Even MORE Quick Fixes to Old Crappy Monsters

I prefer practical, specific DMing advice to philosophical advice. This is because I feel strongly that experience is the best teacher for a DM as far as pacing, storytelling, handling and involving players, adventure design, etc. However, with 4e D&D there is a wealth of very specific advice that you can pass along to others, especially new DMs. I saw a DM (new to 4e but not RPGs) ask for advice the other day, and my mind went immediately to the monsters.

One of my favorite posts dealt with updating pre-MM3/Dark Sun monsters. Its like nails on chalkboard when I hear someone saying that the old monster books are worthless. Sure, the Monster Vault is the peak of 4e monster design, but part of that is that you get tokens and an adventure. Its not very helpful to just tell someone to go and buy another book or box set. Updating the old monsters does not need to be akin to filing your taxes. You can add adjustments completely on the fly, without ever putting pen to paper, and revive all of your old books.

The main problems with old monsters come down to low damage, low accuracy, and (for Elites and Solos) susceptibility to debilitating conditions. Part of this can be handled by limiting the power creep at your table. I advise using some form of inherent bonuses a la DMG 2 or Dark Sun as a start. Even then, the monsters will still need help. If you do nothing else, follow my instructions on increasing damage.

Lets update and edit the old post's tips with some new notes added. Keep in mind that these tips do not apply to Minions; post-errata Minions should do 4+1/2 their level damage (minimum 1) and you should adjust them separately. Anyhoo:

1. DAMAGE: Add full level damage to Solo and Brute damage expressions. Add 1/2 level to the rest. For example, a 7th level pre-MM3 Brute would add 7 points to all of its damage rolls. A 22nd level Skirmisher would add 11. If a monster has a power that requires an attack roll but does no damage, add its level in damage to the power. So if say a 13th level monster has an Area 1 attack that slows on a hit (and does nothing else), that power now does 13 damage as well.

2. ATTACK BONUSES: Adjust monster attack bonuses up to at least Level +5 vs AC and Level +3 vs NADs. If any attack bonuses are already higher than this, such as an Artillery's RBA, leave them be. Brutes will be the main ones you will need to look out for.

3. MULTIPLE ATTACKS: If they do not have one already, give the monsters a "double attack", a single Standard Action that allows them to make two RBAs and/or MBAs.

4. RECHARGING: Lower any recharge numbers by 1. Encounter powers become "recharge 6".

5. CONDITIONS: Solos and Elites are always immune to the stunned and dominated conditions. To be honest, I would just remove stuns from your game altogether.

6. LAST DITCH EFFORTS: If they still look too weak or don't feel tough enough, let them Free Action attack when they are bloodied and/or when they die.

If you commit these simple tips to memory, you can pick up any old copy of Dungeon, any dated adventure, any old Game Day relic, or any early splat book and instantly breathe life into it. Its actually fun to pick one up, dust it off, and practice in your mind. Its very empowering because you can do it in-game, just eyeballing it. It becomes very natural and automatic if you try it a few times, to where you can look at any stat block and immediately adjust it without much thought.

Anyways, as I said above, I like advice that is practical, easy to use, and very specific. Try this in your 4e games and I think you will find that your old books are still awesome, and you didn't even have to write in the margins.

Will Doyle is on FIRE!

If you aren't already familiar with Will Doyle's work, you soon will be. The freelance designer is enjoying a streak of great successes. Will's amazing work at his blog Beholder Pie led to him getting several adventures published in Dungeon towards the end of 4e's run. These were among the best adventures that appeared during 4e. A few weeks ago, he got 1st place in the 2014 One Page Dungeon Contest. And just TODAY it was announced that he won EN World's 5e adventure design contest.

I love seeing good things happen to good people. Will's talent is obvious, but he is also a class guy, easy to work with, humble and enthusiastic. I was so blown away by his Scalemail mass combat rules for 4e that I approached him about letting me reprint them in 4e Forever #1. He was totally cool and helpful about it. When you combine talent with that kind of friendly attitude, good things happen to you. I would bet the farm that he will be one of the most well-known 5e adventure designers within a few years.

Check out a short interview I did with Will HERE.

If you want to check out his Scalemail rules, download 4e Forever #1 HERE. Even if you were not a big 4e fan, they are well worth a look.

Congrats Will, you deserve it!

Trimming the Fat, Part 5: The Stunned Condition

Hi everybody. If you didn't know, my "Trimming the Fat" series is all about stuff that I omit from 4e in my personal games. I've mentioned sunrods, skill challenges, backgrounds, and revenants in the past. Today I found myself motivated to write about the ultimate suckage condition: stunned.

I haven't run a lot of 4e lately to be honest, I have been going back to the well of 1e and 2e AD&D. That said, I have still been filling holes in my 4e collection via Amazon and Ebay. Books that I completely ignored before, I find myself wanting now for completion's sake. The chromatic and metallic dragon books are among these.

Its another conversation entirely as to why I shunned these books before, but a lot of it is because they are filled with weak solo monsters that every DM worth their salt already houseruled prior to their improvement in post-MM3 publications. Still, I think they have worth. Some of the delves, items, rituals, and the like are interesting, and much of Richard Baker and Bob Schwalb's lore succeeds. But I digress.

What really triggered today's entry was the common dragon power "Frightful Presence". In most cases this is basically a stun. The flavor isn't bad: the dragon scares you so bad a little trickle of urine empties in your boot. In practice though, its horrible for gameplay. How I wish I had seen that sooner.

When you start off with a new game or version of a game, its natural to trust the designers, at least at first. That is, I typically make an effort to at least play a game by the rules before deciding something sucks, or taking it into my own direction. I realize I was wrong about that now. I should have known that the stunned condition sucked at first glance, but at least now I am learning.

The stunned condition has long been the bane of 4e DMs. Solos being stunned is the subject of many a blog post from many a blogger. Even elites being stunned has always been a bridge too far in my book. That's why on my blog and zine you see rules about elites and solos always being immune to the effect. So what if the fluff can be sloppy? It simply breaks the game for the most powerful creatures to have to sit out the fight.

And here is where I must apologize. I recalled an epic tier game I once ran, still learning the system, in which I allowed a demon to stun one of the party. The poor bastard had to wait like 20 minutes to even do anything. I could feel his seething as he took his next turn. It was my bad.

Here's the deal. In classic editions, spells like Hold Person, Sleep, and the like are familiar and expected. Magic behaves differently. In 4e, magic is usually balanced against the other classes. Some love this, some hate this. I personally look at 4e as one of many different flavors of D&D ice cream. I don't make fun of others and berate them for liking rum raisin. But I digress again.

Being stunned in 4e sucks for everyone. Its also a condition that inherently slows down combat, adding to another of 4e's woes. "Why then", I asked myself, "did I ever allow stuns in the first place?"

That's the solution. Stuns don't exist. Not any more. Not for PCs, not for monsters.

You could just announce well before your game or campaign starts they don't exist, or if you want to delve deeper, come up with an alternate condition to substitute. After all, some paragon paths or epic destinies could incorporate the stunned condition as a partial element, or a player could love most elements of a single power only to have it completely nerfed by taking the condition out. I personally think dazed + immobilized is a solid substitute, but I am certainly open to ideas. One thing I am sure of, the standard 4e stun will never appear in my 4e games again. It just sucks too bad.

Heartfelt apologies to all I have stunned out there.

The Manor Zine Bundle

I am compelled to let all OSR fans out there know that Tim Shorts of Gothridge Manor has bundled all 6 of the issues of his excellent zine for 20 bucks. Including US shipping. Yes, try to wrap your mind around how sweet of a deal this is. Just got my package today and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't tell other people about it. Its just too sick a deal not to. GO HERE.

Last Call for 4e Forever #2!!!

Hey everyone, I know its been slow around here but I have shifted my focus over to getting 4e Forever #2 out before the end of summer. If you want to contribute any material, be it an article, adventure, or (PLEASE) artwork, I have set a deadline for April 30th.

This issue looks to be jam packed and much crunchier than the first issue. If you are thinking of contributing any artwork, I could use images of Trolls, Giants, Orcs, generic combat scenes, and drawings of items found in an Adventurer's Kit. That said, I will happily take ANYTHING YOU'VE GOT.

If you have any specific questions you can reach me at frothsof @ gmail dot com or just leave a post! Help keep 4e alive!

Review: The Crossroads of Spyley and an Update

I don't typically do reviews, although I sometimes point out new and/or interesting products. I thought I would shine a light on a nifty little OSR product today: The Crossroads of Spyley. This is part of what I hope will become a long series of products from Chubby Monster Games called "Side Treks". It is system-neutral and can work with any edition of D&D.

My current campaign is a sandbox, and I can never have enough little interesting locales for the PCs to pass through. I love rolling stuff randomly, but I also like to have some short adventures and settlements planned out ahead as well. What I don't like is for things to be too complicated. This product fits my needs perfectly. Give me a little village, a nice map, some hooks, a few NPCs, and then leave it alone.

I can see myself devouring a series of these things, just plopping them down in various hexes. At ten pages, you can absorb this product quickly without having to do much prep. Priced at $2, its a steal. I tried to think of something to complain about, but couldn't come up with anything. Buy the PDF HERE.

Speaking of PDFs, I am making the final push to complete 4e Forever Issue 2. I have learned a lot over the last year working on this, and I have to say that I have found that editing is my least favorite thing in the world. It sucks the fun out of everything for me. I actually thought about just quitting, but 4e needs a little love so I feel compelled to persevere. That said, I am no longer going to require submissions to fit with the shared world of the first issue. Its just too much work to try and rewrite everything. I also find it takes away from the original spirit of some of the submissions. I also am not going to toil and beat myself up over the grammar, etc. of submissions. I will give it a once over and publish as-is. Its just gotta be this way, otherwise I have no fun working on it. Anyway, I would like to have all submissions, artwork and otherwise, in by April 30th. If you have any old Dungeon/Dragon rejections, adventures you have been working on, random tables, monsters, whatever, give me a shout at frothsof-at-gmail-dot-com.

Tucker's Giant Rats

So the other day I read someone, somewhere, categorizing the giant rat as a “throw-away” monster. In fact, they went so far as to imply that an adventure that uses giant rats is boring and/or uncreative. I personally love giant rats, but like many monsters, its really the way that you use them that is important.

This sort of thing was covered before in the famous Dragon mag essay “Tucker’s Kobolds”. Kobolds are weak on paper. A few kobolds in an empty room with a couple of slings is not a memorable or challenging encounter. However, put a few dozen crafty, cunning kobolds together with some traps and you can cause some real havoc. Creative use of monsters is the thing.

I like the game world to be reactive. I like player actions to have consequences. Try this the next time you have a group of players exploring a dungeon, leaving a trail of gore and viscera in their wake, with no attempt to conceal or hide the carnage. After a few hours, I figure the stench is going to start to attract rats. Lots of them. If the party spends another few hours venturing further into the dungeon, or better yet, attempts to spend the night in some barricaded room, I make it a point to infest the bloodiest encounter sites with hungry rats. Tons of them. Dozens and dozens of them. Dozens and dozens of diseased rats.

Later, if the party has to flee the dungeon, or if they are haughtily and confidently heading out for the night, assuming they won’t encounter anything on the way back, they come upon the rats. Only now, the rats aren’t weak 1 HD throw-away monsters. Now the rats are in a feeding frenzy, swarming, blocking the passage. Rife with plague. Horrifying and feral. Exploding from a dead Orc’s chest cavity. Pouring from the mouth of a dead Hobgoblin. They double back, but another dozen is rambling down the hallway. They try the side door, and more spill out. Hungry. Mangy. Tucker’s Giant Rats.

On a sad note, Aaron Allston has passed away. I will always be amazed at the sheer output this guy had. Some people are seemingly born to write. Allston never seemed to run out of creative ideas. RIP.

Lamentations of the 4e Flame Princess

Howdy all. I want to talk today about blending two seemingly incongruous RPG products, namely 4e D&D and the OSR game Lamentation of the Flame Princess (LotFP).

So I have spoken at length about my general disdain for most published 4e adventures. They tend to be grindy railroads with back-to-back-to-back encounters, with exploration and roleplay taking a backseat to combat. I am not saying everyone plays it that way; I certainly don't. Its just that like it or not, the first few gaming experiences you have with a system can color your expectations, and for many, the first taste of 4e was a grind, a la Keep on the Shadowfell or the hideous, wretched Dungeon Delve.

"But Froth," someone said to me recently. "4e's tactical combat is its greatest strength!" Look, I love lemon meringue pie, but I don't want to eat three lemon meringue pies in one sitting. That makes it suck. That makes me puke. Such is the way of 4e combat. The pace of an adventure is important. I've mentioned before that 4e has a good skill system that is well-suited to exploration. I've talked about thoughts on stocking dungeons in 4e, looking at entire megadungeon levels as single encounters, adding morale into 4e, and a host of other ways to tweak the pace of 4e adventures to make them more fun to run and play.

Ok, so let's switch gears for a minute. Many of you out there, certainly those OSR folks that sometimes check out my blog, have heard of Lamentations of the Flame Princess. While it is but one of many old school systems out there, what sets it apart and gives it its own niche, in my humble opinion, are its idiosyncratic adventures and stunningly beautiful artwork.

Now, while there is considerable variation among LotFP adventures, don't get me wrong, enough of them behave in sort of the same way that I feel it is possible to generalize a bit about some of them. THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW. If you think there is a chance you will play any of these, trust me, you don't want to ruin them by reading any info about them.


Some, not all, of the LotFP adventures primarily focus on exploration. The set-up. In many adventures you don't find wandering monster tables. There isn't a monster in every room with a little coinage. Rather, if you do encounter/unwittingly release/stumble upon a creature, its usually a very, very bad thing. For example, The Tower of the Stargazer is a fun adventure where you basically are exploring this seemingly abandoned wizard's tower. There are all sorts of tricks and traps. In one room, you encounter the wizard himself, bound in a magic circle. He will beg and promise the world for you to let him loose, and if you do, well let's just say you will wish you hadn't. In Tales of the Scarecrow, an out-of-the-way farmhouse is actually little more than the bait of a massive underground monster. In Death Frost Doom, the PCs can unwittingly start a zombie apocalypse if they get too greedy. These are the kind of creative set-ups that lead to encounters in LotFP adventures; contrast that with the typical 4e dungeon, and you will start to see where I am going with this.

As 4e does massive, set-piece encounters better than just about any system out there, you might find that it is even more well-suited to run these adventures than classic editions. If that sounds like blasphemy, so be it. Take the adventure The God That Crawls. The "god" is really an accursed mutated former priest; he is now something like an amorphous blob. An encounter with this creature is one thing in theatre of the mind style, but it takes on a whole new cinematic and dare-I-say tactical feel when it takes place on a battlemap with minis and terrain. Its not better; its just different. And you might find you like it.

Somehow, the pace of these adventures works with 4e. Amazingly, you can run many of the LotFP adventures for 4e in one session, whereas with many other OSR-type adventures, you would be falling asleep by the third room/encounter.

LotFP adventures are notoriously deadly. To his credit, the author of many of these adventures, James Raggi IV, has written many them for low levels, so there isn't as much weeping and gnashing of the teeth as there might be if your 15th level Druid bit it. 4e PCs are also much more resilient than their classic edition counterparts, so they might even have a fighting chance to escape what first appears to be certain death. That said, death is part of the game, and the adventures are easy to convert to any level. In fact, that is another major plus in using these adventures with 4e: conversion is a breeze. All I have had to do was build 4e monsters based on one or two creatures. Everything else I just wing with a sheet of DCs.

So which adventures convert best to 4e?

-Death Frost Doom
-Tales of the Scarecrow
-Tower of the Stargazer
-The Monolith From Beyond Space and Time
-The Three Brides (Three great mini-adventures; underrated.) 
-Better Than Any Man (This is a large adventure, almost a mini-campaign.)
-The Grinding Gear
 

Where can I buy them? 

I recommend checking out their page at RPGNOW. You will have to create an account and verify your age in order for all of the products to be viewable, as many of the adventures have mature content. Note that the core rules are free, and the adventure Better Than Any Man is pay what you want. That said, all of the prices are reasonable, and there are frequent sales on that site if you watch for them.

So that's all I have for you today! After running some of these adventures myself for 4e parties, I can say that based on my experience, it makes for a fun time. 4e's strengths get highlighted, while its weaknesses are almost completely avoided based on the creative pace and style of the adventures.

The Art of the 4e Sandbox

Hello all. I thought I would post some thoughts and ideas about running sandbox campaigns with 4e D&D. This is not a comprehensive guide by any stretch, although I do hope it gets some of your wheels turning.

Classic editions of the game have an embarrassment of riches to aid sandbox play. Armed with my Greyhawk box, the 1e DMG, and some old Judges Guild stuff, I am basically impervious to my players' wildest choices, able to react and flow with virtually anything that can be imagined. It is possible to reach this state of samadhi with 4e, but there are a few tips that might help you get there a little more quickly.

First off, if you don't want to run a sandbox style game, I am not judging you. If you have the next 10 levels planned out, more power to you. It isn't for everyone. I personally love it, as it helps me hone my improvisational skills, gives players the feeling that they are in control, and makes for completely unexpected awesomeness. But is it a contradiction in some ways? Can 4e, with its carefully planned and balanced set-piece encounters thrive in an inherently unpredictable environment? Yes, yes it can.

So the first thing to ponder is the environment, the world, the sandbox. Despite some poor adventures, 4e did manage to release some great products over its run, and the best of these are actually suited to sandbox play. Vor Rukoth, Hammerfast, Gloomwrought...these are all very strong products that are not adventures; instead they lay out large areas, delineating the factions that inhabit them, providing seeds for DMs to make their own adventures. They also include unique monster stats and some flavorful items. So how do you take these products and make a sandbox out of them? There are three basic steps that I would suggest. Think up some different mini-adventures or encounters that can take place at various locations. Don't overdo it, as many may never be used. Utilize the provided hooks and histories (or make up your own) to make the area live and breathe. Finally, design some random encounter tables that fit the area.

In my Gloomwrought game, I used the text to influence my encounter tables. You have a religious district, so I had some encounter tables that reflected this; different groups of monks and clerics might be encountered. In the seedy district, they might encounter more Humanoids and bandits. Skim the lists of monsters in the back of the various monster books and put together some ideas. It doesn't matter what level the monsters are, what matters is the flavor. Do they back up the "feel" of the area? Your PCs need not FIGHT everything they encounter; in a lot of ways, random tables just help reinforce their surroundings. Experiment with widely varying group sizes of creatures encountered. No party is scared of two or three bandits, 30 however, and you might give them pause. You might find this article helpful in the process of setting up varying totals of wandering monsters in 4e.

I also looked at different areas throughout Gloomwrought and prepared loose little "mini adventures" in different locales. The cemetery is rumored to be haunted. Nobles need bodyguards for sketchy areas. Lizardfolk have infested a sewer. Populate your map with little hooks, and let players be drawn where they may. 

Finally, I slowly disseminated lore. The more the PCs explored, the more they became privy to the various power struggles and histories of the city. While they might have never even acted on any of the information, it served the purpose of bringing the area to life. That feeling that things are happening outside of the PCs; the city is alive.

If you want something less scripted and sculpted, try the Chaos Scar. Get yourself a list of the Chaos Scar adventures from the most recent Dungeon index, make up a few landmarks and random tables, and let the players go where they may. For the especially adventurous, simply offer your players a hex map of the Nentir Vale and just let them roam. Use published modules and products like Threats to the Nentir Vale to populate random tables and come up with adventure hooks. Again, the Dungeon index is your friend. Of course, you can always make up your own world; many DMs do. My overall advice for approaching it would still be the same.

Fly in the face of 4e conventions. Find ways to emphasize the passage of time. Don't hand-wave travel. In sandbox play, the travel often IS the adventure. Challenge yourself with random weather tables, scarce food or water, odd geological formulations, and bizarre encounters. If you need to make up a monster on the fly, consider these tips for quick 4e monster creation. 

To experienced DMs, a lot of this probably sounds old hat, while to others, you may have never thought of running a 4e game this way. I personally think running 4e in a sandbox style can be one of the most rewarding experiences you can have with the game system; unfortunately, you just don't have as much of the work done for you like you did in previous editions. By utilizing suitable 4e products and settings, populating some areas with adventure hooks and mini-scenarios, and designing flavorful random encounter tables, you can quickly set the stage for hours and hours of sandbox play.

I know a lot of you 4ers out there have done some of this before, so leave a post and let me know how sandbox play has worked for your 4e game!

Let's Clear Up A Few 4e Myths, Part 2

Howdy. So a while back I had a fairly popular post (here) regarding various myths about 4e. Now don't get me wrong, as readers of my blog know, I am fine with criticism of 4e and/or any other game system. Criticism helps improve things. What I am not a fan of is hyperbolic nonsense. Today I want to tackle a couple more myths that have been aggravating me.

"Every class is the same, AEDU, etc etc etc, blah blah blah"

To anyone that has spent a lot of time playing 4e, I don't really need to explain why this is not the case. Play a Shaman, play a Fighter, play a Psion...you don't walk away feeling like the same thing just occurred. Why then, is this such an oft-repeated complaint? The so-called "AEDU" structure. Now forget for a moment that Essentials exists, thereby obliterating the argument in and of itself. You will only hear back that, "Well Essentials didn't exist at the beginning." Fair enough. So what is it that propels this argument forward? Why is it so common?

Let's consider for a second classic editions. If you take a look at 1e AD&D, you find that different classes obtain different class features at different levels. A Druid can identify plant types at the 3rd level. At 8th level, Rangers gain some limited Druidic spell ability. At 4th level, the Paladin can call his war horse. These abilities do not resemble one another, and the level at which they occur could be argued as largely arbitrary. I mean, I trust Gygax completely, but if Druids took until the 4th level to identify plants, the book doesn't explode.

Now consider the 4e structure. All it is doing is proving choice points at the same levels. The choices are not the same. Are the utility powers of a 4th level Cleric the same as those of a 4th level Swordmage? Not hardly. The only thing that they have in common...the only thing that is "samey"...is that they choose an ability at the same level. Likewise, if a Fighter gains a maneuver at level 7 that allows her to swing his sword in a circle, attacking everything adjacent to her, is this the same thing as a Witch choosing a spell? No. Not at all. The only thing in common is that they are both choosing abilities at the same levels.

I imagine that Heinsoo and company thought that this would be a popular "improvement" on the game. It does make it easier to anticipate and remember when new class features and abilities become available. When I play Pathfinder, if I try a new class I am continually looking back to the class description to figure out what I get and when. I admit I am somewhat of a newb, but there sometimes seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. Yet it is the very attempt to organize this sort of thing that gets so much derision! I will never claim to understand it, but the simple fact is that 4e classes do not play the same. They tried to experiment with a more...predictable, I guess is the word...progression of "choice points", and though the choices in no way resemble each other, they got slammed in the process. Oh well.

This leads me to the mother of all 4e myths, the biggest lie of all:

"You can't play 4e without a grid."

You know, sometimes you hear something said so many times, the mind almost wants to start believing it. That might be a quote or something from the novel 1984, I can't recall. What I do know is that the biggest myth about 4e, in my humble opinion, is that it is unplayable without a grid.

I am tempted to say that most folks that espouse this argument have never tried to play it without a grid. The reason this is tempting is because it is probably true. However, having spent some time on the *shudder* WOTC forums, and having seen what constitutes an "argument" on some gaming sites, I realize that I will almost immediately be hit with a, "Oh yeah? My table tried it! And it was a complete disaster!" Fine.

There is no doubt that 4e implicitly and explicitly encourages you to use a battlemap and minis. No argument there. But that isn't to say that you cannot play with only pen, paper, and dice. After all, in the 1st edition DMG, Gygax encourages the use of minis, and from what I understand, he hardly ever used them (although apparently Arneson almost always did). My point here is simply that encouraging is not the same thing as requiring.

Now forget about 4e for a minute. Try if you can to picture yourself back in the old days, a complete virgin to D&D. Do you remember what it was like looking at spell explanations? The varying ranges (in inches), the varying sizes of the areas of effect? How about trying to mentally picture the various types of dragon breaths?

I posit to you the following: there is no power in 4e that is any more or less complicated to adjudicate in gridless play than there is in any other edition of D&D. If you can handle a Stinking Cloud in your mind's eye, you can handle a close blast 3. Sorry; its just a fact.

So where on earth does this argument come from, besides the fact that grid rules are in the book? Well, I can only speculate, but I think part of it might be that instead of only the spellcasters having explicit abilities that deal with areas of effect, pushing, sliding, etc, it is also the martial types. Part of it is the published adventures, especially the early ones. There is also for some reason a strong desire in some players for perfect adjudication of distances...but any DM that has ever run classic editions in a mapless style knows that it is ok to handwave some things, or to otherwise approximate. "Are you 25 or 30 feet from the Goblin? Eh, you are close enough to move up to it and attack." Did the world end? No, no it didn't.

Now, I am not going to sit here and tell you that mapless play is ideal for a lot of encounters. Hell, there are myriad classic edition encounters that I would never DREAM of attempting without some sort of visual aid (see the entry to the Temple of Tharizdun). What I am saying is that the alleged inability of 4e to be played without a map has been so grossly exaggerated that many DMs accept it as reality without having ever even tried to run an encounter without a grid.

Its really the subject of another blog post to provide tips and tricks, benefits and drawbacks, etc of gridless play, but I will say this: try a random encounter. Nothing special...say the party is on the way from point A to point B, there is a clearing in the woods and a few Orcs attack. They flee after the first or second death. I think you will see that this huge worry about distances and everything is really not so bad in play. It changes from a player counting the squares to an enemy to a DM saying, "You are about 20 feet away". It changes from a player counting how many Orcs can get caught in a blast to the DM saying, "Eh, you can get three of them."

None of this is going to shock or surprise many experienced DMs, as a lot of you out there already switch between maps and mapless play when it fits your game anyways. Hell, I am almost ashamed to have to explain this. For some reason, this myth was allowed to gain traction; all I can do is try my best to discount it. If you have DMed any classic editions without maps and minis, you have doubtless already experienced the worst that 4e can throw at you.

So that is what I have for you today. Sometime down the line I might go into more detail about how mixing gridless 4e encounters into your campaign can be a benefit. Just remember that the best way to learn anything, as a DM, is to run games. Try things. Experiment. Don't take someone else's word for it. Don't assume things. Let your own experience be your guide.

An Adverse Reaction to Immediate Actions

Yeah...sorry about that. There's a clever title there somewhere but I missed it badly.

Well, first of all, happy new year to you. My resolution is to be more prolific this year, so it is fitting that I am putting up a post today.

Complaints about immediate actions affecting combat speed are not new to 4e gamers. I realize that some people will have different experiences than my own. All I can tell you is I have run games for hundreds of folks and I have played under dozens of DMs of all levels of experience with 4e, and OVERALL, immediate actions have posed a problem.

Now let me say that I see the value in having some actions act as interrupts and reactions. After all, like many seemingly "modern" 4e conventions, these mechanics actually have their origins in the classic editions. Familiar spells such as Feather Fall operate something like immediate actions. So they have precedence. They can also add a cool cinematic element to some situations. That said, you only really have to sit through one 4e combat encounter that is filled with endless immediate actions to recognize they are a problem.

Complicating matters, many 4e classes partially rely on immediate actions for their very identities in combat. In particular, Defenders rely on mark punishments to enforce their role; these are often immediate actions. And lets not lose sight of the fact that these abilities are FUN for the player playing the Defender. Some of my favorite moments in 4e combat involve my Fighter/Monk dancing through combat, marking everything she attacks, hit or miss, then daring them to ignore her mark. I have to believe that there can be a place for these kind of mechanics without completely slowing everything to a snail's pace.

So it isn't as easy as just flat-out banning immediate actions. They are cool, and they are woven into the game. I propose the following houserules to limit them. Like any houserule, I would talk to your players about it prior to PC creation.

1. THE BASIC RULE: Allow immediate actions from utility powers, class features, and/or theme powers only. This allows for Defenders to still defend, for iconic and otherwise flavorful powers to still act as immediate actions, and prevents you from having to get too fiddly with banning specific themes. This is a simple way to get rid of the endless crap like Disruptive Strike and other "must-have" powers that make for slow, herky-jerky combat.

2. THE ALTERNATE RULE: As above, but players can also choose immediate action dailies. This allows a few more into the game, only they are far less annoying to deal with or sit through as they only happen once a day.

I think these are fair. I mean, I myself have built catch-22 Binder hybrids that are basically bred from annoying immediate actions; in other words, I have been guilty of adding to the problem, and can be honest with myself that it isn't good for the game. What happens is you end up with a lot of well-built PCs at the table, and even though its great for PC survival, you have a lot of off-actions going off that basically signify bathroom breaks.

The above options will make a difference in your game, especially at high levels. They also actually enhance the classes that remain able to to use them, as they make it more rare/special for these kind of actions to take place.

Thoughts? Anybody else houseruling immediate actions?

Running 4e with Smaller Parties

Just a short post today about the joys of small party play with 4th edition. When I run classic editions, I prefer a fairly sizable party. Running with 6 to 8 players is my sweet spot. Combat is easy to adjudicate, as I tend to use side-based initiative, with the party declaring actions prior to rolling initiative. This reduces a party's ability to react and adjust to every little thing that happens in combat. Classic editions are also more deadly, so larger parties help with inevitable attrition. With 4e, things are quite different. PCs are more resilient and combat is more complicated. 4e PCs also have a wide variety of handy-dandy skills that add to their resiliency and self-reliance. This all combines to allow for quality 4e games with as few as 3 players.

When I first started running 4e, I had a party of 5. A couple of players dropped out after the first few weeks and from there I ran a 3 player campaign for about a year. It was excellent. Combat was fast and I could really focus on stories specific to the PCs. 

In my estimation, the ideal three player party in 4e is a Leader, Striker, and "something else". The "something else" can be any role; in my game it was a Defender. The key is the first two classes. None are required by any stretch; you could run a three-Witch party and have great success. Still, I think ideally you have the Leader for healing, the Striker to give that extra oomph in combat, and one other role to compliment the two. 

There are other benefits from running with small parties in 4e, besides the obvious one (i.e. much quicker combat). A lot of people have a hard time putting a large group together. It is a lot easier to find 3 players than 5 or 6. 4e is very easy to balance around different numbers of players; you just adjust XP and there you go. Finally, it allows you to focus more on each individual PC's goals, personality, and backstory; you might find that this improves the roleplay at your table.

If I ran another 4e campaign, I would be looking at going with 3 players, 4 players max. The game doesn't suffer from fewer players, it actually improves.

Do you have any experience running 4e games with smaller parties?

Hey...Wait a Second....Do I Hate 4th Edition?

The other day I got to play 4e for the first time in a while. I am currently DMing a 2e/1e hybrid game. The last 4e I played was running a playtest of material from my zine 4e Forever and wrapping up my long-running 4e campaign. Many of the ideas that I present here on my blog came out of that campaign. I did my best to keep the players focused on the story, and while combat was frequent, I was careful to end it before it became a slog. We had sessions where no combat occurred. We had short one round skirmishes. We had lots of exploration and encounters that never led to combat. So, I had become used to my own way of playing 4e...a way that is closer to OSR games, and one that rejects the usual structure of many 4e adventures. Nestled in my own private universe of houserules, I had completely forgotten how bad 4e can really be.

Now let me say that I don't fault the DM that ran the game. He is a fun person to game with, engaging and intelligent, and I have played with him a number of times. I also don't fault the players, as they were really just playing 4e as designed, with cherry-picked magic items and optimized characters that are honestly encouraged by the rules as written. I can't really blame someone for playing the game the way it was designed to be played. 

The adventure was typical LFR fare: a bit of roleplay at the beginning, then a three encounter combat slog, like something from the "Dungeon Delve" book. The first encounter was basically a joke; the monsters stood no chance against us. Almost immediately, the flow of combat degenerated into a string of soulless reactions and interrupts, moving at a snail's pace. An hour in and we were just going through the motions, as any monster with even a modicum of intelligence would have fled or surrendered by now. I was groaning to myself, hurrying through my turns, disengaged, checking to see what the wife was watching on TV. 

The second encounter was another big set-piece deal, with some creatures that would basically rise again after you killed them. After the first round of combat (another 40 minute-plus slog of reactions and interrupts and synergistic charop approved item powers) we realized this. The party began to make its way to a door on the other side of the room to escape. This took another hour or so. As my character stood there in the center of the room, soaking up damage, I had a breakthrough. I was in trouble, no doubt, but I could have escaped by using a combo of my second wind, a heal spell, and another round of *shudder* combat. Yet I knew this would take at least another 30 minutes, likely much longer. We were already hours into this grueling thing. I couldn't take it anymore. I told them to just go ahead and run and let my PC die. I gave a half-hearted attempt at roleplaying it. "I'll hold them off! Get out of here!" I thanked the DM and wished everyone well and dropped out. You know a game is bad when you really WANT to die...when character death is a blessing, like cool water to a dry mouth. 

I had to reflect a little bit after the game. I mean, I run a site that is mostly dedicated to 4e. I own every book. I have defended it hundreds and hundreds of times. Hell, I put out a 4e zine! Was it possible that I had been kidding myself all of this time? After all, I have houseruled every part of the game, from items, to combat and monsters, to traps, to diseases, to skill challenges, to rituals, and on and on. Is it possible that I actually hate 4e?

The answer is yes. I loathe it. I despise it. But, that isn't the only question. The other question is, "Is 4e worth saving?" And I think it is. Underneath the garbage, 4e has a lot of wonderful potential. Lots of creative and fun character options. A simple skill system that can get out of the way if you let it. Easily hackable design. Clear, understandable rules. There is good in the game, enough good that, perhaps against all logic and reason, I press on trying to perfect it. 

Now, I want to say that if you like things about the game that I don't, that is fine and dandy. I am not trying to convince anyone that my way is best. I just wanted to share what I had gone through recently as a way of getting it off of my chest. I don't want this post to end on a negative note; rather, I encourage everyone out there to make the games you play your own. Be honest with yourself about what you like and dislike, and adjust accordingly. I realize now that playing in casual, traditional 4e games is really not something I enjoy. On the other hand, I love tinkering with the game and running it as something wholly different from what was apparently originally intended.

So, enlightenment came through suffering. Isn't that like a Zen koan or something?

Curse of the Crab Spider!

The Crab Spider is a cruel monster. Appearing in Moldvay's Basic D&D rule set, this spider is both stealthy (surprises on a 4 in 6) and poisonous. It has a twist though: the poison does not kill instantly; rather, it is lethal after 1d4 turns. I assume that this delay is to somewhat "soften" the creature and allow for at least the possibility of magic items or spells offsetting the poison. I imagine that many DMs might say something like, "You can feel the poison coursing through your bloodstream, and you know that if you aren't treated soon that you will die." However, as I was pondering this creature, I found myself inspired to look at it another way. The delayed effect of the poison doesn't have to play out in such a straightforward manner. The DM could in fact just continue the game without saying anything, then about 20 or 30 minutes down the line, after the encounter is pretty much forgotten, get a grave look on his face and say something like, "Uh, Doug. You are noticing that your leg is swollen AS ALL HELL where that spider bit you. You are also feeling a little confused...dizzy...you stumble...save vs poison." It is much more terrifying for the PC to be unprepared, thinking that everything is ok, and then have the bite come back to haunt them. That got me thinking...

Delayed effects. That is what I want to talk about today. Delayed effects are a great way to add twists to your game and to horrify your players. There are all kinds of ways you can use them. Here are a few ideas I came up with.

Poison: Well, the aforementioned Crab Spider gives us a good example of delayed poison use. Lets think of another. What if the party are guests at some banquet? Everything goes swimmingly and it is a lovely evening. A few hours later, back at the inn, they all start projectile vomiting, developing visibly dark, swollen lymph nodes. They were poisoned at dinner and didn't realize it. What do they do now?

Diseases: In my experience, both as a player and DM, diseases make for great, memorable roleplay opportunities. Maybe they get into a fight in a tropical clime, and their open wounds allow for some kind of parasitical infection that doesn't manifest itself for a week. Maybe they pick up something passing through a town, developing a fever weeks later. Confuse them as to where they contracted the disease. Diseases also need not be lethal. They could just make for fun scenarios. Maybe they catch a severe cold and every time they interact with NPCs, you cue them to sneeze. With no handkerchief.

Curses: You could have some old woman in a marketplace curse the party, a la Drag Me to Hell. Weeks later, strange things start happening. Only through the help of a sage do they even recall the curse. Savor the look on their face when it dawns on them.

Bodily Transformation: A scratch from an undead creature could set off a metamorphosis, like something from The Fly. Again, let weeks of game time go by, then maybe an affected PC starts losing his or her hair, or has a fingernail come off really easily. Trying to figure out the cause of the symptoms becomes an adventure in itself.

Hauntings: I like this idea a lot. The PCs kill someone or something, perhaps accidentally. Days later they maybe dream about it, then start seeing it while they are awake. Others cannot see it. This would be fun with like spooky, freaky little Goblin children or something.


These are just a few random ideas, but I hope they get your wheels turning. Delayed effects such as these can really add another dimension of horror to a game, serve as adventure seeds, and/or simply encourage some fun, often hilarious roleplay. I am curious to hear if any of you out there have used similar delayed effects in your games. If so, leave a post!

Dungeons and Cthulhu, Part 2

So a while back I put up a post (HERE) about bringing elements of the Call of Cthulhu RPG into D&D. After playing some CoC over Halloween, I have been meditating on the game frequently, and while it is undoubtedly a masterpiece, there are some ideas I have been thinking about borrowing from D&D in the future. I thought I would share my thoughts (note that I am still "playtesting" these).

So my first idea has to do with what I have always felt were "wonky" Investigator (I) skills: Idea, Know, and Luck. These just always felt a little strange and unnatural. Anyway, I was thinking about how classic D&D handled certain Thief skills. While the Thief would roll to see if he could do things like Climb Walls, where there was no mystery in the outcome, other skills such as Move Silently would be rolled for by the DM. The Thief would always assume he was successful...at least at first. I also thought about DMs rolling to check if PCs notice hidden doors. So this all gave me the idea of having the Keeper (K) roll the aforementioned skills as "hidden" checks for the party. In other words, as passive checks. The flavor of these skills seems to back this up really well, and it feels much more natural to me. The K can just roll once for the entire party, using the party's highest score for each skill. So, if nobody finds that clue at the library, the K might roll a Know check. If they are stuck with no leads, an Idea check. If they are completely screwed, a Luck check. The K can of course choose not to roll any of these at all if the Is haven't "earned" it. These skills are, after, all, CoC's version of get-out-of-jail-free cards.

My other ideas have to do with combat and initiative. Now, CoC is a dangerous game with a lot of attrition. Your Is are not going to want to find themselves rolling initiative all the time like in a dungeon crawl. Still, my table has seen enough combat to make me notice how much I dislike how CoC handles the initiative order and flow of a combat round.

For starters, basic CoC rounds always go in order of DEX. You don't roll. Its always just by DEX. I like a little bit more variety than that. I don't want it to be as swingy as say 4e, where you roll a d20 plus mods, but I would like it to be possible for there to be a little variety. So, the idea I came up with is to roll a d6 and add a modifier based off of the DEX score. Here is the table:

Dex Score / Mod
0-7 / 0
8-10 / 1
11-13 / 2
14-16 / 4
17-20 / 6
*Anything with over a 20 DEX is placed in initiative as per the usual rules

What this does is make for a little variety, while very low DEX creatures and characters still cannot mathematically overcome very high DEX creatures and characters.

Now, before I talk about the rest of my ideas, let me just say that I usually play 1910s-30s. These rules may not work very well with modern guns, etc, without a little tweaking regarding rates of fire. For brand new players I usually just let the party choose between a revolver, rifle, or shotgun and roll from there, rather than make it too complicated, as you can really go crazy with gear in CoC. Anyways, these rules assume rates of fire of up to 3 shots with pistols, and 1 or 2 from rifles and shotguns.

So CoC rounds of combat are kind of messy and not very intuitive. A pistol might shoot once in DEX before the regular combat round, and depending on the rate of fire again later at half-DEX. You can tell that they were maybe trying to spread out the gunfire for a little balance, but it ends up just feeling kind of weird. I propose one single round of combat, influenced partly by 2e D&D. Basically, on your turn, you can fire at your max rate of fire without moving OR move your speed and attack at half of your rate of fire (minimum 1 shot, rounded down). So a pistol that can fire 3 shots per round can fire 3 shots if you remain still, or you might move and get one shot off. This way you don't have to hassle with multiple rounds, but there is the built-in penalty of movement restriction to balance the possible increase in firepower. Combat is already deadly enough, so this doesn't strike me as increasing the lethality very significantly at all. It just makes the game run more smoothly.

Other combat skills are somewhat unclear, especially for new players. These are the Dodge, Parry, and Grapple skills. By using some rules similar to those of 4th edition D&D, you can more easily explain these to players, as well as actually improve how they work in the game. First of all, if someone or something attempts to Grapple another creature on its turn, the target can immediately make a STR vs STR roll as "free action". In other words, the roll does not count against their following turn's actions in any way. It just happens right then and there as a response to the Grapple attempt. If it fails, the Grappler immediately moves on to whatever he can do based on the Grapple (i.e. hold them in place, whatever). Dodge and Parry are somewhat akin to 4e's "immediate interrupts", only they can both happen within the same round. However, you cannot attack and use either of them in the same round. This requires you too look at rounds refreshing in a manner somewhat akin to how 4e handles immediate actions. You no longer need to declare any intent to Parry. If you are attacked, and the attack can be parried, you can attempt to Parry it then and there. However, now you cannot attack on your following turn. You can still move on your turn, but you cannot attack or cast a spell. If you have parried and then, prior to your next turn, have a chance to Dodge an attack, you can do so, but this forfeits your movement on your turn. So, if you have both parried and dodged prior to your next turn, you can't really do much but speak or get something out of a bag, whatever.

This might all sound more complicated than it is. I will try to give an example of a combat round to tie everything together. We have two characters, the Doctor (DEX 11) and the Cop (DEX 15), squaring off against a sentient fungus (DEX 5) and vomitous snake-thing (DEX 22). The Doctor has a double-barreled shotgun, while the Cop has a revolver with a rate of fire of 3 shots per round. They roll initiative. The Doctor rolls a 1 and ends up at 3. The fungus rolls a 4, so even with a lower DEX, outpaces the Doc at 4. The Cop rolls a 5 for a total of 9, and the snake-thing doesn't bother rolling; it just goes at 22. The snake-thing immediately tries to eat the Doc. The Doc tells the K he wants to try and Parry the thing's bite by holding his shotgun sideways up into his mouth. Miraculously the roll is successful, although now the Doc cannot attack on his following turn. Next up is the Cop, who stands still and starts just emptying his revolver at the snake-thing, firing three shots all on his same turn. The fungus is now up, and spits some kind of gross spore-goo at the Doc. Even though the Doc has already parried this round, he can still attempt to Dodge, so he rolls to try and Dodge the spew. Again he succeeds, against all odds. The only trouble is, now he cannot move or attack on his next turn. Which is unfortunate, as it is now his turn. He just stands still, whimpering softly. We are now back to the top of the order. The snake-thing attempts to Grapple the Doc in order to suck his brains out of his eyes. The Doc gets to make a STR vs STR roll as a "free action" in response to this. Sadly, his luck has run out, and his brains are sucked out of his eyes. It is now the Cop's turn. He wisely decides to flee, still managing to get one shot off as he dives out of the window.

I am very interested in input about these ideas and/or houserules you use in your CoC games, so feel free to share!

Trimming the Fat Part 4: Killing Off Revenants Once and for All

Just a short post today because not much needs to be said on the topic. My "Trimming the Fat" series basically deals with bits of 4e that I find so offensive and contrary to my tastes that they cannot be house-ruled away. They must be completely excised from the game and buried under rocks. Previously we threw sunrods, skill challenges, and backgrounds on the trash heap (although I did end up using a background variant in my zine). Anyway, today we say goodbye to the Revenant as a playable race.

The reasoning is simple: 4e already requires that DMs inch up the difficulty. The last thing it needs is an unkillable munchkin race. Sure, the flavor is fine, but I have yet to see one played for any other reason than to be a get-out-of-death-free card. At higher levels, with tips and tricks like those found here, they become unkillable. Unkillable builds are not welcome in my D&D, regardless of edition. There is no reason to over-think it; just ban them and be done with it. If someone wants to use some sort of Revenant-ish storyline for their PC, they can work with the DM to do so in a way that isn't disruptive to the game.

Your RPG Person Profile!

Hey, this is a cool idea started by Zak S. from the Playing D&D with Porn Stars blog. Basically, your "RPG Person Profile" is a brief resume or snapshot of what games you play, blog about, and/or design, along with info on how to find any material you have released. Kind of like a blogger/designer character sheet. It is pretty handy-dandy, and I encourage other bloggers out there to put one up! Check out his original post about it HERE.

Anyway, here is my profile:

I'm currently running (at home): An occasional Call of Cthulhu or B/X one-shot.

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (at home) include: None, sadly, but I might get into some PF Society stuff after the holidays.

I'm currently running (online): A 1e/2e hybrid Greyhawk campaign, and the occasional 4e one-shot.

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (online) include: The last games I have gotten to play were Pathfinder and some OD&D.

I would especially like to play/run: Much, much more Call of Cthulhu.

...but would also try: Numenera, Night's Black Agents, Shadows of Esteren, and too many more to name.

I live in: Athens, GA, USA

2 or 3 well-known RPG products other people made that I like: The last two things I bought were Isle of the Unknown and Hammer of the God (LotFP), both of which are awesome.

2 or 3 novels I like: The first two that come to mind are The Transmigration of Timothy Archer and the Illuminatus trilogy.

2 or 3 movies I like: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Gummo, Young Frankenstein

Best place to find me on-line: G+

I will read almost anything on tabletop RPGs if it's: Fantasy and/or Horror related and contains random tables.

I really do not want to hear about: How terrible you think 4e D&D is.

Free RPG Content I made for D&D is available HERE.

4e Forever Issue #2 Updates, DDI News, and Shameless Solicitations

So I know that my blog updates have been few and far between recently, and there is a pretty good reason for it: I have been busy with other stuff. I also haven't had a lot of new ideas. To be honest, I pretty much have 4e where I want it. I have done a lot of work with monsters, from simplified creation techniques, to old-school stat blocks, to increased lethality. I have tweaked PC options, not just to help prevent analysis paralysis, but also to reign in some of the broken min/max crapola and magic item entitlement that so permeates the game. I have said my peace regarding 4e adventure design. I have pretty much said all that needs to be said on some subjects, at least from my perspective, and I even wrapped it up with a nice bow and put it into a free zine. While I am still working on the elusive final installment of my Stronghold series, I do not have the artwork in hand, without which not a lot of it will make sense. Which kind of brings me to this blog post.

The good news regarding issue #2 is that I have gotten a lot of high quality submissions. Next issue will feature articles on Warforged in Serd (complete with a new Epic Destiny), an article presenting Orcs as a playable race, one on Ophidians as a playable race (this one has some exciting fluff tying them to the 4e Forever world), a piece on creating your own powers, one on multiple outside-the-box uses for items in an adventurer's kit (no sunrods of course), a new character class for 4e (the Soulknife), and of course, my long overdue Stronghold rules, as well as part 2 of the megadungeon serial adventure "Tales of the Lost City". It is going to be quite awesome. I am just moving pretty slowly with it. Part of it is that I am waiting on some revisions to come back, and part of it is that I have been so covered up that when I get a five minute break I do not feel like writing. I am pushing through it though, as best as I can.

One thing that I desperately need is artwork. I have gotten by on public domain artwork in the past, and will continue to use it, but as we get into more specialized subject matter, I really need original artwork. Specifically, I need images of Warforged, Orcs, castle and/or manor house construction, items from an adventurer's kit (save sunrods), and "generic" battle scenes. If you or anyone you know likes to draw or paint, etc, please let them know that I am looking. This is a free zine, so there is no pay, but I can link to your sites and help promote your work. Despite being a very niche product, I still got an amazing amount of traffic and response to the first issue, and it could be a good way to feature your work. Leave me a comment or shoot me an email at frothsof@gmail.com for more info.

As far as 4e news goes, one positive is that it was announced this week that DDI would remain up indefinitely. They will be done with updates in March of 2014, but after that time the tools and zines will still be accessible. This is great news for folks that have come to rely on the ease of use that the tools offer. No word yet on pricing changes, if any.

 So that is all I have for you today. I wanted to at least let readers know that issue #2 is very much alive and that it will be very cool when it is completed. I am going to work as hard as I can over the upcoming holidays to get through a lot of it, as I won't have so much work-related stuff to take care of. I have a few little ideas for things that you may see over the next couple of weeks; a new "Trimming the Fat" post, and maybe a little something for Halloween.

Download THRESHOLD, the Mystara Magazine, FOR FREE!!!

Mystara aka "The Known World" remains one of the most unsung of all D&D settings. What began with just a scant few pages in the old 81' D&D Expert Set eventually blossomed into a full-fledged fantasy world through products like the Gazetteers and one of my personal faves, the Hollow World setting...basically the "innards" of Mystara.

Fans of Mystara have reason to be excited; the first issue of Threshold magazine, a free supplement, has been released! This thing is over 180 pages of awesome stuff, including a wonderful interview with Bruce Heard, who was instrumental in the development of the setting and is still going strong. Congrats and thank you's to all of those involved!

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

Mischief, Inc. Drops a Free Adventure

Some of ya'll might know the name "Kalex the Omen" from around the internet. Recently he put together an OSR publishing label called "Mischief, Inc." It seems they have focused on adventures as their first products, and what is cool is that the adventures are compatible with most, if not all, original editions and OSR game engines.

As an act of good faith they have put their first adventure out basically for free. "The Tomb of Rakoss the Undying" is available as a "pay-what-you-want" product on RPGNOW; check it out HERE.

I have only skimmed it so far but its clearly got a high production value, and everyone likes seeing quality free products. You can find out more about Mishief, Inc. at their website HERE.