When do you write your character background?

I discovered something interesting about myself.  I can no longer create a character without creating a character background.  The background may change significantly during the character creation process, but it informs so many of my choices that I simply cannot continue unless I write something up.

This really became clear to me a couple of weeks ago when I had to make up a character for a D&D 3.5 game that a friend of mine was running.  I had already decided I was creating a Crusader/Cleric of Wee Jas who would be aiming towards the Ruby Knight of Wee Jas prestige class.  That is a pretty strong direction from the start, so I decided that I would skip writing my character background until after I finished the character.

Well, it seemed like a good idea.  I soon found that my character creation stalled when I was trying to determine skill and feat selection.  There seemed to be a number of equally good choices, so I waffled between them.  I then began to second guess ability score placement.  Finally I stopped the character creation process and decided to focus on the character background instead.

After I finished the character background I was able to finish the rest of character creation easily.

I know I tend to be a bit more into character background creation than some of my fellow Lords of Tyr, but I have to admit I was surprised how important character background had become to the overall character creation process to me.

So I was wondering, when do you create your character background?  Do you find it essential to the character creation process or is it jotted down as an afterthought?  Are your backgrounds elaborate or is “I was an orphan who took up the sword to make his fortune” sufficient?

Random Reviews: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is a direct to video animated movie featuring the Justice League versus their counterparts in the Crime Syndicate.  It has a bit of an odd history as it started its life as an entirely different direct to video animated movie called Justice League: Worlds Collide. 

Justice League: Worlds Collide was part of the DC Animated Universe continuity and was intended to bridge the gap between the Justice League animated series and its replacement series Justice League Unlimited.

Ultimately, Justice League: Worlds Collide was never produced because they lacked the staff to produce both the movie and the television show simultaneously.  The storyline was too good to leave on the shelf indefinitely though, so references to the television show were removed and it was released as a stand alone movie with a different animation style.

This unusual history does make Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths a bit of an odd watch for fans of the DC Animated Universe Justice League though.  While there are no overt references to the show, several plot threads carry over.  Specifically, the expansion of the Justice League and the origin of Wonder Woman’s Invisible Plane are addressed.  On the other hand, the league lineup is somewhat different, so it can’t be viewed as a lost episode either.

Despite this, the important question is how does Crisis on Two Earths hold up on its own?  Thankfully, the answer is very well.

The basic premise of the movie is simple.  The Crime Syndicate is a group of evil doppelgangers of the Justice League from an alternate earth.  Ultimately, the evil Crime Syndicate comes in conflict with their heroic counterparts in the Justice League. 

Despite this simple premise, it is the little details that make this movie.  One nice touch is that each member of the Crime Syndicate is the head of their own criminal organization.  Each of these organizations is filled with evil versions of existing DC heroes.  For the DC Comics fan, this provides a ton of Easter Eggs as you try to determine if that is really an evil version of Vibe that just came on screen.

Another highlight is that James Woods puts in an amazing performance as Owlman (a Batman analogue).  Cold, calculating, and utterly nihilistic, Owlman is more chilling than an animated character has a right to be.

If you are a fan of the DC Animated Universe or simply a fan of DC Comics in general, Crisis on Two Earths is definitely worth taking a look.  With a story as good as this one, I can see why Warner Brothers decided not to let it sit on the shelf forever.

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.

Forgotten Realms Issue 16 – Fallen Idols (Part 2 of 4)

Our issue begins with Vartan screaming the name of his god as Labelas Enoreth pours his divine essence into his body.  Agrivar charges forward and strikes at the elvish bard with his longsword, hoping to stop the assault on his friend.  To everyone’s surprise she explodes into a cloud of dust when he does so.

It is too late though, as Vartan stands before them transformed into an avatar of Enoreth.  It is then exposition time, as Vartan proceeds to explain the events of the Avatar novel trilogy the crew.

For those of you who were not obsessive readers of Forgotten Realms novels in the eighties, the Avatar trilogy was a series of novels meant to explain the changes between AD&D 1E and AD&D 2E in the Forgotten Realms.  They introduced a cosmic entity known as Lord AO who existed above the gods and maintained the balance between their portfolios.

Lord AO became angered when the Tablets of Fate were stolen from him.  In his anger he cast all of the gods, with the exception of Helm, from the heavens.  As a result, the gods were forced possess mortals in the Forgotten Realms and possessed only a fraction of their normal powers.  Helm was set up to guard the entrance to the outer planes from incursions by these deities.  

The effects of the gods being cast down from the heavens was devastating.  Divine magic ceased to work at all, while arcane magic was horribly warped.  In addition, all manner of aberrations were were created as wild magical energies warped the bodies of normal creatures.

By the time the Avatar trilogy was done, many of the gods had changed and magic had stabilized into what it would be like in AD&D 2E. 

We are not quite there yet in the comic though.

After explaining the Avatar trilogy, Enoreth explains how he had prepared Vartan as a vessel for his essence ever since the two met via the Chalice of Dreams during “The Dragon Reach Saga” way back in issue six.  However, he was unable to enter Vartan because he was trapped with the rest of the Realm’s Master crew mid-teleport for a virtual month last issue.

This forced Enoreth to enter the form of the elvish bard.  However, her body was not up to the task and she rapidly began to deteriorate.  He says as her mind collapsed she caused great damage to the town.

Agrivar believes that the same fate will befall Vartan, regardless of what Enoreth says.  To convince Agrivar of his sincerity, Enoreth briefly allows Vartan’s personality to surface.  Vartan explains to Agrivar that this is his god and it is his duty to serve him in any way possible.  Once Agrivar accepts this, Enoreth abruptly seizes control back and begins asking about the ship.

Captain Omen initially seems reluctant to talk about the ship, but Enoreth uses his powers to remove the wasting disease inside of Omen and store it in a jar.  Enoreth does the same with Foxilion’s addiction to Cheeeese and offers to remove Agrivar’s alcoholism as well.  Agrivar is suspicious of such an easy solution to his problems though and balks at having the deity take care of them with a wave of his hand.

Enoreth is not done granting miracles though.  He begins to offer Ishi the, ahem, ride of her life before Agrivar senses his intent and intervenes.  Enoreth then turns his attention to Minder, offering to restore her to human form… until he realizes she is actually a dwarf.

This realization amuses Enoreth and causes him to be just about as insulting as possible to Minder.  Enoreth also launches into a rant about how stupid the dwarven gods are, and in true sitcom fashion one of them chooses that now is the time to show up.

That god is Clanggendin Silverbeard, the dwarven god of war.  Clanggendin’s avatar form is apparently a giant creature made of earth with three dwarves at its  core.  Minder is overawed by the appearance of his god, but Enoreth quickly tosses Minder aside like a sack of potatoes to keep the Dwarf-Golem out of the fight.

Enoreth then grows to the same size as Clanggendin to confront him.  The two battle, and Clanggendin reveals he is aware of Enoreth’s plans for the human ship and is here to stop him.  Enoreth ultimately prevails in the battle by vaporizing the dwarven bodies powering the avatar.

Minder is of course horrified by the fact that Enoreth has just killed his god.  Enoreth casually overpowers and humiliates Minder, while claiming that he only cost Clanggendin his mortal form and that the god will (probably) return once the time of troubles is over.

Most of the crew is just about fed up with this god, but Captain Omen, who seems to have a mixture of pragmatism and fear regarding Enoreth, intervenes before things come to blows. 

After things have cooled down a bit, Enoreth tells Captain Omen that he has need of the Realms’ Master.  Captain Omen is quick to ask, “What does God need with a starship?”, but Enoreth has an answer for him.

Well, that answers that question!

Thoughts

• This issue suffers from the amount of exposition needed to explain the Avatar Trilogy.  It really grinds the middle of the issue to a halt.
• I remember when I first read the Avatar Trilogy that I wondered where all the non-human deities were.  This issue of the comic helps explain that by noting that they seem to see the Time of Troubles as a human deity squabble and are lying low for the most part.
• Despite my love of Rags Morales’ artwork, I was not a fan of the “big hair” rendition of Enoreth’s avatar form.  I loved the look of Clanggendin though.
• I love the beatific look on Captain Omen’s face once he is cured.  It really sells the scene to me.
• I think Enoreth suffers from being too evil too quickly in this.  I wish he seemed a little more genuinely decent early on in order to make the inevitable conflict with the crew that much more dramatic.

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.

Gamma World may just be the “Beer & Pizza” game I am looking for

With all of the recent announcements about D&D Essentials and the Castle Ravenloft Box Set, I have to admit that Gamma World flew under the radar for me.  This is probably because even though the original Gamma World was one of the few non-D&D TSR games I played (the other being Marvel Super Heroes), I figured that a post-apocalyptic mutant filled world didn’t hold the appeal for me that it once did.

Then I read Bart Carroll’s write up on it in this months previews and my mind was blown.

The biggest change seems to be one of tone.  While the original Gamma World had more than its share of goofy elements, at its core it was a serious game.  Set after a nuclear holocaust, the setting had a “Mad Max” feel to it except with more mutants and better tech to loot.

The new game tweaks the origins of “Gamma Terra” a bit.  Instead of nuclear Armageddon, the scientists at the Large Hadron Collider cause something known as the Big Mistake.  The Big Mistake causes an infinite number of realities to merge together and form something new.

And some of these realities are off the chain!  To quote from the introduction:

In some of these universes, little had changed; it didn't make a big difference which team won the 2011 World Series, for example. In other universes, there were more important divergences: The Gray Emissary, who was carrying gifts of advanced technology, wasn't shot down at Roswell in 1947, the Black Death didn't devastate the known world in the 14th century, the dinosaurs didn't die out, Nikolai Tesla did conquer the world with a robot army, and so on. The Cold War went nuclear in 83 percent of the possible universes, and in 3 percent of the possible universes, the French unloaded their entire nuclear arsenal on the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, because it had to be done. When reality stabilized again, an instant after the Big Mistake, the familiar Earth of the 21st century was replaced by one formed from many different realities.

You had me at “Nikolai Tesla conquered the world with a robot army.”  I can only hope Atomic Robo was leading the charge.

Character creation seems similarly goofy.  To start with, you roll twice (yes, random rolls in character creation) on the character origin table.  These represent your primary and secondary origin, which also determine your power set.  It is up to you to determine how your newly created “Felinoid Ratswarm” or “Seismic Cockroach” came about.

I have been looking for something fun to play that I could run between major arcs in my D&D campaign.  This game seems like something that could be a lot of fun to throw together and play for a few sessions.

So bravo Wizards of the Coast.  You have actually have made me excited about Gamma World!

Random Reviews: Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins

Everyone has their guilty pleasures.  Jolly Blackburn, the creator of Knights of the Dinner Table, has spent an inordinate amount of time praising the low-budget fantasy flick Hawk the Slayer.  Chris Sims of the Invincible Super-Blog has sung the praises of Gymkata, the movie which combines “the skill of gymnastics with the kill of karate.”

  My guilty pleasure is Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.  Since the movie recently became available on Netflix’s streaming service, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to review it.

Loosely based on The Destroyer novel series, Remo Williams recounts the adventures of a New York City cop and Marine Corps veteran who is unwillingly recruited into a secret government organization known as CURE. 

The bulk of the movie involves Remo being trained in the ancient Korean art of Sinanju.  According to the movie, Sinanju is the source of all modern martial arts. Its practitioners have acted as assassins throughout history, killing such notable people as Napoleon and Robin Hood (a bandit!).  Much of the humor and charm of this movie comes from the interactions between Remo and Chiun, which manages to (somewhat) surpass the stereotypical East meets West conflict it begins as.

Ultimately Remo ends up on a mission to take down George Grove, a corrupt weapons manufacturer whose money and power leaves him beyond the reach of traditional  justice.  While I won’t go into the details here, suffice it to say Remo emerges victorious and ready to star in a number of sequels which never came about.

The Good

• Remo Williams provides a number of interesting set pieces for its action sequences, most notably the scaffolding around the Statue of Liberty during its cleaning.
• The main mystery involving the HARP weapon is actually fairly interesting.
• There is decent chemistry between the main cast, especially Remo, Chiun, and Major Fleming (a.k.a. Mrs. Columbo, a.k.a Captain Janeway).
• The movie does not take itself too seriously.

The Bad

• Chiun is yet another case of Yellowface in American Cinema.  Of course the movie was released in 1985, so I am willing to cut them a little more slack than I would a movie released in 2010 (like The Last Airbender).
• Pretty much all the villains exist just to be villainous.  This is especially noticeable in the minor bad guys like the teamsters at the Statue of Liberty.
• The plot is… well, frankly the plot is somewhat thin.

Final Thoughts

I know that a lot of my affection for Remo Williams comes from the fact that it is a movie I enjoyed as a teenager.  If I came to it for the first time today, I might not be as charitable.

Nevertheless, I stand my my opinion that this is a fun, if somewhat goofy, action flick.  If you have Netflix streaming and have a couple of hours to kill, you could do much worse than spend it with Remo.