I’m building four characters to take through the dungeon as I build it. I originally made three heroes and started the adventure, but it’s been some time, and the rules have been tweaked somewhat, so I decided (now that Reckoning is done) to put together a new team and re-start the adventure. I’m going to be posting information on this in three places… I’ll be writing about the design process on my blog http://mtdesing.livejournal.com/, I’ll be posting actual play results on rpg.net, the Mythweaver board and on the Forge, and I’ll be writing up the various encounters as an ongoing campaign setting (including new monsters and items) on the Mythweaver Campaign Wiki http://www.splinteredrealm.com/Vault%20Campaign/Vault%20of%20the%20Goblin%20Campaign.html.

Whew! That’s going to keep me busy.

No pressure or anything, but I really want this team to be my signature group of heroes- representing my ideal Mythweaver heroic team. I’ve had several characters I had fun playing the past, and I’m going to re-envision them here as well. I’m sure I’m not alone, but I’m notorious for making up new characters and starting over again a lot… when Dark Age of Camelot went from four character slots to six (and later to eight), it was a bad thing for me… this will be a case of forcing myself to make some decisions, and to stick with it (darn it!) whether I like it or not.

The Heroes:

My first DAOC character was a champion named Macheon. I deleted him after a few levels (I think he maybe got to level 12 or so) so that I could make another character in his slot (back when you could only have four characters per server). Big mistake. I want to play Macheon again- a sword-wielding, spell-casting virtuous hero. He’s not a knight, but he can do chivalrous things. I’m going to build him first, and then build the rest of the team around him so that I maximize the effectiveness of the powers and abilities of the characters. The other heroes are sort of shadowy fragments in my mind right now, but Macheon I can see clear as day.

Archetype: He can either be a myrmidon with bonus talents used for magic, or a savant with the probability of using bonus talents for arms. I like the savant class better (just personal taste), because I’ve always had a tendency to pick hybrids over ‘pure’ archetypes. The other benefit of going with savant is that he can be a caster right out of the gate, which I see him as. Savant it is.

The magic talent he’ll focus on may be the most important decision I’ll make for him, since it will determine a lot. Here are my options:
• Light Magic: I don’t mind if he does some healing, but I don’t want him to be the primary healer for the group. The concept is that he runs up and gets his hands dirty; he doesn’t hang back and drop spells on others. Also, this will require him to advance ASP, which will tie up some trait points he’ll need elsewhere. I like light magic, but I think light magic is out for him.
• Flame and Frost are more utility-based. They allow you to do a lot of different little things. I don’t see him using magic in creative ways; I see him primarily using magic to complement what he does in melee combat. Nix both of these.
• Stone and storm magic are built for this sort of hero, and I think they make the best fit for him. I like both stone and storm pretty evenly… here are the pros/cons of both:
• Pros of stone: Blade turn (a sweeeet spell); can have a troll in the team.
• Cons of stone: Buffs STA (a little less useful); stone shape is a utility spell instead of combat
• Pros of storm: Quicken, reflective armor and stun are all good combat-based spells; buffs DEX which is useful for many heroes.
• Cons of storm: Bloodstone trolls are susceptible to it, meaning that they wouldn’t get as many points from a health transfer if needed; I was thinking about making a troll for the team, but wouldn’t with this… although he could be a half troll! Oooh… the wheels are turning.

Storm it is! I get everything I want in it, and I like the visual (throwing lightning at foes at range, running into combat with a shout that stuns his foes, dropping reflective armor and quicken on his allies). I like the combat utility of this, giving him a lot of options every combat, but always dealing damage or helping his allies to deal damage. 

I’m totally building Macheon out of the suggested sequence here, but I know the rules pretty well, and I’m knocking out the elements I really want in order… I’ve figured out my magic talent, so I may as well figure out the arms one as well.

Again, I want to go for maximum usefulness in combat. I’m tempted to go with melee so that I can deal great damage, but I know as a hybrid I’m not going to be the primary damage dealer- Macheon is here to deal some damage, but to amp up the damage others are doing as well. He’s a support character who can also tank (to use the parlance of MMORPGs). I also don’t want him to be the target of attacks, so points in armor may not be the most useful right now. I decide to go with shield use- he can defend himself if needed, but even better, he can choose to guard an ally in the same unit. He can now stand next to the myrmidon (the half-troll forming in my brain) and the two can work together to lay the smack down on baddies. Nice. Shield use it is.

Okay, I’m ready for traits. Here is what he starts with as a chosen human savant (putting 1 of my points in INT for the better initiative and ability to notice things, and 1 point in WIL since that’s linked to storm magic):

DEX 2; MGT 2; PWS 3; STA 3; ASP 0; INT 3; REA 2; WIL 3

I now have 8 points to place where I want, but no more than 4 can go in any one trait… my priorities are PWS and WIL (evenly split), MGT (for weapon damage), STA (for health). If I put 3 points each into PWS and WIL, I can put 1 into MGT and 1 into STA.. that seems reasonable. I end up with:

DEX 2; MGT 3; PWS 6; STA 4; ASP 0; INT 3; REA 2; WIL 6

I’m not too worried about the DEX because a) I can buff it and b) it’s only going to matter when I’m trying to avoid missile weapons; in other words, pretty much never. I’d like higher INT, but that can be worked on. I still haven’t decided between PWS and WIL as the favored trait… that’s going to be a tough choice to make.

Checking how I’m going on the character creation rules (page 19 if you’re following along), I see that I’ve skipped steps 5 and 6- the favored trait and the perk. I could cheese out here and roll for both of them (absolving myself of all responsibility), but since the whole idea is to pimp out the group with as much awesome as I can muster, I’ll make some decisions.

For favored trait, I go with PWS. I was leaning towards WIL, but many of the spells won’t require exceptional rolling, and my high WIL should be sufficient to lock in success most of the time. I still think that Macheon will be swinging his sword 2-3 times for every spell he casts, and I want him to hit a lot. Additionally, he could be targeted for a beating by others from time to time, and he’ll be in melee range. PWS it is, but it’s not an easy choice.

Perk is also a tough choice. I’m leaning towards either attuned item (a rocking shield) or secondary talent… I could pick up another secondary talent at no cost here, and that could be huge… quick strike, quick spell… something I would end up having to wait several levels for. Alternately, I could use this to pick up shield use, and get another talent in there as well- maybe arms (for a better sword)… oooh. Now that is pretty sweet. I re-configure my talents, taking melee with my arms talent at level 1, and using the secondary talent perk to pick up shield use. Who’s pimped out now? Awwwww, yeah.

I’m house ruling (because I can do that) that health and money are automatic full at level 1; 6 gold and STA +6 health. Macheon is taking an apprentice ring of storm focus (1 gold) and a shield +2 (3 gold). He’s got his starter slashing blade +1, and he’ll have to stick with that, since he cannot afford a better weapon yet.  He has 2 gold banked, and he’s ready to go.

Macheon Mistrunner
Apprentice Chosen Human Savant 1 (D6)
DEX 2; MGT 3; PWS 6; STA 4
ASP 0; INT 3; REA 2; WIL 6
Armor 1 (neutral); Health 10
Attacks: Slashing blade +1 (+4 total damage; delay 10)
Abilities: Apprentice melee; shield use; apprentice storm magic; +RM to hero point rolls; secondary talent perk (shield use); favored trait PWS
Gear: Padded armor +1; small shield +2; starting gear; 2 gold coins

He’s the leader of my team, and the core around which I’ll build other characters…

Time to build my second hero. I have Macheon, a chosen human savant. I want to build a team of four, and I may as well build one each of all four archetypes- that seems reasonable, and will give a sense of how the game plays out using the four heroic archetypes.

My next character is going to be a half-troll (human/troll) myrmidon named Scab. He’s going to get the human neutrality to magical energies, but he’ll take the troll regeneration (instead of the human bonus to hero point rolls). This allows him to balance well with Macheon, but still be the big troll who smashes stuff that I want him to be.

As a half-troll hybrid, he gets to pre-set trait points as desired, mixing and matching between human and troll traits. I end up with:

DEX 2; MGT 5; PWS 3; STA 3; ASP 0; INT 2; REA 1; WIL 2

Since Scab is a myrmidon, I add +1 to all four physical traits… and I’m left with 3 points to distribute as desired. I up PWS 2 points, STA 1 point (for survivability), and INT 1 point (for initiative). I end up with:

DEX 3; MGT 6; PWS 6; STA 5; ASP 0; INT 3; REA 1; WIL 2

As a myrmidon, he gets 1 arms talent and 1 skills talent at level 1. For the skill talent, I decide to take smith. I am thinking about nature, but I can pick that up later on, and smith will automatically level, allowing Scab to make his own weapons at level as he goes; I expect him to want good armor and weapons throughout his career, so I want to start saving right away. For the arms talent, I’ll pick up two-handed at apprentice, so that he can deal as much damage as possible. I was tempted to take melee, but the difference right now is a +1 to damage vs. +6 from his MGT, so it’s an easy choice. I will have to jump on top of melee next level so that it keeps up, but for right now I’m fine.

His favored trait is a toss-up between PWS and MGT. PWS will allow him to hit (and avoid being hit) more often, but MGT will allow him to deal more damage when he does hit. I’m slightly concerned with gimping him by taking MGT here and lowering his chances to score big hits, but I really envision him as a guy who uses his MGT in every situation. That’s what he’s about. Despite my reservations, I take MGT as his favored trait (this also differentiates him from Macheon, and allows him to have a better chance of success when making MGT rolls, which I want him to be good at). Now, when he hits, he rolls a base of D8+12 damage with melee strikes- at level one! He may not hit a lot, but when he does…

For his perk, I think about maybe taking frenzy, but I don’t envision him losing control- he knows and likes jumping into battle; he doesn’t do it because of some uncontrollable urge. Instead, I pick up toughness for him. His job will be to draw as much heat from opposing creatures as possible, and toughness will help him to stay vertical (or get back to vertical if he gets beat down).

He actually banks his 6 gold until next level. He’s very happy with his starting club, bludgeoning on stuff for now, and will be able to rock it out next level.

Scab
Apprentice Human/Troll Myrmidon 1 (D6)
DEX 3; MGT 6; PWS 6; STA 5
ASP 0; INT 3; REA 1; WIL 2
Armor 1 (neutral); Health 11
Attacks Blunt club +1 (+13 total damage; delay 10)
Abilities Two-handed; smith (+1); toughness perk; night vision; regenerate 1 health per round; favored trait MGT
Gear Padded armor +1; 6 gold coins

For my third character, I want to make a pure caster, so a mystic. I know going in that I want him to ultimately use both flame magic and light magic, although I’m not sure which one will be more important. I’ve built both Macheon and Scab so that they have ASP 0 and neutrality to all magic, meaning that they can get the benefits of light magic and flame magic. I want to go with a forge gnome for this hero, since I like the image of a little guy in robes throwing magic from the back of the room. I don’t have a name for him yet (unlike the other two heroes I’ve developed so far). I had a character in DAOC who was a light mentalist lurikeen named Bixby. I think I’ll use that name, since I’m picturing him working like that character did.

Bixby starts with the following (putting his mystic traits into ASP and REA, his casting talents):

DEX 3; MGT 2; PWS 3; STA 3; ASP 3; INT 2; REA 5; WIL 3

I still have 2 points to spend… I don’t much care about the physical traits, although the low INT bothers me for initiative speed. If I’m going with light at level 1 (which may be a good idea… healing is the first thing he needs to cover; the utility of flame can come later), I really should bump up ASP more. I’ll drop a point each in ASP and INT, bringing me to…

DEX 3; MGT 2; PWS 3; STA 3; ASP 4; INT 3; REA 5; WIL 3

For his favored trait, I’m torn between ASP and REA. Since I’m leading off with light magic, and it may trend just ahead of flame magic, it makes the most sense to go with ASP. I think that he’ll use light magic in combat whenever possible, but against neutral targets he’ll switch to flame (or his sling for now).

For his perk, Bixby is best off taking an attuned item, since I can get a lot of mileage out of this… it will be a wand of flame magic right now, allowing him to cast one spontaneous spell per turn as an apprentice of flame magic. This gives him the versatility I want him to have, and another casting option. As he progresses, this item will grant him other abilities as well. I have no idea what these will be, but this can be quite useful to him down the road.

His light magic allows him to buff each of his allies 1 point, so he’ll do that (and I’ll remember to post this on the final character roster).

Bixby
Apprentice Forge Gnome Mystic 1 (D6)
DEX 3; MGT 2; PWS 3; STA 3
ASP 4; INT 3; REA 5; WIL 3
Armor 1 (neutral); Health 9 (10 buffed)
Attacks: Sling +1 (+1 total damage; delay 10; range 2)
Abilities: Apprentice lore (+1); apprentice light magic; re-roll 1 roll per turn; attuned item perk; favored trait ASP
Gear: Padded armor +1; apprentice focus ring of light magic; apprentice wand of flame magic (attuned item)

For the final character, I need a seeker. I liked Tashya, the shadow elf rake from my previous endeavor at an actual play, so I’ll keep the name and the concept- a dusk elf seeker who is all about stealth, burglary and her bow. This should be pretty easy. I decide right out of the gate that, like Scab, I need to make her half human so that she can drop the racial susceptibility to light magic, and allow her to be healed. This gives me a little more fluidity in assigning trait points as well, and I end up with these starting traits:

DEX 5; MGT 2; PWS 2; STA 3; ASP 0; INT 3; REA 2; WIL 2

As a seeker, she gets +1 to DEX, PWS, INT and REA. In addition, I’m going to put 2 points into DEX and 1 into INT, so she ends up with:

DEX 8; MGT 2; PWS 3; STA 3; ASP 0; INT 5; REA 3; WIL 2

As a seeker, she starts with 1 talent rank in arms and 1 talent rank in skills. The arms talent is easy- she’s an archer, so I take missile weapons at apprentice. The skills talent is a bit trickier- I consider poison use, but at this level the poison will be weak and slow, making it an ineffective choice right now. She ultimately needs both stealth and burglary. She’s taking the dusk elf bonus to stealth, so she’s basically getting this talent for free right now… I’ll pick up burglary so that someone in the team has it, and the group is better-balanced. Next level I can have her get stealth, and she’ll be right in step with where she should be.

Her favored trait is going to be DEX for the bonus to missile weapons. That was an easy one.

Again, her perk choice is easy- improved range. I want her to be able to pick off foes at range, and the farther the better with her lack of armor and relatively low STA. She uses her money to pick up a short bow +2 for 5 gold, leaving her with 1 gold coin banked.

Tashya
Apprentice Human/Dusk Elf Seeker 1 (D6)
DEX 8; MGT 2; PWS 3; STA 3
ASP 0; INT 5; REA 3; WIL 2
Armor 1 (neutral); Health 9
Attacks: Short bow +2 (+2 total damage; delay 9; range 4)
Abilities: Apprentice missile weapons; apprentice burglary (+1); +1 to stealth rolls; improved range perk; favored trait DEX
Gear: Padded armor +1; 1 gold coin

Before Starting…

Each hero is now buffed with +1 to health from Bixby’s light magic, and Tashya is buffed with +1 to DEX (9 total) from Macheon’s storm magic. Rock on.

We’re now on to the first encounter in the Vault of the Goblin Campaign…

Macheon’s Journal
The old stoneworker sat across from us in the quiet of the afternoon, sipping on his tea. He had called us together and had something important to tell us, but seemed now hesitant to continue. He weighed something, started to speak, and then halted. He sipped his tea. Tashya and Bixby waited him out, seemingly unphased by Donello’s indecision. Scab did not share their patience, and as Donello took a long, slow slurp, Scab let loose a weighty sigh. “If we’re not going to talk business, then—“
Donello clanked his teacup to the table. “I’m sorry. Yes. You’re right. It’s just that… my work…” he swallowed, “If Aeron finds out about what I’ve found, it could derail my work. I’m freeing the goddess, as you know…”
We did indeed. Donello had been working a huge stone in the middle of the ruined fortress for several weeks, although it had yet to take anything even remotely resembling a goddess. “Lord Aeron would stop my work and declare the stone unsafe… I’ve found something. I think it’s an entrance into the vaults… and it’s within the stone.”
He now had Scab’s interest. The vaults had several well-known entrances that had yielded great treasures to those who had explored them. A new entrance- with new treasures- was a noteworthy find. He was right; Lord Aeron would order the rock destroyed and the entrance sealed, once it had been explored. “If you three would verify that there is no danger within my goddess… then I could continue my work.”
It turned out that the danger he alluded to was a slight secret door embedded within the northern face of the 30’ stone. Invisible to the naked eye, he had forced it open unknowingly. A small alcove was set within, no more than 5’ across, and this descended directly into the underdark: a foreboding pit. A single iron ring affixed to the roof of the place let us know the purpose- this was a way into the vaults. Our hearts collectively raced as we readied our weapons and prepared a rope to descend.

Game Notes
Bixby flashes a torch into the area, to see if he can discern the depth. He is not able to see the bottom (since it is further than the 20’ throw of the torch’s light), but this allows all heroes to roll INT to see if they notice the hive (DT 6).
• Bixby rolls 1, so he botches- he can’t see or hear anything special.
• Macheon rolls 6+3=9. He is able to discern something in the darkness below.
• Scab, like Bixby, rolls a natural 1- doesn’t notice anything.
• Tashya rolls 5+5=10. This is a strong success, but not a crit (that would require a 12 or better).

There is a 2 in 6 chance that the light awakens the hornets within. The Mythweaver rolls and gets 3 on the D6. The hornets continue to slumber.

• Macheon and Tashya both hear the buzzing sound, and Tashya suggests that the heroes cast light into the shaft, to see if they can discern anything else. Bixby lights a torch and tries to shed light below- all heroes make another INT roll.
• Bixby rolls 4+3=7. He notices the hive.
• Macheon rolls natural 1- he cannot discern the hive apart from the other stonework.
• Scab rolls 3+3. He can barely make out the shape of the hive against the wall, and remarks that it looks different from the surrounding stone.
• Tashya rolls 3+5=8. She agrees with Bixby’s assessment that this is a hive.

Bixby suggests using his wand to set the hive on fire, and then kill the hornets as they emerge. The others agree to this idea, and he uses his wand to throw flame at the hive. The hive is within 3 units (+0) and he wants to deal damage to all targets within if possible (filling the whole unit with flame, +4). He can add 2 points to this from damage and still have it be an apprentice-rank spell, but he’ll add only +1 to give him a possibility of scoring a critical success if he rolls really well. All other heroes will hold their actions, acting as soon as the first hornet emerges from the hive (and taking a +1 bonus to the attack from holding the action). Macheon announces that he is using his shield to guard Bixby, and will share his shield points with the little gnome caster.

• At 90, Bixby issues a command, and a ball of flame shrieks from the end of his wand, directed at the hive. Bixby rolls 3+5=8 on the action roll. This is successful, although not the crit he’d hoped for. He rolls for damage and gets 1+1=2. This is not enough to penetrate the defenses of the hive, although the Mythweaver decides that this is sufficient to set the whole thing on fire. It and all targets within will suffer 1 point of fire damage every round, starting at the end of the current round. It will take 2 rounds for the whole hive to dislodge and fall, at that rate. The Mythweaver also decides that because of the flame, the hornets within automatically awake (no roll required- this is a big attack, generating light, heat and smoke). The Mythweaver decides that the heroes have 1 turn before the smoke becomes overwhelming, and they need to get out of the top of the tunnel.
• The first hornet emerges from the hive at 65 and flies towards them (it needs a minor action to do this, and will attack at 62), so the heroes all act then, in order of DEX.
• At 65, Tashya fires an arrow at the hornet. She rolls 3+9+1=13 to hit with her bow. The hornet rolls 2+5=7 to resist. This is a normal hit. Tashya rolls 1+2=3 for damage. The hornet’s armor absorbs 1 point of this, leaving it at 8 health.
• At 65, Bixby isn’t sure if this is an evil creature or not… he decides that it seems evil enough, and will use a light spell on it. In a worst-case scenario, he will restore 1 health to the creature… he casts a word of light at the hornet, rolling 2+4+1=7 on the action. The hornet is evil (ASP -1) and rolls 4+1=5 to resist. The spell barely hits, and Bixby rolls for damage. He rolls 6+1=7 damage. This leaves the hornet at 1 health.
• At 65, Scab would really like to do something, but he decides to wait. He decides to use his action to taunt the hornet, and draw its focus for when (if) it arrives. He rolls WIL against the hornet. He gets a natural 1 on the roll- he calls the hornet a ‘stinky bug!’, and the thing doesn’t seem to particularly mind… it’s much more concerned about the heroes dropping magic and arrows on its head.
• At 65, Macheon throws a bolt of lightning at the hornet. He rolls 3+6+1=10 on the action, and the hornet rolls 6+5=11 to resist! Macheon can’t believe it as the lightning cascades off the creature’s carapace.
• At 62, the hornet reaches the group. Bixby has dealt the most damage (and is holding the wand that just set the hornet’s home on fire), so it keys in on the little gnome. The hornet rolls 4+3=7 on the attack, and Bixby rolls 5+3=8 to resist. He narrowly evades the hornet’s stinger.
• At 62, Scab gets to act again (since the taunt was a minor action). He lines his club up on the hornet and takes a mighty swing. He  rolls 5+5=11 against the hornet’s resist of 4+4=8. This is a hit. It’s all academic, but Scab rolls for damage and gets 6+13=19 damage. They’ll be picking pieces of hornet out of the wall for the next few weeks…
• The group sees that another hornet is struggling to emerge from the hive, but has not yet come out. Since the heroes now know that the hornets are susceptible to light magic, they decide to take a simultaneous action at 54 (all holding the action to get the +1 action roll bonus). Tashya will fire an arrow, Macheon will use a direct damage lightning spell against the hive, and Bixby will use a light AOE spontaneous spell (built the same as the flame spell was, DT 5).
• At 60, all the hornets take 1 point of damage from the flames that are devouring their home.
• At 54, Tashya goes first, rolling 3+9+1=13 against the hive. This is a critical hit upon the hive (DT 6). Tashya rolls for damage and gets 2+2=4, doubled to 8. The exterior of the hive absorbs 5 points of this, but the interior suffers 3 points, leaving it at 7 points.
• At 54, Bixby throws his spontaneous light spell, rolling 3+4+1=8. This is a success. He rolls for damage and gets 6+1=7. The Mythweaver rules that again the exterior of the hive absorbs 5 of this, but the structure takes 2 points of damage (leaving it at 5 points). In addition, the hornets make a resist roll, getting 4+1=5. Each hornet also takes 2 points of damage, and any hornet the heroes face from here out starts with 6 health.
• At 54, Macheon throws his lightning, rolling 3+6=9. This is a normal hit against the hive. He rolls for damage, and gets 3+1=4. The exterior absorbs all of this damage.

• The next hornet emerges from the hive at 45, but won’t be in melee range until 42.
• At 45, Tashya targets this hornet with an arrow, rolling 5+9=14, while the hornet rolls 1+5=6 to resist. She scores a critical success. She rolls for damage and gets 6+2=8, doubled to 16! She lodges an arrow directly into the thing’s head, and it drops like a stone into the darkness below.
• At 44, both Bixby and Macheon hold their actions 1 segment, preparing to throw spells at the hive.
• At 43, Bixby uses his word of light on the hive, rolling 2+4=6. This barely succeeds. Bixby rolls 4+1=5 damage… the exterior absorbs all of this.
• At 43, Macheon throws a ball of lightning at the hive, rolling 4+5+1=10. This is a success. Macheon rolls 3+1=4, and again fails to break through the hive’s exterior.
• Bixby suggests that they close the door, and allow the flame to do its work… then they can face the remaining hornets in a few turns (allowing them to refresh their spontaneous spells as well). All agree, and close the door for 3 turns.

The Mythweaver does some quick math… the hornets will suffer 1 point of damage at the end of every round for the next 5 rounds. After 5 rounds, the hive will fall into the chamber below, burning up and destroying the hornets within (also destroying the potion that is within the hive, but that’s life). In this time, a hornet will emerge at 25 (with 5 health), and at 5 (with 5 health). There are only two more hornets.

After two turns, the heroes spend a turn preparing for the fight. Scab will open the door from 1 unit away with a rope he’s affixed to its edge- Macheon will use a spontaneous AOE storm spell (DT 5 for +1 damage); Bixby will use a spontaneous light spell (DT 5 for +1 damage) and Tashya will hold her action for 1 segment to target the strongest surviving hornet (if any).

• At 90, the heroes open the door. Scab leaps back and prepares to swing his club (he’ll go at 87).
• At 90, Bixby throws his light spell. He rolls 2+4=6. This is barely successful. The hornets roll to resist and get 1+1=2 and 2+1=3. Bixby crits against both hornets. He rolls 5+1=6 damage, and both suffer 12 points. He drops them both instantly, and no more actions need be taken.

The heroes will be able to try to recover some treasure from the hive after area 2, but for now they have earned some hero points. Each is now at 4 hero points.

Analysis:
• Reckoning's new combat time rules make things much easier to track. I never realized how much time I spent rolling and figuring initiative. This basically allowed encounters to be run in half the time- I’m amazed that one small change can make such an impact on the flow of the combat. It freed me up to add complexity in other areas that really add to the drama of the scene.
• Surprise is huge. I figured it would be, and it is… my experience with other play testing at higher levels has shown that this gets mitigated quite a bit, but I’ll be interested to see over a prolonged campaign how the surprise rules impact play. Getting the jump here was big, especially for the end of the challenge.

May I ask what goal you have in mind, posting this here, specifically at the Forge?

Honestly, more exposure for the game. As I've read through the forum and some of the discussions, I've seen that (since my game is basically done) I'm not really looking for feedback so much as 'showing off' some of the fiddly bits of the system.

I was following up with the thread because I started it here, but if the community feels that this doesn't belong, I understand. I guess I'm looking for feedback on that, or what I can do with this to make it more useful among the forge community; I agree with your (implied) point that maybe I'm not using this forum in the way it's intended.

Thanks for you time and feedback.

Honestly, Michael, that was a dense block of text to try and parse. When I got to the stat blocks and build info my eyes started to glaze over. I am curious about Mythweavewr, though--is there anything you'd like to more succinctly highlight about the game and how it plays? Maybe even describing some play that was fun for you? that'd be great.

Peace,
-Joel

It's just like Melinglor says. So far you posted a dry block of text probably everyone will avoid.

From what I've seen, you're building your own party and running then through an adventure you're designing on the way. That's not actual play, that's design. Running a party through it yourself isn't very exiting, adding read-aloud text blurbs won't change that. You can be fancy about it, but won't get you (and us) something that's real play. What's for us to contribute or learn?

So far it's been a brain-dump from you, which allows no room for two-way communication. It would be far more interesting if you started talking directly about what you want to achieve. What kind of experience you're hoping for - for the players, not the PCs - and how that ties back to your own play history.

Fair enough. Thanks for the feedback.

Mike

Michael, my friend Jake bought your game the other day on RPGNow, and he's been saying it looks pretty good. So I'm genuinely wondering what it has to offer in the sea of "Fantasy Roleplaying" games out there. What's your elevator pitch? How can you sum up the cool things that you do when you play this game? I saw the RPGNow blurb about the mechanics, skills, magic, etc. but what's fun when these go into action? What was the most fun and memorable moment the last time you played?

I'd really like to know. it's not so much about design feedback, as you say, but about me as a potential reader and player. Why should I bother? If you don't want to share, fine, I guess. But I'd be mystified as to why not.

Peace,
-Joel

I suppose that’s one of the things I struggle with- developing the elevator pitch. I know it’s important, but I just can’t seem to work that out without it sounding hollow or fake.

What I like about the system is that it lets me do unexpected things in play. I was running a few friends through an encounter inspired by Beowulf, and they had to swim through a tunnel underwater, battle some carnivorous fish, and emerge on the other side. I had it all worked out how they’d make the skill checks while underwater, how long they could last while fighting, the penalties they’d take to spells. Then my friend (who was a frost caster) asked about cooling the water enough to hibernate the fish. I never expected that, but the magic system allowed him to do it and gave clear guidelines (or at least I thought so), the rules for setting difficulty targets made it easy for me to figure out how hard it would be, and he rolled. He then used the same cold magic to make the team resistant to the cold, and they were able to swim by the semi-hibernating fishies. It wasn’t a particularly dramatic or incredible moment- but it was fun to see the game allow for whatever he wanted, and not feel like I was ‘making stuff up’ on the fly to resolve a situation the game wasn’t designed for.

I like that it allows for cinematic combat without being a ‘cinematic system’. During a level 1 fight with a giant wasp, heroes were hanging from a rope bridge, kicking at the wasp with a free foot after dropping a weapon, throwing magic darts at it (trying to avoid the ally hanging from the rope) and collectively holding our breath to see if the hanging troll made his stamina roll to resist the wasp’s poison, because that 20’ drop into a gully filled with 2’ snakes was going to do him in.

I like that it allows for tactical combat without being a ‘tactical system’. During a fight with a large number of gnolls, the high-level group had to make constant decisions about when and how to use spells for maximum effect. Do they wait on the area of effect damage spell so that they can put up a wall later to cover their escape if needed? Do they target the primary caster, or try to stun him and worry about his minion who is dealing more damage? The combat required real tactical choices in the moment, with no clear ‘best’ path. Does the archer stay where she is and take a slight action penalty, or does she run 20’ to get a clearer shot? Does the myrmidon spend a hero point to up his attack roll, or bank it for later? The action presents clear options, but lots of them, with pros and cons to every choice. I can have four heroes take on 100 gnolls (literally) and have the combat over in under an hour.

I like that with a few simple choices, you create hundreds of viable character builds, all that feel and perform differently in play. Every time I develop a new character concept, the character plays differently than the other characters I’ve made.

I like it that it feels to me like my best D+D games used to feel, but it’s never hard to find a rule. In D+D (playing 2nd Edition in college), I ran a handful of memorable combats. In Mythweaver, I’m able to run combat that is just as memorable, but with fewer things to keep track of and fewer pages of stuff to look at.

Do any of these make Mythweaver more than just generic fantasy? What’s the ‘thing’ that sets it apart? What’s the elevator pitch? I’m still not sure, but I know that I really like playing the game as a player and game master. Does that somehow elevate it beyond fantasy heartbreaker? I think so, because I don’t see the heartbreaker in it.

I think that this is a tough market to penetrate, and you need to do something unique or innovative to really break through, and I don’t think the game is particularly unique or innovative. It is built around a solid mechanic, it scales well from level 1 to 20, and it allows for players to develop their characters in any way they want. I may have to accept it is always going to have a small audience. That’s okay. It’s never going to be the darling of the online rpg community. Okay. I’m over it.

I don’t have a regular gaming group to get together with any more, so it’s hard to actually play test with a group and tell you for sure, on a regular basis, how the game plays in social environments. I’ve played maybe a dozen times with my regular group over the last few years, and I’ve run a handful of demos for middle school students. The 12-15 year old demographic is probably the best target for the game, but I have no idea how to reach them- I am not sure how this can compete with W.O.W. for their attention. To the veteran RPG community of players like me who’ve been doing this a long time, I doubt if the game does offer something new under the sun. If you’re looking for that, you may not like it. If you’re looking for a simple, clean way to run D+D style games, it is probably a good choice.

Obviously, I’m not doing the best job selling my game right now, but running a hype machine has never been my strong suit. I published a small press comic for years, and I’d sit next to guys at conventions who would tell people they’d sold 100 books that weekend, when I’d sold 10- and I knew that I’d sold more books than they had. If people asked how many books I had sold, I’d show them my tally sheets. If I’m lying to impress other people with my stuff, I’m only fooling myself.

At the end of the day, I know that Mythweaver is a good game that is field-tested and that I’ve worked hard on, and I think it’s a bargain at $3. I’d like to find an honest, creative way to show that to people, and that part is still a work in progress.

I REALLY appreciate the feedback I’ve received here, and the willingness of this community to give me feedback to work through this- but I suppose that’s what the forge is for.

I hope I’ve answered the question.

-Mike

Sounds like easy flexibility is a big point! Cool! Lots of different encounters, lots of ways to deal with them. Right there is something WoW can't provide, and it isn't the strong point of D&D 3e and 4e either.

A tangent, but I'd like to ask. Suppose the troll did fall. Would he die? Is death a real option? What are the consequences for the player?

The troll survived.

The mechanic works that at negative health, you need to make a stamina resist roll to survive the system shock. The lower your negative health, the tougher the roll. So, if you have -10 health, you have to roll your level die (which goes up the higher your level) + your stamina. In this case, he would have rolled D6 + his stamina (which was probably about 5). -10 would have been tough, but he could spend a hero point (if he had any) to add another D6 result to the roll, and hope for 10 (obviously, he'd have a better chance then).

If he fell into the pit, death was virtually guaranteed. He'd take 20 points of damage for falling 20', less the result of a level die + dexterity roll. Since he'd roll D6+3 for this, he'd take at least 11 points of damage, and at level 1, he had about 10 health to start with, so a 20' fall is quite dangerous if he's at full health, and probably going to kill him if he's already wounded. Then, the snakes would have been upon him. They can make en masse attacks, meaning that they all act together, taking a single attack roll with a bonus to the action equal to the number of snakes attacking- so if ten converged on him, they'd take +10 to attack and damage. He'd have no chance to prevent the attack, he'd be at 0 (or lower) health, and the snakes would probably score a critical success, doubling their damage. It would be bad for him.

If he failed his stamina roll at negative health, the hero would be dead. The player would have to create a new character.

- Mike