I think you could take 4e and remove the powers system for a “rules-lighter” experience. Here’s roughly how it would go:
YouTube Tuesday: Game Fuel Results Vary Edition
No matter how much Mountain Dew Game Fuel you drink, this may not happen to you. Also, anybody think it’s kind of weird that the woman changes into a male orc? (Via Extralife)
Inq. of the Week: Challenging Skills
The dragon found them flying through the skies aboard a flying Dwarven pirate airship and threatened to destroy the ship if they didn’t toss the heroes overboard. They found their powers mostly useless against the creature, and scrambled to improvise other alternatives aboard a the ship. Firing at the creature’s wings, ordering the pirates into a better sense of organization, searching the hold for something useful, and finally, firing a Deva riding a barrel of rum attached with a chain to an anchor at the dragon using twin ballistas.
One Year Later for 4e Podcast
A whole pile of bloggers and podcasters, including the likes of At-Will, Dungeonmastering, ChattyDM, Gamer’s Haven, Sly Flourish, and yours truly, got together to ask James Wyatt and Chris Perkins of Wizards of the Coast about various topics related to 4e. This all was hosted and put together by Jeff of The Tome Show (who had some questions to ask himself). The end result is quite informative, ranging from game design topics to community topics.
The 5×5 Method
When working on chapter 2 of my D&D 4e campaign (in the paragon tier, chapter 1 having encompassed the heroic tier), I kept running into roadblocks when trying to map out the next major arc. I had left a number of dangling plot threads that didn’t feel right to abandon (that the players were just getting into, as well) so changing gears majorly didn’t seem like the right thing to do. At the same time, I wanted to give the arc a bigger scope than the specific mission-based adventures that I had been sending them on, as well as giving them more freedom to roam about the world I had spent 9 levels introducing them to. I also wanted to let them take more direct control of where they wanted to go next, but still script things out enough to let me plan ahead (i.e. not go full-on sandbox quite yet).
YouTube Tuesday: Instanced Drinking Edition
A very funny video of a Chinese man’s life seen through a WoW lens. Even though it is in Chinese, it’s still funny and well done without knowing what is being said.
Inq. of the Week: One Year Later for 4e
Starting with the initial announcement at GenCon 2007, we polled reaction to the coming of a new system and found most to be cautiously optimistic. Then shortly after release, we polled about everyone’s favorite edition of D&D, which at the time showed a preference for 4e, and late voting has only increased that lead. It seems only natural to follow up with the following, after 1 year of release, the question on many minds…
Special Promo for Dungeonmastering Tools: Free Open Game Table
Editor’s Note: We’ve been fans of Dungeonmastering since the beginning, and so we’re happy to help promote his new tools that help you run your 4e game, as well as a way to get Open Game Table Anthology (that I helped edit) into more people’s hands. That’s why we’re presenting this offer and the advertising […]
With Karate (And Psionics) I’ll Kick Your Ass
Monks are Psionic. (Yes, “Martial Striker” was half wrong). As per the Design & Development article that accompanied it, Ki is a dead power source (though some third party products have already tried to use it). Personally, I have no problem with this. On multiple occasions, I attempted to run campaigns with an eastern flavor, and banned most (or all) arcane and divine classes, relying primarily on psionic and ki powered characters. Conceptually, they always seemed very close together: an internal energy source with fantastic abilities powered by intense discipline.
YouTube Tuesday: In Brightest Day, and Blackest Pony Edition
Two fake trailers for existing properties: above, the My Little Pony movie trailer that takes a different tact than you might expect, and below, a Green Lantern trailer thatputs the emerald ring on the capable hands of Nathan Fillon.
Recent Comments