The catacombs beneath ancient Andulie were dark, and the damp, putrid air reeked of rotting flesh. Speck scouted ahead of the party, illuminating the web-filled caverns with the warm glow of his torch while his halfling feet carefully navigated the mounds of skulls underneath his feet.  

"For the sake of Pelor! Are you trying to get us all killed, rogue?"

Speck cringed at the voice of the paladin, Ser Intellect. If anything would get them killed in these depths it would be his announcement of their arrival. Pffffft. Speck heard the unmistakable sound of the sunrod, and soon the entire cavern was illuminated by Intellect's sunrod. Bright light illuminated every crevice of the catacombs, even pushing the darkness away from the two ettercaps that lurked 100 feet ahead, their ambush now spoiled by the sunrod's light.

Speck just shook his head as he grabbed for his dagger. "By the gods I hate when he's right."
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Nothing spoils the suspense of a dungeon crawl any more than a blasted sunrod. Surely, I cannot be the only DM (or player) who has thought this way. Where's all the excitement of delving into the depths, creeping slowly down unexplored passages if a sunrod is going to illuminate everything before you even get there? 20 squares of bright light. That's a lot of illumination! Have you even seen any dungeon maps with rooms larger than 20 squares? I haven't. Most rooms (if they're using dungeon tiles) are 8 or 12 squares. With a sunrod in the party you can count on lurking monsters being totally uneventful.

And how does one even manufacturer sunrods, these so-called "minor magic items"? I would imagine some ritualist would need to imbue these rods with magic of a similar power. Guess what?  Until the Continual Light ritual appeared in Dragon 405 in November 2011, there were no magic rituals or player-character powers that provided a source of bright light that could illuminate 20 squares. That's right: sunrods contained a magical essence that was unparralleled by any other magic source around.

The next time I run a campaign, whether it be 4e or D&D Next, I think I'm going to omit sunrods as a player resource.   

  

A character’s weapon is more than a tool she uses to unleash devastating blows against her adversaries; the chosen weapon of a savage nomadic barbarian, the dashing aerial cutthroat, or a gallant sword-and-shield paladin is an extension of the warrior herself. The weapon becomes the hero; the hero becomes the weapon, and a theme by which the character lives and breathes comes to life.

This article expands on the Weapon Themes idea briefly discussed on this blog. It combines elements from the themes included in the Dark Sun Campaign Setting with those from Richard Baker’s Character Themes articles from Dragon Magazine to create the Chain Fighter theme based upon the spiked chain.

Weapon themes can be introduced into a campaign as a way to minimize feat dependence, specifically those feats associated with multi-class weapon feats or superior weapon proficiency feats, while providing the character with additional flavor and background material.

Chain Fighter

The spiked chain is a wicked weapon and devastating in the hands of proficient warriors. Nimble martial warriors such as rogues, rangers and tempest fighters usually wield such weapons to champion their graceful style.

Through years of dedicated practice, martial warriors become proficient with the exotic spiked chain, so much so that the lethal spiked appendages become one-and-the-same with the warrior’s hands. The spiked chain becomes an extension of the warrior herself.

Chain Fighter Starting Feature (1st Level): You gain proficiency with the spiked chain. You can treat the spiked chain as a double weapon. As a double weapon, each end of the spiked chain is a light blade and flail and deals 2d4 damage. The primary end gains the stout property, and the secondary end gains the off-hand property.

Chain Fighter Level 5 Feature (5th Level): You can use the Grab combat action while wielding a spiked chain. As such, the Grab power is modified as follows:

Grab	Attack
You reach out and grasp your foe, preventing it from moving.
At-Will Weapon
Standard Action - Melee weapon
Requirement: You must be wielding a spiked chain.
Target:One creature that is no more than one size category larger than you
Attack:Strength vs. Reflex
Hit: You grab the target until the end of your next turn. you can end the grab as a free action.
Sustain Minor: The grab persists until the end of your next turn.

Chain Fighter Level 10 Feature (10th Level): Creatures that you grab while wielding a spiked chain take a -2 penalty to escape attempts to break the grab.

Chain Shield	Chain Fighter Utility 2
You whirl into a vortex of spikes, fending off melee attackers.
Daily Martial, Stance, Weapon
Minor Action - Personal
Requirement:You must be wielding a spiked chain.
Effect: Until the stance ends, you gain a +2 shield bonus to AC and Reflex. Whenever an enemy misses you with a melee attack, you can slide that enemy 1 square.

 

Chain Trip	Chain Fighter Attack 3
You lash out with your chain and jerk your foe to the ground.
Encounter Martial, Weapon
Standard Action - Melee weapon
Requirement: You must be wielding a spiked chain.
Target:One creature
Attack:Primary Attribute vs. Reflex
Hit: 1[W] + Primary Attribute modifier damage, and slide the target up to 2 squares and knock it prone.
At 11th level, increase to 2[W] damage.
At 21st level, increase to 3[W] damage.

 

Chain Ward	Chain Fighter Utility 6
You take a sidelong stance, whirling your chain above your head and watching your foes with sharp, opportunistic menace.
Daily Martial, Stance, Weapon
Minor Action - Personal
Requirement:You must be wielding a spiked chain.
Effect: You threaten all squares within your reach.

 

Spiked Shackles	Chain Fighter Attack 9
With remarkable deftness, you wrap your foe in your chain, allowing you to squeeze the spike home and control your enemy’s movement.
Daily Martial, Weapon
Standard Action - Melee weapon
Target:One creature
Attack:Primary Attribute vs. Reflex
Hit: 1[W] + Primary attribute damage, and the target is grabbed until it escapes. You can sustain the grab as long as the target is within your reach, and the target takes a -2 penalty to escape attempts.
At 15th level, increase to 2[W] damage.
At 25th level, increase to 3[W] damage.
Miss: Half damage, and the target is grabbed until it escapes; you can sustain the grab as long as the target is within your reach.
Effect: Until the target is no longer grabbed, you can slide the target 1 square as a minor action. When you sustain the grab, the target takes 1[W] damage.

 

A new martial hero rolls into town and heads to Ye Olde Weapon Shoppe to purchase his first weapon of destruction. He asks for a fullblade and the proprietor says his shop is sold out. Executioner's Axe? Sold out. Mordenkrad? Sold out. Dejected, our hero walks away from the weapon shop empty handed and heads over to the mages' training hall.

I was originally going to write this blog from the perspective of always seeing the same weapons used over and over again by martial charcters, commenting on how little variety I saw in chosen weapons, and then suggesting an alternative weapon system that allowed heroes to use whatever specific weapon they wanted.

Then I read Mike Mearl's Skills in D&D article that appeared in his weekly Legends and Lore column, and I saw how his idea for a layered skill system accomplishes much of what I wanted to discuss about weapons. So I got of my lazy ass and decided to finally share.

I don't see a whole lot of weapon variation in D&D games. On one hand you have the situation I describe above in which players opt for the mechanically better weapons, often resulting in many weapon-wielding characters showing up at tables with the same weapons over and over again. On the other hand you have characters built with a certain background and flavor in mind, but their preferred weapon is not listed among weapon choices (katana? cudgel? military horseman's pike, Braavosi blade? stiletto?). The latter situation is not as dire as the first; I believe most players are going to choose the most damaging weapon they can select over flavor. But does it have to be that way?

Instead of long-winded prose to support this weapon system, I'm just going to write down the rules with a simple explanation of each. Note: this weapon system was also intended as a means of eliminating certain math feats and other over-used (math) feats such as Dwarven Weapon Training.

1) Eliminate Weapon Categories. All classes are proficient with every weapon. (For an invoker, Gandalf swung a longsword just as well as any fighter I've ever known.)

2) Eliminate 1d4 weapon damage. Seriously, why would any weapon deal the same damage as one's fists? There is a reason we use knives and broken bottles in bar brawls. In fact, increase the minimum weapon damage to 1d8. Who knows, it may make up for the Weapon Focus or other damage math feats.

3) Define New Weapon Groups and Standardize Accuracy, Damage and Properties Across Each Group. For example, for swords there can be Short Blade, Long Blade, and Two-handed Blade. All Short Blades are +3 proficiency, 1d8 damage, and Off-hand. Long Blades are +3 and 1d10. Two-handed Blades +3 and 1d12.

Short Bludgeon are +2, 1d8, Brutal 1 and Off-hand. Long Bludgeon are +2, 1d10 and Brutal 1. Two-handed Bludgeon are +2, 1d12 and Brutal 1.

The above numbers are examples. I have not done the math, but the concept here is two-fold: 1) all weapons within the same group (blades, bludgeons, axes, flails, etc.)share the same base properties (accuracy, brutal, high crit, etc.), and 2) the size category of each weapon group is statistically equal to the corresponding size of all other groups. No matter if you choose a short blade, short bludgeon, short axe, or short flail, all weapons within the "short" groups are statistically the same.

4) Players Name the Weapon. If your character uses a Short Blade weapon, then you may call it whatever you want. Short Sword, Rapier, Stilleto, Dagger, Long Dagger, Dirk, Katana, Machette, Scimitar, Khopesh, Arakh, Kukri, etc....

5) Feats (or Weapon Layers) Customize Weapon Choice by Adding Properties. This part of the weapon system is where is becomes similar to Mike Mearl's Skill Layering idea. Players can choose to customize weapon choice by adding on additional properties. For example, one feat or weapon layer may be Short Blade: High Crit which would allow you to add the High Crit property to all weapon attacks using a Short Blade.

6) Eliminate Racial Weapon Feats. Again, this goes with my overall idea of eliminating feats, such as Dwarven Weapon Training, that are used over and over again. Instead, flavor each race by giving them a base racial bonus for particular weapon groups. In the case of dwarves, they may receive a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with Bludgeons and Axes. Elves may get a bonus to bows.

7) No More Superior Weapons. It should be plain to see that superior weapons have been eliminated. Instead, odd or exotic weapons can be included as a Weapon Theme.

May is "themes" month for D&D, at least for Dungeon and Dragon magazines. I thought I would throw out my idea of weapon themes. This stems from the recent conversation in the blogosphere about the usefulness of feats in the 4e system. There is a lot of good comments about the proliferation of feats, the problem with "math" feats, and the uselessness of many current feats; but I didn't see a whole lot of proposals on how to fix, amend or houserule the proliferation of feats or fix the necessity of "math" feats. Consider this my attempt to at least address one area of my concern.

One group of feats I would like to see disappear are the multiclass weapon feats. These feats include Spiked Chain Training, Bola Training, Blowgun Training, etc. I dislike these feats because they eliminate multiclass options and take up feat slots. However, I think these would be perfect candidates for weapon-based themes.

Let's use the Spiked Chain for example. When a PC elects the Spiked Chain theme, that PC would get the benefits normally associated with the feat (proficiency, double weapon, etc.) along with a Level 1 Attack power associated with the theme. Then that PC can elect to choose other spiked chain theme powers in lieu of class powers as she levels up. (I can picture a lot of nifty attack and utility powers related to the spike chain.) It's that simple.

You may be wondering where the examples are for such themes. Well, I leave that up to those of you that like to design such things.

My resurgence back into D&D happened earlier this year, around February or March. I had last played a 3.5 game probably 20 months prior to that, and the new 4e rule system had me intrigued. So, I bought the PHB and read the book in one sitting. Needless to say, I was hooked.

Since then I've been involved in a few 4e campaigns, the sole-surviving one being a Scales of War campaign I DM every Wednesday night. To get more 4e action I joined the RPGA a few months back and started running and playing in both local and online LFR games, about two games per week.

With all this new gaming activity, my wife is starting to wonder where her husband has disappeared. It came to a peak a couple weeks ago, and things got ugly around the house.

One of the ways I tried to break the tension between us was to get her to play a game of D&D with me. She hesitated but agreed, seeing as it was a way for us to spend time together.

I used the Village of Hommlet module that I received in the mail from the RPGA. I asked my wife what type of hero she envisioned herself, and I used the Lord of the Rings as a reference since that's the only fantasy she's accustomed to (other than the vampire and lycanthrope books she reads). Since I knew going through the minutia of character creation would turn her off right away, I rolled her two characters: Aragorn, a dual-blade ranger, and Arwen, a half-elf bard. I figured the familiar characters would help her envision their personalities better. I played a dwarf fighter named Gimli.

I skipped any introduction to the rules and headed right into the adventure and onto the first combat with the giant frogs. Having the twin-strike ranger at her disposal, she was very pleased to have bested me when it came to kill count. I think she enjoyed our first night, and she even told her friends at work she played "the game" with me.

We'll continue the game tonight where we left off - with the Rage Drake staring down the PCs from atop the stairs.

...and from there we'll see what happens.