I am calling this part one because I'm hoping the second part will include a playtest in the near future.
I have been looking it over, after many errors that might have been WotC misjudging the volume of people, a simple oversight or them messing up. The short answer is, yeah they had trouble when putting it out this morning, yet it is now in my little hands now.
Second, I must say so far, without having any chance to truly play it yet, there is some 3E stuff, blended with 4E ideas, with a dash of the older school ideas. I will say there are things I like and things I don't like. Can't really go into things, because of the rules set forth by WotC.
IF they set forth these rules, in book format, I would buy it and run it with a few bits of tinkering. More later...
Friday, May 25, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Been awhile...
Many things have happened, I did not expect that hiatus to hit me. I apologize, I was working on a novel and then things sort of slipped away from me. Yet, it happens. This is just going to be a shotgun kind of update.
I have still been gaming, yet not as much. I have run two sessions of my 1st ed. Sydell game for my Sunday group and that first session was great because I had more than one player finally. We had a full group delve back into Stonehell. Then, just last Sunday I took up the DM mantle again and only two people were able to show. We soldiered on for awhile, then called a end of session when they had cleared out a nice chunk of a section. I must say that Michael Curtis and his Stonehell project are amazing. (I know I have been a little coy about what I was using for a bit. Don't care. I trust my players to not rush out and buy it or download the thing. Plus, if they did, it wouldn't help. I change a few things here and there to either make things more fun for me or to blend in more story to the game itself.)
The other game I have played a session or two of since I last wrote this blog was a steam punk sci-fi game my friend created called Into the Black. Starting to really get into the meat of the game now, which I have been hoping would come a little sooner. But, it hit with the force of a dump truck and sent us reeling. I am more on board now than before.
Finally got back to reading the blog list, though I know I will never read all the ones I missed. One that I saw recently grabbed me. GROGNARDIA had an interesting idea. The idea has some merit to it and I know that some of my players would love to give it a shot for the challenge. Others would say I like "hard mode" to much.
Also, been playing some Diablo III and until recently, I wasn't impressed. I have it on normal difficulty, plus I am a very casual gamer when it comes to video games of all kinds. Yes, exploring the land of Sanctuary is fun and hearing the lore of the different creatures has a benefit. But ultimately, it is a hack-n-slash and that never appealed much to me. I am sure I will go back and play more of it, though there is no great NEED to finish it or keep playing.
Last Monday, Mike Mearls wrote up another column for Legends & Lore, talking about hit points. It is an interesting read and I know many on the OSR blogshpere have already ripped into it. I am going to focus on the survey option that he had at the end of the article. It was short, and at one point there was a chance for me to give feedback. Below is what I wrote verbatim:
I feel that there is a trend to get "back" those lost when the game went from 3.5 to 4. Yet not enough is done to get back the older edition players. To many of the "old guard" gamers are told we hear you, yet the feel of the column trends towards those lost recently. I could be wrong, yet this is my opinion, and I have ever hope to swallow my words along with a big piece of crow pie.
Every word of it I feel is true. So much of the D&D Next sounds like it is geared towards those who played 3.5 before the change over. And, to many of us who stopped keeping up with the newer editions, though didn't stop playing the game, there is a sense that we were left in the cold. I keep hearing the rumors that this game will allow for any edition lover to come to, play their favorite version and allow others to play their own without any problems. And, if true, the last sentence I wrote will be just as true.
I LOOK FORWARD to being proved wrong by WotC. I am LOOKING FORWARD to this new edition, for many reasons.
Because, if nothing else, I am sure I will find something that I can cherry pick out of upcoming play test or the rules whenever they come out, and incorporate them into my games.
And, I think I can add another writing project to my ever expanding list. To write down my own house rules. COMPLETE LIST, not hey that is a neat rule, hey that is cool. Then, forget them six months down the line. I know that is going to take a great deal of time because of all of the different games that I play. It is something to think about.
Thank you for reading the post, I will be back, hopefully before next month.
I have still been gaming, yet not as much. I have run two sessions of my 1st ed. Sydell game for my Sunday group and that first session was great because I had more than one player finally. We had a full group delve back into Stonehell. Then, just last Sunday I took up the DM mantle again and only two people were able to show. We soldiered on for awhile, then called a end of session when they had cleared out a nice chunk of a section. I must say that Michael Curtis and his Stonehell project are amazing. (I know I have been a little coy about what I was using for a bit. Don't care. I trust my players to not rush out and buy it or download the thing. Plus, if they did, it wouldn't help. I change a few things here and there to either make things more fun for me or to blend in more story to the game itself.)
The other game I have played a session or two of since I last wrote this blog was a steam punk sci-fi game my friend created called Into the Black. Starting to really get into the meat of the game now, which I have been hoping would come a little sooner. But, it hit with the force of a dump truck and sent us reeling. I am more on board now than before.
Finally got back to reading the blog list, though I know I will never read all the ones I missed. One that I saw recently grabbed me. GROGNARDIA had an interesting idea. The idea has some merit to it and I know that some of my players would love to give it a shot for the challenge. Others would say I like "hard mode" to much.
Also, been playing some Diablo III and until recently, I wasn't impressed. I have it on normal difficulty, plus I am a very casual gamer when it comes to video games of all kinds. Yes, exploring the land of Sanctuary is fun and hearing the lore of the different creatures has a benefit. But ultimately, it is a hack-n-slash and that never appealed much to me. I am sure I will go back and play more of it, though there is no great NEED to finish it or keep playing.
Last Monday, Mike Mearls wrote up another column for Legends & Lore, talking about hit points. It is an interesting read and I know many on the OSR blogshpere have already ripped into it. I am going to focus on the survey option that he had at the end of the article. It was short, and at one point there was a chance for me to give feedback. Below is what I wrote verbatim:
I feel that there is a trend to get "back" those lost when the game went from 3.5 to 4. Yet not enough is done to get back the older edition players. To many of the "old guard" gamers are told we hear you, yet the feel of the column trends towards those lost recently. I could be wrong, yet this is my opinion, and I have ever hope to swallow my words along with a big piece of crow pie.
Every word of it I feel is true. So much of the D&D Next sounds like it is geared towards those who played 3.5 before the change over. And, to many of us who stopped keeping up with the newer editions, though didn't stop playing the game, there is a sense that we were left in the cold. I keep hearing the rumors that this game will allow for any edition lover to come to, play their favorite version and allow others to play their own without any problems. And, if true, the last sentence I wrote will be just as true.
I LOOK FORWARD to being proved wrong by WotC. I am LOOKING FORWARD to this new edition, for many reasons.
Because, if nothing else, I am sure I will find something that I can cherry pick out of upcoming play test or the rules whenever they come out, and incorporate them into my games.
And, I think I can add another writing project to my ever expanding list. To write down my own house rules. COMPLETE LIST, not hey that is a neat rule, hey that is cool. Then, forget them six months down the line. I know that is going to take a great deal of time because of all of the different games that I play. It is something to think about.
Thank you for reading the post, I will be back, hopefully before next month.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Thoughts...
So, been hiding out, trying to game and rarely finding a game to play. Also, had to move some stuff, from my move in Jan. So, that sucked up time on Sunday.
I did happen to play my buddy's d20 sci-fi steampunk game called Into the Black. It is fun. Loving the set up of the world and the group is working...to some extent. There is always problems with the crew. Part of the fun of the game really.
Been mulling over things and, after reading this guy and Zak's hack, I want to try and work on my own system or hack. I have a few ideas I have been keeping on the back burner, I think it might be time to dredge them up for a bit and shake them out.
Short post, I know. But, hey, I will b posting more soon.
I did happen to play my buddy's d20 sci-fi steampunk game called Into the Black. It is fun. Loving the set up of the world and the group is working...to some extent. There is always problems with the crew. Part of the fun of the game really.
Been mulling over things and, after reading this guy and Zak's hack, I want to try and work on my own system or hack. I have a few ideas I have been keeping on the back burner, I think it might be time to dredge them up for a bit and shake them out.
Short post, I know. But, hey, I will b posting more soon.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Into Nightwick Abbey
From the journal of Erasmus of Kars:
I heard the murmuring in the Medusa's Head that there were some who were heading back towards the ruins of Nightwick Abbey again. The last time I went in, I made a nice little haul for myself. Yet, whatever has been brewing there has done something to the town itself, for my silver that once kept me in food and spell components now was no longer good enough. I donned my robes, grabbed my stout staff and gear and spellbook and went out to the Frogling Rupert outside of town to wait for the others.
I like the Froglings, and though I don't pray to the gods of this place, I find it strange that the Froglings can't join us in town because they worship other things. I think it is just a way to keep the little green guys guys down.
I found the group and joined in, naming myself Erasmus. The demons in the wind started to cackle as I came to rest my mismatched eyes on the group. A cleric of Law, a Shazi or something to that effect, a fighter type--I think in banded mail and girded with weapons--named Tisqualalqual and the grave digger Abraham whom I've never talked to--his eyes able to stare at you and the wall at the same time unnerve me a little. (Yes, my eyes are strange as well, but at least I look at you with both the green and blue one at the same time.) We headed towards the abbey and skirted around the edge of it to the graveyard below. Some of them had been here before and found an entrance to the mausoleum and wished to further explore it. I thought why not, since the dead never stay still very long in this place. We also picked up two hirelings, Hammish a fighting man and a porter who I can't remember his name, sorry mate.
After bit of exploration into the mausoleum we found the room with four statues that the grave digger kept talking about and went about tying sacks onto the heads. I thought he was a fool until the bag started to expand when we opened the first of the four sarcophagi in the room. (I know the demon in my head laughed all the more from my surprise.) Then, another Frogling by the name of Fredrick joined out little troupe.
At that moment, some eldritch ball of energy floated into the room and exuded thick ropes of slime. All were safe except myself and Tisqual. I was able to slip away after the initial barrage. Yet, the thing found Tisqual to its liking for it started to suck away at the man's body. His cheek and face grew dessicated. The rest of us tried to attack the thing to little avail. I even threw magic at it, and it only empowered the thing. Tisqual died in the battle and the thing just floated away.
The sarcophagi were looted, four knights with rings, plate and silver crosses, we left Tisqual in the room and headed back to town. That night we sold a majority of the booty. I kept one of the garent rings and one of the signet rings--you knew know when it might come in handy. Abraham kept a cross for himself and I think Fredrick did as well.
The next day we left to foray into the abbey again, were joined by the dilettante Lazzaro. An odd fellow who spoke of magic and other things like he had dabbled in them yet knew nothing of the deeper science behind it. He joined us as we headed back to the abbey and we all explored the ruins of Nightwick. It had been some time since I had been there, and that strange growing kudzu of mauve had an eldritch affect on the stone. It was growing them. It seems the abbey is trying to repair itself. I noted that for myself and while I did, the graver digger and the others went to look for the source of the kudzu. They found it and started to dig it up.
They found a thick, thirty foot mass of root. Most of them started to attack it, wanted to destroy the thing. I was still unsure as to what to do, when someone threw oil at it and lit the thing on fire. A thick purple haze roiled from it, along with the screams of something. We even found holy items affect it and cause small burns and blisters to appear on it.
We lost the Frogling Fredrick to the haze, he passed out and while Shazi and Lazzaro--who talked of dissecting the Frogling if he didn't wake--tended to him, I found myslef having to follow the gravedigger into the treeline to try and get more trees for kindling. I thought it was a better to go with him that have him go off on his own and end up dead.
It was a good thing, for we spied a group of goblins coming towards the ruins and the two of us hid. We were soon joined by the rest of the group who spirited away with the Frogling, who was unhurt. Though, part of me would like to have watched this dissection. I am intrigued to find out what sets a Frogling apart from a human and frog.
The goblins went to investigate the fire and were transfixed by the haze. We surprised them with a rope that we held taunt and were able to drop half of them into the haze. Yet, we also took in the haze ourselves. The remaining goblins ran, while we all had horrible visions. We lost the torch bearer, who tore at his eyes. Myself, the visions were things better left unsaid for now.
We returned to the town, then a quick foray to Halfdan the Black, another magic-user who is a little to familiar with his black bear friend. We talked and found another group was sent in to collect specimens from an underground garden and haven't returned. Also, we gave him some of the kudzu in hopes of finding where the center of it might be.
Our final raid into the abbey was brief, yet we explored the north tower, found it growing as the rest of the accursed place and then went below to fight a few madmen who wore human skin as armor. One of them wore it well, and it was undamaged int he fight. Lazzaro took the armor, starting where he was from, it was almost natural. I shudder to think what type of place that is.
We returned home and I was ready to be done adventuring for some time. I gained gold this time for my share of the loot, gained some spells from Halfdan the Black and took it as a good sign the demon was laughing in the wind.
Until next time...
I heard the murmuring in the Medusa's Head that there were some who were heading back towards the ruins of Nightwick Abbey again. The last time I went in, I made a nice little haul for myself. Yet, whatever has been brewing there has done something to the town itself, for my silver that once kept me in food and spell components now was no longer good enough. I donned my robes, grabbed my stout staff and gear and spellbook and went out to the Frogling Rupert outside of town to wait for the others.
I like the Froglings, and though I don't pray to the gods of this place, I find it strange that the Froglings can't join us in town because they worship other things. I think it is just a way to keep the little green guys guys down.
I found the group and joined in, naming myself Erasmus. The demons in the wind started to cackle as I came to rest my mismatched eyes on the group. A cleric of Law, a Shazi or something to that effect, a fighter type--I think in banded mail and girded with weapons--named Tisqualalqual and the grave digger Abraham whom I've never talked to--his eyes able to stare at you and the wall at the same time unnerve me a little. (Yes, my eyes are strange as well, but at least I look at you with both the green and blue one at the same time.) We headed towards the abbey and skirted around the edge of it to the graveyard below. Some of them had been here before and found an entrance to the mausoleum and wished to further explore it. I thought why not, since the dead never stay still very long in this place. We also picked up two hirelings, Hammish a fighting man and a porter who I can't remember his name, sorry mate.
After bit of exploration into the mausoleum we found the room with four statues that the grave digger kept talking about and went about tying sacks onto the heads. I thought he was a fool until the bag started to expand when we opened the first of the four sarcophagi in the room. (I know the demon in my head laughed all the more from my surprise.) Then, another Frogling by the name of Fredrick joined out little troupe.
At that moment, some eldritch ball of energy floated into the room and exuded thick ropes of slime. All were safe except myself and Tisqual. I was able to slip away after the initial barrage. Yet, the thing found Tisqual to its liking for it started to suck away at the man's body. His cheek and face grew dessicated. The rest of us tried to attack the thing to little avail. I even threw magic at it, and it only empowered the thing. Tisqual died in the battle and the thing just floated away.
The sarcophagi were looted, four knights with rings, plate and silver crosses, we left Tisqual in the room and headed back to town. That night we sold a majority of the booty. I kept one of the garent rings and one of the signet rings--you knew know when it might come in handy. Abraham kept a cross for himself and I think Fredrick did as well.
The next day we left to foray into the abbey again, were joined by the dilettante Lazzaro. An odd fellow who spoke of magic and other things like he had dabbled in them yet knew nothing of the deeper science behind it. He joined us as we headed back to the abbey and we all explored the ruins of Nightwick. It had been some time since I had been there, and that strange growing kudzu of mauve had an eldritch affect on the stone. It was growing them. It seems the abbey is trying to repair itself. I noted that for myself and while I did, the graver digger and the others went to look for the source of the kudzu. They found it and started to dig it up.
They found a thick, thirty foot mass of root. Most of them started to attack it, wanted to destroy the thing. I was still unsure as to what to do, when someone threw oil at it and lit the thing on fire. A thick purple haze roiled from it, along with the screams of something. We even found holy items affect it and cause small burns and blisters to appear on it.
We lost the Frogling Fredrick to the haze, he passed out and while Shazi and Lazzaro--who talked of dissecting the Frogling if he didn't wake--tended to him, I found myslef having to follow the gravedigger into the treeline to try and get more trees for kindling. I thought it was a better to go with him that have him go off on his own and end up dead.
It was a good thing, for we spied a group of goblins coming towards the ruins and the two of us hid. We were soon joined by the rest of the group who spirited away with the Frogling, who was unhurt. Though, part of me would like to have watched this dissection. I am intrigued to find out what sets a Frogling apart from a human and frog.
The goblins went to investigate the fire and were transfixed by the haze. We surprised them with a rope that we held taunt and were able to drop half of them into the haze. Yet, we also took in the haze ourselves. The remaining goblins ran, while we all had horrible visions. We lost the torch bearer, who tore at his eyes. Myself, the visions were things better left unsaid for now.
We returned to the town, then a quick foray to Halfdan the Black, another magic-user who is a little to familiar with his black bear friend. We talked and found another group was sent in to collect specimens from an underground garden and haven't returned. Also, we gave him some of the kudzu in hopes of finding where the center of it might be.
Our final raid into the abbey was brief, yet we explored the north tower, found it growing as the rest of the accursed place and then went below to fight a few madmen who wore human skin as armor. One of them wore it well, and it was undamaged int he fight. Lazzaro took the armor, starting where he was from, it was almost natural. I shudder to think what type of place that is.
We returned home and I was ready to be done adventuring for some time. I gained gold this time for my share of the loot, gained some spells from Halfdan the Black and took it as a good sign the demon was laughing in the wind.
Until next time...
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Game Updates, ideas and hating on Blogger
Hello, all:
At first, I was going to try and do the "April Challenge" that some of the other bloggers are doing out there, yet in the end I took the advice of Alexis over at the Tao of D&D. (I would link the actual blog post, but I searched for it and the page is missing. Oh well.) To boil it down, what he said was, "Why bother? I'll be posting when I can and I don't see a need to do a 'theme' for the month just because of the ways the days line up. I know some bloggers are doing the April Challenge, and they have some interesting stuff. They should be on my sidebar somewhere, but that leads me to my next point.
I hate the new Blogger interface. It seems a little clunky and the previous one was working fine. The big issue I have with it is when I try to open up several blogs at once, I do that throughout the day, this new interface only opens one window and stacks the blogs one on top of the other so I have to hit the back button on the browser. The truth is, sometimes--well more and more now--I read these blogs on my iPad and it is frustrating to have to touch the blog title, wait for the screen to pop up and select open in a new tab and keep doing that for all the blogs I want to read. (ALSO, I am a Luddite, so if anyone knows how I can fix that on my Mac or iPad, please drop me a line in the comment section of dragolite 1 at gmail dawt com.) ALSO, it keeps saying I'm not folowing anyone when I have something like thirty to fifty blogs I follow! That grinding noise you hear is my teeth...
On to gaming stuff...
Last Sunday, I was able to continue my 1E campaign with three players, then one dropped out. He was on Skype and continued to have problems. He should be joining again next week, I hope. The other two PCs, Kael the Elven Ranger and Cardis the human thief along with two NPCs, Fulnoch the halfling thief and Sister Thersail, cleric of Theran, delved into the first level of Stonehell Prison. They did not get very far, since they also were dealing with several issues above ground on the surface of Stonehell. (I must say, it is an amazing megadungeon.) They stopped, after only exploring a few rooms. Didn't camp, just put the game on pause. Which I thought was a little weird myself. But, I think it was because of the truncated session we had.
Then, on Monday, some friends came over and we did a modified d20 game called Into the Black. A steampunky, Victorian space game. It was interesting. My character is a treasure hunter, looking for old tech of Earth-That-Was. (He found a weed whacker and a few crewmembers and I were having a blast deciding what to do with it. The first thought was a weapon of some kind, putting either a bunch of razor blades or made a modified hubcap on the end. It was silly fun.) Overall, I had some fun.
There is one more item I want to touch upon before ending this post. I have brought it up before, I believe, in a previous post.
Zak S. was playing around with a Cthulhu game set in the 1920's with the player's having some kind of super power or something like that. That got me thinking about using something similar, taking cues from a few other blogs. Then. I stumbled upon this guy and it got me thinking of something that would be very much like Zak's idea and smashing it together with Victorian Gothic instead. With Zak, it was horror in one way, I think my idea is more oppressive and dark. Yet, I want to have it in a world that isn't typical 1890's London or 1920's New York. This is a world with steampunk tech, and maybe something even more sinister. The Mi-go and Elder Things thrum away behind the scenes while the cultists of Cthulhu run amok doing their own evils to the world.
This is just an idea, but it could be fun.
At first, I was going to try and do the "April Challenge" that some of the other bloggers are doing out there, yet in the end I took the advice of Alexis over at the Tao of D&D. (I would link the actual blog post, but I searched for it and the page is missing. Oh well.) To boil it down, what he said was, "Why bother? I'll be posting when I can and I don't see a need to do a 'theme' for the month just because of the ways the days line up. I know some bloggers are doing the April Challenge, and they have some interesting stuff. They should be on my sidebar somewhere, but that leads me to my next point.
I hate the new Blogger interface. It seems a little clunky and the previous one was working fine. The big issue I have with it is when I try to open up several blogs at once, I do that throughout the day, this new interface only opens one window and stacks the blogs one on top of the other so I have to hit the back button on the browser. The truth is, sometimes--well more and more now--I read these blogs on my iPad and it is frustrating to have to touch the blog title, wait for the screen to pop up and select open in a new tab and keep doing that for all the blogs I want to read. (ALSO, I am a Luddite, so if anyone knows how I can fix that on my Mac or iPad, please drop me a line in the comment section of dragolite 1 at gmail dawt com.) ALSO, it keeps saying I'm not folowing anyone when I have something like thirty to fifty blogs I follow! That grinding noise you hear is my teeth...
On to gaming stuff...
Last Sunday, I was able to continue my 1E campaign with three players, then one dropped out. He was on Skype and continued to have problems. He should be joining again next week, I hope. The other two PCs, Kael the Elven Ranger and Cardis the human thief along with two NPCs, Fulnoch the halfling thief and Sister Thersail, cleric of Theran, delved into the first level of Stonehell Prison. They did not get very far, since they also were dealing with several issues above ground on the surface of Stonehell. (I must say, it is an amazing megadungeon.) They stopped, after only exploring a few rooms. Didn't camp, just put the game on pause. Which I thought was a little weird myself. But, I think it was because of the truncated session we had.
Then, on Monday, some friends came over and we did a modified d20 game called Into the Black. A steampunky, Victorian space game. It was interesting. My character is a treasure hunter, looking for old tech of Earth-That-Was. (He found a weed whacker and a few crewmembers and I were having a blast deciding what to do with it. The first thought was a weapon of some kind, putting either a bunch of razor blades or made a modified hubcap on the end. It was silly fun.) Overall, I had some fun.
There is one more item I want to touch upon before ending this post. I have brought it up before, I believe, in a previous post.
Zak S. was playing around with a Cthulhu game set in the 1920's with the player's having some kind of super power or something like that. That got me thinking about using something similar, taking cues from a few other blogs. Then. I stumbled upon this guy and it got me thinking of something that would be very much like Zak's idea and smashing it together with Victorian Gothic instead. With Zak, it was horror in one way, I think my idea is more oppressive and dark. Yet, I want to have it in a world that isn't typical 1890's London or 1920's New York. This is a world with steampunk tech, and maybe something even more sinister. The Mi-go and Elder Things thrum away behind the scenes while the cultists of Cthulhu run amok doing their own evils to the world.
This is just an idea, but it could be fun.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Rituals and Old School D&D
First off, if any of you know me or have read the blog, you know I'm not a fan of 4E. However, a fellow blogger, Untimately, wrote something up that has been buzzing around in my skull for a bit. I have since gone back to the Type IV PHB, all three of them, and looked at these rituals again.
The thing that gets my creative juices flowing is looking at some of the rituals and thinking, "Ok, that makes sense." Other, like Forbiddance, I think back to the older edition and think that the old school idea is better. So, what to do? Well, hack it to my own needs of course!
Since I brought it up, let's look at Forbiddance:
The ritual basically keeps an area warded from scrying. Depending upon the roll, it could be a big area or a smaller area.
Nice trick, but let's look at the old 2E handbook:
It seals the area from teleportation, plane shifting and ethereal creatures. PLUS, it does damage, 2d6 for a different alignment along the law-chaos axis and 4d6 for a difference in the good-evil axis.
To me, the second option sounds like something I want to have as a ritual. Something very big that will help the players, or the NPCs. Which is something I would want. NPCs should have access to the same things as the players.
These rituals, in my opinion, miss the mark the same way feats missed the mark in 3E. Feats were an interesting way to distinguish one fighter from another. Yet, most players I know would always take the same ones over and over again. And, the word "feat," at least IMO, means something extraordinary. Not something everyone gets at when they have survived for a certain amount of time, i.e. go up a level. (I know I have probably ranted about feats before, so I apologize if this is old hat.)
Looking at the two versions of Forbiddance, yes I'm trying to get back to a point, I think there is nothing wrong with merging the two together. Making this ritual a priest spell only works for me as well. I'm not sold on letting anyone "master" a ritual. There are some I could see letting several classes have access to them, yet most I think are for the druid, the wizard or cleric only, even the bard ones have some merit to them.
Now, let us go to the cost of it. The ritual from Type IV is 5,000 gp and 5 healing surges. Casting time is 30 minutes and it is up for 24 hours.
2E is the priest's holy symbol, a 1,000 gp of "rare" incense per 60 ft. cube. If there is a password that is to be added, the incense must be worth 5,000 gp. Casting time is six rounds and it is permanent.
Now, I have always balked at the idea of hand waving certain things. One thing I do balk at is something that happened in many of the later editions. "Give x amount of gold and you get 'needed' items for the potion/item/etc." I am someone who wants to come up with a list of stuff. You need the glands of a basilisk to help make that scroll of protection from petrification. You could buy it, but how is that fun? Go out and adventure and find one of those nasty things. The needed material for the Forbiddance ritual in my game would be incense, yet this is something that needs to be found or created. Yes, this might put more work in my hands, since I have to come up with that stuff. But, it is part of the fun of being a DM. And, the casting time and duration are interesting. the old school version is about a minute, and it lasts forever. The 4E one casting time is a half hour and it only lasts twenty-four hours.
Also, the deal with the healing surges. I kinda like that. I might make it so that the spell takes away a few points of CON, or maybe it sucks away hit points, since I dislike the idea of healing surges--at least the way that 4E uses them.
Heck, two things that just came to me for the material for this ritual. Incense infused with either the tear of an angel or the blood of a demon, depending upon what the alignment is of the priest casting the spell. Both of those would work well for this spell.
Granted, I suppose there could be a less powerful ritual that would keep scrying away, one that is mobile or only lasts so long. That would be something that would a much lower money sink that the big uber spell above. Something more like the 4E variant.
The point of this long ramble is that even I have found a few things about 4E that I like and can hack into my older school games. Anyone else?
The thing that gets my creative juices flowing is looking at some of the rituals and thinking, "Ok, that makes sense." Other, like Forbiddance, I think back to the older edition and think that the old school idea is better. So, what to do? Well, hack it to my own needs of course!
Since I brought it up, let's look at Forbiddance:
The ritual basically keeps an area warded from scrying. Depending upon the roll, it could be a big area or a smaller area.
Nice trick, but let's look at the old 2E handbook:
It seals the area from teleportation, plane shifting and ethereal creatures. PLUS, it does damage, 2d6 for a different alignment along the law-chaos axis and 4d6 for a difference in the good-evil axis.
To me, the second option sounds like something I want to have as a ritual. Something very big that will help the players, or the NPCs. Which is something I would want. NPCs should have access to the same things as the players.
These rituals, in my opinion, miss the mark the same way feats missed the mark in 3E. Feats were an interesting way to distinguish one fighter from another. Yet, most players I know would always take the same ones over and over again. And, the word "feat," at least IMO, means something extraordinary. Not something everyone gets at when they have survived for a certain amount of time, i.e. go up a level. (I know I have probably ranted about feats before, so I apologize if this is old hat.)
Looking at the two versions of Forbiddance, yes I'm trying to get back to a point, I think there is nothing wrong with merging the two together. Making this ritual a priest spell only works for me as well. I'm not sold on letting anyone "master" a ritual. There are some I could see letting several classes have access to them, yet most I think are for the druid, the wizard or cleric only, even the bard ones have some merit to them.
Now, let us go to the cost of it. The ritual from Type IV is 5,000 gp and 5 healing surges. Casting time is 30 minutes and it is up for 24 hours.
2E is the priest's holy symbol, a 1,000 gp of "rare" incense per 60 ft. cube. If there is a password that is to be added, the incense must be worth 5,000 gp. Casting time is six rounds and it is permanent.
Now, I have always balked at the idea of hand waving certain things. One thing I do balk at is something that happened in many of the later editions. "Give x amount of gold and you get 'needed' items for the potion/item/etc." I am someone who wants to come up with a list of stuff. You need the glands of a basilisk to help make that scroll of protection from petrification. You could buy it, but how is that fun? Go out and adventure and find one of those nasty things. The needed material for the Forbiddance ritual in my game would be incense, yet this is something that needs to be found or created. Yes, this might put more work in my hands, since I have to come up with that stuff. But, it is part of the fun of being a DM. And, the casting time and duration are interesting. the old school version is about a minute, and it lasts forever. The 4E one casting time is a half hour and it only lasts twenty-four hours.
Also, the deal with the healing surges. I kinda like that. I might make it so that the spell takes away a few points of CON, or maybe it sucks away hit points, since I dislike the idea of healing surges--at least the way that 4E uses them.
Heck, two things that just came to me for the material for this ritual. Incense infused with either the tear of an angel or the blood of a demon, depending upon what the alignment is of the priest casting the spell. Both of those would work well for this spell.
Granted, I suppose there could be a less powerful ritual that would keep scrying away, one that is mobile or only lasts so long. That would be something that would a much lower money sink that the big uber spell above. Something more like the 4E variant.
The point of this long ramble is that even I have found a few things about 4E that I like and can hack into my older school games. Anyone else?
Monday, March 19, 2012
Game Update and thoughts...
First off, go over to wizards and see what Mike M. is talking about this week. Then, if you want, look at Joseph's thought here.
I'll wait, playing Bubble Witch Saga on Facebook...seriously, why is this game addicting, Bubble Trouble was awesome! This isn't as good, and yet...
And...we are back...
I agree with Joseph on many of the points that he raised. The main issue that Mike is bringing up with "balance" and the like is, I think, for the neophyte DM. Those who want to step into, or are thrust into, the DM seat. The players are hungry for an adventure, your DM from last week is on a DMing hiatus because of a massive game he finished last week. And, you want to take over and start a game. Some are intimidated by that prospect and the help that Mike is offering is something that could sate players for a time. Yet, I am sure many of those who have taken up the mantle of DM find that the modules and formula soon gets boring and we strike out on our own, trying things that might blow up in our face or cause a TPK. But we learn, and if we are smart we redesign and put more effort into the next session of the campaign.
So, while I agree that this whole "balance" thing is a little silly, it isn't all that bad. I don't believe in it. I think there are times when something comes up that the PCs can't handle what that DM throws at them and they need to run. Yet, for those new to the game, there is an adjustment to being in the DM seat.
And, even with me and running games for as long as I have, granted it isn't as long as some people even in my own gaming group but I digress, I am always looking for new things to do in dungeons and the like.
In the game that, at the moment, is a solo game with a buddy of mine I was running Death Frost Doom. There was his character, an elven ranger and an NPC halfling thief. For those unfamiliar or currently running this module, please skip to the end. For those who have run it, you can cut-n-paste of highlight the following section:
I have been grappling with what I had the thief do, to some extent. Part of me thinks I might have taken something away from the ranger playing. Yet, at the same time, there was no Vomit Forth of Hell. I'm not asking, "Did I run the module 'right?'" Because there is no wrong way to run it.
One thing I have discovered about running this game is, I want to do more gaming. Very soon, I think I will restart my G+ game soon. Thinking of running two different games. One set near where my current player is running his ranger. Redthorne Keep. The other one I might restart, or ret-con, back in the main starting area I had for the G+ group.
But one thing I am really starting to think will be cool is to try a Torch&Sixgun game. Just something that drifts into my conscious now and then. A Wild West and Weird game.
And, finally, there is a game that I heard about that really sounds cool and I want to either get in on it or take a spin myself and try it is the game Zak S. talks about here.
And, I hope to try and get more blog posts in, yet that is as always, something I say very often.
I'll wait, playing Bubble Witch Saga on Facebook...seriously, why is this game addicting, Bubble Trouble was awesome! This isn't as good, and yet...
And...we are back...
I agree with Joseph on many of the points that he raised. The main issue that Mike is bringing up with "balance" and the like is, I think, for the neophyte DM. Those who want to step into, or are thrust into, the DM seat. The players are hungry for an adventure, your DM from last week is on a DMing hiatus because of a massive game he finished last week. And, you want to take over and start a game. Some are intimidated by that prospect and the help that Mike is offering is something that could sate players for a time. Yet, I am sure many of those who have taken up the mantle of DM find that the modules and formula soon gets boring and we strike out on our own, trying things that might blow up in our face or cause a TPK. But we learn, and if we are smart we redesign and put more effort into the next session of the campaign.
So, while I agree that this whole "balance" thing is a little silly, it isn't all that bad. I don't believe in it. I think there are times when something comes up that the PCs can't handle what that DM throws at them and they need to run. Yet, for those new to the game, there is an adjustment to being in the DM seat.
And, even with me and running games for as long as I have, granted it isn't as long as some people even in my own gaming group but I digress, I am always looking for new things to do in dungeons and the like.
In the game that, at the moment, is a solo game with a buddy of mine I was running Death Frost Doom. There was his character, an elven ranger and an NPC halfling thief. For those unfamiliar or currently running this module, please skip to the end. For those who have run it, you can cut-n-paste of highlight the following section:
The ranger came to the "plant" before room 22 and when he was close, the thing reacted since he had a torch. The NPC, seizing on an oppurtunity, dashes through the gap, grabbed what he needed and had the ranger threaten the "plant" again to cause a gap.
One thing I have discovered about running this game is, I want to do more gaming. Very soon, I think I will restart my G+ game soon. Thinking of running two different games. One set near where my current player is running his ranger. Redthorne Keep. The other one I might restart, or ret-con, back in the main starting area I had for the G+ group.
But one thing I am really starting to think will be cool is to try a Torch&Sixgun game. Just something that drifts into my conscious now and then. A Wild West and Weird game.
And, finally, there is a game that I heard about that really sounds cool and I want to either get in on it or take a spin myself and try it is the game Zak S. talks about here.
And, I hope to try and get more blog posts in, yet that is as always, something I say very often.
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