Month: April 2015

Daily Punch 4-20-15 Barrister background for DnD 5e

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 1 Comment

If we’re making Daredevil in DnD 5e, we need somewhere who knows the law.  Let’s make an old timey lawyer- a barrister!

Barrister

You know the law.  You’ve trained under smart men and women who taught you how to speak and how to convince.  You’re smart, driven, and convinced that the law is the only way to get true justice.

Skill Proficiencies: Persuasion, Nobility

Languages: Two of your choice

Equipment:A set of fine clothing, four books of local law from your home region, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp

Feature: Ability to Defend

As a barrister, you know the local law of most locations.  This provides you with the ability to defend those who run afoul of it, including yourself.  When you or an ally are accused of a crime by a lawful entity, you may speak in the defense of those individuals.  You are not guaranteed success, but you know how to ask for a trial instead of swift, brutal justice.  Also, any non lawful group such a mob may not listen to any defense you mount for you or your clients.

d8 Personality

1 I follow a barrister from the past as an example of how to live and how to interact with the law.

2 I use the law to my own ends twisting phrases as I see fit.

3 I see the law is merely a guideline that can be rigid or flexible as it needs to be.  This is how I see most of life.

4 The law as written is infallible and must be defended as such!

5 The fringes of the world need the gift of law to truly become great places.

6 I strive to constantly change the law to generate a more just society.

7 I will only serve the just and the law guides me to them.

8 Those who break the law often have deep pockets and thus must be defended from the law.

d6 Ideal

1 Greed. Only the finest in life will do! (Chaotic)

2 Order.  Without law we are no better than beasts. (Lawful)

3 Generosity. The weak must be defend by and from the law. (Good)

4 Authority. From the law, I demand control. (Evil)

5 Community. The law bring people together through common goals and hopes. (Good)

6 Aspiration. The law allows me a chance to better improve myself through a trade. (Any)

d6 Bond

1 Being a barrister doesn’t start cheep, and I’m indebted to someone.

2 I was on the wrong side of the law, and someone saved me from that fate.  Now I’m working to help others in the same boat.

3 I saved one of my companions from some repercussions of their actions.  Now I’m waiting for them to pay up.

4 I will make the world a better place one argument at a time.

5 I come from a place of chaos and now have seen a place ruled by order.  I will spread that order.

6 My family was poor, but found me this trade.  I will never let them be poor again!

d6 Bond

1 I can’t turn down those in trouble, no matter what the cause.

2 I can’t stand the poor.

3 If you don’t have coin then you are most likely guilty.

4 I can see guilt from a mile away.

5 I think everyone is innocent even when the evidence says otherwise.

6 I’m not proud of what I’ve done or said, and any who remind me get my full wrath.

Thoughts?

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Dungeon Crawl Classics #84: Perils of the Purple Planet

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photo-original

Product– Dungeon Crawl Classics #84: Perils of the Purple Planet

System– DCC RPG

Producer– Goodman Games

Price– $50 here for the boxed set http://www.goodman-games.com/5085preview.html

TL; DR– A good hex crawl, but I’d like a bit more guidance as a GM.  97%

Basics– Can you survive a blender of Appendix N other world science fantasy?  On the Purple planets a race of ape men fight under the guidance of strange alien powers for control of a desert world full of timeless technology as well as giant worms.  It’s every single awesome old school fantasy book, movie, and song rolled into one-the way any DCC RPG product should be made. Will you solve the secret of how to survive the world and find a way home or will you die in the dust?

Mechanics or Crunch– This is a great expansion for the DCC RPG.  The kickstarter added a ton of extra content to the adventure box set.  Among the different add-ons are a ton of adventure locals, race and class write ups for the kith (the ape men), new technology, an entire world to play in, and much more.  Overall, it’s all well done.  There are a few issues such as how often encounters happen and other small details I don’t think were as well explained as they could be.  Also, I think encounters happen far too often to keep move the story along.  It’s not going to end the game by any means, but there are some small issues that did keep me from fully enjoying the product.  4.75/5

Theme or Fluff- What is in this box set is very much amazing.  The set comes with a ton of world building.  Honestly, there is more world building than in the base book!  From a full right-up on kith cultures and a kith class, to the different kind of alien masters, this set is full of stories.  My one issue in this book is the players and the GM doesn’t really get an introduction to how to run this thing.  Unlike the other DCCRPG adventures, this is really a free form adventure.  Players can literally go anywhere, but the boxed set didn’t give me enough directions to keep the story moving in a good direction.  It does give a simple base idea of the adventure, but GMs are really on their own to determine what happens on the purple planet and to build a cohesive story there.  4.75/5

 

Execution– This is a gorgeous boxed set full of tons of amazing books.  There are books on crypts from space warriors past, a setting book, the adventure, a player book, a handout book, and even a GM screen.  The base DCC RPG doesn’t even have a GM screen!    I’d like a bit more spacing and art in the adventure, but honestly, that’s the same thing I complain about with the other DCC RPG adventures.  This one makes up for it by sheer volume of well done material.  You will learn an impressive amount about this world from the awesome books in this set. 5/5

Summary– I do love me some hex crawling.  It’s a great experience to just let the players go and explore the world.  This has even more than normal as the players get to explore a completely alien world.  This whole adventure box set has not only the named adventure but a ton of extra stuff to get players into this world.  It’s all amazingly well done.  If this adventure were just the adventure itself, it would not have rated is as high as I did.  The extra care put into this set really drives this over the top.  My only problems with this set were the lack of guidance as a GM and some minor issues with the mechanics of the set.  However, none of that takes away from how impressive this box is.  If you want to play in a world where Frank Herbert, Robert Howard, and Jack Vance all mixed their ideas in a blender and poured that over a base of old school D&D, then this is the product for you. 97%

Daily Punch 4-16-15 Way of the Chair and Table

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Let’s continue building on the monk with a chair theme from yesterday.

Way of the Chair and Table (Combat)

You’ve trained, and you’ve drank.  At this point, your fists are good, but the chair is better.

Prerequisite: Catch Off-Guard, Monk unarmed damage, Way of Your Surroundings

Benefit: When you use an improvised weapon the size of a chair or larger, your unarmed damage with improvised weapons increases by one step up the monk dice chain.  When you use something like a table, you gain the benefits and penalties of a tower shield while not losing your monk bonuses due to using a shield.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 4-15-15 Way of Your Surroundings feat for Pathfinder

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I saw someone online asking for this feat. Let’s make it happen.

Way of Your Surroundings (Combat)

You’re as much of a student of the monastery as you are a student of the bar.  Now you swing equally well with your fists as you do with a chair.

Prerequisite: Catch Off-Guard, Monk unarmed damage

Benefit: When you use an improvised weapon of small or larger, the weapon does bludgeoning damage equal to your unarmed monk damage.

Thoughts?

Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of King of New York

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Product– King of New York

Producer-Iello

Price– $50 here http://www.amazon.com/King-New-York-Board-Game/dp/B00KU9LQUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429421137&sr=8-1&keywords=kings+of+new+york

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 45 minutes (2-6 players)

Type-American

Depth-Light

TL; DR– A much improved second version. 95%

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Basics-Time for a rumble in the Bronx!  King of New York is a standalone game that builds on the popular King of Tokyo line.  This game follows a very similar turn order with some significant differences.  At the start of the game, all players choose which of the five New York boroughs they wish to start in, with the exception of Manhattan.  Like in King of Tokyo, a player rolls six dice, and can reroll some, all, or none of the dice.  Each die has six faces with players gaining different effects based on how many of each die each player rolled.  Lightning gives the player energy cubes for each die result that can be spent on upgrades.  Hearts heal the player one point for each heart result while not in Manhattan. Attack damages the player in Manhattan if the active player isn’t in Manhattan, or damages each other player not in Manhattan if the player is in Manhattan.  If the player in Manhattan takes damage, that player can leave, and you have to enter Manhattan instead!  If you start your turn in Manhattan, you gain energy as well as victory points.  The major differences between this and Kings of Tokyo come from the final three dice faces.  A new result is destruction.  Destruction results are spent to turn over tokens in each borough.  These tokens have two sides: red and blue.  Blue sides are buildings that usually provide points or healing.  Red sides are active military units that provide points or power cubes.  Both sides have a number that must be spent to either flip the token or to remove the unit from the board.  This brings us to the next result of Ouch!  Ouch! causes the units to attack players depending on the number rolled.  A one result causes the active player damage equal to the number of red tokens in the borough; two causes all players in the borough damage, and three causes all red tokens to attack all players!  Rolling three Ouch! results will also earn the player the Statue of Liberty Card worth three points.  This card can be stolen, however, when another player rolls three Ouch! results.  The final result is celebrity.  If you get three celebrity results, you gain the Superstar card, one point, and at the start of each round you gain an extra point.  This can also be stolen.  After all the dice are resolved, if no player is in Manhattan, you must move there.  If there is one monster there, you can move there depending on the number of players, or you can move to another borough.  Manhattan also has three areas that can be moved into over time, with the deepest area of Manhattan giving tons of points and energy at the start of each turn.  Finally, you can buy any cards available before ending your turn.  Play continues until there is only one monster standing or one player has 20 victory points.

Mechanics– Just like King of Tokyo, King of New York is about pushing your luck.  But this game feels a lot less like Yahtzee! and more like rolling for specific results.  The changes to attacking units, gaining celebrity, and damaging non-player characters massively change the results of this game.  Honestly, it’s a much deeper experience and one that I enjoy better than King of Tokyo.  Currently though, the monsters in each game don’t have any differences between each other.  It’s important, but not world ending.  This is just like the original King of Tokyo game, so I expect that an expansion is coming up very soon to fix that.  Overall, this quick, easy to learn, fun game that plays well. 4.75/5

Theme– I feel much more like Godzilla in this game than I did in King of Tokyo.  I don’t feel like I’m playing combat Yahtzee!, but instead I’m a 40 story mantis that is destroying New York.   The addition of buildings to destroy and units to fight really drive this home as well as deciding when to just put a ton of enemy units on a friend’s space and then get out of that part of town!  It’s not perfect though.  I don’t have difference powers between creatures, and the basic mechanic still somewhat takes away from the basic monster feeling that I’m supposed to have.  But, I don’t think that can be helped without a massive overall of the mechanics.  4.75/5

Instructions– Overall, the instructions are done reasonably well.  My main complaint is how packed they are.  I’d like more pages with more examples then the cramped four pages I get. It’s not unreadable by any means, and this game isn’t exactly the deepest game I’ve ever player, so overall the rules do a good job.  I’d just like them to be easier to read. 4.5/5

Execution-This is a great game for how it’s handled.  I love the art and the components.  I love large chunky tokens as well as heavy dice.  The box fits all the components well, and just like King of Tokyo; I think it will hold the expansions pretty well too.  The cards are well done, and the tokens all feel nice.  Overall, it’s a great box and presentation of what it contains. 5/5

Summary– I don’t think I’m going back to King of Tokyo.  I like that game, but I really LOVE this game.  I feel like a monster not a person playing Yahtzee!  Yahtzee! isn’t bad, but this is much better.  It’s got a few minor faults, but overall it’s a top notch game that represents the monster genre well. 95%

Daily Punch 4-14-15 Severing Magic Ties quality for Shadowrun 5e

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Some creatures are magic, but don’t want to be.  Let’s do something about that….

Severing Magic Ties

Cost: 10 karma

You were a creature of magic and wonder, but you’ve changed that.  It’s hurt you badly.  Maybe not on the surface, but deep in your soul.  Decrease your essence by 1, and reduce your magic rating by 1.  If this would reduce your magic rating to 0, this does not kill you as it would normally.  You no longer count as dual natured as you only count as a physical being.  Any assensing test with three successes will determine that you used to be a dual natured creature.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 4-10-15 Magic Master feat for DnD 5e

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Let’s build on the idea of a feat tree to teach magic.  Now with third level spells!

Magic Master

Prerequisite: Magic Initiate, Magic Adept

Be it from your own training or intense studying.  Gain the following benefits for the spell casting class you choose for Magic Initiate:

  • Learn one additional cantrip.
  • Learn two more 1st level spells and gain the ability to cast two more 1st level spells.
  • Learn two more 2nd level spells and gain the ability to cast one more 2nd level spell.
  • Learn two 3rd level spells and gain the ability to cast one 3rd level spell.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 4-9-15 Magic Adept feat for DnD 5e

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If you don’t want to multiclass, but you want some spells, let’s add some feats to build on this idea!

Magic Adept

Prerequisite: Magic Initiate

For the class you choose for Magic initiate, you gain the following:

  • Gain two more cantrips
  • Learn three more 1st level spells and the ability to cast two more 1st level spells before you must take a long rest.  You may cast the same spell more than once but each spell you cast uses a 1st level spell slot from Magic Initiate or this feat.
  • Learn two second level spells and the ability to cast one second level spell from this class.

Thoughts?