4th & Dragon : Dungeons and Dragons...and stuff

4 out of 5 stars

• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
• Author: Stephen Radney-MacFarland
• Released: July 01, 2009

While any good DM spends plenty of time preparing for each game session and figuring out what they’re going to throw at their players this week, but players will be players and there are times when even the best plans are for naught.  So what do you do when nothing goes as expected and you find yourself ill-prepared for what is happening?  Improvise.  That’s the topic of today’s Save My Game article, or more specifically, how to be ready to improvise so that things run smoothly in the game session and your players don’t even notice the difference.

It starts with reappropriating ideas for new campaigns into ideas for developing your current one.  Even if the idea was for an Eberron campaign and your current one is in FR, that doesn’t mean that you can’t reappropriate it.  The setting is there to serve your campaign, not the other way around.  Ideas that would make good campaigns will make good campaigns in all settings.  Think creatively and you might be surprised by what happens.

Beyond that, Stephen goes into some details on how you can implement this philosophy; most of which boils down to keeping a good encounter notebook.  See and encounter that just screams for you to run it?  Put it in the encounter notebook so that you can steal it when your players run off the rails and you need an off the cuff encounter.  Add to that the ability to recognize loose ends in your prep work, and plans for which encounters to pull from the notebook should players start to pull on that loose end, and you’re players will never know when you aren’t prepared for what they do.

From the mailbag, Stephen addresses a question about handling variable groups and one which is a follow-up to his advice about keeping a campaign wiki.

This article is full of good advice, but is mostly “theory.” Even the personal anecdote doesn’t really give the reader much in the form of an example to follow.  More details would help and maybe even a worked example: something like a twitter feed with regular updates through the prep and then play of a session that had to be improvised.  Still, the article is defiantly worth the read.

4 out of 5 stars

• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
• Author: Stephen Schubert
• Released: June 26, 2009

Everyone should have seen the Artificer preview when it came out last year as it was part of the free trial period for Dragon shortly after WotC took it over.  It contained several novel ideas that were designed to preserve the flavor of a master magical tinkerer in the new edition.  Those ideas sparked much discussion and revision within WotC, some of which was apparently visible on their boards (not being a regular over there, I can’t vouch for that claim).

With the release of the Eberron Players Guide last week (10 days ago, to be precise), the final version of the artificer made its debut.  As I don’t play in or run an Eberron Campaign, I didn’t buy that book and don’t have plans to.  As a result, I won’t get to see the final version of the artificer until the Compendium and Character Builder are updated in July.  Today, however, we get the Design & Development article that discusses the transformation of the artificer from its 3.5 version, to its playtest version, and finally to its published form.  Said article is, as ususal, lacking in exact mechanical details, but still provides some interesting perspectives on the artificer, at least from my uninformed position.  I’d be particularly interested if someone who bought the EPG could comment on the changes, however.  Some of those mentioned in the article are:

• Healing powers that allow for the “transfer” of healing surges from one party member to another
• Disposable magic “items” are now represented by powers that create conjurations or zones
• Constructs are summoned elementals bound to power a physical device
• Buffing powers have ongoing effects to represent the idea of handing out the “right tool” or enchanting items on the fly
• Atrificers are master crafters, getting all the item creation rituals for free and being able to use Disenchant Magic Item without paying the component cost.  They can also pick up feats that allow them to make magic items higher than their level, but they can’t get discounts on the creation process.  As a result, they don’t “mess” with the magic item economy as much as they used to.
• Arcane Replenishment has been modified to work on more than just magic items with daily powers.

Unlike most Design & Development articles, this one was written by just one person (Stephen) who was involved in both the design and development processes.  As a result, it reads as a single unit in a way that few other Design & Development articles have been able to accomplish.  Given that those few others were the two most recent ones (on the Monk and on Dragonmarks), it’s my hope that this will continue.  However, like this one, one of those articles (the on on Dragonmarks) had a single author, so this hope hasn’t really been tested yet.  We’ll see what happens the next time a two-author Design & Development article comes out.

Overall the article is fairly good.  Indeed, it’s probably excellent if you have the Artificer class in the EPG to reference as you read it.  Since I didn’t, however, I find it slightly less useful.

4.5 out of 5 stars

• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
• Author: Greg Bilsland
• Released: June 22, 2009

Released on Monday (while I was traveling) the playtest article for MM3 introduces us to the catastrophic dragons (one of the four types of dragons that exist in 4e).  In particular, we get to see the current state of development on one catastrophic dragon: the volcanic dragon.

Catastrophic dragons are embodiments of primordial forces and thus are physical manifestations of natural disasters.  In the case of the volcanic dragon, that natural disaster is (obviously enough) the erupting volcano.  As a result, fire and lava play prominent features in any encounter that involves one of these dragons.

In a manner similar to the MM‘s presentation, four versions of the volcanic dragon are presented (Young, Adule, Elder, and Ancient).  Unlike the MM, however, all four are Elites, not Solos.  At the same time, however, the power selection that the volcanic dragons have is very similar to what the MM dragons have in terms of number and frequency.  Given the desired direction for solos (mentioned in the D&D Podcast on the Monster Manual 2) this makes sense, as the power selection of dragons in general feels far more like those of an elite than a solo (as they are generally lacking in immediate or opportunity action attacks).

The one thing that I noticed fairly quickly about the catastrophic dragons is that the signature power of dragons, the breath weapon, is completely lacking.  Instead they have a combination of an aura, a power which modifies their aura, and a power which the dragon can use only when the aura has been sufficiently modified.  While only the power has the word “catastrophe” in it’s name, this three ability combination can be dubbed the “catastrophe power” of the dragon and is the mechanic about which the designers are most interested in receiving feedback.  Without any chance to see it in action, I must say that I like the concept and think it makes for quite the interesting encounter.  The fact that dragon must forgo its normal attacks to initiate the catastrophe (which doesn’t pay off for 2 rounds) however means that a volcanic dragon which has become pinned down is unlikely to use this signature power.  I’d like it better if the action intensive portion of the catastrophe was tied its ending rather than its beginning.  As I said, however, that is a purely theoretical opinion.

If you like experimenting with new mechanics, I highly suggest taking a look at the volcanic dragon and trying it out on your players.

4 out of 5 stars

• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
• Author: Robert J. Schwalb
• Released: June 22, 2009

Released on Monday (while I was busy traveling) this article contains 4 paragon paths for Bards, each focused on a bard who has multiclassed into a particular power source.  Indeed, while it takes only one multiclass feat in a power source to make the bard eligible for the matching paragon path, the divine and arcane paths are more powerful when you have more than one multiclass feat.  The primal and martial paths don’t have this stacking feature, however, and thus seem a bit lackluster by comparison.  However, given the feat cost associated with the escalating power of the paragon paths, I don’t think this makes the primal and martial paths any less powerful than the divine and arcane ones.

While I like the idea of the paths, and in particular the idea of a path whose power level increases when you take certain feats that wouldn’t normally be optimal choices, the implementation in the arcane paragon path really bugs me.  Each multiclass feat has a specific benefit associated with it, meaning that as the field of multiclass feats for arcane classes expands (as it will with the Eberron Player’s Guide with the introduction of the multiclass feat for the Artificer) the paragon path will need to be modified to account for the new feats.  Much better is the system developed for the divine paragon path, where you gain the Channel Divinity ability of the associated classes.  Of course, since arcane classes don’t have a common thematic ability like Channel Divinity is for divine classes, I don’t see how this could have been avoided.

Overall though, I think the idea and the implementation is pretty good.

Worldworks Games released a new fantasy set this month. Exterior Works: Swamp Woods Village would be a great addition to any gaming group’s table with it’s versatility and great visual appeal. Don’t forget to check out the other fantasy terrain options that WorldWorks Games offers.

Product Description:

West of the Hinterland lies a murky swamp where few dare go. Ancient totems stand as grim warnings to those who would trespass into this misty realm. Anyone foolish enough to proceed is likely to never be heard of again. It’s said they disappear into the trees themselves…

Exteriorworks: Swamp Woods Village contains everything you need to get down-n-dirty in the table-top mire! Stackable huts and independant bases give you the freedom to build what you want, how you want, from a simple ground based village to a massive city in the trees, all the way up to (and on to) the leafy canopy itself!

Perfect for forest Elves, woodland Goblins, the savage tribes of forgotten lands or cuddly clans of arboreal teddy bears! Mark your territory with spikey fences, impaled skulls, hanging cages or towering totems! Navigate through the muck past drooping swamp trees in bark canoes or just bang on the drum while the cauldron boils (I hear adventurers taste like chicken).

Exteriorworks: Swamp Woods Village contains all of the following:

10 swampy groundtiles (including Hinterlands river transition) in 1”, 1.5” and gridless formats

6” walkways with optional raillings in 1”, 1.5” and gridless formats
9” walkways with optional raillings in 1”, 1.5” and gridless formats
Ring walkways with raillings in 1”, 1.5” and gridless formats
3” high intersections 1” and gridless formats
6” high intersections 1” and gridless formats

Tree huts with optional ringed walkways in 1”, 1.5” and gridless formats
Adaptable, removable hut roof
3” and 6” high trees with stacking option
Tree bases (two types) in 1”, 1.5” and gridless formats
Canopy platform with optional branches in 1”, 1.5” and gridless formats

2” and 3” high fences
Totem poles
Canoes
Spear stands
Skull spikes
Wicker baskets (fish, apples, peppers and empty)
Ceremonial drums
Hanging cages (with and without occupant)
Swamp tree (simple type)
Ladders (with and without arms)
3D torches
Stone oven with removable door
Big, bubblin’ cauldron

And as always, this set includes easy to follow, fully photographed and detailed instructions!

Follow inside for more pictures…

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4.5 out of 5 stars

• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
• Author: Ari Marmell
• Released: June 19, 2009

Today’s article is part of the Dmonomicon of Iggwilv and details a relatively new demon in the D&D universe: Turaglas.  A manifestation of the chaos of the Abyss and its desire to consume the world, Turaglas has no fixed form and was not originally a primordial, unlike other demons.  He’s also of a power at least equal to the greatest demon princes (if not more powerful), but is kept in check by uneasy alliances between the different factions (of particular interest is the fact that Demogorgon and Orcus actually allied against Turaglas to seal his section of the abyss off) and his own chaotic nature.

In addition to a description of Turaglas himself, we also get his aspect, his exarch, and a race he spawned for monsters.  For more mortal foes, there are descriptions of some of his cultists (amazingly enough some people do worship a demon who would as soon eat them as their enemies).  There’s also a description of a new kind of magic item, of which 13 examples have special properties (no stat block, but details in the text).  Finally there’s a description of Sholo-Tovoth, the region of the abyss that Turaglas controls as it was known before it was sealed off.  While it is likely to have that form again should it ever be unsealed, the nature of Turaglas also suggests that features once familiar may have changed beyond recognition even while the dangers remain the same.

Mechanically, the most interesting thing in the article is the way that Turaglas changes size during the course of battle.  A gargantuan creature, Turaglas is 5x5 squares at his smallest.  This would have put him in the collosal category in 3.5, but since that category was done away with in 4e, he’s in the same category as smaller creatures.  On top of that, Turaglas can expand to be as big as the combat or story needs, potentially being 10x10 or even bigger.  As a result, running a combat with Turaglas presents an interesting challenge to the DM as no single mini can represent the gaping maw.

Overall the article is fairly good.  There’s one spot where a page reference is missing, replaced by “??.” As some one who uses LaTeX on a regular basis, I know that this is something that WotC could easily fix if they used the right program to prepare these articles and thus is especially frustrating to keep seeing.  Other than that, I can only complain about the column and a third of white space on the last page.

3.5 out of 5 stars

• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
• Author: Scott Fitzgerald Gray
• Released: June 17, 2009

Sorry about not getting this up yesterday, but I’m at a conference and got distracted after making my last post.

The Scales of War adventure path continues this month in Garaitha’s Anvil.

The war against the githyanki continues and the party is tasked with a strike mission against the portal network that enables the githyanki to move their strike teams, spies, and even regular troops.  During the process, they come across some intelligence that indicates the threat presented by the portal network is actually much greater than originally thought and their mission will have to be extended in order to ensure the safety of the coalition they’ve worked so hard to build.

The adventure has three parts: the original infiltration mission (1 minor quest, 4 tactical encounters, and 1 roleplaying encounter), the extension that results from the intelligence gained during the first (1 minor quest, 4 tactical encounters and 1 combined skill challenge and tactical encounter), and final strike mission to prevent the portal network from posing a threat again (1 major quest, 5 tactical encounters, 2 combined skill challenge and tactical encounter).  Altogether this gives a XP ratio of 25,400:170,000 which means there’s almost 7 times as much combat XP as their is non-combat XP, situating it most definitively on the hack’n’slash side of what I consider the ideal ratio.  Add to that the fact that 2 of the encounters (one of the pure tactical encounter and one of the combined ones) have the possibility for reinforcements which aren’t accounted for in the original XP calculation and that a fairly trigger happy party might fight the NPCs in the roleplaying encounter rather than talk to them, and the balance could be shifted even further to that extreme.

During the course of the adventure, the PCs should go from 17th to 19th level, which matches up well with the calculations I made for the last adventure.

One problem with the adventure: there’s a mention of a map on which a compass rose was purposely left off so that it could be used regardless of which entrance into a fortress the PCs take (as a side note, I really dislike this tactic as it means the PCs’ choice isn’t real).  Said map, however, has a compass rose.  Other than that, I didn’t notice any major errors.

Overall, as adventures go, this isn’t the worst thing we’ve seen from WotC, however it does lean heavily to the hack’n’slash side of things, even though it isn’t your typical dungeon crawl.  Really I wish WotC would make more of an effort to include more skill challenges and would make ones like those that have been shown to us in the Ruling Skill Challenges series.