Articles by Matt James
Matt James is a freelance game designer from Washington, DC. In addition to many articles in Dragon and Dungeon magazine, his works include Soldiers of Fortune (Open Design), Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale, Into the Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, and Lair Assault: Attack of the Tyrantclaw. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matt_james_rpg
Musings on Continuity
Our Own Hero’s Journey
Sometimes, in any fantasy world where you have invested a large amount of your imagination, you start to append your real-world experiences to those of the characters being portrayed. For example, in the Star Wars universe, characters such as Luke are relatable, in that most people understand the story of “the everyman.” He is compelling because of the extraordinary destiny that lies ahead in his life. People generally like to feel that there is a greater purpose for them, and as such, they always cheer for the protagonist that achieves this greatness. As we cheer on we also become invested in the story. No matter how far removed from reality the elements of the story are, there is a humanization that brings us right back in. We love this. We want this to continue. We want to never break the feeling we first received while experiencing that story.
Everyone experiences this in a different way. What we pull from a story will differ depending on our life’s experiences. Continuing with Star Wars, one might feel more attached to Han Solo, the brutish scallywag that really has a heart beneath his crusty façade. Or, maybe it is Leia, the strong-willed and persistent princess, one who can get things done, regardless of the testosterone that flies around. Maybe you even felt a connection with Chewbacca—a big cumbersome brute that protects his friends with furious devotion, but is cuddly and cute once you get underneath the fur. Regardless of how you made the connection, you connected. You became invested in the story, and you want nothing to scramble that experience, even if you’re willing to give little ground.
Continuity of a game world works the same way. Consumers of fantasy become invested in the characters, and they begin to sense the world around them, taking in the descriptions and feel an author has provided. R.A. Salvatore, New York Times best-selling author and creator of the renegade drow Drizzt, is fantastic at bringing in the reader and giving them what is needed to relate to his characters. It is undeniable that Drizzt is popular, and for numerous reasons, people keep coming back to hear what will happen to him next. They want to maintain that feel, and have the protagonist overcome adversity. [Read the rest of this article]
Classless 4e
Though 4th Edition D&D is made up of classes- which are intrinsic to the design of the system- you can try something new with your next campaign by getting rid of them altogether. Some sub-systems in 4th Edition will have to stay, such as those for purposes of multi-classing and the feats and powers associated with them. But for the most part, you can choose to just simply get rid of all classes.
Character Creation
Have your players choose a base class. This will be the delimiting factor that will prevent possible wide-scale/hardcore abuse and keeps certain feats a viable choice (i.e. multiclassing.)
At character creation, and again when a PC levels up, allow them to choose any power from any existing class list without modifying them at all. Naturally, they will still be choosing from a set of powers that likely compliments their existing attributes. But, this deviation from the normal system opens the game up for any array of powers and abilities or the combination thereof. You may just be surprised how it all plays out and the choices your PCs make. It will open up new options and allow for characters to break the normal modes of play that some in the D&D community are not in favor of.
With this system change, you will find that any combination of possible builds will inspire your PCs to create diverse and truly unique characters. Here are some rules that I suggest. As always, mileage may vary:
- Characters must choose 1 At-Will from their base class.
- Starting Hit Points for all characters equals their Constitution score + 12.
- Each character gains an additional 8 Hit Points at each level.
- All feat prerequisites must still be met in order to take a given feat (i.e. Channel Divinity, etc.)
Class Features
One of the cool things about 4e is the neat class features that are associated with each class. You can still keep these features and just keep them attached to the base class the PC chooses. This can represent the propensity of a character to lean towards a specific profession in life and could make for some unique and enjoyable character histories. This will also help balance out additional benefits gained through the multiclassing feats.
In example, with this system you can take your dwarf and choose the base class of a fighter with a warlord at-will. So instead of a straight fighter, you can mix in some leader abilities. There is also nothing stopping you from dropping a barbarian power in there at some point as well. This goes so on and so forth and you will soon see the benefits of this immersive system change.
Try it out, and let me know what you think. It could be a great reprieve from the standard play of 4e. You, as the DM, are encouraged to adjust these simple changes accordingly and they by no means are all-inclusive. Take care and have fun!
For more ideas, come visit me at Loremaster.
The Fighting-Man, Magic-User, Cleric, and Thief
This was the beginning of Dungeons & Dragons, a game that truly gave birth to the entire RPG industry. No other such game would be around without D&D and to claim such would be a gross deviation from truth and reality. [Read the rest of this article]
Cooperative Play, Cooperative Characters
First, I want to say that this editorial was inspired by one that Editor-in-Chief Chris Youngs wrote on 1/4/2010 for Dragon/Dungeon magazine regarding being a team-player at the table. This is a great piece to read and one that I highly recommend for anyone that is a fan (or not) of D&D. We all know those who fit the bill of going overboard with their character, sometimes so much that it detracts from the game and story being presented. This is by no means a slight (I have been-there-done-that myself), but is meant just as advice to people to self-reflect on their own character development in order to create a creative environment that everyone at the table can enjoy. [Read the rest of this article]
