Whimsy Chris's page

Lately, I've been looking at some of the old school adventures of 1st and 2nd edition. Adventures like Temple of Elemental Evil, Tomb of Horrors, Undermountain, even Dragons of Despair. By modern day standards, these adventures have several flaws, but I remember them fondly. This got me thinking of more modern games I've played and if any of them have captured that feeling of fondness. For me, only Shacked City has recaptured that nostalgic feel, but that could be because I haven't played it in a few years.

I haven't had that fond feeling in a while. It's something I'd like to recapture. However, I have to admit to myself that I'm remembering the good stuff a lot more than the bad stuff: the epic moments, the times we laughed at something silly, and so on, rather than the rules arguments or really boring gaming sessions that went nowhere.

This got me thinking...how much of my gaming tastes are tainted by my one-sided memory of old school D&D? What exactly is that old school appeal and why is it appealing? Were the "good ol' days" as good as I remember them? Do some of us slightly older players play to recapture our youth?

I guess these questions are another way of asking: what makes gaming fun and why do we continue to do it? I would argue that it has little to do with slick game systems or even logical story lines or plausible encounters. It has to do with the social aspect of pretending to be in unlikely situations. Sometimes those situations are absurd, and therefore fun and memorable. Sometimes those situations only happen because of their rarity - like an epic moment that just happened to come together perfectly. In other words, sometimes we have to trudge through those boring sessions and silly encounters and game mechanics to get to those gem moments that become lasting memories.

Your thoughts?

Can anyone let me know where would I find information among the adventures or supplements (or even in these forums) regarding pirates of the Inner Sea? I couldn't seem to find anything specific in the Campaign Setting book.

Is there a compiliation of where the various modules, APs, and supplements take place?

Specifically, I'm looking for a list of supplements and modules that take place in Andoran. Also, is there a map of Almas, capital of Andoran, that exists?

Thanks ahead of time to anyone that can help.

I'm about to start up a campaign in which the PCs are one thing and one thing only - treasure hunters - and I'm looking for adventures. Preferably, D&D/Pathfinder adventures of any edition (I'll convert). I want to avoid adventures where the PCs are supposed to "save the town/princess/world/etc.," or get hired by some NPC to accomplish something. Instead, the plot is simple - find treasure. I'm particularly looking for places with a good mix of fights, traps, puzzles - i.e. a variety of obstacles that eventually lead to treasure.

Anybody know of any good one, or rather, really outstanding ones?

This is a place to develop scenes from your character's past, either by yourself or other players. Feel free to add any details, as long as it doesn't contradict the story proper.

You may portray interaction with Mevitari in your stories, but be sure not to make him too mean. He does ultimately care about the children even if his methods are sometimes harsh. He understands and regrets that sometimes he goes to far, like with the child who had to carry rocks and ended up running away.

Of course this is all optional and you may fill in whatever you desire at your leisure.

In the Broken Arch district, in the Middle Dura section of Sharn, lies a large dark brick three-story home labeled, “Our Lady of the Garden,” with the following verse etched on a wooden slate nailed next to the front door:

“And the desert will become a garden
Green and deep and quiet and full of Light,
Offering rest to those who lost their way
And refuge those who wander in the dust.”

The building, an ancient place perhaps once majestic, now lies cracked and worn from time, with moss hanging on the side where the ocean breeze blows. There remain only two windows not boarded up ; bars on the outside of these front windows slightly obscure the stained glass that depicts a female kalashtar sitting in a lotus position with a prominent white flower on her chest.

Inside the smell of children and old, rotting wood assaults the nose, but an air of calm and serenity lingers like old furniture. Everything is worn and old; nothing presents newness or riches. Although kempt, the corners hold old rat holes and grime that is hard to reach.

In the kitchen on the first floor, an old dwarf named Krovok cooks for twenty some odd children; his skin is cracked and worn like the bricks of the building. A great smell fills the air when he cooks, but when the kitchen is empty some deeply embedded sourness drifts from the walls and floors. The cook lives in a small addition near the kitchen.

Also on the first floor is a Path of Light shrine. On a dais in the middle of the room sits a large white stone, shaped roughly like a triangle. Surrounding the room is a copious amount of plant life, some living, some wilted, sitting on makeshift shelves. The floorboards look worn from years of faithful Lightspeakers sitting up on their knees for hours on end, hoping to distract themselves from the pain by concentrating on the Light.

The second floor holds training and schooling rooms and the room of the proprietor of this orphanage. Mevitari’s room reflects his personality: simple, sad, serene, severe, devoutly scattered with symbols and holy books. He lies on a simple cot in the corner, a cot no different than those his Little Ones sleep in. His bedding is always neat; his few possessions locked in a chest. No orphan has ever attempted to sneak in this room or open this chest, probably accounted for by fear of Mevitari or what he might secretly harbor inside.

The third floor holds the children’s rooms. There are five rooms total, each divided by age. The children are allowed some personal affects inside a chest at the foot of their bed, but all must remain organized and neat. The children live a mostly difficult life: poor and sternly disciplined. For them, Mevitari is more than just their guardian, but an almost divine figure not to be crossed. Yet the children are given some freedoms. At twelve, they are welcome to move their free time to the streets as long as they return by curfew. Once, a boy named Habintos was five minutes late to curfew. He was required to carry a rather heavy backpack of rocks wherever he went for the next month. Instead, after one week of trying, he ran away.

Mevitari rarely smiles, but when he does it brightens a room. He seems to be weighted down by something. Although severe, he is also loving. He cares deeply about his children, which he calls his Little Ones even after they have grown up. Children who are old enough remember when he used to be more lighthearted. However, several years ago, there was a halfling child named Lazam; while Mevitari loves all his children, he had a particular affinity with this child – something deep within their souls connected them. When this child grew up, he joined the Brelish ranks and died five years ago in the Last War. Mevitari has not been the same. Whereas he once knew forgiveness, his punishments have grown severe. Whereas the plants would always be replenished in the shrine, some are allowed to wilt. Whereas the children always felt protected, now they have a newfound sense of freedom that comes with a cost: they could easily be corrupted by many of the city’s foul influences.

And Dura is the place of potential corruption. An old district, the lower wards are places of crime and poverty; the middle wards are only a little better. Luckily, Broken Arch is a relatively quiet place, less prone to violence. Yet, its reputation is tainted. Many consider it the home of betrayal, after the ir’Tyran family that shaped the district attempted to overtake the crown a couple hundred years ago. One always notices more civilized city folk scowl, perhaps unconsciously, whenever they hear the district’s name.

And so it has been. But today is another day and the tragedies of the past should not linger. For today, the 23rd of Lharvion in the year 998 of our Kingdom, is the day of the Race of the Eight Winds, when mounted aerial riders race across the upper wards of Dura for hope of glory and riches. This race in many ways embodies the excitement, the diversity, the strangeness, and the danger of Sharn. Everyone in Dura considers this to be the most important festival of the year. Even Mevitari, ascetic practitioner of the Path of the Light, has been known to shout for his favorite riders as they neared the finish line.

Welcome to the discussion thread for the 4e Eberron campaign!

Here are the basics for character creation...

* Standard character creation, anything in the Character Builder is acceptable (including FR material and stuff from Dragon, etc.).
* No evil alignments
* You start out in an altruistic orphanage in Sharn. Most likely, you are an orphan, around the age of 16. The orphanage is run by a kalashtar named Mevitari and concentrates on the veneration of Lanatai, the Lady of the Garden, one of the legendary quori who brought the Path of Light to Khorvaire. Mevitari is religiously strict; he barely tolerates orphans who show affinity to other religions but does so as long as the orphan continues his Path of Light practices and meditations. Create a character background that explains why you are at this orphanage and how you may have gained your powers, skills, etc. (you may have gained your abilities outside the orphanage, perhaps secretly). Warforged don't technically "grow up," so any warforged in the group needs to have some reason for being there and doesn't necessarily have to be an orphan.
* Your characters most likely know each other and you may want to work with others in the group with background creation and so on. Overall, you remain loyal and trusting of each other.
* Describe the first impression you give (which includes appearance), at least two personality quirks, one major goal, two minor goals, and one secret your character harbors (could be a minor secret, such as a crush, or a major secret, such as belonging to a mysterious secret society). Having grown up in a house run by a kalashtar and followed the Path of Light, you are most likely eccentric in some way.
* It would be nice if all four roles are represented, but it's not required. However, no one has suggested a Leader role. If no one wishes to take that role, I may NPC a healer of some kind.

In answer to Xabulba's question regarding specific Eberron flavor, I'll be using the 4e Eberron books as my primary source, with the 3e books as backup inspiration. However, I consider campaign settings to be guidebooks, not canonical facts that must be adhered to. As this is our shared universe, I'm not going to worry over whether someone's background contradicts the books as long as the basic feel and premises of Eberron remain and we stay consistent within our campaign.

Along the same lines, it's not a problem, hellacious huni, if you don't have the 4e books.

I'm considering starting a 4e Eberron PbP. I've only played in one PbP a while ago until work obligations made it difficult for me to continue. This is something relatively new for me, but I thought I'd give it a try and see what interest I can garner.

Here's what I can promise - a character based Eberron campaign that starts at 1st level and continues as long as interest holds. I can give the game closure at any time, so anyone who joins and remains committed will see an ending, even if we don't make it to really high levels.

Commitment will include daily posting and perhaps some "real time" commitments to handle battles. I'm open to suggestions on how to handle said battles.

The campaign begins in a orphanage in Sharn. You are the orphans, almost grown to live on your own (about the age of 16). I'm looking for 4-6 players. As soon as four players are committed, I'll start a discussion thread.

So, it appears that WotC has released the remainder of its catalog for 2010. It wasn't what I expected, at least for the second half of their release schedule. They seem to be going less in the direction of II, III, or other numerated books and focusing on general appeal, such as a starter kit, a rules compendium, a DM kit, class expansion kits (without designating the Power source), and so on. The books also seem to be more player oriented, rather than DM sourcebooks. There are also a lot more softcover books and even some box sets.

I would guess that this is due to economic reasons, as sales in D&D products have probably dipped over the last year. Therefore, they are focusing on general appeal rather than niche appeal like specific settings (which only appeal to DMs who find such settings interesting). They also seem to be attempting to lower the cost of their products.

Note: These are just the trends I noticed based on WotC's release schedule, particularly September to December. I'm not here to discuss the merits of the system, particularly as I believe most people have made up their mind. While anyone is welcome to add to the conversation, I would think such discussion would be for those interested in the state of 4e or RPG trends in general.

In regards to today's post and Wesley's mention of his Ustalav homebrew campaign, I'm wondering when we are going to get that Ustalav AP. I'm sure it would be a big seller (gothic, undead, and so on). Any hints about something down the turnpike?

I've noticed most of the epic-level adventures deal with powerful demons or gods. One of the things I like about 3.5 Age of Worms is that the final BBEG isn't your typical immortal. I'm wondering if anyone has ideas of epic APs that are necessarily centered around a single evil god or demon.

So I've been following the catalog of products WotC plans to release next year (so far they've release information through August) and there are a few surprises. For example, there are no new Power books after Martial Power II, at least for several months. They are not splitting the Player's Guide and the Campaign Guide for Dark Sun, but lumping it all into the Campaign Guide. Instead they will have a Creature Catalog for the setting. Lastly, adventures will only be 32 pages long, but still supposedly cover 3 levels.

There is a lot to be read into some of this, but of course it's all speculation. I'm kind of glad they are going to slow down the Power books (but I assume we'll get at least a Psionic Power book). I like the separated Player's Guide from Campaign Guides, but perhaps it got confusing for people. And maybe they've decided to do away with the Dungeon Delve format. It's useful at the game table, but it takes up a lot of space and is terribly boring to read.

Edit: I also noticed, many more of their products will be in paperback now...

In another thread (that shall not be mentioned), there has been a lively discussion of whether one can have a bow-wielding fighter in 4e. That got me to thinking about creative ways one can manipulate the existing classes to create a variety of character concepts. I thought I'd start this thread asking people how they may have tweaked a class or flavor of a class to create something truly unique as far as a character concept.

To start it off, I'll share how I created a bard before the PHBII came out. In 3e, one of my players had a bard that was quite handy with the bow. In 4e, we used the Ranger class, but tweaked it. Instead of using the martial power source, she used the arcane power source, and we changed all the powers to be Charisma based instead of Dexterity. We then said she sang certain notes to direct her arrows. Add a feat of Ritual Casting with a spice of knowledge-based skills, and we had something like a bard.

Of course, now there is a bow-wielding bard in Arcane Power so the creative build is unnecessary, but the exercise was still interesting.

Other examples?

When my current campaign ends within a few months, I plan to begin a new homebrewed campaign. I've got plenty of time to plan, so I want to create a lot of good detail. The campaign centers around the Feywild and Moonstair, a town detailed to some extent in the adventure King of the Trollhaunt Warrens.

Anyone want to help? I'm looking for anything from feedback to help designing specific encounters. Here is what I have so far (I apologize for the length)...

Background
During the Dawn Wars, the time when the primordials battled the gods over the middle world, several primordials judged parts of their creation to be too vivid and bright and hurled those pieces away. The primordial Zexor, the savage creator, was one such primordial. The gods soon captured him and he slept countless ages in a prison in the Elemental Chaos. The gods made order of the discarded creation, and the Feywild was born.

After Zexor awoke, he saw what the gods did with the discarded material and vowed to destroy it for revenge and his basic drive for savage destruction. He sought allies outside his prison. The first ally was the Planeweaver, an ancient eladrin who learned to manipulate areas of the planes to her will. Of her, Zexor asked to find a means to entwine the Feywild and the Shadowfell, sibling cosmos with polarized energies that cancel each other out. The Planeweaver has already begun several rituals for such a cataclysmic crisscrossing. Her ultimate goal is godhood, a goal that requires scores of followers and extreme power. She hopes her part in the plot to destroy the Feywild will deliver her both.

The second ally is Jovogornon, the Nightmare Whisperer. This crazed creature, somehow manufactured in the Plane of Dreams, has more mysterious motives than just power. Jovogornon, the Dread Devourer, feeds on the nightmares and fears of mortals. Seeing an opportunity to feast on the horror of the creatures of a dying Feywild, Jovogornon agreed to help. Manipulating several powerful creatures of the Feywild, Jovogornon helped to preoccupy the denizens and inspire chaos. His most powerful victim is none other than Tiandra, the Summer Queen. Manipulating the Queen threw the Court of Stars, the major political body of the Feywild, into an uproar. Lastly, Jovogornon has inspired a war among the Beast Lords, throwing the fey world into even more chaos.

Finally, Zexor himself gathers energy and allies to escape his prison. If he manages, he could cause a great deal of destruction.

Overall Direction of the Campaign
While this is the planned route, I like to keep things open for my players; some of the actual details may change. I broke down the plot into parts based on level.

Lvls 1-3 The campagin begins in the city of Moonstair, where two great rivers converge and a Feywild portal resides. Approached by a pale halfling trader from a village that sits up a tributary of the river Vardar, the PCs are asked to investigate the sable liquid that recently began filling up the tributary. The tainted water appears to be affecting the villagers’ health. No one outside the village has noticed the darkened river, for the water becomes further diluted downstream.

The PCs move up the river into dangerous territory until they reach Frostscape Village at the base of a mountain of the same name. Eventually, they find that the black liquid pours out from the mountain. The PCs enter Frostscape to find the source.

Frostscape was once the home of a dwarven city now ruined due to time and turbulence. Several fractions now exist in Frostscape, the most powerful being Traxinax, an adult white dragon. After many challenges and battles, the PCs find the source: black falls escape from a Shadowfell river made of the substance through a portal. This portal is one of the failed results of the Planeweaver's attempts to entwine the Feywild and the Shadowfell. The PCs are unlikely able to close the portal at this time, so the solution is to redirect the flow into the Underdark rather than to let it seep out to the mountain’s exterior. Unfortunately, this disturbs a berbalang, which then seeks vengeance.

Lvls 4-6 These levels will feature an adaptation of the Wrath of the River King. Although not directly related to the overall plot, the adventure allows the PCs to explore the Feywild and learn of some of its stirrings.

Lvl 7-10 The adventurers return to Moonstair with new riches and power. This gains the notice of Kelana, the mayor of Moonstair. She hires the PCs to investigate a series of assassination attempts on her life. Investigations lead to a local sect of the Bloodghost syndicate, a network of criminals run by a bugbear family. This particular sect has fallen under the influence of a night hag sent by the Summer Queen. The Queen mistakenly believes that former ally Kelana has devious designs on the nearby eladrin castle-city of Celduilon.

Lvl 11-13 After the Great Warren in the swamps to the east was cleared of trolls, a mind flayer moved in to the structure. Noting the increasingly distraught local fey and animals (all due to the unrest in the Feywild), the mind flayer used his thralls to kidnap victims throughout the region for the purpose of feasting. The mind flayer assumed Moonstair would blame the kidnappings on the fey or savage beasts. The PCs bypass the swamp to find the real source of the kidnappings and to destroy this terrible threat.

14-16 Kelana wonders why the ambassador from Celduilon has not visited in some time. She sends the PCs into the Feywild to investigate. The city-castle is in a state of civil war – an evil eladrin influenced by one of Zexor’s minions has taken over. The PCs help a resistance gain back control of the city-castle and kill the evil leader.

17-20 Back in Moonstair, the fey and beast attacks have worsen. Kelana asks the PCs to visit an enclave of private druids and request for the druids to come to the aid of the city. The PCs find the enclave embroiled in the Beast Wars. The druids consent to help the PCs if the heroes agree to enter the Feywild with the druids and help settle a truce among the various beast lords. However, a couple of the beast lords selfishly wish to continue the war for the spoils they hope to gain.

21-23 With the help of Oran, an archfey called the Greed Lord, the PCs infiltrate the Court of Stars to determine the cause of the Summer Queen’s insanities. Eventually, they are lead to Jovogornon, the Nightmare Whisperer, who hides in an Underdark formian fort.

24-26 The PCs enter the Shadowfell where the Planeweaver continues her rituals in a shadar-kai city. They stop the Planeweavers’ various rituals and slay the Planeweaver herself.

27-30 The PCs enter the Elemental Chaos to find Zexor’s prison and prevent his escape.

Does anyone know if there is a stat'ed thieves' guild hideout the PC's can plunder, either from Dungeon magazine or the Delve book?

EDIT: I'm looking for something in the paragon tier.

I was wondering if there will be a CoT campaign overview online and when that might be expected?

Thanks for any information - sounds like a great AP!

I'm sure this has come up before, I just couldn't find any threads. So I'm interested, what's your favorite campaign setting? Let's say top five.

For me, I had to think about which ones most inspire me to want to create adventures and I based my order on that. Mine are decidedly D&D settings, but no need to be limited by game.

Mine are:

1. Golarion
2. Eberron
3. Dragonlance
4. Forgotten Realms (pre-blown up - I like the new FR, but I just don't think it's as strong)
5. Ravenloft

Same director as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. There's got to be other admirers here of Hayao Miyazaki's work...

There seems to be a strange trend in 4e races: many of them seek some form of abstract enlightenment, kind of like a Buddhist or Hindi style consciousness. The three examples I'm thinking of are devas (PH2), Kalashtar(Eberron PG), and now githzerai (PH3). Have other people noticed this?

So last night was the first time I used both a Paizo module (Burnt Offerings) and the 4e rules together, and it was awesome!

Up until now, our group has been using WotC's 4e modules, but I must say I haven't really been that keen on them. But using a Paizo module, with it's rich flavor, and the 4e rules really struck the right cord for us. I highly recommend, if you are into 4e, to run those Paizo modules if you have the time to convert the mechanics.

Basically we started off with 3 hours of roleplaying as the Swallowtail festival raged on throughout the day. It was the perfect opportunity to meet some of the town's people and introduce the PCs to each other. Then the goblin attacks came. I had the town attacked by various goblin tribes and each tribe had a different flavor and power. The use of goblin minions really allowed me as a DM to have fun with their crazy, often suicidal antics. It was a perfect blend of roleplaying and exciting battle.

So today I was reading over the artificer in the Eberron Player's Guide, and it seems a little weak - not just in terms of its effectiveness as a class but its actual description. It's a little convoluted. I get a sense that the designers struggled with how to translate the artificer to 4e.

Its Healing Infusion power is strange. It acts as a healing power, almost like the Cleric's Healing Word, but you set up two at the beginning of the day and can renew a use by spending a Healing Surge during a short rest. This seems to severely weaken the Artificer as a Leader and healer. And what is this Healing Infusion power infusing into? A magic item? And what if you don't have a magic item?

But most convoluted to me is its Animation/Summoning power. There seems to be a discrepancy as to whether it animates or summons. Basically it animates a construct by summoning a elemental into the construct. However, where does the construct come from? The summoning powers of the Artificer have flavor texts that say one animates a construct. That gives me the sense the construct already exists and the Artificer merely animates it. But the power's description says the artificer creates the construct and it appears in an unoccupied square. This gives me the sense that it appears out of thin air.

So, which is it? If it's the former, what happens if the construct doesn't exist? Does that mean the Artificer can't use that power, which is often a daily power? Some of the summoning powers are general as to what may be constructed, but some have very specific construct descriptions such as acid filled wasp constucts.

If it's the latter and the construct appears out of midair, that sounds more like a conjurer than a crafter. Artificers, in my mind, are meant to be magic crafters.

Now obviously some of my questions have to do with flavor more than game mechanics, but this points out to me one of the weaknesses of 4e (which I otherwise happen to like a lot): crunch and fluff are so separated that some of the powers don't make a lot of sense outside of the game mechanics.

Has anyone else looked over this class? I'm willing to be a "believer" when it comes to the 4e Artificer, but as it stands, it feels like major parts of it make no sense. Anyone?

So I'm designing a campaign using the 4e rules and the Pathfinder setting that will hopefully take PCs from 1 to 30. My basic idea is that they are pawns in a battle between two outsiders, right now I'm thinking Milani, the god of hope and uprisings, and Mephistopheles, keeper of Hell's greatest secrets and contracts. I'd like to base most of the campaign in Ustalav, an area based on Gothic fiction.

I just have some preliminary ideas so far. I'm thinking that an old contract exists between the two and the PCs for some reason get embroiled into it.

The help I need is this - what is the content of that contract and how do the PCs get involved? My initial ideas, while interesting, didn't really make a lot of logical sense, at least from the motivational point of view of the outsiders. What were the circumstances of that contract, the motivation behind both sides agreeing, and what does that have to do with the PCs?

Any ideas?

In the Ampersand article in this month's DDI, there is a preview of the DMG II - its a description of monster themes made explicit with great examples using Demagorgon's henchmen. Basically, one can add a power to any given creature that may be a worshiper or server of Demagorgon that gives them a little more of Demagorgon's flavor. Themes can be anything, although most of the example are creatures that belong to a certain sect or worship a particular deity.

I love this idea. In fact, I plan to start using the idea right away by giving some Orcus theme powers to undead and demonic creatures in the Demon Queen's Enclave adventure. Using monster themes is a simple idea, but has great potential.

The following is based on the outline and therefore contains...

I haven't really been paying that much attention to the changes in Pathfinder, although I'll definitely give it a looksy when it comes out. I looked through the Beta and didn't really notice many differences. I've stayed out of these threads because I'm not really much a designer type myself and figured much better brains than I were working on it.

Can someone give me an overview of some of the changes that are likely to happen for the RPG?

2nd Darkness is quickly becoming my favorite AP thus far, and I thought I'd give a shout out about what I like. So far, I've read all of #13 and skimmed #14 & #15.

* I like that it's open ended. With the first adventure I was a little disappointed that one is supposed to be hired by Saul with not a whole lot of motivation. However, I think Riddleport as a whole and the encounters as they are set up make it easy enough to play with and change if the PCs follow another course. The main point is to have the PCs confront the drow lady - everything else can be adjusted or made up. #14 & #15 seem to have a similar openness.

* Along the same lines, I like the Set Pieces, which adds to the open feel of the adventures. And I like the fact that the main adventures don't advance players as much, giving the DM the option to add subplots and encounters of his own.

* Their supernatural mystery, like the blot in the sky. The star falling on the island will totally wig my players, so will the aliens.

* I've never been a big fan of drow, but somehow the flavor of them in 2nd D has me intrigued. Maybe it's their unique background. Maybe it's their mad science, Lovecraftian feel. Maybe it's the fact they are unquestionably evil. Regardless, I'm liken 'em.

So I noticed the ever so sly reference to Saul's lack of understanding when it comes to the succubi demons vs. devils issue. And the fact that he doesn't care because his main interest is making money.

Perhaps this has already been mention and even discussed on these boards, but I just started reading 2nd D and I missed any such disccusion.

Perhaps this is revenge for the Pathfinder's "wrong step," or perhaps Vaughan had it "wrong" when he wrote the adventure (he does write for 4e doncha know) and an editor was having a little fun.

At any rate, I did LOL.

So today DDI goes on sale. Unfortunately, I've been so underwhelmed with Dungeon and the SoW AP that I've decided not to pay for the subscription price.

Fortunately I've got Paizo. In the next couple days (when I get my next paycheck), I'll be subscribing to the the Pathfinder APs and converting them to 4.0 as necessary. I've made this decision despite that the cost is almost 4x the price.

I don't have anything against WotC and I like 4e. However, a few of their business decisions have lost me as a customer.

One, the magazines are not in print - I don't want to belabor this point as it has been discussed. But it's still a deciding factor.

Two, the quality has been a mixed bag. The adventures have ranged from poor to good, but nothing has equaled Paizo. The Dungeon Delve format is boring to read, and most of the adventures focus more on combat than story or roleplaying.

Three, WotC has refused to put out a decent overview for their AP despite customer feedback to the contrary. This doesn't give me hope about their abilities to cater to customers, nor does it make me excited about the AP.

Like I said - this is not to begrudge WotC - this decision is based purely on what I desire as a customer and WotC just isn't coming through. If a few of the above items improved, then I may reconsider.

I'd love to hear other people's thoughts who are also making a decision.

Okay, for those who started at level 1 and have basically been playing through the same characters, what level have you made it too?

We are at level 5 and 6 (the level five characters are almost level 6). We started a little after the core books came out. Encounters are going a little faster than when we started so advancement has sped up. We'll probably all be level 7 in a 3 or 4 weeks.

I'm curious - what do people want to see from 3rd parties when it comes to 4e products.

a. Splatbooks such as Complete Fighter, Complete Dwarf, Monstrous Races, etc.
b. Campaign Settings
c. Adventure Paths
d. Monster Manuals
e. Rule enhancements (maritime warfare, steampunk, etc.)
f. DM tools, such as map compendiums, magic items, 1-shot encounters, etc)
g. Other - Please describe

Feel free to vote for more than one item.

Okay, so I recently purchased pdfs of the supermodule trilogy:

Temple of Elemental Evil (ToEE)
Scourge of the Slavelords (SotS)
Queen of the Spiders (QoS)

Dungeon printed an article a few years ago, putting all three of these in the "Greatest 30 Adventures of All Time," with QotS as #1. So I wanted to try them out and convert them to 4e. This thread is my attempt. I hope not to be the only one to contribute, but I'm not sure what the interest is.

Anyway, the first issue is levels. The original modules say ToEE is 1-8, SotS is 7-11, and QoS is 8-14. Obviously that introduces difficulty: how does this translate to 4e? So I came up with this:

ToEE 1-10
SotS 11-17
QoS 18-30

For those of you who have played or read these adventures, and are familiar with 4e, how does this breakdown sound? Will the modules take one to level 30 in 4e?

At any rate, any level of participation is appreciated.

Okay, so this is not a thread about the mathematics of Skill Challenges. The last few Dragon/Dungeon articles have cleaned it up and basically has set the failure rate at 3 regardless of the amount of successes needed. Simple enough.

However, I question the fun factor of the Skill Challenge. How fun is it to roll 12 successes before 3 failures? It all seems based on luck. The combats also have their share of luck, but there are also strategic moves one can make to maximize your advantage. The player is involved in more than rolling dice. But Skill Challenges seem based solely on the luck of the die.

Now one could argue that a DM can adjust the DC based on player's ingenuity. But how many times will a player's ingenuity affect the DC? And still, even with an adjusted die roll, is it fun to roll the die multiple times for one skill challenge?

This is actually meant to be a question (not a rant) as I have not actually run through a skill challenge. So I guess this question is targeted toward those who have, either has a player or DM - are skill challenges fun?!

Okay, so Queen Victoria's underwear sold for $9,000 at an auction (ah, the wonderful facts you learn from Yahoo!).

Here's the question: who's underwear would you buy and for how much? And why would you freakin' buy someone's underwear?!! That's kind of...yucky.

Creative answers encouraged.

Okay, so reports are that a picture of Brangelina's twins is going to cost $11 million (isn't that the ransom cost in Austin Powers for not destroying the world?). Despite the absurdity of such a proposed cost, I started wondering what kind of money I would pay for a given photo. I came up with this: I would pay $1,000 to see a picture of one of Shakespeare's original manuscripts of a famous play. I know such a picture would be worth more that that amount, but it's what I'd personally pay.

What would other people pay for their own personal "dream" photo? It could be historical, fantasy, very personal, or something creative. Feel free to think outside the box.

Oh, and also feel free to comment on where the world is going to if a magazine picks up the twin pic for $11 million. It may be a good business decision for a celeb magazine, but seriously! I guess I'm in the "WHO FREAKIN' CARES" camp.

Anyone else read this adventure yet? On a scale of Great to Terrible, I'd give it an Okay. Overall, it's a simple but entertaining plot, looks fun to run, but seems to need more editing.

Read only if you don't care about...

My hope is that in the future the adventures continue to have great combat encounters with dynamic settings, but that plots are a little more complex and original, some areas are given more detail, and more thought is put into the adventures. While I liked the adventure overall, I'm not sure this level of quality would be worth the price of DDI subscription when I can get better stories through Paizo.

Sidenote: Not sure if this kind of thread belongs in 4e or Dungeon area.

Okay, maybe I'm being a stickler, and maybe I'm a little underwhelm by this 4e Launch Day and a little uptight, but here is what Wizards said in an article about the release of the GSL:

Q. Is the new license finished yet? Can you provide a firm timeline?
A. The D&D 4e GSL will be released when we launch Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition on June 6, 2008.

Anyone seen it?

...almost nothing to offer.

I thought there would be fireworks, new content, exciting articles, designers talking about a new day in gaming, at least a freakin' countdown that crashes the site when it reaches 0.

Nope. We get a little bit of an unsatisfactory teaser for the new DDI and a table of contents for Dragon and Dungeon. Zzzzzz...

Probably the worst marketing in the history of D&D, and yet the bestselling edition ever. Does their marketing department know something I don't? I market for a living and I want to know the secret to "little effort, big payoff."

Okay, so I've attempted to create a few monsters for 4e, to determine how easy or not it is. I have a couple questions.

There are certain monster roles, but there doesn't seem to be any method for determining what kind of role your newly designed monster belongs to. In other words, it seems more intuitive than a science. The DM doesn't give much guidance, other than certain roles get certain stats.

My questions - how much do you think the stat guidelines should be adhered to? Are they just guidelines, or are they basic rules for monster design?

Secondly, does anyone have any thought on role labels?

I be interesting in starting a thread (perhaps this one) where people create 4e creatures and other people critique them. This may help us all understand monster creation a little more.

So, like a lot of others, I managed to get my hands on a copy of the Core Rules and I must say I'm overwhelmed.

Let me preface this by saying I think 4e is still D&D and is probably the best version of D&D we'll have for a while. But it is so different in a lot of ways I find myself being irrationally nostalgic for 3e. Case in point, Attacks of Opportunity are now called Opportunity attacks. Pretty minor right? Well on a silly level I kind of miss AoO.

But most strange of all, for me at least, is the new magic system. It's strange to see common spells like Cure Light Wounds become healing surge boosts in the category of "Prayers" that can only be used once per encounter. Keep in mind, I think this is probably best, but it is just so different than the way I've played for the last 20 years. But then I have to remember that 11 years ago I had not heard of AoO, or Reflex, Will, or Fortitude and a host of other terms now so familiar.

In 10 years when 5e comes out and they combine immediate interrupts and immediate reactions into reactive actions, it'll probably feel strange.

I do have some minor greviences: The alignment systems feels arbitrary; despite a hefty 300+ pages, powers seem fewer than I hoped; there's only 4 epic destinies; and there should be more rituals. Thankfully there are a huge number of feats. While overall satisfying, the game feels geared for a multitude of splatbooks required to have the desired variety of characters.

What are other people's initial reaction? I'm curious. However, please remember that to say, "D&D is not 4e and anyone who thinks so is delusional," is a lot different than saying, "4e does not feel like D&D to me and my initial reaction is anger." A little courtesy despite emotions is all I ask.

Hi.

Sorry to bother you, but a lot of people around here have been doing open letters to Paizo, and I thought I'd get on that bandwagon. I personally don't have much to say to anyone specific on Paizo's staff, so I found someone else to write an open letter to. It happened to be you.

I don't really know much about you other than you are the president of Kyrgyzstan. I don't really know much about Kyrgyzstan either other than you're next to Kazakhstan and they made a funny movie about someone who comes from there.

Anyway, happy leading and hope your country fares well and all that stuff.

Again, my apologies.

Sincerely,
Whimsy Chris

I've noticed some people on these boards who are excited by 4e and were disappointed by Paizo's decision. I myself plan to be playing 4e in a few months, but I'm actually quite excited by Paizo's decision as I'd like to see their take on a 3.5 cleanup. It really was the best decision from their point of view - most of their customers planned to stay with 3.5 and now they'll always have control over their property without worrying about the winds of WotC change.

I'm still optimistic because I can still convert. WotC says it will now be much easier and less time consuming to create adventures and come up with game stats, so I think tweaking won't be nearly as difficult. And if this isn't the case, I'm not sure I'll want to be playing 4e anyway.

Secondly, Necromancer Games announced they will be doing 4e APs. My guess, since Paizo and Necromancer are kind of sister organizations, many of the same authors will be helping out Necromancer. And many of the authors for Paizo also write for Wizards.

Would I have liked Paizo to go 4e? Sure. I really like their stuff. But I also see what is to be gained by this choice. These are exciting times, with a lot of great options by fantastic designers.