"Hey, why does he get more?"

Ah, the arguments spawned during loot and xp distribution are legendary in proportion. The phrase "Why does he get that?" or "That's unfair!" can bring a stalwart game to a halt in a moment. Especially if everyone is playing greedy, care-only-for-yourself rouges, and I seriously don't recommend that. But alas there will always be loot and xp in D&D to be divied up so what are you to do with that one dwarf fighter who hordes what ever the party finds for himself?

There are several ways, many are mentioned in the back of the Player's Strategy Guide. But I've never actually read that whole section in one sitting, it's kind of dry reading, so I'll settle for explaining how my group's party does things.

The first way, for mature players, is to make a contract and have (make) the group sign it. It's simple, fast, and ostensibly effective assuming your group has strong enough will power to up hold it. I'm not going to tell you what to write, I think you can figure it out, and it's different within every group.

The second, this is the one my group uses most often, is to create a list of the items in question and have a short debate about their fate. Why does the wizard need the +2 longsword? Does the dwarf really want those robes of fast travel or is he just going to sell them? Use discretion and try not to over think this thing, as much as I hate to say it, it's a game don't let it ruin your friendships.

The last, is to have a grab fest. Usually this provides the most complaints of the three mentioned here. One player or another winds up gypped and angry. However with some more healthy debate, trade, and commerce this method can be made effective.

That's all for the day, be on the look out for more re-caps and articles, now that school's back in session.

Johnathan Rollen Revard the Bard

Play-Testing D&D Next and 1001 Traps

A few posts ago I trash talked D&D Next. My objection was the amount of money that one spends on books in the first place, even though I bought most of mine on Amazon, here's a link just in case you've never heard of Amazon. Now, I've signed up to play-test it. I'm sure your all wondering how much they paid me to change my mind, but actually they didn't have to. There are three things I like about this new version of the game over 4e.

1. The Hit Points are Lower - Our group spends so long in some combats, it loses it's fun, this should shorten combat. Some would argue that I, as DM, could fix this by letting my players take on easier monsters, good point but with Toc in a party it is imposable to balance everyone. Toc can breeze through dungeons I've designed to challenge PC's three to five levels higher then him. However less hit points doesn't mean that the PC's are weaker then the monsters, it lowers whole bar, monster can be smashed with one hit, creatures beheaded with a single stroke. It gives a real sense of empowerment.
2. The Magic System is Back! - In 4e they gave powers to everyone, not in next. Now only clerics and wizards can use spells, just like in 3.5e, which brings me to number three.
3. What were they Thinking? - Like I said, in 4e they gave everyone powers. They called them different things, like spells for the wizard, prayers for the cleric, and martial exploits for the fighters, What? My Half-Orc Fighter, who can barely write his own name is not going to use martial exploits. He is going to hit things with a big sword, hard, while screaming. Also placing powers into the hands of a fighter drastically tipped the scales of power in the fighters direction.   

There you have it. That is why I'm play-testing it, when our group next meets. Now to send you off here's a tidbit I got in today's email. It's a thread on the D&D website with over 1001 trap ideas for your game, have fun! 1001 Trap Ideas

Death and the Afterlife 2

I wasn't planning to do a second part on this subject, but after re-reading my first article I realized that I forgot to mention a crucial thing! The afterlife part... In D&D, and perhaps other RPG's, afterlife depends mainly on four things: Your alignment, What you did in life, What your character believes, and Who your character worships. These things, and perhaps some other minor things, control what happens to your character. The fun thing is that you really never have the same afterlife twice, unless of course you make the exact same character, and I mean exact same. For example, a fighter who worships Kord (God of Battle), believes in reincarnation, and has generally followed a good alignment all of his life, may be reincarnated by Kord as a good red dragon, or the son of a mighty warlord. However this outcome will be entirely different for a wizard who worships Orcus (Demon Prince of the Undead), believes that you gain power after-death, and followed a chaotic-evil alignment all her life. The point is this: the afterlife is wide and varying. Your ideas of a cool after world may be different from your best friend's, but no matter what your alignment or your ideas your death and afterlife are truly yours to create.

Note: You may have noticed words like, "chaotic-evil" and "good" (Well that's not that hard to figure out). These words represent your alignment, or basically your attitude toward the world. In 4e there are: Lawful- Good, Good, Neutral, Evil, and Chaotic-Evil. I may write a more expansive article on these subjects later.

Death and the Afterlife

I recently read an article about character death in D&D (I would post a link but, alas, I've lost the site). Anyway, today the topic is character death. If you play any RPG you've had to deal with it. But in D&D, and perhaps in other RPGs, there is a shining ray of hope on the other end of that long, dark hallway. Resurrection! Now this is assuming that your fellow party members want to fork over the 2,000 gold pieces (gp) per ten levels to revive you. In many cases, *cough* my group *cough*, the other party members may divide the dead person's stuff and leave the corpse to rot. This also raises the question: Are there ways for the characters to die from which they should not be able to return? For example, if a fighter is blasted by the fiery breath of a 700-year-old dragon, then thrown from a 400-foot-cliff and lands on a bed of sharp and jagged rock, assuming the party can find his body, should they be allowed to restore him to the world of the living? To answer this question we have to ask another question: Why does D&D allow resurrection in the first place? Well I believe that perhaps D&D allows resurrection for two reasons. One, characters become more than a piece of paper upon which are written numbers and strange words. They become a source of imagination - perhaps you've spent time perfecting a back story, or drawing pictures, or even just imagining how kick-butt your character is in combat. The point is, once you've invested all that time you don't want it to end. Number two also has to do with time. Once you reach higher levels starting over just doesn't seem to be a viable option. It's like playing a video game half-way through and then it crashes and you have to start over. Not fun.

As with most things there is another side to this proverbial coin; character death isn't always a bad thing. Perhaps your character went down a different path than you expected, or maybe the character sacrificed himself for "the good of all goodly folk", thus reaching his personal "Valhalla". The character doesn't even have to die - sometimes they just retire. Becoming king, marrying and settling down, or even avenging the last of his/her people are all good reasons to end you character's adventures in the world. Sometimes the character just loses its fun, and fun is the main reason to play. 

To answer my own question with an incredibly vague statement: Yes and No. There are times when a character is dead... no questions, he has shuffled off this mortal coil. But there are times, too, when a character's story may just be beginning again. 

Thanks!

I wish to thank all of the people who are reading/have read my blog and commented, either in person or online. I have entered a contest with this blog and won a prize with the help of you, my readers. I have enjoyed sharing my imaginative mind, so I will continue to post on this blog, whether you like it or not.

Thank you.
Johnathan Rolen Revard the Bard

Recap 3 - The Tomb of Gauhul (GAH-u-hal) Are they still fighting?

Part Three awaits you. In the series of recaps about the Tomb of Gauhal (GAH-u-hal).

Toc, Human Fighter/Berserker (A beast of a man, of some fame about the land)
Brug, Half-Orc, Fighter (Think Darth Maul...)
Drake, Winged Vampineze, Avenger/Wizard (His charming smile fools most but make no mistake - he is deadly)
Alden, Dwarf Berserker (Hairy, Loud, and Smelly. Yeah, that about describes him.)

As you read above Alden has returned to us, however Damakos is still MIA. One problem we discussed during this last game was XP distribution. I'll write another post soon covering that topic.

Part Two - Clean as a bubble...

Alden awakes on the hard stone floor in the darkness. His wounds have healed slightly but not enough for him to move yet. Drawing upon his dwarven heritage he finds the strength to move and forces his body to heal faster. He stumbles to his feet and, guided by a soft glow from up the hallway, begins to walk, keeping one hand pressed tightly against the wall at all times.

Brug's axes flash again and again, striking out at the mummy before him. The battle has been long and arduous and he hopes it will soon end. A noise from behind, drew his attention. A dwarf the one they had left for dead came stumbling along the corridor. Alden readied his axe in order to join the fray but is waved away by Brug who know there was no room for the barbaric dwarf and his mighty swings.

Toc, still trapped by the gargoyle's claw, dangled dangerously over the bridge. With a roar Toc brings his great axe up and into the gargoyles face. The surprised gargoyle drops Toc back to the bridge and sails out wide, over the spiked pit. It falls impaling it's self on one of the spikes. The second gargoyle watches in horror as his comrade crumbles to dust. It tries to turn and fly away, but Toc's axe claims the other send up a wave of dust.

Drake continues north, into a room filled with floating glass spheres, each about the size of a baseball. He reaches out to touch one but draws his hand back quickly as it explodes. He just barely avoids the acid that shoots out. After this display Drake carefully picks his way about the room and in a few moments he is in front of a pair of large oaken doors on the other side.

Toc's trail leads into a room covered in ropes. They hang from the ceiling, the walls, and even seem to jut out of the floor. He enters boldly and is quick tangled in the living ropes. Several forms rise from the piles of ropes and others drop from the ceiling on hanging ropes, all are undead. Hosting his axe in a great swing, Toc cuts most of the ropes and in result slays the foul creatures.

Alden, coming to the same conclusion as Brug, enters the tomb where previously there where ghosts. The last ghost, notices Alden and, still sworn to guard that tomb, follows him phasing through the walls in great haste. Alden sees the ghost at the last second before he is thrown against the wall and held there by some invisible force.

Drake throws open the doors. Beyond, in the center of the room stands a large portal. After much deliberation he steps through the portal. He is immediately teleported far from the room and right next to Brug!

Will Brug's battle even end? Will Alden escape the ghost clutches? Will Toc's undoing finally come? Find out in the next recap!

Pain is the Bard's Middle Name...

I knew that sooner or later I'd have to post something about the bard. The bard is my favorite class, up there with the assassin and the rogue. I admit that the bard is a tad lame (they hurt people with music - I mean, come on!) but for some strange reason the idea of a musical rogue steals my heart. That being said, I now believe that the "Heroes of the Feywilds" bard addition the "Skald" is really, really underpowered. Half of his attacks require making a basic attack which, correct me if I'm wrong, don't really do that much damage at higher levels. To send you off today here are a few links having to do with bards. Enjoy!

Bard Picture (Just a fun picture)

Cruel Lullabies (A guide to making a wonderful bard)

And for the record: Toc stop breaking my weapons!

Hunger Games and D&D

I just saw the Hunger Games (I read the book first). All I can say is: Great Movie! However all throughout I was thinking, how can I turn this into a D&D game? Any ideas people? Of course you could always use the elements you saw in the movie (fire, dogs with human faces, lots of blood) or you could come up with some of your own. Changing the setting to fantasy is easy if your game uses magic. If you have an idea for a challenge, please comment!

Recap 2 - The Tomb of Gauhul (GAH-u-hal), Toc (almost) Dies, and a few acquired treasures...

Woo hoo! Part Two! In the series of recaps about the Tomb of Gauhal (GAH-u-hal). The characters are:

Toc, Human Fighter/Berserker (A beast of a man, of some fame about the land)
Brug, Half-Orc, Fighter (Think Darth Maul...)
Drake, Winged Vampineze, Avenger/Wizard (His charming smile fools most but make no mistake - he is deadly)

Two of our members couldn't make it this week (Alden and Damakos). This is always a hard subject, because you want a story to flow. When people show up at random it's hard to plan ahead. Anyway, Alden spent the game unconscious from his shark bite wounds and Damakos spent the game delirious with fever (from an improperly cauterized wound). So here it is, Part 2!

Part Two - Well, they're already dead so really they are re-dead...

Toc, having reclaimed his axe, heads down the west tunnel, leaving Alden bleeding on the floor. He enters a large rectangular room by way of an old stone bridge. Acid waterfalls tumbling down the walls have eroded the floor as to create an island of stone amidst a lake of acid. More disturbing are the giant spider webs stretching around the room. A large Tomb Spider descends from the ceiling accompanied by the moans of two humanoid shapes rising from the webs. The undead draw their long-swords and advance slowly, shambling all the way. [Toc is the really, really strong one - remember? I thought that this encounter would challenge the whole party but he cleared it single-handedly in a few short rounds.] Toc whips out his returned axe and charges in without fear. The undead fall before him and the spider a few moments later. Toc takes a second to breathe, and collect a single flask of spider poison from the dead spider's fangs, before searching the area. He finds two exits - one leads to the spider's treasure cave -the other, north, deeper into the dungeon. Toc searches the cave and finds a dwarven shield and some gold. Toc turns his quest to the north exit and leaves the room.

Meanwhile, Brug who was left behind in the entry chamber, breaks open the third door and searches the room carefully. Inside of a sarcophagus he finds a pair of shin length leather boots radiating magical energy. He spends a large amount of time trying to figure out what they do before he kicks the wall and the boot sticks. He finds he can now walk up and down the wall as easily as if he was walking on the floor. As he is exiting the room a sound from the staircase startles him. A lone man descends, eying Brug wearily.

Drake sizes up the Half-Orc before flitting off to the north corridor without so much as a how-do- you-do. Brug is about to give chase when the steel door, earlier opened and closed by Toc, is thrown open and the undead beyond come swarming out. Brug is forced to stop and fight for his life.

Toc enters a large square room. In the center of the room is a large badly concealed pit. From within comes a loud moan. Toc jumps readily into the pit. Hands reach out and strike at his armor fruitlessly. He laughs but is blown off his feet by a large force slamming into his left side. He lights a torch and throws it onto the floor. The light reveals several zombies and a large golem made of bones.

Drake first comes to a large room with sweet-smelling pools on either side of the entry way. He is drawn in by their sweetly sick smell. Two blood demons rise out of the pools, at fist surprising Drake but he rallies his senses and summons a temple of darkness around the room.

With one mighty cleave Toc clears the pit of zombies, however the bone golem proves harder. [I am quite proud that I forced Toc down to 28 hit-points. Even if I didn't kill him... yet] The two fighters, one living and one dead, trade blows for many minutes. Then Toc, in a moment befitting a motivational sports movie slow-motion shot, throws his two-handed axe. It flies haft over head slinking deep into the bone golem's chest - quenching its life fire. Toc searches the pit briefly. He uncovers a fine elven bow, covered in mud and zombie dust, and places it in his bag.

Drake, thinking quickly, summons an undead zombie hulk to help him in his battle against the blood demons. The demons are quickly defeated by the combined strength of Drake and his new ally.

Brug, still in the thick of battle, fights desperately to ward off the undead creatures destroying both of the tomb guardians and turning his attention to the mummy.

Toc clambers out of the pit wearily and stumbles to the northern exit. He finds a sign on the door in old common. All he can make out is "Warning... grubs... point". He opens the door and finds a group of undead with grubs covering their bodies. They begin to stand and shamble towards him but he closes the door and heads south. He exits the south corridor to find a rickety wooden bridge and a room covered in spikes [Literally, this room is covered in spikes. They descend from the ceiling, cover the floor, and line the walls, everywhere]. As Toc begins to venture out across the treturous bridge the two gargolyes swoop down from the spiked ceilling and latch on to Toc!

Will Toc be pulled over onto the spikes? Will Brug survive the undead foes? Will Alden ever get the medical attention he so badly needs? All this and more in Part 3!

Heading for Town

The town or city is a classic place to find adventures. It can also be the biggest time drain in a game. Town is filled with all sorts of wonderful plot hooks (think, a fishing hook for plots... there now you've got it!) but it's also filled with shops just begging to be passed through slowly examining each and every artifact carefully from the lowly Magic Wand +1 to the even lowlier Bag o' Junk (a cursed item). However this does not have to be a labor, with a little work towns and cities can be fun! I have come to enjoy them; I've even set one of my more successful adventures in a large city. The trick is finding an interesting plot hook and adapting it to the city. Roleplaying Tips.com (an excellent website) has a random city adventure generator to help with that. And remember if you're at a loss for ideas, you can't go wrong with a good old roof-top leaping Assassins Creed experience. Another interesting take on cities is magic or no magic. In a fantasy game this may seem a tad strange but imagine: what if instead of horses this town used behemoths (dinosaurs) as pack animals and warhorses? Or perhaps there is a magic fountain in the city square that spews fine wine instead of water? In any fantasy game including (but not limited to) D&D the sky's NOT the limit. You can go beyond even that. Enjoy working fun and exciting new ideas into your game!

Improvisational Helpers

Improvisational helpers are, well... you know - for improv. This article goes hand in hand with my previous article, "Names".

Improv helpers can be defined as anything that you feel helps you roll with the punches. Most adventures will not go the way you planned and because of this it's always a good idea to keep a few of the following (if not all of the following) in reserve:

Maps - This is perhaps the hardest to master. Too many maps and you may never use them all, too few and you're back where you started. You can't guess everywhere the players might go, so how can you hope to prepare a map for everywhere in the fantasy world? You can't. However you can plan for the the usual places. On a rule I prepare: two short dungeons, a wizard's tower, two short caves, and a few city buildings. I also keep a small graph paper notebook with universal sketches. The next time you don't have an idea you can whip out a map and put your adventure back on track.

People - Let's say the party is walking through the streets of a crowded town. One of your players suggests they visit a magic shop that was not in your plans. You could say there isn't one but why ruin the fun (see "Saying Yes")? So you flip open your handy-dandy book o' people. It's quite easy to make. You simply take a name, race, age, gender, occupation, and maybe a few notes about the person and write them as an Excel document or in a notebook. This is great for anytime you need a quick NPC (Non-Player Character, anyone who isn't a player character - PC).

Taverns - There are lots of good tavern generators out there for public use. I use the tavern generator from Map Mage . They also have some other pretty cool generators and, if you pay, some good mapping tools.

I haven't really found a good D&D 4e treasure generator so if you find one post it in the comments!

Saying Yes

Gaming is very much like improvisational acting. It is a known fact that no matter how much you as the Dungeon Master (DM) prepare, the players will find a way to ruin it. But are they really ruining it? I find that some of my best adventures are improved when the creative juices are flowing at their highest. Gaming is like improv for one more reason: whenever possible say "yes" or better yet "yes and...". Words like "yes" do several things. Perhaps the players are looking for information on a man who stole something of theirs. This man is hiding in the lair of an evil wizard... the twist? No one knows where the wizard's lair is! Then surprise, surprise - one of the players suggest that they check out a local wizards' college. Chances are the evil wizard was once part of the college and those in residence may know where to find his current lair. Now we come to the problem: you didn't plan on any wizards' college coming into play so you don't have maps, non-player characters (npcs), or even a name for this college! You have three choices: You could say "no", but now the players are discouraged and frustrated not to mention you've just lost a great chance to add something to your game. You could say "yes", but now you have to come up with something on the fly. This may work great for you - perhaps you love improv like I do. And third you could say "yes and...". Instead of the wizards' college being a large and impressive structure in the middle of town as the players expect, say that wizards are feared and persecuted, so the wizards college is an underground organization or a hovel on the outskirts of town or in the slums lorded over by a fat, greedy tyrant. "Yes and..." is a powerful phrase. It brings the power back to the DM and gives the players a pat on the back for a great idea. Sometimes an idea isn't so great so don't be afraid to say no but, like a good improv actor, try to say "yes and..."!

My next posting will be more about improv-helpers. Come back soon!

Drizzt Do'Urden

For those of you who don't know who Drizzt Do'Urden is... you're in the wrong place. Drizzt is a Drow (dark elf) from those wonderful, wonderful books written by R.A. Salvatore (even my computer recognized R.A. Salvatore's name in spell check)! If you haven't read any of them before I strongly suggest picking one up (the first book is called Homeland.)

Question of the Day: Who is your favorite character from the series?

Top Ten Reasons to Play D&D

10. Sometimes being an Elf with a magic sword who can bash things that make you mad is soothing.

9. It's a great way to find other geeky friends.

8. All that reading has to make you smart... right?

7. If you plan to set a game in an ancient Rome-like city you'll want to read up on ancient Rome first! So you learn while you play! It's like those brownies with vegetables inside of them, except D&D doesn't taste strange.

6. Imagination is something a lot of us lose after childhood and it's something a true D&D geek never leaves behind. Actually, I don't think anyone should give up imagination in any part of their lives. What do we become once our lives are just the day to day? No more invention, games, or (in my opinion) fun.

5. What is a better way to learn group unity than by helping your comrades delve into deep dungeons and carry loot from forgotten ages back from the depths? Answer: Nothing. Well unless you're my group, or you're doing a trust fall (dang those things are scary).

4. D&D isn't all combat - some of it can be like a good ol' puzzle-solving game with traps and tricks along the way.

3. Math can be pretty awesome... when you use it in D&D. That's right - there is math in D&D. Just because it's not called "D&D: Adventures in Math" doesn't mean you're home free. It involves lots of geometry, probability and statistics, and number crunching, which may include simple math all the way to algebra. The beauty of it is you don't even know you're doing math (most of the time)! There's also storytelling (language arts), reading and history (see number 7).

2. "Escapism" is a fun term. There's even a country song about it. A lot of people find escape in everyday things: watching a movie, playing a video game, or even just walking about your back yard with a stick shouting strange mangled Latin and pretending you're a boy wizard with a scar on your forehead (who will not be named). Escapism means to escape from your life, if only for a brief time. It's therapeutic.

1.It's fun! (Do I need to expand on this one?)

I got your backstory

Oh good lord, never let my use a pun like the one in the title again... Anyway, today's topic is: backstory...

There are many ways to create a backstory. Some are harder than others - for that reason it is a part of character creation that many of us leave out. I prefer to come up with original ideas for my characters but even what we may think original could be influenced by things we've seen or read. You could choose a character you admire from a book and use them as an idea for backstory. I briefly played a character based on the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" - this MUST prove that effectively anything can be turned into a character seed (seed is another name for a background idea). Try coming up with a flaw or a strength of the character and ask yourself: "Why is he afraid of water?" or "How did she get so good at magic?" and so on - simple stuff. One other option is to play the game awhile and let your first four levels be your back story. I like this option as it gives your game a realistic-feeling backstory more often than not. In the end it's your choice. Maybe you have an idea for a source of backstory - post and share.

Names

Names are tricky most of the time. When asked to come up with a fantasy-sounding name on the spot even I will say 'Doug' or 'Tim'. You can always go with names from literature or movies but you might not feel as attached to them as you would a name you created. You might try turning your name backwards but why name a character Mit? Here are a few websites to try. They all have good name generators and a few other treats as well. Check them out:

Chaotic Shiny

Seventh Sanctum

Rinkworks (This site only has a fantasy name generator, but it churns out over 100 names at a time!)


So there you have it - some good sites for names. But before you use them, I suggest you try thinking of one yourself. It only takes three or four minutes and it is quite satisfying. One last hint before you go - think about what this character does or what kind of weapon it uses. Bree Three-Hands (from the shadow plague comic) is a perfect example of this. I assume she is named such because she steals so much. Just some food for thought.

Recap 1 - The Tomb of Gauhul (GAH-u-hal), "Heroes of the Fey Wild" and a loss of hands...

This is the first in a series of recaps about the Tomb of Gauhal (GAH-u-hal) - a homemade campaign, A campaign is a string of quests which are all set in the same world. The characters are:

Toc, Human Fighter/Berserker (A beast of a man, of some fame about the land)
Brug, Half-Orc, Fighter (Think Darth Maul...)
Alden, Dwarf Berserker (Hairy, Loud, and Smelly. Yeah, that about describes him.)
Damakos, Human Life-Stealer Warlock (The stench of death wards people away from him.)

Because there are an overwhelming amount of fighters, Damakos hires Toc, Brug, and Alden as mercenaries to help him find the legendary scythe of Gauhal inside the Tomb of Gauhal.

I was consulting "Heroes of the Fey Wild" when the book was immediately taken by Toc to change his fighter into a half-berserker. His attack and damage are only slightly less than a god... I mean in this adventure alone he rolled... well you need to read it to find out.

Part One - Ghosts, Mummies, and Sharks Oh my! Wait, Sharks?

The party crosses the last arid hill at mid-day, and sees the small trading city of Grimor. Their approach is closely watched by the Arabic-looking guards standing on either side of the gate. Damakos pauses briefly to inquire of the guard, "...the direction of the nearest inn?" The man replies, "The Dragon's Breath Inn, the city's finest, is just around the corner. However there are others for the less civilized among you." (His eyes rest on Alden briefly).

The party enters Grimor and is immediately assaulted by the stink of the city. People are sitting, leaning, even lying anywhere and everywhere. Folks bustle amongst brightly-colored stalls with portly merchants hawking everything from meat to jewelry. They have no trouble finding The Dragon's Breath Inn, and arrive just as a bouncer is throwing a man out. Using simple magic, they bluff their way into the inn. Alden immediately realizes that this place is far too high class for him and leaves to find a place more his style. The rest engage in drinking and talking to the boniface, a man named Marvo whose son died exploring the tomb. They persuade him to sell them a room for the night at a discount.

Alden, finds his way to "The Dancing Bear" and buys a room. The party goes about their tasks and prepares for the journey into the Ashen Hills and then to the tomb itself.

The next morning they awake well rested and ready for the challenges of life. Then Toc notices his axe is gone - in it's place is a note with a strange symbol (a star inside of an oval). Toc then goes on a murderous rampage destroying half the inn. He seizes the boniface by his robes and demands to know where it is. After a short inquisition, in which the party learns that a seer on the outskirts of town has the same symbol on his chest, they set off for this seer.

They arrive at a brightly colored tent, large guards flank the entrance. Toc pushes past the guards ignoring their protests that, "A seeing is ten gold!" The tent is larger on the inside ["Doctor Who" reference - hehe]. It is lavishly decorated with rugs and pillows of the finest silk. A robed man sits at the far end of the room in front of a table containing a large crystal ball. His face is covered by a long cowl. Upon seeing this man Toc again enters a fit of rage, stampeding over to him and yelling in his face. The man calmly asks if they would like him to find the axe for them. Damakos (level-headed as always) replies yes, gives the man the paper, and tries his best to restrain Toc. The seer after, consulting his crystal ball, tells the party that the Axe has been taken into the Tomb of Gauhal. Brug, asks the man how he knows the symbol on the paper. The seer removes his robes and shows the party that his body is almost entirely made of metal. He is attached to several large pumps. He looks up at them, his eyes mournful, and tells them his story:

When I was younger and capable of great magic, I was hired by a man who
called himself only the Cleric. He also hired Balmo (the son of Marvo) and Veris
(a thief). We entered the Tomb. We made it farther than anyone before.
In the last room, The Cleric turned on me (Balmo and Veris had been killed
earlier in the dungeon) I was knocked out. When I next awoke I was
outside in front of the entrance to the tomb with that symbol carved into my chest.
Luckily I was found by the villagers. In my weakened shape, I was no longer
able to perform magic. So I worked with the smith to forge a new body of metal.

Damakos thanks the seer and leaves followed by the others. They leave town and head toward the tomb.

They find the tomb after searching awhile and enter the wrought iron gates just as the sun is setting. A large stone building sits ominously in the center of the field. The party enters the building, Alden taking up the rear and closing the door behind them. It is dark until Damakos lights a torch and passes it to Brug. The room is fairly nondescript, the only feature of note is a large statue of a man at the far end. The statue holds a scythe of stone in both hands. A brass plaque below says, "Here lies Gauhul 4th King of the Azure Throne this is his tomb and none living shall enter!" The group notices that the word "Tomb" is slightly indented. Damakos places his hand in the groove and pushes. His hand slips into the stone, there is a brief whirring noise, then a chopping sound. Damakos withdraws the stump that is now without his hand. The statue withdraws revealing a set of stairs descending into the earth. Momentarily losing his cool and screaming, Damakos is grabbed by Toc, and Alden while Brug cauterizes the wound. After a brief rest they descend into the dark.

The halls are made of sandstone. The air is dry and musty in the hall going north and south, with several doors lining the wall. Toc, again in a fit of rage still looking for his axe, proceeds to kick open the closest door. The wooden door splinters under his mighty foot. Inside several startled ghosts turn and wail at the loss of their door. They attack viciously. [I must note this is where the players had a turn of good luck. They rolled at least three critical hits - a 20 on a twenty-sided dice. There's only a 5% chance of doing this, in this encounter alone. Toc himself dealt out about 125 points of damage maybe more. Anyway...] The party makes quick work of the ghosts, save one who escapes into the next room. Toc gives chase to the fleeing ghost followed by Brug and Damakos. Alden decides to head down the south passage [If you haven't figured it out by now, Alden is free-spirited]. Alden enters a large octagonal room. At the far end, shoved blade-first into the wall, is Toc's axe. Alden decides to grab the axe [We're not entirely sure weather he wanted to give it back or keep it...]. As he crosses the room a pit opens in the floor and Alden is plunged into icy water. An iron grate slides into place above the pit as Alden feels something brush against his legs. He cries out and is pulled below the surface...

Meanwhile Toc opens the second door (much the same way he opened the first) to find lots of undead nasties. He quickly closes it and goes to help his friend [Whom we decided through dice rolling had called out before going under]. Toc enters the room and sees his friend underwater locked in fierce combat with a Flesheater Shark. Toc also sees his axe. Toc crosses the grating in two quick moves [Two, because the first time Alden grabs his foot and Toc kicks him off -real nice, Toc!]. Toc claims his axe and lifts it above his head with a triumphant roar! Withdrawing the axe from the wall causes the grating to slide back allowing Alden to crawl out only slightly bruised and bleeding from a nasty bite on his chest.

Will Alden survive? Will Toc's axe prove more deadly then ever? Will Damakos's hand ever grow back? All this and more next time!

Defender Loses Ties

Well, we played D&D last night... if you call talking loudly and taking frequent breaks D&D. In reality we just hung out and rolled dice. But enough about me.

Today's topic is this: In Player's Handbook 1 (remember 4e) the defender loses ties. I disagree and so do my players. AC (Your Armor class or amount of armor) should win in a tie. If you have an AC of 23 and a monster attacks you with a 23 shouldn't your armor just, protect you? So what they are really saying is that your AC is one lower then you thought! What's your opinion?

Play by Post and Other News

I haven't gotten around to posting a recap yet... but on the bright side we are playing again tomorrow and well... as it says in Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, actually I hate that song, but you get the point.

I hope everyone got the news about D&D 5th edition (if you haven't just do a Google search or click here)? I personally hope everyone hates it as much as 4th edition. "Why", you ask? I spent a lot of money buying books for 4th edition and now, not a year later, they tell me those will become obsolete by 2012 (if we're still alive)? No, I think not. The good news is that my group has already agreed to continue playing 4e despite the shiny new edition.

Lately, I've been playing a lot of play-by-post D&D on Myth-Weavers.com (Link here). It's an okay way to play:

GOOD:

1. It's easy to find a game (in most systems).
   
2. Their online character storage is spot on (better then any pdf sheets I've found).
3. The other forums on the site are a great way to get answers to questions (e.g. "What does 1[W] mean?) Ok, don't laugh - I have asked this before. I really didn't know what it meant. and for those of you out there who don't know what it means it is 1 weapon damage which can be calculated only with the weapon chart found on page 218 through 219 of Player's Handbook 1 4e (4th edition).
4. The World of Farland is a community designed world for use with the 4e system. It's a great resource for first time players or those who need a quick world.
5. And last but not least... the site tools! I don't use them much as they are made to work with D&D 3.5e but they are still worth a look no matter what system you are playing.
   

BAD:

1. Play by post is really slow. If you're like me, your D&D games need to be fast-paced and exciting (this does not necessarily mean all combat. A good Dungeon Master knows how to keep skill challenges and even just talking to people exciting). A cure for this is to play multiple games with different people. And then treat it like facebook... checking religiously, every five seconds.
2. It's not personal. I've evolved a close relationship with my players (well I like to think so...)
3. The application process for games means that you won't always get in.

I highly recommend joining and even playing a little. (If you ever are in a game with Kire Arual, it's me!)

That's about it for now. More soon...