End-of-Summer Caen Update! (Pro-Tips brought to you by Weapons of War- "Pricey? But at least the item's REAL.")

Hey all,

Tighten your shoestrings, grab a bottle of Coke, buy the popcorn, slaughter a cow or two. The Heroes of Maya are coming back to a theater near you!

Yesterday, in the first of several update articles before our first official Chapter 2: The Blight of the Chained Demon (tBotCD) session, I presented my players- Shell, Shane, Kat and Vek with unique powers/feats, which reflected the impact of their actions on Maya's surroundings, society and livestock in general.

Next up (in a week's time, maybe earlier) will be an important background article which fleshes out the huge region northwest of Maya. It's the Greater Desert of Harsh's- Home of Countless Sandstorms and Nothing much except Yellow Sand and Men. Yerp, Castle Greyskill is located somewhere in that mess. Ignore the desert guide at your own peril. (Your passive Insight check says so. Take a 10 on that.)

Pro-Tips for the Return to Caen (Sponsored by WoW: You Can't Put a Price on Real.)

• Chapter 2: tBotCD rewards those who are involved in the action. Seemingly mundane details and items found in my adventures can sometimes be used to unlock bonus quests, powers or items.
• Combining items, trying it out with different NPCs or testing them at particular locations might be useful, just as long as it doesn't singe Aplocal's hair or scroll-freeze the entire port front of Maya.
• Keeeep your eyes peeled, your ears sharp and the party's notes near. You might want to assign someone, or take turns to keep notes, names or maps current and handy. Especially for the larger dungeons.
• The Card Reward Assistance System/s (CRASs) will be implemented by then (read left sidebar for more info), adding on to the common theme of rewarding immersiveness, roleplay, imagination and sometimes sheer luck.

Disclaimer:

Over the past year, our players has matured quickly and can be considered rather seasoned exponents of 4th Ed.

1. As of Chapter 2, I am stating clearly that I will refrain from roleplaying a Carebear giving too many DM prods, e.g. in Chapter 1, regarding the location of a certain Thieves' Guild information that I have distinctly stressed during our sessions.
2. Actions taken in battle will be final and conclusive.
3. Rules 1 and 2 will encourage the party to absorb themselves in the ongoing action and participate more actively, knowing that frequent lapses in concentration will result in them not being to unlock particular quests, not getting the full completion XP bonus, or cause indirect harm to the party.

• I will also appreciate it if the players feel a need to voice out something regarding their character, be it their short-term goals, long term concepts, or particular items and feats that they might desire, do let it out. With the additional knowledge, I can be better positioned to pass out relevant items (maybe not the exact specified one), but at least relevant to you, and for the campaign.
• Even better, try hinting at your goals and concepts during roleplaying in the session, which will help flesh out your character and your relationship with your teammates, resulting in greater satisfaction and motivation while questing in the lands.

As we countdown to Chapter 2: tBotCD, our current forays in the other campaigns (Shell's, Shane's) will definitely help improve our quality of gameplay. And did I mention the evolution of our playing aids? We have definitely come a long way since the flat hand-drawn cardboard figures that I used for the first few sessions of Chapter 1, and doodling the many status effects on paper, and what-not.

-Little Known Fact of the Day: The mobs used by me in the now infamous Swamp Boss battle, which killed both Weilian and Emo, were flat and cardboard.--

Rrrrrgh!

A couple of weeks back, Shane and I went down to Popular and chanced upon multi colored metallic book-rings which makes great temporary status markers. Hook them onto a spear-wielding Yuan-Ti, sling them onto the snout of an ugly Orc or even balance it on top of an angry Beholder. Explore the countless possibilities.

His square colored foam status markers are a hit with the players, especially my personal favourites - the RED 4x4 ONES !!! (We use these markers for more "permanent" status effects e.g. BLOODIED, marked until end of encounter, cleaved into a million bits etc.)

I will end this here for now, as Weapons of War does not pay me enough to stay awake beyond the midnight. Tomorrow, I will consult Aplocal at his quarters and hopefully find a new sponsor in the shape of our semi-retired Arlon Ablehands. I heard that he likes to sponsor up-and-coming heroes and writers alike. The pungent smell of lizard shaman at his shop does not thrill me one bit though.

"Why must Arlon put that grotesque mannequin in there again? And in the pose of a gay gymnast stuck in mid-air doing a jumping-jack?", I must remember to ask him the next time I see him.

See you in the next instalment of the Caen Update.

p/s: Added a Reference Section on left sidebar for easy access to campaign-related posts. Please feedback if links are broken etc.

Lo and Behold, Simple Ways and Customs of a Hero -- Book of Futures, Vol 1.

The tattered tome laid in Fel's hands. Suddenly, his eyes glow red, and arcane symbols impair his vision. He opens the tome again for the umpteenth time, and just as he expected, some of the the pages made sense. He could feel immense power coming from the tome, but is he the only one?

--Tome of Blood's Terminology--
Bloodcost: Before attacking with a Blood power, the bloodmage pays 1d4 hit points ( +2 additional hp at paragon tier, +4 additional hp at epic tier) for each target involved . This damage cannot be prevented or reduced.
Bloodlink: If the target has the bloodied status, he is considered to have bloodlink with the Bloodmage.


Blood Strike___________Bloodmage Attack 1

Tentacles of blood pierce the enemies, and bring them closer to the cause.

Encounter ♦ Arcane, Blood, Implement, Versatile

Standard Action ______ ____ _ ________Close burst 3

Target: One, two or three enemies in burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 2d4 + Intelligence modifier damage.

Bloodlink: You ignore the bloodcost for the target.
The target takes an additional d4 damage, and is pulled
to the nearest square adjacent to you.
If there is no such space available, the target remains in
its original location.


Bloody Retribution___ Bloodmage Attack 5

As stated in the Tome of Blood, revenge is sweet. Seeing it in action, even better.

Daily ♦ Arcane, Blood, Implement, Versatile
Immediate Reaction________________Close Burst 5
Trigger: A creature within burst bloodies you
Target: The creature that bloodied you
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 4d4+ Intelligence modifier damage. The target takes ongoing
damage equal to your Intelligence modifier (save ends). You ignore
the bloodcost for this target.

Effect: You may make a secondary attack against each enemy within 2 squares
of the target.
Secondary Target: Each enemy within 2 squares of the primary target.
Secondary Attack: Intelligence vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d4 + Intelligence modifier damage.

Bloodlink: You may use this power as a standard action instead of a triggered immediate reaction against a bloodlinked target.

----------

Sir Guy, with his acts of bravery and selflessness told at immigrant campfires around the northern farmlands and the temple grounds of Pelor, ponders over his new-found status. Especially so after an encounter with several halflings at the after-party organized by Trogdor to celebrate Head-Captain Tel's promotion. At the back of his mind, the disappearance of Pelor leaves many questions unanswered.

Sir Guy's Merry Men of Movement and Miscellaneous ActionsS____________________ Farmlands Savior Utility 6

You whistle a merry tune, and a couple of halfling peasants appear, ready to do your bidding.

Daily ♦ Martial

Minor Action ______ ____ _ ________Personal

Effect: You gain an additional move action and a minor action for this turn.
You can also spend a healing surge.

Special: This does not take up a level 6 utility slot if your Farmlands faction

is "Savior" level or higher.

----------

Drefonis sits on the edge of the bed, playing out pivotal scenes in his memorable fights against Kystik and the Grandfather. His feints, his stealthy attacks, are etched firmly in his mind. He also recalled what Leeto had said to him regarding his next task for the Guild, and contemplates on the soundness of it all.

Dre's Measured Quickie_________ Dirty Leeto Utility 6

You feint awkwardly by gyrating your pelvis, while your dagger stabs at the unsuspecting victim's vitals.

Daily ♦ Martial

Move Action ______ ____ _ ________Personal

Effect: You roll a Bluff check against a target adjacent to you. If successful, you gain combat advantage and can make a modified basic melee attack (Charisma vs. AC) against the target.

Special: You can add your sneak attack dice to the damage against the target even if you have already expended it this round.


Quiet Step________________MoTG Utility 2

Softly, you meld into the darkness, making friends with the shadows.

Daily ♦ Martial

Move Action ______ ____ _ ________Personal

Effect: You become invisible until you attack or after 3 rounds has passed, whichever
occurs first.

Special: You can replace any rogue power you currently possess with this daily power.

----------

Trogdor rolls about in his bed, hardly able to sleep. He looks forward to visiting Castle Greyskill, where he can finally make amends with the Raven Queen and collect his reward from Hen-Lord Alan for returning Raven's Grasp to its rightful place. His alter-ego seems more placid, more controllable now, could it be a result of the new-found peace he has in his heart?

Creature of Havoc________ Trog's Character Feature

The wounds are many, too many, you scream for salvation and unleash the ...

Daily ♦ Psionic

Immediate Reaction ______ ____ _ ________Personal

Trigger: You are reduced to 0 hp or less.
Effect: You transform into a fearsome man-beast, with almost no control over your actions. You attack each creature in a close burst 2 (Str + 2 vs. AC), dealing 3d8 + Strength modifier damage with your savage claws and bite if you hit. You revert back to your original form after this attack.

Special: Your allies in the burst take only half damage if hit. If you are not holding a shield when this power is triggered, you deal an extra 1d8 to enemies in the close burst 2 area.

Heavy Shield Throw: This custom ability allows Trogdor to clumsily throw his heavy shield into the fray, usually out of desperation or in his preparation to harness his inner self.

Encounter ♦ Martial

Standard Action ______ ____ _ ________Ranged 4, (7)

Target: One creature in range
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: Strength modifier damage, target is pushed 1 square.

Special: On a critical hit, the target is also knocked prone.

The New Scales of War (Shane's Edition) and a random weather report.

Hi all,

Shane had his first Scales of War DMing session on Saturday, taking over Vek and bringing the new party (Fubar the Halfling Sorc and Kithen Ralph the Half Orc Ranger are the remnants of the original group) to the city of Overlook.

We had great fun in the city, exploring shops and giving epic chase to a child vandal who had just splashed paint onto the inn the adventurers were staying in. Ralph and Vek- who was playing Pantiless the Elf Avenger, scaled about 2524 buildings , leapt over 4421 obstacles before finally pinning him down with the help of the other members of the party.
Me, Fubar and Daigo (Kat) were chasing, intimidating, bluffing, and percepting the vandal from quite a distance away as we did not have the acrobatics and athletics skills of our two Special Olympians who were trying to outdo each other.

Do not worry guys! Everyone is a winner at the Special Olympics.

Shane was trying out new methods e.g. Players'/Mob Initiative cards to track the battle, post-it notes to confer penalties etc, and colored markings on the mobs to book-keep the various effects on them. All in all, I will have to say that most of it worked, so bravo to the new DM. The set up time was still rather lengthy, but the in-combat time was cut down significantly, especially with Shane rolling his results on his I-Phone instead of using traditional dice.

My gripe about Scales of War is still the lack of atmosphere in the non-town regions. Sometimes, I feel that the encounters are there solely to make up for the action element and encounter quota for the level.
There is this particular encounter we had at the monastery when we were 80 feet up in an indoor cavern of sorts, where we fought several Orcs and a few crossbowmen defending two single-file wooden bridges over a pit which we needed to cross to get further into the monastery.
Our previous encounter just before this occurred in a large lighted hall, where there were many staircases at the sides with Orcs swarming about but after we dispatched them, we discovered that they all led to nothing interesting.
Then boom, the dimly-lit "Cavern" of Single Filed Doom was next. A bit jarring for my taste. I do not see a link joining these particular encounters, just separate action scenes cut out from different movies and made to awkwardly fit.


And with all new parties, I made a new character to join in the fun. This time round, I am playing Sunny, Honey Bunny - the ridiculously charismatic female Halfling Paladin who was a former member of a popular Halfling girl-group (Drunken Tigress).
Her moods swings from being painfully cute with winks and pseudo-korean girl-band phrases (Geegeegeegeegee, Job yo?, OH Unnie~!) to being a pain in the opponents' asses, recklessly drawing AoOs so that she can charge into them with lethal momentum.
She is 3 feet 8 inches tall and about 81 pounds, and has a bright cherubic face with a sunny demeanour. Clad in sun-colored plate armor and brandishing a gleaming short sword of Charrrrging, she is a picture of um, stability.
Sunny is contemplating other deity choices besides Pelor, as the God of the Sun and Crops was her industrious parents' natural choice. Her personal shortlist now includes Corellon (Beauty) and Tiamat (Covetous, Wealth) as she is coming to terms with her own character and what she actually needs to fulfil her ambition.
Party-wise, she is slowly trying to find her feet and assume her role as the main tanker, and as her confidence grow, she will be an asset to the party, not to mention the intangibles - her "wholesome" good looks and sunny mood boosting morale for the hot-blooded males in her group.

As it was already fast approaching six in the morning, we stopped for the night after finishing the "Bridge" encounter and advanced to level 4 w/o the extra feat. Sunny swore she heard the other Orcs and what-else deeper in the monastery breathe a collective sigh of relief.

They will survive for another week.

"I got good news and bad news." - Vek

Hey all,

The Scales of War adventure that Vek was DMing for us has come to an unfortunate end. He cited lack of interest in being a DM and the added duties/commitment as the prime reasons for his decision.

Shane- the shaman (healer) in the original adventure, will take over DM duties in Chapter 2. The party will again be reformed to incorporate Kat, who will sacrifice War-War Lock to become our new healer. He is currently looking at a pacifist cleric build, but has yet to confirm his intentions.

I will be creating a new character too, as "Magicman" was politely declined by Shane due to his "hybrid is still a playtest" reasoning. As the DM, he has the final say so I might roll up a Paladin or a Barbarian instead. The new update to the Character Generator is set for tomorrow, and I will wait for that before making my decision. Divine Powers would have been in the database by then, and I can conveniently check if a new-age DPS paladin is viable.
My hand itches for a d12 or a 2d6 weapon wielding kind of character and these two classes fit the bill. Avenger can be an after-thought as well.

On to the good news.

The Monster Builder Beta has arrived in DDi! This gem of a building tool houses over 2500 monsters all ready for customization and cut/paste duties.

The Monster Builder is quick to fire up and easy to use for hassle-free encounter management.




Personally, I love the drag-and-paste feature in the program, where I get to shamelessly drag the firebreath power from a red dragon onto an unsuspecting domestic horse template. Firemare Kirin anyone?

Go check it out, aspiring DMs, and create your own flavor of madness today.



Ever felt like going back to DnD 3.5? Do you miss Weapon Finesse, splashing 1 level of something, the overly-complicated Grappling rules which felt like calculus, or the good ole' days when Intelligence didn't do squat to your AC and Charisma was the premier dump stat of the game?

I am Genie for your weeeeesh granted. (poof)

DDO (Dungeons and Dragons Online) Beta. The developers have decided that the game go F2P (Free to Play) game when it goes live on September 9th 2009. The Beta has almost forty good days left until it launches free next month. You can test if your rig can run the game smoothly, and if you enjoy their particular style of adapting DnD 3.5 to an MMO setting.

It is a good way for me to get a fix when the DnD "playing" pang hits my brain. The game runs smoothly, and I love the graphics when my character punches baddies into moosh, or decaptitates hapless minions with my super-aggressive Greataxe of Burrrnnnning.

DDO's graphics and gameplay is brilliant by F2P gaming standards, and can easily match some of the smaller existing MMOs in the market nowadays.

Don't just take my word for it, go try it out. What could go wrong? It is free to play anyway. You might just find your own personal gaming paradise online. (when taking a break from Mafia Wars of course.)