More strangeness from WotC

When Wizards of the Coast announced the release of new reprints of the core AD&D books, I thought it was a pretty good move on their part. I already own the originals, so I have little interest in purchasing the reprints, but it seemed a good way to build some good will with the oldtimers.

However, there is now talk that WotC may also release reprints of D&D 3.5 later this year. I can't see much value in that. Aside from the fact that old copies of the originals are still fairly easy to acquire, anyone who isn't already playing 3rd edition will likely be more inclined to just jump into Pathfinder, which is almost the same game and is much better-supported.

Now, if they decide to reprint the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia, they will definitely get my attention.

-Rognar-

Monte Cook waives his no-trade clause

Monte Cook has left Wizards of the Coast, he announced today. This, combined with the traditional Christmas firings, makes it pretty clear that Wizards of the Coast is an awfully crappy company to work for. One can only guess what this means for the future of D&D.

-Rognar-

The Magus - old-schooler's nightmare fuel

Anyone of the OSR who read the previous post by Obiri on his Magus (Bladebound-Kensai) build has probably had all their suspicions about the complexity of D&D 3.x/Pathfinder chargen confirmed. I confess, it made me blink a few times since I rarely utilize a lot of the supplemental material that went into that build. Having said that, there's nothing forcing players to use all that stuff or DMs to allow it. However, as I read up on the Magus base class, I came to the conclusion that Pathfinder may be in danger of "jumping the shark". Now, don't get me wrong, the Magus is cool. Indeed, I intend to play one next time. In fact, my next few characters may be Magi as there are several options I'd like to try. However, one of the first impressions I got of the Magus class is how many things you have to keep track of, even at low levels. A third-level fighter, for example, will typically have two options, attack with melee weapon or attack with ranged weapon. Maybe he'll have to decide whether or not to use Power Attack, but that's it. A third-level wizard will have a handful of spells to choose from, usually magic missile or sleep, or maybe a bull's strength to buff the fighter. In any case, the choices are limited and typically easy to make. Then I read the Magus. The first class feature of the class is this:

Spell Combat (Ex): At 1st level, a magus learns to cast spells and wield his weapons at the same time. This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast. To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand. As a full-round action, he can make all of his attacks with his melee weapon at a –2 penalty and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action (any attack roll made as part of this spell also takes this penalty). If he casts this spell defensively, he can decide to take an additional penalty on his attack rolls, up to his Intelligence bonus, and add the same amount as a circumstance bonus on his concentration check. If the check fails, the spell is wasted, but the attacks still take the penalty. A magus can choose to cast the spell first or make the weapon attacks first, but if he has more than one attack, he cannot cast the spell between weapon attacks.


Ok, that's freakin' cool! I can whack a bad guy with my sword and then peg him with a magic missile in the same round!...at first level!! Then I read the next class feature on the list:

Spellstrike (Su): At 2nd level, whenever a magus casts a spell with a range of “touch” from the magus spell list, he can deliver the spell through any weapon he is wielding as part of a melee attack. Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell. If the magus makes this attack in concert with spell combat, this melee attack takes all the penalties accrued by spell combat melee attacks. This attack uses the weapon's critical range (20, 19–20, or 18–20 and modified by the keen weapon property or similar effects), but the spell effect only deals ×2 damage on a successful critical hit, while the weapon damage uses its own critical modifier.


I had to read that one a few times. My first thought is "Why would anyone want to tie a touch attack in to a normal melee attack when the previous class feature permits you to do both a spell attack and a melee attack in the same round anyway?" Then I figured it was all about using the weapon's critical range. Ok, I guess. It makes the scimitar the go-to weapon for the Magus class, but is, otherwise, pretty marginal as far as class features go.

By third level, things really start to get complicated. First off is the class feature, Magus Arcana. There are several different types of Magus Arcana to choose from, much like Rogue Talents in that regard. A likely first choice, however, is Arcane Accuracy. It allows you as a swift action, to use a point from your Arcane Pool (a pool of points that fuel various Magus abilities) and add your Int modifier to your attack rolls for one round. However, I haven't even talked about feats yet. In the first build I made of a base Magus, I chose a human with Combat Casting and Weapon Focus (scimitar) as first level feats and Arcane Strike as my third level feat. So now I have to choose whether to use Arcane Accuracy or Arcane Strike since both require a swift action and, of course, I only get one.

So, I'm a lowly third-level Magus and I already have to decide on whether to attack, cast a spell or both, which spell to cast, whether to use Spellstrike or not and whether to use Arcane Accuracy or Arcane Strike. To paraphrase the old US Army recruiting slogan, "The Magus, we do more in the first round than an AD&D Wizard does all day".

-Rognar-

The Pathfinder Kensai

As Designed by Obari. Piranha Strike might be a nice addition if you can squeeze it in. The spell selection would be largely dependent on the rest of your group. The Kensai is more appropriate for a replacement character as their AC is god awful at low levels and they'd be unlikely to survive.

SCIMITAR KENSAI CR 11

Male Elf Magus (Bladebound, Kensai) 12

CG Medium Humanoid (Elf)

Init +12; Senses Low-Light Vision; Perception +19

---

DEFENSE

---

AC 26, touch 26, flat-footed 13 (+12 Dex, +3 deflection, +1 dodge)

hp 87 (12d8+12)

Fort +12, Ref +14, Will +12

Defensive Abilities Canny Defense +5; Immune sleep; Resist Elven Immunities

---

OFFENSE

---

Spd 30 ft.

Melee Black Blade +20/+15 (1d6+15/15-20/x2) and

Unarmed Strike +16/+11 (1d3+3/20/x2)

Special Attacks Spellstrike

Magus (Bladebound, Kensai) Spells Known (CL 12, 9 melee touch, 16 ranged touch):

4 (3/day) Wall of Ice (DC 19), Dimension Door, Dragon's Breath (DC 19)

3 (4/day) Haste (DC 18), Slow (DC 18), Fireball (DC 18), Vampiric Touch

2 (5/day) Mirror Image (DC 17), Mirror Image (DC 17), Mirror Image (DC 17), Mirror Image (DC 17), Frigid Touch

1 (6/day) True Strike (DC 16), Silent Image (DC 16), Shocking Grasp, Shocking Grasp, Shocking Grasp, Feather Fall (DC 16)

0 (at will) Read Magic (DC 15), Prestidigitation (DC 15), Detect Magic, Light

---

STATISTICS

---

Str 10, Dex 21/25, Con 12, Int 16/20, Wis 12, Cha 8

Base Atk +9; CMB +9; CMD 35

Feats Arcane Strike, Dervish Dance, Dodge, Elven Weapon Proficiencies, Extra Arcane Pool, Improved Critical: Scimitar, Sickening Critical, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus: Scimitar, Weapon Specialization: Scimitar

Skills Acrobatics +19, Climb +4, Escape Artist +19, Fly +11, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +20, Knowledge (Planes) +20, Perception +19, Perform (Dance) +1, Ride +11, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +20, Swim +4

Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Elven, Gnome, Goblin

SQ Arcane Pool (+3) (11/day) (Su), Black Blade (Ex), Black Blade: Arcane Pool (3/day) (Su), Black Blade: Energy Attunement (Su), Black Blade: Strike +3 (Sp), Black Blade: Telepathy (Su), Black Blade: Teleport Blade (Sp), Black Blade: Unbreakable (Ex), Chosen Weapon: Scimitar, Critical Perfection +5 (Ex), Elven Magic, Empowered Magic (1/day) (Su), Iaijutsu (Ex), Improved Spell Combat (Ex), Metamagic Rod, Enlarge, Lesser, Metamagic Rod, Intensified, Lesser, Perfect Strike (Ex), Superior Reflexes (Ex), Wand Wielder (Su)

Other Gear Belt of Incredible Dexterity, +4, Cloak of Resistance, +3, Handy Haversack (empty), Headband of Vast Intelligence, +4: Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Escape Artist, Manual of Quickness of Action, +1, Metamagic Rod, Intensified, Lesser X2, Pearl of Power, 2nd Level, Ring of Protection, +3, Wand of Mage Armor, Wand of Shield

---

SPECIAL ABILITIES

---

Arcane Pool (+3) (11/day) (Su) Infuse own power into a held weapon, granting enhancement bonus or selected item powers.

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.

Black Blade (Ex) You gain an intelligent bonded weapon whose power grows with your own.

Black Blade: Arcane Pool (3/day) (Su) The Black Blade has an Arcane Pool used to fuel its own abilities.

Black Blade: Energy Attunement (Su) Replace weapon dam with fire/cold/elec for 1 point, or sonic/force for 2 points.

Black Blade: Strike +3 (Sp) The Black Blade can grant itself a damage bonus for 1 min.

Black Blade: Telepathy (Su) The magus can telepathically communicate with his black blade if it is worn or held.

Black Blade: Teleport Blade (Sp) Spend 1 point from own or blades pool to teleport it into hand.

Black Blade: Unbreakable (Ex) The Black Blade is immune to the broken condition while the arcane pool is not empty.

Canny Defense +5 (Ex) +INT bonus to AC (max Duelist level).

Chosen Weapon: Scimitar Kensai abilities only function when wielding a weapon of this type.

Critical Perfection +5 (Ex) Bonus to confirm threat & qualify early for critical feats with chosen weapon.

Dervish Dance Use Dex modifier instead of Str modifier with scimitar

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.

Empowered Magic (1/day) (Su) 1/day, cast a spell as if Empowered without altering the casting time or level.

Iaijutsu (Ex) May draw chosen weapon and make attacks of opportunity when flat footed.

Improved Spell Combat (Ex) Use a weapon with one hand at -2 and cast a spell with the other.

Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.

Metamagic Rod, Enlarge, Lesser The wielder can cast up to three spells per day that are enlarged as though using the Enlarge Spell feat.

Strong (no school); CL 17th; Craft Rod, Enlarge Spell; Price 3,000 gp.

Metamagic Rod, Intensified, Lesser The wielder can cast up to three spells per day that are intensified as though using the Intensified Spell feat.

Metamagic rods hold the essence of a metamagic feat, allowing the user to apply metamagic effects to spells as they are cast. This does not change the spell slot of the altered spell. All the rods described here are use-activated (but casting spells in a threatened area still draws an attack of opportunity). A caster may only use one metamagic rod on any given spell, but it is permissible to combine a rod with metamagic feats possessed by the rod’s wielder. In this case, only the feats possessed by the wielder adjust the spell slot of the spell being cast.

Possession of a metamagic rod does not confer the associated feat on the owner, only the ability to use the given feat a specified number of times per day. A sorcerer still must take a full-round action when using a metamagic rod, just as if using a metamagic feat he possesses (except for quicken metamagic rods, which can be used as a swift action).

Lesser and Greater Metamagic Rods: Normal metamagic rods can be used with spells of 6th level or lower. Lesser rods can be used with spells of 3rd level or lower, while greater rods can be used with spells of 9th level or lower.

Construction
Requirements Craft Rod, Intensified Spell; Cost 1,500 gp

Perfect Strike (Ex) Use 1 arcane pool to maximize weapon dam, or 2 for +1 to crit multiplier.

Sickening Critical Critical hit sickens target.

Spellstrike (Su) Deliver touch spells as part of a melee attack.

Superior Reflexes (Ex) Extra attacks of opportunity equal to Int mod (min 1). Combat reflexes stacks.

Wand Wielder (Su) The magus can activate a wand or staff in place of casting a spell when using spell combat.

Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.

Wrath of the Titans

I went to see Wrath of the Titans last night. Starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, it was the sequel to the 2010 movie Clash of the Titans, which, of course, is a not very faithful remake of a 1981 film of the same name. WotT has been thoroughly savaged by the critics, which means absolutely nothing to me, since "the critics" never like big budget action films anyway. I was attracted to the eye candy and despite some faults, I enjoyed the first movie, so I figured I'd give it a look. I liked it, so there!

Sure, Sam Worthington is pretty stiff, but at least his new curly 'do makes him look a little more Greek. The monsters are a visual feast for gamers. The chimerae are awesome. They have two heads in the front, rather than three, but their tails have a snake head, very cool. The titan, Kronos, was simply amazing, but the fiery Cerberus-like creature featured in some of the trailers did not appear.

Worthington aside, the acting performances were quite good. The scenes between Fiennes and Neeson, starring as brothers Hades and Zeus, were superb and, at times, quite poignant. Honestly, I'm not sure what more one could ask of a big budget, summer popcorn flick. Go see it...or don't.

-Rognar-

Gish

The topic of Gish came up in the comments section of Rognar's Sorcerer post about a week back. One of the central themes of Fantasy literature has been the arcane warrior who fights with a blend of sword and sorcery. The problem is in a game like D&D (or Pathfinder) Gish have to balanced with the Fighters and Wizards. After all, if you can fight as well as the Fighter and cast as well as the sorcerer no one would ever play those classes.

In 1st edition you got the multiclass elves that took both classes at the same time. They were balanced by their horribly slow rate of advancement. I seem to recall second edition being similar (which is why few people I played with ever chose elves).

3rd edition tried to standardize the classes in some ways and balance them as well. As anyone who played 3rd edition knows, for the first few levels the melee (non magic) classes do well but after about level 10 they are second class party members to the druid, cleric and wizard. By level 20, they are not much more than cheerleaders. In 3rd edition the wizard had no incentive to be a Gish. He could summon creatures that could out fight the fighter and still have 30+ spells a day to do other reality warping things.

Pathfinder has leveled the playing field somewhat. The Fighters can actually fight better then other classes now. Sure clerics can still buff themselves to a level equal to a fighter but it takes several rounds of buffing, in which time the fighter has probably killed most of the bad guys. The wizard is still bending reality, but he no longer can do it all as easily as before. Having a fighter friend around to deal the the segregated, slowed, and singed enemies keeps the wizard from having to exhaust all of his resources in a single battle. Druids can no longer be a wise but skinny weakling in human form and then turn into world wrecking animal. They are now strong in combat or master spell casters, not both.

Lets look at a few options for a sword and sorcery build. We'll compare them at level 12 which is around where most builds have matured but before the game has started to break down too much.

The first up is the Eldritch Knight. One level of fighter followed by 5 wizard levels seems to be the standard entry method to EK. At low levels if is awful and almost unplayable. The rest of your group will hate you as you are a deficient spell caster and a hopeless melee combatant. By level 12 things are not so bad. You are only 2 caster levels behind a full wizard so you can sling around a couple level 5 spells a day and you are starting to collect a few of the strong mid-game melee feats (although no "Greater" Fighter feats yet). I see the EK as a wizard that can melee a bit. Damage output in melee is quite comparable to the other builds I'm going to show but lacks their tricks for extra damage. My EK build focuses on Str and Int and probably needs some optimizing work. His saves were the worst of the bunch (12,9,12) but his hit and damage bonus respectable. +20 to hit, 1d6 +15 for damage. His AC was the worst at a self-buffed 23, but can Mirror Image .

The next build is also Str based. I am not a big fan of the unmodified Magus. While I have yet to play one, the Magus' schtick seems to be casting casting spells through his weapon greatly increasing his crit chance with them. They are very spikey damage dealers. The problem is that as a medium BAB class, the Magus has problems hitting high AC mobs. That's why I prefer some of his archetypes.

The Myrmidarch is basically a fighter with some spell casting ability. He gets armor training, weapon training (allowing the awesome gloves of Duelling), and Fighter feats. He loses most of the Magus's casting flexibility of some of his spells. I still think the trade is worth it. The Myrmidarch has a + 23 to hit, 2d4+18 for damage (+20, 2d4 +27 Power Attacking). His AC is a self buffed 27 but also can Mirror Image. His Saves are slightly better at 14, 8, 12.

The last two builds are both Dex based. First up is another Magus build. I always liked the idea of the Kensai but it took a while to find a trick to make it work. Since the Agile weapon feature is from a 3.5 Adventure Path it isn't technically Pathfinder material and so requires GM approval. The only other way to get Dex to damage to to use a scimitar and take the Dervish Dance feat. The Kensai Archetype is focused around a singular weapon and becomes very effective with it. Any time the Kensai scores a critical hit he can spend a point from his Arcane Pool to increase his critical modifier x1. It doesn't increase spell critical damage but it is still pretty sweet. The Kensai comes in at +20 to hit, 1d6 +15 to damage. Too bad there is no way to get either Power Attack or Piranha Strike with this build. AC is 26ish which is pretty good for no armor. Mirror Image is also an option here. The Kensai will end up with one of the highest ACs in the game. Saves are quite strong at 12,14,12

The last build is a much better team player than the others. This Gish is built from a Bard. The Arcane Warrior archetype makes a decent Gish at low levels but falls behind the To Hit curve by level 12 and starts having a tough time hitting things. I have recently spotted a better archetype for my purposes. The Dawnflower Dervish Archetype is also Dex based but uses Cha as a casting stat. Like most bards, this Gish has great skills selection and high skill values. He has more spells than the EK, but his spells tend to be more utility and buffs than offensive damage spells like the Magus. What makes the Dervish a good Gish is his Battle Dance class feature. Instead of Bardic performances effecting everyone, the battle dances only effect the bard but they are TWICE as effective. He can also cast Cure spells on himself 3 times a day as a move action. The Dervish's to Hit is +24, 1d6+18 damage (assuming 31 rounds of battle dancing is enough to cover ever battle). His AC is 28, he also has access to Mirror Image, and has a high UMD score to use Shield, and Barkskin wands for more AC goodness. His saves are the best of the bunch at 11,18,13.

I can post exact builds but I didn't want to fill up too much space with walls of stats. Ask if you want more details. I think all of them are quite playable and each has a very unique flavor. By the way if you guys have not read it, pick up Inner Sea Magic. I think I enjoyed it more than Ultimate Combat.

The Gods of Mars - John Carter returns

Although my plan to read all the sci-fi novels on the NPR Top 100 science-fiction and fantasy books got derailed back before Christmas, the recent and short-lived release of the film John Carter has piqued my interest in the source material. Having finished A Princess of Mars in about a week, it was on to the next book in the series, The Gods of Mars.

[Minor spoilers]

John Carter returns to Mars after a lengthy absence and quickly encounters several new races of Martians, the Plant Men, the White Martians (aka Therns) and the Black Martians (aka Black Pirates of Barsoom or First Born). He learns the horrible secret behind the cult of Issus and fights many battles for his princess and the people of Mars who he has grown to love. I won't reveal much more except to say, at the end of The Gods of Mars, a great dread weighs heavily on the hero and he will have to wait a good deal longer to learn the fate of his beloved princess and be reunited with her once again.

The Gods of Mars, much like its predecessor, is an entertaining, though not particularly challenging read. Aside from a bit of commentary on the potential dangers of organized religion, the book makes little effort at deeper themes. It really is ideal for a casual reader such as myself who typically only has a few minutes per day to dedicate to it. I have to say, seeing the movie has really helped me become more immersed in the setting. In the climactic battle, where the Helium, Thern and First Born navies contest the skies of Barsoom, while the Tharks assault the Temple of Issus, I was seeing scenes from the movie in my mind. The visual aspects of John Carter really were fantastic.

-Rognar-

Building a sorcerer the right way

I would have to say, my favourite class in Pathfinder is the Sorcerer. For the benefit of the uninitiated, sorcerers differ from wizards in that they derive their spellcasting abilities from a bloodline they inherited from a magical ancestor such as a demon or dragon, rather than through scholarly pursuits. In game terms, this difference means they can cast more spells per day, but are more limited in the number of spells they know. They also receive certain magical abilities such as energy resistances or claw and bite attacks, but are hampered somewhat in their use of meta-magic feats (i.e. special abilities that allow spellcasters to alter certain aspects of spells such as duration, range, damage, etc.)

I play sorcerers a lot. In fact, I'd guess that roughly half the characters I've played, including my current character, have been sorcerers. One constant that applies to all the sorcerers I've built is that they have all been underpowered. The sorcerer class offers more options for character design than just about any other class and most of those options are bad from the perspective of optimization. Why? Because most of the bloodline powers encourage you to create a character that resembles a spellcasting rogue or melee fighter. Let me tell you, if you want to be a fighter in Pathfinder, be a fighter (or a paladin, maybe). Anything else is the very definition of suck in this game. Sure, it sounds cool to create a character who can launch a fireball, then charge in and lay a beatdown. Unfortunately, Pathfinder doesn't reward versatility. While the sorcerer is buffing himself, the fighter and the wizard have already killed every living thing within a half mile radius. High-level Pathfinder combat is a lot like the last two minutes of a football game. It seems to take forever, but in game time, it's only a couple of rounds at most. So to be effective, a character has to be able to contribute something substantial immediately and most sorcerer builds can't do that.

Notice, I said most. If you can pry yourself away from all the superficial coolness of the Abyssal or Draconic bloodlines and play to the strengths of the class, it is possible to be effective. First and foremost, the sorcerer is an arcane spellcaster and not surprisingly, the best bloodline for optimizing that role is Arcane. The bonus spells are all excellent, there's a nice selection of bonus feats and the Metamagic Adept bloodline power is quite handy when you really want to maximise that fireball and still run behind cover.

Sadly, I think I will always be attracted to the idea of a sorcerer who sprouts poison fangs and jumps into combat only to get promptly mauled because he has half the hp and AC of a real fighter. Like the scorpion who stings the toad, it's in my nature.

-Rognar-

The Gunslinger

As I stared at my unpainted minis tonight debating whether or not to start one, I saw my unpainted monster slayer mini (he's got a rifle). Even though Ultimate Combat has been out for 9 months now no one in my gaming group has shown any interest in playing a gunslinger - including me. With my interest piqued, I decided to do some research. I've seen threads on the Paizo board claiming they are over powered but lots of other people jump in and claim that they are balanced but strong. I wanted to decide for myself so I tracked down a couple threads on what makes a gunslinger good.

With HeroLab loaded I made a gunslinger and fleshed him out at levels 4, 7, 12 and 17. At 4 he kinda sucks. An archer is way better. By level 7 equality has been achieved. They do roughly the same damage but the archer tends to have a better to hit bonus. This is balanced by the fact that the gunslinger is doing range touch attacks in the first range increment (which is scary close if you are using pistols, but a bit more reasonable with a musket).

From what I can see if you want to multiclass as a gunslinger the best break points are after level 5 (when you get dex to damage) and level 11 (when you get all sorts of goodies). For the sake of this demo I decided to go all fighter after level 11.

At level 12 a straight Fighter archer is going to out damage a gunslinger but not many other classes can manage it. By this point the gunslinger can take the signature deed feat which makes one of his deeds practically free to use (no grit required). This means they can do bleed damage equal to their dex bonus on every attack, auto disarm, auto trip, or lots of other nifty tricks.

By level 17 Gunslingers have pulled ahead and don't look back. By taking 6 levels of fighter, the gunslinger is now sporting such fighter only feats as weapons specialization and point blank mastery as well as wearing dueling gloves since he's got weapon training from the fighter levels. Without haste he's firing 5 shots, the lowest at +14, that have to beat Touch AC. Each does about 38 points of damage.

Now the Gunslinger has a deed called Dead Shot. Its a bit complicated so I recommend going to read it but its a bit unclear exactly how it works. It works a bit like Vital Strike with each attack adding to damage but it doesn't state if you can include the extra attacks from Rapid Fire and Haste. If you can't it really doesn't have much use except to help beat any sky high DR that you can't penetrate. If it includes any and all attacks then it's a pretty mean ability. With my level 17 build, with Haste and using rapid shot, Dead Shot has about 1 in 2 chance of inflicting around 280 damage on a full round attack assuming all of the touch attacks hit. If the dice don't cooperate it is a rather lousy 70.

And don't think I loaded all of its abilities into offense. Almost all of the characters I build in HeroLab are meant to be playable so they have to have good saves (lowest save = character level or higher), and AC (or at least some other defenses like Displacement). The gunslinger could be fun to play. They have more options than the Archer Fighter who just shoots his bow every round, or the Barbarian who swings his axe. Rogues would love them since they can render opponents flat footed. I think I can crank out even more damage using dual Pistols but solving the reload problem will some creativity.

That's not to say my next character is going to be a gunslinger. I have a database full of cool characters I'd love to play and I just have one more now. I finally found a Magus build I was happy with yesterday and that's been added to the list now as well. But if we find ourselves in a high level adventure where we need more firepower I know just where to turn.

Slumbering Tsar

Slumbering Tsar is a mega adventure put out by Frog God Games written by Greg A Vaughan. If that name looks familiar its because he writes an adventure for just about every Paizo Adventure Path.

I don't have the hard cover yet so this review is based on the 14 pdfs that have been released over the last couple years and have just been bundled together I assume to raise enough money to print all of the massive hardcovers (over 1000 pages). The adventure for 4-6 level 7 PCs should easily get the party to level 20. The adventure is divided into three main sections: The desolation around the city, the city itself and the temple.

The Desolation is the wasteland that surrounds the city of Tsar, the site of a massive battle between good and evil centuries ago. This part section is basically a large hex crawl as the party scours the area looking for clues at what lies in the city proper. There are lots of quests scattered around and the players can begin to glean hints at the adventure's backstory.

Tsar is a large very detailed city. Although encounters tend to be undead heavy there are still lots of other creatures to be encountered. The PCs scour the city searching for a way to access the final area. The encounters are both location and event based. There is even a mid sized dungeon. Most encounters are immediately hostile but not all. There are even a few spots where you can play one encounter against another.

The temple is the last and by far the most challenging section. In this area the PCs will unearth terrible secrets and deal with Epic level challenges. If you are unlucky enough you could even face Orcus (level 35 demon lord) himself. The temple is nothing short of a mega dungeon. The thing is huge and has over 400 encounter locations.

The writer has tried to give the adventure a 1st edition feel and in some ways I think he's succeeded. There is a large variation in encounter difficulties. There are a few spots where the the encounter is several levels higher then the PCs and their best best is to be really prepared or just run away and come back later. At the same time many encounters will be a cake walk. Most pages have some artwork on them. It is all black and white and the quality is pretty good. I don't recall seeing any that I thought were awful. On the same note I don't remember any being awesome either. While I don't think it would require huge amounts of prep work to play you do have to have a good feel the various areas, how certain NPCs interact with each other, and spend a bit of time thinking about the best tactics for the monsters. Especially at higher levels they are quite complex - most have templates and/or class levels. This is high level Pathfinder so there are not too many bad guys that just walk up and start swinging.

The book is going to be huge and was originally written for 3.5 so its not surprising that a few editing mistakes slipped through. The PDFs have some weird glitches in them but I'm hoping its just a problem with the pdf and will be cleaned up for the hardcover. I figure that it would take us about a year to play from beginning to end - much the same as Kingmaker although if it stretched into the 18 month range I would not be shocked. I worry that so much high level combat can be tedious. I can easily see it devolving into a game of rocket launcher tag. The bad guys are so tough if they are not defeated in a round or two, the PCs will die.Many of the bad guys hit like Mac trucks or have crazy high DCs on their special abilties.

The adventure's focus is combat and exploration. There are lots of very deadly traps and a party would do well to have a rogue (or another trapfinder) along. The adventure has lots of very challenging encounters and players will have to be very creative if they want to survive. Many of the monsters come from 3rd party books so chances the players have never seen them before. Knowledge skills will be very handy for identifying weaknesses. Some of the monsters are pretty awesome, gruesome but awesome. There are NPCs scattered through out the adventure that can be used as replacement PCs or henchmen. A couple are rather unconventional and would be interesting to play as written. Especially towards the end there are lots of powerful magic items kicking around as well as some pretty sweet artifacts. There is no time limit on this epic quest so magic item crafting would be an option.

This adventure ties directly to Rappan Athuk. After the forces of evil retreated from Tsar they fled to the Dungeon of Graves. It would be fun to take the party that cleared Tsar into Rappan Athuk and see if they could beat that pretty much impossible Mega Dungeon..

Overall I think Slumbering Tsar looks like a lot of fun and when my 1000 page brick finally shows up I'll be sure to show it off. My only concern is the length as I recall everyone getting rather bored by the end of Age of Worms.

If you want more details they may be found here

A Princess of Mars, yeah, I read it

After watching the highly-enjoyable, but critically-panned John Carter, I figured it was time to read the source material, Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars. It was not a challenging read. Much like the pulp-era stories which would begin to appear a few years later, the plot and characters in this book are fairly simple. The protagonist, John Carter, is a Civil War veteran and soldier of fortune. Unlike the character in the movie, he is not a reluctant warrior and carries none of the emotional baggage that his cinematic version bears. Rather than being a lost and damaged soul seeking only solace and a way home, Burroughs' John Carter is a man's man. Likewise, the princess, Dejah Thoris, of A Princess of Mars is not the warrior-scholar shown in the film. In the novel, Dejah Thoris is, at times, haughty and petulant, but she also shows great poise and courage in the face of unimaginable torments that she fully expects to suffer at the hands of her captors.

[Spoilers ahead]: The basic plot of both the film and the novel are similar, although far more emphasis is placed on the war between Zodanga and Helium in the movie than in the book. Also, the whole subplot involving the Therns and the Ninth Ray is simply not present in the book at all. Indeed, the Ninth Ray is only briefly mentioned as being vital to the anti-gravity technology of the Martians. Beyond that, it doesn't serve the plot in any way. The other major departure I noticed with the film was in the main antagonist, Sab Than, the ruler of Zodanga. In the book, he was a minor character and merely the heir to the throne of Zodanga. Although he did seek to marry Dejah Thoris, there was no evidence he intended to kill her or destroy Helium. His desires were no more sinister than the standard power politics practiced by royalty on earth for centuries.

A Princess of Mars is a light, but entertaining read full of swashbuckling action in a compelling world where men are men, women are beautiful and villains are there to be vanquished, not understood or pitied. It espouses virtues which many today might find antiquated, or even a bit bigoted. I can see why some changes were made to make the film more relatable to modern moviegoers. Nonetheless, it is a good story and I encourage those who have never read it to give it a go.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on...Aliens Unlimited

Honestly, shouldn't beating up on poor old Palladium be some sort of crime...

Aliens Unlimited

-Rognar-

Mass Effect 3: Review

First I have to say I am a huge fan of the series even as it has evolved from being more RPG oriented to more of a first person shooter. The plots have been interesting, the characters well written, and most of all its been fun.

Lets start off with things that didn't go so well with part 3.

The ending: Without being spoilery all I can say what is wtf? You are given a bunch of back story and left with 3 options. The problem is that all 3 options lead to almost exactly the same ending sequence part of which makes no sense what so ever. I played through the ending sequence 3 times hoping that there would be some meaningful difference between them. There wasn't. After such an awesome game it was rather disappointing.

Difficulty: The enemy AI is much smarter in this game than in 1 or 2. They like to lob grenades behind your cover and execute flanking maneuvers. Some of the Reaper troops are rediculously hard to kill. I turned down the difficulty about a quarter way through the game because I got tired of dying. I'm here for the story.

Online play: This may be awesome but I'm not interested. The first person shooter aspect is my least favorite aspect of the game ad facing off wave after wave of Cerebus or Reaper troops doesn't sound especially appealing. I've read that you can't get the best endings without playing online but I'm not sure how that can make a difference. Half the stuff I read online about the game was BS anyway.

Planet Scanning. The monotonous tank missions from the first game are gone, as well as the resource scanning from the second. Good. There is still some scanning but its pretty minor. The catch now is that the more you scan the more you attract the Reapers, and when they show up you have to beat it out of the system or you die instantly. Planet scanning can reveal quest items and resources for the war so even though its still a bit tedious it is worth while.

And now the good:

The characters: All of the old characters are back and a few new ones have been added. There was lots of negative buzz about Freddie Prince Jr. joining the cast but I really liked his character James. It wasn't until I sat through the closing credits that I realized who was voicing him. The crew this time around is smaller than part 2 which had a huge crew. Everyone that lived through parts 1 and 2 are back in some fashion. My favorites like Garrus and Tali'Zora and part of the crew but most of the others have a secondary role as you run into them around the galaxy.

The writing: The writing is excellent as usual and is what really makes the game great. You really get know your crew, even the ones that don't run missions with you. There are lots of great little moments as they express concern over what's going on back on Earth and you have to keep them motivated and not lose hope.

The plot: I have only played through it once with my female Shepard paragon character. She has chosen most of the "Good" choices over the last few games but I did the Suicide mission in Part 2 without reading about it online and lost 2 members of my crew who were therefore absent from Part 3 (including the always hilarious Mordrin). In a month or two I'll probably play through the game with my male renegade Shepard and see how all of the different choices I've made in parts 1 and 2 change part 3.

Ending aside the game is excellent and I recommend it for anyone that loves a good space opera. The cut scene for the battle of earth was awe inspiring as the combined fleets of the galaxy show up in earth's orbit and engage. Even the small moments are just wow. It might lose some impact if you haven't played the earlier games but the characters are all introduced clearly and its easy to fall in love with them all over again.

If you like video games go out and buy it.

Go see John Carter

I went to see John Carter on opening night and I'm glad I did. I admit, I'm not really an Edgar Rice Burroughs fanboy and have never read A Princess of Mars, the book upon which the film is based, but I do know some of the details of the world of Barsoom. Because of this, John Carter hits the sweet spot for me, midway between a hardcore fan and a total neophyte. I can't say how true the movie is to the original, but given the source material is a century old and it is Disney that made the film, I do not doubt some liberties were taken for the benefit of modern moviegoers. Nonetheless, the movie is very enjoyable and will no doubt satisfy all but the most hardbitten purists.

That's not to say the movie is flawless. Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch, starring in the title roll, makes no effort to sound even remotely like a Confederate soldier despite repeated mentions of his Virginian roots (including a bit of a running joke). This is probably for the best, since a poorly-executed southern accent would have very likely been worse than none at all. Also, in an effort to portray Mars as a dying world, the landscapes are universally desert. These vistas are truly beautiful and stunning, but given the presence of so many peoples (Red Martians and Tharks) and fauna (giant white apes, riding beasts and weird, super fast salamander-dogs), the absolute absence of even a single blade of grass leaves one wondering how anyone finds enough to eat. Finally, I found some of the feats of strength performed by the lead character to be a bit over the top, more akin to Neo from The Matrix than an Earth human in a low gravity environment.

Still, the movie is a visual feast, with competent acting and good pacing. Best of all, it's not stupid, which by the standards Hollywood typically sets for itself these days, is an accomplishment in itself.

-Rognar-

Oh, I almost forgot, the movie is 3D and happily, the 3D effects are well done. No post-production 3D-ification here.

Update: Ok, apparently John Carter was not originally shot in 3D. I'm surprised, having seen some really crappy 3D effects (Clash of the Titans, anyone?). I may have to seek out a 2D version of the film to compare. I don't need much of an excuse to see it again.

Towers of Midnight: Review

So I am once again caught up on my reading and will be looking for something new to tackle. I am hugely disappointed that they've pushed back the release date of the last book by 10 months! And announciing this delay only a month before A Memory of Light's release date makes me bitter.

Anyway, what did I think of Towers of Midnight?

1. Pacing. This book has rather odd pacing. The middle of the novel has a much better climax than the ending does. That's not to say the ending was bad or boring but it just lacked the build up and excitement of the middle of the book. I had not expected two major plotlines to suddenly intersect resulting in a major encounter much more worthy of the climax. The book's climax was something that has been coming for a long time. The reader knows pretty much what's going to happen and it takes place pretty much as expected with no real twists or turns.

2. Editing. I've been reading Ebooks and I do spot the occasional oddity in most books but I've always suspected its due to the possible source of these Ebooks. These errors look like OCR issues and they are easily ignored (rn = m). This book however had a decent number of misspelled or misused words. The kind of thing where you stop and double check to make sure you are reading it correctly. I was surprised so many slipped through the editing process.

Overall the book was very good. Sanderson tries to keep the action going and has a much more direct writing style that Jordan's flowery meandering style. All of the plot lines advance in a significant manner and you can see how things are lining end for the final book. One interesting chapter in this books deals with what's going to happen after all of this is over (assuming the Wheel of Time is not broken). It will be interesting to see how the issues raised in that chapter are dealt with in the final book.

Mongoose editing, as good as it ever was

The first three releases in the Legend game from Mongoose, Legend Core Rulebook, Monsters of Legend and Arms of Legend were actually pretty well done. Though not flashy, they were well-edited and easy to read. Of course, it was only a matter of time before Mongoose reverted back to its old habits. Arcania of Legend: Blood Magic actually sounds pretty good and being written by Peter Nash ensures that what is there will be first-rate. Unfortunately, it appears Mongoose has managed to butcher it in the editing process if the comments on this forum are to be believed (comments which include those of the author of the book himself). Especially egregious (though sadly, not surprising), the text on the website describing the book actually includes reference to material that has apparently been edited out. I will probably still buy the book, everything Peter Nash touches is pure gold, but once again, I will be cursing under my breath at the Mongoose editors.

-Rognar-

Wheel of Time, Cont.

Well, way back in October I restarted the wheel of time series. Here we are now almost 5 months later and I just finished book 12 which is as far I had read before. From here on out its all virgin territory. I started Book 13 this morning and I'm pretty sure I'll have it complete long before the much awaited final Book 14 arrives in March. I seems weird that a series I started over 20 years ago is finally wrapping up.

I guess the wait for the Dark Tower was longer but I only started reading that back in 2003.

Fading Suns for Pathfinder! Now, please!

Fading Suns is an awesome campaign setting incorporating magic, technology and futuristic horror. Sadly, it has long been chained to a clunky game system. A brief foray into the d20 system yielded less than satisfying results. Now RedBrick is planning to try again with the announcement of an upcoming release of Fading Suns for Pathfinder.

FADING SUNS SAVAGE WORLDS AND PATHFINDER
As we announced on Pinnacle Games web site last year, RedBrick is working on releasing a version of Fading Suns for Savage Worlds. We are also updating the previous d20 version for use with the popular Pathfinder roleplaying game. Both editions are based on Fading Suns Second Edition. Development on Third Edition has taken precedence over these editions, so the first books are currently scheduled for released in late 2012/early-2013, as follows (for each system):

2012/Q4: Player’s and GM’s Guides
2013/Q1: Lords of the Known Worlds, Priests of the Celestial Sun

Ok, now I'm excited.

-Rognar-

Cross-posted at Rognar's Space Horror RPG Blog

MERP, a retrospective

In the early 90s, I headed off from my childhood home seeking fame, fortune and a graduate degree. Only the third goal was achieved, but I did get to spend a lot of that time experimenting with tabletop roleplaying games that didn't have the words "dungeons" or "dragons" in their titles (this is possibly why the fame and fortune parts never materialized). Some of these, I played the heck out of (notably GURPS), while others, I only tried once or twice (Chivalry and Sorcery, Call of Cthulhu, Alternity, Star Wars d6, Pendragon). Another one of this latter group is Middle-Earth Role-Playing or MERP by Iron Crown Enterprises. MERP is a softer, gentler spawn of the angry, ex-Marine drill sergeant of tabletop role-playing games, Rolemaster. I've never played Rolemaster, I suppose, because I don't hate myself enough, but even MERP requires a healthy level of masochism. The interesting thing about MERP/Rolemaster is that even the DM has to filled with a sense of self-loathing to really embrace the system. Sadistic DMs are better off with Call of Cthulhu, in which they can inflict all manner of pain on their players without having to beat themselves repeatedly about the head. Anyway, as I was saying, MERP is a simplified and more approachable game based on the Rolemaster game engine. Like D&D, it is a class-and-level system, although the power curve is a little less steep. For example, a Warrior will gain 5 development points for weapon skills each level. Each such point may be spent on one of the six weapon skills (1-H Edged, 1-H Concussion, 2-Handed, Thrown, Missile, Polearm) for a 5% to hit bonus or spend 3 points for a 10% bonus. Furthermore, once 10 points have been spent on a skill, the bonuses drop to 2% or 4% respectively. Combat is certainly more complicated than D&D, but not as torturous as Rolemaster. The character has an offensive bonus (OB) based on weapon skill, relevent stat bonus and magic bonuses which he may dedicate wholly or in part to his attack roll. The attack roll is then penalized by the defensive bonus (DB) of the opponent which is derived from the relevent stat bonus, a shield bonus (if applicable) and any portion of the defender's OB he wishes to commit to parrying. Up to that point, combat is pretty straightforward. The modified result is then compared to a combat matrix for the appropriate weapon group (in Rolemaster, there's a separate combat table for every weapon!) which gives a result that accounts for the type of armour worn by the defender. A typical result will give a number of hits inflicted, but good rolls can result in a critical hits roll. This is where things get painful. This game has critical hits for everything. There are puncture crits, slashing crits, crushing crits, grappling crits, heat crits, cold crits, electricity crits and impact crits and tables for each. If you have a particularly brutal "primary" crit, it can also result in a lesser "secondary" crit as well. Especially bad rolls can also result in fumbles, of which there are several varieties.

Interestingly, aside from the obsession with the minutiae of combat simulation, MERP is clearly influenced by D&D. There are six stats which correspond pretty closely to the traditional D&D formula; strength, agility, constitution, intelligence, intuition and presence. There are also six character classes, one for each primary stat; Warrior (i.e. fighter; primary stat - strength), Scout (i.e. rogue; primary stat - agility), Animist (i.e. cleric; primary stat - intuition), Mage (i.e. wizard; primary stat - intelligence), Ranger (i.e. ranger; primary stat - constitution) and Bard (i.e. bard; primary stat - presence). All character classes may learn some magic, of which there are two varieities; Channeling (divine) and Essence (arcane). Obviously, the more magic-oriented classes of Animist and Mage have fewer restrictions. Spells are organized into lists of ten, within which all the spells have a related theme and increase in power with each level. For example, the Mage spell list Fire Law starts with a spell called Boil Liquid that can cause a cubic foot per level of liquid to boil and ends with Circle Aflame which conjures an immobile, 10 ft. high wall of flames encircling the caster and which inflicts a heat critical on anyone passing through it.

So, you may ask why I'm posting about a game I played a couple of times some twenty years ago. Well, it turns out I have a ton of supplements for this game that I recently uncovered during a spring cleaning. I had forgotten I even owned most of this stuff. Going through it all has brought back a lot of memories, not so much of the game itself, but of the time in my life when I used to have a lot of free time and, apparently, a lot of disposable income. So, I thought I'd share it with you all.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on....In Search of the Unknown

Some old school fun from Zack and Steve:

B1 In Search of the Unknown, pt.1

B1 In Search of the Unknown, pt.2

-Rognar-