Is an ultimate edition of D&D possible?

Wizards of the Coast has officially announced Dungeons & Dragons 5E.  This probably isn’t a shocker to people who follow the industry.  The rehiring of veteran game designer Monte Cook, especially considering the tenor of his recent Legends & Lore articles, pointed to a new edition.  Recent rulebooks have also seemed more willing to experiment with the existing D&D 4E rules, reminiscent of late D&D 3E books like the Tome of Battle.

And of course sagging sales of D&D 4E products probably sped things along.  After all, traditionally nothing sells as well as the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide and Monster Manual.

What I find interesting is that D&D 5E was announced so early in the process.  Even though it was obvious a new edition was in the works, I expected them to keep mum out of fear that they would torpedo the sales of upcoming 4E products.  After all, why would you buy books that will soon be considered obsolete?

Well, according to Mike Mearls they intend on conducting open playtests and soliciting feedback from the gaming community.  Of course this is a great marketing line, but the fact that they would risk hurting sales of these upcoming books makes me think that they are serious about getting feedback from the gaming community on D&D 5E.

The real question is whether or not this will work.  Wizards of the Coast is hoping for an “ultimate” edition of D&D that will help unite the fractured fanbase.  I’m not sure if this is even possible.  D&D means different things to different people, and when products are designed to please everyone they often end up pleasing no one.

Nevertheless I remain hopeful.  There are a lot of talented game designers behind this new edition at WOTC and if RPG blogs have taught me anything it is that there is a lot of untapped talent in the gaming community.

In any case, this new approach to creating the new edition has piqued my interest.

Looking at the “Essentials” Warlord

When Dungeons & Dragons 4E was first released, I found the warlord to be the most intriguing addition.  So I was intrigued when Dragon announced the new Class Compendium feature, which converts classes to the Essentials format, was tackling the warlord.

I assumed we would see a new build of the warlord which favored melee basic attacks over powers.  After all, the knight and slayer builds of the fighter, the executioner build of the assassin, and thief build of the rogue all took this tack.

What I was not expecting the changes to be as minimal as they were.  I would hesitate to call the new marshal build a build at all.    Instead, it seems to simply be a rewriting of the tactical warlord and the inspiring warlord using the new Essentials format.

The few mechanical differences seem to merely be errata rather than any attempts at new mechanics.  The power selection is slightly different than the Player’s Handbook Warlord, but is more of a “greatest hits” from existing source books than anything new.

The Good

I like the existing warlord, so the fact that the marshal build changes nothing isn’t really a negative to me.

The Bad

Frankly, I am confused as to what the point of the Class Compendium feature is.  I assumed it was going to provide new builds for existing classes which were similar to the new builds created for Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms and Heroes of the Fallen Lands.  Instead, all we seem to have gotten is a change in the layout with a little errata thrown in.

As content for Dragon goes, that seems a little thin.

Looking at the Essentials Assassin

When I first weighed in on Dungeons &  Dragons Essentials, I wondered if we would start seeing revamped “Essentials” versions of existing classes.  With a couple of days left until Heroes of the Fallen Lands and the Rules Compendium hit the shelves, the revamped Essentials Assassin has hit Dragon Magazine.

Well that certainly didn’t take long.

Nevertheless, the Essentials Assassin is especially interesting to me because it provides both a first look into both the Essentials format and into the kind of changes we will see to the existing classes.

The New Format

It is obvious that a lot of effort went into making class descriptions much more friendly for the new player.  In the new format, at each level the player is walked through exactly what choices they need to make.  This is a small change, but one that should make leveling up substantially easier for the newbie.

On the other hand, it will lead to a lot of repetition in the books.  For example, every class description will tell you that at 4th level you need to increase two ability scores by 1.  In the Dungeons & Dragons 4E Player’s Handbook, this information was only mentioned once.  Multiply this by the rest of the redundant leveling information and you have a lot of additional pages per book.

Also interesting is that the class description refers you to Heroes of the Fallen Lands rather than the Player’s Handbook or any other source.  I suppose this makes sense since Wizards of the Coast sees the Essentials line as their new evergreen product.  Still, it seems a bit like they are trying to pretend that the older books never existed.

Changes to the Assassin Class

The changes to the assassin class are more substantial than I was expecting.  The class is much more focused on martial weaponry and poison use.  The shroud mechanic for striker damage is gone.  It has been replaced with the Assassin’s Strike encounter power, which is like a more powerful Sneak Attack which is more limited in use. 

Similar to Essentials martial characters, the assassin lacks encounter and daily attack powers.  Instead, the assassin gains special abilities which make their at-will and basic attacks more effective.

While the assassin still uses shadow magic, its use is limited to certain utility powers.  In fact, depending on what utility powers you choose, it is possible to completely avoid using shadow magic at all until ninth level.

These changes actually give the Essentials Assassin a more classic feel.  The Essentials Assassin seems like a direct descendent of the AD&D 1E Player’s Handbook assassin with a few elements from subsequent editions thrown in.  I can definitely seeing this version appealing to certain people who were turned off by the previous 4E version of the assassin.

Final Thoughts

It is hard for me to separate my thoughts about the new assassin from my thoughts on the Essentials line as a whole.  The changes it makes to the assassin class are pretty substantial, much more than I would expect out of a new “build”.  It does nothing to allay my fears that D&D Essentials is a stealth edition and that all new content we will see out of Wizards of the Coast will have an Essentials bent to it.

Still, I can’t argue that I don’t find the new build to be an improvement over the original.  I am much more interested in making an Essentials Assassin than I ever was in making the previous version.

I figure that says something.

Divorcing role from class

Dungeons & Dragons Essentials is bringing many changes to fourth edition.  One that I had not heard about until recently is that the concept of role is being divorced from class.  Builds like the the slayer fighter (striker), the hunter ranger (controller), and the sentinel druid (leader) will break from the traditional role associated with each class.

To be honest, I am not sure how I feel about this.  I am normally a big fan of more customization, but to a large extent I saw the classes in Dungeons & Dragons 4E as defined by the role they played.  Both the paladin and the cleric are holy warriors.  To me, what kept the paladin from being simply another cleric build was the fact that paladins are defenders.  Almost all of the primal classes seem to be the druid as seen through the lens of a specific role (the seeker being a notable exception).

It seems like the addition of these options may dilute the entire concept of role in Dungeons & Dragons 4E.  A sentinel druid will be able to pick up a lot of controller focused powers if he chooses.  A hunter ranger might still be more striker than controller based off power choice as well.  Similar to what occurred when hybrids were introduced, this will allow the creation of more generalized characters who don’t fit well into any role.

Now I know some people will argue that this is a good thing.  They found the concept of roles distasteful and antithetical to character choice.  Personally though, I came to enjoy the freedom that came with well established roles.  Prior to roles, there was a strong belief that each adventuring group needed to contain the iconic four classes (cleric, fighter, magic-user, and thief) in order to be successful.  Other classes were often seen as second class citizens in the party, only to be added in once the iconic classes were covered.

In Dungeons & Dragons 4E, a lot of design focus was placed on making sure characters with the same role from different power sources were still equally good at fulfilling the role.  It was never a problem that our Scales of War game lacked a cleric because we had a warlord.  Roles allowed for viable groups that might lack any of the iconic four classes.

Allowing the creation of characters that are only “weakly” attached to a role is not the end of the world, but it does mean players will will have to be even more conscious of how their power choices affect the group.  If a sentinel druid is the groups only leader, then filling up on controller focused druid powers is probably a bad idea.

Nevertheless, I expect class builds that cross role lines to become more prevalent in the future.  I would not be surprised if there are some classes introduced which don’t have a single role associated with them at all.  Instead role will depend on what build you choose.  At which point the class build will become a “mini-class” which determines role much like class used to. 

Which I suppose would bring us full circle.

Who is the target audience for the Red Box?

No sinister conspiracy theories here, but I have been wondering who is the target audience for the Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game Starter Set? 

At first it seems obvious: new players.  The box set only includes rules for a limited number of classes and races up to level three, which probably doesn’t appeal to experienced D&D players.  However, it also includes pretty much everything you would need to start a game: character sheets, power cards, tokens (in place of minis), a double-sided dungeon map, and even a set of six polyhedral dice.

Not a bad starting point for a group of new players to the game.  Especially if it is a group where no one, not even the DM, has played Dungeons & Dragons before.  However, if this is really the target audience, the choice to make the exterior of the box set a clone of the 1983 D&D Basic Set seems a bit odd.

Unlike me (and probably most of the readers of this blog), a new player won’t have any nostalgia for the old stuff.  Why not go with a new image on the cover?  As much as I love Larry Elmore’s art, it isn’t going to match up well with the art style inside the box.  An art style that was a deliberate attempt to modernize the fantasy look and attract a new audience by the way.

Obviously, Wizards of the Coast believes the potential for sales to people who are truly new to the hobby are somewhat limited and are hedging their bets.

The nostalgia factor will help sales with a few groups.  The biggest is probably existing D&D players who will purchase the box set entirely because the presentation, not because they actually need the contents inside.  This is not a knock on these people- heck I keep waffling over whether or not I want to buy it for just this reason.

I suppose another potential purchaser is the lapsed player.  If I hadn’t played D&D in over ten years, the new books might look a little alien to me.  Conversely, the new D&D Starter Set would look very familiar and would contain a familiar mix of races and classes inside. 

Holiday gift givers seem like another good source of sales for this product.  If I had a nephew or niece I wanted to introduce to D&D, buying this product for them seems like a much better choice than giving them a Player’s Handbook.

None of this is a knock on Wizards of the Coast.  The need to sell product, so building the new D&D Starter set to appeal to as wide an audience as possible only makes sense.  Plus anything that even has the potential to bring new players to the game is only good for the hobby as a whole.

Still, I think it is a shame that one of the best ideas Wizards of the Coast had to get someone new to try D&D is buried in their website.  This would be the “Test Drive D&D” webpage.  Free quick start rules, a couple of free adventures, and even the trial version of the Character Builder all in one place.  Throw in a few printable tokens and you have your own starter set for free!

Personally, I wish Wizards of the Coast built a “Play D&D for free” ad campaign around this idea.  Even if they majority of people who decided to check it out never bought a product, certainly the players they did gain would be more than worth it?

Then again, maybe I am just being naive.

Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition’s greatest innovation

Last weekend I found myself playing Dungeons & Dragons 3E for the first time in nearly a year.  I was happy to get the opportunity since I consider myself pretty neutral in the edition wars and I was happy to get the chance to flex my D&D 3E muscles again. 

I will admit though that after a year long hiatus I found myself missing one feature of D&D 4E.  You may wonder: Was it the powers?  The clearly defined party roles?  Skill challenges?

Nope, didn’t really miss any of them.  What I found myself missing was that a level no longer equaled a level which no longer equaled a level.

I’ve been playing wizards in D&D since they were called magic-users, so I tend to be pretty blind to how confusing differences in character level, caster level, and spell level could be to the new player.  Knowing that you get your third level spells at fifth level seems as natural to me as breathing.

This time though, I looked at it from another perspective.  The game was starting at third level, so I created a Crusader 2 / Cleric of Wee Jas 1.  Suddenly, I found myself having to determine what level maneuvers my third level character could take. 

This was based off of initiator level, which was calculated from adding half of my other class levels to my maneuver granting class and rounding down.  I would then compare that number to a chart to determine what level maneuvers were available to me.

This really isn’t any more confusing then character level, caster level, and spell level are.  It was just new to me.  It did make me to wonder why determining what level maneuvers I could use couldn’t  be as simple as: “A second level crusader can use second level maneuvers.”

Which is of course how it is done in D&D 4E.

So now I know what I will miss if I ever revert back to D&D 3E (or Pathfinder) full time.  Of all the changes that were made between the editions, its something as tiny as level consistency that I would miss the most.

Have I been too hard on Essentials?

I have talked a bit about the upcoming D&D Essentials on this blog before.  Mostly about how I think it is a stealth edition and how I think the rules updates are coming a bit too fast and furious nowadays.  What I haven’t spoken much about is what I think about the proposed changes that we have seen so far.

I actually think most of the changes that Wizards of the Coast has shown us are positive ones.

Considering my complaining about the Essentials products so far, this may seem a bit odd.  So let me talk a bit about what I like.

Changing up the play experience while keeping it balanced

In my opinion, one of the most valid complaints about D&D 4e was that in striving to maintain game balance the character classes became a bit too interchangeable.  In essence, there was little mechanical difference between playing a fighter or a wizard. 

I think the changes they are making to the way martial classes like the fighter run primarily off of basic attacks (as opposed to powers) are a good thing.  It makes playing different classes feel different while (hopefully) keeping the math balanced.  Not to mention it addresses a complaint I heard from many traditional fighter players when they first played D&D 4e: “Why can’t I just hit him with my sword?”

More options on placement of ability score bonuses

In D&D 4e most of your powers run off of a single key ability score (or possibly two).  From a pure math point of view, you want to boost that ability score as high as possible.  Of course, the easiest way to boost an ability score is to choose a race which gets a +2 bonus to that score.

The problem is that it skewed the importance of racial choice when choosing your class a bit too much for my tastes.  Since most races were built with a fixed +2 to two ability scores, it really meant there were just a handful of viable options built into the rules.

(Not that this stopped me from making a few less than optimal racial choices for roleplaying reasons.  I was just very aware of what I was sacrificing to do so)

The new model is a little more flexible.  By giving each race a +2 to one ability score and a +2 to one of two ability scores, the number of viable builds have opened up substantially.

Magic Item Rarity

I have to admit I was somewhat ambivalent about magic item rarity until I read Mike Mearls article on the subject.  I am now a fan of rarity for one big reason: It eliminates the limitation by milestone on magic item daily powers.

I always thought that this mechanic was a bit on the clunky side.  It was a difficult concept for some of my players to wrap their heads around and it added a layer of bookkeeping which didn’t need to be there. 

Limiting the number of magic items with daily powers in the hands of the players accomplishes the same thing and avoids several headaches for me.  I am always in favor of that.

Final Thoughts

My problem has never been with the content of D&D Essentials, just with the way it was presented to us.  Wizards of the Coast acted as if the fans were crazy for seeing Essentials as another edition (or at least .5 of an edition).  I stand my my earlier posts when I say that the changes are at least as substantial as the ones that occurred between D&D 3.0 and 3.5.

Of course, I thought the changes D&D 3.5 brought to the game were mostly positive as well, even though I saw D&D 3.5 as a pretty blatant money grab.  So maybe my somewhat schizophrenic attitude about D&D Essentials is not that surprising.

Rule Updates May Be Getting Out of Hand

Looking back at the early days of Dungeons & Dragons, Unearthed Arcana was a harbinger of how the game would be sold in the future.  While there had been different versions of the game published over the years (e.g., Basic D&D, Advanced D&D, etc.), once the “core” rules were established for a version they remained relatively unchanged.  Most D&D products were aimed at the DM, like adventure modules or the occasional monster book.

Unearthed Arcana, expanded the game with new races, classes and spells.  Unlike the majority of D&D products up to that point, it targeted the players as well as the Dungeon Master.  Since the number of D&D players outnumbers the number of Dungeon Masters, this was a brilliant marketing decision.  Not surprisingly, Unearthed Arcana was a harbinger of things to come.

It was also full of errors.

Back in the early days of D&D, errata was rare and wondrous thing.  As a result, I remember how shocked I was at age 13 when Dragon Magazine presented a full four pages of errata for the recently released Unearthed Arcana supplement! 

(Of course, in those days you were expected to cut the errata out of the magazine and paste it into your book.  I admit that I did so dutifully.)

While many of the errors in Unearthed Arcana were a result of poor editing, there was also a decent amount of rule clarification in the mix.  I think this is part and parcel of expanding and updating an existing rule set.  The more you add to the rules, the more likely it is that one of these additions will react poorly with previously existing rules. 

In this way it is sort of like the potion miscibility table.

Fast-forwarding twenty-five years, it is not surprising that rule updates are increasingly common.  Many people have noted that there have been so many rules updates to the original 4E Player’s Handbook that it is now functionally obsolete.

For fun I decided to use random.org to pick 5 pages out of the Player’s Handbook and see how many had been updated according to the D&D Compendium.  Here are my results:

p. 85 – The power Warriors Urging has been revised twice.

p. 102 – The power Healing Font has been revised.

p. 202 – The feat Action Recovery has been revised.

p. 290 – No revisions

p. 304 – No revisions

That is 3 out of 5 pages chosen randomly out of a 320 page book.  I know this is hardly scientific, but that seems a bit much. Of course, this situation is only going to get worse when all the upcoming slew of updates related to D&D Essentials come out. 

(I can just imagine how much glue I would have to go through if I still was cutting and pasting out of Dragon)

So I guess the entire furor over whether D&D Essentials is a stealth edition or whether Wizards of the Coast is going to stop printing the core rule books is a bit of a tempest in a teapot-- The new edition is already here!

Some thoughts on D&D Essentials

Since the D&D Essentials line was announced, there has been a lot of speculation that it is meant as a ‘stealth’ edition.  In fact, Bill Slavicsek took the time in his most recent Ampersand column to debunk this concept.  He specifically notes that the Essentials products will be “fully compatible with the rest of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.”  and that “The rules of the game are the same as those featured in the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. The presentation is new, rewritten for clarity and friendliness.”

I believe Bill Slavicsek is telling the truth, at least as far as it goes.  I am sure the Dungeons & Dragons Essentials products will be usable with our existing books.  However, I think it is informative to look back to 2003 when we were awaiting the release of the Dungeons & Dragons v.3.5 (D&D 3.5e) rules. 

Back then there were a lot of concerns that D&D 3.5e was a ‘stealth’ edition as well.  Just like now, we were given a lot of assurances that D&D 3.5e was merely a minor rules update meant to streamline and enhance the gaming experience.  Wizards of the Coast insisted that the two systems were compatible and our investment in D&D 3.0e books would not go to waste.

Once again, Wizards of the Coast was telling the truth, at least as far as it goes. It was possible to intermix D&D 3.0 and D&D 3.5 books.  In fact, in the campaign we were playing at the time we did exactly that. No one was forced to convert their character to D&D 3.5 if they didn’t want to.  A D&D 3.5 ranger was completely capable of being in a party with a D&D 3.0 druid.  If the effects of two wizards spells didn’t sync up exactly, it could easily be explained as the unpredictability of magic or differences in their schooling.

So why did D&D 3.5e feel like a stealth edition?

The biggest problem was probably that as more books came out they were filled with revised versions of pre-existing materials.  In the core books this was inevitable.  The problems really began with the supplements.

Almost every supplement that came out for D&D 3.5e had revised versions of prestige classes, feats, spells, and monsters.  The D&D 3.0 versions of these were considered obsolete and many Dungeon Masters began to ban material from the older books.  Thus the promise that our investment in the old books wasn’t wasted proved to be untrue and the fears of a ‘stealth edition’ became a reality.

So will D&D Essentials have the same problem?  It really depends on whether Wizards of the Coast chooses to look forward or back when designing upcoming supplements.   It will be really tempting when new supplements come out to tweak old favorites and release an ‘Essential’ version. 

This isn’t because Wizards of the Coast staff are evil or lazy.  Rather it is the nature of being a game designer.  By their very nature, game designers are creative people who are constantly tinkering with the rules in an effort to make them better.  They are the kind of people who will jump at a chance to improve a paragon path, epic destiny, feat, power, or monster that they feel is flawed. 

D&D Essentials will give them this opportunity, but this is one case where they should let opportunity pass them by.  Rather than revisit the past, the Essentials supplements should move the game forward.  We should see new paragon paths, epic destinies, feats, powers, and monsters. Otherwise D&D Essentials will be seen as a ‘stealth’ edition no matter how many times we are told it isn’t.

Besides, there will be plenty of opportunities to revisit the old favorites when D&D 5e comes along.

You have to love those crazy gypsies!

The original Ravenloft module introduced gypsies as a plot device, with the fortune telling of Madam Eva being a way to change the module in small ways and to increase replay potential.  They were also added for flavor, as their relationship with Strahd was obviously meant to echo the relationship of the gypsies with the titular character of the novel Dracula.

When Ravenloft was expanded into a full-fledged campaign setting in 1990, the gypsies also got an expanded role.  They became the Vistani, the only beings in Ravenloft capable of travelling the Mists safely.  Having a strange relationship not just with Strahd, but with the Dark Powers themselves, the Vistani were both mysterious and powerful.

The Vistani became the ultimate plot device.  Their very nature allowed them to appear and disappear as needed by the DM.  They were capable of spouting accurate but cryptic prophesy on demand.  Perhaps most importantly, they generally had enough mystic might to keep annoyed players from killing them on sight.

They were never really intended to be player characters, but like drow elves and dragons, it is perhaps inevitable that people wanted to play them.

Players first got their crack at playing members of this mysterious race when Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani came out for AD&D 2e.  When White Wolf took over the setting in D&D 3e, they introduced Half-Vistani as one of the core races for the setting.

In this month’s Dragon, we get to see the D&D 4e take on playing a Vistani.  I am certain that some Vistani purist will cry foul, but all in all I think it is an interesting updating of the concept of what it means to be a Vistani.

Vistani are no longer a separate race.  Much like the Dhampyr presented in an earlier Dragon, they are considered a bloodline.  To become a Vistani you only need to pick up the appropriate bloodline feat.  This feat then opens up a number of bloodline feats that can be used to enhance your class abilities.

Because the Vistani are now a bloodline, they can be of any race.  They become Vistani after being subjected to the Vistani blooding ritual.  This ritual is usually performed on children who are absorbed into the clan, but it can be performed on an adult who performs a great service for the Vistani as well.

While this seemed a bit weird to me at first, I think it is a good idea to make the Vistani a bit more cosmopolitan.  In a world with a large number of sentient races, I like the concept that a Vistani caravan may include halflings or tieflings in its number.  The common bond of being outcasts outweighing the difference in race is a powerful concept to me.

As for the Vistani feats, they are very interesting.  The initial bloodline feat gives the character the Evil Eye of the Vistani feat power.  This power is a ranged charm attack vs Will which grants you combat advantage versus the target and prevents them from willingly moving closer to you until the end of your next turn.

What is interesting is that many of the bloodline feats you can pick up give you special abilities you can use against the target of your Evil Eye of the Vistani power.  These often play off of existing class abilities, like Warlock’s Curse or Oath of Emnity, and grant additional abilities when used against the target of the Evil Eye.

Probably my favorite bloodline feat is the paragon level Prophetic Preperation feat.  Once per day, it allows you to swap a daily attack spell and a utility spell you did not prepare for one that you did prepare.  The rational is that your prophetic visions led you to choose the spell you needed.

I am a little surprised that they didn’t tie the Vistani into the Shadowfell in some manner.  Since the Shadowfell is where the D&D 4e version of the Ravenloft setting is located, and the Vistani are so traditionally tied in to Ravenloft, it seems like it would be a natural fit.  It is easy to see how an ancient pact with the Raven Queen could be used as an excuse for them to wander between the Domains of Dread with impunity.

I can only assume that with WOTC exploring the shadow power source in recent issues of Dragon with races like the revenant and classes like the assassin that they were loathe to tie the Vistani to the Raven Queen and the Shadowfell as well.

Perhaps this is for the best.  With a little tweaking, the Vistani can now become an interesting part of any campaign, not just a horror themed one.

Anyway, there is nothing stopping you from placing a Vistani Revenant Assassin in your game if you want to.  Well, nothing other than good taste.

A Quick Look at the Seeker

From the depths of the forest comes a primal hunter.  Whispering words that were ancient when the world was young, he binds the spirit of decay into a slender arrow.  Taking aim at an orc, he lets the arrow fly and watches as it hits its mark.  The orc can do nothing but watch in horror as spores erupt from the point of impact, coalescing into four fungal blooms around him, filling the area with their poisonous presence.

A new primal class, the seeker, is the most recent debut content from Wizards of the Coast.  Like the druid, the seeker is a primal controller.  In theme though, the seeker is closer to a ranger than a druid. 

A preeminent marksman, the seeker has powers which revolve around use of a ranged weapon.  He uses his evocations to bind spirits to his weaponry, which he can then use to  supernatural effect.  These effects often create bursts or zones at the point of impact, allowing the seeker to fulfill his role as a controller nicely.

The seeker is also highly mobile, capable shifting as a minor action as long as he is not wearing heavy armor.  This is a very nice ability, as any Dungeon Master who has used kobolds against the party in Dungeons & Dragons 4e knows. 

If they had given this ability to shift to the archer build for rangers, they would probably not be scorned as “underpowered” by so many gamers.  In fact, I might just have to create a feat specifically for archer rangers that grants them a similar ability.

I like the seeker a lot.  The concept of a primal warrior who binds spirits into his weapons is undeniably cool.  I have also wanted to see a weapon based controller for awhile now. 

In fact, while I have long maintained that my next Dungeons & Dragons 4e character will be an archer-build  ranger, I am now leaning towards a seeker.  Frankly, controlling the battlefield appeals to me more than high amounts of damage.  Also, powers like Fungal Blooms are wonderfully evocative.

Of course, if they decide to release hybrid rules for seekers I might not have to choose!

Thoughts about the Assassin

The heroic tier of the assassin made its appearance in Dragon yesterday.  As exclusive content it is only available to D&D Insider subscribers and those who use BitTorrent. 

(As an aside, I wonder if any exclusive content will find its way into a future Dragon Magazine Annual?  It would definitely be a way to boost sales on that kind of book!)

Back to the topic at hand.  The assassin is the first class using the new shadow power source.  An assassin has traded part of his soul to the Raven Queen for power.  The goddess infuses the missing portion of the assassin’s soul with a dark reflection of the assassin’s true self.

The assassin can manifest this reflection as part of their shade form power, which allows them to become insubstantial for short periods.  The assassin also gains a shadow step power which gives them a short range teleport by stepping through the shadow of one creature and into another.  Together, these two abilities mean that the assassin is a highly mobile striker who is able to reach hard to get to targets.

Assassins also have an assassin’s shroud ability which allows them to do more damage.  Placing a shroud on a creature allows the assassin to more clearly see the creatures weak points.  Multiple shrouds can be placed on a single creature, but the assassin can only target one creature this way at any given time.

When the assassin chooses to invoke one or more of these shrouds, he will gain extra damage per shroud expended.  This means that the assassin can do a lot of damage in a single round, but it may take a longer time for the assassin to build up to it than most strikers.  I should note that certain assassin powers will interact with a shrouded target without expending the shroud though.

Speaking of the assassins powers, not surprisingly they are strongly shadow themed.  They focus on stealth, teleportation, and bypassing defenses.  An assassin is probably more mobile than any striker except the monk.  With the ability to sneak past minions and other defenses to deliver a massive amount of damage, assassins have “boss killer” written all over them.

Of all of the strikers, they are probably most similar to avengers since their assassin’s shroud ability will encourage them to focus on a single target.  Assassins do have a sneakiness which avengers lack, even though avengers are probably the sneakiest class of the divine power source.

So what do I think?  Well, a more appropriate name for them might have been “Shadowdancers done right!”  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, as I always felt shadowdancers were and interesting concept which just wasn’t executed well.

Honestly, I just wish the assassin was debut content rather than exclusive.  After all, my opinions on exclusive content are well known.

Baba Yaga’s Hut found!

After my last post, I was a little chagrined when I suddenly remembered that Baba Yaga does exist in Dungeons & Dragons 4e.  Specifically, she is mentioned as one of the Archfey in the Manual of the Planes.

Baba Yaga lives in the heart of Murkendraw, a swamp as large as a sea.   Evil cultist, warped creatures, and all manner of horrible twisted life exist in this realm.

Baba Yaga’s appearance, attitude, and hut are not very different from how they were described back in Dragon Magazine #83 (or as they are described in Slavic mythology).

I still think my last post was valid, and that their has been a definite move away from traditional mythology towards a D&D specific mythology.  I am glad to see that Baba Yaga managed to buck this trend.

Perhaps I shoudn’t be too surprised to see her in the Feywild, as I have often thought that it was one of the best additions to Dungeons & Dragons 4e.

The fey were never handled well in previous editions of the game.  They were presented as mostly friendly creatures who at worst were harmless tricksters.  They seemed informed by the (sadly) modern view of faeries as half-naked tiny women flitting around on butterfly wings.

This always bugged me because the fey in mythology were always regarded as dangerous.  They were called “The Fair Folk” not because of their beauty, but because you did not wish to incur their wrath.  The slightest could result in you being horribly cursed or worse taken under the hill never to be seen again.

I am glad that this is the type of fey we find in Dungeons & Dragons 4e.  The section on the Feywild in the Manual of the Planes reinforces this by presenting a us with a dark mirror of the natural world.  It is a realm of both terrible beauty and abject horror.  More importantly, it is a dangerous place for mortals to roam as even the slightest mistake can bring down the wrath of its capricious inhabitants.

In fact, if I have a complaint about the Feywild in D&D, it is that I want to see more of it!  I would love to see a book similar to the Draconomicon or Open Grave which detailed the Archfey.  Of course, the realist in me realizes it probably wouldn’t sell well enough to justify the cost of producing it. 

Oh well, I suppose that is what Dragon and Dungeon are for.

Where is Baba Yaga’s Dancing Hut?

I love mythology.  I am not sure if this love is a result of playing Dungeons & Dragons at a young age or if I began playing Dungeons & Dragons at a young age because I love mythology.  In the end I don’t think it matters though since these two interests fed off of one another.

Dungeons & Dragons definitely lead me into mythologies I would not have experienced otherwise.  One notable example is Slavic mythology.   I remember reading The Dancing Hut adventure in Dragon Magazine #83 and loving it.  I ended up going to the local library (this is before the Internet) and finding related myths like stories of Koschei the Deathless and Vasilissa the Beautiful.

Slavic mythology is something I highly doubt I would have sought out at age twelve by myself! 

Of course, this isn’t the only bit of real world mythology I was inspired to seek out after first encountering it in Dungeons & Dragons.  Deities & Demigods inspired me to seek out Greek, Norse, Egyptian, and Arthurian myth.  Reading about how the Gauntlets of Ogre Power, a Belt of Storm Giant Strength, and a Hammer of Thunderbolts combined into a super combo caused me to learn mythic Thor was somewhat different than comic book Thor.

The fact that the Dungeons & Dragons source material wasn’t afraid to dump myths from disparate sources together definitely influenced my early game worlds.  If I wanted my characters to compete in the Olympics, then by Zeus they could go to “Aegis” and compete.  If I wanted them to search for the Holy Grail, then they were off to “Odeland” and the court of King Artorius.  I wasn’t worried as much about consistency as I was about creating a mythic melting pot where Apollo, Loki, and Set could coexist side by side if the story required it.

This is something I think Dungeons & Dragons 4e has lost.

To be fair, this concept was pretty much dead in Dungeons & Dragons 3e as well.  In an attempt to create a more self-consistent world, Dungeons & Dragons has been moving from an“anything goes” fantasy setting towards a more “myth neutral” outlook.  Rather than directly incorporating Earth mythology, Wizards of the Coasts is building its own mythology.

In many ways this makes sense.  This gives them a great deal of control over their pantheon and cosmology, which they can then tailor for maximum usefulness in a game.  It also allows them to avoid debates like whether or not Hercules should be Chaotic Evil or if he could defeat Thor in a smackdown.

Heck, if I was a game designer at Wizards of the Coast I might even go he same route.

On the other hand, real world myths are probably more meaningful to the casual gamer.  Having an avatar of The Raven Queen show up may mean little to the player who just reads the parts of the Player’s Handbook that they need know in order to play.  The same player may be awed by an avatar of Hades simply because of name recognition.

Thankfully, this is a relatively easy problem to fix yourself.  Inserting real world mythology back into your game is not hard.  The easiest way is to simply insert the myth with little or no explanation.  While your game world may lose some internal consistency, it may be worth it for the additional flavor. 

Of course, if you feel the need to explain the mix of mythologies, there are plenty of ways to do it.  Perhaps there are portals between the real world and your game world, much like the old-school Forgotten Realms setting had.  Real world gods may be interloper gods who followed their worshipers from the old world to the new.

Another option is to have the Earth mythologies as competing factions. These factions may even have gone through a war for dominance, leaving a “super-pantheon” which is a mish-mash of different Earth pantheons behind.  Both the Knights of the Dinner Table and the Order of the Stick comics have used this concept to great effect.

All this talk of real world myth has made me realize how much I miss it.  I may just have to dig up my copy of Dragon Magazine #83 to convert The Dancing Hut adventure to Dungeons & Dragons 4e. 

It has been too long since my players have had an encounter with their “little grandmother”.

Skill Powers: A small step towards a classless system?

The concept behind Skill Powers, Dragon’s most recent debut content, is exceedingly simple.  Skill Powers are utility powers which you gain access to by being trained in a certain skill rather than from your class.  In other words, if you are a fighter trained in Athletics who levels up to second level, you can either gain your utility power from your class like Get Over Here, or from your Athletics skill like Bounding Leap.

It makes sense from a design point of view.  Mike Mearls mentions in the article’s commentary that skill powers are an easy way to make certain options available, “without having to repeat ourselves across a number of different classes.”

What I find interesting is that it represents a step away from the class structure which has been at Dungeon & Dragon’s core since the very beginning.  Possibly the biggest step since the introduction of Feats in Dungeons & Dragons 3e.

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t think there is a plan to ditch the class system in the works at Wizards of the Coast.  That is one sacred cow I don’t believe they are willing to turn into tasty steak yet. 

I do think that this represents a definitive weakening of the class system though.  Keep in mind that character design in Dungeons & Dragons 4e revolves around your choice of powers.  They represent the biggest way to customize your character in the game.  Up until now, power choices have always been primarily governed by your class. 

Skill Powers change this dynamic in a fundamental way. 

If you think about it, there is no real reason that this concept needs to be limited to skills.  Utility powers only open to members of a specific race, seem like a logical next step. It is possible to go even farther afield though.  How about utility powers tied to your character’s region for a Forgotten Realms game?  Maybe even powers tied to your character background from PHB2?

I would be surprised if Wizards of the Coast didn’t explore at least some of these options in upcoming books.  This is not necessarily a bad idea, as long as these additional powers don’t overpower the existing class based ones.

Of course, I have never been one to balk at more options in character design.  Your mileage may vary.

Dark Sun Campaign Setting for 4e D&D Announced

After much speculation, including some incorrect speculation from my colleagues and I over at Lords of Tyr, Dark Sun has been announced as the new campaign setting for 4E D&D.

It is definitely an interesting choice.  Dark Sun has a very strong fan base, which should make this book a decent seller.  Dark Sun also has a very distinctive feel, probably more so than the other old school campaign settings.

It also seems to me that the D&D 4E rules are better suited for Dark Sun than D&D 2E ever was.  In general, the classes are less equipment focused, although the plusses from weapons and implements are probably more vital than ever.  I also think the clear demarcation between different power sources, especially the primal power source, will work well with the central druid versus wizard dynamic.  The primordial versus divine split will also probably work well in a game where the gods are dead and primal forces have run amok.

I do wonder if all of the D&D 4E races and classes will be making an appearance in Athas.  Supporting everything published has been Wizards of the Coast’s modus operandi when introducing new settings so far. 

However, according to a tweet from the great RPG blog Critical Hits Bill Slavicsek said “We are going to try very hard not to shoehorn 4e conceits into Dark Sun.”

I am not sure what that means exactly, but my best guess is it means that you might not see an bard in Dark Sun just because they were published in the PHB 2.  Then again, maybe you will.  I suppose we will just have to wait and see.

All and all, I am pleased by the choice of Dark Sun as the new setting for 2010.  I never got into Dark Sun when it first came out in 1991, but I am glad they decided to revitalize an old setting rather than try to create a new one.

I am glad to be wrong about the Githyanki

I was sure that the githyanki were going to have a full character write up in Player’s Handbook III.  It makes a lot of sense if you think about it.  Ever since they first appeared on the cover of Fiend Folio back in 1E, they have been a popular monster.  Githyanki also are strongly tied to the psionic power source, which debuts in Player’s Handbook III.  Not to mention that the mock up cover for Players Handbook III seemed to have an obvious githyanki woman on the cover.

Well, after perusing this month’s debut content, it seems that was a githzerai woman.  The githzerai will be one of the new PHB III races, but the githyanki will not be making an appearance in that book.

I suppose I can be forgiven for mistaking one race for another since they look exactly the same!

What I found interesting was their reason for not including the githyanki.  To quote Mike Mearls:

“While sometimes it’s fun to play against stereotypes, we don’t want every villainous race to go the way of the drow.”

This really resonates with me.  I remember when the drow were first introduced in Against the Giants.  They were cool, deadly, and one of the most evil races around.  Finally, there was a worthy opponent for the player characters!

Then the drow were given a player character racial write up in Unearthed Arcana (1E).  Suddenly dark elves went from being the ultimate bad guy to being the ultimate badass player characters.  I know one of the player’s in my D&D 1E game played an infamous rogue dark elf fighter/cleric of Tempus.  I am sure that a lot of games featured at least one drow during that period.

Then came Drizzt Do'Urden.  I want to say that I am not a Drizzt hater.  In fact, I have read and enjoyed most of the novels that feature him.  I don’t blame Drizzt’s for creating a glut dark elf player characters.  After all that trend was well under way by the time The Crystal Shard hit the stands.  Still, his immense popularity exacerbated dark elf overexposure.

The popularity of dark elves as player characters has even jumped to other media.  Dark-skinned and light-haired elves are popular player character choices in video games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft.

Sometimes I feel that the Zz’dtri joke in Order of the Stick has become a reality.  Drow are no longer an evil race.  Rather “the whole species consist of nothing but Chaotic Good rebels, yearning to throw off the reputation of their evil kin.”

So I respect the line in the sand Wizards of the Coast is drawing with the githyanki.  No matter how cool they might be, sometimes it is best to keep the villains as villains.

Or maybe they are just holding them in reserve for PHB IV.

The legacy of Magic: The Gathering on Dungeons & Dragons

I know some gamers, including some close friends of mine, who believe the true end of Dungeons & Dragons came about when TSR was acquired by Wizards of the Coast.  Being a fan of the both Dungeons & Dragons 3E  and Dungeons & Dragons 4E , I am obviously not one of them.  In fact, I tended to dismiss their claims about the influence of Magic: The Gathering on D&D as being overblown.  After all, 3E D&D was under development when the company was acquired, so how much influence could the new owners have had?

After this last weekend I have decided I needed to reevaluate this position.  Last Thursday I purchased Magic: The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers on the Xbox 360.  Prior to this weekend I hadn’t played Magic: The Gathering in nearly a decade.  While playing this weekend I was struck by how many core concepts from Magic: The Gathering have migrated to Dungeons & Dragons over the years

Keywords

This is one of the most obvious influences.  Magic: The Gathering is driven by keywords.  If a creature is listed as having Double Strike, Flying, or Haste, you can look up those standard keywords and figure out immediately what the creature can do.

Dungeons & Dragons 3E and Dungeons & Dragons 4E both make extensive use of keywords.  Knowing a creature has the Insubstantial property or a spell is a Force effect allow for greater consistency within the rules of the game.  Before the use of keywords, there would often be big differences between how very similar abilities would be adjudicated.

I am actually a big fan of the use of keywords.  I believe they both streamline the rules and add a great deal of consistency to the game.

Art Style

One of the contributing factors to the success of Magic: The Gathering is the artwork on the cards.  Not surprisingly, when Wizards of the Coast acquired TSR they put their stable of artists to work on redefining the look of Dungeons & Dragons.

The effect this had on the game should not be underestimated.  Obviously a lot of people (although not everyone), found this new look appealing.  I would even argue that the new and more fantastical look encouraged game designers to create more fantastical arms and equipment.

I personally have mixed feelings on the new look Wizards of the Coast brought to Dungeons & Dragons.  I do feel that the old art style felt somewhat dated to me.  However, I am not always a fan of the new style either, which sometimes looks a bit too “medieval punk” for my tastes.  So for me this is a wash.

Customizable Builds

Magic: The Gathering is all about customizing your deck.  A good deck consists of cards that may be individually decent, but devastating when combined. 

Dungeons & Dragons 3E added this concept of customization to player characters.  Using feats, multiclass, and prestige classes players were able to customize their characters like never before.  Dungeons & Dragons 4E added powers into the mix, which means the player gets to choose the majority of his class abilities. 

Not surprisingly this focus on customization leads certain players to game the system.

Once again I find the customizable builds to be a mixed bag.  I do enjoy customizing my character… in fact, my perfect system would likely be a classless point buy system.  On the other hand, the tendency to power game can go a bit too far at times (as any trip to the Character Optimization boards will show).

Exception Based Rules

The basic rules of Magic: The Gathering are rather simple.  You summon creatures and attempt to use them to damage your opponent.  The complexity comes from the fact that many cards allow you to “break” these rules in a specific way.

Powers in Dungeons & Dragons 4E work in a very similar manner.  While the basic rules of D&D 4E are pretty simple, each power allows you to “break” the rules as well.  It is not surprising that many players use power cards, whether home made or store bought, to keep track of these effects.

I know that exception based rules is one of the most controversial parts of Dungeons & Dragons 4E.  I tend to like the concept, but sometimes have issues with how it was implemented.

In conclusion…

It really is impossible to deny that Magic: The Gathering has influenced Dungeons & Dragons since it was acquired by Wizards of the Coast.  Of course whether you see this as innovation or blasphemy depends on your point of view.

Thoughts on Wizards Apology

Are you a person who sees a glass half-empty or a glass half-full? The answer to that may determine how you view the recent kerfuffle over Dragon Magazine's July 13th’s Class Acts: Ranger article.

The article had a number of errors in it that sparked an immediate reaction (pardon the pun) at various forums where D&D is discussed. Wizards of the Coast apparently got enough negative feedback on this article that Andy Collins actually published an apology for the lapse in quality! A new version of the article was posted on July 17th.

So what was wrong with the original article? The main problem was that several encounter attack powers were listed as immediate actions, but had no trigger mechanism. In 4E, immediate interrupts and immediate reactions always have something that triggers their use. Without a trigger, the concept of how an immediate action would work is a bit vague. When the article was corrected, the immediate actions were replaced with standard actions.

Another problem was that there was a utility power, Death Threat, which caused ongoing damage (with the save ends mechanic). Utility powers don’t generally cause damage... after all, that is what attack powers are for! When the article was updated, Death Threat was changed so that it made the target your quarry and granted combat advantage instead of causing damage directly.

If I had to guess, I would bet that the immediate action issue was a simple typo or "cut and paste" problem. The utility power acting like an attack power seems like a design problem. Of course, I could be completely off-base. In any case, both of these issues slipped past the editorial staff.

I know a lot of people are pissed off about this. After all, D&D Insider is a paid subscription service and subscribers (including me) expect a quality product in return. Posting an article that has enough problems in it that they actually have to post a retraction is not encouraging.

On the other hand, I feel Wizards of the Coast handled this situation as well as they could. They reacted to customer feedback quickly, confirming that the article had issues.. They addressed these issues and posted a written apology. More importantly. they promised to review their design, development, and editorial processes to prevent a reoccurrence of the issue.

Of course, that is what I meant at the top of the article where I asked if you are a glass half-empty or a glass half-full kind of person. While I am disappointed that the problems with this article were not caught before it was released, I truly appreciate the speed and seriousness with which it was handled.

Just try not to let it happen again, OK? After all, apologies seem a lot less sincere the second time around.

Scales of War Game Recap VIII-July 12th, 2009

Normally I would post the game recap up at Lords of Tyr, but the website seems to be having issues at the moment.  I will post a link to here when it is back up and running.

I would like to thank Rook103 for writing this recap.  I was unable to attend the Lords of Tyr game this weekend due to pesky real life reasons, so Rook103 graciously took up the pen.

If I am feeling cheeky later, I may have to write up The Adventures of Almirith in Camp.

Recap

Stormlords (Present)

Samantha (Halfling Rogue) - Storm Chaser - Todd

Wardren (Half-Elf Paladin) - John

Niles (Drow Bard) - Purple Rain - Brian

Duamerthrax (Dwarf Beastmaster Ranger) w. White Wolf Deifenbacker- The Twin Storms - TJ

Hurricane (Human Wizard) - Starts Out Slow and Ends in Disaster- Tony

Vala (Elf Druid) - Stephanie

Syed (Halfling Pirate) - Mike T

Stormlords (Not Present)

Almirith (Eladrin Warlord) - The Approaching Storm - Robert

Tuldil'el (Genasi Cleric of the Raven Queen) - The Calm Before the Storm - Mike D

Nebin (Halfling Fighter) - Ashby

The party retreated to the camp, to rest for the evening. Almirith remained at camp as the rest of the party prepared to return to the Ettercap room. Moving through the room the party accessed a newer part of the dungeon.

"Von Adrez-Kauthin Crypt Crypt"

Combat Round 1:

The party enters the room to discover five hobgoblin guards and some spitting drakes.

Syed's deadeye opens the round and drops a hobgoblin with a headshot. A sneaky foul smelling goblin launches a vexing cloud obfuscating the party's vision. The party leaped from the cloud and launched themselves against the villains. The drakes spit and snapped and the party slashed and shot until several hobgoblin minions fell. Niles sings a new song (something about a tale of the sea, that Syed took offense to) and is beaten quite bloody for his efforts (Syed seriously considered putting Niles out of his misery, but at the top of the next round decided on another course of action).

Combat Round 2:

To begin, Syed exploded the goblin's head with pistol shot. Vala followed up with a mauling strike against a drake. Warden seeing the tide of the fight turn around, delivers a mighty blow to a drake with his great axe. Duamerthrax creeps up behind the middle drake and attempts to circumcise it (apparently it’s really a circle strike, but it came out…well you get the idea). Niles continues his sea chantey and remains bloodied for his trouble (Syed remained quite annoyed at the landlubber’s blasphemy). To increase the level of irritation he taunts a well-cultured hobgoblin. Rather then gouge out its own eardrums, the hobgoblin stabs itself through the heart, expiring immediately. A bloodied drake snaps at Warden and takes a small bite out of his calf. Another drake attempts to take off Niles hand but chokes on its own tongue, rather then taste the sourness of talentless flesh. Sam blasts a drake with a dazing blow. Hurricane, cowering in the corner, flung his most potent offensive tool, a magic missle, at a drake. A drake seeing its chance to slay the wailing cat-thing drow, spits at him. Niles, in taking a bow, avoids the attack.

Combat Round 3:

Syed kills the stunned drake with a pistol shot to the brain pan. Vala performs another fierce and flamboyant grasping claws attack, but to no avail. Wardren, his great axe still dripping with the blood of the vanquished, strikes the drake menacing him. Duamerthrax and Deifenbacker move in and with Wardren pin the drake against the wall and properly circumcise it. Niles spits all over himself in some drakish language and the drake is now enthralled with him. Sam, like David before him (her), delivered death by a sling bullet to the last drake. Rejoice! The party is victorious!

Out of combat:

Room is filled with bas reliefs of merchant type activates. Sam lifts a key from the goblin corpse and with Syed's help is able to identify it as a shackle master key. The party takes a short rest and then decides to take the left door after staking the other 2 doors closed. Approaching the door, Wardren and Duamerthax hear pleas for salvation. Hurricane, in his cowardly way stepped out of the possible blast range, just in case. Sam steps up to check the door, declaring it free of traps. Then he (she) opens the door, insisting that Almirith would want to rescue whomever was within. Inside the room, the party sees three low sarcophagi (like bas reliefs) and a woman (Jalissa) shackled to the wall. Jalissa asks to be freed. Duamerthax frees Jalissa using the key that Hurricane recovered from the goblin. Jalissa ignores the dwarf, flinches upon seeing the drow and runs straight into the arms of the paladin. After sobbing to be returned home she informs the party that an eight-year-old boy Thurdren (a thief of foodstuffs) is around here somewhere. She also said that the hobgoblins, had abducted her. Syed offers the girl a flask to calm her nerves. Syed also is beginning to wonder why the paladin doesn’t bed the talling girl. Perhaps somewhere within the Paladin’s vows and sacrifices he agreed to give up his …. I mean become a eunuch? Wardren takes the girl back to camp and Almirith's care (no passion there either, the fey don’t mix with the commoners). The sarcophagi are loaded with treasure (2 parcels worth). (695 xp--now listed on the Google Docs XP tab)

The party unpins the middle doorway to reveal a huge complex. Almirith's squire moves forth to investigate. He (she) moves down the stairs to find a very still pool of water. As he (she) was moving back into the hallway, the door to the party's left opened and a horde of undead burst into the halls. Sam stands in the middle of the hallway, eyes wide, and wetting him(her)self.

Combat Round 1:

Duamerthrax critically cleaves through the leading zombie returning it to its unholy rest. Niles sings out a jaunty drow tune, half the party contemplates suicide. All decide that being devoured by the undead is reason enough to fight even with the drow singing! A ghoul bites down on the ranger, sampling dwarf flesh and Duamerthrax is paralyzed with shock. Warden seeing the unholy abominations rushes into the fray, slamming a ghoul back into the room. The ghoul retaliates by grabbing the paladin and ordering the zombies to feast on the holy blight. The partner ghoul's jaw clamps down on the paladin's arm and subdues him. Syed puts a pistol shot between Niles legs (missing the family jewels by an gnat's wing) to punish a front rank zombie (z2). A zombie (z1) sees wolf flesh as a treat.

Combat Round 2:

Duamerthrax takes offense and belts it for touching the wolf. Warden enjoys his time as a ghoul sandwich. Not much fun, but no real damage either. Sam scales the walls and proceeds to pelt the undead with his (her) blinding dagger of death. He (she) slays a bloodied zombie, blinding to zombies, and scaring several ghouls. A zombie (z4) tries to slam into the paladin. Sam falls spectacularly to the ground as his (her) boots fail. [The ghoul rips a section of the paladin's neck out and throws his now dying body to the ground.] {History rewrite} Having missed Niles attack, the ghoul is now insulted and the Wardren receives a surge of health from the drow. The ghoul attacks again, but finds the taste of paladin flesh too rich enough for seconds. The paladin collapses (*again if you believe in time-space travel). Syed drills one of the offending ghouls with another pistol shot. The ghoul with the newly acquired lead accessory (bullet shaped) in his shoulder, steps over the paladin's body and thrashes Duamerthrax. Sam tosses a dagger with flourish and slays the blinded ghoul. In its death throws the ghoul attempts to defile the paladin one last time. Hurricane finding a use for the magical Staff heaves a critical blow against several of the abominations. Drawing upon his reserves, Hurricane presses the attack...

Combat Round 3:

The Ranger slays a ghoul with a mighty strike. The last ghoul's claws bounce off the paladin's mail armor. Wardren, feeling divine inspiration, rises up from near death to separate the ghoul's lower body from its upper. Rejoice the party is victorious again, but not without spilling much of its own blood.

Moving into the room. The party discovered a black sun marking on the floor. Sam walks past the floor mosaic to check the far side of the room. The floor is quite rickety and will require the party to pass one at a time.(162 xp)