Mad Brew Labs

I was given an opportunity to read & review (i.e. given a free copy) the latest book from Jonathan L. Howard, Johannes Cabal the Detective, the sequel to Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. You might be asking why I’ve chosen to review the book on Mad Brew Labs, which is an RPG blog. Well, fiction is a primary influence for gaming and I hear Howard is a bit of an RPG gamer himself (in fact he also does video game design).

No worries though, I plan on approaching the review from an RPG world-building perspective as well as turn a bit of Johannes’ world into game crunch at the end of the review.

I want to see more main characters in media like Johannes Cabal. He’s selfish, but not necessarily evil. His activities are not condoned by society, but he’s ambitious in his pursuits and he generally doesn’t give damn. From a not-so-different perspective, Johannes could be the villain of the story.

Johannes Cabal is constantly struggling against his conscious and upstanding individuals around him as he makes logical, if antisocial, or even amoral, suggestions to solve problems. This is a character I can identify with.

The Story

See, Johannes Cabal is a Necromancer (of some infamy), and in most civilized nations, necromancy is a crime that carries stiff penalties (including death). We find Johannes imprisoned in a Mirkarvian dungeon at the onset of the book, having been caught trying to steal a copy of the Principia Necromantica from the Special Collection of the library of Krenz University.

Fortunately for Johannes, the Mirkarvian Emperor just died and militants in the Mirkarvian Empire were depending on the Emperor’s announcement of war in order to set off a chain of events to restore the empire to its former glory. So, Johannes is given an opportunity to escape the clutches of certain death if he can reanimate the dead emperor so he can make his dying wish.

Unfortunately for Johannes, the Count that requisitioned his service didn’t have any plans to release Cabal. So during the chaos that ensued after a risen emperor began eating his guard’s brains during a public announcement, Johannes makes a break for it and tries to escape from Mirkarvia in an aeroship (or zeppelin).

It’s during his flight from Mirkarvia on the aeroship that Johannes becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. Johannes begins the investigation in order to maintain his civil servant disguise but eventually is committed to finding the assassin when an attempt is made on his own life.

Much of the book is centered on his investigation, all the while trying to maintain a stolen identity to escape Mirkarvian authorities. It’s full of dark humor, satire, and Johannes generally trying to be antisocial. It’s a character driven story where the minor steampunk elements take a backseat and only serves to paint in the background (which is a good thing!).

I think my favorite part of the story is really the epilogue. The epilogue is narrated by an individual who must team up with Johannes after his escape in order to survive an encounter with some bandits and ancient sorcerer they happen to accidently set free from imprisonment.

World-Building

Howard took a great approach to world-building with his Cabal books. They are sort of an alternate history of Earth. He manages to reinvent the world just enough that he can simultaneously take advantage of elements readers will already know about while ensuring they won’t also get bogged down in the details of actual history.

I think many DMs and designers could actually take lesson from how Howard built the world of Johannes Cabal. It shows that you can take advantage of a familiar setting (real history, established RPG worlds, fictional locations) without worrying about the baggage that comes with it. Unless you have some real douchebag players that refuse to compromise.

Jonathan Howard took the real world and inserted fictional nations, which Mirkarvia belongs to. You can definitely see their influences (Mirkarvia definitely has some Austrian-Prussian flavor). With the addition of the esoteric and unrealized technologies (necromancy & steampunk), he can manipulate the expectations of his audience.

When you obviously break an established element, your audience won’t know what to take for granted.  You can then begin to rebuild their expectations by re-establishing those elements you wish to keep. For example, Howard re-asserts British culture by inserting certain elements throughout the story. It can be a tricky process to master, but I think it is one well worth learning.

I think such an approach to world-building works best when you want to make use of powerful existing atmospheres (e.g. re-inventing Ravenloft) or if you want to back-fill a lot of geography or history while exploring a what-if scenario.

[NOTE: Below I have provided a Pathfinder RPG compatible fantasy version of the Principia Necromantica. I've taken some creative license with its powers and history, since not much was said about it in the novel. ]

Principia Necromantica, Minor Artifact

Aura strong necromancy; CL 18th
Slot –; Weight 4 lbs.

DESCRIPTION

Only a few copies of this book are known to exist. The original copy was penned in blood on pale leather pages worked from the skin flayed from the abdomens of 333 virgins. The original Principia Necromantica was created under the tutelage of a powerful demon lord by an accomplished necromancer whose name has been struck from history.

An interesting aspect of the Principia Necromantica is that the pages are not static, but are constantly changing and evolving. The effect is supernatural and can be maddening to the weak willed, forcing any character that invokes one of its powers to make a Will save (DC 20) or suffer 1d4 Intelligence and 1d4 Wisdom drain.

The Principia Necromantica contains knowledge, incantations, and stored magical energies that enable a character to animate the dead. Characters may utilize the book as a library to make Knowledge (religion) checks (they may make checks with a DC higher than 10 untrained, but it takes 1d4 hours of research) with a +5 competence bonus.

A character may invoke the Principia Necromantica to cast animate dead at a caster level equal to his character level once per day. The spell does not require spell components. This books increases the amount of undead a character may control by 2HD per character level.

DESTRUCTION

The Principia Necromantica may be destroyed if the burial site of the 333 virgins sacrificed during its creation is consecrated. Once their grave is consecrated, the pages will boil away into vapor never to return again.

[Special thanks and an apology for this taking so long to see the light of day to Matt Staggs, the publicist to who sent me the book].

Listening to: Down – III: Over the Under – I Scream

Since I am not currently running a game, I have been thinking about the next campaign that I will run.  While I am still at the beginning phase of planning (as in I am still deciding the genre: fantasy, sci-fi, superhero, horror, or pulp), I do know that I want to include some fantastic scenery and terrain.

Thus, I have reconnoitered the internet in pursuit of the finest terrain, scenery, structures, and tutorials that the web has to offer.  I thought I would share my list of resources (just like my previous lists) with the community.  Some of the best scenery is sourced from companies that cater to the wargaming crowd, while I find most of the cardstock is marketed to the roleplayers.  If any readers know of some cool places I missed, pipe up in the comments!

Cast Scenery & Terrain

I am not for sure there is a standard definition for these terms, but I distinguish terrain as the actual landforms carved or molded from/into the base material.  These would include the major and minor terrain features, from a military perspective.  Major features include: Hill, Ridge, Valley, Saddle, and Depression.  While minor features include:  Draw, Spur and Cliff.  Terrain also includes bodies of water.  Roads are also usually incorporated into the terrain.  I view scenery as any structures, debris, vegetation, or man-mad/free-standing objects.  This section covers retailers that sell cast or carved items.

Kobblestone Miniatures – I previously credited the above awesome diorama to another company, well I want to set the record straight.  The oriental village above was created by Kobblestone Miniatures from Canada. Their website is packed with stuff of the same caliber work; I urge everyone to check out their gallery!

Dwarven Forge – There is always a crowd around the Dwarven Forge booth at GenCon, at the awe is well deserved.  Dwarven Forge makes some of the best dungeon sets on the market.  They are all hand painted and very detailed.  I’d give some body parts for some of these sets (I don’t need them anymore anyways…).

Hirst Arts Fantasy Architecture – I drool over their cast-your-own molds at GenCon every year, and every year I kick myself in the ass for not purchasing a bunch of molds.  Probably the most cost efficient cast/carved scenery, since you can make as much as you want (and if you use plaster of paris, it is cheap).  Well, the molds do wear out after prolonged use… but still.

Red Dragon Terrain – Rob uses the high quality molds from Hirst Arts to create buildings for his custom scenic terrains. So if you like Hirst Arts but cringe at the idea of having to cast hundreds of bricks and pieces and then assemble them, then Red Dragon Terrain is for you.

Armorcast – These guys mass produce a lot of battlefield scenery, many terrain retailers re-sell their products.  Armorcast makes high quality scenery and terrain for various genres (fantasy, historical, and sci-fi).

Games Workshop - These guys make fantastic scenery to decorate the field for their Warhammer wargames.

Ziterdes – This German company has a line called Dunkelstadt (which I believe translates to Dark City) that just looks freakin’ superb.

Manorhouse – An Italian workshop that built the intense dual-layered scene pictured below.  I don’t know how practical it is, but it reeks of cool and detail work.

Baueda Wargames – Bauda have some nice accessories for various genres, including some nice WWII stuff as well as an Ancients (Hoppidus) line.

The Miniature Building Authority – I am pretty sure this is another strong GenCon attendee.  They have several very nice lines including a fantasy and sci-fi line and one of my favorites, the EuroVillage.

Antenociti’s Workshop – Antenociti has a few really nice small stuff for scenery like barrels, treasure chests, gun placements, doors and windows.

Miniature World Maker – They have a nice selection of 25mm structures like towers and huts that could find a home in your world.

Fantascene – I really like their Dracula’s Crypt and their Gothic line, though it seems like I’ve seen it somewhere else…

TerraScenic – TS is a vendor for Pegasus Scenery, which has some nice looking cathedrals (but I am unsure as to the scale).  But the best stuff TS offers is really their range of modeling tools.

Scenic Express – These guy probably target the model railroad market, but they have some excellent supplies for scratch-building your own custom terrain.

Wargames-Scenery – It looks like these guys currently have a clearance sale.  Unfortunately, it is because are closing their doors.  I especially like their blacksmith foundry that could be part of any middle-ages/fantasy town.

TerrainScapes – These guys have a mixture of their own custom molds as well as using and modifying high-quality Hirst Arts stuff.

Zuzzy Miniatures – Zuzzy has a three original lines: The Despoiled Reaches, The Ruined Land, and Verdant Fields.  Each line is manufactured to build a specific atmosphere.  The Despoiled Reaches are truly frillin’ wicked!

War-Game-Terrain – WGT offers up custom built terrain and scenery.  I find their site difficult to navigate, but if he definitely has some skill.

Art of War – AoW has some nice look desert (Arabic) themed structures as well as several other products, but their claim to fame is the fantastic Helm’s Deep reproduction from the Lord of the Rings.

Ultimate Table Top Terrain – Markets the Griffon Miniatures Wargaming Terrain System based on pre-made hex tiles.

Cardstock Environments

Cardstock environments are usually created by purchasing, downloading, or creating images that can be printed out onto cardstock (heavy weight) paper and then folded and/or glued together to form buildings, dungeons, and other features.  Cardstock is a quick and cheap method of providing solid environments that can spectacular pieces in their own right, and you don’t have to be too worried about ruining them, cause its fairly cheap to print another!  This section covers retailers and sites that sell or provide free downloads.

RPGNow – I’ve linked to the 3D Terrain/Buildings tag on RPGNow’s site.  I’ll also link to RPGNow product page of any of the other companies’ products if there is one available.

World Works Games – Probably THE premiere cardstock terrain company.  These guys’ work pretty much sets the bar for me.  They have a lot of lines to choose from that cover the popular genres.  Definitely check out their site!

Empty Room Studios - Another producer of very high quality cardstock terrain.  ERS also has a storefront at RPGNow.

Fat Dragon Games – The obese wyrm has an excellent selection of cardstock dungeons and terrain, not to mention a 3D spacecraft that looks like a cross between the Firefly class Serenity and the Defiant (Defiant class) from Star Trek.  Fat Dragon Games also has a storefront on RPGNow for the EZ-Dungeon & the EZ Terrain lines.

Microtactix – MTX has an impressive array of cardstock buildings for sci-fi, historical, and fantasy games.  They are famous for their “Dirt Cheap” and “Budget Battlefield” lines.  Microtactix has a storefront at RPGNow.

Stones Edges – Stones has a couple of very nice looking dungeons.  From what I have heard, the people behind Stones Edges actually joined World Works Games, which I think speaks a lot for the quality.  Stones Edges also has a storefront at RPGNow.

Joel L. Teply – Makes some decent cardstock dungeons and accessories like barrels.  JLTP also has a storefront on RPGNow.

Penguin Labs, LLC – Penguin offers the chunky looking Portable Dungeon cardstock.  Here is their storefront at RPGNow.

Hotz Stuff – Eric Hotz has created a bunch of cardstock scenery for Wild West and Roman settings.  I think I might buy the gallows accessory and place it in every town as a reminder to my players of what happens to the unruly!  Hotz has a storefront at RPGNow too.

Finger & Toe Models – F&TM have a lot to offer the sci-fi genre with a post-apocalyptic Slag Town and various futuristic military vehicles.  Finger & Toe has a storefront at RPGNow.

Dave’s Games – Dave has a ton of free cardstock structures made for Warhammer Fantasy, but I am sure they could be easily repurposed.

Unknown Forum Post – I don’t know who these belong too, or if they are breaking someone’s copyright, but they are free and available here.

Wizards of the Coast -  Hey, Wizards does do some things right.  A while back they released these fold-up paper models for free!

Archi Kit – Some very nice FREE medieval/Renaissance style buildings.

Free Paper Models – A ton of free paper models of real, historical, and fantasy buildings.

Cast/Carved Terrain Tutorials

The last time I did some research on building my own terrain (which was about 6 years ago when Privateer Press launched Warmachine), there seemed to be a lot more tutorials out there.  Maybe I’m have looked hard or long enough, but here are some of the better tutorials I found.

What really seems to be missing is technique.  Though I have provided links to books at the end of the section that should hopefully shed light on the subject.  I highly recommend the Osprey books.

Table Top Terrain – This guy has some excellent tutorials on making your own molds so you can mass produce your own (or others’, for personal use) creations.

Mini Wargaming – Has several posts on making your own scenery, uncluding stuff for Warhammer 40k.

Basement Battle Scenery – Has a nice pictorial on creating rocky terrain.

Ultimate Table Top Terrain – U3T has some tutorials on how to make your own hex tile terrain.

War-Game Terrain – This site has video tutorials on how to create your own terrain.

Fire & Smoke – Here is an excellent pictorial concerning fire and smoke.

Maff0 Models – Maffo has a tutorial on creating a bunker as well as a unique looking rock formation.

Ryan Skow – Ryan has a few tutorials to offer, including one on how to make a thatched roof.

Colonial Era Wargames – Has some cool scenery how-tos, such as what materials make good-looking water.

NetTerrain - While I didn’t come across any tutorials here, they do have a gallery of cool scenery to get you inspired.

TerraGenesis – This forum is dedicated to creating fantastic scenery and terrain on a budget for a long time (since 1997),.

How to Make Wargames Terrain – Published by Games Workshop, this book 128 of instruction on scenery and terrain.

Making Terrain & Buildings for Historical Wargames - This book covers groundwork, landscape features and buildings that are realistic and detailed.

Terrain Modelling – Published by Osprey, this book is an excellent guide to fabricating realistic terrain.

Advanced Terrain Modelling – The second part of Osprey’s terrain series offers some unique techniques to bring scenery to life.

Wargame Terrain Videos – Here is a link to a Google Video search on wargame terrain.

Cardstock Tutorials

A lot of planning actually goes into the process of making your own cardstock environments, especially when you get more complex than squares and rectangles.  You need to be able to visualize in three dimensions how something will come together, and spatial thinking is a difficult task for most people.

I didn’t want to get too much into making simple tiles, because there are tons of awesome photoshop tutorials out there that focus on textures (which is the primary ingredient in tiles, the other being grids).  Unfortunately, there is squat out there in web (that I found) in regards to cardstock terrain and scenery.

World Works Games – These guys have some fantastic videos regarding the assembly and finish of their cardstock models.  They also offer a free download.

Profantasy: Dioramas Pro – I haven’t tried it, but this software is supposed to make the creation of cardstock buildings easy.  You design it and it figures out the rest.

Miniatures & Terrain Article Series

If you need some miniatures to use on your kick-ass terrain or looking to improve your miniature hobby skills (like painting or basing), check out my other articles:

• Heroic Sized Minis Database (25mm-28mm)
• Non-Heroic Scale Minis Database
• Level-up Your Miniature Hobby Skills (painting & modeling resources)

Again, if you know of anything good that I have missed, please let me know in the comments.

Listening to: Gary Jules - Donnie Darko - Mad World

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What do Gilgamesh, Jesus Christ, Achilles, Luke Skywalker, Neo, and Harry Potter all have in common?  They are all faces of the same Hero.  They are all a part of the same Monomyth and have participated in the same Hero Cycle or Pattern.

If you are unfamiliar with the studies of the late Joseph Campbell, I HIGHLY recommend you pick up a copy of his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces.  I prefer a physical copy for easy reading and reference, but I saw this copy on Scribd.  Joseph Campbell was a mythographer, he collected, dissected, and analyzed many of the world’s myths.  In his studies, Campbell came to the conclusion that the Heroes of the ages all were basically the same story.

So if all these great stories have been based on the same formula, the Monomyth, would it be possible to craft a campaign around it?  I think so.  If properly executed, I believe a Monomyth based storyline taking the heroes from obscurity to nigh divinity could be very fullfilling for everyone involved.

The Monomyth consists of three major acts which are divided into smaller segments of five to six chapters.  Not all of the chapters need to be used.  The following outline is based upon the chapters found in The Hero with a Thousand Faces:

Act I: Departure

1. The Call to Adventure

The party begins the campaign by receiving a call to adventure.  This could be a some growing evil threatening the kingdom, or world.  It could be war, dragons, or some other strange beasts.  Regardless, there is usually some sort of Herald that puts the party in motion.  The Herald could even be the BBEG.

2. Refusal of the Call

Sometimes the party may refuse to answer the call to adventure.  When this happens, the party will begin to suffer from the lack of response, until they finally accept the call.  The suffering could take the form of disease, loved ones suffering, or being hunted.

3. Supernatural Aid

After the heroes accept the call to adventure, they soon receive aid.  This could take the form of a mentor, sage, authority figure, or a divine emmissary.  The aid given could be information, additional party members (henchmen), or equipment.

4. The Crossing of the First Threshold

At this stage, the heroes must venture into unfamiliar territory.  They usually must defeat a guardian to cross into the new area.  This guardian could be protecting the entrance to another dimension, planet, kingdom, or even just a cave.

5. The Belly of the Whale

After crossing the threshold, the rest of the world thinks the worst as the party passes beyond their perception.  They now face the unkown.

Chapter II: Initiation

1. The Road of Trials

Now begins a series of quests the party must complete in order to defeat their enemy.  Their supernatural aid will assist covertly, but leaving clues for the party to discover the truth behind their aid.

2. The Meeting with the Goddess

This chapter is a little difficult apply to a party, however, I would have the party make an alliance with a hidden power, it could be related to their supernatural aid.

3. Woman as the Temptress

This is where the party must make a choice, they could take the easy path to power or they could take the more difficult, but righteous path.  Either way has drawbacks.

4. Atonement with the Father

The party must deal with a consequence from their past.  This will most likely be related to their refusal of the call, or any of the choices they made up to this point.

5. Apotheosis

The party must face their final challenge within this unfamiliar territory.  Upon victory, they receive a large peice of the puzzle that could twist their perception of what is happening.

6. The Ultimate Boon

After the Apotheosis, the party now has the key to ending the evil in their own world.  The party should be significantly more powerful than when they crossed the threshold.  This could be special powers, feats, templates, items, or artificats.

Act III: Return

1. Refusal of the Return

The party may become drunk on their newfound power, not wanting to return and finish the campaign.  This is when knowing what motivates the party comes in handy.

2. The Magic Flight

The enemy learns of the party’s power before their return, and sends an overwhelming force at the party.  As an alternative, the enemy could trick the party into a trap or otherwise force the party to flee.

3. Rescue from Without

The party is rescued by ordinary forces from their world.  This could be some commoners with special access to items or areas or even a regular army of friendly entities.

4. The Crossing of the Return Threshold

The party must return to their world.  This may require a battle against another threshold guardian.

5. Master of the Two Worlds

The party now has all the necessary knowledge and tools to defeat their enemy.  There should be a climactic final confrontation with the BBEG.

6. Freedom to Live

If the party succeeds against the BBEG, then they can restore peace and freedom.  They achieve divinity and become legends.

Pitfalls

Of course, with such an epic sweeping story arc, there is a definite linear progression.  But unless you play by the seat of your pants, there is some amount of linear progression.  Obviously purchased adventures have definitive milestones that all mostly line on a line.

The trick as a GM is to maintain the illusion of the open ended campaign.  Plan for failure and have several options to obtain the same goal.  A campaign based upon the Monomyth could last a year or more, so many non critical adventures can be intersparsed between the actual milestones.

Never try to force players to take their characters down paths they do not feel like treading; however, a good GM should be able to guide the players down a story like with a gentle hand and some obfuscation.

Become the Homer of the game table and craft a story with your players worthy of the ancients!

Listening to:  Black Label Society – Stronger Than Death – Counterfeit God

gamingD&Dd20rpgroleplayingdungeons and dragonsworld of darkness

Here is a list of general RPG resources including networks & forums, game design, worldbuilding, and cartography.  This list is by no means exhaustive, but I have tried to pick the best, limit genre and location specific resources and use updated material.  If you know of a useful online resource that should be included here, please make a comment.

Networks

RPG Bloggers – A wonderful network of bloggers I belong to
RPGsite – A very popular site for discussing RPGs without fear
RPGnet – Another very large forum and review site
RPG Consortium – A pretty popular forum for RPG discussion and play by post
EnWorld – A self proclaimed D&D forum, but still general enough
The Forge – Another heavily trafficked site for RPG discussions
Ladies of Hack – Forums focusing on women in gaming
Iris Gaming Network – A network dedicated to women in the industry
RPG Host Network (RPGLife, RPG Archive, RPG Sheets, RPG Objects) – A vast empire
Free RPG Community – A community dedicated to free RPG rules and content
Strolen’s Citadel – A resource for plots, items, creatures, NPCs, and settings
Roleplaying Tips – GM tips and role playing advice
Treasure Tables – From the creator of Gnome Stew – with 768 GM tips
Pen & Paper – A database of published RPGs, authors, artists, and publishers
RPG Resource – Another pretty good database of RPGs and publishers
RPG MP3 – This place has a ton of PodCasts of actual play sessions

Game Design

The Forge – Has some pretty good articles on RPG Design/Theory
Styles of Roleplaying – John Kim’s extensive site on RPG Theory
RPG Design Resources – A Squidoo page with many links

Worldbuilding

Campaign Builders Guild – A marvelous community of people creating original worlds
SpecFicWorld – A list of resources for writers and worldbuilding
Wikipedia’s List of Settings – A whole slew of settings to be tweaked and mashed
Rich Staats’ World Building Articles – A massive amount of commentary on worldbuilding
Worldbuilding Resources – A Squidoo page with tons of links

Cartography

Cartographer’s Guild -A community for map makers and techniques
Dundjinni – A very polished map creation application
Campaign Cartographer – The mainstay of RPG map apps, has plug ins for cities and more
Fractal Mapper – I’ve used this software for years, makes you maps look like D&D 2nd Ed
Irony Games – I think something has broke on their site, but use to generate random maps
Dungeons Unlimited – Maps & Minigrids
Fantasy Atlas - A decent collection of free maps
Fantasy Map Maker – Maps provided free for personal use
PlayWrite’s CrawlNotes - Drag, resize, pattern and colour rooms, and attach descriptions, monsters and items

Adventure Seeds

The Big List of RPG Plots – Self explanatory
Strolen’s Citadel Plots – Some pretty cool plot ideas
Wizard’s of the Coast Hook Generator – WotC’s adventures in a can
Forbidden Kingdom’s Seed Generator – You can get some pretty zaney stuff here

Atmosphere

Stargazer’s World – A fellow RPG Blogger with an excellent taste for RP music
Nox Arcana – Excellent music for a horror campaign
Midnight Syndicate – Another horror soundtrack producer, also made the official D&D OST

Organizational Tools

Freemind – A mind mapping software for brain storming and notes
NoteCase – A hierarchical (outline) note manager
MS OneNote – Microsoft’s tabbed digital notebook
CampaignWiki - A wiki for managing your campaign
Obsidian Portal – Allows you to create campaign websites

Let me know if you have a resource that should be listed on here!

Listening to: Coal Chamber – Coal Chamber – Loco

gamingD&Dd20rpgroleplayingdungeons and dragonsworld of darkness

This is the first in a series of articles where I scour the web in search of useful resources for popular systems.  I figured I would start with one if the newest systems, Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition.  I chose D&D 4e because it was the newest, and therefore probably the easiest to get a handle on.  In spite of its youth, there are a lot of people and companies producing great tools and resources for the 4e gamer out there.

Publishers

• Wizards of the Coast – The official stuff
• Adamant Entertainment – Non GSL adventures
• Goodman Games – Only current GSL publisher I know of
• Kenzer & Company – Non GSL Kingdoms of Kalamar
• Mongoose Publishing – GSL (Wraith Recon) products on the horizon

Custom Classes & Races

• Dungeon’s Master – Has an excellent heroic tier Necromancer as well as Paragon Paths and Epic Tier powers for it.
• RPGNoticias’ - Leandro has an awesome custom Monk Class (the mechanics are in English)
• PlayWrite’s 4e Class Creator -  with accessories, weapons, damage and power types, as well as power sources
• Wizards’ Community Class Compendium – A massive repository of custom classes from the WotC forums
• Wizards’ Community Race Compendium – An equally massive repository of updated and custom races

Character Generators

• Pfheonix’s Character Sheet - An editable character sheet that performs many calculations for you
• RPTools’ CharTool – They have just added 4e support to their character generator
• Emma’s Char Manager – There is a subscription for this service, but it stores your characters online
• Hero Forge Character Generator – Currently in production

Character Sheets

• Kiznet’s Foldover Sheet – This is a monster sheet that provides storage for included power cards when folded
• Neceros’ RPG Sheets – Several varieties of character sheets including landscape & classic versions
• Mad Irishman’s Sheets – The Irishman has some nifty customizable sheets, don’t want the logo, remove it
• Shado’s Character Sheet – Very polished character sheet and power cards with full color 4e theme
• Mount Abora’s Sheets – “Merlin” Williams has two very clean looking character sheets
• Emma’s Static & Dynamic Sheets – THIS SITE HAS BEEN C&D’d BY WIZARDS OF THE COAST!
• Wizards of the Coast – The official 4e character sheet

Power Cards

• PlayWrite’s 4e Power Toolkit - Make your own custom powers and then put them on a card
• Asmor’s Power Tracker – Software that helps players track available powers during play
• Alroon’s Power Cards – A nice set of editable power cards hosted by ADnD Downloads
• Ander00′s Power Cards – A ready-to-print collection of all the PHB powers
• Tools for GMs – A Google Group with several flavors of power cards
• 4e Fan Publishing Cards – Some more power cards, though not complete

Combat Managers

• Pfhoenix’s Encounter Manager – Software that orders combatants by initiative and tracks effects
• PlayWrite’s Trackwork -  A 3.5 & 4e combat initiative tracker
• Ex Nebula’s Virtual Combat Cards - Designed to assist Dungeon Masters in running 4e D&D combat
• Turn Watcher – A very polished piece of software that tracks a whole slew of things, for $15
• Anubisware’s Encounter Manager – Sorts by initiative and lists name, defenses, & hps and can be found at the Geek’s Dream Girl
• RPTools’ InitTool – RPTools has a whole suite of wonderful, free apps, and this is one of them
• Traveon Wyvernspur’s Tracker – A pretty thorough Excel spreadsheet for encounters & initiative
• Chad’s Encounter Tracker - An analog manager that tracks all the expendables for a single character
• Alroon’s Combat Conditions Tracker - A nice image with rows of condition icons, thanks to ADnD Downloads for providing this
• Dr. Midnight’s Hand Dandy Nev-R-Fail - ADnD Downloads also has this one sheet that tracks the initiative and effects for 6 entities
• Tools for GMs – A Google Group with a couple of initiative and condition cards
• Kiznet’s Combat Crib Sheet – Gives a nice synopsis of combat, modifiers, and definitions

Monsters

• Mad Menagerie – The Labs’ custom creatures located on this blog
• Core Mechanic’s Monsters – Custom monsters from Jonathan @ The Core Mechanic
• Paper & Plastic Monsters – Some more monstrous goodies from the blogosphere
• Wizards’ Community Monster Compendium – Custom monsters from the WotC forums
• Asmor’s Monster Math Cruncher - Creates general stats for creating custom 4e monsters
• Asmor’s Monster Maker – Lets you save monsters and create authentic looking stat blocks
• Core List’s Monster List – The Core Mechanic’s list of monsters and terrains
• Tools for GMs – A Google Group with some monster cards

Treasure

• Asmor’s Quartermaster – random treasure generator
• Asmor’s Treasure Trove - A searchable database of magical items
• Tools for GMs – A Google Group with magical item cards

Miscellaneous

• Tools for GMs – A Google Group with odds and ends like condition and hazard cards
• The Core Lists – More lists from Jonathan @ The Core Mechanic including adventures, rituals, & templates
• The Gamer Dome – A FULL index for the 4e PHB (better than the one included!)
• The Gamer Dome -  Another awesome index, this one for the 4e FRCS
• MadBrewLabs – I have a list of virtual table tops/digital game tables right here
• Asmor’s Random Encounter Generator – Generates random encounters for 4e
• Alroon’s Passive Skill Tracker – A nice sheet to track player’s passive skills, in care of ADnD Downloads
• 4e Fan Publishing – Icons & Fonts for powers and attacks
• 4e D&D Player Reference – Cribbed notes on everything

D&D Insider

• Vaporware?
• Dragon & Dungeon magazines – stopped the press and moved them online
• D&D Compendium – search for rules (but you better know what you are searching for!)
• Encounter Builder – generate encounter lists
• Ability Generator – build stats for character generation
• Character Visualizer – NOT AVAILABLE (make 3d models of your pc)
• Character Builder – now available
• Dungeon Builder – NOT AVAILABLE (build 3D dungeons maps)
• Game Table – NOT AVAILABLE (import your dungeons to this virtual game table)

This list is obviously not even close to being complete, but it is the extent of resources I am aware of.  I haven’t listed any generic resources, as I plan on writing an article specifically aimed at general RPG tools. If you have something that you would like added or know of something I missed, drop a comment.

Listening to: Soulfly – Dark Ages – Babylon

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Everything you need to know about creating an adventure you can learn from Dora the Explorer.  I know, you think I must be jesting.  But I am not.  Well maybe I do jest, a little.  But have you ever watched an episode of Dora?

My wife recently picked up about a dozen Dora videos on the cheap from a neighborhood rummage sale, and they have pretty much been played non-stop since then.  My daughter, an earthbound angel, loves Dora the Explorer.  I dig this because Dora is far easier to run in a continuous loop than Barney or Elmo.

Besides the fact that Dora is better on the nerves and slows the progression of child show induced insanity, Dora the Explorer is also a great example of simple adventure building.  They always start with some story (the background) to get you interested about a subject.  They then place that subject in need of help (the hook).  Dora must then overcome three obstacles (the encounters).  Finally Dora saves the day and everyone rejoices (the reward).

My daughter is only two right now, but if her interest in Dora doesn’t crumble in the next couple of years, I plan on using Dora as the formula to pique her interest in storytelling games.  It will begin with our own collaborative adventure stories and hopefully if she still seems interested, it can progress to board games and finally table top role playing games.

It is a good thing my wife is a non-gaming girly girl. That way she can ensure our daughter receives tutelage in finer social etiquette.  Sometimes I fear I may be over zealous in my plot to corrupt my daughter into a gamer.  I don’t want to push her into the introverted dork territory!

Listening to: The Troll – Dora – I’m A Troll!

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Do you have dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of loose notes?  Are they floating around on old bill envelopes, post-its, scrap paper, and bathroom tissue?  If you are like me, or at least the me a year ago, you probably write down your inspirations and ideas on whatever is handy and nearby.  Crayon and a fast food cup?  Been there.  And now you can’t find that plot outline for the greatest story ever told because your husband or wife threw it out with the garbage.  Either that or it simply got sucked into that dimension where my missing G.I. Joes and the matches to about a half a dozen socks go.  Maybe it was the house gnome.  GRRRRRR!

But that was me approximately a year ago, before I discovered some wonderful software called FreeMind.  Whenever I get inspired, I fire up FreeMind (if it isn’t already running) and add some nodes to my “Story Ideas” mind map.  For those times I don’t want to be saddled with a computer, I ensure I have my pocket sized notebook on me.  I’ll jot the bits down and then enter them into FreeMind the next time I am at the computer.  Then I scratch out the idea and if the page is full I tear it out and throw it away.

I can hear the skeptics now.  I could do this in MS Office (or Open Office) and achieve the same thing.  Well, you could, but FreeMind allows you to map things, similar to flowcharting software.  The nodes are collapsible so you can view it on a micro or macro level.  You can even create custom icons for each node.  It is quick and easy to learn and best of all it is FREE.  Oh and for all you non-Windows users, it is written in Java so it should be cross platform.

You could also just keep on trucking in a notebook, but how often do you lose your computer… and it would be a pain in the ass to “backup” the written page.  This software is good for any type of brainstorming or project development.  In fact, I use it at work for software development.  It also has the additional feature of being able to export your mind map to HTML.  It saves its data in an XML format, so the code monkeys out there could take extra advantage of it.

GMs, DMs, and Storytellers everywhere should do themselves a favor and at least try this bit of programming genius.

Listening to: Deathstars – Synthetic Generation – Genocide

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This post was spawned by my comments to Yax’s 4e D&D Learning Curve post at Dungeon Mastering.  He makes some good general points, except that I disagree with his analysis that 4e characters are complex.  I don’t think they are any more complex than any other game with any amount of crunch.  However, they do retain close to the same comlexity throughout play, instead of increasing.  Of course, complexity is a pretty subjective category.

I digress, complexity isn’t the core topic of this article.  Speeding up combat is.  I’ve been told that one of the major “selling” points for 4e was how combat is more streamlined, yet after 40 hours in 9 games with the RPGA at GenCon, I know that combat can become just as mired and slow as in the previous edition.  My observation is that the combat sequence can become a crawl because of all the effects, marks, and saves.

I have created the following three tips to help speed up combat encounters.  While these tips have been tailored specifically for 4e, they could be easily adapted to other systems with similar mechanics.

1. Information cards.  Having to flip through the very poorly indexed 4e Player’s Handbook is a pain in the ass.  These things keep DMs and players from having to ask, “What is your Reflex?” or “Your bloodied, but how many hit points do you have?”
♦ Initiative Cards – Put every character and monster (or group of monsters) on a card, put the cards in initiative order, shuffle through order.
♦ Power cards – Put each power a character has on a card.  If it is an encounter or daily, turn it over.  This works with action points too.  Ander00 from EnWorld put these wonderful cards up.
♦ Character Nameplate – A folded nameplate for each character with Name, AC, Defenses, Passive Insight & Perception scores, Hit Points, and Initiative modifiers.  Place these on the table so they can be seen by everyone.
♦ Action cards – Create a table resource of actions cards that describe the actions available from the Combat Chapter of the PH.
♦ Effects cards – Put the mechanics of effects on cards as a table resource, so you don’t have to dig to find out what “stunned” or “dazed” means.

2. Effects tokens.  Makes tracking effects, marks, quarries and other statuses easier.  This alleviates a lot of the “Is this guy bloodied?”, “Wait, I forgot to roll my save!”, and “Well I didn’t realize the other fighter had this dude marked.” show stopping comments.
♦ Magnetic Markers by Alea Tools – These things are very visible, but can sometimes attract or push other marked minis.  Also, minis will look like they are “flying” if you accrue a lot of them.
♦ Pipe cleaners – Preformed colored pipe cleaners can be looped around minis
♦ Poker chips – Performs the same function as the magnetic markers, but it is tricky find a correct size

3. Initiative.  In addition to the init cards mentioned above, you can have the players pre-roll 6-10 initiatives and write them on the init cards.  Then roll a d6 or d10 to see which one they start with.  Also, make sure the players know where they are in the initiative order and put a 30 second to 1 minute time limit on their turn.  If they use up their time, have their character default to a melee or ranged attack on the nearest enemy.  This forces the players to think about what they are going to do while everyone else is taking their turn.  It also clears up the problem of waiting on players who have small bladders and nicotine addictions.

Listening to: Deadstar Assembly – Unsaved – Serial

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Most of my gaming group live about an hour away from me, in Podunksville.  I finally wrestled the first Saturday of every month away, so one night a month we play at my house.  Well, as members of the group acquire more responsibility, we find it harder and harder for us to meet face to face.  So we kicked around the idea of distance gaming and I went on the hunt to find some technologies that helps bring the table to the internet.

I have tried each of these applications, unless otherwise stated, and have provided as much information as possible to help anyone else out there decide whether they like it or not.

RPTools’ MapTool

RPTools have a suite of five open source, cross-platform (Java 5) applications at your disposal.  Honestly, I cannot believe this stuff is free. Even the one app still in development, the CharTool has a very nice level of refinement.  They offer the DiceTool, MapTool, TokenTool, InitTool, and CharTools (still in dev) on their site.

The MapTool is a client/server app which means you can either use it to host your own games or to connect to someone else’s.  You drop in an image for your map or use a default background that can be tiled.  You can pan/zoom the map as well as lay down a grid.  Tokens can also be added to the map to represent PCs, NPCs, monsters (which are reall just hostile NPCs right?), treasure, obstacles, whatever.  You can assign a few attributes to tokens like name, status, and if it gives off light.  You can use the TokenTool to easily create slick looking tokens for the map.  The MapTool also supports fog of war, drawing on the map, and a simple chat program with dice rolling functions.  The DiceTool reads dice expressions (i.e. 1d10+2d6+4) that can be be saved to buttons and extended by using JavaScript.  The InitTool helps a GM track initiative as well as character stats.  Finally the CharTool is a character manager that can be used with any system but comes with pre-made configurations for D&D 3.5, Savage Worlds, and Heroes.

I definitely urge you to check out RPTools.  Its free, works on any machine with Java 5, and if you are code savvy, can be extended by modifying the available source code.

NBOS’ ScreenMonkey

ScreenMonkey is from the same people that brings you Fractal Mapper, NBOS.  ScreenMonkey requires that the GM be running on a Windows machine, but players can connect with any modern web browser.  The full version costs $34.95 USD (and you only need one), but there is also a free Lite edition which comes without scripting, saving, and announcement capabilities.

I think the biggest selling points for this software is that you only need one copy, it is easy extendable by editing the HTML page players see as well as supporting the fairly robust VB Script.  It has a powerful chat program, chat archives, and extendable minis.  It supports initiative, fog-of-war, Fractal Mapper maps, sound (mp3 & wav), dice rolling, and map annotations.  I have used this software a lot, myself.

Smiteworks’ Fantasy Grounds

Fantasy Grounds II is a pretty slick looking application, and probably is the most refined app out of the list.  It is probably the closest to what DDI wants to be, but it just so happens you can use FGII today.  However, Smiteworks wants to charge for both player and GM licenses at $23.95 and $39.95 USD respectively.  It has a lot of DirectX, so this is Windows only.

FGII supports some nicely animated dice (color customizable) to roll, player handouts, maps, tokens, portraits, drawings, character sheets, and even rule book references.  It has a very robust integrated chat client and supports the linking of resources.  It has some sweet drawing utilities that even support pressure sensitive drawing tablets.

It has character sheets, combat tracker, and player turn seperation in the chat window.  If you have the ca$h to spend, this might be the app for you.

Smiteworks also makes adventures ready to use with FGII.

d20 Pro

d20Pro is also very polished, I just wish my 30 day trial hadn’t expired before I really put it through the paces.  It is available for $29.95 and everyone will need a copy (each copy can be both DM & player). There is a Windows version as well as a Mac/Linux version.

d20Pro has done a pretty good job at incorporating the d20 rule set.  You can program attacks for monsters which is based upon their Hit Dice and Strength or Dexterity.  Special ability templates and the four OGL spellcasting classes of cleric, druid, sorcerer, and wizard are all supported and extendable.  Spell effects are tracked during play and the spells integrate with the special ability templates.  Fog-of-war, grids, feats, skills, intiative, and saving throws are all supported.  d20Pro has a dice roller, saveable game logs, a main chat and separate player to DM chats.  You can even give monsters an inventory.  All in all, it is a pretty solid application, if you are playing a d20 game.

Battlegrounds

Battlegrounds is a pretty decent virtual table top that I find very similar to FGII, but it works on both Windows and Mac (sorry Linux users).  It has a dice roller, chat window, fog-o-war, zoom, grid snap, and supports .png which means you can have transparencies.  It also has nifty token facing and label overlays.  Battlegrounds is also coming out with a Wargame edition that will be suited to wargames. Battlegrounds comes in two flavors, GM or Player at $32.00 and $16.00 respectively.

RPG Host’s OpenRPG

Open RPG has been around awhile (remember WebRPG?), and is the oldest of the open source solutions I am aware of.  This application is cross-platform and available for the cheap price of free.  It also has a decent sized community supporting it.

It has all the basics, map, miniatures, chat and dice. You can zoom, grid, and freehand draw on the map as well.  The game tree is the most customizable aspect, allowing users to create custom character sheets and GM aids.

kLoOge Werks

kLoOge Werks is a cross-platform (Java 5) digital gaming table that comes with two different licenses. A GM license costs $30.00 USD and the player license costs $15.00 USD, with bundle discounts.

I actually got a demo version of this at the first GenCon in Indy.  It is fairly polished and includes a map with masking and fog-o-war, programmable dice, chat, spell shape templates, and a round-to-round event tracker.

It supports the big three image types (.jpg, .png, & .gif) as well as threatened areas, character sheet based dice expressions, animated gifs, audio support (.wav, .au, .mp3, .ogg), event based sound, facing, and health gauges.

Its pretty full featured, and definitely a contender.  The GUI is pretty polished even if their website isn’t.

D&DI’s Game Table

D&D Insider: This is the official platform for playing D&D 4e online and is available for a MMOesque monthly subscription of $14.95 USD, and its only available for Windows users. Most of us are aware that D&D Insider’s online tools are way behind schedule (and therefore over budget as well). After pulling the plug on their social network for gamers (Gleemax),  Wizards of the Coast is focusing all their resources on developing what may be the best platform for playing 4th Edition D&D.  While it hasn’t even reached beta testing yet, all the video demos of the software are very polished and professional.  It gives you access to a Character Visualizer (make digital 3D mini of your d00d!), Dungeon Builder, Character Generator, Game Table, D&D Compendium (rules), and access to the online magazines Dragon & Dungeon.

Though I haven’t used it personally (who has?), from what I have seen, the Game Table interprets the rules for you, making movement/action available based upon your character (ex: highlights all the spaces you can enter and targets you threaten, only shows what your vision/light would allow).

While I was writing this, D&D I News published a post that gave a sitrep (situation report for the uninitiated) on DDI.  Apparently, they offered a pricing structure so they can charge people for reading Dragon and Dungeon magazines.  Check it out if you are interested.

Here are some other applications I have looked at, but not tried:

GlitterCom:

GC is still in active development, but has a beta version out.  The beta has the basics, including an interactive map, dice roller, and chat, as well as map masking, ability to draw on the map, and hit point and initiative tracker.  It is going for a fairly refined interface, so it requires a video card that supports Pixel Shader 2.0 and it requires XP or Vista.  The app is available for FREE.

RPGtonight:

RPGtonight is browser based and you operate off their hosts (with space available for storing game info).  It has a map with masking, chat window (which can be disabled if everyone is using voice), dice roller, and avatars.  Its free and works with any OS that has a web browser.

ViewingDale:

Viewing dale uses your graphics card to present quickly updating maps.  It has an integrated chat and dice application, but beyond the fancy graphics program, doesn’t offer much.  I believe you only need one license ($45 USD) but it only works on Windows.

GRiP:

The Generic Roleplaying for Internet Players software is an IRC app published by the makers of Traveler RPG. It is basically just a layer you add onto IRC, much like mIRC if anyone is familiar with that. Finding, installing and using the software is somewhat cryptic, and it costs $35 USD. Also visit http://grip.2ya.com/ for more information.

JParanoia:

It’s an online Paranoia rules infused app.  I haven’t tried it, but its free and I think its programmed in Java, which should make it cross-platform.

Epic Table:

This still in production software looks promising, it has the basics plus spell shape templates, lighting, masking, complex chat, and a combat tracker.  Its Windows only and I’m not sure how much it will cost.

iTabletop:

I can remember seeing this at GenCon last year.  It is still in beta and appears to have all basics but ups the ante with video chat.

Gametable:

Simple online multiuser whiteboard with a chat box and dice.  It looks to be browser based using Java and its free.

Tabletop Network:

Looks like a very general online card, chess, boardgame app that must be used with Skype.

Listening to: Gothminster – Empire of Dark Salvation – Monsters

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This is a follow up to Chatty DM’s 5 part series entitled “So you wanna write an RPG blog?“  In part 5, “Then What?,” Chatty asks the community to post some additions to his very informative series because he plans on compiling the series, and additions, into an e-book.

I took some HCI (human computer interaction) courses while attending college, and recieved some solid, if dry, information on design.  In HCI they refer to useability as how well the site is designed.  They don’t care about visual impact and fancy graphics.  The bottom line is no matter how good your site looks, if users can’t navigate it and find what they need, it is a failure.

You often come across complicated words like heuristics, which is just fancy talk for trial and error or exploratory problem solving.  You study how your target audience bumbles or glides through your site.  Basically, you give them a few random and specific tasks to accomplish at your site, record their progress (time to execute, facial expression, success or failure, etc.).  If your testers become frustrated, then there is some poor design happening.

I did some searching and found a site that had solid information about usability principles.  They echo everything I remember from the HCI courses, but I’ll boil it down for you:

10 Principles (strive for these)

• Assume all users are NOT technically savvy (don’t make ‘em think too much)
• Do NOT make them wait (filling out forms, page loads, extensive clicking)
• Guide users where you want them (direct their attention to what is most important)
• Be clear (make sure they know what that button does, be objective)
• Effective writing (make it short & concise, scannable, and in plain language)
• Less is more (keep the layout simple and clean)
• Be consistant (maintain a similarly structured sute)
• Convention is our friend (user expect websites to function similarly)
• Test it (do a useability test as mentioned earlier
• Innovate after you have master the principles (you have to know the rules to break them)

10 Pitfalls (avoid these like the plague)

• intro splash screens (I don’t care about your sweet flash animation, why force users to go through an unneccessary layer?)
• pop-ups (besides, these days most browsers kill all of the easy to imp pop-ups)
• hidden or underemphasized log in links (especially if its requiered for content, why another page anyways?)
• horizontal scrolling and page dragging (wtf! I can’t use my scroll button!)
• visual noise (is the clipart, ads, gifs, all neccessary?)
• dead ends and invisible links
• blocked content (wtf, why is this ad/image hiding the stuff I want to read?)
• dynamic menus & drop donws (all the sliding around is a pain the ass, besides your hiding topics)
• blinking images (trying to give me a seizure, eh?)
• poor color choice (some colors just don’t work, try this effective color scheme app)

Other Tips

• Every page should be accessible from every page (might be hard with hundreds of posts, but try to keep the depth of your site within two or three clicks, tags and categories help with this)
• The site I referenced mentioned not opening links in new windows… but I have to half disagree.  Don’t have any internal links open new windows unless absolutely necessary. But you might consider having external links open in a new window, because you want to keep them on YOUR site.

Remember, if you are going to break the rules of design, make sure you know you are breaking the rules and why.  There are exceptions to every rule, just like in D&D.