Humble Bundle - MegaDungeon Bundle from Goodman Games

While it says, MegaDungeon Bundle for 5e & DCC RPG on the tin, some other gems (and refuse) are thrown into the mix.

There are some 3x-era gems (Castle WhiteRock!) and some 4e clunkers. Oh, and some Castles and Crusades releases. Oh, and Dark Tower!

The DCC RPG stuff is top-notch. I own much of it, so speaking from experience.

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Bundle of Holding - Goodman D&D 4e (I Kid You Not)

Bundle of Holding has offered out-of-print RPG material for years, but this is the first time I can remember a bundle for D&D 4e being offered.

For those that don't know, Goodman Games was one of the few companies that signed up for the D&D 4e Game System License (GSL) and were able to offer official support for D&D 4e.

I was unaware that there is a D&D 4e retro-clone out there in the internet wild. Color me very surprised ;) https://sanglorian.github.io/orcus/

For those D&D 4e holdouts out there...

Adventurer! This all-new Goodman Games 4E Bundle presents tabletop roleplaying supplements and adventures published by Goodman Games in 2008-2010 for the Fourth Edition (2007-2013) of Dungeons & Dragons from Wizards of the Coast. Goodman's modules, character sourcebooks, and bestiaries showcase the appeal of a system that still attracts enthusiasts on Reddit, Discord, and on virtual tabletops.

The sourcebooks and modules in this rich Goodman Games bundle require the 2007 Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition rulebooks from Wizards of the Coast, which are not included in this offer. Orrrr you could use Sanglorian's free Orcus 4E-compatible retroclone rulebooks, and consult the Offline Compendium for reference. The titles in this offer won't work well with other editions of the D&D rules.

For just US$17.95 you get all eight titles in our Player Collection (retail value $85) as DRM-free ebooks, including Azagar's Book of Rituals; two Forgotten Heroes guides – Scythe & Shroud and Fang, Fist, and Song; four Hero's Handbooks – Dragonborn, Eladrin, Tiefling, and Immortal Heroes; and the 4E Character Codex.

From Here to There adventure collection from Goodman Games for D and D Fourth EditionAnd if you pay more than the threshold price of $28.36, you'll level up and also get our entire DM Collection with seven more titles worth an additional $68, including Blackdirge's Dungeon Denizens for 4E; three 4E module collections – In Search of Adventure, From Here to There, and Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer; the two Master Dungeons adventures – M1 Dragora's Dungeon and M2 Curse of the Kingspire; and the 4E DM Campaign Record.

Goodman Games has kindly provided purchasers of this offer a 20% discount code good through April 10, 2023 on most products bought from the Goodman Games online store. Your discount code will appear on your Wizard's Cabinet download page here on the Bundle site.

 

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Free D&D Adventure - Murder in Baldur's Gate (3.5 / 4e / Next)

Can't pick a winner in the edition wars? Grab Murder in Baldur's Gate for 3 flavors of D&D - "Dead but lives forever", "Dying before it was even released" and finally - "Longest gestation period ever.".

From the WotC blurb:

The Murder in Baldur's Gate Launch Event took place August 17-18, designed to kick off the 2013 August – November season of the D&D Encounters official play program:

Duke Adrian Abdel is a living legend in the city of Baldur’s Gate, and much of the city has gathered to celebrate him and his accomplishments. On this day of festivities, though, the duke’s past will finally catch up with him—with dire consequences. Murder has returned to Baldur's Gate, and brave heroes are the city’s only hope to stop the violence.

This scenario, like the complete Murder in Baldur’s Gate adventure, is playable with three versions of D&D: 3rd Edition (v.3.5), 4th Edition, and the D&D Next playtest rules. At the end of the session, players face a choice, and their decision will impact what experience they have in the upcoming D&D Encounters season, in which the full adventure plays out.

One Name, Two Games

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but it's come up more then once with my fellow players in our Saturday Night game sessions. Why doesn't WotC keep D&D 4e, rebrand it D&D Tactics or some such, and then put out D&D Renaissance - or whatever they want to call D&D Next when it releases.

D&D 4e is still a young game. Heck, the Essentials reboot is even more recent. While it's not the game for me, it is most certainly the game for many, and it has a very loyal following. Many of them feel they are being betrayed but WotC's decision to kill off their game so soon after it's birth. There are also enough major differences between 4e and prior editions of D&D that making one game that covers all is sure disappoint most.

Build into D&D Next a way to integrate some of it's modules into D&D Tactics, and I think you'll cover most of the bases in a way that should satisfy most of the players.

More importantly, your 4e players won't need to feel the same betrayal the 3e and prior players suffered when their rules of choice were canceled permaturely.

What Makes an RPG an RPG?

Wikipedia defines Table Top Role-playing the following way:

Tabletop or pen-and-paper (PnP) RPGs are conducted through discussion in a small social gathering. The GM describes the game world and its inhabitants. The other players describe the intended actions of their characters, and the GM describes the outcomes.^[14] Some outcomes are determined by the game system, and some are chosen by the GM.^[15]

This is the format in which role-playing games were first popularized. The first commercially available RPG, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), was inspired by fantasy literature and the wargaming hobby and was published in 1974.^[16] The popularity of D&D led to the birth of the tabletop role-playing game industry, which publishes games with a wide variety of themes, rules, and styles of play.^[17]

This format is often referred to simply as a role-playing game. To distinguish this form of RPG from other formats, the retronyms tabletop role-playing game or pen and paper role-playing game are sometimes used, though neither a table nor pen and paper are strictly necessary.[4

 Personally, I think that definition is kinda vague, but maybe we do need a vague definition.  4e players (alright, some of the more vocal proponents) often the see Old School RPGs, where the GM is empowered and not every situation has a rule as some sort of glorified group story telling event.  Old School players (I'll include myself so you know where to aim the slings and arrows) see 4e as a glorified board game / individual sized unit wargame hybrid.  I'm surprised it lacks rules to define when, where and what dice to roll when you PC has to defecate (that's a joke son.  as in taking the situation and making an extreme example. no 4e players were truly harmed making this comment).

So, lets take a step away from D&D and it's various incarnations for a moment, and take a some classic RPGs.

Rolemaster - rule heavy as all shit, yet enough gaping holes in it that a GM had to be ready to improvise.  Charts galore and very lethal.  Even high level character's could die with one lucky blow (or scratch from a cat)

RuneQuest - very lethal combat.  Where you might get into combat in Rolemaster to play with the crit charts, a wise party avoided combat whenever possible.  Skill based, you generally sucked and most stuff until you got further along.

Paranoia - specifically first edition - death was inevitable, even fun.  Keeping th pace moving was the key.  The rules had more holes then swiss cheese.

Call of Cthulhu - lethal combat.  Letha game.  Your C might do something heroic, but they weren't heroes.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - great atmosphere, amazing setting, engaging PC history built into the career system.  Fairly crappy game system, but so much fun we didnt care.

Traveller - lethal combat.  Your starting skills were your skills for life.  No expo ladder to climb.  Best sci-fi RPG I ever played, bar none.

Tunnels & Trolls - an early fantasy RPG without the funny dice.  Horrid layout in the rulebook, excellent simple system for role playing.  Less rules then even OD&D from covering situations. 

None of these required a grid / battle map.  Scratch out a quick diagram of the situation and go with it.  There was generally less emphasis on the PC's skills and more emphasis on Player skill then in later editions of D&D.  (by player skill, i mean "making decisions as a player to increase the chance of your PC surviving", not "look at the tower of dice I can build before it all falls down!" although that was fun too)

So, we went from no grid, to an optional grid (3e), to a necessary grid (3.5e and 4e) possibly back to an optional grid (5e).  How many other games require a grid these days?

I played in a Warhammer 40k Dark Heresy campaign for a bit - no grid.  I don't think any of the FATE system based RPGs require a grid.  Mongoose RQ2 / Legend?  Doubt it, could be wrong.  Pathfinder?  It's like 3.75 D&D, so i think the grid is etched into the system.  Heck, most of the recent indi RPGs dont require grids.

Come to think of it, D&D from 3e on is probably the most heavy game in regards to rules, skills powers and the like (well, excluding the universal games:  GURPS, HERO, Rifts (so good, so broken) and such.  Heck, even Savage Worlds can break the rules down to a fairly slim, undersized paperback.

So, when did D&D decide that more was better?  At what point do the rules hinder role play?  Heck, do lack of enough defining rules put too much emphasis on role play?  Can you put too much emphasis on role play?  Is immersion in the game easier with few rules, or do more rules help you define what you want to immerse yourself in?

We have had rules heavy RPGs since the beginning of the hobby.  Heavy rules and light rules fill their own niches.  Where is 5e going to fall in this mess?  Is it going to fill more then one niche?  Can any game cover both ends of the spectrum?

Everyone has an ideal system / style / comfort zone in the role playing hobby.  You have to match the player to a system, and then match other players who also match the system.  It aint easy.

5e claims it will fill multiple niches.  Multiple desires.  It will be what you want it to be.  A doppelganger if you will.  Or a Frankensystem, with a 3e base and other generations of D&D grafted to it. 

Rules light or heavy, no grid or grid with blast templates, rolled HP or standard advancement - they are different ways to play role playing games.  Rules light emphasizes the role play aspect, rules heavy emphasized the game aspect.  Maybe 5e will split the baby down the middle.

Thus the great divide.

Are Your PCs Disposable Heroes?

I'm an OSR type of guy, and I had a conversation with a 4E playing friend on Google+ earlier today.  When i told him (in reference to a statement from "Greg" who was asking the 5e designers questions about 5e) that I couldn't comprehend planning a character 20 levels in advance, he told me that is because in 3e and 4e, player characters are no longer "disposable" like in the earlier editions of D&D.

Were your PCs all that disposable in earlier editions?  Mine weren't.  I was attached to them, and even have a collection of my original "Goldenrod" character sheets.  My first character (AD&D) died before he hit level 6 (poor Cyrus the Fighter), but Striker the Paladin hit 17 (complete with a Monte Hall collection of goodies) with just one death in his early teens - thank the gods for Resurrection spells, as all they recovered were a few of his bones after the battle.

The thing is, in my classic time of playing, especially in my college years, few campaigns made it to name level, let alone beyond.  It wasn't from lack of time to play, it was due in large part to the awesome number of choices to play.  TSR releasing settings faster then 2e splatbooks meant lots of starts, stops, reboots and the such.

Still, death was always there for the PCs.  Each campaign suffered PC death, but by the time the players hit 6th or 7th level they were usually well enough equipped that death was rare, and usually climatic if it happened (and party resources often meant a Raise Dead or such would right the wrong assuming there was no TPK).  Reaching name level was a huge accomplishment, both for time invested and in player skill.  

No player in any game I played in, even in the Monte Hall games of my youth, ever reached level 20, let alone thought about their power and abilities at that point in your character's career.  Which, I guess is where we have our failure to see.

In the OSR, you start at first level and struggle to gain expo, gold, fame, levels, magic, etc and each level is a highpoint.

In the later editions, you know what you plan to be when you reach level 20, and spend your character's career walking the predestined path to get there.  In some ways, you're starting at level 20 and looking back the whole time, or at least that's how I see it.

In the OSR, your character is always looking forward.

Strange that the new looks back, and the old looks forward.

The Myth of THAC0 - And the Compounding of Hit Points

There were a lot of really great comments on my first two Myth of THAC0 posts. A few touched on the issue of buckets of Hit Points.

As bad as it was in AD&D 1e & 2e, especially with Rangers that had a CON bonus, it's gotten worse with later editions.

Up until 2e, HD capped at name level (generally between 9th and 11th levels). 3e kept the dice rolling with each level gained, there was no limit, and a high CON's bonus to Hit Points just increased the never ending pool.

Pathfinder adds even more HP, increasing the HD size of all classes but the fighter and cleric one size up, so a rogue with d6 in 3e now has a d8. Max HP are given at first level also.

D&D 4e starts players with 15 + CON, so figure an average of 25 HP at first level.

Higher HP will lead to longer combats unless offset by increasing THAC0 or lowering the effects of armor. All three are intricately connected. The last thing a game at my table needs is longer combats.

Still, excessive HP can still be a problem even in OSR style games. How do we keep the game in it's sweet spot - the lower and mid levels?

I'll be taking a look over the next few days at E6, the OGL game that tops out at 6th level, with the idea of seeing if the concepts can be applied to OSR gaming.

Dungeons & Dragons - A Series of Half Editions

D&D is Dead!  Long Live D&D!

Had to get that outa the way.  Anyhow, ever since AD&D the game has grown progressed evolved changed in "Half Steps", although it was rarely honest in it's labeling of such.

AD&D had its Point Five moment with the release of Unearthed Arcana.  You either played with UA or you didn't (I never saw a group that had a middle ground back then), but the power level with UA changed the game play.  It was a Half Step Edition.

AD&D 2e had Skills & Powers as it's Point Five moment, although it could certainly be argued that the Complete Series of Handbooks to Remove the Player From His Cash were the Point Five Moment and that Skills & Powers were nothing more then a chance to experiment with concepts that were to come in 3e.

Dungeons & Dragons 3e (because calling it Advanced was so limiting) had it's Point Five moment with the release of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e, which was the first (and only time) that the publisher of the Dungeons & Dragons game was honest with an upgrade to the RPG in the middle of the life of the edition.  Then again, they didn't have much of a choice, as 3.5e had many compatibility issues with 3e.  God, I just love multiple editions, don't you?

Dungeons & Dragons 4e, under the glorious days of the GSL (which also was revised to go from Ominous to Slightly Less So) recently had it's Point Five moment with the release of the Essentials Line.  WotC refuses to call it a Point Five moment, but as the class abilities in Essentials are different than the ones in the 4e Player's Handbook, I'd call it a Point Five moment.  Oh, and a money grab, as it was a way to repackage and slightly revise material that was already published in an attempt to soak the loyal player base.  It's dangerous to be a loyal follower of the D&D Brand.  One needs deep pockets or a serious line of credit.  Thank God for the OSR.

Now, the game NOT to be Called Dungeons & Dragons 5e, for although it is the 5th glorious edition of ADVANCED Dungeons & Dragons (otherwise it would be 8e or 9e depending on who is counting) apparently want to shed it's edition counting, much like Microsoft shed it's numbering by year, and went to edition number.

I suggest we refer to the new Dungeons & Dragons game as D&D 2012.  Even though it will probably release in 2013, because that's how Microsoft usually did it, by lagging a year.  We can use the Mayan calendar and safely announce that it doesn't refer to the end of the world, but the end of Dungeons & Dragons as a table top MMO impersonator.

Nope, D&D 2012 is going to be full contact medieval reenactment combat.  Screw dice, it will require real player skill.  And if the DM isn't careful, he might just get himself killed.

On second thought, it's probably going to be more like Magic the Gathering.  You get a random assortment of pages from the Player's Skills & Powers Deck, and if you want more options, you need to buy boosters.

I really want Wizards to succeed, but they can't be The One Ring to Rule Them All (besides the fact that the Tolkien Estate probably has that trademarked already).  They won't be bringing back many that turned their noses at 4e and essentially stayed with 3Xe by going Pathfinder, unless they out do Pathfinder.  That's a tall order, and to do so they'll be working against the 4e they built up (and now have to bad mouth to start the tear down) and Pathfinder (which they essentially also built).  It's like a bunch of fucked up clones, same yet different, fighting each other to the death.

As for the OSR corner, some may dabble in the new edition, but few will fully give themselves to The Dark Side.  I'll probably dabble, as I'll be curious.  I might even, if it's really good, keep 5e as my "Bim on the Side".  But she better be damn good ;)

WotC Big Non-Event - D&D 5E is Coming (Surpised? Not!)

It's a huge announcement, right?  Lets see where Wizards of the Coast have it linked on their website:  Homepage?  Nope.  But look, Magic the Gathering comics are coming!  yay!  That's the headline announcement, from 9/1/11.  Four months ago.  MtG comics come before a new Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, the game that launched the RPG industry.  I'd go with comics too!  Wait, if I check the Twitter feed on the page there is something about a big announcement - good going guys, your webmaster sucks!

How about the D&D Brand Homepage (and how depressing is it that D&D is a "brand")?  Well, if you wait long enough, the main graphic will rotate in a link so you can "Sign Up Today and Be a Part of Gaming History".  Clicking that put's you on a page for the WotC mailing list for the 5e play test info.  But wait, on the left side there is a small caption about Charting the Course of D&D!  Whee!  We found our link!

These are the fucktards that are going to make D&D viable in the eyes of Hasbro?  They can't even post the announcement on their site the right way.

Wait a second?  Didn't we just get D&D Essentials, the "essential" way to play 4e.  Oh, and when I say we, I don't mean me, as I don't play 4e, I mean "we" as in "you".

Not that this announcement is all that surprising.  Ever since Monte returned ("All Hail Monte, Lord of 3e and in turn, the trickle down known as The OSR") to WotC we (now I mean "me", but probably "you" too) knew that 5e was coming sooner then later.

So, 4e has run it's course.  Stick a fork it it and the abysmal GSL.  Game over Johnny.  Now, obviously they talk their parents at Hasbro that 2012 was going to be a wash for the D&D Brand, and they were saving all their pennies for the launch of 5e and the return of Wizards to a viable component of Hasbro.  Either that or we get the D&D RPG shelved for a few years, it whatever iteration it ends at.

What is 5e supposed to accomplish (besides making money for WotC / Hasbro in a shrinking market)?  Apparently they want to bring all the disillusioned D&D / Pathfinder / OSR / OGL gamers back into the fold.  Because then they might actually have a market sizable enough to keep the brand afloat.  Good luck with that one lads.  You fucked with a lot of gamers' (and publishers') goodwill when you released a Dungeons & Dragons game barely recognizable to it's long term fans, with a screwed up licensing scheme on top of that.   You think many will trust you this time?

Maybe that's part of the reason for bringing back Monte Cook.  He makes the newest, latest edition possibly redeemable.  He's also a face and a name that the 3e generation know and respect.  Monte's got impossible job if it's to integrate players from 0e to 4e, and all the "E's" between.

Me?  I hope they can accomplish 10% of what they hope for, as that will still be 100% more then 4e added to my gaming enjoyment.  Maybe I'll be surprised.  I'm certain this is far from the last I'll be posting on this.

How do you feel about 5e's announcement?

And Now For Something Completely Different

I was watching the commercial for the new D&D Red Box (not watching it on TV, as I haven't seen it on TV anywhere) and while browsing a thread on EnWorld I found the extended (original 4 minute long) video that was later edited down for the commercial.

Fun stuff, if you are into poorly animated Fiend Folio creatures and Heavy Metal... apparently, I am into it ;)

Confessions of a Completist

I'm a bit of a completist.  I think many gamers are.  Some of us want more stuff for the sake of having more stuff.  Case in point, I ordered (and received) the D&D 4e Rules Compendium and Heroes of the Fallen Lands.  I yet to play a game of 4e, and beyond possibly playing thru the solo in the Starter Set, I probably never will... but the prices were right on Amazon.  I must say, I do like the size of the books.  Nice and thick, but smaller then regular gaming books at about 6 x 9, so reading in bed wouldn't be bad (of course, they would be even better in PDF, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish).

To balance out the 4e-ness of my recent purchaes, I found and bought (Buy it Now) a Holmes and a Metzner Basic Rule Books.  I already had a Metzner, but I figured an extra copy wouldn't be bad to have.  Now I think I'll search for some Tunnels and Trolls goodness and call it a nite ;)

(edit:  Between Ebay and the Flying Buffalo website I have a crapload of T&T solos on their way.  I feel better now, having balanced the 4e karma with some T&T Old School karma ;)

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Picking Nits in the 4e Essentials Starter Box

First, it is what it is. It's not a basic set like old, but a starter set with limited options and theoretically a shorter learning curve. I'll try that learning curve out on my girlfriend at a later point.

Let's see...

Tokens. Not bad, surprisingly enough. Fairly thick, decent art... They will be reusable by the owner as / if they continue gaming.

Cards. Used to describe powers, magic items and such, the paper they are printed on is not going to withstand any amount of actual gaming. Reusability is next to nothing. Still, they are thicker then the covers of the rules booklets.

Dice. Full set of gaming dice, but they could have used an extra d10 for percentiles. They have come a long way since the "rounding with play" set from my First Edition of Gamma World. Nothing special but they are keepers. Black is a dull color for dice in my opinion.

Character sheets. Nothing special. Better then not being included.

Battlemaps. I hate them in general principle. A reusable battle MAT is my preference. I haven't even bothered to u fold it.

Coupon. Free downloadable adventure. I guess I should check it out at some point, not that I'll ever use more then the included solo tutorial, and even that is a big maybe.

Player's and DM's booklets. The covers suck, at they are paper thin and the same quality as the rest of the booklets' pages. I know the starter set isn't meant to get much reuse, but it might have been a nice gesture to quality to give them a little sturdiness.

Might try to give the solo a crack later tonight. I'd run a Tunnels & Trolls solo instead, but I don't have enough D6 in the Poconos.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Dead Tree 4e Dungeon Crawl Classics

Tanga.com had a deal last week on a collection of Dungeon Crawl Classics for D&D 4e.  I don't play 4e... I have the core books but I would need to find a way to de-miniaturize the rules (this coming from a major user of VTTs and virtual miniatures)

Still, for less then $40 bucks I received DCCs 53 - 63 (I'm working on the assumption that the $2 DCC is number 59).  11 books.  Not bad for over $150 worth of gaming material of any kind.

I prefer PDFs for most of my gaming these days, but this was a price that could not be beat.  Time for me to steal ideas for Labyrinth Lord ;) 

RPG Books on the DX: How well does it handle PDFs? Part 3

This is going to be quick and fairly short. I was asked how WotC products look on the kindle DX. As WotC pulled their PDF products from the market place, and as they were priced fairly high compared to other PDF products, I never got to make a purchase.

Recently WotC posted the D&D Quick Start Rules and H1: Keep on the Shadowfell for free on their website. I've grabbed them and here's my impressions.

D&D 4e Quick Start Rules - Coming in at 27 pages and minimal artwork these pages refresh quickly. The formating and the font are very DX friendly, and are easily read without resorting to the horizonatal orientation. This rates a 5 for readabily and ease of use.

H1: Keep on Shadowfell - The formatting and the font are the same as the Quick Start Rules (as best I can tell). Text is clear and very readable. The problem comes with the maps: they appear mostly murky and suffer from the greyscale conversion (as does the cover, but who cares about covers?). Text alone would rate a 5, but with the maps suffering as they do I give it a 4 over all.

More when I can get to them. I think I need to stray from the DX for a post or two ;)