Badass Dungeon Crushers - Retrospective

Readers,

I bid you all a fond farewell, as this will almost certainly be the last post here on DMG42. I am happy, then, to make the capstone achievement of this little D&D blog be a summary and retrospective on the most exciting, intense, and satisfying D&D campaign I've ever run: Badass Dungeon Crushers. For those unfamiliar, BDC took nine Fourthcore dungeons, linked them all together through various means (hidden stairs, teleportation gates, etc.), and had a team of dungeoneers draw from a finite number of 50 total characters (whose race and class were determined randomly) attempt to defeat all nine dungeons.

Eleven survived.

Traps, puzzles, and horrible death was the name of the game. Blood stained the walls of this utterly brutal campaign. It was an absolute blast and taught us all many valuable lessons. Read on below for the players' look back, also provided in convenient PDF form. Follow up questions and comments can always be left here and will be forwarded on to the players as appropriate.

• BDC Campaign Primer
• BDC Campaign Log
• BDC Graveyard
• BDC Retrospective (PDF)

Salut!

Megadungeon: Equipment

I don't like the standard D&D system of equipment on multiple levels. In general, the equipment and magic item rules in 4E D&D are pointless and tedious.

In actual play, I find that the 4E magic item distribution rules encourage hoarding of consumable items, which essentially removes those items completely from play as the dungeoneers are always holding onto them for some non-existent "Final Need".

I don't like tracking encumbrance; at best it is tedious, at worst it is ignored. An ignored rule has no effect on the game and thus might as well not exist.

Badass.

Additionally, I find that wealth and coinage in D&D is almost entirely pointless beyond magic item creation, a subject I'll be getting into at another time. Mundane equipment and almost all Rituals are laughably cheap. If everything can be bought with no trouble, why bother with wealth at all?

Finally, there is the 4E "Magic Item Arms Race", a subject I've spoken on before, which irks me to no end by removing the wonder and excitement from magic items.

Here's how I fixed these problems for my Fourthcore Megadungeon.

Megadungeon: Character Death

After the introduction into my Fourthcore Megadungeon (linked here), the question was asked of me:

"Dear Mega-Dungeon Master Ross,

How do you run an extended [Fourthcore] campaign with all the dying? Doesn't that get old/boring/difficult to maintain continuity/messy?"

and here, I shall reply with a quote:

" Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing."

-Tyler Durden

LET ME EXPLAIN FURTHER

The Great Fourthcore Megadungeon

BADASS DUNGEON CRUSHERS (BDC) is the tongue-in-cheek name given to my currently running Fourthore Megadungeon D&D campaign. The name stems from the Dungeon Bastard post awhile back (linked here) and captures the spirit of competitiveness and struggle in our games, and also meshes perfectly with the level of self-awareness my group has for how ridiculous even the most "serious" of roleplaying games are. This campaign started up as a series of responses to problems I had been having both in and out of the game world. This series of posts on DMG42 will be going through those problems and the solutions we came up with in the hopes that you, the reader, can take our example and improve your own games.

Synergies and verisimilitude of the system, both mechanical elements and the campaign world, were very important to me and at the forefront of my thinking during design  Synergies help create a unifying sense of immersion in the game. With each piece of the puzzle that interacts and fits with the other pieces  the whole of the campaign is strengthened. So, I'll also be talking about how each of these pieces interacts with the others.

Today's post will talk about some of the overarching goals and big picture design ideas I had in mind for this campaign.

SND-02: OOC

Starting Monday August 20th, DMG 42 will be hosting a play-by-post delve of SND-02: Fane of the Heresiarch.This post will be used, starting now, for Out Of Character discussions by the players. It is done here in public, as opposed to private emails; for the amusement of the adventure's author, the Dungeon Master, and those Fourthcore Fanatic whom are lurking among the shadows. I will be periodically shifting the post date to stay one step behind the most current PbP room.

UPDATE: The Comment limit has been quickly reached! In lieu of creating many many OOC posts for the remainder of the adventure, the dungeoneers are now simply emailing each other for coordination. Sorry, lurkers! It's just too much hassle.

Fane of the Heresiarch

If you're not already watching Save Versus Death like a hawk (and if you read this blog ... really?), then I can't say enough that you should click over there right now and download the newest free Fourthcore adventure: Fane of the Heresiarch.

'Fane' is an amazing adventure, taking the ideals set forth in last year's Revenge of the Iron Lich and amping it up to 11. It's an ultra deadly psychological journey of discovery through the nature of religion and faith. You also kill badass monsters and loot their awesome stuff! I'd love to say more, but I don't want to spoil all the surprises in store for you.

Lastly, I wrote the Pregen Character Sheets to it. If nothing else, go over there and see how an expert D&D player puts hard work and skill into their craft.

http://slamdancr.com/wp/2012/07/fane-of-the-heresiarch/

More Doors

Having finished running through my 4E conversion of Chris Perkins' adventure Lich-Queen's Beloved, I've learned a few lessons about dungeons and adventure design. One of these is the importance of the architectural environment and the very elements of the dungeon itself. In Lich Queen's Beloved, the environment of the dungeon takes on an interesting role and challenge in and of itself in the adventure, namely in the types of doors that are encountered. Doors, I feel, are an oft overlooked source of hazards, terrain effects, challenges, and provocative dungeon dressing. At the end of this post, I also briefly touch upon a way in which we can all design dungeons with better (ie. more fun) secret doors.

What I'm trying to say is that we simply need more doors.

The Seven Sons of Moradin - actual play log

By reader request, I've linked and opened up the Google Docs continuing log of The Seven Sons of Moradin D&D campaign that I play in on Thurday nights. It's pretty neat to read, as many of the recent innovative posts here at DMG42 were created through its play, such as the popular Death and Reincarnation mechanics.

The notes are written very hastily, during the middle of the game, while we're drinking beers. So, it's a little sloppy at times, but very natural and organic, taking place entirely from the players' perspectives and relaying information that we find important without the shadow of the DM's plot schemes hanging over the descriptions.

Scenes from PAX East

Worth a thousand words, right? Here are some snapshots of some of my my D&D activities last weekend.

WotC's booth in the exhibitor hall with a huge ass Lolth statue

PAX East 2012 DM Challange

Pregame setup

PAX East 2012 has come and gone in a whirlwind of activity. Among my favorite events this year, as was last year, was WotC's DM Challenge. Although I found many of the same troubles and frustrations as before, this time around proved to be at least a little more fruitful, in no small part to hard work done at Dungeon Oracle.

Reincarnation and a Fun Way to Die

Update: I'm not as clever as I thought! Rob Schwalb did something similar awhile ago here.

In addition to my own Dungeon Mastering, I also am able to step around to the other side of the screen (metaphorically, since we don’t use screens anymore) and play the other half of the game. Not only is it a ton of fun, but it also gives me some insight onto what it’s like to be on the receiving end of some deadly dungeons. This post talks about some interesting and fun mechanics we created to handle the issues we were  having with death and resurrection in D&D.

Exploring the Lich-Queen's Beloved (Part 7)

This post continues to document the journey through The Lich-Queen's Beloved (4E). The up to date conversion and latest notes and changes inspired by the actual play can be found here. Have at thee!


IF YOU ARE PLAYING IN THIS CAMPAIGN, DON'T READ THIS

Exploring the Lich-Queen's Beloved (Part 6)

This post continues to document the journey through The Lich-Queen's Beloved (4E). The up to date conversion and latest notes and changes inspired by the actual play can be found here. Have at thee!

IF YOU ARE PLAYING IN THIS CAMPAIGN, DON'T READ THIS

The hatchery is a secret location in Vor Rukoth that Abilene has created . She has agreed to help repopulate the devastated Dragonborn species in exchange for their (literally) undying loyalty.

Exploring the Lich-Queen's Beloved: Part 5

This post continues to document the journey through The Lich-Queen's Beloved (4E). The up to date conversion and latest notes and changes inspired by the actual play can be found here. Have at thee!

IF YOU ARE PLAYING IN THIS CAMPAIGN, DON'T READ THIS

Damage Adjustment Follow-up & Nightmare Mode

Last week, I posted a short exercise in seeing how expected creature damage expressions stacked up against expected dungeoneer hit points through the entirety of their careers (Levels 1 through 30). What was found, very convincingly, was that as Level increased, creature damage expressions became less and less potent compared to the ever-expanding dungeoneer hit point totals. Looking at this, I asked the question, "If the math involved in Level 1 creatures vs. Level 1 dungeoneers is taken as an ideal, how would that translate to all of the other Levels? The answer came out that, to keep pace with the amount of threat from Level 1, damage expressions need a significant boost even as low as the mid-Heroic Tier.

A very interesting counter-exercise was then posted by The Hydra DM looking to see the inverse: if Level 30 is taken as an ideal, what does that make Level 1 damage expressions look like? the answer, of course, being that Level 1 damage expression become laughably low, which then suggests that published Level 30 damage expressions have been laughably low. Compound this with the ever-increasing means that high level dungeoneers have of negating or avoiding damage, and you can clearly see a complete lack of any real threat at high level play.

This post expands upon my first, by providing a few more Levels of examination to give guidelines for Deity-Level opponents, providing PDFs of the assembled charts, as well as the original calculations in MS Excel format.

PAX East Fourthcore Team Deathmatch Tournament

The PAX East schedule is finally up! Check out what's going on on the convention and email Senor Ross to reserve your place in the Fourthcore Team Deathmatch tournament! Each member of the winning team receives a copy of the Fourthcore Armory (Extended Edition) as well as an exclusive Fourthcore Team Deathmatch dice bag by from the illustrious Dragonchow Dice Bags!

Also, be on the lookout for Ross helping out with a few official Wizards of the Coast events during the rest of the long weekend; namely the D&D Next Playtest and the DM's Challenge.

What are you waiting for?

GO FORTH AND DIE!!!

The Three Pillars of Fourthcore

Recently, the idea of describing Dungeons & Dragons by three generalized spheres of play, three pillars if you will, has come into popular usage; those three pillars being roleplaying, exploration, and combat. I think it’s a nice way to organize the game and a good tool to have and think about when designing a dungeon and/or adventure.

Here’s a prediction of mine, or perhaps a mild suggestion to Wizards of the Coast: If the three pillars concept describes the core values of any Dungeons & Dragons game, the very basics that are going on here, then those ought to be the three most core, most basic, most necessary releases for D&D Next. Yes, I’m talking about the PHB, DMG, and MM.

Furthermore, I believe that any successful Fourthcore dungeon must be tested against three additional pillars: strategy, tactics, and luck. Whether you are designing a Fourthcore dungeon or preparing to delve into one, you must ask yourself if you are prepared to conquer these three additional foci.

Revenge of the Iron Lich: Alternate Spells

image from lostinschlock.blogspot.com

To commemorate the 1 year anniversary of Revenge of the Iron Lich, here is an alternate spell list for the Iron Lich and its closest advisers, the Congregation of Lich Necromancers. These are designed as power swaps, meant to replace the indicated spells from the original Revenge of Lich with alternatives that present the dungeoneers with new challenges and increase the replayability and unpredictability of the original adventure. Many of the spells' effects were chosen to mimic the overall effects of the original design, but in a new and interesting way.

CSR in the media

In case you haven't seen these (and I'd be surprised if you read this blog and haven't), I've been out and about in the wild at a couple of locations:

• Narrating/hosting the Fourthcore Team Deathmatch actual play video on YouTube
• Doing a bit of blah blah blah with Sersa Victory and Dan Roanoke about Revenge of the Iron Lich

Exploring the Lich-Queen's Beloved, Part 4

This post continues to document the journey through The Palace of Whispers, as started here. This post will actually be recapping two week's worth of play (again). Have at thee!

IF YOU ARE PLAYING IN THIS CAMPAIGN, DON'T READ THIS