[D&D Next] Character Generation: Silas Renner, Urban Ranger

Right, so after taking some time to read a bit of the new Playtest packet, I figure I might as well give character generation a spin. The character generation process was relatively painless with all the steps that were familiar to most gamers, though deviating slightly from the normal D20 by just a touch with the Backgrounds and Specialties. That said, it was also rather quick, given that there wasn’t any skill point distribution and feat selection to go through. From what I can tell, the system can work with the “concept first” approach quite well, something that makes me very happy.

I decided to go and not shop for specific gear, instead taking the equipment packages that were suggested beforehand so I suspect that this contributed to how quickly and easily the character was put together.

Silas Renner
Race: Human
Class: Fighter
Background: Bounty Hunter
Specialty: Archer

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

STR 13 +1
DEX 17 +3
CON 10 +0
INT 11 +0
WIS 15 +2
CHA 14 +2

HP: 10
Hit Dice: 1d10
Weapon Attack: +3
Expertise Dice: 1d6

Armor and Shield Proficiencies: All
Weapon Proficiencies: All

Racial Traits:
Ability Score Adjustment +2 to one score,+1 to all others
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 Feet
Languages: Common

Class Features:
Ability Adjustment: +1 to Str, Dex or Con
Combat Superiority
Fighting Style: Sharpshooter
- Deadly Strike
- Parry
- Precise Shot

Feats:
Rapid Shot – Make 2 ranged attacks, all damage of each attack is halved.

Skills:
Spot +3
Stealth +3
Streetwise +2

Trait: Bounty Board

Equipment:
Mask, collection of “Wanted” broadsheets, two sets of manacles, lock of hair from previous or current bounty, common clothing, Leather Armor, Short Sword, Longbow, 20 Arrows, Adventurer’s Kit, Healer’s Kit, 115 gp and 5 sp

—

Not bad overall, Silas Renner comes off as fairly capable, and has all the tools and trappings that make for a decent bow-based urban ranger. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try to see if I can put together something a little further away from the standard character concepts.

[Gaming 101] Games to Start With Part 4: Alternate History and Pulp

Right, I know I said I’d do Alternate History and Pulp today. Then I realized what kind of trouble I got myself into. There’s an awful lot of this stuff out there right now! Okay, so no preamble, let’s just do this:

Hollow Earth Expedition from Exile Games
Fast, pulpy fun matched with an easy to grasp system that can use any size of die makes Hollow Earth Expedition (or HEX) a definite crowd pleaser. Add some top-notch art, compelling plot hooks for a hollow earth campaign and all sorts of crazy threats from Dinosaurs to Nazis to tribes of cannibals, the game practically runs itself. Add the fact that the supplements and expansions for the game are all aimed at targeting all other forms of pulp (Secrets of the Surface World covers urban pulp, for example) and an upcoming expansion set in MARS, what’s not to love about this game?

All For One: Regime Diabolique from Triple Ace Games
Musketeers fighting the forces of Hell itself! Swashbuckling action against the threats of the supernatural! Add a well-researched history and a very strong series of supplements to fill out everything from War to Fashion, this game presents itself extremely well and has a freeform magic system that is quick and easy to learn without having to trawl through massive spell lists. Imaginative and unique, All For One: Regime Diabolique also uses the Ubiquity system from Hollow Earth Expedition, but for fans of Savage Worlds, they’ve just recently released a version for that rule set as well.

Leagues of Adventure from Triple Ace Games
Another Ubiquity system game, Leagues of Adventure takes the Triple Ace Games level of research to pulling off steampunk and mashing it up with the adventure-seeking high of the pulps. Fans of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen will find themselves right at home in this game, with strange devices, mysterious ruins and the call of adventure. Go out and heed the call for adventure!

Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein from Iain Lowson
Perhaps one of the creepiest alternate history games I’ve ever had the good fortune to read, Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein is a dystopian steampunk setting where Dr. Victor Frankenstein uses his discoveries to establish his nation of Promethea. Commoners huddle away from the Dark Harvest, while the decadent nobility harvest body parts to live forever. Take up arms as part of the resistance, and fight the good fight in hopes for a brighter tomorrow.

Qin: the Warring States from Cubicle 7
I’m actually reading this book right now, and I have to say that it’s a blast to read. Low-powered wuxia action in a time before the Three Kingdoms Era, with plenty of room for adventure and kung fu action. If you’re interested in following along, just check out my Let’s Study articles.

Yggdrasill from Cubicle 7
Here’s another favorite of mine. Well researched and carefully presented, Yggdrasill gives an awesome look at the Scandian lands and the lives of the Norsemen Heroes that live there. Politics (?!) Magic, and Frost Giants abound, leaving players with more than a number of different avenues to get into trouble.

Spirit of the Century from Evil Hat Productions
These days I can’t mention Pulp without mentioning SotC lest the FATE fans cry foul. :p Seriously though, I’ve heard a lot of good things about this game, and I’m just waiting for someone to run it for me and show me the error of my heathen ways.

Deadlands Reloaded! from Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Welcome to the Weird West. If you’re even remotely interested in Westerns, grab this game (and the Marshall’s guide too.) Deadlands is one of the longer running game lines and is one of the most loved horror-western settings around. Strange card-slinging hucksters and eagle-eyed sharpshooters are just two of the kinds of characters you can play, not to mention miracle wielding preachers and Ghostrock-powered weird gadgetry!

—

This is by no means exhaustive, and I’m pretty sure I’ve missed more than a few titles here, but I think this is a good enough place to start if you’re looking for adventure and pulps. At this point I’m still thinking of what other areas to cover… anyone got suggestions? Just add them on the comments below!

If you’re interested in picking up any of these in hardcover, you can order them directly from Gaming Library.

To place an order, please go to Gaming Library’s special order express page : http://www.gaminglib.com/pages/special-order-express-page

Take note that placing an order there doesn’t mean you’re committed, rather the Gaming Library team will be giving a quote and you can now choose whether to push through with the purchase or not.

[D&D Next] First Impressions of the August Playtest Packet

I’m sure that everyone who is actually subscribed to receiving updates from the D&D Next playtest program already knows this, but the packet is out! I’ve just downloaded mine and I have only begun to start reading through the new stuff. Of course, given the hearty discussion on my previous read on the D&D Next Fighter of the last playtest, the Dwarven Fighter pregen was the first file I opened.

The Combat Superiority mechanic is pretty neat, and I’m glad that the design team managed to reach a happy medium between my earlier improvisation-focused approach and the other preference for having hard-coded abilities in the rules. As is, the Fighter is capable of pulling off some impressive combat tricks (some of which resemble the feats of older editions) without losing the ability to use the Improvise action found in the rules to pull off some of the tricks that aren’t covered in the Combat Superiority list.

The expanded documents on the Backgrounds and Specialties make me happy, given the approach to allow characters to start customizing their builds beyond just simple class. Heck, having a Fighter with the Sharpshooter Fighting style, the Bounty Hunter Background and Archer Specialty would make for a compelling Urban Ranger dedicated to bringing unsavory types to justice. Quick, easy, relatively painless to come up with interesting characters simply by mixing and matching these three facets of a character.

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with what I’m seeing so far. I’ll update with more impressions of the new stuff once I’ve had a chance to go over everything in detail.

[Let's Study Qin: the Warring States] Part 1: The History of Heaven and Earth

The chapter starts off with the literal beginning of order from chaos and the birth of the world. Qin touches on some of the major myths of the Chinese culture, starting off from the separation of the primordial forces of Yin and Yang, the birth of the elements and the drawing of the borders around heaven and earth. A sidebar also gives an alternative myth on the separation of the elements as performed by a giant named Pangu, who hatched from a cosmic egg, fun reading if you like seeing things from a different perspective. It also has a short account of Yi, the Divine Archer and the ten suns.

The Three August Ones, divine rulers sent from heaven to guide mankind are also given attention here. Fu Xi, Nu Wa and Shen Nong are each given a short section explaining who they are and their contributions towards the birth of a civilization. Fascinating stuff really, and helpful to pin down just exactly where these gods belong, as they’re important in the myths involving the establishment of civilization but don’t get a lot of mention afterwards.

The Yellow Emperor, Huang Di is discussed at length as he was the first human emperor to rule over the empire after the divine. His achievements as a warrior king, and ingenuity as an inventor of weapons were noted, as well as his skill as a conqueror who united the tribes into a single nation. Furthermore, his contribution to the establishment of Law, the invention of Calendars and Money are all vital towards the creation of a singular identity of the empire as a united group of people.

At this point, the chapter begins to talk about the Dynasties, when Emperors began to choose their own sons to rule after them, first out of merit… then soon, as tradition. This hereditary principle was possibly the cause of much grief, as some emperors were more cruel, or incapable than others. Thus began a cycle of greatness, punctuated by the loss of the Mandate of Heaven, and the arrival of heroes to set things straight and establish harmony across the land once more.

Finally we reach the most recent era, where the Zhou Dynasty still holds the Mandate of Heaven, but is barely an empire thanks to the bickering between vassals who have declared their independence. After several wars, only seven states that remained, each claiming dominance over the empire.

Among the seven, Qin rose to dominance through cunning and eventually, military might, subjugating the Zhou territories and turning it’s eye towards the conquest of the remaining seven states.

—

Overall, I think I learned more about Chinese mythic history here than in most of the online sources I’ve scoured on my own. Being of Chinese descent, Qin is a particular interest of mine since I’ve always wanted to see a game pull off a game that cleaves as close to “low-powered” wuxia as I can get, without venturing too far into the high powere hijinx of Storm Riders or Weaopns of the Gods.

So far the History of Heaven and Earth is a great start to the book, mixing just enough of history to keep it grounded, while implying vast amounts of opportunity for a glory-seeking Da Xia wandering swordsmen

Tomorrow we skip past a few chapters to look at more of the setting with The Warring States. I’m deliberately skipping a few chapters to follow my let’s study article of Yggdrasill, which I feel had a better organization of information with most of the setting up front, then in-game  and character chapters later on. Here in Qin, it presented the History first, then dives full-on into character generation and the taos and magic, which I’ll come back to later once I’ve gotten all the substantial setting chapters out of the way.