Site Status Information/New Project

Before I start with the good news, I want to cover why I haven’t been posting much lately for what recurring viewership I have (going off the stats, I have some I assume). A while back I moved the site off my free wordpress (Sign of the Druid) to this privately hosted (and paid for site), mostly due to me wanting more control. I did put ads on the site (and still have some), not with the intention of making a revenue (although that would be nice) but perhaps just recouping hosting costs. I don’t want to name names, but I had my ads removed in a very upsetting turn of events that was not my own fault. Point being, I can no longer use the biggest Internet advertising network. Regardless, the event upset me quite a bit and my interest in this blog dropped substantially. Combined with my recent unemployment, I have been extremely distracted and have lost my focus, but I have finally gotten over it and I will begin posting regularly again.

I am going to try to devote at least an hour a day to the site from now on, which should hopefully mean I get a post up at least every other day.

Hitting on my frequent topics, I have picked up a few new RPGs recently, which I should have characters up for soon. As well, I have completed some video games which I will be able to review as well.

Biggest though, is a new RPG project for D&D 4e. I will be doing a fairly large conversion project based on the Nippon Ichi Disgaea series. I’m in the process of finalizing races at the moment, which should be up Monday or Tuesday. When completed I will have a write up of setting information, a bunch of races and classes (new and modified), and quite a few monster write ups. So look forward to more from me soon!

Psion Review/General Stuff

 

First before I begin, the first part of this is a bit of a rant, if you are looking for info on the newly release 4e Class I recommend you scroll down a bit to the review heading, read on at your own risk.

Well, today the Psion was released on Dungeons & Dragons insider, a preview of the class appearing in Player’s Handbook 3. and with it rampant hatred that follows anything in D&D with the word “psion” or “psionic”. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always thought of the power of the mind as a very interesting thing, and one that unlike many people, actually seems fitting in a fantasy setting, just like magic.

Homebrew Setting Part 1: The Wall and Racial Information

Today I’m going to go over the first part of my homebrew setting, The Wall. A range of mountains where my group will be starting their adventures, it separates the civilization to the North from the horrors that lie on the southern peninsula. As well, I also include information about the prominent races in the region.

Player’s Handbook 2 NPC Class Templates + Monk

I just raged. I finally noticed that the Player’s Handbook 2 contains no templates for the new classes, something that I think makes 4e great for DMs. But my rage has been channeled for your benefit. Here are class templates for Avenger, Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Invoker, Shaman, Sorcerer, Warden… and just to catch up, Monk, from the new playtest article. As per my usual, these are designed for standard NPCs, not monsters, but should function with them as well with very few changes (convert to elite, saving throw bonuses, etc.) I have no idea, when, if ever Wizards plans on making these themselves, from my projections they won’t be in a Monster Manual or released in a PHB, so I can only assume they will either be released online or in some sort of DMG2.

4e Monster Manual Personal 1 Errata – Beetles, Drakes and Rotters

Well, I recently ran the first session of a new campaign and did some demos as well, and I came to some conclusions, some monsters from the core monster manual, especially on the low end are just broken in 4e. So, considering that Wizards have yet to address the complaints I found online regarding these three cretins, I thought I would take it upon myself to revise them.

The creatures are:
-the humble Fire Beetle, whose area attack is far too much in groups
-Zombie Rotters, the worst minion in the game
-Needlefang Drake Swarm, the low level TPK machine.

You’re free not to use these homebrew variants, but you should be aware of their strengths and weaknesses before throwing them into a regular encounter without any changes. New stats after the jump.

Homebrew DND4.0 Game – Preliminary Ideas

Below is an e-mail I sent to the group with some of my first ideas about my upcoming (very work in progress) homebrew game with some prelimiary ideas, mostly focused on the pantheon. Any input or ideas? Trying to come up with something original and interesting, don’t know If I’m quit there yet. Appreciate any input, thanks.

Starting a homebrew D&D 4.0 game

Well, with my upcoming Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition game staring in a few weeks-month, I surveyeed my player base for some general details and to a bit of my surprise they said they would prefer a homebrew setting over well, a published one (the only ‘official’ option being Forgotten Realms currently). This has stirred up some old feelings, and I myself have vastly preferred homebrew settings in the past over official ones, and in general they hold my interest much better and let me feel like I have a further reach in creativity while staying true to the original premise.

Regardless, I prodded the group for a few details about this supposed setting and they give me a couple of things to work with so far:
-Use Eberron as a guideline for how far to stretch the ‘feel’ of the game
-Related to the first point, some seemed interested in Steampunk ideas, something which my typical players abhor
-The group wanted the game mostly to be based around a single region where they could develop relationships and learn the lay of the land
-Group doesn’t want resource management to be a big issue (IE they don’t want to fight for their daily break or have bone weapons like darksun)
-Game should accomodate standard stuff for the most part (no low/no magic game)
-They are okay with custom races/classes/etc.
-Can change cosmology
-Want a mix of adventure types, not a ton of dungeon crawling/room to room stuff.

Additionally, one player was interested in have some sort of benefit/hindrance system for roleplaying. I’m really not sure how to implement such a thing and not have it come out rediculously overpowered like the 3.5 variant (take a pointless negative for a free feat).

Mostly I’m looking for the RPG communities input on where to start or any specific ideas. I’ve done homebrew settings before, but they were pretty much 100% off the cuff, and I would like to do something a bit more… well, inspiring and well thought out this time. Have any great ideas, guides, etc that would help me out? Post ’em! I would really appreciate it. I’ll keep posting as I develop.

Dungeons and Dragons Markers on the Cheap

In 4e, it is command to have a variety of effects: marks, curses, slowed, immoblized, etc… It can be a hassle for the GM to keep track of all this and make sure the players are informed, while being informed about the player’s conditions as well. In response, at least one company has release a commercial product to my knowledge with colored markers you can put the minitures on. But this isn’t about those magnetic markers, this is about something you can pick up for a fraction of the price.

Yesterday at my occasional Friday D&D session a player arrived with colored wooden, stackable markers. We were all stunned, they were dirt cheap, wooden checkers. You can pick them up in the crafts section of Hobby Lobby for just a couple of bucks; and at least here, they were on sale for the Holiday Season. So go pick some up if you are looking for some cheap markers for your miniatures playing. You can paint them or just write the condition on them.

Hope this little tip helps! I’ll try to get back with a picture of the packaging for ease when I go pick some up myself.

Happy Holidays!

P.S. They really only work for Medium sized figures, but they should for small as well; you’ll have to balance large figures on top of them if you want to use them.

4e – Warcraft Races #1

Well, unlike most groups spouting off the similarities in disparaging fashion, my group actually wants more MMO inspired stuff. So I’ve decided to put together Warcraft stuff for the game. I’m doing pretty much a full rewrite of much of the stuff. But today I’m starting with races, the Alliance races and two neutral. This game is Warcraft (not necessarily just WoW) inspired, so I do take some things from the earlier games, but I use WoW mostly because it is more fleshed out as far as abilities and things goes. This is just a preliminary list, I may make some changes in the future, so be free to leave feedback. I edited some of the info out because of similarities with core races. I do plan on adding racial feats as well. Without further adieu, here we go.

Human
As per players handbook.

Exodar Draenei
Ability Scores: +2 Str, +2 Cha
Size: Medium
Speed: 6
Vision: Normal

Languages: Common, Draenei
Skill Bonuses: +2 Religion, +2 Diplomacy
Necrotic Resistance: You have resist necrotic 5 + one-half your level.
Gift of the Naaru: You can use Gift of the Naaru as an encounter power.

Gift of the Naaru – Exodar Draenei Racial Power
Encounter – Divine, Healing
Standard Action – Ranged 10
Target: You or one ally
Effect: The target can spend a healing surge

Ironforge Dwarf
Ability Scores: As per PHB dwarf
Size: As per PHB dwarf
Speed: As per PHB dwarf
Vision: As per PHB dwarf

Languages: As per PHB dwarf
Skill Bonuses: As per PHB dwarf
Cold Resistance: You have resist cold 5 + one-half your level.
Cast-Iron Stomach: As per PHB dwarf
Encumbered Speed: As per PHB dwarf
Stoneform: You may use Stoneform as an encounter power.

Stoneform – Ironforge Dwarf Racial Power
Encounter
Minor Action – Personal
Effect: You gain a +2 bonus to all defenses until the end of your next turn.

Gnome
Ability Scores: +2 Dex, +2 Int
Size: Small
Speed: 5
Vision: Low-Light

Languages: Common, Gnomish
Skill Bonuses: +2 Thievery, +2 Acrobatics
Expansive Mind: You gain training in one additional skill of your choice.
Escape Artist: You have a +2 bonus on saving throws vs immobilization and slowing effects.
Slippery Mind and Body: You gain a +1 racial bonus on your Will and Reflex defenses.

Goblin
Ability Scores: +2 Int, +2 Cha
Size: Small
Speed: 5
Vision: Normal

Languages: Common, Goblin, Orcish
Skill Bonuses: +2 Bluff, +2 Streetwise
Always on the Lookout: +1 Initiative
Goblin Reflexes: You gain a +1 racial bonus on your Reflex Defense
Goblin Tactics: You may use Goblin Tactics as an encounter power.

Goblin Tactics – Goblin Racial Power
You avoid your enemy’s blow and cleverly slink past his defenses.
At-Will
Immediate Reaction – Personal
Trigger: You are missed by a melee attack.
Effect: You shift 1 square.

High Elf (Blood Elf if Horde)
Ability Scores: +2 Dex, +2 Int
Size: Medium
Speed: 6
Vision: Low-Light

Languages: Common, Thalassian
Skill Bonuses: +2 Arcana, +2 History
Magic Addiction: High Elves are addicted to magic and must spend an hour each day in meditation to keep the addiction in check. They require one additional hour of rest per long rest.
High Elven Will: You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Will defense. In addition, you gain a +5 racial bonus to saving throws against charm effects.
Elven Education: You gain training in one addition skill of your choice.
Arcane Torrent: You may use Arcane Torrent as an encounter power.

Arcane Torrent – High Elf Racial Power
With a blast of latent magical energy you overwhelm an opponents senses.
Encounter
Minor Action – Close Burst 1
Target: One creature in burst
Attack: Intelligence +2 vs. Reflex, Wisdom +2 vs. Reflex, or Charisma +2 vs. Reflex
-Increase to +4 bonus at 11th level and +6 bonus at 21st level.
Hit: The target is Dazed (Save Ends)

Night Elf
Ability Scores: +2 Dex, +2 Wis
Size: Medium
Speed: 7
Vision: Low-Light

Languages: Common, Darnassian
Skill Bonuses: +2 Nature, +2 Stealth
Group Awareness: You grant non-elf allies within 5 squares of you a +1 racial bonus to Perception checks.
Quickness: You ignore difficult terrain when you shift (even if you have a power that allows you to shift multiple squares)
Shadowmeld: You may use Shadowmeld as an encounter power.

Shadowmeld
Encounter
Minor Action – Personal
Effect: You gain concealment until the start of your next turn.

Pandaren
Ability Scores: +2 Str, +2 Wis
Size: Medium
Speed: 6
Vision: Low-Light

Languages: Common, Pandaren
Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Endurance
Natural Weapons: A Pandaran has claws and sharp fangs that they may use in battle. These weapons are counted as light blades (daggers), and do 1D4 + Str modifier damage with a +3 proficiency bonus. These weapons can’t be disarmed, but they may be sundered. These weapons also can’t be enchanted.
Inherit Toughness: You gain a +1 racial bonus on your Fortitude Defense.
Pandaren Charge: You may use Pandaren Charge as an Encounter Power.

Pandaren Charge – Pandaren Racial Power
Encounter
Standard Action – Melee 1
Attack: Strength +2 vs. AC
-Increase to +4 at 11th level, +6 at 21st level.
Special: You must charge as part of the attack.
Effect: You may make a charge attack with an extra two squares of movement.
Hit: Make a damage roll appropriate for your natural weapons, and the target is knocked prone.

4e – Minion Creation Rules

I’ve been looking around a bit and trying to come up with a good standard on how to create minions. I personally enjoy the buggers, even though a lot of people don’t like it because real people have more than one hit point or something (IE I’m not a simulationist and I don’t think the game is bit on it either). Regardless of my feelings, I know not everyone wants to ban them, so I thought I would set out some guidelines that seem to work for me on creating minions. Feel free to give me your input or corrections.

First of all, I should state, that these are guidelines that I have derived from the book. Do not take them as fact or anything, common sense shall prevail.

There are two ways to make a minion (well, more like three), you can create a monster from scratch (or NPC) or adapt an existing monster. Regardless of which, the process is basically the same, just with more of less work. For the purpose of these guidelines, you are modifying an existing monster.

1. Name. Er, give it something wimpy sounding compared to the equivalent.

2. Role. Change to Minion

3. Exp. Give 1/4th the normal amount.

4. HP. The biggest one, just drop it’s HP to one. Also can add in a bit about how missed attacks do no damage if you forget.

5. Powers. Basically cut out everything except the creatures basic attacks, racial non-direct attack abilities and anything that wouldn’t make terrible sense to lose. So if a creature could teleport as a racial ability, it should keep that.

6. Damage. This is probably the most hinky part. There are three ways you could do this, I recommend the first for ease.
-Look up a minion of the same level from the MM and just give it that amount of damage
-Give the creature its weapons average damage
-Give the creature minimum weapon damage + modifier from a relevant stat.

7. Skills. You can either leave as is or chop off the trained skills, whatever makes the most sense/ease. If you expect the creature to only be a combat menace, keeping trained skills is probably just a waste of ink/pencil.

8. Ability Scores. Either leave as is or chop off a few points as you see fit (5 or so max).

9. Should have average equipment for the level or a bit below, but nothing special.

Otherwise, the creature should be equal to an equivalent level monster. Please get back to me with any problems/corrections.