Empowered Magic Missile

The Empower Spell feat increases the variable portion of a spell's effect by 50%. So, when a 10th-level caster uses an Empowered Fireball, the damage done is 10d6 * 1.5. Simple enough. (Note: this is not the same as 15d6, but in actual play, the difference is so minor as to be negligible.)

So, what's the damage of an Empowered Magic Missile?

Well, the magic missile spell creates a number of missiles (1-5), each doing 1d4+1 points of damage. Consequently, an Empowered Magic Missile should create a number of missiles (1-5), each doing (1d4 * 1.5)+1 points of damage. (Actually, it creates 3-5 missiles, since the lowest possible caster level is 5, but's that's a nitpick that just confuses the issue.)

Why?

Well, because 1d4 is the variable portion. +1 is not.

The difference that this makes is actually pretty minor. Remember that, in D&D, fractions always round down.

Die Roll: (1d4 * 1.5) + 1 (1d4 + 1) * 1.5
--------- --------------- ---------------
1 2 3
2 4 4
3 5 6
4 7 7

(Sorry about the formatting. I don't have full HTML capabilities here :-))

The funny thing about all of this is that Andy Collins (D&D's current lead designer) disagrees. However he then goes on to say that an Empowered Cure Light Wounds (which heals 1d8 points of damage, +1 per caster level (max +5)) heals (1d8 * 1.5) points of damage, +1 per caster level (max +5). His justification is that the damage healed is expressed differently, and so the Empowering should work differently.

To be honest, I'm leaning towards the view that spells should avoid doing a single die of damage, plus a modifier for caster level. Such spells are invariably really weak at higher level, and tend not to be very good at low levels. Better, instead, to scale the number of dice with caster level.

(So, Cure Light Wounds should probably heal 1d6 points of damage at 1st level, +1d6 per two caster levels (max 5d6). Cure Moderate should do d8's, Cure Serious d10's, and Cure Critical d12's. Each should also have a correspondingly higher maximum number of dice allowed.)

As for Magic Missile, I'm inclined to feel it should either do 1d4 damage, or do 1d6, and require a ranged touch attack roll. Preferably the former, as it better distinguishes the Force attack spells from the energy types.

That said, I'm now at the point that I'd really like to see someone do an entirely new grimoire of spells for D&D, designed to completely replace the existing spells, covering all the same areas, but with evocative names for the spells, new descriptions, and such like. So spellcasters don't use Shocking Grasp, they use Delericho's Retributative Glare. Or something.

Just a thought: Armour on Large creatures

If I put an Ogre in full plate, he gains all the same benefits as a human in a suit of full plate. This is fair enough, until you consider that those plates are likely much thicker than those on the human's armour. If they're not, there is an argument that there should be a heavier form of the armour, wherein they are.

Which means, of course, that larger creatures should gain more benefit from their armour than smaller ones. Which in turn creates a problem in that it adds yet more complexity to the game.

I don't really have anywhere to go with this - I'm just rambling.

Reading RPG books

For the past several weeks, I've been reading through RPG books, either dealing with the backlog of books I hadn't gotten around to, or reading the books I received for Christmas. I haven't yet read everything (still lots of FR and Star Wars d20 books to read), but I did manage to deal with the Dungeon magazines I'd built up, finally read Serenity, and have even finished Stormwrack (which was the book I was reading when I moved down here). I'm currently reading "Iron Heroes", which looks like a fun game I'll never play.

I'm told by others that it's quite unusual to actually read the books I buy. I'm led to believe that most people skim them for the good stuff (read: kewl powerz), and then stick them on the shelf. Given the quality of the text, in many cases, I'm not surprised.

RPG books are really dull reads. Especially when a book contains yet another bunch of feats/spells/monsters, who can really be bothered? Frankly, RPGs don't need any more of these things. We've got more than we will ever ever use.

That said, there have been some gems. The Dragon Compendium is excellent. Serenity was a really good read, although I doubt I'll ever play it (I might potentially steal the system, though). The ongoing Age of Worms campaign in Dungeon is really good, too, although not quite to the standard of Shackled City, I think.

As for Iron Heroes, what can I say? It seems fun and evocative, and perhaps a game I would like to run at some point, just for a change. However, reading the book reminds me of one of the great problems of doing a d20 game - you're presenting the same rules I know really well, and have read a dozen times before, but have introduced sufficient changes that I have to at least skim virtually all of the book. Which is a really dull thing to do, and one of the things that most annoyed me about the endless World of Darkness games, wherein the same was true.

Campaigns I'll Never Run: Star Wars

I always have far more ideas for campaigns that I'll ever use. Since I don't expect to ever run Star Wars (what with not really believing that we've seen a really good Star Wars system, and all), here are a few of the ideas I've toyed with. I hope you find them entertaining. They are presented in chronological order.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace... (Timeframe: 25-18 years before Episode IV): This one is quite simple. The campaign starts with the meeting of a young Jedi Knight named Obi-Wan Kenobi and a teenaged pilot named Anakin Skywalker. The campaign then traces their adventures during the Clone Wars, the defiance of Obi-Wan in the face of an edict by the Jedi Council that Skywalker is not to be trained as a Jedi, the rise of this young hero, and the eventual betrayal of the Jedi by Darth Vader, and the rise of the Empire.

Essentially, the campaign retells the events of the prequel trilogy as they should have been. The key characteristic is that the campaign features Obi-Wan and Anakin as PCs. Truthfully, I'm not sure this campaign would really work, but I think it would be interesting to try.

Star Wars: Mirror Universe (Timeframe: Rise of the Empire): This one combines the Rise of the Empire from the prequels with the Mirror Universe as popularise by Star Trek. Essentially, the Jedi Order is populated with evil, bickering Jedi, each interpreting the code for their own agenda, and squabbling amongst themselves.

This is distinct from either a Sith campaign or a Jedi hunt campaign in that the PCs are portraying Jedi at the height of their powers. However, those powers have become subverted. This campaign basically ignores the distinction between the Light and Dark sides of the Force.

The Emperor is Dead. Long Live the Emperor! (Timeframe: Immediately post-Episode VI): "Join me, and I will complete your training... The emperor has forseen this... Together, we can overthrow the emperor, and bring order to the galaxy!" What if Luke Skywalker, betrayed by Obi-Wan, and left with his doubts, had chosen to accept Vader's offer? What if the Rebellion had failed at Endor?

The Emperor is dead, slain by Luke Skywalker, Sith Lord. Han Solo died on Endor. Admiral Ackbar died at the hands of the Imperial Fleet, and the bulk of the Rebellion armed forces is likewise gone. What remains is being gathered up by a heartbroken Leia, rescued from Endor by the Millennium Falcon.

Where do you go from here?

The Raptoran Campaign (Timeframe: 100 years post-Episode IV): This assumes that the galaxy hasd had relative peace since the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. The heroes of the rebellion are dead. The revived Jedi Order are once again the guardians of peace and justice, but they are starting to factionalise. The Galactic Alliance has become corrupt, but remains generally benign.

Then, deep in space, an Alliance transport is attacked by a mysterious force identified only as Raptorans. Are they aliens? droids? or something else?

The major advantage of this campaign is that it allows the GM totally free reign. Set long after the end of canon, it uses the tropes of the setting without running into the difficulties of canon. It also allows the PCs to take centre stage.

I must confess, I had envisaged this campaign featuring three specifics from the films: The Millennium Falcon would be found in the "Rebellion Museum" on Coruscant, C-3P0 would be the tour guide in said museum, and R2-D2 would be discovered at some later point in the campaign, and probably serve as some PC's astromech droid. Because some things are just meant to be.

Games I Want to Run

I doubt I'll develop any of these into full campaigns. I really can't see myself running any games in the near future. However, here are a few games I would like to run at some point:

Son of a Superhero (Mutants & Masterminds): The first generation of heroes emerged in the 50's. There were seven of them, and their names are legend. The second generation emerged in the 80's, in a wash of hope. However, like everything else about that age, they tarnished that hope, and sold out to commercial interests. The third generation of superheroes is emergent in the 00's. You are part of that generation. How will you shape the future?

This is a somewhat vanilla 4-colour superheros campaign, except that it deals with a world where there have been relatively few superheroes, and they have been mixed in character and reception. Moreover, the parents of the characters are themselves likely to have been superheroes.

This campaign would rely on having players who would take it somewhat seriously. I would intend to bolt on a serious system for generating character backgrounds and traits as part of the character generation process. Batman wouldn't really fit in this campaign (he's probably part of that first generation, anyway). Instead, the characters are more akin to the Clark Kent of Smallville - it's important that they have a whole environment around them to deal with, not merely a costume and an attitude.

Emergent Reason I (d20 Modern/Past/Spelljammer): This is a tricky one. Combine Spelljammer's notion of the crystal spheres with steampunk technology with Babylon 5's feel for space mythology with an Elizabethan sensibility and a Victorian notion of empire, all set in a fantasy realm with no magic, and a homeworld that is not Earth, but has vessels named after Greek mathematicians and philosophers. Oh, and samurai.

And there's something out there...

Cyberpunk (System Unknown): I still want to run a realistic cyberpunk game. Built from the ground up, with a view of the dystopian future as built from today's present, rather than from the 80's. But, since I have no real idea of how fusion power and nanotechnology are going to alter our lives, I have no real idea how to build that setting. Not to mention a complete disinterest in building a system capable of running the game in.

Oh no, we killed Tomas!

One of the things that was mentioned a few times in the Cavcari campaign, that I found very amusing but couldn't comment on at the time, was the concern some of the players had that they nearly got the NPC Tomas killed. The assumption was that that character was clearly important to the plot, and that I'd be pissed off if he died.

When I'm running a game, there is no fixed plot. Every NPC is expendable. Hell, every PC is expendable, too. I'm not trying to write the next great fantasy epic here - I'm running an RPG, and I hope you find it entertaining, but that's all.

The thing is, I learned a long time ago that if you assume things will go a certain way, the players will find a way to screw with you. If you plan for one NPC to die, to be replaced by another, and spend weeks setting up the cross-over, Marcus will swoop in and save the damn NPC, thus leaving you with two NPCs with the same name. Expect the PCs to refuse to ally with the evil villain, and what will they do?

In the case of Tomas it was particularly amusing. That character existed almost purely to drive the PCs into action in the first session. After that, he was expendable. The Velvel Glove didn't care whether he lived, died, or was appointed king over all the world - he wanted to see how the PCs would react when he commanded them to keep him alive. Like me, he was surprised.

Burnt Out?

My Forgotten Realms campaign has died.

There are several reasons for this, which I'll not go into. However, the main one is that my heart just wasn't in it. I couldn't face up to doing the preparation required to run a good, unique D&D campaign.

Worryingly, this is the second such campaign in succession to fail. The Shackled City campaign worked, but largely because the bulk of the work was done for me. Dragons of the Cerulean Ocean fell apart because I couldn't face doing the required adventure preparation. Cavcari's Last Incantation has now gone the same way, and for much the same reason.

The thing is, it's not down to a lack of ideas. The Cerulean Ocean setting was replete with adventure opportunities, and the way the campaign was set up should have guaranteed some entertainment at least. Likewise, the premise of Cavcari's Last Incantation should have provided the hook for a really solid campaign. Nor was the problem that I was doing a particularly poor job running the game. Given my total lack of preparation, I felt it was going rather well. True, I was having some problems with the format, and a few others with the mechanics (and it didn't really feel right going directly from church to running a game, although not for the reasons you probably think). However, none of this was the issue.

The issue was preparation.

The thing is, the d20 system is so mechanical that I can't run encounters on the fly. If I have a monster, that's fine, since I have useable stats for such things. However, pit the PCs against a human NPC cleric, and I'm done for. I don't have worked out stats, I don't have any clear list of what spells he'll cast to prepare, or how he'll fight, and I have no idea what treasure to assign. I need to work all these things out in advance.

Additionally, if I'm going to the trouble of working loads of things out in advance, I have no interest in running yet another vanilla campaign. I've done those to death. Evil overlord waking up? Check. Artefact desperately needing retrieved/destroyed? Check. Ancient prophecies coming to fruition? Check.

Give me something new, or I can't be bothered.