Tuesday, 31 August 2004

Nice game. Now, what do I do with it?

Accepted wisdom in the role-playing market is that adventure modules don't sell. This would seem to be even more true of non-D&D games that of D&D, since the markets are generally so much smaller.

So, quite rightly, companies generally don't publish adventure modules.

Of course, it's also the case that most don't put an adventure in the core rulebook, because they believe readers would prefer the pages be used on something else. (They're probably right, too. I've never used the core adventure from any game or setting book I own, and would be reluctant to do so. Both because the players might well have read it, and also because the ones that are published tend to be either skeletal, excessively short, poor quality or, often, all three.)

The problem this raises is that it can be very difficult to think what to do with the shiny new game you've just bought. So, you have a group of players all keen to play Star Wars, characters at the ready - and you've no idea what they should do. Or you're wanting to run Babylon 5, but have no idea how to even start plotting a 5-year epic across the stars. (To their credit, both Wizards and Mongoose are very good at helping people in this regard - Wizards supply extensive support on their website, while Mongoose packed the B5 book with adventure hooks.)

This creates a problem. The easiest way to show how to use a new game is by providing adventures. However, you can't afford to publish adventures for your game.

This is the point of my rant where I should be offering a solution to the problem, but I can't. I just don't have one. Perhaps one solution is to provide adventure support on the web, firstly by producing one or two adventures for people to use when the game first came out, but later by allowing experienced GMs the opportunity to submit adventures for the bank there for use by others.

(The reason that would work is quite straightforward - how many GMs would like to break into the industry? Getting something published is one of the key ways to start, and hosting adventures in that way allows game companies to provide that. I'm sure there are all sorts of problems with that scheme, however, or else everyone would be doing it already.)

Anyway, I'm off back to the new World of Darkness...

Get your own damn PHB!

According to Wizards legendary marketing survey, the average campaign lasts 8 months, with the group meeting weekly for 4 hours a week. Assuming that that's 35 weeks, this gives a total time of 140 hours.

Amazon.co.uk currently have the PHB and DMG for £14 each. So, for the princely sum of 10 pence per hour, you can enjoy the pleasure of not pissing of the whole group by monopolising the only copy of the Player's Handbook. And, for 20 pence per hour, you can have that benefit AND unlimited time to pick out just the right items for your munchkinised character.

Sorry to be harping on about this again, but if you're playing in a campaign, there is actually very little reason not to get your own copy of the rules.

(Of course, the economy takes a big hit if you're using lots of supplements, or if you're playing a game that doesn't sell so well on Amazon, and so doesn't get the same discounts. Also, in many cases, the GM may not want the players to have the rulebook, as he wishes to keep the setting info mysterious.)

The Value of a Default Setting

Going back to the demo game I'm running, I spent quite a lot of time last week creating characters. Each character needed a background, of course, so I dusted of my notes for Terafa, and wrote some. Initially, I used the setting as a source of names, but as I went on, the backgrounds started to reference the history, legends and societies of the setting, providing hints of bigger things under the surface.

All of which got me thinking about the default setting of D&D. Now, part of me wishes they hadn't included the deities in the core rulebook (pretty much the only default setting elements in the books). In hindsight, though, I think perhaps they should have included a very short (about 10 pages, including the map) primer on Greyhawk in the DMG, to provide the DM with context for adventures, and also to provide hooks for building characters from.

Perhaps I'm just crazy, but I do suspect that a newbie is more likely to be fascinated by Ganarin, Knight of Malice, and arrogant last scion of the departed Sol than by Ganarin, half-elven paladin.

Sunday, 22 August 2004

Demo Game

I find myself in the position where it's quite likely that I'll be running a short demo game for some complete newbies in the near future. This leads me to the following set-up:
  1. The rules-set is D&D 3rd Edition. It's somewhat simplified, as explained below, but otherwise as-is.
  2. I'm using pre-generated characters and a pre-generated scenario (more stuff from Dungeon - I'm very glad to be finally using that). There is one character of each of the 11 core classes, plus Illusionist, and one character of each non-human race (and so 6 human characters).
Characters are created by me using the 25-point buy method. The characters are all 3rd level, and all single-classed. My standard fixed hit-points rule applies, but since there will be no levelling up, this is hardly relevant. The simplifying assumptions:
  1. No multiclassing, and no favoured classes. Since the characters are pre-generated, and there's no levelling, this isn't actually an issue.
  2. No encumberance.
  3. Only good characters. This probably just makes things easier on the players - little or no need to explain alignment.
  4. No spell memorisation - all spellcasters can cast any of their spells at will.
  5. Limited spell lists. This is the reverse of (4) - Clerics and Druids will have a fairly short list of spells to choose from. So, no need to read the whole damn Player's Handbook.
To be honest, I think the best thing I could have for this sort of game is a Pokemon game using the Storyteller system. However, in the absence of this, this is shaping up to be quite good. Two final observations:
  1. I'm using 3.0 for this, and 3.5 for the Saturday game. It's quite wierd shifting rules sets - there are a lot of subtle changes.
  2. Now I really want to play a Dwarven Wizard and a Half-Orc Boxer (Monk) in a game... (Plus any number of Paladins, 3.5 Rangers and Mystic Theurges...)

Sunday, 8 August 2004

Surprisingly Munchkin: Colour Spray

Started the Shackled City adventure path from Dungeon yesterday, and was very struck by just how powerful the spell "Colour Spray" is against low level opponents.

It's a 1st level spell of the Illusion school that affects all creatures in a 15-foot cone. There is a Will save to negate the effect. However, creatures of 2 or fewer hit dice who fail the save are knocked out for 2d4 rounds, then blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, and then stunned for 1 round. Creatures of 3 or 4 hit dice are blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, and then stunned for 1 round, while creatures of 5 or more hit dice are stunned for 1 round.

This spell is potentially a party killer! Try this: a 1st level kobold sorcerer and 4 normal kobolds are an EL3 encounter - against a 2nd level party that's tough, but should be manageable. If he sorcerer has Cha 15, the save is DC 13, 14 if the sorcerer also has the Spell Focus feat. The odds are therefore good that one or two members of the party, probably the fighter and the rogue, will be knocked out by this spell. The kobold warriors then spread out - one each on the wizard and the cleric, while the other two move to the unconscious fighter and rogue. On round two they perform a coup de grace, and then between them finish off the party!

The odd thing is that, despite the title of this post, this spell is probably not over-powered. It's extremely short range, and of little use for or against high level characters. In short, it is much like sleep.

Tuesday, 3 August 2004

Review: Eberron Campaign Setting

It really was an inspired move, the setting search. Send out the call for setting submissions, provide an entry into the game industry, and a whopping great cheque, to the winner, and instantly raise interest in D&D by about a dozen notches. I wonder how long it took for the investment to pay off.

The winner of the setting search is Eberron, which I've spent the last month reading through. And it's good. It's very, very good. But, is it as good as the previous best campaign setting sourcebook, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (3rd Edition)?

The Eberron Campaign setting is a 320-page full-colour hardback book. The text is extremely dense - there's more in here than in all the Babylon 5 gamebooks I have (the main book plus 3 "year" sourcebooks). I've not been reading slowly; the book's just got a hell of a lot in it. Another advantage over B5 (the third - the fact that it's new is the first) is the editing, which is of the level I expect from Wizards of the Coast, Green Ronin, Malhavoc, and damn no others.

Anyway, on to the contents. Eberron opens with a description of what the world is, and ten things you need to know. These include the fact that everything from core D&D can appear here (I wonder how many setting search entries were eliminated for not holding that to be true?), and the stunning revelation that monsters here need not follow their Monster Manual alignments (shock!). It also, very usefully, sets the tone for the setting, which is a cross between pulp and dark intrigue. It's part Indiana Jones and part X-Files, I suppose. It's also a little more 'adult' than Forgotten Realms, which is very good.

Chapter 1 provides details of the PC races, running to 18 pages. This describes the standard races in Eberron, some of which are slightly changed in rules terms, but most of which are only different in terms of their societies. The chapter also includes several new races including Shifters (descendants of lycanthropes, with the powers you'd expect), Kalashtar (a psionic race!), and Warforged (basically, robot-men, although they don't suck too badly. Bit powerful, though).

Speaking of psionics, it should be pointed out that Eberron doesn't require the use of psionics, and provides only a couple of hooks to it in the core book (there's a continent with more psionic influence, but it's not detailed here). The book does, however, have a lot more hooks than the FRCS does. Certainly, I'd feel a lot happier about psionic characters in an Eberron campaign than a Forgotten Realms one. This is all to the good, I think.

Chapter 2 discusses classes, in 16 pages. There are discussions of the existing classes, with a few new options, notably in animal companions and familiars that are available. There is also a new class, the Artificer, who is the "items guy" of the party. I suppose in d20 Modern he'd be a hacker/mad scientist. They're good, although there are aparently some concerns that too much is gained at 1st level. That said, they have some abilities that closely mirror spellcasting, which typically makes multiclassing a bad idea, so I'd need to see how it goes in play...

Chapter 3 discusses Heroic Characteristics. It introduces Action Points, which we're familiar with. It does include some refinements of the system, such as a limit on how many points a character can 'bank', which is good. The chapter has some new uses for skills, a bunch of new feats, discussion of the gods, and the introduction of dragonmarks - magical birthmarks that give spell-like abilities to those who possess them (they're bought with feats). These are okay, and have well-thought out impact on the setting. There's something about dragonmarks (and warforged, too) which just doesn't sit right with me. However, I don't think you can run Eberron without them; they're too ingrained in the setting.

The religions of Eberron are good. The gods are there, but they are 'hands-off'. These aren't the meddling children that the Forgotten Realms is stuck with. I like this. It should also be noted that Clerics in Eberron don't have to be within one step of their deity's alignment, which makes things quite interesting. Also, the churches aren't the main source of healing in the setting - one of the dragonmarked houses handles that.

Chapter 4 gets back to my favourite subject: Prestige Classes. There are eight of them, each tied to a particular aspect of the setting, such as the shifter and warforged paragon classes, the dragonmark heir (who improves his dragonmark abilities, of course), and so on. They're okay.

Chapter 5 deals with magic, describing the role of magic in the world, the impact of the dragonmark houses, and the planes of existence. These are really good - there's one tied to each of the moons (13), and each follows an orbit that affects how it impacts the Prime Material. Some spells become more powerful when the corresponding plane is 'full'. It's all very nice.

There's also some new spells.

Chapter 6 provides new equipment. This is fun, of course, because we need more equipment. Seriously, this provides a number of items that might reasonably come up in the game, such as the elemental-bound airships of the setting. This chapter is very short, which is about the right length.

Chapter 7 is an epic. This is the meat of the book, describing the world itself in 98 pages. Actually, most of that space is taken up with descriptions of the countries in the main continent. There are also brief descriptions of the other continents, a timeline, and so on. However, the bulk of the book is taken up with country after country.

This is good stuff. The format is the same as in the FRCS, and is just about ideal. I like it, even if it took forever to get through.

Chapter 8, cos we're not done yet, describes important organisations. These include the dragonmarked houses, the royal families, and several other factions. All nice stuff, and lots of adventure starters and patrons/adversaries for PCs. Nice.

Chapter 9 discusses issues, themes, and such facing an Eberron campaign. This is good stuff, missing the traditional essays into running an adventure in favour of talking about the particular themes of Eberron. It also includes a new NPC class, the mage-wright, who is a working class enchanter. Basically, mage-wrights are the backbone of the industrial base of Eberron.

This chapter is good, providing the necessary guidance without labouring the point.

Chapters 10 and 11 are new magic items and new monsters, respectively. These are okay, and fit the world. Alas, I'm a bit burned out on both, so I'll not comment further, except in this: the monsters chapter discusses means of fitting Monster Manual creatures in to Eberron (well, some specific examples). This includes things like new names for dinosaurs (long overdue in D&D - oh, and by the way, Eberron includes clans of dinosaur-riding halflings), but also short notes on the history of Beholders in the setting, the place of Rakshasas, and so on. This was missing from the FRCS, and is a very good thing to have. So, well done there.

Finally, the book has a short (and skeletal) adventure for 1st level characters. Which, I hate to say, would have been better if it hadn't just been another dungeon crawl. Hey, let's adventure in Eberron, a whole new world of fun, excitement, and dungeon crawling!

One other thing is worthy of comment: the art. I commented in the weeks before I got the book, that I was probably going to give it a miss, having seen the art gallery on the Wizards site. In truth, the art is very well done, and fits the book well. Mostly. The artworks at the start of the chapters, however, are really not to my taste. They each look like a page from a graphic novel, which is all well and good, but in my view graphic novels work as a medium because of the whole - taking one page out is generally not a great idea, and that's what's happened here (in effect). These were the pieces of art that almost prevented me getting the book. I'm glad they did not.

Overall, I think Eberron is damn good. I also think it's not quite as good (as a book) as the FRCS. However, I vastly prefer the setting, and might well consider running a campaign or two in this world (assuming the PCs don't go and allow it to be destroyed).

However, I won't be using any of the material from this book in a campaign that is not set in Eberron. It's too tightly bound (IMO) to the setting. Things that might be worth ripping off (the Warforged, the Dragonmarks) are not to my taste. So, if that's what you're wanting, I'd look elsewhere.

And that's that.

Sunday, 1 August 2004

Review: Babylon 5: No Surrender, No Retreat

This is the third of four year-sourcebooks for the B5 game, each describing one of the years of the series beyond the first (the first is included in the core book). As with the other books in the sequence, it's a 128-page full colour softback book. There are four chapters.

Chapter 1 describes the iconic characters at the start of season 4. Sheridan has reached 15th level, but still has only 37 hit points (which is a good thing). The other characters have similarly risen in level. Nice, but I'm not sure of the value of this material being updated book after book. Still, I'd be complaining if it wasn't covered here.

Chapter 2 describes the series, episode by episode. Each has a summary, new rules, and adventure ideas. This is the bulk of the book, running to 77 pages. It's good stuff, but not the way I would have structured the game, as I've mentioned before.

Chapter 3 provides new rules material, including rules for broadcating (illegally or otherwise), rules for interrogation, rules for hitching lifts across the gamaxy (seriously), and two prestige classes: Shadow and Vorlon agents. These are quite nice, although it's a significant surprise that Lyta doesn't have levels as a Vorlon agent.

Finally, chapter 4 has three pages of new equipment. Not surprisingly, there's nothing earth-shaking here, just a few new additions that are quite nice.

This book is competent, and does the same job as the others in the series as well as they do. I'm not sure I can recommend it, since most of the book contains summaries for episodes we've all seen. Still, lots of adventure ideas here, which are nice.

Mongoose claim that they've improved the editing of their books lately, and I'm inclined to agree. However, they still need to do more. There are many instances here of word-substitution errors. Discrete instead of discreet (hint: anyone can hope to be discreet. Only conjoined twins can really hope to be discrete), too instead of to, their instead of there. They're less common, but still a noticable flaw in the book, and still annoy me.

Next up: I'm finishing off Eberron at the moment, with 70-odd pages in the last chapter to read.