Celebrity D&D at Gen Con!

Sadly, I've never had the chance to travel to Indiana for Gen Con. I am trying to schedule things for next year, we'll see what happens, but in the mean time I try to soak up everything I can via various blogs, twitter, and other sites featuring information about the goings on at Gen Con. I recently came across an amazing find! There was a celebrity D&D game run one evening at Gen Con featuring Author Ed Greenwood, Artist Larry Elmore, and Author R.A. Salvatore with WoTC's Senior Producer of D&D RPGs Chris Perkins as the Dungeon Master. Below is the 7 part series as posted on YouTube. One of the players from the crowd is Matt James from one of my favorites D&D websites: Loremaster.org.
















That was pretty thrilling for me to watch and makes me more interested in the new Red Box. Originally I didn't want to purchase it or anything from the Essentials line because I've spent several hundreds of dollars on source books for 4th edition, but the Red Box does seems to be a nice way to easily introduce new people to that game we all love: Dungeons & Dragons.

How to Make a Pair beat a Full House

It happens all the time: you spent 2 hours setting up a game, meticulously matched schedules as if you were tracking a conspiracy theory, and what happens? You only have two or three players show up. What do you do in this situation? This week we focus on what to do with those three hours that aren’t as full as you’d want them to be.

1. Run some filler!

This option is done very frequently in Anime. The plot vets extremely interesting, then BAM two months of meaningless side story. With an incomplete party you have the opportunity to have a role-playing intensive session, where everyone learns a little more about their characters. Stuck in the desert and want to use some ice creatures? This is a great time to put some in front of the few that showed up. You could also do a flashback adventure, where players relive a moment in the past that was just fluff. This is especially fun for players because they get to act out a moment of story where they know the ending (it also makes DMing easier since the players railroad themselves).

2. Try a swap

As I mentioned in last week’s article, I mentioned that having fewer players makes a great time to have another person DM a game. If it’s their first time, it gives them a chance to try being on the other side of the screen without as many judging eyes. It also gives the game a fresh face, keeping players from thinking that the game is going to be a watered-down version of their normal game because there are fewer players. A DM swap can also introduce a one-shot or even a new campaign. This is done best when you frequently have fewer players than you would ideally. This way, when there are fewer players, there isn’t a nervous “Are we going to cancel” feeling, it’s just “Oh, we’ll do Campaign B now.”

Fewer players also should flag as a chance to play that Mouseguard game you’ve been hiding away for four months. Most players come to a game to play that game, but with fewer players, it shifts their thinking to where they’d be much more available to play a different game. It also gives you as a DM a chance to take a deep breath and step back from the current campaign, even if it’s only for one session.

3. Chillax

Our lives are hectic mishmashes of deadlines and responsibilities. Having a three hour space in time to game is a huge luxury that we don’t normally afford ourselves. Having fewer players can make us feel angry and frustrated because this is the only time they have in their week to slow down and play. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Having three hours to spend relaxing with your friends, even in a non-gaming situation, is an incredible thing that we take for granted when we aren’t able to play. Honestly, odds are there is more than one player who are at that table that aren’t really feeling gaming that night, and would really just like a couple of hours to decompress. Having fewer players makes a great chance for you to reconnect with your players beyond what their new ideas for retraining are. Sometimes we forget that the people we stare at for three hours and try to kill are our friends, and we don’t have to be rolling dice to have a good time. Watch a crappy movie, a crappy reality show, or just sit back and enjoy each other’s company. You’d be amazed at how awesome your next game will be after sharing a relaxing evening with your friends.

The last thing you want to do after a busy week of preparing and scheduling to have fewer people than you’d like. Fortunately, there are plenty of things to do when you’re a little short. The most important thing to do is to have fun with the people you have. People may want to leave because there aren’t enough to run that game, but remind them they’d be spending that time here anyway, and there’s still fun to be had.

From the Bookshelf - Fury in the Wastelands: The Orcs of Tellene

There are many different Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings out there created by other companies besides Wizards of the Coast. Some of these settings are more popular than others and one that gained quite a bit of a following with D&D 3.5 was from Kenzer & Company, the makers of HackMaster, called Kingdoms of Kalamar. What does this have to do with D&D 4E? As my current campaign revolves around a pending war with a huge Orc army, I turned to a book from ages past (2008) titled Fury in the Wastelands: The Orcs of Tellene.

The books...

Fury in the Wastelands: The Orcs of Tellene
Number of Pages		120
Number of Chapters		11
Number of Appendices		3
Text Layout		2 columns per page
Font Size		Smaller than the 4E manuals
Artwork		High quality black and white drawings
Easily to Readable		8/10
Comprehensible and Well Written		9/10
Use of Images, Headers, and Sidebars		7/10
Overall Rating		8/10

 

The author...

Paul "Wiggy" Wade-Williams is currently listed as the Creative Director of Triple Ace Games and has previously written under many different companies. His biography information from the Triple Ace Games websites says the following:
 

Wiggy is the Creative Director of Triple Ace Games and brings with him over 25 years of roleplaying experience. He's been a published author since 1998 and has written for Atlas Games, Eden Studios, Britannia Games Design, Kenzer & Co., Pinnacle Entertainment Group, and Green Ronin. When Wiggy isn't working he's usually plotting something he can write up later. He's married and lives in the wild north of the UKUK, in the land of little ponies and constant wind.

There is also a more personal interview of him over at Tales from the Savage Troll, dated April 24th, 2010, providing an interesting look into the author's gaming habits, personal life, and other parts of his life.
 

The material...

Fury in the Wastelands: The Orcs of Tellene starts off giving the legend of how Orcs came to be, created by the gods of darkness so long ago "that even the elves and dwarves have no true memory of their creation." It goes on to present a translation of the Codex of Doom detailing a fierce battle between Light and Darkness, ending in a truce between the equally matched foes. "The Gods,those lesser power of Darkness and Light" then began creating and shaping the world of Tellene. The Creator of Strife took characteristics of each of the three Races of Light (Elves, Dwarves, and Humans) to create the most horrid race: Orcs.

Chapter 2 goes on to described the 5 sub-races of Orcs, including their physical and psychological similarities and differences, including each subraces' name in the Orc's own guttural language. This section has become a great aid to me as I prepare my campaign story. I do not want my Orcs to be bland, but want a greater amount of variety much like there is in real-life humankind.



Chapters 3 and 4 cover the social structure and culture of the Orcs. These chapters have been great tomes of knowledge to me as well. The Orc leaders, warriors, casters, workers, servants, and breeders are all described in great detail, allowing for parallel inter-structural hierarchies. Tattoos, medicine, recreation, habitat, and the diet of the Orcs are worked through in detail, which has allowed me to create many different skill challenges, dice checks, and side quests based on the intricacies the Orcish culture.

Chapter 5 is all about warfare. Warfare is the center of my campaign and this chapter gives extremely valuable information about not only the Orc's weapons and armor, but their military organization, tactics, and strategies. A battle lead by an Orc commander is brutal and the attacks are very pointed, contrary to many beliefs. Orcish commanders will have casters and archers targeted first, cavalry is to be fought against from favorable ground, and ground troops are to be swarmed, flanked, weakened at key locations. My favorite section of this chapter goes into details about how the Orcs would setup and execute an ambush with ranged troops above on the rocks and concealed warriors on the ground. These are not your typical beasts only fighting to survive.


Chapter 6 covers the Orc Religion. I read through the chapter and enjoyed the insight but will not be consuming any of the information there for my campaign.

Chapter 7 takes a look at several misconceptions that exist. These were a short, but interesting list of great rumors I plan to spread, sprinkled with truth, to my party through the local townsfolk. My favorite misconception has to do with sunlight:

Everyone claims to know that orcs fear sunlight and are weakened by it, for as a subterranean race they are unused to its glare, similar to drow elves and deep gnomes. Common myth also states that so long as the sun is shining, you will be safe from orcs. Sadly, both statements are, for the most part, incorrect.

Chapter 8 describes the major Orc tribes of Tellene. This chapter details out extremely useful information on not only tribal symbols and land area controlled by each tribe, but includes information on tribal resources, religious biases, their latest raiding targets, and recent events that happened within the tribe. With 14 different tribes represented, the shear amount of information and detail is overly abundant.

Chapter 9 presents 10 sample Orc personalities, what tribes they belong to, their background, appearance, personality, and 3.5 stat block. Many of these are notable and make fine templates for creating unforgettable Orcish friends, foes, and everything in between.



Chapters 10 and 11 include how to create Orc PCs and several interesting adventure hooks. These chapters, although very good reads, did not pertain to my situation as I am not allowing Orc PCs in my game at this time (even then, the powers would need to be adjusted for 4E) and my campaign specifics are already mapped out.

The best and most fun parts of this book to read, from just a reader's standpoint, are the quotes from various adventurers though the book. Each chapter and sub-section starts off with a quote pertaining to the section. My favorite, by far, is in Chapter 2's Brown Orc sub-section:

"In the desert, the line between man and beast is impossible to distinguish. That is what makes the brown orcs so dangerous." - Saryf, Dejy ranger of Thygasha

In conclusion...

This book has proven to be very helpful in my search for Orcish lore, habits, sub-races, and other details not available in the Monster Manuals. As with all things D&D, regardless of the edition being played, any information from any source can make its way into your campaign and ongoing setting. My campaign just happens to be based in The Forgotten Realms, but that does not make the information from the Kingdoms of Kalamar books any more or less relevant. D&D is all about having fun and enjoying time spent with friends while trying to do your worst, as a DM, to those friends' characters.

I've enjoyed reading through the book and will continue to go to it as I'm creating the story and encounters for my current campaign. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a good source book on Orc lore and more detailed information than is available in the Monster Manuals. If you would like more information, I suggest picking up the book from Amazon or Lulu.

 
What other sources have you used or would you suggest for aiding in story and campaign building ouside of the ofical D& D4E manuals?

Me? DM? Surely you Jest!

Planning and running a Dungeons and Dragons game is hard. We all know that. We scour the interwebs for ideas on how to make it an easier process. We look at the wizards site, friendly gaming blogs, and even mass RSS feeds. There is a simpler solution, though. Simpler than any of the above options: You pawn it off on someone else. That’s right; today I’m going to talk about ways you can convince another person to run a game. That way, when the stress of the world hits you, you can just tell someone else to run the game this week.

1. Plant the Seed

The first thing you have to do is find a sorry sap to put the yoke of DMing on. Discussing game building with your party off-handedly at the end of a session lets you thin the herd. If they seem interested in what you were doing with the session, they probably have a desire to run a game. Keep this idea in the back of your mind when you start a session or are planning a session and you have only a couple of players. This is a great time to throw out, “hey, why don’t we switch hats today, John, do you want to take a shot at running an adventure tonight?”

2. Stoke the Fire

It takes a leap of faith to run an adventure in front of your friends. There is a lot of pressure when you are showing your creative powers, and you really want everyone to have a fun time. Add on the fact that the main DM is playing, too, and there is an incredible amount stress on this new player. It is your job as a seasoned DM to give guidance (not rules-lawyering) and to give lots of praise and encouragement. The goal is to give them enough confidence to run another game later, giving you the chance to take a breather.

3. Pull the Bandage

It’s difficult to do, but if you really want your future DM to want to continue DMing, you’re going to have to force the issue. You can do this one of two ways: skip and have another player convince the prospective DM to run a game, or set up a splinter game and have the new DM run it. You have to move them into a position where the pressure to DM is there and a true test of whether or not they want to do this long-term. If they make it through this step they’re ready for anything.

There it is, the three-step process to pinning some other poor sap with the horrible burden of being a Dungeon Master. Soon enough, your victim will be talking about the use of fantastic terrain, the advantages and disadvantages of lowering HP and increasing damage, and whether to railroad or sandbox. And we, the happy few who do the same, will never be more proud. Feel free to leave me a note in the comments, and stay tuned for some more changes.

Monday's Monster Mash #4 - The Enemy of My Enemy

Monday’s Monster Mash is a weekly series where monsters are selected from the three Monster Manuals and put together as an encounter group. A situation is discussed where these monsters would have been together and how their powers or status effects work together against the players.

The story...

Magdiana has seen many lifetimes. It has been ages since she followed her sister Breemita to this mortal realm, where she became stuck in this retched mortal form. Breemita had said they could bring light to this realm, but what is a single wick in the deep, black fathoms of the Underdark? The Underdark is not all darkness though. There are several caverns of piping hot magma. It is from these areas Magdiana was first introduced to the Hell Hounds. They resisted her will at first, but just like all other creatures, submitted in time. Now, with her army of Hell Hounds, she has set her sights on the Kuo-Toa settlement between her and her ultimate goal: Menzoberranzan, the City of Spiders.

Berrol, the Kuo-Toa Lash, had sent scouting parties when he heard the Hell Hounds' lair had been conquered. His Kuo-Toa Cutters returned with stories of a great, evil angel controlling the Hell Hounds and heading towards the Kuo-Toa settlement. He instructed his Kuo-Toa Mad Ones to take defensive positions. As Berrol began preparing the rest of his people to defend their home, he was brought a rumor of a group of adventurers nearby causing trouble. Today was not going to be a good one...

The monsters...

Monster Manual	Monster Manual 2	Monster Manual 3
Hell Hound Page 160	Deva Fallen Star Page 62	Kuo-Toa Mad One, Lash, and Cutter Pages 124 - 125

The powers...

First off, let's take a look at the Deva Fallen Star. This creature does everything in its power to stop the players from dealing damage to it. Fateful Transposition (immediate interrupt, encounter) allows the creature to swap places with a target and split the damage of the trigger attack between itself and the newly transpositioned creature. If that is not frightening enough, the Deva Fallen Star also has Fate Manipulation (free, recharges when first bloodied) allowing it to add or subtract 1d8 from any attack roll, ability check, or saving throw made by any creature within 10 squares or itself.

Next, we have the Hell Hounds. These beasts have a Fire Shield (aura 1) that deals 1d6 fire damage to any creature that enters or begins its turn in the aura. And a nasty Fiery Breath (standard, recharge 4 5 6, close blast 3) dealing a massive 2d6+3 amount of fire damage to the entire party.


 
 
Finally, we have the Kuo-Toa. All Kuo-Toa have the Aquatic trait, allowing them to breathe underwater and gain an additional +2 to attacks against nonaquatic creatures. The Kuo-Toa Mad One have an Eldritch Scream (at will, close blast 3) dealing psychic damage to a group of foes. The Kuo-Toa Lash has multiple lightning attacks, the worst being Forked Lightning (standard, area burst 2, recharge when bloodies an enemy or reduces an enemy's HP to 0 or less) which not only deals 2d6+6 lightning damage but blinds the target until the start of the Lash's next turn. The Kuo-Toa Cutter has a triggered action called Swift Strike (at will) which triggers when an enemy misses it with a melee attack and allows the cutter to shift 4 squares and attack with its Barbed Dagger (at will, melee) attack.

The encounter...

The party had been adventuring in the Underdark for a few days now and had been successful in their ventures. As they rounded the next bend in the maze-like tunnels, they saw a small Kuo-Toa village under siege by an army of Hell Hounds. Always in need of allies, especially in a place as treacherous as the Underdark, the party decided to move forward and help the Kuo-Toa fend off the attack. As they approached, the Kuo-Toa leader and Deva Fallen Star struck up a quick bargain to work together against this band of top-siders before the intruders could take advantage of their warring situation.

As the party rushed in on the Hell Hounds, taking damage from their fire sheilds, the Kuo-Toa Mad Ones rushed the party, Clawing and (Eldritch) Screaming as they worked the party's defenses down. The Kuo-Toa Cutters darted in swiftly and landed multiple Crippling Strikes, dealing extra attacks with their Barbed Daggers as they dodged the party's attacks. The Deva Fallen Star moved in to attack with its Rebuking Rod, but noticed the Kuo-Toa Lash beginning to target her. The Deva quickly drew the attention of the party's casters and used her Fateful Transposition to switch places with the Kuo-Toa Lash. The Lash took the brunt of the party's attack, but not before launching several volleys of Forked Lightning.

It was a close battle, but the smoke cleared with the one who had been victorious on the battlefield. The Deva Fallen Star laughed to herself as she surveyed the damage and wondered if fate would have a common foe appear near Menzoberranzan when it came time to attack. Perhaps she would find this common foe herself and infiltrate the Drow stronghold as a friend, coming to warn of the attack. Yes, these plans would work out nicely.

The discussion...

• What other monsters do you think could add an interesting flair to this group and how would you work them into the story?


• What other strategies could this group of monsters use against the party?


• What are some possible defensive tactics the party could use against these monsters, Kuo-Toa Cutters being so "shifty"?


• How could different party make-ups be better or worse against these monsters?

The Master's Lackeys

There are several amazing Dungeons & Dragons blogs out there, but one of my favorites has recently run two articles written by one of my favorite authors, Chris Sims (an editor and game designer known for work on Wizards of the Coast’s Duel Masters, Dungeons & Dragons, and Magic: The Gathering) about one of my favorite components in 4E: MINIONS!

 

Minions Are Everywhere!

No matter the story, whether set in a fantasy, science fiction, comedy, or drama, the main bad guy always has lackeys. Darth Vader had the Storm Troopers, Dr. Evil had several nameless thugs and Mini Me, Sauron had the first 1/3 of the Orc army that was attacking Helm's Deep (seriously, they dropped like flies when the arrows started flying).

 

Minions: By The Book

A few game sessions ago, I decided I did not like using the minions in the same old fashion I had been. They were great as zombies in my campaign's Whispering Willow Cemetery session, wonderful as cheaply hired mercenaries to guard a slave camp in The Slave Pit session, and really interesting as village fishermen the party had to protect as the slavers retaliated in the final encounter of the Gates of Dyadasti session, but I decided to mix things up a bit. I used 2-hit minions in the Longtooth's Labyrinth session but when one of the players landed a high damage roll, he felt cheated that the enemy wasn't killed. I quickly converted my 2-hit minions back to regular minions to keep the level of fun at a maximum for the evening, but decided I wouldn't give up hope on the 2-hit minion.


 

My Minions Have HP?

For the next session, I had created 2 new flavors of minions. The 2/20 and the 3/30 minions. The 2/20 minion is dead after 2 hits or 20 damage, whichever comes first. Likewise, the 3/30 minion is dead after 3 hits or 30 damage. This may sound fruitless and you may be asking "why not just have the monster with 30 HP??" Well, for our group, this worked very well. Our Ranger misses quite a bit (he obviously hasn't read my article on how dice are made and refuses to switch d20s mid-session), so when he does land a shot, it really counts against these 2/20 and 3/30 minions. On top of this, when the "cheated" player landed a heavy blow on a 3/30 minion with 2 hits left, it was destroyed. Everyone had lots of fun and I was still able to swarm the party with a nice mix of regular minions, 2/20s and 3/30s!


 

For discussion...

Chris' articles really got me thinking again about other things I can change to keep the players on their toes. I'm going to look for specific creatures with interesting auras and burst that make sense for the setting when creating my minions. The 2/20 and 3/30 minions worked in the one session I used them, but I'm not convinced they're here to stay, time will tell.

• Have you modified how you use minions?


• Are there certain powers or considerations you give to them in your games?


• Do you think my modification was effective or just a waste of time?

Let me know in the comments!

D&D Macaroons: The Three-Act Skill Challenge

Skill Challenges are a widely-written about topic. The nebulous nature of the challenge, paired with its newness to the system, all create difficulties when approaching. Reading about, listening to, and running skill challenges has led me to put in my two cents regarding how I run skill challenges. The best skill challenges are like great macaroons: crunchy on the outside but fluffy on the inside. First, I'll explain how I use the three act structure to create a challenge, then I'll explain how they are run.

Three Act Skill Challenge
Before I ever read about the three act structure to adventure making, I was applying a three-scene structure to my skill challenges.

 

The first act is exposition and preparation. The problem is presented in the first act: a ritual must be prepared, the city is on fire, the ancient tome is being stolen. The players are then asked to prep for their plan to fix the problem: gather components, rally the fire brigade, sound the alarms and give chase. The players get prep time equal to their success. I take the number of successes, divide by 2 and subtract one. When they reach that number or their first failure they initiate act two.

The second act of the skill challenge is incitement and climax: the ritual is cast, the fire is fought, and the thief is chased. Successes in the first act will dictate the difficulty of the second act's checks; if they made it through all the successes, drop the difficulty one tier (hard to moderate, moderate to easy) if they failed early, increase the DCs by two (12 DC becomes 14). This goes on until they reach the number of successes (total needed divided by 2) or the second failure.

The third act is all resolution and dénouement. The consequences for the challenge thus far are given. The ritual is either a success (it does what it was supposed to) or a failure (incorrect result, it blows up, it summons demons!) the city is either extinguished or the fire still rages. You've captured the thief or backed him near a dead end. If the PCs haven't made the cut yet (they should have one success needed) this will be the most difficult part. If they have over 4 checks to make, increase the DCs a tier. If they have 4, 3, or 2 checks left, decrease the DCs a tier, and if there was only one check left when they started the act, make the DC an easy one.

At the end of the challenge, the PCs reap the consequences of their rolls. If they did well the challenge goes well (the ritual goes off without a hitch, the fire only causes minimal damage, the thief is caught), but if the challenge went south the players have to deal with some difficulties (the ritual summons demons and the PCs have to fight, the fire nearly wipes out the town and the PCs are blamed, The thief gets away, but leaves his orders about where to take the item). This punishes the PCs for failing but keeps the game going. The absolute last thing you want is a dead-end situation where the PCs have to either backtrack or wonder what they are to do next.

Running the 3-act Skill Challenge
The three act skill challenge runs a lot like a 3-scene play. I present the act's challenge, and start taking rolls around the table. I do make everyone take a turn, but they can choose whatever skill they want as long as they describe it. There is a small caveat to that. No player can use the same skill twice in a row, and no character can use the skill the last player used. If it fits in perfectly with the scene (Arcana to draw the ritual circle, Diplomacy to rally the brigade, Athletics to chase down the thief) then I make it an easy DC. If it fits in a little bit but not really in the spirit of the act (Streetwise to search for components, Nature to find the nearest water source, Intimidate to scare the thief into stopping) I make it a moderate DC. If it has nothing to do with the spirit of the scene (Acrobatics to jump from rooftop to rooftop to deliver components in the fastest fashion, Perception to see where the fire is strongest, Insight to see why the thief stole the item) I set the skill to a hard DC. I keep taking tallies until they hit the successes or their failure.

After the rolls, I narrate the scene. I tell the PCs how the scene played out based on their skills, and transition them to the next act. Then they roll, go until their failure, and narration begins again. Same for the final act.

By the end of the challenge, they won't know whether they won the challenge or not, because it's not about winning or losing, it's about the story. That's really what skill challenges are about: crunch then fluff. Just like a great macaroon they start off hard and crunchy but end with incredible fluff that leaves everyone satisfied.

Skill Challenges are one of the most written about facets of 4e. I'm not bold or stupid enough to think this will end the writing on Skill Challenges, but hopefully it will be an aid to others. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them!

And if you want to make the macaroons pictured in this article, be sure to visit http://www.namthip.com/2009/06/i-heart-u-french-macaroon.html, that’s where I stole the pics. I made them yesterday and they are delicious!