How about the first flaw for DnD Next?
Bearer of Auril’s Kiss
When you were born, you’re growth was stunted by one of the hardest winters in record.
Penalty: You gain a permanent -1 penalty to constitution checks and saves. You look scrawny compared to the rest of your family and race.
Here is an idea:
If you want an extra feat at first level, you take a flaw that provides an in game penalty.
For the rest of this week, I plan to make flaws that give in game penalties.
Game-7 Wonders
Producer-Repos
Price– ~$50
Set-up/Play/Pick-up– One hour
TL;DR-Sleek, well-crafted, fun game 90%
Basics-In Seven Wonders, you play a different country throughout history. Each country starts with a different resource and a play mat that shows costs to build wonders. These wonders give the country either points or abilities. Each turn, you look at a hand of cards and pick one to play. The cards are resources, points, military, science, trade, or other options. You can play the card for its value, use it to build your wonder, or spend it to gain money. You then hand the remaining cards to your neighbor. After all players have selected their cards, you reveal and repeat with the new cards you got from your neighbor. When you have two cards left you select one and throw the other away. After a round of this, there is a military phase where losers in battles gain negative points while winners gain positive points. After three total rounds, the points are counted and the winner is determined.
Mechanics-This is where the game really shines. The rounds go fast with some quick, important choices flying bye. What strategies really emerge is what to play vs. what to keep vs. what to bury for your wonders/money. In addition, what makes the game quick is that everything is done with icons and few rules. The cards have a sleek design that reads quickly. This game has won world wide awards because, honestly, besides the rules no changes have to happen to play this game across the world. I could easily sit down in China and play a game with some people who didn’t speak English. If you know the rules and can see the card icons, you can play. 5/5
Theme-Here is where the game suffers a little bit. I don’t really feel like ‘Rhodes’ when I play ‘Rhodes’. I feel like I’m a guy building a place, but not really ‘Rhodes.’ I honestly don’t know what ‘Rhodes’ feels like, but I don’t feel that. That said, I do feel like I’m building an empire over time. The different rounds or ages do make this game have a distinctive feel. I like that feeling. Also, when you go one in a major direction for points, you change your whole strategy, so that does change what you do thematically. I like this despite not having a country specific feel. 3/5
Instruction-The rules are short and well-written. This game is a eurogame despite the cards. That’s not something you hear often, but it’s true. The instructions have a lot of ground to cover and it does it well. Lots of examples really help explain this game well. 5/5
Summary-This is, quite frankly, an amazing game. It’s fast, fun, and really replayable. I loved every moment of this game. I’ve play is several times and even my not so geeky friends love to bust this one out. Go get this one. 90%
I’ve been thinking about what I play, and why I play it. Now I don’t want to join the edition war, but I think what you play is impacted largely by the fiction the surrounds it. I want to talk today about my love for 3.5 DnD Eberron vs. 4e Eberron and ludonarrative.
PLEASE DON’T JUST RUN AWAY FROM THAT TOPIC! I PROMICE I HAVE A REAL MEASAGE BESIDE EDITION HATE!
I read a lot. I love audiobooks. I listen as I walk around my house and clean. I love print media. I say up late and read old books while my wife sleeps. I love my Ipad. I keep my wife up late as I read next to her. So when DnD fiction comes out, I go buy it and read it. I won’t say it up to King’s level, but I’m not looking for that. I want people to have adventures in worlds that I play in. I want to read about people in the Forgotten Realms. I want to see skyships in Eberron. I want adventures in Dark Sun. AND, I want the people to, at least tangentially, follow the rules my characters have to follow. Make no mistake; I’m not a guy counting fireballs in a fight as I read, but the healing cleric shouldn’t be able to pull off a fireball without some serious ‘splainin’ to do. And this is why a specific breed of author works well in these books. You have to follow the rules of the game, and that limits your creativity a lot. It’s hard work to write. I’m not even good, and it’s hard. If you don’t believe me, then I implore you to do NaNoRiMo. In one month, pound out 50,000 words. If you can do it, THEN do it while following fake rules. If you do that, then my hats off to you.
Now here is where rules hurt and help a book set in a world. I want to introduce something called ludonarrative. Here is a link explaining it for the video game crowd. He also goes into why it’s a bad term, but since it’s established I’m going to use it for a bit. For ludonarrative, it’s how well the story and the rules of the game mess together. If in a cut scene your character can fly, but when you get to play the game for real, you can’t, than there is a problem. That’s the basics. I hit this hard when I played Batman Arkham Asylum on Hard difficulty; in the cut scenes Batman would one-two punch bad guys to the floor, but when I played for real, I might as well have been using cold ramen noodles to beat them down instead of his punches. In the end, I felt disconnected from the game.
How does this affect my Eberron play experiences? Well, if you read the fiction of Eberron, its primarily set in a world of 3.5 DnD. And that’s OK. However, when you play 4e DnD, the world doesn’t “work” as well. Now, I’m not saying you can’t ‘make’ it work, but I would read through things in the book like a dual wand wielding wizard (alliteration!) and be amazed. But when I got to the 4e table, I could use a wand once an encounter and then be sad as a free action.
Why did this happen? Well, the quickest explanation is in 3.5 magic is broken. (ah I can feel the angry from here!) It’s almost impossible for a fighter to deal with a 20LvL wizard who can wish his mom away before he was born. And, that’s OK. Those kind of crazy things make 3.5 fun. When I play some 3.5 Eberron, magic’s broken, so crazy wand wizards are a thing. I feel like I’m playing the ‘real’ Eberron. The constant nature of magic without balance really helped me feel Eberron and its world.
Does 4e do something right then? Yes. Arguably the longest I’ve ever played DnD is Living Forgotten realms. And it was 4e. The fiction matched the books, and it worked in reverse. I loved to read about the realms in the books, and I loved to read about the rules that supported it. It worked well together, and how well this worked together really made me enjoy my game and books that much more.
In the end, the take home message is I need fiction to match what I’m doing in game. I’m seeing more of this with the Sundering. Magic is changing, and it’s changing how players play. That’s good. I might not like the ‘how‘, but the end result will be a system that meshes well with the books and books that mesh well with the system. And, that what any good system needs.
I’ve always wanted to play an exorcist in Shadowrun. I’m Catholic, and I know we’ve got a bad rap in 2075, but we can’t be all bad…can we? How about a spirit mentor for Roman Catholics who play with magic?
The “Great” Spirit might be the Catholic Holy Ghost or might represent the Great Spirit of Indian folklore. In either case, this spirit mentor seeks to help metahumannity survive in the new magical age. However, this comes with a price-one must follow a code of selflessness.
ADVANTAGES
All:+2 to Assensing checks checks
Magicians: +2 to all checks to banishing checks
Adept: Gain the Astral Perception Power for free
DISADVANTAGES
If you act in a way that will harm others who mean no harm to you or allow others to come to harm through inaction, you take a -1 penalty to all dice pools until you atone. This may require sacrifices or attending a religious service.
Thoughts?
How about a cleric domain for DnD Next?
You are an avatar of winter. You are the living embodiment of the trial cold bring to all who live in where snow falls. You sort the weak from the strong. You must root out the weakness in others and destroy it, through whatever means necessary. Those who cross your path and are unworthy will never see the light of day again. You’re god doesn’t desire worship as much as fear!
DOMAIN SPELLS
Cleric Level Spells
1 Sleep, Gust of Wind
3 Blur, Phantasmal Force
5 Sleet Storm, Slow
7 Evard’s Black Tentacles, Ice Storm
9 Cone of Cold, Cloudkill
11 Circle of Death
15 Power Word Stun
Bonus Spells
You gain the Ray of frost and and chill touch cantrips if you don’t already have them. You also gain extra domain spells at levels 11 and 15, as shown in your Domain Spells table.
Hasten the End
When a creature that you can see falls to or below 0 HP, you can use your reaction to cause the creature to die that much faster. The creature must make an Constitution saving throw with the DC equal to your spell casting DC. If they fail, the immediately die or count as having failed a death roll. Any spellcaster that attempts to prevent the creature dying must make an apposed spellcaster roll to prevent this effect or stabilize the creature.
Channel Divinity: Frostbite
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to harness the bitter cold of winter . As an action, you present your holy symbol, and any fires are extinguished within 25 feet of you is dispelled. Spells that have the fire effect are given an opposed check by their creators using their spellcasting bonus vs your spell casting bonus + d20 roll. Additionally, each enemy creature within 25 feet of you must make a Constitution saving throw. A creature takes cold damage equal to 2d10 + your cleric level on a failed saving throw and half as much damage on a successful one.
Channel Divinity: Icy Strength
At 6th level, you gain the ability to bestow the blessing of winter to yourself or an ally with your Channel Divinity. As an action, you present your holy symbol, and you or an ally gains an extra 1d6 cold damage on any attacks to perform as well as gaining resistance cold. At level 12 this bonus increases to 2d6, and at level 18 this bonus increases to 3d6.
Heart of winter
Starting at 20th level, you can use your action to turn an area into the deepest winter for 1 minute or until you dismiss it using another action. You become a creature of pure ice and emit waves of cold in a 50¬foot radius. You gain resistance cold and to weapon attacks. All creatures in the area without cold resistance must make Constitution checks every turn or take 4d6 cold damage and be restrained by the ice.
What do you think?
How about one more background for DnD Next?
You have carved a life where most others could not. You are not a tamed man. You find no comfort when sleeping indoors. You are of the North. You travel for your own reasons.
Trait-Master of your surrounding
You know how to survive. When in a natural environment you can find enough food to support yourself and your friends. You know where to find what you need to build simple tools that you need. You know nothing of how to build complicated machine that the tamed men use.
Proficiencies
Skills:Nature, Athletics, Survival
Tools: Climbers’s kit
Equipment
Adventurer’s kit, climber’s kit, bedroll, blanket, common clothes, fishing tackle, hunting trap, tent, 105 gp 10s
Thoughts?
Product: Legacy of the Crystal Shard
Producer: Wizards of the Coast
Price: ~$30
TL;DR-Great Season, but consider your group. 83.3%
Basics-Its the second book in the Sundering encounters series, and this one takes place in the frozen north of Icewind Dale. The players arrive in town just as an attack of Yetis takes place. After saving the town the heroes must root out the various problems in town with the biggest problem being the worst winter the dale is seen in a long time? Can they save Icewind dale from the cold?
Theme: I have really been impressed with the latest DnD encounter manuals. One book is pretty much dedicated to theme. Here are the peoples and places the players (alliteration!) will see. Having a one book dedicated to this really helps me get the world across to my players. The book is full of tons of small details that will really help. Its worth it! 4/5
Mechanics/Story: Here is where things get a little “dangerous.” I love this story compared to the other one. The heroes here get to be heroes! However, the heroes can’t completely save the day. I’m tipping my hand as a DM, but the Sundering encounter season is set up so Wizards has something to say about what happened here. Something big occurs, the PCs fix most of it, but some evil will remain that the PCs can’t fix, at least right now. If you’re group or you hates this, then this might not be for you. However, I love what I’ve seen and what I’ve read. Also, see the summary for a few running concerns. 4/5
Layout/construction: Honestly, I love the latest projects from Wizards. The paperback books are pretty decent quality. They tear kind of easily, but for the page count it’s a good deal. Also, the package comes with a nice DM screen. The screen is encounters specific and full of stuff you need for the game. You get over 100 pages of stuff to read, but the layout is well done and a pleasure to read. I never felt like it was hard to get through. A fantastic job. 4.5/5
Summary and thoughts: I really like this product. This is a great product that is full of information on the frozen north and a great story. Keep in mind, you or your group will fail at least in part. If you can get past that, you will have a great time. Also, as a tip: you might want to tell your players to agree on a course of action. In the last session, it was pretty fair game for the PCs to just go in any direction. This session, for the players to get the most out of the random encounters and distances between towns, you want to only have one group of PCs running around the realms. 83.3%
How about some more love for DnD Next?
You work for a wizard in the Arcane Brotherhood in Luskan. The reason you do so is your own. It may range from money to being tutored by a senior wizard. In any case, you are not necessarily evil, but you work to bring the North under the economic control of Luskan. However, you may undermine other Arcane Brotherhood agents to ensure your master is the one in the limelight.
Trait-Information and Financial Network
You are a member of a far flung organization that has agents and depots across the west. You can request information and funds from any place you know another agent resides. However, these requests are noted and this makes your presence know to other Arcane Brotherhood personal or leaders in the area. Requests for personal gain might go unnoticed momentarily, but eventually this problem will be rectified. You know code words and phrases that allow you to find and identify other Arcane Brotherhood agents across the world.
Proficiences
Skills:Stealth, Deception, Sleight of Hand
Tools: Disguise kit, thieves’ tools, navigation kit
Languages
One of your choice
Equipment
adventurer’s kit, bedroll, blanket, common clothes, traveler’s clothes, fine clothes, disguise kit, lantern, 1 pint oil, navigator’s tools, tent, thieves’s tools 44gp 4 silver
I’ve always felt like the intelligence stat gets left by the wayside when you play an RPG especially DnD next or Pathfinder. How about an optional rule to make it a little more useful….
Optional Rule: Intelligence for skill acquisition
Every character gains four skills as normal during character generation (three from their background, and one (or more) from their class). However, if they have an above average intelligence (12 o better) they receive one extra skill for each point of intelligence bonus they posses. When their bonus increases, they gain a new skill. The skills they receive come from their class skill list, but if they ever get more skills then their class give them access to, they may select any skill.
If a character posses a below average intelligence and has a penalty, they lose one skill. They may select if they lose a class skill or a background skill. If they have an extremely low intelligence, they at minimum have one skill. If a characters intelligence decreases during the game, they lose skills in much te same way increasing your intelligence increases your number of skills.
Thoughts?
Throat Punch Games 