Apparently, 15 is no longer a high stat.
I've previously described my stat creation method for D&D here. On Saturday, I put it to use. I had 20 stat cards generated, painstakingly put together with help from my PC and a d60,000. (There are, apparently, 55,000 possible combinations of stats that meet the requirements for the 4th column - 7 stats, all between 7 and 18, with the best six giving a total bonus of +6, in any order) The players each got a card of stats, and then had loads of trouble finding a set that suited them.
Anyway, after a while, I commented that you should be able to create a decent character of any class with just the first column (the standard array). Maybe excepting the Paladin and the Monk, both of which suffer from multiple attribute dependency. The other columns merely provide more options.
The response from one player, which I found very interesting, was that the other columns wer better because they at least had some high numbers on them.
--
I guess there is some justification for thinking 15 isn't high enough, if playing a Wizard, Sorcerer, Cleric or Druid. These characters, at high levels, need to get to 19 in their prime spellcasting ability, or else they can't use their most powerful spells. Which creates a small problem.
However, my experience with 3rd Edition would seem to suggest that the game is unlikely to reach 17th level anyway, as it seems to lose its charm by the early teens (although it is my intention with the current campaign to do just that, so I may well be wrong). It's also a bit odd planning for 17th level when creating a 1st level character. You may well not even survive that long. Of course, you might.
But perhaps the biggest problem with that way of thinking, a problem that was valid in my last campaign, but hopefully not here, is that as a character advances, it should be reasonably easy to boost his key spellcasting stat with appropriate items/wishes/whatever. It seems a bit foolish to insist on a huge stat at character creation, knowing that such a device can either be bought or at the very least made over the course of the 17 levels before it becomes relevant.
Then again, high stats in just the right scores can be extremely useful, so what do I know?
Monday, 26 January 2004
Legacy Knowledge
The whole deity power levels is an instance of legacy knowledge - things that were true in older editions that no longer apply in the new edition of the game. In the past four months, I've encountered three instances:
Firstly, the deity power level thing. I've gone in to that below.
Secondly, the order of the stats in D&D. In the first edition I saw (actually, the Red Box Basic Set), the order was Str, Int, Wis, Dex, Con, Cha. In 2nd Edition AD&D, it became Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha. It has remained in that form since then. (Personally, I think it should be Str, Dex, Con, Cha, Int, Wis, so that the order of the 'mental' stats matches the order of the related 'physical' stats, but that's neither here nor there). Of course, the order of the stats really makes not one whit of difference to the way the game is played.
Thirdly, the change in the handling of initiative in Storyteller, from Wits + Alertness difficulty 4 to 1d10 + Wits + Dex. Again, it doesn't make a huge amount of difference.
The problems with bringing in rules from old editions are that (1) old editions are often less well balanced than the current edition, and (2) even if the old rule was balanced in the old edition, it may not still be balanced with the rest of the new rules. This is particularly true of D&D, where 2nd Edition was a chaotic mess (especially at the end), where 3rd Edition is much better balanced (but not perfect). The Greater/Lesser God thing is a case in point.
What this means is that people playing the game should take the time to get to know the rules of the edition they're using, and try very hard not to bring in legacy information if possible. Companies producing games, and especially producing incremental editions (like D&D 3.5) should do their damnedest to try to mark the changes very clearly, or at least provide some mechanism for quickly finding all the changes.
But then, I like a game where there is a clear standard understanding of where the rules lie. Others may prefer a more free-form approach.
Firstly, the deity power level thing. I've gone in to that below.
Secondly, the order of the stats in D&D. In the first edition I saw (actually, the Red Box Basic Set), the order was Str, Int, Wis, Dex, Con, Cha. In 2nd Edition AD&D, it became Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha. It has remained in that form since then. (Personally, I think it should be Str, Dex, Con, Cha, Int, Wis, so that the order of the 'mental' stats matches the order of the related 'physical' stats, but that's neither here nor there). Of course, the order of the stats really makes not one whit of difference to the way the game is played.
Thirdly, the change in the handling of initiative in Storyteller, from Wits + Alertness difficulty 4 to 1d10 + Wits + Dex. Again, it doesn't make a huge amount of difference.
The problems with bringing in rules from old editions are that (1) old editions are often less well balanced than the current edition, and (2) even if the old rule was balanced in the old edition, it may not still be balanced with the rest of the new rules. This is particularly true of D&D, where 2nd Edition was a chaotic mess (especially at the end), where 3rd Edition is much better balanced (but not perfect). The Greater/Lesser God thing is a case in point.
What this means is that people playing the game should take the time to get to know the rules of the edition they're using, and try very hard not to bring in legacy information if possible. Companies producing games, and especially producing incremental editions (like D&D 3.5) should do their damnedest to try to mark the changes very clearly, or at least provide some mechanism for quickly finding all the changes.
But then, I like a game where there is a clear standard understanding of where the rules lie. Others may prefer a more free-form approach.
Deity Power Levels
On another topic, there was a dispute on Saturday about worshippers of Greater and Lesser deities in D&D. Specifically, in the old editions, Lesser Gods could only grant spells up to 5th level, while in 3rd Edition, the god's status makes no difference to the power level of the related Clerics.
From a game balance point of view, different power levels really sucked. Unless you were going to let priests of weak gods pick up other abilities in lieu of the extremely powerful spells they're missing out on, there is no reason to choose anything other than a Greater God to worship. And, indeed, this was almost inevitably the outcome in 2nd Edition - no one ever played a Cleric of a Lesser God.
From a setting logic point of view, it's quite easy to justify almost any decision, if you build it into the setting from the start. How's about this one, for instance - powerful as even 9th level spells are, they are puny compared to the power of even the weakest of gods. Consequently, even a Lesser God can grant 9th level spells. It works, it answers the question, and it doesn't screw over Clerics of Lesser Gods.
Of course, from a setting point of view, restricting Lesser Gods to 5th level spells can also be justified. In fact, the term Lesser God pretty much justifies it all by itself. It's just the balance thing (and related power-gamer implications) that sucks.
By the way, the justification for it in my current setting runs as follows: spells and granted powers are not actually granted by the gods themselves, but rather by archangel intercessors. And the same archangels grants spells for the weakest of the gods as do for the most powerful. So, there's no difference between Greater and Lesser Gods.
So, why have the distinction at all? Why not just have gods, and let everything sort itself out?
Well, firstly, the distinction is now to do with the individual power level of the gods themselves. Lesser Gods have Divine Rank 1 - 5 (I think), while Greater Gods are up in the teens. Therefore, the actual stats of the Greater Gods are much more impressive than those of Lesser Gods (in the Deities & Demigods = Epic Level Monster Manual view of the universe).
The other justification, and the one used in my current setting, is that the distinction applies to the breadth and importance of the god's portfolio. So, the Greater Gods handle things like death, the weather, agriculture, and the like, matters that are of great importance to everyone living in the world. The Lesser Gods handle matters like individual communities, messengers, cities, and so forth. Matters that are either not of crucial importance, or are of great importance, but only to a small number of people.
From a game balance point of view, different power levels really sucked. Unless you were going to let priests of weak gods pick up other abilities in lieu of the extremely powerful spells they're missing out on, there is no reason to choose anything other than a Greater God to worship. And, indeed, this was almost inevitably the outcome in 2nd Edition - no one ever played a Cleric of a Lesser God.
From a setting logic point of view, it's quite easy to justify almost any decision, if you build it into the setting from the start. How's about this one, for instance - powerful as even 9th level spells are, they are puny compared to the power of even the weakest of gods. Consequently, even a Lesser God can grant 9th level spells. It works, it answers the question, and it doesn't screw over Clerics of Lesser Gods.
Of course, from a setting point of view, restricting Lesser Gods to 5th level spells can also be justified. In fact, the term Lesser God pretty much justifies it all by itself. It's just the balance thing (and related power-gamer implications) that sucks.
By the way, the justification for it in my current setting runs as follows: spells and granted powers are not actually granted by the gods themselves, but rather by archangel intercessors. And the same archangels grants spells for the weakest of the gods as do for the most powerful. So, there's no difference between Greater and Lesser Gods.
So, why have the distinction at all? Why not just have gods, and let everything sort itself out?
Well, firstly, the distinction is now to do with the individual power level of the gods themselves. Lesser Gods have Divine Rank 1 - 5 (I think), while Greater Gods are up in the teens. Therefore, the actual stats of the Greater Gods are much more impressive than those of Lesser Gods (in the Deities & Demigods = Epic Level Monster Manual view of the universe).
The other justification, and the one used in my current setting, is that the distinction applies to the breadth and importance of the god's portfolio. So, the Greater Gods handle things like death, the weather, agriculture, and the like, matters that are of great importance to everyone living in the world. The Lesser Gods handle matters like individual communities, messengers, cities, and so forth. Matters that are either not of crucial importance, or are of great importance, but only to a small number of people.
Exalted - a problem
I've said before that I think the best games are the ones that you can get down to playing really quickly, but which really reward actually sitting down and learning the rules. Hence, my enjoyment of D&D. Another game that fits that bill, I have decided, is Exalted.
The rules for Exalted are Storyteller v2.0 (or whatever), which I know really quite well. However, there are then a huge number of Charms, which can change a character from being marginally effective into being a god among men. Of course, on Saturday I discovered that there existed a Charm to increase brawl damage directly, where I'd been using a Charm to increase strength for the same effect. Oops.
Anyway, on one level, this is a good thing. I do enjoy Exalted, and would not be averse to reading through the rules. Except...
As I've said before, I didn't want to immerse myself in the Exalted gameworld, and ruin all the mysteries. I would have preferred to find things out on my own. However, since the Exalted setting is built in to the rulebook, and since I'm simply incapable of reading part of a book, I can't do that AND master the rules.
Oh, the terrible hardships of my life :-)
The rules for Exalted are Storyteller v2.0 (or whatever), which I know really quite well. However, there are then a huge number of Charms, which can change a character from being marginally effective into being a god among men. Of course, on Saturday I discovered that there existed a Charm to increase brawl damage directly, where I'd been using a Charm to increase strength for the same effect. Oops.
Anyway, on one level, this is a good thing. I do enjoy Exalted, and would not be averse to reading through the rules. Except...
As I've said before, I didn't want to immerse myself in the Exalted gameworld, and ruin all the mysteries. I would have preferred to find things out on my own. However, since the Exalted setting is built in to the rulebook, and since I'm simply incapable of reading part of a book, I can't do that AND master the rules.
Oh, the terrible hardships of my life :-)
Friday, 16 January 2004
Gehenna
I got the Gehenna book for Vampire on Wednesday, and have since devoured it. Given that it was an act of sheer madness to end the World of Darkness, I was somewhat eager to find out how they did it. There are no spoilers below.
Gehenna is a 244-page black and white hardback from White Wolf. It cost me £17.99. The book has six chapters and two appendices.
Chapter one briefly outlines the events leading to Gehenna, the secret status of the Antediluvians, and such things. It discusses some of the powers involved in Gehenna, and discusses how they might react to the events in the book. However, this chapter does not answer any questions in a definitive manner - it provides possibilities and the most likely reactions to each. This is probably a good approach, firstly because it puts the power in the hands of the Storyteller, and secondly because no set of answers could ever satisfy everyone.
Chapter 2 through 5 present not one but four different visions of Gehenna. These each deal with different types of storytelling, from the personal to the epic, and cover different themes found in the game. They also take different approaches to the vampiric myth, playing on biblical origins, the Lilith cycle, the Antedluvians, and the Masquerade. Of the four stories, my favourite is definately the first, which is also the least explosive in nature.
These stories avoid a key failing that I've seen in WW prepublished adventures in the past, in that they put the PCs squarely in the centre of the frame. With the exception of the last story, the actions of the PCs are the most important events in the scenario. In the last chapter, the Antediluvians take centre stage, and the action consists largely of one event following another, each of greater power than the last, and none in a manner that PCs can really influence, merely observe. I didn't like the last scenario for this reason. The others were fine. It should be pointed out that these visions of Gehenna are essentially mutually exclusive. You could combine elements from one with the events of another, but the amount of work needed to do so would be considerable (less so for combining the last two, but still extensive).
It should also be pointed out that the four scenarios between them cover groups of almost any power level. From the rawest thin-blooded neonate to the oldest and most powerful elder, one of these stories should be appropriate. Alas, the Storyteller's preferred Gehenna might not match the power of his group...
Chapter 6 discusses storytelling the end of the world, and has a lot of interesting things to say. It speaks about personalising the story, not holding back, not being especially bound by "fairness", and putting the PCs at centre stage. This was all useful material, which might have been helpful when I ran my own version of Gehenna some time ago. Or perhaps not, since I think that campaign was probably too far gone by then.
Appendix 1 provides sample characters for the adventures in the book. These are mostly well-known vampires, such as Sascha Vykos, Hesha and Dr. Netchurch. Appendix 2 discusses Caine, and the viability of actually using him in a Gehenna story. Perhaps oddly, only one of the four stories features Caine in any significant way, and the appendix seems to advise against doing so.
Two things leapt out at me from this book. Firstly, it is a very fitting end to the Vampire line. In some ways, I wish I had been running a Vampire game for the past year, to allow me to use it. I wouldn't use this book for a one-off game, and probably won't now get the chance to use it as written at all (I imagine that a book of adventures like this will lose its value quite quickly after publication, given how important it is to the metaplot). However, I did like the sense of finality that came from closing the covers on this book after finishing it.
The other thing that surprised me is how rules-light this book is. I guess I've become used to d20 adventures again, where you get a bunch of encounter areas, coupled with stats. The adventures in this book are almost entirely missing stats for enemies. The Antediluvians are never properly statted out, and Caine isn't even touched. This is intentional, to allow the Storyteller to tailor challenges to his PCs, but it still came as rather a surprise, and perhaps a disappointment.
I'm also gutted that it seems we'll never find out what two words Xavier said to the Camarilla Inner Circle when the Gangrel seceeded. Alas.
Gehenna is a 244-page black and white hardback from White Wolf. It cost me £17.99. The book has six chapters and two appendices.
Chapter one briefly outlines the events leading to Gehenna, the secret status of the Antediluvians, and such things. It discusses some of the powers involved in Gehenna, and discusses how they might react to the events in the book. However, this chapter does not answer any questions in a definitive manner - it provides possibilities and the most likely reactions to each. This is probably a good approach, firstly because it puts the power in the hands of the Storyteller, and secondly because no set of answers could ever satisfy everyone.
Chapter 2 through 5 present not one but four different visions of Gehenna. These each deal with different types of storytelling, from the personal to the epic, and cover different themes found in the game. They also take different approaches to the vampiric myth, playing on biblical origins, the Lilith cycle, the Antedluvians, and the Masquerade. Of the four stories, my favourite is definately the first, which is also the least explosive in nature.
These stories avoid a key failing that I've seen in WW prepublished adventures in the past, in that they put the PCs squarely in the centre of the frame. With the exception of the last story, the actions of the PCs are the most important events in the scenario. In the last chapter, the Antediluvians take centre stage, and the action consists largely of one event following another, each of greater power than the last, and none in a manner that PCs can really influence, merely observe. I didn't like the last scenario for this reason. The others were fine. It should be pointed out that these visions of Gehenna are essentially mutually exclusive. You could combine elements from one with the events of another, but the amount of work needed to do so would be considerable (less so for combining the last two, but still extensive).
It should also be pointed out that the four scenarios between them cover groups of almost any power level. From the rawest thin-blooded neonate to the oldest and most powerful elder, one of these stories should be appropriate. Alas, the Storyteller's preferred Gehenna might not match the power of his group...
Chapter 6 discusses storytelling the end of the world, and has a lot of interesting things to say. It speaks about personalising the story, not holding back, not being especially bound by "fairness", and putting the PCs at centre stage. This was all useful material, which might have been helpful when I ran my own version of Gehenna some time ago. Or perhaps not, since I think that campaign was probably too far gone by then.
Appendix 1 provides sample characters for the adventures in the book. These are mostly well-known vampires, such as Sascha Vykos, Hesha and Dr. Netchurch. Appendix 2 discusses Caine, and the viability of actually using him in a Gehenna story. Perhaps oddly, only one of the four stories features Caine in any significant way, and the appendix seems to advise against doing so.
Two things leapt out at me from this book. Firstly, it is a very fitting end to the Vampire line. In some ways, I wish I had been running a Vampire game for the past year, to allow me to use it. I wouldn't use this book for a one-off game, and probably won't now get the chance to use it as written at all (I imagine that a book of adventures like this will lose its value quite quickly after publication, given how important it is to the metaplot). However, I did like the sense of finality that came from closing the covers on this book after finishing it.
The other thing that surprised me is how rules-light this book is. I guess I've become used to d20 adventures again, where you get a bunch of encounter areas, coupled with stats. The adventures in this book are almost entirely missing stats for enemies. The Antediluvians are never properly statted out, and Caine isn't even touched. This is intentional, to allow the Storyteller to tailor challenges to his PCs, but it still came as rather a surprise, and perhaps a disappointment.
I'm also gutted that it seems we'll never find out what two words Xavier said to the Camarilla Inner Circle when the Gangrel seceeded. Alas.
Thursday, 15 January 2004
Review: Draconomicon
For the past three weeks, I've been reading the Draconomicon on and off. It's a big book about dragons for D&D. Here's the review:
The Draconomicon, like all Wizards' books these days, is both hardback and full-colour. This is apparently the first of a series of 'prestige' books, featuring extensive artwork, superior design and the like. Personally, I don't care for such things, and would prefer a lower price, but so be it. The book is about 290 pages long, has five chapters and two appendices. Finally, in terms of quality, the editing of this book is damn-near flawless, as is usually the case with Wizards, Green Ronin and Malhavoc. However, the pages seem bound slightly too close to the spine, which makes reading some of the text a little difficult (but not impossible).
Chapter 1 tells us all about dragons. It covers dragon physiology, psychology, and species, and runs to some 52 pages. I really didn't like this chapter. I didn't find it useful, or interesting, or frankly worth exploring. There are three big problems with it: (1) I could cut both hands off, and still count the number of times I've been asked how a dragon's eyes work while still having stumps left over. I don't really need to know this, and if ever asked, I could just make stuff up. (2) If you're going to make up physiology for fantasy creatures (which is an unnecessary exercise), it needs to bear some relation to real physiology, or at least explain the inconsitencies. For instance, my understanding of the eye is that the pupil is little more than a hole that lets light in. So, how then can there be another, smaller eye embedded in the pupil of the main eye? Also, we are expected to believe that dragons can fly without some magical explanation, which is clearly nonsensical. (3) By tying down things like the lifespan of dragons, their ties to the elements, and so on, the book actually restricts my ability to make dragons fit with my campaign. Or rather, it would if I considered any rulebook authoritative. However, since I now have to throw that material out, I have to question its value in the first place.
Anyway, as a result of my displeasure with chapter 1, I started chapter 2 with some trepidation. This one handles the DM's perspective on dragons, and how to use them in a campaign. This chapter runs to 44 pages. It starts with a brief discussion of the role of dragons in a campaign (as just more monsters, plotters behind the scenes, or overarching campaign villains), and then proceeds to offer some advice on how to stage an encounter with a dragon. This is quite nice. The chapter then has a bunch of feats, spells, magic items and prestige classes tailored especially for dragons.
Sigh. I could have done without yet more of any of these. The feats may prove useful, and some of the magic items (particularly those modifying entire rooms of a dragon's lair) are nice, the spells are pretty dull. As for the prestige classes, I have to ask why these are here? Dragons are already so powerful that they hardly ever get used, so a dragon with a prestige class is unlikely to ever feature in the majority of games. The only game in which I'd expect more than one of these classes to appear would be one played at epic levels. Otherwise, they seem really wasteful.
The chapter ends with a discussion on advancing dragons beyond Great Wyrm. Again, this would be useful for epic-level play, but is unlikely to be useful to most campaigns.
Chapter 3 deals with dragon encounters from the player's perspective. It also runs to 44 pages, and follows the same pattern as the previous chapter. Here, however, the discussion about dragon encounters discusses how to survive them, and the other materials at least have a chance of appearing in the average campaign.
That said, there are still some flaws. Firstly, a lot of the feats and spells are pretty boring. Secondly, while the prestige classes are okay, and rather better than the ones for dragons, most of them read as being "the dragon-flavoured paladin", "the dragon-flavoured rogue", "the dragon-flavoured bard", and so on. They're mostly not that interesting. But the big problem is in some of the feats, which are specially designed to negate a feat or special ability possessed by the target. For instance, there's a feat that allows the user to perform an attack of opportunity on a target starting a grapple, even if they have the Improved Grab ability (which itself specifically removes that attack of opportunity). This strikes me as a really bad idea, firstly because it's of such marginal benefit, but more importantly because it seems designed specifically to hose a player who has made the investment in the ability that has just been negated. Characters should get the opportunity to use their hard-earned powers.
By this point, I was not well-pleased. Chapter 1 was bad, chapter 2 was much better, but of marginal use, and chapter 3 was good but not great. And, for the cost of the book, I'd expected greatness.
Chapter 4 provides new monsters, all of a draconic nature. 45 pages of new dragon-themed monsters. Great.
Fortunately, this chapter is actually good. It covers a bunch of classics, such as the dracolich (there are, as can be seen, some reprints, but these are all conversions from 3rd ed to 3.5, and are also from out-of-print or FR-specific books). It provides undead templates for dragons, allowing the DM to use skeletal, vampiric or zombie dragons. And it has a bunch of new dragons, including planar dragons. Finally, this is another chapter that seems to provide support for epic-level games, which may not be a bad thing.
So, I'm glad to say I found this useful.
Chapter 5 is then composed of sample dragons, and is the single most useful chapter in the book. In 78 pages, it provides a sample dragon of every size in every one of the 10 main colours of dragons. Since the lack of this very feature in the MM is the biggest hurdle to the use of dragons in a campaign, this chapter is a godsend. Furthermore, the chapter also provides advice on customising and upgrading the dragons and provides some sample lair layouts. I like it.
Appendix 1 discusses lairs, providing extensive tables to help the DM transform a lair from a big pile of coins (in even bundles of 100, of course), into proper treasures as befit PCs who manage to kill one of these creatures. Useful, and short.
Appendix 2 then lists all the various types of dragons to appear in any official 3rd edition (or 3.5 edition) source, up to the time of printing. This includes the MM, Forgotten Realms sources, Dragons magazine, and so on. It does not include general d20 products, nor the Kingdoms of Kalamar products (which are not Wizrads' products, but carry the D&D logo due to some deal between the companies). Frankly, this list is not that useful anyway.
And there it is. I think that DMs of epic-level games will find this book extremely useful, as will any DM who hopes to use dragons regularly in his game (for the stuff in chapter 5). For the most part, however, it's probably the case that this book can be left on the shelf without harm.
The Draconomicon, like all Wizards' books these days, is both hardback and full-colour. This is apparently the first of a series of 'prestige' books, featuring extensive artwork, superior design and the like. Personally, I don't care for such things, and would prefer a lower price, but so be it. The book is about 290 pages long, has five chapters and two appendices. Finally, in terms of quality, the editing of this book is damn-near flawless, as is usually the case with Wizards, Green Ronin and Malhavoc. However, the pages seem bound slightly too close to the spine, which makes reading some of the text a little difficult (but not impossible).
Chapter 1 tells us all about dragons. It covers dragon physiology, psychology, and species, and runs to some 52 pages. I really didn't like this chapter. I didn't find it useful, or interesting, or frankly worth exploring. There are three big problems with it: (1) I could cut both hands off, and still count the number of times I've been asked how a dragon's eyes work while still having stumps left over. I don't really need to know this, and if ever asked, I could just make stuff up. (2) If you're going to make up physiology for fantasy creatures (which is an unnecessary exercise), it needs to bear some relation to real physiology, or at least explain the inconsitencies. For instance, my understanding of the eye is that the pupil is little more than a hole that lets light in. So, how then can there be another, smaller eye embedded in the pupil of the main eye? Also, we are expected to believe that dragons can fly without some magical explanation, which is clearly nonsensical. (3) By tying down things like the lifespan of dragons, their ties to the elements, and so on, the book actually restricts my ability to make dragons fit with my campaign. Or rather, it would if I considered any rulebook authoritative. However, since I now have to throw that material out, I have to question its value in the first place.
Anyway, as a result of my displeasure with chapter 1, I started chapter 2 with some trepidation. This one handles the DM's perspective on dragons, and how to use them in a campaign. This chapter runs to 44 pages. It starts with a brief discussion of the role of dragons in a campaign (as just more monsters, plotters behind the scenes, or overarching campaign villains), and then proceeds to offer some advice on how to stage an encounter with a dragon. This is quite nice. The chapter then has a bunch of feats, spells, magic items and prestige classes tailored especially for dragons.
Sigh. I could have done without yet more of any of these. The feats may prove useful, and some of the magic items (particularly those modifying entire rooms of a dragon's lair) are nice, the spells are pretty dull. As for the prestige classes, I have to ask why these are here? Dragons are already so powerful that they hardly ever get used, so a dragon with a prestige class is unlikely to ever feature in the majority of games. The only game in which I'd expect more than one of these classes to appear would be one played at epic levels. Otherwise, they seem really wasteful.
The chapter ends with a discussion on advancing dragons beyond Great Wyrm. Again, this would be useful for epic-level play, but is unlikely to be useful to most campaigns.
Chapter 3 deals with dragon encounters from the player's perspective. It also runs to 44 pages, and follows the same pattern as the previous chapter. Here, however, the discussion about dragon encounters discusses how to survive them, and the other materials at least have a chance of appearing in the average campaign.
That said, there are still some flaws. Firstly, a lot of the feats and spells are pretty boring. Secondly, while the prestige classes are okay, and rather better than the ones for dragons, most of them read as being "the dragon-flavoured paladin", "the dragon-flavoured rogue", "the dragon-flavoured bard", and so on. They're mostly not that interesting. But the big problem is in some of the feats, which are specially designed to negate a feat or special ability possessed by the target. For instance, there's a feat that allows the user to perform an attack of opportunity on a target starting a grapple, even if they have the Improved Grab ability (which itself specifically removes that attack of opportunity). This strikes me as a really bad idea, firstly because it's of such marginal benefit, but more importantly because it seems designed specifically to hose a player who has made the investment in the ability that has just been negated. Characters should get the opportunity to use their hard-earned powers.
By this point, I was not well-pleased. Chapter 1 was bad, chapter 2 was much better, but of marginal use, and chapter 3 was good but not great. And, for the cost of the book, I'd expected greatness.
Chapter 4 provides new monsters, all of a draconic nature. 45 pages of new dragon-themed monsters. Great.
Fortunately, this chapter is actually good. It covers a bunch of classics, such as the dracolich (there are, as can be seen, some reprints, but these are all conversions from 3rd ed to 3.5, and are also from out-of-print or FR-specific books). It provides undead templates for dragons, allowing the DM to use skeletal, vampiric or zombie dragons. And it has a bunch of new dragons, including planar dragons. Finally, this is another chapter that seems to provide support for epic-level games, which may not be a bad thing.
So, I'm glad to say I found this useful.
Chapter 5 is then composed of sample dragons, and is the single most useful chapter in the book. In 78 pages, it provides a sample dragon of every size in every one of the 10 main colours of dragons. Since the lack of this very feature in the MM is the biggest hurdle to the use of dragons in a campaign, this chapter is a godsend. Furthermore, the chapter also provides advice on customising and upgrading the dragons and provides some sample lair layouts. I like it.
Appendix 1 discusses lairs, providing extensive tables to help the DM transform a lair from a big pile of coins (in even bundles of 100, of course), into proper treasures as befit PCs who manage to kill one of these creatures. Useful, and short.
Appendix 2 then lists all the various types of dragons to appear in any official 3rd edition (or 3.5 edition) source, up to the time of printing. This includes the MM, Forgotten Realms sources, Dragons magazine, and so on. It does not include general d20 products, nor the Kingdoms of Kalamar products (which are not Wizrads' products, but carry the D&D logo due to some deal between the companies). Frankly, this list is not that useful anyway.
And there it is. I think that DMs of epic-level games will find this book extremely useful, as will any DM who hopes to use dragons regularly in his game (for the stuff in chapter 5). For the most part, however, it's probably the case that this book can be left on the shelf without harm.
Friday, 2 January 2004
Gaming in 2004
Given that everyone and his uncle has felt the need to post their review of 2003, I thought I'd instead post some hopes for what will happen in 2004. I've decided to confine myself to things that I think have at least some chance of happening (so, no hoping for an end to the Wheel of Time), and also to things that have some connection to gaming (so, no hoping for an end to the Wheel of Time). Anyway, this leaves only a few things:
Basic D&D
This is already happening, in the form of a new introductory boxed set from Wizards of the Coast. I just hope it's somewhat decent. Simply put, there isn't a good introductory RPG in existence, mostly because the only games with the required name recognition are D&D and Vampire (okay, and maybe Buffy and LotR), the subject matter of Vampire is (theoretically) too mature for an introduction for teens, and D&D is way too complex to be used as an introduction. Not to mention the fact that the buy-in costs for any of these games are way too high.
(You'll note that I haven't really addressed the use of Buffy or LotR as an introductory game, other than to say they're too expensive. That's because I haven't read them, so can't comment.)
WoD 2.0
In my opinion, they should have ended the WoD, left it for a few years, and then considered a new version. However, given that they're doing it now, I rather hope it's done "right". By which I mean I hope they do three things:
1) Follow the "Exalted" model of books, where the core rulebook introduces the core game (most likely Vampire), and the major hardbacks then introduce other factions (Werewolves, Mages, etc). This seems to work very well.
2) Design the game so that cross-overs aren't a logistical nightmare. Again, this is similar to the Exalted model, where all factions seem to have Charms, which work in broadly the same way. That said, Exalted doesn't seem to advocate cross-overs, merely make them possible, which suits me just fine.
3) Strip out the crap. The existing WoD is creaking with an over-abundance of powers behind the throne, supernatural factions, and so forth. There's also a lot of stuff that breaks the tone (comedy Malkavians, for instance), and a failure to decide whether they're doing a horror game or a superheroes game. Frankly, I would like to see them throw everything out, and start again. Sure, you can then add clans of vampires, if desired, but they should also feel free to leave them out, if they think the game would be better without.
In any event, nothing that's happening with the WoD is going to make the existing games less playable, so if the worst comes to the worst, I'll just ignore this new edition.
Exalted
2003 wasn't a great year for gaming (one bad game, one game abandonned, one game that became a never-ending sequence of combats, and a bunch of less-than-stellar releases), but the one new game I encountered that was good was Exalted.
In fact, Exalted was something of a revelation, in the same way that the new edition of D&D was and my first encounter with Vampire was. However, unlike these other two games, I've decided not to invest in a set of the books, and learn everything there is to know about it. Instead, I'll find things out by gaming.
So, yes, I'm hoping to get a chance to play some more Exalted this coming year.
Tollis
The other game I'm wanting to play this year is my new D&D campaign, set in a home-brew world called Tollis. And, I hope it doesn't suck.
Anyway, those are my hopes for gaming in 2004.
Basic D&D
This is already happening, in the form of a new introductory boxed set from Wizards of the Coast. I just hope it's somewhat decent. Simply put, there isn't a good introductory RPG in existence, mostly because the only games with the required name recognition are D&D and Vampire (okay, and maybe Buffy and LotR), the subject matter of Vampire is (theoretically) too mature for an introduction for teens, and D&D is way too complex to be used as an introduction. Not to mention the fact that the buy-in costs for any of these games are way too high.
(You'll note that I haven't really addressed the use of Buffy or LotR as an introductory game, other than to say they're too expensive. That's because I haven't read them, so can't comment.)
WoD 2.0
In my opinion, they should have ended the WoD, left it for a few years, and then considered a new version. However, given that they're doing it now, I rather hope it's done "right". By which I mean I hope they do three things:
1) Follow the "Exalted" model of books, where the core rulebook introduces the core game (most likely Vampire), and the major hardbacks then introduce other factions (Werewolves, Mages, etc). This seems to work very well.
2) Design the game so that cross-overs aren't a logistical nightmare. Again, this is similar to the Exalted model, where all factions seem to have Charms, which work in broadly the same way. That said, Exalted doesn't seem to advocate cross-overs, merely make them possible, which suits me just fine.
3) Strip out the crap. The existing WoD is creaking with an over-abundance of powers behind the throne, supernatural factions, and so forth. There's also a lot of stuff that breaks the tone (comedy Malkavians, for instance), and a failure to decide whether they're doing a horror game or a superheroes game. Frankly, I would like to see them throw everything out, and start again. Sure, you can then add clans of vampires, if desired, but they should also feel free to leave them out, if they think the game would be better without.
In any event, nothing that's happening with the WoD is going to make the existing games less playable, so if the worst comes to the worst, I'll just ignore this new edition.
Exalted
2003 wasn't a great year for gaming (one bad game, one game abandonned, one game that became a never-ending sequence of combats, and a bunch of less-than-stellar releases), but the one new game I encountered that was good was Exalted.
In fact, Exalted was something of a revelation, in the same way that the new edition of D&D was and my first encounter with Vampire was. However, unlike these other two games, I've decided not to invest in a set of the books, and learn everything there is to know about it. Instead, I'll find things out by gaming.
So, yes, I'm hoping to get a chance to play some more Exalted this coming year.
Tollis
The other game I'm wanting to play this year is my new D&D campaign, set in a home-brew world called Tollis. And, I hope it doesn't suck.
Anyway, those are my hopes for gaming in 2004.
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