D&D XP chat seminar 5th edition info

I was reviewing the recent D&D XP chat seminar. I think making players feel like they are a part of this next editions development might be a bunch of marketing hocus-pocus. They clearly have their mind made up about what is in this next edition. Some indications, I feel, that point to the possibility that this edition is ruffed out already. Why do I have a problem with this you are wondering? We need something to play test, right?  Well when we signed up the letter asking for this participation made it sound like we would be helping form the ruff version of 5^th edition. With that said I digress and will be thankful that we get any part of this action. Below are some of the better parts of the Q & A that support some interesting facts and also support the fact that it’s close to ruffed-out. There is also one big peace of news from this Q&A session that play testing for the 5^th edition ruff rules starts play testing SOON! And that’s exciting!

"D&D XP Seminar

(01/26/2012)

Thursday January 26, 2012

9:25

Welcome to the D&D XP Seminar: Charting the Course!

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Question: Is there a timetable as to when we can start play testing?

10:31

Greg: The open play test starts up sometime in the spring, and that's about all the information we have at this point.

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Comment From Dan

Looking back on 3rd edition, I feel like it did a good job of capturing the unique feel of each class. In 4th edition all classes feel similar, because in the end you're just using x daily powers. Sure, the effects are different, but since the mechanic is identical, it didn't really matter what you played, it still felt the same.

10:15

Jeremy: We have talked about having adventures that cater to very particular tastes - political intrigue or classic dungeon crawl. You can also have the sandbox adventure that is an environment with hooks, fleshed out NPCs, evocative locations, And it really becomes a canvas for players and DMs to paint on. Sometimes, I think that's the best approach for people who want to choose their own way, but sometimes it's better to give a more directed approach for people who need that.

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Comment From Tanks

Hw will multiclassing be handled? Will it go back to previous editions or be a feat tax?

10:24

Answers: We want to make it simple, but iconic class features need to be important as well. There are also packages we're looking at where characters can gain certain featuers or qualities that helps them branch out and feel like more of an individual or a real person.

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Question: In the recent editions it looks like a lot of the player options have been narrowed down to things they can/can't do in the rules. Is this next iteration going to get away from that.

10:27

Monte: While having options in the rules is great, we want to open things up so players can get creative and ask to do things that are specifically covered by the rules. We want to empower DMs to with information in the DM guide and others resources to be able to handle those out of the box situations. So basically better gaming through better DM tools and DMing.

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Comment From JamesL

I think the older editions weren't afraid to throw extreme challenges at the players, and let them figure it out. This version has all solutions be combat or skill challenge ones, that are all level appropriate with a 90% chance of success.

10:52

Mike: It goes back to the three pillars and supporting the different kinds of play - we definitely are working on having DM and player tools and optoins in place so that characters are engaged. Example - you can have that master climber, but you want others to feel included and involved in whatever thing when that master climber gets to show off.

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10:12

Capturing that feel is one of the more difficult challenges because it's more ephemeral. It's difficult, but I think we've done a good job. When you get a chance to help in the playtest, hopefully you can let us know."

Pathfinder Role Playing Game Beginner Box Review.

I was told over and over to check out Pathfinder. Every time I told fellow gamers I used 4E they would say the same thing about how much better Pathfinder is. So I had a game coming up and after the last post we had some players quit over a white elephant gift exchange (just an excuse to quit the game). So after she quit I need to keep things secure. That may sound extreme but character sheets are in one location and everyone in the group has the password. One of the players is the father in-law of the female who quit. I could not have her have access through him when we changed the password so he was booted by me (for the record with no vote) so this game went from 9 players in the beginning to 4. I’m actually excited about how the game is now going to go.

With all that said I scheduled the next game, after a LONG break it was urgent that it happen. Unfortunately two players could not make it, so I’m down to 2 players for that evening. On that Friday before the game I headed to my favorite game store Paladins Game Castle (shameless plug yes!) to buy the dungeon tiles I did not have that were needed for the D&D super adventure Madness at Gardmore Abbey. When I got there I realized that I did not need these till next game now because there was no way I was going to get the normal adventure back up and running with only two players. So I began to think of other cool things I could do. After turning in my new pull list for comic books I noticed a display of Pathfinder miniatures. Of course I knew these would work on any system of the same sizing so I grabbed a pack. Then after talking to one of the owners about the limited edition Black Dragon that Pathfinder has released I could see the amazing quality of the sculpts. The miniatures were that good and everyone raves about the RPG, so I decided to get the starter set for Pathfinder RPG. I ended up with two new sets of dice, two pathfinder miniatures boosters, and the starter set to Pathfinder.

I open the stuff up when I get home. First I start with the miniatures. To my surprise I get TWO goblins in the first box. The boxes say one collectable figure so I was very surprised and pleased. The next one was a Human Druid. The druid was perfect for players but also very nice because it could be used as a NPC very easily.  So I was very happy with what I pulled. I think what was more exciting was the quality and detail of these. Pathfinder hit this out of the park, the paint and sculpts are the best I have ever seen for high production plastic miniatures.

Second and last I open the Pathfinder box. The second I open this I can tell this is going to surprise me because the box itself was thicker than any D&D product I have to date.  Open it up and first is the bags of dice and plastic bases. Then a insert to get the player or GM on the right track. The books at first site look good. And I find a double sided play map that is coated so you can use dry erase marker! One side is detailed with fantastic graphics and the other is textured with a light dirt or sand with no discernable graphics, Perfect for continuing the adventure further. The books as I read them were fantastically written. The best part was the graphic design, it helped me navigate to the information I needed VERY quickly! I imagine for a new DM (yes I’m switching between DM and GM) this would work very well to keep learning and pacing up. Next were the 80 full color pawns on extremely thick card stock. My only complaint about the hole set, and its small, is the pawns are a bit over sized.

We played the game and had a blast! It was a very balanced and well written adventure. It gave all the elements a player need to experience to successfully introduce the game. On top of all that I was able to use my goblin miniatures right away! So that just made it that much better.

List of in the box items according to how it is written on the Pathfinder web site.

• 64-page Hero's Handbook, detailing character creation, spells, equipment, and general rules for playing the game
• 96-page Game Master's Guide packed with adventures, monsters, magical treasures, and advice on how to narrate the game and control the challenges faced by the heroes
• A complete set of 7 high-impact polyhedral dice
• More than 80 full-color pawns depicting tons of heroes, monsters, and even a fearsome black dragon
• Four pregenerated character sheets to throw you right into the action
• Four blank character sheets to record the statistics and deeds of your custom-made hero
• A durable, reusable, double-sided Flip-Mat play surface that works with any kind of marker

Over all fun night I give the set a 9 out of 10. The miniatures are 10 out of 10.

However with that said we will continue with 4E till 5th edition comes out. I gut don’t want to deal with the conversion.  I can’t wait to beta test the 5^th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. These are exciting times for RPGs.

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Game Night! Episode 6: The Book That Cannot Be Opened Part1 (Recap part 3 pictures and drama)

As promised, pictures of this amazing game night. Since this time, the time when the game took place, I have learned a few things as a DM for an amazing group.

One is; don’t let the group get too big. I allowed people we had never planed on having in the group join. This is my fault because I’m a pleaser. Being a DM and pleaser is not the best combination. It causes me to break the rules OFTEN. One such “extra” player was the boyfriend of another player. This was a problem from the beginning. I should have known when the Boy (I will use the name Boy to describe the boyfriend so I can respect his identity) and the Girl player (you guessed it! she is called Girl from here on out) said to the group “my character is stalking her character” then the Girl turned and said “we may be dating in real life but that doesn’t mean we are together in the game”. This was in front of the entire group. Some funny and awkward things have happened since then.

 The Boy was not a good player and we tried to teach him, other players just occasionally barked at him. He had it coming. Every turn he would talk incessantly and loud. So the group did not like him. They asked me constantly if they could do mean things to him or even kill him. I said NO over and over, but I understood and did not blame them. One day he attacked another player to save his own ass. I posted it all in a previous recap. The players did not enjoy being attacked and he got himself killed. Since then he has felt “picked on” and for some reason.

Along with all that; other people outside the group wanted to poke their nose where it did not belong recently. The nose poking was concerning an extra activity for the group that was not a part of the game. After posting my final decision, after having the group vote, everything seemed fine. Suddenly the next day out of the blue the Girl quit. I kicked out her dad because the drama was continuing in weird ways and I realized having her dad in gave access to the outsiders, Girl, and Boy. I’m protecting the group and removing the problems. Now we move on and we have new players that I wish to say WELCOME to! Players that already fit in well.

On a sad note we have lost another player to LOVE. Yup he moved for love (I honestly cant blame him). Regardless he was a wonderful friend and player. He was old school D&D player for years and played with a skill that was one of the highest I have ever had the privilege to DM. You will be missed good sir. So we lost a total of 4 players in 4 months. I’m kind of happy we have 4 left. Now we need a 5^th. As for the rest of the recap I will do that this week and we will be caught up. UNTIL NEXT TIME HEROS!...

Ordered some TerraClips for the D&D campaign.

I have ordered some TerraClips. They can be seen here and from what I can tell they look amazing! I looked at all the videos and strongly suggest, if you do use any miniatures or were thinking about it, you check this out.

the first set I will be getting will be the Buildings of Malifaux. Because I’m thinking it will be the best set for my current Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

The best part of this is “TerraClips is suitable for 25mm to 32mm miniatures, tabletop gaming and role playing systems and comes with a natural (hidden) 1" grid.” 

This combined with Dungeon tiles, and game maps changes my game for the better.  When I receive my order I will do an unboxing and review after I use them.

Game Night! Episode 6: The Book That Cannot Be Opened Part1 (Recap part 2)

Long time no post I know, but it seems that finals and holidays are very high-level monsters. The last game was quite some time ago and pictures are going to be uploaded soon. The recap is simple. I bought the collectors set of beholders and thought I need a dungeon for the heroes to go in to that is as old as time and maybe not as advanced as some others. Also I need this to be very different than what they have encountered so far. I made a VERY linear dungeon, no halls, really simple. One room leads to the next. And each room had a puzzle based door and a beholder. The beholder set was perfect! I just made them go up against them one after another. They did really well till the last one and things went south. Actually I SPLIT THE PARTY! The last room was a portal door. That would take you to the room you think of. Not my idea I just lifted it from somewhere and the best part was there were four rooms in this dungeon and they did not know what would happen when they went in to the portal so one player went honey badger style and walked in to the portal. “Roll a D6” I said. On a roll of 1-2 they were told to place their miniature in room one, then on a roll of 3-4 in room 2, and finally on a roll of 5-6 in room 3. They did this for a while till the honey badger style player (who has a pet honey badger) said I want to think of the next room. And suddenly he was face to face with a Beholder Eye Tyrant. Long story short a beholder followed them in to the portal and ended up in room 1. Other players were there and one decided he would attack one of his party members with very little explanation and NO roll playing that could have saved his life. The other players decided they would play their characters as accurately as possible. Unfortunately this meant they would take out the possible threat. (In the past remember the doppelganger in the party Episode 2: All hands point to the seed. pt 3 ) the player was hit for a huge amount of damage bringing him to dying status and he was then beheaded by a player using a executioner's ax.  That was not the end so UNTIL NEXT TIME HEROS!...

I love this Bloger/DM called the Loony DM

A fantastic blog post! I highly suggest reading this Bloger/DMs stuff! http://looneydm.blogspot.com/2011/10/killer-dms.html

This is the stuff I read that makes me want to do more with this blog.