Even if your DM completely ignores it though having a backstory can help you to get into the mindset of your character. Unfortunately because I haven’t been in a long running campaign for so long I have gotten out of the habit. It has been hard work getting back into it and an offhand comment to the DM while crafting Aramil’s backstory leads directly to the point of this post.

After we had recovered our crew and passed the Daughters of Sora Kell’s test, we went to confront them and also to actually open negotiations between them and our kingdom which is what we were there for. We were only able to speak with one of them.  I enjoyed the opportunity to play a little bit angry since they had kidnapped our crew. The Daughter we were able to speak to told us that she would be willing to negotiate with us, but only if we proved that our kingdom would be a valuable ally. Needless to say we were all a little irritated that we were going to be put through another test, but we had no real options.

We asked what we could do to prove our worth to the Daughters. She informed us that some of her subjects, two clans of giants, were fighting and also had somehow released a terrible plague that was ravaging themselves and was about to spread to the rest of the country. She wanted us to stop the plague, and make peace among the warring giant clans. Having little choice we agreed.

All that was left was a forest fire

It took some time, but we tracked down the creator of the plague. It turns out that he had been killed by the leader of the rival clan. After bringing him back to life we discovered that he had designed the plague to only target the rival clan, and he wasn’t sure why it was spreading. Unfotunately we had the leader of the other clan on our airship, and before we could find out more they tried to kill each other and us in the process. They almost took down our airship, but in the end we threw both of them over the side. I imagine that will have consequences later, but for now we were able to find what we needed to stop the plague. We needed the fantasy of a Gaood. Sadly, we had no idea what a Gaood was let alone how to get the fantasy of one.

I may come back to this, but to make a long story short we tracked down the Gaood to a continent on the other side of the world. We were able to get transported there by some Archons who had been tasked with guarding the secret of the plague. We were able to convince them to help us when we told them we were trying to stop the plague that the giants had released.

When we arrived we were accosted by a group of pixies with evil looking tattoos who claimed all they wanted to do was play. We tried to convince them to help us find the Gaood so we could stop the plague that was ravaging our land. They said several times that they didn’t know who the Gaood were and insisted on wanting to party. It was at this point that the DM reminded me that when I was telling her about my background I had mentioned wanting to have a party as one of my characters goals. I was not at all pleased with this turn of events. We needed to get to the Gaood and we certainly didn’t have time to have a party while the world was burning.

I wasn't fooled by you either Yoda. 

It turned out that the pixies actually were the Gaood which was not a large surprise to me. Because I had an idea that they wouldn’t help us if we didn’t give in to their request for play I agreed to sing them one song on the condition that they named us guests. In a future post I will probably talk about the idea of being sure you understand the rules behind the world before you count on them. However, what is important right now is that they, to my mind at least betrayed us as guests by enchanting most of us to make us dance while I sang. After some time trying to convince them to let us go and trying to break free of the enchantment I realized how important it is to be careful what I wish for, because I got it.

I had to leave the game right after we rolled initiative, but I am very excited to see how we are going to get out of this one. Hopefully we will find some way to get their fantasy so we can save the giants and open relations with Droamm and the Daughter’s of Sora Kell. Until next time remember, don’t let your DM tell you no. It’s always, “Yes and…?”

Rituals in D and D: The gift of Now

Scadouche!

There is a saying from Kung Fu Panda which explains why the time we live in is called the present. I really like it, and I was reminded of it when I started writing this post about rituals. I’d like to take a look at what I liked about spellcasters in earlier editions and how that plays into ritual use and I’d also like to talk about some things DnDnext that I have heard in the twitter rumor mill. But rather than focus on the past or the future I would like to live in the now and enjoy the gift of the present, even if that means I need to rewrap it a bit.

I have always been attracted to spellcasters. Since I started playing I have played mostly spellcasters. Occasionally I played against type, even going so far as to play a character who was afraid of magic. What really attracted me to spellcasters was their versatility. I always enjoyed having a magical answer to situations. Whether it was asking The Powers That Be for answers to life’s big questions or flying over canyons, I liked my wizards to be able to do awesome magical things.

It was a bummer having to choose between something like Levitate which could be very useful and a Fireball which was almost always useful. To alleviate this problem I always tried to find a way to make my non combat spells useful even in combat. For example what would happen if I levitated an orc and then let it drop? Why it would fall and get hurt that’s what. That’s one of the things I miss most about the older editions.

No door can stop me for I am the master of Knock!

I think its ok for spells to be used in ways that aren’t immediately obvious. That was part of the fun of playing a spellcaster. When you were up against the wall and the red dragon had just eaten the paladin and the rogue was just knocked down from the breath weapon you know you only have one chance to save the day. What do you do you when you look at your spellbook and you have just one magic missile left in your combat spell section? You polymorph the dragon into a rat, which then explodes and leaves rat/dragon guts all over a disgusted looking Paladin.

In 3e and 4e you can’t do things like that. The spells and there effects started to become more clearly spelled out and you couldn’t use them as creatively anymore. The trade off in 4e is that you don’t have to fire a crossbow five minutes into the day, you will always have something magical and awesome to do, which is nice. The problem is that you lose out on some of the non combat awesomeness as well. A plus five bonus to your next diplomacy check is more specific than you make friends with the target, but it’s not nearly as much fun, unless you make it be so. To be fair I have had a couple of experiences lately where I have been able to bring a little bit of the creative spellcasting back into D and D and it made my day when the DM’s let me do it. In fact, one of the things that excites me about DnDnext is that they seem to be bringing back some of the creativity and exploration to the game.

Yes! I have completed my summon Lassie
ritual. Now we can save Timmy!

Where 4e really shines in this regard is the often overlooked ritual system. By divorcing the combat spells from the non combat spells 4e made it possible to be effective and magical in combat and still have interesting magical things to do outside of combat. The problem is that because of some of the costs inherent in the system it often gets completely ignored. Many classes get ritual casting for free, and some other type of benefit when using them. Other classes however have to pay a feat to have access. A problem here is that some classes that really need access to rituals to do their jobs like the warlord don’t get ritual casting for free. In fact it’s pretty common now to have no ritual casters in the party at all. It is certainly possible to play that way, but you are really missing out if you do.

There are a couple of must have rituals. First, unless you have an artificer in your party you really need the Comrade’s Succor ritual. I recommend cure disease and the other healing magic related rituals. You never know when you are going to need to bring someone back from the dead or get rid of a horrible curse. The Linked Portal and other similar rituals are good for helping you get where you need to go. Another favorite at low levels is the Eye of Alarm ritual. You never have to be surprised from sleep again if you make good use of this ritual.

The major problem for me with ritual casting is the material cost associated with casting them. Not only do you have to pay to get the rituals, but you also have to pay to cast them. On top of this they usually have a significantly long cast time. It’s not that you are really giving anything up. The cost of casting low level rituals is usually negligible especially compared to magic items of similar levels. The problem is that I have never really enjoyed the logistics resource management in D and D. I hate tracking ammunition, and I despised tracking spell components. So, often I don’t use a ritual even when it would be perfect to use it. Even worse sometimes I even forgot to use rituals I could have used for free because I forget about them among all the other options I have on my sheet they kind of get lost.

I have had a couple of ideas for making ritual casting a part of your game. First if you are really concerned about the costs, see if you can use the inherent bonuses system. If you distance the expected math of the game from magic items it frees you to spend your gold on other things. You could also keep a list of your rituals handy. One of my friends actually has copies of his rituals in a folder he keeps with his characters. Another thought I have had is asking for, or handing out rituals or ritual components as treasure. If you have some ideas how to use rituals in your game or want to recommend some must have rituals of your own feel free to post them in the comments below. Until next time remember, don’t let your DM tell you no. It’s always, “Yes and…?” 

A Time for (Edition) War, A Time for Peace (I Swear it's not too Late)

This post is a response to Bruce Cordell's blog post A Time to Heal on the DnD Next playtest group. You should take the time to read it if you haven't and vote on the poll. If you haven't yet and you are at all interested in DnD next you should bookmark that page and make your voice heard. For those of you expecting Weekly Homebrew I am going to try to get an article out at the normal time, but I really wanted to respond to Cordell's article.

I did pick up the t-shirt though

If you follow my blog you know that although I am definitely not an Edition Warrior (tm), I do have some concerns about the direction DnD next is going. If all you play are home games with your friends who all have similar playstales perhaps my concerns sound overblown to you. But imagine this, you go to your FLGS, a con, or even the D and D Virtual Table all set to play some 4e DnD. When you arrive the DM says I'm sorry I'm running Basic D and D I hope you can adjust. If you are a 1e Veteran the scenario also works in reverse just imagine your DM started running 4e one day without letting you know.

But you say DnD next is big enough for everyone. You can play your 4e Wizard with my 1e Fighter all at the same table. Well first I am not entirely convinced that will be the case. I certainly hope it is the case. I have no problem with someone else playing a Vancian Wizard, but I have no interest in it. I have talked a lot more about this subject here, but even if I can bring my character to the table, there is another problem which Cordell's article pointed out that I hadn't even considered. That problem is the Cure Selfish Wounds Cleric.

What do you mean all I know how to do is one sword swing?

I am a big fan of party optimization. I think D and D works best when you have a well rounded party both mechanically and for story purposes. At the very least you should try to have some connections between your characters so they have some reasons to work together and you should at least think about how they will work together in combat. I tend to weigh in on the side of game versus simulation, even though I really enjoy the shared storytelling aspect. I may be in the minority, but I believe that the game will run better if you have a balanced and well planned party.

Because of this I think it's very important to know what you are getting into for party composition. I know not everyone agrees with me, but it's how I prefer to roll. I like to have an idea what the others are playing so I can either pick something that will make us totally awesome, like a lazylord for a group with lot's of good basic attacks. Or conversely, I can fill in some roles to keep us at least at the baseline. That's one reason I really like the Berserker. I can provide some baseline defense while also bringing the pain to those who oppose me.

I am Delzoun you will FEAR ME!

The problem with bringing back some of the older edition stereotypes is that we left them behind for a reason. Some things can be fun to have at the table even if I don't like them. I suppose a Vancian wizard would probably fall under this, although I really don't want to have to rest after one round because my friend cast his one spell for the day. What I really don't want to deal with at the table is a cleric who doesn't heal or lead in any other way. I think a destruction cleric trope is fine, but if you are going to have a cleric there needs to at least be some baseline that they operate at for healing and whatever else leading means to you. I really like how this was handled in 4e all leaders have a baseline healing that is cheap and easy. I don't want to see a return of CoDzilla.

When I play D and D I want to show up at the table and have an idea what experience I am going to have. I want to be able to talk to my DM and the other players before the game and show up knowing whether I am going to play something like 4e, something like 1e or something like GURPS. I may enjoy playing all those games, but if I show up to play 4e and I am handed GURPS I will be disappointed. Furthermore if I am told to expect a cleric and I find Delzoun god of destruction sitting across from me I'll be disappointed as well. Not because I want Brian to play a cleric, but because I would have brought the cleric if I had known Brian was going to play Delzoun. As always your mileage may vary. Until next time remember don't let your DM tell you no. It's always, "Yes and...?"

D and D Class Design Seminar Special: Rarity

Ok maybe a little Magic in D & D is ok

I am working on a post for tomorrow about the use of rituals past, future and especially, present, but I am also following the D and D XP Seminar on class design and I feel the need to respond to one of the bits they just released and a reaction I saw from @deadorcs on twitter. I want to be very clear that I am not accusing Wizards of the Coast from turning D and D into Magic the Gathering. I am also still kind of excited about D and D next, but I was very concerned when they said that they were considering making some classes common, some uncommon, and some rare. I know Wizards isn't trying to magicify... magictate... magic... they aren't turning Dungeons and Dragons into Magic the Gathering. I think the wording is perhaps just unfortunate.

What really bothered me though was a reaction I saw on Twitter. More on this later.  At first I wasn't pleased with the idea. Both because of the inevitable comparison to Magic, and because broadly I think the idea might be a good one in general, it is not something I want to see coded into the game. The idea actually fits much better as a module perhaps even one associated with campaign settings. That is I think it would be ok to have Wizards in Forgotten Realms be common, while sorcerers are uncommon and warlocks are rare. What I don't want is that idea coded into the core.

No, you can't play a warlock in my game Scott.

As a DM I wouldn't mind the book giving me some ideas for how to detail class rarity, but maybe I want Wizards to be rare and warlocks to be a dime a dozen.  As a player I want to be able to play the character I want to play without undue hassle. So when @deadorcs suggested that in his campaign he was going to want a truly awesome backstory if one of his players wanted to play a rare class. I have no problem limiting myself for a theme game, such as this one. But one of the things I liked about 4e was that everything was core. I hated when I bought a book to play the cool new class, that my DM would say no we are limiting things to core.

It really bothered me Wizards introduced magic item rarity into the game with Essentials. If magic items are a player resource, which they had been from the beginning of 4e then they should stay a player resource. If you want them to be a DM resource that's fine, but the rest of the game needs to support that. I happen to like having them as a player resource, again because so many times I "needed" a magic item which my DM wouldn't let me have. On the other hand,  I have enjoyed the mystery of discovering cool new magic items that comes along with them being a DM resource. My main concern is that if anything in the game is a player resource it should be class. Let's keep the core big and inclusive so I don't have to work harder than the swing a sword fighter just to get to the table. Until next time remember don't let your DM tell you no. It's always, "Yes and...?"

Halfway

I am nearing the halfway point on my 14 days of work in a row. I am hoping that hings will lighten up a bit next week to give me some time to work on some content. It bothers me that I have started so many projects and haven't been able to finish them, but I know I'll get there. Until then enjoy this motivational poster about hit points.

Not just an abstraction anymore

Weekly Homebrew: A long day

I have another really long day today, and had a long day yesterday. I am hoping to have some actual content this week, but I've only got two paragraphs actually written so far. I am very glad to be working again though. I'l give you a taste of what I had in store for the my Weekly Homebrew post.

Father Stephen and the Fingerbone of St. Cuthbert:

A bit of inspiration for Father Stephen

Father Stephen is the village priest. He is in charge of a small chapel. In my game it is simply dedicated to God since it is an Arthurian game. However any good deity would work. Bahamut or Pelor would make especially fine choices for this. Father Stephen is a devout worshiper and genuinely cares about his flock. He would work well as a patron of a divine PC. In my game he also has an assistant the players haven't met so that I can provide them a companion character if they need one or to give them a tie to the world if they decide to create a new PC who uses the Divine Power source.

Father Stephen is a ritual caster and can provide a blessing to the PC's which could include a small mechanical benefit. As an example in my game the players suspected they were going to be fighting fey creatures so I allowed Father Stephen to bless them with a +1 to attack rolls and damage rolls against fey creatures until their next extended rest. I was planning a tough encounter and the bonus certainly aided them, even if it wasn't the difference between life and death.

Cadwr

In addition to his responsibilities as a chaplain, Father Stephen also guards a powerful relic, the Fingerbone of St. Cuthbert. The Fingerbone of St. Cuthbert is all that remains (or is it?) of a powerful paladin who was later sainted. So far the only mechanical benefit I have shown the players of the fingerbone is it's ability to somehow negate Fey Magic. I'm not exactly sure how I want to describe it in game terms, but the players had found some coins that were being used as scry sensors by a powerful fey creature and the fingerbone was able to destroy the link the fey had to the coins. One thing I am considering is to allow a PC who is carrying the fingerbone to use a holy Smite as an encounter power as a Cavalier of their level. I think Cadwr my friend's questing knight would enjoy a touch of the Divine in his character.

As I get more of the fingerbone detailed I will share it here. I am looking at trying the Power 2ool that the robed guy uses, to flesh it out. I am still planning to provide more details for the banking clan as well as fulling fleshing out Bristle, but those will have to wait for another week. Until next time remember don't let your DM tell you no. It's always "Yes and?..."

Coming Attractions

I will defeat you yet room!

It's time once again to take a look at the upcoming week. Tomorrow in Secret Warlock we'll look at a really fun encounter where Aramil was able to master an icy room. I may also talk about the role of email and PbP in the future of gaming. In Weekly Homebrew I am going to talk a little about a campaign I just started on the VT. I ended up with 4 brand new players and one veteran, so I'll talk a little about that as well as give some details of the village of Bristle. I am working on articles about skills in 4e and another about rituals, but I'm not exactly sure how they are going to pan out. Finally I have some very exciting news if you follow A Single Step. I am going to do a special Steampunk Sunday: D and D article for them in the near future. That's all the coming attractions this week, as always if you have an idea for an article or would like to request some homebrew material feel free to leave a comment. Until next time remember don't let your DM tell you no. It's always "Yes, and...?"

Modularity in D and D

I don’t want people to get the wrong idea. I am actually tentatively excited about the next D and D. I’m not ready to give up on 4e, but I think there is plenty of time to finish it out with a bang. If anything the idea of another edition coming gives me the motivation to get back in and finish some of my games, Primordial Threat I am looking at you. I am also playing in three excellent paragon tier games and I hope that there is enough time to bring them to their logical end. Whether that is level twenty, thirty or some other place remains to be seen.

I do have some real concerns about the modular nature of the next D and D. I was very excited when I read this about the goals for the new edition. It really speaks to one of my main concerns about the modular nature of the game. I am concerned that when I step up to the table to play D and D I’ll find something else instead. Maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement. I do kind of agree with the Dungeon Bastard’s take on the Edition Wars. On the other hand there are some things from old editions that I am not excited to have to deal with again. It’s not to say they aren’t problems with 4e either, but I like the basic assumptions 4e makes about the game.

Feats? Check. Skills? Check. Magic Missile all day? Check.-- Red Mage
I like Swords!--Fighter
Stabbity goodness-- Black Mage

So when the author said that I could play my character with lots of skills and feats and powers and my friend can play his character who likes to hit things with his sword at the same table, it made me very excited. It does sound a bit impossible, but if they can pull it off I would love to see it. Maybe there could be a day when I can play D and D with my wife again. Who knows, stranger things have happened.

I read a blog post this week about some history of the game and what the author would like to see in the upcoming new edition. I really wish I could find it, but one thing the author talked about was in older editions the dm had more power and it was ok. I’ve actually played D and D since second edition and my first dm did have a lot of power. In fact he even leveled our characters for us. It was awesome he told great stories we still talk about to this day. I don’t think my wife will forget when Lady Lark suddenly became a cleric after the god of the moon showed up to save us one time to many. It’s funny now that I think about it I don’t really have any awesome memories about my characters. I think there might be a blog post in there somewhere. In any case I think if a dm tried a trick like that today I would have a fit.

I'm a what now?

I think the reason I trusted the dm to take that level of control was that he was a good friend. Besides, part of me was just excited to be playing. I’m not saying we didn’t have some issues, but I wouldn’t let a dm level up my character today. I have had too many problems with DM’s with god complexes. I’ve actually talked about some of my bad dm experiences in my post about pirates. Part of the problem is that I have moved a couple of times and I’ve lost touch with friends so in order to play I’ve had to find pick-up games and play with strangers. I won’t say it’s been all bad. I have certainly found my share of good times and good DMs. Even more I have found some good friends as well. It’s not the same though I just don’t trust a stranger to tell a good story and run with it. I want to go in with some guidelines so we can start a shared experience.

I could give you a laundry list of things I want in the next iteration of D and D. Things like powers and being able to do something magical as a wizard more than one time per day.  I was thinking of doing just that, lists of modules that I wouldn’t play without, and when the Angry DM said he was excited about limiting them I was all set to write a post about not limiting my D and D. But, I realized what I really want in DnDnext or whatever it ends up being called is not a list of fiddly bits or rules. What I really want are the baseline expectations that make for a good 4e game.

Home wrecker and Game killer.

So here is what I would like in DnDnext, at least for today, tomorrow I might change my mind. I want page 42. That is I would like an easy way to adjudicate things the rules don’t cover and have it spelled out clearly that it’s ok to make calls. I am ok with a bit of Rule 0 thrown in as well. I want the information imperative continued. I want to be able to know the information I need to make good tactical decisions. I think the bloodied condition was one of the best additions to the game. It gives me an idea where to have my friends attack if I am playing a warlord. I think adding some mechanical bits to the condition make it better than just having it be half hp. Some of my favorite monsters get more deadly when they are bloodied. But the one thing I really want in DnD next is Yes and… I have had too many DMs shut me down with a no.

 I think the best example was the encounter that killed D and D for my wife. We were doing an investigative adventure and we ran into dead end after dead end. My Paladin was about ready to start knocking random heads together and my wife asked if the family whose disappearance we were investigating had a maid servant. The DM said no shutting down yet another avenue to adventure.

The worst part that when my wife explained that a well to do family would have had a maid servant it devolved into an argument about medieval politics and actually ended up killing the whole game. I know I have fallen into the trap as a DM myself because it requires a great deal of thinking on your feet to run with what the players give you. If you follow it yes and can vastly improve your game, which is why I am glad it is a baseline expectation of 4e and hope that it continues to be in DnDnext as well. Until next time remember don’t let your DM tell you no. It’s always “Yes and…?”

Weekly Homebrew: Balasar

This edition of Weekly Homebrew will focus on Balasar a warehouse manager for the banking clan I introduced a couple of weeks ago. I am still working on a name for the clan so if anyone has some good ideas please feel free to let me know. Balasar manages the warehouse that Seamus would report to so if the players are tracking down the stolen item it could lead them back to there. If however the party overcame Seamus and kept the item they could try to track down whoever sent Seamus and the trail could lead them here as well.

Balasar, created on the Monster Builder from the Wizards of the Coast website, is an Elite Soldier. Balasar would be a good for challenge a party of 8^th level Characters. Coupled with some other Dragonborn, or perhaps some humans he would make a good end of adventure “boss.” I do have an idea for making Balasar into an end of tier boss which I will get into near the end of the post.

Balasar has some features that make him a really good a soldier. First he has a Defender Aura. I have already talked about the benefits of a Defender Aura in my post about Defenders. His best feature is the ability to knock prone any enemy who provokes an opportunity attack or who ignores his aura. This makes him extremely hard to get away from. His signature attack is a finishing move which can recharge. It does a lot of damage against a bloodied enemy and also gives his allies a hefty bonus until the end of his next turn.

As he is written Balasar makes a pretty good end of adventure boss monster. You could make an arc where the players find an item, have an encounter with Seamus then either lose the item or become curious about why he attacked them. After that you could design a skill challenge to track down the clan which would lead the players to Balasar’s Warehouse. The Warehouse would make an excellent site based adventure, or you could round the skill challenge out with a few combats to make it play more like an event based adventure. Either way an encounter with Balasar should be a good climactic end to the adventure for 7^th or 8^th level players.

However if you wanted to make Balasar more of a tier ending threat, you could foreshadow him a bit by having him appear at the warehouse and leave the characters being attacked by the other dragon born. After some time away and a good deal of investigating the party could track him down again. Then after another long fight, once he is bloodied or even dying, have him transform into a dragon. I would recommend an adult Orium Dragon, but others could be appropriate as well. Depending on how the fight has gone you could allow the players to recharge an Encounter power or perhaps spend some healing surges, but I would not allow the use of a short rest. If the party is in truly dire straits you might even allow them to regain all encounter powers or one daily.

I hope you find Balasar as interesting as I have. If you end up using him or Seamus I would love to hear about it. Taken together Balasar and Seamus make a good introduction to the clan at the heroic tier. Going forward be sure to keep in mind that the clan is a world spanning operation and has many resources to use against the characters. If you wanted to use the clan as more of a patron of the characters you could use Balasar as a test to the characters worthiness in much the same way. Until next time remember don’t let your DM tell you no. It’s always “Yes, and…?”

Sexuality in D and D: The Spoony Bard

Who's Scruffy Looking?

I just saw an article about a study that says having sexual intercourse one to two times a week can boost your immune system. I have also noticed that when I am playing a character with any personality I tend to be edgy, occasionally even inappropriate. I’m not entirely sure why that’s so, but I think it may have something to do with really liking the scoundrel as an archetype.

 I won’t speak for everyone’s experience, but most of my games have had at least some degree of sexuality involved in them. If they had movie ratings they would tend to PG-13, but I have had occasional moments of R or even NC-17. It is an important aspect of the game, but can make people very uncomfortable. Additionally, it can be very difficult to do well. It can easily distract from the game if it is overdone. On the other hand when used correctly sexuality can add another dimension to the game making it feel more like a real world. If it is done well it can be a fun addition to the game, as long as everyone is on board.

The first thing you need to keep in mind when thinking about adding an element of sexuality to your game is the other players. D and D is a family game. Obviously you want to be careful about bringing in PG material in your game if you have kids in your game.

Even beyond the obvious many people might be made uncomfortable by any amount of sexuality in the game. There are many good reasons for this. If someone is uncomfortable with it at the table then you need to respect their wishes. D and D is a cooperative game, and generally you are playing with friends. I submit the first rule of D and D is Wheaton’s law.

Don't you wish this blog post was rated R?

The best thing to do is to have a discussion with the other players about general table etiquette. It’s always good to set good expectations for things at the table. Once you have set some expectations about general table etiquette you should discuss whether any amount of sexuality is allowed, and if so how much. In many games some degree of innuendo would be appropriate, say a PG or PG-13 rating. Like I said I enjoy at least a little bit of innuendo in my games.

If you do allow sexuality in your games there are a lot of complex issues that you may deal with.  Often it is better to simply hand wave some of the complicated issues away. There are times when it might be interesting to roll with some of the issues. One of the best games I was in had one of the PC’s get pregnant. It was really funny, because though she had a bit of a reputation for some reason, she was actually a virgin. My friend ran with the story and it turned out to be an excellent diversion. She even turned the story into an excellent fictional account for a creative writing class.

Oh my god he is doing what to inspire courage?

If you are interested in adding a bit of sexuality to your games there is an excellent resource for you. The Book of Erotic Fantasy has an excellent discussion of the ideas as well as some wonderful resource material for the game. Though it is written for 3^rd Edition D and D much of the material is useful for any game that features adult content. I will say that one time I played a Spoony Bard who had training in perform sexual techniques. If you aren’t aware in 3^rd Edition many of the Bard’s features keyed off being trained in perception. I will give you a minute to get the image of my Bard Inspiring Courage with that skill out of your head.

D and D is supposed to be about fun. It’s a time for you to get together with your friends and take a break from the real world grind for a few hours. As long as you are careful not to upset anyone at the table adding a little spice to your game can be a wonderful thing. If you have any Spoony Bard stories feel free to leave a comment or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter. Until next time remember don’t let your DM tell you no. It’s always “Yes and…?”

Secret Warlock: An Introduction

For the past few weeks I have been playing in a really fun campaign called Flight of the Dragon. The campaign is run by the same DM who ran the excellent pirate game I played in a couple of weeks ago. The campaign is set in Eberron on floating continent of the DM’s design. The characters are an elite fighting group in the country’s flying battalion. Unfortunately, I missed the beginning of the game so I am not precisely sure how the game started.

White Dragon

From what I understand, there had been an unseasonably long and cold winter. The party had been tasked with figuring out what had caused the winter. It turned out to have been caused by a powerful Dragon. Somehow the party procured some of the dragon’s eggs. Then when the eggs were stolen tracked down the thieves and got them back.

I joined the party when they were trying to open diplomatic relations with the country of Droam. The Droamites had kidnapped the crew of our airship and we had recovered them. Apparently this was some sort of a test. They wanted to see how we handled the stress. We recovered the crew and went to confront the Droamite leader one of the sister’s of Sora Kell.

Aranis the Spoony Bard

Before I continue with my first appearance in the story I would like to tell you about my character.  My character is Aranis an Eladrin Warlock who is also a Noble Eladrin a Bralaini of winter. I took several powers that reflect my connection to the Winter Court including something that leaves a blizzard behind me whenever I teleport. When I made the character I had no idea winter was going to play such a prominent role in the game, but I am glad it worked out that way. I am thinking about having my patron have sent me to deal with the dragon because the dragon took on some of the prerogatives of winter.

When the DM described the game to me she explained that it was a game of secrets. I ran with the idea. Long ago in second edition I played with a lady who was playing a rogue who didn’t want to be known as a thief. She carried a mandolin and told people everywhere she went that she was a bard. I decided to do something similar and play a secret warlock. I am a multiclass bard, and I have told everyone I am a bard. I’m not sure how long the ruse will last or what the consequences will be, but I am excited to find out.

If you follow me on Twitter I have already made a few posts with the hashtag secretwarlock and spoonybard. For the most part these refer to this character. I am very much enjoying the game and I look forward to sharing it with you. Until next time remember don’t let your DM tell you no. It’s always “Yes,and…?” 

Coming Attractions

I have had a bit of a hard time coming up with content for my daily post schedule. It doesn't help that my first inclination is to write a Master's Thesis on each topic so I usually wind up writing like mad in the last few hours before I post. I have decided to add some structure to the blog which will hopefully make it easier to provide content.

Coming Attractions:I am going to start each  workweek with a Coming Attractions post. It is here that I will preview what is coming throughout the week or possibly even farther in the future. If you have something you would like me to look into here would be a great place to talk about it.

Secret Warlock: Starting this Tuesday I am going to chronicle the adventures of Aranis my spoony Bard, who is actually a Warlock in disguise. I am not sure if it will be fictional from my characters persepctive or more of an overview from my perspective. In fact I may occasionally do both.

Weekly Homebrew: On Thursdays I will post custom created monsters and other homebrew materials. This week I am going to continue with my idea for a Banking clan of Dragons.

Saturday Chainmail: Of course I will continue posting weekend chainmail updates.

I am going to keep the other days free for articles or other things I feel the need to write about. I am currently thinking about an article about sexuality in D and D, an article about balancing work, family and gaming and finally an article about what I have learned in my year of Virtual Table gaming. If you have ideas for articles or things you would like me to review feel free to comment below or find me on Facebook  or Twitter. Until next time remember, don't let your DM tell you no. It's always "Yes, and...?"