Archived thread started by Andrew:
Does anyone have good sources of character art that can be used in the current game? I was looking at using a Romain legionnaire but since Vibius now wears full plate I thought this didn't feel quite right. Can anyone help out?
Monday, 22 March 2004
Sunday, 21 March 2004
Increasingly pissed off...
I don't have a problem with PCs using all their cool toys to best effect. I have no problem with players building their characters to squeeze out as much juice as possible from the system. I have no problem with players having powerful characters (or I wouldn't ever grant experience points).
I do, however, have a problem with players "forgetting" the limits of their powers, or "remembering" what spells they've used between sessions.
The examples that follow come from the current game, although not necessarily yesterday's session:
If you fire a crossbow (or other missile weapon), you have to cross off a bolt. Likewise, charges of wands, your limited lay on hands ability, and so on. Immediately. Don't "remember" it until the end of the combat, and certainly don't "remember" it until the next session.
If you cast a spell, you have to note that on your character sheet as well. Again, it should be done immediately.
If you take damage, this should also normally be noted. However, in this case the hit points are all being tracked centrally, so it doesn't really matter.
If you cast a spell, you need to know exactly what it does. Ideally, you should always look up every spell you cast, just to be sure. You might think some spells are so well-known that this is unnecessary, but if that's the case, here are three questions: What is the range of a fireball? How far apart can the targets of a magic missile be? What is the duration of a shield spell?
There are two reasons for this:
1) The character sheets are being replaced every few weeks. There shouldn't be any risk of them wearing out in the meantime (and even if they do, I can just print new ones).
2) People make mistakes when they're remembering things. This is a fact. Oddly enough, when players are "remembering" that they've fired a certain number of shots, or that they've cast some spells, or that their spell allows them to use wands for three rounds without expending charges, and make a mistake, somehow they always, always make the mistake in their own favour.
When running a game, I don't want to be the guy who constantly has to check up on what players are doing. I don't want to have to constantly remind people to cross off every bloody crossbow bolt they fire, or that their favourite spell works on one wand, not on any wand they use during the duration of the spell.
The other thing is this - creating a powerful character legally within the rules is power-gaming, but basically okay. Forgetting the limits of your characters powers, or combining powers in a way that isn't okay within the rules is munchkinism, is cheating, and screws up the game. And that really pisses me off.
Okay, I'm going to stop ranting now.
I do, however, have a problem with players "forgetting" the limits of their powers, or "remembering" what spells they've used between sessions.
The examples that follow come from the current game, although not necessarily yesterday's session:
If you fire a crossbow (or other missile weapon), you have to cross off a bolt. Likewise, charges of wands, your limited lay on hands ability, and so on. Immediately. Don't "remember" it until the end of the combat, and certainly don't "remember" it until the next session.
If you cast a spell, you have to note that on your character sheet as well. Again, it should be done immediately.
If you take damage, this should also normally be noted. However, in this case the hit points are all being tracked centrally, so it doesn't really matter.
If you cast a spell, you need to know exactly what it does. Ideally, you should always look up every spell you cast, just to be sure. You might think some spells are so well-known that this is unnecessary, but if that's the case, here are three questions: What is the range of a fireball? How far apart can the targets of a magic missile be? What is the duration of a shield spell?
There are two reasons for this:
1) The character sheets are being replaced every few weeks. There shouldn't be any risk of them wearing out in the meantime (and even if they do, I can just print new ones).
2) People make mistakes when they're remembering things. This is a fact. Oddly enough, when players are "remembering" that they've fired a certain number of shots, or that they've cast some spells, or that their spell allows them to use wands for three rounds without expending charges, and make a mistake, somehow they always, always make the mistake in their own favour.
When running a game, I don't want to be the guy who constantly has to check up on what players are doing. I don't want to have to constantly remind people to cross off every bloody crossbow bolt they fire, or that their favourite spell works on one wand, not on any wand they use during the duration of the spell.
The other thing is this - creating a powerful character legally within the rules is power-gaming, but basically okay. Forgetting the limits of your characters powers, or combining powers in a way that isn't okay within the rules is munchkinism, is cheating, and screws up the game. And that really pisses me off.
Okay, I'm going to stop ranting now.
Tuesday, 9 March 2004
Armour.
Archived thread started by Mort:
Well, the armour class stuff can get confusing. The base AC is calculated from your dex, armour and size, then you have a whole bunch of different modifiers you can add on to this. The crux is that each modifier doesn't stack with itself and only the highest modifier of each type counts. Except for dodge modifier, because hey, let's make it more complex that it really needs to be.
Here's a list of the most common modifiers:
Enhancement Bonuses: Enhancement effects make your armor better.
Deflection Bonus: Magical deflection effects ward off attacks and improve your AC.
Natural Armor: Natural armor improves your AC.
Dodge Bonuses: Some other AC bonuses represent actively avoiding blows. These bonuses are called dodge bonuses. Any situation that denies you your Dexterity bonus also denies you dodge bonuses. (Wearing armor, however, does not limit these bonuses the way it limits a Dexterity bonus to AC.) Unlike most sorts of bonuses, dodge bonuses stack with each other.
Touch Attacks: Some attacks disregard armor, including shields and natural armor. In these cases, the attacker makes a touch attack roll (either ranged or melee). When you are the target of a touch attack, your AC doesn’t include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. All other modifiers, such as your size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus (if any) apply normally.
See the problem I had was that I assumed that bracers of armour gave an enhancement bonus, but nope, just a bog standard pissy armour bonus on those, yes indeed.
Well, the armour class stuff can get confusing. The base AC is calculated from your dex, armour and size, then you have a whole bunch of different modifiers you can add on to this. The crux is that each modifier doesn't stack with itself and only the highest modifier of each type counts. Except for dodge modifier, because hey, let's make it more complex that it really needs to be.
Here's a list of the most common modifiers:
Enhancement Bonuses: Enhancement effects make your armor better.
Deflection Bonus: Magical deflection effects ward off attacks and improve your AC.
Natural Armor: Natural armor improves your AC.
Dodge Bonuses: Some other AC bonuses represent actively avoiding blows. These bonuses are called dodge bonuses. Any situation that denies you your Dexterity bonus also denies you dodge bonuses. (Wearing armor, however, does not limit these bonuses the way it limits a Dexterity bonus to AC.) Unlike most sorts of bonuses, dodge bonuses stack with each other.
Touch Attacks: Some attacks disregard armor, including shields and natural armor. In these cases, the attacker makes a touch attack roll (either ranged or melee). When you are the target of a touch attack, your AC doesn’t include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. All other modifiers, such as your size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus (if any) apply normally.
See the problem I had was that I assumed that bracers of armour gave an enhancement bonus, but nope, just a bog standard pissy armour bonus on those, yes indeed.
Monday, 8 March 2004
Review: Unearthed Arcana
I really wanted to like this book. A big book of options and expansions for D&D, new rules for races, classes, skills, magic, and campaigns? Sounded really good. But, no.
Please bear in mind that my new judgement of how good an RPG book is - will I use it in my campaign?
Unearthed Arcana is a 224-page full-colour hardback. It cost some ?23 pounds, which is already a lot. There are six chapters, and a very short appendix.
Chapter 1 is all about races. 42 pages about races, to be exact. This included terrain-based variants to PC races (so, we have aquatic races, arctic races, jungle races, and so on. It included elemental race variants (dwarves are stone aligned, elves fire aligned, and so on). It included a rule for reducing level adjustments, which favours characters of non-standard races. It included rules for bloodlines, where you gain a little bit of extra power earlier on, but later have to spend levels to square it up with other characters. It included racial paragons, which match the racial classes from Arcana Unearthed, and which are also familiar to Aspected and Ogrekin characters in the current campaign.
This material is well-written, it is balanced, and some of it is quite cool. The racial paragons, and the bloodlines are especially interesting. However, I would probably feel the need to adjust either before I use it, and therefore could have come up with them on my own.
Chapter 2 deals with classes. We have 32 pages about classes. There are variants on existing classes, such as a wilderness rogue, the cloistered cleric (skill based rather than combat based), paladins of the CG, LE and CE alignments, and so on. There are rules for spontaneous divine casters (so, a clerical sorcerer). There are rules for variant class features, such as the ability to banish outsiders instead of turning undead, or favoured terrains instead of favoured enemies. There are prestige class versions of the bard, paladin and ranger. Then there are rules for gestalt characters, who advance two classes at the same time (a very high-powered option - think a near-doubling of PC power). There are rules for generic classes (warrior, spellcaster and expert).
Again, these are well-written and quite balanced. Obviously, you wouldn't use Gestalts for one PC and not for others, but other options can generally be used or not with fairly little impact. Again, though, the only things I would onsider using are some of the variant classes (Cloistered Cleric), and perhaps the spontaneous divine casters. In both cases, again, I would be strongly inclined to change the classes significantly before using them.
Chapter 3 is about building characters, and lasts 30 pages. We have rules for complex skill checks (like the extended checks in storyteller). There are two simpler methods of tracking skills (you either have a skill or you don't, but if you have it you have max ranks). There are rules for traits, which tie an advantage and a disadvantage together (like Merits and Flaws in storyteller, but with every merit tied to a corresponding flaw). Entirely seperate are character flaws, which act as anti-feats (you take a flaw, you get an extra feat to spend, but you can only take up to 2 flaws, and only at 1st level). There are some spell-touched feats, which allow characters who have been exposed to certain spells to learn to manifest specific near-magic powers. Then there are weapon group feats, which expand the weapon proficiency rules quite neatly. Craft points come next, which abstract the rules for the craft skill somewhat. Then there are extensive tables for character background, which try to help speed the creation of 'realistic' higher-level characters.
The spell-touched feats are really cool. The weapon group proficiency rules are also very nice, and something I would strongly consider using. The background tables are a nightmare, however, as they produce characters that are heavily multiclassed, without accounting for the vast weakening that this may result in. The traits and flaws rules pretend to be quite benign, but strike me as very dangerous, while the craft rules are rather silly. The skill systems are either unnecessarily complex or unnecessarily simplistic.
Chapter 4 gives us rules for Adventuring. Here we have the rules for a class-based defense bonus (nice), armour as damage reduction (nice), damage conversion (armour doesn't negate damage - it converts some of it to non-lethal damage; nice), injuries (a replacement for hit points that rather resembles the health levels in storyteller; not so nice), vitality and wound points (as in Star Wars; I don't like these, others might), reserve points (another track of hit points, characters who rest convert reserve points into lost hit points at a rate of 1 per minute; nice for a party without a cleric), rules for adjusting the massive damage threshold (nice), variants on the rules for death and dying (using a Fort save instead of the current stabilisation mechanic, for instance; okay), action points (as in d20 Modern; nice), rules for facing (nasty), rules for using a hex grid (don't see the point), rules for variant modifiers (so, instead of adding +2, you add +1d4, and so on; nice), rules for using 3d6 instead of d20 (okay), and rules for allowing players to roll all the dice (monsters don't roll to hit them, they roll to parry attacks; okay).
There's quite a lot here I might consider using. However, the rules for defence bonuses, rules for armour as damage reduction, rules for damage conversion and rules for changing the massive damage threshold are exactly as I would have done them, while the rules for vitality and wound points, for action points, and for using a Fort save for stabilisation come directly from other d20 games. The rest I either fear greatly (facing), or don't see any great advantage in (hex grids, players rolling all the dice, rolling 3d6 instead of d20).
Chapter 5 is about magic. The chapter opens with magic ratings for all classes. Under this variant, a multiclass spellcaster will gain a (small) benefit from other classes, adding to his caster level (but not spells per day) as he goes up in level. For instance, under these rules, a Fighter 8/Wizard 5 will have the same number of spells per day as a Wizard 5, but his caster level will be 7, so his fireball will do 7d6 damage. I like this rule unreservedly. The chapter then has advice on customising the summon monster lists for individual casters. 'cos that's so hard. Then there are rules for power components, where casters use rare an expensive material components to get 'free' uses of metamagic feats. Then there are a bunch of variants for metamagic feats, trying to get away from that awful "requires a slot 4 levels higher than normal" thing. One variant limits metamagic feats to 3 uses per day, while the other uses multiple slots of the same level to cast a metamagic spell. Either is better than the original, but the first is too powerful, and the second too expensive to use. For a far better metamagic system, see Arcana Unearthed. Then we have a spell-points system ripped from the Psionics Handbook. Then a system whereby casters 'recharge' spell levels after use, rather than losing a slot for the day. So, if you cast fireball, you must wait a few rounds before you can cast another 3rd level spell, but can in theory cast a hundred fireballs a day. This system is wonderfully balanced, in much the same way as the Mystic Theurge isn't totally broken. Then we have Legendary Weapons, which are magic items that gain in power as their owner gains levels (like the Samurai ability to improve their katana). This is, of course, implemented with Prestige Classes. Heaven forbid we should do anything else. The chapter is rounded out with rules for Item Familiars, which I initially thought would be a system for replacing the Familiar ability with rules for a wizard's staff, a la Lord of the Rings, but isn't; and rules for Incantations, which are ritual magic usable by non-spellcasters.
There's quite a lot of interesting stuff here. There's quite a lot of crap here. There's quite a lot of really broken stuff here. Truthfully, the only things I might use are the magic ratings for non-spellcaster classes, and the power components for metamagic. The incantations come from Urban Arcana. The legendary weapons would have been fine, except that they're done with prestige classes, the rechange rules are broken, and neither metamagic system solves the 'problem' that they wanted to solve. Oh, and the summon monster variants are fine, but so obvious that there's no point in having them. I mean, honestly.
But my biggest gripe with this chapter is that it's way too short, and has too much stuff in it. I think there is justification for an entire book as thick as this one, which would explore all aspects of variant magic systems, completely stripping out and replacing the existing magic paradigm. But perhaps that's just me.
Chapter 6 finishes the book with rules for campaigns. This chapter is a bit of a grab-bag of stuff. We have rules for contacts, which are fine but pretty basic. We have rules for reputation (from Star Wars or d20 Modern). We have rules for honour (from Oriental Adventures). We have rules for Taint (pretty sure they're from Oriental Adventures as well). And we have rules for Sanity (from Call of Cthulhu).
The rules for reputation should be in the core rules, and most likely will be present in 4th edition. The rest I can take or leave. Only the rules for contacts are genuinely new, and I could have come up with them on my own.
The appendix discusses ways to use all of this material in a single campaign, by running a world-hopping game. This I found to be rather inane - the rules of the game are there to model reality, so why would they change significantly when your character moves world? He presumably doesn't use his armour any differently, so why does it suddenly reduce damage rather than negate it? That's just a matter of choosing your abstraction, and if the maths are the same, making the change is just stupid.
There's quite a lot to like in this book. There's quite a lot I might use. But, the best bits have all been seen before. Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars, d20 Modern, Arcana Unearthed and Oriental Adventures have given us all of the best material from this book, and a lot of it has been done better elsewhere. The good stuff that hasn't been seen before I could have come up with on my own, and in some cases I did (there are posts about class-based defense bonuses on this blog, for instance. The numbers generally match). That appears to leave the Bloodlines rules, which I quite like.
A lot of my problems with this book stem from my dislike of house rules (which may surprise you, gives the reams of rules material we're using in my current campaign), which I have recently expanded to include a dislike of supplements (turns out the game runs better without). I suppose it's nice to have all this material gathered in one place, and under the D&D name. I just don't think I'd use much of it.
Aside: Virtually all of this book is labelled open game content. This means that d20 publishers can now include the vitality system without special permission from Wizards of the Coast (which AEG had to get for Spycraft, for instance). This is a nice thing to have, if you're a d20 publisher. However, from the gamer's point of view, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference, so I'm somewhat mystified as to why the various messageboards have been hailing this as a major coup.
Please bear in mind that my new judgement of how good an RPG book is - will I use it in my campaign?
Unearthed Arcana is a 224-page full-colour hardback. It cost some ?23 pounds, which is already a lot. There are six chapters, and a very short appendix.
Chapter 1 is all about races. 42 pages about races, to be exact. This included terrain-based variants to PC races (so, we have aquatic races, arctic races, jungle races, and so on. It included elemental race variants (dwarves are stone aligned, elves fire aligned, and so on). It included a rule for reducing level adjustments, which favours characters of non-standard races. It included rules for bloodlines, where you gain a little bit of extra power earlier on, but later have to spend levels to square it up with other characters. It included racial paragons, which match the racial classes from Arcana Unearthed, and which are also familiar to Aspected and Ogrekin characters in the current campaign.
This material is well-written, it is balanced, and some of it is quite cool. The racial paragons, and the bloodlines are especially interesting. However, I would probably feel the need to adjust either before I use it, and therefore could have come up with them on my own.
Chapter 2 deals with classes. We have 32 pages about classes. There are variants on existing classes, such as a wilderness rogue, the cloistered cleric (skill based rather than combat based), paladins of the CG, LE and CE alignments, and so on. There are rules for spontaneous divine casters (so, a clerical sorcerer). There are rules for variant class features, such as the ability to banish outsiders instead of turning undead, or favoured terrains instead of favoured enemies. There are prestige class versions of the bard, paladin and ranger. Then there are rules for gestalt characters, who advance two classes at the same time (a very high-powered option - think a near-doubling of PC power). There are rules for generic classes (warrior, spellcaster and expert).
Again, these are well-written and quite balanced. Obviously, you wouldn't use Gestalts for one PC and not for others, but other options can generally be used or not with fairly little impact. Again, though, the only things I would onsider using are some of the variant classes (Cloistered Cleric), and perhaps the spontaneous divine casters. In both cases, again, I would be strongly inclined to change the classes significantly before using them.
Chapter 3 is about building characters, and lasts 30 pages. We have rules for complex skill checks (like the extended checks in storyteller). There are two simpler methods of tracking skills (you either have a skill or you don't, but if you have it you have max ranks). There are rules for traits, which tie an advantage and a disadvantage together (like Merits and Flaws in storyteller, but with every merit tied to a corresponding flaw). Entirely seperate are character flaws, which act as anti-feats (you take a flaw, you get an extra feat to spend, but you can only take up to 2 flaws, and only at 1st level). There are some spell-touched feats, which allow characters who have been exposed to certain spells to learn to manifest specific near-magic powers. Then there are weapon group feats, which expand the weapon proficiency rules quite neatly. Craft points come next, which abstract the rules for the craft skill somewhat. Then there are extensive tables for character background, which try to help speed the creation of 'realistic' higher-level characters.
The spell-touched feats are really cool. The weapon group proficiency rules are also very nice, and something I would strongly consider using. The background tables are a nightmare, however, as they produce characters that are heavily multiclassed, without accounting for the vast weakening that this may result in. The traits and flaws rules pretend to be quite benign, but strike me as very dangerous, while the craft rules are rather silly. The skill systems are either unnecessarily complex or unnecessarily simplistic.
Chapter 4 gives us rules for Adventuring. Here we have the rules for a class-based defense bonus (nice), armour as damage reduction (nice), damage conversion (armour doesn't negate damage - it converts some of it to non-lethal damage; nice), injuries (a replacement for hit points that rather resembles the health levels in storyteller; not so nice), vitality and wound points (as in Star Wars; I don't like these, others might), reserve points (another track of hit points, characters who rest convert reserve points into lost hit points at a rate of 1 per minute; nice for a party without a cleric), rules for adjusting the massive damage threshold (nice), variants on the rules for death and dying (using a Fort save instead of the current stabilisation mechanic, for instance; okay), action points (as in d20 Modern; nice), rules for facing (nasty), rules for using a hex grid (don't see the point), rules for variant modifiers (so, instead of adding +2, you add +1d4, and so on; nice), rules for using 3d6 instead of d20 (okay), and rules for allowing players to roll all the dice (monsters don't roll to hit them, they roll to parry attacks; okay).
There's quite a lot here I might consider using. However, the rules for defence bonuses, rules for armour as damage reduction, rules for damage conversion and rules for changing the massive damage threshold are exactly as I would have done them, while the rules for vitality and wound points, for action points, and for using a Fort save for stabilisation come directly from other d20 games. The rest I either fear greatly (facing), or don't see any great advantage in (hex grids, players rolling all the dice, rolling 3d6 instead of d20).
Chapter 5 is about magic. The chapter opens with magic ratings for all classes. Under this variant, a multiclass spellcaster will gain a (small) benefit from other classes, adding to his caster level (but not spells per day) as he goes up in level. For instance, under these rules, a Fighter 8/Wizard 5 will have the same number of spells per day as a Wizard 5, but his caster level will be 7, so his fireball will do 7d6 damage. I like this rule unreservedly. The chapter then has advice on customising the summon monster lists for individual casters. 'cos that's so hard. Then there are rules for power components, where casters use rare an expensive material components to get 'free' uses of metamagic feats. Then there are a bunch of variants for metamagic feats, trying to get away from that awful "requires a slot 4 levels higher than normal" thing. One variant limits metamagic feats to 3 uses per day, while the other uses multiple slots of the same level to cast a metamagic spell. Either is better than the original, but the first is too powerful, and the second too expensive to use. For a far better metamagic system, see Arcana Unearthed. Then we have a spell-points system ripped from the Psionics Handbook. Then a system whereby casters 'recharge' spell levels after use, rather than losing a slot for the day. So, if you cast fireball, you must wait a few rounds before you can cast another 3rd level spell, but can in theory cast a hundred fireballs a day. This system is wonderfully balanced, in much the same way as the Mystic Theurge isn't totally broken. Then we have Legendary Weapons, which are magic items that gain in power as their owner gains levels (like the Samurai ability to improve their katana). This is, of course, implemented with Prestige Classes. Heaven forbid we should do anything else. The chapter is rounded out with rules for Item Familiars, which I initially thought would be a system for replacing the Familiar ability with rules for a wizard's staff, a la Lord of the Rings, but isn't; and rules for Incantations, which are ritual magic usable by non-spellcasters.
There's quite a lot of interesting stuff here. There's quite a lot of crap here. There's quite a lot of really broken stuff here. Truthfully, the only things I might use are the magic ratings for non-spellcaster classes, and the power components for metamagic. The incantations come from Urban Arcana. The legendary weapons would have been fine, except that they're done with prestige classes, the rechange rules are broken, and neither metamagic system solves the 'problem' that they wanted to solve. Oh, and the summon monster variants are fine, but so obvious that there's no point in having them. I mean, honestly.
But my biggest gripe with this chapter is that it's way too short, and has too much stuff in it. I think there is justification for an entire book as thick as this one, which would explore all aspects of variant magic systems, completely stripping out and replacing the existing magic paradigm. But perhaps that's just me.
Chapter 6 finishes the book with rules for campaigns. This chapter is a bit of a grab-bag of stuff. We have rules for contacts, which are fine but pretty basic. We have rules for reputation (from Star Wars or d20 Modern). We have rules for honour (from Oriental Adventures). We have rules for Taint (pretty sure they're from Oriental Adventures as well). And we have rules for Sanity (from Call of Cthulhu).
The rules for reputation should be in the core rules, and most likely will be present in 4th edition. The rest I can take or leave. Only the rules for contacts are genuinely new, and I could have come up with them on my own.
The appendix discusses ways to use all of this material in a single campaign, by running a world-hopping game. This I found to be rather inane - the rules of the game are there to model reality, so why would they change significantly when your character moves world? He presumably doesn't use his armour any differently, so why does it suddenly reduce damage rather than negate it? That's just a matter of choosing your abstraction, and if the maths are the same, making the change is just stupid.
There's quite a lot to like in this book. There's quite a lot I might use. But, the best bits have all been seen before. Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars, d20 Modern, Arcana Unearthed and Oriental Adventures have given us all of the best material from this book, and a lot of it has been done better elsewhere. The good stuff that hasn't been seen before I could have come up with on my own, and in some cases I did (there are posts about class-based defense bonuses on this blog, for instance. The numbers generally match). That appears to leave the Bloodlines rules, which I quite like.
A lot of my problems with this book stem from my dislike of house rules (which may surprise you, gives the reams of rules material we're using in my current campaign), which I have recently expanded to include a dislike of supplements (turns out the game runs better without). I suppose it's nice to have all this material gathered in one place, and under the D&D name. I just don't think I'd use much of it.
Aside: Virtually all of this book is labelled open game content. This means that d20 publishers can now include the vitality system without special permission from Wizards of the Coast (which AEG had to get for Spycraft, for instance). This is a nice thing to have, if you're a d20 publisher. However, from the gamer's point of view, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference, so I'm somewhat mystified as to why the various messageboards have been hailing this as a major coup.
Friday, 5 March 2004
"Game Portal"
Archived thread started by Andrew:
I like the current idea Stephen uses for having a campaign log, quotes from the game and downloadable character sheets. In long-term games such as the current one it's very handy for me to have access to these documents to refresh my memory as to what's going on and what stage my character is at. How much work is spent on the site after the session and is this the first time you've (Stephen) done this? Has Andreas ever created one for a previous campaign? How about linking this blog to the site and allowing others to find it easily?
I like the current idea Stephen uses for having a campaign log, quotes from the game and downloadable character sheets. In long-term games such as the current one it's very handy for me to have access to these documents to refresh my memory as to what's going on and what stage my character is at. How much work is spent on the site after the session and is this the first time you've (Stephen) done this? Has Andreas ever created one for a previous campaign? How about linking this blog to the site and allowing others to find it easily?
Thursday, 4 March 2004
More Player Assistance for the DM
In addition to knowing all the abilities of his character and applying these appropriately and fairly, the big thing that a player can do to assist the DM in running a game, and particularly a complex game like D&D, is to be ready on his turn, with the details of what he's going to do all worked out. Chances are, you've had about a minute since your last turn, which should have been plenty of time to decide what to do, look up the appropriate spell effects, and so on. So, really, all you should have to do is announce your action, pass the spell description to the DM (if needed), and get rolling dice.
Now, of course, this isn't a hard and fast rule. You may not know what you're doing next for several reasons, from a sudden shift in the tactical situation in the last character's turn, or due to needing more information from the DM on the situation. But, barring such circumstances, if your action is to step back and cast Burning Hands, there is no excuse for not being ready.
(It's perhaps worth noting that it is usually spell-casters who slow things up in this fashion, simply because they have more options, and more fiddly options, open to them. It's just easier to be ready when your action consists of 'hitting him again with my longsword'.)
Now, of course, this isn't a hard and fast rule. You may not know what you're doing next for several reasons, from a sudden shift in the tactical situation in the last character's turn, or due to needing more information from the DM on the situation. But, barring such circumstances, if your action is to step back and cast Burning Hands, there is no excuse for not being ready.
(It's perhaps worth noting that it is usually spell-casters who slow things up in this fashion, simply because they have more options, and more fiddly options, open to them. It's just easier to be ready when your action consists of 'hitting him again with my longsword'.)
Cleave and Great Cleave
I've just noticed that the Cleave ability can be used only once per round, not once per attack, as I previously thought. This makes the Great Cleave much more useful.
See, what I thought was the case was that if Fighter was facing three ogres, and had three attacks normally, he could attack Ogre 1 and kill him, then Cleave Ogre 2. With his second attack, he could then kill Ogre 2, and Cleave Ogre 3. Then, finally, he could use his third regular attack to kill Ogre 3.
The reality is that if Fighter drops Ogre 1, he can Cleave Ogre 2, then use his second regular attack to kill Ogre 2. However, he cannot then Cleave Ogre 3, but rather can only use his third regular attack, leaving him with one very pissed off ogre to fight.
Of course, it's entirely possible that everyone else already knew this.
See, what I thought was the case was that if Fighter was facing three ogres, and had three attacks normally, he could attack Ogre 1 and kill him, then Cleave Ogre 2. With his second attack, he could then kill Ogre 2, and Cleave Ogre 3. Then, finally, he could use his third regular attack to kill Ogre 3.
The reality is that if Fighter drops Ogre 1, he can Cleave Ogre 2, then use his second regular attack to kill Ogre 2. However, he cannot then Cleave Ogre 3, but rather can only use his third regular attack, leaving him with one very pissed off ogre to fight.
Of course, it's entirely possible that everyone else already knew this.
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