Magic Item: Ring of the Dragonborn Emperor

The Ring of the Dragonborn Emperor               Magic Item
The signet ring worn by the dragonborn emperors for millennia. It is a symbol of power and a badge of office. The haunting echoes of the Arkhosian ancestors that ruled in times past make their presence felt to any who bears such a magnificent artifact.

The Five-Headed Vice + Property                                                                You must hoard one-quarter of all monetary wealth the party receives in your lair. Your lair can be any permanent, secure structure or hidden location of your choosing. If there is ever less than one-quarter of the party's monetary wealth stored in your lair, you lose the ability to use any encounter or daily attack powers granted by your class.

Additionally, you know the exact monetary value of any gems, jewelry, or art objects within your line of sight.

Draconic Fury + Property                                                                           
You deal an additional 1d12 damage on critical hits while bloodied.

Dragon’s Breath (fire) + At -Will                                                              Standard Action                                                Close blast 3
Target: Each creature in blast
Attack: Level + 3 vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d12 + Level fire damage.

Ancestral Wings + At -Will                                                                      
Move Action                                                        Personal
Effect: Fly up to 6 squares and grant combat advantage to all attackers until the end of your next turn.

Magic Items in D&D

I feel that magic items are another proud nail in the 4E design. Don't get me wrong, out of all the editions of D&D and all the RPGs that I've had the pleasure of playing, 4th Edition, as always, pulls through with one of the most useful, creative, and robust systems out there.

But it's just not quite where I want it. There are a few points to it that bug me and don't work the way I'd like them to, rules as written at least. I'm obviously not the first perosn to write about these things, so please don't go thinking I'm some sort of insightful genius into a realm that no one else has tread. although I do think that I have a pretty elegant solution.

For one, I really don't like what I call the "enhancement bonus arms race". By this, I mean the constant upgrading, buying, and selling of magi items to keep the PCs enhancement bonus, their gear's 'plus', in the right range for their level. Even dropping down to just the three basics: weapon/implement, neck, armor; the games I've run with this idea the magic items feel cheap and common. Really cool abilities and effects are tossed aside in favor of a bigger enhancement bonus. Opening up a treasure chest or looting the corpse of a powerful foe begins to take on the qualities of buying groceries at the store. The items get predictable, and the rate of getting the items is quick and consistant. Or if it's not, the players rightfully call foul.

So, I want to bring a sense of wonder, imagination, amusement, and wait for it, magic back into items. The first step was getting rid of enhancement bonuses in items, and using the inherent enhancement bonus as presented in the DMG2. I use slightly different levels for when PCs receive the bonus (X3rd and X7th), but that's really splitting hairs*. Using the inherent enhancement bonus means that, in theory, the PCs don't even need magic items. If placing a magic item in the story makes sense, I do it. If it doesnt, then I don't. I really feel like D&D and the RPG hobby in general is going this way, as we all get a much better grasp on the mechanics of game design and enjoy the benefits of this currently optional ruleset in our home games. It's built into Gamma World (in a sense), it'll be built into the next iteration of what the designers at WotC are doing right now. Just like when Star Wars Saga Edition debuted new mechanics (swift/minor actions, simplified conditions, 5 minute spell recharge, etc.) and they ended up prominantly in D&D 4E.

Whoa, I'm rambling. Back on track...

Secondly, I want all of my magic items to come with a great cost. In countless literary sources, a magic item has been a thing of dangerous power. The One Ring of Power in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is a great example. In fact in the expanded literary works of Tolkien, there are many more examples of magic items that have caused both harm and good. The blade Anglachel is a good example, of which I will at one point post up my interpretation of. Not only that, but having great drawbacks in magic items forces yet another interesting decision point on the player. Do I bring this magic item with my character? Do the costs outwiegh the benefits? Some magic items may have minor drawbacks that only serve to add flavor to an encounter when they come up. Ah! The sword's curse bites you in the ass this fight! Others are a day-to-day event.

Lastly, and very importantly, the items need to have wicked cool powers. A cursed items is going to be dropped real quick unless you have some very tempting bait for the player making the decisions; either in the vein of more powerful effects (such as using a common magic item's effect from the next tier up), or something just bizarre and a little unpredictable. Think of the Deck of Many Things, and just tone it down a bit.

One house rule that I've been implementing in conjunction with these new magic items has been that PC's are not allowed access to the enchant magic item and disenchant magic item rituals, although I have allowed all of the players to try their hand at creating a starting magic item for their character. I'm not really sure how I want to handle this one. Magic item creation is definitely a part of D&D culture, as it were. Maybe I'll write more about this on another post.

This of course brings up something that's been on my mind lately: Essentials' magic item rarity. With the new common/uncommon/rare setup, it's entirely possibly that WotC has beaten me to the punch on this one. We'll see how it is when these rare's start cropping up in official WotC products, although after seeing a really bitchin' Tome in a recent Chaos Scar adventure, I'm very excited and optimistic.

With all this in mind, be prepared to see a new, updated model for the evocative Ring of the Dragonborn Emperor. I'll be posting that on this coming Tuesday, I believe.

* Why 3rd and 7th levels for the inherent enhancement bonus? I like to keep the PCs' attack and defense numbers at a smooth transition. When you get big jumps in the numbers, you end up with entire levels where the PCs' aer "behind the numbers curve" and/or ahead of it. I don't like that. Bad math makes bad encounters which ruins my medieval experience. So, having enhancement bonus bumps at even numbered levels doesn't work, since everyone's getting the "+1/2 level" boost. It's especially wonky at 4th and/or 8th when the PCs are getting a bump due to increased ability scores. Also, pushing the enhancement bonus increase to the edge of the Tier (at 9th) would put the PCs pretty far behind the curve for a lot of their adventuring careers. Thus, I've found 3rd and 7th levels to be pretty sweet spots for throwing in enhancement bonuses.

Terrain Power: Collapsing Column/House/Tower

Here's something I've used before to great effect. It is fun and full of destruction. I gaurantee that when you put one (or several) of these in an encounter, fun things happen. The basic premise is that the encounter features a tall structure with an unstable point near the base. A character comes up, pushes or hits the thing in just the right spot, and it comes crumbling down. At heroic, the effect is represented well with some ancient ruins (think of The Pantheon ruins in Greece); at Paragon Tier, a three-story house; at Epic Tier, your players are knocking over entire castle towers.

The mechanics were inspired by the wizard spell Wake of Fire from Class Acts: Wizard in Dragon 388. The gist of it is a three-stage collapse with the tower/house/column twisting in whatever way the character decides during its descent. You end up with a very cinematic effect. What more can I say, this one is really cool.

c Collapsing Column                                       Single Use Terrain (Level 5)
You find the weak spot in the structure of the ancient ruins and give it a good hit.Single Use
Standard Action                                                Close blast 2
Check: Dungeoneering DC 22
Target: Each creature in blast.
Attack: +10 vs. Armor Class
Hit: 2d8+10 damage and the target is knocked prone.
Miss: Half damage.
Effect: The zone becomes difficult terrain, and make a second attack
using any square along the edge of the blast as the origin square.
Secondary Target: Each creature in a close blast 2.                               
Secondary Attack: +10 vs. Armor Class                                                   
Hit: 2d8+10 damage and the target is knocked prone.                            
Miss: Half damage.                                                                                       
Effect: The zone becomes difficult terrain, and make a third attack      
using any square along the edge of the blast as the origin square.     
Tertiary Target: Each creature in a close blast 2.
Tertairy Attack: +10 vs. Armor Class
Hit: 2d8+10 damage and the target is knocked prone.
Miss: Half damage.
Effect: The zone becomes difficult terrain.


c Collapsing House                                   Single Use Terrain (Level 15)
You find the weak spot in the structure of the house and give it a good hit.Single Use
Standard Action                                             Close blast 3
Check: Dungeoneering DC 30
Target: Each creature in blast.
Attack: +20 vs. Armor Class
Hit: 2d12+21 damage and the target is knocked prone.
Miss: Half damage.
Effect: The zone becomes difficult terrain, and make a second attack using any square along the edge of the blast as the origin square.
Secondary Target: Each creature in a close blast 3.                              
Secondary Attack: +20 vs. Armor Class                                                 
Hit: 2d12+21 damage and the target is knocked prone.                       
Miss: Half damage.                                                                                    
Effect: The zone becomes difficult terrain, and make a third attack   
using any square along the edge of the blast as the origin square.  
Tertiary Target: Each creature in a close blast 3.
Tertairy Attack: +20 vs. Armor Class
Hit: 2d12+21 damage and the target is knocked prone.
Miss: Half damage.
Effect: The zone becomes difficult terrain.


c Collapsing Tower                                 Single Use Terrain (Level 25)
You find the weak spot in the structure of the castle tower and give it a good hit.Single Use
Standard Action                                         Close blast 5
Check: Dungeoneering DC 38
Target: Each creature in blast.
Attack: +30 vs. Armor Class
Hit: 4d8+30 damage and the target is knocked prone.
Miss: Half damage.
Effect: The zone becomes difficult terrain, and make a second attack using any square along the edge of the blast as the origin square.
Secondary Target: Each creature in a close blast 5.                        
Secondary Attack: +30 vs. Armor Class                                            
Hit: 4d8+30 damage and the target is knocked prone.                     
Miss: Half damage.                                                                                
Effect: The zone becomes difficult terrain, and make a third attack
using any square along the edge of the blast as the origin square.
Tertiary Target: Each creature in a close blast 5.
Tertairy Attack: +30 vs. Armor Class
Hit: 4d8+30 damage and the target is knocked prone.
Miss: Half damage.
Effect: The zone becomes difficult terrain.

Heroic Tier Mounts (MM)

Following up on my previous post, here is my write-up of all of the Monster Manual mounts; which is to say, all the creatures in the MM that have a mount keyword. In the future, I'll be writing up additional mounts that either do not traditionally have a mount keyword, or that should have one. I wrote these up actually quite awhile ago, hence the older style stat block formatting.

I strongly recommend that if you're planning on using these mounts in your own game, that their stat blocks and additional rules be presented to your players early and in a clear way.
Not only have mounts had their usual shortcomings in terms of game mechanics, but their stats have also been traditionally hidden away in the Monster Manual; domain of teh dreaded Dungeon Master. Open these up for the players at your table, and get their imaginations going.

HEROIC TIER MOUNTS

========================

Warhorse Large Mount
Cost 380 gp
HP 29; Bloodied 14; see also out of control
AC 17; Fortitude 16, Reflex 14, Will 14
Speed 8
Ride (move; at-will)
The warhorse moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The warhorse turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the warhorse, or if the warhorse is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control. When the warhorse is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Charger (while mounted by a friendly rider of 3rd level or higher) + Mount
The warhorse grants its rider a +5 bonus to damage rolls on charge attacks

Giant Ant Large Mount
Cost 420 gp
HP 27; Bloodied 13; see also out of control
AC 18; Fortitude 17, Reflex 17, Will 14
Speed 9
Ride (move; at-will)
The giant ant moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The giant ant turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the giant ant, or if the giant ant is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the giant ant is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Skitter (while mounted by a friendly rider of 4th level or higher) + Mount
The giant ant shifts 2 squares instead of 1 square when it shifts.

Riding Dolphin Large Mount (aquatic)
Cost 550 gp
HP 40; Bloodied 20; see also out of control
AC 17; Fortitude 19, Reflex 17, Will 15
Speed swim 6
Ride (move; at-will)
The riding dolphin moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The riding dolphin turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the riding dolphin, or if the riding dolphin is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the riding dolphin is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Aquatic Charge (while mounted by a friendly rider of 5th level or higher) + Mount
The riding dolphin’s rider deals +1d10 damage on charge attacks. While in water, the rider also gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls against creatures without a swim speed.

Rage Drake Large Mount
Cost 550 gp
HP 38; Bloodied 19; see also out of control
AC 17; Fortitude 17, Reflex 15, Will 15
Speed 8
Ride (move; at-will)
The rage drake moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The rage drake turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the rage drake, or if the rage drake is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the rage drake is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Raging Mount (while mounted by a friendly rider of 5th level or higher) + Mount
The rage drake grants its rider a +2 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls with melee attacks.

Dire Wolf Large Mount
Cost 550 gp
HP 33; Bloodied 16; see also out of control
AC 19; Fortitude 18, Reflex 17, Will 16
Speed 8
Ride (move; at-will)
The dire wolf moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The dire wolf turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the dire wolf, or if the dire wolf is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the dire wolf is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Pack Hunter (while mounted by a friendly rider of 5th level or higher) + Mount
The dire wolf’s rider gains combat advantage against an enemy if it has at least one ally other than its mount adjacent to the target.

Pegasus Large Mount
Cost 550 gp
HP 32; Bloodied 16; see also out of control
AC 18; Fortitude 17, Reflex 15, Will 13
Speed 4, fly 10, overland flight 15
Ride (move; at-will)
The pegasus moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The pegasus turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the pegasus, or if the pegasus is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the pegasus is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Aerial Agility (while mounted by a friendly rider of 5th level or higher) + Mount
While flying, a pegasus grants its rider a +1 bonus to all defenses.

Hippogriff Large Mount
Cost 550 gp
HP 33; Bloodied 16; see also out of control
AC 21; Fortitude 21, Reflex 19, Will 17
Speed 4, fly 6, overland flight 12
Ride (move; at-will)
The hippogriff moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The hippogriff turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the hippogriff, or if the hippogriff is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the hippogriff is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Sturdy Mount (while mounted by a friendly rider of 5th level or higher) + Mount
When the hippogriff is forced to move, it moves 1 less square than normal. When an attack would knock it or its rider prone, the hippogriff can roll an immediate saving throw to prevent it or its rider from falling prone.

Giant Riding Lizard Large Mount
Cost 1,000 gp
HP 45; Bloodied 22; see also out of control
AC 18; Fortitude 20, Reflex 18, Will 14
Speed 4, climb 4
Ride (move; at-will)
The giant riding lizard moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The giant riding lizard turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the giant riding lizard, or the giant riding lizard is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the giant riding lizard is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Combined Attack (while mounted by a friendly rider of 6th level or higher; at-will) + Mount
When the giant riding lizard’s rider makes a melee attack against an adjacent target and hits, the giant riding lizard can make a claw attack against the same target.
m Bite (standard; at-will)
+10 vs. AC; 2d6+5 damage.

Dire Boar Large Mount
Cost 1,000 gp
HP 42; Bloodied 21; see also out of control
AC 17; Fortitude 21, Reflex 17, Will 16
Speed 8
Ride (move; at-will)
The dire boar moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The dire boar turns up to 90 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the dire boar, or the dire boar is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the dire boar is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Rabid Charger (while mounted by a friendly rider of 6th level or higher; at-will) + Mount
When the rider makes a charge attack, the dire boar makes a gore attack against the same target.
m Gore (standard; at-will)
+9 vs. AC; 1d10+4 damage, the target is pushed 2 squares and knocked prone.

Rhinoceros Large Mount
Cost 1,500 gp
HP 41; Bloodied 20; see also out of control
AC 23; Fortitude 23, Reflex 21, Will 18
Speed 6
Ride (move; at-will)
The rhinoceros moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The rhinoceros turns up to 90 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the rhinoceros, or if the rhinoceros is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the rhinoceros is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Crushing Charge (while mounted by a friendly rider of 7th level or higher; at-will) + Mount
When the rhino’s rider makes a charge attack, the rhinoceros can make a gore attack against the same target.
m Gore (standard; at-will)
+13 vs. AC; 2d6+5 damage.

Griffon Large Mount
Cost 1,500 gp
HP 49; Bloodied 24; see also out of control
AC 18; Fortitude 19, Reflex 15, Will 14
Speed 6, fly 10, overland flight 15
Ride (move; at-will)
The griffon moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The griffon turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the griffon, or if the griffon is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the griffon is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Rabid Charger (while mounted by a friendly rider of 7th level or higher; at-will) + Mount
When the griffon’s rider makes a charge attack, the griffon can make two claw attacks against the same target.
m Claw (standard; at-will)
+10 vs. AC; 2d6+7 damage.

Riding Shark Large Mount (aquatic)
Cost 1,900 gp
HP 44; Bloodied 22; see also out of control
AC 22; Fortitude 21, Reflex 22, Will 17
Speed swim 11
Ride (move; at-will)
The riding shark moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The riding shark turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the riding shark, or if the riding shark is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the riding shark is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Deft Swimmer (while mounted by a friendly rider of 8th level or higher; at-will) + Mount
The riding shark’s rider gains a +2 bonus to Armor Class against opportunity attacks. While in water, the rider also gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls against creatures without a swim speed.

Elephant Huge Mount
Cost 1,900 gp
HP 55; Bloodied 27; see also out of control
AC 20; Fortitude 22, Reflex 15, Will 18
Speed 8
Ride (move; at-will)
The elephant moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The elephant turns up to 90 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the elephant, or if the elephant is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the elephant is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Trampling Charge (while mounted by a friendly rider of 8th level or higher; at-will) + Mount
When the elephant’s rider makes a charge attack, the elephant can make move through one Medium or smaller creature’s space and make a stamp attack against that creature.
m Stamp (standard; at-will)
+11 vs. AC; 2d8+5 damage, and the target is knocked prone.

Blade Spider Large Mount
Cost 2,800 gp
HP 65; Bloodied 32; see also out of control
AC 22; Fortitude 21, Reflex 20, Will 18
Speed 6, climb 6 (spider climb)
Ride (move; at-will)
The blade spider moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The blade spider turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the blade spider, or if the blade spider is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.

When the blade spider is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Combined Attack (while mounted by a friendly rider of 10th level or higher; at-will) + Mount
When the blade spider’s rider makes a melee attack, the blade spider makes a claw attack as a free action against the same target.
m Claw + Poison (standard; at-will)
+13 vs. AC; 1d8+5 damage, and the target takes ongoing 5 poison damage and is weakened (save ends both).

Celestial Charger Large Mount
Cost 2,800 gp
HP 55; Bloodied 27; see also out of control
AC 26; Fortitude 24, Reflex 22, Will 21
Saving Throws +5 against fear effects
Speed 8; see also zephyr footing
Ride (move; at-will)
The celestial charger moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will)
The celestial charger turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the celestial charger, or if the celestial charger is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.

When the celestial charger is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Zephyr Footing
The celestial charger ignores difficult terrain and can move across any solid or liquid surface.
Celestial Charge (while mounted by a friendly rider of 10th level or higher; at-will) + Mount
On charge attacks, a celestial charger’s rider deals +2d6 radiant damage and gains the radiant keyword.

Wyvern Large Mount
Cost 2,800 gp
HP 53; Bloodied 26; see also out of control
AC 24; Fortitude 24, Reflex 20, Will 19
Speed 4, fly 8 (hover)
Ride (move; at-will)
The wyvern moves up to its speed and remains In Control.
Turn About (move; at-will) .
The wyvern turns up to 180 degrees and remains In Control.
Out of Control
If there is no rider on the wyvern, or if the wyvern is bloodied, it becomes Out of Control.
When the wyvern is Out of Control, it turns around and moves its speed straight ahead, avoiding any dangerous terrain, until it is brought under control.
Aerial Agility (while mounted by a friendly rider of 10th level or higher; at-will) + Mount
While flying, a wyvern grants its rider a +2 bonus to all defenses.

Energy Shields

Gamma World has given us a great mechanic for energy shields. Recently, WotC put out a preview for an awesome Solo killer robot. The robot has regenerating shields, as seen below:

Force Field (while not bloodied)
The Eradicator gains 10 temporary hit points at the start of each of its turns.

This is very slick way of doing energy shields. I will be stealing this idea for anysessions of scifi games that I run in the future, such as StarCraft. I'm thinking this would be the big racial power for Protoss characters, called Shield of Adun. I'd like to have this as a scaling effect, so I'm thinking Temporary Hit Points equal to 2 + 1/2 level, which would be right in line with invigorating assault, a Cleric at-will attack that grants temporary hit points as an effect. Also, a feat that sets the scaling temporary hit points in line with standard racial resistances:

Improved Shield of Adun

Prerequisite: Protoss

Benefit: Your Shield of Adun provides +3 temporary hit points.

The monster has the (robot) keyword, clearly a renaming of the (construct) keyword. Something of note: in Gamma World, robots have immunity to poison only. In D&D 4E, constructs have immunity to disease and poison. I've got a feeling that disease is being eliminated from teh game entirely as a keyword, and these design decisions will filter thir way to D&D proper. Which is all good and well with me. I mean, when's the last time you saw a PC's power with the disease keyword? As of this posting, there are ZERO. (Unless there are some in Dark Sun?) So, effectively, every monster is immune to disease because PCs are incapable of giving them a disease.

Lastly, if you look at how this creature is put together, it becomes very obvious that it is a reskinned Beholder. I love that. I think what happened was that the designers saw a cool monster type in D&D that works well, the Solo Beholder, and ported it over to their new game system. What I think they probably didn't thinkof was how this teaches all the DM's out there how to do something similar for their games. This a wonderful example of how to reskin a monster to your personal theme.

Proudnail: Quest XP

Quest XP is a great idea. Now, it's time to take it further. I know everyone is scared of change, just look at all the grognards out there, so we'll take this nice and slow. Baby steps.

The experience point is the lab rat food pellet of the D&D world. It's not so much a special treat, that's more in the realm that magic items have occupied (or should occupy), but it does reinforce player behavior. Very strongly.

What I've seen often in newly formed groups, especially those with many players not familiar with the milieu of D&D, will be a point very early on in the campaign, almost always in the first adventure, where they collectively decide on how the adventuring group is going to behave. There is a pull towards hack'n'slash, kill'em all combat. There is a pull towards using creative skills to accomplish goals, with force being used as a method of last resort. There are other decisions being made here, for example what kind of morality the group will have, but that's beyond this particular lecture. These decisions will very rarely be spoken upon. Often, the players are only dimly aware of what they're doing, how they're setting up the path for the rest of the campaign. Or, sometimes they will know very well what they're doing, but have trouble expressing it to the other players at the table, or worry that talking about it in the open would be some sort of faux pas.

So anyway, new groups go on their first adventure together, and they try out different things in the game and see how things work. It's not unlike the process an infant goes through with just about everything, espacially on a social level. They experiment, see the results, see how others react to what they do or say. New players to RPGs will often not really know what they are supposed to do. No one teaches this crap in school. So they look around for clues and social signals from others. They look for positive feedback on what they are having their character do.

Let's just say that on the first chance they get, a new adventuring group tries a creative, thoughtful way to solve the plot of an adventure; for example, they talk their way past guards, or they come up with a solution to the plot that hadn't been accounted for. Rules-As-Written, they are looking at getting 1.2 Encounters worth of XP: a Major and a Minor Quest reward. Do the math, you'll see that I'm right. But everyone feels ok that they solved the plot, and saw a small reward. I think it's really cool to see creative ways to solve the plot. I, as well as many others, are always looking for something to surpirse us in this game. We're a bit jaded.

The next go-around, the group is a little antsy and just decides to have their characters kick in the door and chop orcs heads. There's nothing wrong with this, of course. I love this style, it's very visceral, and it's a necessary part of the whole RPG experience. The group quickly finds that slaying a few meaningless Goblins in a dirty hole in the hillside grants them WAY more XP than the entire plot. Two full combat encounters, that's all you need to trump what is really the entire reason the PCs are adventuring in the first place. They group gets a gush of experience, and instantly it dawns on them that the way to pimp out your chracter, leveling up, finding treasure, getting that reward of XP, that fix of praise from the DM and the game system.

Kill monsters, take their stuff.

It's a numbers game, and the numbers add up very stongly in the favor of murder. If you want more creativity, roleplaying, bribing guards, scaling castle walls, and in general less combat, the solution becomes simple. Increase all Quest XP, major and minor. Make combat merely a means to an end. The real goalis to solve the adventure. That's where the reward is. Combats are dangerous, or tedious, or whatever you make them; but, they do not get the player what she wants. My suggestion would be to quadruple the XP for Quest rewards and half the rewards for combat. I think you'll find that your players, whether they are consciously thinking about it or not, will start seeing the adventure in more interesting terms. They will come to the realization that combat has a high real time to XP reward factor, and solving plots can get you levelled up for less risk and less time at the table.

Rare Magic Items

I like my magic items like I like my steak. If you order a steak well done, you're dead to me.

With the new Essentials line of D&D products, WotC introduced a new rarity scheme to magic items. Similar to cards from Magic the Gathering, magic items in D&D now come in common, uncommon, and rare. The initial descriptions and narrative suggests that common items would be preforming the basic math arms race (which can be done away with via inherent enhancement bonuses), and rare items present weirder, wackier, more power items that an adventurer would only have one or two of. Sounds exciting, right? Putting the magic back into magic item, right? So far, there have been two rare magic items released through DDi. Here's a quick run down on the cool, new parts of them. These items have other powers and properties, but those are in-line with what we've seen before in the game.

from The Dungeon of the Ghost Tower (Dungeon 182), a magic tome that has the following:

Property: When you use this tome as an implement, you treat all allies as enemies until the end of your next turn.

from The Circle of Fangs Revisited (Dungeon 183), a magic ring that has the following:

Power (At-Will + Polymorph): Standard Action.
Effect: Your head assumes the form of a darkmantle’s head, though smaller. You also gain a hissing, high-pitched voice. This effect lasts until you dismiss it (which takes 3 minutes). If you
aren’t wearing the ring when you wish to dismiss the effect, you must use the Remove Affliction ritual to end the effect.


I like both of these items, although I especially like the tome's property. Both put in some elements into the game that we haven't seen too much in this edition. The ring's power is very situational, though, and really only comes up as worthwhile within the context of the article. As a standard action, it's also a very harsh (in terms of economy of actions) and taxing power. This really should have been a minor action. Also, the 3 minute dismissal time seems completely arbitrary. That tome's power, however, is a nice piece of design work. As a property, you're forcing the player to deal with the tome's effects all the time. The ring's weird ability can be completely ignored with almost no detriment to the PC. Lastly, while it is a step in the right direction, and by that I mean the direction that I want things to go, the tome could use some sharpening of its teeth. Tomes are available primarily to wizards and psions. Most wizard spells don't distinguish between ally and enemy as is, and most psion disciplines are single target. Or at least there are enough spells and disciplines available to a crafty player to make the tome's penalty a moot point.

It's not perfect, but it's a good start, and I'll take it.