Claw/Claw/Bite!

Today we look at adding one of my favorite old-school mechanics, the Claw/Claw/Bite, into 4e. In 4e, monsters flat out need multi-attacks to be able to threaten PCs, especially at high levels. Using a Claw/Claw/Bite attack is a perfect way to inject old-school flavor into your game while simultaneously helping to fix 4e game balance.

I am working with the Claw/Claw/Bite 'attack routine' in my fanzine and 4e campaigns. I thought I would share some ideas on how I have been using it. As mentioned above, the Claw/Claw/Bite helps solve some 4e issues. If a monster is dazed, using Claw/Claw/Bite as a single standard action helps a monster with action recovery. It also helps monsters do more damage since they end up with a better chance to hit. Both good things.

Claw/Claw/Bite attacks allow lots of room for DM creativity. I have used multiple variations. For example, the bite could be contingent on at least one claw having hit. So if you don't hit with a claw, there is no bite. OR if you hit with at least one claw, the bite always hits and does automatic damage. Maybe if you hit with a claw, the bite does extra damage if it hits. Or if all three attacks hit, the target is stunned. You can have both claws target one defense, with the bite attack targeting another for flavor. Maybe it isn't even Claw/Claw/Bite...maybe it is Punch/Punch/Headbutt! There is a lot of variety within the 'simple' Claw/Claw/Bite sequence that might not be immediately apparent, but if you work with it for a bit, you find that it opens up a lot of room for flavorful design.




A Claw/Claw/Bite goes GREAT with "Savage" monsters. Like butter. It is very easy to DM a monster that uses a Claw/Claw/Bite as its primary attack; this in turn helps the game play faster, helping address another 4e issue, namely combat speed.

Anybody else utilizing the Claw/Claw/Bite attack routine in 4e? Leave a post!

Reaction Tables and 4e

Today I offer you some Reaction Tables for DMs to improvise with. You have seen something like this before if you are familiar with older versions of the game.

Now, many monsters will automatically attack, and many NPCs in your campaign might always be friendly. That's expected. But on occasion when using wandering monsters, or if the PCs take that right turn at Albuquerque, you might want to inject some randomness to the proceedings and flex your improv muscles.

Basically, if you have any creature or NPC that does not already automatically feel one way or the other about the PCs, if their reaction is in question, or if you are making it up as you go along, try the tables below. Keep in mind these are initial reactions. That bar wench with a heart of gold could turn nasty if she is treated rudely, and the vicious monster is just one morale check away from fleeing into the wilderness. Look for opportune moments to use these. For example, if the PCs approach a hireling they have never met before, you might check their reaction.

4e Reaction Table for NPCs
Roll 2d6 once for NPCs and check the table below
2 Unusually friendly
3-5 Friendly
6-8 Neutral; indifferent
9-10 Prickly; rude
11-12 Openly hostile; instigates conflict

4e Reaction Table for Wandering Monsters
Roll 2d6 once for monsters and check the table below

2-3 Friendly
4-5 Neutral; indifferent
6-8 Unfriendly; will attack if approached or if their environment has been entered
9-12 Hostile; immediately attack

You can modify these based on the situation, if a PC has an extremely high Charisma, or however else you desire. I think you will find it adds a layer of unpredictability that makes it fun to DM; it also helps prevent every single encounter from turning into combat.

Anybody using something like this? Leave a post!

A Megadungeon? For 4e?!!

When someone mentions a megadungeon and 4e in the same sentence, I think that the first things to come to mind are oil and water. After all, a megadungeon is a massive structure, and in 4e to get through one room sometimes takes an entire session. 4e published 'delves' are usually three rooms, three fights, ta-da magic item bc that is about all you can get to in a sitting. 4e published adventures, especially the early ones, add a thick coating of terrible railroady melodrama to the mix, and you suddenly find yourself far, faaaar away from the way D&D adventures used to feel.

Paradoxically, one of the best things about 4e is how fun combat is as a player. All of the myriad tricks and toys to torment and flat out embarrass a monster. That great feeling when the board lines up to your will and you roll dice for like 20 minutes. Although some schools of thought suggest taking away player options in order to increase game speed, I would argue that those are things to make sure to leave in. I prefer to look at fixes from the DMs side, to see what I can do to increase encounter speed while still keeping it threatening.

My 4e Forever project involves a megadungeon. In preparation for writing it, I have gone back to the classics, near constantly reading some old adventure or another. In the case of my Saturday Gloomwraught campaign, I am running an old classic adventure, Judges Guild's Tegel Manor. This puppy PREDATES AD&D. Not precisely a megadungeon, but 240 rooms strong in the main level nonetheless.

So far, running it has been a tremendous pleasure, and the pace and varying threat level of the encounters is allowing the exploration to flow more naturally from room to room. At 12th level with optimized PCs, we got three combats in, plus at least a solid hour of exploration, in 3 hours. That to me is about perfect pace, and while I can't promise you that a combat will take such and such long, I can give you tips on how to get close to it. I think tinkering with this stuff might help give yourself more versatility in encounter/adventure design. So if you ever want to create a 4e megadungeon or update an old classic, try these tips:

Use Savages
I again want to encourage DMs to try using variations of these in your games. I used two of these in the session. The old adventure has a lot of rooms that are just like 'This room has an old broken sword in it. There is a Black Mold on the bed'. You could spend the rest of your playing days trying to run 4e Solos for all of the random monsters in this thing. Savages allow for the PCs to be threatened without taking all night. By giving the monsters a combination of multi-attacks (including action points), action recovery, automatic damage (auras and otherwise), and other tweaks, they run very clean, and pack a wallop. I thought it was awesome to see that the Middle-Aged DM posted a killer Savage. thats a bad boy; very cool. If you want another example and you never checked out Sorin 'Stinky' Yeate, check it out. You've got to try these, they are like 4e DM crack.

Use Morale
It is hard to fully embrace random wandering monsters in 4e if each encounter is going to take forever. The story has to go somewhere, and one slog after another is not really a great story. But yet, I want to use random tables. I love random tables. I think they add tons of flavor to an area and you are going to see a slew of them in 4e Forever. But I am not just talking about random encounters. I'm talking about rolling random numbers of creatures as well.

How can you get away with this in 4e where everything is balanced to a specific threat level? You can't use monsters to high or too low or nobody will be able to hit, and if you did use a lot of monsters, it would just be hit point city and take all year. That's where Morale comes in. Morale gives the DM a flavorful way to control combat length and difficulty. And since a low Morale monster will likely flee after just one of their allies is killed, this allows you to use way more of the monsters to begin with, so you can be more 'swingy' with the number of creatures. And if it does get out of hand, the PCs might...and you might have to brace yourself for this...they might actually have to run, for once in their careers. This also really encourages the DM to use many of the same creatures for random encounters, both for ease of running them, but also bc the fact that they may flee so early, discourages you from spending a lot of time on stuff you might not use.

So, in 4e Forever, you will see things like '3d4 Giant Wasps". A wasp gets really pissed and stings like hell, but ultimately it only wants to protect its area. It does not reason or try to follow a party or hold grudges. If seriously injured, it will likely stop fighting. A wasp's morale score might vary between 5-3, so even though 12 seems like a ton of Standard creatures to possibly throw at a party, the odds are really good that the fight will be over quickly. Personally, I love the flexibility it gives me in encounter design. I can have set-piece encounters that are really planned, or I can run more random old-school encounters with large numbers of monsters.

Speaking of fighting large numbers of monsters, give your players some henchmen!
This is going great so far in my group. My henchmen rules are here. Basically, once you hit 8th level you start attracting your own henchmen each level; they are kind of like super-minions. They help allow for a little swinginess in encounter difficulty, add a ton of flavor, and are just fun basically. It was actually a little sad when the first one died-died. Megadungeons are somehow more fun with a huge party.

Use unusual encounter areas
You could talk about this all day, but using both large and small encounter areas can add a lot of old-school goodness to your megadungeon. A lot of the rooms in Tegel Manor are very, very small. The whole party and a monster can not all fit into some of them. While using small-sized rooms exclusively would be a bad thing, it sure is awesome to do from time to time. You can also use several connected rooms to be sort of a 'sector' of the megadungeon.The PCs can enter any of them and attract creatures from all of those rooms. This is a good way to combine monster types as well as stagger how you add monsters into the combat, which is something I love. That 'should've saved the Daily' look on a player's face when the zombies walk in at the end of the second round.



Anybody running any 4e megadungeons out there? Leave a post if so! 

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!

Memorable Mechanics Part 4: Over-the-Top Conditions

ok welcome to what i think might be the last in this series on memorable mechanics in your games, at least until im inspired to write another one. i am thankful for the comments and thoughts that readers have shared! 

so i want to talk today about using unusual conditions in your game. 4e did some amazing things for the game, not least of which is codifying certain conditions. what this means is that you can play at multiple tables all over the world and be truly playing the same game. it makes DMing easy even if you have never met the table of players you are about to run a game for. unfortunately it can also be pretty stale and not make for especially memorable gameplay for the player or the DM. do not get me wrong here, i would not have conditions any other way, i love that they are set in stone. still, i think every game can benefit from experimenting with odd or extreme conditions. i also like to look at working with the existing conditions, and combining them to make new ones.

the first thing i like to do is to really forget mechanics completely for a minute and think about what i want to do the the PC. that sounds pretty sadistic, and... it is a little. oh well! next i start to think of how to express that 'condition' in the game. this includes deciding whether to include existing conditions as part of the new 'condition'. the down side of using known conditions is that it tends to make it easier for PCs to overcome the condition with a power, feat, and the like. the plus side is everyone knows the conditions already so they are easier to communicate already. i then try to make sure there is some new flavor or quirk to the condition that makes it special.

i thought i would share a few random thoughts and  'quirks' that you can use to bring extreme conditions to life in your games. i have provided at least one example for each tip.

1. have things go from bad to worse very quickly

fourthcore is great at this. one failed save youre screwed, second failed save youre dead.

example-i decide i want the big bad end guy fire elemental to literally melt a PC. so im thinking of the PC gradually melting into a puddle. i want to hit hard from the get go and i damn sure do not want them to be able to get off the hook easily. i decide i do not want a saving throw to be able to end it, i want this to be severe. so i am thinking the first turn after the melt starts, the PC takes a -4 penalty to basically everything: attack and damage rolls, defenses, speed. second round is -8 (if you reach 0 you just stay at 0). third round -12. you are insubstantial and basically a puddle on the ground. everyone has to roll acrobatics checks to avoid slipping on you. remove affliction reverses the melting process.

2. unusually long delays before the condition really sets in
 
example-i want to thump a PC on the head, but i want it to be flavorful. how about a severe concussion? i decide i want to use existing condition (daze) as part of a new one. the player is hit in the head one session and dazed save ends; after that everything goes on as normal. the players forget it happened. but two or three sessions later the PC wakes up with a -10 in knowledge based checks and has to make a check against self-harm or harming a party member once a day. 

alternate example- the PCs are cursed by some hag. literally weeks of game time go by until the curse reveals itself in some delicate situation

3. hit them with permanent conditions

these are a titch tricky. the PC should still be playable, but significantly changed.

example-i decide i want to literally dismember a PC. like cut his legs clean off. i dont want him to be able to find the legs later. i decide i also do not want the condition to contain existing condition terminology. so, while i want to slow the PC as part of this condition, i do not want to use the word 'slowed' bc then the PC likely has a way around it. so instead of slowed i want to say 'the PCs speed is 2'. i decide the final condition is the PC has max speed (unless on a mount) of 2, regardless of feats. the PC also takes penalties to checks as per the DM. the PC is considered prone to enemies.

alternate example- a grotesque scar permanently effecting skill checks


4. the 'hidden in plain view' approach

with these you want to have the method of ending the condition be something simple. sometimes those are the hardest for PCs to deal with.

example-i want to burn a PCs eyes with acid. i decide to use an existing condition (blind) along with some massive ongoing damage. this makes it easy to track and explain to the player. if the PC has anything to use vs blindness or to resist the ongoing damage for a time, he can. but the interesting part is there is no save from the blindness or ongoing damage; outside of combat the PC is still blind and takes the damage every ten minutes. the condition can be ended immediately if the eyes are simply flushed with water. if the PC asks if it is 'save ends'...answer with a cryptic 'i dont know yet'. or 'ill tell you when'.


you can go on endlessly in every direction with these. what kind of memorable conditions have you used in your game? what ideas would you add to the list?

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

Memorable Mechanics Part 3: Roll a Ton of Dice

Just a short one today about how to make the act of rolling damage a memorable one. Simply put: roll tons of dice. Players respond to seeing the DM pick up a massive pile of dice. This is not something you want to do with every damage roll because it makes the damage a bit swingier, but 4e PCs are pretty darn durable and it is an almost guaranteed eye opener when you go for the dice. This is just a minor way you can psychologically torment your players; maybe shake your head like you feel sorry for them as you put your fistful together. Ask to borrow dice from all of the players. Milk it.

One thing you can do is look at the damage expressions for your monsters (published or otherwise) and make small edits. If you see 3d8+10, try a 6d4+10. If you see 4d12+12, try 8d6+12. I realize this adds a couple of points of damage here and there, but big whoop they can take it. Its the visual of all those dice that is the key.

To really make this dramatic, take the whole expression, static damage and all, and convert to one massive damage roll with no static damage. So say the starting damage roll is 3d12+13. That's 32.5 damage on average. I might decide to just roll 10d6 or 7d10 by itself instead. Crits are brutal.

You can also look for moments to use unique damage rolls that do not correspond with recommended damage expressions. That trap that sprays acid and melts skin? Just grab a handful of dice and see what happens. Seriously.

I do not recommend this for every roll or even most rolls, but I encourage you to look for opportune moments in your games to use tons of dice. Such a simple little thing can make it more memorable for the whole table.

Ever done something along these lines? Leave a post!

Memorable Mechanics Part 2: Disease

So, my series on using unusual mechanics in 4e games continues today with the subject of disease. On paper, I kind of like the look of how 4e handles disease. Gone are the absurd "realistic" diseases of the 1e days (Kidney infection? Fun!). Still, the 4e system has the disease affect the PC in stages. This is where the problems come in. I have yet to see a PC hit the late stages of a disease. Between saving throw bonuses and wonky Endurance DCs, it is rare that a PC contract a disease at all. This defeats the purpose. Furthermore, keeping track of stages is kind of annoying to begin with. So, here are my ideas on how to include diseases in your 4e game.



You get no save. You have the disease, period.
Pretty simple, the diseased bat bites you, you have the disease. Might sound harsh but, hey, thats disease.

The disease has no 'stages'. It is what it is.
It is my advice to go ahead and get straight to the juicy stuff. Ravage the PCs body with disease while you have the chance. Severe is good. Severe is memorable. Nobody remembers the time they got stage one of some wussy disease that gave them a -1 Fort for 6 hours. They DO remember that time their body parts started falling off and they had to carry them in their backpack. For published diseases, go straight to the final stage.

After an extended rest, make a hard Endurance check.
If the PC passes the check, they are cured. If they fail, they aren't. You can have the PC die after failing an Endurance check if you like, or it can just be chronic until they beat the DC. Nice and simple. No stages to track. Allies can treat a disease as normal.

That's pretty much it. I promise you you will see more ritual use in your games after a disease or two like this! Making diseases memorable starts with simply making diseases a threat, and the way the rules currently play, disease is no threat at all to a group of PCs. Let's change that.

Do you have any memorable disease stories? Please leave a post!

Memorable Mechanics Part 1: Forced Movement

Hello, this is the first in a series on this blog about using unusual mechanics in your games. I decided to break it into parts so it wouldn't be too much of a wall of text.

The past few days I have been thinking about player assumptions in 4e. Basically, 4e has codified conditions; they do the same thing table to table. This is good, bc you can just tell a player they are slowed and everyone knows what that means. On the flip side, with limited conditions in the game, a player can basically prepare for everything. I have a high level fighter that can avoid daze, stun, immobilize, restrain, slow, etc etc. and that's absolutely fine, but this series is about defying the usual mechanics and bringing things your players have never seen to the table. In this first part we are looking at forced movement.

Forced movement in 4e games is usually something you see more from a players side, like that mage that has the At-Will slide 7, or a polearm build that slides, marks, and prones. Monsters usually only do a push 1 here or a slide 2 there. I urge you to shock your players with forced movement. Take their expectations and rip them apart.

Crazy pulls

Here is one from my home game. I had a frog-like beast that had a ranged 10 tongue attack that targeted 2 creatures. On a hit it obviously did damage, but also pulled them up to 10 squares into an auto-damaging Fly-Vomit Aura. Another idea I am working into the 1st 4e Forever adventure involves a powerful magnet. Any PC with metal weapons or armor gets pulled to it, regardless of distance, taking damage as they slam against it. Pull the PCs completely across the battlemat; the whole table will love it.

Absurd control

So here is another way to use forced movement to startling effect. The next time you have the PCs facing a controller type, shock them with cartoonish control. Try a power (possibly named "Can You Fly, Billy?") in which the PC takes damage from an attack and is hoisted 6-12 squares in the air. At the start of the PCs turn, he falls. You can also use wind or other environmental features to add some wild movement to an encounter. Perhaps the PCs have to roll an Acrobatics check at the start of their turns or be tossed into the air and over a cliff.

Push PCs into things 

To get more flavor out of a push (or slide), push the PCs into things, and push them far. For example, consider the push actually pushing them across the mat and several squares into a wall. It damages them greatly obviously, and costs them extra movement to climb out of the wall. The squares around the new hole now have rubble and stone (difficult terrain) from where the PC smashed into it.

Teleport the hell out of them

Teleport the PCs into bad spots. Think about this when you design your terrain. For example, instead of giving them a save by teleporting them into a lava river, teleport them onto the small rock in the center of the lava river. Teleport them next to other monsters. Teleport them into a cage.

Use helpless PCs as weapons

The psion has a power that allows it to use an enemy as a living missile to attack other creatures. I love it; it is great flavor. The next time you have a strong creature, say an ogre or dragon or what have you, have them grab, damage, and daze a PC on a hit. Then allow them to throw the PC at his allies. The further you throw them, the better. Maybe an area burst 1 within 10. Use the PC as a weapon.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these ideas. I am sure many of you have used some things like this in your home games, so please leave a post and tell me about them! Look for part 2 of this series coming soon!

Fixing Passive Perception in 4e

Passive Perception isn't a bad idea in and of itself. It has a lot going for it, actually. It is nostalgic, originating from old school versions of the game, where certain races had a chance to notice hidden doors and the like, simply by passing by them. Using passive skills also rewards players who deliberately spend resources to improve and excel at a skill. Lastly, it can, in some instances, save the DM some time, as he doesn't have to call for a check. But somewhere along the way it all went wrong. In this post, I am looking at what the problem is with Passive Perception (and other passive skills to some extent), and how to fix it.

So what is the problem in the first place? Well, to put it as simply as possible, it is hard to threaten 4e PCs with traps using it. Even casual, unoptimized groups can produce a PC whose Passive Perception is consistently above the moderate difficulty check, and often even a hard check. It is too easy. I want players to explore their environment and not have everything handed to them automatically. So here are my ideas on how to make it better:

Always use the hard DC
I want most hidden traps to be hard to detect. Note I said most. Otherwise, there's not much point in hiding them. I mean, sure I want to reward players for spending feats and such to help boost their skills, but the bottom line is some groups skills are so high they will always beat DCs; so here is what I recommend for DCs. Well-constructed traps can only be detected passively by a PC with a score better than, or equal to, the hard DC of the trap's level. Note that you will still have players that beat these DCs passively, and that's ok. If a trap is of poor quality or obvious, use the moderate DC of the trap's level. There are a few times that I would encourage the use of a lesser quality trap. Maybe for flavor reasons, or when using traps in an already difficult encounter, or to lull the players into a false sense of security regarding their skills.

Limit a PCs ability to rely on passive skills
This one has an old-school vibe. If a PC rolls an active check, use that check until they leave the area; they no longer qualify for their passive scores while in that area. So say they announce they are looking for traps and roll a 2. Do not let their score suddenly improve while they are still in the rough area. You can even call it ten minutes, or a 'turn'. Let players know this when they roll an active check to search.

Use skills other than Perception
Flavor your traps with different detection requirements. Maybe Perception doesn't work on some of them; they require Dungeoneering training. Or there might be an old holy symbol that is plainly visible to all, but it takes skill in Religion to automatically recognize it is trapped.

Reward exploration
The obvious flip-side of all of this talk of torturing PCs is to reward exploration when deserved. This is the kind of think that doesn't necessarily fit the codified rules approach of 4e, but occasionally, if you have a group of adventurers that are showing caution, playing attention to clues, and roleplaying, and they make a group check and fail, consider giving them a bonus to their check, or an automatic success. Don't do this every time, as some players might feel patronized or insulted; rely on 'feel' to tell you when this is appropriate. This is basically "taking 20" with conditions added.

Experiment with an alternate approach
If you still hate passive skills, you could just try something completely different. Another way to do it is to require a moderate or hard DC to even qualify to detect a trap. The DM then rolls a hidden roll to determine if the qualifying PC notices the trap. In other words, their Passive Perception allows them a chance to detect it, but doesn't guarantee success. This is kind of like an old school game, like an Elf determining a hidden door without trying on the DMs roll of 1 or 2 in 6. If a PCs passive score is high enough to beat the moderate DC to detect the trap, make a hidden percentage dice roll. The PC has a 75% chance to notice a trap of average construction, and a 50% chance to notice a well-constructed trap. This method adds an extra chance of failure on the back end. This method increases the threat of the trap while giving you an added old-school vibe.

In summary, I really don't want to come off too harsh. I just want to reward actual exploration and make passive trap detection more difficult. These ideas put power back into the DMs hands and make traps more dangerous than those in the typical game of 4e.

As always, I am interested in your feedback and opinions. Do you have your own method for using Passive Perception? Leave a post!

4thcore hub! Good stuff!

so sersa v over at the legendary 4thcore site has created a page for a 'hub' of sites that relate to 4thcore style gaming. many of the sites i was reading already, such as the excellent crypt thing. anyway, they are accepting submissions to be a part of the hub and i am thrilled to say that i got accepted! you should bookmark their page. i think a lot of good will come from like minded sites being grouped together somewhere.

4thcore hub!!!

Henchmen and Hirelings in 4e

 **NOTE: THE FINAL HENCHMEN AND HIRELING RULES WITH ERRATA APPEAR IN ISSUE #1 OF 4E FOREVER***

I've been thinking today about henchmen and hirelings in 4e. Although a sort of token effort was taken late in 4e's life to present henchmen and hirelings, I wanted to take it a little further. But how? And why? In 4e, with the toughness of the PCs, you don't necessarily need cannon fodder like the old days. In other editions you automatically attracted followers at higher levels; in 4e there's no mechanism for that. Plus they suffer from 'ritual syndrome', which is where they cost too much money to encourage their use. Furthermore from a DM standpoint the last thing you really need on a 4e table is more HP, what with the proliferation of summons, animal companions, familiars, and everything else. Despite all of these apparent challenges, I think its possible to make it work and be fun in 4e. Here are my ideas. There are some close similarities with retro-games but some tweaks have been made to fit in with how 4e plays.

1. Screw balance. I mean, seriously

Don't get me wrong, I love balance in 4e but sometimes, especially in combat situations, I think you can let it go a bit. Basically the PCs never run in 4e. They have no fear. Rarely will they deliberately avoid combat. Not only that but there are assumptions in the game about monster abilities and powers. So surprise your players. Make them need some help. Amaze them with the large numbers of minis you put down. Leave traps all over the place. Or maybe despite the PCs high Arcana scores, for once they dont know something about an artifact automatically; they have to seek out a Sage that doesn't give out info for free. Let them know there are hirelings to be had and that they might be needed, and if your players are high enough level, have henchmen approach them. More on this below.

2. Make hirelings cheap but limited

Some cool stuff in 4e doesnt get used. Part of the reason is the cost of some things, such as rituals. Also some flavorful items and rituals can be really situational. Hirelings should cost their level X 20 gold apiece for initial hire. That is cheap enough to be easily affordable. I suggest limiting the number each party member can have. Say no more than 2-3 hirelings apiece on adventures at any given time, unless you specifically want to design around that much activity. If they just need a service somewhere, such as speaking to a Sage, do it as it comes up. PCs cannot hire a hireling above their level to accompany them on an adventure. However, if the pcs need information or some kind of service that does not involve the hireling putting his life to risk, they can utilize one of higher level at the DMs discretion.

3. Make them weak and strong at the same time

Give hirelings 1 HP, just like a minion, but they can be brought back from 0 HP once; if they hit 0 again, even days later, they cannot be raised. Sound too weak? Well hear me out. 

The hireling gets the same to-hit numbers as monsters, as well as defenses. So a level 10 hireling has a +15 to hit AC, +13 to hit NADS. AC 24 FORT 22 REF 22 WILL 22. Each hireling is assigned a theme from 4e by the DM, as well as one trained skill (5+1/2 level check). Give them 1/2 level only on all other skills. I think generic themes (such as "explorer") work really well. Now the hireling has some other talents and flavor, and the mechanics (themes/skills) already exist so its easy to use. 

In addition to the skill and theme, a hireling also has a basic attack that does 1/2 level +4 damage. Hirelings do not level up, and a hireling cannot be found that is higher than 10th level. Once you hit Paragon you likely rely on henchmen only for combat situations. Don't pick too many themes, it is too much to track. Pick 1-4 themes based on the situation. For example, a bunch of outlaws and mercenaries might accompany the PCs on an adventure that has moral abiguity.

4. Assign hireling morale 

Check hireling morale after they have been targeted with an attack the first time in an encounter, or if they are in a position of extreme danger. If they are not attacked, even if the encounter was dangerous, they will stay with the adventurers. As all adventuring is inherently dangerous, a DM should only use an extreme out-of-combat situation to trigger a morale check, such as barely being missed by a falling rock. Hirelings will always attempt to avoid an automatic damage effect.  

Their morale score is 6. roll 2d6 to check morale. If the DM rolls a 7 or above they will quit the party at the first chance. 

It is also suggested that the players pay them some stipend, but it should be low to encourage play. Paying the group of hirelings level times 10 for a completed adventure is fair; most of them will die anyway, and if one or two manage to survive they should be rewarded. The DM can also add or subtract from the morale die rolls based on roleplay if he or she wishes

5. Henchmen are attracted automatically and are not as limited

Henchmen in 4e are attracted to PCs by their deeds and achievements. They are the same mechanically as hirelings except their morale score is 8 and they can be brought back from 0 HP twice. Like hirelings, henchmen check morale after they have been targeted with an attack the first time in an encounter or are in grave danger, BUT henchmen also check morale after dying and being raised. A henchmen will always attempt to avoid an automatic damage effect. 

They also have greater economic requirements. PCs attract a number of henchmen equal to one-fourth of their level (round down) starting upon 8th level and each time they level up after that. The PC cannot have a number of henchmen that exceeds one-fourth of his level at any time unless DM allows it. So for example a PC just hitting 13th level is allowed 3 henchmen. Say the PC later hits level 14, and has 2 henchmen that havent died or deserted him yet. A DM can then allow one more to be drawn to him as he levels up. You might be thinking 'that could end up being a lot', and its true it could seem that way, but just think of the AOEs you can drop on them! But seriously, for one they cost a little more. Surviving henchmen are paid as a group after completing a quest. Level times 20 gold is a good formula for a group of henchmen to be paid in the Heroic Tier. Move to level times 40 starting at 11th level, and level times 100 at Epic Tier. Henchmen in 4e are not limited in level but stay the same level forever.

6. Pitch these ideas to your group, and let them see them in play

Players will initially get into this based primarily on your enthusiasm. If you encourage it, it can become part of your game. You could allow players to control their henchmen and hirelings, put on a one man show, or do a combination of the two. Let them know there are people for hire in the towns. Step up the threat in your games.

That's it. But the big question is why? Why add these things at all? Well it adds old school flavor and role play opportunities, and even for optimizers there is the extra striker damage vibe. In other words, its fun for everybody. You can also be less uptight with game balance.

Here are a couple of quick samples, you can just make these on the fly.

Braddock, Level 14 Henchman

Guardian theme

AC 28 FORT 26 REF 26 WILL 26 MORALE 8

MBA +19 vs AC, 11 damage

Skill-Endurance ( +12)

This dude has a big ol scar down one cheek. Mostly quiet. Cleans his boots like every day.

Pipkins, Level 2 Hireling

Harper Agent theme (Forgotten Realms)

AC 16 FORT 14 REF 14 WILL 14 MORALE 6

RBA, Ranged 10, +5  vs REF, 5 damage

Skill-Stealth (+6)

Pipkins is a little too confident and you wouldn't trust her with the money

I hope ya'll like these ideas. If you have any thoughts about it plz leave a post. If you use these rules let me know how it goes!! You'll see more stuff like this in my upcoming zine 4e Forever

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!