Posts tagged d&d
Anthro Power!
Aug 24th
D&D has, in its time, visited many places and had many settings. We’ve had D&D in space (Spelljammer), set in desert lands (twice – Dark Sun and Al-Qadim), the Far East (Oriental Adventures) and on the plains of the horse clans (The Horde – remember that?). We’ve had D&D in Wonderland, in a city lodged in a kinda-nearly-dormant volcano, and more. D&D has travelled into our own world with d20 Modern, and beyond thanks to the high technology left by the original residents of Blackmoor.
Yet through all its many travels, D&D has yet to settle down and properly tackle gaming with anthropomorphic races. And that’s a crying shame.
Talking animals have a long and proud heritage in our folklore and fairy tales. From the countless works of Enid Blyton to Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows, and from the Kitsune legends of Japan to Winnie the Pooh there’s a special place in our racial memory for wise old owls, wily weasels and cunning foxes. We anthropomorphize the creatures, give them personalities which we, in turn, give back to ourselves. We say “timid as a mouse”, “mad as a march hare” and such, anthropomorphizing ourselves back into animal form.
By bringing talking animals into our role-playing game we’re playing those tropes, exploring and testing them in ways that are hard to do with the classic D&D races. Quite simply, we inject more personality into our animal creations that we do our fantastic ones. An Elf might be smug and arrogant, but he’s nothing compared to a cat. That sneaky Halfling would be beaten hands down in a sneakiness competition by a weasel. And so on.
Mouse Guard proves that there’s a place at the role-playing table for talking animals. That system handles the tropes with a delicate, wonderful twist and award-winning ruleset. What I’d like to see though is talking animals brought right into D&D as an official core supplement. d20 Modern came close with Moreaus, and proved that the d20/SRD was up to the task. Fourth Edition D&D should be able to handle animal races with little difficulty and no messy Level Adjustment fudgery required. Give me Feline Sorcerers, Badger Wizards and loyal Dog Fighters. I want my Sparrow Ranger, Mouse Cleric and Weasel Rogue. I want all these, and more.
Now, animal fans. Who’s with me?
Race, Class, Role, Build, Background and Theme
Aug 18th
One of the biggest innovations (or perhaps that should be re-innovations, as some of these elements were also present in previous editions) in Fourth Edition D&D has been the broadening of character generation. Your character is no longer a simple Race/Class combo (though he can be just that, if you want him to be) but a multi-faceted being complete with backstory, prior occupation, career path and social class, all in as much (or as little) detail as you choose.
And they’ve managed to do it without turning it into a stewing pile of power-gamery mess too. Way to go, WoTC!
Let’s take a look as each facet of your potential multi-dimensional character to see how it all hangs together.
Race
Your character’s Race denotes the core of his (or her) being; it’s who they are when stripped of everything else. Their race says most about your hero’s appearance, and much about their culture, social upbringing and outlook on life. Unless they are shaped differently by the campaign setting or something particular to your hero’s background, it’s fair to expect that their overall attitude will be much the same as any member of their race. For example, the vast majority of Elves possess an affinity for the Natural world (and forests in particular) but the campaign setting (such as Dark Sun) might change that radically, or this particular Elf have been brought up in an Urban environment.
That’s not to say that all Elves are nature-loving bow wielding hippies of course (though Dwarves may say that’s exactly what they all are), but that this cultural implication is present in their racial makeup. How that upbringing shapes the PC though, is entirely up to you. Maybe this particular Elf is thoroughly sick of the colour green and never wants to see another tree as long as she lives. Hey, it could happen.
Class
In 4e, a PC’s Class is less about who they are and more about how they fight. Class describes where your character gets his combat training/kewl spells/prayers/psionic potential, but also how they use it when facing opposition. Both the Fighter and Rogue are Martial characters, though their styles are very different. One charges forward, while the other runs and hides. Draw your own conclusions there.
But Class is more than that. It helps explain how your character responds to a challenge both on the battlefield and off. Each Class opens up a list of Trained Skills from which your PC selects several and these Skills say more about a character than their Class selection. For example, a Human Rogue is more likely to feel kinship with an Elven Ranger if they both have the Streetwise Skill than with another Human Rogue who lacks it; both the Ranger and the Rogue share a knowledge of urban life and respect for the seedy side of towns.
Class might also explain a hero’s motivation. It’s easy (if more than a little stereotypical) to create a sneaky Halfling Rogue or stoic Dwarven Cleric of Moradin and no further explanation of their motivation is needed. I encourage players to move away from that and instead use Background Options to help explain your hero’s motives. More on those in a mo’.
The selection of Class also chooses your hero’s Power source. 4e D&D has taken a leaf out of the (much loved) Rolemaster’s book with the implementation of Powers. Just as Rolemaster had the Realms of Essence, Channelling, Mentalism and Arms (non-combat), 4e has Arcane, Divine, Psionic and Martial, and add to that with Primal, Shadow and doubtless more to come. These control where the PC draws his powers from – Arcane gain power from the magical world around them, Divine from the Gods, Psionic from within themselves, Martial from their physical abilities, Primal from the untamed chaos of nature and Shadow from freakin’ Batman. I’m looking forward to the 4e take on the Rolemaster Archmage who recognises that all Powers sources are essentially the same and draws from all of them. Badass!
Note to self: Write more contrasting Rolemaster with 4e D&D. Comparisons abound!
In some ways though, your Fourth Edition hero’s choice of Class is the least important choice he has to make, even though it’s the most mechanically complex. Choose Eladrin as Race and the Background Options Noble & Criminal and you’ve already got a compelling character. Making him a Wizard, Paladin or Warlord just adds another wrinkle to the pie. Do pies get wrinkled?
Role
Waitaminute. Isn’t a characters Role tied to his Class? I mean, all Wizards are Controllers, right?
Well yeah, but I’ve argued before that the two shouldn’t be tied together, and it looks (with D&D Essentials) that this hard-and-fast rule is being loosened, and that’s a great thing for the game.
Right now, if you want to play a Martial Defender (for example), you’re playing a Fighter. But what if you want to play a Fighter who is more of a Striker (fewer hit points, more damage) or even a bow-wielding Controller (even fewer hit points, more foes)? How about a Wizard who specializes in Force Fields (Defender) or one who singles out individual foes with fearsome emotion-controlling spells (Striker)? You could conceivably argue that Gandalf was an Arcane Leader rather than a Controller, and you wouldn’t be wrong.
I foresee this as a direction 4e will increasingly take, and it’s an exciting one. Separating Role from Class opens up a whole new vista for character generation, and I’m stoked!
Build
Builds are a simple shorthand way of saying “if you take this, this, this and this, you will end up with this kind of character”. They’re entirely optional and provide a good newbie-friendly way to guide them through character generation. Want to play a Tactical Warlord or a Great Weapon Fighter? Just follow this build advice, and you’re good to go.
Despite their primary function as a guiding tool, the Builds can also serve as a role-playing jumping point. Your Tactical Warlord is likely to have a very different personality to an Inspiring Warlord both in and out of combat. That’s partially represented by the priority of the attributes (a higher Charisma usually denotes a more outgoing personality) but also with their outlook on life; in this example, a Tactical Warlord is more likely to be coldly clinical in their assessments whereas an Inspiring Warlord knows that it’s the hearts of men (or elves, or dwarves…) that can truly win the day.
Unlike the other optional elements of character generation (Background Options and Themes) your hero gains absolutely no mechanical bonus for following a Build other than the satisfaction of having put together a neat, well-optimised character. Conversely, there’s nothing to lose for not following a Build neither; you’re entirely free to choose between the Class Features, Feats and Powers however you wish. While you might not end up with a character with the same single-path focused optimisation as one of the Build, your hero will be (and here’s the important part) much more fun to play.
That’s not to say Build don’t have their place. They give us much more of an insight into the game designers’ minds. The Build represent how they expect the Classes to be played and a solid foundation for your own tinkering with Class element and Feat selection. For example, you could take Great Weapon Fighter but replace Power Attack with Potent Challenge. Minor changes to the Build like this help make your character that bit more unique.
So Builds are a great way to help get a handle on the Classes, and on the game as a whole. They’re a great starting point for new players and oldies alike who are trying out a new class for the first time. It pays to know when to follow a Build, when to tweak them and when to ignore them altogether. Let’s save that for a blogpost for another time, ok?
Background Options
Now we’re talking! Background Options are my favouritest optional rule in 4e D&D – to the point where I don’t consider it optional at all. Background Options are an Essential part of character generation as they serve to provide your PC with that all-important backstory. And that’s pure gold for this GM.
Background Options also confer a minor (though significant) benefit in the form of a +2 to one skill, adding a Skill to your potential list of Trained Skills, granting a bonus language or some other special boon. That’s a choice of five benefits. No, not four. Clearly you can’t count.
See, here’s how the choices break down:
1. Add a +2 to an Untrained skill. This gives a small bonus to a skill which you wouldn’t normally have access to, or one which you don’t want to spend Training on. This is a good choice if you choose a Background Option that offers Associated Skills that overlap with and Skill Bonuses from your Race. For example, an Elf with the Background Option Geography:Forest could be at +4 to either Nature or Perception without Training at all! That’s perfect if you want to play a Class that lacks the Perception skill and is short on Training points. How about a keen eyed Elf Fighter who specializes in the Greataxe?!
2. Add +2 to a Trained skill. Back to that Elf. Make him a Ranger and (thanks to being an Elf and the Geography:Forest Background Option he can be at +9 Perception even before stat bonus. That’s one eagle-eyed Ranger! Choosing a Background Option that synergizes nicely with your Trained skills is a smart move though taking a Background Option which just emphasises something we already know (Elf + Geography:Forest) is booooring! Think about the more esoteric Background Options to make your character much more interesting. An Elf with Occupation:Mariner can still take that +2 Perception but is a much more engaging character to play. Imagine an Elf with an ornately carved wooden leg……
3. Add another skill to your list of Trained skills. Each Background Option offers two skills. Pick one to either gain a +2 (as above) or add it to your list of available Trained Skills choices. That’s a +5 bonus, but the cost is that you have one less choice to spend on something else. This is a great choice if you want to create a character who has access to knowledge outside their Class’ normal field of interest. A Fighter who is an Arcane Refugee would make a terrific character as his village was destroyed by magic (rather than orcs – unless they were Orc Wizards) and he could take Skill Training in Arcana, making for one highly knowledgeable warrior who hates spellcasters. This also gives him access to the Ritual Caster Feat too meaning he could sometimes be forced to use the very thing he hates. See what I mean about Background Options being GM gold?
4. Gain a bonus language. Boooring, unless you really want to play a character who can speak both Goblin and Giant. For these kind of multi-lingual characters it’s better, imho, to use the Background Option to gain a Skill-related bonus and burn a Feat on the Linguist Feat.
5. Any other Boon. some Background Options (particularly those from the Scales of War adventure path) offer more unusual benefits to the character. These tend to be more powerful and Feat-like in nature (such as the Assassin background which adds both Arcana and Stealth to your class list, and gives a +1 bonus in both). I try to steer my players away from these options but allow them on a case-by-case basis, depending on just how much of a hard time I can give the hero in-game :D
Background Options cover a whole range of choices – from mysterious happenings during their birth to the geography of their homeland; from their pre-adventuring occupation to wealth level; from Early Life and Parentage to Recent Events. It’s all there and more, in spades. You’ll need the PHB 2 or a D&D Insider account to access them, but for my money Background Options alone make it worth the price of entry.
Your hero isn’t limited to a single Background Option, though he only gains the mechanical benefit from one of them. If you want your hero to be a Former Gladiator Scorned Noble Magic Scholar who is a Fugitive from a Vengeful Rival with a Missing Master that’s very all right by me!
Note to self: Use multiple Background Options and Risus notation? The character above could be Former Gladiator (3), Scorned Noble (2), Magic Scholar(1), Fugitive from a Vengeful Rival (4), Missing Master (5). Hmmm. Food for thought.
Themes
So far, Themes are only present in the Dark Sun campaign setting as they provide just a little more oomph to your character. That’s firmly in keeping with the setting as characters in prior editions were generated at a higher level than 1st from the start. Each theme grants an additional Encounter Power to the character, putting them kinda-almost at the same power level as a 3rd level character (only without the hit points, surges, utility power, feats or equipment – so not like 3rd level at all). Every character takes one Theme, and only one. Extra goodies (feats, paragon paths and optional Powers) are unlocked at later levels, if you choose to follow the Theme’s natural course.
Each Theme is a natural fit for one or more character classes (such as the Gladiator Theme for a Fighter) but the real fun comes from mixing things up. How about a Gladiator Monk, or a Dune Trader Warlord? More on that shortly.
I like Themes. They can tie the adventuring party together (“You’re all Gladiators!”) but still give them plenty of flexibility (thanks to freedom of choice over Race, Class and Background Options) to make each character unique and memorable. Themes also help to tie the characters more closely to the campaign setting – you’ll only find Dune Traders on Athas – in a way we’ve not seen before. That’s definitely a win in my books! Despite the power creep, I expect to see setting-unique Themes to find their way across all the campaign settings in due course (perhaps requiring a Feat to gain them). That won’t be a bad thing.
Mixing it up
What’s more fun? An Eladrin Paladin, or an Eladrin Paladin Merchant Prince Dune Trader? How about a Halfling Star Pact Warlock Monster Hunter Travelling Missionary? Or a Dwarf Gladiator Rogue who was Born on Another Plane?
Background Options (and Themes) come into their own when you play against expectations. As Elf with Geography:Forest might as well just be an Elf, whereas one with Geography:Wetlands has an interesting twist. Likewise, a Fighter with Occupation:Military isn’t going to win any prizes, but make him a Wizard……
There’s no shortage of Background Options both in the books (regrettably, not in PHB I though) and in the Character Builder so make good use of them.
Your GM will thank you for it, I swear!
Stat the A-Team!
Aug 17th
Here’s a quick question to throw into the shallow duckpond that is the internet: what Race/Class combos would best represent the A-Team, were they transplanted into the realms of Dungeons & Dragons?
To my mind, this dysfunctional band of merry pyromaniacs (who always seem to get the job done) are the archetypal adventuring party. They travel from locale to locale, continually breaking things until they’re fixed. Yep, just like an adventuring party.
Gimme race & class for Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith, First Lieutenant Templeton “Faceman” Peck, Master Sergeant Bosco Albert (“B.A.”) Baracus and Captain H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock in all their glory. Bonus points will be given for suggested level and stats with extra special bonus points for complete characters.
The weirder and wilder the better! Points will be deducted for just saying “Four Human Rogues” and walking away. Not that I’m counting points. But still.
Repeat after me: DAH da DAH, DAH DAH DAAAAAAAH!
Over, dear people, to you.
Square of Darkness
Aug 12th
It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
– “Riddles in the Dark”, JRR Tolkien
The answer, as any fan of The Hobbit will tell you, is “Dark”. The little riddle does a terrific job summarizing just how scary the absence of light can be. Darkness is insidious; it creeps between, devours whatever it touches and is always there in the corner of your eye, waiting.
And most Dungeon Masters forget all about it when the adventurers venture underground.
The rules for handling Illumination (and the lack thereof) should be tattooed in glowing ink on the inside of every DM’s eyelids. It’s one of their most potent tools when it comes to setting the atmosphere of the setting. A healthy fear and respect of the dark is a primal instinct we all share; tap into that, and you’ll have the players eating out of your hand in no time.
First, a recap of the rules as they apply to Fourth Edition D&D.
Light comes in three forms:
- Bright Light isn’t particularly bright or dazzling, but is rather what we’d call “normal” light with no penalties. Booooooring!
- Dim Light includes candlelight, moonlight, glowing fungi and any other kind of minimal illumination where you can just barely make out outlines and movement. It’s what I’d call “normal” in a dungeon environment if I’m feeling generous. Race which have Low-light vision (such as Elves, Half-Elves, Tieflings, Dwarves and Eladrin) can see normally in dim light. I guess it should have been called Dim-light vision instead. Folks with normal vision (which includes Humans, Halflings, Dragonborn) are at a disadvantage as their enemies gain Concealment, meaning they’re at –2 to hit.
- Darkness, AKA “You’re screwed”. On a moonless night or in a room without a light source, your heroes (yes, all of the standard races) are at –5 to hit as their foes have Total Concealment. Meanwhile, those monsters with Darkvision (such as Kobolds) can still see just fine, thanks.
Don’t underestimate these penalties! –5 is like your STR 16 hero with a Greataxe suddenly fighting like a STR 10 dude with a wooden plank. It’s the difference between an INT 20 Wizard hitting with an Acid Arrow, and an INT 10 Wizard…… not.
Or, to put it another way, it’s like cladding all of those Kobolds in Full Plate Armour to give them a +5 AC bonus. Scary, huh?
Except it’s not like cladding them in Full Plate Armour as what our Darkness lurking monsters gain is Total Concealment, and that’s a lot better than any amount of armour. When in Darkness, your monsters can use Stealth to hide, and remain hidden and move up to 2 squares without requiring another Stealth check, even in Dim Light. A hidden enemy is a deadly one. Just ask any Ninja.
In Darkness (or when hidden in Dim Light), your monsters have Combat Advantage against the hapless PCs (PHB p280) while the heroes don’t – even your Rogue has to be able to see their target to be able to hit them (PHB p279).
A small group of Kobolds in a nice Dark Dungeon would hear and see the clunky armour wearing heroes approaching a mile away, hit them once in the Surprise Round then move back before the PCs even knew what hit ‘em. Rinse and repeat.
Don’t forget that even in a relatively well-lit Dungeon where there’s Everburning Torches on the walls or a coat of phosphorescent fungi on the ceiling, there will still be pools of shadow, and any monster with more than INT 2 will use them effectively. And so, dear DM, should you.
What can your heroes do to Fight The Darkness?
The first thing is, obviously enough, Bring Light. A humble Torch illuminates a 25’ (5 square) radius while a Lantern doubles that (50’ radius, 10 squares) and lasts a lot longer. The Sunrod covers a massive 100’ (20 square) radius but each one only lasts half as long as a pint of oil in the Lantern. Even with Sunrods as part of the standard Adventurer’s Kit, I recommend every party including a Lantern, Oil and a few torches on their equipment list. A Lantern will burn for a full 8 hours, enough for a full Extended Rest, while a Sunrod is only half that. More importantly, Oil burns and can be thrown – perfect for those time when you’re up against flammable foes.
The downside is that all this illumination announces your presence. and only illuminates to a fixed radius. Beyond that, we’re back to total Darkness or Dim Light meaning monsters with ranged weapons (such as the Goblin Sharpshooter with a Hand Crossbow, Range 10/20) can shoot without fear of the heroes being able to return fire effectively. Only the truly foolish (or brave, which is another way of spelling foolish) monster will go toe-to-toe with the PCs in their circle of light.
With a Wizard on your team, things improve dramatically. The Light cantrip is one of the best under-used spells in 4e; it’s a Minor Action and can be cast on any object or unoccupied square within 25’ (5 squares) and illuminates a 20’ (4square) radius area. Lob that in the first round of combat where the monsters lurk (or you suspect they lurk) and the advantages of the Darkness is gone. If you need a little illumination further than 25’ away (to spot a hidden sniper pinning you down, for example) cast Light on the Ranger’s arrow and let him take a shot – doesn’t matter if it misses, it’s the illumination it provides that counts.
Finally, have a Race with Darkvision on your team. So far, that’s just the Drow or Duergar. I’m disappointed that the Kobold racial write-up lists them with Normal Vision when the monster entry gives them Darkvision (another Update needed?). An all Drow party could operate in total Darkness without penalty and totally kick ass!
What I like most about the 4e D&D illumination rules is this quote (PHB p281):
Squares of darkness are totally obscured.
Hope I’ve shed a little more light on them!
A Totally Rad unboxing
Aug 4th
Starts around the 27 minute mark. Liking what I see here. Ah, sweet nostalgia!
Down and Out in Old Dungeon Town
Jul 31st
Picture, if you will, a small village. Just like any other village there are streets and alleyways, shops and homes, open spaces and meeting places. People live here from all walks of life – the poor & lowly and the rich & powerful alike. There are the butchers, farmers, priests and leaders all tossed into the melting pot of village life.
Now put a lid on it and site it underground.
Next time you’re designing a dungeon think of it like any other town or village. The dungeon corridors are your streets with each room a home or communal space shared by the residents. When your players ask why a group of Orcs is in a room next to an Ankheg’s lair, just explain “because they’re neighbours”. We don’t question why a vicar might live next to a car salesman, and the same applies here.
Thinking of a dungeon as a small community has a major impact when it comes to designing the layout. Rooms are less likely to be used as thoroughfares with exits on all walls but instead have a front door and (possibly secret) back door. Larger rooms will either be occupied by the more powerful and influential monsters or be shared spaces where dungeon occupants will come together.
Your Dungeon Town will need much the same amenities as any small community – waste disposal, food, education and trade. The limited resources of the Underdark mean than even the lowliest Kobold will have better green credentials than your average surface dweller. Any waste produced will most likely become compost to aid the mushroom harvest. Either that or it explains why there are so many covered holes in the ground – that’s no pit trap; it’s a toilet!
A Goblin Cult Lair, for example, would most likely consist of many small living-caves with the three larger caves serving as nursery, worship area and Goblin Boss’s Cave. The sound of battle in the worship area or nursery will almost certainly bring Goblins from the surrounding area into the fray (add 1d4 more Goblins each round) whereas the noise of battle in the Goblin Boss’s Cave won’t. He might just be having a Bad Day, and it’s best to avoid those.
Beyond their usefulness when defending their lair, each monster will serve a role in the community. That role might be nothing more than “Bert’s friend” or “Dungeon Idiot”, or it could be something vital. That Goblin Cutter could be the resident cobbler (hence his lack of skill in combat) or a mushroom harvester while the Ghoul in the next room be the Dungeon’s medic. If nothing else, giving the monsters roles raises them beyond just being “4 Goblin Cutters” in an encounter and gives you something more to work with at the table. The other monsters could fly into a frenzy when your heroes kill the Orc Guard who happens to be the only eligible female in the Dungeon, or give a snicker when the local bully finally gets his comeuppance.
Food for thought, anyhow.
Build an Essentials Rogue, today!
Jul 30th
The preview of the final build from the D&D Essentials line is up, and I’m geekgasming that this is (drumroll please……) The Thief. Yes folks, the Thief is back. For too long have the lightly armoured sneaky types belaboured under the misnomer of “Rogue”. Time to reclaim their true title and status as Thieves. Whether there’s forty of them breaking into a Sultan’s palace or one trying to steal Smaug’s treasure horde, this is great news for the game.
If, right now, you’re reading this and thinking I want to play a Thief and I want to play one now! then, my friends, this blogpost is for you.
As with the previous posts where we looked at re-creating the Knight, Warpriest and Mage using only content from the PHB, let’s see if we can create something more Thiefly (is that a word?) from what the Rogue Class provides in the core.
As with the other Essentials previews, the Thief is just another build of the Rogue, and one which slightly tweaks the class features in some way to better represent the concept. In this case, the emphasis is best summed up in one word: Backstab. If there was any doubt remaining in the minds of old-school gamers that D&D Essentials wasn’t designed for you, it ends here, right now. Repeat after me: this is a Thief with a Backstab ability. If it could be any more old-school they would be reversing AC and bringing back THAC0. Damn.
Ok. Geekgasm over. Moving on.
Your Thief differs from the core Rogue in only a few respects. He has proficiency in Short Bow rather than Shuriken (oh yes), and gains Weapon Finesse rather than Rogue Weapon Talent. As the latter granted a bonus when using Shuriken (increasing the damage die one size), it makes sense to pop it out for something else. We don’t know quite what that “something else” is – yet. I’m liking the return of the Short Bow and move away from the all-too-Ninja throwing stars. Welcome back Thief. Oh how we’ve missed you.
Beyond that, the changes are in the Powers. More on those in a mo’.
To build our Essentials-inspired Rogue using only the PHB, let’s make him a Brawny Rogue with the Brutal Scoundrel tactic. This is a Rogue whose job is to get in, hit the guard hard and fast then steal the gold, & keep on the move at all times. This isn’t a swashbuckling ninja Rogue but a pure old-school sneak thief of the first degree.
With the previous faux-Essentials builds I’ve had to make them Human to account for the extra goodies the builds gain (especially as I can’t trade out the other features). In this case though, let’s make our Thief an Elf. This gives her that all-important Short Bow proficiency as well as Wild Step and Speed 7, perfect things for our mobile Rogue to possess.
With the Short Bow appearing on the Thief’s proficiency list, it looks like WoTC are going to need another Update to allow it to be used with all those lovely Rogue Exploits. Let’s hand-wave that for now though. If this Rogue has a Short Bow, she sure as heck can use it with her Powers.
As we’re building a classic Elven Rogue, we take Acrobatics, Athletics, Dungeoneering, Perception, Stealth and Thievery as Trained skills. She’s an asset to any adventuring company with skills which will help keep her and the party alive whilst exploring the underdepths.
For her Feat, we take Backstabber. The Essentials Thief, along with Sneak Attack, also has that Backstab ability I mentioned. This gives the Thief a further +3 to hit and +1d6 damage on an attack once per Encounter provided they have combat advantage. In other words, that one attack is good for a total of +5 to hit, and +3d6 damage – perfect for a strike that really needs to drop a foe. Ouchy. It’s not clear whether the Backstabber feat improves his bonus die to d8s as well. I doubt it does. We’ll see.
As with the Knight build for the Fighter, the Thief doesn’t gain traditional At-will Powers but instead has their own unique take on them. This Thief’s Tricks (as they’re called) are more movement oriented and seem to focus more on getting the Thief into position, out of trouble or setting up a telling blow. That’s best emulated with the Rogue’s Deft Strike and Riposte Strike At-wills. The former allows our faux-Thief to Shift 2 (ie, move 10’ safely) before making her attack while the latter lets her interrupt an enemy’s melee attack with an attack of her own. Nothing like a blade on the throat to make a goblin think twice, eh?
As with the other Essentials builds, the Thief is a little less powerful at the top end (no Daily Powers!) in return for being just a bit more awesome overall (Backstab! Backstab! Backstab!). Our PHB-based Thief doesn’t have that luxury so let’s plough onto her other choices, keeping with the same conceptual theme. We take King’s Castle to keep with the “always on the move” idea, and Trick Strike because… well, it’s got Trick in the name. Also, it combines high damage with being able to push the enemy around the battlefield each time your hit. What’s not to love?
As GM, I handwave that this Rogue’s Powers are all usable with the Short Bow, and she buys an Adventurer’s Kit, Thieve’s Tools, Leather Armour, Short Bow and Short Sword.
Here’s Marlissa’s character sheet as a .pdf and .dnd4e.
Shameless re-use of a render alert!
And with that, we’re done. We know that the D&D Essentials line begins with a Red Box and gives us the first few levels for the Knight, Warpriest, Mage and Thief. We know it contains both a solo and an introductory adventure as well as counters, maps, dice, monsters and GM guide. We know the line continues in the same vein with full class levels (at least to 10th) for these builds as well as an updated Monster guide and Rules Compendium (which I’m hoping is more like the D&D Rules Cyclopedia than the 3e Rules Compendium. In my dreams).
We know it’s Fourth Edition D&D through and through, and unashamedly old school, both at the same time. In this last article poor Bill sounded very grumpy about all the negative idiocy that’s been thrown around about what should, imho, be THE product D&D gamers should be getting right behind regardless of their gaming preferences and style.
So c’mon people! Let’s stop Bill being grumpy!
Me, I can’t wait for Essentials. How about you?
Build an Essentials Cleric, today!
Jul 27th
We’ve had the Fighter & Wizard, now it’s the turn of the Cleric to take centre stage. As before we’re looking at how to create a simpler starting character using only the PHB and the design decisions evident in the D&D Essentials line. The end result should be a set of Archetypal characters which would serve to introduce any new player (or old player still unsure of 4e D&D) to the game.
The D&D Essential build of the Cleric is a Warpriest, a slightly more specialised man of god (any god, though only those with storm and sun domains are represented here) who focuses on battle and the domains of his deity. The PHB Cleric builds are more generalist in their Divine approach; they select a patron deity but it’s entirely optional whether they take Feats or Powers relating to their god. In contrast, the Warpriest gains Domain Features right from the start. These decide your Cleric’s starting At-will, Encounter and Utility Powers with only the Warpriest’s Daily Power being a player choice.
This is a Good Thing for new players to the game as it helps them build a Cleric tailored toward a specific deity quickly and easily, though a more experienced gamer will chaff at the narrow set of choices he can make. There’s nothing to say a Cleric has to be built this way, of course – if you want to play a Cleric there’s no shortage of ways to build one in 4e D&D. The Essentials line just provides one method, and it’s a darned fine one for new players at that.
The other differences between any other 4e Cleric and an Essentials Warpriest are that they gain proficiency in shields, +1 Fort and +1 Will rather than a straight +2 bonus to Will, but don’t appear to gain Divine Fortune, Healer’s Lore or Ritual Casting. That’s a fair swap out for their Domain Features (especially as they gain a Utility Power at 1st level), and reflects that they are geared more toward combat and less toward healing than your average cleric.
As with the other builds, creating a Cleric in a similar style using only the PHB means he has to be Human to account for the “new” features. Let’s create him as a Battle Cleric of Kord. He is a follower of D&D’s resident God of Storms and Battle, and an all round card carrying member of the Thor lookalike club. Oh yeah!
For his Trained skills we pick Diplomacy, Heal, History, Insight and Religion. I imagine he comes from the “he who shouts loudest shouts last” school of Diplomatic relations, and his knowledge of History comes from ancient Skald’s tales told late at night around a roaring fire. For his Feats we pick Kord’s Favour and Weapon Proficiency (Warhammer). I mentioned Thor, right?
When it comes to Powers, this is a Cleric who wades into battle alongside the Fighters rather than stand back and let his deity do all the work. With the Righteous Brand and Priest’s Shield At-wills, supplemented by the ever useful Lance of Faith (a bolt of single lightning from above) he is a worthy adversary on the battlefield. Add the Wrathful Thunder Encounter and Cascade of Light (a BIG lightning bolt!) Daily Powers and his image as a crusading follower of a storm god is sealed.
For his equipment we give him an Adventurer’s Kit, Chainmail armour, Ritualbook (a bag of runestones) and a Warhammer (which he wields two-handed). For his Rituals he has Gentle Repose and Brew Potions Mead.
We’re done.
DO NOT MESS WITH BADASS CLERIC OF BADASS STORM GOD
THANK YOU
Here’s the pdf and dnd4e character sheet for Olaf Olegsson, loyal Battle Cleric of Kord and an ideal right hand man any time you need to start a bar fight.
What I’ve learned from creating these characters is that the D&D Essentials line is not 4.5e. It’s a fresh look at what we have now through gentler eyes. The rules are presented in a less Powers intensive manner and that helps the role-playing aspect of the game truly shine through. As I’ve said before, this is the same rules, writ better.
The builds for each character class are slightly more ambitious than the ones we have seen so far. Rather than say “take, this, this and that feature and you end up with this build” they explicitly swap out one or more class features for something else. That’s more akin to a 2nd Edition AD&D Kit, and a small evolutionary shift from what we’ve seen before in 4e but certainly nothing revolutionary or game-changing. The Essential Mage build of the Wizard can stand right aside any other Wizard in the game and be considered rules-equal. This is a direction I really like that they’ve taken and hope we see campaign-specific builds being created in the future. I’d love to see builds for Dark Sun Wizards, Eberron Wizards and a Forgotten Realms Wizard that all reflect their different styles in some minor way.
When you put together the build options (both these and the classic ones), Background Options, the freedom to choose your own Powers, multi-class Feats, the Hybrid classes and themes introduced with Dark Sun, Fourth Edition really is the best, most flexible version of D&D there is.
D&D Essentials is just one more player friendly step along the way.
Next: The “Essential” Rogue
Build an Essentials Mage, today!
Jul 26th
Last time we looked at how to create something like the Essential Knight using only content from the Player’s Handbook. This time it’s the turn of the Mage, a specialist Wizard formally educated in the ways of spell casting. Can we do the same thing, and create a leaner, simpler magic-user using only the PHB? Of course we can!
But first, I’m going to go off on a small tangent and explain why I’m purposefully restricting this to options from the PHB. It would, after all, be easier to reproduce the Essentials builds with more options and features to work with. The point though is to recreate something which is easier both to build and use at the table, and that means creating a character where a new players doesn’t need to hunt through a plethora of books to find what they need. It also doesn’t assume the player has a D&D Insider account or even access to one. A new gamer with a copy of the PHB or an old schooler who (like me) favours the Dead Tree format should be able to put together these builds right at home.
Back to the Mage.
This is a straightforward build for the Wizard Class which loses its reliance on implements but gains specialization in one (or more with Feats, presumably) schools of magic. It looks like Arcane Implement Mastery (Orb of Imposition, Staff of Defense and Wand of Accuracy) has been swapped out for the Apprentice Mage feature instead which gives some kind of bonus when casting spells specific to your school. The article doesn’t go into detail about the three school specialities provided (Enchantment, Evocation and Illusion) but I’d expect them to confer bonuses similar to those given by the Implement Mastery features.
Aside from that, the only other change is that the Mage gains Magic Missile automatically as a free bonus spell. I’m still on the fence regarding the updated changes (the player in me loves it, but my inner GM suspects it is open to abuse) but I do like the idea that trained Mages (Magi?) all learn this classic spell as part of their basic training.
As with the Fighter, this is a change which requires that our “Essentials” Wizard is built as a Human in order to gain the free At-will. For the sake of simplicity, let’s make him a master of Evocation, a blasty mage whose spells are all designed to do as much damage and make a much noise all possible. That’s a character which should suit any player new to the game!
We’ll start with a War Wizard build with Wand of Accuracy as his Arcane Implement Mastery. This gives a bonus equal to your DEX modifier to a single attack roll once per encounter when wielding a wand. I expect that the Evocation Apprentice bonus will be pretty much the same, but only be usable when casting Evocation spells instead.
For our studious and eager to please student Mage, I’ll give him Arcana, Diplomacy, History, Nature and Religion as his Trained skills and Human Perseverance and Armour Proficiency (Leather) as his feats. This apprentice is determined not to let anything get him down, and is smart enough to know the value of improved protection when out in the wild.
It’s annoying that all of the spells didn’t have the D&D schools as keywords right from the start. I expect that will be the subject of another Errata Update at a later date. For our Evocation Mage though, we take the compulsory Magic Missile along with Scorching Burst and Ray of Frost. Our Evocation specialist isn’t exactly short-changed when it comes to At-will blasty spells. An Illusionist or Enchanter who wanted to use only the PHB will have to reskin the powers to suit. Perhaps the Cloud of Daggers is all in the mind or Thunderwave is an intense wave of pain.
For our Encounter and Daily spells we’ll take Force Orb and Acid Arrow with Flaming Sphere in the Spellbook. It’s not entirely clear from the article whether the Mage gains a bonus Daily Spell at first level. This may be part of the Apprentice Mage benefit or be dropped as the balancing factor for gaining Magic Missile for free. If that’s the case it’s in keeping with these Essentials builds providing more flexibility but slightly less power overall.
For his first quest outside the cloistered halls of his Wizarding Academy our Apprentice Mage is equipped with an Adventurer’s Kit, Spellbook, Leather Armour, Dagger and Wand. For his starting Rituals we choose Brew Potion, Magic Mouth and Tenser’s Floating Disk to reflect his classroom learning.
Resisting the urge to call him Larry Trotter, here’s Marcus Wireforged. eager Apprentice Mage and student of Things That Go Boom. Download the pdf or dnd4e of his character sheet, and he’s ready to play!
See? Not like Harry Potter at all.
Next: The “Essential” Cleric
Dungeons & Disney du Jour: Princess Pauline
Jul 25th
“Jest look at her. Prancing through this stinkin’ dungeon like it’s some fairy tale palace, all singin’ and dancing’ fit to burst. It’s no surprising the monsters hear us comin’ a mile away. What I want to know is how come she never gets hit. I mean, look at what she’s wearin’! A ball gown! D’you see, Sir Gallant? D’you see?”. Five steps behind the dwarf the paladin sighed, an unmistakable look of adoration on his face, “Yes goodfellow Bain, I see….”
Once upon a time, Princess Pauline lived in a huge castle atop a hill surrounded by an enchanted wood populated with all manner of friendly animals. Then the orcs came and Princess Pauline was forced to escape with the aid of a gruff dwarf and a love-struck paladin. They had a series of hilarious adventures (most of which involved Princess Pauline singing and looking immaculate) and now find themselves questing through dungeons in search of the Key to True Love which will banish the orcs from Princess Pauline’s kingdom forever. Then they will all live happily ever after.
Except maybe the dwarf.
Dirty Little Secret: The power behind the orc invasion is none other than Princess Pauline’s evil stepmother, a wicked Night Hag intent on claiming the tiny kingdom as her own. In order to do that she needs to ensure that Princess Pauline dies in as gruesome a manner as possible. Or eat an apple. Either works.
Notes: 4e D&D Bards make excellent Disney Princesses. In fact they might as well have just called it the Disney Princess character class. With a fine singing voice and the ability to get friends and foes alike into all sorts of japes in battle (not to mention lullabies at bedtime), your Bard Disney Princess is a worthy (if frustrating) addition to any adventuring party. As your Rituals, take Animal Messenger and Create Campsite and your woodland friends will only be too eager to help with your domestic chores.
Here is Princess Pauline’s character sheet at 1st level.
Enjoy!
