Bat in the Attic: DnD Next

Showing posts with label DnD Next. Show all posts

Friday, July 11, 2014

Breaking down DnD Basic Part 5

Lets look at the DnD Basic rules in detail.

The purpose of these posts is to summarize the rules accurately with commentary from the perspective of an OSR Publisher.

We will get to Backgrounds in a second. I found an interesting post by Warthur over on the theRPGsite. That breaks down the experience points requirements for DnD 5e and compares them to other additions.

At first glance with the first three levels it looks like DnD 5e progression is way faster than older editions.

However that only true for the low levels. By 5th level 5e equal the requirements of older editions and afterwards greatly increases the number of xp required. If I am ever allowed to do a MW supplement for 5e I will probably present an alternative xp chart. I am in the camp that has a lot of leveled NPCs in the setting.

But I can see the point of this and can live it with for a straight 5e campaign if I had to. They are obviously trying to get characters up fast to the mid levels and hold them there for a while.

Chapter 5
Personality and Background

This section focuses on the roleplaying elements of DnD 5e. First are Characters Details including name, sex (which has generated controversy*), Height, Weight, and yes the nine fold alignment system. They added unaligned for unthinking animals instead of neutral.

*I am firm proponent of treating people like people and intensely dislike bullying and discrimination. In no small part this is due to the fact I am 50% deaf and suffer language impairment which is part of the cause of my deafness.

My hearing aids compensate to a point. I live in a world of partial silence and miss many of the verbal cues that make up normal human interaction. The net result that many wind up thinking I am a goof or worse an asshole because I either misheard them (most common) or didn't hear them altogether. I learned to overcome this but I would lying if I said it isn't a pain in the ass to deal with.

While my problems are not the same as the discrimination felt by the LGBT community, it has left me intensely aware of the impact of discrimination. As long a person is not harming another it none of my damn business what folks do in their bedroom or how a person feels about their body.

And as the controversy and drama that surrounds the sex section. Ask for proof , links and do your research. Don't rely on me, or somebody else before forming your opinion. There is lot of baloney floating around along with a lot of I said, he said telephone tag rumors.

And that is all I will say on the topic.

Next are backgrounds. Which I consider to be an outstanding addition to any DnD addition. Unlike 2e's kits these are independent of class. You can be a noble thief, a criminal wizard, a sage fighter, or a folk hero cleric. Of the myriad play styles that make up tabletop RPGs, I consider myself a roleplayer when I sit on the player's side of the screen. I like to immerse myself into my character and interact with the players and npcs of the campaign.

Background confer a small set of mechanical benefits. Skill proficiency, tool proficiency, etc. In the Basic PDF these follow logically from the background premise and mostly impact non-combat situations.

Along with is usually a subtable that you can roll on to further detail your background. For example a criminal can roll to see what their criminal specialty is. Anything from being a Blackmailer, Enforcer, to a Smuggler.

Finally each background has tables for Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws. I think they are a great tool to mine for ideas, for you are stuck on a detail, or for the novice starting out. Like all mechanics focused on roleplaying these are presented more as guidelines than rules you much following. I can see them useful for randomly generating dozens of NPCs traits as well.

Last are inspirations. I stated before I am not a fan of meta-game mechanics. Thinks like fate points, whimsy cards, GURPS luck advantage that have you looking at the wall clock, and so on. As meta-game mechanics goes this is reletively mild and can be ignored. For good roleplaying you get awarded inspiration. Which you then use later to give yourself or another player advantage on a roll. Either you have it or don't there is no stockpiling like fact points. There is also no mechanic or economy to impose complications. Although if you really want to do you can probably adapt the mechanics from Fate.

I give this chapter an A+ and if they follow it up on it in the PHB and the DMG it will make me very happy as it would mean that roleplaying will be as emphasized as much as combat.

Don't forget you can download a 5e character sheet I created from this link. It is designed to print out on one sheet of paper and fold over so you can use the inside for notes.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Breaking down DnD Basic Part 4

Lets look at the DnD Basic rules in detail.

The purpose of these posts is to summarize the rules accurately with commentary from the perspective of an OSR Publisher.

Chapter 3
Classes

As mention previous there are four classes in the Basic Rules Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizards. DnD 5e characters are meant to be customizable. What the Mearls and crew opted for is a subclass approach. You pick your class and then what is effectively a subclass. To their credit they didn't treat the subclass as a universal hammer. Rather they customized the concept for each class.

Clerics have domains
Fighter have archetypes
Rogues also have archetypes.
Wizards have traditions.

For the basic set apparently they pick the subclass that best fits the DnD classic view of the class.

Clerics - Life Domain
Fighter - Champion Archetype
Rogue - Thief Archetype
Wizards - Evocation Tradition

For players who hate picking through equipment lists each class has a preselected set of equipment you can take as an option.

All Classes

Each Class as extensive notes on roleplaying normally I would be for keeping things as terse as possible. But as readers of my blog and the Majestic Wilderlands known I am proponent of tying classes back to a setting even if it is generic like the one that underlies classic DnD. Unlike my complaint with the Race chapter there is little of the Forgotten Realms here. The introduction to each class I feel effectively ties it to the generic fantasy of classic DnD and emphasizes that the game is not just about combat. Something that it sorely needs after 4e.

Mearls and his team has stated repeatably that DnD Basic character are mechanically on par with Characters made with the advanced options. From reading over the basic rules the way they accomplish this by granting the characters ability increases instead of feats (or other special benefits) at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level. There is a cap of 20 for the maximum any one attributes can be raised. This means a +5 bonus for saves, skills, and attacks. The five increases allow +10 to be distributed among all attributes.

My experience with the playtest has show that feats tend to increase the flexibility of the characters to do things including damage. But do little directly to increase the the raw power of the character the way increased Strength, Intelligence, etc does. So for now I think this will work out when the 5e PHB shows up.

Spellcasters

Clerics and Wizards prepare a limited list of spells (Int or Wis bonus + level) and then can use their spell slots to cast any spell from the list. You can cast a lower level spell through a higher level slot often with increased effect. But not vice versa.

While not the same as classic DnD, this counts as DnDish in my book. This also means that the 5e Sorcerer will have to bring something else to the table in 5e as this mechanic merges the two 3e spellcasting mechanics.

Ritual are present, basically spells that are marked as rituals can be cast out of combat without using up a slot. Wizards will need to have the spells in their spellbook. Clerics will need to have the spell prepared. There is no other cost other than the fact it takes 10 minutes. The only downside is that there not many ritual spells in the Basic rules spell list.

Spells explicitly require Verbal, Somatic, and/or Material Components. This includes cantrips. Gagging a spellcaster and tying their hands is still an effective technique.

Clerics

One benefit of a domain is that it gives you free prepared spells that don't count towards your limited.

Another is that Clerics have Channel Divinity ability. This the mechanic used for traditional cleric abilities like Turn Undead. Apparently different domains will grant you different abilities to use with Channel Divinity. Like the spellcasting system you have a list of Channel abilities and how many times you can use Channel. What you actually use it for it up to the player. Again Mearls and crew are trying to balance the flexibility of 3e with the simplicity of 5e. In the Basic rules the two Channel Divinity abilities (the result of the Life Domain) are Turn Undead and Destroy Undead.

Finally at 10th level the cleric has a chance to invoke Divine Intervention. The recommendation that the impact be equivalent of a free cleric spell but in the same paragraph leave it up to the referee to ultimately decide. I think it would make for some great roleplaying and makes sense for a cleric who up in the teens in levels.

Remember in ADnD for higher level spell Gygax recommends that the cleric has to talk to the deity or his minion to memorize them. So the precedent for cleric to be up close and personal with his deity is there.

Fighter

Fighters gain some flexibility in picking a fighting style. They also have a minor healing ability called Second Wind. DnD 5e appears to be catering up to the stamina portion of the traditional portion of abstract hit points. The mechanic gives you a once per combat heal of 1d10+level. I don't see a major issue with it, it is an edge but not an overwhelming one.

Action Surge, Indomitable are also once per combat abilities building on the theme that a fighter can find it within himself to exert himself during combat.

In lieu of a radically increase change to hit fighters gain extra attacks starting at 5th level.

The Champion Archetype mainly focuses on increasing the odds of scoring a critical. The effect of a critical is that you get to double your damage dice. But you only add your damage modifier in once.

Other benefits you get is that at 7th level you get to add half your proficiency bonus to any Str, Dex, or Con check if you not proficient already. At 18th level you are highly resilient and regain hit points equal to you 5 + Con modifier per round if you start the round with 1/2 your maximum hit points.

Rogue

First off understand that in DnD 5e any class and attempt any skill. That means a Wizard, Fighter, or Cleric can pick locks with some chance of success. But the Rogue definitely does it better.

The Rogue becomes definitely better because his Expertise ability which allow him to pick two skill proficiencies to be an expert in. This allows double the proficiency bonus to applied to uses of that skill.

Rogues have the traditional back/sneak attack. Called sneak attack it grants extra dice of damage. It is easier to execute then classic DnD. All you have to do to get the extra damage is to have advantage on the creature or have an ally with 5 feet.

In addition to this Rogues get abilities like Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, Reliable Talent, Blindsense, etc. Collectively these abilities allow the Rogue to be more mobile during battle and avoid damage easier.

The Thief archetype brings it Fast Hands, Second-Story Work, Supreme Sneak, Use Magic Device, and Thief Reflexes. The package appears to me to be largely non-combat oriented and ties directly in what a Thief is expected to do. This gets a solid A and gives me hope that this type of stuff will appear as often as combat related abilities in the upcoming PHB.

Wizard

Like most classic editions of DnD, Wizards sling spells, little spells, and big spells. Like Clerics, a Wizard must prepare a list of spells before using a slot to cast them. They still need a spellbook with the spells written in them in order to prepare.

Some class abilities of note are

Arcane Recover where you can recover a number of spell slots whose level equal to or less than your half of your wizard levels rounded down. The max level that can be recovered are 5th level slots.

At 18th and 20th level you get Spell Mastery and Signature spells. Mastery allows you to cast prepared 1st level or 2nd level spells at those levels without expending a slot. You can still use a higher level slot to cast them. Signature spells allows to designate two 3rd level spells and they don't count toward the prepared spell limit. You can also cast them once per combat without expending a slot.

The Evocation traditions ha Evocation Savant, Sculpt Spells, Potent Cantrip, Empowered Evocation and Overchannel. They are gained at 2nd, 6th, 10th and 14th level. They basically make it easier to learn Evocation spells (Fireball, etc), and increased their damage.

The most notable is Sculpt Spell which allows the caster of Fireball and other area effect evocation spells to designate a number of targets up to 1 + spell's level to automatically succeed on their saving throw. If the spell does half damage on a successful save the targets don't take any damage. This is was used to devastating effect during a high level playtest session and proved instrumental to allowing a party of 7 players to overcome a horde of Treants attacking.

Conclusion

Having written the Majestic Wilderlands supplement I can't complain about their approach. In the Majestic Wilderlands I tied each class back to the setting and made it explict why it existed. The same approach is repeated here. Each class has a lot of roleplaying details up front, and many their mechanics (especially the Rogue) are handy for roleplaying as well as combat. They are about as complex as some of the more detailed ADnD subclasses (Druids, Rangers, Assassins, Paladins, etc) so the simplicity goal is largely achieved.

We will see how it plays out in the PHB. I give this chapter a solid A.

Next post we will look at Chapter 4 Personality and Backgrounds.

Don't forget you can download a 5e character sheet I created from this link. It is designed to print out on one sheet of paper and fold over so you can use the inside for notes.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Breaking down DnD Basic Part 3

Lets look at the DnD Basic rules in detail.

The purpose of these posts is to summarize the rules accurately with commentary from the perspective of an OSR Publisher.

Chapter 2
Races

Chapter Two is about the various races supported by the DnD Basic rules. Each races is given the following.

Ability Score Increases
Alignment
Size
Speed
Languages
Suggested Names
Traits
Subraces and their traits

The included races are

Dwarves (Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf)
Elves (High Elves, Wood Elves)
Halflings (Lightfoot, Stout)
Humans (no sub race)

In general the various races get +4 to their attributes, +2 to a core attribute (+2 to constitution for Dwarves) and +2 or +1/+1 to another set of attributes because of the subrace (Mountain Dwarves get +2 to Strength). The traits are pretty much bog standards and nothing we haven't seen before among the various retro-clones.

Continuing the trend started in 3e, Humans get a bonus as well. In this case +1 to all their attribute scores. There is a variant where Humans get two +1 to their attributes, a free skill proficiency, and a free feat.

I like how each race are given a small box describing their attitudes towards one another.

I dislike how much the Forgotten Realms intrudes on the verbose backgrounds descriptions particularly the humans. I think this minor hiccup is an instance where marketing priorities overruled a more common sense approach.

Outside of the scattered Forgotten Realms stuff, the presentation is strictly bog standard DnDish fantasy.

Like the Basic DnD Holmes Blue Book there are references to the larger rule set embodied by the 5e PHB, DMG, and MM. I am fine with that as obviously one purpose of this FREE PDF is to be a very large brochure to sell the core rulebooks.

Overall I give the chapter a B-, it marked down because it overly verbose and just a tad too much Forgotten Realms. It marked up because it preserves the bog standard approach to the standard array of DnD Races, and attempts to emphasize roleplaying and the fact that everybody have a culture (or subrace).

Next we look at the Classes starting with the Cleric.

And don't forget you can download a 5e character sheet I created from this link. It is designed to print out on one sheet of paper and fold over so you can use the inside for notes.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Breaking down DnD Basic Part 2

Lets look at DnD Basic in detail.

Chapter 1
Creating a Character

For experienced players this section is overly verbose. For a novice? Well maybe it is still overly verbose but I haven't published or gotten feedback on a full ruleset either.

Once you get around the text the steps are straight forward.

Choose a Race
Choose a Class
Determine Ability Scores
Describe your Character
Choose Equipment

In Races we learn that there are sub races that one can pick.

In Classes we learn that characters have levels, hit points, hit dice, and proficiency bonus. Here two difference from classic DnD leap out. Hit Dice need to be recorded as they allow characters to regain hit points. That the proficiency bonus applies to a lot of things in the game.

Applications of the Proficiency bonus

Attack rolls with proficient weapons
Attack rolls with spells
Ability checks with proficient skills
Ability checks with proficient tools
Proficient Saving Throws
The Saving Throw DC for spells

So the Proficiency Bonus is a central feature of DnD 5e.

For ability scores you have several methods to pick from.

The standard array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8
4d6 drop the lowest, roll six times, arrange.
Or as a clear optional rule point buy your attributes.

Abilities give bonus equal to the score - 10 divided by 2 round down. This ranges from +4 for 18, +1 for 12, to -3 for 4.

One nice touch is that on page 8 they summarize the bonus each race/subrace gives.

Describing your character has some additional mechanics over and above classic editions. The nine fold alignment system is back. But in addition characters are recommended to have ideals, bonds, and flaws. Along with a background that may give you skill proficiencies, tool proficiencies, or languages.

Emphasizing the roleplaying is a good thing in my book. I will say I am biased on this account as out of all the different types of players I consider myself focused on the roleplaying of a character. And yeah I do funny voices.

Nothing particularly special about choosing equipment. Other than the fact that classes and background come with premade sets of equipment that you can pick as an option. This is a good thing for those who find equipment lists tedious.

Last we come to a section on what to expect beyond 1st level. In this section is a level character from 1 to 20. That is very nice to have in the basic rules. Means once they added all the pieces it would usable for long term campaigns.

The XP curve is very difference from previous editions, 300 xp for 2nd, 900 xp for 3rd up to 355,000 xp for 20th. Without the XP guidelines it hard to tell what that exactly means. Looking at the starter set if you played a five man party. You will get to 2nd level after the first two encounters. With one being a fight on the road, and the other a small cave adventure.

This is likely to be a turn off for classic edition fans. Either ignored or house ruled. I read forum posts on adapting the 1e charts in the place of what is in the PDF.

However that is a minor issue compared to the proficiency bonus. It ranges from +2 at 1st to +6 at 20th. Mmmm. Think about the implications of this, first go up and look what the bonus applies too. This means that compared to every other edition including the original 1974 version of ODnD, 5e has a dramatically lower to hit curve. In ODnD a 20th level fighter has effectively a +12 to hit. Here it only a +6.

Not only that, the Wizard, Cleric, and Rogue, share the exact same bonus. If two characters are proficient in the same skill they have the same bonus.

Now skipping ahead in the rules it obvious that fighters are better in melee than wizards even with the same weapons. The same with Rogues and their skills. However the raw increase in bonuses that was a feature of 3e and 4e is not repeated in 5e. We will see how they work it out when we look at those chapters.

Next Post is on the Races.

As a bonus I created a 5e character sheet based off the one I made for my Majestic Wilderlands campaign. It is designed to printed on a single sheet of paper and folded over so you can use the inside for notes.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Breaking down DnD Basic Part 1

So I had a chance to read through the DnD basic pdf. You can download either a full graphics version or a print friendly version from this link. Note that if you want to copy and paste text you will need to do it from the Print friendly version. The full graphics version has some weird formatting that turns the text into gibberish when you paste it. The full graphics version does read and print fine tho.

My thoughts in a nutshell, it feel and plays similar to how my Majestic Wilderlands campaigns does and it not dramatically different than the late playtest rules. Each character type is definitely better at certain things everybody can lend a hand if needed. In my campaign is because I use Swords and Wizardry as my core rules which is based on the 1974 version of DnD. Characters have differences but they are not as dramatic as in later editions.

DnD 5e character mechanics has a similar design. If a wizard really had to get in and whack something with the staff they have similar contributions in the two editions. There are differences, DnD 5e has a lot more variety in its mechanics than ODnD. Many of the mechanics apply to all characters equally instead being baked into the character class like it with the later ODnD supplement or my MW Supplement.

In addition to mechanics the roleplaying of characters is emphasized with explicit advice and more importantly mechanics and aides to flesh out the background of the character. It is separate from the class mechanics which is excellent in my opinion. A full chapter is given over to this which serves to hammer in the point that RPGs are as much about the roleplaying as they are about the game. And just as important because it is in a separate chapter, you can tear it out and throw it way if it not for you. The game will work just as well without it as does with it. A win overall.

Some OSR rulesets are really good at cloning the feel of a classic edition, but other twist the classic mechanics a little and give their game a unique feel. DnD 5e has its own unique feel. You have some flexibility but the simplicity is there. Different classes can do specific things well, yet all characters can attempt anything. Because of this many who are happy with a particular edition will probably not switch. But it is easy for a new gamer to learn. Not just game mechanics but the idea of roleplaying itself.

My opinion is that DnD 5e will be the favorite system of many, but serve equally well as a second favorite system. One that creates a common ground for fans of various editions to meet at conventions or game store and share a good adventure.

In the next series of post I will comment on each chapter.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Basic DnD rules are out!

You can download them from here.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Wizard D&D Next Starter Set Unboxing

Mike Mearls and the Wizards teams unboxes and goes through the D&D Starter set

Friday, June 20, 2014

Breaking down the DnD 5e Fighter

Mike Mearls tweeted this image of the D&D 5e fighter sheet from the Starter Set.

Here we have the attributes. The standard array of Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha arranged in the new style with Physical attributes first and Metal attributes section. They chose to emphasize the bonuses as opposed to the original number. With the primary resolution system being d20 roll high versus target that is not surprising. However I would given equal footing to the raw attribute. While the bonus is what we use, the raw attribute is what we use to evaluate at a glance. +4 strength? Mmm OK. 18 strength, yeah now we are talking. Good or bad the 3 to 18 scale is entrenched in the DnD hobby. But I have to stress this is a presentation issue only. You still roll 3d6 (or your choice) and the raw number is not really used only the bonus.

Name block, looks like standard stuff except for the addition of background. More on that in a second.

Character information. With this in combination with backgrounds, 5e has more explicit support for roleplaying. I have no issue with this and feel that a minimal approach probably works better than the blank page approach of 4e or ODnD. We see that the noble background plays into the some of the information boxes particularly the flaw.

The two combat boxes. Looks pretty standard for DnD except for the Death saves. I believe if you go below zero you start making a Constitution save a round. Three successes means you stablized, three failures means you die. Makes for a mini game out of dying. Imagine the tension when after making two successful saves you start rolling failures or vice versa. Weapons are about your bonus and your damage which again is pretty much standard.

Abilities, at first level this fighter gets Second Wind, Fighting Style, and Position of Privilege. The first two are probably from his class and the last is a result of his background. The mechanics of Second Wind are the same as 4e's encounter powers but I like how they write it up here. It definitely sounds more natural and logic then the pure game mechanics of 4e. The test will be in what the other abilities that only reset with a rest look like.

Fighting Style (Defense) I think there will be more options in the Player Handbook when it is release. For Basic probably they will preselect everything. With that being said the abilities make sense. This fighter has the training to use his armor gear more effectively.

I like how the background gives a minor ability that is full of flavor and hooks for adventures.

The proficiency bonus this is probably the single most important number in DnD 5e. From the playtest every class has the same number. It is used for your attack bonus, saving throw bonus, and skill bonus. In short anything that your character is good at or rather proficient at will get to add this number in addition to the relevant attribute bonus.

This also mean that a Wizard swinging a staff and a fighter with a Greatsword will have the exact same chance to hit regardless of level. In this respect it is like ODnD particularly at low levels. It may lead to some blandness as well. In my Majestic Wilderlands supplements I have fixed progression for each class that has MW abilities (i.e. skills). I tweaked them to what I thought best for the case. So a 4th level Burglar with stealth may not be the sames as a 4th level Claw of Kalis with stealth but both are better than Mr. Fighter who can only use his dex bonus with stealth.

In the Player Handbook and the DMG there may be options to allow specific bonuses for skills based on a feat or background. We will have the see. Right now it looks like for 5e Basic if two characters are proficient in stealth they will have equal chance of succeeding at the same level and same dex regardless of class.

The six saving throw tied to attribute seems overly fussy to me. I would opted for Will, Reflex, and Fortitude of 3e myself or even the single save with modifiers of Swords and Wizardry. But it is not a deal breaker as long as how to use it is clear and understandable.

Click on the above image, look at it carefully, notice how EVERY skill is filled out. Yup just like what Matt Finch recommended in the Old School Primer, and what I implemented for abilities in the Majestic Wilderlands supplement; Any character can attempt any skill just some are better at some skills than others. The way 5e appears to handle better is by marking it as the characters being proficient in the skill. Thus allowing the character to add his proficiency bonus to the normal attribute bonus.

This wraps it up for the front half and in the next post we will look at the second page.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The one where I play DnD Next, Origins Game Fair Part 2

Tim, Dan, and I went to Origins Game Fair on the 14th. We all signed up to play some DnD Next at 8:00pm. The adventure was from the Legacy of Crystal Shards. First the story of what happened and then I talk about the mechanics under the fold.

I got into a session of DnD Next at the Origins Game Fair. It was the Shards of Icewind Dale part of the Legacy of the Crystal Shards. I played Sir Endless Star a Paladin of Torm. We played at 1st level for the first half of the adventure and 2nd level for the second half.

The Roster
Dan - Spikey, Ranger
Me - Sir Endless Star, Paladin of Torm
Tim - Roger, Rogue
Ray - Mithian, Cleric of Ilmater
Mike - Eldeth, Magic-User
Rob - Ironhelm, Dwarf, Fighter

The adventure threw together two groups of old school gamers. Dan, Tim, and I from NW Pa. Ray, Mike and Rob from Harrisburg. Combined, we had a century of experience with tabletop roleplaying.

The Story

The adventure proper involved us as guards escorting a caravan to one of the Ten Towns of the Icewind dale. We got attacked by Saber-Tooth Tigers and one of the wagons get knocked over during the fight. The party won but the carvanmaster wanted to leave the wagon and its merchant behind. The party agreed to stay and help. In the course of doing so we found a crate full of silver weapons which was a very unusual piece of cargo.

We fixed up the wagon and begin moving to the town. Contrary nothing bad happen along the way. That is not until we hit the town. Even tho we started out hour behind the rest of the caravan, the traffic jam at the gate meant they were still trying to get through. Just as we had the town in sight a bunch of yetis attacked.

We rushed down to the gate and threw ourselves into the fray. After several minutes of combat we managed to get the wagons in (including the one we were escorting) and shut the gates.

In the aftermath, we learned that yetis are solitary creatures and this was very unusual. We were paid off for our caravan work and helped with the clean up. During the clean up a merchant from the local apothecary caught several of the party's ears. He had a tale of woe about he paid for protection from somebody named Slim and got nothing for it. Especially since he felt had to the "protection" money.

Talking with the local sheriff, I found out that Slim was known for hiring out guards. Most of the party was excited about going after Slim and getting the merchant's money back. I reminded them that we are strangers in this town, that we had no authority, that we had only one side of the story. They were ready to ignore me until I firmly stated that if they did this as the Torm's hand on Faerun I would oppose them.

We compromised on acting as the merchant's agent. I again pointed out that we did this right that having the merchant as a friend could help us as we were strangers here. Do this wrong we would be either imprisoned or forced to leave in the midst of a snow storm with yetis on the prowl.

So we headed to the Northwind Tavern where Slim lived. We got directions to his rooms. Before I could knock, one of the more enthusiastic party members kicked down the door. For a second I thought out in the storm would be our ultimate destination. But Torm was with us and we caught the inhabitants of the room in the midst of a murder. Moreso one of the perpetrators was a Wererat. We all rushed into the room but the wererat was took quick. He shapeshifted into to a small rat and escaped.

I went into the room and with my sword point at one of remaining human throat announced that I was Torm's Hand on Faerun, that they were outnumber and retribution would fall if they did not surrendered. They exercised their better judgment and surrendered.

From the information gathered, we uncovered a conspiracy where Slim and his thugs were conspiring with one of the town leaders to take over. The Yetis were magically controlled and sent in to create chaos. The party learned they had supplies at the warehouse they needed to retrieve. We laid an ambush and broke the back of their conspiracy in the ensuing fight.

Weighing in on the DnD 5e annoucements

First off we don't know enough of Wizard's marketing and distribution plans to do a critical review of what they are doing. Except that they should quit the dribbles, drabs, and teases of information and just tell us. I understand they need to get the distribution process going which means pre-orders and cover images on Amazon, game stores, etc. But only telling half of the story just means the peanut gallery is going to make up the other half.

As to what I think about what has been announced? I am cautiously optimistic. I will get the books just I did with all other previous edition. I still feel that DnD Next will be a good second choice for the OSR. A game that we can play and enjoy at conventions and game stores but still continuing to use our favorite editions as our main system.

I think that the signs are there that Wizards is going to distribute a set of character creation rules covering the basics. That it will probably look similar to the B/X style character creation rules both in content and brevity.

Continuing the speculation, it will be a end run around Paizo if Wizards prints this as well as a freebie that anybody can pick up at their game store. Especially if they consider this primarily a marketing tool and use the marketing budget to fund it. Then turn around and use what they saved on the Starter Box budget to pack it additional content they otherwise could not include.

I don't consider pre-gen characters bad as long as they are an addition to the regular character creation rules and not in liu of it. I am also open minded that they just may found a better way of distributing a RPG ruleset other than putting everything in a box or books.

I will also point out that while the Pathfinder Beginners Box set is pretty good, it still a sealed game box. To somebody in the game store, they have to buy the box and open it before they can see what it truly is. If Wizards is smart and has a printed booklet sitting in the stores, this allows gamers to read something substantial before deciding whether the Starter Set is worth buying.

But in the end until Wizards get their marketing communication straightened out we are all guessing.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Battlesystem reborn

Last year I needed to handle mass combat as the J Squad at Gold Star Anime as they ventured into a orc infested forest. I ultimately chose to use 1st Edition Battle System mostly because I discovered that the core combat formula is applicable for nearly every edition of DnD including many of the retro-clones. Another important reason is that Battlesystem scales seamlessly from mass armies to a single PC. It not until you run a mass combat battle you see how effective the old 1 attack per level rule is for fighters.

Along with this I found that the rules themselves are remarkably brief. The main rulebook is 32 pages but that mostly because it is illustrations and example. The actual rules amount to a handful of pages.

So what do I find on the Internet? An announcement that Wizards will be releasing Battlesystem. It short on details on the mechanics but it sounds like it will very much in the spirit of the 1st edition. I don't know if my blog posts had any influence on +Mike Mearls and his team, however it great to see this aspect of DnD to be supported again.

I do know that to this day that me breaking out all the Dragon counters still causes my friend +Tim Shorts and +Dwayne Gillingham to break out in a cold sweat.

Friday, September 20, 2013

D&D Next Final Playtest Packet is up.

You can download it from here.

I plan to read it through and will post my thoughts.

The Greyhawk Grognard is concerned about the lack of news on third party license. My feeling is that if Wizards pushes the reuse of older adventures and older styles with D&D Next then it will be a non-issue. Yes it would be nice to have an official stamp. But I think DCC RPG, Castles & Crusades and the diversity of OSR RPGs shows that the difference is a matter of inches and everybody is plundering everybody else material for their campaigns.

To flip it around, Paizo and their Pathfinder line is about as open of a game line as they come however much of has gained little traction among the OSR. Not because they don't produce good stuff of excellent quality but more because the type of game they are aiming doesn't mesh well with what the OSR does. Most of the useful stuff for the OSR they produce are their accessory products like Chase Cards, battle mats, etc.

The take away what going to matter is not the open license but that how Wizards presents their game. Don't get me wrong I would like to see both. Wizards having a nice third party publishing program AND publishes adventures that dovetails nicely with the variety of material the OSR produces. However of the two I think the latter is more important.

Onto the playtest documents and let see if we can clear the tea leaves up a bit.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Reading the Tea Leaves: D&D Next Sept 2013

Reading it and playing it a little, DnD Next comes across as yet another variant of classic D&D. Something you would expect from a D20/OSR publisher. While that may seem like faint praise I think that is a good thing after the debacle of 4th edition.

Because of that they may just have a shot of regaining their market lead versus Pathfinder. Not because the system is more innovative, etc. Because rather they seem to be focused on making a system that is as quick to setup and play as classic DnD but with new school options. By and large they I feel they succeeded with that in the playtest.

However this same focus means that the rules themselves really doesn't have any more (or less) to offer than any other variant of classic D&D. It not worse nor it is better.

It will make a big difference in going against Pathfinder. Again with the 4th edition debacle in mind they will probably take a soft line with this and it will come out more in the reviews and actual play reports. In addition there is a good chance that supplemental products (adventures, settings) will be far more useful than d20/Pathfinder products. You can see this by their consistent use of restating older modules for use in the playtest. A good test of the above goals.

What unknown is the presentation of the rules, adventures, supplements, and settings. If there going to a major problem it will be here. There was nothing about the design of 4e that required to be a 24/7 High Fantasy RPG focused on combat scenarios. But because Wizards chose to present it that way for much of its product life it condemned DnD 4e to be a one note RPG.

I am awaiting to see what kind of third party program they come out with. If it something that I can work this then I will be more active in playing the game and following what they do. If it is not then I wish them the best luck and hope that the supplements will be useful enough for me to buy.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

New D&D Next Packet, Vindication at last!

Yesterday Wizards dropped a new D&D Next packet. This featured the addition of the Druid, Ranger, and Paladin. Along with rules for exploration.

So why vindication at last? Truth be told it is nothing major just a pet peeve of mine that has been finally rectified after 30 years. See in Dragon #39 the Anti-Paladin was presented. After reading it I thought the whole concept was shaky. To me a anti-paladin is Lawful Evil a champion of of Order at any cost. The idea of any type of Chaotic Evil "Order" was stupid.

From that I developed a Lawful Evil Myrmidon class which was my version of a Anti- Paladin. So when I started reading the Paladin class in the new D&D Next packet I found they added three themes; Paladin, Warden, and Blackguard. The description of the Blackguard is very close to what I describe my Myrmidon to be; a divine champion that promotes order regardless of the cost.

The Warden is interesting as well basically a divine champion of nature described as similar to the Green Knight of Arthurian legend. D&D Next's Ranger feature the return of the class to it's Dunedain roots. And the Druid makes its appearance as well. Also interesting is that the Paladin and Ranger feature spell casting as a class feature starting at 1st level rather than the higher levels of older edition D&D.

Finally they added rules for Exploration, nothing fancy but a clear and straightforward system of resolving travel and exploration extending over days and weeks.

D&D Next is shaping up to be a solid variant of classic D&D about as different as Blood & Treasure, Castles & Crusade or the other clones that mix 3rd edition mechanics with older edition design. And perhaps that why it is receiving a lackluster response in the OSR. It is not that D&D Next is bad, but rather the gamers of the OSR have moved on to a do it yourself ethos.

Ultimately I think the fate and popularity of D&D Next among the OSR will be two things. 1) That the straightforward presentation of the playtest is retained in a supported core product, and 2) that a reasonable license is created for third party products. And even then it main use will be as a publishing tool in the same way the same product is released by a OSR publisher in a Labyrinth Lord version and a ACKS version and so on. And as a common ground for when gamers attend conventions and store events.

Anyway this version is worth checking to keep up on what Wizards been doing and after reading it I am cautiously optimistic that D&D Next will be a good thing for the OSR.

Monday, June 4, 2012

D&D Next: Starting at higher levels.

One of the many debates floating around the internet about DnD Next is about the starting power of characters in a DnD style game. 3e boosted the capabilities of starting characters and 4e takes that up several notches higher. When I first played 4e I felt like that 1st level 4e characters were about as capable as a 5th level classic edition characters. To me, the DnD Next playtest dropped characters back to roughly were they were with 3e.Which for many classic edition fans is still too high.

During these debates about starting character power, one common response from classic edition gamers is to simply start at a higher level. 3rd or 5th if you don't want to endure the low level lethality of a classic edition game. Unlike Hero System or GURPS where there rarely an issue with suggesting that a campaign starts at a higher or lower point level, it seems that this suggestion is met with skepticism and dislike by gamers regardless of edition. The general feel of the response make it sound like it would be cheating to start a campaign at a higher level.

So do you readers think that accurate? That while intellectually we know we can start campaigns at higher levels it feels like cheating?

Saturday, May 26, 2012

DnD Next and the OSR

In short it is a clone of classic D&D. And Old School Renaissance will treat it as such. Mainly because it's adventures and settings promises to be compatible with the editions we do like and play. Promises to compatible to a far greater degree than 3.X, Pathfinder or 4.0 ever did.

Just look at the Cave of Chaos adventure. Despite the differences in mechanics it works out about the same way you expect if you ran it with Mentzer rules.

I created my own original adventure to use for the playtest and did everything the same I would preparing for Swords & Wizardry. And having run it 2 and a half times with three different groups it was nothing like the 3.5/4e games I played and a lot like the Swords & Wizardry/Majestic Wilderlands hybrid I use for my regular campaigns.

The playtest is a clone and the Old School Renaissance will treat it as such.

No more and no less.

Ist success among the OSR will be the same as any similar high production value project. If it open to third party support, plays nice with the community, and produces good material using the format we had seen then it will have a slice of the OSR as customers.

However what it will not do is supplant the love or the playing the classic editions. Because what newcomers forget time and time again is that the point is not to play something like the older editions but the older editions themselves. If you want to get customers among the OSR then your work needs to be useful to people playing and refereeing the older editions.

I am optimistic at this point mainly because of the format of the included Cave of Chaos, the fact it works as is in actual play and that it is the full caves and not some stripped down version

I see by the comments I didn't get my point across. The Cave of Chaos adventure is almost as verbatim copy of the original and it uses ONE line stats blocks that are useful in actual play. If this format continues to be used this means that it is highly likely that D&D Adventures, Settings, and maybe supplements would be of some use to the OSR. Much in the same way that Swords and Wizardry gamers find material useful that was written for OSRIC.

Friday, May 25, 2012

D&D Next: The Power Curve has been FLATTEN!

The public playtest is out and slowly getting out there as Wizard's servers are being hammered. I will be writing more about my experience with this version and the previous closed playtest version. But in this post I want touch on what I feel is D&D Next Characteristic.

One of the first things I checked is to see if the same progression from the closed playtest is still there for the characters. Why?

Because that is going be THE hallmark of D&D Next. The flattened power curve.

A lot of people will nitpick on the at will spell abilities the Wizard will get and a dozen other details. But all that pale in the face that the power curve has flatten between characters, between levels, and monsters.

This was thrown in my face when a friend and I decided to get a jump on an upcoming playtest test and try out D&D Next Combat. We made two characters with the closed playtest, which very quickly, and faced four orcs. Based on playing OD&D in the form of Swords & Wizardry I figure it would be a fair fight. It wasn't, the orcs slaughtered us. Granted we got bad rolls, but we still would have won the fight in OD&D. But with D&D Next we were dead, with two orcs left standing.

D&D Next plays a lot like OD&D, very deadly and you need to keep on your toes to survive. But it doesn't do it in the same way as D&D does and for some that will be a deal breaker. but it is definitely D&D and not a game that just has the brand slapped on it.