A large problem many groups have with 4E D&D is that 4E combat takes a very long time. Various methods have been proposed to fix this, such as reducing monster hp, but after some discussion we realised the best way of doing it is simply to revive the Morale system, used in 1^st and 2^nd Edition, but thrown out in 3^rd. The problem with these systems is, like the whole editions themselves, they were overly complicated; I’ve seen an attempt at adding Morale to 4E that mostly just put the 2^nd Ed system in… and it looked terrible. So, we decided to do it from the ground up: a complete, effective, and simple Morale system for 4E D&D.

Continue reading Speeding up D&D 4E Combat: Morale

Back in the old days of playing D&D 3.5 I was running a campaign with 8 players (yes, 8…). Amongst the usual set of crazy logistic issues that had to be faced (pallets of snacks for example…) we also had 8 different playing styles with 8 different motivations, backgrounds, educations, etc. I love my gaming group – and running a game for 8 people is a tough challenge I wouldn’t recommend just anyone trying out… A couple of members of the group are of the engineering background and this led to its own challenges as a GM (analysing buildings and traps for structural integrity for example). This would lead to amusing situations such as the players spending 30 minutes of game time trying to explain how a door couldn’t be opened by lifting the beam instead of just pulling it to the side with the attached ropes and getting on with the game.

Continue reading Do the laws of physics have a place in fantasy role-playing games?

It’s reasonably well known that Fighters and Monks are the weakest classes in 3.5 D&D. Whilst this can be partially be fixed by extending to non-Core books, this doesn’t actually solve the problem, and for some, that simply isn’t an option, either due to DM restrictions or just unavailability of the books. However, it actually is possible to make decent Fighters and Monks in Core 3.5: you just have to be a little clever about it.

This article will start with stuff common to both Fighters and Monks (there’s a lot), and then splits off into separate parts. Some of the ideas in this article may be interesting for other characters, like Barbarians and Paladins.

Continue reading Powergaming: Making a Powerful Fighter or Monk in Core 3.5 D&D

Mike Pattee from Cordax Software has pinged us to let us know that his app i4e has been updated in the App Store to version 1.1.0 and is available now for download. The app allows you to store your D&D 4e character on your iPhone and we are quite fond of it around here. The new version adds character importation from D&D Insider Character Builder which satisfies one of the main requests we had for the app. The update also fixes a whole stack of other things as well.

Continue reading i4e Updated – Now you can import from D&D Insider Character Builder

It is very likely that if you are an iPhone owner and a D&D player there is one app that you have been longing for ever since you picked up the device from the store – a native application to store your D&D character on that understood the game. There have been other ways to store your character – pdf’s, spreadsheets, word documents, google docs, etc – but to have an actual app that assisted in the game – that was the holy grail. And now it is here – i4e.

Continue reading Finally, an iPhone app for keeping your D&D characters on: i4e

For those of you who love horror fiction and roleplaying, yet also don’t mind a bit of academic/philosophical speculation, let me introduce a wonderful resourse: Collapse volume IV. This is a special edition of an academic journal on philosophy, this time specialising in horror fiction. Those of you who have a particular weakness for Lovecraftian fiction (such as myself) may be interested in Graham Harman’s article, “On the Horror of Phenomenology: Lovecraft and Husserl”, which starts on page 333.

Continue reading The Philosophy of Horror

Remember those choose your own adventure books from your childhood? Well imagine that gameplay with some RPG character development, an inventory system, dice-based skill checks and an entire world to explore and quest throughout — awesome! Well I’ve just described Fabled Lands, an excellent gamebook series, that provides as good a solo adventure as I’ve found in a book.

Continue reading Fabled Lands: a great solo roleplaying adventure

With the plethora of RPG dice rolling apps out there, I am sure I am not the only person who has though about keeping my character on the iPhone as well. After a quick investigation, it proved to be not as straightforward as you might imagine. Well, I have put some thought into it, and I have a few suggestions about how it could be done.

Continue reading Keeping your role-playing game character on your iPhone

The regular 4E D&D sheet is too limited for use without other accessories.

Some time ago, I wrote about the choosing of the best D&D 4E character sheet. That was when I was creating my very first 4E character: now that I’ve actually played the game, and have had some experience, I decided to revisit the subject.

As I’ve gained experience with the game, I’ve learnt an important lesson: even if you can remember your powers (I can), you are going to get items which have lots of details, and a single line entry on the character sheet just doesn’t cut it. Ideally, you need plenty of room. Then means that, unless you’re using other cards and the like, the standard D&D 4E character sheet simply doesn’t work. It also has very small (and poor) sections for writing mundane equipment.

I have been using this sheet and, frankly, I’m disappointed. I suppose during playtesting they were drunk or something, because there’s no way you can fit all the required information onto the sheet. I mean, honestly, the AC doesn’t separate armour and ability bonus: annoying for anyone using light armour, such as my Wizard.

Update: Previously, I had recommended Ema’s Charsheets as neat new-player-friendly dynamic sheets. However, Wizards of the Coast recently asked for the site to be taken down, possibly because the dynamic sheets put in a bit more rules information than they liked, so these sheets are unfortunately no longer available.

Shado's sheets are beautiful, and fit everything quite nicely.

Alternatively, there’s Shado’s Character Sheets, shown left. They’re gorgeous landscape sheets, and sport plenty of room for absolutely everything, including an acceptable amount of space for equipment. The power sheet is very well designed, and means you don’t have to worry about power cards if that’s not your thing. The sheer prettiness of them is fantastic.

Shado’s Character sheets definately get the award for the prettiest ones: they’re what the official 4E sheets should have looked like. They use the same style and colours that the rulebooks use, which helps in quickly identifying various elements.

Download Shado’s Character Sheets.

However, whichever you choose, the amounts of text associated with the powers and items, you may have to resort to using cards. Specially made Power Cards are quite popular. After a bit of searching, I must agree with Google: the best power cards I can find are Ander00’s, found here. You should check that link for the current version, or may download the complete set as a pdf here, although it may not be up to date. There are also cards that can be used for items, and other such things.

Of course, if you don’t want to fuss around proper Power Cards, there’s the ultimate D&D player’s tool: The index card. Buy a pack of them at the newsagent, and they’ll serve you well.

Each week we publish something funny from our gaming group (disclaimer: our sense of humour may differ from yours).

In this instalment, the party are trying to work out what to do with an NPC who suspected of being a traitor.

Toki: How do you guys feel about a virgin sacrifice to appease the gods?

NPC 01: How do you know that it is a virgin sacrifice?

Thebor: Well, I don’t think she has been sacrificed before…?