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 Recent Posts
I noticed a few people mentioned Tomb of Horrors - I always heard that was a TPK module but have never had a chance to play it. Has it been updated to PF by anyone? was it 3.0 or 3.5 rule system? I have DMed Return to the Tomb of Horrors a total of 3 times: once in 2E and twice in 3.xE. All games ended with a TPK, and there were several individual deaths during the games. TPK 1:
The first TPK was in a 3.x game. There is a door in the Tomb that leads to a hallway full of sleep gas. Only the wizard in the party made the spell save for the gas. Meanwhile, a juggernaut was hiding in the gas and began to rumble towards the party. Now, for whatever reason, a juggernaut in 3.X could cast wall of force. It blocked off the party's escape route. The wizard had no hope of fighting off the juggernaut in close quarters, so he stuffed the cleric/rogue into a trap door in the floor (banking on him to resurrect the party once he eventually woke up). The juggernaut pummeled the wizard and crushed the rest of the party. Time passes and the trap resets. The cleric/rogue awakens. He sees the party neatly flattened in the hallway. Being a CN cleric/rogue of Olidammara, he did the only sensible thing: looted the bodies for any surviving magic items and left the Tomb. TPK 2:
This was a 2E game, IIRC. The party finds Skull City, a village/college of necromancers located around the tomb itself. The found it by flying around in a chariot of Sustarre. They landed in Skull City, which is akin to shining a magical searchlight on the party and screaming “We’re the good guys! Kill us!”. For whatever reason, they don’t stick around until dark and leave. They decide to stealthily enter the next day.
The problem was that it gave the necromancer college an entire evening to prepare better defenses from an obviously powerful party. They animated a dozen wights and outfitted them with amulets that had continual darkness cast upon them. They then set up sentries throughout the city. When the party returned, they were spotted (the paladin stuck out like a sore thumb) by the naga living in the walls. They were immediately dealing with a dozen wights cloaked in darkness, two dozen necromancers of various levels, and the giant bone golem that guarded the front gate. The paladin failed his save versus the golem’s cackle ability, thus paralyzing him. The rest of the party was hampered enough to fall victim to the wights. The paladin had the privilege to watch the whole party die right before his eyes. I can’t remember how the paladin died, but it was not a good death. Individual Deaths:
*The rolling boulder in the mountain giant’s lair claimed one life. The wizard of the party cast wall of stone to stop the boulder. Too bad he did not ensure the entire party was on the right side of the wall. The paladin, same one as above, was literally squished between a rock and a hard place. One rez later, and the paladin was back... had he known then what would eventually happen, he probably would have stayed dead.
*The bony hands in the necromancers college claimed another. Everyone else survived the “entrance exam” (because none of them were good), even if they did take some electrical damage. A paladin (no, not the same one from above) placed her hands in the skeletal hands, thinking what could go wrong. One failed save and her soul was whisked away to Acererak’s phylactery. The player rolled a new character after that. My favorite moment, however... The Magic Lamp:
In the mountain giant’s lair, really the lair of a wizard who is the hook of the story, there is a room devoid of anything other than an oil lamp suspended at eye level by a chain attached to the ceiling. That’s all that was in the room. I described it in a very neutral fashion. But the players were convinced that this lamp was not only highly magical but very dangerous. (They did sense something from a detect magic, IIRC, but that was from the residue from all the wizard’s spells cast in this room.) They spent what seemed like a half-hour of real time examining this thing. Inside, I was laughing the whole time. After the game concluded, I had to break it to them about the mundaneness of the lamp. They had a good chuckle. It remains one of our favorite stories to tell. Someday I want to run this again... if I can bribe, er, convince a group to play it. Who knows, I might actually get someone through the tomb. My advice for anyone playing in the game... don't play a paladin. :)
I am a huge kolat fan... Of what do you speak? This lowly monk has never heard of this "Qolat". Here, samurai-sama, let us retire to this tea house and you can tell me more. *poisons Freehold DM's tea* First rule of the "independent merchants of Rokugan" is that you do not discuss the "independent merchants of Rokugan". ;) Anyway, I truly enjoyed my L5R experience as both a player and GM, in 1st and 3rd edition. I have yet to try 4th, but I have heard good things from other players. It fixes a lot of the issues of 3rd, such as b0Rken combos. Anyway... LOOK, A NINJA! *backstab*
I got my copy a week ago. After the initial read, I am in love with this game. I like how travel and combat work. It retains the flavor of fantasy RPG combat without a massive grid. The Endurance v. Fatigue and Hope v. Shadow mechanics are slick. It feels like the rules are there to SUPPORT the story and the game, not DOMINATE them. Once I have re-reread the rules and made a few characters, I plan on running this with my usual gaming group (who like D&D 4E, Pathfinder, Legend of the Five Rings, and a lot of other RPGS). I will post my own "Loremastering" experiences here.
To all the references to Star Wars SAGA... +1 I really liked how they did that system. Now that the Star Wars part is gone (because the license has expired), they have this fairly decent rules set just sitting around. Sprinkle parts of 4E, Gamma World, and Pathfinder into it, and voila: 5E. One of my favorite parts of SAGA was how armor worked. At low levels, it was useful. Once you got to be an experienced hero, armor didn't matter anymore because your reflexes were better protection than most armors.
I thought H-1, Keep on the Shadowfell, was particularly well done. It had decent hooks and story for a 1st-3rd adventure. H-2, Thunderspire Labyrinth, was okay. The first half was pretty good, but the second half seemed a bit... I don't know how to describe it, but it didn't feel like a classic adventure at some point. Maybe it was too far-fetched even for a fantasy world? If there is a classic adventure for 4E, KotS gets my vote.
I have been thinking about this for a while. My answer was a bit lengthy. I placed it on my blog. The short summary is that I like how D&D 4E handled some things, and I like how Pathfinder handled other things. There are a couple of things that I'd like to see changed altogether. If D&D 4E and Pathfinder had some sort of secret love child and named it 5E, it might be the best of both worlds.
One last thing (told you I like these discussions). Per the PRD:
I see the need to punish the guards coming into direct conflict with respecting the legitimate authority. If the paladin acts as he did, he disrespects the "law". If he does nothing, he lets the guilty off the hook. Had he spent the time appealing the decision up the chain, as had been suggested, maybe the guards would have used the time to complete their murdering of the victim or commit additional rapes/murders. It's a bit of a Catch-22. Also per the PRD:
LG wants to see those guards punished because it is the good and just thing to do. The alignment does not demand that the law of man be followed at all times in the pursuit of this justice. In the end, it is all between the player and the GM. I'd try to use the RAW as leniently as possible. It's not like the paladin went all Jigsaw on the guards. (That would be spooky, to see in the middle of the night the paladin kick down the door of the barracks, wearing a crimson-trimmed black robe, and declare to the guards, "I want to play a game.")
Almost no one would question any LG character (or even a paladin) for killing and mutilating an orc for raping and beating a human woman, even if the circumstances and evidence were less clear than in this case.I probably would. There's no call for gratuitous mutilation by a LG character -- that's just reveling in one's own blood lust for its own sake. It's not cricket. Bad form, what? Given the same circumstances as the present case, it doesn't sound gratuitous or reveling in bloodlust. It was done post mortum to send a message to other potentially corrupt guards (or orcs in my example). Without being present at the session, it is difficult to assume the true motive (sending a message vs. reveling in bloodlust). The emotion (or lack thereof) involved is really needed to make a fair ruling. If you want to just castrate the orc/guard for the crime and let him live, I'd probably be okay with that too. It's a bit an-eye-for-an-eye, but that's old timey justice for you. It would also be more merciful than an outright beheading. (And a true an-eye-for-an-eye punishment... well, that would be a bit much.) Now if the multilating was done before the killing, I'd agree that it wasn't a "good" act. Gratuitous, vengeful, tortuous, etc. Inflicting extreme pain and then killing the criminal, that leans towards the "torturing for pleasure" axis of evil. One could argue that rape is a CE act. It deprives a victim of his/her rights under the law and defiles the victim in a very vile manner for personal pleasure. So does punishing CE automatically = LG? So many factors to consider. Another twist. Sure, the law of (hu)man was taken into the character's own hands, but was the law of god(dess) being followed? Many individuals of faith believe law of deity > law of man. If the paladin adhered to his deity's code of ethics, then he would still be considered Lawful even if he broke the law of man. Again, I love these discussions. Ethics and philosophy are great topics to debate, mainly because the "correct" answer is a personal one rather than a concensus.
Discussions like these really pique my interest. Good and evil are not as black and white as the rules would have you think they are. What would happen if the story was altered slightly? Change “guard” to “orc”. Almost no one would question any LG character (or even a paladin) for killing and mutilating an orc for raping and beating a human woman, even if the circumstances and evidence were less clear than in this case. It’s what adventurers do. The “guard” aspect, as well as the circumstances, makes this change. The “law” has pretty much had its say in the matter: stern warning and that’s it. But I don’t think a champion of virtue and righteousness would let that stand, especially considering the defiling and attempted murder of an innocent. And I don’t think any LG deity would be too upset with his/her champion putting these vile guards to the sword. The fact that the champion was impassioned and went a little too far with the ‘beheading’ part may not even be an issue, depending on the deity. The putting them on display part... maybe a bit excessive, but the bodies would have been found anyway. As a GM, I would say, “Hey, don’t make a habit of this sort of thing. Go spend some time in prayer to meditate on your actions.” and be done with it.
I recall that back 'in the day' characters... -could only level up between sessions/adventures,
So what VonZrucker is proposing for his game is reminiscent of older editions of D&D. I personally would not have a problem with this, as I like role-playing. Newer editions of D&D/OGL have made it much easier for characters to progress*. This makes things much smoother, game-wise, but does take a little of the RP out of the RPG IMO. The paying money part I can do without (though it does give characters motivation to go adventuring and take risks to earn more money). But I would at least encourage an RP explanation for some choices. Ex. If you plan on playing a fighter/wizard, I expect at least some backstory supporting that. Wizards need many years of study to be proficient (supported by their starting age). So if you were part of the wizard’s tower training to be such, maybe consider starting older than an average fighter so you could justify taking that level of wizard at level 2. Ex. Why you would multiclass out of or into monk would take, again, at least some RP explanation. “My fighter is disturbed by the bloodshed and greed in the world, so he retires to a monastery for a few months/years to find meaning in life.” “My monk is disturbed by the harsh realities found outside of his monastery; he chooses to forsake his ‘misguided’ training and walks a different path.” Ex. Paladin. See monk. Druids, clerics, and maybe even wizards would have a reason why they are deciding to ‘walk away’ from years of upbringing, devotion, and/or study to do something else. I think fighters and rogues (and maybe barbarians) would have the easiest time multi-classing. Martial training, stealth, trap-finding, learning to spot vital openings (i.e. sneak attack), and such are all useful to any adventurer. But even a rogue has a lot of skills to learn, and traditionally rogues learn from a rather inclusive lot belonging to a secretive guild. I don’t think VonZrucker is an a-hole for proposing this. I would suggest you apply it to all character training, multiclass or not. And I would suggest getting buy-in from your players before the campaign starts. Forewarned is forearmed, and if my character concept is crushed because of some GM rule that was not disclosed beforehand, that would be extremely frustrating. And I totally agree that there is not just one way of doing things. That's true in both games and life (as long as we all follow some basic rules, be they from a core book or a code of law). * ...and easier to play in general... remember when preparing/praying for spells took time for each spell (iirc between 15 minutes to 1 hour per spell level); rarely would casters want to blow their daily allotment because it often took days to prepare their entire spell list... but I digress.
Male, aged 36, have been playing RPGs for 26 years. Started on BX/BECMI D&D/AD&D 1st Ed. I have played dozens of RPGs. Some of my favorites (beside Pathfinder) include: TSR's Indiana Jones, TMNT, Top Secret S/I, FASA's Star Trek, Toon, WEG's Paranoia, Savage Worlds, and Star Wars (both WEG & SAGA). I have never served in a military, though my father and uncle did. Many of my friends who play RPGs have served and did play while in the service.
If you are fixed on the feats that is fine - but I strongly would recogmend others. Check out the archer tree feats - Pointblank, Percise, Deadly Aim. This would let you hang back out of combat slightly (you have less melee staying power than a full fighter character). It gives the added bonus that they can be used with Acid Splash to do 1d3+3 with a ranged touch attack. I also considered going the Arcane Archer route, which would also suit my tastes. We have 2 melee and 2 short-range characters in the party, so going with a longbow as a primary weapon would be useful. Then I can focus on Dex instead of Str, which would give me better AC. Maybe this is the way to go. However, keep the ideas coming. I like the traits and feats suggested. Divination school has merit as well.
Fixed the stats issue. Of note, the other party members are a Fighter (one-handed specialist), a Cleric (healing/sun), a Sorcerer (fey bloodline), and a Gunslinger. Eldritch Knight would be a good prestige class if I go Universalist, as I only care about the weapon throwing shtick. That would be Ftr1/Wiz9/EK10. If I go with Transmutation, it would be Ftr1/Wiz19 or Ftr4/Wiz16 (depending how much I care about bonus feats and weapon spec). Spell-wise, about half of my daily spell allotment would be buffs for melee combat, with the rest either utility spells or ranged support. I made an arcane duelist bard. Their spell list isn't as robust, but it works. But I want to try out a Pathfinder wizard. I have played many bards and clerics in my life and want to go with something different.
I am making a 3rd level character for a new campaign. I wanted to make a 'classic' fighter-mage. As I want to make a character with only the materials I own (Core + APG), I will steer away from a magus for now. I am thinking of an elf ftr-1/wiz-2. With a 20-point stat buy: Str 16
Favored class will be Wizard. Primary weapon will be a longsword so he can have one hand free as needed to cast spells. He will also make his sword his bonded item. My two areas of concern are school specialization and feats. For school, here are my thoughts: Universal: No spell penalties. Throw his weapon 6/day. Enhancement (Transmutation): Physical enhancement. Augment. Perfection of self. +1 transmutation spell per spell level. Enhancement seems to be a likely choice, though throwing his weapon at short range (and not being limited in spell selection) does have its perks. Anyone have recommendations? For feat selection, obtaining Arcane Armor Training is a no brainer for higher levels. For now, he has 2 feats plus 1 bonus fighter feat. My thoughts are: Weapon Focus (Longsword)
As his HP will be low, anything that increases avoidance is a plus. Can anyone recommend different feats? Related to feats are traits. While these will be primary based role-playing preferences, does anyone have traits to suggest?
I would like a plush goblin. I played Frostfur Captives at Nuke-Con, and I loved our captives (or at least how the GM RPed them). Plus I need some to go with my collection of Gnome-Be-Gones.
I've had a look at Castles and Crusades, but I don't think it's quite what I'm looking for. Being a long time (25+ years) player, I really like Castles and Crusades. It takes the best parts of 3.x and re-created a 1st edition game. Combat is simpler, character creation is simpler but still allows for some choices, and DMing is much smoother. If you like 3.x and/or 4E but want faster combats and simpler rules, C&C might be your cup of tea. Just my two bits.
1. Legend of the Five Rings (3rd Edition, Roll-and-Keep)--By far the best setting and rules I have ever played with in my 25 years of gaming. Hats off to AEG for this one. (I haven't seen the 4th Edition yet; the $60 core rulebook is a bit off-putting. But I am old school in that I prefer crunch and fluff to a heap of glossy pages and color artwork.) 2. Castles & Crusades--Took everything I loved from both AD&D and 3.x to make a great fantasy game. 3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness (a.k.a. After the Bomb)--Great "modern sci-fi" system. I like Palladium and how they have stuck to their guns for so many years. Most of their other games are great too. 4. Star Wars Saga--Of all the iterations of Star Wars, I think this one did the best in terms of fun, rules, and balance. WEG is a close second. 5. World of Darkness (both old and new)--Old had a better setting in the beginning, but New has much better rules. Honorable Mentions to D&D 4E, Star Trek FASA and HERO System. Now, there are games that are my "favorites" that I have not yet played. They just look well done and potentially fun. 1. Dragon Age RPG--The 3d6 Stunt system looks very simple yet diverse enough to facilitate great game play. 2. Gamma World 4E--I think the 4E rules set will work better for a non-D&D game, and I love the re-launch material thus far. 3. Traveller--It looks so good. So simple in execution, yet so diverse in character generation and rules. I really want to play. 4. Savage Worlds--Okay, I ran two sessions of this, but I have not seen a full game/campaign in Savage Worlds. As good as it looks and sounds, I want to play something using these rules. 5. Cortex (Serenity or BSG)--Loved both the TV series. Rules look solid. I want to give it a try. Honorable Mention to Pathfinder. I wasn't the biggest fan of 3.x, but I'd be willing to give this version a try. Your "fluff" is rock solid; I have used the campaign world and a couple of adventures for 4E. Also, Honorable Mentions to Warhammer FRPG and the Warhammer 40K RPGs. I really want to try those.
To bump this thread, my group is using all of the D&D 4E material out there. But as for myself, I am not sure I will make any characters outside of the Essentials books. I really like all of the changes. I made an elf fighter (slayer) and a half-elf druid (sentinel), and I like both of them. I like how the mechanics are very simple, but the characters are easily on par with other D&D characters. The only product I am not 100% sold on in the Essentials line is the monster kit. While there is enough there to play, I am surprised what made the Essentials list vs. not. Futher, it is light on Epic tier monsters (which isn't a huge problem). But overall it is a decent product.
I tried it out yesterday. I was neither impressed nor disgusted. I use a lot of web-based programs at work, so it wasn't any more difficult than that. The only problem with web-based stuff is you are at the mercy of your internet connection and the server. At least with an offline builder, the only factors you had to worry about were your own hardware and software. I also made a character using a pencil, a character sheet, and 3x5 cards for power cards. I think I prefer this for now. When Hero Lab starts making Essentials characters available for creation (which should be in December), I will use that.
Once when I finally did get all the DDI info, the Updater crashed on me, which starts the whole process over. Today will be my 5th attempt to get the DDI info added. This is Madcap from that thread. :) I am impressed by the customer service that Colen provides for HeroLab users. I wish more companies took as much interest in their customers. I look forward to the fix and making some sweet D&D 4E characters using HeroLab.
I know a DM that uses the D&D 3.5 rules, but uses the skills from 3.0. This makes it fairly annoying to make characters, especially if you own one book/SRD but not the other. Do I get the skill points from 3.0 or 3.5? I can never make a character w/o asking the GM lots of silly questions. I dislike that house rule greatly. Thankfully, I don't play in that game anymore. Crit/fumble tables... yeah, not the fan. A 20 is a auto-hit/crit per rules, and a 1 is an auto-miss per rules. I may fluff up the '1's a bit ("While bringing your axe down onto your foe, you step on your own cloak, causing you to stumble.") and make them embarrassing in the description, but I generally don't penalize anyone. That being said, the monsters may suffer because of a 1 from time to time, for the sake of drama. I am sure many a kobold in my games have gotten a weapon stuck somewhere inconvenient due to a 1.
I bought and installed Hero Lab on Sunday. I am still trying to get the D&D Insider stuff added using the DDI Updater. The download takes several hours (because it downloads the data, one thing at a time, from the Compendium). It will have to retry dowloading several times to get it all (because WotC's server 'hiccups' over the course of a day, breaking the connection). Once when I finally did get all the DDI info, the Updater crashed on me, which starts the whole process over. Today will be my 5th attempt to get the DDI info added. I wish they had an easier way to get the copywrited DDI info out to Hero Lab users, but I am pretty sure WotC wouldn't want to facilitate such. But for all OTHER systems it supports (Pathfinder, d20 OGL 3.5, Mutants and Masterminds, World of Darkness, Cortex, etc.), it seems to work great. But since I primarily play D&D 4E, I am really hoping to get the 4E data downloaded and imported soon. If I can't, looks like I will be getting proficient with the authoring suite very soon. I think Lone Wolf has made an outstanding product, but importing the D&D 4E data has been a tremendous pain (and so far, for me, an outright failure).
Anything GSL concerning characters is a pain, particularly with the DDI Character Builder. (I am trying to get HeroLab up and running, which may alleviate the pain, but downloading the Insider stuff for it has been problematic.) I did buy the Swords and Sorcery 4E Creature Collection in PDF. That is pretty simple to use in my DMing, as I can copy and paste from the book to my adventure encounters. I might buy a setting, but Golarion or 1st Ed Forgotten Realms are my settings of choice. They are easy enough to convert to 4E. Overall, I like the idea of supporting small publishers. But the reality is that GSL is really a tough sell. I don't blame publishers for not doing GSL product. Making a fluff-heavy setting would be a good product, as (IMHO) WotC has difficulty writing decent fluff for a setting for 4E.
Got an e-mail concerning a broadcast from the D&D Insider Community... On November 16, Wizards of the Coast will launch a brand new web-based version of the D&D Insider Character Builder. Hopes: Perhaps runs smoother. Will include Essentials/Dark Sun. Fears: No subscription = no character builder. I suppose you can use the current application, but it doesn't look like it will be supported after the 16th. Thoughts?
+1 D&D 4E takes many of the lessons learned from prior editions and makes the game enjoyable for everyone. As a DM, it is so easy to prep. As a player, the rules are complex enough to allow for customization but simple enough to play w/o referencing the rules every turn. Golarion, however, is better than any setting WotC can crank out. I fell in love with the campaign book and setting. It reminded me of 1st Edition AD&D Forgotten Realms, before the passage of time and the changing of hands turned into something less than preferred. Paizo writes great stuff, and WotC was silly not to retain their services for 4E. I will still play any edition of (A)D&D, and I really like Castles and Crusades, but I prefer 4E.
Answering my own question: There are some other good threads out there too. I guess I am still requesting links to some good info others have used.
I really liked how they handled the classes in Essentials. Instead of every class looking the same in mechanics (i.e. 2 at-wills, 1 encounter and 1 daily at level 1), they made them different. I really like how they set the martial classes (i.e. non-spellcasters) apart from the cleric and wizard. The systems of stances and tricks are slick. The changes to wizard make sense. I could really see applying the stance mechanic to replace the warlord's powers, while still giving him his healing mechanic and other class benefits. And the Sun Cleric can really dish out the heals and saves. The races... eh, okay. The floating secondary stat buff adds a lot of flexibility to character creation. The change to the human works (and right now I prefer the racial encounter power to an additional at-will). Overall, it was not needed but it is nice. I think the classes will hold their own when compared to the PHB1 classes. The PHB classes do get some perks the Essentials classes don't. (Ex. The PHB wizard class doesn't get magic missile as a bonus at-will power or a mage apprentice bonus ot his powers, but it does get an implmement bonus and free rituals.) I think the Essentials classes are simpler, perhaps easier to use, and are still as effective as the PHB1 classes. Overall, I like what Essentials has to offer.
Funny, the only thing that drives me to even consider violence is using media as a legitimate source to promote ignorance and hate-mongering, such as that article. D&D is to creating a killer as Monopoly is to creating a real-estate tycoon. I agree that the comments to that article are far better than the article itself.
I am an acquaintance with a member of the story team, though I haven't seen her regularly since we stopped our L5R RPG campaign. I should ask her for a synopsis. Clan: Oh people pick clans, alright, to the point where for some it becomes a neo-lifestyle. People tend to have strong clan loyalties, even when their clan stinks in the current CCG cycle. Be aware of this when you choose. As for me, I like them all for one reason or another. I have a soft spot for Scorpion, being the anti-heroes of the Empire. I like the Hare for their history and because I just like rabbits (and it is my Chinese astrological sign). I like the Dragon for tons of reasons. I liked the nezumi because ratlings are cool. I liked Toturi's Army for the ronin and the fallen hero theme. But if you handed me a deck of any clan, I'd be happy to play it. All clans, even with their flaws, plan an important part of Rokugan's destiny.
I do hope the Spider go Great Clan, if only to rub sand in the eyes of the old guard. And you thought the 3.xe/4e wars were bad... The Edition Wars folks are amateurs when compared to L5R folks. They get into heated arguments about everything concerning L5R. If you want to witness this first-hand, mention any of the following. 1. The Spider is not a Great Clan.
I am a bit rusty on my hot-button topics in L5R, but these are enough to get you started.
I love L5R, from the setting to the RPG. I also played the card game, starting at around Pearl Edition (with a generous amount of Scorpion Clan Coup). Overall it is a fun game. My only concerns are the following: 1. Complexity: As far as CCGs go, it is the most complex I have played. To get good at the game, you really need to understand all 80+ cards you have in your decks (plus your stronghold), how they work, what synergies they have, etc. You also must have a solid grasp of your strategy to victory. Little bumps in your plan can really make a tough go of things, but that is how war usually goes. It isn't impossible to learn, but it does take time. 2. Collectability: L5R goes through cycles equivalent to periods of time. This means cards from previous sets, on average, have a minimal shelf life (particularly personalities). If you are a casual player in a casual environment, this will mean nothing. On the other hand, if you are a competitive tournament player, this means that your cards will turn into coasters about every 2-3 years. This gets frustrating after a while. The other collectability issue is that there are nearly a dozen of factions out there. Thus not every booster will have cards you are looking for. For the casual player, again perhaps not a big issue (especially if you have friends to trade with). For a tournament player, this means you either need to purchase booster boxes or purchase singles to get key cards. Issue #2 is not solely limited to L5R, but it is more noticeable with the tournament card cycles of L5R (as compared to Magic, which has tournament formats that allow older cards). Issue #2 turned me off to CCGs in general. Issue #1 turned me off from even casual play. My area is full of veterans who have lots of experience and know the game well. This fact made even casual play frustrating. That all being said, I did love the L5R CCG for a while. I would recommend staying casual about the game, as getting competitive will put a hurt on your hobby budget. "But little frog, I can swim."
I think there are multiple reasons I like Keep on the Shadowfell, but I may have stumbled onto the main reason today. It is a homage/re-imagining/ripoff of the Dungeon #82 adventure called Evil Unearthed, the very first 3E adventure I ever ran. SPOILER ALERT... Similarities: * Friends of the party disappear--check
I could go on, but the number of similarities is staggering. Anyone else catch this?
The DMG discusses this topic to some length, and I think it does a good job summing up how to play with smaller groups and/or the absence of roles. I agree with most posters: defender-leader-striker, with at least 2 of the 3 melee-focused. But since you labeled the topic Best Three Member Party, here is my interpretation using just the PHB: Dwarf "Axe/Hammer & Board" Fighter
The dwarf gets a second wind as a minor action and can dish it out using Dwarven Weapon Training/Weapon Focus/Weapon Expertise. Dragonbord pumps out the heals and has an close blast for those occasional minions (plus it deals some decent melee damage). Elf rains death from afar with the best maneuverability and a bonus reroll. This is based purely on the stats and "roll-play". Have your players roll up whatever they want and adjust using the tips in the DMG.
I really don't like the treatment of duergar in any edition. From growth-hormone-rich psykers to Asmodius-worshipping quill-beards, I never liked them. I would like to see more of a link to the Norse mythos (aka the Dvergar). But then again all the Underdark races have roots from Norse counterparts: Dvergr - duergar
To me, the Dark Iron Clan of dwarves from World of Warcraft seems more like what duergar should be. Maybe in 4E they could have reverted back to being servants of the Primordials. I dunno. I just don’t like their current incarnation.
When I convert adventures from previous editions I don't hold to the same level band that the original adventure did... Two comments: 1. The current party will be 7th level when I am ready to run this, so I decided to stick with that level. 2. With first and second edition modules, they often mix monsters in the adventure that wouldn't necessarily work in 3E or 4E. For example, earlier in this adventure they fight small warbands of orcs and such, which is typical of middle heroic tier. However, later on there are giants and other creatures that are middle paragon tier. Thus I rarely convert modules straight across. Instead I use the overall plot and adventure summary to drive the adventure, but I adjust the encounters towards the party level. Thankfully this adventure is much easier to convert than most I have in the past.
I was converting an old adventure, UK7 Dark Clouds Gather, for use in my 4E game. It is based on characters of roughly 7th level. I noticed that towards the end, giants began to feature prominently in the encounters. Now, giants are normally paragon-level standard monsters. However, a party of 7th level characters would get decimated by a paragon-level monster. So I looked at the encounter again, which only called for one giant. This seems to work well. Then I remembered this quote from the DM tips: I'm starting this thread a place for 4E dms to post tips for other 4E dms based on their experience running 4E. ... Monster Stat Blocks Monster stat blocks should be considered as being relative to the party... Example 1: In heroic tier gaming you might have the stat the local militia of a town as level 3 skirmishers or soldiers. This is a good reflection of their capabilities relative to a heroic tier party. However, as the heroes advance this stat block becomes obsolete, so when they are at paragon tier if you had need of the town militia again, you might consider restating them as higher level minions... So I figured I could convert the giants into heroic-tier solo monsters. This is an example of the above in reverse: paragon-tier standard monsters could be converted into heroic-tier elite or solo monsters. I wish to post my work to both show examples of what I am talking about as well as to get feedback on my work. Let me know what you think. Example One called for a frost giant and a winter wolf. I designed this encounter as a young adult frost giant hunting with his winter wolf pup. Frost Giant Hunter Level 7 Solo Brute
Winter Wolf Pup Level 6 Skirmisher
Example Two is a hill giant. Hill Giant Marauder Level 6 Solo Brute
Thoughts?
I've recently ran an encounter (The horned Hold Assualt in Thunderspire mountain) where the party "triggered" other encounters (a duergar escaped to warn others, who sent another duergar to warn even more)... Not to derail the topic, but I have had the dubious honor of playing in two different D&D 4E games where we went through Thunderspire Labyrinth. In both games, we often had encounters spill over into each other due to "runners" or mobs sounding alarms. In the first campaign, we had three encounters spill into each other, and at one point the melee ranger was actually "tanking" the duegar leader in the Horned Hold while the rest of the party was overwhelmed by duergar and demons. We were looking forward to rolling up new characters when, quite surprisingly, folks kept rolling 20s on their death saves. It is for that reason alone the party survived. I think this is a common issue in the new 4E delve format. Every encounter seems to assume that the party has had a short rest since the last encounter. However, the dungeons are so densly packed at times that it is almost assured the party will incidentally trigger a second or third encounter. This has happened in other adventures, whether published, converted or home-made. I like the idea of a moral victory or the tides of battle turning and the characters get most of the benefits of a short rest without having to take a full five minutes. I may have to use that when I know battles will spill over. Again, sorry to derail for a moment. Just commenting on the encounter spill-over and giving kudos for a good solution.
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