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I’ve been avoiding paying too much attention to Pathfinder, but have steadily grown more interested as I listened to the Tome Show and watched the chatter amongst the blogs. I gave in today and downloaded the Beta Test rules and have begun looking over them. From what I’ve seen so far, it looks fairly innocuous. There isn’t anything that really popped out, but I also don’t have my leather-bound 3.5 PHB in front of me comparing, either (yes, I have the leather-bound PHB, and it is precious to me… precious…).
Are there any big differences I should keep my eye out for? Have any of you played Pathfinder, and is it worth investing time and effort into looking into when I’m perfectly happy with 4e?
My buddy Dave and I will be attending ConCarolinas on the 30th and 31st of May. Let me know if you’re attending! I know E from Geek’s Dream Girl will be in attendance as well. I’ll be the one in the Dice Monkey T-Shirt. I’ve set up a Cafepress store, so if anyone wants to get any swag, they can swing on over there. There really isn’t much there, but we plan on expanding it and adding anything you’d like to see there. If you have any suggestions for new stuff there, drop me a line!
Well, well, well! Welcome back, faithful readers! This week, we’ll be delving into everyone’s favorite subject: Drizzt!
“The battle for humanity has a beginning.”
I’ll be starting a new series, talking about running games in various settings.
Today, we’ll be talking about “Caprica.” If you’re a fan of Battlestar Galactica, you’ve undoubtedly heard of the made-for-DVD (and iTunes) movie “Caprica.” Based more than 50 years before the destruction of the Colonies (the BSG Miniseries), Caprica deals with the initial creation of the Cylons, the debauchery of humanity that led to the Cylon uprising, and the constant question asked in Battlestar: “What does it mean to be human?”
The Battlestar Galactica RPG can be easily used for playing in the history of the setting and can also incorporate other rules from the Cortex System on which it’s based. Apparently, the Cortex Core Rulebook has rules for Courtroom Drama, which could be interesting. Here are a few ideas for different campaigns in the world of Caprica:
The players are a group of special investigators, looking into the “Servants of the One”, a monotheistic radical cult dedicated to converting the colonies to worship of the One True God. The players would be able to travel around Caprica, as well as investigating inside the “V-Club”, a virtual environment in which all your fantasies can come true.
As members of the Tauron Mafia, the players would get the opportunity to bust in people’s heads, kill them in their sleep, or even just muscle around local shopkeepers in an attempt to increase the power of their “don.” And the cool tattoos don’t hurt, either.
The Tauron Uprising is a good place to start. They mention in the show that there was a massive civil war on Tauron, leading to many Taurons leaving the planet. Playing one of the sides of this conflict could be very interesting.
Members of the Cybernetic Lifeform Node project, scientists working on creating the first artificial intelligence. There could be intrigue with stealing company secrets, shortfalls in the creation process, etc.
What about all of you? Have any of you seen the show yet? And would the BSGRPG work best, or would something like D20 Modern work better?
If you start a campaign in Caprica, let me know!
I have never before read Kobold Quarterly. I’m just going to put that out there to start out with, so you know where I’m coming from.
I had heard of it, certainly. I had listened to the Atomic Array talk about KQ 8, where they interviewed Wolfgang Baur, and thought it sounded interesting, but still, didn’t pick it up and read it. Wow, I was missing out!
The first thing that stood out was the great cover art. It’s very evocative, and makes me want to play a Kobold Dragon Sorcerer, like, now!
There’s a good editorial inside by Mr. Baur, discussing KQ’s plans to begin writing more 4e stuff.
It should be noted that this issue is for everyone. There’s 3e love as well as lots of stuff for 4e as well, which is good. This magazine would be nearly useless for me if it was only 3e, and I like that they feature 3e and 4e rules right next to one another.
There’s a good article titled Bard Life, which features a lot of new spells and options for the 3e bard. I would have liked to see some 4e bard stuff, but this had to have been made a while before PHB2 came out, so you can’t blame them.
Camazots, Bat God of the Underworld is a good article detailing a batlike minor god who is the diety of bats, vampires and the underworld. He has apparently been a part of the pantheon of Greyhawk for a long time, but being unfamiliar with Greyhawk, I cannot attest to that. Still, a well written 3e article covering his history, cults, allies and his realm. If you’re looking for an archnemesis for the heroes to fight that is perhaps even creepier than Vecna himself!
Unfamiliar Familiars covers many new familiars for spellcasters in 3e, detailing such creatures as Clockwork Beetles, gliding possums, and my favorite, the Blink Dog Pup. I have always loved Blink Dogs, and would love to play a halfling Wizard who had a pet Blink Dog pup. Very nice.
The Ecology of the Maenad is a well written article detailing creatures of pure emotion. Quite simply, I can’t see implementing them in my game, so I did gloss over it. If you’re interested in playing a creature that is a walking contradiction in 4e, however, the Maenad may be for you.
The best part of the whole magazine is undoubtedly the interview with Dave Arneson. I am one of the people who knew nothing about Mr. Arneson before he died. Not until the message about his illness came out did I begin looking into what he did. I knew cursorily that he was the co-creator of D&D, but had no idea about the other fascinating things about his life. The interview was very well handled, and is a testament to all that Dave had done with his very rich life. You will be missed, Dave.
The Living With Dinosaurs article is good, as it details a few new Dinosaurs for your 3e game, but I would have preferred the article be about 4e. Almost every 3e MM has rules for new Dinosaurs, but we get a measly two on page 31 of the 4e MM as “Behemoths”. I would like to incorporate these beasts into my game, but without the 4e rules, I’m kind of stuck, as I’m not good at 4e conversion yet.
The Kitsune article is very good, and excellent if you’re going to be running an Oriental Adventures 4e game. They are fox people who use magic to change form. Very interesting, and definitely something you should look into.
Never to be Broken: Sworn Oaths of Magic is a phenomenal article, and simple enough to be converted to 4e. It talks about people swearing oaths, the advantages they get, and the consequences of a breach of such an oath. Oaths include the Swordsman’s Creed, the Shining Oath, the Pledge of Baal and the Covenant of the Lich Hunter. The whole idea of this article reminds me of Roy Greenhilt’s Blood Oath of Vengence against Xykon in Order of the Stick, and would beg and plead with a DM to let me convert or make up my own oath.
There are a few other minor articles near the end, but I can definitely say that this magazine is worth picking up. I would like to see a little more 4e content, perhaps each article could have both 3e and 4e content, but I understand if that’s not possible because of the GSL (I’m not sure).
Now I just need to convince my wife to let me get a subscription…
Want to learn more about Kobold Quarterly Issue 9? Read on…
- Atomic Array: Kobold Quarterly 009 (Atomic Array 021)
- Game Cryer: Review by Chris Perrin
- Allgeektout: Unleash Your Inner Fox: The Kyubi Epic Destiny
- RPGAggression: The Rudis Review
- Dice Monkey: Kobold Quarterly 9
Drop by Kobold Quarterly.com to pick up your copy today!
The Young White Dragon returned last night. I won. The story is pretty epic. If you want to read the dramatized version it’s below. If you want the nitty gritty I’ll give it here. I went back in and fought it using my Eladrin Wizard. She kicked some major behind.
There was a lot of back and forth and unfortunately some of my new encounter powers were wasted on poor rolls. But with continuos manuvering it was looking good. Until the dragon took me into the negative hit points. My first roll at a death saving throw failed. I was scared.
My next two saved. Then my third roll was a nat 20. I couldn’t have asked for a better time for that to happen. By the time I had saved the dragon had drug me deep into his layer; thinking me to be dead and a tasty treat for later.
Once Vala regained consciousness she blasted the dragon in the back with magic missile. Practically the only thing left in her arsinal. Turns out that was the strike that took the dragon down. He was at 196 hp taken and she served 8 damage with the hit. It only took 200 to destroy the beast. YAY!
It was very close and the character could have easily died. In fact she has a couple of times before in an attempt to slay the dragon. You can read about that here and here.
Below feel free to enjoy my dramatic gamer retelling of the white dragon saga!
The mouth of the cave opens up in front of Vala. She can feel the cool mist wafting out of the maw. She knows what she’s been sent to do. Is she strong enough? Does she have enough experience?
Slowly, she enters the cave. It gets cooler. She scans the cavernous walls and the cool shallow water that waves it’s way in front of her. The light is dim but not low enough to affect her Eladrin vision. There are bodies in the water. This does not bode well.
Fearless or crazy she continues in. There is no back up. No one to call for help. She is all alone.
She must cross the water but what does she do? Hmmm… a plank of wood to row herself across would make sense. Thanks be for Prestidigitation. As she crosses the water the dragon emerges. He is young but don’t underestimate him.
The battle is fierce. Vala is struck unconscious near the end. She saves, she saves, SHE HEALS. Jumping up she blasts the dragon from behind and he is finished! Destroyed by the last bit of magic she had left in her.
The End!
The most important part though… I won! Finally, my mage was strong enough to take it on and destroy it by herself! Congratulations Vala… You Go Girl!
The belief that there are too few classes in 4e is now moot due to the PHB2 being released, but still, there are those who claim they need even MORE classes. (Don’t worry, the PHB3 is to be released next spring.) However, our group has been doing something for a while which I think will help out anyone looking for just a little something different. A fantastic new blog known as RPG Athenaeum talked about “Unique 4e Characters“, and it’s definitely worth checking out. Here’s a few ideas to re-flavor your characters based on my own experiences as well as a few I’ve seen around the interwebs:
FIGHTER
Knight: Giving the fighter plate mail proficiency at first level, as well as giving him any powers that involve shields and “Invigorating” keywords works well for a character who is ready to defend their allies through pure brute strength. If you’re playing a human, Mounted Combat is another good first level feat.
RANGER
Pirate: A two weapon fighter with a rapier and dagger works well for a pirate. Giving them an animal companion also helps.
ROGUE
Servant of the Raven Queen: A Shadar-Kai Rogue with a Spiked Chain and a few Cleric Multiclass Feats to give some undead slaying action could make an excellent character. It’s something I’ve been wanting to play for a while.
WARLOCK
Gypsy: A Star-Pact warlock can represent a gypsy who studies the astrological signs in the sky. Their Warlock’s Curse represents them seeing the fate of their enemies in the stars, or in the deck of Tarot cards they carry.
Blink Dog: Making an Eladrin Fey-Pact Warlock can be re-flavored into a blink dog. The Warlock has plenty of teleportation spells, allowing the blink dog to jump around the battlefield striking from any angle.
WIZARD
Young Dragon: A Dragonborn wizard can represent a wyrmling coming into its own. The dragon’s breath power, as well as the Dragonborn Racial Paragon Path in PHB2 (giving you the ability to fly) is essential. Using lots of area of effect spells and such will allow the dragon to affect the battlefield in the way they deem fit.
Now, I haven’t scoured the PHB2 enough to give a lot of tips for re-flavoring any of those classes, but I’ll continue to look into it.
How about you? Have any of you “re-flavored” a class? If so, what did you do?
I like it… I love it… I want some more of it…
I love playing the DM. After 2 shots with my husband as my only player I have discovered that the DM is my favorite position. There is always action. There is always calculation. There is always plot development. Even when things seem quiet they are not.
I got brave… The other night I told my husband my new found love for playing the DM. Honestly, he was much more excited than I expected. He loves to run the show but at my mention of wanting to take the lead at some point he jumped!
He started telling me how he would create a character and that I could run an entire campaign for him. At first I thought he was just stretching his enthusiasm. Then at dinner that evening he began to ask what kind of a world I wanted to run: i.e. did I want to run with a pre-set campaign setting or did I want to create my own.
After much thought, I decided I would like a world that was at the end of the Medieval period. Something like the 1400’s French Court. No, not specifically with historical figures but just that society. We have been working on building a world where the Dragonborn are more of a myth and live at the tops of many outlying mountains. The Elves have become the outcasts for perceived failure to adapt to the new social and cultural norms.
I think it has a lot of promise. I am continuing to build and gather ideas. I am doing my best to formulate a complete adventure. I am really looking forward to trying the hat on for real. It’s a new frontier for me and I’m running head long into it with my sword blazing. Wish me luck!
Hey, everyone! Yes, Critical Failure was delayed, but there is a perfectly reasonable explanation. Bridget, Gabe and I attended the White House Easter Egg Roll at the White House on Monday, so were were busy. Sorry. I promise, it won’t happen again. Here’s the picture of us.
And here’s the latest Critical Failure!
Sorry, but we’re at the White House today. No lie. My job is awesome.
