Tag: Dungeons and Dragons

Blurbs from the Booth-What I want in the DnD Adventure League

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

First off, I love the Dungeons and Dragons Adventure League.  I’ve run a crap load of games and loved every minute of it.  I think I’m at least a decent GM who knows a ton of Forgotten Realms lore.  But, I need some help.  Here are I few things I think would make the Adventure League better:

 

1) Small change to the format of the adventures I know its space, but I would really love it you could give me an itemized list of the major stuff in the room/location at the top of each location right after the name and place on the map.  Like this:

Genera Features:

Mossy Cave full of gold

Traps:

None

Monsters:

1-Party one- 6 Kobolds

1 Wizard

2-Party two- Giant Dragon of death

Items:

Awesome sword of Awesomeness

All the gold ever

Why?  Well I read my adventures before every game, but when you’re going through the adventures and you have limited time like the 3.5 hours at GenCon, it’s hard to remember all the stuff that’s in a place or you have to take time and skim read the entire passage.  All the adventures WotC has put out including the Hoard of the Dragon Queen have all the important information buried in the text.  I hate having to reread a half page of text and explain to my players everything in the room that I just read and make it interesting.  Again, this isn’t hard, but a small change will really help me make sure I hit all the high notes in every adventures.

 

2) NPC mentors  My players are getting high enough to get mentors.  It might be time to consider providing NPCs who can mentor the players either through letters or items.  I don’t think these should be anywhere near as cool as real, honest to Amaunator PC mentors, but if my players don’t have one, then they won’t know how awesome one can be.  And, most likely won’t mentor other PCs in the future.

 

3) Starting above 1st level  Let’s start something really controversial!  I’d like the option to start above 1st level.  I’d like generic PCs to give players at 1st, 5th, 10th, and 15th level with items and such that they could/world have gotten had they played the previous adventures but not the awesome renowned points.  The first level five and up adventures are going to roll out soon, and new players are going to come to the store and be turned away as the two groups I have at my store won’t be able to keep a level one wizard alive during a CR eight encounter.  Giving me pregens for several levels will really help.  Pathfinder does that, and it’s amazingly helpful!

 

4)World Guide Even more controversy!  Everybody I know wants a world guide.  What the heck is up with the Realms?  Who’s still a god?  Who isn’t?  Who’s pretending?  What the hell is a Phlan?  Right now, we have the old 3.5/4e stuff.  But, there was a whole Sundering book series that people didn’t read that told them about the new 5e realms.  But, none of those books really talked about Phlan.  Heck the Sword Coast got a book, but only tangentially.  My players don’t really know the state of things.  Things are up to 110 years out of date, so imagine using a 110 year old map to understand European politics today!  Don’t give me hints.  Right now my players need firm answers to what the heck is going on.  And I think most GMs do too.

 

Those are my ideas.  I love the game, but give me the proper tools and layouts and I can make my games even better!

Daily Punch 10-2-14 Tower Shield for DnD Next

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

How about some real defense for DnD Next?

 

Tower shield

Cost: 50gp

+4 AC

40lbs

 

This shield is as tall as your average ork.  You gain a -1 penalty to all attacks while using a tower shield due to its bulk.  However, when you talk a full defense action, all enemies that are on that are attacking ahead of you may not target you as you benefit from full cover.  Enemies that attack from the sides only gain disadvantage.

 

Thoughts?

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of the Current DnD 5e Expeditions Adventures

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– DnD 5e Expeditions- DDEX1-1 to DDEX1-3

System– DnD 5th Edition

Price– FREE!!!  (at participating game stores)

TL; DR– Great to see the new LFR. 85%

 

Basics– Dungeons and Dragons 5e is here, and so is the Wizards of the Coast organized play program called DnD Expeditions.  Let’s look at the first three adventures as a group.  The first publish three adventures are: Defiance in Phlan, Secrets of Sokol Keep, and Shadows on the Moonsea.  They are all open for characters level 1 to 4, and all play a role in the current metaplot-Tyranny of Dragons.  Let’s do a rundown of these adventures and see how the stack up.

 

Story or Fluff– These three adventures give an introduction to the town of Phlan and its surroundings.    In Defiance in Phlan, five different short stories are introduced with a time of one hour each.  Secrets of Sokol Keep has the bay lighthouse stop working and the players are asked to fix it.  And finally, Shadows of the Moonsea has an unknown “thing” moving up the Moonsea coast approaching Phlan next.  All these modules follow a pretty standard plot as  with previous DnD living games: 1) Introduce a problem/get the PCs involved, 2) PCs find the problem, 3) PCs kill the problem.  That’s not a bad story structure for organized play adventures.  If these three have a single problem, it’s the introduction of the problem, and why the players should care.  Often a problem is introduced, and the players have no reason to care aside from wanting to play some DnD that day.  Here is one area that the DnD Expeditions loses to Pathfinder Society-pre story player involvement.  Another problem that can occur is one time checks that if not succeeded often prevent the players from finding a major plot point.  Nothing is game breaking for the story, but some extra story parts would really help the players get into the story and prevent the GM from having to do some heavy story lifting at the start on the fly. 4/5

 

Mechanics or Crunch– DnD is a pretty tight system, and the adventures show this for the most part.  The combats are well done and provide enough challenge.  Also, each combat is given a small stat block to change the combatants on the fly for really weak parties to overly strong parties.  It really helps the GM find his grove and run a great adventure with fun combats.  One encounter I can think of deviates from this as the fight is just too hard for a level one party, and it makes that adventure suffer a bit.  But, that encounter is a clear outlier for these adventures. 4.8/5

 

Execution– These are free PDFs given out to the organizers of the Adventure League, so I don’t expect art.  I don’t get any, so I don’t penalize the adventures for that.  What I don’t like is how combats are buried in the text!  When the players enter a room, a box is given with the description of the room.  Below that box is the standard description paragraph of the room with all the hidden items, other checks the PCs might do, etc, but if there is a combat, the monsters and their numbers will be hidden in that same text.  That is not helpful!  As a GM, when I have a room, I really need to know how many of any monsters are in the room first.  I’d separate that from the main text and have that listed right under the title of the room in a separate block of text.  It is the same in the Tyranny of Dragons adventure, and it really doesn’t help there either.  However, these are free adventures that do tell some interesting stories.  I like what is here, but some significant changes to the organization of the text could really push this over the top. 4/5

 

Summary– DnD is back, and so is the child of the Living Forgotten Realms.  It might not be the old Living Forgotten Realms, but if this is what its children look like, I’m fairly happy.  It’s great to see a major company give out several hours of free play to its fans.  These are not bad adventures by any means, but a few changes would really help with these be just a bit better.  Moving where the monsters are listed would make my life as a GM much easier!  I’ve read the adventures, but being able to quickly scan the text will help me find out what needs to be in the room after my 10th four hour event at a con.  The stories need a bit of work at the start to draw the players in a bit more, but the last bits of the story and the world they create are often great.  Shadows of the Moonsea has a left turn, but it’s nothing that you won’t enjoy.  All and all, these are three great adventures that any new player to DnD will really enjoy. 85%

Daily Punch 9-29-14 Strength Sneak Attack alternate class feature for DnD 5e

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

I have a rogue who want to hit hard and hit mean with none of this finesse crap.  Let’s make that happen.

 

 

Strength Sneak Attack

Some favor the shadows to strike daringly at their enemies.  You do not.  You are a brazen criminal who steps in front of your enemies and hits them as hard as you can..  You may use any weapon to perform a sneak attack, but you do not gain sneak attack when you attack while hidden.  You may still perform a sneak attack when an ally is engaged with the target of your attack.  Your sneak attack dice pool increase as normal.  This replaces the normal sneak attack abilities.

 

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 9-26-14 Extra Background feat for DnD 5e

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

How about an extra background for DnD 5e?

 

 

Extra Background

Whether from your previous life or from your free time, you’ve trained in something completely new.

Prerequisite: Spend 30 downtime days or 1st level

Benefits: Gain the following:

  • Gain 1 to an ability score, to a maximum of 20.
  • Gain an extra background. You do not gain the equipment of the background, but do gain any other bonuses associated with the background.  You may change your personality, ideal, bond, and flaw.

 

Thoughts?

 

Daily Punch 9-8-14 Prehensile Tail feat for DnD Next

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

How about some love for the stranger base races for DnD?

 

Prehensile Tail

Prerequisite: Tefling, dragonborn, race born with a tail

Benefit:  Gain the following:

  • Gain a +1 to str, dex, or con to a maximum of 20
  • You gain an extra hand.  This can be used for any activity, but if you make an attack with the tail holding a weapon the attack, you do not get to add your statistic bonus to damage from the attack.

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 9-5-14 Masterwork Weapons for DnD Next

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 2 Comments

I didn’t see this in the Player’s handbook for DnD Next/5e, so I think it needs to be said

 

Masterwork Weapons

This is an exceptional version of the standard weapons.  Often crafted by the master of the forge instead of by his journeymen.

This version costs 100 gp more the the standard weapon price.

While using a masterwork weapon, gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, no bonus to damage.

 

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 8-21-14 Ranger Hunter Archetype Favored Terrain Benefit for DnD Next

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 1 Comment

How about favored terrain for the Ranger?

 

Defensive Tactics

Favored Terrain.  Choose one-aquatic, desert(cold or temperate) forest, Jungle, hills, marsh, mountain, plains, urban, or underground.  While in that area gain the following benefits:

  • You have advantage on all perceptions checks
  • You have advantage on all stealth checks
  • You have advantage on all survival checks
  • You may not be surprised

 

Thoughts?

Blurbs from the Booth-Throat Punch Games at GenCon 2014!

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

I was at GenCon 2014 last weekend.  I had a blast, so let’s go day by day and give you my thoughts.

 

Thursday

This day was the start to the con.  I woke up, exercised, and hit the con.  I was able to see the Geek Preacher, the people at TMG, and my friends at Arcane Wonders.  Then, it was off to work.  To even go to the con (and since I love DnD), I worked for Wizards of the Coast running games of DnD 5e.  This year I was able to get an All Access table.  All Access is a GenCon program you can enroll in that gets you a guaranteed same GM for the con, access to all the adventures DnD is running at the con, and a ton of extras gifts.  This year it was a signed copy of the DnD 5th edition Player’s handbook and a Monsters Manual over a month before it’s released to the public.  My all access table was awesome, and then I ran two regular tables.  All of that was a great time, and then I hit the hay.

Friday

Friday was my short day.  I only had two tables to run today, so I woke up, exercised, and then looked for events to sign up for.  While looking around, I found an event that only had one ticket left of 500 originally.  It cost $32, and it promised swag and board games.  Not having a clue I signed up for something called AEG Big Board Game Night.  I run my two tables (having a blast) and then headed off to the Game Night-still without a clue as to what the heck it was.  What I found out was the AEG Big Board Game Night is an event where everyone comes, plays every new board and card game AEG has out, and then gets a box of random games and the latest and greatest game from AEG at GenCon.  This year, I got a copy of Doomtown, the awesome new card game about the Deadlands, the GenCon Exclusive copy of Smash Up, Romance of the Nine Empires, and Valley of the Kings.  I played a TON of games, and had a blast.  If you get a chance, sign up!  I was lucky enough to get a ticket.  Next year, I’m signing up as soon as I can.

Saturday

Saturday was my long day.  I had an 8AM game, a 12 Noon game, and then a 6PM game.  I love DnD, but there wasn’t much time this day for any extra fun at the Con. It was an awesome day of games, culminating with the battle interactive.  I LOVE battle interactives.  I get a feeling of togetherness and of belonging when roughly 300~600 of my closest friends are all working toward a common goal.  My table was amazing.  I hit them as hard as I could, and they barely survived.  Afterwards, we all exchanged contact information, and I said good bye to my all access table.  They were a great bunch of people, and I forward to seeing and playing with them again.  I ran from that game to the Secret Gaming Cabal Podcast meet-up.  I love listening to this podcast, and at their meet-up they were giving away games, so why wouldn’t a board game and Podcast fan be there!  Last year, I won a copy of Pixel Lincoln, and this year I won a copy of Guile and This Town Isn’t Big Enough for the 2-4 of Us.  I wish I could have stayed longer, but I’m slowly going deaf and it was way too loud in the bar where they had the event.  I decided to grab a bit to eat then meet up with the other DnD judges to celebrate the end of a great con.

Sunday

This was my day completely off.  I started like most other days.  I worked out, ate some food, and then headed to the Christian Mass at GenCon headed up by the Geek Preacher.  I’m a Roman Catholic, but this mass is the most spiritual thing I experience every year.  It’s the one mass I don’t skip out early after communion.  This is a community I WANT to be part of.  If your Christian and at GenCon, its free and an excellent use of your time.  Plus, anytime a mass mentions Dr. Who, you know it’s going to be a wild ride.  Check it out here http://ow.ly/AxTsM Then I hit the main floor.  I played a bunch of Stronghold Game’s games hoping to bet a half price Voluspa for playing five games, but while I was playing my game, they sold out.  Buonocore!  I’LL GET MY COPY OF VOLUSPA ONE DAY!  AND NOW I HAVE TO BUY PANAMAX ALSO!  It was fun, but then I hit the rest of the floor and meandered around.  I saw a few friends, made a few minor purchases, and then went home.  I can’t wait till next year!

 

Next Year’s Geek Goals

Last year, I wrote down my geek goals.  I got some done and some I didn’t.  Let’s write down next year’s goals and this year we will add dates to help guide what I’m doing!

  • Daily posts to Throat Punch Games-That’s been going well
  • Monday board game reviews-Going well, too.
  • Wednesday RPG reviews-Again going well, and lots of fun
  • Friday opinion pieces-I’ve been ok, but I need to be better about this.
  • Fix up Throat Punch Games-Site looks like crap, so I’m going to make it look pretty-goal-October
  • Kick off a podcast-I want to get a few of my friends together to record a biweekly podcast-goal-November
  • Kick off youtube review/instructions/unboxing videos-I’d like to move into reviews on youtube, and I’m hoping to do one every three weeks-goal-January
  • Get writing more-I’ve been doing lots of reviews for my site, but I haven’t written many adventures. I’m going to submit more adventures for publication
  • A PDF of Throat Punch Games on Drive Through RPG-We’re going to make a nice PDF of all of my ideas-goal-March.
  • Post every game I play on Board Game Geek-Check my progress!
  • Daily RPG suggestions on Twitter-I love RPGs, and I ‘ve been thinking about writing ideas/suggestions for the RPGs and groups. Let’s see what Throat Punch Games can do to help the RPG world in 100 characters? Goal-one week!
  • KEEP PLAYING!

 

So those are my goals.  What do you think?  Like what I got?  Hate what I’m doing?  You tell me!