On the other hand, the Castle Ravenloft boardgame seems like it would fit in well for us.
We spent a while playing this yesterday for the first time.
The setup rules as they come in the box could do with some clarification. At no point does it tell you exactly how to split up the dungeon tiles (or if you need to at all), or what to do with the two sets of treasure cards. It also has misleading references to both.
In the end, we went with leaving the 'Adventure Treasure' cards out of the Treasure deck, and used all the dungeon tiles to generate the dungeon, and we're pretty sure this was right.
It also seemed to go from stupidly hard as a three player game (though we'd missed the 'get treasure any time you defeat a monster' rule), to pretty easy as a full group of five. We also houseruled the starting treasure, so that you kept drawing until you got an actual treasure card.
All in all, very fun. Never have the Wizard explore. Traps are really going to ruin the shit out of your day.
The highlight was definitely my Fighter giving the entire party +5 to hit for one turn (as they were all on the same tile, +1 per Hero), followed by the Cleric pulling an encounter card that made him attack everyone on his tile.
No, wait, it was the same Cleric getting an encounter card that had them attack a friend, at which point he used Healing Strike to attack Kay (whose character gave him a +1 to hit for being in the same tile) and used the healing bonus from the strike to heal my Fighter. "Thanks for the +1 ToHit Kay, I'll give your 1HP to Glal now!"
On the other hand, the Castle Ravenloft boardgame seems like it would fit in well for us.
We spent a while playing this yesterday for the first time.
The setup rules as they come in the box could do with some clarification. At no point does it tell you exactly how to split up the dungeon tiles (or if you need to at all), or what to do with the two sets of treasure cards. It also has misleading references to both.
In the end, we went with leaving the 'Adventure Treasure' cards out of the Treasure deck, and used all the dungeon tiles to generate the dungeon, and we're pretty sure this was right.
It also seemed to go from stupidly hard as a three player game (though we'd missed the 'get treasure any time you defeat a monster' rule), to pretty easy as a full group of five. We also houseruled the starting treasure, so that you kept drawing until you got an actual treasure card.
All in all, very fun. Never have the Wizard explore. Traps are really going to ruin the shit out of your day.
Yeah you leave the "special" treasures out of the treasure deck.
You use all of the dungeon tiles all of the time unless it specifies in the scenario. Most scenarios have you remove a specific tile and place it at a specific place in the pile.
The game should auto scale with other players, as the more players there are the more encounters/exploration you do.
It's also worth noting that "villains" go once per PLAYER turn, not just the player who activated them like normal monsters!
MrBeens on
0
Options
KayWhat we need...Is a little bit of PANIC.Registered Userregular
edited January 2011
Yeah, we got that much. I think our problem was more party makeup and bad luck when we tried 3 player. Ranger, Rogue, Cleric. No AoE. We got swamped by multiple monsters, the Cleric couldn't hit, and having three wolves biting you every PLAYER round is horrific while a crossbow trap works you over at the same time.
That's the worst part - each player draws a wolf monster? Every single wolf activates every time someone with a Wolf under their control goes to the Villain phase.
So, I just took a look at the Product Catalogue. Is it me or are quite a few products missing now? I know Heroes of Sword and Spell had gone, but that seems to be missing Champions of the Heroic Tier and Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium as well. Probably other things.
The release schedule is looking really, really sparse. Massive shuffle of the releases or is something up at WotC?
Heroes of Shadow in mid-March seems to be the next supplement from WotC I have any interest in at all. I wonder what "Assassin" it will have in it; the original Assassin, thereby breaking the "Insider Only" promise, or the Essentials Assassin?
today's "friends" article is probably the stupidest waste of words they've printed in Dragon yet.
You're not kidding; three pages of, well, not a hell of a lot.
I guess it's useful for someone, somewhere? Probably a fair amount of people. But this doesn't seem like the sort of thing you can keep a straight face while charging extra for.
today's "friends" article is probably the stupidest waste of words they've printed in Dragon yet.
You're not kidding; three pages of, well, not a hell of a lot.
I guess it's useful for someone, somewhere? Probably a fair amount of people. But this doesn't seem like the sort of thing you can keep a straight face while charging extra for.
So, I just took a look at the Product Catalogue. Is it me or are quite a few products missing now? I know Heroes of Sword and Spell had gone, but that seems to be missing Champions of the Heroic Tier and Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium as well. Probably other things.
The release schedule is looking really, really sparse. Massive shuffle of the releases or is something up at WotC?
I noticed the other day that they've added a Gamma World-esque booster pack add-on..thing for 4e. I died a little inside.
today's "friends" article is probably the stupidest waste of words they've printed in Dragon yet.
You're not kidding; three pages of, well, not a hell of a lot.
I guess it's useful for someone, somewhere? Probably a fair amount of people. But this doesn't seem like the sort of thing you can keep a straight face while charging extra for.
I would be embarrassed to run that on a fan blog.
Yea, it certainly isn't of a high quality, but the basic idea of having the PCs populate more of the world around them is golden. I know that is the type of thing I always appreciate as a DM. Who are your rivals, who serves you your beer, etc. I think it improves immersion for the players when they have people they care about in the world.
Plus that also provides more opportunities for the DM to hold the player by his bootstraps.
That's why all my characters are antiheroical loners with no friends or family to tie them down, nobody they care a single gold piece about whether they live or die.
I agree that the article is basically some guy talking about the sidekicks he's seen in movies and isn't worth putting behind a pay-wall by any stretch of the imagination. But the idea behind it is good, as streever said. Getting your players to imagine an actual world and an actual life around their characters is always a good thing, because 1) it gets them emotionally invested, and 2) it gives you plenty of hooks to use.
The article would be better if it included, say, some basic stat-blocks or templates you could apply to NPCs to make them fit a certain "friend" archetype, though that would probably make it a little more on the Dungeon side of the line. Now that I'm thinking about it, it really should have been in Dungeon. Discuss how to get your players to explore their backgrounds, include some sample "friend" templates, add some sample adventure hooks that utilize those friends, and you have a decent filler article.
Edit: You could even throw in some special encounter powers that work like terrain powers if a PC has a friend with him. Or some kind of not-a-feat that gives a PC a +2 to Endurance whenever his Klutz is nearby, or something like that. I mean damn, with a little effort this could have actually been a neat idea for an article.
Plus that also provides more opportunities for the DM to hold the player by his bootstraps.
That's why all my characters are antiheroical loners with no friends or family to tie them down, nobody they care a single gold piece about whether they live or die.
Plus that also provides more opportunities for the DM to hold the player by his bootstraps.
That's why all my characters are antiheroical loners with no friends or family to tie them down, nobody they care a single gold piece about whether they live or die.
Plus that also provides more opportunities for the DM to hold the player by his bootstraps.
That's why all my characters are antiheroical loners with no friends or family to tie them down, nobody they care a single gold piece about whether they live or die.
...
Whatever.
I *think* he is being silly, Tofy
Based on his characters that I've seen, I think he's actually speaking truth, lol.
So now all the essentials bits are out, which if any of the books contains all the new magic items to go with the new magic item system? I think that's the only thing I'm looking to add in to my game.
Plus that also provides more opportunities for the DM to hold the player by his bootstraps.
That's why all my characters are antiheroical loners with no friends or family to tie them down, nobody they care a single gold piece about whether they live or die.
...
Whatever.
I *think* he is being silly, Tofy
The sad part is that I've met players who held the above belief. It was right next to "Always be neutral because you get screwed otherwise."
So now all the essentials bits are out, which if any of the books contains all the new magic items to go with the new magic item system? I think that's the only thing I'm looking to add in to my game.
The DM's kit. And they're... not great. At all.
Looks like we're waiting til April to see some more items, and that book might not even exist anymore.
Plus that also provides more opportunities for the DM to hold the player by his bootstraps.
That's why all my characters are antiheroical loners with no friends or family to tie them down, nobody they care a single gold piece about whether they live or die.
...
Whatever.
I *think* he is being silly, Tofy
Based on his characters that I've seen, I think he's actually speaking truth, lol.
No, I was being serious. Tavar was mostly an exception, but the main reason why he was in the group at all was because the Artist murdered his mentor. As for Othagal, understanding his backstory would have explained a lot about his personality during the escape from Tyr. Suffice it to say, almost everyone he cared about betrayed him in the course of about a week, including his own parents.
today's "friends" article is probably the stupidest waste of words they've printed in Dragon yet.
You're not kidding; three pages of, well, not a hell of a lot.
I guess it's useful for someone, somewhere? Probably a fair amount of people. But this doesn't seem like the sort of thing you can keep a straight face while charging extra for.
I would be embarrassed to run that on a fan blog.
Yea, it certainly isn't of a high quality, but the basic idea of having the PCs populate more of the world around them is golden. I know that is the type of thing I always appreciate as a DM. Who are your rivals, who serves you your beer, etc. I think it improves immersion for the players when they have people they care about in the world.
The article is fine and is something every player should do. It's actually a requirement to play in one of my games. I require at least three enemies and three allies and one stranger connected to another character within the group.
SkyCaptain on
The RPG Bestiary - Dangerous foes and legendary monsters for D&D 4th Edition
today's "friends" article is probably the stupidest waste of words they've printed in Dragon yet.
You're not kidding; three pages of, well, not a hell of a lot.
I guess it's useful for someone, somewhere? Probably a fair amount of people. But this doesn't seem like the sort of thing you can keep a straight face while charging extra for.
I would be embarrassed to run that on a fan blog.
Yea, it certainly isn't of a high quality, but the basic idea of having the PCs populate more of the world around them is golden. I know that is the type of thing I always appreciate as a DM. Who are your rivals, who serves you your beer, etc. I think it improves immersion for the players when they have people they care about in the world.
The article is fine and is something every player should do. It's actually a requirement to play in one of my games. I require at least three enemies and three allies and one stranger connected to another character within the group.
I agree with the structure, and the concept, but I just thought the execution of the article was lacking. It was almost like a copy paste of the descriptions of "friends in TV shows" from TVTropes combined with some lackluster writing to tie them all together.
Concept: solid gold. Requiring some background friends/enemies: awesome. The way the article was written: not my thing.
So is Wizards of the Coast still a company that develops games or
Web Apps.
They hear it's a growth industry.
What is painful about this is that if they made the web apps GOOD I would happily pay them money. Honestly, between the Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard, Cleric, and Warlord and the current races with the option for second class stat, I'm more than happy with the game as is.
I just wish they produced:
1. Modular adventures on a regular basis, for which they charged either a small per adventure fee or a subscription (I would pay subscription)
2. A good offline character builder with a per character cost or an annual fee (I would just pay annual)
3. Monster builder--the current one, but a little more well-built so it is zippier. I'd pay money for this as well.
4. The current compendium
Honestly, I'd toss them up to 25 bucks a month for all of this, with a discount for annual subscription. It'd be worth it to me to pay as much as 200 a year.
I guess it is moot because I CURRENTLY pay them for an annual subscription, but if they simply did better work I'd pay more--happily.
streever on
0
Options
Mr_Rose83 Blue Ridge Protects the HolyRegistered Userregular
Is there a preferred method for printing out maps? I'm looking at the dungeons in my Thunderspire Labyrinth stuff, and I like them, but I'm not anywhere near capable nor desire to draw this stuff on a mat.
Posts
both of these answers sadden me
We spent a while playing this yesterday for the first time.
The setup rules as they come in the box could do with some clarification. At no point does it tell you exactly how to split up the dungeon tiles (or if you need to at all), or what to do with the two sets of treasure cards. It also has misleading references to both.
In the end, we went with leaving the 'Adventure Treasure' cards out of the Treasure deck, and used all the dungeon tiles to generate the dungeon, and we're pretty sure this was right.
It also seemed to go from stupidly hard as a three player game (though we'd missed the 'get treasure any time you defeat a monster' rule), to pretty easy as a full group of five. We also houseruled the starting treasure, so that you kept drawing until you got an actual treasure card.
All in all, very fun. Never have the Wizard explore. Traps are really going to ruin the shit out of your day.
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
No, wait, it was the same Cleric getting an encounter card that had them attack a friend, at which point he used Healing Strike to attack Kay (whose character gave him a +1 to hit for being in the same tile) and used the healing bonus from the strike to heal my Fighter. "Thanks for the +1 ToHit Kay, I'll give your 1HP to Glal now!"
Yeah you leave the "special" treasures out of the treasure deck.
You use all of the dungeon tiles all of the time unless it specifies in the scenario. Most scenarios have you remove a specific tile and place it at a specific place in the pile.
The game should auto scale with other players, as the more players there are the more encounters/exploration you do.
It's also worth noting that "villains" go once per PLAYER turn, not just the player who activated them like normal monsters!
That's the worst part - each player draws a wolf monster? Every single wolf activates every time someone with a Wolf under their control goes to the Villain phase.
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
I know right? What the hell's that apostrophe doing in 'its'? Kids these days.
that is a horrible bad habit I have that I really really want to break. I just am always thinking of "it is" when I type its.
anyone know of a program that detects when you type it's and says, "DID YOU MEAN IT IS OR TO REFER TO OWNERSHIP????"
I take it you never played Madden 2005, streever? ;p
The release schedule is looking really, really sparse. Massive shuffle of the releases or is something up at WotC?
Thoughts of a Part-Time Hobbyist - A Wargaming and RPG Blog
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
You're not kidding; three pages of, well, not a hell of a lot.
I guess it's useful for someone, somewhere? Probably a fair amount of people. But this doesn't seem like the sort of thing you can keep a straight face while charging extra for.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
I would be embarrassed to run that on a fan blog.
I noticed the other day that they've added a Gamma World-esque booster pack add-on..thing for 4e. I died a little inside.
Yea, it certainly isn't of a high quality, but the basic idea of having the PCs populate more of the world around them is golden. I know that is the type of thing I always appreciate as a DM. Who are your rivals, who serves you your beer, etc. I think it improves immersion for the players when they have people they care about in the world.
That's why all my characters are antiheroical loners with no friends or family to tie them down, nobody they care a single gold piece about whether they live or die.
The article would be better if it included, say, some basic stat-blocks or templates you could apply to NPCs to make them fit a certain "friend" archetype, though that would probably make it a little more on the Dungeon side of the line. Now that I'm thinking about it, it really should have been in Dungeon. Discuss how to get your players to explore their backgrounds, include some sample "friend" templates, add some sample adventure hooks that utilize those friends, and you have a decent filler article.
Edit: You could even throw in some special encounter powers that work like terrain powers if a PC has a friend with him. Or some kind of not-a-feat that gives a PC a +2 to Endurance whenever his Klutz is nearby, or something like that. I mean damn, with a little effort this could have actually been a neat idea for an article.
...
Whatever.
I *think* he is being silly, Tofy
Based on his characters that I've seen, I think he's actually speaking truth, lol.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
Hehehe, see, I remember that now, but your post totally flew over my head at first.
Needs more
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
The sad part is that I've met players who held the above belief. It was right next to "Always be neutral because you get screwed otherwise."
The DM's kit. And they're... not great. At all.
Looks like we're waiting til April to see some more items, and that book might not even exist anymore.
Thoughts of a Part-Time Hobbyist - A Wargaming and RPG Blog
No, I was being serious. Tavar was mostly an exception, but the main reason why he was in the group at all was because the Artist murdered his mentor. As for Othagal, understanding his backstory would have explained a lot about his personality during the escape from Tyr. Suffice it to say, almost everyone he cared about betrayed him in the course of about a week, including his own parents.
The article is fine and is something every player should do. It's actually a requirement to play in one of my games. I require at least three enemies and three allies and one stranger connected to another character within the group.
I agree with the structure, and the concept, but I just thought the execution of the article was lacking. It was almost like a copy paste of the descriptions of "friends in TV shows" from TVTropes combined with some lackluster writing to tie them all together.
Concept: solid gold. Requiring some background friends/enemies: awesome. The way the article was written: not my thing.
Web Apps.
They hear it's a growth industry.
What is painful about this is that if they made the web apps GOOD I would happily pay them money. Honestly, between the Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard, Cleric, and Warlord and the current races with the option for second class stat, I'm more than happy with the game as is.
I just wish they produced:
1. Modular adventures on a regular basis, for which they charged either a small per adventure fee or a subscription (I would pay subscription)
2. A good offline character builder with a per character cost or an annual fee (I would just pay annual)
3. Monster builder--the current one, but a little more well-built so it is zippier. I'd pay money for this as well.
4. The current compendium
Honestly, I'd toss them up to 25 bucks a month for all of this, with a discount for annual subscription. It'd be worth it to me to pay as much as 200 a year.
I guess it is moot because I CURRENTLY pay them for an annual subscription, but if they simply did better work I'd pay more--happily.
Only someone got the wrong end of the stick when they were asked "what makes things grow?" so they've been pumping out horseshit for months.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Not that I could convince my playgroup to go for it.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
hehe, going back to 2nd ed combat would be so horrible.
basic attack. roll to hit. maybe roll damage. repeat.
It's not 4E, but it's a far sight better than vanilla 2E.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
works like a dream
also there may be programs that take an image file and do that for you