Starter Set: Heroes of The Borderlands

I love starter sets, but some are better than others. I absolutely adored 2019's Essentials Kit, and I've run its adventure for three different groups. In addition to the usual abridged rulebook, adventure book, and dice, it also included a DM screen, maps, and tons of cards for items, NPCs, initiative, and more. It's almost everything you need to play a campaign, and at a decent price. 

I was much less enthused by 2022's Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, which didn't include much more than the adventure. And it wasn't a particularly great adventure, either.

Today I purchased the newest Starter Set, "Heroes of the Borderlands."  Here are my first impressions.

So, right off the bat, this is a lot closer to the Essentials Kit than other starter sets, in that it includes everything you could possibly need to run a short campaign. In the box you will find:

Quick-Start Leaflet
4 Booklets (a Play Guide and three Adventure Booklets)
8 Background Cards
8 Species Cards
55 Equipment Cards
53 Spell Cards
42 Monster Cards
20 Magic Item Cards
20 NPC Cards
4 "On Your Turn" (Cheat Sheet) Cards
8 PC Tokens
40 Power Tokens
46 Hit Point Tokens
75 Gold Piece Tokens
6 Gem Tokens
18 Terrain tokens
80 Monster Tokens
5 Full-Size Double-Sided Maps
4 Half-Size Double-Sided Maps
5 Adventure-Related Handouts
8 Class Boards (2 for each of the 4 Pregens)
Combat Tracker (Basically an Initiative Notepad)
4 Storage Baggies
Dice

That's a lot of content. It has maps, monster cards, and tokens for every combat encounter in the included adventures. The pregens include Cleric, Fighter, Wizard, and Rogue, and they go up to level three (with two level-three subclass choices for each pregen).

The three adventures can be run in any order. I've only flipped through them so far, but the booklets include:

Keep on the Borderlands - This is mostly roleplay, and does not give an XP reward. This adventure gives the players plenty of opportunity to socialize with NPCs, earn some gold, and buy some equipment. 
Wilderness - The party travels through the woods and fights a few monsters along the way.
Caves of Chaos - The party explores the many cave systems full of goblins and ogres.

While I haven't browsed the adventures in-depth, I don't think I like them as much as the adventure in Essentials. Essentials felt more sand-boxy, with two or three jobs available at all times. Also, Essentials takes the characters up to level seven, while Borderlands only goes up to level three.

Note the Play Guide doesn't include character creation instructions, just gameplay rules. Also note that this starter set is based on the 2024 rules.

The pregens show the class details only. There are also background and race cards to use in conjunction with the class sheets, which is kind of interesting. In the past, most pregens I've used included preset race/class/background combinations, so Borderlands pregens are a bit more customizable. 

I'm a bit surprised that it came with an initiative tracker pad, when using initiative cards worked so well in the Essentials Kit. Especially because the Borderlands kit comes so close to not needing a pencil at all (since it lets players track their hp and gold with tokens). But that's a minor nitpick, when the box includes so much content.

Seriously, if you're new to D&D and still on the fence about whether to give it a try, this has everything you could possibly need. But all this content comes at a cost. At $50, this is one of the more expensive starter kits out there. Considering you can get the actual PHB for $40, this starter set is a big investment for those who are only dabbling. And experienced players don't really need it.

Will it replace the Essentials Kit? Not for me, but I'm certainly anxious to run it sometime. 

2025 Monster Manual

I'm not sure if I really needed to upgrade my Monster Manual. I mean, the old MM works just fine with the new rules. But I wanted to complete my set, so here we are.

So what's different? Hell if I know. I've cracked open the original 5e MM maybe five times. I mean, in the past ten years I've been a player more than a DM. When I did DM, half the sessions were online, where I tended to google the stat block I needed at the time. And the games I ran in person, I used a pre-made module with its own stat blocks.

I'll say this, I like the new look of the stat blocks. They're cleaner-looking, which is easier on the eyes. It's not a huge difference, but putting initiative in the top right, and putting boxes around the stats (now with their saves) is convenient. There's also a line for gear, for those DMs whose players loot everything they kill.

The monster's CR now also includes their PB, which I can only assume is the monster's peanut butter rating, something D&D has been sorely lacking. Those of us who use Reese's for monster minis have been demanding a peanut butter rating for years.

Edit: Okay, so I looked it up, and that's actually the monster's proficiency bonus. I guess that could be useful, but I'm a little disappointed about the peanut butter thing.

The monsters are organized a bit differently this time, which may or may not make things easier. For example, in the 2014 edition, the dragons were all lumped together. In 2025, black dragons are listed together with the B's, green dragons are listed with the G's, and so on. 

However, the "index of stat blocks," which was in the back of the 2014 MM, is right up front as part of the table of contents page this time. It lists everything alphabetically, so "Adult Red Dragon" is listed in the A's while the "Young Red Dragon" is listed near the end, despite appearing together in the book itself.

This is good. I do remember a couple of times when I was looking up a monster, I found the index more useful than the table of contents. Putting the index up front makes it that much more intuitive.

One thing that's causing a bit of controversy is that orcs are no longer in the Monster Manual. This struck me as odd at first. I mean, yeah, sure, they're a player race now, but that doesn't mean you won't still fight orcs.

But it makes sense in context. Traditional orc stats aren't hugely different than those of a strong human. The Monster Manual still includes stats for humanoids, including bandits, berserkers, knights, warriors, toughs, cultists, mages, spies, nobles, and so on. Every one of those is designed so they can be any humanoid race.

Some monsters are gone, but some have been renamed or replaced with something very similar. Thugs are now toughs, quippers are now piranha, and lizardfolk now use the "scout" stat block. This book contains more monsters than the previous book, so overall it's a net gain.

There's a list in the back of the book that tells you what new monsters to use in place of monsters that vanished between 2014 and 2025. So if you want to build an orc warband, use berserkers instead of the orc grunts, use the "tough boss" instead of the chief, and use the "cultist fanatic" instead of the shaman. So there's no particular reason orcs needed to take up space in an already crammed book.

Bottom line: I can't say the 2025 Monster Manual is a necessity if you already have the 2014 book. There are improvements, but they're nothing groundbreaking. Still, if I had to choose between the two books, I'd pick the 2025 version.

2024 DMs Guide

Honestly, the DM’s guide is probably the most useless of the core books. There’s very little a DM needs to know that isn’t already covered in the PHB and Monster Manual. Generally speaking, if you know how to play D&D, then you know how to DM.

But I want the complete set of the 2024 core books, so I splurged a little and picked it up. So how is it? I'm pretty happy with it. Here’s a breakdown on the chapters.

Chapter 1: What does a DM do? - This section is remedial for anybody who’s run a game before. But even if you’re new to being a DM, it still doesn’t do much that isn’t covered in the PHB.

Chapter 2: Running the Game - More tips, including things like running with multiple DMs, when to use advantage and disadvantage, ways to track initiative, and so on. Again, maybe useful info for newbie DMs.

Chapter 3: DM’s Toolbox – Tips on running chases, how to create backgrounds, creatures, magic items, and spells, how to manage curses, fear, mental stress, and rules for firearms. This section is moderately useful for advanced DMs.

Chapter 4: Creating Adventures – Tips on making adventures compelling and interesting. The advice in this chapter could be applied to writing in general, not just gaming.

Chapter 5: Creating Campaigns – This section mostly centers on planning ahead and making sure a campaign is leading somewhere. But it also contains an extended look at the Greyhawk campaign setting, which is pretty cool. The Greyhawk pages almost feel like an excerpt from a different book, but it’s a good-sized section (about 17 pages), so if you like the setting, this could help you. Note that the book also contains a fold-out map of the city of Greyhawk.

Chapter 6: Cosmology – The usual info on the planes, including a bit of Spelljammer content.

Chapter 7: Treasure – The section I tend to use most. I’ve seen most of these magic items before, but there’s a few new ones scattered in there. I’m sure some of the existing items have been tinkered with for balance, but I haven’t looked that closely. It includes all the magic items from the 80s D&D cartoon. In the previous DM's guide, the sentient magic items and artifacts were listed separately from the other magic items, but this version mixes all the magic items in together. 

Chapter 8: Bastions – Rules for letting players build their own forts and keeps. It’s always surprising to me what does and doesn’t make it into a DM guide, but this one feels like it belongs.

Chapter 9: Lore Glossary – A guide to classic D&D characters and locations. It's pretty useful if you're into D&D lore, though personally I tend to make up my own worlds. They honestly could have filled an entire book up with lore, so it's a little funny to see which characters/locations did or didn't make the cut.

Chapter 10: Maps – Just a bunch of sample maps to jump-start your imagination.

Tracking Sheets – The book contains several examples of tracking sheets (events, magic items given to the party, etc), scattered about the book in different sections. It’s a nice tool for certain DMs.

Bottom line: Is this book worth it? Well, you don't need it. It’s more fluff than crunch, and fluff is the one thing I don’t need help on. I barely cracked open the 2014 DM book, and I don’t expect this one to get much use beyond looking up magic items. Still, it's a decent read and I’m glad to have it on my shelf.

First Impressions - PHB 2024

So I’ve had a chance to browse the new version of D&D 5e, and I have to say I’m quite pleased. It’s not as big an overhaul as I’d feared, and most of the changes make sense. Disclaimer: I haven't actually played under the new rules yet, nor have I really read the book in-depth. Plus, I've been told I have a tendency to misunderstand things that are obvious to everyone else.

The biggest thing, to me, is how the book is organized. It looks like it will be easier than ever to find the exact rule you’re looking for when you need to know it. The first 30 or so pages offer a very organic explanation of the game’s rules, with plenty of gameplay examples for the inexperienced. It uses clear, simplified language to keep from scaring off the newcomers.

Next we have the Classes. Each class has four subclasses now. A lot of these are ones that initially appeared in other splatbooks, and they picked some good ones to port over to the PHB.

I’m a huge fan of Bards, and this PHB doesn’t disappoint. It includes my favorite Bard subclass, the “College of Glamour,” which previously appeared in Xanathar’s. It also includes the “College of Dance,” a subclass that makes Bards play a little bit like Monks. I definitely want to try that one sometime.

Speaking of Monks, I was pleased to see the “Warrior of Mercy” subclass, which previously appeared in Tasha’s Cauldron. I like this subclass because it allows you to heal your allies by punching them in the face. Okay, maybe not exactly, but you can provide healing touches as part of your Flurry of Blows, which is pretty funny.

I’m always a fan of giving healing options to non-healing classes that way. I was disappointed that they didn’t include the “Divine Soul” Sorcerer (Xanathar's), which gives Sorcerers access to Cleric spells. That’s one I’ve always wanted to try. I mean, I suppose I still can – old splatbooks are still mostly compatible - but it would have been handy to have all my favorites in one book.

Next we have Backgrounds. These are more important than ever, since these are where you get your stat bonuses. Each background lists three stats, and you have the option of picking two (+2 to one, +1 to the other), or +1 to all three. Each background also gives you a feat, skill and tool proficiencies, and equipment (or just gold if you like to buy it yourself). Despite the extra importance of these backgrounds, they actually take up less space than they did in the original PHB, with two on each page. They no longer give you roleplay bonuses like “you can always find a place to stay in an unfamiliar town,” but honestly I never saw anyone use those anyway.

Then we have Species. These also take up less space than before. The biggest change here is that there are no longer any half species. Instead, we get Aasimar, Goliath, and full-blood Orc in the PHB. If you still want to play a Half-Elf or Half-Orc, you would probably just build an Elf or an Orc and use a background appropriate to your upbringing.

Some will freak out at the fact that Races are now called Species, but then, some people freak out when they see a female Jedi, so apparently some people just need to get out more.

Then we have Feats. These are also more organized than before. The feats section is divided into Origin Feats (which you get from your background), General Feats (the ones you’re used to), Fighting Style Feats (like Duelist or Two-Weapon fighter, which used to be in the Class sections for those classes), and Epic Boon Feats (the level 20+ feats which used to be in the DM guide). This makes it much easier to find the feat you’re looking for, IMO.

Next is Equipment. Not much has changed here except for the Weapon Mastery options. If you’re playing a class that has the Weapon Mastery feature, then a lot of weapons do extra things they didn’t do before, such as cleave. In a way it makes fighters feel more like they did in 4e, which might not be a plus for everyone, but I’ll wait until I see how it plays before I pass judgement. It's a great way to give martial classes a few more options, but I'm a little worried it might undermine the simplicity I've always loved about 5e.

Next up is Spells, which as usual takes up nearly half the book. I have not gone through and read all the spells yet. I panicked a little at first when I saw that Bards have to prepare spells now. There’s reasons I prefer Bards and Sorcerers over Wizards, and one of those reasons is that their spell system is slightly less complicated. However, nothing has actually changed here except the terminology. All spellcasters “prepare spells” now. It just that Wizards prepare them every long rest, and Bards/Sorcerers prepare them whenever they gain a level. The system is the same, but the language is applied more universally.

Then there’s a small section on the Multiverse that honestly I think should have been in the DM’s guide.

Next there’s a section of Creature Stats – similar to the original PHB, it’s mostly creatures a PC might summon, ride, or transform into. It’s always nice that they do this, as it keeps non-DMs from having to buy a monster manual.

And finally we have the Rules Glossary, a place where you can quickly look up any rule or term in the game. Honestly the way this section is organized is fantastic, even if parts of it are redundant with the “how to play” section earlier in the book.

As far as Player’s Handbooks go, this version is top-notch. It excels as a guide to teach new players how to play, and it excels at helping experienced players find specific rules more easily.

Playtests and Other Updates

Since I haven’t been gaming lately, I haven’t been posting much on this blog. But I have been keeping up with the hobby, even if I haven’t been playing.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a really fun movie, for both D&D fans and non-fans alike. I’m sad that it isn’t making as much money as it should. If you haven’t seen it yet, please go. If your theater no longer has it, buy the blu-ray when it comes out. They need to know that there’s a market for this, so they’ll make more good D&D movies. You can read my full review on my other blog here.

I have been following the playtest, though I haven’t had a chance to try it out. As expected, there’s a lot in there that I like, a lot that I don’t, and some improvements that seem more complicated than they needed to be. Overall I think it’s an improvement, but I’ll reserve judgment until I get a chance to play the final product.

As usual, these playtests bring out the worst in the RPG community. With every update, the most vocal idiots whine that “D&D is now RUINED!” Guys, this is how playtests work. They brainstorm, you test, you report, they fix. This is not a final product, this is just how they find out what works and what doesn’t. If you don’t like one of their ideas, test it first (some ideas sound bad on paper but work well in game), then fill out their surveys. But stop spamming Twitter and Reddit with how much you hate every proposed change.

I love the idea of tying ability scores to something besides race. Yeah, I know we’re going to see a lot of campaigns where the party’s halfling is stronger than the party’s half-orc, and I don’t care. The strongest guy I know IRL is about a foot shorter than me. I have no problem believing that a halfling who grew up bodybuilding could outwrestle a half-orc who grew up studying literature.

Plus, I’m so sick of seeing the same race/class combinations all the time. Tiefling Warlocks. Halfling Rogues. Half-Elf Bards. Whether you’re a min-maxer or not, it’s always felt like you’re better off picking the race that has the bonus to your prime stat. Changing how you get your ability bonus opens up a world of creativity.

What’s that? You prefer your fictional world stick to the tried-and-true tropes, where half-orcs are stupid and elves are scholars? Great! Build your world that way. But recognize that the PCs aren’t meant to be average examples of your world’s population; the PCs are the standouts. The party’s half-orc wizard probably became an adventurer because his own people didn’t accept him. This doesn’t hinder your world, it helps it.

Okay, but should races even be called "races," or should they be called species, heritages, ancestries, bloodlines, etc? First off, I fully support the change. It’s more future-proof. I’ve heard all kinds of arguments about whether race is more or less accurate than species, but being a fantasy universe, our English definitions don’t really apply. But the bottom line is, some people are bothered by calling it “race,” because it has negative connotations. It’s a tiny change that doesn’t affect gameplay, and makes some people feel better. Call it “bowing to the woke mob,” if you want, but you sound like a jerk.

That said, I’m honestly not sure it matters. Whatever they stick with, it’s only going to be called that in the Player’s Handbook. Most existing players are going to keep calling them races. It’s too deeply ingrained in our language. I called it races for most of this blog, and I’ve preferred species for years. It’ll take several generations of players before the new terminology takes over. But they have to start sometime, now’s as good a time as any.

The latest playtest had an interesting Wizard feature that’s causing some buzz, basically a new way to customize spells. Personally, I thought it was simultaneously too complicated, and potentially overpowered. I do like the idea of customizing spells, though, I just don’t like how they did it. But I also don’t play a lot of wizards, so I’m not the best one to ask. But I bet this version doesn’t survive the playtest.

I’ll say it again, for the Bard, I wish they’d implement an actual “bard song” feature. I’m tired of bards basically just being inferior sorcerers. Inspiration is not enough. I either want a buffing song that gets more powerful as I level, or a set of songs I can choose from (not bard-themed spells). Something I can start performing as the battle starts, that buffs all allies within 30+ feet of me, that I can maintain as a bonus action each round. For bard songs done reasonably well, check out the battle hymns in “Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition” (A5E). Their version is a little more complicated than I’d like (as is everything in the A5E book), but they’ve got the right idea.

I’ve been meaning to write a blog about the A5E system, but the truth is, I’ve tried twice to read the full rulebook and I always get overwhelmed. A5E is full of excellent ideas, it really is. Every page has something that makes me think, “I want to add that as a house rule in my own campaigns.” But as a whole, it’s just too much. I love 5e because of its simplicity, but A5E takes 5e and turns it back into Pathfinder. That’s great for some people, but it’s not why I play RPGs.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now. I recently self-published my third book, which you can buy here if you're interested. I’m taking a break from writing for a couple of weeks so I can get a few things done around the house, and reorient my brain for my next big project.

Bloodhunters

My first novel is now available on the Kindle Store. If you're interested, you can purchase it here:

Bloodhunters v1: Bad Blood

For more information on the series, visit my Bloodhunters blog here:

Bloodhunters Blog

But wait, there's more! In honor of releasing this book, I've also written a simple, free RPG based on the Bloodhunters universe. It's a skill-based dice pool game. It steals a lot of mechanics from other RPGs, but I'm not selling it, so bite me. If you don't like the rules, you might like the lore, or vice-versa, so feel free to give it a download. You can find the files here:

Bloodhunters RPG

Note

 Note: Sorry for the lack up updates. I've dropped out of my group for a while so I can work on a novel. I'll start playing again when I run out of words.

Alien RPG

Alien and Aliens are two of my favorite movies of all time. IMO, they’re the only two good movies in the series, and they’re nothing like each other. One is a slow, suspenseful horror film, and the other is an exciting action movie. They both feature beautifully disturbing creature designs, and a strong female lead. I love how the future is depicted as being low tech and dirty, as opposed to the immaculately clean Star Trek, where technology is basically magic.

It’s not easy to make an RPG system that works equally well for both movies. If I’d been in charge, I might have focused on one or the other. But the Alien RPG (2019, Free League Publishing) makes a pretty solid attempt. I’d say the system works better on the suspense side than the action side, but so far I haven’t played it enough to really judge.

In the Alien RPG, there’s two types of games: Campaign play and Cinematic play. If you’re only planning to run one-shots, then you don’t really need the core rulebook, and can get by on the Cinematic Starter Kit instead. Either style of play can be used for action or suspense themed games, but in my mind, the one-shot Cinematic games work better for horror, and the Campaign works better for those who want a marine-filled action fest. But YMMV.

Alien RPG is a dice pool game that uses special d6’s. Regular d6’s work, but you’ll want a bunch of them, and you’ll want them in two different colors. The first set of dice is the “Base Dice”, which you use for skill checks. They are normal d6’s except there’s a special symbol on the 6. When you need to perform a skill check (which includes attack rolls), you roll a number of Base Dice based equal to your skill level plus the governing stat. If you get even one six, you succeed. Additional sixes let you perform “Stunts”, which are extra effects.

Then there’s Stress Dice. A big part of the Alien RPG, and one of the elements that really helps it nail the feel of the movies, is keeping track of your character’s stress. Your characters can gain stress several ways, from taking damage to seeing a xenomorph for the first time. When you roll a skill check, you take a number of Stress Dice equal to your current stress level, and add them to your dice pool. These dice have the same special symbol on the 6 as the Base Dice, but they also have a facehugger symbol on the 1.

So Stress Dice can actually help you, in that they give you more chances to roll 6’s. Just like how being under pressure in real life can sometimes make you more competent. But if any of your stress dice come up as 1’s, you have to make a panic roll. This roll might result in your character fleeing, dropping an important item, or even attacking a fellow teammate.

 

For example, Bob has an Agility score of 4, a Range Combat score of 2, and his gun has a bonus of 1. His stress level is currently three. He wants to shoot at a xenomorph which is currently sticking its head in the door. Bob yells, “Eat this!”, then rolls 7 base dice and 3 stress dice. Among the 10 dice, he ends up getting three success symbols and one facehugger symbol.

 

Only one success is needed to hit the alien. The other two success dice can be used to perform stunts. Some of the stunts won’t apply in this situation, such as knocking the weapon out of your opponent’s hand. But one of them allows you to push your opponent backwards, so Bob uses this one to knock the xenomorph back through the open door it was standing in. For the other stunt, he just chooses to have it do one extra point of damage.

 

But since he also got a facehugger symbol, Bob has to make a Panic roll. He rolls a d6 and gets a 4. His current stress level is 3, so he adds that and gets 7. Looking at the Panic roll chart, 7 is “Nervous Twitch”, which causes Bob and his nearby companions to each gain 1 stress die. That could have been a lot worse. 

 

There’s a little more to it than that (the opponent may have an armor rating that lowers the damage it takes, their wounds might spray acid when hit, Bob’s distance from the opponent might change the number of base dice, Bob could use his Fast Action to aim for 2 additional dice, the weight of all these dice might collapse the table you’re playing on, etc etc etc), but those are the basics.

Personally, d6 games are usually a turn off for me. I’m a huge fan of 20-sided dice. But I have to admit that I associate unusual-shaped dice with fantasy, so Alien RPG’s d6’s do help set the futuristic mood here. Also, I’ve never really been in love with dice pool games in general. Honestly, the most recent Star Wars RPG (2012, Fantasy Flight Games) is almost incomprehensible to me. But I think Alien RPG pulls it off well.

This is a very deadly RPG. Player characters typically only have around 4 hit points, while xenomorphs have about twice as many. You are not meant to survive melee encounters with an alien. This is a “run and hide” RPG, not a “kill everything that moves” game. That is, unless your party is a group of well-armed space marines, but even then you’re going to want to engage the enemy on your terms. In any event, if you find yourself face-to-face with a xeno and you’re armed with a wrench… just run.

Death is interesting. Getting to zero hit points doesn’t kill you, it just requires you to roll on a critical injury table. Some of these injuries are fatal, some will put your character out of action for a few days, and some just leave you with battle scars.

Combat uses cards to determine initiative. On your turn, you get a slow action and a fast action (or two fast actions). Distance is kind of vague, so combat grids aren’t really necessary. For the most part you just need to track is which characters are currently in which room.

I tend to dislike encumbrance rules in RPGs. It’s not that I think PCs should be able to carry thousands of pounds of loot, it’s just that most of the time tracking weight is more tedious than fun. But Alien RPG’s encumbrance system is intuitive and easy. It’s based more on an object’s size than weight. You can carry a number of “regular-sized” objects equal to double your strength score. Larger objects count as multiple objects, and smaller objects count has half an object. “Tiny” objects (pen, ID card) can fit in your pockets and don’t need to be tracked. It’s a little thing, but it’s touches like this that win me over.

Reading through it, my first impression was that it looks like a "rules light" system. It’s really not, though. Sure, there are a lot of rules that won't come into play in every campaign, like the ones involving starvation, freezing, air supply, and so on. You put all of those aside, and it seems like you're playing with about two page's worth of rules. But when you actually start to play it, it does feel crunchier than it initially reads.

Aesthetically speaking, the books are beautiful. The designers are totally committed to the theme. The pages have a black background, with most information in green “pop up” windows, like you’re using one of the computer terminals in the Alien universe. It’s full of timelines and space maps, with nice artwork and quotes from the movies. The book looks great on my shelf, and I’m proud to own it.

But from a practical standpoint, the books are a little difficult to use. To preserve the aesthetic, they wasted a lot of pages. An entire page might contain a single paragraph, floating in the middle of a star field. Rules that ought to be on the same page are sometimes found 30 pages apart. At times I found the DM screen more useful than the rulebook, because it puts the most-used charts and rules in one spot.

Even the “Cinematic Starter Kit”, which includes an abridged version of the rules, feels disorganized. It basically copies the most important pages right out of the core rulebook, aesthetic and all, rather than reorganize the rules in a more intuitive way. Look, I love how beautifully these books are presented, but I wish it included a quick reference book. If condensed efficiently, it would be a lot easier to find the rules you need when you need them.

Even the bestiary section is presented in a confusing way, with a creature’s stats in one chart, but with special rules several pages away. During one fight, I kept having to flip back and forth between a xenomorph’s attacks, and what happens when they die. Unless you make your own monster cards, you’re going to be flipping back and forth a lot.

Bottom line? Well, there is no bottom line, because I haven’t played it enough to really judge it yet. So far I’ve only run a single session for one player, and we hand-waved a few rules because we were still getting used to the basics. But the feel of the movies is there. It would have been very easy for them to just churn out a quick Traveller clone, but you can tell this RPG was a labor of love. This is a game for Alien fans, by Alien fans.

If you’re torn on whether to buy the core rulebook or the Cinematic Starter Kit, I’d go with the starter kit. You get an abridged rulebook, some dice, cards, and more. And it’s usually cheaper than the rulebook. But if you end up liking the game, the core rulebook adds character creation, vehicle rules, a larger bestiary, and a ton of lore about the Alien universe. If you don’t care about having the physical book, you can buy the core rulebook a little cheaper digitally from DriveThruRPG.

By the way, the module I ran was a short Cinematic one-shot I put together, loosely based on the Commodore 64 game, “Project Firestart”. It’s not finished, but here are my notes for the module if you're curious.

Behold!

I love beholders. They've always been my favorite D&D monster, even before I'd played D&D. I just have a thing for eyeballs. Lately, I've been picking up multiple copies of Nolzur's Beholder miniature. It's just a fantastic miniature, and it's fun to paint. Every time I finish one up, I get an idea (eye-dea?) for another one. Here's the ones I've done so far. 

First up, we have the Death Metal Beholder. My original idea was to make it look like the Death Star, but that didn't really work out. So instead, I tried to make the scariest, most evil-looking Beholder possible. Mostly black and silver, with red eyes, firing four eyebeams.

Death Metal Beholder

Next up, we have the Pride Beholder. Black with rainbow plates and eyebeams.

Pride Beholder

Side View

This is the Pineapple Beholder. While painting one of the others, it occurred to me how much the back of this model looked like a pineapple.

Pineapple Beholder

Back View

Here is a Beauty Beholder. I stole the eyelashes idea from this reddit thread. More pictures of her here.

Beauty Beholder

Eyelash Close-Up

Here is a Jester Beholder:

Jester Beholder

Here's a Joker Beholder. A lot of people have been painting this beholder model to look like the Joker, so this is my attempt.

Joker Beholder

Back View

Finally, here's a Metallic Beholder. Originally I wanted to go for disco ball, but then I started thinking of Bubo the owl from Clash of the Titans. Anyway, he ended up a little bland, but I like having a metal Beholder in my collection.

Metallic Beholder

Here's a group shot:

Group Shot

As long as I'm here, here's one I printed with my 3D printer, using this model. It didn't turn out very well, but it was kind of a tasteless idea anyway.

Coronavirus Beholder

All of these go really well with the pre-painted Beholders I already owned:

Afterthoughts: The Wild Beyond The Witchlight

Minor spoilers ahead.

So, now that I've had a chance to read through the entire adventure, I wanted to talk more about "The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: A Feywild Adventure". I can honestly say this is unlike any D&D adventure I've played before, though whether that's a good thing is going to vary from person to person.

The module seems kind of easy, to the point that you could probably stay level 1 and still complete the adventure. Every combat can be avoided, though sometimes the peaceful option isn't very obvious. But even when fights occur, most of them aren't particularly deadly. Several creatures are under orders to capture your party alive, or otherwise stated to leave downed parties alone. There's also tricks to end certain fights early, though some of them require insane moon logic. For example, Redcaps don't like receiving gifts, and will drop dead from anger if you give them a present.

Honestly, a lot of Witchlight's logic doesn't make sense, and that's by design. It draws inspiration from The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and a bunch of classic fairy tales. Stories where children fly by thinking happy thoughts, eating cake changes someone's size, and witches can be killed by a bucket of water. So when Witchlight has you trading your shadow to get your smile back, just remember that you are in an absurd land with its own laws of physics.

There's not a lot for treasure hunters. Citizens of Prismeer don't seem to care much for gold, and mostly trade for trinkets. Sometimes more abstract concepts are used as currency, such as a happy memory or your ability to dance. There are a few decent magic items to be found, but serious treasure hunters aren't going to finish the adventure much richer than they started.

There's hardly any use for mapping the overworld, because the landscape of each region changes. This is a great bit of flavor, but it also makes it easy for the DM to railroad players into going straight to the next plot location.

I think it will require a special kind of DM to run this adventure effectively. I don't think I could pull it off. There's a lot to keep track of. Little things that happen in the first session become important much later, so you better write things down. The good news is that it reminds you to take note of certain events, and even includes a story tracker for you to copy.

Even with the right DM, I'm not sure all players can handle it. This module is heavily geared towards roleplay. Hack-n-slashers will still have a good time bulldozing their way through the adventure, but they're going to miss a lot of what makes this module unique.

At one point late in the story, the characters are forced to improvise a play. They're given slips of paper with lines they're supposed to work into their dialogue, making the scene feel like a game of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" In fact, there were a few spots in the module that reminded me more of Fiasco than D&D. This is a lot to ask of some players.

It feels a bit short. I think most groups could get through it in 8 to 10 four-hour sessions. But roleplay-heavy campaigns can be deceptive. If a party really has a flair for the dramatic, they can stretch out some of the encounters for a long time. Even if it is short, replay value is pretty high. There's a ton of variables, so no two playthroughs are going to be alike.

There is an interesting twist in the final chapter, regarding the true identity of one of the characters. However, this reveal won’t mean much to some players unless they are big fans of D&D lore. The DM may want to work in some additional references to the character’s other identity early on, if they want the twist to make an impact later.

Honestly, this is the least “guided” 5e official adventure I’ve read so far. Several sections feel more like a programming flowchart than a story: IF the characters do “X”, THEN “Y” happens. Okay, that’s not uncommon for an adventure. But with most adventures, those are just side events to a mostly linear story. This adventure feels like nothing but a collection of flowcharts. You could probably play this one 100 times and get entirely different stories, but some DMs are going to feel lost running it.

Another thing I’m wondering about. As always, the book gives the layouts of several castles and lairs, with dozens of rooms in each. But since this is such a low combat module, I wonder if players will be as thorough about searching every room. With no need to “clear out this level”, I wonder how many PCs will head straight for their objective and miss some of the more interesting roleplay encounters.

Bottom line? I... don't know. I'm still lost. I'm not the best judge of an adventure anyway, but usually I can at least tell if I like a module after I read it. But this one really depends on DM and the players. It subverts the average adventure in so many ways, I can't tell what it will feel like to play it. It feels like an experiment, like they're testing the waters for more pacifist-friendly adventures.

I don't know if I want to run it, but I would definitely like to play it sometime. The good news is, with all those variables I mentioned, I don't think having already read it will spoil it for me.

Why I Prefer 5e

Everybody wants different things out of their tabletop RPG. For myself, there are two factors that tend to impress me: Simplicity, and lots of playable races. Which is kind of funny, because those two factors - while not incompatible - often represent opposite ends of a system's design goals. I mean, Pathfinder (1st Edition) had a ton of playable races once you got into its splatbooks, but I found the system itself a little too simulationist for my tastes.

The reason I want a lot of playable races isn't because I play a wide variety of them. It's because it increases the odds of me finding a species I really love. I like fey creatures like Fairies and Dryads, plus I have a thing for cat people like Tabaxi. Rarely are these races found in an RPG's core rulebook, so a game has to be fairly prolific for it to include them.

And the reason I like simplicity... well, that's mostly because the more RPGs I try, the more difficult it gets to keep all the rules separate. When 3.5 was current, I learned it inside and out. Parts of it were more complicated than they needed to be, but that didn't bother me at the time because as far as I was concerned, D&D 3.5 was the world's only RPG. But with each new system I learned, it became harder and harder to keep them all straight.

I liked 4e at the time, because it was easier (for me) to create a character. While 3.5's classes all had their own sets of rules, 4e pretty much just had one set of rules governing all classes. Yes, a 4e fighter was slightly more complicated than a 3.5 fighter. But once you learned to play a 4e fighter, you could play any 4e class with ease. Unfortunately, 4e's drawbacks outweighed its simplicity, and that's when my groups began experimenting with other RPGs.

I glommed right onto 5e. For my money, it's the perfect balance between options and simplicity. My experience may not be as varied as some, but I have played a decent range of games. I've played games with fewer rules, but they didn't have enough character options. I've played more complicated games, and it took over an hour to build a character.

But here we get into the argument of "what even is simple, anyway"? I got into an online discussion a few weeks ago about earlier editions of D&D. I maintain that 5e is easier to learn, mostly because I've tried to learn earlier editions and found them to be about as easy as studying calculus. My opponents kept pointing out the page count of OD&D - instead of a giant PHB, its rules were confined to what was practically a pamphlet.

And you know, that would be fine, except that OD&D wasn't even a complete system. D&D's original release was more of a spin-off. It assumed you already knew the rules of two other games (Chainmail and Outdoor Survival). It didn't set out to create a brand new game, it was just a way to converting a mass combat game into a dungeon delve.

But that's just trivia, and doesn't really prove my case. The truth is, what one person finds simple, someone else finds complicated. As far as I'm concerned, truly enjoyable tabletop RPGs started with the d20 System. Any RPG that uses THAC0, to-hit tables, or any system where having low AC is better, automatically loses all of its simplicity points. 

This is how you play an RPG: You roll some dice. You add some modifiers. You try to get a result higher than a target number. Boom, period, that's it, done. This isn't golf, high numbers are always better. I'm not blaming older RPGs for being clunky, I know it took a while to streamline the rules. Older RPGs hold an important place in history, and without them we wouldn't have the games we have now. They should be respected and honored, but I'll be damned if I'm going to agree that they're "simple".

But again, that's just my opinion. Simple is in the eye of the Eye Tyrant. Personally I consider a system simple if it's easy for me to build a character. As long as you're not the DM, then you can learn most of the rules while playing. But building a character is one of the first things you have to do in a game (unless you're using pregens), and the process usually gives you a good idea of how complicated the system is going to be overall.

In D&D 5e, I can build a character in 5-15 minutes, depending on the class. Magic users take the longest, because of spell selection. And sure, you can draw it out if you want to nitpick over your equipment or whatever. But it's still one of the fastest and easiest experiences I've had with character creation. I've played some retroclones that took even less time, but it came at the cost of character options.

I frequent a lot of RPG message boards, and I see a lot of young people who want to start playing D&D, but find the size of the PHB intimidating. Most of them don't realize how little of the PHB you have to read in order to play. Sure, you'll want to glance through the races, classes, and backgrounds, until you know what you want to play. But you only have to really read the the race, class, and background you actually pick. That's probably less than 10 pages. That's enough to get your character started.

You'll want to spend a few minutes in the equipment chapter if you don't like the default gear. If you play a magic user, you'll have to read through some spells and the rules on spellcasting. Personally, I'd just make my first character a fighter and save the more complicated stuff for later. You'll probably want to read up on combat (9 pages) and maybe the chapter on adventuring (6 pages), though you can learn this stuff while playing.

Sure, it's more than you have to read to play Monopoly. But my point is, the majority of the book is stuff you can skip for now. You don't have to read all the classes, races, and backgrounds that you aren't going to play yet. There's nearly 80 pages describing spells alone. Even if you're playing a Wizard, you only need to read the spells you're thinking of taking at level 1.

There's a big push right now to get people to try RPGs other than D&D. Honestly I'd love it if people tried more RPGs, but I find the movement itself to be kind of insulting and gatekeeper-ish. It's all "Only noobs still play D&D" and "Real gamers don't play a game just because it's the most popular" or whatever. Surely there's a better way to convince people to play your favorite RPG. Maybe you could try... I don't know... mentioning the names of the systems you want them to try? And then maybe explaining what's so good about them? You know, stop putting everything down and actually stand up for something?

And every blasted one of them thinks they're putting forth this idea for the first time. "Did you know there's other RPGs besides D&D?" Well, duh, it's the 14th meme you've posted on the subject this week. If I didn't know before, I do now. But did you know that your geekier-than-thou attitude actually makes people less likely to try whatever system you're trying to push? And did you know that it's perfectly possible to try a wide variety of RPGs and still prefer D&D?

Anyway, I'm not claiming D&D 5e is the best tabletop RPG out there, or that it's even the best version of D&D. "Best" is a nonsense word when talking about personal tastes; it's not like there's a best flavor of ice cream that all people can agree on. There are things even I preferred about 3.5, and believe it or not, there's even a couple of things I miss from 4e. And if I were playing a different genre, like sci-fi, there's a few other systems I'd look at first before trying to shoehorn it into 5e (though I do want to try Star Wars 5e sometime).

But personally, for the kind of games I like to play, D&D 5e is my favorite. It's easy to learn and teach, character creation is fast, and it's flexible enough that you can make it crunchier if you choose to do so. Yes I've tried other RPGs. Yes I liked some of them. Yes some of them are better for telling certain kinds of stories. Yes I will continue to try other games.

But when I say "I prefer 5e", it's not because it has the "Dungeons & Dragons" brand name printed on it, or because I'm afraid to try something new. When I say "I prefer 5e", it's because I've tried other systems and found them lacking something I find important, even if others do not. I realized long ago that my priorities are different than most people's.

So sure, if you have any other systems you think I should try, comment below. I can't promise I'll be able to get a group together to try it, but I will at least read through the system with an open mind and give it an honest appraisal. Just don't be surprised if continue to prefer 5e.

D&D Next Next

So, WOTC has announced that the next version of D&D will come out in 2024, ten years after 5e was released.  From what they're saying, the new version will be 100% compatible with 5e, making it more of a 5.5 than a brand new edition.  

Ten years is a pretty good run for a D&D edition.  Third only went three years before 3.5 came out, and 4e came out five years after that.  Hopefully 5.5 will be strong enough to last at least another decade.

To me, the longevity of a system's rules is one of the most important factors.  When you ask your friends to play Monopoly, nobody ever replies, "You mean Monopoly 3.5 or 5e?"  And really, that's what I want for D&D.  I want a set of rules that lasts for so long, that it just becomes "D&D".  D&D 5e had that sort of potential from the start, with its extra-long playtest and the "bounded accuracy" keeping the numbers in check.  Now that they've had 10 years of errata, tweaks, and customer complaints, I'm hoping that 5.5 is strong enough to keep D&D the most recognizable name in tabletop RPGs.

I don't care if it outshines other RPGs.  Different RPGs are better at different things, and that's great!  D&D doesn't need to be the best RPG, it just needs to be the most accessible.  Let people start with D&D, then move on to other systems once they know which aspects of tabletop RPGs are their favorite.  People who want more crunch can try X.  People who want even fewer rules can try Y.  People who want a system more optimized for sci-fi, westerns, or modern eras can try Z.  

In this role, D&D could actually benefit all tabletop RPGs, by bringing new people to the hobby.  And honestly, I think they tried to do that with 5e.  By simplifying the rules, and making an abridged version of the rules free on their website, they pulled in a lot of new players who might not have tried it otherwise.  D&D has experienced a boom in the last decade, and while I know there were other factors (such as Stranger Things, and the general mainstreaming of geek culture), I do think 5e's simplicity was a big draw.

So what do I want to see in the new version?  Frankly, I'm not the best person to ask.  My ideas for RPGs are all over the place, and I have no idea how to make one that appeals to the masses.  So let's start with the obvious:  Integrate all the errata from the past decade, address the most common complaints, incorporate the new stat bonus rules presented in Tasha's, and put a better version of the Ranger in the PHB.

Beyond that, I want 5.5 designed in a way that appeals to newcomers more than the old guard.  Experienced gamers already know about Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, and a thousand other RPGs.  If they're not satisfied with D&D 5.5 (and let's face it, they won't be), they already know what games they're going to play instead.  While 5e tried to appease everyone by offering alternate rules all over the place, this time I think the alternate rules should be confined to the DM's guide.

I want Standard Array to be the default way to generate stats.  I just heard some of you groan, but hear me out.  Point buy and rolling stats would still be listed in the DM's guide as valid alternate rules.  But Standard Array is the simplest way to generate stats.  It could still list a couple of alternate arrays for those who want a more specialized character, and those who want more average numbers across the board.  I would also like stat bonuses to be tied to class or background instead of race.  The Tasha variant is fine, but it feels like a patch.  

I want them to at least attempt to future proof their language.  "Race" should now be called heritage or ancestry or something along those lines.  Look, I don't personally think "race" is a dirty word; in fact I think the word makes more sense the way D&D uses it than the way real life uses it.  But it is a politically-charged word, and it already was so before 5e hit the shelves, so WOTC has no excuse for ignoring trends.  If they change it in 5.5, there will be some grumbling from grognards, but newcomers won't care.  And newcomers are the future of the hobby.

This won't happen, but I want books divided by category.  Instead of splatbooks that contain 8 new subclasses, 4 new races, 20 new monsters, and some lore, I want a book of races, a book of subclasses, and so on.  

I'd like the Bard to have a specific "Bard Song" feature by default, or at least have a subclass in the PHB with that feature.  Just a song they can sing, instead of Bardic Inspiration, that gives a small buff to one ore more members of the party.  See the "Battle Hymn" feature in the EN Publishing's "Level Up" playtest for an example of this.  I love Bards, but 5e's version never felt Bardy enough for me. 

I want more app integration.  Apps are probably the future of tabletop RPGs.  I don't want to have to pay for the physical book and then buy it again on D&D Beyond.  Have each copy of the PHB include a sealed envelope with an online code inside.  

Beyond that, I think 5e is a perfectly lovely system, and I'm looking forward to the updated version.  I hope they didn't shoot themselves in the foot by announcing the update so early.  Early announcements like this have been known to be self-sabotaging, as consumers put off purchasing the current product in favor of waiting for the new version.  I wonder what their book sales will be like for the next three years.  Only time will tell.

First Impression: The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

I'm a sucker for the Feywild.  While others might prefer the more grounded, "King Arthur meets Lord of the Rings" campaigns, I tend to favor the fairy tale aspects of RPGs.  I don't always buy campaign books, but I knew "The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: A Feywild Adventure" was going to be mine as soon as it was announced. 

So what's in this book?  It's mostly an adventure set in the Feywild, with a few pages of Feywild-related character options.  

The introduction includes a chart of 100 Feywild-related trinkets, followed by two new backgrounds: Feylost and Witchlight Hand.  Feylost are people who spent a few years of their youth lost in the Feywild.  Witchlight Hands are people who work at the carnival where this module's adventure begins.

Next we have two new races:  Fairy and Harengon (Rabbitfolk).  These races are slightly updated from their previous appearance in Unearthed Arcana.  Most of the changes are just wording, though the fairy did lose its "Fey Passage" ability from the UA.  This book does not include the Owlfolk or Hobgoblin races from the same UA.

The adventure is designed to take characters from level 1 to level 8, though you can start at level 3 for an easier campaign.  I haven't read through the entire adventure yet, but supposedly every combat has a non-violent option, in case you want to make a pacifist run.  However, only clever players will be able to find ways around every combat.

The story begins at the Witchlight Carnival, a traveling fair that visits many dimensions.  It only visits this plane every eight years, so there is some pressure to accept the quest before it packs up and leaves.  While the theme is similar to the Carnival domain in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, they aren't related as far as I can tell (Edit: Turns out they do share a connection, but they are not the same carnival).  So apparently there's more than one dimension-hopping carnival in the D&D universe.

There are two possible plot hooks.  One involves the PCs looking for something they lost at the Carnival in their youth, such as their ability to smile or their sense of direction.  In the other hook, a retired warlock hires you to find his missing patron.  If you pick the first hook, the locations of the lost items are determined randomly (similar to the Tarokka reading in Curse of Strahd), giving the adventure more replay value.

While exploring the Carnival, the PCs eventually find a Fey Crossing that takes them to the Feywild Domain of Prismeer.  Prismeer is divided into three lands: Hither, Thither, and Yon.  The adventure culminates in the centrally-located "Palace of Heart's Desire".  

After the adventure, there is a section on new magic items.  Of note, there is a "Pole of Collapsing" that reminds me of Diana's weapon in the 80s cartoon.  Then we have a section on factions of Prismeer, which describes important members of each faction.  This includes some familiar faces from classic D&D, such as Kelek, Warduke, and Strongheart.  I used to have some of their action figures, and I can't wait to see how they figure into the adventure.

Next we have a section on monsters used in the adventure.  It's nice to see the Campestri (happy singing mushrooms) again.  It appears this book is full of classic D&D references, and I'm probably not even catching half of them.  

Then we have some roleplaying cards and story trackers meant to make running the campaign easier.  It looks like you're meant to photocopy these pages, so you can cut out the cards and write on the trackers.  At least I hope people aren't cutting up their books and writing in them.

Finally there is a fold-out map, meant to show to the players.  One side is a layout of the carnival, and the other side is a general map of Prismeer.  I'm not crazy about the maps, as they aren't really detailed enough to be useful, and including maps only hurts the resale value of the book when the maps inevitably get damaged or lost.  Even tearing out the map leaves a sort of torn mess at the back of the book, but leaving the map in makes the pages turn funny... look, I'm just not a fan of removable maps.

While I can't really comment on the adventure itself yet, I like what I've read so far.  I do wish they had included more playable races, but it is meant to be a campaign book, not a sourcebook.  Overall, I think the book is worth the money.

The Domains of Ravenloft

Earlier this year I purchased "Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft" and posted my initial impressions. The largest section of the book described several of the more prominent Ravenloft domains. I saved this section for last, partly so that I could write my previous blog sooner, but mostly so that I could savor the book.

As I said before, Van Richten's Guide has more for DMs than players. In fact, the majority of it feels like a book of writing prompts. When it's not offering tips on how to give your story a scary atmosphere, it's giving you once sentence plot hooks you're expected to flesh out yourself. The Domains of Dread chapter is no different.

We're given just enough information about each world to jump start our own creativity. If you use this book - and no other source - to start a campaign, you'll probably take the adventures in directions the world builders never considered. You'll probably even end up contradicting established canon, but hey, it's D&D. All worlds are your world, to alter and expand as you please.

Each domain gives examples of typical adventures in the domain. These are invaluable to me, as I sometimes have trouble seeing past a domain's main schtick. Seeing what typical minor quests look like helps me figure out how to craft my own. Otherwise, my mind might be stuck on defeating the Darklord.

Here are my impressions of the domains presented in the book. Other than Barovia, I had no previous knowledge of these universes. I won't be surprised if my impressions are off, given the limited space each domain is given in the book.

I've given each domain a rating between 1 and 5 stars.  This should in no way be used to indicate the quality of the world, just my own interest in playing/running such a campaign.


Featured Domains - These domains are given about four to six pages each, with lengthy descriptions of their Darklords, geography, and sample plot hooks.


Barovia *****
Having already read "The Curse of Strahd", I didn't learn much new here. But for those who haven't read COS, there is a good bit of info here to get you started. Barovia is the ultimate horror domain. While it's primarily themed around Dracula-type stories, the domain is also home to werewolves, zombies, witches, and other classic monstrosities. This is the world I would reskin if I was running a "Castlevania" campaign.

Bluetspur ***
Do you like mindflayers? This Illithid world is interesting, but it feels mostly geared toward one specific plot. Remember that episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" where interdimensional aliens kidnap crew members while they sleep, so they can perform experiments on them? Well, here's an entire domain based on that episode. Of course it has more potential than that, but it still feels pretty limited as a world.

Borca **
A domain filled with shady deals and social intrigue. It feels like a cross between a mob movie and a soap opera. I like the domain's two Darklords, they remind me of DC's Poison Ivy and the Toyman. I wouldn't be against playing in this world, but I wouldn't want to run it. I don't think I could manage all the complex manipulations.

The Carnival *****
This is one of my favorites, and I wish they had devoted more pages to it. It's exactly what it says on the tin - a traveling domain that takes the form of a carnival. It might work best in a low magic setting, where the characters aren't as jaded by wondrous sights. The domain's Darklord is not a person, but a sentient weapon, which is a neat twist.

Darkon **
It's hard to get too excited about a setting with an oh-so-creative name like "Darkon". This is a post-apocalyptic domain, but it's not your everyday apocalypse. The domain no longer has a Darklord, and his departure triggered this world's doom. Now the land is divided by tendrils of impassable mists, making it difficult to travel between areas. The Darklord's absence has also left a power vacuum, and several powerful characters vie to fill that void.

Dementlieu ***
The Darklord is a twisted version of Cinderella, who disintegrates people she believes are acting above their station. And yet every week, a grand Masquerade is held where poor people attempt to pass themselves off wealthy aristocrats. To these people, it's worth the risk of death to keep up appearances. It's a cool concept, but once again it seems to only lend itself to a handful of plots.

Falkovnia **
A land beseiged by hordes of zombies, where survivors are forcibly conscripted into military service. The citizens know that their land is doomed, and would prefer to take their chances fleeing into the mists. But the domain's Darklord is an evil general who executes any who try to flee. Feels more like a war story than zombie horror. Reminds me of World War Z.

Har'Akir **
A world inspired by Ancient Egypt. The Darklord is a mummy who is looking for a missing piece of his soul. It's not bad. I'm not a huge fan of desert settings, but there's a lot of potential here for massive dungeons, tomb raiding, and Indiana Jones style adventures. Just one of the suggested plot hooks - having the Darklord's soul split into several pieces, each in its own dungeon - could make for an entire campaign.

Hazlan **
A world ruled by powerful, careless Wizards. Non-magical citizens live in fear of the devastations the Wizards cause, often in the name of experimentation. It kind of reminds me of the Dark Sun setting, except taking place before the apocalypse that turned it into a desert.

I'Cath **
An Asian-inspired world that is divided into waking and dream lands. Conscious people fight for food during the day, and hide from ghosts during the night. Sleeping people share a dream where they are forced to do repetitive jobs to please the realm's Darklord.

Kalakeri *
Tropical rainforests, political intrigue, warring factions, and nothing I found interesting. It has a spin-off world, Niranjan (in "Other Domains of Dread", below), which I found much more intriguing.

Kartakass **
All the world's a stage, yada yada yada. A land of actors, musicians, and werewolves. Most of the domains are meant to be prisons for their Darklords, but this is one of the few where the Darklord isn't the most powerful being in the domain. As a Bard lover, you would think this would be one of my favorites, but it didn't do much for me.

Lamordia ****
I love this one. Basically an entire domain based on Frankenstein. Lots of steampunk tech and science gone wrong. Reminds me a little of my own Itropa. It also has one of my favorite Darklords. I'm not sure if I'd run a campaign set here, but I'm definitely stealing the Darklord and putting her somewhere in my next campaign.

Mordent ***
Ghosts, ghosts, and more ghosts. This is probably the second most well-known domain of Ravenloft, home to characters such as Rudolph Van Richten himself, and locations like the House on Gryphon Hill. Everyone who dies here becomes a ghost, so it's the perfect setting for a good ghost story.

Richemulot **
It feels like the entire setting is based on the Black Plague. The domain is plagued with disease-ridden rats, with a Wererat organization behind the scenes. I like the Darklord, but the setting is just so-so. But it is timely - if you wanted to incorporate this past year's events into a campaign, this would be your domain. Not me, though. I game to escape reality.

Tepest ****
Another really good one. This one has elements of The Wicker Man, Children of the Corn, or really any "creepy little town" story. In a domain full of evil fey, one community is unusually friendly toward visitors. But soon the PCs notice the town's odd little quirks, leading up to a seasonal fertility ritual that culminates in a sacrifice.

Valachan ****
Another hit. Drawing inspiration from Predator and The Hunger Games, Valachan is a living jungle filled with dangerous plants and werepanthers. The Darklord forces victims to participate in a blood hunt called the Trial of Hearts.


Other Domains of Dread - These domains are given much less page space, usually just a paragraph describing the world and its Darklord. What I said before about writing prompts is doubly true here; there's just enough information to spark your imagination, but you'll have to supply the meat yourself. It's hard to rate these, since there's not much information there, but I'm still giving them stars based on how much they spark my imagination.


Cyre 1313, The Mourning Rail ****
I wish this one had gotten more space. This is a mobile domain, a ghost train from Eberron that travels through the mists.

Forlorn *
I Was A Teenage Dhampir. The Darklord is a perpetually young man who is a dhampir during the day, and a ghost at night. It tells almost nothing about the land itself, though.

Ghastria **
Shades of Dorian Gray. The Darklord's immortality is tied to a painting, which he sometimes uses to absorb people's souls.

G'henna *
Features a Darklord who sacrifices people to a fictitious god.

Invidia **
A bad mother, a devious child, and a long line of servants who mysteriously disappear.

Keening ****
A spin-off realm of Tepest. Residents of a village intentionally deafen themselves so they don't fall victim to the wails of a nearby banshee.

Klorr ***
An apocalypse world. This is where other domains go to die.

Markovia ***
A land of sapient animals, the result of a scientist's strange experiments.

The Nightmare Lands ***
Exactly what it says on the tin.

Niranjan ***
This was once a part of Kalakeri, but it became its own domain. In a remote monastery, a wizened sage offers inner peace to those who seek out this domain. Except it's all a scam, and those who fall for it are stripped of their possessions and lives.

Nova Vaasa *
A nomadic tribe led by a Darklord with a split personality.

Odaire ****
Evil toys killed all the parents in a village, and now the children are literally ruled by a puppet dictator.

The Rider's Bridge **
A haunted bridge leading who-knows-where, guarded by a headless horseman. Cool and creepy, but feels like it could just be an encounter in another domain.

Risibilos ***
A music hall featuring a cursed ventriloquist act.

Scaena ****
A theater that only produces bloody, deadly plays.

Sea of Sorrows ****
A pirate ship with a cursed crew travels the waters between domains. There's a lot of potential with this one, and it could easily be worked into any Ravenloft domain that borders the ocean.

The Shadowlands **
This feels like a corruption of the King Arthur legend, but it doesn't have enough information to get my imagination started.

Souragne **
The Darklord is a sadistic warden who enjoys torturing prisoners.

Staunton Bluffs ***
A neverending war, as a traitor is forced to relive the worst day of her life over and over.

Tovag **
Once Vecna's champion, the vampire Kas betrayed his master. Now he searches the domains of Ravenloft to find his infamous sword, so he can face Vecna again.

Vhage Agency ***
A single-room domain, the office of a detective agency. Everything appears black-and-white, and the detective/Darklord tracks mysteries across all of Ravenloft's domains.

Zherisia **
A city where citizens are stalked by a doppelganger serial killer.

The Ups and Downs of Metagaming

Usually, if someone talks about metagaming, they're specifically referring to the act of using out-of-character knowledge to give yourself an in-game advantage.  For example, your character has never heard of the exotic monster you now face.  But you, the player, has read the Monster Manual, and you know that this monster is weak to cold.  Your character uses this out-of-game knowledge, and defeats the monster using ice spells.

Some consider this cheating, some consider it a necessary evil to speed up combat, and some just don't really care.  But that's not really the point of this blog.  Today I want to talk about some of the less commonly recognized forms of metagaming.  

Eleven years ago today, I played a D&D 4e session that took place on a zombie-infested island.  I'm not going to link to the session, because I don't want to blatantly call out the problem player by name, but you can find my session recap if you look hard enough.

One of the players, let's call him José, was a bit of a rules lawyer.  He had a reputation for being good at combat tactics, which is probably why he liked 4e so much.  But he also had a tendency to pick fight over flight, even when all signs were pointing to flight.

In this session, scores of zombies converged on us, herding us towards a church.  The plot required us to take refuge in the church.  Tactics-wise, our smartest move would be seek refuge in the church.  Common sense told us that we would be safest in the church.  Really, the DM might as well have shown us giant red arrows floating in the sky, pointing at the church.

José would not be herded.  He had total confidence that his character could survive hundreds, if not thousands of zombies.  For him, D&D was about combat, so this was heaven for him.  The rest of us were a bit less enthused by the endless hordes.  Especially the squishy bard and warlock.  

Since José wouldn't follow us toward the church, we climbed onto the roof of a house.  A few zombies tried to climb after us, but they were incapable of making it that far up.  We were safe to pick off zombies from a distance, with little risk.

But José wouldn't have it.  He didn't want to climb onto the roof, because he didn't have any decent ranged attacks.  But he also didn't like that he was the only one taking damage.  So he resorted to psychological warfare - he gave us a guilt trip.  "Your hit points are a party resource," he told us.  "Now get down here and take your licks with the rest of the party."

Our bard and warlock were not designed for melee.  The warlock in particular was a glass cannon.  From the roof, he could take out three or four zombies per round.  My bard wasn't quite as destructive, but her support abilities were still helpful to the other characters.  On the ground, getting pounded from all sides, neither the bard nor the warlock would have lasted three rounds.  But José, who considered himself a master tactician, tried to make us feel bad for maintaining our position.

And at the time, we did feel bad about it, and we even started to climb back down.  But we somehow managed to convince him that our opponents were infinite, that this was more of a roleplay encounter than combat, and that he wasn't really earning more XP so much as bleeding out his own resources.  We fled to the church and barricaded the door behind us, surviving to play another session.

"Your hit points are a party resource" burns me to this day.  Not only was José's request tactically unsound, but it reduced our characters to numbers on a sheet.  In a way, that sums up everything I didn't like about Fourth Edition.  It's like it was designed from the ground up to make people think of their characters as data instead of people.  

José's request was also metagaming, to a degree I hadn't previously experienced in a D&D game.  Our characters weren't exactly cowards, but it still would have been insanely out-of-character for them to do something so reckless as to dive into a swarm of zombies just to get XP.

Of course, it was also metagaming for me to recognize it was a plot encounter.  I knew early on that zombies would keep spawning forever, because the goal was to herd us to the church.  But it was also the most logical thing for our characters to do, so that little bit of metagaming wouldn't have hurt the story.

Since then, I've seen a lot of metagaming from both players and DMs, but never anything that dramatic.  One thing people forget is that metagaming works both ways.  Sometimes players act on knowledge they couldn't have had, sure.  But sometimes the players are denied knowledge their characters should have.  In both cases, out-of-game knowledge (or lack thereof) influences in-character actions.

One fun part of D&D is solving puzzles.  Unfortunately, sometimes the players aren't as smart as the characters.  It's always funny when character with intelligence as their dump stat solves the puzzle, simply because that was the player who figured it out.  But other times, the party is stumped even though some of the characters have 20 INT.  

Of course, a good DM won't let the story grind to a halt over such a thing, and will give the players hints in exchange for INT checks, or have an NPC help them.  But it can be frustrating playing a character smarter than you are, when most of the puzzles are designed for the players to solve, rather than the characters.  

My point is, it isn't really metagaming for a player to ask for hints to solve a puzzle.  The metagaming occurs when the DM requires an 8 INT player to solve a puzzle his 20 INT character should have figured out instantly.

Back when I hosted a NeverWinter Nights server, I had a lot of talks with other module designers.  One of my designer friends didn't like the fact that the game showed the names of characters above their heads.  From a roleplaying perspective, this allowed you to know another character's name before you had actually been introduced.  He was looking for a way to disable that feature for his module.

I strongly disagreed.  As I explained to him, NWN only had about ten heads for each race.  This did not mean that humans only had ten different faces in Faerûn.  The fact is, the characters had access to more data than the players did, because in-character, they could recognize each other's faces.  Having our names over our heads was an out-of-character tool that actually helped players stay in-character.

I mean, what if two players happened to use the same head, and wore similar outfits?  This actually happened to me on multiple occasions.  If it weren't for the names over our heads, the rest of the party wouldn't have known who was who.  Does this mean they were twins in-game?  Obviously not.  From the characters' point of view, they would have had completely different faces.

One NWN server I played on was very strict about roleplaying.  I liked the RP-heavy environment it created, but sometimes the moderators went too far and it actually broke the immersion.  The moderators often complained that players leveled too fast, they spent too much time farming for XP, and that they treated death like a slap on the wrist.

They often threatened to make death more permanent, so that players would pick their battles more carefully.  It sounds good on paper, I guess, but did they consider how often PCs got killed by lag?  Or server crashes, or their computers locking up?  I'd be pretty pissed if my computer crashed, and when I got back in my character was permanently dead, all in the name of "better roleplaying."  There's nothing "in character" about that, just bad moderators.

A more recent example is from my current Daggerford campaign.  In an early session, my bard decided to fire a Shatter spell into a room full of centipedes.  This turned out to be a bad idea, because another party member was in the room with the centipedes.  So why did she fire?  That's not like her.

Well, it's because we were using Roll20, and the other party member was occupying the same space as a centipede swarm.  Roll20 displayed the centipede token on top of the character token.  In character, Vanya definitely would have seen her teammate in there, fighting off the centipedes.  The other players warned me it was a bad idea, but they only said that it was a waste of a spell slot.  None of them mentioned that there was a party member in there.

When I realized my mistake, I told the DM that I wouldn't have done it if the player's token had been visible.  But it was too late.  I still think it was a bad call by the DM, but everyone makes bad calls now and then.  The fact remains that my character would have made a different decision if we'd been playing in person, with miniatures.  

Requiring players stick to decisions influenced by interface problems is a form of metagaming.  Maybe not metagaming in the traditional sense, but it's still allowing out-of-game factors to affect the story.  The format should never change the plot.  

The bottom line is, while a little metagaming can be good for the game, most of the time it's a bad thing.  But reverse metagaming - that is, letting out-of-character ignorance slow down the game - can be even worse.