A Short Break

I appologize, even though there is nothing that binds me to post, I still feel bad for not posting. I just have not been in the mood lately. So, I figure I should at least give you something to pass the time while I am AFK.


Cave Story
Cave story is a free independent game that I really enjoy.
Someone even made 4e races for it: here


Spelunky
Another fun indy game here


Savage Species
Aaron from Allgeektout is working on a 4e version of the 3.0 book "savage species" and I may help him with it, so expect some here sometime soon.

D&D Information Request

WotC seems to be more closely watching what information slips out nowadays. When 4e first came out good ol' Mikey let slip a few hints about the second player's handbook that set the 4e fanboys on a speculation rampage.

Why don't they do that anymore?

There is a lot inf info that they could give us peeks at, or just flat out tell us, and be none the worse. Here are some of the things that I would like to know or at least get a hint to.


Races and Classes
The reference at the top is referring to Mike Mearls letting slip the fist letters of the classes and races in the second players handbook. Playtest of races and classes is nice, but if they want us to really get excited about it, even though it is close to another year away is to let us guess what classes and races are going to appear. Sure, it might take the surprise out of it, but its fun. OH! Better yet! Create a riddle to tell us what the new class/race is, the more cryptic the better. Feel free to make the riddles seem to fit two races, anything to distract them from the edition 'wars'.

The release of the cover for the PHB3 was a good move, because now we have something to speculate about. Or, rather, we better know what to speculate about.


Power Sources
Since the only source of knowledge about the 4 3 yet unexplained power sources has now become decanonized, I don't know what to expect for them. This is one of the things that I would really like to know about, and not just because of my alternate power source class project. The addition of the primal ps added a lot of interesting backstory for the basic D&D setting.

I really hope that the Elemental power source is to the primordials as Divine PS is to the gods and Primal PS is to the nature spirits. Shadow may be linked to the shadowfel, or to something completely different. Psionic, the next power source to be added, seems to have some elements of 'ki' which is no longer one of the power sources.


Future Settings
D&D has a rich history of settings: Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Spelljammer, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, an insane number of homebrew settings and many other published ones that I may not even know of. WotC dangles a new setting for 4e just out of our reach, and makes references to several of the more famous settings. At least give us a hint as to what it is going to be!

Personally, I'm hoping for a 4e Spelljammer, but thats just me.


Do you guys think I did good? Should WotC give us some more speculation fuel? Do you think you know what the future races/classes/power source backstories are going to be? Please leave a comment!

Monster Manual 2 Monster Races and Ones That Could Have Been

I'm so happy! I got my monster manual 2 in the mail today (1. I'm writing this on Monday, 2. Yay, Amazon!) and I was a little disappointed at the monster races in the book. Not only were there only three of them, but they are notably weaker than the races in the first MM and considerably weaker than the ones from the PHBs, signaling that they really only want these races for NPCs.

New Monster Races in the MM2
Kenku-
Black feathered bird people, give unusually high bonus to flanking and aid another and have the ability to mimic sounds and voices.
I have been looking forward to the Kenku for a while, they have everything that their race needs to be kenku, but I would've liked another race feature or two. I wouldn't mind playing one though.

Duergar-
Dark dwarves, shoot out quills.
Kinda weird for my tastes... dark dwarves... with quills?

Bullywug-
Unnatural frog people that corrupt their swamp home, creates and aura that weakens enemies that spends a healing surge.
Be good for a laugh, but overall, not the greatest of options...


Races they should have had playable in the MM2
Gnolls- Could have had the updated stats for them.
Lizardfolk- Weren't these also in the first MM? Still no race stats!
Shadar-kai- Could also have their updates racial stats.
Spriggan- Corrupt gnomes are the only way to play gnomes! I would like to played one. : D

Races they could have had playable in the MM2
Centaur- Could have been really cool option, but the large size was too much of a turn off for WotC.
Drakkoth- Same as centaur.
Nothic- Crazy, one eyed 'humanoids'. would be VERY fun to play. : D
Phoelarch- Humanoids covered in fire, who burst into flames and are replaced by a medium sized phoenix when they die.
Slaad- Was in the first MM, could have many options... maybe in 'plane below'.
Troglodyte- Yet another one from the MM, evil, but could be playable.
Wood Woad- living trees that hate anyone that looks like they might remotely cut down a tree.
Xorn- Creepy, but it could be playable.

Races I would have liked in the MM2, but I'll let slide this time...
Angel- Too overpowered...
Barghest- Goblin shapeshifters, awesome, but overpowered...
Beholder- Floating eyeball of death, too overpowered...
Marut- "Maruts serve other entities as mercenaries or serve their own mysterious purposes." how does that not get racial stats? Well, they are immortals... Oh, and they fly...
Myconid- They only communicate by SPORES. Otherwise would be cool.
Warforged- Another chance for updated racial stats, but will probably be in the Eberron players guide.

Another thing
They could have slipped the Wilden into the MM2 and have more people playtest it...


Did I get everything? Do you dissagre with my opinion? Post a comment!

AoA Hiatus and Another Setting

I have been having trouble writing for my Ages of Avion posts lately, and I decided that I will take a break from it until I can focus on it more. Part way through writing the "halfbreeds of Avion" post I realized that not only did I not want to make stat blocks for all of those new races, but the fluff I was writing about them was just random junk that I pulled off the top of my head and I felt it was even worse than my usual ramblings. So I am putting that aside for now, and focusing on other types of posts.

In the poll I put up, it seems most people want recurring villains, which I have a post started for, so I may work on getting that done soon. Next most desired was alternate power sourced classes (which I am looking forward to working on), followed by more optimized characters, and lastly 'something else'. I am gonna leave the poll there, in hopes that more people decide to voice their opinion.

Now, the new setting idea...

Vampires are seen as god-leaders, with their super human strength, abilities, near invulnerability, and especially their long lives. Some vampires are just rulers and wish for thier people to prosper, some simply don't care what the mortals do... But others see the humans as toys to play with, or worse... FOOD.

The vampires are weak to sunlight, causing them terrible damage, so they need deadly monsters and vicious animals under their control to protect them during the day. Many vamp hunters have found an early grave by finding out too late about a vamp's monster breeding hobby. A smart vampire will be protected by a loyal werewolf army, where as a foolish vampire will rely on his own strength.

Because they are seen as gods, the vampires can get their people to willingly let them drink their blood, or they simply slaughter someone and bathe in their blood. Some see it as an honor to have their blood drank, to feed their god, and some live in fear of the day they get picked to be bled to death. All people survive feeding a vampire who doesn't kill them for fun, and they do not turn into vampires, unless they drink the vampire's blood. The vampires, however are careful to keep that a secret.

Among the humans (and other races, if you decide to use this) there is a secret society of vampire hunters, who hunt down vampires who abuse their powers. They fight their way through castles full of monsters to the vampire's lair to slay it. It's not an easy job, but if they don't, countless will suffer.

Since the vampires are seen as gods, any characters who receive power from divine sources must search elsewhere. Some receive their powers from forgotten gods from before the time of the vampires, some from the spirits of the world itself, some from the stars and beings among them, and some from beings even worse than the vampires.


This is not going to become the new setting I am working on (at least not until I am done with AoA) but I would like your opinion of it! please post any thoughts you have on it or the ramblings above.

AFK?

Ack! I've been missing posts!

>.>
<.< Not like anyone noticed... On and off I have been working on the next Ages of Avion post (Races of Avion 4: Halfbreeds of Avion), but it is going slowly and I am having trouble finding time. Which is sad because I spend a great deal of time at home, in front of the computer. What have I been doing instead of writing the post you long for, you ask?
Spelunky
Twitter
Character Builder

I should have the next AoA post up on time and maybe I'll work in some other posts, I really should not be planning my next weekly post series until I can post ONE steadily...

Now go play Spelunky, and you will understand why I am not writing.

OMG! WOTC MADE A BUSINESS DECISION!

Edit:This was posted earlier today, but for whatever reason, the RPGBN didn't pick it up, so I'm reposting it so its visible for people to read.

Seriously?

WotC decides to do something and every last RPG blogger has to write about it? (slight exaggeration)

I admit that their move is somewhat questionable and could cost them in the end, but is it really necessary to have 8 posts on it? And I understand that there are RPG news blogs in our ranks, but it kinda just seems a little silly for there to be that many posts on the same info.

my apologies for dragging you into this, but Ubiquitous Orcs made a reference to the multiple postings:

"For those of you who just dropped in from RPGBN or other quality places, there's no doubt you've already read the news about WoTC's move to pull all WoTC-related PDFs from the various download sites such as Drive-Thru RPG and Paizo..."

If he has no doubt that everyone who came from the RPGBN has heard of it, it may be a sign that too many people are talking about it.

Maybe I'm just tired, maybe I'm subconsciously trying to get more hits, but for whatever reason, this is bugging me.

As I was writing this, two more on the same topic were posted...

The terrible truth

There is something I have to say...


I'm more of a player than a DM.


I've spent way more time reading the PHB than the DMG, my favorite part of the monster manual is the monstrous races in the back, and I look forward to the PHB2 than I ever will for the DMG2.

Its true, and not only that, but when I try to DM it never goes as well as I'd like.

So, once my group is through with Keep on the Shadowfell, one of my players, Kami (currently Aiur), will take over with a campaign of his own.

I will still write my adventure journals, though possibly from the perspective of my character (or at least we'll see how well that turns out), and I'll post some of my ideas that I came up with for continuing from the end of the KotS.


Edit: in case you are wondering, I write this because in my second post, the first D&D session, I write about how proud I was of being a DM. Its fun, but I'm just saying that I'd much rather be a player.

ZOMG! Kobolds!

Kobolds, maybe I just like to root for the little guys, but I like them.

Kobolds are fun! Little, dragon obsessed, scaly people who just try to make a living when some adventurers go and lay waste to their entire family.

I was hoping that there would be better race information for them in the draconomicon, maybe a few feats for them, like fire breath or some wings, but no luck. maybe someday, kobolds. Maybe someday, you will shine like I know you can.

For you, kobolds, I have labeled all posts that include a good bit of info about kobolds, and in a few weeks I will have rules for Ages of Avion kobolds. And don't expect the monster manual kobolds either.

Actually, I'll even give you a taste: Kobolds do not breed outside of their own scale color (and especially not other races), and the rarest color (on the surface) is the purple kobold, who is able to see in the dark and uses picks as weapons. I may even use one for a story, using the "drow that is afraid of the dark" idea to use on this character.

Updates for the next few weeks:
Ages of Ages of Avion
Races of Avion series (6 in all, subject to change)

4e size rules Grumbles & Races for my Fantasy Setting

I like 4th edition D&D.

It's not perfect, but I enjoy playing.

One of the imperfections is that in its simplification, it has removed a lot most of the rules and info for sizes. I'm sure that this does not bug many people, but it bugs me. Why? Because I'm weird. Most playable classes are of the Medium size category, with a few exceptions that are small sized (four out of the twenty five playable races), and the only difference between medium and small races is a small box labeled as "being small."

BEING SMALL
Small characters follow most of the same rules as Medium
ones, with the following exceptions.
✦ You can’t use two-handed weapons.
✦ When you use a versatile weapon you must use it two-handed,
but you don’t deal additional damage for doing so.

The only other mentioning of size rules was in the monster manual where it explain how many squares creatures of different size fill. This is a pretty large difference from the 3.5 rules for size, where it was in the race description that they have a bonus to AC, attack rolls, and hide checks, but got smaller weapons and could only carry 3/4 of what a medium sized character could. Also in the 3.5 PHB, is a table explaining the sizes (not just in squares) and has a handy diagram showing the sizes in relation to each other. The main reason I have a problem with the size rules in 4e is that I want to create races that are not medium or small in size, although the over simplification of the small size rules bugs me as well. I mean, they don't even have size rules for monsters!

But anyway, I wanted to post the races in my fantasy setting, according to the ages they first show up in (I'll explain those later), odds are that nobody will want to ever play the first few ages, but you never know. The three central planes: Avion (the main setting), Avito, and Avire. All of these are "material planes."

First age: age of kingdoms- Humans fighting amongst themselves, ends when one king takes over all of the known lands and continues to expand until he runs into elf and dwarf lands.
Humans-
as PHB, from Avion

Second age: War between Elves, Humans and Dwarves, ends when they finally make a truce.
Elves-
as player's handbook(PHB), from Avion
Dwarves-
as PHB, from Avion


Third age: First age of exploration- meeting of the little folk, races and cultures mix, ends when the three inter planes collide.
Halflings-
as PHB, from Avion
Gnomes-
6" tall "lawn gnome" type of gnomes, tiny but fierce warriors, almost feral but speak common and gnomish, from Avion. Still working on the tiny size rules for these.
Ellobin-
6" tall Snails, more intelligent than most medium sized people, tendency towards arcane magics. Still working on the tiny size rules for these, somehow found on all the main planes.
Portal Cats-
Looks like an ordinary house cat, but is intelligent and can create small portals that it can leap through to somewhere within 30 ft. Portals are only about 1ft in size, but some say that when large numbers of portal cats gather, they can make larger portals that can go further, and even go to other planes, which explains how they are on all of the planes. Just came up with them before writing this post. Still working on the tiny size rules for these.
Half Breeds-
half-elf- Half elf and half human, as PHB
Half-Dwarf- Half dwarf and half human. Looks like a short, stocky human. Rules to come.
"Dwelf" (tentative title)- Half elf and half dwarf, looks unnervingly human, and yet quite attractive to elves, dwarves, and humans alike.

Fourth age- After the planar collision, people (and large chunks of land) from all of the planes are sent to the other planes. Some believe it to be an invasion, others that it is the end of the world. War begins between the grouped races of each plane, a war that is fueled by confusion and fear, the age ends as the war ends and portals between the worlds are opened.
Orcs-
As Monster manual(MM), from Avire.
Hobgoblins-
As MM, are decedents of goblin/orc pairings, ancestors were slaves, from Avire.
Goblins-
As MM, From Avire.
Imps-
Tiny, bat-winged humanoids with red Fur, thought to be demons when they were first seen by people from Avion. from Avire.
Beastfolk-
A collection of many different animal-like Humanoid races. Each Animal-type has several sub races. (dragonborn count as dragon [or maybe lizard] type Beastfolk.) From Avito.
Kobolds-
As MM, The ruling class of Avito, built many powerful kingdoms.
Pixies-
Small winged humanoids with tribal tendencies, usually ignores intelligent creatures unless they steal their prey, attack them, or they are in need of food enough. Still working on the tiny size rules for these.

Fifth age- The new peace allows people to explore their planes as well as new planes that they discover- the elemental planes
More half-breeds

Sixth age- *Top Secret*


Playable stats on the new races and more details on old favorites later on, as well as more of an explanation of the planes.

Blog Status

Wow, its hard to believe that this blog is already in it's 3rd month...

Even harder to believe that I feel like the quality is slipping, considering it was not that great to begin with.

I am two sessions behind on posting the tales from the D&D game that I am running, and got far too lazy with the "Shifty Shifter" and the "PHB2 Speculation" posts. Over the next few days I will catch up on the sessions, and rework those posts I just mentioned. I know I don't have many readers (if any), but I would like to keep things up to a certain level of quality.

If anyone reads this, post a comment and let me know what you think. I'd hate to think that even my friends don't read this. : (

Edit:
Alright! I got both of the posts reworked (though I may add more to the Shifty shifter post) and posted one of the sessions. Almost there!