I Got My Mass Effect In Your Mutants & Masterminds

Just a few preliminary thoughts before I really get going on this idea:

1. Characters should be built to about PL 6. Possibly as high as 8. The reason being that I want them to feel “superior” what with the powered armor and whatnot, but I want them armed with basically standard firearms out of the core book. Most of which (not counting the rocket launcher and whatnot) are about Damage Rank 5. So that said, most characters are likely going to be SLIGHTLY shifted toward accuracy on their Accuracy/Damage tradeoffs. At least with ranged attacks.
2. Everyone involved is new to the system, so I want to make the character generation portion of the game as simple and streamlined as possible. This most likely means either pre-generated characters (IE, Archetypes) or putting together a set of genre related templates. Either way, I need to cover the following bases: Adept, Sentinel, Engineer, Infiltrator, Soldier, Vanguard.
3. Powers come from three basic sources: Training (combat related powers, anything that lets a person use guns in an atypical way, things like variable descriptor for bullets), Biotics (telekinesis, “mass effect fields”, gravity manipulation and similar, and occasionally things like mind control) Tech (advanced hacking, combat drones, holographic manipulation, cloaking, etc). There may be some overlap between areas, IE, I’m not opposed to the idea of finding a way to use biotics to do stealth just because it doesn’t appear in the source material.
4. The Archetypes/Templates: Adapt is pure Biotic, Sentinel is Biotic/Tech, Vanguard is Biotic/Combat, Engineer is pure Tech, Infiltrator is Tech/Combat, and Soldier is pure Combat, where in this case Combat means “guns,” as opposed to the combat portions of the game.
5. Cover is the most important thing in Mass Effect, and I’m going to work to make it important in this game session, too. Partly this will be about encounter design, and partly it will be about giving the bad guys lots of automatic weapons. Bottom line, by the time I’m done I need to REALLY know the rules for cover and automatic weapons and make the players PAY when they don’t bother with cover.
6. I’m still deciding what to do about alien races. Hm. Each one should get a write-up here, though, and some thoughts about how I’d handle each.

Useful Link & Collected Research

Okay, I’ve been away a long time and I’m already frustrated by how many of my posts start out with “I’ve been away a long time.” I’m out of town at my Grandmother’s house helping her with my two younger cousins.

It’s kind of complicated and this isn’t the place for the whole story. So back to the RPG stuff.

I was doing some reading on my favorite website, TVTropes (TIME SINK AHOY) and found the following link:

Role-Playing Games Terms

Useful stuff when trying to explain the general concept of “RPG” to a new player, so I think I’ll be keeping this one.

And because I’ll be needing these for my upcoming stab at a sci-fi game session (as mentioned last post), I’ll be keeping them here. I’ll be toying with ideas for how I can approach this best, most likely using the Mutants and Masterminds system. Templates? Templates will probably be a good idea… and the addition of one or two optional rules will not hurt. Much.

I’ll most likely be running whatever it is somewhere from PL 5 to 8 and keeping the Hero point count fairly low to make the combats a little tougher.

I’ll either need templates for the major races or I’ll need to just have everyone play human for simplicity sake… mainly because only two of us (counting me) are familiar enough with the setting to know anything about them. Unless someone else has advice about that; it might be a silly concern.

Eh. That’s enough musing for now. I’ll get back to this when I have time.

>The TARDIS

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Using the M&M 3e headquarters rules, I offer the following TARDIS…
Headquarters Traits:

Size: Interior: Huge (Like, say, a castle). Exterior: Miniscule (Blue police box). 3 points

Toughness: 20 (Base value 6). 7 equipment points.

Features: Time Travel, Space Travel, Teleportation, Dimensional Travel, (2 points each to affect both the TARDIS and its occupants). Dual Size, Communications, Computer, Library, Secret (it looks like a strange blue box), fire prevention system, gym (complete with swimming pool!), laboratory, living space, power system, self-repairing, security system (locks and alarms. Good luck getting in the door without a key). 20 equipment points.

Total cost: 30 equipment points, 6 power points. Surprisingly cheap!

>Back in the Saddle

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So, it’s been awhile since I was able to practice what I preach in the slightest; games spend more time falling apart for me than coming together. However! Finally, finally, finally, in spite of all the rough stuff that’s happened lately, I managed to run a quick solo game of DC Adventures for my buddy (and sometimes Dm) Vincent. We’d had it on the books for awhile; I told him I needed to get more comfortable running games in front of people, and to make it as fast as possible I just gave him something we could both connect with instantly. 

I handed him the character sheet for Batman. 

The setup: Joker has captured Catwoman and he’s holding her in an abandoned candy factory on the south side of Gotham. Go. 

Yes, I know; it’s a tad cliche. Truth be told, I wanted it to be – a well used cliche creates an instant sense of familiarity, and for a one-shot session like this one it worked pretty well. I set the scene (It’s night. In Gotham, is there any other time?) briefly, and just for fun I throw in some Batman-centric music the minute my player utters the immortal words, “I’m Batman.” It is probably more a testament to how lighthearted I want this to be than anything else, but we’re both laughing by now, despite the seriousness of the situation. Batman, of  course, is not laughing.

I would also like to point out for the formal record that this is the only part of the session that I had preplanned. It showed a little bit later, I think (more than I would have liked) but everything still ran very smoothly. I was impressed!

Batman opted to park the Batmobile at a small distance from the factory, where it would be well out of sight of any of Joker’s thugs. Using his grapple gun and some agility, he easily navigated the rooftops to reach his destination. 

My player asked me what he could see, and I told him that there were about four thugs outside the candy factory (“Typical of the Joker to so utterly corrupt something once associated with mirth and the joy of children,”) and that it was a large, warehouse-like structure. I was still sketching broad strokes, and while I’d have liked to provide more detail (I did once have to prompt, “You should be asking me questions about the area, not waiting for me to provide answers,”) it seemed to work. 

“I’m going to try getting one of them alone.” 

Hard to empathize with this face, isn’t it?

Applauding his thinking (very Batman like), I informed him that one of the thugs was around the corner from the others, and could probably be caught unawares. 

Player: “Okay, can I swing down with my grapple gun and hit him?” 

GM: “Heck yes, you can! Would you like to make a routine attack?” 

Player: -Gleefully- “Of course.”

Ah, minions. Meant solely to make the hero look good, they go down fast with hardly a dice roll necessary for the hero. After all, this isn’t the part of the story that’s supposed to be hard. We’re saving that for the big showdown with the boss, right?

A little more negotiation, and two of the remaining three thugs go down from well thrown Batarangs. The third winds up being a bit more troublesome (a particularly lucky roll on the part of the minion meant that he didn’t go down in a single hit), but Batman was unscathed. I was treated to a few lovely descriptions of Batman’s brutal finishing moves, which was a blast for both of us. 

Grappling up to the rooftop stealthily, Batman looked about. Amid the smokestacks and a pair of skylights, he noticed two more thugs facing the other end of the building. A well thrown Batarang took them each down before either could react to his presence; as they slumped to the roof, Batman slipped over to the skylights and checked out the situation inside. 

The main factory floor was crawling with minions, while the second skylight opened into an office suite. Inside was The Joker, taunting Catwoman, who was tied to a chair. 

Yes, corny, I know. In my defense, I was winging it, and it’s been a pretty long time since I had to make up the details as I went (an important skill for me to master, in my own estimation). 

After a bit of thought, Batman opted to quietly open the first skylight and bomb the factory floor with tear gas pellets. Once he felt he’d distracted the Joker, he leaped through the skylight to flatten his old enemy. 

Which he did. Easily. Odd. 

“Nice move, Bats. Too bad it wasn’t the real Joker.” 

Batman moved to free Catwoman as the Joker’s maniacal laughter rang out over the loudspeaker. “Come on, Batman, you didn’t think it would be that easy, did you? AhaahahaAHAAAAAHahahaaa. . . Come find me, Bats– I dare you.” 


I have to admit, this was one bit I felt pretty good about – I was complemented afterward for, as he put it, “doing the voices.” Sometimes, it’s the little touches that make or break a performance . . . 

NEXT: THE JOKER!

>D&D: No Masters Degree Required. Pt 2: Combat Encounters

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Picking up from our last lesson, here’s a quick summary of what we covered before: 

Look, an ancient Roman d20! Okay, it doesn’t have anything to do with anything, I just thought it was cool.

1. The Core Mechanic of D&D:
1. Roll a d20 – higher is better
2. Add all applicable modifiers
3. Compare to the target number. If your result is higher, you’ve succeeded.
2. How characters are created. 

Among other things. I highlight these because they tie directly into what I’m going to talk about today, which has to do with encounters… and, because they directly relate to encounters, I”ll also be discussing things like powers, and the basic attacks available to all players. So, basically I’ll be talking about encounters and the toolbox of options players have to overcome them, and defining my terminology as I go. Starting with encounters, because really, there’s enough for a whole entry there.

What I’m not going to talk about are the tactics of miniatures combat, because they don’t actually matter enough in my mind to go into here; also because the books have more to say about this than I ever could, and I don’t want to run the risk of giving you too many reasons not to read them. 

If any of this looks terrifyingly complicated, please don’t panic. It really isn’t that complicated. Don’t worry if you don’t instantly master all the connections, just take what you do understand, jump in and start playing. Either your DM or one of the other players will be able to help you out with the rest, and you’ll master it eventually; the best way to learn a game is by playing. 

Incidentally, for those of you so inclined, there’s a link in the sidebar to a PDF that explains how combat works – very helpful summary, and a good thing to have handy if you forget how all this works. As an added bonus, Kiznit managed to fit the entire thing onto a single page, something I doubt my longer-winded version will accomplish. Short, sweet, and probably more comprehensible than I am as a bonus. Onward. 

An encounter, as defined here, is basically something that happens to you in a game. It’s a challenge that your characters must overcome with the help of your ingenuity as a player. 

There are basically two kinds of encounters. Role-playing happens throughout all of them, impacts all of them, binds them together and creates life, and fear leads to the Dark Side – wait, no, that’s the Force. Anyway, the point I’m making here is that the actual “playing a role” part of a role-playing game isn’t the part we need rules for, and I’m talking about rules right now. 

The first kind of encounter, and (after witnessing many playground debates which basically boiled down to, “I shot you!” “No, I shot you!” I think I can state this with some degree of accuracy) arguably the real reason why Role-playing games actually HAVE to have rules, is the combat encounter. 

A combat encounter, or simply a combat, is basically an encounter that involves overcoming something that specifically wants to kill your character. And possibly eat him/her. Monsters, thugs, kobolds, orcs, dragons, zombies, whatever it is, the world of medieval fantasy is a dangerous place, and adventurers are equipped to handle that kind of danger. 

Here’s a quick step-by-step description of what happens in a combat encounter. 

1.  At some point, usually after giving some kind of description that sets the tone for what you’re dealing with, and possibly after giving one side or another the opportunity to surprise their opponents, the DM will ask you to roll initiative. 
1. Initiative: This is basically a fancy way of saying, “roll to see who goes first in this combat encounter.” It’s not entirely unlike the way you roll to see who goes first in any other board game. It works like this: 
1. Roll a d20 – higher is probably better, although certain classes would rather go last. 
2. Add relevant modifiers. In this case, this would be your Dexterity modifier, along with 1/2 your character’s level rounded down. Half your level actually gets added to many of the rolls you’ll make when playing D&D 4th Edition – ask your DM if you’re not sure. 
3. Compare to everyone else’s initiative total – highest goes first. If there’s a tie, the person with the highest dexterity modifier goes first. If you have the same dexterity modifier as the person you tied with, you each roll against each other. 
2. Once Initiative has been rolled, and the order of combat determined, the combat encounter actually begins.
2. Each person takes their turn, one at a time, in the sequence determined by initiative. During each turn, you perform the following: 
1. Check to see if you’re taking any ongoing damage from something like being poisoned, or if you’re subject to any other effects that end at the beginning of your turn. If this is your first turn, you probably won’t need to worry about this. Proceed to step 2. 
2. Take some actions! An action is basically defined as something that your character does. There are a few different types of actions, and you get one of each per turn under normal circumstances. These actions are: 
1. The standard action, which is about how long it takes to attack someone with a sword or cast a spell or aim and fire a bow or do any of the other kinds of things that adventurers do in a fight. Basic Attacks are a Standard Action, and most attack powers are, too. There are a few other things that can be done as a standard action, too, but basically it’s the amount of time needed for a “somewhat complicated task.” You can trade this for either a move action or a minor action.
2. The move action, which is usually used for – you guessed it – moving. All characters can walk their speed or shift a single square, (shifting lets them avoid Opportunity Attacks; it’s a safer kind of movement). Some skills may take a move action, as well. Some characters can do cooler things, like teleport on a more limited basis, depending on the powers they have available. You can also trade one for a minor action.
1. Just so I don’t forget to cover it, an Opportunity Attack is what happens when someone does something next to a guy with a melee weapon that requires them to let their guard down, like turning your back and walking away. Most of the time, your DM will let you know if this comes up, so don’t worry about it too much right now.
3. The minor action, which is fairly inconsequential in terms of effort required, but still takes more effort than, say, talking. Drawing a weapon, closing a door, opening a chest, all are usually minor actions, as is using any power that costs a minor action. 
4. The free action is something so easy for you that you hardly have to think about it, like dropping something, talking, breathing, (I’m kidding about that one), and can be done during anyone’s turn. You can take as many free actions as you like, within reason – that’s why they’re free! 
3. Make saving throws or do other things that specify that they happen at the end of your turn. Ask your DM if you aren’t sure. 
3. Everyone plays in order, including the DM/monsters, and this repeats until the combat reaches its logical conclusion, whatever that might be. Everyone gets experience points (XP) and loot (if any) and the encounter is over. 

Still with me? Okay, I know that sounded complicated, but QUICK LOOK AT THE KITTEN!

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaw.

Okay, now that your mental batteries are recharged from that infusion of cuteness, I will continue. Here’s a summary of the last set of steps, simplified: roll initiative, take turns until the end. Each turn, do some combination of attacking, moving, hiding, jumping, or being creative and making your DM actually think. Roll a lot of d20s and a few other dice, too. Pretty simple. Oh, and if you can throw in a heroic catch phrase or something, you get bonus points. If all else fails, ask someone for help. 

Here’s a brief outline of how you’d attack something: 

1. Pick your attack. This will be either a Ranged Basic Attack, a Melee Basic Attack, or a Power of some kind. It might also be some clever improvisational attack that noone was really expecting, like pushing the statue down the stairs. Let’s say, for the moment, that we’re doing a Melee Basic Attack. 
2. Make your attack roll. This follows the core mechanic; the only thing that varies is which numbers you add. For example, for a melee basic attack, you would: 
1. Roll a d20. Higher is always better, here. 
2. Add your Strength modifier (unless you have a feat or class feature that says otherwise) + Half your level, rounded down, + the Proficiency bonus of your weapon + Any enhancement bonus of your weapon + anything else that says it adds to attack rolls, like a feat or class feature. 
3. Check to see if the result is equal to or greater than the targets Armor Class. . 
3. Roll damage dice for your weapon, and add your Strength modifier (unless you have a feat or class feature that says otherwise) + enhancement bonuses + any feats or class features that might boost your damage. 

I should note that powers and ranged basic attacks follow the same basic rules as the above; the only thing that changes is what numbers you add, and occasionally which target number you compare your roll to. I’ll explain this in the next entry, along with the number of tools that players have at their disposal – I really meant to cover more of them in this entry, but there just wasn’t space. 

So, next time I’ll cover: powers (including the difference between Implement and Weapon powers), healing surges, action points, defenses, and pretty much whatever else I have time for. 

OR, you can read the PDF I linked above, which explains action points along with some of the other little important things like combat advantage and the like. BUT . . . 

Again, the best way to learn this stuff is to play the game, and creating a character for yourself. Build a character, and learn whatever you need to know about how to play that character in the game. Then, it becomes easier to learn how to play a different one later, and you’re not overwhelming yourself by learning rules that you won’t actually use. 

No, this doesn’t have anything to do with anything. I just figured you could use something cute to look at by now. Aren’t they adorable?

In closing, I’ll offer a few minor tips about reading powers for when you get into classes: please note that whenever a power gives its range, it is expressed in “squares.” This is kind of silly, but the fact is that D&D is usually played (by most people I’ve met) on a game grid, which does, in fact, feature “squares,” each of which represents 5 feet to a side. 1 square = 5 feet. Pretty simple. The only difference between 4th Edition and previous ones is that in the old days, we had to do that mental flip the other direction; this got somewhat complicated when dealing with things in the hundreds of feet, so having things rendered in squares is actually simpler. Multiplication is easier than division in much the same way that addition is easier than subtraction. 

But more on that later. This is WAY more than enough for now. 

Also: KITTIES 

>Wizarding Houses and Party Roles: The Secret Connection

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Those who know me know that I’m excited about the new Harry Potter movie, though I’ve yet to see it just watched it today. In honor of the film, and the series, and the fact that everyone scheduled to be in my upcoming D&D 4e Intro game is a Harry Potter fan . . .

I thought I’d take a few moments to explore the subtle connection between the four houses and the four roles in D&D 4th Edition (or any role-playing game, really).

Practically everyone I know has taken a quiz to place themselves into one of the wizarding houses at Hogwarts, so this should work well for those who have taken one. Keep in mind, these are generalizations, and all four roles can be found among any set of house traits.

The Four Houses: 

Gryffindor values courage, bravery, loyalty, nerve and chivalry. 

A Gryffindor would make a good: Striker, with a secondary emphasis on Defender, then Leader, depending on which virtues are most important to you. Choose powers that drive back the darkness, enhancing your allies resolve and dealing the most damage possible to the forces of evil.

Gryffindor strikers tend to choose classes like Ranger, Slayer or Warlock (especially fey pact), hitting hard and fast.

Defenders of Gryffindor are often fighters, swordmages, or paladins; they stand tall and courageous, knowing that the forces of evil have to get through them first in order to attack their friends. Expecto Patronum? 

Godric Gryffindor was most likely a hybrid Swordmage/Wizard, dabbling in both the Defender and Controller roles.

Leaders tend to be drawn toward the Bard and Cleric classes. Bards of any house are dabblers, first and foremost, dipping into a wide array of expertise in order to have exactly the right tool for the job before them.

Gryffindor’s also make good controllers, but generally lean toward Striker as a secondary role when they do, doing their best to solve problems quickly before they become someone else’s problem.

Hufflepuff values hard work, tolerance, loyalty, and fair play.

A Hufflepuff would make a good: Defender or Leader, with Striker being the next best and Controllers in the minority.

Defenders stand up for what’s right, holding the line against evil. Those Hufflepuff’s who recognize most the value of hard work and fair play might like a Defender.

As an Arcane Leader, a Bard might be an excellent choice for those who emphasize loyalty or tolerance. Like Gryffindor’s bards, they will often dabble in an effort to pick up new tricks. Choose powers that hinder your enemies or make your allies more effective over those that ONLY do damage.

Hufflepuff controllers are rare, because it requires a level of tactical thinking that often leads one to Ravenclaw. Those that exist use their powers to level the playing field, forcing their foes to fight fair. 

Ravenclaw values intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit. As such, they make good Controllers or Leaders, with Strikers and Defenders being less common.

Ravenclaw Controllers and Leaders will think tactically, organizing their foes into groups that can be dealt with simultaneously using area effects. Wizards and Mages prefer divination, evocation, and conjuration effects, but they dabble in all kinds of magic.

Strikers will dart from foe to foe, taunting them as they move; they tend to be rogues, emphasizing skills and cleverness over the underhanded sneaky aspects, and love pursuing ancient artifacts and the like.

Outside of battle, a Ravenclaw will often be knowledgeable about any number of fields, and will know how to think outside the box. Ravenclaw defenders tend to lean toward Striker as a secondary role.

ALL Ravenclaws pursue their primary skill sets with a fervor unmatched by most other houses, placing such a high value on their studies.

Slytherin house values ambition, cunning, leadership, resourcefulness, and most of all, pure wizard blood.

Their preferred role is that of the Leader, followed by Controller and Striker as a close second. Slytherin leaders are consummate politicians, pulling off the leadership role through sheer force of personality and manipulation. They are rarely clerics.

The Slytherin controller is a consummate manipulator, preferring trickery, enchantment and illusion to flashier displays, though they’re certainly not above a well placed fireball.

Slytherin strikers make good Rogues and Warlocks as well; the sneaky and underhanded nature of a rogue or assassin fits perfectly with their reliance on cunning, and an Infernal Pact Warlock could fit well with Slytherin ambition – as well as offering plenty of angst potential.

Defender often makes a poor choice for members of this house, mainly because they can’t stand the idea of taking a hit for someone else.

>Elven Acrobatic Archery: Steal This Fighting Style

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The following is a set of notes for a character concept which will appear later, as well as information specific to my own setting. Feel free to borrow what you like! 

Like many forms of combat, archery was refined to the art form it has become in the modern age by the elven masters. Wood elf and Eladrin mastery of the bow pushed what was believed possible for any archer, taking it to its new place as a weapon useful at both long and close ranges of combat. 

The elven races had already refined swordplay into an elegant, mobile dance of whirling blade and limb. Darting from place to place around the battlefield, leaping, tumbling, twirling, fairly dancing away from foes too quickly for the eye to catch. They had established the power and effectiveness of the longbow as a ranged weapon, utilizing their keen eleven senses to place shots with incredible accuracy over longer distances than were thought possible. However, for all that, long distance archery was generally performed while stationary, and while running along the battlefield and shooting on the move were the next logical steps, it was only a matter of time before someone realized it could be taken further.

One of the masters was struck with an inspiration; combine the best elements of both fighting forms. The mobility and dancing nature of swordplay with the range and power of the longbow. Together with keen elven senses and sharpened natural reflexes, the result was devastating in closer quarters; spinning, tumbling, leaping, and shooting. The practitioner is more difficult to keep track of and return fire, and their mastery of movement enabled them to quickly dart away from any swordsman who came too close. Further, the bow – in all its forms – is particularly deadly at those closer distances, where it’s harder to miss and a single hit can mean instant death.

Through careful training, those heightened elven senses make it simple to pick out and quickly and accurately fire at targets, even from their spins, rolls, and acrobatic maneuvers.

In case the warrior is engaged in too close quarters for the bow, a sword would also be carried as a last resort weapon, though the first goal of such an archer would be to slip quickly away from melee and fire their shots from point-blank range.

Members of other races have been slow to adopt the fighting style because of the high demand it places on natural ability and agility, but it has found limited adoption with some individuals. The style is still practiced by a limited minority of elves, and when it’s used on the battlefield it tends to prove effective – if only because of how stunning it is to watch. 

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Notes: Hong Kong “Gun-Fu” meets medieval fantasy. I’d love to see it on film, just once, if only with a character using repeating hand-crossbows. Eberron the Movie, anyone?

>Skill Challenges

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Okay, I’m sure someone out there is sick of hearing about this by now, but I just have to post something about this in the interest of fairness. I’m starting to like the idea of Skill Challenges.

Some 3.5/Pathfinder player out there just threw a fit upon hearing that, and new players either don’t know what I’m talking about, or don’t understand what all the fuss is over. But let me explain myself – along with what the heck a Skill Challenge is for.

… Okay, how do I get out of here?

4th Edition D&D introduced the idea of Skill Challenges back when the Player’s Handbook first came out, and thanks primarily to some misunderstandings due to poor wording … and some poor understanding on the part of the mod writers … and a few problems that should probably have been worked out in playtesting … they were kind of hated by a lot of people, mainly long-time D&D players. The whole thing was blown massively out of proportion, to my thinking, but let’s go ahead and break them down.

Skill Challenges are designed as a way of resolving any kind of conflict that doesn’t involve stabbing things with pointy objects (and theoretically some things that do), and doing so in a way that a) rewards cleverness, b) rewards luck, and c) moves the plot forward in some way even if the player(s) fail. Oh, and d) gives the players precious Experience Points (XP).

What it is NOT is a substitute for good roleplaying; it’s intended to provide a structure for certain kinds of situations, though the applications of the idea are numerous once the DM has mastered the art of running them. The problem is, since they were explained so poorly originally, many many 4e players have had to suffer through badly written skill challenges that were then poorly run – like me, in my first 4e game. I was playing a wizard; naturally, the skill challenge demanded Athletics. Or climb. Whatever. And it was run incorrectly, so I had to make them all myself – Skill Challenges are supposed to be handled as a team.

So here’s the premise; A skill challenge is something that the party (or the hero, in a solo game) has to overcome as a group. Like finding the information about where the bad guy is hiding. The GM/DM has a list of skills that might be applicable, along with suggested DCs for the checks. The players figure out which skills they want to use, and the objective is to get a certain number of successes before a smaller number of failures (usually 3). A typical skill challenge will be three or four successes before three failures.

This will, of course, mean rolling your d20 and coming up with good descriptions for what you’re trying to do.

But that’s just the mechanics. A good skill challenge could be anything; from crossing a desert, to bargaining with the king, calming an angry mob, infiltrating a building, escaping a magical (or mundane) trap, summoning an extraplanar entity, convincing said entity not to kill you, slaying a boss monster the way you do in Prince of Persia (hah!), convincing the headmasters at Hogwarts to let you go to Hogsmead despite not having a permission slip, and so on.

Important point for DMs: Don’t tell the party that it’s a skill challenge. Don’t ever USE the words “Skill Challenge” at the table. Embed it into roleplay instead; describe the actions that might be useful, like, say, running long distances quickly to avoid the giant rolling rock from the Temple of Doom, rather than saying “athletics” or the like. The mechanics are for the GM’s benefit, but they should be invisible to the players as much as possible. 

If it’s handled well, and there’s a clear goal involved, and there’s an interesting penalty for failure that will still move the story forward. . . then Skill Challenges can be a great thing in any system. It sure beats “everyone roll a perception check.”

Heck, I might even use them in M&M . . .

>D&D Essentials: Heroes of the Fallen Lands Review

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Alright, so in the interest of putting my money where my mouth is (some of it, anyway; I got a really good deal!) I picked up a copy of Heroes of the Fallen Lands from the Borders near my university. And I read it. Several times.

It’s . . . very, very good, actually. Of course, I thought the same thing the first time I saw the 4E D&D Player’s Handbook. But in all seriousness, it’s very cool. Here’s a quick list of pros, cons, and noted oddities:

PROS:

1. The five builds presented (Warpriest, Knight, Slayer, Thief (seriously, how long has it been since D&D had an actual thief?) and Mage) are interesting, fun looking, and new player friendly, while being different enough from what came before to be worth looking at for long time 4e players. In addition, they correspond very nicely to the Classic 1e D&D classes; Cleric, Fighter, Thief and Magic User. 
2. Races; Human, Dwarf, Elf, Eladrin, and Halfling, again connect with D&D’s classic roots – back when Human, Elf, Dwarf and Halfling were the only choices there were. 
3. The new philosophy for the martial builds is really, really cool, and should make it much easier for a new player to get a handle on them. 
4. Feats are no longer separated by tier; old feats have been updated to balance their benefits across all tiers of play. This should make things easier to understand for a new player, too.
5. The mage looks like an excellent take on the Wizard; Warpriest offers Clerics a melee option that still emphasizes Wisdom. 
6. The Essentials builds are still completely compatible with what’s come before. It’s explicitly stated that you don’t have to stick with what’s in the book; if you’d rather have a fighter utility power from the Player’s Handbook for your Knight, go right ahead.
7. You don’t NEED everything that’s come before to start playing and having a good time. 
8. The rules are much better explained in this book than they were previously; Skill Challenges are explained well enough that they actually sound positive again (I especially like the sentence that informs us that they aren’t meant to replace actually roleplaying the interactions, but more as a DM guideline for situations that might be complex). 
9. The design of the book is very clean, uncluttered, and attractive, and the size makes it very portable – far more so than the average roleplaying book.

Cons: 

1. Someone in the group – the DM – will still need to buy at least 2 other books in order to start playing. This isn’t a huge deal for a player who wants their own copy and doesn’t need a lot of clutter in the form of DM only sections, though. 
2. The book is good enough that reading it will make you want to read the others in the set. How is this a con? Well . . . um, I don’t know. 
3. Honestly, there really isn’t much wrong with this book. It’s really, really good, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who’d like to try D&D 4E.

Questions: 

• What happened to rituals? I’m guessing they were left out because very few people really use them, but it’s still interesting that not ONE of the builds in the book features the Ritual Caster feat, nor is there any mention whatsoever of rituals anywhere in the book. Are they being reworked for later presentation? I kind of hope so.

Final verdict: I like it. A lot. I’d be willing to run 4E using Essentials builds, and I’d probably really enjoy playing in a game that allowed them (if only there were a 4E game within reach). 9.5/10.

Why 9.5? Reviewer’s secret: there is no such thing as a 10. Unless the designer bribed you personally. Or you’re dating his sister.

Obviously, I’m joking. In all seriousness, it’s a fantastic book, and a great way for new players to experience D&D 4th Edition.

>Thief part 3: Powers, Effects, Descriptors, and Power Points

>What follows is a brief primer on how Powers are built and work in DC Adventures, using the Thief from the previous entry as a discussion point. Feel free to refer back to the character sheet if anything here is unclear, and of course questions and comments are always welcome!

Powers are built from two separate important components: Descriptors, and Effects. Descriptors are free; Effects cost Power Points. The secondary components are Extras and Flaws.

A Descriptor is a word or set of words that define what a power looks, sounds, smells, or otherwise acts like, a little bit about how it might interact with other powers, and other details such as where it comes from (origin). For example, our thief has two different kinds of powers; powers that come from Training, and powers that come from his Elven heritage. These are both Origin descriptors. As another example, a Mage might have powers with the Magic descriptor, which might define both origin and effects; he might also have a Blast power with the Fire descriptor.

Certain descriptors have inherent properties. Fire, for instance, can be used to set things on … well, on fire. Makes sense, right? A power with the Water or Ice descriptor might be used to put the fire out. A sword has the Slashing descriptor, which tells you that it can be used to cut things. A club has the Smashing or Bludgeoning descriptors. A Cleric or Angel might have powers with the Sacred or Holy descriptor.

In short? Descriptors are Adjectives and Adverbs. Any effect can have any descriptor, baring your GM choosing otherwise; but if you can find a logical explanation for why it works that way, it’s probably fine.

Just to be sure, though, always ask your GM what kinds of descriptors might be allowed in your setting – in a low magic setting, for instance, magic might not be an appropriate descriptor to use for powers. 

The second part of power creation is the choice of Effects. These are the Verbs; they define what a power does. Things like Teleportation, Flight, Damage, Telepathy, Concealment – these are all Effects.

Extras and Flaws are things that modify an Effect further, changing how it works to make it more or less effective – and more or less expensive. Limited is a Flaw; No Attack Roll is a combination of an Extra (Perception, +2/rank) and another flaw (Close Range Only -1/rank – added by a reasonable GM). Different extras and flaws have differing values, and your GM should be consulted during this part of the process if you need help deciding whether a particular extra or flaw is a good idea.

To construct a power, first give it a label; something like Evasive, in the case of our thief. Figure out what it does; in this case, it makes it harder to figure out where he is at any particular moment. This suggests a Concealment effect, but not at full strength – he’s not invisible, just harder to hit. Partial is the right flaw, here, as is another flaw that says it only works if he keeps moving. This drops the cost to 1/2 ranks.

After this, it’s only a matter of deciding how many ranks are needed to make the power fit the concept (he’s harder to see with precision, but not to hear or detect with magical senses), and then applying any other descriptors – or, to put it in conventional literary terms, describing what it looks like when he’s using the move. I’m picturing a rapid dance of footwork and precise movements of limbs that make it even more difficult to land a solid hit on him.

A last reminder; Power Points are the building blocks of your entire character, as well as providing a reward for “experience” that a character gains over their adventures. Every special trait that a character has – skills, advantages, powers, abilities, and defenses – has an associated cost in Power Points. Advancement in these is fairly slow – generally around 1 per session or adventure – because they’re intended to reflect the way characters grow and develop in most novels, movies, and comicbooks. Which is to say, slowly if at all; most literary characters start the story somewhat awesome, unless it’s an origin story or a martial arts epic that features a lot of training montages.