Musings on 4th Edition

My Elements of Power cards got delayed, and I haven't had time to scan Map Pack: Sewers yet, so today I thought I'd chronicle some of my initial thoughts on 4th Edition.

It's been two weeks now since the announcement, and on the whole I am optimistic. As a DM, I've definitely struggled with some of the weaknesses of 3rd Edition, including the pain of generating NPC stats, the wonky rules for special actions in combat, and the frustration of players with needing to rest after running out of daily abilities within the first hour of an day.

I'm playing a Warblade currently and loving it, so I'm glad to hear that the Book of Nine Swords is a significant preview of 4th Edition. I've read the Star Wars Saga Edition previews (and hope to look through the book itself soon), and I think some of the things they've done with skills, critical hits, and talent trees is fantastic (I may incorporate the skill changes into my Ptolus campaign). Many people have also noticed similarities between 4th Edition and World of Warcraft, and I think D&D will benefit from that comparison, even if the similar elements are things that have also been done in other games as well (such as the talents in d20 Modern, or the racial abilities in D&D Online).

I've read most of the new articles on D&D Insider, and most of the staff blogs. It's good to see how excited Mike Mearls and some of the others are. I'm looking forward to the free issues of Dungeon and Dragon magazine, even though I'll miss the paper copies for a time. Still, I've printed out reams of other roleplaying material to read while riding an exercise bike, and I'll probably start doing the same with the new articles.

I'm staying away from most messageboard discussion about 4th Edition for now, because I suspect that the signal to noise ratio is really low (and I have no need for the pessimism). I have some friends who are outraged by the idea of 4th Edition, and I understand the frustration of gamers who've spent thousands on 3.5 source books. I'm glad that I've invested more heavily in minis, maps, and accessories which will cross editions fairly well. But in general, I'm willing to pay for new books if they make the game better for me and my friends.

I'd love to be a 4th Edition playtester if the opportunity arises, but in the meantime I've got several 3.5 campaigns underway as a DM and player, so I'll have my hands full of gaming either way. In fact, I'm looking forward to my warblade getting a few more notches on her sword tonight.


Now watching: The Devil Wears Prada

Map Pack: Campsites Gallery

A composite picture of this set doesn't make a lot of sense, but it gives you a good overview of the variety that's present.

Abandoned Barn
Mountain Cave
Mushroom Glade
Ruined Outpost
Snow Fort
Swamp Island
Pavilion Tent
Wooded Glen
Desert Oasis


Now playing: Transformers: The Game

Map Pack Campsites: Wooded Glen

Here's the final location in the Campsites set! This one is suitable for most generic fantasy wilderness travel, which seems to involve trees.

Map Packs are definitely a boon for Ptolus campaigns. I used six Sewer tiles, the Ambush Alley from City, and the Tavern from Village yesterday for the first session.



Now watching: Superbad

Map Pack Campsites: Swamp Island

The penultimate location in the Campsite set, the Swamp Island would be ideal for several Dungeon Magazine adventures.

Next week I'll start posting Map Pack: Sewers (which I should definitely open up before the start of my new Ptolus campaign this Sunday).



Now playing: Mage Knight Dungeons

Map Pack Location Index

City
Apartment
Blacksmith
Weapon Store
Fountain
Ambush Alley
Fighters' Guild
Wizards' Guild

Countryside
Rope Bridge
Campsite
Ambush
Road Shrine
Toll Bridge
Ruins
Coaching Inn

Dungeon Chambers
Lava Bridge
Barracks & Storeroom
Beast Lair
Interrogation Chamber
Ruined Temple
Spiked Pit

Fortress
Arrow Slit Corridor
Barracks
Kitchen
Throne Room and Banquet Hall
Library
Master Bedroom
Prison
Treasure Vault
Gatehouse

Graveyard
Cemetary Gate and Gravedigger's Hut
Church
Mausoleum and Monument
Crypt
Graves

Haunted Mansion
Nursery
Attic
Sacrificial Chamber
Hedge Maze
Root Cellar
Rickety Staircase
Sitting Room
Portrait Gallery
Entry Hall

Sewers
Terminals
Passages
Turns
Intersections
T's
Misc

Village
Shrine
Apothecary
Gallows & Stables
Marketplace
General Store
Tavern

Map Pack Campsites: Snow Fort

This location is fun to assemble, because you can either put the blue edges together or the white edges. I followed the example from the back of the packaging, but both seem reasonable.



Now playing: Greed Quest

Map Pack Campsites: Ruined Outpost

In addition to being a ruined outpost, this location could serve for a variety of abandoned buildings. I can see this getting a fair amount of use in a Ptolus campaign.



Now watching: Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas

Map Pack Campsites: Pavilion Tent

This is one of my favorite locations in the Campsites set. It looks like a general's tent out of a fantasy novel or movie. I can think of a use or two for it in the Savage Tide campaign.



Now watching: Inside Man

Map Pack Campsites: Mushroom Glade

The strange thing about the Mushroom Glade is that the two tiles are exact duplicates. When one is rotated, they do form a single, albeit oddly symmetrical, location.



Now reading: Complete Adventurer (curious about spell thieves)

Dragon's Trove Gallery

Armor
Weapons
Potions
Rings
Scrolls
Rods, Staves, and Wands
Wondrous Items: Part 1
Wondrous Items: Part 2


Now watching: Zoolander

Dragon's Trove Wondrous Items: Part 2

And here's the other half of the wondrous items! Many of these cards could also be used for mundane items (just like many of the Adventure Gear cards could be used for magic items). I'm particularly glad to see the statue, which despite its textual claim of being a dragon, looks vague enough to cover a variety of figurines of wondrous power.


96 Helm - Winged bronze with blue gems
97 Horn - Curved ivory with pewter bands
98 Key - Chaotic handle encrusted with amber
99 Lamp - Ancient gold with silver cap
100 Mirror - Perfect silver with carved dragon's head
101 Necklace - Silver with blue gemstone
102 Orb - Encircled by smoky silver dragon
103 Panpipes - Bamboo with a wave pattern
104 Pendant - Convoluted scrimshaw piece
105 Periapt - Ceramic version of aquatic creature
106 Scarab - Jade with uncut garnet in forehead
107 Scepter - Black glass and silver with dragon head
108 Statue - Silvery metal dragon
109 Torch - Metal head on plain wood staff
110 Vestments - Green velvet and gold thread


Now reading: Night of Dissolution

Dragon's Trove Wondrous Items: Part 1

This is the first time I've split a subset of item cards into two posts, but it's also the first time there have been 33 items in a subset. The wondrous items in this set are awesome! Not only are there a lot of new form factors (goggles, bowl, coin, key, etc), but the repeated item types are also stunning. The one thing that struck me as odd was the number of things described as "yellow".


78 Amulet - Sun-shaped with sixteen rune-engraved rays
79 Belt - Seven stars and five gems on two belts
80 Book - Red dragon scales with silver bindings
81 Bowl - Yellow sapphires around silver bowl
82 Box - Yellow wood with bluish substance inside
83 Bracelet - Open iron with mounted yellow garnets
84 Circlet - Pewter winged face with yellow agates
85 Cloak - Orange with white hem and sleeves
86 Coin - Dragon and other symbols
87 Crown - Blue velvet and silver point surrounded by amethysts
88 Gemstone - Swirling yin-yang of two blue hues
89 Gemstone - Reddish orange irregular oblong
90 Gloves - White and black gloves with opposite color gems
91 Goblet - Bronze with colored stones
92 Goggles - Quartz lenses in steel frames with leather band
93 Harp - Gold sound box and silver arm and pillar
94 Hat - Jaunty black felt
95 Headband - Fire opal in a leather band


Now reading: Ptolus

Dragon's Trove Rods, Staves, and Wands

There are several interesting items in this subset, from the severed unicorn horn to the insect-like claw to the cane-shaped rod.

(On a side note, this is my 150th post on this blog since I started it back in January. That's four times as many as my previous personal anecdote blog.)


62 Rod - Cane-like with steel body and gold handle
63 Rod - Twisted shaft with gold dragon head
64 Staff - Flanged headpiece with short shaft
65 Staff - Stone flames on ivory handle
66 Staff - Honey-colored bulb opposite golden coin
67 Staff - Silver studded with red gemstones
68 Wand - Severed unicorn horn capped with pewter
69 Wand - Black dragon image wrapped around silver and gold
70 Wand - Insect-like with grasping claw and bulbous handle
71 Wand - Pale blue with dragonhide grip
72 Wand - Ivory with flame-like amber tips
73 Wand - Silver with swirling patterns
74 Wand - Spherical plant roots for head
75 Wand - Severed red dragon toe on stone
76 Wand - Silver tips on twisted metal
77 Wand - Pearl-studded silver


Now watching: Slings and Arrows

Dragon's Trove Scrolls

Like the rest of the set, these ten scrolls are very well done. There are some distinctive types here (fiendish, celestial, shadowy, bestial).


51 Ring - Solid silver with pentagram pattern
52 Scroll - Star chart of white dots and dark lines
53 Scroll - Fiery pattern with five ribbons
54 Scroll - Reddish illumination and redwood spools
55 Scroll - Purple with silver trim and gem-studded band
56 Scroll - Golden roller and intricate designs
57 Scroll - Blue ink on gold dragonhide
58 Scroll - Silver and gold case with diamonds
59 Scroll - Dragon images on worn parchment
60 Scroll - Human face with tiger stripes design
61 Scroll - Fiendish wings and icons


Now watching: Cheaper by the Dozen 2

Dragon's Trove Rings

Just a few cards today. And I'm already looking forward to Elements of Power...


47 Ring - Emerald in silver dragon's maw
48 Ring - Gold draconic shapes grasping a ruby
49 Ring - Simple textured wood band
50 Ring - Dull green with garnets
51 Ring - Solid silver with pentagram pattern


Now reading: Prince of Demons (Dungeon 150)

Dragon's Trove Potions

One of the best things about the potions in Dragon's Trove is that there are so few relative to the previous expansions. They look great, but I have so many potions already that I don't need a lot more. I'm much rather have more wondrous items, which is exactly what Dragon's Trove provides.


15 Crossbow - White and blue with dragon on stock
36 Potion - Solid pewter miniature stein with thick liquid
37 Potion - Glazed ivory clay with gold beads
38 Potion - Pewter bottom and cap with blue liquid
39 Potion - Iron flask with red cap and dragon design
40 Potion - Cold tin wrapped in leather
41 Potion - Gold emblem on leather wrapped flask
42 Potion - Primitive designs on brass with mismatched stopper
43 Potion - Black glass with five-tentacled alien design
44 Potion - Large egg with clay and amber cap
45 Potion - Amber glass with gold cap and bottom
46 Potion - Ceramic jug with primitive tentacled humanoid design


Now playing: Stonehenge

Dragon's Trove Weapons

There's a lot of good things I could say about the weapons in Dragon's Trove. They include many items which have been sorely missed (bastard sword, darts, javelin) as well as many cool rare items (glaive, kukri, pistol). The artwork is fantastic, especially pieces like the Greataxe and Hammer. And when added to the stash from Hero's Hoard and Relics of War, it finally feels like my armory is fully stocked.


15 Crossbow - White and blue with dragon on stock
16 Dagger - Irregular but symetrical forked
17 Darts - Charred wood with iron tip and brass grip
18 Falchion - Notched gold blade with turquoise stones in leather handle
19 Fang Dagger - Ruby-studded gold grip
20 Glaive - Razor sharp with tiny fins
21 Great Axe - Golden blades with anvil sound effects
22 Hammer - Solid iron brick with steel handle
23 Javelin - Barbed and razor sharp
24 Kukri - Notched with brass handle
25 Lance - Ribbon of flame along body
26 Longbow - Gold-hued with onyx beads
27 Longsword - Golden metal with scaled grip
28 Longsword - Darkened steel with leather grip and ivory
29 Morningstar - Brass head with iron chain and wood handle
30 Pick - Twisted with snake-like handle
31 Pistol - Etched silver body with steel mechanisms
32 Rapier - White metal with blue basket
33 Shortbow - Stained birchwood bound in gold
34 Shortsword - Two pieces of metal twisted and merged
35 Shuriken - Razor sharp stained iron


Now playing: World of Warcraft TCG

Dragon's Trove Armor

I know I'm in the middle of Map Pack: Campsites, but I have to take a break and start putting up Dragon's Trove. The artwork is fantastic, and the set distribution (fewer potions, more magic items, non-random) has me quite happy. I'm also glad to see so many missing weapons (morningstar) and wondrous items (goggles) finally appear.

There are 13 armor cards in this set, but all of them are quite attractive (as opposed to say the Padded Suit from Relics of War). I don't think I can pick a favorite.

01 Banded Mail - Painted bronze over hard leather
02 Chain Shirt - Iron links with gem-studded belt
03 Crystal Armor - Always bright crystal plates
04 Dragonhide - Green coat and shoulder guards
05 Dragonplate - Glimmering gold
06 Dragonscale - Red scales on black leather
07 Platemail - Red dragon motif on solid iron plates
08 Spiked Half-Plate - Yellow with dragon teeth spikes
09 Splint Mail - Bulky iron plates
10 Studded Leather - Green wyrmling hide with patterned leather pauldrons
11 Dragon Shield - Silver dragon skull on blue dragon scales
12 Tower Shield - Primitive human head design on massive red scale
13 Wooden Shield - Two faded dragons in combat


Now watching: True Colors

Map Pack Campsites: Mountain Cave

Third in the Campsites set is the Mountain Cave. If there's not something in there when the characters arrive, you can bet it will be back shortly.

In fact, that's a great thing about most of the campsites. PCs may have to evict the previous residents before using them to rest.



Now watching: 300

Map Pack Campsites: Desert Oasis

Next up is the Desert Oasis. I don't see this one coming up anytime soon in the games where I am a player (Winterscape, Sharn) or a DM (Age of Worms, Ptolus). Still, it's a very nice oasis.



Now watching: The Contract

Map Pack Campsites: Abandoned Barn

One cool thing about the Campsites map pack is that all the locations are two tiles, so there's no need for me to start small and save the big location for last. Let's do it alphabetically. First up is the Abandoned Barn.



Now watching: Night at the Museum

Status Update

Today I return to work after seven weeks of family leave with my three kids. We had a great time, and I wish it could be longer, but there's definitely an adrenaline rush about returning to work. This blog, which pretty much went nowhere during my time off, will also see a surge of activity shortly.

I just added composite images for the Fortress and Mansion map packs, and I reorganized the links on the right. I'll start posting Map Pack: Campsites tiles tomorrow, and then switch over to Dragon's Trove item cards and Map Pack: Sewers later this month. Elements of Power and Map Pack: Temples are also not far away.

On the gaming front, I'm enjoying being a player in my Thursday night game. The DM has created a homebrew campaign setting called Winterscape, where our characters are refugees from an eternal winter in a former dwarven stronghold. I'm playing a female human warblade from the Book of Nine Swords, and she rocks!

I'm also planning on starting a new campaign once a month on Saturdays. The players are familiar with roleplaying, but are not as dedicated as the Thursday night group. I'm planning on using the Ptolus campaign setting, which is incredibly versatile.

It's good to be back. More later!


Now watching: Doom

Misc GameMastery Posts

I figured it was time to gather a few of these posts in one place.

Critical Hit Deck Analysis
Farewell, Dungeon. Hello, Pathfinder!
Review: GameMastery Campaign Workbook
Item Card Ideas: Body Slot Card Holders
What Are Item Cards?