(Please note: I did not place them on any actual gravestones, or on anything that wasn't meant to be touched. As tempting as it might have been, I didn't disturb anything fragile or violate any of the cemetery's rules.)
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Miniatures: Undead In Their Natural Habitat
So my significant other and I visited the historic Nashville City Cemetery, because that's the kind of place that draws people like us when we're in the mood for history. Being the reverent, respectful person that I am, naturally my first thought was "D&D mini photo op!" This is the result:
(Please note: I did not place them on any actual gravestones, or on anything that wasn't meant to be touched. As tempting as it might have been, I didn't disturb anything fragile or violate any of the cemetery's rules.)
(Please note: I did not place them on any actual gravestones, or on anything that wasn't meant to be touched. As tempting as it might have been, I didn't disturb anything fragile or violate any of the cemetery's rules.)
Saturday, May 26, 2012
D&DNext Playtest: The Caves of Chaos
Game Date: 5/26/12
DM: Rusty
Players:
Cliff - Elf Wizard
Greg - Halfling Rogue
Matt - Dwarf Fighter
Ted - Dwarf Cleric
On 5/24 WOTC released the first publicly-available playtest materials for Dungeons & Dragons 5e (a.k.a. "D&DNext"). I'd heard a lot of rumors online, but this was the first time I'd seen anything solid. Glancing through the materials, a lot of it looked familiar, as if they'd started with one of the pre-4e editions and streamlined things. So when when I came across something unusual, it really jumped out.
The Advantage/Disadvantage system caught my eye right away. In previous editions, if you're making a d20 roll and there's extra factors that might influence the action, the DM might tell you so add or subtract from the roll. Maybe you'd get an extra +2 on your bluff check because your target is drunk, or you'd take -4 on your crossbow shot because the ground is shaking. In this version of D&DNext, if you're faced with uneven circumstances, you roll two d20s instead of one. If you're at an advantage, you take the higher of the rolls. If you're disadvantaged, take the lower. It's an interesting idea - not better or worse, just different.
Actions are a bit different. Instead of Standard/Move/Minor, you get an Action and a Move. But it's not that big a change, because most things that used to be considered minor actions are now free actions. This makes sense roleplay-wise, because many minor actions are things characters did while moving anyway. But the biggest change is that you can take your Standard action during the movement. So if you have a move of 25 feet, you can move 15, attack, then move 10 more. And since there's no opportunity attacks (so far), you can engage, attack, and retreat in the same turn.
This is kind of quirky - if you catch your enemies by surprise, you no longer get an extra "surprise round" at the start of combat. Instead, the surprised characters get negative 20 to their initiative rolls. My first impression of this rule was something along the lines of "Huh?" But I actually kind of like it in practice. It means that if your initiative is high enough, you could still overcome your surprise. Still, I think it would be easier to give the surprisers +20 instead of the surprisees getting -20, simply because addition is easier than subtraction.
Almost every time I came across something I didn't like, I soon saw something else that made up for it. When I saw that character creation has you rolling for hit points, I thought, "Not this again." But then I noticed that you start with your constitution score, and add the additional Hit Dice to that, which isn't so bad. At least I don't have to worry about the Wizard starting with 1 hit point. Speaking of the Wizard, when I noticed that he used Vancian magic, I was annoyed. Then I saw that a few of the at-will cantrips were offensive spells, and felt it was a good compromise. There is some concern that Magic Missile might be too powerful as a cantrip, but there's lots of balancing to be done before this game is released.
I'm not sold on the healing system, though. Put simply: During a short rest, you can use a healer's kit to heal an amount equal to a die roll (the Hit Dice determined by your class). You can do this a number of times per day equal to your level. I'm sure it's hard to find a balance between too much and too little healing, and I'm glad they didn't use 4e's healing surges. Still, right now it seems a bit stingy at the early levels (and maybe too generous at the high levels, but I'd have to see it in action to know for sure). Question: If you're already limited to doing this a certain number of times per day, and the healing kits are somewhat plentiful (in that a 50gp kit can be used 10 times), isn't the healing kit itself a needless complication?
My favorite thing about the system is just the basic process of character creation. You pick your race, your class, a background, and a theme. The background mostly gives you skill bonuses, while the themes add some extra features to your class. It's hard to tell how much freedom you really have since I've only used pregenerated characters, but it looks like the different combinations give a lot of variety to the characters. Dedicated fighters might pick fighter-enhancing backgrounds and themes, while a more jack-of-all-trades character might pick backgrounds or themes designed for other classes. This could well be D&DNext's version of multiclassing. It also looks like character creation is going to be extremely simple, and character sheets are going to be fairly short, two things I was really hoping for.
The playtest module itself - "The Caves of Chaos" - is a converted excerpt of the classic "The Keep on the Borderlands". It's pretty open-ended and light on plot. We only played a couple of encounters, so there's not much I can say about what did or did not work in practice. We did run into several questions (a la "can we step over prone enemies?", etc) but that's just because the packet isn't meant to be a full ruleset.
It's still very early in the game's development, and the instructions say not to get used to anything. The final product will probably be so different than what I just played, as to make this unrecognizable. Hopefully they won't scrap the parts I like. I really only have two predictions right now: D&DNext will not suck... but a lot of people will hate it anyway.
DM: Rusty
Players:
Cliff - Elf Wizard
Greg - Halfling Rogue
Matt - Dwarf Fighter
Ted - Dwarf Cleric
On 5/24 WOTC released the first publicly-available playtest materials for Dungeons & Dragons 5e (a.k.a. "D&DNext"). I'd heard a lot of rumors online, but this was the first time I'd seen anything solid. Glancing through the materials, a lot of it looked familiar, as if they'd started with one of the pre-4e editions and streamlined things. So when when I came across something unusual, it really jumped out.
The Advantage/Disadvantage system caught my eye right away. In previous editions, if you're making a d20 roll and there's extra factors that might influence the action, the DM might tell you so add or subtract from the roll. Maybe you'd get an extra +2 on your bluff check because your target is drunk, or you'd take -4 on your crossbow shot because the ground is shaking. In this version of D&DNext, if you're faced with uneven circumstances, you roll two d20s instead of one. If you're at an advantage, you take the higher of the rolls. If you're disadvantaged, take the lower. It's an interesting idea - not better or worse, just different.
Actions are a bit different. Instead of Standard/Move/Minor, you get an Action and a Move. But it's not that big a change, because most things that used to be considered minor actions are now free actions. This makes sense roleplay-wise, because many minor actions are things characters did while moving anyway. But the biggest change is that you can take your Standard action during the movement. So if you have a move of 25 feet, you can move 15, attack, then move 10 more. And since there's no opportunity attacks (so far), you can engage, attack, and retreat in the same turn.
This is kind of quirky - if you catch your enemies by surprise, you no longer get an extra "surprise round" at the start of combat. Instead, the surprised characters get negative 20 to their initiative rolls. My first impression of this rule was something along the lines of "Huh?" But I actually kind of like it in practice. It means that if your initiative is high enough, you could still overcome your surprise. Still, I think it would be easier to give the surprisers +20 instead of the surprisees getting -20, simply because addition is easier than subtraction.
Almost every time I came across something I didn't like, I soon saw something else that made up for it. When I saw that character creation has you rolling for hit points, I thought, "Not this again." But then I noticed that you start with your constitution score, and add the additional Hit Dice to that, which isn't so bad. At least I don't have to worry about the Wizard starting with 1 hit point. Speaking of the Wizard, when I noticed that he used Vancian magic, I was annoyed. Then I saw that a few of the at-will cantrips were offensive spells, and felt it was a good compromise. There is some concern that Magic Missile might be too powerful as a cantrip, but there's lots of balancing to be done before this game is released.
I'm not sold on the healing system, though. Put simply: During a short rest, you can use a healer's kit to heal an amount equal to a die roll (the Hit Dice determined by your class). You can do this a number of times per day equal to your level. I'm sure it's hard to find a balance between too much and too little healing, and I'm glad they didn't use 4e's healing surges. Still, right now it seems a bit stingy at the early levels (and maybe too generous at the high levels, but I'd have to see it in action to know for sure). Question: If you're already limited to doing this a certain number of times per day, and the healing kits are somewhat plentiful (in that a 50gp kit can be used 10 times), isn't the healing kit itself a needless complication?
My favorite thing about the system is just the basic process of character creation. You pick your race, your class, a background, and a theme. The background mostly gives you skill bonuses, while the themes add some extra features to your class. It's hard to tell how much freedom you really have since I've only used pregenerated characters, but it looks like the different combinations give a lot of variety to the characters. Dedicated fighters might pick fighter-enhancing backgrounds and themes, while a more jack-of-all-trades character might pick backgrounds or themes designed for other classes. This could well be D&DNext's version of multiclassing. It also looks like character creation is going to be extremely simple, and character sheets are going to be fairly short, two things I was really hoping for.
The playtest module itself - "The Caves of Chaos" - is a converted excerpt of the classic "The Keep on the Borderlands". It's pretty open-ended and light on plot. We only played a couple of encounters, so there's not much I can say about what did or did not work in practice. We did run into several questions (a la "can we step over prone enemies?", etc) but that's just because the packet isn't meant to be a full ruleset.
It's still very early in the game's development, and the instructions say not to get used to anything. The final product will probably be so different than what I just played, as to make this unrecognizable. Hopefully they won't scrap the parts I like. I really only have two predictions right now: D&DNext will not suck... but a lot of people will hate it anyway.
 |
| The Slaad mini is actually an Ogre. He was pretty tough, but we took him out. |
Sunday, May 13, 2012
HeroClix: Heroes-In-Training
Game Date: 5/12/2012
Players: Matt vs. Rusty
I may have created a monster by getting Rusty interested in HeroClix. I just hope he doesn't sue me when his new hobby drives him to bankruptcy. But until then, I'm just happy to finally get a chance to play the game.
I started collecting HeroClix when it was first introduced (circa 2002... has it really been that long?), and I bought them sporadically for a year or two. I collected Marvel, DC, and Indy minis, as well as props, maps, and miscellaneous third-party products. But in all that time, I only actually played the game two or three times, and only using the Quick-Start rules. Once I realized I just wasn't going to play it, I stopped collecting them for years.
But when I got them out to take pictures of them (pics here and here), I got interested in them again. I went ahead and bought a few of the conspicuously absent characters, and I'll probably keep buying new ones now and then. This past Saturday I finally played it using the full rules.
Game 1: 100 Point Teams
Matt: Mystique, Magma, & Shadowcat.
Rusty: Deathstroke & Damian Wayne.
My three characters were around the same point values, while Rusty's pair was less balanced - Deathstroke being a higher value than Damian.
Before the battle even began, we realized my team was going to have issues. One of Deathstroke's starting powers had him shrug off 2 points of damage whenever he was hit, and none of my characters did more than 2 points of damage. However, Mystique started with the ability to give a teammate a +1 modifier, so I planned to work with that. I knew it was a long shot, but we were really just playing for practice.
The match eventually came down to Shadowcat and Deathstroke, both standing in the bushes (for a slight defense bonuse) trading blows. As predicted, Deathstroke was the winner.
Game 2: 200 Point Teams
Matt: Supergirl, Batgirl, Spoiler, & the Huntress.
Rusty: Lex Luthor (prisoner version), Red Guardian, 3 Lackeys & 1 Vampire Lackey.
Early in the fight it looked like my team was a shoe-in for the win. My heavy-hitter was Supergirl, and she truly looked indestructible at first. However, the source of her durability was a power that allowed her to shrug off damage... a power Luthor could turn off at will with his "Outwit" ability.
We took out each other's weakest characters first, until it came down to Supergirl & the Huntress vs Lex. Victory looked inevitable... and then it happened. See, the interesting thing about HeroClix is that with every point of damage you take, all your stats and powers can potentially change. A lot of characters realistically get weaker with every hit they take. Some characters actually get stronger as they take damage. The Hulk, for example, gets more powerful the angrier he gets.
Well, this version of Lex Luthor is an interesting case. He starts off fairly normal... yes, he's just a human among super-beings, but he has the ability to out think his opponents. So his "powers" in HeroClix basically represent his craftiness. But when he reaches a certain click, he suddenly turns into a powerhouse. Apparently this represents the part of the story where he reveals that he had planned for this contingency, and unveils some sort of enemy-nullifying technology.
Long story short, Super Luthor kicked my ass.
Afterthoughts:
It really is an interesting game, and a lot more complicated than the "Quick Start" version I had played previously. I like that you don't need a character sheet; and that everything you'd need to know about your character is on the base of the mini itself. But unless you have an eidetic memory, you're still going to need the power reference cards to know what all the different colors represent. Plus, some of the newer Clix have unique powers printed on the cards that come with them now.
The way some of these powers interacted with each other was complicated, and the more characters you have on your team, the more powers you have to keep track of. It's one thing if it's a power your character has all the time, but a lot of the powers change whenever you take damage. It would speed up the game if everyone at the table picked their teams in advanced, and had time to really look at their powers and memorize them. On the other hand, it's really neat when the players don't know their powers in advance. I know Luthor's second wind surprised both of us, and that sort of randomness really made the session fun (even if it did cost me the battle).
Having spent the last couple of years playing D&D 4e, HeroClix strikes me as a bit unbalanced. With the right set of wrong choices, it is possible to build a team that simply can not damage the opposing team. But I suppose building your team is part of the game itself, and something I will get better at if I keep playing it.
So here's the question - is it better to make a team of several weak characters, or just a couple of strong characters? I can see it both ways. Like I said, some of the weaker characters can't even damage some of the stronger ones without special powers or teamwork. If your team consists of several Lackeys against Superman, it doesn't really matter if there's 10 of you. Your bullets just bounce right off him, and he can take you out at his leisure. So it helps to have at least one powerhouse on your team.
But with more characters, you get more actions... sort of. You don't actually get more turns for having more characters - you still only get a set number of actions per turn (1 for a 100 pt game, 2 for a 200 pt game, etc). But the same character can't activate two turns in a row without penalty, so having more characters lets you go back and forth between moving them. When you're down to one character, you may find yourself skipping every other turn so you don't take damage.
Really, the number of team members doesn't matter nearly as much as having the right powers available to you. Luthor's Outwit power, for instance, is such a game changer as to make it almost indispensable. Certain combinations of powers can work together well, so a power gamer could come up with a much better team than a casual player. In that way, composing your team is a bit like building a single character in D&D.
HeroClix changed a lot during my hiatus. The bases of the minis are much better - you can turn them much more easily now (the original starter sets included a ring that made it easier to turn them). The maps are more detailed and better drawn, and include color-coded borders to indicate higher levels and rough terrain. The only thing I don't like is the cards they include, because it's one more complication to a system I originally loved for its simplicity.
In conclusion, it's an awesome game, even if I do suck at it.
Players: Matt vs. Rusty
I may have created a monster by getting Rusty interested in HeroClix. I just hope he doesn't sue me when his new hobby drives him to bankruptcy. But until then, I'm just happy to finally get a chance to play the game.
I started collecting HeroClix when it was first introduced (circa 2002... has it really been that long?), and I bought them sporadically for a year or two. I collected Marvel, DC, and Indy minis, as well as props, maps, and miscellaneous third-party products. But in all that time, I only actually played the game two or three times, and only using the Quick-Start rules. Once I realized I just wasn't going to play it, I stopped collecting them for years.
But when I got them out to take pictures of them (pics here and here), I got interested in them again. I went ahead and bought a few of the conspicuously absent characters, and I'll probably keep buying new ones now and then. This past Saturday I finally played it using the full rules.
Game 1: 100 Point Teams
Matt: Mystique, Magma, & Shadowcat.
Rusty: Deathstroke & Damian Wayne.
My three characters were around the same point values, while Rusty's pair was less balanced - Deathstroke being a higher value than Damian.
Before the battle even began, we realized my team was going to have issues. One of Deathstroke's starting powers had him shrug off 2 points of damage whenever he was hit, and none of my characters did more than 2 points of damage. However, Mystique started with the ability to give a teammate a +1 modifier, so I planned to work with that. I knew it was a long shot, but we were really just playing for practice.
The match eventually came down to Shadowcat and Deathstroke, both standing in the bushes (for a slight defense bonuse) trading blows. As predicted, Deathstroke was the winner.
Game 2: 200 Point Teams
Matt: Supergirl, Batgirl, Spoiler, & the Huntress.
Rusty: Lex Luthor (prisoner version), Red Guardian, 3 Lackeys & 1 Vampire Lackey.
Early in the fight it looked like my team was a shoe-in for the win. My heavy-hitter was Supergirl, and she truly looked indestructible at first. However, the source of her durability was a power that allowed her to shrug off damage... a power Luthor could turn off at will with his "Outwit" ability.
We took out each other's weakest characters first, until it came down to Supergirl & the Huntress vs Lex. Victory looked inevitable... and then it happened. See, the interesting thing about HeroClix is that with every point of damage you take, all your stats and powers can potentially change. A lot of characters realistically get weaker with every hit they take. Some characters actually get stronger as they take damage. The Hulk, for example, gets more powerful the angrier he gets.
Well, this version of Lex Luthor is an interesting case. He starts off fairly normal... yes, he's just a human among super-beings, but he has the ability to out think his opponents. So his "powers" in HeroClix basically represent his craftiness. But when he reaches a certain click, he suddenly turns into a powerhouse. Apparently this represents the part of the story where he reveals that he had planned for this contingency, and unveils some sort of enemy-nullifying technology.
Long story short, Super Luthor kicked my ass.
Afterthoughts:
It really is an interesting game, and a lot more complicated than the "Quick Start" version I had played previously. I like that you don't need a character sheet; and that everything you'd need to know about your character is on the base of the mini itself. But unless you have an eidetic memory, you're still going to need the power reference cards to know what all the different colors represent. Plus, some of the newer Clix have unique powers printed on the cards that come with them now.
The way some of these powers interacted with each other was complicated, and the more characters you have on your team, the more powers you have to keep track of. It's one thing if it's a power your character has all the time, but a lot of the powers change whenever you take damage. It would speed up the game if everyone at the table picked their teams in advanced, and had time to really look at their powers and memorize them. On the other hand, it's really neat when the players don't know their powers in advance. I know Luthor's second wind surprised both of us, and that sort of randomness really made the session fun (even if it did cost me the battle).
Having spent the last couple of years playing D&D 4e, HeroClix strikes me as a bit unbalanced. With the right set of wrong choices, it is possible to build a team that simply can not damage the opposing team. But I suppose building your team is part of the game itself, and something I will get better at if I keep playing it.
So here's the question - is it better to make a team of several weak characters, or just a couple of strong characters? I can see it both ways. Like I said, some of the weaker characters can't even damage some of the stronger ones without special powers or teamwork. If your team consists of several Lackeys against Superman, it doesn't really matter if there's 10 of you. Your bullets just bounce right off him, and he can take you out at his leisure. So it helps to have at least one powerhouse on your team.
But with more characters, you get more actions... sort of. You don't actually get more turns for having more characters - you still only get a set number of actions per turn (1 for a 100 pt game, 2 for a 200 pt game, etc). But the same character can't activate two turns in a row without penalty, so having more characters lets you go back and forth between moving them. When you're down to one character, you may find yourself skipping every other turn so you don't take damage.
Really, the number of team members doesn't matter nearly as much as having the right powers available to you. Luthor's Outwit power, for instance, is such a game changer as to make it almost indispensable. Certain combinations of powers can work together well, so a power gamer could come up with a much better team than a casual player. In that way, composing your team is a bit like building a single character in D&D.
HeroClix changed a lot during my hiatus. The bases of the minis are much better - you can turn them much more easily now (the original starter sets included a ring that made it easier to turn them). The maps are more detailed and better drawn, and include color-coded borders to indicate higher levels and rough terrain. The only thing I don't like is the cards they include, because it's one more complication to a system I originally loved for its simplicity.
In conclusion, it's an awesome game, even if I do suck at it.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Alternative Miniatures
So, if I haven't made it clear in previous posts, I love WOTC's pre-painted minis. But alas, it was not a love destined to last. With both the D&D and Star Wars lines going pretty much kaput (though I am curious about the upcoming "Dungeon Command" line), not to mention that some some of my sessions are a bit on the weird side, I've had to look into some alternate sources to fill my miniature needs.
I wish I was into painting miniatures, because there seems to be a much better variety of metal minis than WOTC's limited selections. But I'm just not into it, and there's no use pretending otherwise. Pathfinder has recently created a line of pre-painted minis similar to WOTC's. Some of the sculpts are quite nice, but since they're mostly sold at gaming stores, it's hard to find them for a reasonable price.
I spend a lot of time browsing toy sections for characters that look about the same size and shape as a D&D mini. You never can tell where a usable mini will come from. Sometimes I'll be browsing party supplies and see a bag of small toy animals that's the perfect size. Or I might be at a craft store and find a "Toob" of animals that would be perfect for my campaign. When I actually set out to find something, I never can. But as long as I keep my eyes open, I come across a lot of toys that give me inspiration for future sessions.
My gaming group is planning to eventually run a Mutants & Masterminds campaign, and we plan to use HeroClix minis for the combat encounters. HeroClix are slightly bigger than D&D minis, and their bases are just a little bit wider than the one-inch squares D&D uses. They should work fine for our purposes, but they wouldn't look right standing next to traditional-sized minis if I wanted to incorporate them into a D&D game.
However, there is currently a line of DC/Marvel minis that is more appropriately sized. It's called "Heroics". I've seen these at Wal-Mart and a couple of other places, and they look pretty decent standing next to a D&D mini. If I was running a campaign where Batman gets trapped in the Forgotten Realms, this is the mini I'd use. The downside is that they're a buck each (you can find a lot of HeroClix for half that at Troll & Toad), they're blind packaged so you don't know which one you're buying, and they don't have a very big selection (so far there's only 10 Marvel and 10 DC characters).
We've also got a Traveller campaign coming up. I don't know if we'll use miniatures much (I know my character hopes she never has to touch a weapon), but I like to be prepared just in case. Now, the characters themselves are easy enough; I've been going through all my most human-looking Star Wars miniatures for ones that might work as our crew. Though admittedly it was hard to find ones that weren't wielding lightsabers.
But what if we get ourselves in a space battle? I thought about picking up some Star Trek HeroClix or Star Wars Starship Battles minis, but those were a bit on the expensive side for something that might not get any use. Plus, they all looked too iconic - every ship in the Star Trek universe just screams "Star Trek" at a volume that's impossible to ignore; ditto for Star Wars. So I improvised. For just a few bucks I managed to find all sorts of generic plastic spaceships, which don't look too bad sitting on wooden block pedestals. Now let's hope we never have to use them.
Just recently I found a deal on miniatures based on the Hunger Games movie. (Note: My review of the Hunger Games is on my other blog.) These minis were originally sold in blind boxes for around $3.50 each. But apparently they didn't sell that well, and I found them on clearance for - get this - 10 cents each at Walgreens. I bought several just to see what they looked like, and was pleasantly surprised. They're scaled very close to D&D minis, and have decent sculpts and paint jobs. They look like the kind of teenagers you might see in a slasher movie, so these would be fun to use in a modern horror RPG. My only complaint is that they're attached to these large grey bases that make them tower over the D&D minis. I might try cutting one of them off the base just to see how securely they're stuck on there. Ordinarily I'd be aghast at breaking collectibles, but for 10 cents each? Slice those suckers up.
In an upcoming Gamma World session I've been working on, I'm considering throwing in some vehicular battles. I wish Micro Machines were still being made, as some of those were the perfect size, assuming you "zoom out" once battle begins (in other words, try not to have pedestrians and cars in the same battle). But Micro Machines are considered collector's items now, and it's hard to find them cheap. But that doesn't mean you can't find tiny cars if you need them. They might look a little silly, but Squinkies makes some miniature Hot Wheels cars that easily fit in a one-inch square.
I've stumbled across a few more possible minis here and there. For example, there's some Halo miniatures out right now that would work pretty well in a sci-fi game. But I just don't have the funds or the storage space to fill my house every mini I see. Now, if I had a lot of money to burn, I'd order all the "Doctor Who Micro Universe" miniatures. I don't know what I'd use them for, but I'd love to have them.
Well, that's enough rambling for today. In conclusion, don't drink paint.
 |
| I'm sure the Hershey's Kiss had it coming. |
I spend a lot of time browsing toy sections for characters that look about the same size and shape as a D&D mini. You never can tell where a usable mini will come from. Sometimes I'll be browsing party supplies and see a bag of small toy animals that's the perfect size. Or I might be at a craft store and find a "Toob" of animals that would be perfect for my campaign. When I actually set out to find something, I never can. But as long as I keep my eyes open, I come across a lot of toys that give me inspiration for future sessions.
 |
| Penguins, Zombies, Frogs, and Sharks. |
 |
| Size comparison with D&D mini. |
 |
| Heroics Minis |
 |
| Size comparison with D&D mini. |
 |
| Possible candidates for our crew. |
 |
| In space no one can hear you fumble. |
 |
| Left-to-right: Several characters I don't know, Katniss Everdeen, several more characters I don't know. |
 |
| Size comparison with D&D mini. |
 |
| Left: Hot Wheels Squinkie. Right: Micro Machines '57 Chevy. |
Well, that's enough rambling for today. In conclusion, don't drink paint.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Unlikely Heroes: In the Gibbering Mouths of Madness
Game Date: 4/21/2012
DM: Rusty
The Party:
Derp DuDerp (Cliff): Half-Elf Bard
Flora Oakwillow (Matt): Hamadryad Seeker
Keyanna (Chere): Half-Elf Sorcerer
Lo-Kang (Ted): Warforged Barbarian
Marrick (Greg): Dwarf Knight
Starr (Star): Eladrin Paladin
The Session:
When we left off, we were one round into an epic battle against a Gibbering Mouther. It wasn't an easy encounter, and we spent most of the fight dazed due to the monster's gibbering powers. Once it was dead, we carefully traversed the rest of the eyeball-filled room, mapping out the rest of the pit traps on our way to the room's exit.
In the next room we saw a life-size copper-plated paladin statue. On the base was the inscription, "By your light we follow." There was a hole in the statue designed to hold a ritual candle, but we didn't have any candles on us. After trying a lot of different things, Marrick cut off a piece of a pole he'd been carrying, stuck it in the hole, and set the end on fire. A hatch opened up and revealed a ladder, which descended down into a storage room.
The floor of the storage room was engraved with a large map. It showed our continent, but the place names were centuries old. Searching the room further we found a Hellfire Staff (which we gave to Keyanna) and some healing potions.
After climbing back out, we attempted to investigate the room's only other exit. Starr had a bad feeling from the doors, but we tried to open them anyway. They were locked, but Marrick managed to hack them open... setting off a trap which dropped rubble on the party. The hallway was a dead end, so we headed back to the main hall. There was one last door we hadn't tried yet on this level.
We opened the doors and faced the animated corpse of a cleric of Ioun. Its eyes were sewn shut, and it was holding a cage containing a Dwarf head. This was a long fight. The cleric wasn't terribly threatening, but it had a huge number of hit points and regeneration. Starr kept it marked for most of the battle, and our other melee characters kept it surrounded to limit its movement.
Flora kept missing it for most of the battle, but she ended up firing the arrow that finally killed it. The cleric's death triggered its "Mummy's Curse" power, which infected the entire party with Mummy Rot.
From the corpse's corpse we looted a set of Barrage Bracers. Marrick had a conversation with the caged Dwarf head, and found out that a demon may have been set loose. Marrick has to decided to keep the head for a while; hopefully it can give us clues for the rest of the dungeon.
In one of the rooms we had explored earlier, there was a set of stairs leading down to the next level of the dungeon. That's going to be our next destination. But first we took an extended rest, and attempted our first saves against Mummy Rot. Some of the party members were cured, some maintained the same level of the disease, and Flora got worse. We ended the session there.
Reminders:
We might not have another session of this campaign for a few weeks. Everyone needs to bring their characters up to level 6. There's a slight chance Flora will die next time we take an extended rest (the next stage of Mummy Rot is death). So Flora intends to stay awake as long as possible.
DM: Rusty
The Party:
Derp DuDerp (Cliff): Half-Elf Bard
Flora Oakwillow (Matt): Hamadryad Seeker
Keyanna (Chere): Half-Elf Sorcerer
Lo-Kang (Ted): Warforged Barbarian
Marrick (Greg): Dwarf Knight
Starr (Star): Eladrin Paladin
The Session:
When we left off, we were one round into an epic battle against a Gibbering Mouther. It wasn't an easy encounter, and we spent most of the fight dazed due to the monster's gibbering powers. Once it was dead, we carefully traversed the rest of the eyeball-filled room, mapping out the rest of the pit traps on our way to the room's exit.
In the next room we saw a life-size copper-plated paladin statue. On the base was the inscription, "By your light we follow." There was a hole in the statue designed to hold a ritual candle, but we didn't have any candles on us. After trying a lot of different things, Marrick cut off a piece of a pole he'd been carrying, stuck it in the hole, and set the end on fire. A hatch opened up and revealed a ladder, which descended down into a storage room.
The floor of the storage room was engraved with a large map. It showed our continent, but the place names were centuries old. Searching the room further we found a Hellfire Staff (which we gave to Keyanna) and some healing potions.
After climbing back out, we attempted to investigate the room's only other exit. Starr had a bad feeling from the doors, but we tried to open them anyway. They were locked, but Marrick managed to hack them open... setting off a trap which dropped rubble on the party. The hallway was a dead end, so we headed back to the main hall. There was one last door we hadn't tried yet on this level.
We opened the doors and faced the animated corpse of a cleric of Ioun. Its eyes were sewn shut, and it was holding a cage containing a Dwarf head. This was a long fight. The cleric wasn't terribly threatening, but it had a huge number of hit points and regeneration. Starr kept it marked for most of the battle, and our other melee characters kept it surrounded to limit its movement.
From the corpse's corpse we looted a set of Barrage Bracers. Marrick had a conversation with the caged Dwarf head, and found out that a demon may have been set loose. Marrick has to decided to keep the head for a while; hopefully it can give us clues for the rest of the dungeon.
In one of the rooms we had explored earlier, there was a set of stairs leading down to the next level of the dungeon. That's going to be our next destination. But first we took an extended rest, and attempted our first saves against Mummy Rot. Some of the party members were cured, some maintained the same level of the disease, and Flora got worse. We ended the session there.
Reminders:
We might not have another session of this campaign for a few weeks. Everyone needs to bring their characters up to level 6. There's a slight chance Flora will die next time we take an extended rest (the next stage of Mummy Rot is death). So Flora intends to stay awake as long as possible.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Unlikely Heroes: The Ball Pit of Doom
Game Date: 4/7/2012
DM: Rusty
The Party:
Derp DuDerp (Cliff): Half-Elf Bard
Flora Oakwillow (Matt): Hamadryad Seeker
Keyanna (Chere): Half-Elf Sorcerer
Lo-Kang & his +1 Shirt of Grooviness (Ted): Warforged Barbarian
Marrick (Greg): Dwarf Knight
Starr (Star): Eladrin Paladin
The Session:
After defeating Hymmir the undead mystic and burning his altar, we continued to explore this dungeon. We next entered a round room that had a few smaller hallways arranged in a spoke pattern. Some of these hallways were barred off. Despite being extra cautious, Lo-Kang managed to get grabbed by one of the skeletons these hallways contained. He quickly defeated it, but the party was soon attacked by a pair of shadows. We took them out pretty quickly.
On the far end of the room there were some stairs going down. We decided to put that off until we'd explored all of this level. We went back to this floor's large central room, which we previously had only skirted around. In the middle of the room was a walled-off area containing a lot of pillars. Marrick came across a headless dwarf that was still flopping around. After a bit more exploring, we were attacked by a Mind Wraith. This creature had the annoying Aura that extended 3 squares, dazing everyone in it and giving us ongoing damage.
After killing the Wraith, Marrick dismembered and burned the body of the headless dwarf. Then we started looking for a place to take an extended rest. Turns out, the smell of burning dwarf meat was not conducive to sleep. We tried the altar room, but we'd also cleansed it with fire and it was still a bit to smokey to relax. So we went to an earlier room (the one with the Scythe trap) and rested there. Next we went down a hallway diagonal to the central chamber. It led to a room full of mechanical movement, with iron cogs and rotating gears adorning the walls. We fought six Festrogs, after which Marrick destroyed some of the gears.
The next room was like a giant ball pit, similar to the kind you see at McDonalds or Chuck E. Cheese. Fun, eh? Except instead of brightly-colored plastic balls, it was filled with eyeballs that continually stared at us. And that's just creepy.
There was another door on the other side of the room, but we experimented with a few things before resigning to cross. Marrick picked up an eyeball or two, throwing them at the walls to see what would happen. "Eyeball fight!" Eventually we began crossing the room. Marrick fell into a pit, but managed to climb back out. So we slowly crossed the room single file, wading through the squishy eyeballs, poking the floor with polearms to find more pits. Suddenly a monstrous mass of flesh, teeth, and eyes erupted from a pit. It was a Gibbering Mouther, who quickly hit most of us with dazing powers and ongoing damage.
Starr tried to teleport behind him to get into flanking, but that square turned out to be another pit. We had to end the session there, one round into battle.
Reminders:
Several of us have some temporary hit points, ongoing damage, and are dazed.
DM: Rusty
The Party:
Derp DuDerp (Cliff): Half-Elf Bard
Flora Oakwillow (Matt): Hamadryad Seeker
Keyanna (Chere): Half-Elf Sorcerer
Lo-Kang & his +1 Shirt of Grooviness (Ted): Warforged Barbarian
Marrick (Greg): Dwarf Knight
Starr (Star): Eladrin Paladin
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| Do not stare directly into the shirt. |
After defeating Hymmir the undead mystic and burning his altar, we continued to explore this dungeon. We next entered a round room that had a few smaller hallways arranged in a spoke pattern. Some of these hallways were barred off. Despite being extra cautious, Lo-Kang managed to get grabbed by one of the skeletons these hallways contained. He quickly defeated it, but the party was soon attacked by a pair of shadows. We took them out pretty quickly.
On the far end of the room there were some stairs going down. We decided to put that off until we'd explored all of this level. We went back to this floor's large central room, which we previously had only skirted around. In the middle of the room was a walled-off area containing a lot of pillars. Marrick came across a headless dwarf that was still flopping around. After a bit more exploring, we were attacked by a Mind Wraith. This creature had the annoying Aura that extended 3 squares, dazing everyone in it and giving us ongoing damage.
After killing the Wraith, Marrick dismembered and burned the body of the headless dwarf. Then we started looking for a place to take an extended rest. Turns out, the smell of burning dwarf meat was not conducive to sleep. We tried the altar room, but we'd also cleansed it with fire and it was still a bit to smokey to relax. So we went to an earlier room (the one with the Scythe trap) and rested there. Next we went down a hallway diagonal to the central chamber. It led to a room full of mechanical movement, with iron cogs and rotating gears adorning the walls. We fought six Festrogs, after which Marrick destroyed some of the gears.
The next room was like a giant ball pit, similar to the kind you see at McDonalds or Chuck E. Cheese. Fun, eh? Except instead of brightly-colored plastic balls, it was filled with eyeballs that continually stared at us. And that's just creepy.
There was another door on the other side of the room, but we experimented with a few things before resigning to cross. Marrick picked up an eyeball or two, throwing them at the walls to see what would happen. "Eyeball fight!" Eventually we began crossing the room. Marrick fell into a pit, but managed to climb back out. So we slowly crossed the room single file, wading through the squishy eyeballs, poking the floor with polearms to find more pits. Suddenly a monstrous mass of flesh, teeth, and eyes erupted from a pit. It was a Gibbering Mouther, who quickly hit most of us with dazing powers and ongoing damage.
Starr tried to teleport behind him to get into flanking, but that square turned out to be another pit. We had to end the session there, one round into battle.
Reminders:
Several of us have some temporary hit points, ongoing damage, and are dazed.
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| Left to Right: Derp, Keyanna, empty space, Displacer Beast, Flora, Marrick/Lo-Kang, Gibbering Mouther, Starr. |
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| Initiative Order: Mouther, Greg, Star, Ted, Matt, Cliff, Chere. It is the Mouther's turn. |
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Board Game: The Legend of Drizzt
About a year ago I posted about D&D's Wrath of Ashardalon board game. It's one of a series of D&D board games, based on a very simplified version of 4e's rules. The series also includes Castle Ravenloft, and most recently, The Legend of Drizzt.
I'm not exactly sure what made me buy the Drizzt game. I really liked that time I played Ashardalon, and I've read most of the Drizzt books (though I'm definitely not a Drizzt fanboy), and I felt this would be fun to play with certain friends who don't have time to commit to a full campaign. This series of games is fairly expensive, though to be fair they include a lot of little pieces. Each game sells for around $65 when they're first released, but if you look hard enough (or wait long enough), you can find them for around $35-$40. I was leery about spending the money, but I'm not disappointed by my purchase.
I haven't played enough of the other two to really compare them, but from what I've read, there's a bit of "power creep" in this one. The player characters are a bit more powerful, especially Drizzt himself. The PC selection has all the major characters from the series: Drizzt, Bruenor, Regis, Catti-Brie, Wulfgar, Artemis Entreri, Jarlaxle, and Athrogate. Jarlaxle and Artemis can be used as heroes or villains, depending on the scenario.
I do have one issue with the playable characters: the class selection doesn't feel varied enough. They spent so much time staying true to the books, that they didn't fill out the standard "Fighter/Cleric/Rogue/Wizard" combo you see in more generic games. On the other hand, these games are meant to be somewhat interchangeable, so they might be assuming I already own the other two.
If you enjoyed the Drizzt books, you'll probably have fun playing through the included scenarios, most of which are based on actual events from the series. We have Drizzt escaping from the Underdark, Bruenor searching for Mithril Hall while Artemis Entreri hunts Regis, fighting the dragon Shimmergloom, Drow from Drizzt's past trying to hunt him down, freeing Wulfgar from the demon Errtu, and so on. Most of the scenarios follow the same format; you keep drawing tiles/monsters until that adventure's boss appears, and you defeat him to win. But some of them simply have you trying to escape, or even have you competing against the other players to kill the most monsters.
Some Pix:
I'm not exactly sure what made me buy the Drizzt game. I really liked that time I played Ashardalon, and I've read most of the Drizzt books (though I'm definitely not a Drizzt fanboy), and I felt this would be fun to play with certain friends who don't have time to commit to a full campaign. This series of games is fairly expensive, though to be fair they include a lot of little pieces. Each game sells for around $65 when they're first released, but if you look hard enough (or wait long enough), you can find them for around $35-$40. I was leery about spending the money, but I'm not disappointed by my purchase.
I haven't played enough of the other two to really compare them, but from what I've read, there's a bit of "power creep" in this one. The player characters are a bit more powerful, especially Drizzt himself. The PC selection has all the major characters from the series: Drizzt, Bruenor, Regis, Catti-Brie, Wulfgar, Artemis Entreri, Jarlaxle, and Athrogate. Jarlaxle and Artemis can be used as heroes or villains, depending on the scenario.
I do have one issue with the playable characters: the class selection doesn't feel varied enough. They spent so much time staying true to the books, that they didn't fill out the standard "Fighter/Cleric/Rogue/Wizard" combo you see in more generic games. On the other hand, these games are meant to be somewhat interchangeable, so they might be assuming I already own the other two.
If you enjoyed the Drizzt books, you'll probably have fun playing through the included scenarios, most of which are based on actual events from the series. We have Drizzt escaping from the Underdark, Bruenor searching for Mithril Hall while Artemis Entreri hunts Regis, fighting the dragon Shimmergloom, Drow from Drizzt's past trying to hunt him down, freeing Wulfgar from the demon Errtu, and so on. Most of the scenarios follow the same format; you keep drawing tiles/monsters until that adventure's boss appears, and you defeat him to win. But some of them simply have you trying to escape, or even have you competing against the other players to kill the most monsters.
Some Pix:
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| Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle |
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| Athrogate |
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| Yochlol, Matron Mother Yvonnel Baenre, and Methil El-Viddenvelp the Mind Flayer |
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| Regis, Bruenor, Drizzt, Catti-Brie, and Wulfgar |
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| Drider and Drow |
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| The Demon Errtu |
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| Shimmergloom the Dragon |
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| Trolls and Goblins |
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Unlikely Heroes: Fall of the Wilden
Game Date: 3/24/2012
DM: Rusty
The Party:
Derp DuDerp (Cliff): Half-Elf Bard
Flora Oakwillow (Matt): Hamadryad Seeker
Keyanna (Chere): Half-Elf Sorcerer
Lokang (Ted): Goliath Barbarian
Marrick (Greg): Dwarf Knight
Nementah (Ted): Wilden Druid
Starr (Star): Eladrin Paladin
The Session:
We left off in the dungeon under the Dwarven Monastery. Today's session was mostly combat, as we cleared out more rooms of the dungeon.
First we entered a safe-looking room. Nementah, showing no Genre Savviness whatsoever, stepped on in and was immediately cut down by a scythe blade trap. Starr was knocked down as well, so we started this combat at a disadvantage. We were attacked by 6 undead (2 Ghouls and 4 dog-like creatures called Festrogs). Also, two statues in the room turned out to be turrets, firing deadly projectiles at us.
It was a tough battle, and several jokes were made about the possibility of a TPK. But we made it through.... except for Nementah, who died from massive damage, becoming one of the most short-lived characters in the campaign. After the undead were destroyed we still had to take out the turrets. Then we took an extended rest before going any further.
Next, our DM took the time to draw out a large, detailed central room. But instead of exploring it we immediately took one of the side passages. In a pile of rubble, Flora found a small darkwood sculpture of a fly. It turned out to be an Ebony Fly, which can summon a giant fly mount. We gave it to Keyanna for now.
Down one hallway we heard the sounds of suffering. Peeking into a large room, we saw several undead creatures pushing prisoners into a pit. We fought more Ghasts, Festrogs, and a "Bloody Bones" (a tentacled undead like the one we fought last session). Shortly into the fight, a statue of Ioun came to life, becoming Ted's new character Lokang. He charged into battle, fumbling his first attack roll and hitting himself for 26 damage. It was an embarrassing start, but from then on he proved to be a worthy striker.
Even though there were more monsters in this encounter than the last, we performed much better and managed to take out our enemies without any further loss of Ted. Once the coast was clear, we tried to rescue the prisoners, but they were beyond our help. They were all diseased, and we had no way of curing them. We offered to take them back to town, but they wouldn't have survived the journey. In the end, all we could offer them was a quick death.
We continued exploring hallways. Marrick noticed that this dungeon seemed to be of human construction, which was odd since it was under a Dwarven monastery. At the end of one corridor was a door with prayers carved on it. Inside we found an evil shrine, occupied by an undead mystic named Hymmir.
Hymmir had the ability to counter-attack whenever he was hit by a melee attack. Nevertheless, he didn't give us too much trouble, and we defeated him quickly. Then we purged the shrine with fire, took a short rest, and ended the session.
DM: Rusty
The Party:
Derp DuDerp (Cliff): Half-Elf Bard
Flora Oakwillow (Matt): Hamadryad Seeker
Keyanna (Chere): Half-Elf Sorcerer
Lokang (Ted): Goliath Barbarian
Marrick (Greg): Dwarf Knight
Nementah (Ted): Wilden Druid
Starr (Star): Eladrin Paladin
The Session:
We left off in the dungeon under the Dwarven Monastery. Today's session was mostly combat, as we cleared out more rooms of the dungeon.
First we entered a safe-looking room. Nementah, showing no Genre Savviness whatsoever, stepped on in and was immediately cut down by a scythe blade trap. Starr was knocked down as well, so we started this combat at a disadvantage. We were attacked by 6 undead (2 Ghouls and 4 dog-like creatures called Festrogs). Also, two statues in the room turned out to be turrets, firing deadly projectiles at us.
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| "Ted's dead, baby. Ted's dead." |
Next, our DM took the time to draw out a large, detailed central room. But instead of exploring it we immediately took one of the side passages. In a pile of rubble, Flora found a small darkwood sculpture of a fly. It turned out to be an Ebony Fly, which can summon a giant fly mount. We gave it to Keyanna for now.
Down one hallway we heard the sounds of suffering. Peeking into a large room, we saw several undead creatures pushing prisoners into a pit. We fought more Ghasts, Festrogs, and a "Bloody Bones" (a tentacled undead like the one we fought last session). Shortly into the fight, a statue of Ioun came to life, becoming Ted's new character Lokang. He charged into battle, fumbling his first attack roll and hitting himself for 26 damage. It was an embarrassing start, but from then on he proved to be a worthy striker.
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| Orcus represents the pit full of writhing undead. |
We continued exploring hallways. Marrick noticed that this dungeon seemed to be of human construction, which was odd since it was under a Dwarven monastery. At the end of one corridor was a door with prayers carved on it. Inside we found an evil shrine, occupied by an undead mystic named Hymmir.
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| Six against one. No sweat! |
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| This didn't happen. Maybe next session. |
Orcus: Prince of Undeath
No big story here, I just wanted to show off my newest mini. (If you can really call it a "mini".) I'd wanted Orcus for a while, and my wonderful spouse got a bonus at work, so she decided to treat me.
My only complaint is that it's not quite as big as I thought it was. I had seen it on the shelves before, but I'd never really looked at it in person. Orcus has a 4x4 base, the same size as the Gargantuan White, Blue, and Black Dragon minis. But it's usually priced more closely to the 8x8 Colossal Red Dragon. Still, I love the sculpt and I don't regret the purchase one bit. Especially since I'm not the one who paid for it.
Click the pics to see them full size.
My only complaint is that it's not quite as big as I thought it was. I had seen it on the shelves before, but I'd never really looked at it in person. Orcus has a 4x4 base, the same size as the Gargantuan White, Blue, and Black Dragon minis. But it's usually priced more closely to the 8x8 Colossal Red Dragon. Still, I love the sculpt and I don't regret the purchase one bit. Especially since I'm not the one who paid for it.
Click the pics to see them full size.
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| Orcus: Prince of Undeath |
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| Orcus shows off his good side. |
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| Size Comparison: Orcus, Colossal Red Dragon, and Gargantuan Blue Dragon |
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| Orcus and his Undead Minions |
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| Is it hot in here or is it just me? |
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| Orcus Smash! |
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| For the record, "Wanna see my Gargantuan Orcus" is not a good pickup line. |
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| Fire bad! |
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| A face not even a mother could love. |
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| A Study In Red |
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Traveller: Character Creation
3/10/2012:
Our current D&D campaign only has a handful of sessions left, and we've been thinking about what to do next. We've decided to play Traveller. It's a sci-fi RPG with a flavor that has been compared to Firefly. Today we planned to spend a couple of hours before our D&D session working on our upcoming Traveller characters. However, time got away from us and we spent the entire session planning our party.
Traveller's character creation is quite different from what I'm used to. You add to your career path in four-year increments, and at any point you can quit with what you've got, or add another four years to your background. Depending on how well you roll, adding more to your background could give you more skills, starting money, and other benefits. But you also risk getting in accidents resulting in lost limbs and other injuries. So it's a bit of a gamble building an experienced character. But we're lucky - in older editions you could actually die during character creation.
So we got the basics of character creation out of the way, though we still need to think about our characters' personalities and other fluffy details. Looks like we have a noble, a marine, a scout, a pilot, a medic... and me. My character doesn't excel at much, and will probably serve as the group's comic relief. She chose three career paths - Scholar (Field Researcher), Drifter (Barbarian), and Citizen (Colonist). All three ended with an accident. As a result, she is missing an eye and has very low Strength and Dexterity scores. So I've decided my character is accident prone.
So here's what I'm looking at so far:
Name: Malta Klonk
Age: 30
Race: Human
Homeworld: Tanoose
Stats:
Str 1, Dex 2, End 8, Int 6, Edu 10, Soc 7
Skills:
Advocate 0, Comms 0, Computers 1, Diplomat 0, Engineer 2, Investigate 0, Medic 0, Phsyical Sciences 0, Sensors 1, Space Sciences 0, Stealth 1, Steward 0, Survival 0, Vacc Suit 0
Career Path
1 (4 years): Scholar (Field Researcher), Accident: Nearly killed
2 (4 years): Drifter (Barbarian), Minor Accident: Lightly injured
3 (4 years): Citizen (Colonist), Accident: Lost eye
Early life:
Early on, Malta's parents noticed her propensity for tripping over her own feet and walking into walls, so they encouraged her to excel at non-physical activity. Any time she tried to engage in exercise, they said, "Wouldn't you rather be on the computer than to go outdoors?" Therefore she put all of her efforts into her studies at school.
Career 1 (4 years): Scholar (Field Researcher), Accident: Nearly killed
Upon reaching adulthood, Malta joined the crew of a deep space research vessel, assigned to study space anomalies. A few years in, she became romantically involved with a fellow crew member. The rotating duty roster meant that occasionally the two were assigned to man the bridge together while the rest of the crew slept. One shift things got a bit amorous, and they made out in various locations around the bridge. At one point Malta sat on one of the control panels, and somehow locked the ship into a collision course with a nearby moon.
The alarms woke up the rest of the crew, who rushed to the escape pods. Malta herself also tried to get to a pod, but accidentally locked herself in a bathroom instead. Meanwhile, her boyfriend stayed on the bridge and attempted to unlock the controls. He managed to recover control with seconds to spare, but for Malta's career the damage had already been done. For risking the lives of the crew, and the expense of recalling the escape pods, Malta was in a world of trouble.
She was thrown off the research team and blacklisted from similar projects. Her boyfriend would have nothing more to do with her, and she was forever known as "that girl who can crash spaceships with her butt." In some circles, the name "Klonk" is still used as derogatory slang, as in, "You really klonked up; get your head out of your klonk!" With all her life's dreams crashing around her, she decided she needed a fresh start.
Career 2 (4 years): Drifter (Barbarian), Minor Accident: Lightly injured
Malta was now on the run from her embarrassing reputation, so she decided to go off the grid for a while. On one planet she found a small society of people who were living as simply as possible. They were aware of modern technology, but rejected it in favor of spiritualism and "the old ways". Malta missed computers and indoor plumbing, but she couldn't deny it was a less stressful life. She still wasn't particularly graceful, but the other villagers were tolerant of her bumbling antics. Forgiveness was in their nature, and besides, how much damage could she really do without sophisticated machinery?
Well, over the next four years, they found out. It's hard to say exactly which accident led to her expulsion from the community. It might have been when she accidentally she mixed the Town Elder's ceremonial staff in with the firewood. But it's more likely because the fire she started with that staff also burned down the town hall. But let's not dwell on particulars. She was banished from the community, and took the next opportunity to leave the planet.
Career 3 (4 years): Citizen (Colonist), Accident: Lost eye
By this point her accident on the research station was nothing more than an urban legend. She had the opportunity to throw in with a small colony attempting to seed a new world. Malta was glad to see higher technology again, in an environment where her name wasn't a running joke. She became the personal assistant to one of the colony leaders. By being extra careful, she managed to get through the next few years without any major embarrassments.
And then she had one really bad day. First, she spilled coffee in her boss's lap. While trying to help him, she somehow stapled his tie to his desk. Unable to tear the fabric or remove the staple, her next thought was to cut off his tie. She ran to the supply closet to grab some scissors, and in her rush to get back she forgot one of the first lessons most people learn in childhood...
She awoke in a Navy hospital ship, headed away from the colony. She had lost her left eye, and had been asked not to return to the colony. Now she's a drifter once again, looking for purpose in life.
Our current D&D campaign only has a handful of sessions left, and we've been thinking about what to do next. We've decided to play Traveller. It's a sci-fi RPG with a flavor that has been compared to Firefly. Today we planned to spend a couple of hours before our D&D session working on our upcoming Traveller characters. However, time got away from us and we spent the entire session planning our party.
Traveller's character creation is quite different from what I'm used to. You add to your career path in four-year increments, and at any point you can quit with what you've got, or add another four years to your background. Depending on how well you roll, adding more to your background could give you more skills, starting money, and other benefits. But you also risk getting in accidents resulting in lost limbs and other injuries. So it's a bit of a gamble building an experienced character. But we're lucky - in older editions you could actually die during character creation.
So we got the basics of character creation out of the way, though we still need to think about our characters' personalities and other fluffy details. Looks like we have a noble, a marine, a scout, a pilot, a medic... and me. My character doesn't excel at much, and will probably serve as the group's comic relief. She chose three career paths - Scholar (Field Researcher), Drifter (Barbarian), and Citizen (Colonist). All three ended with an accident. As a result, she is missing an eye and has very low Strength and Dexterity scores. So I've decided my character is accident prone.
So here's what I'm looking at so far:
Age: 30
Race: Human
Homeworld: Tanoose
Stats:
Str 1, Dex 2, End 8, Int 6, Edu 10, Soc 7
Skills:
Advocate 0, Comms 0, Computers 1, Diplomat 0, Engineer 2, Investigate 0, Medic 0, Phsyical Sciences 0, Sensors 1, Space Sciences 0, Stealth 1, Steward 0, Survival 0, Vacc Suit 0
Career Path
1 (4 years): Scholar (Field Researcher), Accident: Nearly killed
2 (4 years): Drifter (Barbarian), Minor Accident: Lightly injured
3 (4 years): Citizen (Colonist), Accident: Lost eye
Early life:
Early on, Malta's parents noticed her propensity for tripping over her own feet and walking into walls, so they encouraged her to excel at non-physical activity. Any time she tried to engage in exercise, they said, "Wouldn't you rather be on the computer than to go outdoors?" Therefore she put all of her efforts into her studies at school.
Career 1 (4 years): Scholar (Field Researcher), Accident: Nearly killed
Upon reaching adulthood, Malta joined the crew of a deep space research vessel, assigned to study space anomalies. A few years in, she became romantically involved with a fellow crew member. The rotating duty roster meant that occasionally the two were assigned to man the bridge together while the rest of the crew slept. One shift things got a bit amorous, and they made out in various locations around the bridge. At one point Malta sat on one of the control panels, and somehow locked the ship into a collision course with a nearby moon.
The alarms woke up the rest of the crew, who rushed to the escape pods. Malta herself also tried to get to a pod, but accidentally locked herself in a bathroom instead. Meanwhile, her boyfriend stayed on the bridge and attempted to unlock the controls. He managed to recover control with seconds to spare, but for Malta's career the damage had already been done. For risking the lives of the crew, and the expense of recalling the escape pods, Malta was in a world of trouble.
She was thrown off the research team and blacklisted from similar projects. Her boyfriend would have nothing more to do with her, and she was forever known as "that girl who can crash spaceships with her butt." In some circles, the name "Klonk" is still used as derogatory slang, as in, "You really klonked up; get your head out of your klonk!" With all her life's dreams crashing around her, she decided she needed a fresh start.
Career 2 (4 years): Drifter (Barbarian), Minor Accident: Lightly injured
Malta was now on the run from her embarrassing reputation, so she decided to go off the grid for a while. On one planet she found a small society of people who were living as simply as possible. They were aware of modern technology, but rejected it in favor of spiritualism and "the old ways". Malta missed computers and indoor plumbing, but she couldn't deny it was a less stressful life. She still wasn't particularly graceful, but the other villagers were tolerant of her bumbling antics. Forgiveness was in their nature, and besides, how much damage could she really do without sophisticated machinery?
Well, over the next four years, they found out. It's hard to say exactly which accident led to her expulsion from the community. It might have been when she accidentally she mixed the Town Elder's ceremonial staff in with the firewood. But it's more likely because the fire she started with that staff also burned down the town hall. But let's not dwell on particulars. She was banished from the community, and took the next opportunity to leave the planet.
Career 3 (4 years): Citizen (Colonist), Accident: Lost eye
By this point her accident on the research station was nothing more than an urban legend. She had the opportunity to throw in with a small colony attempting to seed a new world. Malta was glad to see higher technology again, in an environment where her name wasn't a running joke. She became the personal assistant to one of the colony leaders. By being extra careful, she managed to get through the next few years without any major embarrassments.
And then she had one really bad day. First, she spilled coffee in her boss's lap. While trying to help him, she somehow stapled his tie to his desk. Unable to tear the fabric or remove the staple, her next thought was to cut off his tie. She ran to the supply closet to grab some scissors, and in her rush to get back she forgot one of the first lessons most people learn in childhood...
She awoke in a Navy hospital ship, headed away from the colony. She had lost her left eye, and had been asked not to return to the colony. Now she's a drifter once again, looking for purpose in life.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Unlikely Heroes: That's Enough Zombies, Thank You
Game Date: 3/3/2012
DM: Rusty
The Party:
Derp DuDerp (Cliff): Half-Elf Bard
Flora Oakwillow (Matt): Hamadryad Seeker
Keyanna (Chere): Half-Elf Sorcerer
Marrick (Greg): Dwarf Knight
Nementah (Ted): Wilden Druid
Starr (Star): Eladrin Paladin
The Session:
Last session ended with a horde of undead swarming the walls of Falcon's Hollow. Our heroes managed to defeat the first wave of zombies before ending the session. Today we jumped right into the action, standing outside the city walls, ready to take on the next part of the mob.
The second wave was mostly normal zombies, and a couple of ghouls. We had a fair number of lumberjacks helping us, but they were fragile and easily defeated. Still, they managed to hold off one group of zombies while we took care of the other, preventing us from getting too overwhelmed. Nevertheless, it was a difficult battle.
No sooner had we finished off the second wave, when the third wave approached. This time there were three groups, and a few more lumberjacks joined us. Once again, the lumberjack held off one group, while we handled another. The third group was too far away for us to prevent from getting into the city. Some of the group the lumberjacks were fighting also managed to climb over the town walls.
The final wave consisted only of zombie minions, but there were tons of them. Even more managed to get past us into town, and Nementah was nearly killed by the swarm. It took a while, but we finally wiped out the zombies outside, and we took a well-deserved rest by the gate.
Counting all the waves together, it was probably the longest D&D encounter I've been in. We didn't get to take any rests between waves. I think the scariest part of the battle was not the zombies themselves, but when the DM - who put these encounters together - asked us, "You guys are level 6, right?" (We're level 4.) Of course, he might have been joking... maybe?
The forces inside the gates had managed to take care of the undead that had breached the walls. The sheriff, the cleric, and Payday (no, this isn't the setup to a bad joke) came outside to thank us. They told us that they didn't recognize these zombies (that is, they didn't look like any dead people they had known when alive), and we agreed to check out the local cemetery. But first we took an overnight rest at our keep, and replenished our supply of healing potions.
The next morning we set out for the cemetery, guided by Verrin, the graveyard's caretaker. As we reached Verrin's cabin, he noticed that his door was open. Marrick stepped up to check it out. He entered the dark room and was attacked by... a raccoon, which he deftly grabbed and tossed out of the cabin. Verrin then broke down in tears (he'd lost his mule during the zombie attacks). We checked out the graveyard itself.
There were about twenty open graves, not nearly enough to account for the swarms we'd fought the night before. We looked closely at the zombie tracks, and saw something interesting. Most of the tracks came from farther away, passing through the cemetery and proceeding to town. However, the tracks that originated from this graveyard did not head to town, and went North instead.
We followed the zombie tracks, into a part of the forest that made Flora nervous. The party came across a few animals that looked like they'd been killed by ghouls. Finally we realized that the tracks were headed towards the Dwarven Monastery our original party had explored all those sessions ago. As we reached the monastery, we noticed a wolf staring at us. We started to ignore it and head on in, when the wolf asked us to stop. We don't see a lot of talking wolves, so we listened to what it had to say.
He said his name was Lucimar, and that he was a friend of the Druid that used to watch this area. He warned us that a great evil had been awakened in the bowels of the monastery. Of course, that just made us want to in go in more. Marrick asked the wolf to watch over Verrin for us, and we proceeded into the monastery. We followed the zombie tracks until we reached a large hole.
Derp used his Boots of Climbing to go down the hole. He was soon startled when some eyes opened up on the walls. Then he saw movement in the water below. As the party began climbing (and sometimes falling) down into the hole, we found ourselves fighting three tentacles sticking out of the water.
Nementah was grabbed and gnawed on a little, taking the most damage this battle. Finally we killed the last one, and took a short rest in the adjoining hallway. And that's where we ended the session.
Afterthoughts:
This was my first time playing a Seeker. I've read that the class sucks, and nothing I've seen so far really changes that perception. At first glance Flora looks like a Striker who can't do much damage, but really she's a Controller who can't control anything. She's not tough at all, so I have to play her a little bit cowardly just to stay on my feet. I don't like that, but I can't help the party at all if I'm dead.
But despite her mechanical shortcomings, I really like this character. She has a lot of interesting flavor. With Dalia (my last character), I wrote a fair-sized backstory and never really touched on any of it during the game. Meanwhile, Flora has a paper-thin backstory, and one look tells you everything you need to know about her. And yet, Flora feels deeper than Dalia, because her details fit into the story better.
DM: Rusty
The Party:
Derp DuDerp (Cliff): Half-Elf Bard
Flora Oakwillow (Matt): Hamadryad Seeker
Keyanna (Chere): Half-Elf Sorcerer
Marrick (Greg): Dwarf Knight
Nementah (Ted): Wilden Druid
Starr (Star): Eladrin Paladin
The Session:
Last session ended with a horde of undead swarming the walls of Falcon's Hollow. Our heroes managed to defeat the first wave of zombies before ending the session. Today we jumped right into the action, standing outside the city walls, ready to take on the next part of the mob.
The second wave was mostly normal zombies, and a couple of ghouls. We had a fair number of lumberjacks helping us, but they were fragile and easily defeated. Still, they managed to hold off one group of zombies while we took care of the other, preventing us from getting too overwhelmed. Nevertheless, it was a difficult battle.
 |
| Flora uses a daily that creates a zone of difficult terrain. |
 |
| Keyanna fumbles a spell, creating a superzombie. |
 |
| This party needs more AOE spells. |
The forces inside the gates had managed to take care of the undead that had breached the walls. The sheriff, the cleric, and Payday (no, this isn't the setup to a bad joke) came outside to thank us. They told us that they didn't recognize these zombies (that is, they didn't look like any dead people they had known when alive), and we agreed to check out the local cemetery. But first we took an overnight rest at our keep, and replenished our supply of healing potions.
The next morning we set out for the cemetery, guided by Verrin, the graveyard's caretaker. As we reached Verrin's cabin, he noticed that his door was open. Marrick stepped up to check it out. He entered the dark room and was attacked by... a raccoon, which he deftly grabbed and tossed out of the cabin. Verrin then broke down in tears (he'd lost his mule during the zombie attacks). We checked out the graveyard itself.
There were about twenty open graves, not nearly enough to account for the swarms we'd fought the night before. We looked closely at the zombie tracks, and saw something interesting. Most of the tracks came from farther away, passing through the cemetery and proceeding to town. However, the tracks that originated from this graveyard did not head to town, and went North instead.
We followed the zombie tracks, into a part of the forest that made Flora nervous. The party came across a few animals that looked like they'd been killed by ghouls. Finally we realized that the tracks were headed towards the Dwarven Monastery our original party had explored all those sessions ago. As we reached the monastery, we noticed a wolf staring at us. We started to ignore it and head on in, when the wolf asked us to stop. We don't see a lot of talking wolves, so we listened to what it had to say.
He said his name was Lucimar, and that he was a friend of the Druid that used to watch this area. He warned us that a great evil had been awakened in the bowels of the monastery. Of course, that just made us want to in go in more. Marrick asked the wolf to watch over Verrin for us, and we proceeded into the monastery. We followed the zombie tracks until we reached a large hole.
Derp used his Boots of Climbing to go down the hole. He was soon startled when some eyes opened up on the walls. Then he saw movement in the water below. As the party began climbing (and sometimes falling) down into the hole, we found ourselves fighting three tentacles sticking out of the water.
 |
| I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going. |
Afterthoughts:
This was my first time playing a Seeker. I've read that the class sucks, and nothing I've seen so far really changes that perception. At first glance Flora looks like a Striker who can't do much damage, but really she's a Controller who can't control anything. She's not tough at all, so I have to play her a little bit cowardly just to stay on my feet. I don't like that, but I can't help the party at all if I'm dead.
But despite her mechanical shortcomings, I really like this character. She has a lot of interesting flavor. With Dalia (my last character), I wrote a fair-sized backstory and never really touched on any of it during the game. Meanwhile, Flora has a paper-thin backstory, and one look tells you everything you need to know about her. And yet, Flora feels deeper than Dalia, because her details fit into the story better.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Character - Flora
Full Name:
Flora Oakwillow
Class:
Seeker
Race:
Hamadryad
Gender:
Female
Alignment:
Good
Deity:
Corellon
Animal Companion:
"Fauna", Displacer Beast
Background:
Flora is one of many Fey creatures that protect the forests of Darkmoon Vale. Ever since she was a sapling, she has lived in the woods near Falcon's Hollow. After the Unlikely Heroes defeated the evil fey at the nightmarish carnival, the Fey Queen requested that Flora serve them as a reward. At first Flora wasn't sure about leaving her home to go off with these people she didn't know. But she always obeys the Fey Queen's orders, so she made like a tree and, um, left.
Personality, Mannerisms, and Appearance:
Flora is often intrigued by the odd behavior of "civilized" humanoids, and this curiosity led her to accept duties closer to society. However, she fears traveling too far from the forest (after all, she has roots there). Flora loves nature and protects plant life whenever she can. She has an extreme fear of fire, and isn't particularly fond of termites. Her hobbies include gardening, archery, hiking, exploration, and standing perfectly still in the sun for long periods of time. She often travels with her pet Displacer Beast, Fauna.
As a Hamadryad, Flora's appearance changes somewhat depending on what aspect she chooses to present. At times she looks like a beautiful young nymph with flowers in her hair. Other times she looks like she is carved from wood, to the point where she can be mistaken for a wooden mannequin if she stands still.
Creating this character:
After Dalia died, Rusty and I tossed a lot of ideas back and forth, and discussed which classes we hadn't seen played very often. Neither of us could remember seeing anyone play a Seeker, so I thought I'd give it a try. Since then I've done a little research, and found out just why Seekers aren't very popular. They're not particularly powerful or effective, and there hasn't been a lot of support for them in the splatbooks. But I've never been much of an min-maxer, so I don't mind. Unlike my last group, this one doesn't have a judgmental optimizer who questions everyone's design choices. It's nice to have the freedom to play a character built with roleplay in mind. Flora's not necessarily a class the party really needs at the moment, but I hope she at least makes things interesting.
Regarding race, I've always wanted to play some sort of fey creature. We had just finished dealing with the Fey Queen, so this was a good time for a fey character to enter the party.
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| Mini - Nentyar Hunter (Underdark #20/60) |
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