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Hey, I just noticed that my less-random fantastic terrain list has no terrain that provides cover on it.  Is this a sad, sad mistake, or are people happy with the non-fantastic cover already available in the game?

What's your favorite superior cover (fantastic or not)?  Bonus points for something that can be used for an ambush by sling-wielding street rats in a city alley -- arrowslits and crossbows just don't do it for me anymore.

(reposted, because something caused the previous copy to require a moderator's intervention, maybe because I linked to my previous post?)

Hey, I just noticed that my less-random fantastic terrain list has no terrain that provides cover on it.  Is this a sad, sad mistake, or are people happy with the non-fantastic cover already available in the game?

What's your favorite superior cover (fantastic or not)?  Bonus points for something that can be used for an ambush by sling-wielding street rats in a city alley -- arrowslits and crossbows just don't do it for me anymore.

Speak up and let your voice be heard.  If you see a problem, talk about it: inequity thrives in the darkness, and the more places you talk about it, the more light you shine on the problem.

Too often, I hear people respond to the discussion of a D&D-related problem with "stop complaining and go write a letter to customer service."  This is misguided. We should be talking about it in multiple venues, not just one.

In that vein, here's a pair of things I've sent to WotC that I have *also* said on the community.wizards.com forums, to my friendly local gaming store, to the twitterverse, and face-to-face with my friends.

Support for people with disabilities:

Hi, are the D&D Encounters events wheelchair-accessible?

If the venues that host D&D Encounters are not required to be wheelchair accessible, can that please be added as a search option for finding a location? It's a significant barrier to access for non-able-bodied players and anyone who plays with them to have to telephone Every Single Gaming Store In Town to find one where we can play.

Support for diversity in gaming:

I just downloaded the pdf of six pre-generated characters for the Dark Sun Encounters. And: Seriously, only one female character? And it's the healer? And her art portrays her as the darkest-skinned member of the party?

I'm embarrassed to suggest to my friends that they check out the game. Those "just throw in a token non-white non-male" and "women generally don't play D&D" and "make the girl play the healer" are *not* the kind of attitude I want to see my favorite hobby propogating.

Please provide more thoughtful pregenerated characters -- stop making people new to the game have to do extra work if they want to play something other than a stereotype!

Well, several days of gluing and cutting, and now I have to figure out how to actually elevate my little cliffs and hills.

Books and blocks, for now, but it takes *forever* to set up this way.

What do you think?  The actual elevation add to the immersion, or do the haphazard supports just become a distraction?  A little of both, maybe?

Not my turn to DM yet, so I have no idea how long it'll be before I actually *use* this.  Have to figure out how to store it; some of the pieces are over 20" wide...

Am enjoyably lingering my way through DMG2.   Really enjoying myself, for the most part.

However.  I just finished the "Skill Challenges" chapter & I'm annoyed.

There are a *bunch* of sample skill challenges. (yay!)  Most of them have generic male NPCs where NPCs are called for.  (boo.)  The two that have non-generic NPCs with names and movtivations are also the only two with female NPCs.  The male NPCs in those skill challenges are all burly military men with strong military fighty goals. The female NPC in each of those skill challenges is a fey wizard (one elf, one half-elf).   Sheesh, stereotype much?

On the upside, the DMG2 has, in the 'companion characters' section, a rare gnome defender with a limp.  Looky there!  A Small defender/soldier PC-race: how often do you see that? (answer from a recent thread in Astrid's Parlor: rarely, unless it's a swordmage)  And with a physical disability that doesn't prevent him from being a defender: yay!  Contrast with Dragon & Dungeon magazines, in which the only two characters who limp are both elderly females, both described as having a "pronounced limp."  Again, stereotype much?

I'm calling you writers out by name: Richard Baker, Mike Mearls, Robert Donoghue, Ari Marmell, Scott Fitzgerald Grey.  I challenge you to create more thoughtful NPCs.  Instead of rehashing tired tropes.  At least some of you I know are capable of wonderful, creative, insightful work -- Ari & Mike in particular, I've loved a lot of your stuff!  Now's your opportunity to extend your talent and creativity to another spot, dearly in need of your input.

This is one of the things that editors should be for.  I'm calling a few more people out by name: Steven Winter, editor-in-chief of Dragon & Dungeon magazines.  Kim Mohan, managing editor for D&D.  PLEASE find whatever box these five disparate writers (and all the rest who are doing the same darn thing) are pulling their stereotypes from and BURN IT.

Posted the other day about my random-terrain generator.  I ran it a few more times, but really, what I needed to do whas turn the output of the random generator into something more polished, more fluffy.  So, here are fewer pieces of terrain, more extensively thought-about:

Brass-pink Vines of the Viscount grow to cover walls.  If someone stands near the wall, it puts out leafy tendrils  near that creature’s ears, and begins to whisper.  It’s a popular planting for wealthy merchants’ country homes, where the house’s defenders can stand with their backs to the walls and the vines will whisper advice into their ears.  Creatures within 1 square of a wall covered with these vines receive a +2 bonus to all damage rolls and do not take a penalty for firing at targets with partial cover.

Violet Dust is harvested from Stickysilk flowers for its medicinal properties; it can cure certain wasting diseases – if the dust itself doesn’t kill the patient first.  Creatures who inhale Violet Dust, either medicinally or by being within one square of a Stickysilk flower, take an additional 1 point of damage whenever they take ongoing damage, but receive a +2 bonus to saves vs. ongoing damage.

Bel's Joyous Circle of the Pit is a 3x3 circle etched into solid rock.  When activated by a creature stepping into the circle, it glows with a sullen red glow in a 5x5 zone centered on the circle.  When activated, the zone becomes difficult terrain and creatures in the zone take 2 fire damage at the start of their turn. 

Sweet Bogbriar is native to the Feywild, where it grows in vast thickets.  It decreases force damage taken by creatures standing in it by 2, but when they attack, creatures within the bogbriar take a -2 penalty to damage rolls.

Creatures standing in a square infested with Ivory Moss of the Exarch receive 1 point more damage from from necrotic sources.   The moss, if pried up off the rocks it grows on, appears pale ivory with flecks of greenish-gold, but when it’s growing it camouflages itself to match its surroundings, requiring a DC 18 perception check to notice it.

Mirror Sand is usually found in patches at least 10ftx10ft. It’s unusually shiny and seems to pulse with light when a creature standing in it tries to recover from battle. Creatures in the same square as Mirror Sand receive 6 points less healing from spending a healing surge and receive a -3 penalty to saves vs. ongoing damage.

Ember Crystal drinks in fire and glows with a sullen orange glow.  It’s reputed to have been used to build a vast city that millennia ago floated through the Elemental Chaos, but was shattered into pieces and scattered across the planes. It provides fire resist 1 to creatures within 2 squares. Creatures with the cold keyword are unaffected.

Twilight Sinkweb is a semi-aware fungus that imitates a dark stone bridge across a chasm.  When unwitting creatures try to cross, they must pass a DC 20 Acrobatics check or be stuck in the web from the waist down.  Trapped creatures are restrained and gain vulnerability 4 to all damage.  The creature can be freed from the web by a single attack that deals 14 points of damage or higher, at which point the web lets go.  When the web receives a total of 35 points of damage in five minutes (one encounter) it releases all creatures as well as one side of the chasm.  Creatures must save to grab hold or else fall.

Creatures in Moradin's Spike Loam take 2 points of damage at the start of their turn, but can re-roll one failed melee basic attack per round.  It’s hindering terrain that requires an Athletics DC 16 check to leave a square.

In cities of the Astral Sea, these small round bushes with translucent leaves are a common sight in temple gardens. Radiant Crunchbushes have tiny sparkling pods that shatter when it’s ready to spread its seed.  Creatures within two squares of this plant get all damage and healing from radiant sources increased by 1 point. Creatures of size Huge and larger are unaffected.

Thought to be imported from the Shadowfell, Twilight Clay causes 2 extra damage each time a helpless creature in its square takes damage.  It’s difficult terrain.

The Orange Pool of the Nine Hells belches out clouds of superheated steam in response to nearby cold, as if it’s offended by the cold.  It causes 6 damage to all creatures within 2 squares whenever anyone in that zone uses a cold power.  The steam hangs in the air for a round, providing concealment to creatures in the zone.

When the winter fey pass through a damp area, they sometimes leave behind a patch of Succulent Frost-slick, an extra-slippery patch of ice.  It’s hindering terrain, requiring an Athletics DC 14 check to leave; on a failure, the creature falls prone.  Creatures subject to forced movement which begins in the slick can be moved an extra square.

The Grasping Rift is a crackling rent that’s just barely cracked open to another plane. The energy that spills up out of it is without form or intent, but if someone within one square uses a power of any sort, that creature’s intent infuses the loose rift-stuff and causes 3 points of force damage to creatures within 1 square of the rift.   If a creature in that zone takes force damage from another source, the rift increases that damage by 3.

I want better choices in the mood drop-down that shows up on my home page here.  My most-common moods are missing.  Where's "contemptuous"?  And "resigned"?  And "quixotic?" LiveJournal has an "other" field so I can fill it in if nothing is appropriate. (and how often do I remember to use the LJ one? Almost never.  But at least it defaults to "nothing," which isn't an option here.)

Dr_Venture mentioned Inspiration Pad Pro, a tool for making random tables.  You can make them arbitrarily complicated, which fits my habits just fine.  I'd already started making a set of tables to generate fantastic terrain, and this tool just makes them so much better.

15 out of 25 usable, not so bad.  It looks like I need to move the gerunds out of the adjective table, though.

Also known as Stingingshining Pool, Creatures within 1 square of Violet Dust receive a +2 bonus to saves vs. ongoing damage.

Bel's Joyous Circle Of the Abyss gives creatures within 3 squares 2 damage at the start of the creature's turn.  It's also difficult terrain.

Sweet Bogbriar decreases force damage taken by creatures within 3 squares by 2. Creatures within 2 squares of it take a -2 penalty to damage rolls.

Creatures within 3 squares of Ivory Moss Of the Exarch receive 1 point more damage from from necrotic sources.

Creatures within 2 squares of Mirror Sand receive 6 points less healing from from arcane sources. Creatures within 1 square of it receive a -3 penalty to saves vs. ongoing damage.

Ember Crystal provides damage resist 1 to creatures within 2 squares. Creatures with the cold keyword are unaffected.

Pinktwilight Sinkholeweb increases damage taken by creatures within 2 squares by 4. Creatures within 1 square of it must pass a DC20 Dexterity check or are helpless.

Creatures within 2 squares of Moradin's Spike Loam receive a -1 penalty to saves vs. ongoing damage.  Immobilized creatures are not affected. It's also hindering terrain.

Creatures (Large or smaller) within 2 squares of Crunchyivory Bush receive 1 point more healing from from radiant sources.

Rippling Dust provides partial cover to creatures within 3 squares. Creatures within 1 square of it receive a -2 penalty to saves vs. ongoing damage.

Waxy Shivering Crystal causes 3 damage to all creatures within 1 square whenever anyone in that zone uses a necrotic power.

Creatures within 3 squares of Storm Pink Clay must pass a DC17 Dexterity check or are petrified.

Creatures within 1 square of Yellow Crystal receive a -2 penalty to saves vs. ongoing damage.

Waxy Artifact requires creatures to make an extra DC15 Stealth check to get rid of the dominated condition. Creatures within 2 squares of it receive a +3 bonus to damage rolls. It's also difficult terrain. Dazed creatures are not affected.

Creatures within 2 squares of Violet Web take a -3 penalty to attack rolls. It causes 3 acid damage to all creatures within 3 squares whenever anyone in that zone uses a power. This can only occur 1 time per hour.