Timewaster's Guide Archive

If you go to the dnd website, there is a 17-hour countdown for "4Dventure".  An anouncement for 4th edition DnD maybe?  Guess we'll find out soon...

This book has a new mechanic of sorts called tricks.  You can have 1/2 your character level in total tricks, and each one costs 2 skill points to learn and can be used once per encounter.  For example, one trick is acrobatic backstab, you need 12 ranks in tumble to get it (which costs 2 more skill points to buy the trick).  Then, once per encounter, you could tumble through someone's space (IIRC, that is a DC 25 tumble check, +2 per extra person threatening you).  If it works, then they are flat-footed against your next melee attack (meaningyou could sneak attack them).

There are also these new kind of feats with a [Luck] descriptor.  They each grant an extra 'luck reroll' per day, one of them actually gives you 2 extra luck rerolls, and something you can use your 'luck rerolls' on.  So one feat might let you spend a luck reroll to reroll certain kinds of skill checks, or reroll a saving throw, and then you spend your luck uses on those abilities however you like.  There is one that lets you turn a natural 1 on a saving throw (auto-fail) into a natural 20 (auto-succeed), but you can only use that one once per day, even if you have more luck uses than that.  There's a similar one for an attack roll too.

There are some multiclassing feats that are pretty good, ie lets you multiclass monk and ninja, and you add those class levels together to determine your ninja ki pool and monk unarmed damage.  The prestige classes are okay, I think the most interesting one is Combat Trapsmith, it lets you make and set traps during combat.  Main problem with it is I don't think the traps are powerful enough, even the best ones only do like 5d6 damage (reflex half) or duplicate a 2nd level spell.

There isn't many new magic items, but there are new alchemical items and poisons.  There are also a few 'living items', ie a bottle with a super-brite firefly that you can use as a torch (but you have to keep him fed and such).

There is also a bunch of advice stuff, like how to run a 'scoundrel' game and how to make scoundrel characters, etc.  The making scoundrel advice isn't too bad really.

This book is okay so far, although I haven't even checked out a 1/10th of the spells (over 1000 spells).  One thing I would have liked was a more definitive list for Wu Jen since I am playing one, all it gives for spells to add is "add spells with element (except air), wood, and metal themes."  They also renamed some spells which is kind of annoying at times, like "Aganazzar's scorcher" renamed to "scorch" (all spells with character names were renamed it seems).  There is also some typos and stuff that can be annoying at times.

So I had some questions on a few spells and was looking at the D&D forums to see if there was anything about them.  Um so I think way too many people do not understand the spellcasting rules, especially on lets say stacking spells.  IE you can't cast resist energy 5 times to gain energy resistance against all 5 energy types at the same time (cause you can't benefit from multiple castings of a spell unless the spell says that it can be cast multiple times).  They really should put this rule in the FAQ or something.  Out of like 50 topics where this rule was key, only in 2 of them was it mentioned... I forget rules all the time, and I know them pretty well (there is just too many rules to remember all the time).  But it seems like a more misunderstood rule than even AoO or grappling.

Finally some serious research into the state of affairs our country is in against zombie attacks.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/41676

Since 42 was talking about doing a M&M game, I was checking out their website for ideas of what kind of superheroes to make and noticed they are coming out with a 2nd edition like next month.  So maybe you will want to check that out.

Here are some of the changes I noticed.  Power level and how many creation points you have are not related.  So before a 210 point guy would be power level 14, well now you could have 210 points but only power level 8, or 150 points but power level 14.  Lower power level but more points means you have PCs with wider range of stuff, etc.

No more super attributes, you just buy attributes like before and they can go over 20... usually limited to power level +5 on the abilitly bonus, ie Strength 30 limited to PL 5 or higher games, Strength 50 to PL 15 or higher games, etc.

Skills now cost 4 ranks per point, so having skills should be more common.  Ranks are limited to PL +5, and lots of skills were combined, like Hide and Move Silently are combined into one skill Stealth.

Damage save was renamed Toughness save, Evasion feat renamed Defensive Roll, etc.  And some feats you can buy multiple times to get more 'ranks', like the Minion feat you take multiple times depending on how powerful of minion(s) you want.

Strength is not added to Attack and Dexterity is not added to Defense.

You can no longer take another power as an extra of some other power, they are simply taken seperately.

Plus some other stuff that would probably make more sense if I knew the rules very well.

If you come up with other good or funny questions go ahead and add them.

1. What are your thoughts on the new intelligent zombies, faster moving zombies, and Chinese hopping zombies, compared to the more traditional zombie?

2. Are you drawn more to the supernatural powers of undead, or their immortality?

3. If given a choice, would you prefer to be a lich, or a death knight?
 3a. (Bonus sub question, what is the origin of the lich and its name to the best of your knowledge?)

4. What do you think of the alternate spelling "Vampyre"?

5. Do you find it morally unethical for health care companies to deny coverage on undead Union workers?

6. Have modern stories, in your opinion, destroyed the fear of becoming a vampire?

7. What do you think of undead with seemingly no weaknesses (ie The Grudge, The Ring, etc).
7a. (Sub question, what do you think of the modern evolvement of atheist vampires unaffected by holy symbols?)

8. Half-vampires, hot or not?

I was suprised to find this book in stock, and I usually am unable to find any books until a month or so until they already have come out (and not just RPG books... grrr, still mad I don't have VHD yet).

This is basically a DM only type of book.  I've looked through it all pretty well, but only about 1/2 done reading it cover to cover (got to do this at least twice for every rulebook you buy IMO).  For those who don't know what its about, its about roleplaying during a war.  The basic emphasis is the war becomes the campaign setting (at least for as long as the war lasts), and your "missions" are the adventures.

To help the DM and players give some kind of measurable scale to how much impact the PCs have on the outcome of the war, it has this point system.  Achieving the objectives of your missions grant varioius amount of points, which you can then compare to your preset DCs.  In the same vain, you can also earn these other kind of reputation points which can be spent to increase your rank in the army or get awards, metals, rewards, etc.

There is also command auras, similiar to the Miniatures rules.  They give a small, feat-type morale bonus to some various stat (AC, saves, attack, damage, etc).  All allies within 30 feet who are of a lower command rank then yourself gets this bonus (so you never get the bonus from your own command rank... if all the PCs are the same rank in the army, then they wouldn't benefit from these at all... but if they have followers, animal companions, mounts, or troops that they are in charge of, then this can help buff them up a bit).  It also as a morale system to figure out if a squad of soldiers will fight or flee.

There is only like 4 prestige classes, each 5 levels long.  They are all really good, and most would be useful in a regular campaign and not just the war-oriented campaign that the book focuses on.  There's not very many new feats either, but they are pretty cool.  There is new Leadership feats that give you bonuses to the Leadership feat (stronger cohort, more followers, etc).  There's also some examples of skill use important to war.

There is these strange team bonuses you can get for getting your group of PCs to work together.  Nice, but there isn't very many to choose from.  I think you could apply the same concept to stuff more outside a war campaign, like a team bonus for working together socially or the like... but you'd have to make those up yourself.  Or maybe they'll make a new book for that type of campaign.  Wouldn't be too surprising since there is already several "series" type of book lines.

Well, that's all I got to say about that for now, unless someone has a more specific question.

Okay, just looking over at the d&d website and noticed "Heroes of Horror" coming out in October.  So I guess this is a new series.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/885227200

Does your laptop have a soundcard, 42?  You should download the victory fanfare midi and play it next time just to freak us out.  I got all the mid files on my computer, or you could probably download them from here too

http://www.planetnintendo.com/ff1/index.shtml

Okay for anyone wondering, like at least half the time we finish an encounter during DnD someone will start singing victory fanfare, which is the song you here after winning a fight in like every final fantasy game.