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

Press release straight from Paizo about the latest entry in the Pathfinder D&D Adventure series:

Stone Is Strong!
The next installment of the Pathfinder series puts you toe-to-toe with stone giants!

The first time around it was goblins. This time, something a bit bigger. In Pathfinder #4—Rise of the Runelords Chapter 4: “Fortress of the Stone Giants”, the intrepid heroes are faced with saving Sandpoint from a surprise invasion force of stone giants. When the players find out the force is but a prelude to something much larger, they take the fight to the stone giants themselves in their fortress, Jorgenfist. Will the players succeed in finding out who is behind the invasion before their home is crushed beneath the feet of giants?

In addition to the giant adventure by Wolfgang Baur, Pathfinder #4 has a Pathfinder’s guide to stone giants, an in-depth article on the dragons of Golarion, the next installment of the Pathfinder’s Journal, and seven new monsters to infest your campaign!

Pathfinder #4 is expected to hit our warehouse in the first week of December, so start your Pathfinder subscription now—Sandpoint needs you!

I don’t own the Magic Item Compendium, so I was unaware that the concept of giving items “levels” was even broached.  Needless to say I was a little shocked to read yesterday’s Design and Development article about giving magic items levels.  It seems that 4th Edition has moved in that direction.  I can’t say that I disagree with the decision since I really think that will make it tons easier on the DM to determine what treasure is appropriate to award.  I always had problems with the magic item creation mechanics to the point that I just avoided anything more complicated that +2 flaming swords or whatnot.  It’s the one area of my DMing that was noticeably lacking (from my point of view, not my players since I pretty much just found stuff I liked from published materials rather than make my own).  Judging things by cost and then thinking about the cost versus character wealth by level chart, calculating what kind of effect certain bonuses would have on a party--there were things that were just more trouble than they were worth to me.

Enter the Magic Item Levels concept-

Since we built that level system around the existing magic item prices, it was an imperfect solution (for instance, a few non-epic magic items exceeded the pricing scheme for level 1-20 items).

Fourth Edition D&D improves that useful tool by explicitly linking a magic item’s level to its price. For example, all 9th-level magic items now cost the same number of gp to craft or to purchase. This makes it even easier to gauge a magic item’s appropriateness for your game at a glance. Don’t know if it’s OK to drop a flying carpet into the hands of your 9th-level PCs? Well, the fact that the carpet’s listed as an 18th-level item should clue you in that it’d have an enormous impact on your 9th-level game.

That sounds great to me.  The article goes on to state that there are problems, such as comparing items with different purposes.  It specifically points out the +2 flaming longsword and the rope of climbing as being equivalent in level, but obviously not directly comparable.  Still, I think this concept will make it easier to create and distribute magic items.  Plus, I always hated the random treasure creation.

Wizards of the Coast posted this D&D Insider article about the new way Smite will be run in 4th Edition.

Here’s the first class ability listed.

Safeguard Smite
Paladin 1
Encounter • Weapon
Standard Action
Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Charisma vs. AC
Hit: 2x[W] + Cha.
Hit or Miss: An ally within 5 squares gains a bonus to AC equal to your Wisdom modifier until the end of your next turn.

This basic, entry-level smite has all the things a growing paladin needs to fulfill its role and lay down some hurt. A Charisma attack against the target’s Armor Class, safeguard smite deals double her base weapon’s damage plus her Charisma modifier in damage (paladins are a force of personality, after all), and grants a quick boost to an ally in trouble (including, in a pinch, the paladin herself). And there you have it. Your first smite—simple, serviceable, and fun.

I’m not sure what to think.  It sounds interesting, but not really all that much different. Firstly, you get a “Charisma attack” against the target’s AC.  I’m assuming that means you roll your normal attack roll and add in your Charisma bonus.  That sounds right.  The issue for me is that the wording seems to leave out the attack roll part, such that my first impression was of a Charisma check against the target’s AC, which would be significantly less powerful.  Having experienced the problems with wording in 3E, I’m already worried about it in 4E, and this doesn’t bode well.  I sense errata galore.

Second part of the ability: The damage is x2 weapon damage plus Cha, also the same from 3E.  The third part is the new twist: It grants a defensive bonus of your Wisdom bonus to the AC of your character or any ally within 5 squares.

There are more advanced Smite abilities that the Paladin class gets as they progress through the various tiers and levels, including a healing version and a version that denies a target a line of effect for one round.

Paizo announced the top 32 winners of their RPG Superstar contest today.  I don’t recognize any members of our little corner of the web so if this is one of you, speak up! 

The entries from round one are detailed on Paizo’s RPG Superstar page.  Some great stuff is in there so be sure to grab the links before they’re gone.  Full press release from Paizo follows.

Paizo Publishing, LLC® today announced the finalists for RPG Superstar. Judges Erik Mona, Wolfgang Baur, and Clark Peterson worked feverishly over the past few weeks to narrow the field of 856 entries down to the best 32.

“I’m amazed by the excellent design work not just by the finalists, but by just about everyone who submitted,” said Erik Mona, Paizo’s Publisher and one of three RPG Superstar judges. “When this started, we were a bit worried that we weren’t going to be able to come up with 32 great items. Instead, we ended up with more than 70 that could have made the finals. The Top 32 are the cream of an incredibly bounteous crop.”

For the initial open call, entrants were asked to submit a wondrous item using the 3.5 SRD. Each entry needed to be 200 words or less and had to include proper mechanics and flavor. Entries were eliminated for ignoring the entry requirements, for spelling errors, for using non-Paizo intellectual property, or for simply not being creative enough to fit the mold of an RPG Superstar.

The Top 32 finalists for RPG Superstar are:

Alex Handley, Derby, Derbyshire (United Kingdom)
Alexander MacLeod, Raleigh, NC (USA)
Andrew Black, Florence, KY (USA)
Chad Patterson, Somerset, KY (USA)
Chris Nichols, Shawnee, OK (USA)
Christine Schneider, Neu-Isenburg, Hessen (Germany)
Clinton J. Boomer, Macomb, IL (USA)
Daniele Nanni, Sarasota, FL (USA)
Dwayne Monroe, San Jose, CA (USA)
Erik Anderson, Pittsfield, MA (USA)
Hal Maclean, Hubbards, Novia Scotia (Canada)
James MacKenzie, Tucson, AZ (USA)
Jason Nelson, Seattle, WA (USA)
Jeb Boyt, Austin, TX (USA)
Joe Outzen, Saint Louis Park, MN (USA)
Joel Flank, Schaumburg, IL (USA)
Joseph Yerger, Sarasota, FL (USA)
Laurens de Haan, The Netherlands
Mauricio Quintana, Richmond, British Columbia (Canada)
Michael Kogan, Jamison, PA (USA)
Michael Raper, New Matamoras, OH (USA)
Neil McClean, Cantebury (United Kingdom)
Rennie Saunders, San Francisco, CA (USA)
Rob McCreary, Prague (Czech Republic)
Robert McRae, Lethbridge, Alberta (Canada)
Ross Byers, Oviedo, FL (USA)
Samuel Kisko, Morgantown, WV (USA)
Silas McDermott, Lake Oswego, OR (USA)
Viktor Svindland, Germany
Walter Pullen, Seattle, WA (USA)
William Cronk, Canada
William McNulty, Philadelphia, PA (USA)

These 32 finalists will now be required to design a country to the specifications of the RPG Superstar judges and submit that country by Monday, December 3 at 12:00 P.M. (noon) Pacific Time. These round two submissions will be revealed to the general public on December 5 with the judges’ comments and the public will then get to discuss the entries and vote for their favorite. Voting ends December 11 and the Top 16 by votes will move on to round three.

For a complete schedule of RPG Superstar, including rules and a FAQ, visit paizo.com/rpgsuperstar.

The winner of the first RPG Superstar contest will be announced on February 20, 2008.

Wizards of the Coast has some updates on 4th Edition posted. We have a great article on feats here. Included in the article are some sample feats like the new Toughness feat:

Toughness
Tier: Heroic
Benefit: When you take this feat, you gain additional hit points equal to your level + 3. You also gain 1 additional hit point every time you gain a level.

I like it. It basically rolls Toughness and Improved Toughness from 3.5 into one feat. I assume the reference to the Heroic Tier is perhaps a prerequisite that must be met before you can take the feat? Here is another:

Golden Wyvern Adept
Tier: Paragon
Benefit: You can omit a number of squares from the effects of any of your area or close wizard powers. This number can’t exceed your Wisdom modifier.

Very nice. A wizard with this feat can pull off some sweet area effect spells and exclude his comrades from the effects. Read the article for the rest of the them!

There is also a great article on Quests. The article discusses options for handling quests in the 4e DMG.

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After waiting an incredibly long time for a viable prestige class for archer and instead being disappointed by some of the most underpowered classes in the history of 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons, I created this class to fill the extremely noticeable and increasingly frustrating void. I think I have finally created a class worth playing.

I present to you the Master Yeoman, a fully vetted class that has met the rigors of the Dragon Avenue bulletin board community and has been described as “[t]asty,” “a worthy archery class,” and “[l]ooks great!”

Inside the zip file, you will find two PDF files.  One is the fancy version on a parchment background with some art of a 15th century English longbowman.  The other is on a plain white background and is missing the art for easier printing.

Full text of the class after the break.

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I’ve just finished too much Thanksgiving dinner and thought I would wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.