Mad Brew Labs

The Mad Menagerie is a regular column that I am starting with this entry: The Trystgeist.  The Mad Menagerie will be a bi weekly (at least) occurance that will feature totally original monsters, like the Trystgeist, or creatures adapted from folklore, mythology, legend, and movies.

Each entry will give a physical description, a small stat block, powers, combat tactics and lore.  They will be presented in a slightly modified 4e format, but I think they could be adapted to any system.  That being said, I’m not really a fan of 4e, but I think the monster stats are pretty slick and easy to use.

Trystgeist

Trystgeists are the spirits of the unfaithful that have died at the hands of their betrayed lovers.  They are ethereal in nature, and only manifest when they exact vengeance upon adulterers.  When these tormented spirits do manifest they become corporeal and appear as one of the adulterers’ spouse.  The adulterers’ surprise soon turns to terror as the trystgeist’s eyes turn black and begin weeping dark, acidic tears that melts the flesh of it’s stolen appearance, as well as its victims.

Medium Shadow Humanoid [Undead, Touched by Evil]
Level: 10
Initiative: +10
Perception: +10, darkvision
Hit Points: 100
AC: 20, Fort: 25, Ref: 18, Will: 25
Speed: 5
Skills: Intimidate +15
Str 16, Dex 10, Con -, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 20

Burning Betrayal (ranged, standard, recharge 4,5,6) [acid, necrotic]
Close burst 5; +15 vs. Reflex; 2d8 +5 damage.

Eyes Only For Me (melee, standard, at-will)
+13 vs. AC; 1d4+3 damage; target is blinded for 2 rounds.

Claw (melee, standard, at-will)
+13 vs. AC; 1d8+3 damage.

Tactics

Trystgeists will begin by moving in close to its victims and shaking its head inhumanly fast, spraying its acidic tears all around it.  It will then attempt to blind an opponent and take advantage of its victim’s weakened defenses and unleash its claws.  It will spray its victims with acid at every opportunity.  Trystgeists will often intimidate victims so they cower in fear.

Lore

DC 15: Trystgeists often take on the appearance of its victim’s spouse.
DC 20: Trystgeists were once adulterers that were slain by their betrayed lovers.
DC 25: Trystgeists cannot be permanently destroyed unless you find its wedding band and destroy it with it’s own acid.

Listening to: Type O Negative – Bloody Kisses – Blood & Fire

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Jonathan @ The Core Mechanic has put forth the idea of having an RPG Carnival. An RPG Carnival would entail several blogs, such as members of the RPG Bloggers Network, writing up articles on a topic specified by the current host blog. The host blog would rotate between participant blogs after each topic comes to a close. When the time for the topic ends, the host blog would then post a synopsis of all the participant’s entries. More on the RPG Carnival’s guidelines can be found on Jonathan’s initial post at The Core Mechanic.The first topic is entitled: Character Death, Resurrection, & the Undead. The Undead is by far my favorite type of monster/creature. Many of my favorite movies have Undead as the antagonists and even the protagonists. I will briefly answer the questions connected with this topic, but then I want dedicate the majority of this article to the discussion of the philosophies behind how the primal forces that animate the Undead are implemented.

How do you handle character death in your game?

Well, it depends on what system and setting we are using. If we are doing the D&D thing in the Forgotten Realms, character death is less tragic than if we are playing All Flesh Must Be Eaten or Werewolf: the Forsaken. In the Forgotten Realms, high magic is easily obtained and resurrection does not pose a problem other than forcing the characters to take time and resources. If your actor dies in AFMBE, there is no coming back (except as the Zombie Master’s minion!). I never really try to avoid character death, but I have fudged a

few die rolls…

What about character resurrection?

Again, it depends on the setting. In the Forgotten Realms, if they have money… then sure, go to the local temple of Lathander and pay their price, done. However, my ideal take on resurrection is to have it far more difficult to obtain.

I have a custom setting I call the Dead Wastes (which features zombies of course) and it is a relatively low magic setting. Powerful magic can be obtained, but resurrection is pretty rare.. In fact, no such spell appears on any character’s spell list. To resurrect a character, it would require a monumental quest/story arc of its own accord, to obtain 1) the physical written ritual, 2) the very rare, but necessary components, and 3) a possibly unique focus for the ritual.

This quest would mean certain death for at least another party member

but since the ritual would be consumed in the process, the players would have to choose which character to resurrect, if at all.

Have you ever had characters come back as the Undead?

Yes. I have had characters become wights, vampire spawn, ghosts, and zombies; all as antagonists that their former comrades had to deal with. I have also had players begin play with Undead characters. I can remember one instance in particular where we had a mummy in the group.

How have you incorporated the Undead in your adventures?

I think about 80% of my adventures have undead in them. Did I mention they’re my favorite? I have used the undead as brilliant masterminds, stupid minions, player characters, victims, and allies. If there is role for

an NPC, I am sure I have had an Undead fill it.

What are some new Undead monsters, diseases, or other Undead afflictions of your game world can you share with us?

I’d like to share one of my creations for the Dead Wastes. I just give the concept, then anyone can adapt it to their own game:

Fossilifungus – Fossilifungus is a fungus that has evolved into a near symbiotic relationship with the undead, specifically zombies. When a fossilifungus spore attaches to flesh animated by necrotic (or negative) energy, it will take root and begin to grow.

Fossilifungus draws nourishment from enzymes produced when flesh decays from necrotic energy. Over time, the fungus will spread to cover the back, head, and upper torso of its host. Fossilifungus has a defense mechanism triggered by the movement of warm bodies. This mechanism involves the discharge of five to ten tiny barbs in a cone that is ten feet wide and fifteen feet long. When a living creature is struck by a barb, it causes paralysis for up to one minute.

This paralysis gives the host enough time to reach this immobile food source and begin devouring its flesh. There are many horror stories from the fringes of the Dead Wastes about victims being eaten alive by fossilifungus ridden zombies, only to be able to call for help once it was too late.

Well, that wasn’t quite as brief as I wanted it to be, so much for brevity!

Necrotic/Negative Energy Origins & Implications

Since I started role-playing, there seems to be two primary views on Negative (3.x parlance) or Necrotic (4e parlance) Energy. The first view is that Necrotic Energy is fundamentally evil, and therefore everything it touches is evil (necrotic spells, undead, etc.). The second view is that it is merely a primal, natural force, which can be dangerous if abused (much like fire and electricity).

I find myself gravitating towards the camp that says Necrotic energy is natural, in that death, decay, and entropy are a part of nature. However, I think that it if too much of it seeps through the cracks, an unnatural corruption can occur, and that corruption can become evil, because evil is attracted to such things.

I also find myself in the primal camp because I extremely dislike pigeon holing monsters into alignments. Reading “Always Chaotic Evil” really pisses me off. Needing to feed upon the blood of the living is a curse that all vampires must deal with, but it is their nature, and all vampires need not embrace it. I think it makes for a more dramatic story to have such creatures conflicted between what is in their nature and how they would like to really be. Anyone remember Jander Sunstar?

Are there zombies that must mindlessly chase the living down and consume their brains? Yes, the key word is mindless. I think that you have to have the capacity to choose in order to be evil. In my world, Necrotic energy is not evil, in and of itself, but it is a multiplier of evil. When someone commits an evil deed using Necrotic energies, it makes the act that much more heinous.. Necromancy doesn’t kill people; evil Necromancers kill people (and then re-animate them).

And while playing with Necromancy is definitely worthy of a lynching in the views of the majority of the people inhabiting game worlds, it is because of their ignorance, not because Necromancy is inherently evil. I have changed many spell descriptors, alignments, and requirements in my 3.x wrld to reflect this.

Listening to: Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi’s Dead – Bela Lugosi’s Dead

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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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During this process of developing Echelon, I have taken each part of the very familiar 3.5 d20 system and asked a few questions:

• Does this make the game fun?
• Is it effective at fullfilling its purpose?
• Can it be improved?
• Should it be removed?

To answer these questions I first reflect upon my personal experiences as both a player and a dungeon master. Did I recall the element adding depth, creativity, or flavor?  Was it fun to use the element, or was it more of an obstacle? What was its purpose, and did it do a good job at what it was intended to do?  For instance, if it was an obstacle, was it necessary to include because it introduced balance?  Even if it was fun and successfully fulfilling its purpose, can it be made better?  Should it be removed entirely?

I then catalog those answers and ask the same questions to my gaming group, keeping mind each person’s propensity to resist change. I then hit the web, looking for other people’s opinions, observations, and solutions.

If you have read my article on Design, then this ENTIRE process actually resides in the first step of STAIR: State the problem.  I research the problem so I can fully understand it.  How can you state the problem unless you know what exactly it is?

It was during this phase of design that I came across John Kirk’s RPG Design Patterns PDF at the site for his game, Legendary Quest.  It is a 260+ page document that examines design patterns common to some of the most successful role playing games out there.  After I finish digesting the book, I think I will use it to help define Echelon.

I also found a nice little list of RPG Design blogs, forums, and books at PPD RPG Design.  Hopefully this will help other aspiring game designers find the information they need to tackle the rough art of game design.

Listening to: The Dead See – Through the Veil – Dead Mans’s Throne

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Whether you are a greybeard or a greenhorn, a dedicated or sporadic player of D&D, you probably have a passionate opinion about the new edition.  I certainly do.  However, I think my opinion has become more tempered since I began scrolling through the heated discussions on various blogs like these two posts (here & here) on Chatty DM, Critical Hits, and another two posts (here & here) on Geek Related.  Hell, just Google or Cuil (a new hip search engine!) “4e sucks” and I am sure you’ll find many, many more.

Here is my synopsis of the situation: Wizards of the Coast changed a the way classes work at a fundamental level.  There were some other changes, but I see them as more of the natural evolution of the game.  The new classes are not as natural… It is more of a transplant.  I think the closest analogy I can think of is if I went to the barber, got a hair cut and a shave but gave me a heart transplant as well.

Eh, maybe not so dramatic.  On second thought, a better line of thought be to make a comparison to my project car.  Right now it is a 1948 Chevrolet Coupe, with a 403 cubic inch small block and manual transmission (never yoiu mind it isn’t currently road worthy!).  Let’s say I can’t afford to drive the damn thing anymore because the premium fuel it requires is too flippin’ expensive.  So I swap the the V8 for a turbo charged inline 4 banger with an automatic transmission.  Does this make the ’48 a pile of crap?

In short, no.  But the hot rod purists would have an aneurysm.  But I have fun driving it, it takes less work (shifting) and I get better fuel economy,  Plus, it still looks bad ass.  But hey, that’s not everyone’s flavor of hot rod.  It doesn’t have to be, and it really doesn’t fucking matter because its my damn car and you don’t have to cruise in it if you don’t want.

Lucky for those old hot rodding fossils, I just happen to prefer my classic iron with a big ass V8 in it.  I’d never do that to my ’48, but I can see the logic behind doing it and wouldn’t bash (too much) on someone who did.  Besides, that’s what my Eclipse GST is for.

Anyways, you might not be interested in cars, turbos, or how many cylinders my cars have.  The point of the long, exhaustive analogy above was to illustrate that it doesn’t really matter if you think WotC f’ed up your favorite game and you abosutely abhor 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons.  On the flipside, all the people that fell in love with 4e need not worry about those who are not fans of it.

I’m not a huge fan of 4e, and I certainly do no plan on purchasing what I think are over priced books, but I’m not going to tell you not to play it or enjoy.  4e just might be your cup of tea, and if its ease of use brings more gamers into the fold, AWESOME.  I think everyone should try it and find out for themselves, make up your own damned mind and don’t try to shove your freshly formed opinion down fellow gamers’ throats.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love discussing the finer nuances of game mechanics and discovering why you like this or dislike that.  Rational discussion promotes new ideas which lead to better games.  Just have some reason behind your opinion.

Bottomline: Don’t get your panties in a twist about a fraggin’ game.

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Below is an excerpt of how Echelon will handle races. While plenty of playtesting remains on making sure the races are balanced throughout the tiers, this is pretty much how they should work. The decision hasn’t been made on whether all the attributes happen at once, or spread out through XPRs. The idea to enable players to select a number of attributes at tiers or XPRs is on the design table as well.

Race and Languages

All characters know how to speak Common. An aasimar, dragonborn, dwarf, eladrin, elf, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, halfling, or tiefling also speaks a racial language, as appropriate. A character who has an Intelligence bonus at 1st level speaks other languages as well, one extra language per point of Intelligence bonus as a starting character. Power related languages: characters that purchase ranks in certain Powers can choose a few languages as bonus languages even if they’re not on the lists found in the race descriptions. These power related languages are as follows:

Divine: Abyssal, Celestial, and Infernal.
Sorcery: The language related to chosen bloodline.
Wizarding: Draconic.
Wyld: Sylvan

Favored Powers

Races gravitate towards Powers that come naturally to them. Dwarves are excellent smiths and crafters, so naturally they have an affinity for Artifice. Halflings have developed the knack to blend in with their surroundings for protection, so they have an inclination for the Covert arts. A race can purchase favored Powers at a reduced cost. A new rank for a favored Power costs its rank less in Experience Points.

Small Characters

A Small character gets a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks. A Small character’s carrying capacity is three-quarters of that of a Medium character. A Small character generally moves about two-thirds as fast as a Medium character. A Small character must use smaller weapons than a Medium character.

Dwarves

Racial Traits:
	Average Height	: 4’3” – 4’-9”
	Average Weight	: 160-220 lbs.
	Speed	: 25 ft.
	Vision	: Darkvision
	Automatic Languages	: Common, Dwarven
	Bonus Languages	: Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran, and Undercommon
	Favored Powers	: Artifice, Close Combat
	Size	: Medium
Heroic Tier:
	Ability Scores	: +1 Constitution, +1 Wisdom
	Skill Affinities	: +1 Dungeoneering, +1 Endurance
	Weapon Familiarity	: Dwarves are proficient with dwarven waraxes, dwarven urgoshes, throwing hammers, and warhammers.
	Cast-Iron Stomach	: +2 racial bonus to saving throws against poison.
	Elude Magic	: +1 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
	Greenskin Enmity	: +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against goblinoids and orcs.
	Slow and Steady	: While a dwarf moves slower than average for medium size races, he does not reduce his movement due to armor or heavy load. Terrain and magical effects still affect dwarves normally.
	Stability	: Dwarves gain a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
	Stand Against Giants	: +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class against monsters of giant type.
	Stonecunning	: A dwarf receives a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks to notice unusual stonework, such as traps and hidden doors located in stone walls or floors. They receive a check to notice such features whenever they pass within 10 feet of them, regardless of whether or not they are actively looking.
Paragon Tier:
	Ability Scores	: +1 Strength, +1 Constitution
	Skill Affinities	: +1 Endurance
	Blood of the Earth	: +2 to Craft and Streetwise checks concerning metal and stone.
	Rooted to the Earth	: When an effect forces you to move — through a pull, a push, or a slide — you can move 1 square less than the effect specifies. This means an effect that normally pulls, pushes, or slides a target 1 square does not force you to move unless you want to. In addition, when an attack would knock you prone, you can immediately make a saving throw to avoid falling prone.
	Shake Magic	: +1 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
	Stone Gullet	: +4 racial bonus to saving throws against poison.
Epic Tier:
	Ability Scores	: +1 Constitution, +1 Wisdom
	Skill Affinities	: +1 Dungeoneering
	Flesh of Bedrock	: You improve your damage reduction by 3, or gain DR 3/- if you currently do not have damage reduction.
	Defensive Stance	: You can use defensive stance as an encounter power.
	Resist Magic	: +1 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
	Steel Gullet	: +2 racial bonus to saving throws against poison.
Legendary Tier:
	Ability Scores	: +1 Constitution
	Skill Affinities	: +1 Endurance
	Adamantine Gullet	: +2 racial bonus to saving throws against poison.
	Defy Magic	: +1 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
	Immoveable Mountain	: While a dwarf is in his Defensive Stance, he receives an additional +4 bonus on checks to resist being bull rushed or tripped while standing on the ground. Also while in his Defensive Stance, the Rooted to the Earth ability also increases in strength, allowing the dwarf to move an addition 2 squares less (for a total of three squares) if an effect forces you to move. A dwarf receives an addition +2 bonus to his Armor Class during his Defensive Stance.

Listening to: Crowbar – Odd Fellows Rest - Planars Collide

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Here is an excerpt from EGS about how ability score ranks work:

The Echelon Gaming System inherits the six prime abilities from the 3.5 d20 SRD. These abilities are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Expansions to EGS may bring additional abilities to the game, but for now we stick the basics.

Each Ability, after changes made because of race, has a rank ranging from –5 to +∞ (infinity). Table: Ability Ranks shows the modifier for each score. Each Ability partially describes your character and affects some of his or her Actions.

The rank is the number you apply to the die roll when your character tries to do something related to that Ability. You also use the rank with some numbers that aren’t die rolls. A positive rank is called a bonus, and a negative rank is called a penalty.

The ability that governs Powers depends on the individual entry: Intelligence can be used for specific styles of Wizarding; Wisdom for divine inspired gifts; or Charisma for certain sorceries. A high rank in an Ability is the prerequisite of the most impressive Powers.

Strength measures your character’s muscle and physical power. This ability is especially important for Close Combat and Might Powers because it helps characters utilizing those powers reach their fullest potential. Strength also limits the amount of equipment your character can carry.

• Melee attack rolls.
• Damage rolls when using a melee weapon or a thrown weapon (including a sling). (Exceptions: Off-hand attacks receive only one-half the character’s Strength rank, while two-handed attacks receive one and a half times the Strength rank. A Strength penalty, but not a bonus, applies to attacks made with a bow that is not a composite bow.)
• Athletics and Intimidate checks. These are the Skills that have Strength as their key Ability.
• Strength checks (for breaking down doors and the like).
• Fortitude Saving Throws. The higher of your Strength or Constitution ranks are applied to resisting poison and similar threats.

Listening to: Scar Symmetry – Pitch Black Progress – The Illusionist

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I am currently contributing to the Grand OGL Wiki (name subject to change) by stripping Open Game Content from books provided by Mongoose Publishing and placing it in the searchable online format.  This endeavor should be pretty useful once we have more content up on the live site.

Give it a spin, see if you like it, and maybe even lend a hand.  I am currently working on the Quintessential Cleric II book and hope to see it ready to go live in a couple of weeks.  It would be cool to see Echelon on there, if it is deemed worthy of inclusion once I am finished writing it.

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The Echelon Gaming System, or EGS, is a rank based d20 rules system that I have just began creating. EGS is the reason I even deigned to begin this web log. I read through the D&D core books immediately after Wizards of the Coast put them on the shelves. I was very disappointed.

I had been at the big 4dventure announcement party at GenCon ’07 when they revealed their plans to bring out a new edition. I had listened to the designers speak about how they were going to improve things: streamline combat, make races meaningful, balance classes, etc.

Honestly, I had mixed feelings. I wanted my beloved game to improve, but I had just sunk five hundred dollars in 3rd edition books, and they were talking that because of radical design changes, most of the old stuff would not be compatible. This left a knot in my stomach.

So I had to psyche myself up for the release, promising myself that the new stuff will be so good I’d give away all my 3rd edition books. Then they were released and I was pissed. Wizards had improved much of the game. I loved the consolidated skills, the tiers, and combat did seem faster paced. But they had clearly missed the mark on classes and only half delivered on their promises for meaningful races. The classes were… I don’t know how to say it, too balanced. None of them seemed to excel beyond the others in their niche. I felt like no matter my choice, I would have about the same options.

That disappointment inspired me to begin creating my own version of d20. It had begun as a fusion of what was good about 3rd and 4th edition D&D, but now I believe it has become something different, perhaps even better. Echelon does not have your typical classes, or typical levels. Players are awarded Experience each session, and can spend that experience to purchase ranks in Powers, in much the same way as White Wolf’s Storytelling dot system. There are vestiges of levels which are calculated by the total experience that has been awarded, but levels don’t drive the character. I have boiled away classes, leaving Powers (vestiges of class abilities and spells) and something called Archetypes. Races actually scale with the power of the characters, so which race you choose matters beyond character creation.

I have ranted and raved more than enough for one post, but you can look forward to sneak peaks at Echelon game mechanics and a setting I have planned for it in the future.

Listening to: Fear Factory – Obsolete – Edgecrusher

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