What I'm reading...Darkship Thieves

My reading time is precious, so typically, when I decide on my next book, I will choose something based on word of mouth from a trusted source or select an old classic that I'd always intended to read, but just never got around to it. However, when I picked up my latest book, Darkship Thieves, by Sarah A. Hoyt, it was for an entirely different reason. Ms. Hoyt is a Portuguese-American science-fiction/fantasy writer and outspoken libertarian who contributes to a couple of political blogs I frequent. I became interested in her fiction by reading her online political musings and though most of her books might be described as historical fantasy, Darkship Thieves and her soon-to-be-released sequel, Darkship Renegades are pure space opera in its finest tradition.

Darkship Thieves is best described as a sci-fi romance. Settle down, you guys, there are no heaving bosoms and I do not recall a single use of the word "bodice". It is the story of Athena Hera Sinistra, the wayward daughter of a member of the ruling class in a far future Earth, centuries after a vicious pogrom cleansed the planet of genetically-modified humans including the dreaded rulers, the Biolords. Following a mutiny on her father's spaceship, Athena is forced to flee in an escape pod, only to be captured by a darkship thief. Darkship thieves are mysterious pirates who steal energy pods in their technologically-advanced and stealthy darkships. Athena's captor turns out to be a genetically-enhanced human with cat-like vision and reflexes named Kit Klaavil, a descendent of exiles who escaped Earth during the uprising against the Biolords. Though no match for Kit's superhuman reflexes, Athena had always been unusually adept in a variety of ways and her fighting prowess was no exception. Kit senses something unusual about her and decides to take her back to the hidden base of his people. What follows is a story of growing love between Kit and Athena and growing dread for the future of Kit's people. The climactic confrontation is action-packed and the big reveal is awesome.

Overall, Darkship Thieves has a distinct "golden-age" feel. There is little in the way of technical jargon, even though the main character is something of a gearhead. Although the budding romance between Athena and Kit is central to the novel, it doesn't read like chick-lit. There's plenty of action, interesting world-building and a smattering of Heinleinesque political commentary thrown in for good measure. Indeed, Darkship Thieves won the Prometheus Award for the best novel of 2011, from the Libertarian Futurist Society. Well worth a look.

-Rognar-

More on Election 2012 and the bright future

Seems I may have been a bit hasty in suggesting the Obama administration is uninterested in manned space exploration. NASA has unveiled ambitious new plans for future missions in light of the election result. Manned deep space missions, visits to near-earth asteroids, even a possible manned mission to Mars by 2030, that's some pretty exciting stuff. Admittedly, it will require a commitment from future administrations, but any momentum is encouraging.

-Rognar-

Election 2012 and the bright future

I can't say the final result is unexpected. Outside of the partisan bubble, most sources were predicting a fairly convincing win for Obama. I was surprised by the vote, however. The final tally isn't quite in yet, but Obama looks to be down about nine million votes from 2008. Clearly, the enthusiasm has ebbed dramatically in four years. Yet, Romney got about two million votes less than McCain. The Republicans definitely own this defeat. Either they couldn't bring themselves to vote for their guy, in which case, shame on them. Or, there just aren't as many of them as there were even four years ago. If the Republican party is declining at a rate of half a million voters per year, they definitely have to redefine what they represent. I wish them well as many of the best values of America seem to be Republican values.

So what does it mean for the bright future? Sadly, I don't think it's at all good. In general, Democrats do seem to be a bit more pro-science. They certainly don't adhere to some of the strange views of the religious Right. However, I don't think they're all that interested in space exploration. Democrats tend to think small. They see America as smaller than Republicans do. Sure, America is exceptional, they say, in the same way Greece or Brazil is exceptional. Grand visions of humans in space seems like fantasy to them, especially when there are so many social issues down here on earth that require immediate attention. Money that could go to space science will more likely be directed to green energy and you can bet the military will not have a lot of discretionary spending capability to direct toward establishing strategic assets in the high frontier. President Obama has done a decent job of encouraging private industry to participate in space exploration and, for that, he should be applauded, but for the most part, I think over the next four years little will be accomplished in the effort to hasten the arrival of the bright future.

-Rognar-

Government and the bright future

On the verge of an historical US election, it seems an appropriate time to discuss the role of government in the "bright future". I identify politically as a blue Tory. In the lexicon of Canadian politics, that means fiscal conservatism and relative indifference to social conservatism. As such, I prefer free markets with, at best, a light touch of government to ensure everyone plays fair. However, I do not share the antagonistic view of government of American conservatives. Government, as I see it, is inefficient and large. For this reason, it should stay out of anything in which size is unimportant. We don't need, for example, government broadcasters or oil companies or airlines (all things which we in Canada currently have or have had in the recent past). The private sector has proven amply capable of providing these services. However, I think really big things are beyond the purview of the private sector and space programs seem to be a good example. Sure, big companies like Apple or Exxon Mobil could probably afford to bankroll a project like the Apollo program. A modern version of the Apollo missions would cost about $10 billion per year for about 15 years. Apple, for example, had net profits over the last year of about $40 billion. So theoretically, the largest corporation in the world could afford to fund something like the Apollo program assuming all of its shareholders could be convinced to relinquish a portion of their dividends. However, the mandate of corporations is not to invest in projects which can pretty much guarantee not to be profitable. That is not to say there isn't any money to be made in space. Energy and resources are in glorious abundance in the Solar System and eventually, fortunes will be made, but not on timescales that good capitalists can abide. A long-term investor is someone planning for his retirement in 40 years, not his great-great-grandson's in 140 years. Of course, I don't mean to suggest that governments take a long view either. Most can't see beyond the next election. However, they can commit to projects that aren't profitable as long as enough of the citizenry is inspired by the effort to represent an attractive voting bloc. Now, it might be a bit mercenary of me to say so, but when it comes to motivating governments, a small, but vocal group can often have influence far in excess of its size. In 2004, George W. Bush beat John Kerry by only about three million votes out of over 120 million votes cast. The presidential election of 2008 was one of the more one-sided in recent memory, yet Barack Obama beat John McCain by less than ten million votes. Imagine how much influence a solid block of five million Americans who are committed to space exploration and willing to vote that way could have on the US political landscape. It is certainly more likely to succeed than trying to get that same five million to fund a private space program at $2,000 per person per year for 15 years with no hope of a return.

The real trick and one I don’t know how to overcome is to convince politicians on both sides of the political spectrum that those five million votes really are available to the guys with the best offer for future space exploration. In the recent Republican primary race, Newt Gingrich made a rather surprising pledge to establish a lunar base within eight years of his presidency. Not surprisingly, he was widely-ridiculed within his own party. Setting aside the question of affordability in tough economic times, Republicans are likely to be wary of chasing votes within the scientifically-literate community of space exploration enthusiasts. Their sometimes bizarre views on evolution and climate change and, more recently, human reproduction make many of them seem to be a bunch of ignorant hicks or conspiracy theorists. In order to influence them to embrace space exploration, they need to know that space enthusiasts would be willing to overlook the occasional weirdness from the fringes of the party in exchange for a firm commitment to the bright future. Too bad Newt didn’t win.

-Rognar-

The bright future

Lately I find myself thinking a lot about what I tend to call the "bright future", the future I thought I'd be living in today when I was a kid. I was a space-crazy introvert with visions of Star Wars and Star Trek in my head. The Americans had already sent men to the moon, there was Skylab and Viking and Voyager.  Then there was the space shuttle and Marc Garneau, the first Canadian in space. We in the West had bested fascism and outlasted communism. Infectious diseases were becoming a thing of the past and despite our ever increasing global population, we always seemed to find a way to feed most of them and when we couldn't, it was invariably because of bad governments, not inadequate food supply. As I entered adulthood in the mid-80s, it seemed obvious that the awesomeness would continue. I wasn't naive enough to believe I would be moving to Mars someday, but I certainly would have imagined there'd have been a manned Mars mission by now.

Well, it hasn't quite worked out that way. It isn't all bad, of course. NASA still sends those marvelous little rovers to Mars and the International Space Station still passes overhead 16 times a day. But we don't send people to the Moon anymore, Marc Garneau is a politician (a Liberal MP, no less...talk about destroying my adolescent hero worship) and a manned Mars mission seems more like science-fiction now than it ever has. As for things down here on Earth, we still can't cure cancer or AIDS or the common cold. Nuclear fusion remains stubbornly elusive. We may (or may not) be facing a climate catastrophe unless we wean ourselves off fossil fuels, which we won't without embracing nuclear energy, which we won't because...well, I don't know...radiation scary! We have declining birthrates because we're rich and spoiled and children tend to get in the way of our jet setting lifestyles, so we're aging quickly. Soon, nobody will be able to go to space because our osteoporosis-ridden skeletons won't be able to handle the Gs. Besides, there's no internet on Mars and cellphone reception on the Moon is terrible. How are people supposed to follow their twitter feeds under circumstances like that?

This post is an introduction, of sorts, to a series of future postings in which I will share my thoughts and observations on getting back to the spirit of '69. Feel free to disagree, but be civil about it, if you please.

-Rognar-

I know, let's throw in a mega-hurricane...

I don't mean to make light of a serious situation, but if the events of the last month were plot points in a political thriller, most people would consider it a bit over the top. First, we have what is probably the most important presidential election in decades. The global economy is in a malaise it can't seem to pull itself out of, Iran is building nuclear weapons and Israel is rattling its sabre, China is bullying its neighbours and the Eurozone is fracturing. The president has an eleventh hour crisis in Libya. The ambassador is dead. Rumours circulate, leaked memos are released. Did the administration ignore requests for more security? Probably. The Secretary of State falls on her sword. Worse, did the president have realtime intel of the attacks and choose to ignore it for political purposes? Seems hard to believe, but the opposition smells blood. At this point, we have all the makings of a decent Tom Clancy novel and that's where I would have stopped. But Mother Nature decides to up the ante and toss in a massive hurricane on the eve of the election. Dozens are killed and millions are without power. Several swing states are affected by the storm. Now it's starting to read like a contrived start to a future history for a post-apocalyptic rpg. All we need now is for the president to declare martial law and cancel the election "until order is restored".

Seriously though, stay safe, American friends (and Canadian friends back east who are also getting hit by Sandy).

-Rognar-

P.S. Hey, hurricane-naming people...Sandy? Really?

SpaceX Dragon - mission accomplished

This is awesome. I am of a certain age that I can remember a time when landing men on the moon was something the USA could do with some regularity. At the time, it was generally accepted that the Soviets could probably do it too and eventually would. We also had supersonic air travel. Admittedly, flying on the Concorde was a rich man's game, but it held the promise of a bright future. Then came the space shuttle. There was also nuclear fusion, which they assured us, was only twenty years away. Could lunar bases and manned missions to Mars be far off? Where the heck did all that go? It's been forty years since a human has visited the moon. There's no more shuttle program. No SSTs. Nuclear fusion, they assure us, is still twenty years away. Instead of moon bases, the height of our technological advancement is the Chevy Volt and the iPhone.

Thankfully, it appears we are crawling out of this new Dark Age. The Chinese are talking about sending a man to the moon. While I certainly don't relish the thought of the future belonging to Communist China, it will hopefully spur western countries to reinvest in space exploration if we see a successful Chinese moonshot. In the meantime, American industry seems ready to keep things going for now. I doubt I will see a manned Mars mission in my lifetime, but it's enough to know we haven't completely abandoned the future

-Rognar-

D-bane bids adieu

Some of you may have noticed that one of our longtime contributors has utterly disappeared from the blog. Derobane-bane has, for personal reasons, chosen to remove himself entirely from this site. Fear not, gentle readers, all is well. D-bane is still with us, still throwing dice and still lurking around. He has simple chosen to become an internet ninja.

-Rognar-

The Urth of the New Sun

Having completed The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe a few weeks back, I promptly turned my attention to the sequel, The Urth of the New Sun. Set ten years after the events of the original series, it tells the story Severian's effort to fulfil the prophecy of the New Sun and the ultimate fate of Urth.

[Spoilers ahead]:

The Urth of the New Sun begins with Severian onboard the spaceship, Tzadkiel, on a journey to Yesod, a higher universe, where he, like several Autarchs before him, will undergo a test to determine if the people of Urth are worthy to receive the New Sun. There are, of course, mishaps and even an attempted mutiny along the way, as there are many who do not wish Severian to succeed. After all, the arrival of the New Sun will bring with it, a great cataclysm and most people of Urth will not survive. Soon after his arrival, Severian learns that there is no test and that he is the one to bring the New Sun. He then returns to Urth to prepare it as best as he can. However, this where things start to get a bit chaotic. Severian finds that he can travel the "corridors of time", sometimes at will, other times unconsciously. Indeed, when he arrives back at Urth, he is in the past, during the reign of the Monarch Typhon. Later he arrives at a time a few decades after he left, his wife sits on the throne of the Commonwealth and the New Sun is just about to arrive. Still later, he returns to the distant past to the time of Apu-Punchau, an ancient ruler in prehistoric Urth and then, finally, to a future time, a few generations after the return of the New Sun.

I must confess, I found the latter third of this book a bit difficult to follow at times, largely because of the time travel. Some of the journey's through the corridors of time were not made immediately known to the reader. Still, once I realized what had happened, I was able, with an occasional bit of rereading, to clarify things. All, I can really say as far as a recommendation is, if you enjoyed The Book of the New Sun, you must read The Urth of the New Sun. It doesn't tie up many loose ends from the original series (my sense is that Wolfe is not the kind of writer who feels compelled to do so), but it will answer the one big unanswered question, namely, what would become of Urth and the prophecy of the New Sun.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on...Call of Cthulhu continued

The Cthulhuesque fun continues at SomethingAwful.com.

Mansions of Madness, pt.3

-Rognar-

GURPS New Sun

While reading The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe over the last month or so (currently reading the sequel, The Urth of the New Sun), I was impressed by the depth of the world Wolfe created. It seemed tailor-made for adaptation to a game setting. So I set out to see if it had ever been done and sure enough (and much to my dismay, as it turns out), it had. The source of my dismay, it was a GURPS setting. I played a lot of GURPS back in the 90s. I was a university student back then and all the cool kids were playing GURPS (at least around the campus gaming club). They say familiarity breeds contempt. Well, for me and GURPS, the saying is true. After a couple of years of almost exclusive GURPS, I was completely and irrevocably done with it. I still kept a few of my favourite sourcebooks, like GURPS Conan and GURPS Terradyne to mine for ideas, but I haven't played the game itself in nearly 20 years. Needless to say, I was somewhat ambivalent about investing in GURPS New Sun, but in the end, the pull of the setting proved stronger than my antipathy toward the game.

One point before I discuss the book, GURPS New Sun is one massive spoiler. It is unlikely anyone would even think to buy it if they hadn't already read The Book of the New Sun, but be forewarned, the entire plot of both The Book of the New Sun and The Urth of the New Sun are revealed.

GURPS New Sun is a quality work and quite an interesting sourcebook even for someone who may not wish to play GURPS. It starts out with a history of Urth, starting with the Age of Myth, which is basically all of history up until humanity's ascension to the stars and the creation of the First Empire. When the First Empire began is unclear, but its slow decline began about 72,000 years before the events of The Book of the New Sun. This era of interstellar empire and decline is known as the Age of the Monarch, named for the Monarch Typhon, the last great ruler of the age and a character who makes a brief appearance in The Sword of the Lictor. The Age of the Autarchs follows. It is the current era in The Book of the New Sun. Finally, there is The Next Age: Ushas or Ragnarok. The future of Urth is governed by the prophecy of the New Sun. If it comes to pass, Urth will go through a catastrophic upheaval, but will emerge on the other side as a vibrant, abundant world (Ushas). If the New Sun does not come, Urth will eventually turn into a frozen ball revolving about a burned-out sun for all eternity (Ragnarok). It is not an easy choice. Those alive in the present would not see Ragnarok, not would their children or even their grandchildren. However, the catastrophe that would mark the beginning of the rebirth of the world would be devastating and immediate. Most would not survive.

Next are chapters on the geography of Urth, especially the Commonwealth and its capital city, Nessus, although a few pages are dedicated to Ascia. There is a chapter on religion, mainly the Church of the Conciliator, with some description of Yesod included in this chapter as well. There is also a chapter on some of the unique aspects of space and time as described in The Urth of the New Sun and how they can be adapted to the GURPS system. Being a sourcebook, there is, of course, a chapter dedicated to character creation. For those unfamiliar with GURPS, chargen is a point-buy system for everything. You can buy attributes, skills, advantages. If you buy low attribute scores or disadvantages, you get points back that can be spent on other things. It is a pretty straightforward system, but one that is easily abused. Anyway, the character chapter includes some new skills and advantages/disadvantages as well as advice on how to adapt some existing ones to the setting. There are also an impressive array of character templates in keeping with the astounding depth of the setting. Of course, there are also the usual components of any game setting, weapon and equipment lists, a bestiary and a bunch of adventure hooks. Finally, there is a chapter on thaumaturgy. The lines dividing technology, magic and psionics are very blurry in The Book of the New Sun. The impression I got from reading it is that everything is actually technological, although some of that technology, especially some described in The Urth of the New Sun, stretches the limits of what I would consider possible within the constraints of the laws of physics. Having said that, GURPS New Sun treats a lot of the seemingly mystical effects as sorcery or psionics. It is up to individual GMs to decide the nature of the technology in their campaigns, but from a game mechanics perspective, it seems easier to treat it as magic.

Overall, GURPS New Sun is a pretty decent sourcebook. Even if the game system itself is not my thing, I have always felt the supplements were invariably excellent. At a modest $20 for a meaty, 128 pg. soft-cover, it's a good bargain and I would say it's a must for anyone interested in converting The Book of the New Sun to a tabletop rpg game setting.

-Rognar-

Reading project - The Book of the New Sun

The latest installment in my effort to read all the science-fiction works in the NPR Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books is The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. It is a tetralogy, comprising The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch telling of a distant future of deprivation and decadence in the shadow of a golden age long past, similar to that described in The Dying Earth by Jack Vance. No less an authority than Neil Gaiman has described The Book of the New Sun as "the best SF novel of the last century".

[Spoilers ahead]:

In broad terms, The Book of the New Sun is a Bildungsroman, following the progress of Severian, an apprentice torturer who would one day ascend to great heights, both figuratively and literally. His journey begins with a crisis of conscience in his role as a torturer. He grants mercy to a noblewoman condemned to a horrible death and faces exile for his failure to fulfil his duty. Forced out into a world he knows little about, where his kind are hated and feared, Severian must find his way armed only with a fine executioner's sword and the black cloak that is the badge of his office. Along the way, he encounters bizarre creatures, weird technologies from the ancient past and plenty of women. Yes, Severian chases a lot of women. One turns out to be a clone, another is resurrected from the dead, while the lone, seemingly normal one, spends most of the novels trying to kill him. Eventually on the run for failing a second time to fulfil his duty, Severian joins a mercenary company on the front lines in a war against the Ascians, sworn enemies of his homeland, leading up to the climactic events that reveal his ultimate destiny.

Reading The Book of the New Sun, I was struck by the way Wolfe's world-building, which is truly impressive, parallels the approach taken by Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings. Wolfe would often step outside of the narrative, telling stories largely unrelated to the plot, typically through recitation from Severian's brown book, a treasured possession from his youth, or, in one case, from a storytelling competition among several suitors to win the hand of a woman. These serve a role, much like the many poetic interludes in The Lord of the Rings, to flesh out the world, giving it texture and depth. Without the considerable world-building in The Book of the New Sun, it could have been a significantly shorter work, and probably an easier read, but too much of what makes it truly special would have been lost.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Terminus Est, Severian's sword. Roughly translated as "this is the end", Terminus Est is a marvel. A hollow, flat-tipped greatsword with a reservoir of quicksilver inside, it is the obvious inspiration for the mercurial greatsword introduced to D&D 3.5. Though primarily an executioner's blade, rather than a fighting sword, Terminus Est gets Severian out of many life-threatening situations. It's eventual destruction is as heartbreaking as any of the deaths in the series.

A challenging read, but well-worth the commitment.

-Rognar-

Confirmed - FASA is back

It's official, FASA is back in the publishing business. They have a new website, fasagames.com, although no content is up yet. They have their own Earthdawn IP as well as licenses for Fading Suns, Blue Planet and Noble Armada (didn't Mongoose have that last one like a month ago?). Check out this podcast for more information.

-Rognar-

RedBrick calls it quits

RedBrick has announced it is getting out of the game publishing business. There have been some problems lately between RedBrick and the lead designer of their third edition of Fading Suns which I haven't been paying a lot of attention to since I'm more interested in the rumour of a Fading Suns Pathfinder edition. However, it now looks like all plans related to Fading Suns, as well as Earthdawn, Blue Planet and RedBrick's other IPs are up in the air. Not surprisingly, the Earthdawn license has reverted to FASA, but I'm surprised that FASA is also taking on the Fading Suns license. Holistic Design is the licensor for Fading Suns and as far as I know, FASA has not been an active publisher for more than a decade. It sounds like FASA is coming back to life, an interesting development to be sure. Sadly, the announcement does not say anything about the possibility of a Fading Suns Pathfinder edition. I will have to keep an eye out for upcoming announcements from FASA.

-Rognar-

RIP Mr. Armstrong

I do not, as a rule, post death notices on this blog. Although both Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson have passed away since I started blogging, I didn't feel any impulse to comment. Their contributions were important to me personally, but still, I felt no compulsion to join the outpouring of public grieving. I didn't know them personally and I wasn't emotionally affected by their passing.

However, the news of the death of Neil Armstrong is different. He was a personal hero of mine. I became a scientist, in large part, because of the Apollo program. Although I finally settled on geology, I started out in my academic pursuits in astronomy until the maths finally became more than I could manage. Still, I have always been fascinated by space exploration and I've always felt that Apollo 11 was the pinnacle of human achievement. It is a sad day for me and humanity.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on...Call of Cthulhu again

More love for Lovecraft from Zack and Steve.

Mansions of Madness, pt.2

-Rognar-

Back to my reading project

After taking a break from my effort to complete all the SF books in the NPR Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books, during which time I read the John Carter of Mars trilogy (not on the list, but entertaining), I returned to my reading project over my recent vacation with the monumental Anathem, by Neal Stephenson. I had one brief flirtation with Stephenson's work back in the late '90s when a friend of mine insisted I read Snow Crash. I'm not much of a cyberpunk fan and I just wasn't ready to appreciate Stephenson's work at the time, but I'm glad I decided to give him a second look. Anathem relates the story of the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a monastery (or "math" as they are referred to on Arbre, the planet upon which the novel is set) dedicated not to religious reflection, but to science (theorics) and philosophy (metatheorics). As a result of thousands of years of tumultuous history, the mathic system has come to its present form, sequestered from the outside world, denied access to most technology (praxis) and tasked with keeping records of humanity's accumulated knowledge as civilization rises, falls and rises again. In exchange for allowing the mathic world certain priviledges, the Secular Power reserves the right to call out or evoke individual avout (monastic members) in times of great need if it feels they could be of some value.

[Minor spoilers ahead]:

Things really get tense when the Secular Power starts evoking several avout at a time and one particularly beloved older avout even gets the aut of Anathem (a combination of excommunication and expulsion) for engaging in some undisclosed, but seriously forbidden research. In short order, the remaining avout determine that an alien spacecraft has assumed orbit above the planet. Awesomeness ensues.

This book is a challenging read, no question. There are lengthy philosophical discussions, especially between mathic orders who descend from Saunt Halikaarn and those who claim descent from Saunt Proc. The philosophical differences between these two correspond to Platonic realism and mathematical formalism, respectively. Overlain on top of all this is a mountain of unfamiliar terminology. A cellphone is a jeejah, a video camera is a speelycaptor. Yet, despite all that, Anathem is a real pageturner. I read the entire book, just shy of a thousand pages, in under two weeks. Now, I'll have to make it up to my kids. I can't really say if you, the gentle reader, will love this book or hate it. It definitely will require a certain type of person to appreciate it, but I can say I never read a book before that made me want to go read up on Plato's Theory of Forms.

I suppose I should prepare myself for more Stephenson awesomeness, Snow Crash, The Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon are all on the NPR list. I'm getting a little light-headed just thinking about it.

-Rognar-

Miniatures

For those of you out there looking for a great deal on  (non-painted) miniatures take a look at Reapers Kickstarter for its new Bones lines HERE.

$100 gets you over 100 miniatures at this point with more being added everyday. Lots of good bonus deals as well. I'm going to pledge for sure, I'm still undecided about which extras I will add in.

Summertime

It is summer time and since we only get about 3 weeks of really nice weather a year everyone is out enjoying it which means things are pretty quiet around here.

I have been playing through Mass Effect 3 for a second time and its got me itching to do a squad based futuristic RPG (one where you mow down aliens not one where we run for our lives every fight).

We are, however, still in the early phases of the Rise of the Runelords Campaign AP so its unlikely we'll be doing anything else any time soon. We TPK'd at the end of the last session but this one is going to start with us naked in jail (well, our characters anyway) so we'll see how it goes. We were defeated by some nasty terrain and a druid goblin.

Rippin' on...Call of Cthulhu

Zack and Steve apparently took some time off from bashing on tabletop rpgs and based on their rather weak take on AD&D 2e Tome of Magic, they probably returned to it a bit prematurely. However, they're back with the funny in what looks like a series of shots at Call of Cthulhu. It's about time.

Mansions of Madness, pt.1

-Rognar-

The Duelist Revisted

Most people would agree that the Prestige Classes (PrC) no longer shine so brightly compared to the base classes in Pathfinder. In 3.5 the most optimized builds usually had several different dips of various Prestige Classes. I think the main reason for this was that the base classes tended to be on the weak side, PrCs were front loaded with cool class abilities, and there was no incentive to stick with a class. At the end of the 3.5 era I think most people were sick of the vast number of Prestige Classes out there and so with the coming of Pathfinder, Prestige Classes were few and largely sucky compared to the beefed up base classes.

In the Pathfinder Beta, the Duelist prestige class was very strong defensively but weak offensively. The release version nerfed some of its defensive strength but did little to boost it on the offensive side. The poor Duelist has been left out in the cold sitting in a dark corner next to the Assassin PrC - things no PC in their right mind would take.

Over time more splat books come out offering more options and often things that suck alone synergize nicely with new options. Sometimes this is intentional and sometimes not. The Dervish Dance feat is specifically worded so it blends nicely with the Duelist PrC. This feat allows you to use dex for damage. It comes with lots of restrictions but the Duelist faces the same restrictions for most of his class skills so it doesn't matter.

Lastly there is the question of what classes to use for entry to Duelist? The Rogue seems good thematically but sucks in practice. Rogues have trouble hitting in combat and sneak attack looks much better than it actually is. My current preferred set up is fighter 5/monk2. We'll use the Lore Warden Archetype for the fighter classes. We trade away Medium, Heavy, and shield proficiency which we would not use anyway and get 2 extra skill points per level, Combat Expertise and a small boost to CMB/CMD. The fighter levels also gets us enough bonus feats to qualify for Duelist, Weapon Specialization and Weapon Training, which when combined with Gloves of Dueling give us a total of +3 to hit and +5 to damage. The 2 monk (Master of Many Styles archetype) levels are for style feats and Evasion since we'll have a really good Reflex save. If you started with Fighter 1/Monk2 you could have Crane Wing allowing you to deflect one attack per turn which is pretty strong when most things only have one attack at this level. The Crane Style feats work when fighting defensively which combines nicely with the Duelist's Elaborate Defence ability.


Here is my 10th level Duelist build. Fighting defensively, To Hit drops by one but AC goes up by 3. Combat Expertise can also be used to punch AC up into the stratosphere (AC 37).


DUELIST CR 9
Male Halfling Duelist 3 Fighter (Lore Warden) 5 Monk (Master of Many Styles) 2
LG Small Humanoid (Halfling)
Init +8; Senses Perception +18
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 31, touch 27, flat-footed 20   (+3 armor, +9 Dex, +1 size, +1 natural, +2 deflection, +2 dodge)
hp 87 (8d10+2d8+20)
Fort +13, Ref +16, Will +12
Defensive Abilities Canny Defense +3, Evasion, Parry
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 30 ft.
Melee +2 Scimitar +20/+15 (1d4+14/18-20/x2) and
   Unarmed Strike +16/+11 (1d4/20/x2)
Special Attacks Precise Strike, Weapon Training: Blades, Heavy
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 10,  Dex 20/22,  Con 10/12,  Int 14/16,  Wis 14/16,  Cha 10
Base Atk +9; CMB +10; CMD 36
Feats Combat Expertise +/-3, Crane Riposte, Crane Style, Crane Wing, Dervish Dance, Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike, Mobility, Monk Weapon Proficiencies, Stunning Fist (4/day) (DC 18), Toughness +10, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus: Scimitar, Weapon Specialization: Scimitar
Skills Acrobatics +19, Disable Device +16, Fly +8, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +16, Knowledge (Engineering) +16, Knowledge (Local) +14, Perception +18, Perform (Dance) +5, Stealth +23
Languages Common, Halfling
SQ AC Bonus +3, Enhanced Mobility (Ex), Fearless, Fuse Style (2 styles) (Ex), Stunning Fist (Stun) (Ex), Unarmed Strike (1d6)
Combat Gear +2 Scimitar; Other Gear Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Belt of Physical Might, DEX & CON +2, Bracers of Armor, +3, Cloak of Resistance, +3, Handy Haversack (empty), Headband of Mental Prowess, INT & WIS +2: Disable Device, Ring of Protection, +2
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
AC Bonus +3 The Monk adds his Wisdom bonus to AC and CMD, more at higher levels.
Canny Defense +3 (Ex) +INT bonus to AC (max Duelist level).
Combat Expertise +/-3 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Crane Riposte When you deflect an attack, you may make an attack of opportunity
Crane Style Take -2 penalty when fighting defensively
Crane Wing May deflect one attack per round while fighting defensively or using total defense
Dervish Dance Use Dex modifier instead of Str modifier with scimitar
Enhanced Mobility (Ex) +4 AC vs attacks of opportunity while moving out of a square.
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Fearless +2 morale bonus vs Fear saves.
Fuse Style (2 styles) (Ex) At 1st level, a master of many styles can fuse two of the styles he knows into a more perfect style. The master of many styles can have two style feat stances active at once. Starting a stance provided by a style feat is still a swift action, but whe
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Mobility +4 to AC against some attacks of opportunity.
Parry (Ex) Forego an attack to defend against enemy attacks.
Precise Strike (Ex) Extra damage when using light / 1-handed Piercing weapons.
Stunning Fist (4/day) (DC 18) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.
Stunning Fist (Stun) (Ex) At 1st level, the monk gains Stunning Fist as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. At 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the monk gains the ability to apply a new condition to the target of his Stunning Fist. This conditio
Unarmed Strike (1d6) The Monk does lethal damage with his unarmed strikes.
Weapon Training: Blades, Heavy +1 (Ex) +1 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Heavy Blades

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Resource management in D&D

One of the most radical design changes in 4e was the abandonment of Vancian magic. Some design features had been incorporated into D&D 3.x/Pathfinder in order to mitigate the problem of the "5 minute workday" such as bonus spells for high ability scores, school slots and powers and, of course, the introduction of the Sorcerer class which traded versatility for extra spellcasting. Still, the temptation to rest after every major encounter was still present, especially if more combat was expected. So, D&D 4e did away with the problem by allowing spellcasters to cast spells all day long (although, I must confess, from my brief flirtation with 4e, I found the constant reliance on that "go-to" at-will power got pretty monotonous in long fights...and let's face it, in 4e, they're all long fights).

I mention this in response to the most recent article from Mike Mearls entitled the The Five-Minute Workday. In it, he tries to explain how the next edition of D&D will include Vancian magic, while still allowing the spellcasters to be effective for a full day of adventuring. Based on what I've seen in the playtest, it still plays like 4e. For example, magic missile, one of the at-will powers for wizards in 4e, but a 1st-level spell in previous editions, is now a cantrip and useable at will. The new version of the venerable spell is slightly weaker in that it tops out at 4D4+4 instead of 5D4+5, but it is still way more powerful that any cantrip in D&D 3.x/Pathfinder. So, the issue of resource management is still being ignored in D&DNext. Wizards will still be able to go all day, only rationing some of their precious spells and still never having to come up with creative ways of being useful when their big booms are depleted.

Perhaps it is characteristic of our advanced years and accumulated aeons of gaming experience, but our group doesn't seem to have a problem with the 5-minute workday. Our spellcasters rarely seem to have a problem letting the fighters mop up after the first few rounds of heavy fighting. Sure, our wizard could blow his last fireball on the three remaining orcs that are running away instead of allowing the ranger to pick them off with his bow, then promptly demand the party rest for the day. But, it just doesn't play out that way. We consider resource management the mark of a skilled gamer. Besides, fighters do so much damage in Pathfinder, the spellcasters are usually better off keeping them in the fight than lobbing fireballs anyway.

-Rognar-

RuneQuest 6 - Do Not...tempt me further!

I must say up front, I do not understand the sudden resurgence of interest in the game known as RuneQuest. It is a great game. In fact, it may be the greatest tabletop frpg, but who plays it? I own several incarnations of the basic game system, including Mongoose RQII, Legend (i.e. son of MRQII) and Elric! (RQ rules, Moorcockian setting), but I must confess, I've never played it (except in my own mind). The closest I've come are brief flirtations with Call of Cthulhu and Basic Role-Playing, both of which use the same basic game mechanics. Now, a new edition of the venerable game is making its debut, RuneQuest 6 from The Design Mechanism. The primary designers of MRQII, Lawrence Whitaker and Peter Nash, are the guys responsible for this, which makes ignoring RQ6 pretty much impossible. But do I need yet another version of RuneQuest? If it's the best one yet, then absolutely yes. However, the pdf has a hefty $25 price point, double what I am usually willing to pay for something sight unseen. Weighing in at over 450 pgs, I would expect to hardcopy version to show up on store shelves with a price tag north of $60. In other words, it's a pretty steep buy-in for something which may be only superficially different from the last version of RQ that Loz and Pete produced. Initial reviews are overwhelmingly positive, but I suppose I will have to wait to find out if RQ6 is significantly improved over MRQII.

-Rognar-

Expanded summon monster lists

The summon monster spells in Pathfinder are not exactly awesome. They have long casting times, making them hard to complete, the monsters you get when do manage to cast them are more nuisance than threat and if you want to commit to being a decent summoner (as opposed to a Summoner), you have to burn a precious feat slot on Spell Focus (conjuration) (a school with very few spells for which the feat is useful) and then take Augment Summoning. Adding insult to injury, for spellcasters whose personal morality forbids them from even temporarily unleashing the denizens of the lower planes upon the world, the choices for higher level summonings (when the spells actually start to get interesting) is quite limited, Indeed, for the 8th-level version of the spell, only an elder elemental is available for non-evil spellcasters. Oddly enough, even though we have had two new bestiaries added to the game since the core books were released, no effort has been made to incorporate some of the new monsters to the lists. These are all based on CR and have not been playtested, so I propose trying them out to see if any of them are game breakers.

Summon Monster I
no new entries

Summon Monster II
no new entries

Summon Monster III
lyrakien azata - PB2
cassisian (angel) - PB2
harbinger archon - PB3
augur (kyton) - PB3
cacodaemon (daemon) - PB2
silvanshee agathion - PB2

Summon Monster IV
no new entries

Summon Monster V
vulpinal agathion - PB2
ceustodaemon (daemon) - PB2

Summon Monster VI
legion archon - PB3
hydrodaemon (daemon) - PB2

Summon Monster VII
avoral agathion - PB2
shield archon - PB2
movanic deva (angel) - PB2
leukodaemon (daemon) - PB2

Summon Monster VIII
leonal agathion - PB2
monadic deva (angel) - PB2
interlocutor (kyton) - PB3
meladaemon (daemon) - PB2

Summon Monster IX
thanadaemon (daemon) - PB2

-Rognar-

Update: Wouldn't you know it, one day after writing this post, I pick up a copy of the newly-released Advanced Race Guide and find a section in it that deals with some of the suggestions I just made. There is a new race called fetchlings, descendents of humans who got stranded on the Plane of Shadow. One of the racial archetypes is a Summoner called a Shadow Caller which includes a revised list of choices for monster summoning. Rather than enlarged lists, there are substitutions of certain choices for other monsters with a shadow theme. Interestingly enough, one of the monsters I added, the Interlocutor (kyton) is in the Shadow Caller revision, but is part of the Summon Monster IX list, even though it is CR 12.

Marvel Roleplaying Game

So recently I had a chance to look at the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game. I only had time to skim through it quickly so I'm not going to say I completely understand how the combat works or I have all of the stat blocks memorized. It looks like it is a pretty good system for mimicking Super Hero comic books. The book is quite large (200+ pages) and contains a pretty good description of how the game works. It also includes a short adventure at the end.

Combat works with a token system. It uses the standard D20 set of dice but no twenty siders. Most rolls are checks against a fixed number but some are contested against an NPC's roll. What I find  really interesting is the use of tokens. As combat goes on, you can spent your tokens to be able to roll extra dice (using the most favorable results). The neat part is that you can earn more tokens by doing cool but not optimal things with your turn.

I recall one session in Pathfinder where our Barbarian whips out his weapon and tried to do a dazzling display to intimidate the enemy. Everyone at the table got mad at him because rather than do the optimal thing (kill the bad guy) at best he would have given the bad guy a small penalty to his next attack roll. In Pathfinder there is no mechanical reason to do something cool. Why would you throw a chair at a bad guy when you can shoot him with your bow. Pathfinder (and D&D in general) is all about taking out the bad guys as efficiently as possible. Except by GM fiat, there are no rewards for cool. I think it's great that there's actually a game system out there that tries to reward the heroic and the cool even if its not the most optimal option.

What I'm reading...

I ran out of steam in my effort to complete Edgar Rice Burroughs' "A Princess of Mars" trilogy about a third of the way through the last book, although I have every intention of getting back to it in due time. However, in the meantime, I am heavily immersed in something quite different. "Designers and Dragons" by Shannon Applecline is an exhaustive history of the tabletop roleplaying game industry documenting its humble beginnings in the basements and backrooms of wargamers like Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson and Jeff Perren, through the golden age of the 80s, the rocky periods of the 90s and ending with the most recent developments of the late 00s. I'm guessing most gamers will find this stuff pretty uninteresting, especially those who didn't live through most of the eras covered, but I can't stop reading. I remember ads in Dragon magazine for a lot of the games discussed in this book even if I never played most of them. What I also find fascinating are the histories of some of the game designers themselves. Many times I've thought to myself, "Wow, I didn't know he worked for 'them' that long ago!" The author also fleshes out the details surrounding some of the more well-known controversies in the history of the hobby. I especially enjoyed reading about the fight between Steve Jackson Games and the Secret Service.

Applecline goes into a fair bit of detail on the evolution of game design throughout the various histories of the different companies. The wargaming roots of the hobby are described in the chapter on TSR. The impact of "storyteller" games are, of course, detailed in the White Wolf chapter and the indie movement is given its due in the chapter on Ron Edwards and Adept Press. The OSR is not discussed much, if at all. I suspect there are two reasons for this. First of all, the OSR movement was really just getting started at the time this book was being written and its impact was minimal. Secondly, the main theme of the book has been about the evolution of game design. Some smaller companies had been purposefully left out because they were not particularly innovative and didn't feature any prominent game designers. The OSR has not, historically, been big on innovation either, at least as far as game design is concerned. I would agree though, it has been influential in establishing a new model for tabletop rpgs as community, rather than as industry. I'm certain that, were this book to be published today, a chapter on the OSR would surely have been included.

-Rognar-

D&DNext - more thoughts

I've been thinking a bit more about skills as presented in the D&DNext playtest package. A character will have a background which will include a package of skills. For example, the dwarf fighter pre-generated character has the Soldier background, providing a +3 bonus on Intimidate, Perception and Survival. That same character has a Wisdom bonus of +2 for a total modifier of +5 on perception checks. Therefore, on a natural 20, the character in question would get a 25, two points below the threshold of "Immortal". However, in D&D 3.x/Pathfinder, there are other ways to bump up the modifiers besides ranks. How about an eyes of the eagle, a potion of heroism and a headband of inspired wisdom +6 combined with the Alertness feat? Together, these give an additional +12. Now our dwarven axewielder only need roll a 10 to achieve "Immortal" perception. I guess this means we're going to see a radical redesign of magic items. I would guess this will be a case of drawing inspiration from past editions of D&D that didn't have skills. For example, the "old-school" version of eyes of the eagle allowed one to see 100 times further than would otherwise be the case. What that even means is open to DM's interpretation since vision is limited not be distance, but by line of sight. Still, I'm guessing magic items that currently give direct numerical bonuses to skill and ability checks will have to be either discarded completely or redesigned to grant some sort of ability that doesn't directly improve skill checks.

-Rognar-

Wizard vs Fighter: Results

ok, we played out a couple of battles between a single level 20 wizard and a level 20 fighter. While it wasn't quite the blowout I expected it to be we came to the conclusion that the Wizard is only going to lose if he makes a big tactical mistake or rolls very poorly.
The Fighter basically needs a backpack full  magic items that can counter the wizards myriad of magical tricks. Miss one and he's dead. The fighter did win one battle when he reflected a Flesh to Stone spells and the wizard failed his fort save. That combat aside, the wizard tended to dominate. The only thing that kept the fighter alive for any amount of time was the constant use of Dust of Disappearance. The wizards biggest trump card is Gate. That one spell just opens up so many possibilities.

Another night we'd like to run a 3 vs 3 battle and try the same fight with level 12 characters. Level 20 wizards are hard to play - there are just too many options.

D&DNext - The Good, the Bad and the Meh

After a first go through on the D&DNext playtest package, I have found some things I like, some things I don't like and some things I am wholly indifferent about. First the Good, skills are cool. They still work a lot like Pathfinder skills, except they don't scale with level. A character will typically have a couple of skills from their background which will have a +3 bonus. An ability score modifier will also be added to the skill check, but that's it. No ranks. Imagine that, a low-level palace guardsman actually has a chance to not be totally bamboozled by a smooth-talking high-level bard claiming to be the King's long lost son. As one can guess, skill check DCs are much lower. DC 27+ is considered to be "Immortal" difficulty.

With the Good, comes the Bad, healing. I can't say enough about how much I hate healing surges. No single rule turned me off 4e more than healing surges. Well, they don't call them that anymore, but the effect is the same. Did you just get stabbed in the neck? Sit down for a few minutes and you'll be right as rain. Combined with another 4e "innovation", massive 1st-level hit points, and you've got pretty near unkillable PCs. If they don't ramp up the danger level in the final product, this will probably be a dealbreaker for me.

Last, and certainly least, the Meh, for me, is the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic. I get it, sort of. To make up for the lack of scaling in skills, they introduce a mechanic to allow a bit more range of outcome. If the DM decides that the player has an advantage, he rolls two dice and takes the better result. If he has a disadvantage, he must take the lower result. In terms of the above example of the bard vs. the guard, if the bard attempted to tell a fairly believable lie, like he was an illegitimate son of the guard captain, he might enjoy an advantage. If, on the other hand, he was claiming to be the heir to the throne, that would certainly require a disadvantage, unless he had some compelling evidence to back up his claim. So, the mechanic works, I suppose. However, it feels sort of gimmicky to me and a bit too abstract and simplistic. Still, not a dealbreaker.

Overall, I'd say that while it's still too soon to say anything definitive, D&DNext looks promising.

-Rognar-

Wizard vs Fighter Part 2

Ok, after doing some tweaks here are the partial builds. After looking closely at the wizard, the fighter is going to lose. It is only a matter of time. A 20th level Diviner gets an automatic 20 on initiative rolls plus half his level. Even if the fighter rolls a 20 he can't beat that.

Here's the Fighter:

FIGHTER ARCHER CR 19
Male Human (Kellid) Fighter 20
NN Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +18; Senses Perception +26
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 31, touch 22, flat-footed 19   (+9 armor, +12 Dex)
hp 244 (20d10+100)
Fort +24, Ref +24, Will +21
Defensive Abilities Bravery +5; DR 5/—
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 30 ft.
Melee Gauntlet (from Armor) +23/+18/+13/+8 (1d3+5/20/x2) and
   Unarmed Strike +26/+21/+16/+11 (1d3+8/20/x2)
Ranged +5 Longbow, Composite (Str +5) +40/+40/+35/+30/+25 (1d8+27/19-20/x3)
Special Attacks Weapon Training: Blades, Heavy, Weapon Training: Blades, Light, Weapon Training: Bows, Weapon Training: Natural
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 14/20,  Dex 28/34,  Con 12/18,  Int 10,  Wis 18/24,  Cha 10
Base Atk +20; CMB +25; CMD 47 (51 vs. Disarm51 vs. Sunder)
Feats Critical Focus, Critical Mastery, Deadly Aim -6/+12, Exhausting Critical, Great Fortitude, Greater Weapon Focus: Longbow, Improved Critical: Longbow, Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will (1/day), Improved Precise Shot, Iron Will, Manyshot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Skill Focus: Perception, Staggering Critical (DC 30), Stunning Critical (DC 30), Tiring Critical, Toughness +20, Weapon Focus: Longbow, Weapon Specialization: Longbow
Traits Reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +13, Appraise +1, Bluff +1, Climb +15, Diplomacy +1, Disguise +1, Escape Artist +13, Fly +13, Heal +8, Intimidate +1, Perception +26, Ride +13, Sense Motive +8, Stealth +25, Survival +8, Swim +15
Languages Common, Hallit
SQ Armor Mastery (Ex), Armor Training 4 (Ex), Gloves of Dueling, Ring of Evasion, Ring of Freedom of Movement, Weapon Mastery: -Choose- (Ex)
Combat Gear +1 Corrosive, Flaming, Frost, Shock Arrows (50), +5 Longbow, Composite (Str +5), Celestial Armor; Other Gear Belt of Physical Perfection, +6, Boots, Winged (3/day), Bracers of Archery, Greater, Cloak of Resistance, +5, Gem of Seeing, Gloves of Dueling, Headband of Inspired Wisdom, +6, Manual of Bodily Health, +2, Manual of Quickness of Action, +5, Potion of Fly, Potion of Good Hope, Potion of Haste, Potion of Invisibility, Ring of Evasion, Ring of Freedom of Movement, Stone of Good Luck (Luckstone), Tome of Understanding, +4
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
Armor Mastery (Ex) DR 5/- while wearing armor
Armor Training 4 (Ex) Worn armor -4 check penalty, +4 max DEX.
Bravery +5 (Ex) +5 Will save vs. Fear
Critical Focus +4 to confirm critical hits.
Critical Mastery Apply two Critical feats to a critical hit rather than one.
Damage Reduction (5/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Deadly Aim -6/+12 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Exhausting Critical Critical hit Exhausts target.
Gloves of Dueling These supple leather gloves grant the wearer gains a +4 bonus to his CMD against disarm attacks, attempts to sunder his wielded weapons, and effects that cause him to lose his grip on his weapons (such as grease). The wearer doesn’t drop held weapons when panicked or stunned. If the wearer has the weapon training class feature and is using an appropriate weapon, his weapon training bonus increases by +2.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, greater magic weapon; Cost 7,500 gp
Improved Iron Will (1/day) 1/day, re-roll a Will save.
Improved Precise Shot Ignore certain AC / concealment bonuses.
Manyshot You can shoot two arrows as the first attack of a full attack action.
Point Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into combat.
Rapid Shot You get an extra attack with ranged weapons. Each attack is at -2.
Ring of Evasion This ring continually grants the wearer the ability to avoid damage as if she had evasion. Whenever she makes a Reflex saving throw to determine whether she takes half damage, a successful save results in no damage.

Moderate transmutation; CL 7th; Forge Ring, jump; Price 25,000 gp.
Ring of Freedom of Movement This gold ring allows the wearer to act as if continually under the effect of a freedom of movement spell.

Moderate abjuration; CL 7th; Forge Ring, freedom of movement; Price 40,000 gp.
Staggering Critical (DC 30) Critical hit staggers target
Stunning Critical (DC 30) Critical hit stuns or staggers target.
Tiring Critical Critical hit fatigues target.
Weapon Mastery: -Choose- (Ex) Chosen weapon has an improved critical multiplier, always confirms criticals, and cannot be disarmed.
Weapon Training: Blades, Heavy +5 (Ex) +5 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Heavy Blades
Weapon Training: Blades, Light +4 (Ex) +4 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Light Blades
Weapon Training: Bows +6 (Ex) +6 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Bows
Weapon Training: Natural +3 (Ex) +3 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Natural weapons

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This fighter has a single trick: his bow. He can unload big damage and if you guys have any suggestions to boost damage let me know. Its the only thing he's got really. Note his arrows; they add an extra 14 points of elemental damage. His saves are good but I can't think of any way to get them up higher.

Here is his opponent:

WIZARD CR 19
Male Elf Wizard 20
CG Medium Humanoid (Elf)
Init +22; Senses Low-Light Vision; Perception +5
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 18, touch 18, flat-footed 10   (+8 Dex)
hp 222 (20d6+120)
Fort +18, Ref +19, Will +20
Immune sleep; Resist Elven Immunities
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 30 ft.
Melee Unarmed Strike +9/+4 (1d3-1/20/x2)
Wizard Spells Known (CL 20, 9 melee touch, 18 ranged touch):
9 (5/day) Gate, Foresight, Foresight, Dominate Monster (DC 32), Wish, Time Stop (DC 32)
8 (5/day) Moment of Prescience (DC 29), Moment of Prescience (DC 29), Mind Blank (DC 29), Maze, Maze
7 (6/day) Hold Person, Mass (DC 30), Power Word Blind, Arcane Sight, Greater (DC 28), Forcecage (DC 29), Limited Wish
6 (6/day) True Seeing (DC 27), True Seeing (DC 27), Flesh to Stone (DC 29), Flesh to Stone (DC 29)
5 (6/day) Wall of Stone (DC 26), Dominate Person (DC 28), Contact Other Plane (DC 26), Cloudkill (DC 26), Wall of Force, Baleful Polymorph (DC 28)
4 (6/day) Invisibility, Greater (DC 25), Dimension Door, Dimension Door, Arcane Eye
3 (7/day) Aqueous Orb (DC 24), Wind Wall, Slow (DC 26), Slow (DC 26), Slow (DC 26), Fly (DC 26), Fly (DC 26), Seek Thoughts (DC 24)
2 (7/day) See Invisibility (DC 23), See Invisibility (DC 23), See Invisibility (DC 23), Mirror Image (DC 23), Mirror Image (DC 23), Mirror Image (DC 23)
1 (7/day) Identify, Emergency Force Sphere, Emergency Force Sphere
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 8,  Dex 20/26,  Con 14/20,  Int 26/32,  Wis 10/16,  Cha 10
Base Atk +10; CMB +9; CMD 27
Feats Elven Weapon Proficiencies, Empower Spell, Great Fortitude, Greater Spell Focus: Enchantment, Greater Spell Focus: Transmutation, Heighten Spell, Improved Great Fortitude (1/day), Improved Initiative, Maximize Spell, Quicken Spell, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus: Enchantment, Spell Focus: Evocation, Spell Focus: Transmutation, Still Spell, Toughness +20, Wizard Weapon Proficiencies
Skills Perception +5
Languages Common, Elven
SQ Abjuration, Bonded Object: -Choose- (1/day) (Sp), Divination, Diviner's Fortune +10 (14/day) (Sp), Elven Magic, Forewarned +10 (Su), Metamagic Rod, Maximize, Greater, Metamagic Rod, Quicken, Greater, Necromancy, Scrying Adept (Su)
Other Gear Belt of Physical Might, DEX & CON +6, Cloak of Resistance, +5, Headband of Mental Prowess, INT & WIS +6: -Choose-, Helm of Teleportation, Manual of Quickness of Action, +4, Metamagic Rod, Maximize, Greater, Metamagic Rod, Quicken, Greater, Tome of Clear Thought, +4
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
Abjuration You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Abjuration school.
Bonded Object: -Choose- (1/day) (Sp) DC 20 + spell level to cast spells without the bonded object. Once per day, you can cast any spell in your spellbook for free.
Divination Diviners are masters of remote viewing, prophecies, and using magic to explore the world.
Diviner's Fortune +10 (14/day) (Sp) Creature touched gains +10 to attackrolls, skill checks, ability checks, and saving throws for 1r.
Elven Immunities +2 save bonus vs Enchantments.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to Sleep effects.
Elven Magic +2 racial bonus on caster checks to overcome spell resistance.  +2 to spellcraft checks to determine the properties of a magic item.
Empower Spell Numeric effects of a spell are increased 50%. +2 Levels.
Forewarned +10 (Su) Always act in surprise round. Initiative bonus. Init = 20 at level 20.
Greater Spell Focus: Enchantment +1 to the Save DC of spells from one school.
Greater Spell Focus: Transmutation +1 to the Save DC of spells from one school.
Heighten Spell Increases spell level to effective level desired.
Improved Great Fortitude (1/day) 1/day, re-roll a Fort save.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Maximize Spell All variable effects of a spell are maximized. +3 Levels.
Metamagic Rod, Maximize, Greater The wielder can cast up to three spells per day that are maximized as though using the Maximize Spell feat.

Strong (no school); CL 17th; Craft Rod, Maximize Spell feat; Price 121,500 gp.
Metamagic Rod, Quicken, Greater The wielder can cast up to three spells per day that are quickened as though using the Quicken Spell feat.

Strong (no school); CL 17th; Craft Rod, Quicken Spell; Price 170,000 gp.
Necromancy You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Necromancy school.
Quicken Spell Cast another spell in the same round you cast this one. +4 Levels.
Scrying Adept (Su) At 8th level, you are always aware when you are being observed via magic, as if you had a permanent detect scrying. In addition, whenever you scry on a subject, treat the subject as one step more familiar to you. Very familiar subjects get a -10 pena
Spell Focus: Enchantment Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Spell Focus: Evocation Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Spell Focus: Transmutation Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Still Spell You can cast a spell with no somatic components. +1 Level.

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The wizard has lots of open spell slots,after I removed a bunch of the non core stuff (and I'm sure I may have missed a couple items), it still looked like more then enough to do the deed. Losing the non core stuff forced me to pump up the Spell DCs slightly so now the Fighter has only a 50/50 chance of resisting a 9th level Will save (although with Improved Iron Will he'll get two shots at the first one).

Wizard vs Fighter

While we wait for everyone to arrive  my gaming group often has interesting conversations. This week's topic was: Wizards vs Fighters. In a duel , who would win?

Now before we can actually fight this out we need some rules. I think we agreed it would be a 3 vs 3 battle. But I'm not sure what else was agreed to. Did they have to be straight up fighters vs straight up wizards (no sorcerers, multi-classing, etc. Are they fighters or did we want rangers)? What is the starting distance apart? I'm pretty sure we agree this would be a flat open area with no obstacles.

What levels do we run this at? I think at lower levels the fighter would destroy the wizard, mid levels it is roughly even and upper levels it would be no contest for the wizard. Derobane disagrees about the last part so  we should run the battle twice. Once at level 12 and once at level 17.

Assumptions when creating the duelists:
1. Fighters know they are facing arcane casters. Wizards know they are facing fighter types.
2. They are starting less then 100' apart, no cover, no obstacles
3. If the Fighters can acquire it, Antimagic is fair game.
4. Standard wealth by level rules apply. No more than 25% or total wealth my be spent on a single (magic or otherwise) item.
5. No Leadership Feat

Anyone want to add any further conditions or assumptions? Once we have the ground rules set I'll see what I can whip together. I suspect this could come down to who wins initiative but it should be fun to play out.

Bards Suck in Combat? Another Sample from Obiri's Lab

Someone (Derobane!) commented at last nights game that bards suck in combat. Yes, they are good at helping others be awesome but solo they are not so great. NO! I say. In my Gish post about a month ago one of the builds I mention is a bard. This guy rocks combat and can be done in either a melee or archer variety. I think the melee is more interesting but its not hard to swap out the melee feats for the archery ones.

Awesome Bard    CR 11
Male Human (Keleshite) Bard (Dawnflower Dervish) 12
NG Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +7; Senses Perception +15

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DEFENSE

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AC 28, touch 19, flat-footed 21   (+9 armor, +7 Dex, +2 deflection)
hp 90 (12d8+24)
Fort +11, Ref +18, Will +11

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OFFENSE

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Spd 30 ft.
Melee +2 Keen Scimitar +21/+16 (1d6+24/15-20/x2) and
   Gauntlet (from Armor) +19/+14 (1d3+15/20/x2) and
   Unarmed Strike +19/+14 (1d3+15/20/x2)
Special Attacks Bardic Performance (move action) (30 rounds/day), Bardic Performance: Countersong, Bardic Performance: Distraction, Bardic Performance: Fascinate (DC 20), Bardic Performance: Inspire Competence +4, Bardic Performance: Inspire Courage +3, Bardic Performance: Inspire Greatness (2 allies), Bardic Performance: Soothing Performance, Bardic Performance: Suggestion (DC 20), Battle Dance: Inspire Courage +6, Battle Dance: Inspire Greatness
Bard (Dawnflower Dervish) Spells Known (CL 12, +19 melee touch, +22 ranged touch):
4 (4/day) Invisibility, Greater (DC 18), Dimension Door, Freedom of Movement (DC 18), Heroic Finale (DC 18)
3 (5/day) Haste (DC 17), Glibness (DC 17), Cure Serious Wounds (DC 17), Slow (DC 17), Dispel Magic, Good Hope, Purging Finale (DC 17)
2 (6/day) Delay Poison (DC 16), Glitterdust (DC 16), Tongues (DC 16), Heroism (DC 16), Mirror Image (DC 16), Silence (DC 16), Revelation (DC 16), Bladed Dash (DC 16)
1 (6/day) Silent Image (DC 15), Unseen Servant, Comprehend Languages (DC 15), Grease (DC 15), Disguise Self (DC 15), Cure Light Wounds (DC 15), Feather Fall (DC 15), Saving Finale (DC 15), Vanish (DC 15)
0 (at will) Mage Hand, Mending, Read Magic (DC 14), Prestidigitation (DC 14), Detect Magic, Light

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STATISTICS

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Str 10, Dex 21/25, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14/18
Base Atk +9; CMB +9; CMD 28
Feats Arcane Strike, Bard Weapon Proficiencies, Dervish Dance, Great Fortitude, Improved Unarmed Strike, Piranha Strike +6/-3, Skill Focus: Perform (Oratory), Snake Style, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +22, Bluff +24, Climb -2, Diplomacy +28, Disable Device +3, Disguise +7, Escape Artist +5, Fly +22, Handle Animal +7, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (Arcana) +15, Knowledge (Local) +15, Perception +15, Perform (Act) +7, Perform (Comedy) +7, Perform (Dance) +22, Perform (Keyboard Instruments) +7, Perform (Oratory) +28, Perform (Percussion Instruments) +7, Perform (Sing) +7, Perform (String Instruments) +24, Perform (Wind Instruments) +7, Ride +5, Sense Motive +28, Sleight of Hand +5, Stealth +5, Swim -2, Use Magic Device +18
Languages Common, Kelish
SQ Battle Dance (swift action), Circlet of Persuasion, Jack of All Trades: Trained skills (Ex), Mediative Whirl (3/day) (Ex), Spinning Spellcaster (Ex), Versatile Dance +22 (Ex), Versatile Oratory +28 (Ex), Versatile String Instruments +24 (Ex), Well Versed (Ex)
Combat Gear +2 Keen Scimitar, Celestial Armor; Other Gear Belt of Incredible Dexterity, +4, Circlet of Persuasion, Cloak of Resistance, +3, Handy Haversack (1 @ 3 lbs), Headband of Alluring Charisma, +4, Musical instrument, masterwork: String, Ring of Protection, +2

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SPECIAL ABILITIES

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Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Bardic Performance (move action) (30 rounds/day) Your performances can create magical effects.
Bardic Performance: Countersong (Su) Counter magical effects that depend on sound.
Bardic Performance: Distraction (Su) Counter magical effects that depend on sight.
Bardic Performance: Fascinate (DC 20) (Su) One or more creatures becomes fascinated with you.
Bardic Performance: Inspire Competence +4 (Su) +2 competence bonus for one ally on a skill check.
Bardic Performance: Soothing Performance (Su) Allies are healed and some conditions are removed.
Bardic Performance: Suggestion (DC 20) (Sp) Make a Suggestion to one Fascinated creature.
Battle Dance (swift action) A Dawnflower dervish is trained in the use of the Perform skill, especially dance, to create magical effects on himself. This works like bardic performance, except that the Dawnflower dervish’s performances grant double their normal bonuses, but thes
Battle Dance: Inspire Courage +6 (Su) Morale bonus on some saving throws, attack and damage rolls.
Battle Dance: Inspire Greatness (Su) Grants self 4 bonus hit dice, +4 to attacks and +2 to Fort saves.
Circlet of Persuasion +3 competence bonus to CHA-based checks (skills already included).
Dervish Dance Use Dex modifier instead of Str modifier with scimitar
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Jack of All Trades: Trained skills (Ex) You may use all skills untrained.
Mediative Whirl (3/day) (Ex) Quicken a cure spell as a move action.
Piranha Strike +6/-3 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage with light weapons.
Snake Style Gain +2 on Sense Motive checks, and deal piercing damage with unarmed attacks
Spinning Spellcaster (Ex) +4 bonus on concentration checks to cast spells defensively.
Versatile Dance +22 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Dance skill for Acrobatics or Fly checks
Versatile Oratory +28 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Oratory skill for Diplomacy or Sense Motive checks
Versatile String Instruments +24 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: String Instruments skill for Bluff or Diplomacy checks
Well Versed (Ex) +4 save vs. bardic performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects.
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Now keep in mind the above stats are a best case scenario. Battle Dance is running, but 18 rounds per day is enough to cover most scenarios. Arcane Strike is active which uses up the swift action which limits the use of Snake Style.

While this bard loses the group song buff, the rest of a bard's awesome buffingness remains. His AC should be pretty good with high Dex, and has access to things like Mirror Image and Snake Style to avoid attacks. His Saves are pretty good especially after self buffing. He has all of the party face skills, plus some knowledge skills.

Bards have a great spell list but with only a so-so Cha score, he focuses mainly on utility,buff, and defensive spells. Offensive spells are for the full casters.

So while my bard is not the wrecking crew the barbarian is, he still hits for around 30 and hits often with a very good attack bonus and as a high crit range. He'd also be a bit more fun to play since he does more then just thrash things in combat.

My Barbarian, Obiri style

My original character for our current campaign was a barbarian. Unfortunately he met an unfortunate end after being paralysed by an evil hag who then ripped his throat out. He had a vague back story: found by the Aspis Consortium deep in the jungle, he seemed to be part man part beast. A hulking brute of a man, he lacked both intellect and charm but had a sort of ruthless cunning. They nicknamed him "Beast" after the strange animal fetishes he wore. Using a variety of rewards and punishments they managed to turn him into a useful resource doubling as a jungle guide and caravan guard. After several years of their "civilizing" influence he managed to escape the consortium. The ship he was taking to start a new life was shipwrecked beginning the campaign...

BARBARIAN 2    CR 11
Male Human (Mwangi) Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager) 12
CN Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +5; Senses Perception +16

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DEFENSE

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AC 24, touch 9, flat-footed 21   (+9 armor, +3 Dex, +6 natural, +2 deflection)
hp 197 (12d12+108)
Fort +21, Ref +11, Will +15
DR 12/lethal, 6/—; Resist fire 3, Extreme Endurance (Fire)

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OFFENSE

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Spd 40 ft.
Melee +2 Keen Falchion +23/+18/+13 (2d4+27/15-20/x2) and
   Claw x2 (Beast Totem, Lesser) +16 x2 (1d8+8/20/x3) and
   Gauntlet (from Armor) +21/+16/+11 (1d3+17/20/x2) and
   Unarmed Strike +21/+16/+11 (1d3+17/20/x2)
Special Attacks Beast Totem, Lesser, Pounce, Witch Hunter (+4)

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STATISTICS

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Str 20/28, Dex 14/16, Con 18/28, Int 7, Wis 9/13, Cha 7
Base Atk +12; CMB +21; CMD 30
Feats Combat Reflexes (4 AoO/round), Dazing Assault (DC 22), Extra Rage Power, Extra Rage Power, Iron Will, Power Attack -4/+8, Raging Vitality
Traits Boarded in the Shackles: Will Save, Reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +13, Climb +11, Escape Artist +1, Fly +1, Perception +16, Ride +5, Stealth +1, Swim +11
Languages Common, Polyglot
SQ Beast Totem +4 AC (Su), Beast Totem, Greater (Su), Come and Get Me (Ex), Fast Movement +10 (Ex), Heart of the Fields +6: Profession (Trapper) (1/day), Rage (30 rounds/day) (Ex), Reckless Abandon (+/-4) (Ex), Strength Surge +12 (1/rage) (Ex), Superstition +9 (Ex)
Combat Gear +2 Keen Falchion, Celestial Armor; Other Gear Amulet of Natural Armor +2, Belt of Physical Perfection, +2, Cloak of Resistance, +4, Headband of Inspired Wisdom, +4, Ring of Protection, +2

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SPECIAL ABILITIES

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Beast Totem +4 AC (Su) +4 Natural Armor while raging.
Beast Totem, Greater (Su) Pounce ability and 1d8 claw damage while raging
Beast Totem, Lesser (Su) Gain 2 d6 claw attacks while raging
Combat Reflexes (4 AoO/round) You may make up to 4 attacks of opportunity per round, and may make them while flat-footed.
Come and Get Me (Ex) Enemies get +4 to hit and damage you, but attacks provoke AoO from you
Damage Reduction (12/lethal) You have Damage Reduction against non-lethal damage
Damage Reduction (6/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Damage Resistance, Fire (3) You have the specified Damage Resistance against Fire attacks.
Dazing Assault (DC 22) Take -5 to all attacks and maneuvers until your next turn to daze opponents hit in melee for 1r.
Extreme Endurance: Fire (Ex) At 3rd level, the invulnerable rager is inured to either hot or cold climate effects (choose one) as if using endure elements. In addition, the barbarian gains 1 point of fire or cold resistance for every three levels beyond 3rd. This ability replace
Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Heart of the Fields +6: Profession (Trapper) (1/day) 1/day, ignore an effect that would make you fatigued or exhausted. +1/2 character level to the selected Craft or Profession skill.
Pounce (Ex) You can make a full attack as part of a charge.
Power Attack -4/+8 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Rage (30 rounds/day) (Ex) +6 Str, +6 Con, +3 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Raging Vitality +2 CON while raging, Rage does not end if you become unconscious.
Reckless Abandon (+/-4) (Ex) Trade AC penalty for to hit bonus while raging.
Strength Surge +12 (1/rage) (Ex) Once per rage, add +12 to a STR check, CMB or CMD.
Superstition +9 (Ex) +9 save vs. magic while raging.
Witch Hunter (+4) (Ex) Bonus to damage spellcasters while raging.
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The heart of this build is the "Come and Get Me" rage power. Combat starts, Beast rages, charges (pounces) an opponent making a full attack and switches to the Come and Get Me stance. Any time he gets attacked Beast replies with an attack of opportunity until either the foe is dead or he runs out (four). The DR helps mitigate the extra damage but this character really needs lots of healing since his AC is pretty bad and he is basically inviting others to hit him and hit him hard.

While his AC may not be great his other defences are pretty good. His will saves are pretty good and even better when you consider that against attacks that are spells, SLAs or supernatural abilities he gets his Superstitious bonus to saving throws (+9). The downside of course is that he also tries to resist beneficial effects. Anything with spells or SLAs (most high level critters) also take an extra 4 points of damage from Witch Hunter.

Six points of DR is not a lot but it adds up and makes almost 200 hit points go that much further. Most of my character builds at level 12 have about half this many hit points.

Next level he can trade a feat for a rage power and can select Raging Brutality which allows him to trade 3 extra rounds of rage and a swift action to be able to add his constitution bonus to damage (an extra 13 points). That will burn through his 30 rounds of rage very quickly but few could stand against him for long. A great power for the 5 minute adventuring days.

My big problem with Beast is that he's a bit of a one trick pony. Sure, it is a really good trick but I wonder if I would not get bored when we were not engaged in combat. If something happens to my current rogue perhaps I will resurrect Beast and see how he plays.

Rippin' on...Conan Unchained

Zack and Steve are back with the AD&D module, Conan Unchained.

Conan Unchained, pt.1

Conan Unchained, pt.2

-Rognar-

My latest purchase from the FLGS

Back in the 70s and 80s, Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was the undisputed master of sci-fi rpgs. Of course, the flagship of their product lines was Traveller, which would later become MegaTraveller and the unfortunate Traveller:The New Era before veering off into several different directions with multiple publishers and game systems. However, GDW also published two other high-profile SF rpgs, the gritty post-apocalyptic Twilight: 2000 and the space exploration game, 2300 AD. These two games were set in the same timeline, three centuries apart, as the titles imply. The "Twilight" is a WWIII scenario in which a war between Russia and China expands outward into a global conflict. There's a limited nuclear exchange and a civil war breaks out in the US. In the aftermath, France, having chosen to withdraw from NATO and remain neutral, emerges relatively unscathed and becomes the new global superpower. Diminished versions of the USA (less an independent Texas and much of the southwest annexed by Mexico) and China (now divided into a strong Manchurian and weaker Cantonese state) rebuild in the subsequent centuries to join France as major spacefaring nations. In 2300 AD, these three nations lead the human race in the exploration and colonization of space.

Out of print for many years, 2300 AD has finally been revivified as an alternate campaign setting for Mongoose Traveller. The hardcover core campaign setting book is awesome. Weighting in at over 300 pages, it's light on artwork, mostly ship deckplans and planetary maps, but it's heavy on crunchy content. Of course, while the extensive stats on weapons, vehicles, starships and DNA modifications are useful and help to establish the feel of the setting, it is still the fluffier bits that make it interesting. 2300 AD presents a future that is, in many ways, a reflection of the past, in particular, the colonial period. Powerful nation-states compete with one another for habitable planets. Alliances are made and broken. Alien cultures are encountered. For those familiar with the original version, note that the first contacts with the Kaefers have been made, but little information on them (or indeed, any of the alien races) is revealed in the core book. Presumably a future supplement will be forthcoming.

Among the coolest things about the setting are the various alliances and rivalries that exist. For example, Canada has a long-standing cultural relationship with Great Britain and came to her aid in the aftermath of Twilight to help rebuild. However, Britain also has an economic and political alliance with the French Empire. The French Empire and Manchuria have a hostile relationship and have recently been in armed conflict. Canada, on the other hand, has a very good relationship with Manchuria and maintains several colonies within the Chinese Arm (i.e. Manchurian space). Admittedly, a lot of this high-level stuff probably has little effect on the day-to-day activities of the players, but it makes the setting feel real and immersive.

-Rognar-