Let's Clear Up A Few 4e Myths

Howdy. I had a few disparate blog ideas running thru the head, and I realized they all could be used to dispel a few 4e myths, so I have combined them together. First off, don't get me wrong, 4e isn't perfect and I don't claim it to be. Readers of this blog know that I constantly tinker with 4e to make it something I like more. That's sort of the essence of D&D after all: making the game your own. But I am undoubtedly a huge fan of 4e. Anyway, here are some common 4e myths and my response:





"It is difficult to convert old modules to 4e"

I don't now who started this one, but it simply isn't true. I've mentioned before that I drop Skill Challenges from my games. One of the reasons for this is that, on its own, the 4e skill system is very smooth, intuitive, and covers pretty much anything that comes up (and if something else comes up, you can roll with Ability Checks). Anyway, in my experience the 4e skill system works like a charm in updated adventures. I updated Ravenloft (I6) for 4e. There are all kinds of roleplay moments, exploration, etc where skills came up. I just rolled with it if the players wanted to use one, or called for a check if it was really needed. So there is really no conversion necessary for an old modules' out-of-combat material. It can be handled on the fly quite easily.

The monster conversion is where the real challenges would appear to begin. Now, I am not going to say converting monsters from 1e to 4e is as easy as 1e to B/X or 2e, because it isn't. But 4e does have a strength that those games lack: 4e monsters have specific formulas to work from. This can help DMs determine difficulty fairly accurately, but more importantly, it is very easy to make 4e monsters.

Confronted with the need to convert a monster in an old module, the first step I would encourage is to see if there is a 4e version within your party's level range. If so, check the source and see if it is post MM3. If it isn't, try these tips to upgrade old crappy monsters on the fly. If the monster isn't in your party's range, it is fairly straightforward to adjust. The design remains the same, you just plug in different numbers. Make sure you are using the DMG errata though.

If you can't find the monster in a 4e source, or if you don't like what 4e did the monster, build your own. This doesn't have to be laborious. Use this guide to make quick 4e monsters. Try to distill the essence of the original monster and keep it simple.



The last step is to make sure the adventure doesn't run like a sloggy mess. There are several ways to do this. You could drop the wandering monsters from an adventure and just run the prepared encounters, or you could drop a lot of planned encounters and instead just use the wandering monster tables. Or you could drop a little of both. This isn't just in response to 4e combat length (more on that below); the fact is, some old modules feel like a grind to begin with. You should also use Morale and Reaction Tables. If you are using an old module that has Morale scores, just port them over. Otherwise you can check my 4e Morale rules. Ok, so that leads us to the next myth.

"Combat was fast in old editions, never approaching 4e length"

This is simply not true. It is true that classic edition combat COULD be quicker, but it wasn't always. I know this because I DM and play old editions. At even moderate levels, old edition spellcasters could have a ton of choices, and adjudicating their effects was often not a cut and dried proposition. A typical PC's percentage chance to hit was often lower, so there are more misses. There were also huge throngs of monsters in old adventures, like all the time. I am reminded of one of my faves, Descent Into the Depth of the Earth, which was a combo module of D1-D2. There are like 20 Drow here, 40 Kuo-Toa there, 30 Troglodytes here. Heck, even in the Village of Hommlet, you will have 16 or more enemy combatants!

Now I KNOW combat can drag in 4e. I have tried to provide some tips and ideas to help with that. Simplifying monsters, using groups of the same monsters, using Morale, lowering hit points-all of this helps. But it is simply disingenuous to act like old combat couldn't take a while, especially when casters had some actual spells to cast. This has also been true of my experience with 5e so far. We had a two hour combat last week and we just hit level 2. Combat often takes an hour or more at level 1. I am not saying it isn't fun, or that this is too long, I am just saying that combat length can drag in multiple editions; it isn't only a 4e phenomenon.

"It is harder to houserule 4e than other editions"

I am tempted just to say "read my blog" as a response to this one, because there are dozens of houserule examples on here, but just to expound on it a bit, 4e is no different from any other edition of D&D. You can houserule it and make it your own with ease. The difference between 4e and classic editions is that the mechanics in 4e are "on display". The math is predictable and easy to grasp. This is already sort of covered above with monsters. This makes houseruling and homebrewing very easy. Since you have clear expectations for damage, defenses, DCs, etc at all levels, it becomes very easy to slide the scale towards "easy" or "hard". See Fourthcore. I have tweaked monster design, traps, disease, combat, and on and on, and I have only scratched the surface of the possibilities. 4e does not deviate from D&D's proud history of homebrewing and houseruling, it embraces it as much as any other edition.

That's all I have for you today. As always, I welcome comments! Take it easy!

Wednesday Grab Bag: Monster Tips and Random Thoughts

Howdy all. I have been busy busy busy lately, but thought I would post a few of my recent ponderings. Rather than stretch these out into separate blog posts, I figured I would just mix it all together in a bucket.

Simpler Monsters = More Flavorful Monsters

I have posted a bunch of monster tips over time, but thought I would emphasize something that I have mentioned before but never really focused like a laser on. In 4e, it is very easy to overdo monsters. I think part of this is bc it is so easy to design 4e monsters. I remember the first game of 4e I ran. I was starting a new campaign, and I came up with this location-based adventure set at these mines. Anyway, the first bad guy that the players ran into was "Scalpel Jim", along with his entourage. Jim used-you guessed it-a scalpel as his weapon. I had built him out with four or five different scalpel powers, some encounters, some rechargeable, I spent some time on it, and ended up with what I thought would be a very memorable villain. Anyhoo, prior to the encounter, Scalpel Jim made a two-fingered gesture at the party's female Monk. The Monk promptly won initiative and walked over and critted Jim with "Open the Gates of Battle", killing him before he ever even acted.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. Two actually. Don't cross bad ass Monk chicks, and do not over-design 4e monsters. Ask yourself what the essence of a monster is, and design accordingly. The more powers and doo-hickeys you add to a monster, the more diluted the flavor. You want monsters to be memorable. You want their flavor to come through in obvious, unmistakable fashion when PCs encounter them. Ask yourself what the monster does, then have it do that and nothing else. You might not have time to do much, so make it count.

Learning from Lareth the Beautiful

As you might be aware, I am running the Temple of Elemental Evil using the 81' B/X rules. It is going swimmingly. One thing that I must admit I like quite a bit about old editions that is missing from the 4e game is that the PCs encounter spellcasters that use the same spell lists and character creation rules as PCs. Now don't get me wrong; in most cases I much prefer to just build every NPC off of a monster template. 4e character creation is just a little too complicated for building NPCs from actual character classes, especially since they are usually going to get killed pretty quickly. You will spend more time building it than it will ever see on the battlemat. But what if you want that classic edition feel, where evil spellcasters, such as the ToEE's Lareth the Beautiful, have a juicy list of spells? I also love having classic edition spellcaster adversaries cast some spells in advance, like Guards and Wards, or Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound, etc. This way the "table is set" prior to an encounter. How can we get this feel in 4e without wasting a ton of time working through a grueling character creation process?

Turns out it is pretty simple. Give the bad guys rituals! And let them cast rituals ahead of time. As a player, I have hardly ever seen this done in 4e. You might have to stop a bad guy from completing a ritual, but it is rare indeed to see a list of rituals on a monster stat block. So, the next time you have your 4e PCs encounter a "spellcaster" (Cleric, Mage, or otherwise), give the caster a list of rituals. See if it would be advantageous for them to have cast one or more of the rituals already. This will add a nice layer of unpredictability to the proceedings. It can also serve to make an encounter much more difficult, emphasize flavor, or simply just allow you to use a ritual in your game for once. A party can trigger an alarm from a warding ritual, encounter odd summoned creatures, be teleported away, heck who knows. You can also make up new rituals, or use an old spell as the basis for a new ritual. Like Lareth the Beautiful's "Continual Darkness" spell. Anyways, I hope that this doesn't read too "rambly" and makes sense. Use the 4e Ritual Index from the mags, and see if you can't get something resembling that old-school caster flavor going for some bad guys in your game.

4e is Ideal for One-Page Dungeons

I spoke before about making tweaks to 4e to help it work better with megadungeons. Yet, no matter what you do, 4e will still never be the best system for megadungeons (in my opinion). However, the more I think about it, 4e is perfect for one-page adventures.

Not familiar with the one-page dungeon phenomenon? Man, you are going to love me then. They have a yearly contest where people submit their one-page creations. The winners over the years can all be downloaded for free from this website. There is some really awesome stuff to be discovered there. At another site, someone has put up some templates that can be used for one-page dungeon creation. Just look at the column on the right for the free downloads.

Anyway, I find that you only need one or two encounters for a good one-night 4e adventure. Thus, you do not need a lot of space. I never much cared for long, drawn-out, over-described encounter scenarios for 4e. I don't need everything spelled out. With a one-page template, you can describe a locale, give it some flavor, then go. Instead of trying to fit a stat block on there, just reference the book a creature is found in, or keep stats on a separate page. I think you will agree that 4e is really suited to this format. It is no wonder that the Dungeon Delve book was (and still is) so popular. Although the outdated monsters need to be boosted, and I would probably drop the first or second encounter from many of the book's mini-adventures, it does show you that just a little 4e adventure design goes a long way (partly because 4e combat lasts a little longer than other editions). Anyway, I found it inspiring, and I will be calling for some one-page 4e dungeons/adventures once I start taking submissions for 4e Forever.


So that is it. Just some ideas that have been bouncing around. Sorry for the rambly feel! As always, I would love to hear comments/thoughts. See you next time!

Non-Mechanical Conditions

I was motivated to write this post whilst reminiscing about my campaign that recently ended. I was recalling how much I enjoyed running Tegel Manor updated for 4e. I have posted before about the good times to be had with funhouse-style alternate rewards, but I felt the need to emphasize how great non-mechanical conditions can be.

 What do I mean by "non-mechanical"? Well, instead of players having to track any specifics, or worry about mechanical details, the player is affected by a condition that really only demands role play. For example, an enchanted painting made a player in my game feel incredibly brave for like an hour and a half. I swear to you that some of the funniest moments in my entire gaming history came from this.

There are endless possibilities for this sort of thing: a player could become itchy, thirsty, starving, frightened, romantic, violent, paranoid, dim-witted, narcissistic, or simply think they are a chicken. And on and on. Any extreme/exaggerated characteristic will work wonderfully. Don't make assumptions about how your group might react to something like this; a little silliness has an odd way of engaging players!

Basic Fantasy RPG Blog Appreciation Day!

Tenkar from Tenkar's Tavern has no shortage of cool ideas, and his latest idea is no exception. Today, several blogs with old-school leanings are putting up posts of appreciation for Chris Gonnerman's Basic Fantasy RPG. Tenkar referred to it as the "red-headed stepchild of the OSR", and I think that is a fairly apt description. It simply doesn't get as much attention as the more well-known clones like OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord. Today, we shed some much-deserved light on it.

So what is BFRPG? Well, it is a free, well-supported game system that emulates classic editions of the world's greatest RPG. But, it is more than that. While the majority of the text feels much like OD&D + Greyhawk, there are all sorts of mechanical tidbits thrown in that make it feel like its own unique "take" on the game. There are "modern" sensibilities (ascending AC, no group initiative), and creative houserules (charging, ranged attacks when within 5' of enemies, etc). What you end up with is a clean, coherent system that feels familiar yet unique at the same time.

There are also multiple free adventures on the site, so you can get right into playing. I love the little touches in the adventures, like the little boxes to tick off hit points, and the classic TSR-era fonts. There are also a lot of other extra goodies, such as alternate classes, all for a free download.



The name Chris Gonnerman might already be familiar to you through Dragonsfoot. He has done considerable work over the years with the wonderful Footprints ezine. With BFRPG, he has given a gift to the OSR community and gamers in general, and for that he deserves some praise. Be sure and check out the post I linked above to Tenkar's Tavern; he will be putting up links for the various blogs taking part in this. Thanks for the game Chris!

The End of the Campaign: Lessons Learned and New Beginnings

Well, I just wrapped up my Saturday campaign last week. I am so thankful that I got to play it to the end. I started with a vague storyline in mind, and over a year and a half of weekly play the campaign built to a fantastic finale in Gloomwraught, complete with a large scale battle, gargoyle mounts, grell galore, and a psychotic deva. I learned a lot of lessons, and many of the ideas on my blog were partly developed through running the campaign. As many of you out there have no doubt experienced, finishing up a long term game kind of leaves you a little sad, but also excited about what comes next.


Anyway, here are the main lessons I learned, or re-learned:

-Never railroad if you can help it. I rolled with every spontaneous idea that my players had, and what they wanted to do was inevitably better than what I had planned.

-Provide closure for each character; this felt a lot like the end of Animal House, where it says what each character did in the future. Tie this to their backstories; the players really loved this.

-Pick your battles. Not every encounter needs to be a big set-piece blowout. This is true for all editions.

-Use inherent bonuses if you are running 4e.

-Get to the good stuff. You never know how long a campaign will last, so don't save your "good stuff". Bust it out asap.

I plan on enjoying a few Saturdays off from running games, but I will not be able to withstand the call for very long. I am having a hard time deciding what to run though. I already do the B/X thing on Fridays; one of those games will switch to Call of Cthulhu shortly, when they finish the adventure. I am leaning towards a 1e game, perhaps starting with Gygax's Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, just since I never got to play or run that back in the day, and I think it is arguably the best 1e adventure. But then I feel pulled this way and that; an OD&D game that is just a straight-up random and organic hex crawl, the 1e or 4e Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut adventures, a B1 one-shot since it has come up so many times recently, a Ravenloft campaign (gotta put all those box sets to use someday!), a Hollow World campaign, Night Below, Dragon Mtn, one of the billion homebrew world ideas I have bouncing around, arggghhh! There are truly so many options, all of them good. Still, when you think about all of the work and effort you will be putting into running something, it makes the choice very important.

So how about you? If you were starting a new campaign today, what system would you use? Would you use a published setting? Published adventures?

Get The Most Out Of Your Free Copy Of B1!!!

If you are one of the many folks that have downloaded B1 for free from DNDCLASSICS.com this week, you must check out this fantastic B1 resource page at the Zenopus Archives! Anybody getting ready to run this module should be eternally grateful to have this put together! Here is the original post over at the Zenopus blog.

Seems like a great time to take the BLUEHOLME retro-clone for a spin!

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.

DNDCLASSICS.COM Confirmed!

Well, once again the OSR blogosphere was the first to bring you some exciting D&D news. Classic-era TSR PDFs are up and for sale. This week, you can download the classic introductory adventure "In Search of the Unknown" for free! Check it out!

http://www.dndclassics.com/

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are Classic TSR PDFs Dropping Soon???

I swear man, nothing gets past the OSR blogosphere. They were first to notice Gygax magazine, first to point out online retailers were getting ready to sell old D&D edition reprints (way before WOTC announced it), and now People Them With Monsters may have stumbled on the motherlode: www.dndclassics.com. Yeah, the url isn't showing anything now, but it was. Check it out.

Muy interesante! I would surmise this is legit and we will see it happen quite soon, maybe announced at Winter Fantasy. They have hinted on the WOTC forums that 2013 will be "busy", etc, so this makes sense. We will find out soon enough!

Here is the original post about it. Thanks to People Them With Monsters for spotting this.

Free Holmes Basic Retro-Clone! Check Out Blueholme!

The words "Basic D&D" can conjure up different images for different gamers, largely depending on when they started playing the game. Some will think of the Mentzer set, others Moldvay B/X, and some gamers will recall a familiar shade of blue.

As OD&D's popularity spread like wildfire in the 70's, the wizards at TSR wisely decided to release a beginners D&D set. OD&D was not incomprehensible, but it was written with somewhat experienced wargamers in mind as opposed to absolute beginners. Tasking Dr. Holmes to design the first beginner's set turned out to be a very good move. The box set covered the first 3 levels of the game (a concept that has been repeated over the years), and the original rules and some of those of the supplements were reorganized and rephrased to make more sense to the uninitiated. It was also packaged with an awesome adventure, "In Search of the Unknown". What some call a drawback of this adventure, I consider its greatest asset: while there are room descriptions provided, it is up to the DM to populate the dungeon and add treasure using lists in the back of the module. Though Holmes did not write the module, it really helped bookend this classic set, letting fledgling DMs and players get right to it.

Fast forward to today's OSR movement. Classic editions are getting the retro-clone treatment, helping introduce new generations of players to old rule sets. Considering the often steep price of some of this stuff, this is commendable and helps keep games alive. So whether your blue book is coming apart at the seams, or if you have never even heard of Dr. Holmes, you will want to check out this new free retro-clone, BLUEHOLME, care of Dreamscape Design.

Special thanks to Zenopus Archives and Tenkar's Tavern for bringing this to my attention. If you are an OSR junkie like myself, they are both great blogs you should be following!

Trimming the Fat, Part 3: Backgrounds

This sporadically appearing series features bits of 4e that I have scrapped from my games and fanzine. Previously, we covered sunrods and skill challenges. Today, we look at backgrounds.






It isn't the idea of backgrounds that's bad, it's the execution. Some backgrounds are clearly more powerful than others. I feel that all backgrounds should confer basically the same level of mechanical benefit or there will be less incentive, even for casual players, to choose a background based on its flavor. And to be honest, the flavor that's there isn't always so great in the first place. The current list of backgrounds is also so outrageously bloated that it will give you a headache just looking at it.

I propose the following rules for backgrounds: The player comes up with his/her character's backstory. The player can then choose between receiving a +2 bonus to a skill that has something to do with their backstory, or adding a skill to their class list that has something to do with their backstory.

Doesn't this make a lot more sense? This is nice and clean, and encourages players to give a little extra thought to their characters. It also balances out the power level of background benefits.

That's what you will see in the mag! Anybody want to share some houserules on backgrounds? Leave a post!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

These tables require the use of the inherent bonus system.

4e Forever Treasure Tables

Lair Tables

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

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

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

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


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

Individual Tables

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

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

E              -                       6d6                    -                          -                        no

F             6d6                       -                     -                          -                        no

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


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

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


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

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

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

The D&D Family Tree

I saw this over at Playing D&D w Porn Stars and thought it deserved a re-post. It is credited to another RPG blogger named Jason McCartan. Shockingly (to my wallet), I own a lot of what is here, but I still saw a TON of stuff I had never heard of...that I now have to buy. Check it out if you dare!

THE D&D FAMILY TREE

Meet the Poisonous Tree Frog

Happy Friday. Today I thought I would share another 4e Forever monster. This time its the Poisonous Tree Frog. I am still working on the fluff, so it is just the stats for now. This little guy uses his absurdly long tongue to pull creatures adjacent and into his highly poisonous secretions. This is a very fun monster to DM; use a large encounter area and spread these guys out so you can pull PCs all over the place. Hope you like it!

The Poisonous Tree Frog

A Little Friday Trap Action

Hello. A very short post today just to show you a few more examples of the traps from my upcoming zine. I posted some ideas a bit ago about it. The basic idea is that traps don't scale; the same trap can threaten PCs of all levels. Instead of traps rolling to hit PCs, the PCs roll saving throws. The damage expressions stay constant regardless of tier, so you don't need 30 different pit traps. I hope you like them!




Hallucinatory Gas
“Get them off me!”, he screamed. “They are crawling all over me!”
-Detect: Perception to notice small vents in walls.
-Disable: Thievery
-Trigger: A creature enters a trapped square, triggering the gas.
-Effect: Each creature that breathes within a given area must roll a saving throw. A creature trained in
Endurance gets a +2 bonus to the roll. On a failed save, each creature is slid adjacent to their nearest ally, making an At-Will attack of the DMs choice against them as a Free Action.

Magnet Trap
The next thing I knew, I was hurtling towards the center of the room. I smashed into the
the pillar, cracking a rib.
-Detect: Typically the magnetized object will be in plain sight.
-Disable: The magnet must be destroyed by repeated blows or avoided.
-Trigger: A creature wearing metallic armor enters a space within 10 squares (50 feet) of the magnet.
-Effect: The creature must make a saving throw. A creature trained in Acrobatics gains a +2 bonus to the roll. On a failed save, the creature is pulled rapidly towards the magnet, crashing into it for 20 damage. A creature can move at half-speed away from the magnet, but must make a saving throw at the end of each of its turns or be pulled back again.

Acid Spray
My nostrils were burning..then I realized my arm was missing. I screamed...
-Detect: Nature to identify smell from a distance; Perception to notice jets.
-Disable: Thievery
-Trigger: A creature enters a trapped square, triggering the jets.
-Effect: Each creature within a given area must make a saving throw. On a failed save, a creature drops to its bloodied value and permanently loses a limb. Roll 1d4 (1-2=Arm, 3-4=Leg).

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!