StarCraft Gamma World: Starships

Intro & Rules * Tokens & Sample Characters * Backgrounds, Equipment, Upgrades * Starships * The Prisoner coming soon!

Starship Combat

Enemy starships are added to combat encounters much the same way as standard creatures, each contributing their designated XP to the encounter total. Enemy starships, obviously, are only appropriate in encounters where they can threaten and interact with starships under the command or protection of the adventurers. Non-Combat vessels are ships that do not possess any weapons that are dangerous to other ships, but often represent support craft, transports, civilian vessels, and other targets of opportunity.


Vessels in combat are considered to be continually moving under their respective propulsion systems and inertia, and do not require a specific action to control. Starship positions relative to each other are not physically represented, but are instead assumed to be moving about on the battlefield at some distance to each other.

Fourthcore Team Deathmatch: Character Sheet Contest!

Introduction & Rules + Maps + Ladder & Teams + Frequently Asked Questions

I'm officially announcing a new contest related to the Fourthcore Team Deathmatch: Character Sheets!

Many D&D enthusiasts have come to me, excited and bubbling over the idea of a D&D team deathmatch. However, they are saddened, as their schedule simply cannot allow them to come to GenCon and participate in the bloodbath. Now, those who cannot be there in person have a way to influence the deathmatch.

At GenCon, a stack of approximately 20 pre-generated character sheets will be available for anyone playing in the Fourthcore Team Deathmatch to use. These characters will be designed by you, the reader, to help your fellow Man in their epic struggle for survival.

I am looking for pre-generated 1st Level character sheets, following the rules stated for the Fourthcore Team Deathmatch. All character sheets must have a custom layout, such as those created for SND-02 PreGens. Any direct, unaltered printings from DDi Character Builder is lazy and unbecoming of a serious 4E player. Optimization, creativity, and ease of use are the three most important criteria.

The author of any character sheet used by any of the players in the final match will receive full scale, color print outs of each of the three maps used in the Fourthcore Team Deathmatch. A small memento, and a way for all of us to say 'thanks'.

When accepted, character sheet will be made available here for preview.

Blade of the Feywild Thunderdome

A player in my home campaign was bringing a new character into the group, his previous character having died in the deadly halls of The Iron Lich. He wanted to play an Elven Avenger, out for vengeance against the wretched defilers who had desecrated the resting place of his ancestors via the Garden of Graves in the 4E Tomb of Horrors. As per our campaign House Rules, the player was allowed to start his character with a powerful magic item, however it had to be carefully crafted by both himself and the Dungeon Master. The item needed to be beneficial, but also have drawbacks or hindrances that must be overcome by its user. The player wanted to emphasize the Avenger theme of a duel to the death, and really enjoyed the mechanics behind Adventurers Vault 2’s arcane immurements, the magic “snow globes” that trap people in them. With this in mind, we crafted the Blade of the Feywild Thunderdome. The magic sword whisks the wielder and his opponent away to a secluded battle arena, where they must fight to the death. This suits the Avenger theme perfectly by completely isolating the Avenger’s target. It is also very dangerous, however, as a few bad rolls or crit’ing a Solo or Elite enemy can quickly spell disaster.

Labyrinth of the Underdark

from the movie Labyrinth (1986)

Many times in D&D, I have tried (or read an adventure that tried) to create a scenario with the dungeoneers trapped in some sort of maze which they must find their way out of. Time and again, however, the adventure idea has fallen on its face. I've had boring, uninspired implementations one after another. I've done timed pan and paper maze puzzles, skill challenges, complex dungeon tile setups; you name it. While helping out on some work on a Project That Shall Not Be Named, I was inspired by the author to create a card-based mini-game to represent the maze that is the namesake of H2: Thunderspire Labyrinth.

Encounter: Astral Ambush

Astral Ambush

Encounter Level 18 (2,000 XP each)

Background

Astral Ambush is a complex encounter I ran for my D&D game. The encounter centers around a derelict Arkhosian Destroyer, a prized warship ready for the taking. The ship is a tempting target for the party, bait to lure them on board. Nearby, however, are several environmental hazards and hiding on board the ship is a lurking villain. Astral Ambush uses the Starship Combat rules provided here, however the encounter can easily be altered to be applicable to an open sea environment.

Magic Item Black Market

from http://www.travelpod.com 

Recently, I was presented with the exciting opportunity to start up a new D&D campaign from scratch. I generally enjoy this aspect of the Dungeon Master’ing experience. I’m an organized, planning-ahead kind of person by nature, and the start of a new campaign gives ample opportunity to put those tendencies to good use.

One of the complaints from this group of players during the last game we had was the overall lack of magic items and loot. During that campaign, I opted to use the inherent enhancement bonus option from DMG2 and use a handful of very special, powerful, almost artifact-like magic items through the entirety of the game world. I also banned the enchant magic item and disenchant magic item rituals, and the related martial practices. This allowed me to keep magic rare and special in the world, to give it a sense of wonder and mystery. My efforts fell on deaf ears, however, as the players preferred to haul away barrels full of loot. They missed the +1 magic longswords, having some sense of nostalgia for their prior adventures in that style. Being the manager of this dog and pony show, I acquiesced to my audience and went back to Rules-As-Written magic item distribution. I would even let the dungeoneers (gasp!) buy magic items.

Deathmatch Podcast & Updates

A 4th Edition podcasting blog, A Roving Band of Misfits, has posted a podcast where they start out excitedly talking about the Fourthcore Team Deathmatch. All this support and excitement has gotten me very encouraged! I can't wait! There has also been talk from Benoit's side about some very special treats for some lucky teams in the Deathmatch. More details will be dropped as things progress!

As I write this, we're at 23 31 players signed up! Only 1 ticket remaining! I see this event easily selling out by the end of the week. I thank you all for your love of killing your fellow man.

With that in mind, please make sure to get in touch with me and get your team squared away. I'd hate to have to do all that messy administrative juggling at GenCon, splicing together teams and all, when we could be better spending our time telefragging.