Sarah Darkmagic

Yesterday neogrognard posted a great new article, Essential. If you haven't read it yet, I really suggest you go and read the post. It is full of the sorts of wisdom and critical thought that made me such a big fan of his. In my understanding, the thrust of his argument is this, to survive as a D&D or rpg company, it's important that the current, initiated fan base have a reason to not only buy, but also love, your product. To the initiated, few things are as important as feeling that years of mastering a game means something. If a game does a reboot and significantly changes its mechanics, as 4e did, that fan base will balk. Not only will that not buy the books, they will tell and shame others to do the same. Since RPG companies need to make money now, not take a loss for a few years as new markets are developed, this can really hurt a company.

I fully admit, I have no idea about the financials of a company such as Wizards of the Coast. I'm a smart person and I can make lots of guesses, but that sort of bench racing doesn't really appeal to me, at least not as a subject of a post. What I will say is that srm's discussion of the tension between the initiated and uninitiated matches my experience pretty well. He knows that of course, it was a big thing on my mind at DDXP, especially after Essentials came out. I saw it in my own gaming group. When the guy who had been DMing our game became a player, he constantly tried to create a single, awesome character and was frustrated in the process. 4e had changed the group dynamic and focus enough that he felt a bit lost at what to do. He would talk, at the table, about how this or that was so much better in 3.5 than in 4e. On one hand, I empathized with him and tried to find ways to make things more fun for him, reward him for that knowledge he had gained over the years. On the other, it kind of killed the fun for a portion of the group. We weren't as intent on having to know a rule for every situation or how to make a super awesome and capable solo character.

And when it comes down to it, that's the heart of the disagreement I had with srm's article. I agree with pretty much all of it except for the end where newbies are assigned to board and card games or comic books as the main way of getting them into the hobby. I think board games are useful to a degree, but unless there is a bridge between them and his version of AD&D, I think we'll still run into problems. On top of it, board games by their nature emphasize the mechanics over the story. Lots of people, maybe not a majority but I argue they do constitute a significant minority, love D&D despite its mechanics. If they are funneled into boardgames first, it's quite possible that we'll lose them. Of course, I'm highly biased here. I'm one of those people who don't enjoy boardgames that much but loves D&D.

I also bristled at the use of "our games" as a way to make those of us who don't value the elements of the game in the same way into a different group. I happen to know srm and I definitely don't think he's telling me to go away, but this type of language is used by many players as a sort of "Nerds Only" sign outside the clubhouse door. Sometimes I wonder if it's that, and not the game itself, that keeps people out. If so, no matter how many roads to Rome we build, we're still shutting out a large portion of people who might love and revere the game.

Leaving aside matters of money and a fan base for a second, I would love for this sort of advanced game to be tied to settings instead of the core rules. When I hear initiated, invested fans talk, they describe settings: Greyhawk, Mystara, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Spelljammer, etc. They get that twinkle in their eyes and their voice changes to that awesome story-telling voice many of us have. From there they go to specific supplements. They'll go to their shelf and pick up a book. "I love the wilderness charts from this" or "Man, I've got to tell you, the random encounter charts from that were amazing."

I'm sure there are lots of reasons why this isn't a great idea, but I really think it would solve a number of issues. People would know from the setting what subset of rules were likely to be used for the game and the rules could be tailored for the types of stories people are likely to tell in that setting. So a low magic setting is likely to use the inherent bonuses and a setting that isn't points of light based might get rules for a richer society. Since the majority of specialized rules would be in the settings instead of core, a group could pick their setting based on their level of expertise and how much time they wanted to devote to the game. Groups who wanted to, could cross-pollinate to their hearts content and create the games they most enjoyed for their tables.

At least that's my opinion. What's yours? :)

One of my favorite things to design in Lost City was the malsalix. It started life as a humble shambling mound in the oppulent bathhouse scene. As I sat down to write the adventure, however, it became clear that I needed to combine the spores that caused the original madness with the shambling mound and create a new, even more dangerous plant in its stead. Hence, the malsalix was born.

While the plant is integral to the story of the Kradalhu, there's no reason it can't be used elsewhere. In fact, story has it that the plant was bred by dark druids to protect their dark, humid caves deep in the forests of the feywild. Provide some humidity and a few sources of lightning, especially traps, and the plant will be more than happy to wander the halls of your dungeon. It's particularly good at stealing powers from creatures, making it a good partner for less intelligent guardians or highly intelligent but also highly squishy ones.

The plant is reminiscent of a weeping willow, with long, rope like branches that sway to and fro. It starts life as a spore, released by an elder plant. It lies dormant until it finds its way into a moist, humid environment such as a swamp, pond, or a cave pool. From there, it grows into a slime, with thin threads of cells weaving themselves together. As the weave grows stronger, it takes the shape of a small seedling. The threads become larger and more wood-like in appearance and the malsalix becomes a mature plant. A rare few will keep growing like this and become elder plants.

If you have the patience or luck to find and capture one, and elder plant is particularly useful for protecting a room or area. Just provide it a sturdy structure for its central stalk to climb. When it senses invaders, the plant will go on the defensive, filling the area with spores  and poisoning those within the cloud. When the area is full, it lets off its lightning attack, bouncing the energy off of the spores and burning them up in the process. Anyone within the cloud at this time contracts tainted water madness, the disease caused by the plant.

In addition to this spore cloud, the elder plant has the ability to call seedlings to its defense. The immature plants often come up from behind the group, whipping the invaders with their tendrils.

If the combination of these two defenses is not enough to scare away the attackers, the elder plant goes into stage 2 of its defenses. It breaks apart into 5 plants. The central stalk remains, continuing with its spore cloud although no longer able to call seedlings. The other four, the runners, move away, teleporting behind the enemies if possible. These plants remain connected to one another and don't die until they are all defeated.

In addition to its defenses, the malsalix is a component of a number of magic items. Two found in the Lost City are memory pots and paralyzing nets. The former provides a way to steal the powers of an enemy by hitting them with a pot of spores you've attuned yourself to. The other is a net you can throw at an enemy. Not only does it immobilize the enemy on a hit, but while they are in this state, they cannot use anything other than basic attacks.

Personally, I have a certain cave in Newhamshire that is perfect for the malsalix. The local town has been experiencing nightmares for over a year now and they live right near a swamp. I'd love to see some of these plants rise out of the swamp water to ambush the PCs. If you were to use the Malsalix in your game, how might you do it?

Last night I got wonderful news. My first ever RPG project, Lost City, is finally finished and out the door. This means quite a few things. People other than patrons can finally view it, comment on it, and hopefully play it. I also feel better about writing about it because I know that what I write about will be what everyone else sees.

So what is Lost City? It's a 4e adventure sourcebook for levels 14-17 published by Open Design. A crack team of designers and patrons (ok, I might be biased) took on the challenge, led by Logan Bonner. It centers on Kadralhu, a once-great city lost beneath the shifting sands. One of my favorite things about it is it's a sandbox adventure. We provide some structure if you want to use it, but PCs have a lot of choice in what they do and how they do it. In addition to providing a city and some locations within it, we provide some new creatures, some interesting twists on old ones, encounters, skill challenges, magic items and more. If you want more info, check out the Kobold Quarterly blog post, the store pages for the product (pdf, print), or the previews (The Forbidden Archive, Trignotarbs, Oklu Roles and Themes, Malsalix)

My main contribution to the project is the waterworks. It might seem like a strange thing to focus on in for a city buried under tons of sand in the middle of a desert. But, when we wrote our initial round of pitches, we didn't have a clear idea of what the city looked like, either currently or in its glory. In part, the pitches were meant to decide what shape the city would take.

I tend to work better when I can take a small nugget of something tangible and build out from there. So I had to figure out something that was tangible to me, gave some flavor to the city we built, while still being flexible to work with whatever everyone else brought to the table. After some brainstorming, the idea for the waterworks was born. Most cities, even in fantasy settings need water. Whatever carried the water around the city, whether it's pipes, channels or portals, could help the PCs get around a city overrun with sand, providing a practical benefit.

Next came the fun part, populating it with creepy crawlies. I spent hours pouring through the monster manuals I owned trying to find creatures of the right level that made sense in the city. I didn't see a ton there that struck me as perfect for this project. The two that I most liked were the Shambling Mound (mainly for the opulent bathhouse scene) and the Chuul (because they are just awesome), so I added them into the pitch.

Finally, I wanted to make the waterworks more important to the city. Much of the history of the city was still a blank canvas. I remembered the stories I had heard as a kid about people trying to put LSD in the NYC reservoirs. Knowing that we had the Oklu, a race who acted as servants for the original inhabitants of the city, I wondered what would happen if a few of them had poisoned the water supply to gain the upper hand on their masters. What if the waterworks master was blamed for the downfall and thrown into the waterworks, never to be seen again?

I worked on refining and expanding these ideas for two weekends. I asked trusted friends to give me feedback on it and I worked and reworked the language. For a first real pitch, I'm still pretty proud of it. And yes, I think it's hilarious that I was pitching a dungeon of sorts at the same time I wrote posts against some types of them on my blog.

So what did all of this teach me about ptiching?

• Rarely does the idea come all at once. Heck, some of the best stuff from the section had seeds in the pitch but it wasn't until I spent more time playing with the ideas that they became awesome.
• Getting a group of friends to brainstorm with helps a ton. It's great if you can find people who don't have the same exact tastes as you do but who understand that some things are a difference of style rather than being inherently good or bad. Not everyone in your group has to like every idea, but if most of them don't like it, you might want to rethink your idea.
• The scariest part is often the fear of rejection. If you let that get to you, you've lost the game from the start.

Adventurers love their gear and for good reason. Not only is it integral to what they do, but each item represents a part of their life story. For this reason, few items are as unique or as treasured as those crafted from parts of monsters slain by the adventurer himself. Anyone with enough coin can own a +2 suit of steel plate armor. A custom-made one crafted from the scales of an iron gorgon, however, tells the world that the wearer is an individual capable of defeating such a beast. All that is required to own these items is a little luck and skill on the part of the adventurer to harvest the parts from the fallen beast, find a skilled craftsmen and commission the new magic item.

Finding and Working with Craftsmen

To commission these items, the adventurers need to find a master craftsman. Not every weaponmaker can craft a mace from a manticore’s tail just as not every leatherworker knows the secrets of a destrachan’s hide. One way to convey this information in the game world is to have a custom-crafted item be part of or the purpose of a quest. Perhaps a pack of shadow hounds is harassing a local town and the head of its guard mentions a nearby tanner who can preserve the hounds’ hides and a seamstress who can turn them into a fine cloak.

Another way to inform the PCs is to make this information available as part of a streetwise check (easy DC). For instance, if the characters need to perform a complicated ritual in an area frequently hit by lightning, the wizard may recall the story of a similar situation (history or arcana, moderate DC) where the caster used a staff made from the appendages of a shambling mound to protect him against the hazard. Through a streetwise check, the party learns of a nearby craftsman who is capable of making such a weapon.

Once they find a master craftsman, the characters negotiate the manufacture of their item. Many craftsman desire these jobs as they show off their skills and fine workmanship. In addition, this work is often a welcomed respite from the more mundane items they are asked to produce.

The items created are one level lower than the originating creature. By providing the raw materials, the character receives a 20% discount on the cost of the item. Many vendors barter for additional raw materials, reducing the price further. If PCs prefer gold instead of the discount, they may sell the materials for 50% of the discount amount. However, not all merchants have that amount of gold available to them.

Harvesting

After a suitable creature is found and killed, characters need to process the remains. A PC does this through a harvest check which represents her ability to dismember the creature in the field.

Harvest check (skill based on monster keyword, moderate DC based on the creature’s level) - Characters may make only one check on a creature’s body. Failure renders the remains unusable. The harvest process takes 1 hour although the time is reduced to 30 minutes if the check result succeeds by 5 or more.

Preserving

For longer term storage and transport, the parts need to be preserved. Characters without preservation powder need to make a heal check once per day (moderate DC based on origin creature’s level) to determine if the items they are carrying have degraded. They make one check for all the items they are carrying. After three failed checks, the item has degraded to the point of being useless. Feel free to make this optional if your players aren't interested in making preservation checks.

Preservation Powder - These small crystals prevent decay and extend the storage time of materials.
Level 5 - Extends the storage time to 30 days from kill. Cost: 20 GP
Level 15 - Extends the storage time to 60 days from kill. Cost: 40 GP
Level 25 - Extends the storage time to 90 days from kill. Cost: 80 GP

Skills to Keywords

Arcana - Construct, Elemental, Fey, Shadow
Dungeoneering - Aberrant
Nature - Natural
Religion - Immortal, Undead

Harvesting Kit - Contained in a medium-sized leather roll, a harvesting kit contains the tools needed to skin beasts, pry off exoskeletons and store the remains. This kit grants a +2 bonus to the harvest skill check. It costs 50 GP and weighs 5 pounds.

Example Magic Items

Destrachan Armor - Level 8

Carefully stitched together from destrachan hides, this close-fitting armor augments the wearer’s hearing and attacks while quieting his movements.
Armor: leather, hide
Enhancement: +2 AC
Property: You gain resist 5 thunder damage.
Property: You gain a +2 item bonus to perception and stealth checks.

Iron Gorgon Armor - Level 10

Formed from the scales of an iron gorgon, this suit of armor helps defenders stand their ground and avoid being turned to stone.
Armor: Plate
Enhancement: +2 AC
Property: At the end of your turn, if you are petrified, remove the condition.
Power (Encounter): Immediate Interrupt. Trigger: You are hit with a power with a push, pull or slide effect. Effect: You may make a saving throw with a +2 item bonus against the forced movement.

Shambling Mound Weapon - Level 8

Woven from the ropelike arms of a shambling mound, this weapon allows the wielder to absorb part of a lightning attack and then redirect it to another target.
Weapon: Staff, Spear, Polearm, Whip
Enhancement: +2 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +2d6 damage
Property: When you wield this weapon, you gain resist 5 lightning damage. If you are hit with an attack with the lightning keyword, you add +1d6 lightning damage to the first damage roll before the end of your next turn.
Power (Daily * Lightning): Immediate Interrupt. Trigger: You are hit by a power with the lightning keyword. Effect: You take half damage. Choose one creature within 5 squares of you. That creature takes the remainder of the damage. If you do not choose a creature, you take full damage.

Manticore Mace - Level 9

Thick iron spikes protrude out of this fearsome mace. On a hit, they break off deep in their victim’s flesh only to regenerate over the course of the day.
Weapon: Mace
Enhancement: +2 attack rolls and damage rolls.
Critical: +2d6 damage
Property: When you hit with a melee basic attack, the target gains ongoing 2 damage (save ends).
Power (Daily): Free Action. Trigger: You hit with an attack using this weapon. Effect: Close burst 1. All creatures in the burst take 2 ongoing damage (save ends) and are pushed 1 square.

Hooked Horror Polearm - Level 12

Crafted from the arm of a hooked horror, this weapon increases momentum and ensures the creature stays where directed.
Weapon: Polearm
Enhancement: +3 to attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +3d6 damage
Property: If an attack made with this polearm causes a pull or slide effect, increase the distance of that effect by 1 square and the target is restrained (save ends).

Shadow Hound Cloak - Level 5

Coveted by assassins, this cloak deepens the shadows around it, hiding the wearer until the time is right for the perfect strike.
Item Slot: Neck
Enhancement: +1 Fortitude, Reflex and Will
Property: When you teleport next to an enemy, you gain combat advantage against it until the end of your turn and you gain a +2 item bonus to a damage roll you make this turn.
Power (Daily): Minor Action. When you activate this power, you gain an aura 1 until the end of your next turn. The aura reduces bright light to dim and dim light to darkness.

Kruthik Bracers - Level 3

The hard exoskeleton of the adult kruthik is lined with poisonous spikes which penetrate the enemies defenses when you get up close and personal.
Item Slot: Arms
Property: When you hit with a melee basic attack, you deal an extra 2 poison damage.
Property: When you have a creature grabbed, the target receives a -2 penalty to escape checks.