Sunday, January 11, 2015

Too soon for House Rules?

+Jeremy Friesen over at the excellent gaming blog Take On Rules has started a discussion about House Rules for his upcoming 5E campaign.  This, naturally, has me considering the same thing because if you can't steal from the best why steal at all?  Jeremy's goal seems to be to transform his 5E game into something more closely resembling Burning Wheel.  While I'm not adverse to that idea, I don't think my players would like that particular gritty style in their D&D.  Who knows?  We'll certainly talk about it.  In the mean time, I do have a few ideas for my own house rules.

Critical Hits - When a player rolls a critical hit they may apply maximum damage to their roll instead of rolling another weapon die.  This gives criticals a bit more punch.  Those classes that add additional dice to their criticals may still do so.  Those dice are not maximized (or should the be?).  

I haven't decided if monsters should follow this rule yet.  I'll play with it in the first session and see how it affects gameplay, one way or the other.

Critical Fumbles - Rolling a one on your attack roll is more than just an automatic miss.  It is an opportunity for the DM to introduce additional elements/complications.  Broken bow string?  Dropped weapon?  Additional enemies showing up?  I'm going to have fun with this.

Firing a missile weapon into melee - I can't believe there are no rules governing this.  I'll allow players to fire into a melee involving one of their allies at disadvantage.  If the player misses with the lower die, I'll consult the higher die and see if it hits the armor class of their ally.  If it makes narrative sense that the ally could be hit, then the ally will be hit by the missile weapon.  Again, will play with this in game and see how it goes.

Playtested this rule last night and it seemed like it was too much of a burden on ranged fighters, which is exactly what I was warned about.  Instead of the rule as written above, I'll just introduce the opportunity to hit an ally if the attacking character fumbles his attack roll.  The only time a ranged attacker will attack with disadvantage is when he is also in melee and trying to fire his ranged weapon, as written in the rules.


So, thoughts?  Am I screwing up the game before I even play?

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Character Profile: No One

No One, so named by his fellow orcs, never quite fit in with the rest of his tribe, The Broken Arrows. He was always considered to be "too human".  He was a little too bookish, a little too inquisitive, and a little more merciful than his fellow, full-blooded tribesmen and this set him apart in a significant way.

It was after a particularly brutal raid on a human village that things changed for No One.  He had mostly refused to take part in the wanton destruction and death and was brutally whipped by his chief as punishment.  It was during the whipping that No One had a vision from the God, Helm.  Helm chastised No One for failing to protect the innocent humans that his tribe had slaughtered.  He called on No One to lift the Gauntlet of Helm and be ever watchful in the cause of honor, strength and defense of the weak and innocent.  No One, inspired by the vision, rose up and killed his chief, Grak Slit-Eye, and fled the village.  Since then, he has dedicated his life to heeding Helm's call and defending the innocent of the Realms.  Subsequently, No One has accepted his name as a badge of honor.  He is the vessel through which he enacts the will of Helm, and, as such,  he is No One.



Helm:

He of the Unsleeping Eyes, the Watcher, the Vigilant, the Vigilant One, the Great Guard, the God of Guardians
Intermediate Power of Nirvana
LN
PORTFOLIO: Guardians, protectors, protection
ALIASES: None
DOMAIN NAME: Nirvana/Everwatch
SUPERIOR: None
ALLIES: Arvoreen, Clangeddin Silverbeard, Cyrrollalee, Gaerdal Ironhand, Gorm Gulthyn, Moradin, Torm, Yondalla
FOES: Bane (now dead), Bhaal (now dead), Garagos, Mask, Shar, Talos
SYMBOL: An open, staring eye with a blue pupil and outline painted on the back of a right-hand war gauntlet or the palm of a left-hand war gauntlet
WORSHIPPERS ALIGNMENT: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN

Character Creation Walkthru


Thursday, January 8, 2015

Character Profile: Elalanil

Elalanil has led the classic sheltered life of the deep-forest elves, and hasn't learned hate or avarice on any grand scale.  Like all Elves he hates Orcs and the like, but nothing terrible has ever happened to him.  He loves the forest and is as wild and moody as the deepest of them, swinging from cheerfully playful to menacing instantly if provoked.  Around those he does not know well, however, he is reserved and aloof like all of his kind.

He is very good with plants and animals, and he is a fierce protector of everything natural, to the point of earning recognition from the coveted Emerald Enclave.  Not a lot, and much of that unfavorable, but enough that the Emerald Enclave is in a bit of a dilemma.  On the one hand it would look bad if they refused entry to someone so devoted to the cause of nature, and yet on the other hand Elalanil is somewhat aligned with Good.  Not enough to warrant flat out refusal, but enough to cause friction.  And then there is the complete willingness to take a hands-on approach to correcting imbalances.  And why can't he worship someone more worthy of a Druid, like Silvanus?  Why does it have to be a second-string Chaotic god, of the Good type no less?

While none of this is enough to deny entrance into the Emerald Enclave, it is very... uncomfortable.  Definitely a problem that needs addressing, but how?  And who has the time for that sort of thing?  If there were some way to get him out from underfoot for a while then this could be dealt with later.  Perhaps this Dwarf that is making a bit of a ruckus is more dangerous than he seems?  Dwarves are always causing trouble, after all, and surely bear watching.  And what a perfect assignment for a would-be novice member of the Enclave, one that could take who-knows how long!  An important task like this shouldn't wait, Elalanil should leave immediately!  Or at least at first light...


Elalanil worships Rillifane Rallathil:

Power: Intermediate deity
Title: The Leaflord, the Wild One, the Great Oak, the Many-Branched, the Many-Limbed, Old Man of the Yuirwood
Alignment: CG
Worshipers: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN
Clerics: NG, CG, N, CN
Symbol: Oak tree
Domains: Chaos, Elf, Good, Plant, Protection
Portfolio: Woodlands, nature, wild elves, druids
Favored weapon: The Oakstaff (quarterstaff)

Elalanil in the Neverwinter Woods


Character Profile: Zook

Glimzookfrugsindri "Fnippernim" Ningel-Nackle

Mostly I go by "Zook", but I've found my people's love of names comes in handy. To...ah... change things up, if necessary. I can't use "Sindri Nim Nackle" in Waterdeep anymore, for example. There's a, um... Lord there. Lord Harsen Rind. See, while traveling with my old troupe, The Clash at Tethyamar Keep, (a very fine bunch of minstrels, travelers, actors and knaves) this lord gave us an...unfavorable review. He was, apparently, not a fan. I love a good insult, and never take them personally. They're quite a game, actually. So in retaliation I composed a rather bawdy song, of which he was the subject. It caught like wildfire, soon sung all over the city. I think maybe this lord was not popular with the common folk of the city. Now I'm kinda wanted. Well, "Sindri Nim Nackle" is wanted. At least there, by that querulous human. This isn't anything new, and probably will happen again in some other large city. It's part of the nature of being a traveling entertainer.

When we, my troupe, very willinginly and of our own volition left Waterdeep for Neverwinter, we decided to try something new. Instead of booking performances with nobles and inns, as a troupe, we took our talents our own way. It was supposed to be only for a couple weeks or so, each doing our own acts, and pooling the money made afterwards. However, I got lucky. Really lucky.

One night, at some inn, I noticed a couple of Dwarves in the audience, not uncommon, but sometimes it pays well to play to a small, but wealthy looking, part of the crowd. My retelling of famous Dwarven battle-songs and epics won them over. One of them, Gundren Rockseeker, offered me patronage. Actual patronage. It was a modest stipend, but included a room. I did, of course, work the contract in my favor. Us gnomes are excellent at such language.

In light of this patronage, I stayed in Neverwinter, performing at the behest of Mr. Rockseeker. I bade The Clash at Tethyamar Keep safe travels and good fortune. That troupe will always be my family, and my home. For now, our paths part. Someday I will rendesvous with them again, and will be welcome with open arms.

Soon Mr. Rockseeker says he has an important task for me. Undertaking an adventure. I suspect he will want me to record the stories, and compose songs of the heroics which take place. I am ready to meet my new companions, and embark again on the road.


A Slight Detour or a New Direction?

The group has decided to take a break from Burning Wheel and dip our toes into the new version of Dungeons and Dragons, the 5th edition.  While we enjoyed Burning Wheel and will return to it, we felt we had gotten a less than perfect start and want to reboot the game.  In the mean time, we will be playing D&D as a sort of palate cleanser.  Burning Wheel is a lot of work!  We just want to put our brains on cruise control for a bit and see what all the hoopla is about with the new edition.

That being said, I will be leading the plunge with a foray into the Lost Mine of Phandelver, the adventure included in the Beginner Boxed Set.

For my players, here is the map of the area in which you will be adventuring:


Prominent NPC's:

Gundren Rockseeker

You know Gundren and his brothers.  Typical dwarves:  greedy and lustful, but full of mirth and unexpected generosity.  He's hired you to do a job and he wants it done right.  You know you don't want to disappoint ol' Gundren!

Sildar Hallwinter


You don't know this older, retired human warrior, but Gundren seems to have his trust.  Perhaps that's good enough...for now.


Sunday, December 14, 2014

Burning Faith - Dramatis Personae


The Fist of the 3rd Order

John Small

Linus of Woodberry













Roylin

Barkus al Sirat












Brenly Astor












NPC's


Master Sollis













Master Peter













Mender Ignatius













Brother Carter

The Woodsman