4E: Massive Skill Challenge update

Take a look at the DMG errata. Whoa.

That’s not small changes there. I was just expecting “knock off the +5 to Skills at the bottom of the chart on pg. 42″ but here there’s massive revisions. I’m glad this happened before I actually started up my campaign. I’m also glad they didn’t just leave it as I figured it’d be the biggest diverging point of play for 4E groups.

It’d be nice if there was a little design discussion about this change, though, since we got so much design theory behind everything else. It’s not as bad as AEG’s “What TN Chart?” gaffe with 3rd edition Legend of the 5 Rings, but still. With changes that big, something, somewhere, went really wrong between “things we design, things we playtest, things we revise, and here’s what ends up in the book”…

I really hope they fix this in the next printing of the books.

ETA: Of course, I also started thinking, “Gee, I hope we don’t go down the road of software, where games are being sent out half done needing patches” but then I remember that this kind of makes up most of the history of the hobby, along with the assumption that people were supposed to fix the rules themselves. (I remember someone berating me for actually following the rules in a trad game- “But you should have known they wouldn’t work” as the defense for me criticizing the game…)

So in light of that, a month turnaround for errata is improvement!

Five Blades of Bahamut: Monsters

The fires of the Gods War no longer burned and Erathis had chained her lovers to her will, and before she left to her Palace of the Stars, she left one last gift to the Naratha Empire- the Ritual of Cleansing. A simple rite to remove the spiritual pollution, negative energy and assure the soul freedom after death.

The Naratha Empire had conquered and brought law to the four corners of the world, so all that remained was a final Ritual of Cleansing, to be undertaken by everyone, at one time, to create the perfect world for once and for all.

Just after the ritual had been completed, strangers and strange people from unknown places poured in an unstoppable wave, destroying Neratha forever. The orcs, goblinoids, kobolds and countless other things that were not man nor beast burned the world under the bloodied eye of Gruumsh.

This is common knowledge.

History 15: These creatures do not build self sufficient societies- you do not come across a group that is farming, fishing, hunting and mind it’s own business, they all live as raiders of some sort.

History 20: No one has ever seen their young. It is unknown how they multiply. And, their remains disappear completely after a year and a day.

Religion 25: These things did not appear before the Ritual of Cleansing. Some rumors say some horrible sin must have been purged letting these creatures into the world and bringing down Neratha.

Arcana 30: These are the manifestations of spiritual pollution which has been cleansed away by the Ritual of Cleansing. Certainly, the souls are freed from the burden, but it remains for the living to deal with. Each type is a different form of pollution - Goblins are evil thoughts, Orcs are evil deeds, Hobgoblins are deeds under Evil Laws, Kobolds are good deeds undone, etc.

(Design note: There’s really only two ways to deal with all the sentients who exist to be slaughtered - you either don’t question it or you have a rather nasty moral quandry about what to do with orc babies. This question might not exist if it were not for the fact that D&D up until at least 2nd edition had “non-combatants” listed in modules… So, my only justification for wholesale slaughter? They don’t have kids, they don’t have families, they are, literally monsters. They are not different than robots or zombies, so much in this way.)

Supplemental Model and Inherent Fragility

It struck me today that the supplemental business model is inherently a fragile design decision.

So if we take the traditional expectation that games are supposed to be long term campaigns, and then look at the fact that supplemental releases are usually at least twice a year (if not more often) AND that you have to test the new rules against the current (growing) body of rules AND that if we’re talking a large company like WOTC, we probably have 2 or 3 rulesets in development simultaneously and not enough time to compare -between them-…

It’s not hard to see why 3E gave us Pun Pun the Infinite Kobold or Magic the Gathering is on what, it’s 10th Edition?

Rpgs have had the saving grace of a GM as a buffer generally. For some things like monsters or magic items, a savvy GM could make sure the players never saw these things if they happened to be a broken set. Other things, like player options are harder, since they often are the most popular rules, players want to use them, and of course, if the designers and playtesters didn’t see the broken combo, what makes you think the average GM is going to see it until it hits the table and causes problems?

Games which were a standalone, static set of rules have more leeway for bad design. If it’s a well designed game, the rules are closed and it’s stable. If there’s broken pieces, the group can identify, change or excise them and then play for years without having to readjust to a constant influx of new rules which could render their changes unnecessary or worse for the balance overall.

(This might also tie in a bit with the retro movement right now- traditional games which were open rulesets are now effectively closed as no new rules are being published for them. Plus they’ve had years of playtesting in the field and most of their design issues are well known at this point.)

This also explains why the whole issue of “dead games” or “unsupported games” which is such a big thing in the tabletop community is a non-issue for say, LARPS, or boardgames. Instead of concerning with a new influx of rules as signs of a game that is alive and strong, you instead look to play and play networks.

It may also be a doorway tabletop games keep narrow- having to stay up on a changing ruleset is a hardcore feature that makes it less accessible and less friendly as an activity to pretty much everyone else.

In the long term, I don’t think the supplemental model for rpgs is going to last as the primary form of our hobby. It’s a lot of work and investment, inconsistent in terms of results for play, and raises the bar for entry and retention. If we do see a roleplaying renaissance, it’s probably going to be in the form of a simple, stable set of rules that hits the combination of fun play, accessible subject matter, and a large enough base to form lasting play networks (an actual license? Unlikely unless it’s an outgrowth of an ARG).

The majority of what makes up tabletop roleplaying right now is analogous to old school wargaming- scattered groups of folks playing, with their own sets of rules to learn, and a relatively high barrier to entry into the social network. Compare that, to say, playing Settlers of Catan at a boardgame night - simple, consistent rules and play experience, and easy low-commitment entry to play.

4E: Mearls on terrain effects

Mike Mearls beats me to the punch and wrote a quick thing on making the environment a fun part of your encounter.

Though he’s pointing it out for Solos, this is really how I figure -every- encounter ought to be (and pretty much how I ran things for Iron Heroes a couple years back). My additional thoughts?

1. Make sure terrain attacks target different defenses, not just AC

2. Some hazards should be ongoing- like a burning house, etc. These then become tactical elements for various push/slide manuevers.

3. Make sure all terrain attacks/hazards are placed either centrally, or in a place (like near a choke point) which is likely to force both PCs and monsters near it. It might be more “realistic” to have something way off to the side, but if you never get next to it, it never really affects the fight.

4. The Law of Jackie Chan - indoor zones can be filled with all kinds of things- furniture, clutter, tools, barrels, chandeliers, fireplaces, stairs, curtains, etc. And these are good because they give creative players a wealth of terrain attacks waiting to happen.

5. Carts! Players love carts. You can use them as moveable cover, you can ram monsters with them, you can pin things to the wall with them, and you can ride them downhill screaming. I swear. Just put carts and inclines in your game and see.

6. Static vs. Moving vs. Moveable.

Static terrain features don’t move. (”Here is a mast, you can spin it around to smack someone”).

Moving Terrain moves around, either at a specific rate and path, or perhaps a random one. (”In this storm, the crate is going to slide around on the boat randomly, doing damage and Bull Rushing whomever it hits. Look out!”)

Moveable terrain is something the players (or monsters) can move around for different effects. (”Burning Cart! Yay!”) If you use moveable terrain, make sure to have a few places it could be useful. Also, since it’ll take up actions to move it around, it better do something cool or worthwhile to make it better than an At-will Power.

7. Point out terrain features the first few times. Until your players start thinking this way, they’ll probably not use it. After all, most rpgs generally tend to punish improvised environmental attacks (”Throw a chair? That’s like -6 to hit and does 1d6 damage? Why would I do that?” “Dude, that was a different game. Here? Chairs do ranged Push when you hit. And he’s standing by the cellar stairs…”)

Monte Cook, D&D, and representation

Don’t listen to me, let the professionals tell you:

It’s not only incorrect to assume that the audience is all white males, but it just makes the issue worse when the artwork only fixates on white males. It’s a self-fulfilling prophesy, in other words.

Addendum:

James Jacobs at Paizo:

Keeping a balance between genders and ethnicities in our characters has actually been a goal for us from the start. In fact, making sure that three of the first four iconics were women was a very conscious decision on my part to turn the standard “Three guys and a gal” makeup of most classic groups on its ear. And including various ethnicities was also a goal from the start as well; even in the adventures themselves we try to mix it up as often as possible so that not every NPC is a white guy. The world we live in isn’t so bland and boring, after all, so why should the worlds we create be bland and boring?