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the dwarf class in 5e

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

My guess: D&D Next will reintroduce “dwarf”, “elf” and “halfling” as classes, along with wizard, rogue, fighter, and cleric, so we’ll have the same stable of 7 classes that we had in Basic D&D.

Legends and Lore seems to be where Mearls floats 5e ideas. Check out this passage from the Legends and Lore article Head of the Class:

You could even collapse race down into the core options: The dwarf could be expressed as a core class, a fighter progression that focuses on durability, defense, and expertise with an axe or hammer. The core elf uses the multiclass rules to combine fighter and wizard, and the core halfling uses a preset rogue advancement chart. Choosing race could be part of the advanced rules…

It could be that this was just Mike hypothesizing about the advantages of a “core” and “advanced” section of the rules. However, it could also suggest that, at least at some time in 5e development, the 5e “core” contained class races.

My other rather wild speculation about “core” is that it will be released under an OGL-type license, while the “advanced” rules might not be. This would let third parties make 5e-compatible products while making Wizards IP lawyers happy.

Posted in 4e D&D, game design, news, RPG Hub | 18 Comments »

rituals and alchemy as daily powers

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Using money to restrict the use of rituals and alchemical items doesn’t work particularly well: the D&D designers have admitted this and aren’t exploring the ritual/alchemy design space much these days.

Here’s how I intend to fix the issues in my game:

1) Rituals and alchemical recipes are daily powers. You get one free use of each ritual/alchemical recipe you know. You automatically prepare the ritual, potion, or whatever during each extended rest.

During the extended rest, you can decide to prepare more than one use of the ritual or item: each extra use will cost you the item’s normal cost.

2) Rituals and alchemical recipes are given as treasures. Just as most magic items aren’t sold in magic shops, most rituals and recipes are long-lost prizes awaiting brave adventurers. Low-level parties will have access to only a few, while high-level parties, with access to lots of rituals and consumable items, will have a lot of versatility.

Rituals and alchemical recipes will be sharable among anyone who meets the requirement for using them. Knowing a recipe lets you create any version of that item of your level and lower: for instance, if a level 7 character knows the recipe for alchemist’s fire, he or she can create level 1 or level 6 alchemist’s fire.

3) There will be some common rituals and recipes. Just as characters can buy Common magic items like +1 swords, they will be able to buy well-known rituals and alchemical compounds.

Common rituals:
-All level 1 rituals
-Enchant Magic Item
-Brew Potion
-Linked Portal
-Raise Dead

Common alchemical items:
-All level 1 items
-tanglefoot bag
-alchemical silver

And for fun, here’s a new alchemical item:

Glowgas: Glowgas is stored in a vial, and thrown at enemies the same way holy water is. It has the same cost, range, and attack bonuses as holy water. It can also be applied to objects.

On a hit, the target takes no damage, but is surrounded by a swirling golden light. The target casts dim illumination within two squares, and has a -2 penalty to Stealth checks and all defenses. A creature or object in a glowgas cloud can be seen even inside a zone of darkness.

Once a turn, the target may spend a minor action to try to dissipate the gas: this allows a saving throw. Otherwise, the gas does not disperse until the next rest.

The glowgas recipe is used by dwarven drow hunters, and is only shared with those who prove themselves enemies of the drow.

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Posted in 4e D&D, advice/tools, game design, RPG Hub | 1 Comment »

crit cards and threat cards

Monday, November 14th, 2011

I dreamed I was playing a duel-flavored card game where you could play two types of cards on your opponent: “crit” and “threat”. Threat cards had point values, so as you played them, the Threat on your opponent mounted. Crit cards represented actual wounds, and each Crit card required you to discard a certain number of Threat points from your opponent.

It’s actually not a bad mechanic, I think, for a dream. As you apply more Threat to your opponent, you think: should I apply a minor Crit now? or should I wait till I can stack up more Threat and play a devastating Crit? If I wait, my opponent might find a way to lower his Threat.

I also posit that there are probably Action cards that have effects like lowering Threat and other special effects.

Here’s a sample of a dozen cards I just pretended to draw randomly from the nonexistent deck:

-Threat: Place this card next to your opponent. It represents a Threat of 5 points.
-Threat: ” 10 points.
-Threat: ” 10 points.
-Threat: ” 15 points.
-Threat: ” 20 points.
-Crit: Hampering injury. Discard Threat cards totaling at least 30 Threat to play this on your opponent. While this Crit is active, your opponent may not discard Threat cards.
-Crit: Beheaded. Discard Threat cards totaling at least 100 Threat to play this on your opponent. Your opponent is killed, and you win!
-Action: Breathing room. Discard one Threat card on your character.
-Action: Timely interruption. Discard all Threat cards on your character.
-Action: Riposte. Take one Threat card on your character and put it on your opponent.
-Action: Healing potion. Discard one Crit card on your character.
-Action: Haste potion. You may draw two extra cards.

Posted in game design, other systems, RPG Hub | 4 Comments »

4e spells as treasure

Monday, November 7th, 2011

In old D&D, spells were like Pokémon; if you encountered one you’d never seen, you could put it into your collection. This is a time-tested, addictive form of gameplay that I miss in 4e. Luckily, it’s easy to add back in.

4e wizards still have a spellbook, in which they can transcribe more daily, utility and encounter spells than they can cast. If there’s a spellbook, we can re-introduce spell scrolls.

spell scrolls for arcane classes

To return wizards to their place as library-ransacking completists, just add a few scrolls containing daily spells into the next treasure haul. As in earlier editions, these scrolls can be used to cast a spell a single time, or be transcribed into a wizard’s spellbook, permanently expanding the wizard’s reportoire.

I’d allow other arcane classes to transcribe scrolls into spellbooks too: they’d gain the wizards’ ability to swap daily powers, but only with spells they found as treasure.

Rare spells

Since 4e wizards already choose their two favorite spells for every spell slot, it’s hard to get excited about expending your spell repertoire: at best, you’re getting your third-favorite spell. Let’s say that some spell scrolls (20%?) might contain improved versions of spells. For instance, a wizard might find a scroll called “Flame Jester’s Improved Fireball”, which teaches a version of the Fireball spell that does +1 damage per tier. The benefit of such an improved spell is limited to that spell, and might be equivalent in power to that of a feat. Possibilities include:

  • +1 to hit or damage

  • adds a new damage type
  • conditionally adds a condition (for instance, dazes targets if you have combat advantage)

There’s a lot of daily spells, so this opens up a lot of design space for treasure. It also allows DMs to boost iconic but mechanically weak spells like Fireball without having to resort to house rules. I’d even think that a character could find an improved version of an at-will power. Gaining +1 damage to an often-used at-will power would be almost as good as finding a new magic weapon.

Research

With improved spells, we can bring back another staple of early D&D: spell research. If a PC can’t find a specific spell, they can research it. DMs and players can go crazy with rules for spending money on research, libraries, and labs.

To keep non-arcane classes from egtting jealous, they might need ways to upgrade their powers too. I’ll have to think about that.

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Posted in 4e D&D, game design, legacy D&D, RPG Hub | 8 Comments »

My simple XP rules: 1 XP per encounter

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

I know I’ll never fully embrace OD&D because I hate using charts. I prefer simple, easily internalized rules, like 3e’s Base Attack Bonus, rather than 1e’s Attack Matrix charts. 4e’s XP system still has a big ol’ level-advancement chart at the center of it, along with XP entries for every creature in the Monster Manual (which I often don’t use).

The 4e XP system has been formalized and math-checked, which means one of D&D’s central problems is more obvious than it has ever been: it suffers from “inflating-numbers-that-don’t-do-a-goddamn-thing-itis.” At level 1, you fight 10 battles in order to collect 1,000 XP. At level 10, you fight 10 battles to collect 20,500 XP. The specific amount of XP per battle changes, but the number of battles doesn’t.

There’s a historical reason for that. In old D&D, your XP was tied to your income. Since high-level characters won richer and richer treasures, XP totals per level had to rise. Now that characters don’t get 1 XP per GP earned, however, there’s no reason that XP needs to stick to that inflationary model.

Besides, calculating XP is kind of a pain: it involves flipping around in various books to add XP from monsters and traps, and dividing by the number of PCs.

I can’t be bothered to calculate XP, but I’m not ready to totally dump the idea of leveling up. Having the DM bestow levels arbitrarily takes away some of the treadmill charm of D&D. So here’s the super-simple XP system I use nowadays.

Every level costs 10 XP.

Most battles provide 1 XP. Boss battles provide 2 XP.

Same with quests and skill challenges: 1 XP, or 2 XP for major quests/challenges.

There are some minor variations here from the standard XP system:

  • XP differences between hard and easy battles are not so granular. Personally, I think this is fine, especially since the difficulty of a battle often has as much to do with circumstances and terrain as with the XP budget.
  • Quest XP is vastly higher in my system. In standard 4e, a minor quest gives about 1/5 the XP of one encounter, and a major quest as much XP as one encounter. This is probably a tiny fraction of the XP gathered from battles along the course of the quest. Video game RPGs, on the other hand, often give huge quest XP bonuses. This is great, because it’s weird when saving the world grants much less of a reward than fighting a random encounter.
  • It’s impossible to forget. You can give XP on the fly without consulting any charts. In fact, the players can track the 1 XP for each battle: all you have to do is grant the extra XP for quests and boss battles.

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    Posted in 4e D&D, advice/tools, game design, RPG Hub | 11 Comments »

    that 5% or 10% XP bonus is pretty irrelevant

    Monday, October 17th, 2011

    Old editions give you a 5% or 10% XP bonus for having a high Primary Attribute. You can argue that it’s realistic – naturally talented people progress faster. You can also argue that it’s overkill – most editions already give you gameplay bonuses for having high primary abilities. In fact, though, it doesn’t make much of a difference.

    In the versions of the game with XP bonuses, the XP per level generally doubled or almost doubled, at least until high levels (8 or 9). That meant that the 10% bonus was irrelevant most of the time. 9 out of 10 game sessions, the guy with the 10% bonus was the same level as the clod with 10 in his primary attribute.

    Is it worth the math busywork of multiplying every single XP bonus by 1.05% or 1.1% in order to level up a session early every 3 months? Maybe. Levelling is pretty awesome.

    In my houserules XP system (every level requires 10 XP, every encounter provides 1 XP) the effects of the 10% XP bonus can be duplicated very easily: characters with 16+ in their primary attribute (or whatever) start the game with 1 XP. Everyone else starts with 0 XP. That 1 bonus XP at character creation will have exactly the same effects as the 10% Primary Attribute bonus – the character is always 10% of a level ahead. Except no multiplication.

    Posted in 4e D&D, game design, legacy D&D, RPG Hub | 5 Comments »

    don’t make me refuse the ice cream

    Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

    When you’re asking me what I want for dinner, don’t offer me a choice between, say, carrots and ice cream. And when I’m choosing a feat, don’t make me choose between, say, improved Diplomacy and +1 to hit in combat. Combat is ice cream, and I’ll choose ice cream every time. And I’ll make myself sick.

    Separate the combat and noncombat abilities into two different courses. Give me a main course, where my dwarf fighter can choose between, say, the ability to detect new construction or slanted passages. Then for dessert I can choose between +1 to hit or +2 to damage with my trusty axe.

    I know a lot of people will say that overindulging on combat abilities is a player problem, not a rules problem. Sure, if you’re disciplined, and you have a strong character concept, you might turn down the cool sword in order to pour money into your barony. And there are always a few people who genuinely prefer the carrots of character flavor to the sundae of combat optimization. But a lot of people are like me: given the choice, we’ll choose the ice cream and then feel disappointed that dinner didn’t feel nourishing at all. The perfect system would save me from my gluttony and force me to eat a balanced diet.

    Given “Don’t Make Me Refuse the Ice Cream” as a design principle, here are some requests for 5th edition D&D.

    You shouldn’t be able to buy combat-boosting magic items. Rory’s excellent magic items article makes a lot of good points, this among them. If it’s possible to buy a sword with a bigger plus, then that’s the ice cream, sitting there ruining the rest of the menu. Versatility items, like wolfsbane, rituals, and flying carpets, and fun story items, like castles and battleships, shouldn’t have to compete with +5 swords.
    (more…)

    Posted in 4e D&D, advice/tools, game design, RPG Hub | 10 Comments »

    More Thoughts on Magic Items!

    Monday, October 10th, 2011

    No more +1 Swords?

    Monte Cook recently talked in a Legends and Lore article about magic items.

    I touched on the idea of going without magic items in a previous article, but I thought it would be worthwhile to consider Monte’s points in more detail.

    What would D&D be like if magic items were a reward for clever or lucky play rather than a necessary part of advancement?:

    Magic items are more special: If magic items aren’t a necessary part of advancement, one of the big benefits is that it can feel more special when you get one. Basically, you didn’t HAVE to get the item, so finding it feels like a real accomplishment either because you took an extra risk or lucked out in a lucky roll on a table. What does this mean for actual game-play?:

    • Fewer Items: It would be difficult for PCs to get the same number of magic items over the course of a campaign and have them still feel like special unique rewards. As it is, by paragon tier most PCs have their 3 major items covered and most other slots filled as well. The “Christmas Tree Effect”, where players feel like there is a list of must-haves items,  is still around even if some of the items aren’t quite as essential any more (an item bonus to damage and bonuses to defenses still feel pretty important to me). With those “requirements” removed from game-play, one could imagine a system where each PC has only 1 or 2 signature magic items that distinguish them from other characters.
    • Different Items for each PC: In keeping with the theme of making magic items feel special, you probably don’t want to end up with a situation where each PC still has copies of the same item (two flaming swords, for example). This is probably not difficult to accomplish, as rolling on a chart or introducing different magic items into the campaign world will easily allow for a lot of item diversity. However, you would probably want to emphasize making the magic items unique but similar in power, as there will be no mechanism for PCs to self-balance by picking up the same magic items if one is noticeably more powerful than the others. Otherwise, you risk a bunch of players who resent the one who managed to pick up the awesome item that no one else can get.
    • Less Treasure (or alternate ways to spend it): As it is, players are given enough treasure to buy about one magic item a level, which has such an inflated cost that pretty early on an adventurer could probably retire and live like a king for the rest of their life for the mere price of one magic items. If that is no longer the assumption, then players probably are going to be finding less treasure in general, since there is a lot less to spend it on. They could always rob a bank or do something else to get them tons of cash, obviously, since that is one of the perks of removing the monetary system from character advancement. However, if they do get those windfalls or the system is still generally designed to shower them in treasure, then there had better be new stuff to spend it on. Rules for buying castles, hiring troops, and maintaining estates are obvious choices, though you could also imagine cool rules for bribery, maintaining a certain quality of life, etc. Basically, something needs to fill the gap for spending treasure or PCs need to be finding a lot less of it.

    Magic Items aren’t necessary for game balance: If magic items aren’t tied in with a character’s advancement, then their acquisition must not be required to keep the game balanced, right? In other words, if I never acquire a magic item during my adventuring career, then I am probably still able to take on level appropriate challenges. (more…)

    Posted in 4e D&D, game design, RPG Hub | 10 Comments »

    keoghtom’s ointment, leveled

    Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
    This entry is part 7 of 13 in the series wondrous items, leveled

    Keoghtom’s Woad
    This foul-smelling blue ointment, brewed by barbarian hill tribes, doesn’t immediately have its normal effect of curing one disease or poison effect or granting one healing surge when applied; its effects are delayed until the recipient spends a free action to activate them. The effect ends when used or at the end of the day.

    My old houserules for leveling magic items mean that every piece of magical treasure has the potential to gain power in ways that the players can’t predict. Furthermore, WOTC recently invented the concept of the “rare magic item,” but haven’t given us lots of examples.

    While some items may get mechanically better (for instance, a +1 sword becomes a +2 sword), it’s more challenging to improve items that don’t have numeric bonuses. I thought I’d go through the Wondrous Items in the 4e Player’s Handbook and give examples of how each could gain powers that reflect their history.

    Also, until the end of the day, the user has a +2 item bonus to Intimidate checks and a -4 penalty to Stealth checks, due to being bright blue and stinky.

    A pot of Keoghtom’s Ointment “levels up” to Keoghtom’s Woad by being tinkered with by a barbarian shaman.

    Keoghtom’s Ointment for the Eyes
    If this ointment is smeared on the eyes, the user gains darkvision and has +2 item bonus to perception checks for five minutes. Also, all skill checks, defenses and saving throws vs. illusion have a +5 item bonus during this period.

    The process of leveling up this ointment involves collecting “Corellon’s tears,” whatever they are. The fairies are said to know, but they’re so frustrating to talk to.

    Prismaticus’s Keoghtom’s patented bracing all-purpose ointment, pick me up, and healthy dessert
    This ointment can restore two healing surges instead of one. It can grant a character temporary healing surges above his or her normal maximum. Bonus surges above the normal maximum expire after five minutes.

    While recipients of this ointment are above their normal healing surge limit, they experience buzzing in the ears, arcane tingling, and a feeling of frantic excitement. Basic attacks are made with a +1 bonus to hit. Athletics gets a +2 item bonus. All other skills are at -2.

    The mountebank Prismaticus the Magnificent knows how to turn an ordinary pot of Keoghtom’s Ointment into his patent medicine, but he won’t share his recipe, although he does admit that the ingredients might be highly illegal.

    Next week: three versions of Dust of Appearance! If I can think of three.

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    Posted in 4e D&D, fluff/inspiration, game design, RPG Hub | 3 Comments »

    Sending Stones, leveled

    Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
    This entry is part 6 of 13 in the series wondrous items, leveled

    Malice’s Returning Sending Stone:
    One of these stones is red and one is black. The holder of the red stone may, as a free action, summon the black stone to his other hand.

    My old houserules for leveling magic items mean that every piece of magical treasure has the potential to gain power in ways that the players can’t predict. Furthermore, WOTC recently invented the concept of the “rare magic item,” but haven’t given us lots of examples.

    While some items may get mechanically better (for instance, a +1 sword becomes a +2 sword), it’s more challenging to improve items that don’t have numeric bonuses. I thought I’d go through the Wondrous Items in the 4e Player’s Handbook and give examples of how each could gain powers that reflect their history.

    This stone was upgraded by Malice the warlock, whose typically incompetent goblin operatives were always dying on missions. Malice couldn’t be bothered to mount all sorts of expeditions to reclaim her sending stone off goblin corpses.

    Enslaving Sending Stones
    These sending stones “level up” when their owner learns how to read the tiny runes inscribed on the stones. One of the stones is called the Master Stone and one is the Slave Stone. Once a day, the holder of the Master Stone may use a command word in conjunction with the Sending Stone’s normal power. He or she may make an Int, Wis, or Cha attack, with bonuses for any implement used, on everyone within burst 3 of the Slave Stone. If the attack is successful, the listener is stunned (save ends). If the listener fails the first save, he or she is compelled to follow the command. The listener doesn’t get normal saving throws at the end of each turn against the command, but actions that grant extra saving throws (like heal checks) might be able to end the effect early. Commanded creatures don’t know that their behavior is unusual until the effect ends.

    The command word may or may not involve a nice game of solitaire.

    Spy’s Sending Stones:
    Besides speaking to its sibling, the Spy’s Stone allows, as a once-per-day standard action, the user to send a message of up to 25 words to anyone in 100 miles, as with the Sending ritual. The subject must be adjacent to a stone (on the ground or in a wall, for instance) or the sending fails. The stone speaks the message, and anyone within 5 squares can hear it. Until the beginning of the caster’s next turn, the subject may, as a standard action, send a reply of up to 25 words through the same stone.

    Used by spies for generations, the Sending Stones finally found its way into the hands of Brasslung, a dwarven cleric, who used it to send fake “messages from the God of Stone” to members of his clan. Brasslung is currently the High Priest of the God of Stone, and rich.

    Next weeek: three versions of Keoghtom’s Ointment.

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