But where too next? Where can today’s modern web tools such as XHTML and HTML5.0 push design forward?

I recently read two very informative articles by two of RPG Blogging’s rising stars, Phillipe Menard (aka @ChattyDM) and Dave Chalker (aka @DavetheGame) that explored some of the possible scenarios that set my mind aflame.  Here were two popular vocal proponents advocating the same revolution in adventure design that I had been craving.

High Level Concept

Adventure Design 2.0 would feature some of today’s leading web application concepts to allow high quality content presented with the individual user (a DM in this case) in mind. Allowing that content to be dynamic, personalized, and shared.

Adventures designed to present different forms of media together in an application that allowed DMs to purchase access to an adventure that would be customized to their needs and allow for the DM to further modify and share their own customizations. The media incorporated, from maps and graphics, to text and formatted stat-blocks could be tailored to the DMs individual campaigns all in one tool.

Possible Features

Modular adventure content that can be customized and shared is a rather broad concept but some of the features that one can imagine include:

• System of Choice (4e, 3.5, PFRPG, OSRIC, etc) which would update all rules content in a saved adventure instance to that system.
• Adjustable scalable levels which could also update rules content and be saved.
• Customizable monsters that can be imported, exported, and saved.
• Customizable NPCs that can have additional notes or hooks added.
• Customizable treasure in the form of traditional loot or packet formats.
• Larger supporting images or links to external graphics.
• Hyperlinked content internally within the site or externally for referenced rules.
• Maps that allow you to hover over sections and display a quick synopsis or click to open the related encounter.
• The ability to share the customizations with other members.

Subscriptions

One of the difficult pieces of the puzzle centres around profitability. An enterprise like this would need serious capitol to succeed. Not only would you need to hire authors, artists, editors, and cartographers, but also web developers and the system to support it.

One particular model of financing such an endeavor would be around a subscriptions or around access purchases. So someone could buy an instance of a particular adventure for 4e at 1st level and gain access to the system for that adventure. Future adventure purchases could be added to the purchasers account and offered similar to how some game companies market download-able content.

In addition those customers could then be migrated to a subscription model where they gain access to a set number of adventures in a particular period and potentially to more advanced tools such as customization and sharing.

Dynamic Content

One of the features that was listed above that sounds the most intriguing is the customizability of content. If you look at the current list of WotC’s Dungeon adventures or Goodman Game’s DCCs you can see that there are adventures for many levels and I’m sure all levels will be covered eventually. But what if you like one adventure that is a couple of levels above the heads of your party.

Customizing that adventure is often left in the hands of the DMs often with no pointers from the authors. What if the adventure were written with a range in mind (similar to LFR/Pathfinder Society scenarios) that automatically updated the difficulty of the adventure.

Perhaps the adventure that really fits in a DM’s campaign is one from a system that their group does not use. Sure DMs could spend the countless hours converting that adventure to their system of choice but what if the adventure was already built with the appropriate monster stats, treasures, etc.

Even beyond altering adventures by overall settings what if a DM’s campaign features a specific set of villains such as the Order of the Emerald Claw or the Purifiers? A suite of tools could be available to import Monster Builder files and allow DMs to replace the opponents in a featured adventure, touch up encounter information, and make notes all without the difficult work of redesigning the whole thing.

In the grand scheme this is an immense idea and I hope to continue expanding on this little bit of brainstorming. Already I can picture user interfaces, data structures, and tools or modules that I’d want to build. Yes I’m more the guy who can design the system than write the adventure or draw the illustrations and maps.

Castle Shadowcrag © Wolfgang Baur, 2009

Wolfgang Baur is running another round of Open Design so this is the perfect time to get in on it.  This time is a little different as there are three proposals for people to vote on and any one or even all three can progress should they achieve enough funding.  I’ll outline below all 3 proposals, but only one is being written in 4e ~ Courts of the Shadow Fey! The Scathsidhe return from both the Ennie nominated Castle Shadowcrag and Wrath of the River King.

I have been a patron of Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design movement since Castle Shadowcrag (oh how I wish I’d signed on for Steam and Brass!).  At some point I’ll write a full description of all of the projects I’ve been a part of (Castle Shadowcrag, Empire of the Ghouls, Arabian Nights, Blood of the Gorgon, Tales of Zobeck, Wrath of the River King, and Halls of the Mountain King). For now I’d like to bring attention to the three projects up for patronage this round and a quick discussion on what is changing.

Patronage

Wolfgang Baur started the Open Design movement with the idea that during the Renaissance artists created works for private patrons, so RPG products could be written for a select small group of patrons who would provide input and direction into the process.  That simple idea has spawned a large following of people who get to watch first hand how a master writer crafts his finished works. Patrons also have the opportunity to provide input, suggest topics, pitch content, and in some cases even author some of the work.  There are two levels of patrons, the patron level which grants access to the discussion and allows patrons to provide input on the design; and the senior patron level who get advanced views of some content, is allowed to pitch suggestions, and takes part in deciding the next round of projects after the current one finishes.

In the past the projects were exclusive, only those who were patrons of the project while it was being written would get an electronic copy and would be given the ability to purchase the print on demand version. That changed a bit after the first project to allow those of the current project (ie. Halls of the Mountain King) to purchase the previous project (ie. Wrath of the River King). Only recently did Wolfgang open up the Ennie award winning Tales of Zobeck to the public because of the award.  With the three projects below, however, Wolfgang is not keeping them exclusive to patrons. Provided they achieve funding, each project will see the light of day as electronic books available for mass consumption. Patronage still has its perks as I’ve outlined above. For me the draw is seeing how an amazing adventure comes together behind the scenes.

Open Design Projects Seeking Patrons

Courts of the Shadow Fey ~ link ~ Sign up today!

Written by Wolfgang Baur, this adventure will be written for Dungeons & Dragons 4E. It has been pitched as a paragon level adventure that takes players to the Plane of Shadow when the intrigues of the Scathsidhe threaten the Free City of Zobeck.  The adventure will be one of politics, assassination, intrigue, and stealth. Personally this one gets my vote as it is both 4E and written by Wolfgang himself, oh and its set in Zobeck.  I loved both Shadowcrag and Wrath so I’m looking forward to more Shadow Fey goodness.

From the Shore to the Sea ~ link ~ Sign up today!

This one will be written by senior patron Brandon Hodge who contributed substantially to the Halls of the Mountain King project.  The project is being designed to use the newly released Pathfinder RPG rules and will hopefully be set in the Pathfinder campaign setting, Golarion (pending agreement by Paizo Publishing).  The adventure will draw players beneath the waves where an ancient kingdom of aboleth have reawakened and has enslaved an entire village.  The Pathfinder RPG shows promise and Golarion is one of the most intriguing settings currently being supported.

Red Eye of Azathoth ~ link ~ Sign up today!

Joshua Stevens is leading this Cthulhu-inspired collection of adventures.  The project will either use the Call of Cthulhu system or the Pathfinder RPG depending on how the patrons choose (talk about involvement!).  The adventures will span several time periods as sleeping elder gods seek to invade the mortal world.  These 5 adventures will be set on earth in 5 different periods of history and senior patrons for this project will get to pitch entire adventures.

Personally I wish I had funding available to join all three projects or even one at the senior patron level. As indicated the 4E adventure, Courts of the Shadow Fey is my current favorite.

Free RPG Day

Free RPG Day

Free RPG Day was held on June 20 this year. This was the first year that I was able to enjoy the day as it has not been supported outside the States before.  Here in Vancouver there were several stores who had received packages from the fine people running Free RPG Day. I went out to my FLGS, Imperial Hobbies, in Richmond in the late afternoon.

Even with the late time I managed to pick up quite a few products all of them phenomenal. From Keith Barker’s Eberron Adventure to a Rogue Trader introduction, all great promotional material.

WotC – D&D 4E – Khyber’s Harvest ~ link

Alright I’ll admit that this was the product I was most looking forward to. Keith Baker has put together a great 2nd level adventure in 4E Eberron in Khyber’s Harvest. During a conjunction between Mabar and Xoriat, Cultists of the Dragon Below attempt to open a gateway to Khyber. Your party must thwart their intentions before something from below emerges to devour the Shadow Marches. The adventure also came with a full Dungeon Tile as well depicting a Dragonmark-like symbol on a dungeon floor and purple crystals on a bare earthen floor on the other side.

Goodman Games – D&D 4E – Immortal Heroes/Hearts of Chaos ~ link

The Immortal Heroes section of this flip book presents 9 epic destinies by Aeryn “Blackdirge” Rudel the editor in chief of Goodman Games’ Level Up! magazine.  They run the gambit from Archfiend to Radiant Master to Sidhe.  The other side is a preview adventure of Goodman Games’ upcoming Amethyst RPG that uses 4E rules in a modern setting that has collided with the Fantastical.  Magic, monsters, and machine guns all feature strongly in this new game coming in September.

Paizo Publishing – PFRPG – Bonus Bestiary ~ link

With Pathfinder RPG launching at Gencon this year, Paizo has released teasers of changes made to characters but this is the first preview of creatures created under the new rules. Pathfinder RPG is one of the most anticipated releases this year with over 50,000 people participating in the Open Beta test over the past year. The bestiary includes creatures like the Allip, Dragonne, and Shadow Mastiff all with incredibly high quality presentation as we’ve come to expect from Paizo.  The interesting parts come not only in the stats revealed but the introduction detailing how the new rules apply like Combat Maneuver Bonus and Defence and diseases and poisons.

Fantasy Flight – Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader – Forsaken Bounty ~ link

I’ve not had the chance to play the Warhammer 40K RPG yet, but I used to play the miniatures games fanatically for several years during university. The Rogue Trader RPG looks fascinating, putting characters in the position of merchants and traders on the fringes of the empire.  The preview also contains the short adventure Forsaken Bounty in which characters are given salvage rights to the Emperor’s Bounty, a vessel lost in the Maw.

White Wolf – Geist the Sin-Eaters – Quickstart Rules and Adventure ~ link

Again showing my recent monogamous gaming habits, I’ve not had the opportunity to play any of the new World of Darkness games despite having enjoyed Vampire, Werewolf and Mage in the past.  Geist is a game featuring people who’ve thwarted death just before passing over in a Faustian bargain with spirits or geists.  Those geists demand the saved allow them to ride along in a symbiotic relationship with the Sin-Eater. Also included is an adventure ‘The Return of Mr. Monster’ for the game.

Mongoose Publishing – Paranoia – Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Alpha Complex ~ link

Are there ever a lot of great games from back in the day being given new life. Mongoose Publishing has been publishing many Paranoia supplements and included this small digest sized introduction to the game.  Commie Mutant Traitors beware, the Computer’s Troubleshooters are being given higher and higher levels of access in order to track you down. Infiltrators beware should the Computer’s agents get wind of your treachery.

Imperial Hobbies – d6 ~link

My local FLGS is great. Not one to miss out on the marketing opportunity they created several d6s with their name and phone number on them.  A nice little touch to be sure, though my wife has claimed mine

I have no idea if there were more companies participating in the event, but I had a great time. I appreciate the marketing effort that went into all of these top notch products and I’m sure I’ll give some of them a shot.  I hope that this event continues in Canada every year.

Alya Portrait by Apis Teicher

Inspired by the work of The Core Mechanic, Mad Brew Labs, At-Will who have started a project they call Portrait of a Villain, as well as by Sly Flourish‘s Twitter DM Tips, I’ve decided to create a twitter project of my own.  For the moment I call it Twitter Villains, though I might migrate it into a broader project in the future. I have lots of ideas on creating more than just villains in 140 characters or less. This is also an attempt to tighten my writing skills and garner interest in my blog.

With Twitter Villains, I’ve posted my first one on twitter already under my account ~ twitter.com/erekose13. I’ll post a log ever once in a while though you can always follow the twitter column under the tag #villain. The format for each post will remain the same: #villain Name; description; motivations & goals.  Stats are purposely not included anywhere as they would defeat the purpose of a twitter column.  Though popular posts might garner a full treatment here on the blog.

Without further ado, here is the first twitter villain:

#villain Elegast; quickling w/billowing smokelike hair who hunts fey on the mortal world due to a misguided love of the fomorian Lord Gryme

Play by Post (PbP) is a unique gaming experience, one full of fun, excitement, and sometimes frustration.  I’ve been playing PbP for about 7 years now, largely over at ENWorld’s fantastic PbP community.  I’ll go through a few of the attractions of the format and how it is different from many other forms of gaming, and I’ll touch on a few tricks of the trade so to speak.

PbP is played on message boards and as such is similar to Play by Email in that a DM will post to the game and all of the players have time to put together their responses.  PbP allows both players and DMs time to craft a response and deliver top notch roleplaying and well thought out tactics.

It can, however, be very slow moving.  In steady games, leveling takes about 6 months to a year if at all.  Many DMs and players do not have the stamina to stick it through and fade away. But there are many communities that provide support for DMs to continue delivering quality games.

At ENWorld, community members have formed persistent Living Worlds that have some similarities with the organized play several companies put on. Similar in that all of the games take place in a shared world with consistent characters who can adventure together through a series of games with a variety of DMs.  Not so similar in that it is more loosely organized and DMs are free to run what ever adventures they want.

Living ENWorld (a 3.5 shared world), Living 4th Edition (a 4e shared world), Living Eberron (a 3.5 Eberron setting), and Living Superheroes (a M&M world) all embrace different shared worlds where a number of games are being run concurrently.  In addition there are the general PbP forums where people gather in all sorts of games together.

One of the most important things to remember if you are going to get in to PbP is to post. Keep posting and the games will stay alive.  So many people fade away because they lack the commitment. Have that and you are all set.

I’ll come back to more tips such as in character vs. out of character discussion, mapping techniques, and more next time.

With this update falling on a Wednesday we have a few more exciting pieces of news from Wizards of the Coast to include in this post. Not only have Dungeon and Dragon magazine delivered some great pieces with the Prince of Frost and the Remains of the Empire adventure, but the D&D Character Builder and Compendium have been updated. Probably the biggest piece of news this week, however, is that WotC is giving away D&D for Free! Read below for more.

Dragon Magazine

Note that these articles require a subscription to DDI to access.

Court of Stars: Prince of Frost ~ link

This article by Keith Baker is portrays one of the Winter Fey, the Prince of Frost and his palace the Fortress of Frozen Tears.  Keith delves into the history of this great eladrin lord and his court.  As a fully detailed opponent, this article shows us the goals and motives of the price, adventure hooks, and even a full write up of the prince as a level 31 solo controller. Several allies are presented as well including Mournwind and Soulsorrow the Sisters of Lament. In addition player options accompany these NPCs in the form of a paragon path and a Warlock feat for fey pact warlocks to tie themselves more closely to the Winter Fey.

Playtest: The Wilden ~ link

From PH3, the Wilden are the spiritual ancestors of the Killoren who appeared in the Races of the Wild for 3.5.  The Wilden are fey who take on aspects of their ancestors in their eternal battle against the encroaching forces of the Far Realm. With bonuses in Constitution and Wisdom along with their 3 different aspects which can change each extended rest, the Wilden are appropriate as druids or shaman.

Dungeon Magazine

Note that these articles require a subscription to DDI to access.

Remains of the Empire [Heroic - L3]~ link

In this adventure by Kolja Raven Liquette the characters befriend a unique, docile drake who accompanies them to an ancient Dragonborn citadel that fell from the sky centuries ago. The citadel shattered across a mountain time with pieces of the tower suspended in mid air.  The party must unravel the plot of a zealous dragonborn intent on raising the citadel to its former glory.  Filled with interesting skill challenges and unique encounter locations, this article features some amazing art as well.

Dungeoncraft: Background ~ link

In this issue of Dungeoncraft James Wyatt reviews his implementation of PH2′s background system for his Greenbrier game. He discusses the player’s choices and how, as a DM, he will incorporate those choices into the campaign.

D&Di

Character Builder and Compendium Update ~ link

The Character Builder and Compendium were updated with the information from Arcane Power, Dragon 373, Dungeon 164, E1 Death’s Reach, and the Player’s Handbook Heroes I miniature series. I’m looking forward to re-tooling my wizard as a conjurer with the Tome of Readiness.

D&D Test Drive ~ link

Wizards of the Coast is giving away D&D 4E for free. You can now download the quick start rules that were published last May in Keep on the Shadowfell and you can get the entire adventure as well.  Linked from this page is the Character Builder free version with all information for levels 1-3.

From a great adventure to an incredibly well written piece by Keith Baker this week’s updates couldn’t get any better until they released all the Arcane Power content into CB and gave away KoS for free! Proof that WotC is trying to engage their online fans more and more. If only they could bring back PDF sales as well.

Presenting my third review article this week, we move on to Wolfgang Baur’s projects Open Design and Kobold Quarterly.  This is an exciting week for both as 4E content accelerates as Halls of the Mountain King moves into the 4E conversion phase and Kobold Quarterly releases more 4E content then ever before. It looks like votes from last week are in and the 4E Halls will be for levels 8-11 ushering in Paragon play.

Note I am going to leave out the duplication of content and announcements.

Open Design

Note that these articles require a subscription to Open Design to access.

Playtest Reports

More playtest reports come in for the 3.5 version of Halls of the Mountain King. Each of these encounters reported on sound exciting and unique. The senior patrons who have designed these encounters sound like they’ve done a terrific job. I hope to get both the 3.5 and the 4E version of both Halls and the Gazetteers so that I can report on all content from the project.

• Heartsblood Forge
• Dark Was the Night
• Dark Was the Night (2)

Iron Gazetteer ~ link

While design on the Dwarves of the Ironcrags Gazetteer for 3.5 continues with Wolfgang writing the entirety, the Iron Gazetteer kicks off this week.  Discussion begins with suggestions on the content to include. It looks like many people are looking for paragon paths, rituals, and equipment.  Wolfgang has indicated that he does not want to include any of the culture pieces from the Ironcrags Gazetteer so this will be all fresh content. Join now and you can join in on the discussion.

Monster Conversions

The first of the senior patron work for 4E has been delivered to all supporting patrons in the form of three creatures. Discussion is raging on each of the creatures already, but I can tell that the patrons are getting into the swing of things with 4E design.  All of these will pass through Wolfgang’s development once the community has provided feedback.

• Fledgling Roc – a large roc that can pick up opponents and drop them prone
• Cavelight Moss – an obstacle or a soldier, you decide in discussion
• Gilded Devil – a controller that wields a golden flail and is covered in golden armor

Kobold Quarterly

Note Kobold Quarterly links are open content.

Kobold Quarterly #9 was released this past week and it is a phenomenal issue which will be reviewed in a subsequent review.  What was nice to see was additional 4E support in the magazine. Wolfgang has run an article in issue 7 and a few on the site, but this issue had 3 and now additional support online.

Monster Monday – Maenad [4E] ~ link

Presented in depth in the print magazine, the Maenad is given a 4E monster treatment by Matthew Hanson online. Matthew gives us the Maenad Warrior and Maenad Wilder as opponents for your PCs. They are interesting low level heroic tier creatures that provide an alternative to the more primitive humanoids in the Monster Manual.

Kitsune [3.5E] ~ link

The Kitsune are presented in the print magazine as a player race for 4E.  Scott Gable gives us a 3.5 version of these 9-tailed foxes of Japanese folklore as a player race as well.  Along with the stats to play these sneaky tricksters, Scott gives us details on the Star Ball as a wizard spell and Fox Possession as a ritual.

Interview with Aeryn Rudel ~ link

Well known creature crafter Blackdirge is interviewed by Jeremy Jones on his recent work with Goodman Games and his history with creating some of the most detailed and nasty creatures for 3.5.  Aeryn has written many products for his own PDF publishing company but was recently hired on as a staff writer for Goodman Games. At Goodman he has been given the position of senior editor for the new Level Up! magazine for 4E.  I look forward to seeing the fresh content that Level Up will bring to the 4E 3rd party publishing world with a dedicated magazine for this edition. I also learned a new word that I’m not sure I want haunting my head any more ~ autophagia.

Monster Monday – Buggane [3.5E] ~ link

Richard Pett returns to Kobold Quarterly with the latest Monster Monday. The buggane is a devilish looking creature from the folklore of the Isle of Man. Buggane gather in the cacophonous Great Hunt in the forest wielding scythes as they chase their chosen prey.

Until tomorrow when I’ll tackle some of the blog posts from the last week that have caught my attention that I’d like to promote and discuss.

After several posts each Monday that are 2000-3000 words in length, I’ve decided to try and change my strategy a bit by spreading it out in many posts. For this week I’ll start with a review of the DDI articles from the past week. Tomorrow watch for a follow up with insight into the Dungeonaday.com articles and the day following will showcase Open Design and Kobold Quarterly.  On Thursday then will be the Blogroll and Podcast feature.  That should keep me busy this week. I’ll look to add the other pieces on the Quasi Elemental Plane of Ash and a review of KQ9 this week if possible.

Without further ado, today we look back over the Dragon and Dungeon magazine contents of the week. It has been a very fruitful week with many great articles for DDI. Several follow up on articles presented last week, including the White Lotus Academy and the Get Familiar pieces. Orcs and Devas get top billing in Dragon and Mike Mearls explores Skill Challenges in his ongoing column.

Dragon Magazine

Note that these articles require a subscription to DDI to access.

Creature Incarnations – Orcs ~ link

Mike McNerney and Greg Bilsland present the latest article in the Creature Incarnations column.  The Creature Incarnations series examines existing favourites like kobolds, zombies, gnolls, and now orcs in greater detail. This installation of the series truly shows off the versatility of orcs, portraying their barbaric brutality and stunningly destructive tribal culture. Interestingly, Mike and Greg show us three replacement attack powers to replace the iconic warrior’s surge shared by all orcs. Each of which alter the flavor of orc’s encounter enhancing the creature when bloodied. Each of these is great for combating the 4e combat grind as they increase damage rather than healing the orc.

• Warrior’s Rage
• Bloodied Strike
• Gruumsh’s Fervor

As is the case with each of these articles, several additional orcs are presented, of which my favorite is the Pyromaniac. The orcs featured in this article include:

• Orc Harrier – an orc with great mobility when charging into combat
• Orc Darkblade – with a poisoned blade the drakblade infiltrates enemy ranks
• Orc Pyromaniac – a minion that attacks from range, sometimes setting itself on fire!
• Orc Alchemist – with stink bombs, acid jars, and caustic glue
• Orc Crescent Hurler – throws battle axes chained to him
• Orc Gruumsh Sworn – a front line controller who weakens, slows, or knocks prone
• Orc Warlord – inspiring blood-lust and encouraging allies while hitting with a double axe
• Orc Beastmaster – leads a pack of hounds on the hunt
• Pack of Hounds – a savage swarm of dogs harry opponents nearby

Design and Development – Familiars ~ link

Logan Bonner and Stephen Radney-MacFarland talk about the design decisions they took while revamping familiars for 4E. Last week we saw a number of new familiars but it was difficult to see what additional stats might be presented in Arcane Power. The answer is similar to summoned monsters, they use defenses and hit points based on your own.

Familiars have simple move stats and constant benefits while sticking close to it’s master or active benefits if it’s master orders it out of the backpack. In fact one of the key goals Logan and Stephen discuss is to bring the familiar out of the backpack. There is quite a bit of room to add more familiars to the game on this basic framework.

The other piece of information missing last week was the method with which one acquires a familiar. As many assumed the Arcane Familiar feat in Arcane Power will allow just that and there are several other feats that build on the relationship and enhance your familiar’s defenses.  I definitely think I’m going to make that Ash Mephit familiar soon.

Ecology of the Deva ~ link

Elegy © Apis Teicher, 2009

Chris Sims expands seriously on the Deva presented in the PH2.  One of the most praised new races in the new Player’s Handbook, the Deva was the only new race to cover new ground.  When reading the PH2, you are only given a glimpse into these new transcendental purple folk with a two page write up, a paragon path and a few feats. A full race writeup was needed and here it is.

Chris looks into the history of the Deva in the D&D non-universe, as well as their physiology and psychology. Art includes an image of a Deva being re-born in true Terminator style (okay he’s not curled into a ball, but close enough). The article continues to explore this new race with great detail. It finishes with a page of additional feats (including one that grants a daily power ~Astral Splendor) and a few opponents for characters to face including:

• Deva Seer – prevents opponents from taking most types of actions
• Deva Discarnate – dominates and attacks an opponent’s spirit
• Deva Catspaw – attacks an opponents ability to sense it

Dungeon Magazine

Note that these articles require a subscription to DDI to access.

Danger at the White Lotus Academy [Heroic - L7] ~ link

This short adventure by Peter Schaefer uses the background material from the White Lotus Academy article in Dragon this month. In this adventure visitors to the academy become embroiled in a secret battle going on behind the scenes. The characters are drawn in as a hidden opponent sets mystical traps and guardians on them.  When the headmaster refuses to investigate the players must solve the mystery on their own.

Ruling Skill Challenges ~ link

Mike Mearls continues his monthly column which is one of the best in Dungeon magazine. Skill Challenges are the most challenging aspect of 4E to get right and the one that has the most potential. Many blogs have tackled the subject and are phenomenal resources in their own right. Mike Mearls, as designer of the system, is in the unique position of being able to show us how he intended them to work. This week’s article he approaches a single suggested skill challenge, Haggling. While not one I would generally turn into a skill challenge the article offers several tantalizing reasons to try it out.

And there you have it, my first shorter article in a new format. As this blog is still relatively new, I’ll continue to experiment with format a bit until I hit my stride as a blogger. Stay tuned tomorrow for a review of Dungeonaday.com over the past week.

As mentioned last week, I’ve decided to switch it up this week and give the blog posts of the week top billing. I think I’ll cycle content like this regularly to mix it up.  The two biggest news pieces in the RPG world this week hit blogs pretty heavily. First and foremost, Dave Arneson, co-creator of D&D  passed away on April 7th.  A sad day for the roleplaying community as we all collectively said good bye to the man who gave us character based roleplaying, hit points, AC, and many other staples, not to mention helped create what has become a gigantic world-wide entertainment industry.  AP ran a story on his passing which the NYT amongst others picked up, the well-spoken Kennith Hite delivered an eloquent obituary, OotS produced a comic in memory, and Kobold Quarterly ran an interview that they had just completed. RIP Dave and thank you for the gift of Fun!

The other large piece of news that has hit this week, called PDFGate online, is Wizards of the Coast’s decision to remove all PDF products from all channels on the Internet, specifically RPGNow/DrivethruRPG/OBS and Paizo without warning to customers.   This comes at the same time as WotC sues 8 people for illegal distribution of their PDFs all through Scrybd.com.  It strikes me as a poor business decision on WotC’s part as PDFs are an integral part of the marketplace now as many other publishers have capitalized on their move by offering deals on PDFs. ENWorld has had the greatest coverage of this event, including an interview with Greg Leeds, President of WotC as well as public copies of the court fillings.  With these two unfortunate events, I agree with others that regret that they are no longer able to purchase any of Dave Arneson’s books.

Broken Time Finn © Apis Teicher, 2009

Blogroll

Gnome Stew – Starting a new campaign – The background independent pilot session ~ link

Martin Ralya presents an interesting article that I’m definitely going to be using for my next campaign. I’ve read a lot of posts over the last few months about character backgrounds and weaving a plot around the characters themselves rather than the major plots the DM wants to run. A staple of sandbox games, this style intrigues me but I’ve had trouble drawing that kind of information from my players. In this article, Martin offers a solution ~ run the first session without an care for background, allow players to get a handle on their new character’s personality and play style. That way you can follow up after the session to dig deeper into the decisions that the character portrayed in that pilot episode and get a more detailed history to draw from once the characters are a little more cemented in the minds of the players.

Gnome Stew – Five thinks to make your NPCs stand out ~ link

Personally I find my NPCs a little flat so any article on breathing life into them is appreciated.  John Arcadian’s Johnny’s Five article this week shows 5 ways to make NPCs stick in your player’s mind. The five things John suggests include Details, Voice, References, Uniqueness, and Physical Representations.  A solid article that I’ll have to try in my next game.

Dungeon’s Master – Reputation ~ part 1 part 2 part 3

Began on The Core Mechanic by Ameron from Dungeon’s Master, this three part series finished this week, but I wanted to get it all in.  Its a great set of articles starts out with a discussion on different types of reputation such as positive and negative reputation and its potential effects on game play.  The second part presents three different flavors to colour your hero’s reputation such as local heroes, unsung heroes, and anonymous heroes. The third part  plays on negative flavors of reputation such as false heroes, anything but heroes, and larger than life heroes. How will your players try to build their own reputation and how will you put it to use in your game?

The Core Mechanic – Anatomy of a Villain ~ link

Both At-Will and The Core Mechanic offer us articles on Villains this week and both of them are out of the park. Jonathan Jacobs offers yet more advice on something I want to improve on, my villains. I’ve had a couple that my players really remember and hate like the changeling Brother Garrow from the Eberron trilogy of adventures for 3.5.  This article advises GMs on a few tricks that they can use to create memorable villains such as types of villains, motivations, minions, and re-occurances.  What’s more Jonathan lets slip his inspiration for his villains, TV Tropes Wiki, which looks like a useful site.

At-Will – The Vicious Virtues of Villainy ~ link

Beyond the methods of how to make a villain great, Gamefiend goes into the importance of villain in games and why it is important to create one that is memorable and hated by your players.  He then delves into how to achieve that hatred by using a villains motivation, goals, and plots (and minions).  Together these two articles are great.

Chatty DM – Chatty’s Review: Monte Cook’s Dungeon A Day ~ link

As you’ve seen from my past weekly review entries, I’m a fan of Monte Cook’s Dungeonaday.com project. This week a number of bloggers reviewed the project including the Chatty DM, Philippe Menard.  His review is very positive, so if you’re not taking my word for it, give his a read too.  Philippe covers some of the innovations that Monte is employing to make the dungeon as dynamic and usable.  With hyperlinks, forums, maps, dwarven forge terrain, a glossary, and a great click-able map technology really drives the site almost as much as the phenomenal content.

Megadungeon.com – Welcome to Megadungeon ~ link

James Maliszewski of Grognardia fame has begun a project similar to Monte Cook’s Dungeonaday.com and while the comparison will be drawn across the net James’ project had begun to percolate prior to Monte’s started.  Many bloggers were speaking of megadungeons over the past few months and James decided to do something about it. Megadungeon.com is an old school dungeon built with OD&D rules. I’ve discovered many blogs out there that encourage a return to RPG roots and a different way of playing where the rules were suggestions and challenges were leveraged against players more so than their characters at times.  This mega dungeon will return us to those games of old using modern Internet technologies to deliver the content.

Newbie DM – Vin Diesel’s Melkor the Drow ~ link

Newbie DM pointed this one out on his blog this week and it is too hilarious not to pass along. Vin Diesel, on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show talks about his re-appearance in Fast and the Furious 3. At about the 2:27 mark he starts talking about his half-drow character, Melkor.

Dragon Magazine

Note that these articles require a subscription to DDI to access.

The White Lotus Academy an Arcane School ~ link

Peter Schaefer presents a nice article about an arcane school that offers something for all the different classes that draw from the arcane power source in 4e. Bards, Sorcerors, Swordmages, Warlocks, and Wizards all have a place at the White Lotus Academy. It was this kind of content that I liked reading in the old Complete books for 3.5 and that I would’ve expected in the Power series in 4e.  I’ve not seen Arcane Power yet, but I’m not sure it will have any content like this given the precedent set by Martial Power. So I’m glad that Dragon is picking up where those books left off and presenting more campaign material for the arcane rather than just character options.

Get Familiar ~ link

Logan Bonner offers us a completely revamped system of familiars for 4e. Familiars were definitely missed in the original PH for 4e as they had been a staple in 3.5.  This article is intended to expand on the familiars offered in Arcane Power, but as mentioned above, I’ve not seen that yet. Overall they look very interesting. Each familiar has a simple set of stats including just speed and senses as well as static advantages and active ones for the caster. I’m going to have to create a version of the ash mephit as a familiar soon.  Its too bad that we don’t get to see how one gains a familiar or what game stats (hp, defenses, etc) that they have. I guess Arcane Power will have those.

Dungeon Magazine

Note that these articles require a subscription to DDI to access.

The Scales of War – Part 10 – Alliance at Nefelus [Paragon - L14] ~ link

The 10th adventure in the Scales of War adventure path is presented by Chris Tulach.  Where as the last one I was intrigued by the adventure path, I’m not sure how well this one fits.  It sounds like a really fun adventure where the players are asked to help one of their long time allies to free her tropic homeland from a siege of ice.  The characters travel to the island realm, beat up several frost giants and make it to the island. There they are given three apparatuses of Kwalish, yes the big crab vehicle thing from way back, that they need to use to enter Icehome to fight a two-headed white dragon, Chillreaver. Chillreaver is allied with the githyanki and is use the Seed of Winter to change the weather around the tropic island.

Wizards.com Features

As mentioned in my introduction, I’ve cycled the Blogroll picks to the top of the list. That leaves other sections for brief linkage.  The three excerpts below are interesting, though my pick is the Adamantine Dragon, the first metallic we see for 4e.  The Scales of War advice column reviews the third installment of SoW with advice on troublesome spots and suggestions on which minis you’ll need and which dungeon tiles will support each encounter.  Its a good thought, but why start with the third adventure?  Why not #1 or the current one #10?  The other difficulty is of course that some of the dungeon tiles are out of print and the minis are rare and expensive now, especially the Harbinger series originally released 6 years ago.

• Excerpt: Archlich Epic Destiny from Arcane Power
• Excerpt: P3 Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress
• Scale of War Advice
• Excerpt: Adamantine Dragon from Monster Manual 2

Dungeonaday.com

Rooms 32-36

Once beyond the thematically linked encounters of the earlier rooms on level 1 and the stairs down there is an older section of the Dragons Delve that has a number of unique and interesting traps and treasure.  With a creepy web filled room and a bubbling black ooze that makes more of a puzzle than a combat encounter, Monte has offered us a number of rooms with a very old school feel. Almost to level 2!

Our Sponsors ~ link

Monte introduces the sponsors for the site. Dwarven Forge and Reaper Minis were originally on board for the site and their influence can be seen through out, though personally I’d like to see more minis featured.  This week Monte adds the Hypertext d20 SRD which has been along for the ride the whole time but is getting more notice on the site now.  He also welcomes Paizo publishing whom he has worked with recently on the Pathfinder RPG. Speaking of PFRPG, Jason Bulmahn will be joining Dungeonaday.com soon as a guest blogger.

Empty Rooms ~ link

In this blog entry, Monte talks about the importance of including empty rooms in a dungeon.  Verisimilitude and suspension of disbelief are the key reasons Monte highlights.  He also addresses the concern that in maintaining that philosophy he’d have to present encounters with ’45. This room is empty.’  In the Delve he has created area encounters which may include several rooms some of which have monsters, treasure, or traps, but others contain nothing.  He also includes empty rooms that have a revisit entry, allowing players who pass through those rooms to encounter creatures on their way back through later.

The Temple of Vune ~ link

Vune is a goddess of charity, light, and purity whose clergy maintain the largest temple in Brindenford, the town near the Dragon’s Delve.  The clergy of Vune offer healing and assistance to those willing to donate to the less fortunate with time or money. To the followers of Vune, fighting evil is not a reason for charity, thus making adventurers less important in the eyes of the clergy.

Open Design

4E discussion kicks off this week! With the 3.5 version wrapping up we start into a discussion of tier and level. I personally would like to see this go early paragon, but others want to keep it in the heroic tier especially as a sequel to the Wrath of the River King.  While I can see that point of view many of the tasks the adventurers undertake seem more paragon oriented to me.

• Playtest Report: Deeper Darkness
• 4E Discussion: Level

Kobold Quarterly

I’ve linked to it above already, but you have to read the interview with Dave Arneson.  It was included in the recently released Kobold Quarterly #9 (review forthcoming) and Wolfgang has been gratious enough to post it to the site. He mentions the poor timing of the article in the Passing of Time piece below, but it really is a wonderful tribute to the man.

• Monster Monday: Necrotic Tick
• Free Dice ~ Subscribe Today!
• The Passing of Time
• Interview with Dave Arneson

Podcasts

It would appear that the theme of this week touches on two pieces, Dungeonaday.com and the passing of Dave Arneson.  The Tome Show’s celebrating D&D is a great tribute whether Jeff meant it or not. From all the articles that I’ve read over the past week, Dave loved the game and wanted everyone to have fun. What better a way to celebrate that than by celebrating D&D itself.

• Fear the Boot – #142 Roleplaying with Kids
• The Tome Show – #100 Celebrating D&D
• RPG Countdown – Mar 25- Apr 7
• Atomic Array – #20 Dungeonaday.com
• D&D Podcast – S2E8 Penny Arcade/PvP/Wil Weaton

And that wraps it up for this week. I’ll be posting another creature in my ongoing Quasi Elemental Plane of Ash series this week. Eventually I’ll be posting some adventure locations, a description of the plane, and more.  I will also be doing a review of KQ 9 this week time permitting. I’ve almost finished reading it already.

The ash mephit is a small winged humanoid composed of ash particles. An ash mephit is from the Quasi Elemental Plane of Ash in the Elemental Chaos. The stifling plane is difficult to breathe in as the cloying cold ash seems to seek out warmth. This impish creature enjoys suffocating beings with its ashes.

Created with Monster Maker 3.5 by Asmor.com

Ash Mephit Tactics

The ash mephit starts a battle by sneaking into a position that it can catch a number of breathing opponents with its cloud of ash. It will then breathe on any close opponents before running away to hide again.

Ash Mephit Lore

A character knows the following information with a successful Arcana check.

DC 15: The ash mephit is an elemental humanoid from the Quasi Elemental Plane of Ash. It delights in taunting breathing creatures as they suffocate.

DC 20: The ash mephit finds a suitable location to unleash a cloud of ash that remains in place suffocating those caught in it. The mephit can also breathe on opponents close to it.

DC 25: The ash mephit is resistant to both fire and cold.

Encounter Groups

Ash mephits delight in causing havoc and suffocating their opponents and are sometimes found near volcanic regions filled with magma and ash.

Level 4 Encounter (XP 850)

• 1 Ash Mephit (level 4 controller)
• 2 Magma Claws (level 4 brute)
• 1 Magma Hurlers (level 4 artillery)
• 1 Ashbeast (level 3 lurker)