Well, it's now been two weeks since I published my "Ways of the Force" fan supplement for Fantasy Flight Games' Edge of the Empire RPG.
And overall, the response has been positive. To have someone say "normally I don't like fan supplements, but I really like what you've done with yours" says quite a bit about the quality of the work and that I fulfilled my objective of keeping as much in synch with Edge of the Empire's default setting and feel as possible.
Now, that's not to say everything was perfect. Far from it in fact, and there's a few elements that have been revised based upon feedback provided, both on the d20 Radio forums and FFG's EotE message board. Among those elements are Dark Side's Embrace and the Healing base power, the former actually providing a concrete benefit and the latter being reduced in effectiveness in order to step away from "magic healing."
However, one element that got some critique was the Build Lightsaber talent, mostly due to some folks feeling that it was either a "useless" talent or that it needed to provide a bigger bang. Well, I figure here is as good a place as any to go into why I wrote up the Build Lightsaber talent the way I did.
Just so we're all on the same page, here's the game text:
Build Lightsaber
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Trees: Jedi Initiate
The character is now able to construct a lightsaber, a task that requires components worth at least 2000 credits and a number of days equal to 7 less the character's Force Rating.
In the Jedi Initiate specialization, it's nestled in the 2nd Row, but you've got to go through at least two 3rd Row talents in order to reach it, so it's not like you're going to have very many Jedi neophytes starting play with the ability to construct a lightsaber. Note I say "construct," as this talent doesn't automatically provide the character with a lightsaber, just the means to build one of their own. Now a GM could handwave the days needed to build a lightsaber, but they certainly should not waive the cost in components.
Some critiques suggested that, much like the d20 Star Wars games, a self-built lightsaber should provide some kind of perk, such as a bonus to hit. The problem with that approach is that FFG made the lightsaber an incredibly potent weapon; even after the Beta Updates, it still has the highest raw damage of any melee weapon, it pretty much ignores character-scale Soak Values, and it has the lowest Crit Rating; any attack that hit is going to deal damage and like inflict a Critical Injury in the process. For non-Jedi, you either need to spend a small fortune procuring a lightsaber on the black market, or hope the GM chooses to provide one as an adventure reward.
So to me, being able to build a lightsaber at a relatively modest sum during the height of the Empire's power and influence is enough of a benefit already. Also, a self-built lightsaber providing any kind of special bonus only showed up in the d20 versions, due to d20 being a crunch-focused game built upon calculating modifiers and getting the largest bonus you can manage. Back in the D6 version, what little rules there were for building a lightsaber simply said "congrats, you've built your own lightsaber." And that was it; no special bonuses or perks, just the fact that your Jedi PC now had a lightsaber. Which given that most of the D6 material was set during the Rebellion Era and the New Republic eras, when Jedi Knights were scarce, being able to build your own lightsaber was a pretty nice perk without needing any extra mechanical benefits.
Now if one were to add a mechanic-based perk to building your own lightsaber in EotE, the next question is "what benefit do you add?" The first thing that might come to mind is the Superior weapon quality (pg107 of the EotE Beta), but a free Advantage on every attack plus a boost to damage is simply too good.
The next option is to model the benefit of a self-built lightsaber after the Jury-Rigged talent (pg95, EotE Beta), but most of that talent's benefits wouldn't apply, leaving you with just a bonus to damage. I suppose you could tweak Jury-Rigged's text to allow the lightsaber to provide an extra point of Melee Defense or Ranged Defense, which might fit with the possible perks of Dooku's curved-hilt lightsaber and the advantage it provides the wielder in melee combat.
One idea I had considered during the earliest stages was simply giving a self-built lightsaber the Accurate quality, but a free Boost die on all lightsaber attacks felt just as overpowering as the giving a self-built lightsaber the Superior quality, particularly as you're more apt to roll Advantages, and per the reading of the Sunder quality, you don't have to hit your target in order to damage their weapon. So either the Jedi hits and gets an extra Advantage or two to inflict a Critical Injury, or they have an easier time triggering the Sunder quality on their lightsabers.
One suggestion that I saw was to instead apply the perks of the Tinkerer talent and give the lightsaber a bonus Hard Point (it normally has none), allowing the Jedi to personally customize their lightsaber. Now I'll admit that has some appeal, but the problem is that right now, the EotE Beta only has one melee-based attachment available, which provides the Superior quality, leading us to the problems documented three paragraphs up and making an already impressive weapon that much more deadly. According to Sam Stewart, we should be seeing more melee-based attachments in the final version of the core rulebook, so this one may get a revisit depending on what those new attachments are, but it may also result in an increase to the cost of building a lightsaber as well.
Ultimately, I think trying to cram more benefits into a lightsaber, self-built or otherwise, is going too much down the d20 path, where equipment is only as good as the bonuses it applies. Truthfully, given EotE's heavier focus on narrative gameplay, just being able to build one of these iconic weapons is enough of a benefit already. Yes, it's incredibly powerful as is, and the Jedi Initiate has several talents that were designed around a lightsaber, but at the same time, openly wielding a lightsaber during the eras of play that most EotE games occur in is just asking for trouble. There's a rather hefty Imperial bounty out for anyone caught in possession of a lightsaber (WEG put it at 25K credits), and anyone seen using a lightsaber openly, especially if they're any good at it, are going to stand out in most people's memory, far more than your average heavy blaster pistol-slinging smuggler or blaster carbine-toting bounty hunger or even a marauder wielding a vibro-ax.
So, that's enough on the "self-built lightsabers need a mechanical benefit!" front. On to the other side of the coin, which is "why do you even need a talent for this?"
As I said in my prior post, one of my main design goals was to stick as close as possible to the general feel of the early Rebellion Era, the default setting of Edge of the Empire (at least if the time frame given in the Beginner Box is anything to go by). During this time frame, a lot of Jedi lore was either lost, locked away, or outright destroyed by the Empire; after all, the Sith had spent a thousand years plotting their overthrow of the Republic and the destruction of the Jedi Knights, so Palpatine was certainly going to take steps to ensure the Jedi Order wouldn't come back overnight.
So what does this mean for an aspiring Jedi-to-be in an Edge of the Empire game? Typically, this means that they don't have the benefit of being trained since early childhood in the Jedi arts, including the basics of maintaining and eventually constructing one's own lightsaber. So this is knowledge the Jedi Initiate has to rediscover, either through trial and error or by coming across some hidden bits of Jedi lore that covers such things. It's pretty specialized knowledge, on par (in my mind at least) with the kind of specialized knowledge it takes to properly jury-rig a weapon or armor for better performance or how to tinker with an item to cram more tech inside of it; these aren't things that just anybody can do. And you can be sure that the more easily accessible venues to learn about building a lightsaber have been destroyed or put under Imperial lock & key.
One of the things I tried to keep in mind when designing my Jedi Initiate specialization was Luke's progression from naive farmboy that didn't even know what the Force was to freshly-minted Jedi Knight. While it wasn't touched upon in the original theatrical version of Return of the Jedi, Luke didn't instantly know how to build a lightsaber. Looking to the EU, he had to rely upon a set of instructions left behind by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the old Jedi's remote hut on Tatooine in order to build his own lightsaber, and it took him almost a week to do it (though how much of that was nerves and him taking the time to check and re-check everything is up for debate).
So, when it came to deciding how to cover the specialized knowledge of lightsaber construction in EotE, I opted to stick more to the existing EU canon than to d20, which could allow for a Jedi PC to build a lightsaber in a single day; it's one thing for a prodigy like Anakin to build a new lightsaber in a day or two, it's something else for a less gifted Jedi student working from cobbled together notes and their own intuition to do the same.
Now, could a GM provide a set of in-game instructions on lightsaber building to a prospective Jedi, and negate the entire need for this talent? Yes, they certainly could, but I'd contend that the Jedi would only be able to build a lightsaber so long as they had access to those instructions. Should those instructions be misplaced, stolen, or destroyed, then no more lightsaber building for that Jedi. Having the talent means the Jedi Initiate has internalized the technical knowledge and intuition required to build a lightsaber, and needs only time and parts to build a new lightsaber should they be deprived of their old one.
There's also the fun aspect that those lightsaber building instructions may very well make reference to using specific items, such as crystals from the Adegan system or the caves of Ilum, both of which the Empire is aware of and guards heavily. Those instructions might also say that you need to use a specific type of focusing lens or material for the grip, with no indication that other alternatives would be suitable. A Jedi Initiate with Build Lightsaber talent has figured out enough of the process on their own that they'd know they could use other types of crystals (even synthetically created ones), and that the other elements don't need to be a specific make or model; it might take them a bit longer and the end result may not be as stylish as the Jedi lightsabers built during the Order's glory days, but it will get the job done. Case in point, Corran Horn using a speeder bike handle as the grip for a hastily-constructed lightsaber in the novel "I, Jedi." Your average Jedi Knight from the Old Jedi Order would likely be appalled at such a pedestrian design, but it worked for Horn.
Well, that's the long and short of why I wrote the Build Lightsaber talent the way I did. Is it the most awe-inspiring of talents? Nope, and that's fully intended, since it gives access to one of the more awe-inspiring weapons in Edge of the Empire. And it opens up some of the Jedi Initiate's most powerful talents, such as the ability to deflect an enemy's blaster attack or to destroy their weapons in a single stroke. So buy itself, the ability to build a lightsaber may not seem all that impressive, but that talent is something of a stepping stone to more impressive talents, as well as not being reliant on the GM for either a massive windfall to purchase a lightsaber or an adventure designed with the intent of putting a lightsaber in the would-be Jedi's hands.
I'll try to be a bit more regular in posting my thoughts and insights as to why I designed aspects of "Ways of the Force" the way I did.
Until next time, may the dice be ever in your favor.
May 4, 2013
Ways of the Force - an unofficial supplement for Edge of the Empire
May the Fourth be with you!
Yeah, it's a bit corny, but me being the unabashed Star Wars geek that I am, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Pretty much since I got my hands on the Edge of the Empire Beta, I've been toying with and tinkering on a series of house rules to expand upon what's offered for Force-users in Fantasy Flight Games' upcoming entry into the long line of Star Wars RPGs.
Ways of the Force (v1.0)
This is the result of several months' worth of design, writing, revising, play-testing, re-designing, re-revising, reviewing, and yet even more revisions. Though I mention this in the first page of the document, this unofficial supplement is by no means intended to cover everything Jedi or even Force-related. Frankly, if you want an RPG with full rules on playing Jedi and all sorts of weird and wacky Force Powers, I suggest you turn your attention to either WEG's D6 system or any of WotC's d20 games, in particular Saga Edition.
As much as I enjoy playing Jedi characters in Star Wars (heck, I even brought an older Jedi PC from a prior campaign out of retirement to be played in a game I'm currently in), I actually do agree with the design intent of Jay Little and his team to not have fully-trained Jedi PCs in an era where the Jedi Order doesn't exist. So if you want full-blown Jedi careers and an exhaustive catalog of Force Powers covering all the things that have cropped up in the EU, I'm afraid you're going to have to look elsewhere.
So what does the "Ways of the Force" unofficial EotE supplement offer?
For starters, I discuss a fleshed-out Lightsaber skill, and then move onto the real meat of the supplement, a trio of brand-new Force-Sensitive universal specializations, those being the Jedi Initiate (minor Jedi-in-training, mix of lightsaber prowess and Force ability), the Dark Side Acolyte (student of the dark side intent on power and control of others), and the Force Mystic (a catch-all for those who have been trained to use the Force but aren't Jedi). Each of these specializations come with a selection of new talents while also borrowing talents from the Force-Sensitive Exile and other careers where I felt it was appropriate.
And we end with some new Force Powers in the form of two new power trees, Injure (using the dark side for direct damage) and Healing (using the light side to help others recover from injury) as well as a handful of minor powers that don't rate a full power tree on their own, but yet were essential enough to a Force-user to be included.
In the weeks to come, I'll post some insights as to why I made some of the design choices I did, as well as some tidbits as to how this document evolved over the months. This was definitely a labor of love and a fun project to work on. I'll be starting a thread for this on both the d20 Radio and FFG forums, and possibly even ENWorld, so I'm curious to hear what folks think.
Yeah, it's a bit corny, but me being the unabashed Star Wars geek that I am, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Pretty much since I got my hands on the Edge of the Empire Beta, I've been toying with and tinkering on a series of house rules to expand upon what's offered for Force-users in Fantasy Flight Games' upcoming entry into the long line of Star Wars RPGs.
Ways of the Force (v1.0)
This is the result of several months' worth of design, writing, revising, play-testing, re-designing, re-revising, reviewing, and yet even more revisions. Though I mention this in the first page of the document, this unofficial supplement is by no means intended to cover everything Jedi or even Force-related. Frankly, if you want an RPG with full rules on playing Jedi and all sorts of weird and wacky Force Powers, I suggest you turn your attention to either WEG's D6 system or any of WotC's d20 games, in particular Saga Edition.
As much as I enjoy playing Jedi characters in Star Wars (heck, I even brought an older Jedi PC from a prior campaign out of retirement to be played in a game I'm currently in), I actually do agree with the design intent of Jay Little and his team to not have fully-trained Jedi PCs in an era where the Jedi Order doesn't exist. So if you want full-blown Jedi careers and an exhaustive catalog of Force Powers covering all the things that have cropped up in the EU, I'm afraid you're going to have to look elsewhere.
So what does the "Ways of the Force" unofficial EotE supplement offer?
For starters, I discuss a fleshed-out Lightsaber skill, and then move onto the real meat of the supplement, a trio of brand-new Force-Sensitive universal specializations, those being the Jedi Initiate (minor Jedi-in-training, mix of lightsaber prowess and Force ability), the Dark Side Acolyte (student of the dark side intent on power and control of others), and the Force Mystic (a catch-all for those who have been trained to use the Force but aren't Jedi). Each of these specializations come with a selection of new talents while also borrowing talents from the Force-Sensitive Exile and other careers where I felt it was appropriate.
And we end with some new Force Powers in the form of two new power trees, Injure (using the dark side for direct damage) and Healing (using the light side to help others recover from injury) as well as a handful of minor powers that don't rate a full power tree on their own, but yet were essential enough to a Force-user to be included.
In the weeks to come, I'll post some insights as to why I made some of the design choices I did, as well as some tidbits as to how this document evolved over the months. This was definitely a labor of love and a fun project to work on. I'll be starting a thread for this on both the d20 Radio and FFG forums, and possibly even ENWorld, so I'm curious to hear what folks think.
March 31, 2013
Fourthcore... Lite?!
As hopefully you were all aware, being gamers and all, yesterday was TableTop Day, an attempt at a geek holiday spurred on by Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton. Given that it was trending as a hashtag on Twitter for 17+ hours, I'd say the gamers of the world did good.
Initially, I didn't have any gaming plans for TableTop Day, other than swinging by the FLGS and see what was going on for gaming there whilst hoping for the best, despite Saturday's seeming to be more CCG day than anything else of late, or at least the past few Saturdays that I swung by.
Instead, I wound up playing a marathon session of D&D 4e with my Wednesday gaming group, as none of them had Easter plans that required extensive travel or extensive prep for incoming relatives. In my previous post, I noted my surprise at having fun playing a 4e game after having become rather indifferent to D&D in general, particularly as D&D isn't my go-to choice for fantasy RPGs these days. And the GM had an Easter surprise in store for us poor sods.
Well, come early Saturday afternoon and we've gathered around the table. The party composition had changed a bit, with this being our current line-up:
Keru, a Human Stone Fist Monk with Wilder theme (me, and yes he's got a Hadoken attack now)
Mari, a Half-Elf Sentinel Druid with Elemental Priest theme (the only unchanged character from the first session)
Alyastrianna, a Eladrin Mage Wizard with Veiled Guardian theme (newish, debuted last Wednesday's session)
Rikard, Mul (Half-Dwarf) Tempest Fighter with Gladiator theme (new)
... and a fifth player who ended up being a no-show.
The campaign takes place on Athas, about the time frame that the 4e Campaign Setting book establishes. To start, only the druid, mage, and monk knew each other prior to this session, but the GM got us together quickly enough, mostly by having us get hired by a local explorer to serve as aides and bodyguards as he checked out a recently uncovered ruin in the Road of Kings region. Naturally we agreed, either being curious to check things out ourselves (mage and monk) or not having anything more pressing to do (druid), while the fighter had already been commissioned as a bodyguard prior to the rest of us showing up.
Before we started play, the GM asked each of us to select a magic item, 4th level or lower, that we'd be interested in procuring. We figured that he was tailoring the adventure rewards to our heroes, so we spent some time going through the long list of D&D magic items, and made our selections.
We had a short skirmish with a band of elf raiders, more to let everyone get a feel for their characters, both the new ones and the vets as the GM bumped us up to third level, which meant new encounter powers. The eladrian's player was kind of upset that she didn't have a lot of charm or illusion options that did damage, but she still excelled at her role of battlefield control, with enough mind-screw going on that you'd think she was a psion. This was my first time seeing a Tempest Fighter in play, and I must say I was impressed at how much damage he could pump up on a turn-to-turn basis. Even though he was just using a pair of hand-axes, having the Axe Expertise feat ensured he rarely had lousy damage rolls. And his ability to mark multiple foes each round meant that he drew a lot of attention and helped keep my monk from getting attacked that often. Monk did what the monk's supposed to do, and booted a lot of head, and quite often using my Flurry of Blows to polish off non-minion opponents that were just on the cusp of being taken down.
Baddies dispatched, we made it to the ruins, which turned out to be a temple from the previous age (we think, nobody was quite certain on that point) that was devoted to a quartet of rather vicious and nasty gods, at least according to the murals we found outside the temple itself. Rather than the usual combat grind of most 4e sessions, this one turned out to incorporate a number of skill challenges, given our characters a chance to find out more about what we were getting into.
I won't go into great detail about the adventure, only to say that throughout most of it, I couldn't shake the nagging suspicion that I'd seen this before. I was pretty sure that I'd never played it, only seen it somewhere. And then we got to the one encounter, facing a three-headed dracolisk that made the whole thing click into place... the GM was putting us through the Crucible of the Gods module. To quote my favorite wizard private eye... hell's bells.
For those of you not in the know (such as I was until recently), Fourthcore is a style of playing, using D&D 4e and putting the players (referred to as dungeoneers) through adventures that are on par with Tomb of Horrors in regards to potential lethality. Crucible of the Gods was written for use with 1st level PCs, and from everything I'd heard was literally a meat grinder, with TPKs happening before parties even reached the first proper room of the temple, and there a slew of effects that boil down to "you get hit, you're dead." Needless to say, Fourthcore adventures weren't written with the intent of being dropped into your running campaign. These are meant to be bloody one-shots and not to be taken too seriously. I haven't read the module, though I plan to do so in the near future, but I can only suspect the GM toned things down quite a bit as the combat encounters weren't one-sided, and we had plenty of clues to help with solving some of the various puzzles. Being 3rd level and with character themes that granted an extra encounter power probably helped a whole lot, as we had plenty of options for increased damage in each battle. Apparently one of the fights, against some kind of large statue dual-wielding flaming skeletal flails was supposed to be incredibly tough, but the monk and fighter nearly demolished it in a single round, with a critical hit on my Open the Gates of Battle (aka Open the Can of Whup-ass) with a mighty ki focus (extra d10 damage on critical hits) being the main culprit,taking it from healthy to bloodied, with the druid getting in a bit of tag-team beatdown between her and her pet desert wolf before the fighter executed the thing, all before it had the chance to even take it's first action. Apparently Fourthcore modules were written with the idea that you'd be using Essentials and not the other PHB classes or supplements.
The GM did make up for this a bit by including a few extra combat encounters, including one with a seemingly never-ending tide of minions (goblin-looking thingys, not that most of our characters would know what a goblin looks like since they're a long-extinct race on Athas) that kept attacking in waves until the mage managed to decipher an ancient locking mechanism to seal them away and allow us to proceed further into the temple.
The final battle was tough enough, and I figure the actual Fourthcore version probably wipes out most parties that have been fortunate enough to make it that far. We did succeed in claiming all four skulls, thanks in part to the Eladrin mage (who isn't a native of Athas, but rather the Feywild) enforcing caution on the rest of the party, even going so far as to slap the Mul's hand when he started to reach out to claim one of the crystal skulls we needed to "win" the temple's challenge. That turned out to help a bunch, as we got to access the secret room with a talisman that gave us a huge edge in the final battle... once we figured out what exactly it was for (we thought it was a protective item, which nearly cost the mage her life as she got much too close to the final boss than was healthy for a squishy wizard).
So while this wasn't a proper Fourthcore adventure (the heroes all lived), it was still fun, and I'm guessing the GM added a lot to make the players use their brains, and not just by way of skill challenges, but also allowing skill checks to pick up vital clues. The only fatality was the explorer that hired us, the son of a lesser noble from the City of Balic (oops), though it really was down more to his own ignorance than any wrong-doing on our part... not that I expect his parents to buy that. Now I as a player don't know if the whole "fail our challenge and the world will end" bit would have actually happened, but our characters took it serious enough.
If you're interested in running a meat-grinder on par with John Goff's Night Train (Deadlands Classic) or Tomb of Horrors itself, you can download the Fourthcore adventures here:
http://svdpress.com/fourthcore/
Now bear in mind these are meant to be run as timed delves, and the odds are stacked heavily against the players unless they really bring their A-game, but it could make an interesting change of pace.
There's also Fourthcore Deathmatch, which instead of being a delve is simply a free-for-all slaughterfest pitting two groups of PCs against each other. It's quite an amusing concept, and might make for a fun diversion from your usual campaign. I figure Strikers would have the edge due to their focus on sheer damage output, but I could see Defenders not doing too bad given the hit points and damage output a well-made build can offer. You can read more about it here:
http://www.fourthcoreteamdeathmatch.com/
It'd be the kind of thing that'd work pretty good for a Skype/Roll20 game. Just upload the map of your choice, choose some character tokens, and let the carnage commence.
Initially, I didn't have any gaming plans for TableTop Day, other than swinging by the FLGS and see what was going on for gaming there whilst hoping for the best, despite Saturday's seeming to be more CCG day than anything else of late, or at least the past few Saturdays that I swung by.
Instead, I wound up playing a marathon session of D&D 4e with my Wednesday gaming group, as none of them had Easter plans that required extensive travel or extensive prep for incoming relatives. In my previous post, I noted my surprise at having fun playing a 4e game after having become rather indifferent to D&D in general, particularly as D&D isn't my go-to choice for fantasy RPGs these days. And the GM had an Easter surprise in store for us poor sods.
Well, come early Saturday afternoon and we've gathered around the table. The party composition had changed a bit, with this being our current line-up:
Keru, a Human Stone Fist Monk with Wilder theme (me, and yes he's got a Hadoken attack now)
Mari, a Half-Elf Sentinel Druid with Elemental Priest theme (the only unchanged character from the first session)
Alyastrianna, a Eladrin Mage Wizard with Veiled Guardian theme (newish, debuted last Wednesday's session)
Rikard, Mul (Half-Dwarf) Tempest Fighter with Gladiator theme (new)
... and a fifth player who ended up being a no-show.
The campaign takes place on Athas, about the time frame that the 4e Campaign Setting book establishes. To start, only the druid, mage, and monk knew each other prior to this session, but the GM got us together quickly enough, mostly by having us get hired by a local explorer to serve as aides and bodyguards as he checked out a recently uncovered ruin in the Road of Kings region. Naturally we agreed, either being curious to check things out ourselves (mage and monk) or not having anything more pressing to do (druid), while the fighter had already been commissioned as a bodyguard prior to the rest of us showing up.
Before we started play, the GM asked each of us to select a magic item, 4th level or lower, that we'd be interested in procuring. We figured that he was tailoring the adventure rewards to our heroes, so we spent some time going through the long list of D&D magic items, and made our selections.
We had a short skirmish with a band of elf raiders, more to let everyone get a feel for their characters, both the new ones and the vets as the GM bumped us up to third level, which meant new encounter powers. The eladrian's player was kind of upset that she didn't have a lot of charm or illusion options that did damage, but she still excelled at her role of battlefield control, with enough mind-screw going on that you'd think she was a psion. This was my first time seeing a Tempest Fighter in play, and I must say I was impressed at how much damage he could pump up on a turn-to-turn basis. Even though he was just using a pair of hand-axes, having the Axe Expertise feat ensured he rarely had lousy damage rolls. And his ability to mark multiple foes each round meant that he drew a lot of attention and helped keep my monk from getting attacked that often. Monk did what the monk's supposed to do, and booted a lot of head, and quite often using my Flurry of Blows to polish off non-minion opponents that were just on the cusp of being taken down.
Baddies dispatched, we made it to the ruins, which turned out to be a temple from the previous age (we think, nobody was quite certain on that point) that was devoted to a quartet of rather vicious and nasty gods, at least according to the murals we found outside the temple itself. Rather than the usual combat grind of most 4e sessions, this one turned out to incorporate a number of skill challenges, given our characters a chance to find out more about what we were getting into.
I won't go into great detail about the adventure, only to say that throughout most of it, I couldn't shake the nagging suspicion that I'd seen this before. I was pretty sure that I'd never played it, only seen it somewhere. And then we got to the one encounter, facing a three-headed dracolisk that made the whole thing click into place... the GM was putting us through the Crucible of the Gods module. To quote my favorite wizard private eye... hell's bells.
For those of you not in the know (such as I was until recently), Fourthcore is a style of playing, using D&D 4e and putting the players (referred to as dungeoneers) through adventures that are on par with Tomb of Horrors in regards to potential lethality. Crucible of the Gods was written for use with 1st level PCs, and from everything I'd heard was literally a meat grinder, with TPKs happening before parties even reached the first proper room of the temple, and there a slew of effects that boil down to "you get hit, you're dead." Needless to say, Fourthcore adventures weren't written with the intent of being dropped into your running campaign. These are meant to be bloody one-shots and not to be taken too seriously. I haven't read the module, though I plan to do so in the near future, but I can only suspect the GM toned things down quite a bit as the combat encounters weren't one-sided, and we had plenty of clues to help with solving some of the various puzzles. Being 3rd level and with character themes that granted an extra encounter power probably helped a whole lot, as we had plenty of options for increased damage in each battle. Apparently one of the fights, against some kind of large statue dual-wielding flaming skeletal flails was supposed to be incredibly tough, but the monk and fighter nearly demolished it in a single round, with a critical hit on my Open the Gates of Battle (aka Open the Can of Whup-ass) with a mighty ki focus (extra d10 damage on critical hits) being the main culprit,taking it from healthy to bloodied, with the druid getting in a bit of tag-team beatdown between her and her pet desert wolf before the fighter executed the thing, all before it had the chance to even take it's first action. Apparently Fourthcore modules were written with the idea that you'd be using Essentials and not the other PHB classes or supplements.
The GM did make up for this a bit by including a few extra combat encounters, including one with a seemingly never-ending tide of minions (goblin-looking thingys, not that most of our characters would know what a goblin looks like since they're a long-extinct race on Athas) that kept attacking in waves until the mage managed to decipher an ancient locking mechanism to seal them away and allow us to proceed further into the temple.
The final battle was tough enough, and I figure the actual Fourthcore version probably wipes out most parties that have been fortunate enough to make it that far. We did succeed in claiming all four skulls, thanks in part to the Eladrin mage (who isn't a native of Athas, but rather the Feywild) enforcing caution on the rest of the party, even going so far as to slap the Mul's hand when he started to reach out to claim one of the crystal skulls we needed to "win" the temple's challenge. That turned out to help a bunch, as we got to access the secret room with a talisman that gave us a huge edge in the final battle... once we figured out what exactly it was for (we thought it was a protective item, which nearly cost the mage her life as she got much too close to the final boss than was healthy for a squishy wizard).
So while this wasn't a proper Fourthcore adventure (the heroes all lived), it was still fun, and I'm guessing the GM added a lot to make the players use their brains, and not just by way of skill challenges, but also allowing skill checks to pick up vital clues. The only fatality was the explorer that hired us, the son of a lesser noble from the City of Balic (oops), though it really was down more to his own ignorance than any wrong-doing on our part... not that I expect his parents to buy that. Now I as a player don't know if the whole "fail our challenge and the world will end" bit would have actually happened, but our characters took it serious enough.
If you're interested in running a meat-grinder on par with John Goff's Night Train (Deadlands Classic) or Tomb of Horrors itself, you can download the Fourthcore adventures here:
http://svdpress.com/fourthcore/
Now bear in mind these are meant to be run as timed delves, and the odds are stacked heavily against the players unless they really bring their A-game, but it could make an interesting change of pace.
There's also Fourthcore Deathmatch, which instead of being a delve is simply a free-for-all slaughterfest pitting two groups of PCs against each other. It's quite an amusing concept, and might make for a fun diversion from your usual campaign. I figure Strikers would have the edge due to their focus on sheer damage output, but I could see Defenders not doing too bad given the hit points and damage output a well-made build can offer. You can read more about it here:
http://www.fourthcoreteamdeathmatch.com/
It'd be the kind of thing that'd work pretty good for a Skype/Roll20 game. Just upload the map of your choice, choose some character tokens, and let the carnage commence.
March 16, 2013
Boot to the Head! or Why I'm playing 4e D&D again
I think I mentioned in a prior post that my Wednesday group was looking at playing Dragon Age, now that the general interest in Marvel Heroic RPG had subsided.
Well, that turned out not to be the case, and instead the majority of the group decided to head back over to d20 Land and break out the D&D books. Thankfully, the vote wasn't for 3rd edition or Pathfinder, as I generally abhor the 3.X versions of d20; the closest I'll come to tolerating that system is Mongoose Publishing's Babylon 5 2nd edition RPG (still needs a couple tweaks though, such as implementing Pathfinder's skill system, which is about the only thing from Pathfinder I actually like). So, after figuring I'd never be playing 4e again after my Saturday group pretty much decided they were sick to death of d20 games (which resulted in my Saga Edition AltU game coming to an abrupt end), I found myself having to face playing D&D yet again, a game system and setting that has become less and less relevant to my gaming interests as time wore on. The last time I played was a D&DNext playtest that left me pretty cold.
Now the main reason I didn't bail was because if I had, I could probably forget ever gaming with these folks in the future, as I'd quickly be forgotten as a potential gamer or even GM for the group. But also, because the DM wanted to run a Dark Sun campaign. Now I never really got into Dark Sun during its hey-day under AD&D2e, but a post-apoc fantasy setting did sound interesting.
But the question was: what do I play? From talking with the GM and the other players, half of them were going with Essentials Characters (Half-Elf Sentinel-Druid with Elemental Priest theme and Elf Hunter-Ranger with Wastland Nomad theme) while the other half were going pre-Essentials (Human Sorcerer-King Pact Warlock w/ Templar theme and Dragonborn Wild Battlemind w/ Gladiator theme). To keep with 4e's notion of roles, we've got a Leader (druid), Controller (ranger), a ranged Striker (warlock), and a Defender (battlemind), so the bases are covered. Well, when in doubt, go for the damage. To be honest, I'm of the playstyle that best fits a Striker, so the question was what Striker-class to play? And it was very easily answered, in the form of the PHB3's Monk class. I only got a few chances to play a 4e Monk before, and they were all fun, so I simply rebuilt the Human Monk I'd played before to fit with the GM's character build rules.
We used the standard 22 points to buy ability scores and built our PCs as usual for 1st level, having the option of either selecting a theme or getting a free 2nd level Skill Power. So while everyone else went with selecting a theme, I opted to go the bonus ability route, mostly as none of the themes really fit the character notion I had in mind, that of a young traveling warrior-monk that had embarked on a journey to test his skills and inner character, I opted for the Skill Power, which aside from not having to take the Skill Power feat I otherwise had to qualify for. Easy choice for me, Agile Recovery, permitting my character to stand up from prone as a minor action (something very useful for a high-mobility Striker). Once that was done, we leveled up our heroes to 2nd level, and here was where things got a little different.
First, we only got one magic item, and additional money equal to one-quarter the value of a 1st level magic item. For those that don't know, the DMG suggests when building characters above 1st level, they get three magic items (one of a level no higher than their current level, one of level no higher than their current level, and one of a level at least one level less than their current level) and gold equal to the value of a magic item that's one level less than their current. We could still pick up to a 3rd level magic item, but it was the only magic item we'd be getting, and we only got 90 extra gold (compared to the 360 that a regular character built at 2nd level would get). Being a Monk (who really didn't need a lot of extra money), that was no problem for me, but a few players were a bit upset at this, as they had to choose between a magic weapon, magic armor, a neck slot item, or something with a cool ability. Me, I checked with the GM and he allowed me to take Moradin's Blessing of Iron as my one magic item, which may not be super-powerful but is quite handy since it cuts down on my Monk being pushed and grants me a free attack if I get pulled close to the enemy in question, as well as some emergency DR if needed. Kind of fitting for a Stone Fist Monk I think.
The second change, which helped offset the lack of magic items, was that we're using the Inherent Bonuses option from DMG2, giving us boosts to attack, damage, and defenses based on our level, something useful as the GM plans to keep magic items rather rare in his game, since one of the themes of Dark Sun is the heroes having to survive on their own wits. To borrow a phrase often applied to Star Wars Saga Edition, this is a game where your character is not about your gear, but rather what your character can do. Personally, one of the things I've always disliked about D&D was the over-reliance on magic items, so this was right up my alley.
So next was backstory, which was kind of easy as I was using a pre-existing character. I'll admit to borrowing liberally from the backstory of Mortal Kombat's Liu Kang as well as a couple elements from Legend of the Five Rings. And so, Keru, young Brother of the Order of the Nine Thunders was ready to set forth and boot some head.
And this past Wednesday, we played our inaugeral session, with the PCs having been taken as prisoners of a bandit chief with the intent to sell us into slavery. Needless to say, it didn't go well, and by the end of the fight, we were free, the bandits had been decimated, and the bandit chief had quite a few footprints embedded in his head. Oddly, Keru does not actually wear boots, though that didn't stop me from saying "Boot to the Head!" when using his Flurry of Blows power. Both Agile Recovery and Blessing of Iron paid off, the latter as the the bandit's lieutenants had a power that let them push an enemy 2 squares away, while the bandit chief had an attack power that let him knock a foe prone. Even managed to TKO the bandit chief's main enforcer in one action courtesy of a critical hit using Open the Gates of Battle combined with an mighty ki focus, nearly wiping out all of the enforcer's HP in one blow, and then polished him off with Flurry of Blows ("Boot to the head!") Seriously, it got to the point the other players would declare "and a boot to the head!" as soon as I resolved my main attack each turn. Granted, my Flurry of Blows doesn't do that much damage as I opted to split my points between Strength and Wisdom, but a few extra points of free damage is nothing to sneer at, and it could prove useful with popping minions should the opportunity present itself. I also have to say that the Fallen Needle power from Psionic Power is damn useful against major threats, since it's high damage and inflicts a penalty to hit if they try to go after you, thus making a Striker not too reliant upon a Defender's mark ability to keep said major foe from squishing them, to say nothing of the free shift to get away should a particularly burly foe decide to get in close.
While most of the session was combat, there was some good character interaction, as the half-elf druid was not happy about the arcane-magic using warlock's presence, given how arcane magic has a nasty tendency to ruin the environment in this setting. In her defense, the warlock at least used what's called the preserver method rather than defiling. Keru seemed the odd man out (literally, as I once again am playing the token human in a group), but he's curious to see what paths lie ahead as he travels with this most unlikely of group of companions. And honestly, so am I.
Well, that turned out not to be the case, and instead the majority of the group decided to head back over to d20 Land and break out the D&D books. Thankfully, the vote wasn't for 3rd edition or Pathfinder, as I generally abhor the 3.X versions of d20; the closest I'll come to tolerating that system is Mongoose Publishing's Babylon 5 2nd edition RPG (still needs a couple tweaks though, such as implementing Pathfinder's skill system, which is about the only thing from Pathfinder I actually like). So, after figuring I'd never be playing 4e again after my Saturday group pretty much decided they were sick to death of d20 games (which resulted in my Saga Edition AltU game coming to an abrupt end), I found myself having to face playing D&D yet again, a game system and setting that has become less and less relevant to my gaming interests as time wore on. The last time I played was a D&DNext playtest that left me pretty cold.
Now the main reason I didn't bail was because if I had, I could probably forget ever gaming with these folks in the future, as I'd quickly be forgotten as a potential gamer or even GM for the group. But also, because the DM wanted to run a Dark Sun campaign. Now I never really got into Dark Sun during its hey-day under AD&D2e, but a post-apoc fantasy setting did sound interesting.
But the question was: what do I play? From talking with the GM and the other players, half of them were going with Essentials Characters (Half-Elf Sentinel-Druid with Elemental Priest theme and Elf Hunter-Ranger with Wastland Nomad theme) while the other half were going pre-Essentials (Human Sorcerer-King Pact Warlock w/ Templar theme and Dragonborn Wild Battlemind w/ Gladiator theme). To keep with 4e's notion of roles, we've got a Leader (druid), Controller (ranger), a ranged Striker (warlock), and a Defender (battlemind), so the bases are covered. Well, when in doubt, go for the damage. To be honest, I'm of the playstyle that best fits a Striker, so the question was what Striker-class to play? And it was very easily answered, in the form of the PHB3's Monk class. I only got a few chances to play a 4e Monk before, and they were all fun, so I simply rebuilt the Human Monk I'd played before to fit with the GM's character build rules.
We used the standard 22 points to buy ability scores and built our PCs as usual for 1st level, having the option of either selecting a theme or getting a free 2nd level Skill Power. So while everyone else went with selecting a theme, I opted to go the bonus ability route, mostly as none of the themes really fit the character notion I had in mind, that of a young traveling warrior-monk that had embarked on a journey to test his skills and inner character, I opted for the Skill Power, which aside from not having to take the Skill Power feat I otherwise had to qualify for. Easy choice for me, Agile Recovery, permitting my character to stand up from prone as a minor action (something very useful for a high-mobility Striker). Once that was done, we leveled up our heroes to 2nd level, and here was where things got a little different.
First, we only got one magic item, and additional money equal to one-quarter the value of a 1st level magic item. For those that don't know, the DMG suggests when building characters above 1st level, they get three magic items (one of a level no higher than their current level, one of level no higher than their current level, and one of a level at least one level less than their current level) and gold equal to the value of a magic item that's one level less than their current. We could still pick up to a 3rd level magic item, but it was the only magic item we'd be getting, and we only got 90 extra gold (compared to the 360 that a regular character built at 2nd level would get). Being a Monk (who really didn't need a lot of extra money), that was no problem for me, but a few players were a bit upset at this, as they had to choose between a magic weapon, magic armor, a neck slot item, or something with a cool ability. Me, I checked with the GM and he allowed me to take Moradin's Blessing of Iron as my one magic item, which may not be super-powerful but is quite handy since it cuts down on my Monk being pushed and grants me a free attack if I get pulled close to the enemy in question, as well as some emergency DR if needed. Kind of fitting for a Stone Fist Monk I think.
The second change, which helped offset the lack of magic items, was that we're using the Inherent Bonuses option from DMG2, giving us boosts to attack, damage, and defenses based on our level, something useful as the GM plans to keep magic items rather rare in his game, since one of the themes of Dark Sun is the heroes having to survive on their own wits. To borrow a phrase often applied to Star Wars Saga Edition, this is a game where your character is not about your gear, but rather what your character can do. Personally, one of the things I've always disliked about D&D was the over-reliance on magic items, so this was right up my alley.
So next was backstory, which was kind of easy as I was using a pre-existing character. I'll admit to borrowing liberally from the backstory of Mortal Kombat's Liu Kang as well as a couple elements from Legend of the Five Rings. And so, Keru, young Brother of the Order of the Nine Thunders was ready to set forth and boot some head.
And this past Wednesday, we played our inaugeral session, with the PCs having been taken as prisoners of a bandit chief with the intent to sell us into slavery. Needless to say, it didn't go well, and by the end of the fight, we were free, the bandits had been decimated, and the bandit chief had quite a few footprints embedded in his head. Oddly, Keru does not actually wear boots, though that didn't stop me from saying "Boot to the Head!" when using his Flurry of Blows power. Both Agile Recovery and Blessing of Iron paid off, the latter as the the bandit's lieutenants had a power that let them push an enemy 2 squares away, while the bandit chief had an attack power that let him knock a foe prone. Even managed to TKO the bandit chief's main enforcer in one action courtesy of a critical hit using Open the Gates of Battle combined with an mighty ki focus, nearly wiping out all of the enforcer's HP in one blow, and then polished him off with Flurry of Blows ("Boot to the head!") Seriously, it got to the point the other players would declare "and a boot to the head!" as soon as I resolved my main attack each turn. Granted, my Flurry of Blows doesn't do that much damage as I opted to split my points between Strength and Wisdom, but a few extra points of free damage is nothing to sneer at, and it could prove useful with popping minions should the opportunity present itself. I also have to say that the Fallen Needle power from Psionic Power is damn useful against major threats, since it's high damage and inflicts a penalty to hit if they try to go after you, thus making a Striker not too reliant upon a Defender's mark ability to keep said major foe from squishing them, to say nothing of the free shift to get away should a particularly burly foe decide to get in close.
While most of the session was combat, there was some good character interaction, as the half-elf druid was not happy about the arcane-magic using warlock's presence, given how arcane magic has a nasty tendency to ruin the environment in this setting. In her defense, the warlock at least used what's called the preserver method rather than defiling. Keru seemed the odd man out (literally, as I once again am playing the token human in a group), but he's curious to see what paths lie ahead as he travels with this most unlikely of group of companions. And honestly, so am I.
March 15, 2013
Disney Vacation, the wrap-up
Okay, for some reason the post I was working about my Disney trip last week ended up posting, even though I thought I had only told the site to save the draft. So if it looks a bit cut off, that's probably why.
Well, as I alluded to in the earlier post, things went downhill on the last day of the stay. Issue one was that mother and I were planning on trekking down to Downtown Disney for a couple hours, mostly to do some last-minute picture taking, particularly of the displays in and around the LEGO store. Seriously, had I been six years old and walked into that place, I would have thought I'd died and gone to heaven, especially as there were tables that kids could sit and build using the famous plastic bricks. I don't think you get to keep anything you built, but it'd still would have been fun.
Sadly, the way that Disney had set-up the bus system for the All-Star Resorts, the one we were staying at was the last stop, and the bus to Downtown Disney kept filling up at earlier resorts, meaning we waited nearly an hour for a bus to finally show up. And when it did, it was packed to the point the driver was having people stand in the middle aisle in two rows. I could deal with it, but the problem was that my mother, who is quite claustrophobic, couldn't, and she freaked due to three oversized lunkheads constantly bumping into her before the bus even started moving. I made sure to give the bus driver a parting "nice going asshole" as I stepped off the bus for cramming us in like sardine cans. When complaining about this incident, we learned that drivers were apparently not supposed to do that, but whether the driver was the one who made that call or somebody else did, I don't know and frankly don't care.
The other bus fiasco only narrowly avoided becoming a true fiasco by dint of us hopping an earlier bus to the airport as the driver was considerate enough to squeeze us onto his bus, having exactly two extra seats on the trip. Now that bus left the hotel about a half-hour sooner than our scheduled bus, and we just made it to our gate to board the plane with 10 minutes to spare. Granted, part of that reason was a group of teenage cheerleaders that I came to regard as the bimbo brigade. Seriously, did nobody explain to them that when going through airport security you have to remove your shoes and you can't be carrying any metal or lotions in your pockets? I don't blame the TSA guy for sounding like he was ready to throttle some of those ditzy dimwits, given the sass he was getting from those girls.
However, had we stuck to the bus that we were supposed to have taken over... we would have missed our flight. As this bus, like the Disney Transit buses, stops at multiple hotels, and in a woefully inefficient order that ends up taking twice as long as it probably should. According to the Disney infomercial that plays as your leaving, they'll get you to the airport in plenty of time. Two words on that. Bull. Shit. Frankly, about the only two things Disney did right in this regard was ensure that our luggage was checked-in and on the plane without us having to tote it around, as well as print our boarding passes. A shame that such a nice vacation had to go downhill on the last day. My mom was livid enough that had this sort of shenanigans happened in the first couple days, she would have canceled the stay and taken the first available flight home. And I might very well have gone along with her. Apparently you really do get what you pay for, and Walt Disney World is one of those vacations that if you skimp out, you're gonna pay for it. If I do go again, I'll pay the extra coin and stay and one of their nicer resorts (such as Saratoga Springs for instance, which was within walking distance of Downtown Disney and didn't have anywhere near the bus troubles that the All-Star Resorts did).
So overall, while it wasn't an ideal vacation, due to various warts, it was a generally enjoyable one, barring the final day. But I think I'll just try to put that behind me and focus on the good stuff, like the food at the Epcot World Showcase, the Behind the Magic tour, and the various attractions.
Hopefully some point in the near future, I'll get the chance to go through the pictures I took. I'm pretty sure I got some good ones (aside from the various bunny pics I tweeted for my friend Natael's sake, ranging from a Thumper plush to Alice in Wonderland's White Rabbit).
Well, as I alluded to in the earlier post, things went downhill on the last day of the stay. Issue one was that mother and I were planning on trekking down to Downtown Disney for a couple hours, mostly to do some last-minute picture taking, particularly of the displays in and around the LEGO store. Seriously, had I been six years old and walked into that place, I would have thought I'd died and gone to heaven, especially as there were tables that kids could sit and build using the famous plastic bricks. I don't think you get to keep anything you built, but it'd still would have been fun.
Sadly, the way that Disney had set-up the bus system for the All-Star Resorts, the one we were staying at was the last stop, and the bus to Downtown Disney kept filling up at earlier resorts, meaning we waited nearly an hour for a bus to finally show up. And when it did, it was packed to the point the driver was having people stand in the middle aisle in two rows. I could deal with it, but the problem was that my mother, who is quite claustrophobic, couldn't, and she freaked due to three oversized lunkheads constantly bumping into her before the bus even started moving. I made sure to give the bus driver a parting "nice going asshole" as I stepped off the bus for cramming us in like sardine cans. When complaining about this incident, we learned that drivers were apparently not supposed to do that, but whether the driver was the one who made that call or somebody else did, I don't know and frankly don't care.
The other bus fiasco only narrowly avoided becoming a true fiasco by dint of us hopping an earlier bus to the airport as the driver was considerate enough to squeeze us onto his bus, having exactly two extra seats on the trip. Now that bus left the hotel about a half-hour sooner than our scheduled bus, and we just made it to our gate to board the plane with 10 minutes to spare. Granted, part of that reason was a group of teenage cheerleaders that I came to regard as the bimbo brigade. Seriously, did nobody explain to them that when going through airport security you have to remove your shoes and you can't be carrying any metal or lotions in your pockets? I don't blame the TSA guy for sounding like he was ready to throttle some of those ditzy dimwits, given the sass he was getting from those girls.
However, had we stuck to the bus that we were supposed to have taken over... we would have missed our flight. As this bus, like the Disney Transit buses, stops at multiple hotels, and in a woefully inefficient order that ends up taking twice as long as it probably should. According to the Disney infomercial that plays as your leaving, they'll get you to the airport in plenty of time. Two words on that. Bull. Shit. Frankly, about the only two things Disney did right in this regard was ensure that our luggage was checked-in and on the plane without us having to tote it around, as well as print our boarding passes. A shame that such a nice vacation had to go downhill on the last day. My mom was livid enough that had this sort of shenanigans happened in the first couple days, she would have canceled the stay and taken the first available flight home. And I might very well have gone along with her. Apparently you really do get what you pay for, and Walt Disney World is one of those vacations that if you skimp out, you're gonna pay for it. If I do go again, I'll pay the extra coin and stay and one of their nicer resorts (such as Saratoga Springs for instance, which was within walking distance of Downtown Disney and didn't have anywhere near the bus troubles that the All-Star Resorts did).
So overall, while it wasn't an ideal vacation, due to various warts, it was a generally enjoyable one, barring the final day. But I think I'll just try to put that behind me and focus on the good stuff, like the food at the Epcot World Showcase, the Behind the Magic tour, and the various attractions.
Hopefully some point in the near future, I'll get the chance to go through the pictures I took. I'm pretty sure I got some good ones (aside from the various bunny pics I tweeted for my friend Natael's sake, ranging from a Thumper plush to Alice in Wonderland's White Rabbit).
March 10, 2013
A Not-Quite-So Magical Disney Vacation
Got back last night after spending a week in Florida at the "House the Mouse Built." This wasn't my first trip, which may have been just as well, given the difficulties encountered here and there, but in particular yesterday.
Got to see a good chunk of the new Fantasyland segment of Magic Kingdom, which was pretty neat, even if there wasn't a whole lot to do. I'd heard that Merida was officially represented as a Disney Princess at WDW, but was neat to see that she's got her own little meet'n'greet area in the park. Didn't go on all the rides there (as most of them were kiddy rides), but there was plenty to do, and caught the Wishes fireworks show/display, which was really cool, particularly with how they used Cinderella's castle as a projection screen. Only downside was a slight delay due to some bus issues with getting from the hotel we were staying at to Magic Kingdom, but it wasn't too horrible.
Day 2 was spent at Epcot, and that probably remains one of my favorite parks. There was quite a bit that I wasn't able to get to during my first trip, but I corrected that and managed to hit just about everything except a couple parts of World Showcase, and I stayed a bit later after dinner to catch the IllumiNations fireworks display.
Now part of the reason for taking this trip when we did was that this past week was my mother's birthday, and she did get a bit freaked out when Cast Members (aka park staff) kept saying Happy Birthday and calling her by name, but given that she was wearing a big ol' button that said she was celebrating her birthday... yeah, go figure. Well, the upside was that at each of the restaurants we ate at (mostly within the World Showcase), she got an extra little treat. Monday night we ate at Coral Reef (seafood), and she got a chocolate wafer that said "happy birthday" along with her dessert. BTW, if you do plan on going to Disney World for more than a couple days, the Dining Plan is so worth it, as it makes tracking your food bill a whole lot easier.
Day 3 was Hollywood Studios. We got to do the Backlot Tour as well as the Lights!Camera!Action! stunt show, both of which were very cool. Muppet*Vision 3D, Great Movie Ride and Indy Stunt Show were just as entertaining as it was the first time. Wasn't that impressed with the Toy Story Mania, mostly as I kept getting double images from the 3D, and while the Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow was moderately entertaining, it's not a "must do" by far. I of course did hit Star Tours, going on it about a half-dozen times, though I did get some repeated segments, which is bound to happen I guess. The big kicker for the night was the Fantasmic evening show, and though it didn't have as many fireworks as the prior two, it was still enjoyable, with the character barges and using water sprays as video screens.
Sadly, this was where the first big snag was hit. We had reservations to eat dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant, which is done up in the style of a 50's drive-in, showing trailers from such movies as folks eat in tables that are designed similar to 50's caddys. Well, we show up 15 minutes early.... and wound up waiting nearly 30 minutes to be seated, during which time at least two (probably more) groups that didn't have reservations who showed up after we'd checked in for our reservation got seated. Yeah, let that sink in. A party of two, with a reservation, were made to wait while parties of similar size who'd just showed up got seated rather promptly. And even after we get seated, there's issues, as we got plopped down right in the center of a bunch of screaming kids. Tried to flag down a waiter to ask if we could be moved, and got ignored by them, and were left to sit without anyone even asking for our drink orders for close to 10 minutes. At that point, we both said "screw this crap!" and got up and left (later went to a Guest Relations to make sure that we weren't billed a dinner service that we never got), and I made it a point to say directly to the manager that "the service here sucks!" as we all but stormed out of the place. I sincerely hope that the wait staff got chewed out for the lack of service, but I doubt it. Needless to say, I'm never setting foot in that place ever again, and would advise others to do likewise. The service sucks, and the food is nothing to write home about. So our dinner that night consisted of quick service food (rather large chili dog for me, a huge turkey drumstick for mom), but at least we got to take it with us to go watch Fantasmic, which was quite awesome as noted above. We then opted to catch a bus over to Downtown Disney, mostly to get tickets in advance for Oz at the AMC theater, which we did (8:30 showing), but what was supposed to be "let's just check a couple shops" turned into "let's check a whole bunch of shops." I don't begrudge my mom this, as she's a shopper; she enjoys shopping, and hasn't had the opportunity to just "go shopping" in a long while. However, the fact that I'd been up early and that we didn't get back to our hotel until close to midnight wasn't exactly making me feel like I was at the "happiest place on Earth."
Day 4 was Animal Kingdom, which frankly we could have skipped as there really wasn't much beyond a few nature trail walks and a 'safari' tour. Said safari tour might have been better if the driver actually stopped to let folks take pictures, but he didn't. The only ride we went on was Dinosaur, which was neat. However, it was while splitting up to head to different parks that we ran into the second significant issue. You see, we'd thought that the 4-day pass package we'd bought had been for Parkhoppers, which let you jump from one park to the next (handy since we were eating at Epcot most nights). Well, they weren't. So we wound up, using the Parkhoppers we'd had from a charity raffle a day sooner than expected. I went back to Magic Kingdom while mom went to check out the Garden Show at Epcot, and we each had our respective bits of fun. Dinner that night was at the La Celliar in the Canada section, and while it's pricy (counted as two dinner meals each on the dining plan), the food was excellent, and I had what was probably one of the best best rib-eye steaks I've had in a very long time, and it was a large portion of meat as well, which made the price worth it. And after the debacle at Sci-Fi Dine-In, having a waitress that was cheerful and prompt was wonderful.
Day 5 was "finish up the parks," which we did, finishing up Magic Kingdom and Epcot, and then dinner at Nine Dragons Restaurant. And holy crap was the food awesome. Best Kung Po Chicken I've had anyplace by far, plus the waiter was prompt with drink refills and checking up on how we were doing, but not to the point that it felt like he was hovering over of us.
Now Day 6 was the day I was really looking forward to, as we went on the "Behind the Magic" tour, which gives folks an overview of how the parks operate. It really was quite amazing, and though I knew a fair piece of it already, it's still amazing at the general efficiency and care to detail given to the parks (sadly the same can't be said of all the hotels, but that's later). And our tour guides couldn't have had more different presentation styles if they'd tried, but they were both informative and entertaining in their own ways. I have to admit, watching the 3pm Magic Kingdom parade after seeing some of the behind-the-scenes stuff was quite different than watching it normally; still a pretty cool show, but perhaps even more impressive once you know what really goes into it. We also got a pretty good lunch, and the head waitress was a hoot. I believe it was the Pine Lodge Resort, and word of advice... don't ask for ketchup if you value your dignity or your hearing.
Got to see a good chunk of the new Fantasyland segment of Magic Kingdom, which was pretty neat, even if there wasn't a whole lot to do. I'd heard that Merida was officially represented as a Disney Princess at WDW, but was neat to see that she's got her own little meet'n'greet area in the park. Didn't go on all the rides there (as most of them were kiddy rides), but there was plenty to do, and caught the Wishes fireworks show/display, which was really cool, particularly with how they used Cinderella's castle as a projection screen. Only downside was a slight delay due to some bus issues with getting from the hotel we were staying at to Magic Kingdom, but it wasn't too horrible.
Day 2 was spent at Epcot, and that probably remains one of my favorite parks. There was quite a bit that I wasn't able to get to during my first trip, but I corrected that and managed to hit just about everything except a couple parts of World Showcase, and I stayed a bit later after dinner to catch the IllumiNations fireworks display.
Now part of the reason for taking this trip when we did was that this past week was my mother's birthday, and she did get a bit freaked out when Cast Members (aka park staff) kept saying Happy Birthday and calling her by name, but given that she was wearing a big ol' button that said she was celebrating her birthday... yeah, go figure. Well, the upside was that at each of the restaurants we ate at (mostly within the World Showcase), she got an extra little treat. Monday night we ate at Coral Reef (seafood), and she got a chocolate wafer that said "happy birthday" along with her dessert. BTW, if you do plan on going to Disney World for more than a couple days, the Dining Plan is so worth it, as it makes tracking your food bill a whole lot easier.
Day 3 was Hollywood Studios. We got to do the Backlot Tour as well as the Lights!Camera!Action! stunt show, both of which were very cool. Muppet*Vision 3D, Great Movie Ride and Indy Stunt Show were just as entertaining as it was the first time. Wasn't that impressed with the Toy Story Mania, mostly as I kept getting double images from the 3D, and while the Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow was moderately entertaining, it's not a "must do" by far. I of course did hit Star Tours, going on it about a half-dozen times, though I did get some repeated segments, which is bound to happen I guess. The big kicker for the night was the Fantasmic evening show, and though it didn't have as many fireworks as the prior two, it was still enjoyable, with the character barges and using water sprays as video screens.
Sadly, this was where the first big snag was hit. We had reservations to eat dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant, which is done up in the style of a 50's drive-in, showing trailers from such movies as folks eat in tables that are designed similar to 50's caddys. Well, we show up 15 minutes early.... and wound up waiting nearly 30 minutes to be seated, during which time at least two (probably more) groups that didn't have reservations who showed up after we'd checked in for our reservation got seated. Yeah, let that sink in. A party of two, with a reservation, were made to wait while parties of similar size who'd just showed up got seated rather promptly. And even after we get seated, there's issues, as we got plopped down right in the center of a bunch of screaming kids. Tried to flag down a waiter to ask if we could be moved, and got ignored by them, and were left to sit without anyone even asking for our drink orders for close to 10 minutes. At that point, we both said "screw this crap!" and got up and left (later went to a Guest Relations to make sure that we weren't billed a dinner service that we never got), and I made it a point to say directly to the manager that "the service here sucks!" as we all but stormed out of the place. I sincerely hope that the wait staff got chewed out for the lack of service, but I doubt it. Needless to say, I'm never setting foot in that place ever again, and would advise others to do likewise. The service sucks, and the food is nothing to write home about. So our dinner that night consisted of quick service food (rather large chili dog for me, a huge turkey drumstick for mom), but at least we got to take it with us to go watch Fantasmic, which was quite awesome as noted above. We then opted to catch a bus over to Downtown Disney, mostly to get tickets in advance for Oz at the AMC theater, which we did (8:30 showing), but what was supposed to be "let's just check a couple shops" turned into "let's check a whole bunch of shops." I don't begrudge my mom this, as she's a shopper; she enjoys shopping, and hasn't had the opportunity to just "go shopping" in a long while. However, the fact that I'd been up early and that we didn't get back to our hotel until close to midnight wasn't exactly making me feel like I was at the "happiest place on Earth."
Day 4 was Animal Kingdom, which frankly we could have skipped as there really wasn't much beyond a few nature trail walks and a 'safari' tour. Said safari tour might have been better if the driver actually stopped to let folks take pictures, but he didn't. The only ride we went on was Dinosaur, which was neat. However, it was while splitting up to head to different parks that we ran into the second significant issue. You see, we'd thought that the 4-day pass package we'd bought had been for Parkhoppers, which let you jump from one park to the next (handy since we were eating at Epcot most nights). Well, they weren't. So we wound up, using the Parkhoppers we'd had from a charity raffle a day sooner than expected. I went back to Magic Kingdom while mom went to check out the Garden Show at Epcot, and we each had our respective bits of fun. Dinner that night was at the La Celliar in the Canada section, and while it's pricy (counted as two dinner meals each on the dining plan), the food was excellent, and I had what was probably one of the best best rib-eye steaks I've had in a very long time, and it was a large portion of meat as well, which made the price worth it. And after the debacle at Sci-Fi Dine-In, having a waitress that was cheerful and prompt was wonderful.
Day 5 was "finish up the parks," which we did, finishing up Magic Kingdom and Epcot, and then dinner at Nine Dragons Restaurant. And holy crap was the food awesome. Best Kung Po Chicken I've had anyplace by far, plus the waiter was prompt with drink refills and checking up on how we were doing, but not to the point that it felt like he was hovering over of us.
Now Day 6 was the day I was really looking forward to, as we went on the "Behind the Magic" tour, which gives folks an overview of how the parks operate. It really was quite amazing, and though I knew a fair piece of it already, it's still amazing at the general efficiency and care to detail given to the parks (sadly the same can't be said of all the hotels, but that's later). And our tour guides couldn't have had more different presentation styles if they'd tried, but they were both informative and entertaining in their own ways. I have to admit, watching the 3pm Magic Kingdom parade after seeing some of the behind-the-scenes stuff was quite different than watching it normally; still a pretty cool show, but perhaps even more impressive once you know what really goes into it. We also got a pretty good lunch, and the head waitress was a hoot. I believe it was the Pine Lodge Resort, and word of advice... don't ask for ketchup if you value your dignity or your hearing.
February 26, 2013
Long Arm of the Hutt: Act 1 Recap
A couple days later than anticipated (busy Sunday, felt like crap on Monday), but I thought I'd do a recap of sorts of the Long Arm of the Hutt adventure that FFG has offered up as a free download on their website. While the adventure was intended more to be used alongside the Beginner Box materials, it works just fine using the Beta rules.
To recap, the newly-formed band of heroes that are the PCs comprise the following:
- Dewryyhn, Wookiee Hired Gun/Marauder
- Neesa Eyan, Twi'lek Explorer/Trader
- R2-V05 aka "Vos," Astromech Technician/Mechanic
- Raith Bardo, Human Smuggler/Pilot
- Shodu Farr, Rodian Bounty Hunter/Survivalist
We almost had a sixth, but said player was put off by the utter lack of Jedi or Force material, and so chose to wait until FFG actually published said material. Sounds like he's got a long wait ahead of him...
I'm actually not going to do a full recap, as that would take too long and frankly I'm really not feeling it. We didn't get through all of Act 1, ending the session with the party reaching the New Meen Mines and in need of some recovery time after a surprisingly rough fight at the Old Lylek Den. They did spot the Gand sniper, but Raith proved his piloting chops by flying a madman's course that made it hard for the hunters to draw a bead on them, which enabled them to get past the hunters without their speeder getting damaged. Seeing as how the hunters had cover, it proved to be a tough shooting match for most of the group, though Shodu was doing pretty well thanks to his having purchased an extra rank in Ranged (Heavy) and rolling a pretty good number of successes on each roll. Oddly enough, quite a few Advantages went to effectively giving Dewie some cover fire so that he could get in close with his vibro-ax, and once he did, things got messy pretty fast given the sheer damage output he had, thanks in no small part to the low crit rating of his vibro-ax. I opted to downgrade the NPC hunter's armor from laminate armor to heavy clothing so that they wouldn't be quite as tough to take down, as only two of the PCs (Dewie & Shodu) really have any serious combat skill, though Raith did score a couple of Triumphs with his heavy blaster pistol... before rolling three Threats and running out of ammo; boy was he glad for that extra reload the party had found when rummaging through the Krayt Fang at the start of the session. It still proved to be a tough fight, as the bad guys had cover, though it didn't quite matter as much once Dewie got within melee range, as his vibro-ax's low crit rating enabled him to drop a bounty hunter on each swing, though he did inadvertently make things tougher on Raith and Shodu as they were now firing into a melee (luckily no Despair results came up on that challenge die). End result were five dead bounty hunters (4 humans, 1 Gand), and the party snagging a decent blaster rifle that could be sold or bartered at a later date, as well as some heavy blaster pistols that B'aru thought might come in handy for the people of New Meen if things got violent (which they probably will). It was kind of neat to see Shodu engage in something of a sniper war with the Gand, ending the fight with a critical that the player described as blowing right through the Gand's crude sights before literally blowing his mind with the awesomeness of the shot. Since the Gand was a rival/henchman, and a critical injury drops them outright (at least going by the Beginner Box rules), I didn't see a need to enforce the proper rules for critical injuries.
There was quite a bit of roleplaying this session, which is largely why we didn't get quite as far as I had initially thought they would given how quickly we got through Escape from Mos Shutta. The players really took the opportunity while exploring their new ship and resolving the various issues found to begin to flesh out who their characters are and not just what they can do. To be fair, part of the delay also was in the players trying to decide on how to spend the 20 XP awarded to them for successfully completing Escape from Mos Shutta. They were also eager to check out the local market at Nabat, leading to some fun RP'ing there as well as giving Nessa a chance to indulge her character concept as a Twi'lek trader-baroness in the making.
Nobody's Obligation came up, something the PCs were glad of. Their destiny pool was pretty bad though, with only a single Light Side token compared to four Dark Side tokens, and I did put those dark side tokens to good use during the bounty hunter fight to make the PCs' shots a bit more difficult, particularly Shodu's given his two ranks in Ranged (Heavy).
So, it was a fun session, which is what really matters. We're slated to finish off Act I sometime next month, and everyone's looking forward to it. It's an interesting mix of characters, though I did feel kinda bad that Neesa and Vos didn't have a whole lot to contribute to the bounty hunter fight beyond supporting fire (namely using the Assist maneuver), though Vos did get a clever idea to use his scanners to allow Shodu to get a fix on where the Gand sniper was (Perception check, allowing the Rodian to upgrade his dice pool by one on a success). Hopefully I can incorporate more role-play hooks for Nessa, as I really don't want the only female player in the group to get bored and decide she doesn't want to play anymore.
To recap, the newly-formed band of heroes that are the PCs comprise the following:
- Dewryyhn, Wookiee Hired Gun/Marauder
- Neesa Eyan, Twi'lek Explorer/Trader
- R2-V05 aka "Vos," Astromech Technician/Mechanic
- Raith Bardo, Human Smuggler/Pilot
- Shodu Farr, Rodian Bounty Hunter/Survivalist
We almost had a sixth, but said player was put off by the utter lack of Jedi or Force material, and so chose to wait until FFG actually published said material. Sounds like he's got a long wait ahead of him...
I'm actually not going to do a full recap, as that would take too long and frankly I'm really not feeling it. We didn't get through all of Act 1, ending the session with the party reaching the New Meen Mines and in need of some recovery time after a surprisingly rough fight at the Old Lylek Den. They did spot the Gand sniper, but Raith proved his piloting chops by flying a madman's course that made it hard for the hunters to draw a bead on them, which enabled them to get past the hunters without their speeder getting damaged. Seeing as how the hunters had cover, it proved to be a tough shooting match for most of the group, though Shodu was doing pretty well thanks to his having purchased an extra rank in Ranged (Heavy) and rolling a pretty good number of successes on each roll. Oddly enough, quite a few Advantages went to effectively giving Dewie some cover fire so that he could get in close with his vibro-ax, and once he did, things got messy pretty fast given the sheer damage output he had, thanks in no small part to the low crit rating of his vibro-ax. I opted to downgrade the NPC hunter's armor from laminate armor to heavy clothing so that they wouldn't be quite as tough to take down, as only two of the PCs (Dewie & Shodu) really have any serious combat skill, though Raith did score a couple of Triumphs with his heavy blaster pistol... before rolling three Threats and running out of ammo; boy was he glad for that extra reload the party had found when rummaging through the Krayt Fang at the start of the session. It still proved to be a tough fight, as the bad guys had cover, though it didn't quite matter as much once Dewie got within melee range, as his vibro-ax's low crit rating enabled him to drop a bounty hunter on each swing, though he did inadvertently make things tougher on Raith and Shodu as they were now firing into a melee (luckily no Despair results came up on that challenge die). End result were five dead bounty hunters (4 humans, 1 Gand), and the party snagging a decent blaster rifle that could be sold or bartered at a later date, as well as some heavy blaster pistols that B'aru thought might come in handy for the people of New Meen if things got violent (which they probably will). It was kind of neat to see Shodu engage in something of a sniper war with the Gand, ending the fight with a critical that the player described as blowing right through the Gand's crude sights before literally blowing his mind with the awesomeness of the shot. Since the Gand was a rival/henchman, and a critical injury drops them outright (at least going by the Beginner Box rules), I didn't see a need to enforce the proper rules for critical injuries.
There was quite a bit of roleplaying this session, which is largely why we didn't get quite as far as I had initially thought they would given how quickly we got through Escape from Mos Shutta. The players really took the opportunity while exploring their new ship and resolving the various issues found to begin to flesh out who their characters are and not just what they can do. To be fair, part of the delay also was in the players trying to decide on how to spend the 20 XP awarded to them for successfully completing Escape from Mos Shutta. They were also eager to check out the local market at Nabat, leading to some fun RP'ing there as well as giving Nessa a chance to indulge her character concept as a Twi'lek trader-baroness in the making.
Nobody's Obligation came up, something the PCs were glad of. Their destiny pool was pretty bad though, with only a single Light Side token compared to four Dark Side tokens, and I did put those dark side tokens to good use during the bounty hunter fight to make the PCs' shots a bit more difficult, particularly Shodu's given his two ranks in Ranged (Heavy).
So, it was a fun session, which is what really matters. We're slated to finish off Act I sometime next month, and everyone's looking forward to it. It's an interesting mix of characters, though I did feel kinda bad that Neesa and Vos didn't have a whole lot to contribute to the bounty hunter fight beyond supporting fire (namely using the Assist maneuver), though Vos did get a clever idea to use his scanners to allow Shodu to get a fix on where the Gand sniper was (Perception check, allowing the Rodian to upgrade his dice pool by one on a success). Hopefully I can incorporate more role-play hooks for Nessa, as I really don't want the only female player in the group to get bored and decide she doesn't want to play anymore.
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