Hex Crawls and 4e

in my upcoming zine i have been working with reintroducing some old school flavor into 4e. one of the elements you will be seeing are wilderness hex maps and hex crawls. maybe youre wondering what the hell im talking about. well, basically in 4e the tendency is to just hand wave travel. its not a bad thing, i do it all the time, and sometimes you just want to beam the pcs where they are going. but a little old school hex crawling is a great way to add flavor to the pcs travel and give them a greater appreciation for their surroundings. you can even have the pcs map the wilderness as they explore it, which gives you that old judges guild vibe

how does it work?

heck, you might not even be aware pcs have land speeds in 4e. thats how rarely it seems to come up. assuming one person in the party has speed 5, the base speed is about 2 1/2 miles an hour for the party. this is then further modified by terrain. i like to work with whole numbers if possible, so in my example map, which i made with an excellent free generator , i am going to say the hexes are 2 miles across. the pcs can cross one of the woods hexes in an hour. the hills will take them two hours, or twice as long. its not a huge area.

now that ive got a little map and the scale i want, i want to generate some tables. generating these should feel like crack to a dm. its fun, but it also allows you to further define your world. is this section of the world heavily populated? what creatures live there? its a ruined wasteland or will they see dozens of farms? what info might you want to convey to them as they travel? how likely should combat be? you can go on and on, or keep it really simple. i decide the hills are infested with gnolls that are encroaching on the somewhat populous surrounding wood. the inhabitants of the woods are already having problems with bandits hiding out in the woods.

example tables

Hills-roll 1d6 once per hour (twice per hill hex)
1. the pcs run into a spry and wily hermit that lives in a cave; roll again if you get this twice
2. a rockslide happens about a hundred yards ahead of the party
3. vultures circle overhead
4. 1d4 skeletons picked clean
5. 1d4 mountain goats are seen
6. 2d6+6 well armed gnolls

Woods-roll 1d4 once per hour
1. cabin-inhabitant will complain to pcs of bandits in the woods
2. sounds of birds calling
3. small shrine to a god **roll on the shrine table
4. 2d8+4 bandits

Shrine-roll 1d4
1. Melora
2. Sehanine
3. hard to say, very crude and pagan. teeth in small bundle
4. hidden ritualistic stone slab stained with blood. gnolls?

you see where im going with this. heck they might not even encounter half of the stuff but...it's there. i like setting it up where a roll is automatic but there are obviously a lot of ways to set up your tables. for example you could just roll a 1d6 and say an encounter happens on a 1 and just leave it at that (if you want to have lots of random combat encounters without adding too much time to your session, you might like to use my ideas for morale in 4e). you can make huge tables and go crazy with the environmental descriptions. or you can pepper the whole area with adventure sites and let the players just naturally go where they want to go. a sandbox in 4e? impossible?

do you have any ideas about it? leave a post! anyways, you can expect to see more hex love from me in the future

Morale in 4e

*NOTE: THE FINAL MORALE RULES APPEAR IN ISSUE #1 OF 4E FOREVER**


Hello again. So I thought I'd throw some ideas out that are related to combat length in 4e. Lots of people complain about it, but outside of my game I have hardly EVER seen DMs have monsters flee. I mean the thrill is over, the monsters are not going to win, its in the grind stage, and yet the monsters are still there fighting. Other times, you want to get through a good bit of a dungeon or what not and you know that if you have two full combats you won't get there that night. Or you would really like to have wandering monsters but the thought of another combat on top of the ones you have planned makes your eyes glaze over.

Well, some of the old versions of D&D (and many retro-clones) have a morale system. Basically, this is a way besides intimidation and/or DM whim to give creatures a chance to flee. As a DM you basically accept the fact that some encounters might end pretty quickly, but you still retain the control to make some encounters be played through til the end.

Morale can change the way 4e is approached. You can still have your grand, planned-out encounters, but also throw in some random monsters without guaranteeing never ending combat. But how would this work?

The rules are basically identical to those of B/X. Assign a morale score. When the situation calls for a morale check, roll 2d6. If the roll is higher than their morale score, the monsters attempt to flee, surrender, or otherwise end the encounter; if it is equal to or less than the score, they stay and fight. There is no need to roll for 2s and 12s. For Solos and Elites, or if you want a monster to fight to the death, Assign the creature(s) a 12 morale (will never flee) or make them immune to fear. On the flip side, if it is some random monsters that are not very tough, are lower level than the PCs, etc etc,  give them a lower score. Here are the morale scores and how to use them:

12-Will not flee or surrender and/or immune fear, Solos, Elites
9-11-Unlikely to flee
6-8-Average
3-5-Weak willed; flees easily
2-Always surrenders or flees after the first death of an ally

This might appear to be slanted towards having a monster stay in the fight, but notice that you will check morale more than once.

-Roll once when the first monster is killed

-Roll once when half of the monsters have been killed, or less than half remain if you started with an odd amount

If the monsters have not failed a morale roll after this point, they will fight to the death unless intimidated (if possible) or otherwise made to surrender, flee, or what have you by the DM. Minions do not affect morale. When it is time to check morale, only roll once for the entire group of monsters; use the highest morale score of whichever monsters are left.

You may find it helpful to assign a creature variable morale; for example, a pack of bandits start with a morale score of 9, so as long as most of their allies are still alive, they are likely to stay in the fight. Later in the encounter, when half of the bandits are killed, their morale score is lowered to 4 for the second check, and they will likely flee. You could also look at just giving creatures a minor bonus or penalty to their morale score based on the circumstances of the encounter.


Example: Say I have a Solo that is going to fight the PCs. I assign it a 12 morale; there is no situation in which it would ever need to check morale. So, Solos typically don't flee unless the DM wants them to.

Example 2: Say I have 5 orcs and 2 bugbears, none of which are Minions, along with an Elite ogre. I give them all a 7 morale score except the Elite, who has a 12. The PCs fight the monsters and kill a bugbear. Since 1 monster has been killed, I would normally check morale, but as I use the highest remaining monster's morale score (the ogre's 12), there is no point in rolling. The fight continues. Over the next two rounds the PCs finish off the ogre and 2 orcs.1 bugbear and 3 orcs are still standing, half the number that started. I check morale again and get a 9, higher than the remaining monsters' score of 7. The monsters flee.

That's basically it. The DM has the control of which monsters will or will not flee, and Elites and Solos are already pretty much protected from fleeing. Yet it also allows for some encounters to end without turning to a slog. This of course then frees a DM to use larger populations for dungeons, to use wandering monsters, etc etc.

Morale allows the DM to be a bit looser with the number of creatures encountered, balancing the use of large numbers of creatures by assigning them a lower morale score. You can let the monsters hit harder at the beginning of an encounter, and 'get out' before it gets into a slog

You will see more of this in my upcoming zine. This is a way to get some old-school flavor in your game, while still allowing for set-piece planned encounters that 4e does so well. It also will help the game keep flowing and moving forward. This will, in my estimation, dramatically improve many published 4e adventures as well as home games. Please do not feel tied to this if you use it; if you want an encounter to keep going, just keep going.

I'm interested in what you think! Leave a post!

WOW! Amazing blog!

check this out. there are just tons of links to many, many killer fanzines and such on here.

Old School Zines

Quick Fixes To Old Crappy Monsters

Hello there. As work continues on my zine, I thought I would post some more monster tips. I realize not everyone really wants to go back and edit old monsters in detail to bring them up to the errata (and they are still too weak even then), so I thought I would share some easy tips to help use pre-MM3 monsters with the least amount of work. You can do these on the fly with no need to make notes or edits. This should work pretty well up until very high levels, where you won't be able to get away with it as easily, and you'll need more damage. 



1. Add 1/2 their level to the damage rolls. Simple.

2. Double check the attack bonuses and adjust them if needed. Easy thing to fix. Use their Level + 5 vs AC and Level +3 vs NADs.

3. Lower the recharge number of powers by one. So a recharge 5 power becomes a recharge 4. Encounter powers change to recharge on a 6. Easy to remember.

4. Give the monsters a "Double Attack". Give creatures a single Standard Action that allows them to make two RBAs and/or MBAs. This dramatically increases accuracy obviously, and that is a balance vs the weaker damage. So if you see a Basic Attack, just tell yourself you can also make it twice. Pretty simple. You may want to designate a ranged At-Will as a Basic Attack on some older monsters.

5. If they still look too weak, or don't play tough enough, let them Free Action attack when they are bloodied and/or when they die.

There you go, nice and easy. It's not perfect, but it's quick, you don't need to consult errata, and the monsters now are worth something.

I often use some of these tweaks on even 'updated' monsters, and I would recommend you do the same, especially giving them Double Attacks and lowering the recharge numbers.

As I mentioned earlier, both these and my 'Savage' monsters work best from Heroic to about 15th level. from there you likely need to pile on some auto-damage, even if you have updated the damage expressions.

Updates, updates, updates

sorry its been so long! if you check out the previous post, i have updated the pdf for sorin yeate AND i have given a link to the monster file, so you can easily try it in your games. run it against some level 8 pcs and let me know what you think!

the big update is that i have been working on something new- a free 4e mag in pdf format. it is called '4e forever' and i am very excited about it. i hope to have the first issue done within the next couple of months. i dont want to give too much away but each issue will have an adventure, and a lot of old school flavor mixed in with 4th. i feel 4e has a lot further to go so i was inspired to do it.

i will be posting the links here, so if you are interested, please follow this blog and you will be notified when they start coming out. there will also be opportunity for submissions once i get it going!

A Sample Savage

So, here is a sample of the new monster type I am working on. I mention it in an earlier post. Check out how it is all incorporated.

The creature I made is named Sorin Yeate. He is a half-orc with a major skin disease. As a result, he not only lives far from civilization, but he is also just dangerous to be near, as his condition gives off a poisonous and acidic mist of vapor. The properties of the mist can also be hallucinogenic. He uses this condition to protect himself. Unfortunately he is also deranged and will not listen to reason.

Sorin is a good creature to use if the PCs are in an isolated region. If they stumble on his lair, they will certainly smell an acrid stench if they get within 10 squares of him.

I would be interested if anyone has thoughts. I have attached a pdf of the creature. I have given him just the bare minimum to qualify as a Savage so that the features are clearly represented. This creature has a chance to hit the PCs fairly hard without taking all night.

Tactics are simple-spend your action points as quickly as possible and make as many attacks as possible in order to get the best use out of Savage. This should run really well against 5 Level 8 PCs; that would be the "sweet spot". Obviously, the higher the PC level, the easier it will become. This will be too easy for PCs over level 10.

Note-I have updated the pdf, and I also have a link to download the monster file, so you can easily put it in your games.

Sorin Yeate Monster file

Sorin Yeate PDF update

5e Announced

oh well, looks like 4th is going to be ending pretty soon. i plan on keeping playing of course, but cannot help being a little saddened by the short life of the edition. 4th kind of revitalized the game for me, and though there are a few things to work around, it is a lot of fun. anyway, i love the game and will continue this little blog about it.

A New 4e Monster Type: The Savage

I have been playing around with a new monster type, the Savage. A Savage is an Elite monster that is buffed up enough to challenge a party as a Solo. They can hit hard without taking without taking all night to run. Since they die more quickly than a traditional Solo monster, you can afford to be a little swingy with their offensive power; their lower hit points are balanced by their "savagery".

 A Savage will typically have many, if not all, of these features:

-Immunity to status effects such as stun and dominate
-Saving throws at the beginning and end of turn
-Attacking at their Initiative and Initiative + 10
-Multiple attacks per turn as a single Standard Action and/or Minor and Free Action attacks
-Elusiveness
-Free Action attacks when bloodied and/or dying
-2 action points
-An auto-damaging Aura or the equivalent

I'm using them in Ravenloft currently and they can hit you hard without taking all day.

Look for some example Savages on my blog soon!

If you haven't heard of this...

FOURTHCORE

Random Encounters in 4e

On the 4e forums the subject of random encounters came up. Most complaints really came down to encounter speed in 4e, or just hatred of random aspects in the game.

Random encounters can work great, but remember you are rolling for 'wandering monsters'. If used correctly this adds flavor and doesn't necessarily lead to combat.

In B/X D&D,  movement as you might recall was a little different. There was the combat round but also a unit of time called a 'turn'; this is 10 minutes. Your speed in an encounter, say you have speed 6 on your PC, that is 1/3 of your 'exploration speed', or how far you can go in a dungeon in a turn (10 minutes). This assumes you are kind of being cautious and 'mapping' where you are at. So, say for a 4e PC w speed 6, your exploration speed is 3*6 or 18 squares

Any encounter is assumed to take a turn even if it doesn't; the rest is made up by the short rest or looking for treasure or what have you. Any time you disable a trap, that takes a turn. Stop to work on a stuck door, takes a turn etc. and anytime you have a PC move 18 sqrs thru a dungeon it has taken a turn. In B/X, you had to rest once every 5 turns, or 10 minutes of every hour.

Then you say ok, every so many turns, say 3 or 4, I will roll for wandering monsters. Roll a d6, and a 1 (or a 2 if you want more to happen) means they encounter wandering monsters.

Now remember in old editions a monster was really just a blanket term for anything you came across; in 4e it is more accurate to say 'roll for random creatures'. You can have memorable, flavorful random 'encounters' that dont all have to be combat based. There is also some cool random flavor. Here is an example table.

Roll for wandering creatures once every 3 turns.
A roll of 1 on a 1d6 indicates an encounter. Then roll a d8. If you roll the same thing twice, reroll it.

1. 3-8 Eladrin explorers looking for a relic
2. 5-10 Gnomes carrying the carcass of a large creature
3. A sleeping (snoring) adventurer lying in the hallway
4. A large swarm of bats flies by; the walls are covered in guano
5. 2-12 giant rats feeding on dead bodies; they scatter when seen
6. A woman tied up in a corner with a gag over her mouth
7. 5-10 rot grub swarms gestating
8. 3-10 monks meditating in front of a strange image on stone a wall

If you really want to kick it old school and test your ability as a DM to improvise, you can roll the reactions of intelligent creatures randomly.

Roll a d6
1. Run from the pcs/scared
2. Hostile
3. Indifferent
4. Friendly
5. Beg the PCs for help
6. Act friendly and ask to join PCs, then betray them first chance

This is literally just off the top of my head. Hopefully it gives you some ideas on how it could add a little unpredictable flavor to your game.

Brutal Minions

rarely do I use a minion these days that doesn't have some kind of extra oomph.

try having minions explode in an aura 1, leaving a zone (noxious fumes perhaps?) that does level appropriate damage when a creature starts in it or enters it. it changes the movement strategy of the pcs quickly and makes it more interesting.

another favorite is having your minions attack everything adjacent to them when they die, berserker style. or mix the two; when you kill one minion it chain reaction kills the other which explodes into noxious gas. try using a ton of these on the table for an unpredictable explosion of violence.

make those little suckers count.

Simple Solo and Elite "Templates"

As everyone knows, Solos and Elites get locked down and abused waaay too easily. Here are simple "templates" to boost Solos and Elites that are easy to remember.

-Elites-Immune stun, dominate

-Solos-Immune stun, dominate; save at beginning and end of turn

-Give them both a multi-attack if they don't have one.

-Add an aura or effect that does automatic damage if the creature doesn't already have one. about 10 damage at the end of heroic, 15ish by the end of paragon, and 20+ at epic depending on your party.


These things are easy to remember and they work. You have probably started doing some of these things already.