Game Date: 10/12/2024
Location: Home GameCampaign: Bensentials, Session 4
System: D&D 5e
DM: Matt
The Party:
Game Date: 10/12/2024
Location: Home GameGame Date: 9/14/2024
Location: Home GameThe 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.
Game Date: 8/17/2024
Location: Home GameGame Date: 3/23/2024
Location: Home GameGame Date: 10/22/2023
Location: Roll20Game Date: 10/15/2023
Location: Roll20Game Date: 9/10/2023
Location: Roll20I've just published my fourth "book," though this one is just a collection of six short stories. It's called Blood Samples, and it's a prequel to my other books. It's also free on most e-retailers (99 cents on Amazon). You can get it here: Amazon Other Stores
If you like it, please check out my other books here:
And if you haven't already, make sure you check out my writing blog:
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.
My first novel is now available on the Kindle Store. If you're interested, you can purchase it here:
For more information on the series, visit my Bloodhunters blog here:
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:
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.
Game Date: 3/19/2022
Location: Roll20
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.