Adventure Scenario I (contd.)

When faced with two or more opponents, it’s always best to eliminate the threat posed by spellcasting foes. Of course, this is a rule by thumb, and not set in stone. Incapacitating spellcasters removes the danger of receiving highly devastating damage, or being rendered ripe for slaughter. Hence, for this segment, players attacking the robed figure (perceived spellcaster) will receive the maximum allotted XP.

Next

The robed figure lies on the floor, stunned by your unexpected attack. The warrior lunges towards you. You cast a swift glance around. The robed figure won’t stay down for long. The swordsman looks experienced and eager to put an end to you; the ceiling is looking mighty unsteady as dust and pebbles rain upon you. As a result of the earlier rockfall, the top half of the door remains visible, and there’s a large gaping hole in it. You reckon you might just be able to dive through.

What do you do? Essentially, you have three options: meet the warrior head on, strike at the robed figure again (which will surely kill him), or forego your turn in the melee with the warrior to dash across towards the door. Of course, there may or may not be a fourth option, which might or might not snag you extra XP.

Think fast!

Adventure Scenario I

I thought I’ll liven things up by adding a new twist to the usual proceedings on this blog. And here it is: a simple role-playing scenario that requires the reader (i.e. you) to take definite action. Before any of you ask me to describe the surroundings, current hp, character level or number of attacks, remember that I mentioned earlier that it’s simple. After receiving all the responses to the scenario, I’ll divulge the action that is most feasible and rewarding in terms of XP. Keeping with the simple theme, put on your helms cause here’s the first challenge.

Scene

You’re trapped in a cellar littered with a broken oak table and several empty casks. A minor earthquake caused the ceiling near the door to collapse, blocking your only route out. You would spend time pondering about your next move; the problem is, there are two other beings in the room, both of whom want you dead. Easy peasy right? Think again. One’s a hulking yet clumsy warrior armed with a menacing battle axe; the other a robed figure wielding a staff made out of oak, polished and glistening. Trusty longsword in your hand, you circle your foes in a ring of death. What do you do?

You have: A magical longsword and one attack.

You are: facing the two, who are 6 feet apart. The blocked door is behind you, barricaded with collapsed brick and mortar.

You do not have: Any form of interaction with magic, barring your magical weapon.

Good luck, adventurer!

The Krynnian Chronicles II

A naked fighter, clumsy knights and a puzzling plot. Enough to pose a perilous challenge to even the most stoic of adventurers. Losing one’s arms and weapons can be quite a hassle, as Cristos discovered, much to his chagrin. Hooking up with the wrong crowd can have dire consequences, Siren would no doubt swear. Taking charge of a bunch of gung ho but less-than-intelligent squires is proving a major headache for Arwen. Add to that threat of an impending war, and one can quite clearly see why our adventurers might be out of their depth here on Krynn.

Siren, after escaping rather unheroically from Elmwood, encountered a group of robed figures along the road to Solanthus. Striking up a cordial relationship, he accompanied the merchants on the caravan to the capital of Solamia. His curiosity about the goods ferried aroused, the bard poked his nose into some rather unpleasant business, and soon found himself the target of his former caravan-mates. Having parties trying to end one’s life is quite perilous, but throw in a kender and you’re doomed. Which was probably what Siren was feeling as she wrestled with a particularly kleptomaniacal kender. An approaching robber duo didn’t help matters whatsoever.

Which is a whole lot better than where the fighter is. Stripped of everything he owned, Cristos launched an ambush on a draconian encampment with the aid of a band of kender guerillas. Excellent plan, it should be said, though the fighter had clearly forgotten about the nature of his allies. The kender retrieved his belongings, and made off with them. Frustrated, Cristos decided to return to the encampment to salvage what he could use.

Arwen would have been wishing for a group of kender instead of the four knight-wannabes she found herself accompanying to Palanthas. Strong in spirit, and weak in just about everything else, the squires at times seemed desperate to end their vocation prematurely at the hands of a dragonarmy. Wandering behind enemy lines, the cleric and the squires, attempted to sneak into Palanthas, where they would warn the leaders of the oncoming black wave. Just when this clumsy band had thought they only needed to deal with dragonmen, those pesky assassin vines made an annoying comeback. A zap from the cleric, and the group ran headlong deeper into the undergrowth, stealth and discretion tossed away in favour of escape.

And in case the reader is wondering where the rest of the companions are, the wizardess is sitting for a Test, the young warrior is lost in the bowels of an imposing keep, and the ranger is on a mission to find his soul.

Watch this scroll!

D&D 4th edition: What’s different.

So here we go again. Another edition of the core manuals. The fourth one, though I reckon it should be the fifth. V3.5 seemed an edition all by itself, and not merely an extension of the third edition.

And what can we expect from the new edition? Apparently a lot, if reviews are to be believed. There are many fundamental changes to the make-up and dynamics of the game. The perennial kinks have been ironed out, or so it would seem. Personally, I feel v3.5 is quite sound, rules-wise. All it needed was some tweaking and removal of mundane rules that were too technical and detrimental to the flow of the game. One that comes to mind is weight and carrying capacity. Another would be the attack and full attack mechanism, which is a bit redundant.

Based on reviews on the Net, I’ve compiled a list of changes found in the 4th edition. It isn’t a comprehensive list, but does contain the gist of differences in game mechanics.

What’s New:

1. The Barbarian, Bard, Monk, Sorcerer and Druid classes have been removed; replaced with Warlock and Warlord classes
2. Moderate changes in combat mechanics
3. Level-based bonuses are standardised at 1/2 increase per level, instead of class/ race based
4. No more skill points; either the character is trained or untrained
5. Certain classes can heal naturally
6. Wizards don’t have to prepare spells ahead of time
7. Spellcasting mechanics
8. Revision to critical/ automatic kill hits
9. Tiefling and Dragonborn added as new races; gnomes and half-orcs have been removed
10. Revision to default cosmology
11. Alignment is now limited to Good, Evil, Lawful Good, Chaotic Evil and Unaligned
12. Introduction of ‘action points’

Based on the incomplete list above, I for one am not all-too-keen to use the 4th edition. It would seem that Wizards has removed a small part of the essence of D&D, especially by eliminating the bard, monk and druid classes. I’m quite sure that Dragonborn characters will be the norm in any new campaign using the 4th edition. Why? The prefix dragon is a highly attracting force, and who wouldn’t want to be associated with dragons. And does D&D really need more stats like action points?

All in all, there are some welcome changes that Wizards has carried out in the 4th edition, though the unwanted far outweigh the desired. I’m slightly disappointed that Wizards has added and removed aspects of the game mechanics, instead of just streamlining and simplifying existing rules. Perhaps that is the difference between a ‘version’ and an ‘edition’.

For more details,visit Wizards.