In Search of Strongholds, Part 5: Hirelings, Soldiers, and Wages

I know it has been forever since I posted anything in this series, and I apologize. I was compelled to finish the first issue of my zine 4e Forever, and it of course took waaaaay longer than I would have guessed. That said, a day has not really gone by that I haven't thought about stronghold rules. You can check out the earlier installments at these links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

I had contemplated doing an entirely new list of mundane gear in order to fit the new "economy" I am working with. I say new economy, but what it really amounts to is throwing 4e's "expected wealth per level" in the trashcan. I added random treasure tables, with lair treasures being the mother lode, the source of fabulous wealth. As I researched different prices of mundane gear over multiple editions, I started to realize that every edition is pretty much in line with the prices. There is a little variance, but overall they are pretty close. The biggest difference is with things like armor; old editions priced plate armor out of reach of low level PCs as a balancing factor, whereas with 4e, characters can afford plate at level 1, but they cannot all benefit from it. I was going to have to use the 4e prices for weapons and armor anyway, so the fact that the rest of the prices were in the same ballpark meant that I really didn't need to make new gear lists after all. It would have been a lot of work for nothing.

All of that aside, I still needed to nail down wage rates for hirelings. You cannot run a stronghold without them. You need staff to maintain the property, not to mention to support and supervise your armed forces. Your soldiers, of course, are also hirelings in and of themselves. If you have not already, you can read the current hireling rules in 4e Forever #1 in the Grimoire. I provided the basic "formula" for hireling wages: 2gp x hireling level = their daily wage. That said, to go any further we must talk a little bit about how hirelings and levels are defined.

First of all, none of the numbers you are going to see represent real history or medieval demographics. I try to maintain an internal logic and consistency, but I am not a scholar and do not purport to be. I do not personally care if stuff in my fantasy game matches up exactly with real life. I am trying to use simple formulas and concepts (such as "hireling level") to make rules that are easy to use. So, every number or gp total you see may not feel "realistic" to you. If that is a crucial factor, these may not be the stronghold rules you are looking for.

Second, hirelings and soldiers need to be differentiated. Soldier wages (but not their leadership's) are much lower than typical hirelings. This is for several reasons. The main ones are that their supplies, armor, weapons, food, and lodging are all provided to them. There are also many of them, so in the same way that buying in bulk might save you or me some money at a grocery store, the costs for your soldiers are also lowered as the costs are spread amongst many. There are also many "one-time" costs; you don't need to repeatedly buy a barracks, for example. Low-level "grunt" soldiers may also be less skilled, illiterate, be former criminals and/or mercenaries, or any other balancing factor that you need to justify it.

Wages per day are provided below, with wages per month extrapolated from them. You might have a campaign world that does not use months, or has a weird calendar, or what have you. I am assuming 30-day months with 12-month years. You can use the daily wage to set your own wages or use an optional rule that smooths everything over, albeit at the risk of losing a bit of "realism": most hirelings require a "monthly" wage for any services that take two "weeks" or more. So if you are hiring someone for 15 days or 30 days, it is the same wage. If you have 40 day months, you could still use the "monthly" pay rate. This will allow most DMs to use the same prices/rules even if their calendars are different.

Ok, so we talked before a little bit about how hireling levels work. They are based on the rarity of their skills as well as whether they are in a supervisory role. Thus, an Alchemist is of higher level than a Fletcher, and a Sergeant would make less than his Captain. The levels may feel arbitrary in and of themselves; they only have meaning when they are compared against each other.

So here is a breakdown of hireling wages. These do not apply to your standard soldiers (i.e. artillery, cavalry, etc) but they do apply to military leaders. As noted in the Grimoire, hirelings have a level cap of 10. They do not typically accompany PCs on adventures; that is the purview of henchmen. Soldiers do engage in mass combat, and they will be integrated into the Scalemail mass combat system for 4e Forever (see issue #1) eventually. A sage's wages should be set based on how rare their purview of knowledge is within the setting. For example, in Serd (see 4e Forever issue #1), any sage with information about the location of ancient ruins would be very well paid (Level 10).  Typical hireling occupations are listed; if you utilize a hireling with an occupation or skill that is not listed, use whatever level makes the most sense to you based on the wages of those that are. Also remember that common laborers are not hirelings, and they are not paid according to these tables.

Hireling Wage in GP by Day/Month
Level 1-2/60
Level 2-4/120
Level 3-6/180
Level 4-8/240
Level 5-10/300
Level 6-12/360
Level 7-14/420
Level 8-16/480
Level 9-18/540
Level 10-20/600

Hirelings by Level
Level 1-Scribe, Pack Handler, Chef/Baker, Minstrel
Level 2-Blacksmith, Tailor/Weaver, Tanner, Potter, Furrier, Vintner
Level 3-Armorer, Fletcher/Bowyer, Weaponer, Sergeant
Level 4-Gemcutter, Lieutenant, Animal Trainer
Level 5-Captain
Level 6-Engineer (Architect), Barrister
Level 7-Spy/Assassin (hired by the month only)
Level 8-Sage (varies)
Level 9-Sage (varies), Astrologer
Level 10-Sage (varies), Alchemist, Apothecary

Soldiers
Soldiers are all paid 5gp each per game month, or 60gp per year. Soldiers are never hired by the day. For simplicity's sake, I do not differentiate between different types of soldier in order to determine their wage.

In the next installment of this series, I will lay out the costs of constructing a stronghold and the minimum staff needed to maintain it. This will include the military leadership needed to supervise varying totals of soldiers, and notes on building your own army within the Scalemail system.

***I am still looking for submissions for 4e Forever #2!!! If you want to contribute artwork, cartography, or an article, PLEASE feel free to contact me at frothsof@gmail.com

Dungeons and Cthulhu

Though Dungeons and Dragons will always be my first love, a close second is Chaosium's classic horror RPG, Call of Cthulhu. Although these games are distinct and have many differences, there are still some ideas from CoC that you can port right over to your D&D game. Lets take a look at some ideas.

CoC-ESQUE CLUES IN SANDBOX PLAY

One of my favorite adventures of all time is Masks of Nyarlathotep. I cannot say too much about it because I will be running it soon for my home group. The reason I bring it up is that it is in a "sandbox" style; players can follow clues literally to all corners of the world, and it doesn't matter in which order they pursue them. Some are related, some aren't. Each chapter presents a little table of the clues in that chapter, and where they lead. That is the part I want to focus on.

Some DMs aren't ready to run a true "do what thou wilt" sandbox, or they simply don't want to do that in the first place. A DM sometimes makes a "pseudo-sandbox", where they have prepared several scenarios or adventures, and the players basically choose which one they pursue. It feels like a sandbox to the players, but it is actually under DM control. Other times, the DM has a specific adventure or scenario he/she wants the players to play, and all roads point there.

Whichever your style, consider using a "clue drop" to give your players options. In Masks of Nyarlathotep, investigators might discover 4 or 5 seemingly unrelated clues at once. They then have the freedom which to follow now and which to follow later. There are innumerable ways to do this. Maybe they find several disparate leads in the pockets of an assassinated lord. Maybe they return to collect a fee for a deed, and the benefactor's house is burned to the ground, with just a few smoldering clues. Clues could lead them to the ends of your "earth", to remote libraries, shady traders in dangerous port cities, or to dangerous ritual magic. Think of a few locales and scenarios that you think will be fun for both you and your players, and then drop a few clues leading there. Those apparently unrelated clues could eventually fit together into a complex plot line.


INSANITY

Ah, insanity. Perhaps the most ground-breaking mechanic of CoC. For the uninitiated, Cthulhu investigators slowly (and sometimes rapidly) go insane. It is really just a matter of time, as the more crazy stuff they discover, the more sanity they lose. Fun stuff. The Ravenloft campaign setting of 2e "stole" this a little bit, and added its own twist to it. I am suggesting using a totally simplified version.

Basically, if a PC encounters something truly weird, alien, and horrifying, you might check their sanity. In D&D terms, seeing creatures from the Far Realm or the Abyss might qualify for sanity checks. Have a PC roll a saving throw. On a failure, the PC might suffer some slight effect...at first. They might automatically miss their next attack roll, be stunned temporarily or immobilized, be forced to run a few feet in terror, etc. PCs will only have to make a check once per creature or group of creatures. If they fail numerous sanity rolls over a short period of time (multiple encounters), they might have a more permanent insanity or disorder. You can get funny or stark with this depending in the tone of your campaign. They could maybe develop something as silly as a fear of dwarves, or something as depraved as fecalphilia.

ATTRACTING THE ATTENTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

In CoC, the investigators might be armed to the teeth, but treating 1920's New England like the wild west is going to quickly draw the attention of local police. Consider making certain towns and cities in your milieu to be very anti-weapon/violence. Maybe PCs cannot even wear armor. This immediately adds an interesting pressure to the PCs; maybe they have no problem tracking down a villain, but with the risk of attracting 100 soldiers or constables, they have to get creative with how to take the villain down. Not every town appreciates having the hell blown out of it by adventurers.

DARK RITUALS

In CoC, using spells and magic gradually drains an investigator's sanity. It also costs "magic points", which are derived from an investigator's "power" or force of will. To keep this simple in D&D without requiring a lot of mechanics, consider dropping a few powerful ritual scrolls in a treasure parcel. While the power might be tantalizing, what the players do not realize is that the power comes with a price. Casting the spell might prompt a sanity save, and failure could cause temporary insanity, possession or whatever else you can think of.

UNKILLABLE FOES

One of the first things you learn playing CoC is that you stand no chance in hell of taking on a Great Old One with your little pea-shooters. It is best to run as fast as you can, but if you have already seen the entity, it may already be too late. I have talked before about players' sense of invulnerability, primarily in later editions of D&D. Fleeing an encounter is a completely foreign concept for many D&D adventuring groups. On rare occasions, consider presenting the PCs with a truly unkillable foe. This helps them keep perspective about their place in your multiverse.








OTHER IDEAS

Other ideas you can port into your D&D game from CoC include conspiratorial adventures, encouraging research (libraries, government records), and perhaps even designing your own Cthulhu-related themes (Professor, Antiquarian, Private Investigator).

CONCLUSION AND UPDATES

I hope you got a few ideas from this article. Those of you still waiting on the conclusion of my stronghold rules, I have made progress but I am still not done perfecting the costs and construction formulas. I am, sad to say, not the fastest writer in the world. It will be done eventually. For those that have followed me in anticipation of my 4e fanzine, I swear I am getting close. I am waiting on some material from others, maps, illustrations and the like, and as they are being provided free, as favors, I am just letting everyone take their time. It has blossomed to over 150 pages, and it will be worth the wait in my estimation.

At any rate, I hope everyone has a good weekend. If you have any ideas on how to bring some CoC goodness into D&D, please leave a post!

In Search of Strongholds, Part 4: A Stronghold for All Seasons

Howdy all. As you may or may not be aware, I have been looking at developing a stronghold system for 4e that is reflective of classic editions. I bought into inherent bonuses, drew up some blueprints, and took baby steps towards remaking the 4e economy (more on that later). Now we need to ask ourselves some fundamental questions. While a stronghold system might make perfect sense in a traditional quasi-medieval campaign, can a stronghold system work in a variety of settings? Similarly, while it is easy to accept that very high-level PCs might be able to afford to build one of these bad boys, what if you are running a low-level game and still want to have some fun with strongholds? Put simply, can a stronghold system make sense over multiple levels and in multiple settings?

The answer of course is yes. In fact, I am not so sure that this post is entirely necessary, as most DMs can likely add the stronghold concept into their games seamlessly without needing Ol' Froth to help them. I just don't think the series would be complete without talking about it, as I do think the stronghold systems of yesterday might be perceived as an antiquated relic to many. Heck, 4e didn't even bother to present stronghold rules until the bitter end, and even then they felt a little uninspired.

So let's look at some different classic settings and throw out some ideas. After that we will look at ways for even low-level PCs to join in the fun.



Greyhawk: This is quintessential stronghold-land. Lots of open space, political intrigue, warring factions, and beasties make this a great setting for traditional stronghold stylings.

Points of Light (4e): Rebuilding civilization, reclaiming lost territories, pushing back the wild unwashed monsters-PoL is prime real estate for stronghold rules.

Dark Sun: Now this could get interesting. A stronghold doesn't have to be a massive tower-laden structure. Maybe it amounts to smallish shelter for a fledgling colony of escaped slaves in Athas. Maybe the party has discovered a source of water or metal and needs a permanent base to exploit it. The construction could be threatened more by the environment than the local monsters. You could do something really cool with a pseudo-stronghold/barony here, something not unlike Bartertown from Mad Max 3. If I had all the time in the world, I would run something like this myself.

Ravenloft: If you can't beat em', join em'. Never going to escape that demi-plane? Make it your own. With the right group, it could be fun to make your own haunted manor. Gargoyles optional.

Eberron: This is such a wide, rich setting that there are all kinds of geographical areas where strongholds make sense. I think the Eldeen Reaches would be a great spot, but any "borderlands" would work. You could incorporate magic into the construction-maybe you hire Artificers as opposed to bricklayers.

Forgotten Realms: Regardless of the time period you prefer to work in, there is ample room to support a stronghold system here. I personally would love to do a Maztica campaign with stronghold rules, a "conquistador" type deal. If you haven't noticed, I have a lot of hypothetical campaigns in my brain that I will never likely have the time to run.

Spelljammer/Planescape/Astral Sea/Elemental Chaos: I lump these together only because they all involve unusual areas that are highly varied and mutable. There are all sorts of cool ideas you could use. Maybe instead of creating a castle, you are trying to set up a trading post in the Astral Sea. Or a Githzerai monastery on a floating chunk of earth. You are only limited by your imagination; don't be afraid to reflavor a stronghold into something else if it better fits the setting and/or narrative.

Hollow World: You could build an entire campaign around the idea of settling the interior of a planet. Could get very "Charlton Heston".

Birthright: No need to do anything! Has an awesome system already!

I hope this has your wheels turning a bit. My point in all of this is simply to show that any campaign setting, published or otherwise, can take on some stronghold rules if they are creatively shaped to the setting. It doesn't always need to be a knightly castle. It could be an underground hub in the desert, a floating chop shop, or literally anything else that requires an area to be cleared, settled, and built upon.

Ok, so I realize I haven't given ya'll the pricing for the strongholds and labor yet. That is because I am still working on it, as well as a new comprehensive list of mundane gear with new prices for use with inherent bonuses, and by extension, my magazine. Prices for mundane armor and weapons/implements stay the same as in traditional 4e, but I will have new prices for the rest of the gear that better fits the lower estimated wealth of adventurers. Anyhoo, we can still talk in the abstract about this next piece, which is looking at some ideas to allow low-level (read: broke) adventurers to still build strongholds.



Traditionally it was only high-level characters that were allowed/able to build strongholds and develop land. This was not just due to the cost restrictions; it was a reward for a PC's accomplishments. Anyone that ever played OD&D will tell you that hitting 9th level+ was indeed an accomplishment. I never got that far, except in one-off games. We died all the time. ALL the time. It can take years to get that much experience, and frankly, some DMs and players do not want to wait that long to do something cool.

One piece of DM advice that I think is priceless is "Get to the good stuff". If you hold back on your great ideas, you never know when your campaign will blow up. You could spend a year setting everything up to get to a moment that will never come to pass. So if you have a cool idea, let it fly. Strongholds could be viewed in much the same way. Rather than never making it to a level that is traditionally associated with stronghold creation, try these ideas for low-level play.

-The PCs pool their funds to build a group stronghold (not a bad idea anyways)

-The PCs re-purpose a dungeon or lair they have conquered

-The PCs are charged with helping to oversee the construction of one or more strongholds for a more powerful NPC, such as a king

-The PCs inherit or are rewarded with a run-down stronghold. The area needs to be cleared again, etc but they do not need to build from scratch.

Well, I hope that these ideas show a different way to look at stronghold systems. It need not be an Arthurian castle; it can be any structure, anywhere, that requires securing the surrounding lands and construction of some sort. You can also work around some of the costs to enjoy a stronghold system earlier in a campaign or adventuring career.

So, just to recap, I am working hard on the price lists. These will include construction costs, specialized hireling costs, and costs for mundane gear as an added bonus. After that is completed I will give you some generic rules for clearing areas, attracting settlers, running a barony, etc that will fall in line with old classic systems. Happy Friday!

In Search of Strongholds Part 3: Random Treasure Tables for 4e

Happy new year to all! I hope everyone had a good holiday. I continue today in my attempts to design a stronghold system for 4e (and my 4e Forever zine) that reflects classic editions of the game. In our last installment, I laid out a blueprint for what needed to be accomplished. It has taken some time and meditation, but I think I am ready to present a large piece of the puzzle: random treasure tables.

You might be wondering, "What the heck do random treasure tables have to do with strongholds?" Fair question. We previously established that in order to have a viable stronghold system, we need to ditch the ever-increasing "expected wealth by level" of 4e, and instead use the inherent bonus system. While that takes care of a part of the puzzle, we still need a way for players to amass wealth and power. As my favorite solutions are those that allow me to use classic edition mechanics, that brings us to the treasure tables. I pored over classic treasure systems, and I think I have something that works.

There are two basic categories of treasure: treasure carried by individuals, and treasure found in a lair. Much, much greater quantities of treasure are found in lairs rather than on individuals. This should make sense to everyone; we don't carry around all of our wealth and items on a day to day basis, it is back at our "lair" (our home). Now, just from that idea alone, I think many DMs will feel a shift in consciousness. After all, in 4e, PCs can be doing just about anything, anywhere, and if the parcel system is being used, they are guaranteed a certain amount of treasure and gold per level. Kiss that idea bye-bye. In order to accumulate wealth and power in this system, PCs have to go out, find it, and take it.

Conquering lairs should represent a huge challenge for PCs. An entire adventure could constitute a lair, or a literal army of monsters might lair in an immense cavern. Go big!

These tables are just guidelines; DMs should feel free to add and subtract items from lairs, give individuals specific items, etc. These guidelines simply ensure that, if followed, the PCs will be able to eventually afford strongholds (more on stronghold costs in a later blog), that the cost will never seem "cheap", and that PCs no longer feel pressured to blow money on magic items. They couldn't even if they wanted to.

The following tables will be included in an issue of my upcoming mag in PDF form, but for now I am just typing them out. Excuse the formatting; Blogger does weird things sometimes. I tried my best to keep it very simple. Instead of 20+ types, there are three for lairs, listed from largest to smallest (A,B,C), and three for individuals listed the same way (D,E,F). DMs should feel free to combine treasure types; maybe an individual has (2 x F, G) or whatever. DMs will still need to pick out the specific magic items that are found, but you will be prompted for the treasure type (for example, "Arms Slot" or "Foot Slot"). Finally, as mentioned above, DMs should feel free to add items as the see fit to individuals or lairs.

In some cases treasure is automatic, i.e. always occurs. In other cases you will need to roll percentage dice to see if it appears.

"Potions" can include any consumable, even if it isn't technically a potion. "Scroll" indicates a ritual scroll. You will also see "Maps" being given out with certain treasure types; these could lead to other lairs and/or serve as plot hooks. If you would rather handle this a different way, just drop the maps.

These tables require the use of the inherent bonus system.

4e Forever Treasure Tables

Lair Tables

       1,000s copper    1,000s silver    1,000s gold       gems and jewelry*    magic items**       map

A     50% / 1d12      50% / 1d12     50% / 1d6x10      50% / 2d12     3 +1 potion +1 scroll     yes

B     40% / 1d10       40% / 1d10     40% / 1d4x10     40% / 1d12      2 +1 potion +1 scroll    yes

C      40% / 1d6        40% / 1d6       40% / 2d12         40% / 1d6                 1                       no


*if gems and jewelry are indicated, roll on the Gems and Jewelry Table below
**if magic items are indicated, roll on the Magic Item Table below

Individual Tables

       copper (pieces)    silver (pieces)    gold (pieces)    gems and jewelry*         map

D              -                         -                    6d6              10% / 1d4           5% chance

E              -                       6d6                    -                          -                        no

F             6d6                       -                     -                          -                        no

*if gems and jewelry are indicated, roll on the Gems and Jewelry Table below


Gems and Jewelry Table (roll percentage dice for each individual piece)

Value in gp / Dice roll 01-100
          50                 01-30
         100                31-60
         500                61-80
        1000               81-100


Magic Item Table (roll percentage dice for each unspecified magic item)

Dice Roll 01-100 /      Item type       
          01-15           Weapon/Implement
          16-23                  Foot Slot
          24-31                 Head Slot
          32-39                 Arms Slot
          40-55             Wondrous Item
          55-61          Potion or Consumable
          61-66                Ritual Scroll
          67-74                Hands Slot
          75-82                Waist Slot 
          83-94                   Armor
         95-100                    Ring

Next time we will dig into some ideas on how you can make stronghold creation a viable goal for 4e players, regardless of the campaign style or setting. In the meantime, I would love to hear any feedback on this article! Until next time!

In Search of Strongholds, Part 2: In Which Froth Creates a Lot of Work for Himself

Hello all. Recently I started a new blog series on my attempts to develop a "Stronghold" system for 4e. In the first installment, I basically laid out the challenges one faces when trying to do this. First, 4e PCs have never been as reliant on Retainers as they were in old editions. Second, high-level play assumptions have changed, and castle-building is not the one-size-fits-all endgame it used to be. Lastly, the 4e economy is wonky.



We made a little progress with some of this. I have the framework of a usable Henchman and Hireling system in place, and, as noted in the first installment, we can completely revamp the 4e economy with the help of Inherent Bonuses. Still, we need a game plan in order to go about the design in a coherent way. So here it is:

1. Revamping the economy means looking at how PCs acquire wealth. Since we are taking PCs off of the ever-increasing wealth-by-level treadmill, we need a new model. It seems obvious to me that new Treasure Tables are the way to go, including new Treasure Type Tables for monsters to ensure an old-school vibe.

2. The creation of a Stronghold needs to be a viable goal in 4th edition play. It needs to make sense regardless of the campaign setting or PC level. We will look at different ways to approach the idea, whether you are in an ultra-low-magic desert wasteland, or are plane-hopping on the Spelljammer.

3. We need mechanics. Lots and lots of mechanics. In keeping with established precedent, the bare bones of a Stronghold system will involve the following: rules for the identification and employment of the necessary Hirelings, the selection and clearing of a site, the construction and maintenance of the structure itself, details on how potential populations might then be attracted to the area, and finally, the regulation and management of the newly established "barony".

So, I have created a lot of work for myself. But at least I know what needs to be done, which puts me in better shape than I am half the time. I also have a working title for my system: Baronies and Barbicans. Yes, I am an uber-nerd.

In Search Of Strongholds, Part 1: In Which Froth Is Sold On Inherent Bonuses

Howdy everyone. As you may or may not be aware, I am always looking for ways to tweak 4e by adding classic edition mechanics and flavor. Over the last few weeks I have been starting to put together some ideas for "Stronghold" rules for 4e. I love Stronghold rules. Love them. Love them, love them, love them. They are one of my favorite things about D&D as a matter of fact. Sadly, up until this point the concept hasn't worked so well with 4e. This has been for a number of reasons.

For one, although 4e PCs have roles within the party, 4e PCs are far less reliant on Henchmen, Hirelings, Toadies, etc than in previous editions. There are some classic dungeons that I simply would never enter without some Meatshields. In 4e, that is almost unthinkable; there is a whole generation of new DnDers that won't even know what you are talking about. I have put some new Henchman and Hireling rules out there to try and get a bit of this flavor back in the game (the full text and treatment will be in the mag, and this has been one of my most popular posts). Anyways, Retainers are a critical component of maintaining a Stronghold. It seems the lack of good Retainer rules in 4e helped keep Stronghold rules from developing.

Secondly, the career trajectory of 4e PCs usually doesn't resemble that of classic PCs. Many of the old worlds were assumed to be more or less quasi-medieval; building castles and armies were reasonable endgames for PCs. This changed a lot over the years, and with 4e, high level PCs are typically expected to be plane-hopping and saving the universe, rather than dealing with mundane barony taxation. So the assumptions of high level play have changed.

Lastly, the default economy of 4e doesn't support Stronghold rules. In "vanilla" 4e, the amount of money PCs find scales with their level, the reason for this being the need to purchase magic items to keep pace with expected enhancement bonuses. So you run into a lot of issues. If a player has to choose between keeping his basic numbers up to stay effective, or a little tower to call his own, you cannot fault him for buying an item. I mean, the game is telling him to. You also have issues when you try to assign a cost for building a Stronghold. The cost might be completely prohibitive until a certain level...but soon after that level, it becomes too cheap and insignificant. This is where I struggled the most when trying to come up with ideas. It seemed the only way to remedy the situation was by completely revamping the 4e economy. How could this be accomplished? As long as players need items to keep pace with the system, they will always need increasing amounts of cash. That is when the answer hit me-inherent bonuses.

I have resisted inherent bonuses in the past. Maybe that's not entirely accurate. I have resisted forcing a specific magic item philosophy into my work. I have changed my opinion. I am now going to recommend inherent bonuses as the default. Why? Well, its not to screw with builds that rely on certain items. Hopefully DMs will still let PCs quest for items that they really want. The reason is that I have a lot of ideas that simply don't work if I use 4e's default system. Using inherent bonuses means PCs no longer have to make a certain amount of money per level. Since they cannot buy items, there is no need for treasure to constantly inflate. I mean, how many Adventurer's Kits do you really need? So, since I am no longer bound to a certain amount of gold per level, I can set prices for Stronghold construction that stay constant over all levels. So it is never cheap to build one, but once you hit a certain level, it is also not impossible.

I don't know if this has any of your wheels turning, but I have three words for you: "Random Treasure Tables". How about two more words: "Treasure Types". Yes, I can bring back random treasure, treasure types for monsters, taxes, long-term Retainer pay rates-everything. I can bring it all back. And do you know the best part? I don't have to really do much work at all. Since the weird self-inflating 4e economy is no longer needed, I can just go back to old prices. Old item lists. Old treasure tables. Old Stronghold prices. I will have to do a few tweaks of course to make it my own, but I honestly think in the end that it won't be all that different from OD&D. Almost word for word.

So yeah. I never thought I would say it, but I freaking love inherent bonuses.

Part 2 on this series coming soon! As always, I would love to hear thoughts or ideas!

Giant Stag Beetles, Strongholds, and Other Updates

I thought I would drop a couple of minor updates. First I have a new monster for you to check out, the Giant Stag Beetle. The reason I wanted to share this one in particular is that it has some "Memorable Mechanics" in the form of extreme forced movement. Picturing these guys tossing your PCs to and fro makes me happy. You will have to wait on the mag for the fluff.

Speaking of the mag, I have made a lot of progress and I am almost done with my portion of the writing. I still cannot give a set date of release, but I think that before the end of the year is not unreasonable. It has kind of swollen in size, and has two adventures I have written, dozens of new monsters, and lots of other surprises that I will talk about more in coming days.

Please don't forget to check out the first playtest. I have gotten a lot of good feedback, so thank you for that. I have gotten to run a couple of tests of it myself and I am working on scheduling the third. I have already made a lot of tweaks based on feedback, and it has helped tremendously, so again, thank you.

Lastly, I want to hear from any armchair designers like myself that have worked on their own "stronghold" systems for 4e. I am toying with some ideas about acquiring and managing them, doing something almost identical to OD&D, keeping it fairly simple, but with the prices adjusted to 4e levels.

I am interested in any stories you might be able to share about using them in your games. Leave a post!