Ravenous Role Playing

Sorry for the brief artifact this week. I’m at a conference for work this week, and have very little spare time for a proper post. Please forgive me. I know I could have written this in the past and scheduled it for release on the proper date, but my preparations for the conference ate all my time before leaving. I’ll try to make it up to you with better artifacts in the future.

This reddish-yellow nail clipping is rumored to be taken from Baphomet by a lucky strike with a vorpal weapon. The nail clipping can be placed in the middle of a trap or pit and animals will always fall prey to the snare. The more animals caught with the Nail, the more bloodthirsty and meat-hungry the PC will become until they have taken on the aspect of a raging berserker. If the Nail is held for too long, the PC will slowly begin to transmogrify into a minotaur and become a demon-beast under control of a demon lord, perhaps Baphomet.

If the holder of the Nail merely traps and slaughters animals for the sheer enjoyment of doing so, the Nail will abandon the PC. When the Nail leaves the PC it will merely vanish from whatever pocket, pouch, purse or other container the Nail is kept in.

To destroy the Nail, it must be soaked in holy water blessed by a priest of Bahamut, and then struck with a Hammer of Thunderbolts.

Today’s review is the front half (or is it the back half?) of the duo-flip-reversed-book. This side is the Immortal Heroes which is part of Goodman Games’s Hero’s Handbook line of work.

Free RPG Day 2009 - Immortal Heroes Cover

The book held fourteen pages of very well written, well thought out and nicely put together content. It covered nine different end-goals or pathways a character could take to infamy or fame. I loved the ideas put forth in the book (the Archfiend would have been perfect for a recent cleric I played), and my favorite had to be the Radiant Master (which I guess is the total opposite of the Archfiend.) Goodman Games needs to put out more content like this, but before they do so, they need to review the current power levels of the abilities put forth in the PHB and PHB2.

The powers and abilities presented in the book are overpowered and will grossly unbalance a game. I’ve never gotten to the levels necessary to wield these powers in 4e D&D, so when my first impression of, “Wow. That’s powerful” struck me, I turned to my handy library of books and did some research. The powers presented in Immortal Heroes are easily twice as powerful as equivalent powers outlined in the PHB and PHB2. This book very much reminded me of the old 3e D&D AEG books that were wildly popular with my power-gaming friends.

If I were a player, I’d beg to be allowed to use something from this book. Seeing as how I’m the GM most of the time, I’m putting this book out of sight where my players will never discover it.

Grade: B — The ideas were well put together and thought out, but I have issues with 3rd party publishers throwing the game balance out of whack on a whim.

Today’s review is about Hero’s Bane from Claymore Entertainment.

The book opens with a brief overview of the eight ages of the history of the world, Ela’Tain. The information in there was very brief and hardly relevant to learning the system. It was also poorly written. Sure, the grammar and spelling were correct, but the ideas behind the different ages are very sophomoric and had no real unique twist to them. I would have loved to have seen the same background done with something that intrigued me into wondering how the world was unique.

Free RPG Day 2009 - Hero's Bane Cover

Following the brief history lesson came an even shorter description of the races. All of the generic races in most fantasy systems were present along with a few others. The few others were interesting enough to keep me engaged and made me want to keep reading.

Next was brief overview of the classes, and they were all the generic types. Each time a hint of uniqueness filtered into the text, it was stolen from me by the repeated use of the words, “the system will be revealed, when the full game is released.” What I was really looking for, apparently, has not been written yet. I hope they pull off what they are going for in the final print because the taster given to me in the free book is quite bland.

Once world, races and classes were established, the next part of the book explained stats, skills, combat, experience points and a brief bit about magic. The information here was quite confusing because of a basic RPG mechanic that the authors seem to be missing. Everywhere in the book, they claim that 2d10 results in a number between 1 and 100. The de facto “2d10″ in role playing is two ten-sided dice rolled and added together for a range of numbers between 2 and 20. It took several reads of the rule system to figure out that where they stated “2d10″ they really meant “d100″ or “d%”. This is something I hope they rectify in the final book before going to print.

Halfway through the book, the adventure “Trail to Esavar” began. On the right-hand side of the first page of the adventure was a text box that grabbed my attention. There I found the following words:

Hero’s Bane can be a brutal system where any character can die in almost any encounter. Be kind to your players. Instead of killing them in the very first fight with a critical hit, make them lose consciousness and let them be revived. If you kill the characters too fast, the players will not have a good time. Dying in a random encounter can be disheartening and it is up to you, the GM, to make the game enjoyable.

This is where I stopped reading the book.

If they know it’s not fun to die in random encounters because of a single set of unlucky rolls, then they should change the system to not allow this to happen, or make the odds of it happening so very rare that the event will become a story for the players and GM to tell for the rest of their role playing days. A base system that allows for random death is a poor system. Again, I hope this is something that is fixed between the free version and the final version of the game.

Grade: C — I know this may sound like a harsh review, but I’m just being honest with you about what I see in the book. This is Claymore Entertainment’s first effort at creating a role playing game, and I applaud them for their efforts thus far. I just hope they pour many hours of play testing into the game and fix some of the core problems that I saw with the free version of the game. Good luck to Claymore and their team of developers. I hope to see a quality game come out of their efforts.

Here’s a cyberpunk hook for you guys.

Pizza delivery men (and a few women) have turned up shot dead on their runs. This is nothing unusual in a dystopic future, but there are rumors that all of the deliveries were to different houses and the pizzas were all topped with anchovies and mushrooms. There have been sightings of a four-armed man (all four being cybernetic implants) in the areas of the killings, but no one has yet to witness the killings. Each of the houses the deliveries were destined for deny ordering the pizzas. The police seem to care about these crimes for some unknown reason (they normally don’t care much at all) and have hired the PCs to help them investigate the killings.

Sorry for the slackness in the The Free RPG Day reviews lately. Life has caught up to me, and I’ve been incredibly busy lately. I hope to finish off the Free RPG Day reviews in the next two to three weeks.

Today, I’m reviewing the Hollow Earth submission to the Free RPG Day. It is brought to us by Exile Game Studio.

Free RPG Day 2009 - Hollow Earth Cover

The book started with a three page overview of the basic rules. The overview was done quite well, and would allow even a novice role player to dive into the game system and have some fun. The next five pages are dedicated to the adventure, which is very linear and wonderfully put together. I’m normally not a fan of linear plots in adventures, but this is just a sixteen page taster, so it’s acceptable. It’s hard to build a sandbox game in such a short time frame. The main reason I like the adventure is that there is a great mix of skill checks and combat challenges. There are even times when skills are used during the middle of combat. This allows the GM and the players to get a taste of what the system is really like.

The last eight pages are double-sided character sheets that are provided for the adventure in the book. The characters are well done, well balanced and make a good party to travel together.

Grade: A — This book has enticed me enough to put Hollow Earth on my list of items to investigate about running. I love the basic system, and I’d like to see their more advanced rules. If you’re interested in finding Hollow Earth (which I recommend, based on the free book) then you can find it at RPGNow or DriveThruRPG.

Ring of Hammering: Heroic Level Artifact

The Ring of Hammering is a brass ring with Dwarven runes carved into the outer surface and common letters etched into the inner surface. The runes and letters spell out a promise between Dwarven and Human leaders to always cooperate in acts of artistry and building.

Body Slot: Finger

Property: You gain a +4 bonus to all Endurance skill checks when crafting or engineering an item.

Property: You gain the Power Attack feat while wearing the ring. If you already have this feat, this property has no effect.

Property: You gain +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls while using any weapon of the Hammer group.

Power (Daily — Martial, Weapon): Standard action. You can use shift the battlefield (fighter, level 9).

Goals of the Ring of Hammering:

• Craft as many fine weapons and suits of armor as possible.
• Ensure all buildings and other public works are sturdy and well built.
• Foster well-being between Dwarves and Humans.

Concordance:

• Starting Score: 5
• You gain a level: +1d10
• You are a Dwarf or Human: +2
• You craft an item while wearing the ring: +1
• You destroy an item while wearing the ring: -2
• You destroy a building or other public works while wearing the ring: -4

Pleased (16-20)
The Ring pulses with power and glows a soft amber color at all times. The runes in the ring seem to shift and roll around the brass of the Ring.

• Property: When you wield a hammer, you gain a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls.
• Power (Encounter – Martial, Weapon): Standard action. You can use reckless strike (fighter, level 7).
• Special: If you are a Human, you gain a +1 to Charisma while speaking to Dwarves. If you are a Dwarf, you gain a +1 to Charisma while speaking to Humans. If you are neither race, this special provides no bonus.

Satisfied (12-15)
The Ring vibrates softly as if purring like a great cat.

• Property: You gain a +4 bonus to all Diplomacy rolls.

Normal (5-11)
The Ring feels warm to the touch on your finger.

Unsatisfied (1-4)
The Ring feels cold to the touch on your finger, and your finger turns green from the brass.

• Special: The Ring no longer grants attack and damage bonues when you wield a hammer.

Angered (0 or Lower)
The Ring loosens on the your finger and threatens to fall off at every opporunity.

• Special: You suffer a -4 penalty to all Diplomacy rolls.

Moving On
When it is time to move on the Ring falls from the your finger, rolls into some nearby debris, a hole or some brush, and vanishes from found never to be seen again.

Three strange portals opened up in town. Two are blue and seem to link to one another. The third is purple. Where does it lead? The PCs are hired to find out where it goes and return with information. Oh. By the way, people that go through the blue portals seem to come through with less wits about them for a few minutes before returning to normal.

This is a day late, but not a dollar short. This is a D&D 4th Edition artifact complete with stats and powers. This is the first time I’ve done this in the D&D 4th Edition system, so bear with me if it’s a little wonky. I’ve only made full-blown artifacts in 2nd and 3rd edition of (A)D&D.

Spear of the Elven Forests: Epic Level Artifact

The Spear of the Elven Forests is a +5 Phasing Spear. Yes, I know spears are not ranged weapons. See below for why it can be thrown.

Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls.

Critical: +5d6 damage.

Property: Can be thrown like a javelin or used in melee combat. It returns to your hand after being thrown.

Property: You can speak and understand the Elven language and read Elven runes.

Property: Your ranged attacks with the weapon ignore the penalty to attack rolls for cover or superior cover.

Power (Daily — Martial, Weapon): Standard action. You can use blade cascade (ranger15).

Power (Daily): For every die you roll for damage, the target bleeds that many points of damage as ongoing damage. Save ends the bleeding effect.

Goals of the Spear of the Elven Forests:

• Protect Elven forest lands from deprivation and deforestation.
• Slay as many Orcs as possible.
• Uphold the honor of the Elven people.

Concordance:

• Starting Score: 5
• Owner gains a level: +1d10
• Owner is an Elf: +2
• Owner completes a quest on behalf of the Elven people: +1
• Owner kills an Orc tribal leader or mystic (max 1/day): +1
• Owner or ally attacks an Elf (max 1/encounter): -2
• Owner disobeys a direct order of Elven rulers: -2

Pleased (16-20)

The Spear continues to talk as if Satisfied, but compares the owner with Elven heroes of lore. The Spear tells many stories about the Elven heroes.

Critical: +6d6 damage

Property:+3d10 damage vs. Orcs

Power (Encounter — Martial, Weapon): Standard Action. You can use knockdown strike (ranger, 13)

Special: The owner may speak with animals at will.

Satisfied (12-15)

The Spear is giddy with the owner and will rarely shut up about how wonderful the owner is.

Power (Daily): Minor Action. You can heal yourself or an ally within throwing range of the Spear as if spending a healing surge without the expenditure of a healing surge.

Normal (5-11)

The Spear is talkative and friendly to the owner in an attempt to show it is on the side of the owner.

Unsatisfied (1-4)

The Spear grumbles with the owner and constantly berates it in Elven until the owner gets its act together.

Special: The Spear loses the Phasing ability.

Angered (0 or Lower)

The Spear is ominously quiet with the owner and radiates a severe sense of displeasure.

Special: The owner suffers a -4 to all nature rolls. All attack and damage rolls are at a -5.

Moving On

When it is time to move on the Spear simply flies from the hands of the owner, and into the skies to be recovered by someone else in greater need of the artifact.

This article in The Telegraph really made me laugh because it reminded me so much of the happiness dictates The Computer hands down in Paranoia’s Alpha Complex. If you’ve ever played Paranoia before, you need to read the article for a good laugh. If you’ve never played Paranoia. I suggest you visit DriveThruRPG.com right away and search for “paranoia” to find the latest and greatest material to lead you away from your Commie lifestyle.

A man turns up dead with his throat cut. Among his belongings is an extraordinary amount of money (large gold pouch, credit stick with high dollar value, wad of cash bills, etc.) and a slip of paper with the names of the PCs on them. If the group has lost a group member recently, that name is included in the list with a line through it.

Are the PCs being hunted for something, or is this a plant of information to implicate the PCs in another crime. Serious questions from the authorities ensue, and the group better have good answers.