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How Bounded Your Accuracy Is

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:29:54 -0500

Over a month ago, I ran a poll designed to see what the community felt was an appropriate rate of progression for players in three areas: attack bonuses, skill checks, and saving throws. More than a hundred of you responded and now I am going to examine the responses. You can discuss my evaluation in the comments below or in the related discussion thread.

ATTACK BONUSES
More than a third of the respondents felt that attack bonuses should not appreciably scale. However, an equal number felt there should be some scaling. Of these, there was broad variation, but the median scaling appeared to be about +1 every 3 levels. That would translate to level-based attack bonuses tapping out at +6 over a 20-level career, which is a slower progression than the slowest class-based progression in either 3e or 4e, and a little faster than the slowest progression in AD&D.

A +6 spread is still pretty significant when it comes to setting AC for opponents. Let's look atthe component of an attack bonus (exclusing the level-based bonus). Basically, you have martial attack (if you're not a wizard) ranging from +0 to +5 and Ability bonus ranging from -1 to +5. That's a spread of -1 to +10, or 11 points. Very few powers add to a martial attack (for example, Shape of the Dire Beast), and even those are limited in impact (Shape of the Dire Beast only adds to the attack bonus of a wildshaped form, which is already limited to about +4 to +6). Really, the only ones that stretch the upper bounds are the fighter powers Attack Orders, Careful Attack, and Shield Swipe.

Let's say we think the best martial character should be hitting a typical level-appropriate encounter with a 5. The worst martial character should be hitting that same foe with a 16. Sounds good. ACs should thus average around 16, which lets you simply use normal AC ranges.

Add in a sliding level-based bonus and AC will have to scale to match. With an additional +6, the worst martial characetr will be hitting enemies 50% of the time, and topped out martial characters will miss only on natural "1's". This will require a module.

So here's the attack bonus module I would propose.

Combat Experience Module: All creatures gain a level bonus to their attack rolls equal to one-third their level. Moreover, PCs add any martial attack bonus they receive from their class to their AC as a dodge bonus. Creatures that are not primarily spellcasters add their level bonus to AC as a dodge bonus. This bonus applies only when the creature is aware of its surroundings and not immobilized.

SAVING THROWS
The most popular result in this poll was still that there be no scaling. however, it was less popular than no scaling in attack bonuses. Among those who sought some scaling, the 1:3 progression still seems to be about the median (and the range was not as broad as in the prior poll). Right now the only bonuses available to saving throws are ability modifiers. This does have some unusual ramifications, in that there is really no way to get better at resisting spells. Thus, as you level up, the save-or-suck spells you face become more potent. Again, a +6 bonus over 20 levels will require some serious scaling...

Magic Experience Module: All creatures gain a level bonus to their saving throws equal to one-third their level. When using this module, spellcasters should double the spellcasting bonus they get to their class. For NPCs, add the level bonus to any attack rolls and DCs associatd with magic attacks.

ABILITY CHECKS
In this poll, the clear preference is that there be no scaling. Even among the minority who want some scaling, the pace is much slower than what was prefered in the prior polls. Here, the preferred progression is only 1:4, or +5 over 20 levels.

Skillful Experience Module: All creatures gain a level bonus to ability checks equal to one-quarter their level. Ratehr than designate DCs as easy, moderate, and hard, they will be designated by the level of adventurer that should find them appropriately challenging. So the DCs are: Commoner (8), Apprentice (13), Adventurer (18), Legacy (23), and Demigod (28).

A caution: Using these modules will severely impact the way encounters occur. Players should be warned that creatures that are several levels above them will be TPKs. DMs should understand that sending creatures more than a few levels under the party's average level will become cakewalks. In addition, it is inadvisable to have parties mixing characters of differing levels.

I look forward to your comments!

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Heroes of Blogging: March 2013

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:50:16 -0500

This is an ongoing series in which I highlight what I think were the best D&D-related blogs each month. This is the article for March 2013. The criteria for this honor is:

The blog must be on the WotC Blog site.
It cannot be made by a featured or staff blogger (the point is to highlight blogs that might otherwise go unnoticed).
It cannot be made in the blogs for a specific group.
It must pertain to D&D (of any edition).
It must be in English.
It must not be reposted from or pushing content on another site.
It must tickle my fancy.

Note, you really should check out the featured blogs. You can see the current Featured Blogs here and the Staff Blogs here.

While we remain in playtest phase, I'm segregating playtest reports into a separate list. Please take a look at the great work of these Heroes of Blogging, Chroniclers of Blogging, and Heroes of Playtesting!

HEROES OF BLOGGING

Bly2728 takes on CharOp and dual shields, and makes a chessmaster.
davidgiven reads an RPG book in public, and reviews podcasts :r1::r2:.
diversionArchitect nextifies the warlord.
DoctorNecrotic expands a world.
Don-Diablo likes mage knight miniatures.
DungeonM@ster recommends MapTools.
CommanderMacKenzie loves fourth edition and brings you to the table.
CondorDMaDnD2ed compares WotC to KFC and grades THAC0.
hartlage tracks initiative, runs into the Pit of Madness, and has a love-hate relationship with action points.
Kezzek replaces classes :r1::r2:, real abilities, and half-classes.
kkDragonLord teaches beginners.
Orzel favors terrain.
PROM seeks traditional heroes.
Reverendted works on a moble app :r1::r2::r3:.
Rhenny seeks the sweet spot, mitigates damage, and plays 4e to learn about Next.
Ritorix goes Athasian green.
Skerrit designs Ravenloft Domains.
tiballagher fixes the fighter and seeks combat variety.
Vobeshkan returns to a regular campaign.

CHRONICLERS OF BLOGGING

davidgiven chronicles Encounters.
DM JO1990 chroncicles the First Game.
Khilkhameth chronicles the Red Order.
MadiceQueen chronicles the Rave.
Xaspian chronicles Madness.

HEROES OF PLAYTESTING

adembroski11.
gnarwal.
ReverendTed.
Rhenny.

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Queen of the Interwebz Pitz

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 08:38:03 -0500

I am very proud that my April Fool's article, Queen of the Interwebz Pits, was accepted for publication on the website! There is no subscription needed to view the article. If you liked it, be sure to leave a comment on the article gate, or in the official discussion thread. I really like the idea of the Interwebz as a demiplane for humorous adventures, and would love to hear people's ideas for explanding this concept, if there's sufficient interest.

Also, many thanks to Jason Thompson for the kick-ass illustration of LOLth, demon goddess of the Interwebz (and check out his other April Fools submissions -- Walkthrough Map: White Plume Mountain and Walkthrough Map: Tomb of Horrors)!

Please be sure to check out my non-humorous article (okay, semi-humorous) on Hyrsam, Prince of Satyrs, which will also be published in ths upcoming Dragon Magazine issue 422! (Though that will be behind the paywall!) It's my first time being published in Dragon, fulfilling a childhood dream, and crossing off another line on my bucket list.

Don't worry. The regular Heroes of Blogging article will be published tomorrow.

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Economicon

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:41:20 -0500

Back at the end of Third Edition, there was a lot of discussion about ways to break the game's economy. Many of them had been hashed out often enough and usually debunked. I decided to create a very short webcomic of each attempt to break the game economy, thinking that I'd post them whenever these topics came up. Unfortunately, this was in the July 2007, and in August of that year, Wizards announced the development of Fourth Edition, so I did not get much opportunity to use them. Instead I am archiving them here. (Click on the image to allow you to see a larger version.) My apologies for the typos.

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LOST and the Isle of Dread

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:37:10 -0500

The players thought they'd be playing the Isle of Dread (above). What they didn't know was that it would be a mash-up with LOST (below)

The Isle of Dread (above) doesn't look so different from the island of LOST (below), does it?

A green dragon can be found on the Isle of Dread. In my version, the dragon is called "Smokey".

Strange creatures dwell on the Isle of Dread. On the LOST Isle of Dread, the pirates were replaced with the Others.

On the LOST Isle of Dread the medusa spiders (below) are giant (above)!

The only thing LOST lacked was dinosaurs. The LOST Isle of Dread fixes that omission.

Even flying creatures have their analogs on LOST, like the Hurley-bird.

Mysterious maps of the island are a staple of both LOST (below) and the Isle of Dread (above)

So there are two things of which I am a huge fan: Dungeons & Dragons and the television show LOST. So when I decided to run my family through the Playtest version of the Isle of Dread, I found myself happily able to combine these two passions.

For those unfamiliar with LOST or the Isle of Dread, one involves a mysterious island populated by dangerous marauders, ancient monsters, mysterious temples, impossible creatures, natural disasters, and almost no means of escape. The other is a classic Expert D&D module written by David Cook and Tom Moldvay. If you are unfamiliar with either LOST or Isle of Dread, you probably won't get too much out of this article. So, obviously, I understand this blog is likely to have a limited audience.

WARNING: Spoliers abound! Both for LOST and the Isle of Dread. If you don't want spoilers, read no further!!!

I had already adventured through the original module, which was first published back in 1981 and I had a ton of fun with it. However, one drawback (some would call it a feature) is that there is not a lot of personality to the NPCs. They essentially exist as stat blocks with very generic motivations. The pirates pillage. The natives gather coconuts and spear things. The lizardfolk worship dragons and the cavemen paint.

Flash-forward 23 years. When ABC first premiered LOST in 2004, I remember thinking that there were a lot of parallels between the events in the television show and this adventure. A mysterious island. A lost civilization with ancient magic. Strange communities that interact in hostile manners. Lines in the sand beyond which it is not safe to pass.

Recently, my wife and I had been rewatching the series with our daughters (who are seeing it for the first time). They very much enjoy the series and we have a lot of fanciful conversations about what it would be like to be on LOST island and which characters we identify with, whether we'd kill innocents to save our children (as Michael does), and so on.

When I saw the playtest packet with the Isle of Dread, I immediately thought of combining the two. Here's how I did it...

First thing I did was change the identity of the journal writer from "RB" to "JS" (or Jack Shephard). Since my family's party did not have a cleric, I thought I'd make Jack an adventuring cleric so he could be available for any needed healing.

I changed the back story a bit. The heroes' employer -- Charles -- has recently obtained a sheet from a note found in a bottle that washed ashore and was signed by "JS". Charles believes that "JS" was a cleric who was lost at sea. He hires the PCs to find the island and rescue JS and any other survivors. He has commissioned a freight ship to take them to the coordinates of the island as revealed in JS' notes. Unfortunately, the freight ship runs aground as it approaches the island and is destroyed. The players wash ashore with most of their possessions destroyed. They have their armor, spellbook, weapons, a few random effects, and the player's map of the island.

By this point, the players did not suspect that I was running the Isle of Dread as LOST. They thought I was running the adventure straight out of the box. But what happened next left no doubt. I had the PCs wash up at a random point on the island. It turned out to be near the village of Tanaroa, which I had decided would be the beach camp of the LOST castaways. One of the other "villages" would be the cave system. Another village would be the Swan Hatch.

They reached the village and met with Claire, a new mother. She explained that "JS" was their cleric, a man named Jack. She was very worried because Jack, a rogue named Sawyer, a dwarf named Hugo, a tracker named Kate, and a man named Michael, had recently gone off into the jungle but had not returned. At this point my daughter asks "Claire" the name of the ship that crashed and left them here. She answered "Oceanic."

That's when the adventure turned from fun to awesomely fun. My players got totally into the mash-up, realizing their employer was none other than Charles Widmore.

They asked where Jack and his crew were headed and Claire pointed to a distant hex on the map. They hired Jin -- an elven sailor who spoke no common -- to take their small catamaran (the Elizabeth) to that hex. As they explored the center of the hex, they rescued some Neanderthals from giant medusa spiders (aranea in the adventure). The Neanderthals said they knew where Jack and the crew were, and would tell them if they did the Neanderthals a favor. They explained how the lizardfolk worshipped a new arrival to the island: a dragon only known as "Smokey". The lizardfolk would take captives and sacrifice them to Smokey. They asked the players to invade the lizardfolk lair and stop this dragon cult. They would repatriate any lizardfolk children to other lizardfolk communities on the island that had not yet been converted by the dragon.

This was disconcerting as the players had expected a faithful adaptation to LOST, but this story is in the original adventure, and had no analog to LOST. I think it's important when doing homage not to be slavishly faithful. The Neanderthals and lizardfolk have no analogs in the show. The party found themselves knee-deep in lizardfolk.

After successfully rescuing the lizardfolk children, the Neanderthals revealed that they saw JS, Sawyer, and Kate get abducted by the pirates and taken by ship to the pirates' barracks on the far side of the island. The pirates had abducted Michael's son, Walt. In exchange for Kate, Sawyer, and Jack, the pirates gave Michael his son back, a ship, and coordinated to leave the island. The Neanderthals showed the party where the pirates could be found.

Suddenly, the party was thrust into Season 2 of the series. Jin took them by sailboat around the island (where they got a glimpse of a giant statue of a four-toed foot) to where the pirates were. There, the heroes snuck into the camp, where they found Jack, Sawyer, and Kate in seperate huts. Jack had been brought there to cast cure disease on the pirate's leader, Ben, and was using Kate and Sawyer as pawns to convince him to cast the spell. So far, Jack had refused. In the end, the players negotiated a truce with the pirates. Jack cast cure disease in return for freedom for him, Kate, and Sawyer. The pirate also told them the coordinates to leave, though they had no ship that could take them. As they left, they also took two turncoats from the pirate crew -- a young boy named Karl and a woman named Juliet.

They got to back to the beach camp to recuperate from the adventure. Jack revealed that the island was full of "hatches" from an ancient culture that once lived on the island called "DHARMA". He believed the pirates had wiped out DHARMA some time ago. DHARMA had some very unsual magical abilities. He was convinced that in one of DHARMA's facilities is a way to get home. He began gathering provisions for another foray into the jungle.

Meanwhile, the party gets a nocturnal visit from some lizardfolk. Smokey is angry about the loss of worshipers and has started to pressure other lizardfolk communities to offer tribute to him. The party decides they have no choice but to confront the dragon. The lizardfolk tell them where the dragon's lair is located. They persuade Jin to take them once more to the north end of the island. (This time, he is accompanied by his elven wife, Sun -- they had been estranged before, for some reason.)

At the dragon's lair, the party found itself cornered by the dragon and they resorted to parley. The rogue mucked up the diplomacy by trying to pickpocket some of the dragon's treasure. When the dragon attacks, the party wizard used her heightened hold person to keep the dragon paralyzed briefly. They used this lull to offer the dragon a choice. Surmising that the dragon was stranded like the PCs were, they offered to give the dragon the coordinates to get off the island. When the dragon finaly made his saving throw, he agreed. He collected the most expensive pieces of his horde and flew away, leaving the party with a good chunk of change. Less than if they defeated the dragon, but plenty considering they didn't have to fight it.

Had this adventure been slavishly tied to LOST, the players would not have realized the dragon was trapped here like everyone else. The players took the mash-up of LOST and Isle of Dread and made it their own. And they loved it.

(On their way back, they ran into the gargoyles, who abducted Jin and Sun. Entering the gargoyles' lair to rescue them, a former DHARMA station called the Pearl, they discovered a map revealing the location of all the other DHARMA temples.)

In the next installment of the playtest, they will accompany Jack to the central Temple -- called the Orchid -- hopefully to finally discover a way to rescue all of the castways... or possibly send them into the past!

I hope you found this playtest report entertaining, useful and inspiring! Let me know if you're interested in hearing about how the adventure ends.

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