tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70214204606400688112024-02-07T13:11:35.655-05:00gnotionsRandom thoughts, musings, ideas, and opinions for your consideration. These gnotions are not likely to increase the sum of human knowledge. Favorite topics will be literature, music, fine drink, and RPG.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.comBlogger160125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-7597321235508947152016-12-23T12:17:00.003-05:002016-12-23T12:17:35.091-05:00Curse of Strand - Death House: our experienceFirst *<b><span style="color: red;">spoilers</span></b>* warning. I will try not to give it all away but if you are going to be a player in Curse of Strand do not continue reading.<br />
<br />
Death house is the optional opening adventure to Curse of Strand. This gives DMs a place to start <br />
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characters at first level, introduce the module, let players organically grow their characters and build some party cohesion so the group is ready for the real deal to begin at third level.<br />
<br />
I am a player in this adventure and do not have any DM insight other than observations I can easily make from my long experience as a DM as well. Overall I thought the module set the tone appropriately though it was populated with some corny dungeon trappings here and there (mimic for example). The entire module behaves and feels like a trap, which is I suppose the point. Ideally you barely get out alive with the feeling the house, the world, and most importantly Strahd is against you.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately for us near the end of the module we had a huge breakdown in player smarts. Rather than rest up again for full power and spells we pushed on to the final encounter at less than half strength. Next, a demonstration of the amount of damage the big bad could do was promptly ignored. The big bad movement limit was ignored tactically and then inexplicably three of our five characters decided, one by one, they could melee combat it only to be eaten. This left our wizard character who was down to cantrips only and my warlock character. The wizards only damage cantrip was resisted by the big bad, so I was basically left kiting the beast with my Eldritch Blast. By the time I had finally worn down and defeated the creature, death saving throws had long gone by unsuccessfully. <br />
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There are decades of D&D experience in this group, and it has been many years since I witnessed such a sorry string of poor decisions. We cursed ourselves. This is of course my opinion, and my fellow players and long time friends may not see it the same way. As we attempted to escape the house, the seriously wounded wizard went unconscious, and only repeated castings of false life thanks to my invocation selection fiendish vigor kept me standing. We ended the module with my warlock at single digits in hit points holding an unconscious gnome wizard. We were as close to a total party kill I have ever been without crossing over.<br />
<br />
So now we start the real adventure. Unfortunately most of the goals to know and grow the party we failed. We do have a story to tell, which is the way of D&D after all. I will just role play my angst and distrust after Barovia's first attempt to crush me.<br />
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Next up: Sandbox vs linear story progression.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-88868843118284947692016-12-20T13:49:00.004-05:002016-12-23T12:09:03.909-05:00Playing Curse of Strahd on-lineDue to some real life issues, my regular game is on hiatus and my son has stepped in and is running The Curse of Strahd, the adventure from Wizards of the Coast. <br />
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<h2>
Playing On-line</h2>
<br />
First off, we are playing this via Roll20 on-line. This is the first time we have run a campaign this way. There has been attempts kick start a game on-line before but we are just jumping in because there is no other alternative. We have gone from face to face gaming to an on-line session without much preparation. The group is not the regular group either. It is a combination of parts of my regular group, parts of my son's regular group and an old friend from the other side of the country. Nice that the unfortunate circumstances allows us to reconnect with old friends.<br />
<br />
We are trying to balance learning the tool with playing the game. We do not need to take advantage of everything Roll20 has to offer. Our thinking is less is more. We typically roll the dice in Roll20, but you don't have to - we trust people to roll the dice on the side. We are using the built in 5E character sheets, the saving throws and initiative tracking are proved useful. Sometimes the built in capabilities do not function as we expect - whether it is operator error or not is unimportant. We do not want to spend time trouble shooting during game time and instead prefer to keep the game moving.<br />
<br />
To simplify matters, we are using Skype for voice communication, with some people using the same computer for Roll20 to run Skype while others run it on a separate phone or tablet. We may not really be simplifying matters but it got us started. We have not been using video to conserve bandwith, computer cycles and/or screen space. Personally, I have been using a separate tablet for Skype with ear buds. Some folks are still trying to talk via their PC microphone, and it works poorly. Additionally, I use a second monitor to display my character sheet and notes so I do not have to interrupt the screen map or chat window. <br />
<br />
Though Roll20 gives a spot for handouts, we are using that minimally and the players are sharing information via Google Drive.<br />
<br />
Overall, though we have only had a few sessions, it is working well enough and we are pleased with progress. The relative different comfort levels people have with the technology is telling though. It can stall the game when someone has a 'tech' problem.<br />
<br />
<br />
Next up, some thoughts on the module itself.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-36048594899792867802016-12-10T12:38:00.002-05:002016-12-10T12:38:59.578-05:00The Show That Never Ends: farewell Greg LakeThe last of the bass guitar major influences of my youth has passed way. Previously we lost John Entwhistle of the Who, <a href="http://gnotions.blogspot.com/2014/10/remembering-jack-bruce.html" target="_blank">Jack Bruce</a> of Cream, and Chris Squire of Yes. This week we lost Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.<br />
<br />
Some people remember the first time they heard an influential piece of music or artist, but that is not me. For me it is more of a journey with my key memories happening somewhere along that journey. I do not remember when I discovered Emerson, Lake and Palmer.<br />
<br />
<i>A digression.</i> My children do not really remember the time before music anywhere/everywhere. Before Pandora, iTunes, and even before the Sony Walkman there was simply no easy way to take the music with you. You had to go to the music. Now we go to 1977 my freshman year at University. I was not much of a socialite, preferring my own company during study times. So study halls and most public places held little attraction for me. I discovered the library had a music room/radio station. The room was setup with couches, and each had large knobs with letters from the beginning of the alphabet, and huge educational style headphones with indestructible 1/4" jacks. Across the room was the attendant (radio station DJ?) behind a sliding glass window and on the wall next to the window was a chart where they slide in an identifier for what was spinning on the turntable related to the letter on the alphabet. I don't remember how many choices there were, probable about a dozen. You could dial in what was playing, including listening to the radio station, or go up to the window and make a request. Eventually your request was placed on a turntable, the identifier put up on the chart in an open slot. Put headphones on, dial to you letter, get music. This was music away from home in 1977. <i>End digression</i><br />
<br />
On a visit to the University Music room to study (which was as often a nap) I sat on an open couch, dropped the heavy headphones on my head and started to wander through the letters for something which would fit the mood. Looking up on the chart I saw ELP - Brain Salad Surgery. This would be a solid four years after its release date, and I had never listened to it and knew nothing of it. I tried it <br />
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and to borrow lyrics from Karn Evil 9, "Guaranteed to blow your head apart". I was stunned, amazed and hooked. For most of the rest of the year, as often as not, you could find me during a study in the library listening to Brain Salad Surgery, if it was not on a turntable, I requested it, I wonder if I wore out their copy.<br />
<br />
To this day the music still moves me. <br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The haunting sounds of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_did_those_feet_in_ancient_time" target="_blank">Jerusalem</a></li>
<li>The progress rock Toccata, based on a classical piece and which is a prime example of what ELP is all about</li>
<li>Greg Lake's warm vocals in Still...You Turn Me On</li>
<li>The oddity, Benny the Bouncer, to show case Emersons keyboard range and chops</li>
<li>And the main act, Karn Evil 9 - we all know "Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends." </li>
</ul>
<br />
Is it perfect? No. Benny the Bouncer does not really fit and interrupts the flow, and Karn Evil 9 3rd impression ends the album abruptly and leaves you feeling like there should have been an additional song for some closure. I nit pick - I still love this album.<br />
<br />
Sometime later, I discovered Greg Lake had been in an earlier band - King Crimson. Again, I had my head blown apart. In the Court of the Crimson King: An Observation by King Crimson was dark, brooding, whimsical and like nothing else. Sometimes I find it hard to listen to the harsh 21st Century Schizoid Man, though it is a master piece. I never find it hard to listen to The Court of the Crimson King.<br />
<br />
As a budding musician in the late 70s, playing in what was really a classic rock band there was little chance we were going to play any ELP during our sets, and I don't know if we could have pulled it off anyway. However, ELP affected my style and my thinking for good or ill.<br />
<br />
What is it about Greg Lake which influenced me so much? It was necessarily his prowess on the bass guitar itself. I don't find him challenging John Entwhistle or Chris Squire for their place in lead bass playing. I guess it was more his influence on the band's music (as I perceived it from afar), his tremendous voice, and something about his presence in the pictures and rare videos I got to see. Bass guitar is more often about holding things together and driving things forward from underneath so the lead instruments and vocals can shine. I felt Lake did this exceptionally well in a groundbreaking area where there was little to draw upon.<br />
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Although he played many different basses over the years, I was impressed with the Rickenbacker that he and Chris Squire used, and still have my original model 4002 stereo Rick.<br />
<br />
Again from Karn Evil 9:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Come inside, the show's about to start</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Guaranteed to blow your head apart</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Rest assured you'll get your money's worth</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You've got to see the show, it's a dynamo</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You've got to see the show, it's rock and roll, oh</div>
<br />
Godspeed Greg Lake. You have left quite a legacy here and they must be rejoicing that the Greatest Show has moved to Heaven.<br />
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<br />Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-83629023234785608202016-09-17T13:36:00.001-04:002016-09-17T13:36:52.164-04:00When the players have other ideas, also known as, I did not see that comingLast outing the players did not achieve what I expected. Which, on the whole is not completely surprising, as the adventure almost never goes the way I expect it to go. I do not view that as a bad thing at all, but it does have complications and repercussions.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbX9WphYtNylrrnsg3s45K91lMVwseorq5QCA6CNG5Fx6tGOXK4nPdAavKqo7K2Dx8wpV3XZgTUNr6ZKHNQGntm_09jowzzekzpkVbnfm2yW2cDebO4bCif1uJ-iag8GpbJtrteH3VC4y/s1600/sandbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbX9WphYtNylrrnsg3s45K91lMVwseorq5QCA6CNG5Fx6tGOXK4nPdAavKqo7K2Dx8wpV3XZgTUNr6ZKHNQGntm_09jowzzekzpkVbnfm2yW2cDebO4bCif1uJ-iag8GpbJtrteH3VC4y/s200/sandbox.jpg" width="200" /></a></h3>
<h3>
My Game</h3>
<br />
I run a story driven game, as opposed to a sandbox. It is the type of game I like to run as DM, and my players agree to play in it and seem to enjoy it. Some might view any story driven game as a railroad, as opposed to the 'complete' freedom of a sandbox style game. I do not see it that way at all. I do not see a sandbox as complete freedom, nor do I see a story game as a railroad.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHgh5-RaJcILGGKYARgeA0BFbQH8eU6xZE8yDc2y-0tNITLyzSnBRvMy6n8Qz8Ub_vhoyPxNWshlQR2zRDSjuks9B7sBAQaRcXSwldnZBofiE5P8kA32xghiaNM2eZvNcwiGvsLuZdOeua/s1600/railroad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHgh5-RaJcILGGKYARgeA0BFbQH8eU6xZE8yDc2y-0tNITLyzSnBRvMy6n8Qz8Ub_vhoyPxNWshlQR2zRDSjuks9B7sBAQaRcXSwldnZBofiE5P8kA32xghiaNM2eZvNcwiGvsLuZdOeua/s200/railroad.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<br />
I do want the players to make the story within the boundaries of the environment I create. This has often been referred to as player agency. I want my players actions to have significant and meaningful interaction with the world, and their actions have consequences and alter the world.<br />
<br />
RPG bloggers have debated story driven vs. sandbox and railroad vs. player agency many times, and my intention is not to revisit it all here but rather share my latest experience. If you want to read about the debates, search for those terms - you will get lots of hits on lots of blogs with thoughtful and insightful commentary on the differences, pros and cons.<br />
<br />
<h3>
My Campaign</h3>
<br />
We play in a homebrew world, and most of the adventures are of my own design - though I am not above tossing in adventures/encounters from published sources. The characters are part of a team which have pledged service to a human king, have called themselves Justice Crusaders, and generally go about doing good in the name of king and kingdom. The latest story arc has the characters defending the kingdom from invasion by an unfriendly island kingdom. Though clearly the oppressors, the invaders feel they are in the right and their cause is just. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Recent Campaign Events</h3>
<br />
The Justice Crusaders discovered the enemy plan to wipe out a small elven kingdom which had the potential to be an ally in repulsing the enemy. The enemy created some diversions with mercenaries to make it look like the primary invasion when in fact the enemy main force was to land, and with the support of two local orc tribes, march on the elves. With the orcs coming from the east and south, and the main enemy army from the west, they intended to slay every last elf. <br />
<br />
The human king has directed the Justice Crusaders to enlist the help of the elves, which means, the Justice Crusaders need to save the elves first. As part of saving the elves, the Justice Crusaders:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>successfully reclaimed a human village from an orc subjugation, and discovered more of the plan</li>
<li>rescuing captured villagers who were being marched to a life of brutal slavery with the orcs</li>
<li>made a daring raid inside an orc stronghold which housed over a thousand orcs to remove the enemy provided incentive for those orcs to march on the elves</li>
</ul>
<br />
The last item was at the request of the elven leaders, who made it a requirement for getting some help from the elves to repulse the imminent invasion and for further help in fighting the enemy. So far so good.<br />
<br />
<h3>
No Adventure Survives An Encounter With Your Players</h3>
<br />
Here is the summary of the events as I planned it out. (note to my players: there are no spoilers here, you already lived through all this)<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The enemy invasion happens on a fixed date/time, and the characters do NOT know the date/time but only that it is imminent</li>
<li>The characters have a series of challenges to overcome to get to the invasion site in time to attempt to prevent it which included the items noted above which were successfully navigated</li>
<li>The characters have a choice of priorities, and need to make a choice between breaking the siege of a small human city low on food or preventing the invasion</li>
<li>The invasion is from three heavy ships on three different beaches at the same time and each consists of about 100 well trained and armed soldiers and 40 war clerics</li>
<li>The characters by themselves would be insufficient to stop all three simultaneous landings by simple use of force, some additional help or subterfuge would be required</li>
<li>Potential resources were provided in the adventures if they could convince them to join the cause, elves and an enemy mercenary company</li>
</ul>
<br />
So what happened?<br />
<br />
About that enemy mercenary company... The Justice Crusaders did intimidate it into surrendering rather than destroy it, setting up the possibility of getting them to change sides. Then they pretended to guard the mercenary company while they and the elves scouted the landing sites. Hours go by, and the mercenary company discovers it is no longer guarded by its captors, so it peacefully retakes the town it gave up when they surrendered. Some hours later, the Justice Crusaders return to find the town is again in the control of the mercenaries, and the Justice Crusaders are livid (some good role playing here) that the mercenaries, after finding themselves unguarded would find it necessary to do what they were paid to do. More intimidating, some battering around of the mercenary leader, and many harsh words later, the mercenary company is now back as captains but this time with a decidedly unfriendly view of our heros. Now in order to scout the landing site again (they do not know the landing time), they need to leave the elven unit behind to guard the mercenaries.<br />
<br />
Scouting this time they encounter an enemy hobgoblin unit with worgs and a giant. Dispatching them after a good fight yields a rescued elf prisoner who has information regarding the landing site, and a good place to listen in to the plan. The heroes take advantage of the listen, learn the plan, and are nearby when the enemy advanced landing party is ready to give the signal to start the landing. There hiding spot is close enough to attempt to interrupt the signal, but awkward enough getting out of and into the combat to make it a challenging encounter.<br />
<br />
So what happened?<br />
<br />
The heroes decided it was too risky and retreated from their hiding spot to a more advantageous attack position. The result? They steam rolled the encounter, absolutely crushing the enemy advanced landing party... several rounds after they gave the landing signal. <br />
<br />
Low on resources, the Justice Crusaders by themselves decide they are not in a position to thwart all three landing groups, so they rush back to town to get the elves and to recruit the mercenary company. You know, the one where they just created a hostile relationship.<br />
<br />
I let them role play it, gave them some rolls and all that, but they just couldn't make the connection. There is now an invading army on the ground in a place where I was not prepared to have one. <br />
<br />
<h3>
The Story Continues</h3>
<br />
Though not prepared, I will go forward with this because it is what the player actions ultimately decided. It does create work for me as DM, but hey - it is what I signed up for when I created this epic story where the players really do decide what happens next. <br />
<br />
Now excuse me while I figure out exactly what the enemy thinks of all this and would do. I am sure it will be epic, and I am equally sure the players will surprise me again.<br />
<br />
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The dice never lie.<br />
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<br />Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-90042459315978923352016-05-02T12:51:00.001-04:002016-05-02T12:52:08.622-04:00D&D 5E common mistakesDungeon's Master has a good post on common 5E mistakes. Many of these are related to 'conversion' mistakes, changes 5E makes from previous versions but maybe we are still using the old version rule.<br />
<br />
The post can be found <a href="http://dungeonsmaster.com/2016/04/10-mistakes/" target="_blank">here</a>. Or here is the full URL - http://dungeonsmaster.com/2016/04/10-mistakes/<br />
<br />
I did pretty good, I only missed the spell ready part of #8. There is one area that I cannot confirm, it is the >20 on the second bullet of #10. I have never heard of that.<br />
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Otherwise, I nice list and useful for your players. <br />
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<br />Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-87895768783216008432016-04-21T18:47:00.000-04:002016-04-21T18:47:01.399-04:00My Converted Campaign: Converting Magic Items<br />As I mentioned in my last post, bringing over magic and masterwork items as is, or as now described in the core rule books would HUGELY break the bounded accuracy of the game. The current campaign was based on the 8th level characters having legendary weapons which effective balance quite a bit to start, and then add in the copious amounts of magic stuff 3.5E and I allowed in the game would create a difficult to manage situation. <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I wanted to:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>keep the story continuity - limit items just disappearing</li>
<li>avoid making the players feel like they lost out</li>
<li>have some sense of just how much of what I do allow them to keep impacts what kind of challenge I need to throw at them</li>
<li>not make a stupid mistake and need to retcon something because I broke my campaign</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
After only played in the Lost Mines of Phandelver up to a 3rd level character, this may have been a tall order to meet. I read the rule books multiple times, went on line and read other peoples experiences, and relied heavily on other editions of the D&D gaming experience I have acquired since 1979. Here is what I did.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3>
Items Which Mostly Stayed The Same</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<h4>
Magic Weapons</h4>
<div>
<br /></div>
If they had a +1 weapon in their possession, they may keep it. If they had any > +1, it is now a +1. This did not include their legendary weapon (campaign specific weapon)</div>
<div>
<br /><h4>
Magic Armor</h4>
<div>
<br /></div>
Magic Armor is rare and the maximum plus for anyone to own at this time is 1. If they had +2 armor, we discussed if it might have another advantage instead of the additional plus.</div>
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<h4>
Bracers of Defense</h4>
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This would be another rare item with a maximum of +2 AC, and it requires attunement.</div>
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<h4>
Cloak of Resistance</h4>
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If they had one of these in their possession the max I would allow is +1 (bonus to all saving throws), and it requires attunement<br /></div>
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<h3>
Items Which Changed</h3>
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<h4>
Masterwork Weapons</h4>
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These are now nicely made, perhaps with fine materials, metals and gems, and worth money. They no longer have numerical advantages in combat.</div>
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<h4>
Ring of protection</h4>
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<div>
This would instead be a lessor item with limited uses/charges:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Use a bonus action to activate, the next attack roll against this character within the next 1 minute is at disadvantage.</li>
<li>Roll d6 for number of charges. No recharge.</li>
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<h4>
Ability Score Plus Items</h4>
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<div>
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<div>
If they had one of these we converted it to a limited use item related to ability<br /><br /><h4>
Amulet of Natural Armor</h4>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We converted to a limited use item<br /><ul>
<li>Use reaction to gain resistance to one weapon damage type for one attack; bludgeoning, piercing, slashing. </li>
<li>Roll 2d4 for number of charges. No recharge</li>
</ul>
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<h4>
MetaMagic Rods</h4>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If anyone had one of these I asked them to assume that any metamagic rods they had were items which had charges and the last time they used it was the last charge it held. These items do not really fit any more, as far as I can see reading through the spell descriptions. I don't think they are worth the time to figure out how to make them fair, easy and fit.<br /><br /><h3>
The Game Specific Legendary Weapons</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
In our campaign in 3rd edition, I build the campaign around a group of legendary weapons which once located, with the approval of the King who you were supposed to support, would become soul bound to a character for its life. This was a sort of permanent attunement. As part of our conversion I just ruled these weapons used up an attunement slot. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Additionally these weapons are crazy powerful. At 8th level characters they had unlocked +2 weapon status and a host of other abilities and damage bonuses. Now, this really does stretch bounded accuracy. To compensate, I have been treating them as 10th level characters for building encounters and I may need to bump that even to 11th level. Of course I do have to manage the top level challenge rating of what they encounter and watch closely to make sure there is not an ability they cannot handle as 8th characters, especially with a max of 4th level spells.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Experience point calculations because of this bumping up of challenge are not a problem, I do not experience points for this campaign. After what feels like the appropriate amount of time I let them level up. The players are fine with this and it eliminates some overhead to managing/tracking the game.<br /></div>
<div>
So far this is all working out fine. The limited use items are largely gone now, mostly consumed during dangerous moments as the players learned their characters in the early sessions after conversion. It turned out to be a good safety net, and now its gone. I can now operate in a more magic stingy environment better suited to the new 5E rules and the transition did not feel forced.</div>
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<div>
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<div>
As a side note - I do not recommend creating this problem. Knowing what I know now about 5E I would definitely done the legendary weapons differently but they were created in a different time and place. The campaign survives and thrives, and that is what is important.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
The dice never lie.</div>
Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-49773725150588533812016-04-10T11:08:00.000-04:002016-04-10T11:08:59.926-04:00My Converted Campaign: Character Conversion RetrospectiveLast year a made a number of posts about converting my homebrew campaign edition on its return from hiatus from 3.5E to 5E. I wrote about my plan for character conversion <a href="http://gnotions.blogspot.com/2015_02_01_archive.html" target="_blank">here</a>. If we get to play once a month we feel fortune. So here we are, a little over a year later and fourteen games under my belt as DM and a little time to share some thoughts.<br />
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Basically I am happy with my decision to rebuild characters rather than convert. I think I made the right choice to use the default array, even though the original characters were rolled. As much as I grew up in the everything is random rolled first edition environment, I like that I understand the relative power the characters have, and all the characters have about the same relative power. Although I am not saying that each class is equally powerful, or each player's character choices are equally effective. 5th edition characters really do rely heavily on their stats for their bounded accuracy power - or in other words the addition of a small number of points to a success role feels very powerful in this game.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMMNm87llzvUjIy2cqmO1JT6OsZPY22IY4nq3QN58R82kvuxeYDoQRunw13dBjPdh-53k1u2CuLDvbnav8h_GpCbycCOHrD3I08n_j0VKIaMkRn0BVejraoNtZPqh-Nlaw1Pz8oqin2nD5/s1600/Ace+of+Swords.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMMNm87llzvUjIy2cqmO1JT6OsZPY22IY4nq3QN58R82kvuxeYDoQRunw13dBjPdh-53k1u2CuLDvbnav8h_GpCbycCOHrD3I08n_j0VKIaMkRn0BVejraoNtZPqh-Nlaw1Pz8oqin2nD5/s200/Ace+of+Swords.jpg" width="116" /></a></div>
<br />
The players initially grumbled about not being able to exactly match their previous score, but in the end they built characters which for the most part feel like their earlier edition counterparts, and more importantly play and role play close enough that no one feels in game a character is significantly different. Important note: we converted eighth level characters to eighth level characters and I have not had them level up over the course of the game yet - my focus is on them learning the new rules, and their abilities. I expect to start letting them level up soon. Fourteen games in and everyone is enjoying the game and focused on the story and the challenges facing them. Success!<br />
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Now, there are places where the conversion had challenges, or is still untested.<br />
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Paladin/Sorcerer multi-class character: We had some concerns how this would play out, as the original character was a bit of an optimization experiment, or in other words depended quite a bit on some specific 3.5E rules for combat tactics. My impression is the character is still at its core what it was before, a hard to hit, hard hitting against a single opponent, fragile if you get through its AC build. No question in my mind a full effective contributor to the game. Now, some of the spell and attack combination tactics this player used previously do not work thanks to changes in spells and the buff limiting concentration rule, as an example the player no longer sees the enlarge spell as pragmatic use of a spell most of the time. The net effectiveness in combat has been replaced by the smite feature. Most of his spell slots get burned using smite, and of course the extra slots from the sorcerer often go that way too if they don't get used by a well timed shield spell. I am open to be a little more lenient if this player wants to swap out spells.<br />
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Mounted Combat fighter: Our fighter build his character to be a mounted combat monster. That does not translate as well to 5E, as there is only one feat and feats are harder to come by in 5E than they were in 3.5E. Now, in practice in our game mounted combat opportunities were hit or miss. If they ended up doing in city, in building or in dungeon adventures it certainly was not conducive to a mounted rider. About half of our campaign is in the outdoor or wilderness, and sometimes it goes in long spurts of one or the other. Having advantage from horseback against hordes of orcs certainly gives the feel of something special for this character, but the feat does not give advantage against large creatures (makes sense) so even out of doors the positives from the feat are limited.<br />
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House Ruled Ranger: One character had a house ruled ranger (does every game have one of those?) which was basically a woodland expertise fighter without spells. I have not been happy with the ranger options in the Player's Handbook, or the unofficial test versions published by WoTC. Since this player did not return after the hiatus, it has not significantly effected our game. I used his character as an NPC, and hand waved a bunch of rolls, which was no problem. I am hoping the player will return in the future, even for just a cameo, and I am determined I can build another house rule ranger to give him the feel he had!<br />
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Cleric Domain Conversion: This is largely untested. Our cleric did not return after hiatus, and converting NPCs is just not the same. Overall, I am pleased with what I see in the cleric options, but that is not the same as seeing how the conversion of a cherished character is implemented.<br />
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Magic & Masterwork Items: Bringing over items as is, or as now described in the core rule books would HUGELY break the bounded accuracy of the game. As it was this campaign was based on the characters having legendary weapons which effective balance quite a bit to start, and then add in the copious amounts of magic stuff 3.5E and I allowed in the game would create a difficult to manage situation. I had to cut back on the magic. Sounds like a good topic for my next campaign conversion post!<br />
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The dice never lie.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-80983262199966431452016-03-23T19:46:00.002-04:002016-03-23T19:46:33.207-04:005e My Paladin Experience First adventure at level 3We just leveled up! I posted some notes about my experience playing this character in my <a href="http://gnotions.blogspot.com/2016/01/5e-my-paladin-experience-level-1-2.html" target="_blank">last blog entry</a>. <br />
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I continue to be happy with the role play opportunities of the character, and it performs well enough in play so I do not feel like I am penalized by 'bad' choices. Good on you 5e.<br />
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In our first outing since gaining third level we encounter a bunch of gnolls in close quarters situation. I through myself in harms way repeatedly to protect the squishy characters, and my AC 19 splint and shield hold up very well, especially when the DM rolls poorly for the monsters. I take minimal damage, and without resorting to dodge. In these encounters with the gnolls we are in small rooms with doorways and not a lot of room to maneuver. The party casters unload lots of literal fire power in the very last encounter: flaming sphere, burning hands, firebolt, sacred flame, channel divinity radiance of the dawn. I somehow manage not to get caught in the flaming sphere and burning hands, so my fire resistance continues untested! Not that I am complaining however.<br />
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Also speaking of fire, the tiefling racial ability at third level is Hellish Rebuke. Technically, this requires a free hand to cast which makes it not very useful for a sword and board paladin. In the spirit of rulings not rules, we discussed this. Though it has a somatic component, the spell description basically says you point at the bad guy who hurt you and utter the words. From a color perspective, I make those words be in infernal. So basically we discussed what would it hurt if my character could use a sword hand to point a finger at the enemy, would that really break anything? We decided not to change the spell per se, but to say tieflings, or at least this tiefling had a little more flexibility with this racial spell as a somatic component. I am happy to abide by the letter of the law, if I cannot use the hand at all - such as restrained or carrying a heavy load or something like that, I could not use the spell. Rulings let me keep a cool ability which has perfect color for my character.<br />
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As to spell casting, I get another slot and a my oath spells which are always prepared. I am not sure if I will ever choose Bane of one of the other choices, and I am on the fence whether Hunter's Mark will turn out to to be useful. It may see use in situations where I can drop minions with a little extra damage beyond what I normally can do with my weapon. I will have to test it. For now, Divine Smites continue to use most of the spell slots but the additional choices are nice to have.<br />
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I did not get to use my main oath ability - Vow of Enmity. I was about to use it on the gnoll I had just Hellish Rebuked, when it ran from the room and time ran out. See if I can get him next session!<br />
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The dice never lie.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-6005449172444201722016-01-10T20:11:00.003-05:002016-01-10T20:11:45.303-05:005e My Paladin Experience Level 1-2Hi all, Happy New Year.<br />
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I am lucky enough to get to play in a game in addition to the main campaign I run, and which I have posted irregularly on our conversion experience. The other game is also 5e, and we are playing in <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjJmpeqwaDKAhWMPz4KHXP7DQ0QFggcMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPtolus&usg=AFQjCNFzzfoocXViONtr-E-5GpuKk6t8UQ&sig2=L9ULS3D6qGDyBIXhTcLiOw&bvm=bv.111396085,d.dmo" target="_blank">Ptolus</a>. There are four players: a human wizard, a human warlock (who is covering our stealth requirements), a human cleric of light, and me playing a tiefling paladin (handling our tank duties). We started at 1st level.<br />
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I chose the paladin more for roleplaying purposes than for effectiveness covering the party damage soaker, though I did want to see how the paladin class plays out to understand it better when I am on the other side of the DM screen. I had no delusions the paladin is a top notch tank.<br />
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At first level the Lay on Hands feature came in handy, especially since the party is a bit like cockroaches when the light switch goes on - when combat starts everyone heads off to their own personal bit of excitement leaving the paladin to his own devices. The Divine Sense feature might be a bit misplaced as a 1st level feature; unless your campaign dives right into undead thingies (and ours did not) it is not a feature which has much use. (as of this writing at 2nd level approaching 3rd I have yet to use the feature). The Thaumaturgy cantrip (gained from tiefling race features) has been fun for role playing but not particularly useful in most combats, but the darkvision is always useful. Surprisingly enough the party has yet to 'accidentally' catch me in a fire spell so my resistance there is untested.<br />
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Given a suboptimal choice of race and the desire to split my best scores amongst strength, constitution and charisma, my character was not a combat power house. I could bottle up the enemy for a round or two at an opening, but I usually needed to rely on dodge to survive until the party remembered to work together. Paladin at 1st level feels a bit weak.<br />
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2nd level for paladin seems pretty big. Since I plan on selecting the Oath of Vengeance for roleplay reasons, I chose the dueling fighting style as it fit the need for extra damage and the lack of interest in being a protection type character. Spellcasting of course is huge but more because of burning the slots with Divine Smite. With the exception of Shield of Faith, Divine Smite tends to be a sounder choice for using a spell slot at this level. In most cases the guarantee of damage after a hit is a better choice than the potential damage, side effect and the risk of losing the spell which requires concentration of most of the spells. Sure, if you have an opponent who is vulnerable to a specific damage type, or happens to be hanging around at the edge or a cliff or raging river to be pushed, or you are desperate to have an opponent be afraid for a round or two while you take care of other business, then Searing, Thunderous or Wrathful Smite can be useful. But mostly, I am finding Divine Smite is the main item in the tool bag. Since paladins have no spell recovery until a long rest - use those smites wisely oh noble (or not so noble) paladin.<br />
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With the 2nd level hit points, and the Divine Smites available, I thought I could control doorways and dish out damage. So far, that has not been very effective for me. All it takes is a little turn of the die rolling luck and I am in trouble. Seems the better choice if one must control a bottleneck is Shield of Faith and the dodge action. From there trust your party to recover from cockroach syndrome and get the job done, while you soak up attacks and get the occasional attack of opportunity. <br />
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Still just trying out the options and having fun. Looking forward to 3rd level and both the mechanics and roleplay opportunities for Oath of Vengeance features.<br />
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The dice never lie.<br />
<br />Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-79393243423346513512015-09-30T18:29:00.002-04:002015-09-30T18:29:18.948-04:005e official retcon - our experience<a href="http://gnotions.blogspot.com/2015/05/5e-official-retcon-what-you-thought.html" target="_blank">My last post talked about the 5th edition retcon situation.</a> I will take a few paragraphs to share our experience since restarting the campaign with 5th edition.<br />
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The shield spell has been the most common retcon. I have two characters who can cast it (wizard and multi-classed paladin-sorcerer). My first concern was me remembering from game to game to behave differently when player characters are about to be hit. This has not been so much a problem, I am learning. Seems whenever those two PCs are about to be hit by something the shield can affect, I successfully pull of the "it looks like you will be hit" or some such phrase and then sit silent staring expectantly at the player for a few seconds. As I had hoped my players did 'get' it fairly quickly.<br />
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No player has so far taken the Lucky or Defensive Duelist feats, so I don't have experience there. Therefore I have not needed to change my rolling behind the screen preference. Also, my players roll their own d20s in the Cone of Fate when they should not know the outcome. For example, if I do not want them to know how stealthy they are... or are not.<br />
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The most challenging play so far has been the wizard, who is a diviner with the portent feature. So now any attack roll, saving throw, or ability check is fair game for a retcon. The first few sessions had some awkward moments. I first erred by simply saying the outcome, only to be corrected by the diviner who said differently. Next I spent way too much time staring expectantly and then have nothing happen. I eventually settled in to staring expectantly only when something 'big' is happening. I let the little things go by and they rarely get corrected, and mostly the corrections happen when a player makes a poor roll and the diviner sees it differently. These small amount of retcons does not seem to be busting our immersion, especially since the wizard only gets two d20 pre-rolls with each long rest.<br />
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So far so good, retcon is not making our game less fun. On the contrary, the shield spell is making them less risk averse, and the portent feature has been jolly good fun when worrisome moment gets quickly turned to a sigh of relief and cheers.<br />
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The dice never lie.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-66979788504702783932015-05-31T11:19:00.000-04:002015-05-31T11:19:21.894-04:005e official retcon - what you thought happened did not really happenFor some spells and other features D&D 5th edition employs a sort of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retroactive_continuity" target="_blank">retcon</a> capability for creatures to be able to potentially undo, or make not happen something which has otherwise apparently happened. This edition is not the first to make use of this as a capability. I am not really going to argue for or against having this in the game (that has been done quite adequately around the interwebs), but rather talk my struggle with making it flow smoothly.<br />
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Possibly the most familiar example of this to most D&D 5e players is the Shield spell. As a reaction which you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by the magic missile spell, an arcane spell caster can fire off this spell. In the case of an attack the result is your armor class goes up 5 points which <i>might</i> have the attack, which was just described as a hit, be a miss.<br />
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In the past as DM I may have described the following: "The ogre grunts as your spell burns his filthy hide. He turns and hurls the crude spear he was clutching directly at you," rolls a d20 with appropriate damage die behind the screen, "although you turn aside to avoid the spear you are not fast enough, you take 8 points of damage."<br />
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With the retcon capability I should probably say instead, "although you are turning aside to avoid the spear it looks like you will not be fast enough....."<br />
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Then what? OK, so D&D is a game and sometimes we have to metagame. However I would prefer to stay in game as much as possible. I could say, "Do you have a reaction to take, or does it hit?" Ugh. That sucks the life right out of the immersion faster than a vampire dining on a red shirt NPC. <br />
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How I am trying to handle it is to metagame the first few times with a player and after that not remind them they have that option and just assume they will jump in and use their ability when I give them the pause. How long do I pause without wasting time an making the whole thing look silly? I finish with "it looks like you will be hit" or some such phrase and then sit silent staring expectantly at the player. I hope my players will 'get' it fairly quickly as I do not relish the stare expectantly DM action.<br />
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The next challenges are to remember to change my behavior and state the expected hit, and to come with lots of different language to use so I am not repeating the same tired phrases. I suppose the latter is a variation of the same problem we DMs have when trying not to say, "it hits you for 5 hit points of damage".<br />
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I have not figured out all the possible retcon capabilities. In addition to the Shield spell, I can think of the wizard divination school roll substitution reaction and the Defensive Duelist feat as two other examples. I am certain there are many more. So it is not just doing this with wizard, it is doing this on any roll - and with the divination feature as an example a clever player might use this feature in unexpected ways and not just when a monster attacks a player.<br />
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Then there is the Lucky feat which is just..... lucky.<br />
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Now I may have to reveal rolls I normally choose to keep hidden. I suppose that could be a whole post on its own, whether to keep roles hidden. I will summarize by saying I rarely if ever fudge rolls, so that is not why I keep my rolls private. It is more to keep the metagaming to a minimum. I do not want the players calculating monster to hit bonuses and figuring out possible max damage based on me showing dice. And now in some of these retcon cases, a retcon is not automatic success. In the example of Shield spell, I only want them to know they could put up a Shield but not to calculate in advance to know for certain if it will be beneficial.<br />
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Since we have limited experience with 5e, no player in my game has taken the feat yet. So I have not crafted a strategy to handle that yet. <br />
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What others retcons are there out there in 5e? How do you handle it? Any good suggestions for keeping things in game and fresh?<br />
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The dice never lie.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-90470620920221439772015-04-09T19:54:00.001-04:002015-04-09T19:54:57.032-04:00Converting My Campaign To D&D 5E: Detect MagicOne of the staple spells in D&D is detect magic. When I first read the new spell for 5E I did not really dwell on the changes. But, after seeing the players use it in action, I really like the updated version.<div>
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Way back in 1E, lower level wizards in our game rarely consumed a coveted spell slot <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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with detect magic when they were out adventuring. With so few slots available, you loaded up on reliable party saving spells, or escape spells. That means when gathering loot, you grabbed everything you could that might even remotely have the chance of being magical and sorted it all at in the safe confines of whatever you called safe confines. There, without the constant threat of annihilation you felt marginally safe using up spell slot on detect magic and hoped for the euphoric moment of discovering the party had indeed grabbed the right stuff.</div>
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With the addition of cantrips in 3E, detect magic could safely be used in the field. Of course there were the complications as everything in 3E had complications. You needed to build your spellcraft skill to keep a high success rate. However, if you took a few rounds you would learn not just whether there were magic items, but how many, where, how strong and what school. If you wanted to hide you magic items there was still the old stand by various thicknesses of various materials but barring that, you pretty much found all the magic items if you cast the spell.</div>
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I never gave the changes between 1E and 3E too much thought until I saw the 5E detect magic spell in use.</div>
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<i>For the duration, you sense the presence of magic within 30 feet of you. </i></div>
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I take this as you just 'sense' that magic is within 30' of you in any direction. You would not know the direction, just sense the existence/presence of magic within 30'. You would not know the number of items, or even the relative strength.</div>
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<i>If you sense magic in this way, you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic, and you learn its school of magic, if any. </i></div>
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Key word here is visible. If you do not see it, you would not see the aura. I like this so much. You would still have to search for the magic item which you sensed. This brings the other players back into the game. Sure, you might find clever ways of narrowing the search area using some geometry and such. But just having the item obscured by a floor board, a closed cabinet, a locked draw, you name it - keeps the search in 'searching for treasure'.</div>
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<i>The spell can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.</i></div>
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This section refers back to the sense statement. If there is a visible barrier of this sort, you certainly could not see the item anyway. I like that they remain consistent with earlier editions in this way.</div>
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Low level 1E kept the search in by simply making spells rare. I like that detect magic can be cast as a ritual, and like even more that simple change in language which keeps the search in the game. It definitely gets my DM juices flowing with ideas.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One interesting point, as I tried to look up the school of magic for the potion they located, I did not find one. Not sure if I am supposed to extrapolate that, or, as implied by the spell (if any) not every item/object will have a school. Until I learn otherwise, I am going with the later.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The dice never lie.</div>
Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-1200433341304952172015-03-14T09:07:00.002-04:002015-03-14T09:09:44.508-04:00Converting My Campaign To D&D 5E: Web ToolsStrictly speaking, the task of converting tools is more about restarting a campaign than it is about 5th Edition. Let me tell you about our web tools.<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Previously we had used Yahoo Groups as our primary web tool. If communication was <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHIZc5Ukjtifw78DTG-ipK4yXUmMtAWD-UqdUvjPZ9RsNvB5e5hb5E68SBKRJdnz1ne3zxPeUaRT9VzFhPW3AQ6pJEddNEJfkO3GOVs_RUZ7HV5fMoNSq7TVYrVpfL_h6u2PHgzFLg9HQ/s1600/spider+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHIZc5Ukjtifw78DTG-ipK4yXUmMtAWD-UqdUvjPZ9RsNvB5e5hb5E68SBKRJdnz1ne3zxPeUaRT9VzFhPW3AQ6pJEddNEJfkO3GOVs_RUZ7HV5fMoNSq7TVYrVpfL_h6u2PHgzFLg9HQ/s1600/spider+web.jpg" /></a></div>
the only thing we did on-line, we would be staying with Yahoo. Alas, Yahoo has fallen behind the times. They have made little to no investment in Groups, and what changes they did make I felt were detrimental. </span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">After research different options, wikis, gaming sites, etc. I decided to move to Google Sites. Partly this was because I was already familiar with the Google tool set, and partly because it is all free.</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
Communication</h3>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Yahoo Groups was a friendly way to make sure that everyone was copied on messages, kept message history, allowed email responses once the topic was started so you did not have to go to the site to keep a conversation going. All communication was kept in the same location whether it was game scheduling, out of character chatter, or in character talk. It could be difficult to find what you sought.</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Google Groups is a powerful communication tool, with many more options than we will need. The main drawback to changing to Google is Groups is a separate tool from Google Sites, where Yahoo Groups was integrated. Yes, I can create links in our Google Site to the Google Group, it is not the same. Yes Google Groups allow you to respond to posts via email just like Yahoo. Trouble is, if you want to start a new post in Groups you go to a different URL than the Site. For some of my group, this is confusing and complicated.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
Like Yahoo, Google requires you have one of their email accounts to log into the site. Use Chrome, and stay logged in there, and you will never see a login screen. I find it works rather nice. For the tech savvy - I created the Google Group first and then used the Google Group for permissions in Google Sites, Google Drive, and Google Calendar to minimize administration. Add someone to the Google Group, and they get access to all the web tools.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The intention is to use Google Groups for game scheduling and meta type communication. Other type of communication should be handled elsewhere.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Also under communication, when a new file was added to the Yahoo Site you were presented with the option to notify the Group (within the bounds of what individuals had setup in their Yahoo Group accounts). Google Site relies on individual group members to setup their own notification preferences by site or by page. If folks have not setup to be notified, they do not get notified.<br />
<br /></div>
<h4>
Game scheduling</h4>
<div>
<br />
Yahoo Groups used an integrated calendar, and all was well until they 'streamlined' their site and move calendar to a place where people could not see it easily.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Google Calendar is a separate tool from Google Sites. After creating a calendar for the gaming group it was easy enough to display it in a window on the site. However, to update the calendar you must follow a link and update what looks like your own Google Calendar, except you select the game group calendar from a drop-down menu. So far this is confusing the heck out of my group. Part of our first get back together session will need to be a lesson on this. If we cannot schedule a game, we cannot play.<br />
<br /></div>
<h4>
Adventure logs</h4>
<br />
After all the disappointment above, you might be wondering why did I move to Google? Because Google Sites is awesome. We have a story oriented campaign and the adventure logs are a tremendous help in keeping things straight, knowing where we left off, and for looking up old information to insure consistency. Except when you have 80 adventure logs in MS Word. Yahoo only allowed us to store files, not create web pages. Searching for information because time consuming and frustrating. I tried to combine logs into larger cumulative files, create HTML documents instead, and some other things I do not even remember but nothing worked well.<br />
<br />
In Google Sites you can make adventure log posts which are web pages and easily search-able. Searching is now easy, quick and effective; and not limited to the logs. I cannot tell you for me how HUGE this really is.<br />
<br />
If you have a dungeon crawl game and the history is really unimportant, then this will not mean much. But, if like me, when during a session the players ask, "What was the name of that healer we met in the capital?", instead of responding, "Uh, um, let me look, ah, hmm...... Well, will just call him Bill for now", with a few clicks I can respond instead, "Raynoldus, Priest of Balben".<br />
<br />
<h4>
Campaign information</h4>
<br />
The only option for campaign information in Yahoo was to save it in files. To search for information you browsed through a folder structure and read the titles of documents.<br />
<br />
In Google Sites I have turned all those documents into web pages, in a hierarchical structure, with some links to make life a bit easier. There are pages history and description of places, the gods, the coinage, various lore, supporting characters, house rules including divine domains, and so on. The key here is now it is all search-able. Want to see what you might know about Raynoldus? If he shows up in any adventure logs, campaign history, supporting cast list, DM handouts, or in any in or out of character chats you know immediately.<br />
<br />
Notice I just mentioned in and out of character chats? My intention is instead of having in/out of character chats mixed in the scheduling and logistics communications in Groups, they will each have their own separate location within the Site. This has the benefit of quickly and easily segregating the two types of conversations which I hope will help players find them easily (searchable) and keep focus. The down side is you must go to the site to post them, no respond via email.<br />
<br />
I have some spreadsheets I had built to organize information which I can now serve up in the site. For example, there are some customer armors available. I built an armor table of PHB and customer armor available, stored it in Google Drive and shared up a read only version on the site.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Maps, pictures, and files</h4>
<br />
Electronic copies of maps and various pictures are stored in a folder like structure area. Additionally, these can be embedded in a web page. For example, one character had a portrait drawn, that file is in the folder structure. The city map of Penchawn is located with the city description, so players can read the map and map key together.<br />
<br />
At this time I think character sheets will remain a pencil and paper affair, with a scanned copy kept on the site for backup. It appears 5th edition is simple enough that players will not all be driven to electronic tools for character building. Since there are no robust tools yet, paper works fine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We have not started the game yet. I hope to finish the character conversions soon, but I am currently waiting on the players. Then the main act - the campaign restarts!<br />
<br />
Next up - Table Tools<br />
<br />
The dice never lie.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-44334706628417017562015-02-26T18:06:00.002-05:002015-02-26T18:06:33.181-05:00Converting My Campaign To D&D 5E: Character ConversionCharacter conversion is the part my players were most concerned. I only played in the Lost Mine of Phandelver, and had no other 5th edition experience. I read through at least once the Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and the Dungeon Master's Guide. I did not take me long to come to the conclusion there was no pragmatic way to convert characters. Instead, we would rebuild characters.<br />
<br />
Rebuilding has the added benefit of the players reading through the rules enough to make decisions about their character. Based on feedback so far, this is working as intended. There are lots of questions. Not just rules questions, but questions about how it matches up with how their characters were meant to be played.<br />
<br />
Characters will be based on the default array - 15, 14, 13, 12, 20, 8. This is primarily due to my limited experience with 5th edition and my suspicion that taking the original rolls from the other game (4d6 drop lowest, arrange as desired - reroll if you get a loser) would be over powered and make it challenging for me to design encounters. Also this has the benefit of making the players think hard on the decision to up ability scores versus taking a feat.<br />
<br />
The basic instructions was this: Rebuild your character from first level attempting as best you can to model it after your character, as initially intended, from the earlier game. Therefore, I am not worried if they were a multiclass and whether or not the class split was the same. Does you character feel similar enough to make you happy? Let us avoid having to retcon how you managed to do all sorts of things previously that you cannot seem to do now.<br />
<br />
If backgrounds in the Player's Handbook do not fit the character concept, I have told them it is easy enough for us to create another back ground. As I read them, they are fairly easy to develop and keep within the limits of fairness.<br />
<br />
There are a few places where the rebuild is a little more challenging.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Clerics: previously they had two domains, and now they will have only one. We are just going to have to suck this one up. The single domains are too powerful for me to be handing out additional domain powers. Most NPC clerics really focused on one domain over the other - so the feel should not suffer much. I only had one player character cleric, and she may not be coming back, so the character impact may be low/none.</li>
<li>Paladin/Sorcerer multi-class character: one player used this build focusing on the Sorcerer buffs to his Paladin. With the concentration mechanic, that is significantly different. I think it still will be a viable character, however I gave the player the out to have an 'accident' happend to his character. He has decided to stick with the character so we will see how it works out.</li>
<li>Sorcerer blood line fluff: neither I nor the player liked the sorcerer dragon blood line bit about scales, or the AC with no armor feature. It was easy enough to house rule some variation. I replaced AC feature with draconic senses - proficiency in perception, or expertise in perception if proficiency already existed.</li>
<li>Some spells are missing: I will be creating some new 5th edition spells to give them the same capability. That should not be too hard.</li>
<li>Magic & Masterwork item inventory: There are just too many items in their possession to work as the 5th edition game is designed. Masterwork items become 'nice' items worth money but having no mechanical benefit in combat. I am going over each magic item in their possession and making rulings. They are 8th level, so they will have some items. All weapons with a plus greater than 1 are now +1 weapons. Same for armor. Other items where I feel they are overpowered will be turned into items with charges that do something similar, but not the same. This will include every item which gives an ability bonus. If there is interest, I would post about the magic items conversions.</li>
</ul>
Whatever money they had, they can have. I don't see too little or too much money giving me a headache in the new edition. I had some custom armors in the game that I will have to dial back. I see it as important to not get carried away with high AC values or the bounded accuracy will break. They can have their custom armor, it will just have some other benefits related to small amount of damage reduction or other useful properties.<br />
<br />
Lastly, even those these are experienced characters with lots of role playing behind them (they are 8th level), I have asked them to fill out the character description section: traits, ideals, bonds, flaws. I think it is good to get in the spirit of 5th edition, plus summarizing those points will help them get back into role player as we have had a several year hiatus on this game.<br />
<br />
That is it. I have made it sound way more simple that it was to get to this point. So far I have one player completed his character rebuild, and others in various places in the process. I hope to have a rebuild & restart session to get everyone up to speed soon.<br />
<br />
The dice never lie.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-12009304575137425232015-02-21T08:42:00.001-05:002015-02-21T08:42:47.730-05:00Converting My Campaign To D&D 5E: What Happens To Previous House Rules?<br />Addressing old house rules is an area where my conversion priorities could have come into conflict. To recap they are:<div>
<ol>
<li>Keep the game fun, do not overwhelm with rules or required details.</li>
<li>World over rules. There will be no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retroactive_continuity">retcon </a>to force the world to conform to the rules.</li>
<li>History over rules. See above. If necessary, there will be a minimally invasive explanation regarding anything in the rules which makes history inconsistent.</li>
<li>Minimize house rules vs 5E RAW.</li>
<li>The guiding principles are in order of priority.</li>
</ol>
<div>
My intent would be to make as many of the house rules go away as possible, and start our 5E experience as RAW as possible. Fortunately, I am finding the conversion to 5E is making many of our house rules obsolete because the spirit of the rule, if not the rule itself, is in 5E. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Below is a listing of house rules with comments on how I am going to address the rule in conversion. <span style="color: #38761d;">Green </span>indicates a 5E covers it well and there is no need. <span style="color: #bf9000;">Yellow </span>indicates I am not certain but will go with 5E RAW. <span style="color: #990000;">Red </span>means we still need a house rule to play the way we want to play.<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Arcane Spell Failure for Armor: If you were proficient in armor, you could cast in armor. Now standard in 5E.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #bf9000;">Area of Effect Attack: Player attacker rolls dice instead of defending monsters. This is a variation of players roll all the dice. We may reconsider this again in the future, but its nice it is discussed in the DM guide.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Building NPCs Building Characters, Monsters & NPCs: Build these as the DM needs for encounters, not holding to the standard character generating rules.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #bf9000;">Cleric Energy Blast turning replacement: Instead of the swingy turn table, and undead who stood around and took range damage until they were destroyed, clerics did damage to undead in the blast. I am not sure we will stay with the new 5E way on this but adding they stay back until attacked at least solves part of the problem. I am too new to the game to know if the turn results are as swingy as before.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Creating Magic Items: Was a revised formula for creating magic items cost vs. time options which did NOT include XP costs. I am fine to try the RAW in 5E because there are no XP costs.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Critical Hits: Removed the broad exemption on undead and constructs being immune to critical hits. Some creatures, like oozes, would be immune, but it was fewer, and if you could make a case for a critical, your 20 would give you one.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Death Dying and Negative HPs: Instead of dying at -10, you died if your negative was 1/3 your total original hit points, reducing the chance for higher level characters to die on one hit when they were in single digit hit points. Also had death saving throws each turn when below 0 hit points with three failures meaning death, and a 20 meaning you stabilize. Healing brought you to 0 hit points and then added healing to that number. I like the 5E system as is so far.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Defensive Disengage: Codified what was already in the rules, but made the language more clear for our game. Like that 5E has disengage action.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Effective Caster Level: Multi class characters could add levels in other classes to their overall caster level. Other caster classes as a full level, none caster classes as a half level.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #bf9000;">Flanking Rules: Made flanking easier to calculate and expanded what counted as flanking slightly. We will play without flanking for now and see how it balances out. We may find we do not miss it.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #bf9000;">Massive Damage: We put this in place to make falling more dangerous, and to offset the fact we instituted a higher starting hit point rule. We will play RAW for now and see if we want to use the optional massive damage rule as time goes on.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Paladin Smite Enemy: Ruled that Paladins could smite more than just 'evil' creatures. Allowed that Paladins were wise enough to use their smite power against enemies appropriately. 5E seems to have this covered nicely. </span> </li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Shrug Off Damage: Fighters could take a standard action once per encounter and get a hit point benefit very close to Second Wind.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Sorcerer Character Changes: Changed Sorcerer hit dice from d4 to d6, and gave them some other unique abilities to further differentiate them from wizards, including a metamagic feat at first level.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Spell Acquisition Arcane & Divine: I'll skip the long complicated rule text and just say we used spell slots.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Spell Limits Zero Level: Casters could cast unlimited cantrips.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Starting HPs: Added constitution total to starting hit points. With the change to bounded accuracy, I am much happier with how starting and later hit points balance against challenge.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Unified DC for Spellcasters: All spells for all levels used the same DC based on character ability score and level. I am fine with how the proficiency bonus works with this instead of using pure level.</span></li>
</ul>
Notice there is no <span style="color: #990000;">Red</span>? I had not reviewed each house rule in this context prior to writing up the list and assume I would have at least one thing red. What surprised me most is how many of our house rules are now just rules, either exactly or in spirit. This is why we are finding 5E very comfortable for us.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The dice never lie.</div>
Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-66014261809386650842015-02-16T10:05:00.001-05:002015-02-16T10:05:46.972-05:00Converting My Campaign To D&D 5E: Divine DomainsWhen I first created my home brew world, one of the things I created was a pantheon of gods. Back in 1E there were no real crunch elements gained by selecting a god, most of it was fluff/flavor. Sometimes I would grant some rule breaking element to a cleric of a particular god, say allowing a cleric of the god of war to wield a sword (a 1E heresy - sharp weapon!) I thought having a pantheon of gods pulling strings in the mortal world was key to the flavor I wanted to have the pantheon.<br />
<br />
The humanoid civilizations in my world tend to be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytheism" target="_blank">polytheist </a>- you might have a favored god, but might also pay respects to the god of travel before a long journey, or the god of healing if you were sick. The gods might work together or jockey for power against each other. I like the meddlesome or antagonistic stories of Greek and Norse mythology. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXb3BSw6YsndmWiz3bn6lMUzrZGb908GmjGttS8ZelwbwTuCDMkET3Cdqm95VEvPzITzSzIPV3yUJtMd60moJOVqSgcRY3MwOhKXIYcjIPVzpv-GKNACvEYtq7o6aRUlmdYSi-0vcXPWf/s1600/gods2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXb3BSw6YsndmWiz3bn6lMUzrZGb908GmjGttS8ZelwbwTuCDMkET3Cdqm95VEvPzITzSzIPV3yUJtMd60moJOVqSgcRY3MwOhKXIYcjIPVzpv-GKNACvEYtq7o6aRUlmdYSi-0vcXPWf/s1600/gods2.jpg" height="106" width="320" /></a>I created around 15 deities and fleshed them out with some details about their scope of control, who they married or who was their parent god, favored weapon (after all, this is D&D), colors, and how their priests dressed. Gods worried about the sun, earth, sea, fire, war, travel, agriculture, vengeance, knowledge, magic, and the like. At one point I considered stating them out like in the Deities and Demi-gods book, but reconsidered. I was NEVER going to run a campaign where the players slew gods. They were gods for... um... well... gods sake.<br />
<br />
One thing I did differently though was instead of creating pantheons for each humanoid race, I decided they would all worship the same gods. The avatars for those gods they favored might be different from what other humanoids might perceive, and they would certainly give them their own names and in some cases aspects. As an example, I have a god of fire, vengeance, and lust known by humans as Drakka, but the Orcs know him as Gruumsh. Drakka's human aspect has two eyes, his orcish aspect has one. In both aspects he hates elves.<br />
<br />
I also leave the door open to demi-gods which can be added if I need a cult for a player character or a specific adventure.<br />
<br />
When we converted to 3/3.5E I was fortunate to find I had created a pantheon which was very close to the domains as released in the core handbooks. Distributing the domains among my gods was relatively painless, and there was a decent distribution so that there were a fair mix of good and evil, lawful and chaotic gods and choices withing those for many of the domains. I did not expand the domains using any additional publications beyond the three core rule books; I did not see the need and did not want to spend the time on rewrites and determining if they balanced.<br />
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Now I am at it again, trying to match the domains in the core books to my pantheon. There will be no new gods, and no gods will be disappearing - I found a way to make everything work. It was immediately obvious there were not going to be enough domains to cover the pantheon I desired. So before we tackle that problem, we work with the domains provided:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Death - no change (from DM guide)</li>
<li>Knowledge - no change</li>
<li>Life - convert former Healing</li>
<li>Light - convert former Sun</li>
<li>Nature - convert/combine Plant & Animal</li>
<li>Tempest - convert Water</li>
<li>Trickery - no change</li>
<li>War - no change</li>
</ul>
The only one that really gave me trouble was Tempest. I like the new domain flavor, and I really think it is superior to the old four element domains in terms of historical comparison. However, it did make me make minor changes to the way I approached the rest of my domain conversions. Here are the new domains for my world:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Earth</li>
<li>Inferno - converted from fire and flavored by Tempest thinking</li>
<li>Luck</li>
<li>Magic</li>
<li>Passion</li>
<li>Protection</li>
<li>Travel</li>
<li>Vengeance - converted from Destruction</li>
</ul>
The last part of the change was dropping the Good/Evil, Law/Chaos, and Strength domains. Given the new outlook for domains they did not really fit, and where necessary they could easily be covered (hand waved) to another domain.<br />
<br />
Next step was balancing/spreading around the domains among the pantheon. In a few cases it caused a narrowing of focus for the god in question. I many cases, it really did help me bring the flavor of the god back to my original intent. Tempest is much more evocative than Water, and Inferno paints a different picture than Fire. I also really like moving Destruction to Vengeance; I think the game opportunities are really expanded with that.<br />
<br />
Major gods have three domains. Minor gods typically have two or three domains. Cult or demi-gods may have only a single domain. However that is not a rigid rule, I had one demi-goddess whose scope of control was best described as a blend of Luck, Protection and Vengeance. No god receives more than three domains.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjweKXXmFv96dl8tLA6BCqGDWYAPiw86Yy8sTJ58ljnWP6Z-Bj_Zjqii_s-mHCfm_iLff8626VAzZoYV_c-RUbxMKPJQAHI01DsINTRlQGqhEFmBeX51IoqebEYo_SIJa7lvJrWGGShyO8V/s1600/gods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjweKXXmFv96dl8tLA6BCqGDWYAPiw86Yy8sTJ58ljnWP6Z-Bj_Zjqii_s-mHCfm_iLff8626VAzZoYV_c-RUbxMKPJQAHI01DsINTRlQGqhEFmBeX51IoqebEYo_SIJa7lvJrWGGShyO8V/s1600/gods.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>I find that I can have a god focus on a subset of a domain without having to write 'rules'. I just do it in role play and color. As an example, there is a major god whose domains are Protection, Vengeance, and War. He is concerned with war in a big way - battle fields, armies, huge sweeping events. There is a Demi-god whose only domain is War. He is concerned with person to person combat, usually in war time. Rather than create special domains for the difference, I just make sure that NPCs of those two different gods behave appropriately and select the powers from that domain which are appropriate to their concerns. Another example is the gods who are concerned with Passion. One is the goddess of love, wine & song and is concerned with passion in that sense. The other is the god of fires, both real and in the heart, vengeance, and the darker side of passion. They can easily both use the same domain, but use it differently for their ends.<br />
<br />
When the campaign restarts, I hope the players will not feel any real difference in the <br />
pantheons. I believe I kept to the intended feel. The only challenge will be for Cleric characters as they must choose a single domain instead of the two allowed by 3/3.5E. But character conversion is another post.<br />
<br />
The dice never lie.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-12815566829712537032015-02-12T17:08:00.001-05:002015-02-12T21:46:45.999-05:00Converting My Campaign To D&D 5E: Character Races AllowedFortunately for me, the standard races in the Player's Handbook align fairly closely to what we have been using. For the most part I will be able to transition without much fuss. Of the nine 'races' in the book, I only consider six of them to be races with large groups, geographic homes and culture. Dragon Born, Half-orcs, and Tieflings are playable 'races' but are rare offspring who must live within the other existing cultures.<br />
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Human</h4>
The world is Human-centric, that is the Human civilization is where the play is focused and the Humans are the majority. That is not to say that character to character Humans are superior, they are not. It is just in this time in history the Human civilization is on the rise, and the other races play important parts but are not the central focus.<br />
<br />
I would allow a player to use the variant Human trait. I do not see exchanging four ability point increases for a skill proficiency and a feat as unbalancing.<br />
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Dwarf</h4>
There were no Dwarven sub-races in the world, but having Hill and Mountain Dwarves will fit nicely with the different geographic cultures I did already have. <br />
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Elf</h4>
<div>
Gray and Sylvan (Grugach) elves existed in the campaign, so High and Wood elves stats work fine and I will keep my names. Drow are in the game but not offered as playable races. (nobody in the group read any Drizzt books, thank the Lords of Literature). We never played 4E in this world, so I have no Eladrin stuff to worry about.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Oh, and Elves have pupils in my world. None of this pool of color stuff for me.</div>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Halfling</h4>
<div>
The Haflings are my gypsy sort of race, living in small communities near other races or as groups of nomads. There were no sub-races, but I do not see the harm in allowing that. I will be letting the Lightfoot and Stout groups live together in those groups and perhaps have some friendly and less than friendly bias between the two.</div>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Dragonblood (Dragonborn)</h4>
<div>
Dragonborn are the race with which I have the most trouble. It just does not fit in my campaign history, and world. There were some very rare individuals wandering around who had dragon blood mixed in their DNA, and I have decided these will be my 'dragonborn'. I can use most of the stats as is, but I am not sure I am going to keep the breath weapon. I might keep it as one option and create some others. Since I have no Dragonblood player characters at the moment I have some breathing room to finalize it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For now I am going with the following; mechanically, Dragonblood are the same in the Players Handbook with the following exceptions:</div>
<ul>
<li>Age: Dragonblood grow to maturity like the race they are part of, but can live up to twice as long</li>
<li>Size: Dragonblood are the same size as the race they are part of.</li>
</ul>
Descriptively, Dragonblood in my campaign are those who have dragon blood in their veins from a mating with a dragon at some time in their lineage. With enough time, the dragon blood might thin out and a Dragonblood parent might have a human child. How many generations is unclear, and may have to do with the potency of the dragon parent.<br />
<br />
All Dragonblood have slightly elongated faces, though that is not necessarily a sign someone is Dragonblood. The colors of Dragonblood pupils are the color of the parent dragon type, and their hair has a tint of the same color. Skin tones run the range of human tones. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Of course, if a Dragonblood used a breath weapon, that would be a bit of a give away.</div>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Gnome</h4>
<div>
Gnomes are fine, we always had them as a playable race. Again, we never did 4E, so we never 'lost' them. I always envision them as chubby or stout, more like in 1E, but I am happy to let players decide if they want to be a Gnome.</div>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Half Elf</h4>
<div>
Half elves sort of function as geographic location races, and with one off children. I do not see a problem with stats as provided, and see no need to differentiate if the elven parent was Gray (High) or Sylvan (Wood). Because my Sylvan elves tend towards xenophobia, there would not be very many Sylvan/Human mixes.</div>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Half-orc</h4>
<div>
As presented, the Half-orc works fine for my campaign. There are no communities of Half-orcs, you find a place to live as best you can fit in or not.</div>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Tiefling</h4>
<div>
Mechanically, a Tiefling will be the same as in the Players Handbook. Descriptively, as presented in the book they do not fit at all. So instead, we will use the following.</div>
<br />
Descriptively, Tieflings in the campaign are those who have devil blood in their veins from a mating with a devil at some time in their lineage. With enough time, the devil blood might thin out and a Tiefling parent might have a human child. How many generations is unclear, and may have to do with the potency of the devil parent.<br />
<br />
All Teiflings have horns, but the size and shape can vary tremendously. All Teiflings have tails, again the size, thickness, length and other attributes of that tail can vary tremendously. Their teeth tend towards being extra sharp, and the colors of their pupils can be black, red, white, silver or gold. Skin tones can run the range of human tones plus red, however the colors tend to be more extreme. (darker darks, paler pales, etc). Tiefling hair is always dark, but the colors range from blacks, browns, red, blue or purple.<br />
<br />
Even if a Tiefling looks almost human, there is always something different or unsettling about them around normal humans.<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That is it for now. The dice never lie.</div>
Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-90681182783288989382015-02-03T11:31:00.000-05:002015-02-03T11:31:01.597-05:00Converting My Home Brew World/Campaign To 5E D&DOur exercising of the D&D 5E rules via the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure turned out as a success. The success we were interested in was not whether we triumphed in the challenges of the module, but did we enjoy and want to use the new 5E D&D rules going forward as our default game system. The team concensus was yes - this was the D&D we wanted to play.<br />
<br />
I was interested in restarting a campaign that left off four years ago, and four of the six players have so far expressed interest in returning. There were a number of life-gets-in-the-way reasons for the DM and players to put that game on hiatus, which I am sure is a struggle for most long term games. For me as a DM, there was another reason. The players had reached 8th level and I was not enjoying the math complications of 3.5E. Although we have not played that level yet with 5E, I have enough game experience to read the rules and project that 5E will be more fun to run at mid level than 3.5E could be for us.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsQj7tG768DHs21y7IyWUBsd5mrD_51u6we2Waej0ebxKuVYCz0UI9oXkf8ECPmmSimkddzeBH92pJsQQeNcn1TseEJQrcAxglm98zOHqxJCXIPszsnlt4oNuapVjzxA3zvYdVqt1gJZY/s1600/worldbuilding2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsQj7tG768DHs21y7IyWUBsd5mrD_51u6we2Waej0ebxKuVYCz0UI9oXkf8ECPmmSimkddzeBH92pJsQQeNcn1TseEJQrcAxglm98zOHqxJCXIPszsnlt4oNuapVjzxA3zvYdVqt1gJZY/s1600/worldbuilding2.jpg" height="200" width="197" /></a>Before I restart the campaign, I need to update the critical areas of the world, house rules, and campaign for 5E. My intent is to share my experience doing so here on the blog. Please feel free to comment along the way, it may help me resolved issues or use new good ideas.<br />
<br />
This home brew world is an ongoing creation activity for 35 years. This campaign alone is 80 sessions long. The world began in 1E, was converted for 3/3.5E, and will now be updated for 5E. Although it seems like a gargantuan task, I do not believe it will be that bad. The world was initiated using 1E, so I think the 1E DNA which is evident in 5E will make it somewhat easier to convert. I will use the same philosophy regarding world conversion as I did with world building; it will not be built unless they are likely to encounter it soon. So no, I will not be automatically converting every NPC in print.<br />
<br />
There are some logistics I need to resolve. We previously used Yahoo Groups for communication, file sharing and other campaign management. However, some changes in Yahoo Groups over time and more importantly the lack of changes has pushed me to create a new site. So I am going to use Google tools - Google Sites, Calendar, and Groups. I am using groups for communcation and permission for the Calendar & Site. Calendar is for game scheduling, and the Site will be an interactive place for campaign info, adventure logs, in and our of character posts, and all other sorts of files. I find Google groups weak, and for some Calendar is confusing, but the capability in Sites is outstanding. I will share some of that in the future.<br />
<br />
The items on the top of my list for conversion include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KvWmWtpjPO_Dhuc1ta61N5iz2PTX2oFLe3lsDFxkCUO-IGdiNLx6soFQfNRVoK8ALsbTOUlTwhmdVuqb98z7Ib82PeKuwFblz2Kf0SDz7tQ4o3VDSZJr1ePRP_0QDuKdr4qJetIKZ9LC/s1600/worldbuilding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KvWmWtpjPO_Dhuc1ta61N5iz2PTX2oFLe3lsDFxkCUO-IGdiNLx6soFQfNRVoK8ALsbTOUlTwhmdVuqb98z7Ib82PeKuwFblz2Kf0SDz7tQ4o3VDSZJr1ePRP_0QDuKdr4qJetIKZ9LC/s1600/worldbuilding.jpg" height="111" width="200" /></a>
<li>Character conversion</li>
<li>Races allowed</li>
<li>House rule conversions/eliminations</li>
<li>5E rule 'patching'</li>
<li>Clerical Domains Missing</li>
<li>Changes to spell effects/results which may impact the world</li>
</ul>
<br />
My guiding principles in the conversion will be:<br />
<ol>
<li>Keep the game fun, do not overwhelm with rules or required details.</li>
<li>World over rules. There will be no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retroactive_continuity" target="_blank">retcon </a>to force the world to conform to the rules.</li>
<li>History over rules. See above. If necessary, there will be a minimally invasive explantaion regarding anything in the rules which makes history inconsistant.</li>
<li>Minimize house rules vs 5E RAW.</li>
<li>The guiding principles are in order of priority.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
</ol>
<br />
Sharing to commence soon. The dice never lie.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-69805851399591415782015-01-16T12:14:00.001-05:002015-01-16T12:14:44.917-05:00D&D 5E: thoughts after a dozen sessions, the rogue and other stuffOur experience continues to be very favorable, with people commenting on how much they like the new rule set. I continue to be happy with the combat speed and pacing. We are at 3rd level and none of our abilities have so far created the kind of 'calculating it out' delays during combat we experienced in 3rd edition. We are in the mines of the <a href="http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/rpg_starterset" target="_blank">LMoP</a> module currently. We are in the dungeon crawl part and the exploring/mapping is going slowly. We need a better process than what we are doing with graph paper. I do not see this as an edition problem - more of a logistics, module & experience of the DM challenge.<br />
<br />
When we started with LMoP no one owned any of the hardcover books. We were just using what came with the starter set, and the PDF basic rule set. This is all that is required for this adventure. Last night I counted two hardcover Player's Handbooks and someone ordered the Monster Manual and DM Guide online. Starting to look like folks are in for the long haul. Note: we have agreed to follow the starter set guidelines and are not using the additional/optional material from the PHB.<br />
<br />
Everyone seems to be pleased with what they can do with their characters. I am especially pleased with the versatility of the rogue. My only disappointment with the pre-generated character is the background. It was interesting at the beginning but has now gotten a little stale. I am working through it, trying to make it more interesting without going too far away from the traits/ideals/bonds/flaws as provided.<br />
<br />
Hiding and getting advantage from being hidden for the rogue seem to be one of the gray areas, and oft discussed on the boards. We are working through it, with our DM being reasonable generous with his rulings on this regard. He almost always requires that I am hidden prior to getting advantage on the attack, which means I almost always am rolling a hide check. Here are a few examples of how my rogue was able to successfully get advantage via hide<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Creatures were walking by arrow slits. My rogue was not peering out but heard them go by. I used stealth to sneak under the first arrow slit to get to better position, then popped up and shot out the second arrow slit with advantage/sneak attack.</li>
<li>During large combats (read lots of friends and foes and confusion) my lightfoot halfing rogue picks an opponent who I do not think is tracking me as a target. At the end of my turn (or rarely at the beginning of my turn) he sneaks behind (read hide check) one of his companions and either shoots through them on his turn (giving +2 to the opponents AC) or pops out one 5' square to attack.</li>
<li>We hear a creature on the other side of a door. My rogue quietly pops the door open (stealth check) and shoots with surprise and then runs to another spot with the potential to hide out of sight of the creatures in the room. If I have a better initiative I can hide and ready my action to shoot one when it comes through the opening after me.</li>
</ul>
<br />
As a damage dealer, I was fortunate last night when on two different important attacks I rolled a 20 while I had advantage. Both times I scored 25 damage, which is about 1 over average (short bow d6, sneak attack 2d6, +3 dex bonus). Even without the critical, average sneak attack damage with my bow is 14. Not too shabby. The fact that I can get it every time one of my poor companions is face to face with a bad guy has been enormous.<br />
<br />
Cunning action continues to be huge. It really gives the rogue huge versatility. My rogue can take risks, because he is easily able to get away from tough situations. For example - if he gets surrounded by bad guys while exploring on his turn he can using his cunning action to disengage, move away 25', and then dash another 25' with his tale between his legs hoping his friends will save him. As long as opponents are medium sized or larger, they are only difficult terrain for this halfing rogue. Attack/move/hide, or attack/disengage/move turns give me loads of options. The only caveat is you have to be stingy with your bonus actions to keep them available for your cunning action.<br />
<br />
Speaking of readying an action - I have noticed that keeping the initiative order is quite a time saver during combat, which is not something I expected. In 3rd edition when you held your action you moved to a different place in the initiative order. This took someone's time to update the initiative tracker. It also caused a bit of confusion with folks about who was going next when planning in their heads due to not everyone paying full attention during other folks turns. The set it and keep it rule in 5E has added to combat efficiency. <br />
<b>LMOP spoiler</b><br />
<br />
<br />
Random thought not tied to 5E rule set. <br />
<br />
While searching using dark vision our elf discovered an ooze/jelly thing. So far we thought it best to leave it alone while we address other areas. This brought up the question - what does my character know? There was a lot of player experience around the table with ochre jelly, gray ooze, green slime, and other nasty things over many different versions of the game. What would our characters know, and how do we adjudicate it? The DM chose a nature skill check and the player rolled high enough to know it is dangerous. So we'll not poke that hornets nest just yet and wait until a convenient time to experiment with how to kill it (or use it to help with a nasty creature if we can 'introduce' the two?)<br />
<br />
<br />
That is all for now. Your comments welcome. The dice never lie.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-76992935960900628572015-01-04T18:45:00.000-05:002015-01-04T18:45:59.692-05:00On Thud and Blunder: Verisimilitude in our hobby<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson" target="_blank">Poul Anderson</a> was a widely known, celebrated and respected science fiction author. He is less know for his work in what he called 'heroic fantasy'. If two of those 'hf' novels (as Poul Anderson himself refers to the genre) were all he had ever done, he would still be a notable author. I refer to 'The Broken Sword' and my personal favorite, 'Three Hearts and Three Lions'. I have blogged about the latter <a href="http://gnotions.blogspot.com/2010/06/three-hearts-and-three-lions.html" target="_blank">here </a>and <a href="http://gnotions.blogspot.com/2010/07/three-hearts-and-three-lions-again.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Poul Anderson also appears in Gary Gygax's famous Appendix N at the back of the DM Guide.<br />
<br />
That is nice Barad, but what does this have to do with <a href="http://verisimilitude/" target="_blank">verisimilitude</a>? Read on, I am just setting the stage.<br />
<br />
Somewhere around 1978 the esteemed Poul Anderson wrote an essay published in a swords and sorcery anthology edited by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swords_Against_Darkness_III" target="_blank">Andrew Offut: Swords Against Darkness III</a>. In that essay Poul Anderson goes on to chide and give advice to 'hf' writers about their lack of realism or verisimilitude, and how with improving these elements would provide more engaging stories, and be better for the industry. That industry being heroic fantasy. <br />
<br />
Since our hobby is so closely tied to heroic fantasy, our DMs good also use the advice to good use. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America thinks this advice is well met and keeps a copy of the essay <a href="http://www.sfwa.org/2005/01/on-thud-and-blunder/" target="_blank">here</a>. If you have never read it, do so. If you want I will wait for you to come back.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwz1VeU3G6yIIz1lwu3KhZwS9g4my25jnKz1CicilX-hV-g2Gk2m0HU-lnWEILDBl7oXy_18Pd8XoKSeA7Acov8VD_DfzrBEYDQQLufxX0ir63T8yctgJjwNUBq_TM7nMHxUV2_eaXWeU/s1600/intermission.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwz1VeU3G6yIIz1lwu3KhZwS9g4my25jnKz1CicilX-hV-g2Gk2m0HU-lnWEILDBl7oXy_18Pd8XoKSeA7Acov8VD_DfzrBEYDQQLufxX0ir63T8yctgJjwNUBq_TM7nMHxUV2_eaXWeU/s1600/intermission.jpg" height="202" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Yes, it is a bit long by Internet attention standards these days - but save it as a favorite and refer back to it frequently.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Have long running wars in your world? Think about who will grow or harvest the crops if you take the peasants away. How reliable are those mercenaries and how will you pay them? Swarms of evil humanoids attacking your towns, well their leaders know they have to win quickly in order to pay and feed the marauders else matters will disintegrate or implode.</li>
<li>When you describe those cities, is it filthy and dangerous? If not, why and how does that change how the city dwellers live or behave. If their city is that clean and safe would it not be overrun with immigrants trying to get in?</li>
<li>Travel is unreliable, and news is late in arriving. Horses are expensive and destructible. Roads are expensive to build, maintain and to police. Where does that money come from? Sailing was not necessarily better, safer or faster.</li>
<li>As a DM or player do you know anything about the martial arts? (I know some of our fellow hobbyists are quite well versed in them) We do not need to be experts in this matter but a little better understanding would go a long way to a better game</li>
</ul>
It goes on and on. You do not have to adopt everything, but adopting some additional verisimilitude gives good color and consistency. Additionally, when our heroes do something truly heroic, it makes a more stark comparison to the world around them.<br />
<br />
Cheers!Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-29799408114542058882014-12-23T23:30:00.000-05:002014-12-23T23:30:01.713-05:00THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMASThe bloggers version with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore<br />
<br />
'Twas the night before Christmas, on the 'net and in the house, Not a blogger was posting, motionless their mouse<br />
The FRPG musings were posted on blogspot with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas would be reading there<br />
The characters were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of treasure hoards danced in their heads<br />
And mamma with her handbook, and I with my map, Had just nodded off for a short gamer's nap<br />
When from the game room there arose such a clatter, I fell from the bed to see what was the matter.<br />
Away down the stairs I tumbled with fright, Tore open the door and threw on the lights.<br />
The rays from tree lights on the hexgrid below Gave an erie lustre of magic to objects that glow,<br />
When, what to my bloodshot eyes should appear, But miniatures, a sleigh, and eight pewter reindeer<br />
With a little old driver, so red and waist thick, I knew it was painted to look like St. Nick.<br />
More rapid than eagles on hastes spells they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name; "Now, Bigby! now, Evard! now, Rary and Tenser! On, Heward! on Tasha! on, Drawmij and Nystul!<br />
To the top of the castle! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"<br />
As wizards, who at fifth level take the spell fly, those figures they flew just missing my eye.<br />
So up to the Mantel-top the miniature reindeer they flew, the tiny sleigh full of games, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard as they stood, prancing and pawing of metal on wood.<br />
As I drew up my hand, and was uttering a sound, off the mantel St. Nicholas enlarged with a bound. He was dressed in fake fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes looked tarnished with faux ashes and soot<br />
A bundle of boxes fell on the floor with his growth, like at Gencon, a marketer just opening his booth.<br />
His red eyes -- how they twinkled! it was really quite scary!<br />
His lips were bright red, more like blood than a cherry!<br />
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a shortbow, his beard braided dwarf like was as white as the snow<br />
In his teeth was a pipe the color of bones, the smoke it encircled his head like ioun stones<br />
He had a broad face and a little round belly, that shook, when he laughed like gelatinous cube jelly.<br />
He was chubby and plump, who though him an elf? He is more like a first edition gnome, I thought to myself<br />
A wink of his eye, and my reactions had trailed, I was immobile, my save it had failed<br />
He spoke not a word, but went straight to my snacks, and stuffed his mouth full and mumbled, 'relax'.<br />
And laying his finger aside of his nose, getting quite small, up the mantel he rose<br />
He sprang to his sleigh, said 'teleport' to his team, and vanished all like they were a dream.<br />
But I heard him exclaim, from the ether out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all, back to posting 'morrow night."Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-22824676763850128912014-12-07T11:22:00.000-05:002014-12-07T12:37:27.674-05:00You kids get off my hex grid!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2YtowFMV8m9tCoTCdRX1m-oRFHxqnzgTMG84nmpJuZLDpJnwoMY63rwjS2IXKGmhBzj6Pa9_rABp0dHf9H5-nLy09fDFb1XpxqicfhwksiCStV1tFzd43Miqn1Z4arFUlw6iytXN87I_/s1600/get+off+my+lawn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2YtowFMV8m9tCoTCdRX1m-oRFHxqnzgTMG84nmpJuZLDpJnwoMY63rwjS2IXKGmhBzj6Pa9_rABp0dHf9H5-nLy09fDFb1XpxqicfhwksiCStV1tFzd43Miqn1Z4arFUlw6iytXN87I_/s1600/get+off+my+lawn.jpg" height="185" width="200" /></a>Ok, so maybe that does not resonate like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_kids_get_off_my_lawn!" target="_blank">You kids get off my lawn!</a> Again, the same article by a <a href="http://www.gnomestew.com/crock-pot/back-in-the-saddle-i-own-dice-older-than-you/" target="_blank">guest </a><br />
poster over at <a href="http://www.gnomestew.com/" target="_blank">Gnome Stew</a> triggered this gnotion. <br />
<br />
I have dice older than half of the people in the game I am in. These twenties are long since retired. The edges are so badly chipped and worn they do not roll true, and without corners take a while to stop rolling. These are the dice where you used crayons to fill in the spaces so you could read the numbers.<br />
<br />
Ah, the memories.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTQn_xGJBvgwjlp7RvmQfLCJly0JUV3JyloaTw-xM63KiIuhyJeiD9cn4GJK860f9L7nXGVC6Wrq5yURhDV-tQLYtulYAY0-pgRFTM56W9lfQ6H9bDFbHk0gRnSNSWQ-P1DGgf5xc75Eg/s1600/dice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTQn_xGJBvgwjlp7RvmQfLCJly0JUV3JyloaTw-xM63KiIuhyJeiD9cn4GJK860f9L7nXGVC6Wrq5yURhDV-tQLYtulYAY0-pgRFTM56W9lfQ6H9bDFbHk0gRnSNSWQ-P1DGgf5xc75Eg/s1600/dice.jpg" height="320" width="295" /></a>Much has changed in gaming. We had no electronic support (my only computer at the time was a TRS Color 80), and had no body to learn from via message boards, and we did not know any other gamers. We were blissfully alone and blazing our own trail. I do not believe our fun suffered at all from it. Our only connection to the outside gaming world was via Dragon Magazine.<br />
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I am not making any comment about where gaming is now as being bad or unfun - just different. It is fun watching these 'youngsters' learn the role play ropes and make the same mistakes we used to make. Heck, we still make the same mistakes we used to make.<br />
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Ultimately, we are still a bunch of folks sitting around a table, adventuring, rolling dice, conquering challenges, and laughing hysterically. I am glad these kids invited me to their game, even though it is not a hex grid.<br />
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I have pretty new dice with nice sharp edges and they seem to roll true enough for us. Sometimes I take out my old dice just to look at them and hold them in my hand. <br />
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The dice never lie.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-17963780304316709282014-12-05T17:00:00.000-05:002014-12-05T17:00:06.191-05:00Time for gaming?An article by a <a href="http://www.gnomestew.com/crock-pot/back-in-the-saddle-i-own-dice-older-than-you/" target="_blank">guest poster</a> over at <a href="http://www.gnomestew.com/" target="_blank">Gnome Stew</a> triggered this bit of a rant. There is no connection between these sites except maybe for our fondness for gnomes maybe. If you have not read anything over there, I suggest you check it out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96vBopoawrpuT78Pjd2KOJnEeaf3_B2QBwpJjAp7XsGEkTxkhBbtMR2XeS42RomjFtnGjLUyUb7cvXG7Mvt-VcXIZbQmTiV2IM1RJUlxxoERoiPgjq5wGK1yTp6E3FvS8F-vXbAZW3jdb/s1600/time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96vBopoawrpuT78Pjd2KOJnEeaf3_B2QBwpJjAp7XsGEkTxkhBbtMR2XeS42RomjFtnGjLUyUb7cvXG7Mvt-VcXIZbQmTiV2IM1RJUlxxoERoiPgjq5wGK1yTp6E3FvS8F-vXbAZW3jdb/s1600/time.jpg" /></a>The article was mostly about getting back into gaming, and how to make gaming recruits that stick. The author did make one point which triggered this rant.<br />
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<b><i>We don't find time for gaming, we make time for gaming.</i></b><br />
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Insert what ever else you are passionate about in place of gaming if you prefer. If you wait to find time for the things which are important, then you are letting life pass you by. Make time for what is important, find time for things which are not. Simple.<br />
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You have said it. I have said it. We have heard it over and over again. I can't find the time for...<br />
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So - if gaming is your passion and you are not playing because you cannot find time for it, something is broken. No excuses, get out there and make time for what is important.<br />
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The dice never lie.<br />
<br />Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-2675505560945680882014-12-04T20:01:00.002-05:002014-12-04T20:01:35.557-05:00Goose Island OktoberfestI know the <a href="http://www.gooseisland.com/index.html" target="_blank">Goose Island</a> folks have been around a while, but they seem to be making a splash in the North East recently, and well, I just had to try some out. Here we go with the <a href="http://www.gooseisland.com/showBeer.html?name=OKTOBERFEST" target="_blank">Oktoberfest</a>. <br />
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First off, I like there brand - "We don't need to be the only beer you drink, we just want to be the best beer you drink." That resonates with me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYsW9xFyzqYMGlUYgcj6LcV5jdkTJ41ZxQMyA0ED2Xe0pw6CfLiQAclsjHQDsihWdmvdgQhJgcHBJ8cTwZaQblZoeZx1TSp6ib-yizDCBYD1_gpU2XDcsswO-IbR9TOhReyqpDlJT7s1kX/s1600/gi+oct.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYsW9xFyzqYMGlUYgcj6LcV5jdkTJ41ZxQMyA0ED2Xe0pw6CfLiQAclsjHQDsihWdmvdgQhJgcHBJ8cTwZaQblZoeZx1TSp6ib-yizDCBYD1_gpU2XDcsswO-IbR9TOhReyqpDlJT7s1kX/s1600/gi+oct.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
The label announces it as a traditional Marzen, IBU rating 17, 6.4% ABV. It pours out slightly opaque coppery colored with a nice foamy head which dissipates fairly quickly to a thin lacing. Seems very much a classic Octoberfest style beer. I get some caramel/toffee kind of aroma.<br />
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There is a sweet butterscotch and toffee taste to it, with a little bit of stickiness in the mouth. I generally do not like 'sweet' drinks but this seems nicely balanced with just enough bitterness to know you are drinking a beer, but having lots of roasted/toasted malt flavor. Maybe a little honey flavor too. A medium body beer, not something you would want on a hot day but this would go lovely with Germain comfort food. The moderate carbonation is not overwhelming, and the after taste leaves your mouth watering a bit. <br />
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Very much in balance but featuring the toffee and roasted malt flavors. The label also calls our dried apricot, which I can taste a little but is not strong for me. It does not have the depth of flavor of a very expensive craft beer, but definitely is a nice autumn beer and it stands out at its price point. If given the choice between a Sam's October and this, I would choose this. <br />
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Thumbs up! Cheers.<br />
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<br />Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021420460640068811.post-73610950310742056212014-11-22T15:42:00.000-05:002014-11-22T15:42:16.269-05:00D&D 5E: unlearning old ways and more rulings not rulesLast post I mentioned how we were less than spectacular in our last two encounters. Well it turns out that further led to us being overrun by the rest of the current inhabitants who were not pleased we broke into their stronghold. The entire evening was combat and searching post combat (kill things & take their stuff). A number of interesting rule related questions came up.<br />
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I noticed another player counting diagonal squares in the 1-2 method we used to use in our 3.5E game. Turns out we never asked the DM how he wanted to run tactical grid movement. Half of us were doing 1-2 diagonals and the other half were not. Oops. DM ruling - no extra cost for diagonals.<br />
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We were hit from two directions by opponents. The wizard chose to place a flaming sphere in one of the doorways to hold them off while we focused on the other attackers. Questions came up: is the sphere solid, what kind of cover does it provide, can creatures run through the sphere, does it do damage if they do? On the spot DM ruling - no ruling on solid, provides half cover, creatures moving through the sphere itself would take damage, and we'll sort this out between games.<br />
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Due to the party not really working together here, we end up with a fighter surrounded by enemies in a nearby room. We previously learned the hard way about having two or more hobgoblins next to one of our folks. The wizard planned to rush in and blast away with burning hands but before his turn a hobgoblin places himself in the opening apparently foiling that plan. Or so the DM thinks. My rogue has an inspiration coin and this is a great time to use it. I draw a dagger and throw - advantage roll gives me not only the hit I needed but a critical hit, which with sneak attack is enough to take him down. The wizard executes his plan, which takes down enough opponents so the fighter survives and takes out the rest.<br />
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Feeling like we were about to be overrun (feeling was correct), we prepared to flee. Fortunately, the team did think about holding a door closed against oncoming onslaught. Sadly, the weaker of our two fighters who was already hurt and our wizard decided to take on the task. Well, to make a long story short, they were overrun. An opponent (no spoiler since we are playing Lost Mine of Phandelver) appears in the doorway and on shots the wizard, the DM says they used stealth to get to the spot which is how it got advantage. We shake our heads on that one, unless we did not understand the terrain we did not see how that was likely. <br />
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Now the hurt fighter was surrounded and contemplating using disengage to move away when I asked if he considered using dodge. Dodge? Seems like he never understood this action was available and in the first time in about six sessions someone on our team took the dodge action. So he decided dodge it is, and stayed in place to avoid opportunity attacks until (presumably) the rest of the party came to rescue him. Man of faith this fighter must be.<br />
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My rogue comes around the corner and sees the new mess we are in. When I last saw my group things were not so grim. That is what I get for going into another room to get some treasure. I decide to use my invisibility potion and figure I will wait for a chance to feed a healing potion to the wizard when the bad guys are focused elsewhere. I move into position. Our cleric remote cures the wizard, who feeling desperate pulls out a fireball scroll, makes his roll, rolls statistically improbably damage and toasts all the bad guys leaving only the most powerful one left standing. Sadly for me, being invisible, the wizard does not know I am there and I enjoy a good toasting too.<br />
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Now we questions, what happens when an invisible character goes to zero hit points? Look at the spell and it requires concentration. I had not even considered that, and had not even considered a potion might require concentration from a non-spell casting. DM ruling, I become visible. Which turns out to be convenient for me because other wise they could not find me to fix me up.<br />
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But now this really begs the question: are potion spell concentration requirements the same as casting a spell? And would that mean you could only have one potion active at a time which requires concentration?<br />
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Stay tuned - the dice never lie.Barad the Gnomehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.com1