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Thundercats D&D

Posted in D&D 3.5, Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder with tags , , , , , , , , on September 9, 2011 by boccobsblog

Those of us that lived through the 80’s, the Thundercats were an inescapable pop culture phenomena. That said, the Cartoon Network is having success with the show’s latest incarnation that runs on Friday evenings. I have watched a few episodes and it is pretty good. The new version is a retelling with a younger Lion-O, but the essence of the old show is preserved.

That said I thought it would be fun write a post that would give you ideas for running your own Thundercats D&D, d20, or Pathfinder campaign.

In no special order:

No Human/Demihuman Races

The fun of the Thundercats is that there were no humans and that image of a world populated by anthropomorphic animals was something different and alien. (To my knowledge, Mumm-Ra was the only Human on Third Earth) Use only anthro-animal races like Gnolls, Lizardmen, catfolk, etc.

Medium Magic

Remove classes that prepare spells in advance, such as wizard and cleric, and allow only spontaneous casters like sorcerers and favored souls. This is slightly lower the magic level of the world by limiting the number of spells your players will have access to, but most importantly it will better fit the theme of primal forces and innate power.

Dealing with Tech

The new series sets up technology as something that the Thundercats don’t use or really understand. This approach will help to highlight the nature/tech dichotomy of the show, and make your life easier as a DM. Tech should be as obscure to your characters as ancient artifacts are to your players.

If you get too liberal with the Tech, you wont be playing a fantasy game any more. If you add too much, it will cease to be powerful and mystical. Besides tech is the weapon of Mumm-Ra and his forces, if you give your players too much tech, it will blur the lines between the nature/tech struggle at the heart of the series.

I would use the futuristic weapons listed in the DMG page 146 to outfit Mumm-Ra’s goons. A Thundrillium shortage could explain away every single soldier doesn’t carry a rifle.

Thundercats

You can simply use the catfolk from the Races of the Wild book, or use the following subspecies to give your world more definition. These variations follow the catfolk entry, expect as noted. I made each of these the same size, even though wild cats vary greatly in size : Cheetah 140 lbs., tigers 675 lbs., lions 550 lbs. (thanks Wikipedia!)

Lion- +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Chr, Size: medium, Favored Class: Fighter

Noble and strong, the lionfolk are the rulers of Thundera.

Tiger- +4 Str, +2 Dex, Size Medium, Favored Class, Ranger

Solitary and brooding, tigerfolk are stronger than lions, but do not work well in a groups, preferring to work alone.

Cheetah- +4 Dex, Size medium, Favored Class: Scout, Bonus Feats: Improved Initiative,  Dash[1]

The fastest of the Thundercats, the cheetahfolk aren’t as strong as their brothers.

Sabertooth- +6 Str, -2 Chr, Size medium, Favored Class: Barbarian, Bonus Feat: Toughness

Savage and feral, the Sabertoothfolk are the strongest of the Thundercats, but the hardest to lead.

These are just a few of the possibilities. I thought of doing other types, Panthers for example, but it is hard to make them mechanically different from tigers.

Sword of Omens (minor artifact)

This version is based on the new series. The original sword had about 126 powers and would be impossible to duplicate.

The Sword of Omens is a +5 thundering bastard sword. The sword has the following abilities:

Size Variation- As a standard action the wielder may change the size of the sword to any one of the following: dagger, short sword, longsword, bastard sword. Regardless of the weapon’s size it retains all its properties.

Call of the Pride- As a standard action the wielder can produce the symbol of his clan in the air. The symbol is visible to clan members regardless of distance of visibility.

Sight Beyond Sight- Once per day, as a standard action the wielder may use Clairaudience/Clairvoyance as per the spell. Caster level 20th.

Claw Shield

The claw shield is a leather glove reinforced with steel strips. It acts as a buckler, and thanks to its steel claws, can act as a slashing weapon as well. Because of its strange nature, the claw shield is an exotic weapon. (DM’s could consider giving Thundercats this proficiency as a bonus racial feat)

Claw Shield   30gp   1d6 dmg   x2 crit   2lbs.   slashing   armor bonus 1   armor check penalty -2   10% arcane spell failure

The shield claw cannot be used to perform a shield bash, and the user cannot wield a weapon in their claw hand as the claws are fixed. The shield claw is considered a light weapon. Claw shields can be adapted to sheath small blades.

Hopefully this will give you a starting point to work from. If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more like it, let me know. Next time I could stat out Mumm-Ra and create a Thundertank.

[1] Complete Warrior

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Library of the Dead

Posted in Dungeons and Dragons with tags , , on September 5, 2011 by boccobsblog

The Library of the Dead is a non-combat encounter site for a party of any level. While not a quest, the library is a unique and interesting place to send your party. The library puts a creepy spin on the idea of how knowledge can be stored in the D&D multiverse. While written with D&D 3.5 edition in mind, the site can be adapted for Pathfinder, 4e, or any fantasy themed game. The library can be dropped anywhere and is suitable for parties of any level.

Background (for the DM)

The librarians of the Unsul Library pride themselves on knowing a little bit about everything.

The Library of Unsul started as the pet project of a worthy noble that placed scholarship above all else. As the youngest son of a large noble family, the scholar, whose name was Regulus Unsula, had little chance of inheriting his father’s title (or responsibility) so he was free to commit his time and money to his passion, books.

Regulus’ zeal for books bordered on obsession. He would buy any printed volume he could find. Merchants started coming to the Unsula estate from all parts of the country for a guaranteed sale from the young noble. Soon Regulus had more books than he could house and purchased an empty building in the nearby town to store his books, thus starting the first Unsul Library.

Mages and scholars from all parts of the land came to the library to study, but several years after the library opened it burned to the ground in a terrible fire. Whether the fire was an accident or an act of arson was never determined. Regulus was so broken-hearted and distraught that he dropped out of normal society and joined a monastery dedicated to a god of knowledge. During his studies in divine magic he learned the ability to speak with the dead. This new skill caused an epiphany, and Regulus left the monastery and began to rebuild his library, this time stocking it with life experiences in place of written words. He was said to have remarked to a fellow monk, “Imagine being able to question a book for clarification.”

Regulus is long since dead (though some rumor lichdom), but his Library of the Dead continues on by a loyal group of neutral cleric followers.

Description

The Library of the Dead is a circular building made from white marble a set of large, iron doors are the only entrance. The library is without decoration and has no windows. The inside of the library is dark and cool. Dim magical torches cast only shadowy illumination and give off no heat. While touted as one of the greatest libraries in the land, the central chamber holds no shelves and no books can be seen anywhere; instead marble altars circle the room, each about three feet high and roughly seven feet long. Atop each altar lays a humanoid in purple robes that appears to be sleeping. White robed monks can be seen moving about the chamber wordlessly attending to their daily chores.

A DC 5 spot check reveals that none of the humanoids’ chests appear to be rising or falling with breath and that they are in fact dead.

A DC 15 Spot check reveals a white-robed monk touching the forehead of one of the dead humanoids with a slender wand shaped from a piece of willow.

A DC 5 Heal check reveals that the deceased humanoids appear to have died very recently as no signs of decomposition has started.

A DC 18 Spellcraft check reveals that these corpses are under the effects of a Gentle Repose spell. There is no telling how long they have been dead.

Moments after the pc’s enter the Library a human man with a shaved head and neatly trimmed grey beard approaches. He is Joran, the head librarian. Joran explains that the bodies on the slabs are all scholars that have volunteered their bodies after death to continue to provide knowledge to those that seek it. Joran says he will cast Speak with Dead and allow the pc’s to question the corpse.  He explains the costs as listed below:

2 Questions- 150 gold

3 Questions- 200 gold

4 Questions- 250 gold

If the party has a caster able to cast Speak with Dead, Joran allows them to do so, but charges a flat fee of 50 gold.

Once the party has decided how many questions they wish to ask and on which subject, Joran leads them to the appropriate scholar’s body (playfully referred to as “Books”), selects a wand from his robe and uses it to evoke the spell.

Some players may express a moral objection to this rather bizarre library, if so, Joran explains that all the “Books” volunteered for their strange interment, and that the spell only accesses memories trapped in the corpses mind and that the actual person’s soul has gone on to the afterlife.

A DC 10 Sense Motive or a DC 18 Spellcraft check will reveal that he is telling the truth.

The Books

The following is a sample of possible corpses usable by the DM, though DM’s should be encouraged to create their own that better fit with their campaign’s feel.

Durvis Brokenhammer- An elderly Dwarf with dark grey hair and beard, Durvis is an expert in  dungeoneering, appraise, architecture, mining and history.

Kelvin Cooper- A middle-aged human with short brown hair, Kelvin was/is an expert on all things arcane. Having been a mage for his entire adult life, Kelvin can answer all but the most obscure arcane questions.

Jellania Darkpast- A beautiful tiefling woman with long dark hair parted by small grey horns, Jellania is an expert on all matters of dealing with the planes.

Bruja Greenmoss- A dryad, Bruja resembles a small, lithe woman with moss-green hair and skin like tree bark. A druid in life, Bruja is an expert on all things related to nature.

Darkon Thrane- A gaunt elf with sunken cheeks and a pale hairless body, Darkon is an expert on dark magic, demons, cults, and religion. Darkon was a wizard and a cleric in life and understands the workings of both divine and arcane magic. He is knowledgeable on all matters dark and evil.

The actual number of “Books” in the library is up to the DM, the above-mentioned were just a small example of what could be found in the Library of the Dead.

The Library of the Dead

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D&D Lair Assault Starts Today!

Posted in D&D 4e Content, Dungeons and Dragons with tags , on September 1, 2011 by boccobsblog

pic via Wizards.com

Lair Assault starts today! What the heck is Lair Assault? Well:

If you think you have what it takes to brave the fiercest foes, fight the toughest battles, and conquer the vilest enemies, we have a new Dungeons & Dragons play experience for you! Starting in September, gather your master tacticians and rules experts together to kick down the dungeon doors and begin the assault! D&D Lair Assault is a new Wizards Play Network in-store program that pits tactically-minded players against a super challenge where the difference between victory and defeat is dependent upon your game knowledge, ability to adapt, and a little bit of luck. You’ll pit your wits against some of the most difficult encounters you’ve ever played. Each challenge is a mega-encounter that plays in just a few hours, but many will need to make more than one run at it in pursuit of victory. D&D Lair Assault challenges are available for a few months, and stores can schedule their sessions at any time during that period.

So round up that group of powergamers you love to hate and head to your local game store! Event runs through Nov. 30th.

Link to Lair Assault 

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Want a Free Trip Hawaii?

Posted in Dungeons and Dragons on August 31, 2011 by boccobsblog

Wizard’s of the Coast is running a contest to hype their new Neverwinter Campaign Setting.

You simply answer a series of questions testing your knowledge of Neverwinter (and Neverwinter-themed products) and e-mail your answers to Wizards.

The contest runs until Dec. 10th 2011. The winner will win a one week vacation for two to the great state of Hawaii.

Worth a shot! Here is the link to the official page.

1. Gauntlgrym

Question: What is the full name of the “guest” from the Kingdom of Many-Arrows who appears in the prologue of Gauntlgrym?

2. Neverwinter Fortune Cards

Question: The D&D Fortune Card, Inconceivable Failure, leaves you in what condition when played?

3. Neverwinter Campaign Setting

Question: The Ashmadai are a brutal cult of worshippers sworn to who?

4. The Legend of Drizzt: Neverwinter Tales

Question: Where did Drizzt and Pwent last face Valindra Shadowmantle?

5. D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter

Question: How many weeks long is D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter?

6. D&D Lair Assault

Question: What is the name of the first challenge for D&D Lair Assault, premiering on September 1?

7. Neverwinter

Question: Who is the presumptive leader of the bandits Drizzt fights in the prologue to Neverwinter?

8. Neverwinter for PC

Question: What type of dragon appears in the Neverwinter Trailer?

9. Legend of Drizzt boardgame

Question: How many plastic miniatures are included in the Legend of Drizzt game?

Here are the questions

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2011 True Dungeon Riddle Reveal

Posted in Dungeons and Dragons with tags , , on August 30, 2011 by boccobsblog

The folks at True Dungeon have released the riddle reveal for both of the adventures they ran at Gen Con this year. The videos talk you through the puzzles and show some of the cool animatronics used in the dungeons. If you’ve never done a True Dungeon adventure you can  get an idea of what goes on. And if you participated in TD this year but your party didn’t finish a puzzle, you can see how they worked.

Here are the links:

Dragon’s Redoubt Video

Lair of the Sea-Lich Video (Both combat version and puzzle version)

Also, if your group was anything like mine you weren’t able to hear the video they showed at the end of the adventure, so here it is:

Epilogue

 

 

 

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Classroom to Game Table, Part 1: VARK

Posted in Dungeons and Dragons with tags on August 24, 2011 by boccobsblog

A while back I wrote an article about how my day job as an English professor helped me at the game table. For those of you that missed that post (shame on you), I talked about very general ways that teaching improved my DMing. A while later as I was thinking up future posts, I decided I would continue with the theme, but bring actual research and theory to the game table. The first topic I want to talk about in this series is VARK.

What is VARK?

VARK is an acronym that refers to the ways in which people (specifically students), prefer to receive information. VARK stands for: Visual, Aural (hearing), Read/Write, and Kinesthetic (working with your hands). While the ideas have been around in one form or another for years, Neil Fleming was the first to publish on its current form, add the Read/Write dimension, and created the website where students can test themselves by answering a short questionnaire. After the student completes the questionnaire and finds their learning preference the site offers suggestions for ways the student can improve their grades by tailoring their studies to their preferred style of learning. For example, if a student shows an Aural tendency, it would explain why their notes are often incomplete (because they are focusing on what is being said, and not on writing it down), so perhaps they should bring a tape recorder to class in place of trying to take notes.

What does this have to do with gaming?

What the VARK survey shows is that people have different ways they prefer to receive information, and a DM (whose job after all is to entertain) should keep this in mind when planning his/her game.

Why is it that some gamers resist miniatures so fervently in place of old-school “theater of the mind” style descriptions. It is possible that person has an Aural tendency while the player that enjoys 2 and 3D representations of the game probably has Visual tendencies. Every person has different preferences and GM’s should take that into consideration when planning a game, because your players’ tastes may differ from your own.

Application

I am suggesting that you sit your players down and have them complete the questionnaire before starting your campaign? No, the fact that Fizzlebulch the Dwarven Fighter/Cleric has bimodal Aural/Visual tendencies isn’t that important. What is important is understanding that people have different preferences for taking in new material. Most people (according to the data collected by the questionnaire so far) indicates that people favor more than one learning style. So how will this look in my game? The following is a list of suggestions for each learning style:

Visual

  • Maps (both of the area, but also of the dungeon)
  • NPC portraits (Paizo makes some nice portrait cards)
  • Miniatures/Tokens

Aural

  • Background music- fantasy movie soundtracks work great, as do sounds of nature CD’s
  • Narration too often players enter a room and we tell them what monsters there are, stop and draw a word picture for your players
  • Sound effects- get a sound effect buzzer from the web or Halloween store and during a particularly tense moment push the button under the table and let loose a blood-curdling scream or howl

Read/Write

  • Character Bio- Give player a small xp bonus for writing detailed character background or family history
  • Letters- write an actual letter, message, etc that the player can read to themselves
  • Note-Taker- have the player keep notes for the group, maybe keep track of the group loot

Kinesthetic 

I will be the first to admit this is the most difficult learning style to accommodate, but it can be done

  • Puzzles- use a wooden 3d puzzle to serve as a complex lock, If you have a challenge with words or images print them out and cut them up so your tactile players can handle them and turn them in his/her hands
  • Mapping- tactile players may want to keep their hands busy by drawing a map of the dungeon on graph paper
  • Props- give tactile players a physical object to hold and examine

 

 

VARK questionnaire

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Displacer Cube For The Win !

Posted in Dungeons and Dragons on August 23, 2011 by boccobsblog

Well, Adam A. called it when he said, “Displacer Cube FTW!”

In the final round of Wizard’s Monster Hybrid Contest it came down to Diplacer Cube and the Intellect Tyrant.

Link

 

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Neverwinter Campaign Setting Drops Tomorrow

Posted in D&D 4e Content, Dungeons and Dragons, Gaming News, Product Review with tags on August 18, 2011 by boccobsblog

Made popular by a string of video games (including the first ever MMORPG), and  a series of books by R.A. Salvatore, the city of Neverwinter is now its own campaign setting.  According to Wizards.com:

A heroic campaign set in one of the most popular regions of the Forgotten Realms world.

Reduced to ruins by supernatural cataclysms, Neverwinter rises from the ashes to reclaim its title as the Jewel of the North. Yet even as its citizens return and rebuild, hidden forces pursue their own goals and vendettas, any one of which could tear the city apart.

Neverwinter has long been one of the most popular locations in the Forgotten Realms campaign world. This book presents a complete heroic-tier campaign setting that plunges players into the politics, skullduggery, and peril of a city on the brink of destruction or greatness. A wealth of information about Neverwinter and its environs is provided: maps, quests, encounters, and statistics — everything a Dungeon Master needs for his heroic tier adventures.

If you didn’t snag a prerelease copy at Gen Con, Neverwinter drops tomorrow and retails for 39.95 USD

 

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Hybrid Monster Contest: Round Three

Posted in Dungeons and Dragons with tags , , , , , , on August 2, 2011 by boccobsblog

Ok, it is round three in Wizard’s of the Coast’s Hybrid Monster Contest. It is down to the final four creatures:

Were-Chimera Vs. Displacer Cube

Were-Chimera
The result of a mad artificer who studied lycanthropes, this terrible creature morphs into any form it needs to gain advantage against its prey. In combat, it’s been known to change from a dragon (controller) to a lion (skirmisher), to a goat (charging brute), to still other creatures as necessary.
Displacer Cube
It’s rumored that a gelatinous cube once fed exclusively in displacer beasts, and absorbed something of their qualities. Already difficult to spot, the displacer cube’s actual location may be shifted somewhere else entirely. It attacks with gelatinous tentacles that reach out and inflict acidic damage. It’s noted that while displacer cubes are not necessarily interested in absorbing adventurers, they can nonetheless be very territorial.

 

and

Intellect Tyrant Vs. Displacer Dragon

Intellect Tyrant
Intellect devourers do not breed in the conventional sense. Rather, new larvae spawn from the brain tissue of creatures killed by other intellect devourers. Never does this occur with more terrifying results than when the host creature is a beholder. These hybrids appear as large intellect devourers, but with atrophied limbs and the beholder’s ability to hover; although they lack eye stalks, a visible aura of psionic tendrils surrounds them, used to cast the creature’s mind-controlling abilities. They are the ultimate puppet masters.
The Displacer Dragon
A silent, vengeful specter, this dragon is known to stalk from the darkness, disappearing and reappearing from one shadow to the next. Midnight black, with glowing, golden eyes, the displacer dragon does not have scales but instead a velvet skin, with four large tentacles extending from its shoulders and ending in the spiked pads of displacer beasts.
Vote now at Wizard’s Website.

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Worldwide D&D Game Day

Posted in D&D 4e Content, Dungeons and Dragons, Gaming Culture, Gaming News with tags , , on August 1, 2011 by boccobsblog

August 6th is D&D Game Day. Every year Wizards of the Coast celebrates Dungeons and Dragons and debuts a new product, this year that product is the Neverwinter Campaign Setting. According to Wizards.com:

D&D Game Day is a one day event spotlighting a key product release in an exclusive adventure. This year, D&D Game Day spotlights the Neverwinter Campaign Setting with an exclusive adventure entitled Gates of Neverdeath. Hired on as caravan guards to protect precious cargo bound for the city of Neverwinter, the characters are introduced to the intrigues and danger that await in this fabled Forgotten Realms locale. For the first time, players will create their own D&D characters at the event and play in a prelude adventure to the upcoming D&D Encounters season!

What Do I Need to Play?
Just bring your dice and a copy of either Heroes of the Fallen Lands or Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms (or both if you’d like). Character sheets and other materials will be provided. At the store, you can pick up your copy of the Neverwinter Campaign Setting if you want additional options for your character. You’ll make a 1st-level character as a part of the D&D Game Day experience, and will be able to continue to play your character in the new D&D Encounters season, the Lost Crown of Neverwinter!

So if you’re unable to attend Gen Con this year you can still head to your local game store and join in on the action.

Need to know where the nearest participating store is? Click here

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