On the OSR Thief and Hate

“I’m a musician you see. I call myself a repercussionist.”

Excerpt From: Brust, Steven. “Tiassa.” Tom Doherty Associates.

It seems everyone tries to "fix" the OSR thief via Houserules at least once. Why? It's because in a skill light system the OSR thief clings desperately to the deplorable skill system. All the things wrong with skill systems are evident right here at the beginnings of the game. The "new" editions expand and perpetuate the problems found here. Scaling, balance and the "all" you can be good at symptoms originate right here in Greyhawk Supplement I. The thief is that fine line example of mechanics that defines a class. It's existence is a self fulfilling prophecy leading to greater and greater specialization and limitation.

Everyone can attack, anyone can kick in a door or listen. Other classes stand out. MUs have spells. Clerics support via healing and buffs not to mention the Turn undead feature. Fighters are tougher but the thief stands apart. The thief has a handful of specialities that only they excel at. After several months playing OSR, I hate calling for or making in secret a hide in shadows roll. Why, because the Thief excels at this. As a former 4E DM this a wierd statement to make I know. Why do we have this mechanic? Defenders of OSR point to the Grey Mouser as the reason. I get it, I really do. We all have a hard time facing up to our sacred cows. As you can see below there are several proposed ways to nix this trend.

http://smolderingwizard.com/2014/03/29/a-different-take-on-the-thief-the-rogue-for-swords-wizardry-whitebox/

http://nilisnotnull.blogspot.com/2013/05/thieves-evolved.html

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?713543-OSR-The-thief-in-a-skill-free-system

None of these really fix the issue though do they. They just move the problem around. I have a similar issue with Turn Undead but that's an article for another day. So what do we do about this? We can eliminate the thief. We can Houserule the thief as above or similar. Is there another solution?

Thief Skills

• Climb Walls
• Pick Pockets
• Pick Locks
• Disable Traps
• Hear Sounds
• Hide in Shadows
• Move Silently

Thief Special Abilities

• Backstab
• Read Magical Writings
• Read Normal Languages

The above skills are all things that another class can do, but the Thief "does them better". Why? It's part of their background and training. While his fighter was playing with pointy bits, her MU was nose deep in books, and my cleric was on his knees the Thief was slogging it out in alleys, running for their life and being subjected to Oliver Twist style training. So is it really as simple as a matter of background? Can we sum everything a Thief is as a sneaky underhanded fighter? Is that not just the ideal of a modern day rogue? I don't think so. At the core of the Thief is the idea of an expert. Someone who isn't the best fighter. They are the epitamy of the jack of all trades. The person that picks up these little tid bits of real world, practical hands on knowledge and combine them into surprising results. Now how do we demonstrate this with out creating the skill system above? I think this comes down to luck.

Solo: I call it luck.

Kenobi: In my experience, there is no such thing as luck.

- Star Wars, George Lucas

Make Your Own Luck

Thieves make their own luck via their knowledge. Typically, when a PC kicks in a door, listens, or hides etc. the DM or Player rolls for success. This is done in one of two ways, roll a d6 and compare to a table or roll 3d6, 4d6 or more under a given stat. In the case of the Thief, why not roll an extra die and remove the highest result. Thus when rolling 3d6, instead roll 4d6 and remove the highest die. For example a roll of 1,3,4,5 would remove the 5 and yield an 8. This represents their improved ability. This coupled with any DEX abilities gives them a huge advantage, reflecting their ability. The only "skill" off their list they aren't better at is then Listening. Gone is the need to track individual % for each skill. The harder the task or less likely to succeed the more dice are rolled. Want to pick pocket the Liche of Unholy Doom roll 7D6 and drop the highest result, if less than DEX success!

Leave the special abilities as they stand and roll on.

Wait A Minute

Isn't this method switching one set of skills for another? In a way yes it is. It's balanced against what other players can do, but still gives Thieves a leg up. It doesn't reflect increased power as a Thief levels. Neither does a fighters ability to open doors, a dwarf's ability to detect stone work, or an elves ability to detect secret doors. Rolling that extra die could level just as back stab or turn undead does, but it doesn't need to.

The only other method to keep the Thief not already mentioned is to add mini games, like lock picking and trap disarming. How you indicate a thief is better at these tasks is up to you, though the suggestion of unjamming is workable.

I close having added my take on the senseless enterprise of trying to fix what can not be fixed, and may not even be broken.

 

On the Spell Plague and Wailing

1289 5A

What is the Spell Plague?

As far as the mortals on Ea-reth are concerned the Spell Plague was a violent magical storm that occurred in 1289 of the Fifth Age. It arose over the southern edges of Yathe. Blue flames licked across the sky. The ancient Towers of Balance in Yathe and The Citadels of Magic on Ovelesk saw their load stones shatter and crumble. Ley lines across the Feywild, Shadowfell and Ea-reth ceased to function. The great storm moved across the continent changing the lands as it passed. It laid waste to Ghenna, turning the land to a smoldering waste known as the Plaguelands. A great rift opened up to the Underrealms in the Wyrdarmik. The drow city beneath was crushed by the collapse and areas formerly reached thru hundreds of miles of tunnels were suddenly open to the bright sky.

Virtually none of the population of Ea-Reth was left untouched by the passage of the storm. Hundreds of mages, all those casting spells or rituals at the time the storm appeared, were destroyed or driven mad by its power. Many more apprentices died battling the results of their master's magic loosed upon the world. For the next ten years magic remained unpredictable and dangerous. Few chose to train in spellcraft, and the great magic schools of the world closed. Gradually over the next few years, the great storm faded from the sky. With it all manner of magic ceased to function completely. Psionics, technology and religion gained followers and power. Priests began to discover that a great divine battle had taken place. Gulohg, the Usurper, and the Raven Queen were no more. Their deaths had been brought about by the power of the slaying stones. As a result all the lodestones and their granular form, residuum, around the world were destroyed. A cult arose dedicated to Dracorrin, god of the afterlife. Dracorrin priests claim that their deity is master over spirit and animus. They preach that when one dies you are judged by Dracorrin, if he finds your actions fit you pass on to an afterlife in service to your deity. However, if he finds you unfit, you are returned to life as an undead. For nearly twenty years humanoids were cut off from the Feywild, Shadowfell, Astral Sea, Sigil and the Elemental Chaos as planar magic, like all others had ceased to function.

These years are called the Wailing. It was a sad and dangerous time where only muscle, mind and faith stood against the wild creatures of the world. In Kinderland the Alia Tai faced a revolution from their people. Without lodestones the ruling elite and their kin were hunted down and slain in a great purging. Mages across the world faced similar attacks, bereft of magic and their Alia Tai protectors many fled. Mobs tore down towers and took books of magical learning to be used as toilet paper and fuel for fires. Millenias of knowledge and history were lost. Remote towns and settlements bereft of magical means to receive goods and services ceased to exist or where over run by hordes of orcs and goblins. All contact was lost with Sigil, and many suspect that no one survived.

How did this stop?

It was in the middle of the Great Plain, north of the Molmosarc that things began to change. On Hexa 6th 1313 of the fifth age, a single red flower suddenly sprang into being before a young barbarian boy. His tribe looked on in astonishment as blue light filled his eyes and fire sprang from his hands. The young boy was summarily put to death for his crime of witchcraft. Similar, events spread across the world over the next six months. Former magic users felt the return of power, some ignored it but many returned to their calling. They soon found that magic was not as they remembered it. With many magical texts lost or destroyed the slow accumulation of knowledge began again.

Impact to Ritual Magic

Without residiuum, the universal conduit of magic, many of the rituals needed to be rediscovered. Ritualists soon found that herbs, plants and minerals that resided in areas formerly containing ley-lines contained a lesser form of the power, residuum did. Thru experimentation and careful study many rituals were rewritten with these components as catalysts. Further, research found that as a caster grew in power he could channel his own life force into simple rituals and cast them in seconds rather than minutes.

Game terms - 4E

Rituals of five levels lower - Replace 100% of the value of ritual components with 1 healing surge for a casting time equal to 1 action. (Standard, Minor, OR Move)

Rituals of a lower level - Replace 50% of the value of ritual components with 1 healing surge for a casting time equal to 1 round. (Ie all 3 actions, Std, Move and minor)

Rituals of your level - Replace 50% of the value of ritual components with 2 healing surges for a casting time as printed

Rituals greater than your level - 100% components and casting as printed

Rituals greater than your level +5 - Can't Cast

Impact to Magic Items

Many items formed in the vicinity of lodestones, made with residuum or made from lodestones ceased to function. Magic swords became well crafted hunks of sharpened metal. Suits of armor and maigcal cloth rusted or crumpled to dust. Once intelligent crystal chess sets became little more than carved stone. Only items that had to be manually activated by ritual or keywords, and powerful artifacts survived the Wailing intact. For many years no new magical items could be fashioned, without residuum the art of enchanting steel and cloth seemed to forever be lost.

It was a dwarf by the name of Rundik Silverbeard that came across the solution to the problem. Travelling across the Valley of the Twelve tribes he happened to meet a primal goliath that still made magic items for his tribe. Rundik spent several winters with the novice smith. He traded the art of forging Mithril, much to the dismay of his kin, for the knowledge of enchanting items. The primal tribe had long infused stone and wood items with a bit of their life-force. This life-force acted as a catalyst for the other ritual components in the process. Rundik perfected the art before taking it back to his clan. They soon started to fashion an assortment of common magical items that are being sold in major cities today. All Rundik's items are marked with the dwarven sigil for twelve in remembrance of the legendary tale about the forging of the first weapons by Moradin and the twelve lives he sacrificed in his craft, and the trade that was made with the primal barbarians of the Twelve Tribes.

Game terms 4E

Enchant Magic Item - 75% cost of printed ritual components and a HS is permanently expended by the crafter of the item, this ritual can not be cast in haste

Transfer Enchantment - As printed this ritual can not be cast in haste

Disenchant Magic Item - creates ritual components worth 15% the value of the item, the healing surge needed to craft the item is lost to the ethers (ie returns to the original caster) upon disenchantment

Brew Potion - Can be cast at 50% of listed cost but the caster expends a healing surge (this surge is regained by the caster when the potion is consumed), can also be cast at 100% cost of components

Impact to Fey Crossings, Shadowfall and Portals

Fey crossings, shadowfalls and portals remain inert unless activated via ritual by someone of the correct origin. For example an elf/eladrin/gnome (Fey) caster who journeys to a Fey Crossing can activate it via ritual. Once activated it returns to functioning normally. Shadowfalls can be activated by Shades/Shadar-kai etc (Shadow Origin). Portals need to be activated by their destination race (ie a Demon or Elemental would need to open a portal to the Elemental Chaos, or an Immortal/Devil to open one to the Astral Sea). No one has yet discovered what type of race will be needed to open a connection to Sigil, City of Doors.

Falling Behind - My Failings as a 4E DM

This is a ramble.

I set myself a goal. I made it a week and now I find it slipping through my fingers. Why is that? I am taking a hard look at myself. I work 60 hours a week. I am running an OSR campaign. I write, badly. I paint. I am raising five children. A few years ago I ran two campaigns with four children, a less busy job and started this blog and ran my forums. If I could do it then why am I struggling today?

My 4E campaigns ended two years ago. I called it quits after spotty attendance. Why did I have spotty attendance? I started focusing on combat and story and not on player agency. My first campaign with this group was all about player agency. I would throw out scenarios, missions, events to see what the players would do. Once they made choices I would interpret those choices thru the lens of the world and react. The players loved it. They rose to the challenges. I loved the stories that came about. 4E was really hard to challenge the players, we had a few character deaths along the way and one near TPK. For the most part every PC that started the campaign finished at level 30.

The second go round was less effective. I now believe players were getting bored with 4E. The long combats take there toll. I stopped the campaign in the high 20's, tired of the epic slog fest and crazy prep work. The end of the campaign nearly destroyed the world and I felt the story had run its course. I thought I was tired of magic items, broken characters and the players' lack of desire to set their own goals. Really, I was writing a novel and they were just playing the battles I dictated and adding flavor to the heroic characters. They were improv actors with me directing. I hated it.

My solution was to create a sandbox environment with short quests. I based it around Frandor's Keep but ran in 4E. The campaign was fun, but the long tactical nature of 4E hadn't gone away. I used two hit minions to speed it up but it still didn't fix the issue. We could only get thru a few encounters. The second problem soon reared its head. In creating short quests I hadn't restored enough player agency. Instead of choosing their fate, I had dictated the PCs remain near the Keep and take quests from a list I prepared each week. This was to let me do prep work I told myself. Additionally, I offered the chance for PCs to roll play on the forums with each other and the NPCs. This worked well and sparked some enthusiasm until work forced me to go out of town for several months. I tried to keep up from the hotel, but long hours and an odd schedule made play by post difficult. Following on the heels of that we discovered my youngest son is severely autistic. We tried to play for several more months but as he grew older and stronger it became more difficult. My game grew infrequent and so did players attendance. Rather than let it die, I called for a hiatus. The hiatus was supposed to be temporary. It died. Two years went by. I lost touch with most of those folks. I miss the game, I miss them. I found Hack&Slash. I went aha!

Today, my youngest is taller and wider than this older brother. He has never said a word in his life. I remember the terrible twos from my other children's childhood. Imagine that going on for four years with a child of 100 lbs. It's not the ideal environment to play D&D. Luckily, my family is very understanding. My wife especially. We have always gamed together. We played 3.5 and 4E together. She is running a halfling thief now. Mostly she is chasing the young one about, taking him for rides, and occasionally adding her gaming experience to the plans of the players. Without her the game, my blog and my job wouldn't be possible. OSR is fast combat. Thanks to a lot of folks on the web, I now run a game chalk full of player agency.

I still haven't answered the question have I? Why I am falling behind? Here it is, I look at my posts and say they're not good enough. I have stopped writing eight posts now. They are sitting there glaring back at me, accusing me. Writing the First Age material I pulled an old draft of my novel. Re-reading bits of it, I noticed how much better I think and see the world and how horribly I portray that when I put pen to paper. It's all so clear in my head. I can think about two subjects at once and see the connections but when I try to explain that connection it falls apart. Why? Because I know the world. I don't need to explain A and B to make the A&B connection make sense. The interesting bit is the A&B connection. Well I hope it is. I had been dragging my heels this week because I feared none of this was interesting to anyone but me. Then I got the two comments on my blog. Someone is reading. Those 8000 visits aren't just friends and family. That is surprisingly invigorating. I feel driven to catch up. Watch out world!

What keeps you writing? What keeps you going when your players play with their phones while your talking? How do you deal with the groans when you mention adventure hook?

 

Pimp My Mount

I had the best buffalo horse that ever made a track.
-Buffalo Bill
A horse is dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle.
-Ian Fleming

From Warg Riders to a Paladin's Steed fantasy is rife with examples of Heroes and their loyal or deadly mounts. Though the utilization of these fantastic creatures may vary from table to table the desire in our hearts is to charge into battle atop a noble steed and vanquish our foes. During my last campaign I gave my party mounts. They received special horseshoes that transformed normal horses into something specific and especially tailored to their Paragon Path. It also granted each rider the Mounted Combat feat. Despite my best intentions I never got to have the big mounted battle. A few times individuals used their mount's skills to great advantage but my players seemed to be happier to dismount and fight then try to understand the mounted combat rules.

Mount Combat Rules

The mounted combat rules really seem pretty simple. To break it down for you, if the rider has the Mounted Combat Feat they don't suffer a -2 penalty to attacks, get to use the mounts unique attack and either the mounts or riders physical skills which ever is better, which is pretty sweet. There is another a -2 penalty for not having a saddle.

During combat the rider and mount are one, ie they share the same initiative pool and action pool during combat. If the PC and mount become separated (more on this further down) then they share actions for that turn only. The next important rule to remember is that single attacks like melee and ranged only target the Rider or the Mount not both, this includes Attacks of Opportunity triggered by either. The attacker always chooses whom he attacks. However, area and close blast attacks target both. A PC is also considered to be in all squares of the mount's spaces and can attack from or be attacked in any of those spaces.

Alright, pretty straight forward, now to talk about getting separated. There are two methods for splitting rider from a mount. One method is to dismount as a standard action.

The other is to knock rider or mount prone or for them to be separated by forced movement. In the case of prone, the rider gets a save when he is knocked prone. If the save succeeds they remain in the saddle. Think of it as jousting. A knight pokes you in the shield with his lance. Your balance keeps you in the saddle. This is the save. Houserule: The rider can use Athletics in place of a flat save but the DC is the attack roll. I might also allow Acrobatics in some cases.

If the mount is the one being knocked prone then the mount is prone and the rider lands in a square adjacent to the mount. It's unclear if this also knocks the rider prone or if he lands on his feet.

Basing my experience on cinema and not on my terrified weekend with reins in my hand, I would say prone or at a minimum an acrobatic check to land upright. This is the charge scene from Braveheart where they set their spears against the Heavy Calvary. That guy flipping out of the saddle or sliding to the ground adjacent is you. No save on that one bud. Houserule: I use a d12 to determine the square. North is 1 and 12 is due west. Count around clockwise. Place fallen rider.

Similarly, if a rider is subjected to forced movement he can drag his mount with him and stay in the saddle. The rules intent when the mount is the one being pushed, pulled, slid etc is unclear, but I assume it works like being knocked prone, No Save.

Houserules - Basing forced movement on the prone rules I have been ruling that the rider gets a Save when draggin' his nag under him. I have also allowed a rider trained in athletics to use their or mounts athletics check vs. the attack roll as a dc to determine if they are able to maintain control. This is usually tougher than the 50% flat save chance but my players seem to like the flavor better.

Aerial, aquatic or climbing combat rules could also come into play at higher tiers of play but for land based mounts that is really all there is to it.

Tactical Advantages and Disadvantages

For this conversation I will stick to land based mounts, but more exotic fare adds access to unique terrain and circumstances. First and for most is speed. Mounts have greater speed than their foot bound compatriots. Secondly, mounts are walking extra hit points. A PC is going to be a little tougher if an enemy combatant is spreading its attacks between you and your mount. Thirdly, a mount adds skills that your PC might not normally be trained in. Need to jump a ravine to get into better tactical position, well your wizard might not be trained in athletics but it stands to reason his warhorse is.

Mounts aren't all glorious though. They are an extra set of options and statistics you may not be familiar with. Incorporating them into your arsenal and meddling party tactics around them takes time. In a one off battle that synergy may be missing. Also, fighting mount to mount means that you need to have other effects at your disposal. The biggest of those is forced movement and prone. Mounts are typically large creatures to account for the one size difference required. This means that tactically your one size category bigger. Finding cover is more difficult. You are also a bigger target for blasts, bursts, zones and walls. The other disadvantage is squeezing, if your mount squeezes you squeeze. The biggest disadvantage comes from the fact that mounts do not level. You can use a mount's special powers of your level or lower, in most cases. This gives you a narrow window of opportunity until your mount's attacks and defenses are no longer concurrent with the threats you are facing. That means your first level warhorse becomes outclassed by third to fourth level. This can be extended for three levels by 8th level with the Martial Practice Handle Steed. However, this doesn't provide your players with mounts for more than a few levels before they are looking for upgrades.

Mounts and Technicalities

Probably one of the hardest fantasy staples to pull off, mounts represent a significant investment in time, resources and planning. As any one who has ever had to deal with these types of things knows, most mounts are impractical in a dungeon. They are perfect targets for DM's when left tied up outside a dungeon and if your DM is a real stickler for money matters the cost of maintenance, handling, feeding, watering and storage are a headache the average group doesn't want to hassle with. Who could blame them? The DMG offers some suggestions around DM fiat to make them easier to use. Like having them belong to a party patron, or only used on specific quests. This puts me in the mind of disappearing familiars. Blck.

Another possible solution is the Figurines of Wondrous Power. A good mechanical representation of Drizzt's animal companion Guenhwyvar, figurines of Wondrous Power allow a player to conjure a handful of types of mounts from their figurines. I like this as a one off option the same way I like the Phantom Steed ritual for wizards and other ritualists, summoning eight steeds is handy. Though these steeds are for travel only and nothing in the ritual mentions their use in combat. A combination of these two effects can make for an effective way to add mounts to the equation without hassling the players.

Though I do find it a little Mighty Morphin Power Ranger to have four or more PCs all whip out various figurines at the same time. "I the black ranger summon the Obsidian Steed, I the white ranger summon the Marble elephant, I the Pink ranger summon the Pearl Sea Horse..." (oh and the Pink ranger is my instigator. Nick I am looking at you here buddy)


So setting aside magic, how does a DM sate the hunger some players feel to ride off into the sunset at the end of the campaign on wings of ebony?

Costs
According to the 4E players handbook a decent riding horse will set you back 75 gp. This is a mundane steed mind you. For an actual beast that you can engage in combat and won't bolt you are looking at almost ten times that amount or 680 gp. Adventure's Vault added more options for players. Creatures ranging from Draft Giant Lizards, not fond of that name by the way I call them Pack Drakes, all the way up to the mac-daddy Rimefire Griffon weighing in at a whopping 525,000 gp. Now beyond the actual problems of whom is going to be selling a creature taken from the elemental chaos comes the matters of caring, training and feeding it. None of this is covered in the 4E materials. If I am wrong please comment and let me know what I have missed. The DMG does cover some basics of mounted combat, but most of these other details are glossed over. I am not one to harp on WoTC, ok I am but not publicly and not about this sort of thing. Hopefully, I can look forward to a whole supplement on mounts and mounted combat in DND Next until then here are my calculations for the costs associated with maintaining mounts.


In this matter I lean on the research of Rod Noddenberry's Emporium of Niggling Details and supplements like AV1 and Mordenkainen's. Rod created a price guide for goods and services compiled from various editions of D&D and converted it to the economy most fitting with 4E. AV1 contains a thin veneer of mount rules with a few magic items and Mordy added hirelings back to the game.

Cost of owning a 75 gp Riding Horse

Stabling 5 sp per day
Beast Handler 1st level 15 gp per day (though this hireling would add other benefits lets only charge 25%)
Hose shoes 1 cp per day (2 gp per week smith cost/ time to manufacturer four shoes/ over time between shoeings)
Feed 5 cp per day

Replacement costs
Saddle and tack 10 gp
Saddlebags 4 gp

The 8th level Martial Practice Handle Steed negates the need of a Beast Handler, and adds a few interesting benefits to gaining mounts and the Mounted Combat Feat. Daily cost of owning a simple riding horse is 4.26 gp per day or roughly 1,555 gp per year. In other words 20 times the cost of the purchase price. A significant drain on party resources. As for owning the Rimefire Griffin do you let it out everyday to go hunt? What about a blade spider or any of the other exotic mounts?

Jury is still out on when, if ever I will give my party mounts again. I suppose if they or another DM asked about them I would suggest the following:

• Mounted Combat Feat and Saddles are a must for all PCs to keep combat effective
• I would level the mounts' Attacks, Defenses and HP like any other Monster
• Grant a new special ability or attack at every plateau 6th, 11th, 16th etc as part of treasure
• Contain the mounts in items or via a ritual that would allow them to disappear to a pocket dimension
• Or, Charge the PC's a 30 gp per week maintenance fee for each animal
•  

To Draw or Not To Draw

Today I want to address a pet peeve of mine from both sides of the screen. In just about every group I have played or DM'ed with is the one player that always thinks their character walks about with naked steel, wand or great axe at the ready. This player never expects any adverse effects like fatigue, accidental damage or npc reaction to come into play. In fact if any of these are mentioned they seem surprised. However, once combat starts they never declare the action to draw down. The action economy of their first turn always includes a minor power and they can't be bothered to invest/waste a feat in quick draw due to their absent minded playstyle. As a player it breaks immersion for me, either because the DM has to remind them or because they get that little extra boost. As a DM I find it unfair for those who do declare their intent and spend the actions. Not drawing shows a lack of commitment to a course of action, especially in the type of situation below. I realize this playstyle may not fit everyone's expectations but it does serve to illustrate my point.

Situation

Two forces approach each other. One group is hunting. They are armed with spears and bows and actively pursuing the quarry. The second group is traveling along a cobblestone road. The scout is in a forward position moving stealthily and silently thru the underbrush between the party and the hunters. Those on the road are not being quiet but are alert. Neither force would immediately be enemies on sight but violence is not out of the question.


At this point the DM makes a judgement call. A few questions run thru my mind in this moment.

1. Are the hunters moving at speed, if so what penalty do they get for passive perception? Are they making a lot of noise? Is the quarry making a lot of noise?

Yes, they are elves moving in haste to catch a fleeing boar so -2 circumstance. Hearing the boar is a DC 2 check. Hearing the level 4 npc party of elves moving is a DC 18. (level 14 mod dc +2 for greater than 100 ft) the elves are xenophobic and will not like to stumble across armed "brigands"

2. How far is the scout ahead of the party? What is the scout's passive perception or active? What instincts do my party have listed? Is any one in the party paying particular attention to the scout's location, if not are they aware thru passive perception or any other talents? Does anyone have the Alertness feat?

50 feet, 18 percept, none that apply, one member is actively keeping an eye on the scout, yes. The level 2 party has a combined passive stealth of 11 (clanking fighter and paladin), the scout gets the roll of 21.

Now to determine awareness. Everyone is aware of the boar's position. The elves are unaware of the party and the only the scout is aware of the elves, but only in as far as that there are more things in the forest moving quickly behind the loud noise.

Now the scout gets a single action for a surprise round and the one party member keeping an eye on the scout gets an insight check or perception check based on the scouts action.

Read aloud text

Fifty feet ahead something shakes the underbrush as it rushes at you. A half dozen creatures follow in its wake moving with stealth thru the foliage. You're confident that your current position affords you a measure of concealment. Those on the road are out in the open. What do you do?

The scout has a few options here and this decision sets the tone for the entire encounter

Free action shout a warning and give away position (in this case make the other side aware)

Minor draw a weapon (this is where feats like quick draw come in handy to delay the decision on what your facing)

Move back and maybe lose the advantage of concealment

Standard ready an attack or make a ranged attack (again quick draw is handy)

The watcher is going to take a cue from the scout.

Initiative is now rolled. If there is no boar things could be more complicated...

Everyone on the road who hasn't acted has had no chance to draw yet. The watcher may or may not have drawn. As could have the scout.

A boar bursts from the tree line it crosses the road mere feet from your scout. Six tall slender humanoids with spears and bows raised follow. The first two rush across the road. The other four slide to a halt on the road. Roll For Init!

In this situation the actions of the scout and watcher dictate the starting attitude of the elves from startled to hostile. The ensuing skill challenge will be heavily weighted by this attitude. Failure could result in a fight and more importantly take away the opportunity for the party to find out valuable information on the goblins they are tracking.

Now imagine this scenario where everyone has QuickDraw without expending any feats. No one has to roleplay their expectations on what is crashing thru the woods. They can delay indefinitely until one side attacks. It's like having a party with every member having a +30 bluff score and they are all sitting down to play poker. There is a decided advantage. What of staff wielders and glaive masters?

I see house rules out on the web for adding weapon speed penalties to initiative rolls. I have played in games where DM's ignore drawing. What do you do in your own games?

Race, Weapons and Culture in RPG's

Lot of hoopla around the inter webs about Monte's blog. Really I can't understand what all the fuss is about. The crux of the argument seems to be about wether the bonus a dwarf gets for the use of an axe is a physical distinction or cultural one. The other aspect of the discussion centers around if the use of an axe should be supported, forced or ignored by the mechanical rules. Are the days of the race driven weapon proficiencies over?

4e held onto these tropes for only three races dwarves, elves and high elves (or eladrin if you prefer). But what are these proficiencies? Do they limit what your character can use? Nope they open up choices for them. Support check. Do they force your dwarven rogue to use an axe? Nope. Do they allow your cleric or wizard to tote around an axe yep. So what is the issue? On the surface it seems to hinge on a portion of the community telling another part of the community how to play at your table. It's as sad as the edition wars. "The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules."* Why people need permission from a book to employ fun baffles me.

I can't figure it out. At my table I have had a Minotaur make a case for being a dwarven defender. Raised in the dwarven mines by his adopted father, he developed a lower center of gravity yada yada. Alah Corporal Carot of Discworld+ he finds out he is an orphaned heir to the throne and sets off to win back his throne from his treacherous uncle and finds his two brothers in the process. King Kordek has shaped the world and left a lasting mark on our campaign setting. Did the mechanics force any of that... No really good role playing and commitment to a character concept did.

Like wise the draegarian race is a direct cause of the above. Not the Stephen Brust usage but a re-envisioning. The race is the offshoot of a dragonborn and minotaur union. The exact mating requirements aren't important but the result is a scaled minotaur with horns. Players select stats from one race, and racial benfits from another. Is it balanced? Seems to be working so far. Had Kordek never been, the dragon born, dwarf, Minotaur alliance would not have been formed to fight the aberrant threat and draegarians wouldn't exist. Also helps that a drawing in an old Gurps supplement sparked my imagination many, many moons ago. 240 of them and counting.

Point is half-races are more than just elves, orcs and humans. At least they are at my table. Inspired by Darksun¥'s Muls, Flanaess€'s gnome titans and players with a flare for asking what would happen if I wanted to play a half bladeling half tiefling. By the way, is that a halfling? What if a halfling mates with a tiefling is that a three quarterling.

Anyway, outside of organized play dm's should say yes. As for the rules I leave that to calmer minds, because I can't see the issue. Even broken combos supported by strong story can change the campaign world in ways a DM can never envision and for fun there ain't nothing better. Till next time, "Game On!"


*Attributed to Gary Gygax by Allan Varney in a sidebar to a review of the Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game: "AMBER DICELESS ROLEPLAYING: Thoughts at Non-Random" in Dragon Magazine #182 (June 1992)

+ Terry Pratchett's Discworld is a series that uses a fantasy setting to satire the modern world.

€Flanaess is the world of BA's campaign setting in Knight's Of The Dinner Table written by Jolly Blackburn. Gnome Titans are also a playable race in Hackmaster Fourth Edition. Both published by Kenzer Co. Gnome+Dwarf= Gnome Titans

¥ Darksun is a campaign setting published by Wizards of the Coast, a division of Hasbro. Dwarf+Human=Mul

Yes I realize both of the examples I know off the top my head are the union of dwarves with some other race. I did mention I was a dwarf lover didn't I?

Coming soon:
half and half = ? More mixed races.
Timing Weapons Sheathed or Drawn

Time in Game

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.
 Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

Time in RPG's is a tricky business to convey accurately. Over the various editions the rules have conveniently broken down some aspects and left others widely open to interpretation. In 4E a round is thought to occur in about 6 seconds. (Rules Compendium page 189) That means that all most all combats last less than a minute. With a typical combat taking 18 to 36 seconds in "Game Time". For the players thirty minutes to two hours will pass. Combat ends with a short rest, ie a few minutes to catch your breath from the flurry of activity. The day ends with a single extended rest. I like some of the alternate rules out there for limiting extended rests. Simply stating that only one extended rest a day does not seem to be enough. The idea of requiring a safe well sheltered location to rest in is one I wholeheartedly support, but not one I have thrust upon my own players over our campaigns.

In your typical linear or near linear campaign the entire career of a PC from 1st level to 30th can occur in only a few short months up to a year. The absolute minimum being 30 days (due to requiring at least 30 extended rests, one for each level. The typical party takes two to three rests a level in my experience. Adding in a few ten-days per level for travel and you arrive at about 300 days or one year to obtain immortality. I found this matter quite distressing during my first and second campaign. I have always pictured heroic tales taking more time. This may be based on my love of Lord of the Rings, but Bilbo's adventure was a little over a year and Frodo's closer to two. I might ascribe low Paragon to the latter tale but the former was barely mid heroic. Aragorn's tale spanned nearly 50 years before he was king. Surely, he was only mid to high paragon at its conclusion. I am also plagued by my early experience with 1st and 2nd edition. The levels came slower the higher you advanced. However, on the counter point a 1 to 30 level campaign takes about 16 months to 36 months to play depending on your game frequency and table speed. No easy solution there.

In my current sandbox game I have been toying with the weekly session taking a ten-day for party prep and research. This is facilitated by an on-line forum where in the Players role play, shop, level, research, gossip and can get more out of their PC's lives. One PC is marrying, others are dating, another has a blossoming business. It is a fine line between creating a SIMS like in environment and a roleplay challenge. The PC's have a weekly expense book. That is not to say that they have to buy every meal nor clothing and gifts and what not. The typical PC spends about 30 sp a week on food and lodging. All other non-adventuring expenses are said to occur in that allotment. That amount is deducted from their over all silver intake. PCs can do odd jobs, buy businesses or receive stipends (Clerics, nobles etc) based on their character generation choices. This soon slides into the background but does present challenges when choosing missions purely for non-financial reasons. Then it can interfere with the PCs ability to buy that new armor or eat for the week but I digress. The forums are a struggle in that that ten-day between sessions is very abstract. What one PC finds out on the first day of the week may occur before or after what another PC does on the fifth day of our week. Its all about time "In Game" vs. time IRL. Not everyone has the same availability. When you sit down to game you have everyone's attention and things occur chronologically. I thought about linking post times to the time in game but away from the table things require a little less rigidity. I don't want folks feeling that have to rush to participate or time will pass them by. After all the whole hobby and this concept in particular is for fun. Once it ceases to be so it is time to bin it.

The sandbox method does create the passage of time though. Seasons change; 12 weeks have passed and mid-autumn has given way to winter. The world moves but only incrementally. The party has leveled up to 3rd and by my calculations at least two years will pass if we continue to 30th. As the party gets higher level and accumulate wealth, I expect that months or even years will pass "In Game" while only a week will pass for us IRL. After all managing a fief, kingdom or astral domain should occupy time when things are well and be but a brief interlude when they are not. How else will you get moments like Pippin and Beregond sitting upon the walls of Minas Tirith watching the gathering gloom first feeling despair and then finding courage...

Do you deal with time in your game? and if so How do you reckon its passing?

Defunct Houserules - Magic Item as Rewards

This is the first in a series of articles I am working on. The point is to trace the history of the Houserules we have used in the past and share what worked and what didn't. Along the way I'll speculate on why they didn't.

First on the list is magic items. The Internet is rife with suggestions on implementing magic item distribution. The DMG itself has plenty of alternate suggestions.

4e Standard Distribution

This is the system straight out of the core books. It awards four items to a five person party with gold value for a fifth each level. My party opted to split the gold equally between them leaving one player under powered for the level. In effect every five levels each player would receive four magic items and the gold for another. On the surface this system seems balanced and fair but their is a flaw. The DM spends a lot of time trying to provide items that the PC's want or can use and balancing that against the "fairness" of expected item level value. Secondly it provides roughly 30 items to each member of the party. My players weren't keen on shopping or utilizing rituals to change the items into something else. The sheer number items leads to longer turns and more ooh I forgot my weapon property when x = y. Enter the wish list system.

Wish List

Again this system is presented in the core books. It demands the players generate a wish list of items for the next five levels. In theory the DM picks from this list to build a treasure package for a given level. Getting the first list isn't easy but ranks higher up on my list of pulling teeth then getting a detailed background does. The real difficulty came when I needed to get an updated list. Again searching thru thousands items to find 30 for their PC was a chore my group wasn't interested in. Enter the rune system.

Rune System

Mr. Optimizer brought this system to the group, I can't give credit to whom ever the idea originated with and maybe the creator will be happy about that. I was trepidatious about using the system in part because of the source and in part because my player's were already disinclined to shop. The system uses blocks of residiium called runes. Connor McCloud's sword is fashioned from metal in Highlander from such a block. Each block represents a magic item level. A player takes the rune to a smith, weaver etc and thru ritual the base item is infused with magical powers. The player looks up an item and the rune + base item is the published magic item. If you later get a better rune simply yank the old one out of your sword and have some boots made. Then add the new one to your sword. This system gives players quite a bit of flexibility. Too much in fact, as it quickly resulted in surplus gold. We added a cost to this re-enchantment process. This system still does nothing to reduce the number of magic items carried nor the analysis paralysis having so many can cause in Epic Tiers. Not to mention some magic items are just plain better and there are of course combinations that impact game balance. Enter magic rarity.

Magic Rarity

This system was released with the Rules Compendium. It assigns a value to magic items rare, uncommon and common. I am glad this didn't come with a ccg which was my initial fear. My hope was that the simply better items would be classified as rare. Nope. The effort to categorize items struggles on over at WotC. Meanwhile, my own hopes were dashed. The unspoken promise that this would return some of the specialness of magic items to the system was broken. My other issue with this system is the additional complexity it added. Now not only did I have level, fairness and game balance to contend with but I had to worry about rarity. System bloating needs antacid.

Inherrent Bonus

As I was ending my second campaign and considering letting D&D go the way of the dodo I stumbled across something called the Inherrent Bonus system. Supposedly this system is in the DMG but to this day I haven't been able to find it. The closest is the sidebar in the DMG2 on page 138 entitled a reward based game. The theory is that instead of math based items you give players the bonuses to attack, damage and defenses that they would get from magic item enhancements as freebies. I like to think of this like the assassin that can pick up any weapon and make it "magic". I can hear it now, "but Axe what about those extra powers and properties?" To be honest I don't miss them. My players get story based items that grow in power as they level.

I discussed this with my players outlining my plan and the system. They agreed tentatively to the play test. I then worked into the end of the previous campaign that the spell plague they caused resulted in the destruction of all residiium. This fulfilled one players destiny and tied nicely into explaining the lack of magic items and the change I made to ritual magic.

For example my wife's paladin started in plate mail, she has a broadsword, and a holy symbol. She gets +1 to damage, attacks with both the broadsword and holy symbol. She also gets a +1 to AC, Fort, Reflex, and Will from armor and a non-existent neck slot item. This makes her a little more powerful then your standard first level character, sure, but it hasn't tipped the scales into ruining my fun as the DM.

Her story item is her broadsword. It was given to her by her uncle and that makes it special in character. Playing on that fact, it is the item I am focusing on improving during heroic tier. At first level she killed a Short-tailed Gar. A Gar is a pretty tough creature from Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. The creature's blood was infused into the blade. Now when she draws the blade it glows with the same sickly green glow as the Gar's eyes. This is the weapon's property and ties into the choice to kill the Gar. As she progresses in level and makes in character choices I add powers to the sword about every three levels. At 10th I may start in on her armor. At 20th her Holy Symbol.

Another player, the rogue, chose to save a prisoner from being whipped on a pillory. They crawled thru a privy hole to reach the river and then swam to shore braving the rapids and waterfall. I marked this character's choice by adding a property similar to slick armor to his now waterlogged and stained leather armor. The stains give a simple bonus to stealth.

We have only played nine sessions but the personal touch seems to be more rewarding then the constant flood of magic items. The slower accumulation of money and difficulty purchasing magic items has been refreshing as well. We spend less time on treasure and more on gaming. Our experimentation with Magic Items has brought frustration and boredom around to something personal and fun. Nuff said.

As, promised the PDF

Here is the Hill Giant adventure I created based in part on the excellent work of Kenzer and Company.
I highly recommend beginning DM's or DM's looking to create a sandbox adventure investing in Frandor's Keep.

Week 5 of the Campaign - Prep Article - In Search of a Hill Giant

I am into my fifth week of my 3rd Dungeons and Dragons campaign with my Virtual Table group. I relayed some of the information on how I set up the campaign and today I am updating the process and using this as a sample of how I plan my weekly sessions. Let's get started. Warning: this article contains Frandor Keep Spoilers.

Background
On Saturday I posted a summary of the night's session on our group's forum. The party used the session to deal a blow to the local group of Brigands known as Rikar's Ravens and will start off this week leveling to 2nd. On Sunday I updated the character wealth on the forum to give the party a chance to shop. Both of these actions are standard activities for our group and take about 30 mins total. I rolled on my random rumor tables and posted the results for the group to digest at the same time. The group has a meeting in character each week to decide what rumors to pursue. Tonight at midnight the vote closes and the Hill Giant rumor is leading the pack by a long-shot. It is now mathematically impossible for any other result to be achieved.Any one familiar with 4E's monster manual and hill giants are probably wondering WTH? Hill giants are level 8 to level 13 standard monsters. This is well out of the threat range of a second level party.

So why would I do this? The answer is simple during week 3 one of my players met a down on his luck bounty hunter named Larzon. Larzon was down on his luck due to being unable to find and slay the hill giant he tracked to the area. This was to be a hint at a future adventure opportunity. My player, whom we will call Mr. Instigator, decided he would scream out a challenge to the hill giant and issue a warning. He is playing a half-orc thief, and as such he knows giant. The rest of the group has no idea what he hollered, but I am sure the giant would have taken offense. A 20 on the giant's perception check ensured the echo would reach his ears.  I dearly love Mr. Instigator. He keeps my game moving and doesn't let the game bog down. The big problem is he loves to be hated so I have to respond in a manner that makes the rest of the party gasp and him chuckle. So during the rumor list last week I posted this as the warlord's rumor. (The warlord was out of town and missed so...)

Seiler - Does not show at the meeting; his time spent with the blacksmith's daughter has become greater lately. Now, his sister is also in town. They haven't been eating at the Broken Hilt though due to the large boulder that now sits in the middle of the dining hall. Rumor has it that a large boulder arrived via the roof. Apparently, if you believe such tales, a hill giant launched the boulder from the mountain top and missed his target for it landed in the Broken Hilt.

Now, during week four the promise of the Ravens' treasure protected by a gnarly beast was more interesting to the party than the Hill Giant rumor was. This probably had to do with the lack of funds most of the party was suffering from and the hate they had developed for the Ravens. This week though Mr. Instigator is leading the charge out into the wild to find the Giant and bring him down once and for all.

Building the Adventure

The party will start in the Keep. My standard party is pretty weak in Nature. The best one in the group has a whopping +6, that is my son the Wizard. These are city dwelling folk trying to make their living on the frontier tsk, tsk. I have dropped hints about the forums as my PCs shop, hinting about Larzon's superior woods lore.

Encounter 1 Role-playing - Larzon Bayz - Optional

Description text

Larzon is an enormous Draegarian, his minotaur horns are shod in iron and his dragonborn scales are a fierce bright orange. His studded leather armor is supple and well oiled. A greatsword sticks above his left shoulder. A heavy crossbow with a quarrel case is never far from his reach.

Facts

• Compentent Hunter
• Drinker/ Gambler
• Sterile Race
• Born of a Far Continent Dragonborn and Minotaur
• Often found sitting sharpening his sword in front of his tent

History

• Found his way to Frandor tracking a hill giant
• Along the way he was offered a bounty for retrieving stolen property from thugs (Rikar's Ravens)
• He has since lost the trail and only hears rumors (like the one about the boulder in the Broken Hilt Tavern) 
• With no luck on either front he eventually moved out of the Keep and set up his tent in Quarry town 
• Despite his success as a Bounty Hunter he has little to show for it 
• Drinking and Gambling eat up his income 
• Often said over a Legasa Ale

Larzon "No better quarry than some scum who deserves a killing."

This is the basics of Larzon's character. The party met him when he bought them an ale for taking out one of the Ravens' Lieutenants. I want to bring him back in now to aid the party with the hill giant. It is entirely possible that the party will never make the trip to Q-town to get his aid. That's fine. I prep it any way.

I want to have a challenge set up to get the party to interact and get to know Larzon a little more. My initial idea is to have him drinking like Inigo Montoya in the Princess Bride. I don't want him to seem totally useless however, so I decide to go with dice instead. This gives two of my players the ability to revisit some role-playing from week 2 when they used Sorcery and Psionics to rip off a poor dragonborn guard man in a game of poker. In fact I will have the guard come back for this game of chance as well. Rounding out my gambler's will be a human Jiric Helsan. The PCs haven't met Jiric yet but his interest in wild creatures could put a spin on the whole adventure. He is a slaver that ships demi-humans and monsters south to the arena. He can perk up at the mention of the giant and create an inter party debate.

This gives me three NPCs in the situation with different goals.
I list them out with their agendas like so:

Jiric Helsan - Convince party to bring back the giant alive (offering 500 sp), introduction to the party for future ops or as an enemy at the parties option
Lazon Bayz - Happy to see party again , he tries to get them off track and into the gambling; if beaten at dice or convinced by party that they need his help will walk away
Shathen "Shast", Man-at-arms - Not so happy to see Crazelle and Zusk; wants a rematch, wearing plain clothes, If the party loses some of his months pay back to him he can provide info about sightings of the giant as a lead

Encounter 1a Skill Challenge or RP - Where is the monster?

Complexity 1 if skill challenge, dcs will be level 4 to be competitive with their skill sets

If the party doesn't bite on the Larzon hook, I still have to get them to the adventure site. They have heard the boulder was hurled from Karpar Peak, but my monster doesn't live there since it is the location of a watch tower. Those guards might be a good place to start. A few easy checks talking to them using Social Skills (Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate, and Insight) would do the trick here. This is a good idea and I will make it simpler because of that.

Alternatively the party could use general monster knowledge and try and locate the monster that way.
As cruel as it is I will make these moderate and hard checks. (History, Dungeoneering, Nature at moderate and Religion, Arcana, Perception at hard) I throw perception in here as part of the tracking skill set. This is the straightforward kick in the door method, and plays to the party's weaknesses instead of their strengths.

I should have a third example option here but I am having vapor lock. Maybe it will come to me over the next few days. For now it is enough to decide that Physical skills will be at moderate DCs though I don't see a clear way to use them in this situation. (Stealth, Thievery, Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Heal)

Encounter 2 Exploration/Travel - Mt. Tanara

Here I describe the terrain as the PCs approach. This satisfies my Ms. Explorer's desire to see the world. She will interact with the environment so I need to describe the splintered trees and large foot prints. She is a professional CSI which leads to challenges, luckily I can count on Mr. Instigator to keep things moving if we are stalling.
I also will throw in a random encounter. I have sixteen left from my initial prep. Only six of these are guaranteed combat encounters. The others are role-play and exploration. I prepare a second version of the dwarf miners one. It originally read:

"A half-dozen dwarves in miners clothing lounge casually on a fallen log next to the road. They eye you suspiciously as you approach. "

Now it reads:
"A half-dozen winded dwarves squat behind a copse of bushes. They scan the tree tops cautiously, picks and shovels wielded as makeshift weapons in their hands."

This will add nicely to the tension of facing the giant in a few moments. Depending on the players actions they may gain a bonus to the confrontation with the giant by interacting with the dwarves that just survived a brush with death.

Encounter 3 Combat - At the Giant's Lair - Mt. Tanara

For the actual fight I want something lethal but attainable. There is every chance a character or more will die Saturday. This isn't my ideal desire but it will reinforce the fact that this environment is truly sand-box and be careful what you take on. I take the 12th level Hill Giant Rockthrower from Monster Manual 3 to use as my base monster. This is way out of my players threat range. I adjust down five levels. Dropping its AC and defenses appropriately. I do the same for Attacks and damage. This monster has three attacks Greatclub, Knockdown Throw, and Shattering Rockburst. My RP reason for the low level is the hill giants old age. This will also be important for its solitude.

This monster will effectively be run as a solo monster so I want to make sure it has varied actions and can deal with five separate attackers at once. Its area burst dazing power is ok for this but it is a recharge and a standard. I do a search for other hill giants and don't find anything that strikes my fancy. I expand my search to all giant like creatures and find a Kick power I like from the Monster Vault Ettin. I rename the power Foot Shove and keep it as a move. It doesn't damage but it keeps the Giant mobile. Its still not enough with two defenders (Pally, and Fight...Weapon Master) a striker (Thief) and a Warlord (blah, Marshall) my players are melee heavy.

I add a power I call mighty roar as a minor. I have it do a d4 of thunder damage and push those hit 1 square giving the giant room to maneuver. This could get annoying for me as well as the players, so Recharge 4, 5, 6. I check my player's resistances, and verify no one is playing a dwarf :D. Only the wild sorcerer has a 1 in 10 chance to ignore this damage type and she probably won't be close enough, but I decide if she reduces all the damage the push fails as well. Validates her choices and could be of tactical significance, even at a long shot on the dice.Half way home, I upgrade the brute to an elite to keep the encounter tough.

The rest is terrain and victory conditions. The giant's lair is chosen for its limiting approach. I place four locations that allow PCs to get up and have height advantages, these will benefit the ranged characters if they can utilize them. I force a difficult approach with a deep pit allowing me to take a round to taunt and beat on them. I add climbing areas and difficult terrain. The Githyanki wizard will be able to allow one PC to bypass this difficult approach, allowing him to shine. I set the DC's for the climb at 14, see yesterdays article to understand why.

Hill Giant Lair with Symbols

These leave a single use terrain power and my victory condition. The single use terrain will be to trigger the avalanche of stones precariously balanced above the cave entrance. I will hint at this thru out the encounter as the giant plucks boulders from it to hurl at the party. For example "As the giant grabs another boulder from the cliffside, the sound of loose scree sliding down between the boulders reaches your ears." The trigger will be thunder/force damage to the hill side, or an athletics check to dislodge a key boulder etc.

The single use terrain ties into the two methods of victory conditions. Should the rock slide be triggered the hill giant will be pinned unconscious beneath the rubble. This will allow the PCs to sell him off to Jiric the Slaver, if they so choose. The other option is to bloody the creature and manage to succeed on the DC 25 intimidate check. The party has a max roll of 32 on intimidate so this has a 35% chance of success.Hmmm, any treasure? Need to research hill giant lore to see how I can modify a weapon, or gear appropriately. Leave that for tomorrow and another article

Encounter 4 RP - Wrap Up
The party can wrap up by getting the giant back down the mountain alive if applicable, meet up with Larzon to tell of the exploit, take the ears in to collect the bounty, bury their dead or do something else I don't even see during the prep.

Jiric has two story awards tied to him - one for going to work for him and one for putting him out of business
Larzon has two story awards tied to him - only one matters for this adventure, if the party used his aid or not
The party will garner a large amount of fame for pulling this off, as new of a band as they are, this reward will be to reputation

The Art of Building a Failable Skill Challenge - Axe Man Method

Neuroglyph posted his Article Skill Challenges: Impossible To Fail! which is prompting my posting of two articles this week. I tried to convey my thoughts in brevity via the comments over there and Neuroglyph filled in some of the blanks for me but I thought I would expound on the discussion a bit further.

The links to his two articles are HERE and HERE.

I am going to use my current group consisting of a Half-orc Brutal Scoundrel Rogue, a Dragonborn Baravura Warlord, a Dragonborn Virtuous Paladin, a Tiefling Marauding Fighter (er Weapon Master), a Drow Wild Sorcerer, and a Kalashtar Psion. I am using my party because I have the data handy and in my opinion because running a published adventure requires you to make some adjustments based on your party’s strengths and weaknesses.



The above chart is taken from my current 1st level group. The first chart is a graph of the probability of the best individual making a successful 1st level skill check. The party is strong in Intimidation and weak in Endurance and Nature. Arcana, Religion and Streetwise are secondary weaknesses. Every other skill has a 95% or more chance of succeeding on an easy Skill check. Only the weak skills will be used at the easy DC in my skill challenges. I do use these DC for checks, both passively and actively, to dole out information to the whole party or the SME (subject matter expert) during exploration and role-playing encounters.





 This second chart is used to look for the overlap between the best roller (Orange) and the worst roller (Blue). The dot represents the passive mark (Skill bonus +10). The Green, Yellow and Red lines are the DCs with the max DC for 30th level in blue at the top of the chart.

My worst roller in Arcana has a +0 and my best a +4. The overlap of the two varies from DC 5 to DC 20. That means my worst roller has a 5% chance of succeeding on DC 20. It also means that the best roller has a 5% chance of failing on DC 5. When designing a skill challenge involving a single Arcana check I will aim at a DC that allows success 50% to 75% for the SME and 25% to 50% for the Worst roller. This range is the sweet spot of fun for my group. Adjust it thru experimentation for your own group. For us this encourages skill use by anybody in the party for any skill but still rewards the SME for his skill choices. It also follows along the guidelines for monster defenses. A first level moderate DC 12 fits this criterion providing a 60% chance of success for my SME’s (Psion/Sorcerer). It gives a 40% chance of success for the worst rollers (Paladin/Warlord/Rogue), but a 45% chance for the Fighter. This is where the math for the DCs works well, mainly because there is no Wizard in this party.

Now let’s look at thievery. There is a rogue in my party i.e. a character class that’s primary attack stat matches his training options. Looking at the chart I know the Rogue will always succeed at an easy check. He has a 90% chance of making Moderate DC and a 50% chance of making the hard DC, and this is without his thief tools (an additional +2 for some checks). The worst roller in the party can not make the hard check with a roll of twenty. Normally, your thief is going to pick the lock or disable the trap or pick pockets so you could just set the Hard DC and go on down the road. This same logic applies to stealth or diplomacy or what ever other skill your SME has training and a primary stat in. Part of the purpose of building a skill challenge instead of calling for a single skill check is to engage the entire party. Maybe the party has to make two simultaneous thievery checks to unlock the vault. Just for fun, imagine making two pick lock checks instead of turning the keys in the Skynet vault (Ref: Terminator 2). The thief can’t make both checks. How do you challenge both characters? Splitting the difference between the overlap arrives at a DC of 14. This gives the thief an 80% chance of success and if the worst rollers (Paladin/Fighter) step forward a 14 gives them a 20% chance of success. My Warlord and Psion are in between with a 25% chance and the Sorcerer has a 45% chance. Logically the party will have the Sorcerer be the second roller. (Er, but there is always that outside chance of miscommunication that is both painful and fun to watch as the DM)

So this is the theory lets put the theory into practice. I am going to use the cliché moment where the Fellowship has to get into King Theoden’s presence and warn him of an impending orc attack. (Refer to the Two Towers to see how Aragorns’s party accomplished this feat) Theoden’s advisor Grima has poisoned his mind against the party. His guards are on high alert due to the growing threat of war. My party isn’t Aragorn’s. They may use similar tactics or something completely unexpected, I won’t know until the actual session. Therefore, I prepare all the DC’s. (Note: the DC for intimidate is based on my players awesomeness not on how hard it is to intimidate the king, his guards or advisor) I don’t follow the typical use skill A in manner B methodology. Here is what I have come up with.

Scene 1 – Access the hall – 2 Successes before 2 failures

Setup – “Somewhere inside the Hall of Eodras is King Theoden, probably still mourning the loss of his eldest son. Hama and two of his gate guards patrol the great bronze doors to the hall. A half-dozen archers are on the walls around you. The city buzzes with worry for the on-coming war, guards and peasants alike are alert and wary. Somewhere the king’s advisor lurks ever vigilant for those that would break his hold over the king’s mind. You must alert the king before the sun rises to have time to prepare a defense, the sun has just begun to set. How will you get in to see the king?”

Primary Skills
DC 12, 19 –Endurance, Arcana, Nature, Religion, Streetwise
DC 13, 20 - Athletics, Perception, Insight, Dungeoneering, History, Heal
DC 14, 21 – Acrobatics, Stealth, Thievery, Diplomacy, Bluff
DC 22 – Intimidate

Kick off Skills
DC 8

First Failed Check – Raise DCs by 2 except intimidate
Full Success – The party gains access to the hall with weapons
Partial Success – The party gains access to the hall, but without weapons or some members are caught and arrested (non social encounter)
Total Failure – The party is driven off if negotiating with the Door warden or taken captive if attempting to enter via subterfuge/B&E – Raise the DCs by 2 and repeat the challenge or move to Scene 2 taking place in the prison with raised DCs

So for Scene 1 the party has to come up with a way to enter the hall. I have no idea what skills are going to be used or in which way. I list to DCs one for the intended use of the skill and one for using it as a replacement skill. A player using athletics to impress the gate guard, in place of a social skill, can earn a success by making the Hard DC listed second. Since, players typically do this with their primary attack stat + training combo I have no compunction about using the higher DC. I give the scene a kick off skill in case nobody has any ideas about how to get into the place. Using Insight as a kick off skill to determine the gate guard’s mood, body language or just to get a hint of about Rohirim culture is a free easy check without real chance of success or failure. Likewise, using Perception to walk the perimeter and find an open window could be a kick off skill, I might also call for a stealth or bluff check to hide or act inconspicuous while doing this. The perception check is at no risk but the bluff/stealth is a normal check with risk of failure.

Ok so getting a little too much into running the challenge, going to pull it back a touch. With scene one designed as a two minion encounter I move on to scene two. Scene two is a little tougher. I intend it to be the confrontation with Grima. No matter when the PCs try to enter the Hall, scene 1 applies. Scene two is contingent on when the PCs decide to break in. Scene two could occur in the throne room directly after scene 1, or it might occur when the king summons his adviser from his bedchambers or even possibly after the PCs are arrested and the adviser comes down to the dungeons instead of the king. I know I want it to occur but when is flexible. There is also the possibility of Scene 2 and Scene 3 occurring simultaneously.

Scene 2 – Confronting Grima – 2 successes before 1 failure

Set-up – “Grima appears, he is pale and greasy of skin and hair. He walks with a hunch and speaks with a silky-toned voice. “Why do you trouble my lord in his time of grief?” The words seem to seep into your mind, you feel bothersome and shallow for bringing this matter to the king.

GM Note: Grima is using charm magic to slowly sap the strength of the king and his loyal subjects. Eowyn is the least affected by this spell, checks to break the hold on her gain a +2 circumstance bonus. The spell can be countered with divine, psionic, or arcane magic once detected by the party or countered by social skills.

Primary Skills
DC 12, 19 –Endurance, Arcana, Nature, Religion, Streetwise
DC 13, 20 - Athletics, Perception, Insight, Dungeoneering, History, Heal
DC 14, 21 – Acrobatics, Stealth, Thievery, Diplomacy, Bluff
DC 20 – Intimidate

Kick off Skills
DC 8 – to initially detect the magic of Wormtongue’s voice

Full Success – The party breaks the hold of Grima on Theoden his amulet shatters. The heroes still must convince Theoden of impending doom. Move to Scene 3
Total Failure – The party fails to break the magician’s hold on Theoden. The party must now defend themselves against the Rohirim present. Slaying anyone during this encounter will raise the level of scene 3 by one level.

Again the DCs are very similar but I only give the party a single opportunity of failure. A fight could occur here; this would add no XP to the skill challenge but moves the story forward. During the fight the PCs will need to find that the source of Grima’s magic is the amulet about his neck.

Scene 3 – Convincing the King – 3 Successes before 2 failures

Set-up – “Orcs are coming and the hour grows late. You have but little time to make your voice heard and convince the King of your sincerity. Choose your words and actions wisely.”

Primary Skills
DC 12, 19 –Endurance, Arcana, Nature, Religion, Streetwise
DC 13, 20 - Athletics, Perception, Insight, Dungeoneering, History, Heal
DC 14, 21 – Acrobatics, Stealth, Thievery, Diplomacy, Bluff
DC 22 – Intimidate

Kick off Skills
DC 8 –  None

Total Success – Theoden summons the door warden and has his nephew released from prison. He means to make ready a ride against the Orcs
Partial Success – Theoden summon the door warden and has his nephew released. He orders defenses to be readied and you to be given rooms as his guests.
Failure – Theoden is not convinced by your words, the Rohirim are doomed. The only question is do you stay and fight and maybe die with them, or do you take matters into your own hands and try something else?

Now that I have done the prep I run through the scenario several times and look for at least three possible methods I would use to solve this problem. I create a total victory condition. I.e. if the party comes up with a solution that short cuts the process what happens. “King Theoden orders his forces marshaled and kick Wormtongue down the front steps of his Hall, banishing him forever on penalty of death."

I check each PC’s skills and ensure they have something they can offer. I use spider web charts like this one. The graph represents the 50% chance result a PC could get (ie Passive).