Treasure in 4e Forever, Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

A few things have changed since I first wrote about how treasure is presented in my upcoming 4e fanzine. The main development is simple; I am now completely sold on inherent bonuses. The zine is all high Paragon and Epic tier, so I was ready to just roll with +5 and +6 items, but now I have just completely stripped "plusses" altogether. Everything else is pretty much the same: no prices or rarity for items, few items for sale, narrative descriptions of items as opposed to stat blocks, etc. There are however a few new wrinkles that I thought I would share. I probably should call them "old wrinkles", because these rules hearken back to the classic editions.

First, some items will have charges. I think this is a much better way to deal with powerful items as opposed to item rarity. I particularly dislike the concept of "rare" items, items supposedly so interesting that you don't mind playing 10 levels with the thing. I am sorry, I am in the process of wrapping up a 4e campaign that took almost 2 years to get through 10 levels. You can't tell me it would be fun to use the same sword for that long a stretch, even if it gives you foot rubs and cooks you Filet Mignon every night. Items with charges are a much cooler way to introduce powerful items into your game; they have a built in "self-destruct" button, a fail safe that makes sure they don't last forever. For example, I might have a staff that automatically crits whenever it hits. Super-powerful. Not something you want in the game for very long, but tolerable if it is limited to a few charges. Of course, don't tell the recipient how many charges it has, that adds to the fun (the DM could roll a d6 or d8 and track separately).

Second, we get away from telling players an item's properties right off the bat. Require them to use the item to find out. This was how you could get a PC to use a cursed item or drink poison back in the day. If they find a potion, they have to take a tiny sip to know what it does (this doesn't waste the potion). Is it dickish to poison your PCs, or to give out cursed weapons? Hell no. It's tradition. It is flavorful. You don't do it every time, or even often, but in rare instances it is totally within the bounds of fair play. In fact, I always remember cursed items as actually adding a lot of fun to the sessions they appeared in.

So that's it. Nothing too groundbreaking. If you hate item rarity as much as I do, yet still want to use powerful items in your 4e games, try items with charges. Also consider requiring the PCs to use trial and error to find out the properties of their items. Oh, and poison them every once and a while.

Happy Birthday to Me: Celebrating One Year of Frothsof 4E

This month marks the one year anniversary of this blog. I just want to drop a quick post and say thank you to all of the readers that have stopped by. When I started this blog, I just wanted to add my voice to thousands of other gamers who shared their ideas and thoughts about this wonderful hobby. The funny thing about a blog is, it forces you to write. So I am personally glad I started it, otherwise I do not think I would have ever shared my ideas, and I certainly wouldn't have started work on a fanzine.

4e Forever, the fanzine I have been working on, is a labor of love. At first, I wanted to do pretty much the whole first issue myself, in order to set the tone. I have been lucky to have some contributors helping make it better, with cartography, images, and even a guest article being added to the mix. The first issue features a lot of optional rules, fluff, and two full length high-level 4e adventures, both in sandbox style. I am very proud of how it is shaping up, but there is still work left to be done. I refuse to pressure any of my contributors, because they are providing stuff for free. I also expanded one of the adventures; it added a ton of work, but it will be worth it. So, I will just have it done when it is done. In the meantime, I have tried to give a lot of previews on the blog and will continue to do so.

I have slowly but steadily built some decent traffic. For this I want to thank Sersa V at 4thcore for letting me be a part of the 4thcore hub for a while. I am also thankful to 4eblogs.com for including me in their excellent list. I also am a member of the RPG Blog Alliance. I recommend checking all of them out.

I thought I would share what were my most popular posts this year. #1 without question was the 4e Forever playtest. This was really just an opportunity for me to offer some simple rules modifications and monsters. The idea was to test my Henchman and Hireling system, as well as the new monster stat block I worked on. I also wanted to get a feel for the difficulty level. I would say it was a success; I was able to make some tweaks based on feedback, and I feel good about where things are at now. I look forward to you seeing the finished product soon.

#2 was my Henchman and Hireling article. This made me very happy, because I love my rules for this. I hope you have given them a try, if only for a one-shot. In my current 4e campaign, the players have gotten really creative with using them not only in combat, but also outside combat. It has been a ton of fun.

#3 was one of my design articles on the "Hybrid Stat Block", my concept of making the 4e monster stats more reflective of classic editions. Interestingly, it was the No. Appearing article. This dealt with my ideas on using variable totals of monsters encountered, much like the old days. You end up generating a possible range of difficulty levels, and it makes for more unpredictability in combat encounters. This crosses over with a lot of other concepts, such as eliminating specialized monster roles, standardizing hit points, and so forth.

Finally, coming in at #4 was one of my first articles, a very short little piece about a new monster type, the Savage. The basic idea is that these are Elites that are powerful enough to be run as Solos; the lower hit points balances out their increased offensive capabilities. This makes for quicker, swingier combat, something a lot of readers responded positively to.

I want to say again how thankful I am for every reader that has ever popped by, even if you hated my ideas. I love being able to have an avenue to share my thoughts on D&D. So thanks again, and I look forward to another fun year!

4e Forever Preview: Taking on Traps

 **PLEASE NOTE, THE FINAL TRAP RULES APPEAR IN ISSUE ONE OF 4E FOREVER, AVAILABLE NOW FOR A FREE DOWNLOAD**



My upcoming 4e Forever fanzine uses the following rules for traps. A trap has a trigger and an effect. A trap's triggered effect always behaves as an Opportunity Action unless otherwise noted. Most triggered traps do not make attack rolls; instead, a PC is usually required to make a saving throw to avoid a trap's effects. It is (hopefully) more dramatic and exciting for the player to roll to save, rather than watch the DM roll to attack.  




PCs trained in applicable Skills might be given small bonuses to their saving throws. Since 4e saving throws stay the same regardless of a PC's level, a single trap can now threaten PCs over multiple tiers of play. In addition, trap damage no longer scales. The damage simply is what it is. Traps are not assigned levels, and, as the traps typically do not attack, they no longer require constantly increasing attack bonuses that have historically lead to “trap bloat”.

For example, while a falling stone block is lethal to low-level PCs, it can still pack a wallop against high-level PCs. A falling block trap does 50 points of damage. This will flat-out crush a 1st Level character, and still dent the hell out of an Epic suit of armor. PCs that are trained in Acrobatics might get a small bonus to their save, representing an increased chance to dodge the block.

The relative damage totals for different traps are assigned based on a rough comparison of their deadliness. So while a scything blade might do less damage than a falling two-ton block, a strong poison gas might just kill you outright, regardless of your hit points or armor.

Traps are presented in simple terms, with a brief description of the trap and what it does, along with a trigger and effect. The size of a trapped area, or the number of trapped squares, is left for to the DM to decide unless otherwise noted. Specific Skill(s) that can be used to detect or disable traps are provided at the beginning of a trap's listing. The DCs to detect and/or disable traps are always the Hard DCs of a PCs level. This is the only way in which traps “scale”. In game terms, this is kind of required based on the way 4e is built, but in terms of flavor, I think it is well-supported as well. As PCs gain levels, they are in increasingly dangerous situations, facing more formidable foes. Maybe if a 25^th Level PC went back to the first little dungeon he ever cleared, the DCs would be lower; however,  the pitiful treasure would not even be worth taking. Similarly, if some 2^nd Level scrubs were unlucky enough to happen upon an Arch-Lich's tower...lets just say they would be dead before they crossed the threshold.

 

Sample Trap

Falling Block Trap

Stepping onto the floor released a massive stone block from overhead, crushing the Elf.

-Detect: Dungeoneering
-Disable: Dungeoneering or Thievery
-Trigger: A creature enters a trapped square.

-Effect: The creature must roll a saving throw. Creatures trained in Acrobatics receive a +2 bonus to the roll, representing an increased chance to dodge. On a failed save the creature takes 50 damage.


I hope you like these ideas! Many more traps will be provided in my upcoming fanzine!

Maniacal Giant Vulture Friday!

Hello again. I thought I would share a new beastie from my upcoming zine, the Giant Vulture.

The Giant Vulture has been a hoot in playtesting. These scavengers circle overhead, dive-bomb the weakest member(s) of the party, repeatedly peck them, then fly away out of melee reach. As the ongoing damage builds, they enter into a frenzied state of blood lust.

Though these have been challenging monsters for some groups, they have fairly weak Morale scores; if one of them is killed the others likely flee...and then patiently wait, hoping that there will be a carcass or two lying around when they return.

The full "fluff" will appear in the finished magazine. I hope you enjoy it!

THE GIANT VULTURE!

4e Forever Sneak Peek: Random Flavor Tables

I thought I would drop a quick post today to show off something from the mag. As readers of my blog know, I love random tables. I take the view that random tables hone and sharpen your DMing skills. They have helped me become better at improvisation, and to be much more fearless. I also like how they can really add color and flavor to a setting or location. Sure, you can always write out a few sentences detailing the common monsters in the area, but there is something I like about this same information just being inferred by a Wandering Monster Table. 

Well, in the mag you will find random tables for all kinds of things: Reaction Tables, Wandering Monsters, and the like, as well as something else that I have really enjoyed working on, the Random Flavor Tables. The Random Flavor Tables are pretty much what they sound like; you roll on the tables every few turns, or every hex, or whenever instructed by the text, and the tables provide a little random flavor. Not a major description or anything, just a little "vibe". These things are very fun to design, and they help you brainstorm ideas, and get the creativity flowing as well. A module's text might provide the full description of an area, then prompt you to roll for a little random flavor every now and then as the PCs explore the area. In one of the mag's adventures, I am using them for Random Zombie Flavor, so I thought I would share that table with you. This table also contains major "spoilers" about some mag content.

About the Zombie Flavor Table
If at any point you need some quick Zombie flavor, use this table.

Zombie Flavor Table
-Roll 2d20 for flavor.
2. No eyes
3. One eye dangling
4. No eyes, but another Zombie is on its back, directing and “riding” it
5. Hops on one leg
6. Young child Zombie holding a doll with its head torn off
7. Zombie chews on eyeballs
8. Zombie child holding a slingshot
9. Legless Zombie dragging itself along ground
10. Zombie playing with its exposed, dried entrails
11. Zombie in rotting military outfit
12. Bird flies out of hole in its chest
13. Squirrel crawls out of hole in chest
14. Has no bottom jaw; swollen tongue dangles
15. Neck is broken and head has flopped over its back; walking backwards
16. Zombie in long flowing dress
17. Elf Zombie
18. Zombie is munching on a severed arm
19. Armless Zombie
20. Zombie wearing a fancy wide-brimmed hat
21. Zombie being dragged by a horse
22. Zombies riding in the back of a runaway carriage
23. Halfling Zombie
24. Zombie with flute stuck through the back of its head
25. Eating a dog
26. Eating a cat
27. Dwarf Zombie
28. Lots of bullet holes; large enough that you can see through them
29. Skeletal Zombie; has a small amount of tissue bunched around its neck, otherwise bones
30. Impaled on an oar; as it walks and turns, knocks other Zombies over inadvertently with the oar
31. Child Zombie eating hard candy, which falls through a hole in belly into the street; it picks it up and eats it again
32. Wears a red satin sash
33. Long, white beard
34. Gnome Zombie
35. Spits up black liquid
36. Leaves trail of a brown-white discharge
37. Fumbles with a gun and blows own head off
38. “Reading” a book; holds it upside-down
39. Worms crawl from its eyes and mouth
40. Covered in maggots

4e Spell Research!!!

 *NOTE: THE FINAL SPELL RESEARCH RULES ARE PROVIDED IN THE FIRST ISSUE OF 4E FOREVER, UP FOR FREE DL NOW**

Howdy everyone. As you might have guessed, I am busy at work on the mag, but I wanted to share some ideas that were bouncing around the old noggin over the past couple of days.

Something I like about classic editions is the idea of spell research, not only for existing spells, but also for completely new ones. It lets player have a real effect on the world and their character. I also like the thought of PCs being hard at work even when they are not actively adventuring. A Magic-User reading some flimsy parchment by the firelight, or pining for his study back home, where he has half a dozen magic items partially formulated. This stuff is just fun and flavorful to me.

So, how would this work in 4e? I do not want to make the same mistakes as they did with the rules for item creation. They focused only on mechanics; there is no flavor. There are no thoughts on how to incorporate it into the story. The end result is that the sense of the PC actually working on something is lost. There is no "feel" that the PC made any effort to accomplish anything.


There needs to be a balance. The method needs to cost an appropriate amount of time and money, not produce an overpowered spell, and of course, encourage role play. 

So, today I want to look at some ideas for 4e spell research that I think will be fun to use. Like older editions, I think PCs should be of relatively high level before being allowed to attempt creating a new spell. The DM and the PC will work together through the process; it is not just up to the PC to satisfy a few straight-forward conditions and "Voila! Spell!". Furthermore, the act of creation ideally becomes a part of the PCs story, indeed, part of the campaign's story. So, here are my ideas:

1. A PC must be of 11th level or higher to attempt to research and create a new spell.

2. The player must notify a DM of this intention upon leveling up.

3. The player and DM discuss the spell idea, and whether it should be allowed in the game. It can be a Encounter, Utility, or Daily (no At-Wills or Rituals). Now here is where some advice is in order. A player naturally will want a spell that helps their PC, and the DM should be willing for this to happen. Otherwise there is no point. However, both individuals need to be honest about the power of the spell, and the spell's flavor should ALWAYS reinforce something about the PCs personality, skills, backstory, or what have you. This will hopefully quell a player's urge to simply break the game, and will instead help the spell research become more of an exercise in role play. To further help with this, the new spell will be permanent, and will not be able to be replaced or traded out at higher levels or through retraining. This will ensure that great care and thought goes into the design of the spell.

4. The player must give up a spell in order to gain a new one. Note again that Rituals and At-Wills cannot be "traded" in this way; a player must choose a Daily, Utility, or Encounter power. A player must designate his or her highest level spell of a certain type to be replaced. For example, if a player just hitting 13th level wants to research a new Encounter power, he or she must designate their 13th level Encounter power as the spell to be replaced. They will get to use the power normally until it is replaced.

5. Researching a spell takes an entire level of play. It also costs the same amount as a magic item of the same level. So in our example the player will be paying the equivalent of a level 13 magic item. This can be paid up front, during, or even at the end of the level. A player can also "bank" gold as he or she goes.

6. The player and DM work together to emphasize the flavor and action of the research during the game. This should not feel like a restriction. A DM can just make it a point to ask the player frequently what their character is doing to research the spell. When the PCs take an extended rest, the player might talk about what their PC is reading, or what have you. When they enter a new town, the player might have their PC go check out the library. Maybe a quest derives from it; maybe some NPCs aid in some way. Who knows, let the story decide. It is just flavor, of course, but it is pleasing to me, and I think it will give the "feel" that the PC is at work on something special.When the spell is finally done, it will seem much more bad-ass.

7. When the player hits their next level (14th in our example), the old spell fades away and the new spell is put in its place. Remember that this spell is permanent and cannot be trained away or replaced by another spell.

I suggest that spell research be restricted to Arcane classes. This is really for flavor's sake. That is just my opinion though, if you wanted to re-fluff this or tweak it to be something like a Thief practicing a new move, or a Cleric being slowly "prepared" for some great power by their deity, or whatever, go for it.

I hope you like these ideas! Sometime soon I will post some ideas on item creation! I also am working on some stronghold rules, but that is kind of down the road, as the mag is taking up most of my time!

Do you have any thoughts on spell research? Any memorable experiences with it? Leave a post!

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!

Memorable Mechanics Part 5: Poison

Hello, hello! Before I get started, I really want to thank readers for the response to the first 4e Forever playtest. That post quickly became my most viewed of all-time, and I have gotten lots of feedback. It is much appreciated! If you haven't checked it out yet, it is free to download, and I would love to hear your "two cents". I had the pleasure of running an online game with some folks and it was a sight to see 20+ PCs and henchmen take on 40 Giant Ants!

I haven't made a post in the "Memorable Mechanics" series in a while, but thought I might share some of my recent ideas regarding Poison in 4e.

In the old days, poisonous creatures were feared and dreaded. In fact, if I was playing, and I knew a creature was poisonous, I would likely yell to the party to run. Why? Well, one bite could mean death. Since that time, the history of poison in D&D has been one slow, gentle retreat from the cruelties of yore. Nowadays, there are only a few points of light in the 4e community and blogosphere that feature anything approaching save or die mechanics.

Now, I do not want to go back to insta-death from poisons, but I do want to bring a healthy fear of poison back to the game. To do that, I first wanted to differentiate between common "poison damage", and capital-letters-run-like-hell Poison. As you know from this blog series, I want to add memorable mechanics to games. Even if it goes badly for your PC, things are a lot easier to take if you died a spectacular or memorable death. I also like 4e conditions a lot; as I have mentioned before, I like the codified nature of them, how they are the same table to table. So, my thought was to come up with a "Poisoned" condition. Something not quite "save or die", but still "run like hell".

As I was thinking about bringing this idea into my 4e Forever project, I realized that if I gave EVERY Giant Snake and Centipede the ability to poison PCs, it would be too much. So I decided to make "poisoning" a daily, perhaps weekly, ability for a creature. Once they have "spent" their poison, it has to have time to build back up. The determination of whether a creature is currently "poisonous" is left to random chance, partly because I am always looking for any excuse to make a random roll. So for example, if a Giant Rattlesnake is encountered, there may be a 2 in 6 chance that it is currently poisonous.

So what is the "Poisoned" condition?

Poisoned (edit): A poisoned creature is weakened, slowed, and grants combat advantage (save ends all). If the creature is not currently bloodied, its hit points also drop to their bloodied value. On each failed saving throw, the creature's hit points drop to zero.

I am really digging this! I hope you like it too! If you have any thoughts, leave a post, and thanks again to everyone for checking out the playtest!

4e Forever Playtest!!! Check it out!

***NOTE: THE FIRST ISSUE OF 4E FOREVER IS NOW UP FOR FREE DOWNLOAD**

I am very happy to be able to share with you a short playtest of some material from my upcoming FREE zine, 4e Forever. It includes the new stat block! Please check it out and follow the instructions if you can! You should be able to finish it in one session. Even if you cannot playtest the material, I would still like to hear your thoughts. Oh, and there's a new Savage in there too!

4e Forever Playtest 1





*EDIT 8/9- I made some small edits and have re-upped it. I clarified some rules questions I had received regarding henchman initiative, savages, skills, etc, as well as made a few edits to the stat block to help its readability, something else I had some comments on. Please keep the comments coming! Thanks! 

The Hybrid Stat Block: Special Attacks

Welcome to the final installment of my series on my new hybrid stat block for 4e monsters. This is basically an alternate stat block for 4e that incorporates classic edition statistics, and it will be used in my upcoming zine, 4e Forever. Today we look at the way the stat block presents powers.

I love the clarity of the 4e stat block. I love the way powers are basically coded so that anyone can understand them. On the flip side, I also love the more conversational, narrative tone that classic edition monsters were presented with. It might seem that these two approaches are too incongruous to work together. However, I think they can, given a few considerations.

As readers of my blog have noticed in previews of my monster design, I am all about an "attack routine". I like multi-attacks as a fix to 4e's lack of high-level encounter balance, and I LOVE me some old-school Claw/Claw/Bite action, so it should come as no surprise that my 4e Forever monsters typically have a go-to attack routine consisting of multiple attacks. Simultaneously, I have also previewed and shown how I am working with variable encounter levels, and groups of the same monster. Both of these things make my new monsters very, very, easy for DMs to run, something that I am hoping will help speed up combat (along with Morale). You do not have to worry about multiple sets of statistics and a bunch of little powers here and there, hiding, spread out amongst 3 to 4 different monster types.

Since the monsters are easier to run, and since the DM is only having to look at one, perhaps two, different stat blocks for the entire encounter, I can afford to be slightly more conversational in tone with the powers. In other words, the simplicity of running the monster encounter groups allows for a more relaxed power presentation, without adding any extra prep time or difficulty to the DMs job. Now, I don't mean to make it sound too "loose", because it isn't. When I reveal the stat block later this week, you will see what I mean.

Now let's take a quick trip down memory lane. In 1e monster statistics, you have a couple of listings that I really wanted to include in my new block: Special Attacks, and Special Defenses. I decided to put a monster's primary attack routine under the listing "Attack". This listing also includes a creatures "basic attack", as its basic attack tends to be included in its primary attack routine. I also kept the "Traits" listing, used exactly the same way as it is in late 4e. Then, if needed, there are three other possible listings underneath "Attack". "Special Attacks" is used if a creature has any other attacks besides its primary attack routine and basic attacks; it also can include situational bonuses or tweaks to the primary attack routine. "Special Defenses" is used if a creature has a purely defensive power, i.e. one that does not include an attack. Finally, "Special Movement" is listed if a creature has a special power that is purely movement related.



This ends up looking and feeling very intuitive. I must say, I am quite happy with it. I still am a step or two away from revealing the complete block, however. This is because I am putting together a free playtest of some new material! This PDF will include a copy of the new 4e Forever stat block, along with three new monsters! Some basic rules (Morale, Henchmen), will be provided as well. I am trying to get it done as quickly as possible, and hopefully some of you gamers out there can run the monsters, using the variable encounter ranges, and let me know how it goes. More on this to follow! In the meantime, leave a post and let me know what you think!

The Hybrid Stat Block: Alignment

Today we continue taking a look at my ideas for a classic edition/4th edition stat block for my upcoming 4e Forever project. We are getting very close to the end of the series. I have found it helpful to talk about my ideas here, and I feel it has been a good way to not only show some of the stats that will be listed, but also the philosophy behind including/excluding things. Today we tackle alignment.

Lots of folks love the way 1e did alignment, and lots of folks hate it. 9 alignments always felt like a lot to me, and I was never completely sold on the whole punishment thing for PCs that deviated from alignment. 4e simplified it considerably, but still ended up feeling a bit like "damaged goods" to me. For creature alignment in 4e Forever, my choice was easy: take it back to OD&D.

In the Men and Magic book in the OD&D set, alignment is handled in a pure, straightforward, non-mechanical manner. "It is...necessary to determine the stance the character will take: Law, Neutrality, or Chaos." Me likey. There is no other explanation, no in-depth analysis, no forced punishments. Just Law, Neutrality, and Chaos. It seems to me so much more grand to think in terms of law and order, entropy and chaos, rather than tired old good and evil. If you go back to Chainmail, Gygax states that, "It is impossible to draw a distinct line between 'good' and 'evil' fantastic figures." I wholeheartedly agree. I could speculate on why this later changed; maybe people playing supposedly chivalric knights that steal from the poor? Who knows? All I know is that it eventually went sour, at least in my opinion. By Eldritch Wizardry, Gygax was already showing signs of the (needless) complications to come.


Anyways, in Men and Magic it was pure. That is what I want. At first, I was tempted to not provide alignments at all, but I actually quite like the OD&D alignments, and they help provide a little old-school flavor. So there we have it!

Love it? Hate it? Please share any thoughts!

The Hybrid Stat Block: Hit Points

We continue our look at the 4e Forever monster stat block today with some changes I am making to hit points. We are not going back to hit dice, so don't panic. The basic concept of hit points isn't changing, and they are still listed just like they are on the 4e stat block. However, the formula for calculating monster hit points has changed.

Recently, I posted about how I am experimenting with different ways to derive certain statistics. It is a push towards simplicity. I have also mentioned a few times that many of the encounters in my upcoming project are with variable numbers of the same monster, much like the wandering monster tables of yesteryear. Partly because of this, I have dropped some of the roles from monsters. I retain Minion, Solo, Standard, Elite, and Savage, but drop the rest. It isn't that roles are bad, they just really didn't fit my project mechanically or aesthetically. In the process, I had finally realized the obvious: the way 4e does hit points is really annoying.

4e has different formulas for different types of monsters. This makes perfect sense for Solos, Minions, Standards, and Elites, because these categories are based on the overall ratios of hit points. However, Brutes, Skirmishers, and the rest have hit points based more on flavor. Weak little Artillery guy in the periphery of the fight? Fewer hit points. Big tough Soldier? More hit points. Makes sense. It also makes it a nightmare to calculate hit points. Heck, I'm not even giving Constitution scores to monsters in the first place!

It was with all of these things in mind that I came up with the formula for hit points. Overall, it gives monsters a tad fewer hit points. Of the 4e monster roles, only Lurkers and Artillery would average fewer. Everything ends up about "Controller" level. It isn't a huge difference, but I do think that this will still help a titch with combat speed at high levels (something I have gone to great lengths in this project to address). The early playtesting has shown that the monster difficulty will not suffer as a result. But the most important thing is that it's easy. That's the real point of it. With this formula, you do not even need to look in the DMG (or whatever source you use).

The 4e Forever formula for a Standard monster's hit points is (Level x 8) + 20. Elites and Savages have twice that. Solos vary and can have 4 to 5 times the hit points of a Standard. Minions of course have 1 hit point.

Check it out the next time you are making monsters. The slightly lower hit points should help a touch with slow combat, and they are a lot easier to calculate. Leave a post and let me know what you think!

The Hybrid Stat Block: Move

We continue today looking at my ideas for a new "hybrid" monster stat block for 4e. These will eventually appear in my upcoming fanzine, and they are basically combinations of old Oe/1e/B/X stats with those of 4e. Today we look at how the stat block will note monster movement.

As you are no doubt aware, 4e stats simply say "Speed", followed by a number. This number is the base amount of squares a creature can move (unless immobilized, running, etc) with its "move action". Squares correspond to a grid, where a 1" by 1" square is equal to a 5 foot by 5 foot area. Land speed is typically listed first, followed by things like Fly: 8 and the like. So you could say that for a creature with Speed 5, that its base speed is 25 feet.

B/X was completely different. It usually gave two speeds, both listed in feet. One was the "turn" movement, basically how far a PC could be expected to get in an underground area in ten minutes, provided they were moving cautiously, etc. Then, one-third of this number was like your "encounter" speed. This was the distance you could typically move and still be able to attack in combat. So you would see 120' (40'). I actually like this, and think it is a good houserule for 1e to just go back to this.

Finally, in 1e, things got a little bizarre. The speed was listed in inches, like 9". But this could mean more than one thing. It was tens of feet underground, tens of yards in the "wilderness". We won't get into segments versus rounds versus turns right now, it is too early in the morning.

So, as you know, my fanzine incorporates a lot of my ideas on bringing old-school flavor into 4e. I am not just looking for ways to tweak the way 4e plays; I'm also looking for simple ways to bring an old-school look into 4e. So some changes are more cosmetic than anything. Like what I am doing with movement in the stat block.

It is one of those great coincidences that even though movement was not handled the same way in 1e that it is in 4e, the rates of movement in 1e were still noted in terms of inches, even if inches weren't always actually being represented. 4e literally DOES use inches. At the same time, I really like to change terms where possible, if it means adding a little old-school flavor to the mix.

So, putting it all together, instead of the stats saying Speed 6, like in 4e, my 4e Forever version will say Move: 6". This will look like 1e, but will not really mean the same thing. Move: 6" in 4e of course still means your speed is 30 feet/6 squares/6 inches. If a creature has a fly speed or what have you, it might read Move: 4", Fly: 10".

I know to many people this might look like an almost pointless change. It really does not change the mechanics of 4e at all. But to me, it is significant in that the look and feel of the statistic reflects older editions. Taken together with all of the other little changes I am making, it really helps reinforce the vibe that I am going for.

So what do you think about it? I'd love to hear your opinion, so leave a post!

The Hybrid Stat Block: Intelligence

Recently I have been sharing some of my ideas for a new 4e stat block that I am working on to use in my upcoming free fanzine.  It will mix the way that the old OD&D/1e stats were presented with that of 4e. We looked at simplifying monster creation in general with easy, smooth ways to determine and present skill and initiative mods. We followed that with a look at the classic No. Appearing statistic, and how old-school random encounters can work in 4e. We have looked at Morale in the past, and you will certainly see Morale scores in the stats. Today, we look at Intelligence.

I've mentioned before what a complete bore I find determining monster ability scores, so when I say "Intelligence" I do not mean to suggest I will be giving an Intelligence score. Instead it is used somewhat like it was in 1e. If you look at the picture of our friend, the Brain Mole, you see that for Intelligence, a numerical value is not given, just a term; in this case, "Animal".

In the explanatory notes in the beginning of the 1e Monster Manual, it provides Intelligence scores and corresponding terms, such as "Genius". Now for me, looking at bringing this back into the game, I immediately know that I do not want as many different terms as 1e has. There are 11 possible Intelligence ratings. That is way too many (but not quite "Mythus" territory). Still, I have a definite want to use the Intelligence stat, for a couple of reasons.

One, I like it for nostalgic reasons. I love how some of the old stats will just say, "Intelligence: Very". I just like that kind of thing. Two, it can actually serve a purpose, and do it better than a numerical value ever did. It is an easy, clean way to give a rough idea of a monster's wits, much clearer in my opinion than just listing a score.

Still we need to get rid of some of those 11 different categories. I personally want to go as simple as possible, while keeping what I consider the essential terms that provide old-school flavor. So here are the different possible Intelligence ratings that I came up with: Animal, Low, Average, Very (gotta have my "Very"), and Supra-Genius. Those tell you all you need to know. Note that Morale will not necessarily be related to Intelligence.

I'm liking it. What do you think? If you have any thoughts, leave a post!

The Hybrid Stat Block: No. Appearing

As I continue experimenting with ideas for a 0e/1e/4e "hybrid" stat block for my upcoming zine, 4e Forever, I thought I would share some of my thought process on its design in a series of blog posts. Today I want to give you a look at how I am bringing the classic statistic "No. Appearing" to 4e.

Before I get too in-depth, I will just say I have no real qualms with the post-MM3 stat block. It works great. It is brilliant design. This isn't a condemnation of it by any stretch, I'm just trying to provide an alternate version that is more in line with the early editions. The overall goals of the new stat block are to inject old-school feel into the presentation, streamline the information for DMs, and to help reinforce "fixes" to some 4e issues, such as encounter speed, level of difficulty, creature action recovery, etc.

Many aspects of 4e design are things of beauty. I love the logic of encounter balance and difficulty. 5 Standard monsters of the same level as a 5 PC party is an encounter of the PCs level. You can, to a closer degree than any other edition I have played, judge encounter difficulty in 4e. Even in the Epic Tier, with all its imbalances, the 4e method is still "closer" than using Hit Dice or Monstermarks (from old White Dwarf mags) ever were. But what if you crave greater randomness in the number of creatures encountered? You can always use Minions for very large monster groups, but Minions are not always the best solution. The problem is compounded by other factors. Many 4e PCs are not "trained" to flee; it just isn't in their vocabulary. Fights turn into slogs. Who even wants to use a random encounter when it is going to take up most of the session? And how can you use a variable amount of monsters and maintain a semblance of balance in the first place?

Well, the most important thing to do is to use Morale. I will not go back over the details here, but I will note that it is a crucial and effective tool to use to control encounter length. By having this variable built in to the game, you can afford to be looser with the number of creatures encountered, as encounters are typically shorter.

The second thing to do is determine monster levels and "No. Appearing". This sort of ties into another point about the monster design in 4e Forever: I am not using roles. Well, I am using Minions, Standards, Elites, Savages, and Solos, but not "Skirmishers", etc. I am trying to simplify encounter groups. Most encounters will be with creatures of the same exact type, i.e. 1d6+1 Giant Vultures. Though there will be some occasional variations, such as more than one type of Giant Ant, by and large you will be looking at the same creature. I hope you give it a chance when you see it. It allows you to really emphasize the flavor of monsters, and it is a lot easier for DMs to run; there aren't a lot of minor, irritating-to-track differences between say, a bunch of Orcs. Since the magazine deals with high Paragon and Epic, which is already taxing due to so many player options, it is a practical fix with old-school flavor, which is exactly what I am going for.

So that is enough philosophy, let's look at some examples of how to integrate variable encounter groups into your 4e game. Start by determining what you would like the average difficulty level of the possible encounters to be. For these examples, I am aiming for an average encounter level of the party's level +1. That is, if I roll and get the average number of possible creatures, it will result in an encounter of the party's level +1. You can easily adjust up or down to different encounter levels. Anyways, in these examples, I will assume a party of level 20 PCs, and I will be looking for an average encounter level of 21. There are two angles I can take to get there. I can start with a possible numerical range of creatures encountered, i.e. "No. Appearing", or I can start with creature level and go from there. Let's look at both ways.

For the first example, we will start from a numerical range of creatures, i.e. "No. Appearing". I decide I want a fairly large number of Standard creatures, 7-12 (1d6+6). The average there is 9.5 creatures, but always round the fractions of the "No. Appearing" average down; so, in this case I round down to 9. Assuming 5 PCs, I am looking at an XP target of 16,000 for a Level 21 encounter. So, I divide the XP amount by the average number of possible creatures (9). I get 1777 XP per monster, or Level 17 monsters. So the average encounter is about "9.5" Level 17 monsters. The potential encounter levels vary from Level 18 (with 7 Level 17 creatures) to close to Level 22 (with 12 Level 17 creatures). It should be clear by looking at this that the larger the static modifier in the "No. Appearing" roll, the more "stable" the range of possible encounter levels. If we instead take 2d8 creatures (9 creatures average), we still end up working with the same level of creature (17), but the encounter level range is from 11 (if they encounter only 2 Level 17 creatures) to 23 (if they encounter all 16 creatures).

Now let's look at starting with the monster level as opposed to "No. Appearing". I still want to hit my Level 21 target, but this time I decide on using Level 20 monsters. I take 16,000 (XP budget for a level 21) and divide it by the XP for a single Standard of 20th Level (2800). I get something like 5.7 creatures as our target number for the average number of creatures encountered. Unlike above, where we used the average of the possible "No. Appearing", the number of creatures here is rounded up to the nearest whole number, i.e. 6. So now, knowing what we want the average number of creatures encountered to be (6), we can decide on a "No. Appearing" expression. Let's try a "No. Appearing" of 1d10+1. Yes, this is actually a 6.5 creature average, but just as we did in the first example, we again round fractions of the "No. Appearing" average down; so, this expression gives us our target of 6 creatures. So, putting it all together, the mean (average) encounter is around Level 21 (6 Level 20 creatures, times 2800 XP apiece, divided by 5 PCs=3360, or a Level 21 encounter), while the low end (2 Level 20 creatures) is a Level 14 encounter, and the high end (11 Level 20 creatures) is a tough Level 24 encounter. That is a pretty big swing. I like it!

So that is my system, at least up to this point. I can anticipate providing another statistic that notes the possible encounter level range of a "No. Appearing" roll for monsters for a group of 5 PCs. Something like "Enc Lvl: 9-12; 11 avg". We'll see; I am open to ideas!

If you end up rolling a low number of creatures, hey it was a quick combat. If you roll up a lot, there is still a good chance the encounter will end quickly thanks to Morale (although the PCs may get severely roughed up). Now, if you are wanting to deal with a huge amount of monsters, say 20+, you will likely want to look at using Minions, or combinations of Minions and other monsters. There is a level-imposed limit to the accuracy of PCs and monsters, and if you go too far in either direction then it will become too easy or too hard to hit each other. Anyway, if it all works as planned (and playtesting has been positive), encounter length won't be a waking nightmare anymore. You can also help PCs mitigate some of the swingier difficulty with henchmen, which the magazine assumes are being used.

And that's how I am using "No. Appearing" on the stat block. This is made possible by Morale, adjusting monster levels, and using henchmen. When you put it all together, it is an attempt to use "No. Appearing" to bring old-school flavor to 4e stat block, loosen the balance a bit, and shorten encounter time. I hope I did a good job explaining it! I have tried to rephrase it several times for clarity.

I am interested in thoughts and opinions so please leave a post! I will be back soon with Part 2. I also want to say thanks to Dndblogs for including my site! It is a very cool group of 4e blogs to follow. I check it out daily, so take a look if you have never seen it before.

Frothsof 4e Errata!

So I thought I would point out a couple of bits of "Errata". I have edited some posts based on ongoing playtesting. These are mostly minor changes but I wanted to point it out to anyone using or getting ready to use the rules.

-Henchmen are now attracted to PCs starting at level 8 (as opposed to 6), and never total in number to more than a quarter of the PC's level. This used to be 1/3.

-I have edited the Reaction Tables. The chance of a monster being initially unfriendly or hostile has increased slightly.

-The biggest changes have been to the Giant Crab preview. The grab still does not allow for escape attempts, but it now automatically ends at the end of the Crab's next turn. Of course, this means it has a chance to continually "refresh" the grab, but for some PCs, particularly those with high Reflex scores, the possibility of escape is there. I have also lowered the damage expressions slightly based on the number of these it will be possible to encounter. The AC was lowered to the standard number for its level, and its attack bonus verses grabbed creatures was lowered. It is still very nasty, but it did get "nerfed".

-I have added some extra information to the No. Appearing post, providing information on the formulas being used to balance the random numbers of creatures encountered.

The Hybrid Stat Block: A New Way to Determine a Monster's Skill and Initiative Modifiers

So I thought I would make a post to elaborate on something I mentioned in a previous blog regarding a new technique for determining monster skill and initiative modifiers. This came about as I was working on some monsters for my upcoming zine, 4e Forever. I am doing some work on a new stat block; it combines some pieces of 4e's stat block with the old monster listings of 1e and before.

I really like how the old 1e stats do not typically provide ability scores for monsters. You get Special Defenses, etc, but not Charisma scores for every critter the PCs stumble on. As I was jotting down the Charisma and Constitution scores of Giant Aardvarks, it really became clear that the 4e standard of providing ability scores, half-level bonuses, and listed skills was not only tedious to generate, but also fairly pointless. Very little of that information would ever actually be used in a given encounter. That is when I thought of a different method of generating the numbers you need. It is simple, intuitive, and I write this in hopes you will try it and enjoy it as much as I have.

Basically, you take the updated Skill DCs of the monster's level. Specifically, the Moderate and Hard DCs. Take those numbers and subtract 10. Those are the numbers you will now use the rest of the way. If a monster is of standard speed, intuition, etc, then its initiative modifier is the Mod DC-10. If it is a very quick or perceptive-"feeling" monster, use the Hard DC-10. For skills, a Hard DC-10 is the modifier for a trained skill. For untrained, use the Mod DC-10. Do not add half their level or anything to these; you are good to go. Both of these numbers are just listed on a stat block like so:

Trained Skill Mod-
Untrained Skill Mod-

The DM has the freedom to rule on the fly regarding monster skills; you do not have to write out their skills ahead of time. This prevents the DM from having to do a lot of extra work on monsters that may never even come up in the game. Instead you can use common sense to adjudicate on the fly. For example, the Giant Eagle likely is quite perceptive, so let it use the Trained Skill Mod if its Perception is needed. The Giant Spider is a sneaky creature, so let it use a Trained Mod for Stealth. A DM can decide that a creature is so inept at a skill that it cannot even attempt a check.

I have really enjoyed using this method. The stat block (I will preview when it is done) is cleaner, there are no superfluous numbers and stats I will never use, and it is a lot easier and more fun to generate creatures without having to contemplate a Giant Worm's Dexterity.

I hope you like it! As always leave a post with any comments or thoughts!

Treasure in 4e Forever

Ah, treasure. A contentious topic in 4e if there ever was one. I thought today I would preview the way magic items appear in my upcoming zine, 4e Forever. If you are curious about the status of the mag, all I can tell you is WOW did I ever underestimate the amount of work involved getting this done, especially when you are trying to work full time, raise a 1 year old, run your regular campaigns, and on and on. Still, I continue to make progress and I have some surprises about the contents that I will be showing off in the coming weeks.

Anyhoo, back to treasure. Well, as you are aware the zine deals exclusively with high Paragon and Epic tier play. This basically has helped me with being able to "get away with" the design. In short, the items presented do not have levels. If they are weapons, armor, or neck slot items, they are +5 or +6, but they are not assigned a level. There is no item rarity, at all. There are no limits on how many different magic item daily powers you can use in a single encounter. There are usually no prices given for items.

If you want to mosey down to Ye Olde Magic Shoppe and buy some magic items, you are kind of screwed. That is, magic items for sale exist, but they tend towards random consumables, a low level +1 generic sword, and the occasional ritual. That sort of thing. Only rarely will you find a store carrying these items, and they will probably be an overpriced hassle to procure.

No two campaigns are exactly alike, so DMs are encouraged to use whatever method they want to assign items. You don't have to use my ideas. If you do not like where treasure is placed in my adventure, place some yourself, use the parcel method, roll randomly, use wish lists, do whatever you like. If you want magic shoppes, go for it, it won't break anything. If you want to use inherent bonuses, go for it. The only thing the DM really needs to do is make sure PCs get to those +5s and +6s at a reasonable rate. My method simply puts all of the control back in the DM's hands; that is the default that will be presented, but if you want to change it feel free.

Magic items are not "statted out" in the same way that 4e traditionally presents them. Magic items will be described without stat blocks, in a more conversational tone, just like the old days. Often there will be some leeway in how the item will preform; this is deliberate, to give the DM something to improvise off of. Here are two examples, just off the top of my head.

Harley's Fantastic Social Lubricant

Invented by Jum Jum Harley, famed Half-Elf mystic, this liquid is sealed in a glass vial that has a large "H" inscribed on it. The contents can be broken up into three doses. Each dose causes the imbiber to lose his or her inhibitions within one turn (ten minutes). This may manifest itself in multiple ways: the imbiber could fall in love with someone or some thing out of the blue, could lose the ability to lie, or could simply disrobe in public. It is unclear what happens if you give a creature all three doses at once but it is not recommended. Each dose lasts about an hour. For whatever reason, this stuff doesn't work on Satyrs.You can occasionally find a vial or two of this at curio shoppes in central Serd (10% chance).

Tome of Insatiable Bloodlust

This large tome is bound in the stretched skin of an unknown animal (goat? maybe?). The cover is dyed a rich crimson. It is a +6 implement that is drawn like a magnet to blood and gore. Against bloodied targets, this implement scores critical hits on a roll of 17-20. Against a non-bloodied target, the tome does not provide extra crit dice, but against a bloodied target the crit dice are 6d10. There are some drawbacks to the tome. When the wielder scores critical hits, whether the target is bloodied or not, the wielder takes 3d12 paper cut damage. Also, anyone left alone with the tome for more than a turn will hear the tome whispering "Feed me" in their heads. Owner must make a save vs Charm at a -2 penalty or be compelled to feed it with his or her own blood once a day, taking 5d12 damage in the process. Blood dripped onto the tome's pages is quickly absorbed and appears to evaporate as soon as it hits a page.

There are said to be 6 such tomes in existence, all created at the same time, but the only known copy is in the hands of the Nethermancer Archibald of Bridgepuddle, Serd.


To be honest, I do not expect there to be a ton of items appearing in the magazine. That is one part of the game that is bloated enough already to not need any more support. But, should a few items appear here and there to reinforce fluff, or should readers submit items, this is the way they generally will appear.

Seem radical? Wait til you see what I am doing with monster stat blocks!

Please share any thoughts by leaving a post!

A Look at 4e Forever's Epic Tier Monster Design

I am going to give yall another peek at my 4e Forever project and show you how one of the new monsters is built. The magazine deals exclusively with high Paragon and Epic Tiers. One of things you will be seeing that is a little different than traditional 4e Epic tier fare is that some typically mundane creatures are being elevated to Epic status. I am really trying to get down to the pure old-school essence of these creatures, and trying to find a balance of simplicity and difficulty. And I must say I am having fun doing it.

I think that most high level creatures need at least one go-to power that has built-in ways to mitigate conditions, such as being able to make multiple attacks and move as part of the attack. I also really do not want a lot of little attacks, utilities, and things to remember. The Epic PCs will be giving the DM plenty of that as it is! So lets look at what I am doing with my own take on a Giant Crab.

Part of the old-school vibe that translates well to Epic Tier is the multi-attack. Claw/Claw/Bite, and the like. So for the Crab I want a double attack, each claw. And of course I want it to grab the target, as it is the natural thing it would do. I want to make sure I am doing a lot of damage to balance out weak Epic Tier damage rolls. So on top of the two attacks, I added an auto-damaging mechanism. I find auto-damage a crucial component of Epic Tier games.

I am protecting the monster's ability to get the go-to attack off in a couple of ways. First, the attack is all one standard action, so it can happen in full even if dazed. Second, I add some free movement into the power, as well as reach, to allow the crab mobility and a chance to reach most targets even if dazed. I want the grab to hurt, and this is Epic Tier after all, so I am saying the crab's grip is so powerful that it cannot be escaped in the traditional sense. A teleport will break the grab, but just to be memorable and over-the-top I am going to add a little "insult to injury" with more auto-damage in the case the party uses it. Instead of allowing escape attempts, the grab ends at the end of the Crab's next turn, which makes it possible that a PC might be grabbed for quite some time. Net effect: you do not want to get grabbed by this little guy.

Considering movement and senses, I decide to give the crab a rubble walk ability and burrow speed to drive home the flavor. I also decide the Crab is quite in touch with vibrations of the earth so I give it Tremorsense; I like to have at least one creature per encounter have a way around perma-invisible types. If it was a Solo or Elite I would add some immunities and the like, but for a Standard this works nicely.

This guy shows up like a little bad-ass on  rocky beaches, surfacing from underground into the most advantageous spot to get his Claw/Claw off. 

I am also trying something new with monster skills. Instead of breaking out all of the monster attributes and assigning skills, I am simply using the updated Moderate and Hard DCs of the monsters level -10 to derive the initiative and skill mods. I decide whether I want the creature to be very fast quick (+26 initiative) or standard (+17 initiative). I decide on the fly if a monster is 'trained' in a skill or not. If I decide it is, say if the monster is falling and I want it 'trained' in Acrobatics, he gets a +26 mod (i.e. the Hard DC for Level 22 -10). if not trained I use the Moderate DC of the monster's level -10. In some cases you may decide that the monster cannot attempt a skill; for example, I decide my crab cannot roll a Religion check. in this way I can just work off of the skill DC chart and not have to worry about spelling out the rest. I think you will agree that the variation is not as important as the ease of use. It works.

So what does it look like? *note, I am working on a new stat block for my zine. What you see below is just to get the idea across. I am highlighting the design process in a blog series here.

Giant Crab
Level 22 Soldier    Large Natural Creature

Initiative +17       Senses Perception +26
HP 196; Bloodied 98
AC 36; Fortitude 35, Reflex 33, Will 34

Speed 6, Rubble Walk, Burrow 6
Special Senses: Tremorsense 15
Morale 6 ( for my Morale rules, see this blog entry)

Claw/Claw  (basic, standard, At-Will)

The Crab can shift, burrow, or charge up to its speed. After the movement the Crab makes the following attack:

Reach 3, +25 vs Reflex, 2 attacks (one or two creatures)

Hit: 6d4 + 16 damage and the target is grabbed until the end of the Crab's next turn. If the target is already grabbed the Crab gets a +2 bonus to the attack roll. The grabbed target cannot attempt to escape the grab. If either the Crab or the grabbed target are subjected to forced movement, the creatures move together and the grab does not end. Blocking terrain ends the forced movement for all creatures. If a creature is not the original target of forced movement but is moved as a result of a grab, the DM chooses a square adjacent to the original target for that creature after the movement is completed. Teleportation ends a grab as normal. The Crab can have up to two creatures grabbed at one time, but the Crab cannot take a move action other than to stand when it has a creature grabbed.

Special: This attack scores critical hits on an 19-20.

Squeeze (no action, once per round, At-Will)

Target-One or two grabbed creatures

Effect-The target takes 20 damage

Last Pinch (immediate interrupt, At-Will)

Trigger-A grabbed creature teleports or is teleported.

Effect- The target takes 6d12 damage and is slowed until the end of the encounter.

Alignment Neutral       Languages None

Trained Skill Mod (+26), Untrained Skill Mod (+17)

I hope this displays the approach I am taking with the monsters: keep them pure and simple while still keeping the difficulty level high enough to counteract Epic tier imbalance. I would also love some feedback, so even if you hate it let me know what you think!

Tiny 4e Forever Preview

so i have been steadily working on 4e Forever, my upcoming fanzine, but it sometimes feels like i have not gotten anywhere. there is a lot left to do but i wanted to share a sneak peek at one of the monsters in the adventure in the first issue, the Gaartal Bruiser. i will hold off giving you ecology or details about the monster right now so as not to reveal too much. i hope you like it, bc your PCs certainly won't!

Gaartal Bruiser preview pdf

Gaartal Bruiser preview monster file