Gaming Notes: DnD 5.0 Playtest #2

In our second session playtesting Dungeons and Dragons "Next" I was the Dungeon Master! As I prepared, I was really impressed with how the module was laid out. Monsters aren't static anymore - they move naturally and react to what the heroes do. I tried to warn them. I really did.

The goblin army

The party continued into the caverns and quickly dispatched three goblins before they could raise an alarm. Job well done and we were off to a good start!

The rogue scouted down the hallway, hearing the loud, loud noises of many, many goblins (as I described it several times). So, they decided to build a barricade from the table, benches, etc. in the room and post the heads of the 3 goblins on spears in the hallway. They then waited for the goblins to show up which they eventually did. When a few goblins came around the corner (not expecting anything) and saw what they party had done, they let out a war cry and charged. The three goblins were again easily defeated. I described many, many agitated goblin sounds coming from down the corridor. The party waited for them in ambush on top of the barricade they had built (not behind it, on top of it). Seeing 6 dead goblins at the party's feet, the hallway filled with goblins that started launching arrows. The party retreated with the sorcerer wisely setting the barricade on fire with burning hands (this probably saved the entire party).

The party ran outside and up the hill into a small forested area about 100 feet from the cave entrance. The rogue hung back for 20 minutes until he heard that the goblins had doused the fire and were in pursuit again. He then rejoined the party to witness the head goblin and a score of goblins emerge from the cave. The head goblin broke the goblins into small search parties to find the adventurers.

Of course, the party was eventually spotted. They quickly dispatched the first four goblins but not before they sent out a war cry alerting the others. The second group of four goblins arrived and fired arrows, awaiting reinforcements from their leader. The party killed these four but were soon forced to flee again as the goblin leader ascended the hill with 12 goblins in tow.

The party was chased out of the canyon and then most of the goblins returned home realizing that they weren't going to catch them.

After traveling for hours, the party decided to return to the canyon area. They approached on the oppose bank and set up camp 1250 feet away from the canyon, over the ridge. The rogue snuck down and observed various creatures coming and going in night raiding parties so he has a pretty good idea about which caves house which creatures.

Meanwhile, on the cleric's watch he rolled a 20 and clearly heard 3 bugbears approaching hundreds of feet away (unaware that the party was even there). They tried to hide instead of move out of the path of the bugbears but the fighter was spotted and the combat ensued. The cleric cast light so he could see, alerting other monsters to their presence (which probably saved the party, actually). Both the sorcerer and fighter went down with the fighter coming withing 2 hit points of dying. The cleric got the killing blow in when a group of approaching orcs (attracted by the light) scared off the remaining bugbear giving the cleric an "opportunity attack." The rogue returned from his recon mission and he picked up his unconscious teammates (after stabilizing the fighter) with the help of the cleric and traveled over a mile West to set up camp.

After 10 hours (it was mid-day the following day) the party was rested and fully healed. I awarded experience and everyone leveled up.

Gaming Notes: AD&D 1e (OSRIC) #6

The conlclusion!

When last we left our heroes, we had dragged our sorry bodies back to the town with our dead cleric in tow. We healed up, the cleric was resurrected but sidelined for the duration, and we headed back into the Caves of Chaos!

This time we were joined by some men at arms, one of which had experience in the caves. A report had come in right before our return that the Drow with the Staff of La had encountered a garrison on his way to the Caves of Chaos and decimated their forces! We made haste to stop he evil plans!

Upon entering the caves, the gong sounded for the first time. We raced toward the sound of chanting. As we entered the cavern with the portal in it, we saw the Drow strike the gong a second time with the Staff of La and a massive demon came through the portal of chaos! One more strike and the gate would be fully open and hordes of evil would come pouring forth!

We rushed to engaged the Drow while the men at arms held the demon at bay, laying down their lives in the process! Skeletons and zombies came pouring through the portal! At one point, I must admit, the prospects of success looked pretty grim. Along the way the druid's dog, Mangy, whom he had charmed into obedience, made the ultimate sacrifice as did many fighter NPCs.

The ranger was the one to land the killing blow on the Drow, ending the threat. The barbarian quickly picked up the Staff and smashed it (earning thousands of experience in the process!) while I bravely rushed the demon. Eventually, we subdued all of the evil forces and the portal was closed.

Our brave heroes stood in triumph!

Gaming Notes: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons #4/1

Well, last night's session was one to remember! Let me tell you what happened.

As you'll recall, a thief/mage, barbarian, ranger, druid, and my paladin are currently clearing out the Caves of Chaos. We seemed to be making pretty good headway when it all went wrong. We were pretty deep into the caves when we discovered that the thief/mage had been pocketing some of the loot without telling us!

Well, needless to say, this didn't go over well. The barbarian stepped up and challenged him to a 1-on-1 fight to the death or he demanded the thief leave the party. We were all stunned but the thief/mage, pleading his innocence, agreed to the combat rather than have to roll up a new character. The thief/mage's only shot was a sleep spell. Once the barbarian made his saving throw, the combat was pretty much over. The thief/mage lie dead at the barbarian's feet! I couldn't believe the DM actually allowed this to occur but I did think the thief/mage deserved it.

After looting the thief/mage's body, we continued on and after defeating some goblins, the barbarian found more magic arrows! The barbarian took great delight in snapping them one at a time in front of the ranger's face (since the barbarian hates magic). I personally thought the DM was rubbing it in by describing the arrows as, "Crying out like your own children caught in a burning building." Needless to say, the ranger flew off the handle and attacked the barbarian. It didn't help that the ranger and thief/mage were close friends. The party came to the aid of the barbarian and we were down yet another party member! The ranger's body yielded a disappointing amount of swag.

Our next encounter was with a orc magic user and it didn't go well. Our numbers, diminished as they were, were insufficient. I fell victim to a stunning spell and I was out the entire combat. The barbarian, refusing magical healing, went down, leaving the druid alone to defeat the orc magic user! Needless to say, at the end of the combat the druid was begging for what meager healing I could offer.

THAT was when I backstabbed him, killing him! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! The entire table of players sat around looking stunned! My lawful good paladin had just killed a comrade in arms! That was when I revealed that my character wasn't a paladin  at all but actually a thief in disguise! What better disguise than a big, clanky suit of armor that radiates good? I gleefully told the party that it was I who had planted the stolen loot on the thief/mage! It was I who planted those magical arrows so the barbarian would find them! And lastly, I had FAKED being stunned in the fight with the orc magic user, hoping he would kill off at least one of my comrades!

I quickly looted the bodies of the druid, barbarian, and orc magic user and beat feet. Those caves are WAY too dangerous to go into by yourself. You've got to have a party to support you!

 

My guess is that next week my "paladin" will come rolling into town looking for a new party to adventure with. Heh heh heh.

Gaming Notes: Three Dragon Ante

Three Dragon Ante is a Dungeons and Dragons related card game that you can play either as characters or as real people. Recently, my wife and I played as real people.

The game is well designed (surprisingly) and features a very balanced gameplay. I particularly like that there is an advantage to playing high and an advantage to playing low. It really makes you consider your resource allocation as you play.

Well, my wife was soundly trouncing me. She was keeping her hand size large and using colored flights to really pound me with gold piece deductions. In fact, I almost gave up until I had an absolutely massive round in which I won a pot of 24 gp and tagged her for a 10 gp penalty as well! In a game with only 100 gp that's a hefty sum!

From there, I managed to put together some colored and strength flights myself (it's surprisingly difficult to do but it really makes a huge difference!). I slowly wore her down until she had only one gp left... a gp that I took with a large red dragon and won the game. Victory is sweet but a come from behind victory is sweeter!

 

Gaming Notes: AD&D 1e (OSRIC) #5

Having entered the Caves of Chaos and met with some initial success, we returned to town to deliver the prisoners we had freed. We rested, healed, restocked, and returned to the caves.

We wanted to retrace our steps to make sure monsters hadn't reentered the portions we had previously cleared out. Along the way, we noticed that although the bodies of our fallen foes weren't removed, they were covered. Obviously, the enemy is aware of our presence.

Taking a new route, we discovered a goblin dining area. There were dozens of women, children, and men in this area. The party was split on tactics so we decided to go in without a plan. The ranger just ran into the room, trying to block the exit of our foes. He was quickly charged by multiple combatants, thus forcing the rest of the party to enter the room to bail him out. After a sleep spell, most of the goblins had fled the room. We pursued down the hall where we found a locked door. Forcing it open, we discovered the goblins that had fled and dealt with them to the last.

The next encounter would be nothing but routine, however. Deciding to go up some stairs, we encountered two guards standing in front of some doors. We engaged them and were in the middle of fighting them with six more guards came out from behind the door along with a big, bad orc general in full plate. The battle dragged on and on. The druid was the first to go down (not dead, just unconscious). Next, the cleric bit the big one. The barbarian was down to one hit point when he retreated. Then the thief/mage was knocked down to -5 hp. My brave hireling, Pillman, stepped into combat valiantly when called upon. This left the ranger and I as the only two active combatants. We couldn't hit the orc general to save our lives! Luckily, he couldn't hit me either (thank you -1 AC!).

Eventually, we wore him down and he was cut down. Whew. Still, the party has suffered its first death and was decimated in the combat. We beat feet and got back to town as soon as possible.

Gaming Notes: AD&D 1e (OSRIC) #4

The party is on it's way to the Keep of Guard. The keep overlooks the much feared Caves of Chaos where enemies of law and goodness are aligning to open a portal into a realm of chaos using the Staff of La.

On the road to the keep, we encountered some humongous black widow spiders! We harmed them enough that they retreated back into the safety of the trees. We did manage to free a corpse from their webs. It was a dead elf. In with its decaying body was a magical shield. The thief/magic user elf Valin granted my paladin the use of the shield until it could be returned to the elf's family. We gave the elf a proper funeral and moved on.

We arrived at the Keep and presented our pass shield that Harold the hedge mage had given us. We were directly ushered to the man in charge who was quite helpful. We were given 1000 gp voucher with which to purchase supplies and given the services of a cleric that would go along on our adventure with us. The party graciously allowed me to purchase Full Plate with the money. The rest we spent on healing potions.

We then descended into the caves of chaos. We met some pretty tough resistance - mostly goblins and orcs, but in large numbers. Eventually we came upon an area that prisoners were being tortured in. We killed their jailers and freed them. It seems that they had been captured from caravans traveling in the area. I healed the man that looked most grievously wounded. In thanks, his wife gave me a gem encrusted dagger.

We returned to the keep with the people we rescued.

Gaming Notes: AD&D 1e (OSRIC) #3

Our heroes set off to investigate the news that Harold the Hedge Mage's house had been ransacked and he's gone missing. When we arrived, we found the place in shambled but not deserted. There were four orcs and a hobgoblin still sniffing around.

We quickly charged in and defeated the orcs, causing the hobgoblin, Garfang, to surrender. We interrogated him and got what information we could. My paladin felt honor bound to let the unarmed foe flee with his life.

Using the information we got, we found the mines were the orc general, Barlog, was holding Harold. We entered the mines, encountering four firebeetles and killing them quickly. We also defeated eight orc guards with little difficulty.

Along the way, we encountered a Thief/Magic User named Valin. We agreed to let him join our adventuring party and we continued on. Valin's presence quickly placed our group in a moral quandary, however, when we ran into a room full of orcs. Valin cast sleep, effectively ending the combat. My paladin was conflicted - should we kill sleeping foes? Earlier we had left an unarmed opponent escape unmolested. We all agreed that the orcs should be restrained, knocked unconscious once they awake, and disarmed. We then left.

We defeated the orc general, Barlog, and rescued Harold. He was most grateful but implored us to make haste. It seems that there is great trouble brewing at the Caves of Chaos. A new breed of goblins called Shadow Goblins have been seen in that area. Their leader is intent on opening a portal to a realm of chaos found in the caves by using an artifact called the Staff of La.

Harold teleported us onto the road heading to the caves and gave us a small shield to present to the garrison stationed at an outpost near the caves. He bid us to stop the insidious threat to peace and order.

Gaming Notes: AD&D 1e (OSRIC) #2

I apologize - it's been a LONG time since I've posted an update from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (First Edition - we're playing under the OSRIC rules).

When last we left our adventuring party, they were deep underground having climbed down a well to discover the cause of mysterious disappearances in town.

We continued on and encountered a weird little creature called an osquip. How odd. And dead. We continued on.

At the end of the passageway we discovered the partially eaten remains of a few townsfolk. Before we could thoroughly investigate, two red glowing eyes greeted us in the darkness. What can only be described as an "Evil Weasel" can charging out at us. We defeated it and took it's carcass as well as the remains of the deceased back up to the town with us.

We were rewarded by the town and the sheriff and greeted as heroes by all. 

Using this upswing in reputation with the town, I took to looking for a hireling to act as a torch bearer and pack mule. I ended up finding a kid by the name of Pillman. He seemed stout (he's a first level fighter) and of good nature. I paid him 24 silver a month plus expenses. 

Our celebrations were cut short because the news had reached us that Harold the Hedge Mage had gone missing and his place was ransacked. We set off at once to investigate since the evidence didn't fit the other disappearances and we hadn't found Harold's remains.

What will our intrepid adventurers find? 

1st Edition Dungeons and Dragons Re-released!

I'm elbow deep in 1e D&D right now and loving it. Wizards is re-releasing the core rulebooks for first edition to raise money for the Gary Gygax Memorial Fund which is trying to build a statue in his honor. These books are "premium" books and have a new cover on them.

I applaud Wizard's efforts on the behalf of Gary Gygax. Ultimately, anything that keeps the history of Dungeons and Dragons alive is good in my book. There's just a small problem - the price! The core rulebooks together cost more than the same books in 4th edition! There are two ways to get this same material much cheaper - eBay and Osric (two LEGAL options, that is).

Check out the books are Wizard's release statement here. I hope the project is a success for them and for Gary's fund.

Thanks to Sam for bringing this to my attention!

I'm a 5.0 Playtester

I wanted to know what all the hubbub was about, so I signed up online as a playtester for Dungeons and Dragons 5.0. We'll see what happens. I'd say I'm pretty much a game designer's worst nightmare. Monte Cook had better have an amazing rules system to wow me. A grizzled gaming veteran like me isn't easy to impress. I'll keep you updated.

A D&D Timeline

With Wizards of the Coast's announcement that they're releasing the next edition of Dungeons and Dragons - D&D 5.0. Doesn't it seem like 4th edition is still brand new? Let's take a look at the short history of D&D:

1974 - TSR publishes (original) Dungeons and Dragons
1977 - Not a new edition, but the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set was released.
1978 - Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is released four years after the original. This was necessary because the original wasn't written in a very user-friendly format. Materials are published during this time for both "Basic" D&D and "AD&D."
1989 - Advanced Dungeons and Dragons second edition  is published 11 years after AD&D. The rules underwent significant revision and controversial content was dropped.
1995 - The AD&D2e rulebooks were revised (slightly) and reformatted but TSR was careful to avoid an misunderstandings - one of the first pages has an article that declares, "This is not third edition!"
2000 - Once again, 11 years after the last edition, Wizards of the Coast releases Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition. WotC took three years to develop this product. The rules underwent major revisions, most significantly moving combat onto a grid.
2003 - A minor revision to the third edition was released, called 3.5. This greatly irritated fans who had to repurchase the same books they had just purchased three years earlier.
2008 - Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition is released eight years after third edition and only five years after 3.5.
2009 - Paizo releases Pathfinder for D&D fans who don't want to move on to 4th edition.
2010 - Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition Essentials is released, this was billed as 4th edition for beginners. Character creation was streamlined and the text redesigned.
2012 - They've been working on the rules for 5th edition for over a year now. We'll see 5.0 before fourth edition is old enough to go to Kindergarten.

So D&D has been around 38 years and we have five editions and at least two or three rules tweaks in between just for good measure. Shouldn't the core rules system have a longer shelf life than five years? I remember the good old days of second edition - TSR put out so much product for that game and it all seemed to be absolutely essential in some way. And it was GOOD too.

Ultimately, Wizard's impulse to cash in by releasing a new system may prove to be its undoing. Fourth edition was ill-conceived so now they have to release another edition to undo the mess they made. Ultimately, D&D becomes its own competition. I'm sure you could find gaming groups that still play every edition of D&D that never moved on to subsequent editions. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

How about another option - instead of releasing another edition, apologize for 4th and simply make all of the books for all of the editions available as cheap PDF downloads and release new content for every edition! That way Wizards could profit from the legacy of D&D and it would make all of the fans happy!

5.0-My-Goodness

Wizards of the Coast recently announced that they were releasing Dungeons and Dragons 5.0! A year from now. Wow. They want to "gather input from the fans" (like they haven't heard an earful over the last few years already). What I want to know is - how much product do they plan on selling in the next year? You don't see Wizards doing this with Magic: The Gathering. Why? Because they don't want to go an entire year selling no MtG! Get it right the first time and then build on it- You CAN make money that way!

It happens every time a new version of a RPG is announced - the old one becomes almost invisible on a store's shelves. The same thing happens in video games. When the next platform is announced, sales of the current platform dry up completely. The difference, in this case, is that typically the next edition isn't announced a year in advance.

Wizards continues announcing and releasing new products for 4th edition... but I can't imagine that they'll actually sell any of it. I know if I owned a comics/gaming store I sure wouldn't buy any of that dead product for my shelves.

This whole move just smacks of desperation, frankly. I think it's going to backfire on Wizards in a huge way - they just guaranteed flat sales for an entire year. I'd look for D&D to be in new hands within the next fives years. And you know what that means, don't you? A new edition!

Gaming Notes: AD&D 1e (OSRIC) #1

In grand 1st Edition Dungeons and Dragons tradition, the party assembled in a tavern.

Also in grand 1e D&D tradition, two of our players forgot their character sheets! D'oh, Sam and John! We pressed on, undeterred.

The small village is called Rashtan and the paladin, Mathias Masterson, met a ranger, barbarian, and druid in the tavern. Mathias was sent from his order to find if there is an ancient city in the Forest of Spines (which is nearby Rashtan) and also to find out if the rumors of a new type of goblin thought to be in the area are true.

In conversation in the tavern, we discovered that the town was having a little of its own trouble. Petty thefts had been happening and two villagers had gone missing. A local, Jacobi, of course attracted by Mathias's shining personality, offered to assist us.

The party initially set out, asking questions here and there. We encounter the Sheriff, whom I have much respect for. Our searching came to naught until the ranger thought to look into the city's well, which was reported to be haunted.

Down the well we found a passage. We fought some dreadful rats and then a large toad. How curious! I wonder where this passage could lead?

D&D1e (OSRIC) Gaming Notes: Worst Party Ever?

So, if you've ever played 1st Edition Dungeons and Dragons you know that you've got to build your party very carefully. If you have four members in your party you should have a fighter, cleric, magic user, and thief because each of these classes bring a unique skill to the party.

Well, when we created our party the other week we ended up with... none of those. Seriously. INSTEAD, we have a Paladin, Barbarian, Druid, and Ranger (all human).

So there's no detecting or disabiling traps. There's no detect magic. There's no healing. We have a couple of meat shields and a ranged attack but without someone to heal them what good will they be?

This might be an interesting campaign... I think I'll start generating my backup character already.

I'm the paladin. One highlight for me? I'm the only party member with a natural 18 statistic! SWEET!

Funny Fake "D&D" Commercial

Thanks to 1LR fan Bill for sending this video from Megasteak Man. A funny spoof commercial mocking the public image Dungeons and Dragons had in the '80's.

 

Geek Gear: Jones Dungeons and Dragons Soda

Ever needed a healing potion in real life? Well, now thanks to the folks at Jones Pure Cane Soda, you can carry one on you at all times! Check out these limited edition Dungeons and Dragons inspired sodas at http://www.jonessoda.com/limited-editions/dungeons-dragons-limited-edition-spellcasting-soda-12-pack.html

I couple of the names seem weak... Sneak Attack? That's the best you can do? Really? And I'm majorly bummed that the Dwarven Draught is non-alcoholic. But overall, they are very cool and the themes are very appealing. How cool would it be to whip out a healing potion and gulp it down at the gaming table the next time your character drinks one? Lets see you do it in a round six seconds while moving thirty feet like you expected your torchbearer to do in your last gaming session! Chug, boy, chug!

First Impression: Dungeons and Dragons: Legend of Drizzt Board Game

Another entry into the Dungeons and Dragons cooperative board game series, the third entry, Legend of Drizzt, is sure to attract some attention based merely on the presence of the ever-popular Drizzt character.

 

The release of this board game coincides with the release of an original Drizzt story in comic book form. It will be interesting to see how that story and the other Drizzt tales are incorporated into the action in this board game.

I've played the first game in this series, Castle Ravenloft, but not the second, Wrath of Ashardalon. I can't say I was impressed. Gameplay is very random - dungeon expansion is random, monsters are random, traps are random... The core gameplay uses DnD 4th Ed. rules as a basis which gives it a very odd feel. It's almost like old-school 1st Ed. DnD had a incestuous love child with 4th Ed. "Kick down the door and kill the mind flayer! Kick down the door and kill the dragon! Kick down the door and kill the beholder!"

Clearly they're going after Forgotten Realms fans who have perhaps continued reading the novels but have been away from DnD as a roleplaying game for awhile... I think most of those people will be in for a shock when they see how the game plays and how the 4th Ed. rules work. Sure, Legend of Drizzt will sell well but I don't think it will bring many lost gamers back into the fold.