Chaotek Thoughts

After a year of Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, I’ve collected some thoughts on the latest incarnation of D&D.

The Rules

I am a huge fan of the balance of the system. In my experience with the system, which does not yet include Epic tier, I think that this is the most balanced version of D&D, even more balanced than most RPGs out there. Every class feels useful and interesting at all levels of play, unlike the weird power curves of previous editions. However with such strong balance, there is a certain amount of similarity between many character classes. For the most part, you could take all of the classes and simplify them into 4-5 classes with more choices. Even across different character roles, the same damage, dice modifiers, etc all feel the same. But class familiarity is far more preferable to feeling useless because your class won’t become useful for another 3 levels.

Encounter design and balance is massively improved from the previous edition, though its mostly a throwback to 2nd edition. However the XP budget really is a misnomer—just because a monster is within your XP budget for the encounter does not guarantee its balanced. Stretching outside of the PC’s level up or down more than a level or two guarantees that the encounter will not scale well. You are much better off taking a monster of the PC’s level and changing them to be a minion or elite than trying to use a monster higher or lower level than the PCs.

The Setting

To date, only one setting has been released, though the next is days from release. I am a fan of the Points of Light concept, where there are large gaps of dangerous areas isolating pockets of civilized society, as a generally better setting for gaming. It helps the immersion into the setting because it does make sense that a town could disappear or monsters could be nearby for the heroes to deal with. A highly civilized world like medieval Europe just doesn’t feel like a world of monsters.

Regarding the Realms, I understand why changes were necessary even if I don’t agree with the outcome. The world was dramatically changed, supposedly with the points of light concept in mind (as well as the change in magic), but the end result doesn’t match the original purpose. The world still feels very civilized and heavily populated, just without the great history that made the Realms so attractive. Some of the most “points of light” regions were removed from the setting and replaced with more civilized regions. Finally, there have only been two products for the Realms in 4E. In the past year, or the coming year, I don’t know of any other Realms books. This is disappointing, as the first two books were really the same book (one being the Cliff’s notes version). There is still a lot of information about the world that can be provided while maintaining the overall mystery of the new setting for the Points of Light feel.

Speaking of which, the Eberron campaign setting is out soon and I have high expectations. Eberron in 3rd edition accomplished what is missing from the 4th edition Forgotten Realms—mystery yet detailed. Since Eberron is not getting the overhaul that the Realms got, I have much higher expectations for the setting to get it right in 4E.

The Future

As noted, I have high expectations for the coming campaign settings (especially the rumors of Dark Sun which I can’t put much faith in). Additionally if the coming books maintain the same quality of the current books I think 4E has a good future. My worry however is that the system might not be able to scale well over time, especially since setting material seems to be a secondary thought to rules supplement books. The problem I foresee is that since I noted that most classes have a very similar feel (outside of RP fluff), the coming expansions to the rules for new classes, etc will start to curve the power levels up in order to make the new material appealing. This has already happened with PH2, with the worst offender being the Invoker (i.e. the better wizard). This was seen in previous editions, but I think that 4E has the potential to be the worst to handle this. I hope this will not be the case, but my prediction and fear remain.

Overall, I am pleased with Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. I will continue to purchase all books as they come out. I just hope it has the durability withstand the test of time that previous editions did.

Rating:

I’ll be the first to admit that there is a lack of Firefly/Serenity RPG resources. I don’t know why, but there is not a lot of official publisher support for the game. So here’s some resources I recommend for playing the Serenity RPG:

• CortexSystemRPG.org is as close as it gets to an offical site for Cortex system
• CortexWaves.com has a good fan book
• FireflyRPG.com is another good fan site, good new ship deck plans and props
• Wikipedia is a good resource, including locations and background
• SteveD.org has some adventure hooks based on Elton John songs
• HubPages.com has a list of adventure seeds

There is also a multitude of forums to look at that might have good content. There might be more out there, but these are the sites that I found that seem to have the best content. Let me know if you find others.

I was reading an article which examines how Lovecraft saved roleplaying games. It’s an interesting read which posits an important thought, what modern roleplaying games would be like without Call of Cthulhu. Sure, Lovecraftian monsters are great an all, but the investigation side of roleplaying I think was very under-valued in early RPGs. For example, despite the claim of roleplaying, most roleplaying games are nothing of the sort. Early D&D, and even D&D 4th edition, are primarily tactics and strategy games with a little “motivation” wrapping as written.

Out of the box, many RPGs focus on combat resolution rules, which is a necessary component of any game where combat will occur. However I do think that roleplaying gets glossed over in many game systems, left to the Game Master’s discretion. I can hardly think of an RPG book I own that features a solid roleplaying instruction guide. I’m not saying that you can’t roleplay with D&D and other RPGs, but it just doesn’t seem to be a focus of the written material. Even guides for adventure and campaign design seem to focus on linking combat encounters, rather than developing a story and environment.

I don’t know if I have good advice on this topic, as there is a great deal of interpretation on how roleplaying should work. I also don’t think that you have to LARP to play an RPG with good roleplaying. I just think that game publishers could use to add a little more information on the mechanics of roleplaying alongside the mechanics of the system. The material exists, if you look in any creative writing book, so I don’t think this is an unreasonable request. I would recommend starting off with spending as much time developing your story as you do designing combat encounters. You don’t want to write an unbreakable storyline, because that’s not roleplaying either, but make sure your story is more than just filling to get PCs between encounters.

I’ve noticed that I am a really bad backseat Game Master. While I don’t consider myself to be a rules-lawyer or a setting-lawyer, I do find myself providing answers when I am not the GM a lot. Worse yet, I may be fielding answers for unasked questions. I am a GM more than I am a player, however I think this means that I am GM-ing when I am a player as well. This is ironic, because I really look forward to being a player, then I seem to be screwing it up by backseat GM-ing.

So as for the advice, which I am going to try an use as well, is to allow the GM of the game to do their job. Try not to answer questions, until the GM has had an opportunity to do so. Only answer questions if the GM asks for your input. Even in a situation where you might know the rules or setting better, it’s not your game. Maybe the GM is making a ruling that is contrary to the canon setting or rules system, but it’s their game to do so. That’s what house rules are. Never argue about setting, consider each game’s setting to be an alternate universe from canon and things might be different. If the GM makes a system ruling that you disagree with, try to bring it up outside of the game. If the ruling might drastically impact the game, consider bringing up your alternate opinion immediately, but let it go quickly if the GM disagrees. However these immediate questions should rare if ever necessary.

Gaming is supposed to be fun. If having 1.5 GMs is fun for your group, then ignore my suggestions. If keeping your gaming knowledge to yourself is not fun for you, and being a backseat GM is not fun for others, then consider not being a player as that’s not what you seem to enjoy.

Here’s an update of the list of the podcasts I have sync to my iPhone right now:

• Astronomy Cast – This is a great show for anyone interested in the universe around us. The cast is entertaining and does a great job at explaining very complex topics, such as dark matter and dark energy.
• Basics of the Game – Started out as a game introduction and review podcast. After GenCon 2008 the cast has mostly been interviews from GenCon. Hopefully will get back to reviews soon.
• BlizzCast – Being the most corporate podcast, it also has the highest production value for a non-video podcast. Good interviews and insider information.
• Fear the Boot – This is a great RPG advice and entertainment show. I’ve started from the beginning, so I’m back quite a ways but each episode is roughly half entertainment, then the second half is serious advice.
• Meanwhile… – A very interesting RPG podcast focusing on superhero roleplaying games. About half of the episodes are generic superhero genre information and advice, while the other half are backdoor marketing for independent games.
• Radio Free Hommlet – Focused D&D 4th Edition podcast, perhaps the best RPG podcast for specific game-system information I’ve heard. Good advice for the power-gamer.
• Secret Life of Girl Gamers – Interesting RPG podcast from the female perspective. Topics generally not found on other RPG podcasts. Might be defunct, but it’s still in my queue if it comes back.
• Skeptics Guide to the Universe & SGU 5×5 – A good podcast for skeptics. The podcast does a good job at not being cynical, rather they try to evaluate if fantastical news is valid or held to scientific standards.
• SModcast – Very funny podcast by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier on random topics. The most entertaining podcast on this list.
• Totally Rad Show – A video podcast, reviewing games, movies, TV, and comics. Very entertaining.
• Wapcaplets – Very short (5-10 minute) gaming podcast. Irregular production schedule. Strong focus on miniature gaming and independent publisher RPGs.
• X-Play Gaming Update – A 5 minute video podcast, informing mostly about the latest video game news.

We’re starting to save our campaign information to RPG Herald. We used to use Tiki-Wiki to save our information. In the past, we’ve run into two primary issues with saving our campaign information: attention span and ease of use. The problem with ease of use was that it was difficult to teach others to use a wiki, and how to use it correctly. The attention span issue was that only 1-2 people would ever have the ability to change the wiki, because it wasn’t always easy, and while a campaign might start well it quickly was forgotten until the start of the next campaign.

Hopefully the ease of use will be resolved by using the new RPG Herald web site as it is pretty simple to use while allowing for a lot of customization. The attention span issue will also hopefully be resolved as we’re going to have everyone in the group involved, to different degrees I’m sure, but involved enough to help keep the site updated. There are other sites which offer services similar to what we’ve setup on RPG Herald, but most of them are either pay sites, not any better than our previous wiki, or limit the number of campaigns you can have.

Additionally, RPG Herald is open for anyone else to use as well, free of charge.

Create unique and memorable characters

One way to create a memorable character is to create a unique character by breaking the standard mold. We’ve seen this in novels, namely Drizzt Do’Urden the goodly drow, and Olive Ruskettle who was a halfling bard when halflings couldn’t be bards (in 2nd edition statted as a thief with music instrument proficiency). These characters followed standard rules for character generation, just taking the rules and spinning a good background story. Without house rules, you can break the mold very easily by changing the “power source” of the character. Here are some ideas to get you started on breaking the mold for your next PC:

• Two Minds – Instead of a barbarian flying into a wild rage because of their less civilized culture, rather they become a different person while raging. Imagine a barbarian who is possessed by a demon (real or imagined), and that demon takes over whenever the person uses their rage ability. While not in a rage the character is cowardly or otherwise passive, but turns into an aggressive monster when threatened or hurt. Alternatives: might be multiple personality instead of possession or any use a non-rage character like a fighter and use the same personality change.
• Culture Shock – Many character concepts have a stereotype based on culture. Try using an alternative culture which results in the same game effect. Try a wild bard, like a Viking war-chanter (skald), who has all of the same skills as a typical bard but acts like a barbarian or druid. Another example is a barbarian from the city. Maybe they grew up on the streets, lacking formal education and harnessing anger as a street brawler or thug. Alternatives: consider a character who is not typically found in a given culture, like a sorcerer from Thay (Realms), a paladin from Neraka (Dragonlance), or a dwarven druid (Pikel Bouldershoulder).
• Monster Race – Like everyone’s favorite drow, using a monster race as a PC can definitely make for a unique and memorable character. Now I’m not encouraging the creation of more dual scimitar wielding drow, or an absurd monster race. Consider something weak, like a kobold, goblin, etc. This will allow the PC to avoid that ridiculous level adjustment and still have a special character. Alternatives: consider using a character, who like Drizzt, has abandoned his race or culture but instead comes from a normal race. For example, a human who has abandoned humanity to live underground with dwarves or a half-orc who yearns to live as an elf.
• Poor Training – How about a character who did not receive the normal training for their abilities. Imagine a martial artist (monk) who did not receive standard training and instead learned their superior fighting skills fighting on the streets of a city. Or a wizard who is self-taught, maybe from a culture which looks down on magic. Alternatives: maybe consider a character who was trained, but in something else. Maybe they spent years training to become a wizard, but it never sunk in.
• Retirement – Perhaps instead of being a spirited youth seeking adventure, your character could be an older, retired person before their started their adventuring career. In the modern world, this would be akin to a mid-life crisis. Something mundane like a blacksmith who took to the road after closing up shop, keeping his trusty hammer retooled as a weapon. Or a career soldier who never saw any action, so after retirement he’s set out to find it. Or a librarian who grew tired of 20 years of reading others’ tales and wants one of her own. Older characters benefit from lots of experience, even if indirect, which could be a lot of fun. Alternatives: Obviously the alternative to old age is youth, perhaps the character is a child or teen (or equivalent for their race). The youth could make them fearless, yet naïve. This could be a very good character concept for character growth, as the realities of the world start to sink in.
• Divine Power – A common concept in RPGs is divine influence. This is obvious for religious characters like priests and paladins. However this doesn’t mean that a character from another character type can be divinely powered (or believe that they are). For example, a bard could be an evangelist instead of a common storyteller. In a modern game, imagine a vampire who is a devout catholic (the self-loathing would be immense, I know), however this vampire might believe that God made them this way for a reason. Maybe the character believes that their magic is not arcane at all, but divinely granted and requires prayer like a priest to accomplish. Alternatives: instead of using divine power, maybe the character thinks their abilities are a display of their own divinity. This delusion could be quite entertaining. Additionally, any character can be highly religious, regardless of character type. Even a fighter can have a lot of interesting flair if they are devoutly religious. On the opposite grain, perhaps the character is an atheist, or doesn’t believe the deities are really gods at all, powerful yes but not divine.

I hope these ideas get you started on creating unique and memorable characters. Like I said above, I’m not encouraging more dual wielding good drow, as that’s not unique anymore. Create a character who stands out, with a lot of personality. It doesn’t require house rules or major rules “interpretations” to have a character break the mold. Just take a character’s abilities and apply a different source for those abilities other than what is provided in the text

I picked up the three core books for Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition today. I am very excited about the new rules. Based on a quick browsing of the books and earlier Wizards statements, I think that this is going to be a great version of the game. I’m still a little nervous about the state of the Forgotten Realms setting, but I think that the rules will be very fun to play.

When running a large gaming group, things slow down. Every round of combat takes longer, and on average each player has less time in the spotlight. An entire game session can revolve around a single encounter. While certainly entertaining, the story will progress very slowly this way. Speeding up combat also balances the time in the spotlight, giving all players an equal amount of focus. To get through combat faster, here are some tips to get your large group game moving faster:

1. Avoid out-of-game discussions during the game, especially during combat. While gaming is a hobby, not a job, it feels good to be productive nonetheless. Try to save out of character/game discussions for breaks, as well as before and after the game.
2. Plan you actions before your turn. A single player’s turn can take a very long time if the player waits until their turn arrives to decide what to do. Try to plan what actions you are going to take during your turn during others’ turns. If necessary, plan 2 possible actions for your turn, to allow for the changing battlefield. For example if you are playing a spell caster, plan an offensive and defensive spell, so if the fight changes before your next turn, you can react accordingly—and quickly.
3. Pay attention when it isn’t your turn. This may seem contrary to the preceding suggestion, but it is important to know what is going on during others’ turns. This speeds up combat simply by limiting the time it takes to re-describe the current battlefield situation. This will still occur, especially if there are rapid/dramatic changes, but limiting the unnecessary re-description can allow you to better plan you actions as well as speed up your turn.
4. Limit breaks, take breaks as a group. Whenever possible, try to wait until after an encounter to take a break rather than interrupting an encounter. Also try to take breaks as a group, if one or two people leave the table while the others are still playing, the entire game can be held up while the group waits for the person to return. If this occurs, assume the player is delaying their action, even if it means losing a turn if the round ends.
5. Have the spell/ability description ready. It can consume a lot of time looking up spell or feat descriptions in the middle of a fight, especially if you don’t decide to look it up until a question arises. This also includes having the DC, casting time, range, effect, etc. ready to answer questions.
6. Roll multiple dice at the same time. You can greatly speed up your turn if you roll all the necessary dice for an action at the same time, rather than one roll at a time. For example, an attack action might include the attack roll, concealment, damage, caster level check, etc. Rolling all of the dice at the same time can greatly reduce the time it takes to do such actions. Please note that if you are rolling more than one of the same die for different purposes, please specify this ahead of time. For example if you roll two d20s for touch attack and caster level, please state which is which before the roll to avoid confusion or cheating accusations. If you are consistent in die selection, you might only have to state this once or twice and it will be assumed thereafter. If you are unsure about if you need to roll certain dice, like concealment or spell resistance, do your best to judge based on previous encounters or scaling combat.
7. Avoid splitting the group. Aside from the survival reasons for not splitting the group, few things slow down a large group game than splitting the group. This requires running multiple encounters, which actually takes longer than if you had run the two encounters back to back. Sometimes splitting the group is unavoidable or story-driven, but these are planned for ahead of time. It doesn’t take long for the group to wait until everyone is ready before moving on to the next room/encounter.
8. Don’t argue DM decisions during the game session. Many arguments can be avoided by having a book open to the necessary rules before you take your action, but some situations cannot be foreseen. To keep the game moving forward, it becomes necessary for the DM to judge a situation as best they can off the cuff. Let the ruling stand for the current situation, but feel free to look up the rule during breaks or between sessions. Thereafter the ruling can be reversed or changed for all future cases.
9. Share/assume initiative rolls when appropriate. If the group is walking down a narrow corridor, consider assuming that the initiative order is the same as the marching order. This saves a lot of time and effort if the people in the back can’t act because everyone in front of them is in the way. If the PC has a henchmen or pet, have them share initiative order. NPCs should also share initiative, either all going at the same time, or group them into initiative groups. For example, two foes might have the same initiative order; or a boss might have an initiative and all of his minions share another initiative position.
10. Use index cards for initiative. This helps ensure that all players and foes get their turn every round and reduces time in looking up and remembering who is next. If a player is not ready when their turn arrives, consider allowing them a free delay action of one or two other players to allow them time to decide what to do, rather than have everyone wait for the player to decide.

While it’s important for combat to occur smoothly, it’s still important to have fun. Don’t be afraid of limiting your actions out of simplicity or speed; just try to be timely. You are playing a role-playing game, not a roll-playing game; so don’t let the mechanics of the game or combat speed restrict your role-playing opportunities. For example, feel free to describe the nature of an action while you are rolling all of your dice. You can say “My barbarian roars in anger as he slashes his great axe at the wretched troll’s maw” while you roll your attack, damage, and concealment checks in the same throw. Or say “Alice calls out to her goddess to smite the infidels” while you roll the ranged touch attack, concealment check, caster level check, cast defensively check, and damage dice at the same time. Flavor text like this can make even the most mundane actions fun and exciting for all.

I’ve been listening to a number of podcasts lately, with many more downloaded but untried yet. About half of them are related to RPGs.

• Accidental Survivors – Focuses on modern gaming, especially D20 Modern. The group is very entertaining and experienced. Lots of good ideas for adventures and characters.
• Astronomy Cast – This is a great show for anyone interested in the universe around us. The cast is entertaining and does a great job at explaining very complex topics, such as dark matter and dark energy.
• The Onion Radio News – A fun short satire story everyday, great for killing a few minutes.
• Order 66 – A Star Wars Saga Edition roleplaying game podcast. The cast is very well informed in how the system works. Some of the extra skits are hokey at best, but the meat of the podcast is very good.
• Skeptics Guide to the Universe & SGU 5×5 – A good podcast for skeptics. The podcast does a good job at not being cynical, rather they try to evaluate if fantastical news is valid or held to scientific standards.
• Totally Rad Show – A video podcast, reviewing games, movies, TV, and comics. Very entertaining.
• X-Play Gaming Update – A 5 minute video podcast, informing mostly about the latest video game news.