Category Archives: 4th edition

October 20, 2011

Kingmaker 4th Edition Approaches!

By n337-speak

Another weekend of D&D is coming up, assuming the world doesn’t end tomorrow. And, thank goodness, I don’t have to run it, which means I can get back into the game as Devon Surtova, my Vampire (who multiclassed into Assassin at 2nd level and has yet to regret that decision. The feat support unlocked is worth it by itself).

More amusingly, we have a total of seven (7!) players signed up to start with us this session, assuming everyone makes it. Which, as some of you know, is a lot. Especially in 4th Edition D&D.

Again, I’m glad I’M not the DM.

I’ll post again after the game to recap… which reminds me, I STILL haven’t gotten around to posting my thoughts on the game of Swords and Wizardry I was in a few weeks back. They’re coming, eventually.

Unsurprisingly, given the season, much of my time and energy is occupied by thinking and studying, so I hope you’ll forgive me if my blogging takes a back seat occasionally. Hopefully the chance to just PLAY the game again will help matters and get my creative juices flowing.

So, the next three things I need to write about here (assuming that I manage to hold myself to this at all):

  1. Kingmaker 4th Edition Session Recap (pending this weekend).
  2. Swords & Wizardry: Session Recap, What I Liked (And What I Learned From It).
  3. What Fable 3 taught me about fantasy gaming.

Also, also: if you’re not already reading d20monkey, you should start. It’s fantastic. Brian does a really great job producing some exceptional webcomic, and you should support him at it. Maybe even pick something up from the store.

1 Comment | posted in 4e, 4th edition, d d, dnd, dungeons and dragons, editorial

June 13, 2011

Wuxia 4e Part 3: Armor Updates and Grandmaster Training

By n337-speak

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like this is one of the rules that could use a little tweak to support the genre. The objective here is to fit the feel we’re going for without accidentally creating anything unbalanced – OR worse, requiring everyone to play a monk or a vampire (haha) in order to skip out on heavy armor plating. Basically, though, I want a setting where everyone gets to wear cool cloth armors and I don’t have giant clanking paladins who can’t get in on the more agile feats of martial skill (Partly because my favorite part of The Forbidden Kingdom is watching Golden Sparrow fight in her dress. Followed very closely by the awesomeness of The Silent Monk as he uses his sleeves to disorient his opponents. And partly because I just hate clanking when I move).

There are a few possible solutions to this. One of them is suggested in the DMG under “Swashbuckling” (I feel like there’s a lot of overlap between a campaign centered on martial artists and a campaign where lightly armored rapier wielding rogues swing on chandeliers and leap from balconies to horseback, though perhaps I’m the only one) – and to be fair, it isn’t a bad one. Just eliminate heavy plate and scale armor, and adjust the armor bonus of a lighter armor (like the breastplate, for instance) to compensate for those characters who would be affected. This way your Paladin gets a decent armor class, and you keep your feel intact.

I’d present that as one option, but I’d also like it to be possible for everyone to wear cloth without suffering ill effects or opening up gamebreaking feat combos.

This is going to be a several step process, and the solution will vary based on the nature of the classes approached.

  1. Firstly, inherent bonuses are a must. They go a long way toward making 4th Edition less about shopping for cool toys that give more “pluses”, and they make it so we don’t have to worry about armor enchants.
  2. Characters who normally get only cloth armor are unchanged. Half of them get Unarmored Agility for free (or an equivalent effect that stacks in some cases) and they need other kinds of tweaks rather than AC buffing.
  3. Characters who normally get leather armor proficiency have the option of either keeping it, or trading it for the following feature:
    Unarmored Defense: You receive Unarmored Agility as a free bonus feat.
    This neatly gives them our “all cloth” feel, and prevents stacking the Unarmored Agility feat with our tweak.
  4. Characters who normally get hide armor receive the following option:
    Body of Bronze: You have hardened your chi to protect your body from blows, whether by turning them aside or by absorbing the impact. You receive a +3 to your AC when you are wearing cloth armor or no armor.
    Special: This bonus does not stack with that granted by Unarmored Agility.
  5. And honestly, pretty much the same thing all the way up the armor scale. If you wish, you can offer the same thing with shields – with the possible exception of  the Weaponmaster Fighter and the Tempest Ranger, most classes probably wouldn’t mind a shield bonus with the condition that they can’t carry a shield or must have a free hand. I know my vampire doesn’t!
I also cannot recommend boons highly enough. Boons are fantastic. But I don’t recommend completely eliminating magic items, either – just don’t let them become something that characters can go to the mall to get. I suggest the following as a middle ground:
  • Wondrous Items, being perfectly practical examples of magic, are basically unchanged.
  • Magical Weapons are extraordinarily rare. When they are found, more often then not they account for several of a character’s boons at any given time. Moreover, magical items can only be used by the person who does great deeds to unlock their powers – IE, the adventurer who found them, usually. They can be passed on to a new owner only under rare circumstances, like on their owners death, and in all but the rarest cases they lose all their power and become ordinary weapons when that happens… at least until a new owner performs the great deeds needed to unlock them again!
    In game terms, this means that magic items are no longer a commodity, but they are still a treasure. They’re also the sort of thing that martial artists/adventurers really ought to have buried with them when they die. After all, an Emperor of the Middle Kingdom was buried with a terracotta army that he believed would help him rule again in the afterlife. How much more should a hero of the people be buried with his sword? UNLESS he passes it on to a successor.
  • Apart from magical items, martial artists also can receive boons in the form of magical talents, divine gifts, or grandmaster training. The latter makes a good catch-all description for boons in a game like this one; in genre, martial artists frequently gain insight in battle that leads them to refine new techniques and attacks.
(For that matter, I’d suggest that as a pretty good middle ground for MOST games. We’ll be using something similar in the 4E Kingmaker game I’m in; I’ll let you know how it goes when I have more experience with it.)

2 Comments | posted in 4e, 4th edition, dnd, dungeons and dragons, Wuxia

June 10, 2011

Wuxia, Part 2: Alignment and Future Directions

By n337-speak

The Middle Kingdom, as a setting, is loosely based on ancient China. It is a large area of the world, occupying (to the thought of its inhabitants) the center of the world’s affairs. It is a world of artistry, at least for those who can afford it. It is a world where even non-magical weapons are crafted so finely that they could be called works of art; a world of philosophy and reason. It is a world where technology is often indistinguishable from magic, and where magic is sometimes treated as technology.

Martial artists are the exemplars of the Middle Kingdom, living proof of what can be accomplished through human effort.

These are the adventurers of the world. This is their story.

Codes of Honor: Alignment in The Middle Kingdom

The biggest questions of alignment in the Middle Kingdom have little to do with good and evil. Good and evil are concerns, but the majority of adventuring parties are made up of good (or at worst self interested) people. A more interesting split is called for, and will be touched on briefly here.

In theory, Jade Empire‘s morality system is excellent, and so I’ll give it a look here.

There are two basic competing schools of thought among martial artists. They are the Way of the Open Palm, and the Way of the Closed Fist.

Generally, followers of The Way of the Open Palm believe that the key to maintaining the universe is by being in harmony with nature, one’s surroundings, and one’s station in life. As an effect of being in tune with nature and with one’s surroundings, one is expected to actively assist in lessening the chaos in the area, through the assistance of lessening burdens. While this seems “Peaceful”, the Way of the Open Palm is strict in another form: one should not act outside their station and purpose in life.

According to the “Way of the Closed Fist,” on the other hand, the purpose of life is to follow the ways of serving oneself — to face one’s challenges head on, challenge one’s station in life, and work to become self-reliant. The emphasis of the Way of the Closed Fist is combat, turmoil, and constantly challenging oneself, which is why many of those who are evil tend to be considered to follow the Way of the Closed Fist, in that they bring about chaos in the universe.

Much about these philosophies demands context to interpret them correctly. A follower of the open palm, for instance, might see a peasant who is attacked by a thug and step in, reasoning that it is the right thing to do. A follower of the closed fist might help as well, if they felt the fight was unfair- that the peasant was too far below the skill or strength of their attacker for the fight to be a legitimate test of their strength. Encouraging others to be self reliant is not strictly an evil trait, for instance, though the implementation in Jade Empire often makes it seem as if we’re still looking at “Lawful Saint/Chaotic Stupid.”

Another consideration might be something like Honor versus Expediency.

Or one could simply utilize the standard Lawful Good – Good – Neutral – Evil – Chaotic Evil spread. It all depends on what you want.

A Few Words On Flavor, and Things to Come

When dealing with D&D 4th Edition, I have a general policy: Changing game mechanics is considered a last resort.

That isn’t to suggest that I won’t do it. In fact, one of the benefits of 4th Edition in my experience is how much you can change the nuts and bolts around without breaking anything. But I prefer to avoid saying things like, “for a Wuxia style game, give everyone double class features and three times the action points,” without having a very good reason. I encountered quite a bit of this sort of advice when I first started reading on this subject, and I don’t see a purpose in repeating it.

Let’s start with the fluff instead. As the DMG suggests, climb checks might allow characters to fairly fly up walls or bounce from tree to tree. A teleport or shift power might instead be a high-flying leap. Names of powers might be altered to make them more evocative, and though I generally discourage using power names regularly at the table in this instance it might be genre appropriate for characters to call out their attack names in addition to describing them.

That said, I would recommend the following optional rules be used:

  • Boons
  • Inherent Bonuses
  • Themes

Though I suppose Themes aren’t really optional anymore, are they? 🙂

And since lightly-armored characters are such a genre convention, I WILL be giving defender types an incentive to forgo the heavy plate armors without losing out.

I would also suggest the following classes be considered the, “core.” Other classes may still be allowed, of course. A number of these will be receiving new fluff (or possibly optional rule applications) in later articles, while several others can be used as-is with only minor changes. I also reserve the right to expand this list as new thoughts occur to me.

  • Monk
  • Shaman
  • Fighter
  • Rogue
  • Wizard
  • Warlock
  • Paladin
  • Warlord
  • Ranger
  • Assassin
  • Bard

More to come. Stay tuned!

1 Comment | posted in 4e, 4th edition, dnd, dungeons and dragons, roleplaying, Uncategorized, Wuxia

June 9, 2011

A New Setting: Wuxia for D&D 4th Edition

By n337-speak

It’s not exactly a secret that I love martial arts films, especially those in the vein of Forbidden Kingdom – as much as I love my elves and dwarves, “Classic Fantasy,” dungeon-punk, steampunk, cyberpunk, punkpunk, high fantasy, or swords & sorcery, sooner or later I long for a different type of setting. I want a departure. Something fresh. Welcome to my new series. Welcome to Wuxia.

First, An Introduction

“Wuxia,” broadly speaking, is a brand of Chinese fiction roughly analogous to the western stories of knights-in-shining-armor, except instead of knights the protagonists are martial artists, instead of being members of the nobility they’re usually from the poorer classes, and instead of taking place in ancient Europe, they take place in ancient China. So really, it’s nothing like the stories about the knights. Except that in both genres, the subject of the story is the stuff of legends.  We’re not here to talk about the older stories, though. We’re here to talk about the genre as it exists today, and how to adapt it into a setting that suits a game of Dungeons & Dragons. 

A Confession

Recently, I had some time to kill at a friend’s house while he was away at his summer classes, so I picked up his copy of Jade Empire. I wasn’t worried too much about the gameplay issues (I’m well familiar with the Bioware RPG, having worked through two iterations of KoTOR in the past) but I was hoping for a good story and a refreshing break from the heavy-handed European fantasy I’d been getting from Game of Thrones.  I wasn’t disappointed. It was epic, emotionally engaging, and the setting was rich and deep. It was everything I’d hoped. And the entire time I found myself thinking, “Dude, this would make some awesome D&D.”

The Core Assumptions

Today, we’re going to be dealing with the core assumptions of the setting. Let’s take a look at some assumptions that make our Wuxia setting different from (and similar to) the standard Points of Light. Loosely based on ancient China (with some rare elements of other parts of Asia), this is “The Middle Kingdom.” Or possibly even, “The Jade Empire,” depending on my mood.†

  • The World is a Fantastic Place: Magic is an undeniable fact of the world. Chi-bending elemental masters; wizened old mystics hold the power to shatter boulders or to paralyze with a single touch; dragons and nature spirits, gods and demons; floating cities; the world could only be described as fantastic.
  • The World is Ancient: Ruins of ancient cities and civilizations can be found throughout the world, but the Empire has stood much as it is for hundreds of years.
  • The World is Mysterious: Most people don’t know all that much about the regions far from their villages, but few forget to revere their Emperor.
  • Monsters are Everywhere: They might not be the same monsters that plague the western lands, but they’re there. Bugbears (called “ogres” in this part of the world) hire themselves out as farmhands or mercenaries, fox spirits dwell in the forests and occasionally take human form to play tricks on humanity.
  • Adventurers are Exceptional: And for much the same reasons as other settings.
  • Magic is Not Everyday, But It is Natural: Most citizens of the empire are untouched by magic, apart from those who study at martial arts schools under masters, but few hold any superstition for it either.
  • The Gods Are Distant: Nature spirits called “Daemons,” and other spirits like the djinn, however, both good and evil, interact with the world regularly through various anchors. As part of the Celestial Bureaucracy, they constantly work to maintain (or undermine) the balance between order and anarchy.
  • Heroes are Martial Artists: Whether a swordsman, archer, spellcaster or priest, the power of heroes flows from rigorous (often lifelong) study of the martial and mystic arts. A fighter is not merely another warrior—he’s a disciple of ancient fighting techniques rarely mastered in the modern day. Likewise, a sorcerer makes esoteric gestures to perform his magic, and a priest is an enlightened, almost monastic follower of a powerful god.
  • War Has Left Its Mark: Everywhere are the ruins of old empires, the stains of ancient battles, and proof that the world is not a peaceful one. The martial and mystical arts are largely channeled toward combat because training in those arts is focused toward the honing edge of battle. As well, in a violent world, the effects of ephemeral power are best pointed at one’s enemies—after all, the power may be short-lived, but damage remains.
  • “We’re All Human Here”: Humanity is the only truly civilized race in the world—all other creatures are either monsters or subhuman savages. All of the existing player character races are sub-species of humans, making them accepted in the Middle Kingdom. 
  • Breath is Life: All power comes from chi (or ki), translated “breath” or “spirit.” This force grants life to all things, and its two halves—Yin and Yang—provide balance and duality to the universe. Arcanists master chi through ritual and express their power through elemental forces, martial exploits manipulate chi through physical effort, divine characters channel the breath of the gods themselves.
†A number of these assumptions were borrowed from this thread and I make no claims of originality for them. I have modified several of them to better suit my own purposes.

Leave a comment | posted in 4e, 4th edition, dungeons and dragons, fantasy

May 22, 2011

Best. Game. Ever.

By n337-speak

Dragonborn

Of all time.

Alright, so May 21st has come and gone, and as the rapture missed our D&D group the game went on without a hitch.

(Apologies to anyone who sincerely believed that this was it; I know how that kind of thing feels, and it sucks. You have my prayers.)

Anyway. Onward.

So the pregame consisted mainly of working to create the numerical, “build” portion of everyone’s characters; our DM enlisted my help for that. We had a total of 4 in the party:

  • Me, playing a Vrylocka Vampire who in life was the son of a noble house and the leader of some kind of Brevonian special forces. Devon Surtova, with about three other names in between the first and the family.
  • Diane, one of two first-time D&D players with a Dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut/Cavalier, Virtue of Sacrifice build who was on a quest to serve her deities justice after he spared her from the orcs who attacked her clan. Thankfully, this caused almost no tension despite the obvious undead in the party. “As long as you don’t sparkle, we’re good.” Heh. I think her character’s name was Ašra. I’m probably going to get in trouble later for remembering these wrong.
  • Tawnya, the second first-time D&D player, with a Shifter Druid (Naara, I think her name was?) who transforms into a panther (awesome!). Nara was out on her “coming-of-age-and-finding-yourself,” quest. We were more than happy to oblige.
  • And Matt, with Rolen, a Half-Elf Ranger. This was Matt’s first time playing 4th edition, coming out of some experience with 3.5. Rolen was a half-elf who grew up on a riverboat in a forest, and wanted to see more of the world (I think) and possibly put some arrows into parts of it. 🙂
If you look at this party composition, you will notice two things.
  1. No leader, and certainly no cleric.
  2. Pretty much everything in the party is very iconically 4E.

Now, our DM was briefly worried that we might not have enough healing, but I had a feeling we’d be alright; there was enough temporary hitpoint generation around to help us out, and at least one of our strikers (mine) had crazy good regeneration. No worries.

We arrived at the border fort of … wow, I can’t even remember the guys name. Oleg, maybe? It sounded sort of Russian. Anyway, we came to this fort with a charter from Lord Surtova (who I noted was actually related to my character, and not that nice of a person) saying that we had the authority to explore the Green Belt and take care of any bandits we might find. And by, “take care of,” I mean, “execute.”

Oleg apparently was having a regular problem with bandits, so we decided to help him out. Thinking quickly we put together a plan – on my suggestion, Ashra and I stationed ourselves just inside the door to the fort, with the archer on one wall and the druid on the other.

We pretty much shredded the first group of bandits after pulling off a successful ambush that had the leader down on the ground after about 2 rounds. Booyah. At this point, I was feeling pretty darn good about our group, and it was time for pizza.

So then we went looking for more bandits. Eventually we found their camp, on a river – I’d guessed that they would be near the river after consulting the map, since hey, logic, if you’re camping long term you want a source of water – and after a disastrous attempt at negotiation (Ašra attempting diplomacy. “We already killed 6 of your people.” When we asked, “THAT’s what you’re going with?” She responded, “Hey, I don’t care, I wanted to fight anyway.” Not what I was expecting, but I could definitely get with that sentiment at that stage.)

Highlights:
  • First move of the battle, Devon slips off to the left, singles out one of the bandits, and hits him with his vampiric charm, pulling him forward… straight into the pit trap that opened under his feet. Classic.
  • A few rounds into the fight, a pair of drakes came out of the tents. These things were annoying as all heck – not particularly strong or anything, but they lasted WAY too long.
  • On seeing our Ranger getting singled out by a bandit wielding a halberd, I burned an action point to knock my current foe backward, race over there, and hit the halberd guy with my charming gaze attack. There were cries of exultation over the good teamwork.
  • Our druid, Nara, got into a fight with one of the drakes, and for a long time it was really like two cats fighting. Except one of them was a lizard.
  • After taking a number of hits from the bandit archer, I burned my daily; it was swarm of bats time. One racial power later, and I was set up to invisibly take on the archer … and bought myself time to regenerate my health. Not bad. A few rounds later the archer went down. Basically it turns out that the vampire is pretty much as cool as I thought it would be (in other words, very.)
  • The girls started going for dismemberment on the poor drakes. I almost felt sorry for the things.
  • Or I would have, if they didn’t stick around SO LONG.
  • Oh, and also? Dragonbreath set the tents on fire. It was totally cool.

All in all? It was a great game. Everyone had fun (I know I had a blast; it’s been too long since I had the chance to just PLAY without having to argue with anyone about why game X is more fun than game Y.), and I think there’ll be more to come in the future.

Verdict: 4E rules. It really, really does.

Leave a comment | posted in 4e, 4th edition, dnd, dungeons and dragons, fantasy, fun, game night

November 27, 2010

>Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms Review

By n337-speak

>

I think I said this awhile ago, but Wizards of the Coast’s Essentials line has revitalized my love of D&D 4th Edition. Continuing with the excellent track record set by Heroes of the Fallen Lands is the latest release, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms. 
Like the previous volume, HotFK is the same paperback digest sized format, and targets the same price point – $20 retail, cheaper if you make use of Amazon or are a Borders Rewards member and make good use of timing and coupons. Like the previous book, it contains five new builds of four of the core classes, and redefines what, exactly, is ‘core’ in the first place.
For those keeping score, the previous book, HotFL, contained the Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard – rebuilt as the Warpriest, Knight, Slayer, Thief, and Mage. This mirrored the original class structure of the oldest editions of D&D in several interesting ways, and offered a fresh perspective on what a martial class should look like, anyway. This new approach is simultaneously simpler to grasp for a new player (eliminating the worries about Daily powers, when to use them, and all attempts to rationalize why a fighter can only swing his sword like that once a day) while appealing to old-school D&D players who thought the classes were too similar, and that fighters were “casting spells.”
HotFK continues in this new tradition, rebuilding the Druid, Ranger, Paladin, and Warlock as the Sentinel, Hunter, Scout, Cavalier, and Hexblade.

The Sentinel, a new druid build, returns to the classes 3.5 roots by presenting the class as a weapon wielding Leader with an animal companion. I know I have one friend in particular who rejoiced when I told her of this change, as the lack of an animal companion for the druid stung her badly when 4e first came out. More impressively, it works. If anything, the beastmaster Ranger will have to be revised. The Sentinel does gain daily powers, as a proper spellcaster, but replaces some of its encounter options with multiple uses of the “combined attack” feature, allowing it to attack a target in tandem with its animal companion. This is a very hard hitting move, and it looks like it will work quite well. 

The Hunter, one of two Ranger builds, continues the tradition of separating class from role by offering a primarily martial controller, with some strikerish leanings. The class dips somewhat unnecessarily in places into the Primal power source, but only for its stances and a few (optional) utility powers. This does, again, mark a return to the Ranger’s 3.5 and earlier position as a martial combatant who dabbled in nature magic. More importantly, it demonstrates the possibility of a martial combatant operating as a controller through skilled use of the bow. By combining stances with its Expert Archer feature the Hunter has a number of At-Will options modifying its basic attacks, including an area effect – Rapid Shot. Outside of combat, Wilderness Knacks will give the Hunter even more usefulness as a guide for the party, letting it fill the role offered by its flavor text that much more effectively.
The second of the two Ranger builds, the Scout, is similar but for one thing; it’s a pure melee striker. Focusing on mastery of two weapon attacks with some more primal dabbling (sharing utility powers and the stance mechanic with the Hunter), it looks dangerous and fun. It also shares Wilderness Knacks with the Hunter, but as a melee striker it has slightly better armor proficiencies. It also offers some customization by granting different benefits for different off-hand weapon choices.
The Cavalier is a new Paladin build that likewise nods to the roots of the class – that of a holy warrior who rides a noble steed. While the class itself does not provide a mount, some of its class features at higher levels do grant benefits when using one – making the possibility of getting one through other methods attractive, but not strictly necessary. More important to note, however, is that these benefits are limited to outside of combat. In terms of customization, it offers a choice of Virtues to uphold, each of which has particular benefits and powers associated with it. 
Many of the essentials builds have improved non-combat utility, which can only be a good thing for those of us who recognize that 4th Edition is NOT (as some have claimed!) a miniatures combat system.
Finally, the Hexblade, another old favorite back with a vengeance. A Warlock build in this incarnation, the Hexblade is a striker who alternates between melee and ranged combat by using his Pact Weapon, a mystically created blade that symbolizes his bond with the source of his powers. Wand in one hand, sword in the other, the Hexblade is the first class to have powers which require both weapons AND implements, bringing new possibilities for 4th Edition out. The Hexblade also gains some summoning ability, usually to provide himself with artillery support as he moves into melee. The class, like the Warlock it shares powers with, is full of potential as an anti-hero archetype. 
That’s right – WE’RE core again!
… And we actually don’t look all that bad …
The book brings us the updated versions of the Tiefling, Dragonborn, Drow, Half-Elf, and Half-Orc (guess who’s core again!), and includes the Human as well, in case Heroes of the Fallen Lands didn’t strike your fancy. Each has been revised to include the latest errata, which is helpful for those who pay attention to the errata. It also retreads much of the world information, data about the gods of the D&D Pantheon, and alignments, which is good, as each book is intended to stand on its own as a player resource. As before, the flavor text for the races and classes is exceptional, and the mechanics work beautifully from the flavor outward. Exactly as it should be. 
Added bonus points: if there was ever a book that could convince me to try playing a half-orc, this is it.
Final verdict: 9.5. Because 10 doesn’t exist. 😉 In all seriousness, though, if this is the new direction of 4th Edition, I could not possibly be happier. Buy these books and support good game design, good fluff, and good D&D fun. Whether you’re a new gamer or a long-time 4e player, HotFL and HotFK will have something for you. 

Leave a comment | posted in 4e, 4th edition, d d, dnd, dungeons and dragons, essentials, HotFK, review

November 26, 2010

>Wizarding Houses and Party Roles: The Secret Connection

By n337-speak

>

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.

Leave a comment | posted in 4e, 4th edition, d d, d20, harry potter, houses, roles

November 25, 2010

>Elven Acrobatic Archery: Steal This Fighting Style

By n337-speak

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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. 
__________________
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?

2 Comments | posted in 4th edition, combat, d d, d20, dnd, elven, steal this, styles

November 2, 2010

>Steal This Character Background: Affyria, Tiefling Bard

By n337-speak

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This is a character profile for one of the player’s in my upcoming 4e intro game. Diane, this one is for you: feel free to change anything you like about her personal backstory to make it yours, or use it as is.

Firstly, an introduction to tieflings:

History:

Every tiefling is descended from royalty.

See, the story is truly told that in the ancient times of the world, there was a great empire called Bael Turath – one of several of the great empires to rise up in that period. Many of the ruins still dot the landscape, calling to adventurers with promise of ancient artifacts. But that is now; this was then. And Bael Turath flourished, developing culture, art, sciences, magic; and fighting great wars, some just and some unjust, like all empires.

Like many other great empires, at its peak of power it was also the most likely to lose it. Unsurprisingly, the ruling families weren’t too big on that idea. So, someone hatched the bright idea of cutting a deal with the king of devils, Asmodeus. Contracts were drawn up, sacrifices were made, and every last member of the ruling families who participated were transformed from humans into what are now called tieflings.

Needless to say, Bael Turath still fell eventually due to a combination of internal corruption (big shocker) and outside forces (like war and economics). But the new race of tieflings have never forgotten that they used to call the shots, and neither has anyone else, really. They’re reasonably sure that they’ve managed to pull free of the contracts with Asmodeus, and consider themselves masters of their own destiny – assuming that they can overcome their distrust for each other, and the distrust of other races, and their distrust of other races long enough to do it.

Tieflings most often live in human cities, either alone or in groups with others of their kind, banded together against external prejudice.

In spite of all the baggage they carry (and the general tendency toward enlightened self interest among their ranks), a number of notable tieflings have achieved great heroism in the new age. Those tieflings who strike off as adventurers find acceptance with similarly minded members of other races, who value talent and teamwork over little matters like appearance or racial history.

Appearance: Tieflings are humanoid, with large horns, a tail, and skin covering the whole range of humanity along with various shades of red; their hair can be any color typical among humans as well as dark blue, red, or purple. They have sharply pointed teeth, and their eyes are solid orbs of black, red, white, silver, or gold. Their manner of dress tends toward the archaic, reminding one of the ancient empire they were once leaders of, and favors dark colors and reds rendered in leather and glossy fur, with small spikes and buckles often featured.

Character profile: 

A typical tiefling warlock.

Affyria is a descendant of one of the old houses of the great tiefling empire of Bael Turath. She’s studied the old stories closely, and is always on the lookout for new legends concerning the old ways. Uncovering her legacy is important to her, if only to avoid repeating the mistakes of her ancestors.

Growing up on the streets of Wyvernfell wasn’t always easy, even with the help of her family. She learned to be self reliant and mistrustful (lessons she would later have to unlearn), but her raw charisma made her a leader – even when she wasn’t sure she wanted to be.

Unfortunately, many of the other tieflings she’d grown up with started to turn up missing or dead. Affyria had to live out the last few years of her childhood almost entirely unsupported, and the murderer who targeted her family was never found. Why them? And are the ones responsible still looking for her?

When she grew older, Affyria studied the bardic arts to gain the flexibility to make her way in the world, as well as the tools she would need to uncover more of her history. As part of these efforts, Affyria has rediscovered the lost arts of the Turathi sword-masters, and has made them her own. Her spells, songs, and swordplay have kept her alive over the last few years, and her new friends have helped, too. Affyria hasn’t told them much about her past beyond the basics, or about her ambitions, but despite this they’ve grown to trust and depend on each other.

Leave a comment | posted in 4e, 4th edition, affyria, background, bard, character building, d d, tiefling

October 11, 2010

>Skill Challenges

By n337-speak

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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 . . .

1 Comment | posted in 4e, 4th edition, d20, dm, gm, player, skill challenge