The Fighter

Let's try something new shall we?

In an effort to post more often, I'm committing to a series of posts that will be primarily my thoughts on the PHB base classes. These will be in no particular order, just what I feel like writing on at the time unless I get some requests for a certain class.

Today, we'll start with the fighter. How boring right? Wrong!

Ok, granted. The fighter is really only good for one thing... fighting. But, it does offer an incredible amount of variety within that role. Let's look at what we're dealing with here: max BAB, good fort save, d10 hit dice, few skill points, and 11 bonus feats.

Now, when one hears the word "fighter," you probably think high strength and constitution, grab a greatsword and power attack and get hackin'. That's definitely one way to go, but there are many other ways to build a fighter. Instead of strength and constitution, go with high dexterity and pick up weapon finesse and a rapier or even a whip. Sure, you won't do as much damage, but there's much more to fighting than beating your opponent to a pulp and it's much more stylish.

This brings me to my next point. You're a fighter. Fighting is all you know. So, know all about fighting. This means memorizing Chapter 8 in the PHB. Make use of all the tricks- tripping, disarming, sundering, bull-rushing, charging, mounted combat, overrunning, grappling, feinting, whatever. And don't worry that many of those provoke AoOs, you're a fighter! You're almost guaranteed a high AC either from armor or dex and enough HP to take some punishment. Besides, you've got enough feats to burn on things like improved (grapple, trip, disarm, whatever).

So next time you play a fighter, pick up improved grapple right off the bat and start tackling all your opponents or grab a couple whips (with all the two-weapon fighting feats) and trip 7 people a round. And then flail them all because you took Improved Trip and get an extra attack for all the successful trips. Sure that won't work against some creatures, but you did remember to pick up some back-up weapons right? RIGHT?!

Well, I think that's it for now. Next time we'll discuss... something else....

Tags: fighter, feats, base class, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Backstabs and Backpacks

We've got a special two-for-one deal today only!

1-

My question is on a rogue special abilitiy: crippling stirke states that an opponent damaged by ONE of her sneak attacks takes two points of strength damage. Now let's assume my rogue is flanking a cleric, and I use a full-attack, and all three of my attacks hit. Does that mean the opponent gets -6 to his strength?

According to the RAW (and as far as I can tell there is nothing else that says otherwise), that's exactly what it means. The rogue's crippling strike ability applies to each sneak attack she deals and since it's strength damage and not a strength penalty it's cumulative. I happened to be going for this very strategy with a rogue I'm currently playing who dual-wields. Six successful sneak attacks per round = 12 points of strength damage. So, if your opponent is loaded with hp, you can just whittle his strength down to 0 and paralyze him (assuming it's also vulnerable to sneak attacks). Have fun with that. :)

2-

Hey, do you know by chance how much does a standard backpack hold?

Good question. I actually spent a large amount of time a while back asking other people that. The bottom line is, there are no rules in 3.5 about it. Back in 3.0, backpacks were given a capacity of 1 cubic foot.... Good luck trying to figure that out given all the awkward shapes items take in the game. And, is that backpack really strong enough to hold 1 cubic foot of lead or some other ridiculously dense material? I think that's why it was left out of the current rules. That, and it doesn't really matter so long as it's within reason. And what's within reason is up to the DM. I figure, as long as the character's encumberance is ok, he'll find some place to put it. That way, saying certain items are in the backpack or sack really has more to do with how long it takes to retrieve the items or what goes missing when your backpack gets stolen (which I figure is more important anyway). An easy way to get around this is to make sure the characters get some bags of holding or a handy haversack. They have stated capacities.

I think I need a shower, but I really want a beer.

Tags: rogue, special ability, crippling strike, strength damage, sneak attack, backpack, capacity, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Gestalt Characters Revisited

New question! Initiate!

If you take fighter/warlock to 6th Then take a prestige class that grants +1 arcane spell caster bonus/warlock for another 6 levels. Now does this character have 12th caster level or 18th arcane caster level?

Excellent question. Let me make sure I have it straight.

1. Attain fighter/warlock 6
2. Attain warlock/PrC 6 where PrC is a prestige class that grants "+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class"

The first thing that catches my eye is that the warlock is not an arcane spellcaster. They use spell-like abilities which function very similarly to spells and indeed have their own caster level, but the fact remains that they do not cast spells and usually do not qualify for PrCs that grant bonuses to existing spellcasting classes.

Ignoring that, this character would have a warlock caster level of 12 and an arcane caster level of 6. This works the same way with other classes. For example, a fighter/cleric 6//cleric/wizard 6 would have a divine caster level of 12 and an arcane caster level of 6. Likewise, a fighter/sorcerer 6//sorcerer/wizard 6 would have a caster level of 12 when casting spontaneous spells as a sorcerer and a caster level of 6 when casting memorized spells from his spellbook as a wizard.

He responds:

Let's simplify it more. Wizard/fighter for 5 levels. Then wiz/prc (that grants a +1 arcane level) for another 3 levels. Does he have a effective caster level 8 or 11?

Ah, now that changes things. In my opinion, the wizard's spell progression and caster level progression and the PrC's "+1 to previous arcane spellcasting class" features would be "aspects that overlap" according to the gestalt RAW. Therefore, you would only get them from one class or the other and this character's caster level would be 8. I feel this provides some balance as you could easily have a character who is fighter/wizard 10//wizard/PrC 10 who casts spells as a level 30 wizard. That seems like a little much to me, but your DM may disagree and that's up to him or her.

Thanks again for the question, I'm always open!

Tags: gestalt, wizard, caster level, prestige class, PrC, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Deities and more!

Hello again. Over the holidays I received an email with not one, but three whole questions!

Let's get started,

Question 1: In your first post, you mention having played AD&D before changing to 3.5 ed. I played AD&D for about 10 years now with the same "core" group members. I had some reservations regarding a change, thinking it might get to complicated with all that feats etc. I gave up on that and bought the rulebooks a few day ago, but have another problem now. First I only have one rulebook for five others to read ("logistic problem") and second they _would_ have to read it (amongst other things a "motivational problem"). Now I'm trying to set up a kind of comparison table for all changes, but that is quite a lot of work. I can't get rid of the feeling that such an overview of the fundamental changes AD&D <-> D&D 3.5 must exist, but I'm just unable to find it. Maybe you know a resource?

Answer 1: Indeed I do young reader! There is a conversion booklet on the official Wizards of the Coast site, you can find it at:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnD_CYC_intro.asp

It's hidden at the bottom of the page. I believe that will get everything into 3rd edition, but if you want to go to 3.5 (which I highly suggest) there is yet another conversion booklet to go from 3.0 to 3.5. You can find this booklet here:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20030718a

Question 2: While studying the classes I always stumble across the religion parts. Elhonna, Kord and Pelor? What happened to Lathander, Tymora, Bane (Cyric) or all the billion other good ol' gods? In many TSR books they play a major role and for me they are a very essential part of the Forgotten Realms. If I'm not totally mistaken, than those gods are still "in use" in the 3rd ed rule book "Faiths & Pantheons" - so what are the gods in the players handbook good for?

Answer 2: The deities in the PHB are just a standard set that aren't associated with any particular campaign setting and are often used as defaults now when making adventures or stories that aren't in the traditional settings. The deities you mention are part of the "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting. Just like Paladine and Takhasis (sp?) are part of the "Dragonlace" campaign setting. Therefore, information about the deities you're familiar with can be found in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting sourcebook or indeed in Faiths and Pantheons which is under the Forgotten Realms title.

Question 3: How dogmatic would a follower of a god (common as well as priests) be in a
polytheistic society, where gods (powers) are not just believed to exist, but their existence and their dominion over certain aspects of the world is a fact (so you can't really compare it with historic polytheistic societies like the greek) ? I often have trouble with my fellow player, because I think that even a priest of Mystra (magic) might pray to Tymora (luck) under given circumstances. The role of priests is really interesting, because in such a setting the can hardly
claim their god to be the one and only since the other powers (it's just the better description) are known to exist as well.

Answer 3: This is a very interesting question and I apologize now for how lengthy my response will likely be. In short, the answer to this question is entirely up to the DM and how s/he wants the campaign world to be. In some worlds, priests may freely offer prayers or even sacrifices to other gods. In others, gods may take offense if they are not prayed to for an event that they have a hand in ( e.g. Umberlee may get angry if sailors do not give her a sacrifice for a safe voyage). I am currently involved in a campaign where the entire pantheon is often worshipped as a whole, and while people may devote themselves to a single god, it does not preclude them from worshipping the others. In other worlds, worship of other gods may be more restricted. A person's chosen god may be seen as the only true god while the others are seen as powerful entities but lacking true divine power. This also leaves room for atheists in any setting, those who believe that there are no true gods and those that call themselves gods are just powerful outsiders who got a little too cocky. In the Eberron campaign setting, the gods are not active as was traditionally the case in D&D. In this case, clerical magic is sometimes seen by others as just another form of arcane magic with nothing divine about it. So, as long as you, as the DM, don't have a problem with clerics or other worshippers praying to other gods, it shouldn't be a problem unless their particular god is exceptionally jealous (e. g. Lloth).

Ok, that's three strikes. You're out.

Batter up!

The Horror....

Allright, so it's a little late for a Halloween horror fest, but I just got this in.

The latest question comes from Cody, and he writes:

I'm doing an undead campaign and I'm trying to scare the crap out of them with some of the things I will throw at them. They're trapped on an island filled with undead monsters. The problem is they take it all as a joke or don't act properly given the situation. So, how do you put fear into their characters? Make them second guess themselves with every turn. Have them and their characters be fearful of what might happen? So, you got any good suggestions?

Ah fear... truly a difficult thing to master, particularly in a game that so often involves so much jocularity. First thing's first. We must understand that which we would subject our players to. What is fear? Where does it come from? How do we inspire it?

One of the largest sources of fear in the human mind is the unknown. Think about it. People fear death. Why? No one knows what happens afterward. People fear the dark. Why? You don't know what's in it. People fear clowns. Why? Their makeup hides their facial expressions. You don't know what they could be thinking. People fear loud noises. Why? Because they're freakin' loud that's why!

Anyway, so we have a basic understanding of fear, but how to put that into the D&D setting? Cody mentioned that the players are taking his attempts as a joke. This could have multiple causes.

1. The players may be used to a more carefree and joke-type game. Solution: Kill one or more of them. Or, even just take one of their limbs. Let them know you're serious, this will be dangerous, and you had better think of something quick because they're coming for you next.
2. The players know all your tricks. Solution: New tricks. This is a big problem among veteran gamers. They've all run into enough zombies, nightwalkers, and wraiths to know exactly what to do when they come across one. So change them up a bit. Have a band of highly intelligent zombies, stalking shadows, or if they know you're throwing hordes of undead at them, put a doppelganger in there. Just because it's an "undead" campaign doesn't mean that's all you can use. Just the vast majority.
3. You may just sound really silly when trying to do those dark menacing disembodied voices. You know the kind. Solution: Either hire James Earl Jones to play your bad guys, or stick to creatures that don't talk. Use vague sounds and heavy breathing or just describe these sounds to add some suspense. (Also, you could get one of those neat voice changer devices. Though that may wind up in the silly section again.)

With that in mind, throw a lot of unknown into the campaign and feel free to borrow elements from your favorite horror movies or games (I said "elements." This does not necessarily imply creatures, settings, people, traps, or anything else that your players could easily identify if they've seen the movie too. Unless you think they'd just enjoy that.). A couple elements jump to my mind that I would use.

The first comes from the movie Predator. In the movie (in case you haven't seen it), a group is stalked by a single creature. It taunts them, wears them down, and picks them off one at a time. They rarely ever catch a glimpse of the thing. It's classic. There's "something" out there hunting them, it could be anywhere or anything (even one of the party members, see the above doppelganger comment).

The second comes from the little time I spent playing Resident Evil. Zombies freakin' everywhere, and little to no resources. Have the party constantly on the edge of effectiveness, just barely able to find the resources they might need. Barely let them rest. Having something chasing or hunting them is a good way to pull that off. If they stop for too long, that awful sound they keep hearing may just catch up to them.

From a purely mechanical standpoint, you can generate a modest amount of fear just from asking for certain rolls for absolutely no reason every once in a while. Will saves are good for this. That howling that keeps following them may just drive one of them mad after all. Reflex saves are also ok, "Roll a reflex save... phew you just missed stepping in dung." BUT, you have to make at least one of them count and count big to really get them to fear it. Third time they make a save, it's to dodge "something" jumping out of the woods at them and scampering off on the other side of the trail. If they fail the save, it may just kill them or gouge their eyes out or something. If your players care anything about their characters, it'll get their attention. If not, there's really no way to make them afraid.

Finally, one small but important consideration. It's hard to be afraid of a game in bright light. To help get them caught up in the game, dim the lights (not to the point where you can't see your sheets) and make sure there isn't a vacuum cleaner on in the background. Set the mood so to speak.

Ok, well I hope that helps. Thanks a lot for your question and have fun terrorizing your players!

Dread Necromancers

Another reader question!

This one asks:

Hypothetically, a PC Dread Necromancer (found in Heroes of
Horror, p. 84) takes the whole Corpsecrafter feat chain (found in
Libris Mortis p. 25, 25, 25, 26, 27, and 28.). What would happen when he achieves 20th level and becomes a Lich.
Would he:
A. Get all the benefits of the corpsecrafter feats, seeing as he is
now a self-crafted Undead.
Or
B. Just be a normal Lich.

I had to run down to my local bookstore for this one because I, unfortunately, do not own a copy of Heroes of Horror. I was able to find the book though and worked out a solution (kinda).

My knee-jerk response was to say no because the Corpsecrafter feats all only apply to undead created through the casting of a necromancy spell. After browsing the description of the Dread Necromancer and its class features, I feel fairly confident in my no. However, I could see a DM legitimately ruling that they do apply. The fact is, the description of the Dread Necromancer's level 20 transformation is vague. According to the text, the character simply undergoes a transformation into a lich. So, by a very basic reading of the rules, the feats wouldn't apply because there are no spells involved. The player simply poofs into a lich.

But, for a more role-play based explanation of the class feature, a DM may require a ceremony/ritual/sacrifice/etc. that may or may not be considered a "necromancy spell". Of course, even then, it's entirely up to the DM whether or not the corpsecrafter feats apply, but this does leave the possibility.

So, to summarize: According to the rules as written- B. Just be a normal Lich.
With some interpretation- Possibly either.

Thank you for playing, come again! :)

Tags: corpsecrafter, dread necromancer, lich, heroes of horror, libris mortis, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

HIGH-Magic Campaign

No, really... HIGH magic... beware....

This is an idea I came up with while thumbing through my copy of the Expanded Psionics Handbook. Yeah, psionics will be involved here so if you just can't stand 'em you won't get much from this post.

So I came upon the Cerebremancer PrC and thought "this looks familiar." Sure enough, it's exactly like the Mystic Theurge PrC except it involves an arcane spellcasting class and a psionic class instead of a divine spellcasting class. Well that's cool, I wonder if there's a divine/psionic PrC? Sadly, I was unable to find one. But, it's a pretty simple and straightforward PrC idea so I made one:

Enlightened Minds

Requirements:

Skills: Knowledge (psionics) 6 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 6 ranks.

Spells: Able to cast 2nd-level divine spells.

Psionics: Able to manifest 2nd-level powers.

Class Skills:

Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Psicraft (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Enlightened minds gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Spells per Day/Powers Known:

When a new enlightened mind level is gained, the character gains new spells per day and spells known as if he had also attained a level in any one divine spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if he had also gained a level in any one manifesting class he belonged to previously. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of either class would have gained (bonus metapsionic or item creation feats, psicrystal special abilities, and so on). This essentially means that he adds the level of enlightened mind to the level of whatever other divine spellcasting class and manifesting class the character has, then determines spells per day, caster level, power points per day, powers known, spells known, and manifester level accordingly.

For example, a 3rd-level cleric/3rd-level psion who takes a level in enlightened mind has the same access to spells as a 4th-level cleric and the same number of power points as a 4th-level psion. But he continues to turn undead as a 3rd-level cleric, and his psicrystal (if he has one) won’t gain any new abilities.

If a character had more than one divine spellcasting class or more than one manifesting class before he became a enlightened mind, he must decide to which class he adds each level of enlightened mind for purpose of determining spells per day, spells known, caster level, power points per day, powers known, and manifester level.

Got all that? Ok good. Now we have three PrCs that are slight variations on each other. But what good is making a new class if you're not going to use it? So I came up with a neat campaign idea, but sadly lack the players or a proper DM (I wouldn't do it justice) to pull it off. So I'll post it here and hopefully someone will like it enough to give it a try. If you do, let me know how it turns out. I'll even post some of your exploits up here if you want. Ok, down to business. First, there are two groups of three:

Group A:
Cleric/Wizard/Mystic Theurge
Wizard/Psion/Cerebremancer
Cleric/Psion/Enlightened Mind

Group B:
Favored Soul/Sorcerer/Mystic Theurge
Sorcerer/Wilder/Cerebremancer
Favored Soul/Wilder/Enlightened Mind

If you're like me, you're squealing with anticipation right now. What can I say? I like balance (in the cosmic sense).

The actual nature of the campaign can take on many forms. I suggest three OR six players.

With 3 players either:
Choose either group and the group left over is NPCed and becomes a rival group.

Choose either group and forget the other.

OR

Players play both groups in parallel (either competing or cooperating).

With 6 players either:
Play both groups as one large group.

OR

Play both groups in parallel (either competing or cooperating).

The only part of the character development that the players don't have control over is class progression. The characters alternate their base classes and take the requirements for their PrCs as soon as possible (yeah I know that controls some skill choices as well). As soon as they meet the requirements for their PrC they must take at least 1 level in it. They cannot gain more than 5 levels in either of their base classes and cannot take levels in any other class. This makes everyone end up as "Base class A" 5/"Base class B" 5/PrC 10. All other development choices can be made by the player (familiars, psicrystals, deities, domains, spell/power lists, etc.).

I know this isn't a campaign for everyone, but if you know people who would like to give it a shot then go for it. I know I'd love to play it. Along those lines, I do game over the internet on FantasyGrounds, so if you want to try to get it started on there I'd be up for it.

That's all for today.

Tags: high magic, campaign, mystic theurge, cerebremancer, enlightened mind, prestige class, cleric, wizard, psion, favored soul, sorcerer, wilder, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Weapon Damage Types

Here's another question from me to you. Sorry, I didn't have time to wrap it, but I'm sure you understand.

The topic today is what the deal is with certain damage types in the Player's Handbook. Most of them I get, a club does bludgeoning damage, a spiked club does bludgeoning and piercing, etc. it makes sense. Then I get to the blades...

A longsword does slashing damage. I can see that. Yeah, it's got a point at the end, but maybe they mean it's primarily used in a slashing manner. Now short swords. They do piercing damage. Again, they do have an edge, but maybe they figure you're going to be thrusting more with a short sword than slashing. But then, daggers do both slashing and piercing. Now I'm confused. I'd think that daggers would be used in a stabbity fashion in combat most of the time, at least as often as short swords would be. So, why then do they recognize a dagger's edge, but not a short sword's; and why is a longsword's point ignored? Personally, I can see a person thrusting with a longsword a lot more often than trying to slash with a dagger.

So, at my table, all of these weapons can do either slashing or piercing damage. What are your thoughts? Has this actually become an issue at your games? Let the public know!

Tags: damage type, dagger, short sword, longsword, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Gestalt Characters

My younger brother just got me Unearthed Arcana for my birthday (thanks for that one bud!). There are a few interesting little variants in this book that I wouldn't mind trying out or implementing as a permanent house rule (*cough*fractional multiclassing*cough*), but there was one in particular that sparked my interest. I bet you'll never guess what that is. What? It's the title of the post? Dammit!

So what's a gestalt character? If you haven't looked through Unearthed Arcana I suggest taking the time to skim through this section of the book. Basically, it allows a character to level in two classes simultaneously.

I can see everyone's heads buzzing now. Let me explain exactly what I meant by that, and why I'm so eager to start a gestalt campaign. In a traditional game, you can dual or multiclass, sure, but you essentially give up higher abilities in order to be more diverse. For instance, if you alternated cleric and wizard classes all the way up to level 20, you would have the spell-casting power of a 10th level cleric and a 10th level wizard. Not very much punch on either end (only 5th level spells available), but you have access to the best offensive and defensive spells in those levels. This can be ameliorated somewhat by prestige classes (like the mystic theurge) that let you focus in an aspect from two classes while neglecting the rest (no increase in undead turning for your cleric part, and no more bonus feats for your wizard part), but with a cleric 5/wizard 5/mystic theurge 10, you now have the spell-casting abilities of a 15th level cleric and 15th level wizard (and up to 8th level spells). Nice bonus.

Now let's talk about gestalt characters. Using the gestalt rules in Unearthed Arcana, you can gain levels as a cleric/wizard. So at level 1, you are a cleric/wizard 1. What this means is that you get a d8 hit die, good fort and will saves, average BAB, the ability to turn or rebuke undead (as your alignment or deity choice requires), spells per day as a level 1 cleric, access to two domains, weapon and armor proficiencies as a cleric, the ability to spontaneously cast cure spells from your divine spells per day, and anything else a cleric gets at level 1. Then, you add all the things wizards get: a familiar, the scribe scroll feat, arcane spells per day, you can specialize if you wish, and so forth. Anything that both classes have (BAB, saves, skill points) don't stack, but you do take the better of the two. Arcane spell failure still applies when wearing armor or carrying a shield, etc. So, using this rule, you can have a level 20 cleric/wizard who not only has the spell casting power of a level 20 cleric and a level 20 wizard, but the ability to turn undead as a level 20 cleric, all the bonus feats of a level 20 wizard, a BAB of +15, fort and will saves of +12, a reflex save of +6, and so on. Yes, this does create overpowered characters, which is why every PC in the campaign needs to be gestalt if you want to use it (if not, the one character who is gestalt is going to far outshine the other characters). So all you need to do is make sure everyone is gestalt and then up the CRs you throw at them.

Unearthed Arcana offers some suggestions for appropriate CRs and even useful combinations of classes. A druid/ranger for instance, has the animal companion of a druid, all good saves, the best BAB, wild shape (for melee), the ranger's combat style (for ranged), two sources of spells per day (druid for healing, combat control, damage, or anything else; and ranger for buffing or just extra healing or summoning). Rock on! That's a character who could solo his way through the temple of elemental evil blindfolded (especially once wild shaped into something with blindsight).

So, that's my rant on gestalt characters. I'll put up more about them once I actually get the chance to see them in action. I'll let you know how it goes (thinking of going favored soul/sorcerer, magic... everywhere... at all times....).

Tags: gestalt, unearthed arcana, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Loot!

Allright, I know I just did a whole spiel about alternative rewards, but I thought I'd take the time now to discuss some aspects of traditional rewards that aren't always considered.

I went over magic items and cash in the previous post, but there's a dynamic here that is sometimes overlooked (and I must admit, I was overlooking it until just recently). Specifically, there are items (magic and mundane) that most players will want for their characters. Things like rings of regeneration, stat boosting items (gloves of dexterity, etc.), flaming or frost weapons (or whatever), immovable rods (they're just fun), and magic armors or clothing fall into this category. These are items that you can expect the characters to shop for themselves with the cash loot. Other magic items are often very useful, but they don't support the characters' natural abilities in as obvious ways. These items are good for placing as treasure because the characters will want to hold onto them, but wouldn't necessarily think of buying them (particularly if they have limited gold, those magic weapons take priority). I came to this realization while playing a favorite rogue character of mine. I was making a shopping list for our next stop in the capitol city and stopped to think of the magic items I had picked up from treasure piles. I had a couple magic short swords, some kinda ring, +2 shadow leather armor, and a minor circlet of blasting.

Wait, where'd that circlet come from?

Now, I had been spending just about all the money I found in building up my equipment, and I never considered an item quite like the circlet. Don't get me wrong, I love it, especially against undead when my sneak attacks are useless, but even against the living I can cause massive damage by using the circlet AND adding sneak attack damage (it's a ray, I can do that). So now, I'm considering saving up for the major circlet of blasting (maximized damage = good).

The point here is, folks, that you can make traditional loot much more interesting or exciting by throwing in items that players probably wouldn't go out and buy for themselves, but they certainly would not let go of if it got plopped in their lap. Here are a few examples (note: these are not in any particular order and some are much more powerful than others): Items of elemental command (bowl for water, brazier for fire, censer for air, stone for earth), any of Quaal's feather tokens, figurines of wondrous power, sovereign glue (hehehe, universal solvent is not here because if they need it, they'll buy it), horn of fog, Nolzur's marvelous pigments, and Murlynd's spoon. Now, this list is by no means exhaustive, and your players may be a little more open to unusual purchases than most, so just take a look through the DMG and see if you can pick out some that you've never seen in a game before, give them a shot. Also, some items are only really useful in certain situations or when dealing with specific creatures. In this case, be aware of your campaign's environment and how that could effect character purchases and also how your loot could foreshadow the rest of your adventures (this may or may not be a good thing).

Ok, that's all for today. I'm gonna go sneak attack my way to a mithral (mythril/mithril? whatever) chain shirt.

Tags: magic items, loot, shopping, reward, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Player Rewards

I haven't died! Yay!

Sorry for the delay in posts, it has been a busy couple of weeks.

Let's get down to business. The topic for today is the various rewards DMs give to the characters (or players depending on how you look at it). This is kind of a post for newbies, but I think veteran DMs could benefit from a reminder. There are a few basic, classic, and plentiful rewards:

• Gold- Money makes the world go 'round, and it makes adventuring a lot easier when you can afford that +5 vorpal greatsword or that staff of fire (I sure do loves me my fireballs). Money is a necessary staple in a campaign for a number of reasons. First, it's versatile, it can be used for all sorts of things that you couldn't (or shouldn't) normally put in a treasure hoard (horses, rooms at the inn, favors from local wizards, etc.). Also, it allows players to customize their equipment easier rather than relying on whatever they may find randomly. There are a few problems with money. The biggest of these is that it's rather boring. "You step past the dead husk of a dragon and into his treasure room. There you find 32,150,983,406,436,436π gold pieces." Whoopee.... Ok, granted, I love to find a mountain of coins every once in a while, but you can't do that every time. This leads to the next problem however, how the hell do you carry all that cash? Especially in high-level campaigns, it can take a lot of dough to purchase those spiffy items you really want, and it'll take all your strength just to lug the stuff around until you find somewhere to shop. Thus, the final problem: what if you can't find anyone selling something you want or need? At higher levels, not many people can make equipment that will actually help you. Let's move on.


• Loot- This is where you can cut out the middle-man. If you know your rogue would really want some boots of elvenkind, you can just slip it into the random treasure for them. This is also where you can introduce your own magic items and other trinkets that the players may really like but have not thought about. There are also a few problems here. First, the players may not want what you give them. If this happens they have a couple choices: leave it and then it is as if it didn't exist and they wind up with less reward or sell it for a fraction of what it's worth and they are still left with less reward (from a numbers stand-point). Also, if you provide them with everything they want, then they're not going to need money as much and it becomes less of a reward to get that mountain of coins. So it requires some balance here.


• Experience- This is a tricky one, especially because XP is used for more than leveling. On the plus side, XP is a good reward because it can be given spontaneously. If a player is roleplaying particularly well then give them some XP, right then and there (a good rule of thumb I've come across is to give 10XP per character level for an instance good roleplaying). The downside is that this can unbalance a party if it's not watched closely. It can be a way to help characters who make magic items or cast spells with XP components, but at the same time it makes those abilities a lot more powerful when they know they can make up their XP loss with a little acting. On top of all that, it's a very subjective call. Be prepared for your players to complain of favortism and the like.

So those are the basics. "What else could there be?" You may ask. You may not. That's not the issue. The point is there are alternatives! Don't get me wrong, the basics are essential and can make for a very enjoyable game on their own. But, if you are able to keep track of your party's balance pretty well, and want to give your players unique and special rewards there are some things you could throw out there.

• Skill ranks- This is a pretty light reward if you don't go overboard with it. Every once in a while this makes for a nice little surprise reward. Usually, there needs to be a direct roleplay component to this. Say, for instance, your ranger character spends a week chatting with a local huntsman. You could decide to grant the ranger a rank in survival or knowledge (nature), depending on the specific topics of discussion, for good roleplaying and staying in character (this is assuming the ranger did an exemplary job in this fashion). You can also get very specific with this reward to make it less able to unbalance the characters. Maybe the bonus rank only applies to the terrain type the huntsman is familiar with or even only to the surrounding area (this makes the reward more and more like a simple circumstance bonus as it's restricted).


• Feats- Yes, you can give feats as rewards. This can be like the skill rank reward if the feat you give is one of those that gives bonuses to skills (e.g. Stealthy or Athletic) but it is quite a bit more powerful. These are, of course, to be given less often than even skill ranks and usually for a significant accomplishment (you may also want to give them less in the way of other rewards to compensate). Feats and skills are good alternatives to the traditional rewards because they're permanent and can't be taken away. The first time you're arrested and stripped of your equipment, you may lose your precious dragon scale armor forever (after all, the captain of the guards could really use that armor), but no one can take away your animal affinity. So let's say you just put your party up against an entire army of displacer beasts, invisible stalkers, or drow (who made good use of their darkness ability). Would it be out of the question to award the blind-fight feat to a couple of the characters that have plenty of experience fighting unseen opponents by now (sure they could've used it earlier, but no one said you're done throwing invisible creatures at them hehehe). This adds a bit of realism and makes the characters seem more like growing people. The problem with these is that they're hard to balance. Some feats are more useful than others, and the same feat isn't as useful to one character as it is to another. So it's a little hard to balance feat rewards.


• Spell-like abilities and other stuff- This is the catch-all category. You can pretty much put anything you want in here. Fireballs at will, wings, resistances, immunities, special abilities (like evasion) whatever. The problems with these I think are fairly obvious. They can be extremely powerful or unbalancing and it can sometimes blur the lines between classes. Now, being able to cast prestidigitation at will isn't quite the same as being able to cast flame strike at will so there is a range to the power presented here. These rewards I think should be given maybe once or twice to a character in a campaign. Any more and it becomes less special (or the players start expecting it). But if you do hand out one out of the blue, the player is probably going to be especially pleased and surprised, and the character will take on a whole new level of uniqueness (c'mon, casting prestidigitation at will, how cool is that? little magical effects going off all around you, all the time).

Ok, I hope that gives someone an idea for some unexpected and unique rewards for their players. Remember, changing things up and keeping your players on their toes helps to add to the experience. New is good. Try it out. And with that out of the way I leave you with this thought:

It's hot in Topeka.

Tags: reward, feat, skill, rank, spell-like ability, gold, loot, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Fractastic!

What?

Ok, if you've been paying attention to the WotC articles on their site, this post isn't going to be anything new for you, but I like it anyway. Why? Because it uses math to solve problems! Weeee!

The problem: Multiclassing and what it does (or can do) to save bonuses and base attack bonuses (BAB). For instance, let's say you start off as a first level rogue. Your BAB is +0, your fortitude save is +0, your reflex save is +2, and your will save is +0. As a second level rogue you would have BAB +1, fort +0, ref +3, will +0; but instead, let's assume you picked up a level of wizard for those cool sneak attacking spells. In this case, using the rules as written (RAW), you would have BAB +0, fort +0, ref +2, will +2. What just happened? You end up with 1 less BAB and 1 more save bonus than usual. This example also works when compared to 2 levels in wizard (BAB +1, fort +0, ref +0, will +3).

Now, you might not see this as such a big deal, and really it isn't. After all, it's a 1 point penalty and a 1 point bonus either way. Personally, I find BAB to be more valuable than any one save, but I'm willing to consider otherwise. This situation also occurs when taking prestige classes (PrCs).

The solution: So how do we fix this? With math! Ok I'll stop, but this does require some ability to work fractions. In the PHB pg. 22, it lists the two progressions of saves and three progressions of BAB. "Good" saves increase at a rate of 1 point/2 levels (with a bonus of 2 at 1st level) and "Poor" saves increase at 1 point/3 levels. So you can conceptualize this as gaining 1/2 a save bonus every level (round down) for good saves and 1/3 a save bonus every level (round down) for poor saves. Then you just add the inherent +2 bonus to good saves for the first level. Try it, it works! The same can be applied to BAB with good BAB increasing at 1 point/level (not complicated), average BAB increases at 2/3 points every level (round down), and poor BAB increases at 1/3 points every level (round down).

Let's apply this to our rogue/wizard example. This would make a first level rogue have BAB +2/3 (rounded down to +0 as normal), fort +1/3 (rounded down to +0 as normal), ref +2 2/3 (rounded down to +2 as normal), and will +1/3 (are you rounding yet? +0 as normal). When you take a level in wizard you are then left with BAB +1 (+2/3 rogue, +1/3 wizard), fort +2/3 (round down to +0 as normal), ref +3 (rogue +2/3, wizard +1/3, +2 for first level), and will +1 (+1/3 rogue, +2/3 wizard, we drop the +2 for first level here because we're making that only applicable to first character level just like starting money and equipment and max hit die). So how does that compare with a level 2 rogue or level 2 wizard? Same BAB for all, same fort for all, same ref as the rogue but 3 points higher than wizard, 1 point higher will than rogue but 2 points lower than wizard. I think this makes for a better and more logical balance between the classes. The rogue is obviously a little more accentuated thanks to the +2 save bonus at first level, but this is reasonable considering it is the way you started your career.

This method is even more helpful with later levels as you continue to pursue two classes or even add a PrC like arcane trickster for example (take the +2 save bonus at first level out of that too). Monks who take PrCs will be especially happy for this as they are combat-oriented but only get the average BAB progression. They're really not going to want to take a monk-based PrC that also has average BAB because, by using the RAW, they'd lose even more BAB. So try it out. I promise it is not as difficult as it may seem, just count up all the fractions and round down to the nearest whole number. You have 10 minutes... begin.

Tags: math, base attack bonus, BAB, multiclassing, save bonus, prestige class, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Robin Hood

This post is spawned from a debate about alignments that I was having with a friend of mine. Specifically, I was trying to differentiate between how a Lawful Good person CAN act, and how paladins usually act. She was under the impression that all LG characters had sticks up their butts. This is not the case, but it is how paladins are played most of the time which reinforces the stereotype.

Therefore, I needed a solid defensible example of a LG character with a fun side. Then it came to me, Robin Hood was Lawful Good! Don't believe me? Let's investigate:

• Robin Hood robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. Even though stealing was illegal, it was a good act since he was helping to ease suffering and overthrow a tyrant (Note: LG people are often extremely opposed to tyranny)
• Robin Hood was devoted to King Richard. Even though he was an "outlaw" during Prince John's rule, he still gave his allegiance to the one he considered the rightful ruler.
• Robin Hood planned his actions. With almost the tenacity of a general at war, he would always enter a situation with a plan in mind and not a kick-in-the-door mentality (no matter what the movies say).
• He was a leader. He had a band of loyal followers with a few being his closest friends. It was a little more informal, but it resembled an army with the general and his lieutenants and their soldiers.
• Robin Hood was a noble and, for a time, part of the military. This likely influenced some of his methods in forming the Merry Men and their subsequent raids on Prince John's forces.

I hope this makes it clear what Lawful Good really means. It involves working for the greater good, and being methodical, orderly, and structured. It has little to do with actually following laws, walking around with a straight back, or lacking a sense of humor. Remember that paladins have a code of conduct that goes above their alignment. That's why their actions are more restricted than normal LG characters. Robin Hood was no paladin (too many disguises), but he was definitely Lawful Good.

Tags: Robin Hood, alignment, Lawful Good, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Question 2!

Our latest question comes from Nachoelanciano, and he asks:

If a wizard takes on the quicken spell feat, this means he can cast a quickened spell on each round, but, can it be a different spell each time? Or he takes the quickened feat and then he chooses a spell and that spell becomes his quickened spell?

Like any metamagic feat, Quicken Spell can be applied to any spell the wizard can cast. When the wizard memorizes spells for the day, he can choose to apply the Quicken Spell feat to a spell if he has an open spell slot 4 levels above that spell. For instance, a 10th level wizard sits to memorize spells, he can memorize a quickened magic missile and a quickened burning hands (thus filling his two 5th level spell slots). Then, he can also memorize regular magic missiles and burning hands spells in his 1st level slots. Wizards just can't add or remove metamagic feats once he is done memorizing spells.

Sorcerers on the other hand can (though they can't use Quicken Spell, sorry). Since sorcerers don't memorize their spells, they choose to apply metamagic feats when they actually cast. This carries with it the downside of turning the casting time into a full-round action (which is why Quicken Spell just doesn't work). The sorcerer would still need to expend a higher level spell slot to cast metamagic spells.

Ok, thanks for your question Nachoelanciano! Keep 'em coming guys! (and gals!)

Tags: metamagic, quicken spell, wizard, sorcerer, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

The RPGA

When I was just getting back into the game after a few years of neglect, I found it difficult to acquire a new gaming group. I tried playing a few adventures with my then girlfriend (we're married now) and brother, but it was rocky since we were all still learning the 3.5 rules. So, I looked up the RPGA, an organization that gives players and DMs a place to game under a universal set of house rules. I found a local game store than runs a weekly game session and signed myself and my girlfriend up for a beginner adventure. In preparation for the event, we rolled up characters using the creation rules posted on the website. I made a healing-type cleric, my girlfriend made a greatsword-type fighter, a group in itself.

So we arrived, after a little introductory confusion we settled to our gaming table with a friendly DM and two other players. The other two players didn't have level 1 players standing by so they had to roll new ones. They both rolled up drow warmages (hmmm...) . The adventure was pretty fun, short but fun, and the other players were very nice. However, when we were in the middle of our little adventure, a heated argument broke out at one of the other game tables (they were playing a much higher level adventure). Something about riding a horse in a dungeon. Anyway, the DM (I think) lost it (and we were told he usually does). The game store was filled with the booming voice of a 30+ year-old man who was so insulted that anyone would argue a rule with him that he could not calm himself. He stormed back and forth through the store demanding the opinion of the store owner, tearing through texts, and berating the transgressor for his hurtful lack of D&D knowledge. It was quite a show. He eventually settled back at his table (though still far from calm), and we finished our game without further incident. We haven't been back since.

Now, I know this doesn't happen every event (I would hope) and also that not every game store puts up with this kind of thing, but that seriously turned us off to playing in such a setting. I have much more fun playing with a group of friends that have put together a party with extended backstories and a DM who puts effort into personalizing a campaign rather than a group of people I don't know (though most were friendly) and a pregenerated adventure. Don't get me wrong, I still use pregenerated adventures, but I also tweak them to my PCs. But, it did help me get a handle on some of the basic 3.5 rules so that I can run my own campaigns more smoothly.

So, if you're interested in the RPGA you can find them here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=rpga/welcome

I hope you have better luck than we did.

Tags: RPGA, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Awwwwwww

Was just browsing threads and came across the cutest D&D-related picture I've ever seen.

Tags: cute, adorable, animals, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

The NEXT campaign.

Ok, so your group has successfully defeated the evil god of slaughter, torture, death, meanness, and jury duty, you've rescued all 256 princesses from their respective demonic captors, and you finally brought peace to the warring countries of Byhg and Whüp. It's about time to retire these characters and start over. But what happens to your beloved heroes and heroines? Are they ok? Are they still do-gooding? Are they nothing but legends now that their moment in the spotlight is over?

When a new campaign starts in the same world that the old one took place in, I like nothing more than to have the new characters cross paths with their old alter-egos. I find this makes the players feel special seeing the characters they put so much time and effort into still doing important things and being treated like those incredibly powerful NPC mentors and quest-givers you kept throwing at them. So, I'm going to offer up some ideas for how to integrate these legends into your adventures.

1. The King- This character, after giving up his adventuring ways, has decided (or elected) to rule over the kingdom he spent so much time saving. The king is of course far too busy running a country now to worry about the simple adventures and quests he used to take care of himself. So what he needs now is a young group of adventurers to take up fight and settle these mundane issues. Of course, the group will be adequately compensated for their efforts. After all, he IS the king, and he still remembers what it was like being a starving 1st level adventurer just begging for that first +1 longsword.


2. The Traveler- This character never did like settling down. He still roams the countryside looking for people to save or new things to see. Not much is a challenge to him anymore (though he doesn't have the rest of his group now), but it still feels just as good to save that caravan from raiders as it did back when it gave XP. He might even help a budding group of adventurers out of a tight spot once in a while, he knows he would have certainly appreciated the help back then.


3. The Sage- By the time the first campaign's over, the spellcasters have probably attained god-like powers with their spells. What do they need a group of lowly new adventurers for? They can take care of anything and everything themselves. Besides, mortal problems rarely concern them anymore, they have more important things to deal with. The balance of the cosmos must be kept, and they're a key player in that now. But, that lowly group may just need the help of some all-knowing, all-seeing, master of the arcane (or divine). They just may need to grab his attention somehow.


4. The Villain- What? But they were the good guys! (Note: Only do this with the player's consent. You should never deviate from the player's concept of their own character.) Sure he helped save the world a few dozen times. But now that it's safe, he wants a part of it, and he'll get it by any means necessary. What happened? Did the final epic battle with the forces of evil finally drive him mad? Did he always have an evil streak that just couldn't come out properly while surrounded by the other forces of righteousness that he travelled with? Whatever the answer, watch out!

So there you go. I hope you have lots of fun reintroducing these characters to their own players. And if you have other ideas I'd love to hear them. Actually, I'd love to hear anything. Seriously, it's tough coming up with things to write on a daily basis. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share. I'll even take "what's your opinion" questions. Ok, enough begging, I'm out.

Tags: campaign, character, player, the end, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Dee

Tonight, I'm going to be helping a friend playtest a campaign idea. Since this is only a test, I decided to expand my normal character choices. So, let me introduce Dee: my halfling monk.

I rarely play small races, I don't know why, but I thought this would be a fun character to try it with. As I started making Dee, I was a little disappointed with some aspects. Low damage (1d4 for unarmed strikes and a strength penalty), 20 ft. speed (starting at level 1 so no bonus speed yet), and a -4 penalty on grapple checks.

But! It's not all bad. My saves are +6 each, AC of 17 with no armor, +1 attack bonus for size, lots of skill bonuses, and I took Improved Grapple to cancel out that -4 penalty (still not as good as a medium or large character with Improved Grapple, but eh... I can just picture the little guy leaping onto his opponent's faces and taking them down).

We probably won't be getting too far in levels (might just be a one-shot adventure), but if it does turn into a moderate-level campaign, I plan to take the Drunken Master prestige class (Complete Warrior). Hehe, can't you just see a permanently drunk halfling, looking like a beggar, pummeling an ogre to the ground. Can't wait!

Tags: halfling, monk, drunken master, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Fantasy Grounds

Lately, I've been getting my D&D fix through a digital table top program called Fantasy Grounds. I'm enjoying the campaign so far, and I thought I'd make a list of the pros and cons of going with a digital rather than actual tabletop.

Pros:

1. Role-playing, I feel, comes easier across the anonymity that comes with playing over the internet.
2. No cheating on rolls (except for the DM of course). Any player rolls are reported to everyone over the chat box.
3. The /whisper command. This neat little function lets players send private messages to the DM, and lets the DM send private messages to anyone. The effect it has on priveledged information is priceless (spot rolls that only one person succeeds on for example, you're all making witty conversation when one of the PCs suddenly draws sword and jumps into the brush, comes out a minute later with an orc head, "now where were we?")
4. The whole SRD at your fingertips. The program has nifty little book buttons that pull up just about any information you'd need, and if it doesn't see #5.
5. Flexibility. Much of the xml is able to be edited. Any house rules or splatbook material can be inserted into the databases.
   

Cons:

1. Crashes. Yeah, it happens for one reason or another. Most of the time it's a minor inconvenience, but sometimes the fates are just against you and the session can drag.
2. Program malfunctions. Aside from crashes, there are little glitches that can get annoying like maps not loading properly, not being able to see text, etc. Like crashes, this doesn't happen too often most of the time.
3. Less usually happens in any one particular session. Gameplay slows down a bit because of unfamiliarity with the interface, typing speed, etc.

If you'd like to know more about Fantasy Grounds visit http://fantasygrounds.com

Tags: fantasy grounds, digital tabletop, online, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20

Why I don't do evil PCs.

Ok, you might like running evil campaigns, that's fine. I don't care for them and here's why.

1. If you allow some players to make evil characters, someone's going to want to play a paladin. It's bound to happen. This will end in one of the players being bitter because they didn't get to play the character they really wanted.
2. Now that all your players decided to play evil or neutral characters to end the paladin debate, someone's going to be killed. Evil characters in a party is a double-cross waiting to happen. Yes, it is completely possible to have an evil party that cooperates, supports each other, shares loot, etc. But one player will get it into his head that "Hey, Gungadin the Scourge wouldn't think twice about gutting a comrade for that magic sword they found in the church, not to mention the experience for killing an equal level character single-handedly!
3. I'm just not an evil person. See the previous blog. I can stand making evil NPCs for regular campaigns because I know the PCs are going to come in and rain fiery justice on their heads for hours (if all goes well).

So there you go. Don't try to make an evil PC in one of my campaigns, I'll rain fiery justice on your head for hours.

Tags: evil campaigns, evil characters, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20