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Dungeons & Drogans 2: Sessions 3 and 4

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:29:45 +0100

Session 3 and Session 4 of the Drogan's adventures in Thunderspire Labyrinth are now live on YouTube. Listen to how they deal with the Bloodreavers in the Chamber of Eyes.

Click here for a full-size view of the battlefield for these two sessions.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

Session 3 went swimmingly. Well, apart from the initial sour plan -- it did amuse me that they thought the Bloodreaver lair was a convenience store, a 7/11 for slaves. But once they kicked down the door and entered combat, the players plowed through the battle easily and efficiently, despite having the wizard acting as the tank.

Unfortunately, though, a "runner" got away. One of the goblins managed to retreat to call for backup. John realized the importance of not letting the goblin get away and made Sorrow chase him down, but unfortunately, it was too late. Which led into...

Session 4: up the creak without a paddle. Sorrow chased the goblin straight into the next encounter -- the "boss" fight of the Chamber of eyes. Without time to take a short rest to regain Coltaine and Rhekd's healing powers, this battle was destined to be a difficult one from the start. To make matters worse, the party split up, and Sorrow was only brought back into the battle a few rounds later than she should have been due to an oversight.

It was truly astounding that Sorrow survived. I was convinced she'd go the way of John's previous characters, but it seems Lady Luck decided she'd been cruel enough to John in the past and tossed him some good fortune.

Our guest star Jen played a clever barkeep, coaxing the enemies into stupid actions that ultimately contributed greatly to the Drogan's marginal victory.

While this session was far too long, it was, in fact, quite enjoyable.

NOTE: I nixed one of the encounters from the Chamber of Eyes (greyed out on the image). It was redundant and anticlimactic -- the players had already fought the boss; more hobgoblins were unnecessary. The Chamber of Eyes had reached its natural conclusion.

D&D 5e Is Coming -- Beta Test It This Spring

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:08:16 +0100

In his weekly Legends & Lore column, D&D lead designer Mike Mearls revealed not only that a new edition is in the works, but also that we'll all get a chance to help shape the future of our favorite hobby.

Mearls said:

"[...] Starting in Spring 2012, we will be taking this process one step further and conducting ongoing open playtests with the gaming community to gather feedback on the new iteration of the game as we develop it. With your feedback and involvement, we can make D&D better than ever. We seek to build a foundation for the long-term health and growth of D&D, one rooted in the vital traits that make D&D unique and special.

"We want a game that rises above differences of play styles, campaign settings, and editions, one that takes the fundamental essence of D&D and brings it to the forefront of the game. In short, we want a game that is as simple or complex as you please, its action focused on combat, intrigue, and exploration as you desire. We want a game that is unmistakably D&D, but one that can easily become your D&D, the game that you want to run and play."

Mearls went on to say that internal Friends & Family playtesting has already begun and that we can expect open playtesting to start in spring.

Detractors of 4th edition must be elated by this news, but as someone who has been enjoying 4e, I feel that, after only four years, I'm not ready to move on. 5th Edition -- or whatever it ends up being called -- will have to fight an uphill battle to impress me, and that's why I will be participating in the beta and contribute however I can. 5e is a reality; I may as well help ensure it is the D&D game that we all want to play.

Are you looking forward to 5e?

D&D Quick Tips - Creating A Party

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:56:20 +0100

A great hook is needed to get your party of adventurers to embark on your adventure and stay the course when faced with setbacks, but that begs the question -- how did these heroes even come together in the first place?

This week's Quick Tip offers three DM tips for bringing a party together.

D&D Quick Tips - Dealing With Evil PCs

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:11:53 +0100

Evil PCs can ruin campaigns with constant backstabbing, angry players, and uncomfortable situations. But evil PCs can also be a source of great inter-party conflict. The question then is, how do you ensure that evil PCs add to the game instead of detract?

This week's Quick Tip offers three DM tips for dealing with evil PCs.

Designing A Boss-Fight: An Epic Battlefield

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:58:47 +0100

Click here to view the whole battlefield.

You enter the cavernous Inner Fane, a symmetrical chamber built of dark stone with a sickly green hue. Its ceiling stretches up into darkness, upheld by a circle of pillars that converge into pointed arches. The air hangs thick with the occult.

Concentric steps lead down to a central altar at the chamber's nadir, an island surrounded by a shallow blood pool. Black ceremonial candles stand on bronze sconces; their flames cast the long shadows of the pillars across the fane. Arched alcoves recessed along the Fane's perimeter hold reservoirs of blood, which slowly flows down through channels in the smooth, stone floor.

In my D&D Quick Tip on building memorable boss battles, I mentioned that creating an epic battleground was an integral part of the process. Since my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign has finally reached its Act I boss battle, I figured I would share the battlefield I created and explain the design philosophy behind it.

The battleground is known as the Inner Fane, the temple of a vampire drow priestess around which was created a larger temple -- the Outer Fane. This will be the first post in a mini-series on the design aspects of this boss fight.

Size

It's difficult to create an epic battlefield that doesn't feel epic in size. The Inner Fane measures approximately 240 feet in width -- that's just under 50 squares. While at most 50% of the area will actually be used in combat (more on that later), the key is that the battlefield feels large.

If you don't have the space or resources to lay out a huge battlemap, you can get away with the illusion of scale by employing an epic backdrop. A battle that takes places on a normal-sized platform three thousand feet in the air will feel epic -- what's a bigger backdrop than the sky?

Special Effects

Michael Bay and George Lucas get a lot of flack for their overuse of special effects, but that's because their work is "all flash, no substance." When it comes to your epic boss fight, you don't want to get stingy on the special effects -- especially since the power of imagination grants you an unlimited budget.

While not, technically, a special effect, the unsettling amount of blood I included was largely intended for visual effect. The crimson is immediately striking to the eye, contrasting sharply with the green stone, and when the realization that it's blood hits, it imparts a certain psychological effect.

Twenty-four faintly glowing runes that pulse with energy run along the perimeter of the central pool, and, though they're not depicted, wisps of green energy swirl around the central island.

Another special effect comes in the form of a blood ritual being conducted as the PCs enter. The vampire priestess stands at the Fane's center, while 23 bloody acolytes stand between the pillars. Their blood drops float through the air, in defiance of gravity, slowly coalescing with a globe-sized blood orb that hovers before the vampire.

Lastly, walls of green fire periodically flare up from the thick blood ring, triggered magically by the vampire.

Movement

Any good battlefield needs to allow and encourage movement. What's the point of a huge chamber if the PCs won't stray more than a couple squares from where they began the battle?

The actual combatants factor into this aspect of planning. The PCs would be outnumbered: four heroes versus one Elite Artillery and her 23 Soldier Minions.

The southern passage -- from where the PCs would enter -- is a great choke point for the players to hold. However, to uncork the bottle after a couple rounds, the vampire -- a Drow Arachnomancer -- casts an area burst spell that lasts throughout the encounter, damaging anyone who stays in the passage.

The blood ring acts as Difficult Terrain, or Challenging Terrain if the player chooses not to treat it as difficult terrain, requiring a Balance check to avoid slipping and falling prone. The ring psychologically divides the battlefield in half, and the players can choose to tactically fight near it to reduce the enemies' ability to shift.

The blood pool uses the same rules as the blood ring and makes simply charging the vampire a less inviting option, especially when coupled with...

The Sacred Circle, those wisps of green energy that swirl around the central island. It grants the vampire a +2 bonus to attack rolls for as long as she stands within it. The PCs can sludge through the blood pool and fight an uphill battle within the Sacred Circle, but drawing the vampire out of this clearly advantageous position presents itself as the more viable strategy.

The blood reservoirs in the alcoves are five feet deep -- large enough for a desperate character to submerge himself and effectively disappear for as long as he can hold his breath. One PC was granted an extremely powerful ability by a deity -- for this battle only -- that recharges roughly every six rounds.

The central pillars serve as cover from the vampire's ranged attacks, as well as obstacles to reduce the number of enemies that can surround the PCs.

The runes around the blood pool are Runes of Power; anyone who spends a Standard Action to touch one absorbs its power, regains the use of a spent Encounter Power, and depletes its magic. Having 24 of these may seem incredibly overpowered; however, the PCs had fought through a few battles without an extended rest, and were out of healing surges and Daily Powers.

The green fire the springs up from the blood ring forms a semicircle in the southern half of the Fane, grants concealment, and damages anyone who passes through it. This is a failsafe in case players remain near the southern passage and use ranged attacks, encouraging them to circle around to the northern half of the chamber.

Combined, these elements give the PCs options, create a point of contention at the chamber's center, and encourage circular movement around the battlefield.

It should be noted that scale and special effects must be relative to the previous battles in your campaign. Because I run a relatively low-magic world that approximates medieval England, I don't need to push things as far as I would have to were I running a high-magic world of flying castles and pervasive wizardry.

My battlefield may be mundane in your game world -- or it may be too over-the-top in a more realistic, low-magic setting. Dial in the elements to the proper degree to fit your campaign.

In future articles in this series, we'll explore how the other key elements of memorable boss battles come into play: foreshadowing, a raising of the stakes, and dynamicity.

On Magic Item Rarity

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:16:04 +0100

Derek Myers recently posted an article on Dungeon's Master.com that explored a game world in which no new non-consumable magic items could be created. Common or generic +1 swords would be non-existent, every magic item would have a history to it, and merchants wouldn't stockpile enchanted arsenals.

Low Magic?

While I wouldn't say I run low-magic campaigns, I will say that I run low-magic game worlds. In my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign, the PCs work as hired mercenaries for a powerful secret organization -- the kind that has access to artifacts of ancient empires (such as magic items) and to the resources to create/upgrade magic items (on the rare occasion). As part of their reward for completing missions, the PCs receive magic gear.

Mechanically, PCs receive magic items at the standard progression rate suggested in the rulebooks. The difference is the perception of those items. For common folk, magic items are virtually non-existent. Anyone with a magic sword is someone of automatic importance, and these rare folk tend to be members of powerful organizations with the resources to acquire such items. Items are passed down to members with the reverence of an ancestral samurai katana.

Ye Olde Magic Item Shoppe

Merchants that sell magic weapons are nonexistent. With the current state of the game world and its economy -- medieval recession -- governments simply can't afford the exorbitant costs of magic items. A single +1 longsword costs 360 gold pieces -- for the same price, 24 soldiers could be given a 15 GP longsword. Which would you go for? A single soldier with a 5% better chance to strike an enemy, or 24 soldiers? The numbers just keep rising: a +3 longsword costs 9,000 GP -- or an entire army of 600 soldiers.

It should be further noted that, in my game world, "adventurers," as we know them, are non-existent. The world isn't filled with roving bands of heroes questing for treasure who could pour influxes of coin into the economy to justify a merchant stockpiling expensive magic items, waiting to make that one sale per year that pays his meals. The PCs are special, both in their status as non-military heroes, and as people with a high level of access to magic items.

Item Disposability versus Diminishing Power over Time

No magic items in my campaign are disposable. The PCs began at level 1 and are now level 10, and not one of them has ever sold a magic item they've acquired. To prevent items from growing obsolete, I've upgraded some of their items through different means, such as special craftsmen, divine boons, and "mastering" the use of the item.

This way, no tiefling PC has to make the difficult, meta-game choice of selling Tedrasien, the +1 Flaming Longsword that belonged to Akmenos, the greatest lieutenant of Emperor Bael Turath, because it's power level has become obsolete and he needs the cash.

I believe magic items should feel special. The acquisition of a magic item should convey more than just the boon of increased combat ability; it should convey a sense of depth to the world through added lore. The loss of a magic item should elicit more than the frustration of diminished combat effectiveness; it should elicit the chagrin of the loss of a treasured possession.

Session Report-Back: Exploding Duergar!

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 07:00:22 +0100

Session Report-Back is a feature in which I jot down my after-action thoughts about my weekly D&D session for my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign.

We last left off -- quite a while ago -- with the PCs having powered through a skill challenge that saw them climbing a giant staircase to the villain's lair while dodging obstacles thrown at them and falling stalactites from above. Having succeeded, they found themselves at the villain's main gate, greeted by guards.

The battlefield for this combat consisted of an outdoor and indoor area. First, the PCs had to fight their way into the lair before the gates closed, pushing through a vanguard of defenders before they'd be locked out for good. Next, they'd fight the remaining defenders in a chamber with a balcony at the far side, from which two ranged attackers could pepper them from afar while they cleaned up the remaining melee defenders.

This was the first time I introduced duergar in my campaign -- evil, black-skinned dwarves with psionic powers. A group of melee duergar were meant to keep the PCs from passing through the gate and possessed a power that seems, superficially, ridiculous: once bloodied, they grow to Large size. Running a serious, dark campaign, I decided to put a flavour twist on this power that went over quite well with my players.

As the players wounded the duergar, I describe the evil dwarves as beginning to tremble, to quake. Their veins throbbed, their muscles bulged, and stretch marks could be seen forming on their skin. Once bloodied, their growth to Large size became horrific, with skin tearing beneath expanding muscles and howls of agony mixing with crazed rage.

But the growth didn't stop there -- oh no. As the PCs continued to deal damage, the transformation continued, until that magic moment the first duergar dropped below 1 HP -- at which it exploded in a gruesome mess of giblets and blood that showered down on the PCs.

I place blood stains on my battle maps after particularly vicious kills, sized appropriate to the monster and savageness of the death. By the end of the battle, my players were satisfied with the path of huge bloodstains they'd left in their wake, leading through the gates and marking their progress.

The battle itself was down to the wire -- first, the gate nearly completely closed before they could enter, but through some clever manoeuvring and a bit of luck managed to position a duergar between the closing gate doors just as they bloodied him. His expansion to Large size flung the doors open and allowed the entire party to flood through.

As the PCs dispatched most of the defenders, they were drained of hit points and powers, left with a single foe left -- a dragonborn warrior who had been cockily observing the battle, seeming unimpressed. One by one, the dragonborn singlehandedly took down every PC until only the wizard was left, at which point a game of cat and mouse played out for a couple rounds. The wizard fled around the room, climbing onto the balcony and shooting magic missiles at the seemingly undefeatable dragonborn, knowing that with fewer than 10 hit points remaining, she could not take a single hit from him. Finally, with the dragonborn bearing down on her, she dealt the knockout blow that left his massive frame prone at her feet.

I love battles that are down to the wire. There's no greater tension than when the players truly don't know whether they will survive an encounter or not. The forward movement required across the battlefield added a great dynamic element to the battle, which, combined with the exploding duergar, will make this one of the campaign's most memorable fights. Unfortunately, you don't want to have a down-to-the-wire battle directly before your big boss fight...

The Good: Exploding duergar; a battle that necessitated forward battlefield movement; a down-to-the-wire struggle in which the PCs prevailed.

The Bad: The battle was too difficult; the PCs too weakened to be able to survive a boss fight. (Find out how I resolved that in the next Session Report-Back).

The Ugly: Only a couple players were able to stick around until the end of the session.

D&D Quick Tips - Teaching New Players

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:41:06 +0100

Introducing a new player to D&D is a great experience, but sometimes, it's difficult to know how best to teach neophytes the game. The PHB and DMG provide some basic guidance, but it still leaves some questions unanswered.

This week's Quick Tip offers three DM tips for teaching new players how to play.

Dungeons & Drogans 2: Session 2

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 06:29:52 +0100

Session 2 of the Drogan's adventures in Thunderspire Labyrinth is now live on YouTube. Listen to how they deal with prisoners of war.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

This session was surprisingly unproductive -- I'd planned for roughly half an hour of dialogue and planning before the Drogans headed to the Chamber of Eyes. Who would have predicted a full hour would have gone to dealing with that stupid hobgoblin? Well, the players seemed to enjoy making him crap his pants, so if it was fun, it wasn't a waste of time.

My Irish accent could use some work. I'm comfortable doing a subdued Irish accent, but a strong country accent like Rendil's, or a caricature like his mom's, is something I haven't put enough practice in. Both were meant to sound over-the-top -- mission accomplished -- but I'd sometimes lose the "sound." But, hey -- no one can tell me I did a bad Irish accent, because I was, in fact, doing a perfect halfling accent.

This session had an interesting dichotomy -- a first half in which the Drogans wielded all the power and interrogated a hobgoblin who was crapping his pants, and a second half in which they were on the receiving end of the pants-crapping. I believe I successfully conveyed the power of the Mages of Saruun, because I believe Doug was genuinely intimidated by Orontor.

Orontor... another voice I wasn't happy with. Altogether poor voice acting from me this session, I think. Orontor came across exactly as I intended him to -- speaking slowly and deliberately, carefully choosing each word... I just didn't realize how dreadfully dull that would be to listen to.

Overall, though, I think this was a decent session. The players met some interesting NPCs, had some fun with them, got some good intel, and are now all set for some adventure.

D&D Quick Tips - Getting Organized

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:37:27 +0100

Your D&D session can really get away from you sometimes -- the clock says it's time to head home, yet the PCs have barely accomplished anything. Where did the time go? Did your session lack structure and lead to aimless meandering? Did you spend a half hour trying to figure out the grappling rules? Was time lost as you rifled through your notes in search of an NPC's stat block?

This week's Quick Tip offers three organizational tips for DMs.