Aberrant Dragonmarked Theme

Hey space cadets! Long time no post, as per usual, but I return triumphant with some new flavorful crunch for all you Eberron fans!

Presenting: The Aberrant Dragonmarked!

AberrantDragonmarked-Theme4e

Clicking the link should let you download a pdf of my new theme for Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. This is designed for the Eberron Campaign Setting, but can be used for other systems with some tweaking.

Inside you will find a brand new theme with powers for all three Aberrant Dragonmarks, and a new background for your character!

If you have any questions, comments or critiques please let me know!

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Aberrant Dragonmarked Theme by Tony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.wizards.com/dnd.

Eberron was created by Keith Baker.

Trolls Will Be Trolls 4e – Part 4

Hey there space cadets! This is Part 4 in a series of posts where I share my conversion of Heron Prior’s Trolls Will Be Trolls One-Page Dungeon to 4th edition. I strongly recommend you all take a look at that link, as it’s a very cool dungeon! It will also give context to the encounters below.

You can find Part 1 here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.

Each part in the series will detail my specific monsters and encounter layout for the different rooms in the dungeon. Any specific treasure will be noted; otherwise, it’s up to the DM to determine how many (if any) treasure parcels are found in each location.

I hope you guys enjoy these write ups, and if you use them please let me know how it went!

Note: savvy readers will notice that I seem to have skipped area 4! This is because there are no monsters in the Cistern (by default). See the original pdf for more info!

Area 5: The Drinking Room

Setup

The Drinking Room is accessible via stairs up from the cistern area, or by one of two long tunnels from the Reeking Dens. It is a simple open cavern featuring a stone table, a chicken coop, and a volatile looking still.

A Giant Fanged Troll is chomping down on some live chickens from a pen in this room, while two Half-Trolls and a Devil-Troll with thorny skin play dice in a corner.

If Vulture’s Crag is on alert, the room is empty save for the Giant Fanged Troll who was left here as a rear guard.

If the party has made a lot of unusual noise (spells, etc) fighting in the Upper Guardroom, the trolls here are wary and are watching all the entrances, ready to attack.

If they smell burning flesh (say from fire being applied to downed trolls in order to keep them down), one of the Half-Trolls has gone done the hallway to area 6 in order to warn Stencheye that something is wrong. Give the trolls perception checks (hard DC equal to party level) in order to notice the smell.

Tactics

If attacked, or if they are on alert, the trolls in this room will fight the PCs. TheGiant Fanged Troll moves in to engage as many of the PCs as possible, using Sweeping Claws and focusing its grabs on the squishiest looking target. If the opportunity presents itself, the troll will attempt to throw PCs into the cistern; treat as a bull rush (+15 vs fort).

The Devil-Troll moves around the perimeter of battle, using Snatch and Grab to separate weak looking PCs from the group (particularly leaders or controllers).

The two Half-Trolls start out with ranged attacks, but move into melee if engaged, grabbing halberds.

If the fight starts going south for the trolls (all trolls are bloodied, the Giant Fanged Troll is killed, etc) one of the Half-Trolls attempts to break off from the fight to run and warn Stencheye. If no half-troll is able to do so, the Devil-Troll (if still alive) will use Thorny Movement to escape and warn the others.

Features of the Room

• Dim illumination throughout the main room via some light from the chimney in area 4 during the day and fires from the still. At night, the trolls light candles.
• Cistern Edge: all squares bordering the edge of the cliff leading down to the cistern are treacherous. Any medium creature who takes damage while in one of these squares must make an Acrobatics check (easy DC) or fall into the cistern.
• The still is a safety hazard under the best conditions. Any close or area attack that includes the still risks detonating the volatile moonshine brewing inside. Have the still make a saving throw each time it is subject to such an attack; on a failed save it explodes (close burst 3, +13 vs Ref, 2d10 fire damage and ongoing 5 fire, save ends)
• A big wooden hutch contains a number of live chickens who live in constant fear of the Giant Fanged Troll. If the hutch is damaged or the chickens are released, they burst out in a swarm of clucking and flying feathers. All creatures within 2 squares of the hutch when this happens grant combat advantage until the end of their next turn.
• Treasure: 3 jugs of Troll Moonshine (treat as Alchemists Acid (see Compendium)) and one treasure parcel worth of coinage on the stone table.

Combatants

Notes

Caves of Carnage is a good set of dungeon tiles to use here, if you have them.

Click to access Heron%20Prior%20%E2%80%93%20Trolls%20will%20be%20Trolls.pdf

Trolls Will Be Trolls 4e – Part 3

Hey there space cadets! This is Part 3 in a series of posts where I share my conversion of Heron Prior’s Trolls Will Be Trolls One-Page Dungeon to 4th edition. I strongly recommend you all take a look at that link, as it’s a very cool dungeon! It will also give context to the encounters below.

You can find Part 1 here. Part 2 is here.

Each part in the series will detail my specific monsters and encounter layout for the different rooms in the dungeon. Any specific treasure will be noted; otherwise, it’s up to the DM to determine how many (if any) treasure parcels are found in each location.

I hope you guys enjoy these write ups, and if you use them please let me know how it went!

Area 3: The Grisly Larder

Setup

Meat Hacker Yog, a Hill Giant with the head of a hog (result of a Faerie curse), butchers a horse in this disgusting kitchen. Two Trolls assist him. A Dire Boar snorts and snuffles through a pile of offal nearby. See Heron Prior _ Trolls will be Trolls for specifics.

Tactics

Meat Hacker Yog (see below) gibbers and slobbers in Giant for his troll assistants to attack. While the troll’s engage in melee, Yog grabs an arbalest and rains fire down from afar. The dire boar charges the softest looking target, hoping to knock it prone and tear into it with his tusks.

If Yog is engaged in melee, he tosses down his crossbow and lays into foes with is cleaver, gibbering in Giant all the while. Anyone who can speak Giant hears him yell lines like: “Fresh meat for the larder!” and “Cook me a [insert player race here] stew!” or “Yog hack the limbs from your body, suck the marrow from your bones!”

The trolls will flee down the notched log to room 7 or, if they can, back up the passage to room 2 to summon help if reduced below 20 HP, or if they are bloodied and the party is using acid or fire attacks. The boar will flee if bloodied unless backed into a corner, in which case it fights to the death. Yog fights to the death.

 

Features of the Room

• Dim illumination throughout the main room via the fire pit.
• Stiff, uncured hides form a screen between the larder and Area 2. Moving through the hides costs an extra square of movement.
• The cook pot can tipped over onto combatants; make a strength check (Hard DC). If successful, the pot is tipped. Make the following attack: Close Blast 3, creatures in blast; +13 vs Ref for 2d10 fire damage plus ongoing 5 fire damage (save ends).
• A large wooden cage holds two humanoids, other adventurers who attempted to deal with the trolls of Vulture’s Crag. One has a severed leg, and is delirious and incoherent from fever; the other cannot fight due to a broken collar bone but can provide intel if rescued.

Combatants

Regular trolls can be found in the Compendium, here. They have been reprinted in the Monster Vault, and can be found in the Monster Manual (although I recommend updating them to the new Monster Manual 3 math. See this link for how to do so).

Notes

Caves of Carnage is a good set of dungeon tiles to use here, if you have them, along with Halls of the Giant Kings. The Dire Boar has been leveled up to 11 from it’s normal level of 6, and its damage increased as well.

My 4e House Rules

Recently, over at Chronicles of a Game Master, we talked about house rules. It got me thinking, and I finally wrote down my existing and planned house rules. I’m sharing it with you fine folks so that you may benefit from my genius. Or something.

I particularly like the Alchemical Item rules, but I think they’re a bit rough; hit me up if you have comments/critiques/suggestions!

ON WITH THE SHOW!

Ability Generation:

Standard Point Buy.

Alchemical items:

The following rules apply:

Alchemical items now fall under a new proficiency category: Splash Weapons. Splash Weapons have a no proficiency bonus to attack, and do not count as weapons OR implements for the purposes of powers or feats. All classes are considered proficient with Splash Weapons.

If you have the Alchemist feat, you gain a +1/tier feat bonus on attacks with Splash Weapons.

In the item description, get rid of all +X vs Defense numbers; use your highest ability modifier to attack vs the defense specified (fort, ref or will). Area, effects, etc remain the same; damage is now 1dX per “Plus” of the item.

Example:

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Alchemist’s Essence Level 1+ Common

When this flask is shattered, its contents fill an area with a deadly distilled element.

Lvl 1		20 gp		Lvl 16		1,800 gp
Lvl 6		75 gp		Lvl 21		9,000 gp
Lvl 11		350 gp		Lvl 26		45,000 gp

Alchemical Item: Volatile Formula Cost: 70 gp
Key Skill: Arcana or Thievery Time: 30 min.
Special: When this item is created, the alchemist chooses acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. The item gains that keyword, and all damage dealt by the item is of that damage type.

Attack Power (Splash Weapon, Varies) Consumable (Standard Action)
Attack: Area burst 1 within 10 (creatures in the burst); highest ability modifier vs. Reflex
Hit: The target takes 1d6 damage of the chosen type.
Level 6: 2d6 damage of the chosen type.
Level 11: 3d6 damage of the chosen type.
Level 16: 4d6 damage of the chosen type.
Level 21: 5d6 damage of the chosen type.
Level 26: 6d6 damage of the chosen type.
Miss: Half damage.

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Goal: this is a bit rough, but the idea is to make Alchemy more practical and effective. Note that since Alchemical items are now Splash Weapons, the enhancement bonus from the Inherent Bonus system apply, which should keep accuracy where it needs to be.

Backgrounds and Themes:

You may select one Theme at character creation.

You may select any number of backgrounds, but you only receive the benefit of one of them.

Your theme and backgrounds should mesh. Use this as a way of establishing your character’s backstory and relationship with the world.

Custom themes are allowed, see me if you wish to create/modify a theme.

I reserve the right to modify or deny a theme if it doesn’t fit the campaign setting or story.

Bonus Feats:

All characters receive Versatile Expertise TWICE for free at level 1. This should cover a decent range or ALL proficiencies the character has, allowing you to be effective with a range of magic weapons/implements (in case you don’t get exactly what you want). This is mostly for the character builder’s benefit.

At 11th level, you receive Paragon Defenses for free.
At 21st level, replace Paragon Defenses with Robust Defenses.

Int 15+: receive Linguist free.

Logic: the idea here is to cover for a math error in the rules (players end up about 3 points shy of where they should be, attack bonus wise, over the course of the game; and player defenses end up a bit too low to be any use against monster attacks) w/out making the players sacrifice feats for it. Since all the players I know would take these feats if they didn’t get them anyway, it seems reasonable to give them out for free and open up some space for something more interesting.

Note that I didn’t just say “Free Expertise Feat.” The Essentials line (with Heroes of the Fallen Kingdoms, I think) started introducing expertise feats that had an additional benefit (such as ignoring all cover) on top of the math patch. These feats are strong enough to survive on their own sans +to hit, so I think it’s a bit too powerful to give them out for free (especially since the idea here is to cover for a math error).  Players can still take them if they want and get the benefit with that specific weapon/implement group.

Free Linguist at Int 15+ is a nod at 3rd edition (where you got bonus languages based on Intelligence). Besides, who takes Linguist?

Free cookie to anyone who has actually taken this feat for a character.

Dice Rolls:

All rolls of the dice must be made on the table (if playing in person). Any dice that rolls off the table must be re-rolled. Any dice that rolls onto a “crack” or otherwise does not end up flat must be re-rolled.

GM Dice Rolls: players decide before game starts if the I roll the dice behind a screen or out in the open. This decision can be changed down the line if a majority of players wish it so. If I am rolling behind a screen I reserve the right to “fudge” rolls as I see fit.

Special Exceptions: Unless specifically voted otherwise, some rolls will be made by me and ALWAYS be made behind the screen (sense motive, disguise, forgery checks, bluffs, some perception rolls, etc). This is to prevent metagaming (not because it’s “cheating” but because it can break immersion or kill the tension).

Inherent Bonuses:

As per the DMG2/Dark Sun. Gist: characters receive inherent bonuses to attack/defense at set levels; magic items are thus not necessary to keep pace.

Racial/Theme Powers:

Any power without an implement or weapon keyword and that has +2/+4/+6 listed for attack bonuses now lists +3/+6/+9 instead.

Reason: along with the free expertise feats, this is designed to bring the game math in line with “projected” numbers, keeping everything at the right accuracy. Since these powers don’t get feat bonuses from expertise feats, the math has to be adjusted.

Magic Items:

No restriction on Daily Magic Item use. Each item can still only be used once before your next extended rest, but you can use 5 separate items in one day if you want (and if you have 5 items with daily activations).

Sources Allowed:

Anything in the Compendium is allowed. If you prefer a non-errated version of a power or class or ability, talk to me; I have a lot of the books.

Example: you prefer the pre-Essentials Magic Missile power; I’m fine with that.

Logic: my players like options, and I like variety 🙂 I also don’t always agree with the errata bat.

So there you have it! My house rules for 4e. Pretty basic stuff, really, and I’m curious to see how it stacks up all together in game. I’m also curious to know if any of the space cadets out there have used any of these rules, and care to share their experiences. Comment below!

Note: Alchemists Essence ©Wizards of the Coast 2011, from the book Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium.

Trolls Will Be Trolls 4e – Part 2

Hey there space cadets! This is Part 2 in a series of posts where I share my conversion of Heron Prior’s Trolls Will Be Trolls One-Page Dungeon to 4th edition. I strongly recommend you all take a look at that link, as it’s a very cool dungeon! It will also give context to the encounters below.

You can find Part 1 here.

Each part in the series will detail my specific monsters and encounter layout for the different rooms in the dungeon. Any specific treasure will be noted; otherwise, it’s up to the DM to determine how many (if any) treasure parcels are found in each location.

I hope you guys enjoy these write ups, and if you use them please let me know how it went!

Area 2: Upper Guardroom

Setup

If the players came in via the front entrance (encountering Kelgg the Gatekeeper along the way), they will follow the tunnel up into a huge open space. Cracks in the ceiling provide dim light, which illuminates an odd scene.

One troll staggers around the room or slumps against a wall, singing a horrific song in a drunken slur (characters who speak Giant can get the gist of it, which is unpleasant to say the least). Three half-trolls (two are short and square with knobbly green skin and beards of lichen, the other has tusks and is a mottled brownish color reminiscent of an ogre) are playing a game of horseshoes, their ears plugged with cloth. A large cave bear sits  in a corner, chewing on bones.

Players with good perception checks (and low-light vision) may notice two other trolls arguing with each other in a small cave connected to the main room. An eye-watering stench of urine and fecal matter wafts from the cave, tainting the room.

There are three methods of egress from the Upper Guardroom; the main entrance, a tunnel to the north which leads to Area 4, and a tunnel to the west that leads down to Area 3.

The trolls here will not attack on sight unless the PCs have drawn weapons. It’s not uncommon to see strangers of a variety of races come into Vulture’s Crag on business with Stencheye. The drunken troll will, however, engage the PCs and demand to know why they are here if they progress into the room. Failed bluff checks will lead to combat with the drunk troll (the half-trolls will join in); the two trolls in the cave will join in if they hear/see spells being cast (arcane, divine, elemental, primal, psionic, etc). Alternately, if the fight is going well for the PCs one of the half-troll’s will try to summon the two trolls from the cave to help.

Tactics

The drunken troll rushes into combat against the nearest enemy and attacks until that person is dead or not moving, then moves to the next closest person. The drunk troll fights to the death.

The half-troll warriors stay back and use their Poison Arrow attacks against mobile or unarmored PCs, and then move in to take them down.

The two trolls from the caves, if they engage, will move into melee and attempt to take down the nearer targets. They use simple tactics, trusting that their regeneration will keep them up against their foes.

If the party starts throwing around fire or acid, the trolls will first try to kill that player as fast as possible; if prevented from doing so, they will run if bloodied.

Running trolls will alert the rest of Vulture’s Crag, putting the whole place on alert.

Features of the Room

• Dim illumination throughout the main room via cracks in the ceiling (no illumination at night).
• The small cave has a couple torches in sconces on the wall, shedding dim light.
• The stink coming from the small cave is really powerful; any non-troll standing in or within 3 squares of the cave takes a -2 penalty to all defenses.
• Blood has been spilled in this room many times; some of the rock has absorbed enough that it is now bloodrock. Any creature standing on a square of bloodrock scores a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

Combatants

Regular trolls can be found in the Compendium, here. They have been reprinted in the Monster Vault, and can be found in the Monster Manual (although I recommend updating them to the new Monster Manual 3 math. See this link for how to do so).

Notes

Caves of Carnage is a good set of dungeon tiles to use here, if you have them. The drunk troll has the same stats as a normal troll with the following additional trait:

Drunk: this creature grants combat advantage to its foes, and starts combat with 20 temp HP.

Trolls Will Be Trolls 4e – Part 1

Hey there space cadets! This is the first in a series of posts where I share my conversion of Heron Prior’s Trolls Will Be Trolls One-Page Dungeon for 4th edition. I strongly recommend you all take a look at the first link, as it’s a very cool dungeon! It will also give context to the encounters below. 🙂

Each part in the series will detail my specific monsters and encounter layout for the different rooms in the dungeon. Any specific treasure will be noted; otherwise, it’s up to the DM to determine how many (if any) treasure parcels are found in each location.

I hope you guys enjoy these write ups, and if you use them please let me know how it went!

Area 1: Treacherous Ascent

Setup

The common entrance into Vulture’s Crag is an opening along one wall of the mesa, accessible via a narrow path. The path is wide enough to travel safely, and it rises to 50 feet above the tar pits by the entrance.

Inside is a tunnel extends upwards about 100 feet, rising at a steep 30° angle. The floor is uneven and littered with loose stones, gravel and bones. A few torches sputter and flicker in sconces fixed to the walls. At the top of the climb, the tunnel widens out slightly into a natural platform before veering right and continuing another 50 feet into an enormous chamber (2, the Upper Guardroom).

This platform is home to Kelgg, a giant two-headed troll, and his pet constrictor snake Betty. Kelgg isn’t very bright, but at least one of his two heads is alert at all times. Kelgg has a crush on Stencheye, and guards the entrance with his life. He will not flee and he will not call for help, through a combination of dimness, stubbornness and pride. He spends most of his time here, eating scraps stolen from the kitchen that he cooks until lukewarm over a large fire, and sleeping in a pile of filthy furs. Occasionally Kelgg demands livestock from raiding parties returning from attacks into the surrounding area, which he feeds whole to his pet snake.

When the PCs first come into the cave, they see a huge silhouette at the top of the tunnel. Kelgg defaults to a passive perception of 22 unless the party has put trolls in Vulture’s Crag on alert, in which case he rolls his check. One of his heads will demand to know who the PCs are, and his other head demands to know what they want. Kelgg can be reasoned with, and is easy to Bluff. However, he only speaks Giant; if none of the PCs speak the language they take a -10 on Diplomacy or Bluff checks against Kelgg. If he senses that the PCs are up to no good, he will attack immediately; additionally, if Stencheye orders him to stop anyone entering the caves (because, say, she got wind of a bounty on her head or learned that the PCs have been asking around about Vulture’s Crag), he will attack on sight.

Tactics

Kelgg tends to argue with himself a lot, but despite this he is a fearsome combatant. At the start of combat he will kick boulders down on the party (see Boulder terrain power, below); if the PCs start to close with him, he tosses Betty at a soft looking target (a standard action) and starts laying into the party with Rending Claws. His goal is to prevent anyone from getting past him, either by killing them or driving them away.

If the party turns and runs, he will chase them to the entrance and attempt to bull rush PCs into the tar pits below, laughing all the while. He does not pursue down the narrow path.

He has a particular fondness for Betty; if she is killed in combat, he will attack the PC who killed her unrelentingly, even if it is not tactically advantageous to do so, sobbing his woe for his slain pet in giant.

Betty, once she enters combat, attacks the weakest looking party member (lowest strength, or lightest armor), using Bite and Snake’s Swiftness if it hits, following that up immediately with an action point for either another bite attempt or another use of Constrict. She will keep attacking her target until it is dead, at which point she moves to another moving target. Any PC who dies and is left behind is eaten within 6 hours; it takes 48 hours to be fully digested, however, so if Betty is killed before that point the PCs body can be recovered and subsequently Raised.

Features of the Room

• Three boulders (see Boulder terrain power, below) sit at the top of the slope.
• The torches cast dim light in the tunnel, and Kelgg’s fire sheds bright light throughout his home.
• The tunnel is considered difficult terrain; any PC who falls prone must make a saving throw or slide 1d6 squares towards the entrance.
• Stalagmites grant cover.
• The following terrain power can be used by any creature adjacent to a boulder:

Combatants

GM Notes

This combat can be absolutely brutal. Kelgg has the ability to do 66 points of damage with a single attack (Awesome Blow, rolling max or a crit), and his default attack is nothing to be sneezed at, either. Betty is very dangerous to single targets and can lock them down. Add to that the boulders, the steep, long ascent, and the fact that Kelgg can go twice each round … well, this could get ugly.

A couple things to be aware of:

As written, Betty could always use bite while she has someone grabbed and hope to follow it up with a recharged Snake’s Swiftness (and subsequent Constrict attack). If you want to tone things down, have her only Constrict while she has someone grabbed and save the Snake’s Swiftness for when she’s trying to get a new target (or re-grab an old one).

You can get rid of the difficult terrain on the slope (but keep the sliding if you fall prone, that adds some interesting tactical stuff on both sides). That way the PCs can get to Kelgg faster.

If the PCs retreat, note that there are two other entrances into the dungeon (notably the chimney in area 4), that might let them sneak past Kelgg entirely.

Finally, if Kelgg is killed, the following day Stencheye has three trolls take his place (and maybe a devil-troll as well); pull them from other areas.

Ahead, the hallway splits …

Today, Wizards of the Coast officially announced the development of the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons.

According to Mike Mearls, Wizards will be developing 5e with a large amount of player input, via playtesting and (I would assume) crowdsourcing ideas. Monte Cook (one of the designers instrumental in the creation of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition) has been brought back into the fold and will be working with the rest of the team at WotC on the new edition.

Fourth Edition was released in 2008. It’s still a baby, all of three years old (coming up on four). It tried some very radical things, many were successful, many were not. It has grown and seen changes and radical shifts in it’s own design philosophy over a tumultuous run, bogged down by a huge glut of content, mis-managed digital tools, and ineffective PR (which lead to a schism in the fanbase). Yet it remains quite fun and very good at a handling dungeon delving and adventuring, delivering very balanced classes and three distinct, enjoyable tiers of play.

And now, it would appear that in lieu of another “3.5-esq” release (patching up the holes in the current system), Wizards is going to go back to the source code and try again.

At Greendale Community College, they have concerns.

What does this mean for us, the gaming community? A lot, I should think.

First, 4e was designed in-house and under wraps over a fairly long period of time. 5e will be far more open (theoretically). There really is no substitute for volume when it comes to playtesting, but my fear is that good ideas may get crushed (or never voiced) under the collective weight of all those involved. And, I think it is fair to say that committees have a tendency to be ineffectual, and if your committee is the internet (or at least the portion of it devoted to D&D) … you see my point. It could be disastrous.

Still, having a feel for what your customers WANT during the development stages and keeping the public involved throughout should go a LONG way towards making this easier for people to swallow. And from a purely business standpoint that’s a good thing.

Second, 4e was not released under an Open Gaming License the way 3rd edition was (and Pathfinder is now). This limited development of rules and classes and extra crunch from third party developers, presumably because Wizard’s didn’t want the competition, especially given the aggressive release cycle seen at the games inception. But given the success Paizo has had with Pathfinder, despite the fact that practically EVERYTHING rules-related they publish is available for free (here), I think Wizard’s would be wise to return to that model. It encourages 3rd party support, which helps bring new customers to the core game, and supports the industry as a whole. And given the fact that they are developing this in a more open way, I think there is a good shot of the new edition having an OGL.

Third, 5e runs the risk of creating yet ANOTHER divide in the community. As I said above, 4th edition is a baby. There are STILL people who are outraged about the changes they made from 3rd edition; these wounds run deep. Creating another new edition (especially if it’s drastically different from 4e) could re-open old wounds or create new ones. That causes issues with sales, and hurts the organized play aspects of the game. Remember, even though there was a nasty schism at launch, 4e has a vibrant fan base. You can see it at conventions and it game stores, in weekly D&D Encounters, Living Forgotten Realms, and other organized (and home) games. The board games (Legend of Drizzt, Castle Ravenloft, etc) that have come out run a rules-light version of the 4e system, another potential avenue for getting people into the pen and paper core set. But with another edition on the horizon, however far off, all of the work done on 4e may be for naught; or worse, we may see a split, where the fans of 4e don’t adopt and purchase the new books for the new edition, because they don’t like it or they feel like Wizard’s abandoned a good game that was still fixable in favor of … something else.

Given some of the PR blunders WotC has made during 4e’s run, and the issues facing brick and mortar stores and the book publishing (and table top gaming!) industry moving forward, the risk of alienating the fan-base while trying to stay afloat in uncertain times might be a death knell for this game. This is a bit dramatic, but I do think it will take more than new rules for killing orcs with your buddies (or toppling governments or rescuing princes or whatever your group gets up to) to keep Wizard’s viable.

A Pathfinder fan and a 4e fan walk into a bar ...

So, what can they do?

The open playtest is a good start. Despite my trepidations, I think this will be better in the long (and short) run than keeping everything tightly under wraps. The playtest articles for the Barbarian and other 4e classes worked well, I think, and helped create better content; hopefully the same will hold true here.

Next, they need to focus on the digital side of things from the get-go. PDFs (with free updates as errata comes out; updates of the actual PDF, not just an errata sheet!) for sale along with (or even in lieu of) hardcover or paperback books should help keep costs down, and create a lower barrier for entry. An OGL would lower it even more, of course. And the character builder + adventure tools + compendium + other digital resources for players and GMs alike are a must. Make those subscriptions worthwhile by giving us working, well tested, robust tools that allow us to use the game as written or modify it as we like. The ability to create custom powers (or feats or spells or whatever we end up getting) and then share it and use it with the digital tools provided by WotC will make them much more attractive.

Finally, the focus needs to shift from crunch to fluff. Yes, lots of GMs will come up with their own fluff; true. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t see a second Monster Manual; rather, I think you can sell more books if you create content that ties people into the worlds you create. Wizards still owns the license on the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, and more; these are iconic settings, each geared for different styles of play, and I think focusing on THAT rather than the umpteenth iteration of a goblin is the way to go. If you want to make another goblin, don’t make “generic adjective+goblin number five,” make “Ruthpa, Lieutenant of the Reborn Empire” instead. Give players and GMs alike hooks to use your content in the stories we tell! Give monsters ecology information again! Tell is what they are and how they fit into a fantasy world! We know we can change it if we want to, but sometimes a GM just needs to know what a party is likely to encounter when travelling in a forest, and what it would be up to when they do encounter it.

The same goes for players. Sure, that new power might give me a cool effect (dazing and a slide, say); but what does that MEAN? How does it work? Help me visualize and contextualize what my character is doing!

Finally, WotC should take a page from Paizo’s book and focus on producing better adventures. New crunch is nice but not everyone wants it or will use it; a new adventure path, or a dungeon delve, or a short encounter, or a sweet skill challenge can all be used by any GM pinched for time or content. Dungeon and Dragon magazine are a perfect place for this, and we’ve already seen WotC doing this with 4e; what I’m encouraging is more focus on the story and world-building aspects of these adventures. Give GMs and players a bit more credit; we’re not playing an MMO, the computer does that better. We’re playing in a reactive world, so the adventures and encounters you design should reflect that.

There is opportunity, here; but it is fraught with peril. Much like the dungeons to which this game is tied, there are unknown dangers around every turn, and pitfalls for the unwary. But if we prepare, and don’t split the party, and focus on why we’re here … we may all get the treasure.

-CJ