Icosahedrophilia

We’re back, adventure fans, with a new adventure in the Stormhaven campaign! Please listen now to episode 137, presenting “A Sort of Homecoming, Part 1,” or subscribe via iTunes, Zune, or plain old RSS. In this episode, the crew members of the Broken Promise conclude their business in Maelbrathyr and prepare to set sail for Erelhei-Cinlu, intending to keep their promise to deliver Koralina’a safely home.

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Happy new year, everybody! During the week of January 8–14, 2012, I reviewed four products for DriveThruRPG.

• Clocks and Secrets by Lyra Ambient. As the “secrets” part of the name implies, this track does a great job of evoking an air of mystery. As the “clocks” part implies, there’s just enough percussion in the piece to suggest the operation of some large machine. … (Read more at DriveThruRPG.) ★★★★★
• Dark Crypts—Chambers by Antal Kéninger for Lord Zsezse Works. The four printable chambers in this product are, like all similar LZW products, richly illustrated and evocative … [but] you probably don’t want to revisit them anytime soon, as they are very distinctive and would get trite if overused (hence four instead of five stars), but the price is reasonable even for one-off use. (Read more at DriveThruRPG.) ★★★★
• Fantastic Maps: The Arboretum by Jonathan Roberts for Rite Publishing. Although this map was apparently designed for a specific commercial Pathfinder adventure, you really don’t need that adventure to use it. At the same time, the setting is fairly narrow: a ruined arboretum in a snowy clime. Roberts’s artistic style isn’t my favorite, but he’s very good. I gave the product four stars instead of five only because of the rather low replay value on this map. ★★★★
• Things That Go Boom by Matthew J. Hanson for Sneak Attack Press. This fun little encounter adds a “bang” to a band of goblins. It’s a straightforward smash-and-grab, but with enough creative use of terrain to make it stand out. … And it’s free! (Read more at DriveThruRPG.) ★★★★

Happy new year, everybody! During the week of January 1–7, 2012, I reviewed four products for DriveThruRPG. I was especially delighted to have four new Sonic Legends tracks to review, after a long hiatus between new releases.

• Grimtooth’s Traps Fore by Elizabeth Danforth and Michael Stackpole for Flying Buffalo Games. Do you, as a fantasy RPG gamemaster, delight in horrifying character maiming, dismemberment, or even death? You can get lots of demented ideas from Grimtooth’s Traps Fore … (Read more at DriveThruRPG.) ★★★
• Happy Town by Christy Carew for Sonic Legends. What a lovely piece of music! This track does a perfect job of giving a sense that everything is just fine. … I withheld one star from my rating for technical reasons … (Read more at DriveThruRPG.) ★★★★
• Mind of a Madman by John Ollsin for Sonic Legends. This track hurts my ears. It’s hard to listen to for long … and I think that’s the point. … This piece is a paradox: if it makes you scream, “Turn it off! Turn it off!” then it’s doing its job perfectly. … (Read more at DriveThruRPG.) ★★★★
• Speakeasy by Alex Kovacs for Sonic Legends. The title “Speakeasy” suggests the 1920s, and immediately draws my mind to Call of Cthulhu. Imagine a couple of investigators chatting it up with high society figures suspected of cult associations. … (Read more at DriveThruRPG.) ★★★★

December 2011 brought with it Shadowghast Manor, the latest set of Dungeon Tiles from Wizards of the Coast. Like the previous sets in the DN series (as well as DT and DU), Shadowghast Manor includes six sheets of double-sided tiles printed on sturdy cardboard, and features the unsurpassed cartographic artistry of Jason Engle. I’m a Dungeon Tiles junkie and not afraid to admit it, but I must also confess that this set does not energize me the way most Dungeon Tiles sets usually do.

Part of my disappointment with Shadowghast Manor simply comes from my own poorly-informed expectations about the product. I keyed on the word “manor” in the name and created in my own mind the expectation of another urban product—that is, one with wooden floors that would blend easily with the urban interiors in Streets of Shadow, Harrowing Halls, and Master Set: The City. Alas, I misled myself. The interior floors in Shadowghast Manor are all made of stone, which I found to be sort of a letdown. The back cover invites you to create “haunted houses” with this set, but what’s a haunted house without creaky floorboards? Still, this disappointment is really my own fault, a result of turning my desires into expectations.

A couple of other things, however, must be laid at WotC’s doorstep. Shadowghast Manor keeps with a recent and, in my mind, unfortunate trend in recent Dungeon Tiles products: you need two sets of tiles to build the sample layout on the inside back cover, and even that gives you a relatively limited repertoire. You’re never going to build Castle Ravenloft with the tiles on just six sheets, of course; let’s be realistic about that. Even so, you’d think that Peter Lee, or Jason Engle, or whoever designs the sample layouts could design one that a new buyer could build with just one set, perhaps like the one below.

I’ve outlined the tiles in red so that you can see the sizes as well as the artwork, and to show off Shadowghast Manor‘s niftiest new feature, a set of four half-inch by two-inch tiles that let you link together the fence pieces included in the set (on one side of the tiles) or create new walls (on the other side of the tile). The layout shown above uses all four of those tiles. If you were to remove the skinny fence tiles from my sample, you’d find gaps in the fence. At first, I didn’t like those gaps, but when I turned to sheet 6 and saw the “patches,” I saw the advantages at once. On the other hand, Shadowghast Manor lacks at least one feature that I thought we ought to see: a staircase. If you want your manor to have a second floor, you’re going to need borrow a spiral staircase from Master Set: The Dungeon or some other source. Again, what’s a haunted house without a second floor?

As you can see on the map, there’s a staircase down, though—down into the crypt, where the tiles had me laughing out loud. I mean, how many coffins does one manor need? Everywhere you turn, there are coffins filling up every available nook and cranny. I expected coffins, but I didn’t expect to be inundated with them. I get that it’s a crypt, and that perhaps many generations of the family are buried here (although they should learn a thing or two about space management), but really, does every single underground tile need coffins or skulls? By the time I reached sheet 6B, I was very tired of coffins. At least Jason gave us some variety by using three or four different styles of coffins. The tile on the top of sheet 3B, on which one stone coffin’s lid has been pulled—or pushed—off and shattered on the floor is very evocative, one of relatively few in this set that suggests a story.

I probably have to give this one ★★★, the lowest rating I think I’ve ever given a WotC Dungeon Tiles product. I’m not sorry to have purchased two copies of Shadowhast Manor, but I think I’ll mostly be using the manor side, with very few forays into the crypt side. It’s just not as versatile as most of the other sets. I still recommend the set, as long as you realize what you’re getting. If you’re planning to get a Shadowghast Manor set or two, please consider purchasing from the Vorpal Network’s sponsor Noble Knight or from the Icosahedrophilia Store to support the podcast associated with this blog.

I felt so bad about the month-long delay between parts 4 and 5 of “Errand of Mercy,” dear listeners, that I decided to publish parts 5 and 6 on subsequent days, albeit in different years! Please celebrate Icosahedrophilia’s confident stride into 2012 by listening now to episode 136, or subscribe via iTunes, Zune, or plain old RSS. In this episode, the party members at Thrayban Manor continue to defend Hannault from his ghostly tormentors, while the others cool their heels down on Maelbrathyr’s third tier.

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It’s that time again, adventure fans: time to catch up with the crew of the Broken Promise in episode 135 of the Icosahedrophilia podcast! I can hardly believe it took me over a month to roll out a new episode—for which I can only ask your forgiveness and roll on. Please listen now to “Errand of Mercy, Part 5” or subscribe via iTunes, Zune, or plain old RSS. In this episode, the players do the unthinkable … they split the party!

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Fury of the Feywild, the latest set of D&D Fortune Cards released last week month, just before I went away to a professional conference. Upon returning home, I eagerly tore into a thick stack of packs, including a couple of packs sent as review copies. Although a few of the cards seem to me too “iffy” to make the cut into my decks, most of them have interesting effects worthy of consideration. Some achieve the fey-related theme merely through their names, but quite a few have a mechanical link to the fey. I haven’t seen all of the Fury of the Feywild cards yet, but most of the ones I’ve seen I like.

So far, each of the Fortune Card sets has featured one or more subgroups of cards that have similar names and functions. Fury of the Feywild gives us the “Capricious” subgroup: Capricious Advantage, Capricious Gravity, Capricious Dodge, Capricious Ground, Capricious Step, and Capricious Words. For each card, specified circumstances (such as “you attack with combat advantage” for Capricious Advantage) trigger a d20 roll that is basically like a saving throw with a disadvantageous result for failure (“you become dazed until the start of your next turn”) and an advantageous result for success (“one ally adjacent to the target of your attack makes an opportunity attack against it”). In this respect, the “Capricious” subgroup resembles the “Gambler’s” subgroup from the Shadow over Nentir Vale set.

Seven Fury of the Feywild tactic cards—Dream Blossoms, Faerie Ring, Goodberry Bushes, Grab Grass, Moonglow Moss, Poisonous Thorns, and Starlight Grove—create one-turn zones with various effects. These zones are rectangular, two squares by three—an unusual shape for D&D 4e, and just slightly smaller than the cards themselves. The texts even suggest placing the cards themselves on the battlemap to mark the zone, though I’d still prefer to use Litko Aerosystems’ zone boundary markers. Be careful with these cards—they’re not friend/foe aware!

As I mentioned above, a number of cards have fey-themed names, but that’s as far as it goes. For example, Summer Court Pavane immobilizes you and gives your allies +2 speed; the link to the fey here is purely cosmetic, not mechanical. The same goes for Luck of the Fey (very much like a Stroke of Luck from Shadow over Nentir Vale), Mag Tureah Bloodlust, and more. A number of cards get closer to the theme by keying off of charm and illusion effects, or by affecting Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate checks. Several cards have special kicker functions for fey characters. I counted nine of these among the cards I’ve seen so far: I Mean It!, Pixie’s Laughter, The Shakes, Defiance of Shinaelestra, Murkendraw Curse, Fey Passage, Gloaming, Song of Senaliesse, and Twinkle Toes. Twinkle Toes provides a good example of the fey kicker; the card grants a 3-square teleport under certain circumstances, or a 5-square teleport for fey-origin characters. Of these cards, Defiance of Shinaelestra is the least desirable, because the extra effect kicks in when your enemy has the fey (or giant) origin.

Another theme in the Fury of the Feywild set is skill checks. Kiss of the Long Night; Fey Majesty; Imperious Demand; Not So Fast!; and Oh, Really? all let you make Charisma checks (with a +4 bonus if you’re trained in Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate) to achieve various effects like preventing an enemy from attack you or redirecting an enemy’s attack to a different target. Let’s Try That Again resembles a Stroke of Luck (from Shadow over Nentir Vale) that you or an adjacent ally can use to reroll a skill check. The designers seem to be pushing players, and maybe DMs, to incorporate more skill checks into combat.

Overall, I’m happy with this set, but Fortune Cards are always a mixed bag—somewhat like feats. I tend to steer away from feats that trigger based on your enemies’ actions, and the same holds for Fortune Cards. I prefer feats and Fortune Cards that provide widely-applicable bonuses or have effects triggered by events and actions under my control. I also tend to dislike the “Gambler’s” and “Capricious” subsets; I don’t like rolling a die to determine the card’s effect (too chancy). My favorite cards from the Fury of the Feywild set, then, are:

• Catseye: cancel a target’s concealment penalty
• Entwining Fronds: immobilize a target you just hit
• Fey Bewilderment: target Reflex instead of the normal defense
• Fey Trickery: +1 attack bonus (+2 if it’s a charm or illusion power)
• Flesh Is Weak: target Fortitude instead of the normal defense
• Flickering Charge: gain insubstantial during a charge
• Focused Charge: ignore difficult terrain during a charge
• Maze of Fathaghn: deafen a creature you hit and restrict its line of sight
• Pixie’s Laughter: gain combat advantage against one target (all targets if you’re fey)
• Pointed Remark: +4 damage (+8 if it’s a charm or illusion power)
• Uncanny Knowledge: +2 attack if you’re trained in the skill relevant to knowledge checks about your target
• Clear the Cobwebs: gain a +2 saving throw bonus (+5 vs. charms and illusions)
• Stutter Step: +4 AC vs. opportunity attacks during a single move action
• Crazy Legs: shift after a successful attack
• Fey Passage: use a move action to teleport 2 squares (5 if you’re fey)

I realize that some D&D players still don’t like Fortune Cards, and that’s fine, of course. I enjoy using them as a player, and welcome them as a DM. This new set lives up to my expectations and expands the existing crop of Fortune Cards in fun and interesting ways. I enthusiastically recommend Fortune Cards; should you choose to purchase any, consider getting 24-pack boxes or individual packs from the Vorpal Network’s sponsor, Noble Knight.

Although I’ve wanted to try the Wrath of Ashardalon and (to a somewhat lesser degree) Castle Ravenloft D&D Adventure System board games, I actually got my first taste of the system with the new Legend of Drizzt board game. Now I want to try the others even more!

You’ve probably already heard enough about the Adventure System to know the basics of gameplay, but since I’ve never written about the board games before, I’ll summarize the rules briefly. Each player selects a hero—in this case, typically Drizzt, Wulfgar, Bruennor, Cattie-Brie, or Regis—and embarks on an adventure. In most of the scenarios, all of the heroes work together toward a common goal, but a few of the scenarios pit two teams of heroes racing against one another. Each player’s turn consists of three phases. In the hero phase, the player’s hero moves around the map and/or attacks monsters that are already on the map. In the exploration phase, the player expands the map and places new monsters. In the villain phase, the player might draw an encounter card (frequently a one-off attack by a hazard of some sort) depending on what happened previously, and then activates the villains and monsters under his or her control.

I’ve played the game a few times now in two-player games with my son, and half a dozen times solo. Although there is only one solo scenario, it plays out differently each time, especially if you try out different heroes. Eventually, you’ll get tired of the solo adventure, but there are eleven other scenarios to enjoy. You can play this game a long, long time without getting bored. Most of the scenarios are designed to trigger the endgame in as few as nine turns; a typical game might run about fifteen turns or so. Give yourself an hour and a half to play your first game, but thereafter you should be able to finish any scenario in less than an hour.

I’ve only recently started reading the Drizzt novels, beginning with the transitions trilogy (This King, That King, and The Other King). I haven’t yet started on Gauntlgrym. Even so, I enjoyed the feel of using these somewhat familiar characters. The game rules do seem to assume some degree of familiarity with the Drizzt characters and novels; a bit more explanation might have been enjoyable, but it’s not really needed. The low-numbered adventures are set near the beginning of the Drizzt storyline. The solo adventure represents Drizzt’s journey to the surface, Adventure 2 is the search for Mithral Hall, and so on. By the time you get to Adventure 11, you’re up to Gauntlgrym.

If you’re wondering how close to D&D roleplaying the game is, the answer is “not very.” All of the basic concepts are familiar, and most everything in the game happens with a roll of d20 + modifier. Heroes in The Legend of Drizzt start at first level and can advance to second level during gameplay. Each has at-will, utility, and daily powers. Heroes and monsters have only one defense, that is, armor class. Most monsters have only one to four hit points. Attacks tend to deal one to three hit points, most at the low end of that scale. But even though the system is stripped down and the numbers are very low, the game “feels right.” It’s not identical to D&D roleplaying, but it’s recognizably the D&D system.

Finally, let’s talk about the “toy value” of The Legend of Drizzt. The map mostly consists of 4″ square tiles with jigsaw-type cutouts; a few tiles are 8″ x 4″, and some small “endcap” pieces close off paths in some scenarios. You could easily use these tiles for D&D roleplaying scenarios; you could even adapt the random selection process if you wanted a dynamically-unfolding cavern tunnel complex in which even the DM doesn’t know what’s coming next. Monocolor, unpainted miniatures in the usual D&D Miniatures scale represent heroes, villains, and monsters on the map. You could use these as-is in D&D roleplaying, or repaint them for that purpose (just like repainting a standard D&D miniature) without losing their value for the Drizzt game. Most of the figures are reprints of existing D&D Miniatures, but as far as I can tell the Regis, Cattie-Brie, and Jarlaxle figures are new sculpts. The components are substantial and durable, accounting for the relatively high price for a board game.

In short, I enjoy playing The Legend of Drizzt and enthusiastically recommend the game. Given a choice, I’d play D&D roleplaying instead, but The Legend of Drizzt is a great second choice. I’ve invited my regular D&D group over for a special Legend of Drizzt game night, although that night hasn’t arrived yet. If you’re inclined to pick up a copy too, you might consider supporting the Icosahedrophilia podcast by buying the game from an outlet that benefits the Icosahedrophilia blog and podcast:

At any rate, if you get a chance to play, take it! I think you’ll enjoy it.

Welcome back, adventure fans, to the next installment in the adventures of the Broken Promise crew, presented in “Errand of Mercy, Part 4,” presented in episode 134 of the Icosahedrophilia podcast! Please listen now or subscribe via iTunes, Zune, or plain old RSS. In this episode, the crew visits the Bleak Carnival’s famous slave markets, finding two familiar faces among the slaves, and does some shopping in Maelbrathyr.

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