Good Gaming Blog

I have attempted to write this blog post several times without coming off as snooty. Perhaps it is the sickness which has curtailed most of my writing efforts for the past weeks, or perhaps it is just the cloudiness of the medications which are getting me through said sickness, but I find it difficult to deliver this piece of flotsam advice in a manner becoming of the true gist of the whole piece. Mostly this came from sitting in bed discussing gaming with a friend across the world online at the moment when 2008 drew to a close.

I was bedridden (and remained so until yesterday) and miserable, and they were fighting off a considerable amount of alcoholic bliss to continue the discussion. We discussed the GG Blog, a couple of other pieces, the newest things in various editions and rulesets… then we began to discuss a horrific DM experience which my friend had had in his travels. We’ll not discuss the horrors of said experience too deep . . . suffice to say, it was bad enough that I became woozy and ill-at-ease from laughing too hard at 1 in the morning. We both wondered why DMs suck so badly these days, and why there are so few ‘good gamers’ out in the hinterlands with the spread of the Internet and its bounty of information.

The next day I had my resolution; I will convert a group of players to competent DMs in the next year. I will take a group of players who seem to be the worst, most despicable ‘Bad News Bears’ group of ne’r-do-wells in the history of gaming and I will turn at least half of the group into solid DMs.

And here’s why it will never work . . .

Learning to be a good DM doesn’t start in a vacuum. It doesn’t start with your first game, and it doesn’t start with someone telling you all of the secrets of the process. I could write a hundred articles on this blog and have it be more popular than Google . . . yet I cannot make any individual reader a better DM than they themselves want to be. I feel I lucked out in my gaming experience, as I would guess most allegedly good DMs would attest, and had a perfect storm of good, reliable players, great DMs, and a location which was fit for play at the worst of times and amazingly suited for gaming at the best.

Environment can produce great DMs, but it also takes a lot of work. For every good session I run I had probably ten horrific, pre-teen nightmare wish fulfillment games that I either played in or (to my horror in admittance) DM’ed in my younger days. For every good artifact or backstory I’ve probably burned through a hundred poor, ill-fitting, or just silly ideas. I utilize tropes, backwards concepts, archaic gaming jargon and styles . . .

but I learned at the heels of giants. Guys who were unrepentant destroyers of PCs, whose various story arcs could inspire madness just in their labyrinthine twistings and turnings. I had the luck of spending a couple of years with a safety net, a couple of campaigns of being a co-DM to some of the worst PC beatdowns I have seen to this day.

And that doesn’t really exist anymore. In this gaming culture there are too many players, DMs, and writers who believe that everything just comes together. Decades of experience behind me, I can tell you that if that were the case most of the bloggers on RPG topics would be sitting on gold-plated thrones dispensing wisdom via ruby-keyed laptops while sipping the finest colas from chalices shaped like d12s.

I own none of these things, and it saddens me.

My Resolution is to form a new group, bringing in some of the best players and DMs I can find, and then indoctrinating some of these new players into the ways of the old. And then, maybe, showing these snowflakes a little of how it’s done.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Working on some materials for a contest known as the Great Conjunction… figured I may get some input.

Birth, Blood, Bone, Bile, Breath, and Bearing

Birth –
Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child must work for a living,
But the child that’s born on the Sabbath day
Is fair and wise and good and gay

The effect of the place or time in which the character was born. Birth is a vital Statistic, but it is not numeric. In fact, Birth is the day of the week in which the character was born. Each day of the week possesses its own power, and certain special days or times may possess different effects as determined by the Talespinner.

Blood – The character’s ability to take physical injury. Blood is affected by attacks which wound the body alone, including any mundane effects.

Bone – The character’s last physical resort. Bone is damaged by great effects, when the body can no longer take abuse, or when the character has worn down his reserves in any ability.

Bile – The character’s stamina, the will for the body to go on. Bile is affected by that which wears at the character’s body, through hunger, disease, or curses.

Breath – The character’s mystic power, the breath of life. Breath is also Spirit, and anything which would affect the spirit of a character draws out his Breath.

Bearing – The character’s will upon the world around him. A character’s bearing need not be positive; the wily old coot and the aide-to-camp may have equal amounts of Bearing. Bearing is a vital statistic to the power of effect which a character may take on.

Determining Attributes:

First, one should determine one’s birthdate. The day need not be precise unless the player is determined to be bound to a specific day and gain the benefits of that day. A birthdate grants access to three basic Paths to life.

Monday – Monday’s child is fair of face. Leaders and beauties, children born on Monday are looked upon favorably by their peers, but sometimes seem aloof from the ways of the more complex paths around them. The Debutante, the Groomsman, and the Bachelor all serve as archetypes of Monday.

Tuesday – Tuesday’s child is full of grace. Faithful and fated, Tuesday imbues its children with forces of favor. Though each person who takes on the nature of the day goes in a different direction, children of Tuesday manifest their powers in several unique ways. The Vicar, The Hustler, and The Handyman are common archetypes of Tuesday.

Wednesday – Wednesday’s child is full of woe. Feared for their constant obsessions, the children of Wednesday are usually misunderstood. Most children of Wednesday are melancholic, only truly happy when there is something going wrong for themselves or for others. The Hexer, The Hack, and the Hag are each archetypes of Wednesday.

Thursday – Thursday’s child has far to go. The journey is what is important for the children of Thursday. Thursday’s children prefer to fight the good fight and wander the world on paths that will lead them to the next town. The Hobo, The Warden, and The Gypsy are common archetypes of Thursday.

Friday – Friday’s child is loving and giving. Whether giving of body, spirit, or lucre, Friday’s children are happiest when doing something for their fellows. The Healer, the Ne’r-Do-Well, and The Lover are common archetypes of Friday.

Saturday – Saturday’s child must work for a living. Builders, dreamers, and makers, Saturday’s children propel the world through their hands and minds. The Artist, the Crafter, and the Poet are common archetypes of Saturday.

Sunday – But the child that’s born on the Sabbath day Is fair and wise and good and gay. Supposedly favored, Sunday’s children use their wits and their judgment to get them where they need to go. The Judge, The Straight-Arrow, and The Hero are all archetypes of Sunday’s Children.

Holiday Children – A Child born on a Holiday usually have a destinies aligned with their holiday. The Patriot, children born on July 4th, or the Renewer, born on January 1st, are examples of Holiday children.

_-

The Five Bodily Attributes – Blood, Bone, Bile, Breath, and Bearing.
Choose – 4/3/2/1/0 and assign to each attribute. Use the Attribute rating as a bonus to any dice pool which would be associated with the following affinities:

Blood – Vitae, the force of life. Blood and Bone combined determine the amount of Health a character possesses. Blood also assists in Knacks which are associated with Protection, War, and Water.

Bone – Petra, the force of toughness. Bone and Blood combined determine the Health of a character. Bone also assists in Knacks which are associated with Durability, Earth, and Transformation.

Bile – Cholera, the force of will. Bile and Breath determine the top Talent of any Knack. Bile also assists in Knacks which are associated with Destruction, Cursing, or Command.

Breath – Spira, the force of creation. Bile and Breath determine the top Talent of any Knack, and Breath and Bearing determine the top Force of any Knack. Breath assists in Knacks which are associated with Creation, Healing and Joining.

Bearing – Portia, the force of self. Bearing and Breath combine to determine the top Force of any Knack. Bearing has effects on Knacks associated with Self.

EDIT: For terms referenced in this article please pursue The Other Articles in the Series .

As discussed in the Previous Article there are many ways to make silly mistakes in your minion creation. However, if you follow that there are many ‘types’ of minions, you can easily develop a system of discussing these subtypes and provide possible examples.

Now, onto Minion subtypes. These subtypes are helpful for certain materials . . . here’s how we can adjust these subtypes into an easy cost-benefit system.

To be honest, I’ve been using ‘one-hit’ minions for quite some time in 3.X, and their existence is great for the 4e DM who needs something to go off of. I usually use the following as a 3.X construct for minions: Minions are effects, not creatures.

Yes, I know, this may sound odd… but hear me out. One of the major fallacies of DM thought is that every creature is a full stat block. 4e remedies a bit of this with minion stats and the various elite/solo/minion types.

But when it comes to monsters, we can do better. Let us make an example:

—

A sharp-faced demon stands tall above the Lord of Pembroke. Weaving two of its tendrils through the air as if creating a tapestry, the demon smirks when the party wizard casts his first spell.

As the spell fizzles in purple sparks, the demon bares its teeth and the battle is truly begun.

—

This demon must be some great threat! It is a powerful lord of the manor, the power behind the throne!

Perhaps . . . but it is a condition more than a creature. Kill the condition, remove the protection.

Such a “Demon” is applied Spell Resistance. The Lord of Pembroke has a demonic watchdog, and it raises itself off of its haunches. The “Demon” has several solutions; banish it, turn it, kill it.

It is nothing more than HP and an effect. As an Aiding minion (it is not using its body, but its magic to defend the Lord) it should have enough HP to be somewhat threatening, but if all it does is protect its master . . . it’s not engaged in combat. It’s a walking Amulet of Spell Resistance, and the best way to break it is to break the demon involved.

—

The scream of ecstasy, the swing of the blade, the cultist storms forward. Even as you strike him down the haze falls over you . . . the choking sensation of spirit takes over, and you drop to the ground.

—

This cultist is a Suicidal Minion with a Hold Person/Monster effect. It dies, you get Held (or have the chance to be Held).

Get the picture? I have faith in your . . . imagination. Let us see how many such effects we can generate! Anyone who posts a minion type below will be recognized in the next post, and given the chance to guide the next Lazy DMing guide.

Enjoy, and Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

EDIT: For terms referenced in this article please pursue The Other Articles in the Series .

In the last installment we discussed Bruiser, Abused, and Defender minions. Today we will discuss some of the more interesting minion types. However, ‘minion’ is a loaded term these days. Let us rather define Minion as ‘leverage units’. Really, an enemy is an enemy, but a minion provides leverage for the Big Bad. Each minion should provide this leverage, and nothing else… no need for 1 HP, just serve as your own little unit of HP, AC, and effect.

Now, onto the three minions to discuss here:

-Aiding: These minions are the healers and squealers. Defenders protect the Bad, Aides give some assistance to help the Bad protect itself. The negative-essenced undead which provide an aura of negative-energy healing for their lich? A mage who gives some buffs to the royal villain? Aides. Aides are usually ‘quiet targets’; they can be some distance away, and their skills usually lend to being less-than-stellar warriors.

-Arcane Threat: Magic Bruisers, Arcane Threats lay down a nice fat line of elemental (or other) damage. Not usually mages themselves, an Arcane Threat will break skull totems, UMD a wand, or just break open a sweet can of magic energy to cover. Arcane Threats are even weaker than Bruisers, big ol’ Glass Cannons.

-Suicidal: Kamikaze threats. Think of Bombs from Final Fantasy; while an Abused provides by being damaged by others, Suicidals are walking effects waiting to trigger themselves. Exploding poisonous constructs? Check. Suicidal creatures work well with manipulative masters, serving as fanatics which can be thrown about to do damage (or other negative effects) without PC targeting.

Completion of base types… next, we’ll give some hard examples.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

EDIT: For terms referenced in this article please pursue The Other Articles in the Series .

Lazy Dming: Minions Pt. 3: In Pursuit of Playfulness (Bruiser, Defender, and Abused)

So, we’ve defined what minions should and should not be; let us define some of the important essences of minions by archetype. We’ll start with three of the more common useful types of minions: Abused, Bruiser, and Defender Minions. To define (in my own words):

Bruiser – A Minion which serves an aggressive battle purpose. Most of these types are going to be found in situations where you need some protection. A hoard of martial bodyguards for a local shah? A couple of minotaurs who are breaking down doors and skulls in the path of their sorcerer liegelord? Yep, we just found bruisers. Good common example: Ogres, Minotaurs, etc.

Defender – A minion which provides a nice thick shield for the local softies. That group of bodyguards who lay down their life and throw themselves in harm’s way for the local shah? A skilled mage-slayer who deflects spells for his Royal Highness? Defender minion. Good Common Example: Shield Guardians, creatures with Shield and similar abilities, members of the Bodyguard Advanced Class in d20 Modern.

Abused – It’s really a hate-hate relationship here. Abused minions provide leverage and advantage based not on their skills, but what they provide in dying for the cause. Need cultists who boost spellcasting through sacrifice? How about a corpulent imp who, when brought to his death, explodes in a cloud of confusion and damage? Those are Abused minions. Common Examples: A group of creatures tied to the tyrant’s armor listed in The Book of Vile Darkness, creatures with death throes and similar abilities, Thoon Infiltrators.

Now, minions come and go, but the usefulness of their stay is the measure the normal DM goes by. As minions serve to supplement and enhance the Big Bad’s abilities, it is important to pick just the right minion for the right situation. Here are some basic ‘template’ abilities which prove useful rules-wise to give to each of these typical minion types:

Bruiser – High damage output, low threshold for pain. A Bruiser shouldn’t become the focus of the party; they’re there to wear down a target. Not all bruisers will wear down HP, however; if a villain is using attacks which function on Will Save, then a Bruiser who is equipped with Wisdom-affecting damage is going to be your best bet. In this situation a venomous creature may serve better than any ogre. Do not ignore the benefits of a few good hits, however; those poisons and effects will only be beneficial if the Big Bad can capitalize on it.

Defender – Damage is not as important as a good thick meat shield. Damage Reduction, Shield Other, and similar abilities will keep a Defender there. As stated before, a Defender serves a purpose; slow down PC reactions, and keep the soft Big Bad alive for his plans/spells/effects to ‘get off’ in the period. Defenders need to be able to attract and stand against the PC for a period, or be in proximity to protect their master directly for their purpose to be fully served.

Abused – A keen balance of cost-benefit defines the Abused Minion. Do the PCs kill the dangerous cultist knowing that doing so will unleash hellfire and a master whose abilities will increase in power? Balancing the Abused is a key element; they need to be just enough threat to make them ignore-proof, but not enough to feel like a screwjob when the PCs do eventually lay them to rest. A good rule of thumb is to make the Abused squishy enough to go down in one to two hits, but still dangerous enough to make the PCs want to bring them down quickly (even if their effect will boost their master and make for a harder fight. Abused are glass pistols to the Bruiser and Arcane Threat glass cannon; they do enough damage (in ways which are NOT necessarily aids to their master) to make them a danger, but they cannot be the main thrust of the spear (otherwise they will be an easy target). Abused are great for status-affecting and low-to-mid damage area effects, though it is up to your game whether these effects will stack or (in a case of chain reaction) cause other surrounding Abused minions to ‘trigger’ and get off their effects early.

In the next installment we will discuss three other types of minions: Aiding, Suicidal, and Arcane Threat minions.

As Always,

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

EDIT: For terms referenced in this article please pursue The Other Articles in the Series .

As discussed in the previous article, our goal in this Lazy DMing discussion is to create a strongly flavorful, well-remembered group of mooks which will put your players and their characters in stitches. The following steps, when applied in moderation, should do just that . . .

Step 1: Make the mook’s initial appearance memorable. There’s a lot of jokes around the Net and in the gaming community at-large that if a character has a name and talks to the PCs that this character must be important. I find this type of metagame thinking to be untrue in most of the games I’ve played in because DMs and players followed this bit of advice. Minions are pe… well, they’re creatures too, and they deserve to be treated as such. Minions who have good descriptive phrasing in their first reveal will stick in player’s minds much more readily than just another orc with axe in chain shirt combination.

Step 2: Make Minions Disposable Wingmen. Minions are the wingmen of the PC/NPC relationship. Minions get the boss introduced to the players, check out their strengths and weaknesses, and see how best to fit their master into the plans of the PCs. Low-grade thugs work to soften up the party, expend resources, and make the villain’s life easier.

Step 3: Minions Are Two-Trick Ponies. A mook should never be limited to one option in battle, but as stated previously . . . these guys are disposable. They’ll be in mind for awhile, but their whole purpose is to advance a storyline and provide delicious window dressing for the player’s immersion.

In essence, think of minions as interview subjects for a job. Does the minion bring something that is lacking to the company? Does the minion serve a purpose which is in-line with the goals of the company? Does the minion fit in with the general ‘culture’ of the company?

If these three questions can be answered yes, then you have a perfect minion. That enraged minotaur kept as a ‘pet’ by the dwarven merchant lord who has sent assassins against the PCs serves a purpose; it is a powerfully strong bully minion, and works great as a counterpart to the cerebral merchant lord. The minotaur serves a purpose in-line with the goals of the villain (keeping the villain alive), and fits in with the culture (minotaurs are seen as less than humanoid and are kept as slaves by those who break their will.)

A crazed, half-starved minotaur which springs from the shadows onto the PCs will be remembered for the sheer shock value, and the high percentage of such a creature, if calmed, being able to tell more about his master’s plans and possibly fighting the good fight alongside the PCs cannot be ignored as motivation.

Minions are small highlights to the story. They should never be the main attraction, though they should also never be so far in the background as to just be a statblock. Without a well-planned, well-executed series of minions, the villain becomes an obelisk for PC targeting. Every story needs a good support cast, and a well thought out series of minions can serve you for sessions (or even arcs) to come with fodder for stories.

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

I’m going to be out of town for an unknown period of time on a job . . . sadly, you won’t be coming with me. Until I get back, read up on some of the local flavors in the blogosphere and I’ll try to update when I get there:

A Divine Wind: Great blog from Kamikaze Midget over at ENWorld. Kamikaze is working on a port of Final Fantasy using 3 & 4e styles . . . the project is coming out great. Check out his Starter characters, or the Freelancer class preview.

Tome and Tomb: Has a lame name and is working on organization, but good times overall. New blog that is working on itself.

Worlds in a Handful of Dice: Good work by NiTessine as cited in the last article. Had a little controversy a bit back as a 4e tester who didn’t like 4e. Oh nos!

Jonathan Drain’s Blog: Provides a hell of a lot of great sources, and since I’ll be out I linked you to his “Friday Link Adventure” for this week so you double your pleasure and fun.

Gotta get going, so enjoy yourselves and don’t wreck the furnishings…

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Life is a (Blog) Carnival; Religion’s Effect on Dungeons and Dragons.

Well, since I caught a fancy and looked at a couple of blogs which struck mine, I came across this concept of Blog Carnival. Essentially, the Carnival is a monthly topic for rumination, and since I first saw it on Handful of Dice I will give NiTessine from #Enworld on Otherworlders props here. The current Carnival covers Religion, and so I get to discuss a gripe I’ve always had with religion in D&D: the cheapness of miracles.

Now, I’m not much of a religious man, but miraculous events occur every day in D&D. The blind are given sight, arms and legs magically reattached, and the dead rise on the whim of their spirit and a nice chunk of rare gems. The costs involved in religious magic are akin to those involved with arcana but come with a price; a required allegiance. However, this allegiance of self has absolutely nothing to do with the allegiance of the target of these ministrations.

Say you’re a follower of Billoby, God of Mischief. You decide to run around with scissors as part of the hallowed Festival of Bad Ideas, and poke out one of your eyes. Perhaps Billoby holds the tenet of ‘you break it, you fix it’, and considers his worship so awesome as to be without reproach. The local Temple of Slapstick refuses to give you aid, but the worshippers of Frigidia, the Goddess of Uptight Morality, will heal your eyes with nothing more than a how-you-do and a cache of gold pieces. You get your eye back, everything is fine, but you have just engaged a spellcaster antithetical to your own creed for your own good.

Where exactly does this stop? Would two deities in divine war allow their clerics to heal enemy troops without forethought? Would a priest of Jumbuck, God of Cuteness, be able to curse a Dire Cutie to a demesne of horrible ugliness? In this world where magic is real, and angels and demons come to the world to literally save (or damn) souls to eternal hellfire, anyone gets to be given the assistance of anyone who happens to carry a Cure Light Wounds handy . . . as long as they’re not undead, of course.

It is strange that in our world where we are in constant turmoil, a game which has been defamed as the tool of the Devil has such a lesson of mercy and willingness. The gods do not blame their followers for giving succor, nor do they remove their boons from those who they were freely granted to save for in the most overreaching states. Indeed, it seems that clerics are granted the right of oversight of their own books, and they get to choose to whom their gifts are given. This movement, the right for an enemy to be granted aid or an ally to be granted ill seems far beyond our own clergy. The right to free will, so often discussed in theology, is rarely the true hand of those involved in religion in this day and age. Those who refuse a specific ideal may be denied the right to calling themselves leaders of their religion.

I can only hope that someday, in a time where we will long be forgotten, that gods and their churches will grant freewill to those willing to walk the path of their specific brand of righteousness. Laity and clergy alike allowed to associate freely, without ill will or issue, with any and all who practice their own ways freely.
Since this is not a gaming blog per se, I leave you with good words,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

EDIT: For terms referenced in this article please pursue The Other Articles in the Series .

Too often DMs become trapped in storyline and pacing. While these elements are essential to DMing, they serve a purpose if and only if players can become immersed through the use of interesting characters. Trust, interesting characters are what drive the story, but the next flaw which many DMs fall into regarding these ‘interesting characters’ is the idea that the ‘interest’ should apply mostly to the Big Bad Evil of your specific story arc. Yes, while in many cases a Big Bad will be the story’s driver, it is important to make flavorful minions that the PCs will remember for the rest of the campaign.

Now, this has absolutely nothing to do (necessarily) with 4e; minion, in this case, applies as a general term for any creature which serves a higher-ranking creature (the Big Bad in this case). These entries will cover a good ‘how to’ guide to what a good, memorable series of minions should be. These observations have been taken from games I have run or played in, along with discussions from others who have run or played memorable minion types.

First, we’ll cover the main flaws which players seem to have about the necessity of minions:

1.) Mooks need not be flavored. This one I have never understood until a few days ago when I was watching a long series of movies… one may know these movies, because, like D&D, there are a lot of glowing swords, monsters, and evil-doers dressed in black armor. Got where I’m coming from? Excellent. Now, the mooks which are presented as sort of the ‘endless shooting gallery’ of this epic are usually pretty flavorless; they dress in white armor, have pretty blasé weaponry, and generally don’t go into much interaction.

Don’t fall for this trap. Uniforms are great if you’re dealing with a military outfit, but even the most common minions in D&D will have a wide variety of things they do, and with that variety probably comes many different tactics. Let the minions have something different about them, something not necessarily unique but memorable . . . otherwise, you just have a bunch of guys marked with the scarlet M wandering about your setting.

2.) Mooks with a lot going on. We all want our minions to have a large variety of things to do; maybe each type of minion focuses on something different, or has a suite of abilities ready to fend off the heroes at every turn. While this is fine in theory, it becomes downright irksome in practice. Think of minions as hardware; would I rather have a device which does a hundred things poorly at an expensive price tag, or a sleek device which does a handful of things I need it to do well for half the price? Villains are spendthrifts after all; all of those hero slaying parties take up a lot of time and money on the schedule.

3.) Mooks go the distance. Yes, some minions may make it out with their hides . . . and if they see a chance they should retreat if they have a couple of brain cells to rub together. However, it is better to let players get the upper hand on the minions than let all of the minions run away and leave the players feeling screwed over. After all, the Big Bad hired these guys/girls/creatures ‘at will’, and usually that means they are expendable.

4.) Every mook is a Leader. No no no. Sometimes minions go down . . . loyal retainers aren’t really minions so much as they are cohorts (which will be discussed at a later period).

5.) The Exotic Russian Nesting Mook. Minions should be different than the Big Bad; cohorts and sidekicks can have similar powers, but a minion helps to fulfill a role which the Big Bad may not be able to do himself. For example, vampires and their spawn have certain weaknesses (light of day, stakes, getting their heads cut off) and they may need someone to protect or supplement their ranks with ways to overcome them. Renfields will probably still go down to a stake in the heart and their heads being chopped off, but at least they maneuver well in sunny Acapulco.

These are the five biggest thinking errors I see with minion builds; the next entry will cover ways to get around these issues, and hopefully present you some ideas to give those minions something to power themselves up with.

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

I am really starting to understand the classic Marx quote (stolen from another source, so this will be fourth-rate thievery) of “I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member”. After looking at months upon months of arguments in the D&D community about Fourth Edition, I’ll go with what I’ve been thinking in this blog as concisely as possible. I know, wackiness and ‘up-to-date’ are not up to my repertoire; however, I wanted to really form a cohesive idea on what 4e does and doesn’t do ‘right’ in my eyes.

4e hit some great notes . . . the whole issue is that a lot of these things weren’t exactly new. Creature-based XP, minions, ‘bigger, better’ solo and ‘elite’ monsters, a collapsing of the rococo skill system . . . well, this has been done. House rules on these things have existed for a good period of time, and I think that they’re great house rules. Hell, they’re great concepts! They belong in D&D no matter what the stripe because they help to take some solid ideas from house rules and early iterations of D&D and place them into the limelight again.

4e also did some really bad turns. Destruction of the cosmology by major shifts, the so-called ‘spell plague’, and the direct establishment of the four roles (defender, striker, etc.) . . . it feels wrong. The problem I have with these flaws is their introduction into the main; yes, a lot of people say ‘well, you can take it or leave it’, and I agree wholeheartedly that in most situations you could do this. In the core system, however, creating all sorts of strange armors, changing the armor choices, and introducing a setting which is antithetical to the settings presented before which were well-received . . . well, it just doesn’t ring well with me.

I really hope that 4e gets nice third-party support, and that WotC gets up off of its behind to develop some good materials from older settings and maybe even a ‘non-fantasy’ version of 4e. 4e feels to me like a great interpretation in combat of wargaming, and in all honesty I think that that style has some great purposes. Hell, the setting itself could do some really good things for people . . .

But it ain’t my bag. And there should be nothing wrong with that. Whenever I bring up these points in conversation with 4e diehards I get the same thing; well, it’s only a bug to you, that really you should do this instead . . . and I get irritated. 3e and 4e have their places in the community; and as long as the OGL keeps producing good solid 3rd party materials which I can adapt to my settings 3e will be my choice. However, in specific ways (as an introduction game, as a game to emulate a world similar to Final Fantasy Tactics, etc.) I could see myself using 4e.

But I don’t want to be part of the 3e or the 4e community. I don’t want to be a grognard, or a fatbeard wannabe, or a deep fanboy for any edition. I want to be a Gamer, and bring you Good Gaming. This is why I will try to keep things very setting unspecific, so as to allow you conversion. When material was done in 3e it will be presented as such with the least amount of frills.

But don’t call me a grogger… I’m a gamer. And gaming shouldn’t require a membership.

Good Gaming,

-Loonook.