The editorial for this issue is a testament to the quality of KQ, discussing the one gold and three silver ENnies that were won, including a silver ENnie for Best Website which was a category filled with great candidates (haha)!  Snarky bits aside, this should be enough on its own to tell you exactly what to expect from the publication.  One of the elements that surprises me the most is precisely how much effort has gone into making it feel exactly like an old school gaming magazine, right down to having a letters column early on that really gives you a feeling of the RPG community as a whole when you’re reading it.  It’s a shame that much of the discussion has to do with which edition of D&D people want to read about, but even despite that it’s still great to read other gamer’s thoughts and for gamers to have another platform to be heard from.  No matter how prevelant blogging or forums become, a letters column in a magazine will always have its own unique flavor and associated tingly feeling that comes along with it.

The articles themselves present you with a literal truck load of interesting ideas for you to use in your games, even the system specific articles come with so much written material in addition to the mechanics that you can easily gain something from nearly all of them no matter what you play.  There’s an interesting take on adding sanity and mental disorders into your D&D games, which is a concept very near and dear to our hearts (and seeing the Red Eye of Azathoth ad right beside it only increases that excitement).  Another article introduces the Uvandir, a different take on the classic fantasy dwarf race followed by one that brings lycanthropy to your PCs with some very enlightening takes on it from both a player’s and a GM’s perspective.  Considering the issue’s release in the fall, it should be no surprise that a werewolf article is followed up by an in depth discussion of vampires - their physiology, psychology, societies, and naturally the best methods for their extermination. 

The article that spoke to me the most in this issue is easily the GM round-table titled “Running Across the Screen”, which features the highlights from a Q&A with many of the best GM’s in the business including Monte Cook, Robin Laws, Mike Mearls, Chris Perkins (DM to the stars), and James Wyatt.  To put it in the most simple terms, I have yet to NOT learn something when any one of these guys talks about running a game, and I don’t expect that to change any time soon.  Reading their answers to even simple questions like “What does being a GM mean to you?” or “What’s the most difficult part of being a GM?” can lead to all kinds of interesting revelations and new ideas for running my own games.  For this article alone the issue would probably be worth it, but just to add some more value stack on top of that a handful of book reviews not just about fantasy books but all kinds that would interest people like me (including one written by Guillermo Del Toro) and an article by Monte Cook about how rules interact with roleplaying with a funny anecdote thrown in.

This issue isn’t done yet, oh no!  There’s also an introduction of the wish spell back into D&D for your 4th Edition games, as well as a great discussion of bringing torture and fear into your game and your player’s heads with some great random effect tables for Pathfinder and 3.5.  Another article provides some alternative forms of treasure to spice things up instead of just giving out magic wands and potions, followed by a handful of racial paragon paths for specific races like the minotaur, kobold, and hobgoblin.  This still isn’t all of the content in just one issue of KQ, but I do have to mention the Pathfinder spell-less Ranger class simply because of the hilarious quote used at the beginning, “Aragorn didn’t cast spells.“  You’re damn right he didn’t!

A new issue of Kobold Quarterly comes out four times a year, one for each season, but you can also check out a ton of great and original content every week on their website.  I’m a big fan of the magazine and highly recommend that you check it out!

The film version was done by They’re Using Tools film studio- be sure to check them out if you need some awesome video and/or animation work done.

However, much of gamer culture is shared and it’s not very interesting to rip something off that everyone instantly recognizes and inevitably metagames for. That’s where literature comes in.

I recently read For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. Quite frankly, I appreciated for its place in fiction, loved certain aspects, but found it too slow for my own personal tastes. This isn’t a book review though, it’s an example of how to mine good idea from practically anything. So, here goes!

Step 1: Identify the central “outside” conflicts of a work.

The easiest thing to lift from stories is the overarching plot. Consider the main conflict the characters have to deal with and sum it up for yourself. Then, apply it to your game. For Whom the Bell Tolls revolves around an American resistance fighter and demolitions expert linking up with local Spanish partisans during the Spanish Civil War for a dangerous bridge blowing operation. He has to deal with the difficult mission logistics, conflicts within the partisans, and an unexpected romance. Quite simply, if you change the nationalities, this adventure writes itself.

Imagine the heroes taking on a mission into the lands of a dark overlord, but they know nothing of the area. Their only help is a group of bandits that know the area. For a standard “good” party this involves a lot of questions of morality, trust, and danger. Even worse, what if the Paladin of the group finds a female admirer with a tragic past? From this basic outline it’s very easy to whip up some encounters and skill challengers to reflect the conflicts mentioned.

Step 2: Identify central “character” conflicts of a work.

Character conflicts are not as easy to use, but they can be more rewarding. Maybe your arch-villain is well developed, but other lesser villains and non-evil rivals need some rounding out. Throwing something together can work, but this is where some hard work and strategic thinking can really pay off. Stealing a characters personality and motivations from one of the greats is an easy way to suddenly create a rich NPC and enhance your DMing. First, identify the well-developed characters in the novel that could be used. Next, consider the main characters and what makes them tick. Consider not only their strengths, but their flaws and their personality.

In For Whom the Bell Tolls, Pablo is a once-fierce guerilla leader noted not only for his bravery but his cleverness. Because of his intelligence, he loses hope of victory and becomes a despondent, surly, and traitorous alcoholic content to hide rather than fight. Even if you don’t see the aforementioned adventure plan fitting into your game, you can import Pablo into your game in another way. Imagine a Thieves’ Guild that once was the terror of the town, but now has let a few rivals gain ground. This could easily be a background issue percolating through the home city your PCs operate out of. Perhaps the whole reason for this is that its leader is just like Pablo. He has wealth and comfort and is now afraid to rock the boat and ruin his little empire by gaining attention of more powerful adversaries. Eventually, the PCs may need the Guilds help and will have to deal with the treacherous and clever Pablo. Can they trust him and rely on his immense intellect and instincts? Or should they just kill him before they betray him?

Step 3: Be shameless!

Do not feel bad about “stealing” from an author. If someone recognizes it, don’t worry. Just wink, confirm it, and tell them not to spoil it for the rest. In the Star Wars game I currently play in half of the NPCs are ripped off from Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels other players haven’t read. When Dalamar the slender dark force user shows up I groan and the DM winks, but having done it myself and having seen the results I always tip my hat.

Lastly, just because I chose to write about well-regarded older literary fiction, don’t forget this strategy works for anything. If you love comic books and everyone else doesn’t, take your favorite story arc and use it just as I explained!

Previous Pain of Campaigning posts

Well, I missed my first deadline by not posting feats last week. They ended up being more tricky than I thought. 4e and d20 feats all seem to be more combat-oriented, which was always my complaint with systems like Call of Cthulhu d20. Anyway, I had a hard time coming up with them, and it’s still something that’s going to require some thought on my part.

Tomorrow, though, is the big day: the very first playtest. To prepare, I had to come up with an adventure, character stories, and character sheets. In the process, I had to invent new powers and feats, which added some time. So posted here are 4 of the 5 characters that will be used tomorrow, sans backstories. Then next week, I’ll let you all know how it went.

Smart Hero

Str: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Int: 18 (+4) Wis: 9 (-1) Cha: 13 (+1)

HP: 12

HS: 2

Defenses:

Fort: 12 Ref: 16 Will: 13

Trained Skills:

• Technology (+9)
• Engineering (+9)
• Business (+9)
• Thievery (+6)
• Bluff (+6)
• Perception (+4)
• Investigations (+4)

Class Ability:

Specialist

Choose one skill that you are trained in (Technology). The minimum result when you roll that skill is 10. In addition, anyone making a skill check of that skill that can see and hear you gains a bonus to that skill equal to your Int mod.

Feats:

Chain Smoker

Whenever you spend an action point, you gain concealment until the end of your next turn.

1337

Your first use of the Technology skill in a skill challenge gives you 2 successes if you succeed.

At-Will Powers:

Study Weakness

Standard Action

Int (+4) vs. Fort

Standard Action

Target: One creature in close range

Hit: The target grants combat advantage to your allies until the beginning of you next turn.

Smart Hero: Any allies that hit the target with an attack also deal extra damage equal to your Int mod.

Aim

Move Action

You gain a +1 bonus to your next attack roll with a ranged weapon this turn.

Smart Hero: You critical on the attack from 19-20.

Per Scene Powers

Flash of Inspiration

Per Scene

No Action

Trigger: You roll a d20 for a check and dislike the result.

Effect: You add 1d6 to the triggering roll.

Stay on Target

Immediate Reaction

Trigger: An ally within sight that can hear you misses with a per scene attack power.

Effect: The power is not expended. If the ally uses the same power again this turn, it gains a bonus to hit equal to your Int mod.

Per Session Power:

Always Prepared

Smart Hero

Standard Action

Effect: You produce an object that you can afford, reasonably own, and keep on your person.

Tough Hero

Str: 14 (+2) Con: 18 (+4) Dex: 10 (+0) Int: 11 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 13 (+1)

HP: 18

HS: 6

Defenses:

Fort: 17 Ref: 11 Will: 12

Trained Skills:

• Endurance (+9)
• Drive (+5)
• Engineering (+5) Specialization: Auto Repair (+7)
• Technology (+5)
• Bluff (+6)

Class Ability:

The Protector

Targets that you are in melee with take a penalty to attack rolls equal to your Con mod when they do not include you as a target.

Feats:

Brawler

You gain a +1 bonus to unarmed attack rolls, and it deals a base d8 damage plus your Str mod.

An Apple A Day

You gain a +5 to saving throws vs. disease.

At-Will Powers:

Shove

Standard Action

Str (+2) vs. Reflex

Hit: You push the target a step.

Tough Hero: You instead push the target a short distance.

Dash

Move Action

You move a medium distance and take a -5 penalty to all your checks this turn.

Tough Hero: The penalty to your checks is reduced by your Con mod (up to +0).

Per Scene Powers:

Remain Conscious

Immediate Interrupt

Per Scene

Trigger: You are knocked unconscious.

Effect: You can roll an immediate saving throw to avoid unconsciousness. If this is from an ongoing effect (such as being below 0 HP) you can roll this saving throw at the beginning of every round to avoid falling unconscious until you fail a saving throw.

Slow Motion Leap

Tough Hero

Nnnnoooooooo….

Immediate Interrupt

Trigger: An ally within a short distance is hit by a ranged attack.

Effect: You move to the ally’s spot, and the ally is pushed out of the way. You take the damage and effect from the attack.

Per Session Power:

Takin’ It

Tough Hero

Immediate Reaction

Con (+4) vs. Fort

Trigger: You are attacked in Melee

Hit: 3d8 + 4

Miss: Half damage

Charismatic Hero

Str: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2) Dex: 14 (+2) Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 16 (+3)

HP: 15

HS: 3

Defenses:

Fort: 14 Ref: 13 Will: 15

Trained Skills:

• Diplomacy (+8)
• Bluff (+8)
• Business (+6)
• Athletics (+7)
• Intimidate (+8)
• Theology (+6)

Feats:

Inspiring Recovery

When you use your Inspiring Speech power, you can forgo the bonus to the healing surge to instead grant the target a saving throw.

Good Example

When you successfully roll a saving throw, any ally that can see you gains a bonus to any saving throw in the next round equal to your Cha mod.

At-Will Powers:

Distract

Standard Action

Cha vs. Will

Hit: The target can only take one action on its next turn.

Charismatic Hero: The next check made by the target in the next turn receive a penalty equal to your Cha mod.

Taunt

Cha vs Will

Hit: You mark the target until the end of your next turn.

Charismatic Hero: The target moves towards you.

Per Scene:

Inspiring Speech

Per Scene

Minor Action

Target an ally within sight. That alley spends a healing surge and gains temporary HP equal to its value.

Savoir Faire

Per Scene

No Action

Trigger: You use a Charisma based check, skill, or power against another creature, and dislike the result.

Effect: Reroll the check, skill, or power.

Phone a Friend

Charismatic Hero

Standard Action

Special: You must have access to a phone, email, or similar.

Effect: For the purposes of one skill roll, you are considered trained in that skill. If you are already trained in that skill, you are considered to have been Aided By Another.

Per Session Power:

Imitoot You Exarctly

Charismatic Hero

Standard Action

Effect: Choose one person’s voice that you have heard. You can imitate it for the rest of the session. You still must make Bluff checks when appropriate, but you get a +5 bonus to rolls when impersonating the person.

Fast Hero

Str: 11 (+0) Con: 11 (+0) Dex: 18 (+4) Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 15 (+2)

HP: 12

HS: 1

Defenses:

Fort: 11 Ref: 17 Will: 13

Trained Skills:

• Acrobatics (+9)
• Drive (+9)
• Thievery (+9)
• Streetwise (+7)
• Science (+6)

Feats:

Sneak Attack

When you attack with a light weapon and have combat advantage, you deal +2d6 damage.

Sticky Fingers

You may make Thievery checks as minor actions.

At-Will Powers:

Aim

Move Action

You gain a +1 bonus to your next attack roll with a ranged weapon this turn.

Fast Hero: The bonus is instead equal to your Dex mod.

Dash

Move Action

You move a medium distance and take a -5 penalty to all your checks this turn.

Fast Hero: You can instead move a long distance.

Per Scene:

Kip Up

Fast Hero

Dex vs Reflex

Immediate Interrupt

Trigger: You are attacked in melee while prone

Effect: You stand up.

Hit: You deal damage to your attacker equal to 1[W] + your Dex mod.

Burst of Speed
Per Scene
Minor Action

Gain a Move Action

Per Session Power:

Improbable Hiding Place

Fast Hero

Immediate Interrupt

Trigger: Someone comes into an area and doesn’t know you are there.

Effect: You can make a Stealth check, even if you’re not in a hiding spot.

That’s what this article is about.  My 12-years of experience with Games Workshop games has taught me a lot about ways to save money (and ways to not save money!) while still getting a lot of enjoyment out of the games.  Hopefully this article will provide some helpful advice that will allow you – a Warhammer player (or Warhammer 40k player) – to get the most bang for your buck and keep your wallet fat.

To do that, you are going to want to follow these simple pointers:

1. Play for the Long Term
2. Use Old Models
3. Stick to ONE Army
4. Stick to the Main Armies
5. Beware of Special Characters
6. Collect a Variety of Units

Each point will be discussed in detail below.

Play for the Long Term

First of all, you have to play for the long term.  This is the most important point and the one that all of the others revolve around.  You see, Warhammer is an expensive hobby to start, but the money you spend will go a long way if you are willing to keep using your initial investment over the long haul.  If you are willing to keep up with the hobby for many years, the initial investment will pay off.  Secondly, you must be willing to accept the fact that the units, weapons and models that you own will rise and fall in their effectiveness over the course of many editions.  This is a fact of playing the game.  Play the game long enough though, and you will learn to appreciate the times when your units are good.

The initial investment is, however, undeniably steep.  You have to buy a rulebook, an army book, an army, paints, superglue, modeling knife, dice, tape measurer, templates, and probably some terrain.  Even with a small army (say 500 points), that will still cost you at least $200 – $300.  To add another 500 points to your army, you will have to spend at least another $100 – $200, and probably more than that.  In short, the costs add up quickly.

But unlike Collectible Card Games, which come out with new expansion sets every 3 months (requiring the purchase of around $100 worth of cards), a Warhammer army will be updated with new rules and units only once every few years.  This allows you to enjoy your ‘investment’ over a period of many years, slowly expanding your collection at a rate that you can afford.

Eventually, new editions will be released, and with them, new army books.  This is often a frustrating time for many players, as they realize that the units or combos that they previously used in their armies are now obsolete – rendering many dollars worth of models “wasted”.  Such thinking is usually short-sighted.  I have been through enough edition changes to know that today’s killer unit is tomorrow’s bottom-feeder, and vice versa.  As editions change, units rise and fall in power and utility.  When you play for the long term, you can place your nerfed unit on the shelf, knowing that there is a good chance that in the next edition it will once again become useful.  Similarly, if you purchased a unit that turns out to be worse than you thought, you can put that unit aside until the next edition makes it a little better.

Let me give an example.  In 2^nd edition 40k, the Assault Cannon was one of the best shooting weapons in the game.  It had the potential to get 9 shots per turn, at a range of 32”, with each shot being as powerful as a krak missile.  Yeah, it was pretty good.  Then 3^rd edition came along, and Games Workshop decided to nerf the poor weapon.  The 24” range, strength 6 AP 4 weapon was nothing resembling the monstrosity it had been in 2^nd edition.  But to add insult to injury, the Heavy Bolter was a very similar and (in my opinion) ultimately superior weapon – rendering the Assault Cannon all but useless.  Now, I could have sold or traded my models that were armed with Assault Cannons, but I didn’t.  I would be rewarded for such patience when 4^th edition came out.  In typical Games Workshop over-correcting fashion, the Assault Cannon was made to be one of the best weapons in the game in 4^th edition.  Thus, the Assault Cannon goes full circle.

And the Assault Cannon is but one of many, many examples of units/weapons/armies that rise and fall in their effectiveness over the course of many years and many editions.  When you learn this, you realize that models and units that have been “nerfed” by the latest edition have probably only been temporarily downgraded.  In due course, those units that you paid good money for will become useful again.

Use Old Models

Of course, as new editions and army books come out, you will have to purchase new models to update your army.  Certain units that you avoided in past editions (due to being bad units, for instance) are now viable.  Simultaneously, units that you relied on in previous editions (due to being very powerful) are no longer sufficient to get the job done.  So you will need to update your army with some new models and units every time a new edition or army book comes out.

But most of the time, you will only need to purchase a handful of new models or units.  Usually, at least 75% of your old army will be quite useful in the new edition.  Here is where the allure of new models will try to ensnare you: just because you need to purchase some of the new models, does NOT mean that you have to replace your entire army with new models!  Your old models are (with few exceptions) totally legal under the new rules, and the majority of them will continue to remain effective under the new rules.  While occasionally a unit is no longer legal in a subsequent edition (because it no longer appears in the army book, or it’s equipment options have changed, etc.), most old units receive new rules in the new edition.  So don’t throw away the old models!  Use them!  They are just as legal, and just as effective rules wise as the shiny new models that are inevitably released along with the new army book.  They don’t look the same, but a plain looking boltgun held by an old Space Marine from 2^nd edition is just as effective as a fancy boltgun held by a Space Marine from 5^th edition.

Continuing to use old models when new models (of the same type) are released is one of the best ways to save money with Warhammer.  Yes, it is tempting to “upgrade” your army and purchase new models.  Try to resist the temptation to do that.  While it is necessary to “augment” or “adjust” your forces by purchasing “additional” units, you should avoid at all costs the temptation to “upgrade” your forces by “replacing” units.

Along the same lines, try to purchase old models off of other gamers who don’t want them.  This is a cost-effective way of getting a lot of points worth of models for a fraction of the dollar cost it would take to buy the newer models.  Yes, the new models look nicer.  But on the battlefield, the old models are just as effective.

One more thing: sometimes you can avoid the purchase of a new unit by doing some re-modeling of an old unit.  This can be as simple as removing a weapon and replacing it with a different weapon – e.g. removing a power sword and replacing it with a chain sword.  This little maneuver would have saved the owner of a 2^nd edition Space Marine Assault Squad from buying a whole new box of Assault Marines when 3^rd edition came out.  In other instances the re-modeling will be a little more involved.  For instance, when Warhammer Fantasy switched from 5^th to 6^th edition, and the Bretonnian Army book was released, the rules for the lance formation changed – the knights were now required to form up into a column rather than a wedge-shaped triangle.  Unfortunately, the older knight models were designed to fit into the wedge-shaped lance formation, and were unable to fit together in the new lance formation.  Many players simply used this as an excuse to purchase the new knight models; others threw up their hands in frustration.  I decided to go back to the modeling bench.  I found that by altering the tails of the horses to point sideways, I was able to get all of the knights to fit together in the new lance formation.  Ta-da!  Problem solved, and money saved.

Stick with ONE Army

This may seem like blasphemy to some, but it is painfully obvious that sticking with ONE army per game (Warhammer, 40k, Lord of the Rings, etc.) will save you a lot of money.  Of course, Games Workshop encourages collecting multiple armies, and while there is no doubt that this can be fun, there is also no doubt that this is considerably more expensive than just collecting one army.

The problem with collecting multiple armies – aside from the obvious initial expense of buying a whole second army – is that it greatly increases the new models that you are required to purchase whenever a new edition or army book comes out.  If you have two armies, then you will have to upgrade each army at least once during every edition – twice as often as if you only had one army.  For players with a limited income, this may force them to choose between which army they wish to upgrade, and which they allow to lag behind, like some forgotten step-child.

This may seem elementary to some, but I am always astounded at how few players take edition changes into account when they are deciding whether or not to collect a second (or third [or fourth!]) army.  They count the initial cost of buying the second army, and then give nary a thought to the possibility (nay, inevitability) that a new edition will be released – bringing with it the need to adjust the second army by purchasing some additional units.  If they had taken into account the future cost of collecting another army, they may have decided that it wasn’t worth it.

Now, I am not saying that you cannot collect a second army.  But I am saying that before doing so, you should count the costs.  Be ready when the edition changes, because you will have twice as much to buy than if you had stuck with only one army.

Stick to the Main Armies

The only thing worse than having one of those armies that gets a serious re-write with a new edition change, is having one that doesn’t even get a rules update at all – rendering the army unusable.  Alas, this is often the fate of ‘variant’ or ‘niche’ armies.  You can save yourself a lot of money (not to mention aggravation) by steering clear of these armies and sticking to the main armies.

Now, by “main armies” I am not trying to divide existing armies into different camps.  The term is not easy to define, but it is one of those things that you know it when you see it.  The Empire is a main army.  Bretonnia is a main army.  Chaos Space Marines are a main army.  Tau are a main army.  Raven Guard Space Marines, are not.  High Elf Sea Patrol is not.  Feral Orks are not.  Adeptus Mechanicus are not.  Hopefully you get the idea.

Basically, armies that have an army book or a codex, and have had an army book or codex for the past few editions, can safely be considered a “main army”.  Armies that appear in the appendix to another army book or codex, armies that appear in White Dwarf, or armies that accompany campaigns (like those from Storm of Chaos or the Battle for Armageddon) are generally not “main armies”.  The latter type are “variant” or “niche” armies.  The sad truth is that often these armies end up not getting official support in subsequent editions, rendering them unusable.

Don’t be one of those people who spends a lot of money and time building a niche or variant army, only to have all of it wasted when the edition changes and your army is no longer usable.  No matter how cool the army looks in that White Dwarf article, steer clear.  Stick to the main armies and you will ensure that your models won’t become useless when the new edition rolls around.

Beware of Special Characters

The same logic applies to special characters.  Beware!  Many of them will appear in an army book, only to disappear when the next version of that army book is released.  Sometimes these forgotten characters will appear in a White Dwarf, with rules.  Unfortunately, that is usually the last time they are seen.  Once the character is downgraded from army book to White Dwarf, there is usually no going back.

Obviously there are exceptions.  Some special characters will stay with an army for many editions, like an heirloom passed from generation to generation.  Typically these are the “main” special characters for an army (e.g. King Louen Leoncoeur for Bretonnia, Marneus Calgar for the Ultramarines, etc.).  These characters will often (or at least more often) be retained when an edition change comes and the army book is re-released.  But even these “main” special characters are sometimes omitted from the new army book (e.g. Emperor Karl Franz not appearing in the 6th edition Empire army book, or Nagash disappearing in 6th edition after having rules in the 5th edition Undead army book).

The best practice is to purchase special characters only sparingly.  You should be especially careful of those that have strange or unique models that can’t be used to represent anything else in the army (e.g. Fabius Bile, Lord Kroak, etc.).  If these characters disappear, your model is useless.  At least with more mundane special characters, they can be used to represent another model in the army.  Not so with special characters that have unique items, weapons, mounts, or vehicles.  This is not to say that you can’t collect special characters.  But if you do, beware the pitfalls.

Collect a Variety of Units

I am not urging you to collect a variety of units so that you can have an army that is “balanced” in the traditional sense.  No, you should collect a variety of units because it will better prepare you for edition changes, resulting in fewer adjustments and augmentations to your army.  This translates to you having to buy fewer units, and therefore saving money.

As described earlier, when editions change and new army books are released, units and models rise and fall in power and effectiveness.  If you have a variety of units, you are better able to weather the changing tides than if you had collected a min-maxed army that relied on multiples of the same unit/weapon/model.  In the latter case, if your min-maxed army finds itself aided by the change in rules, then kudos to you for your gamble paying off.  More likely, you will find that having all of those multiples of the same model or unit is no longer beneficial under the new edition.

Now, I am not talking about multiple High Elf spearmen or Chaos Warriors, or other such run-of-the-mill “regular” troops.  What I am talking about is multiple Rare units of the same type, for instance multiple Stegadons, Hellblaster Volley Guns, etc., or multiple squads of really elite troops (e.g. Terminator Assault Squads, Necron Immortals) or tanks (e.g. Land Raiders, Basilisks, etc.).  Often times it is quite beneficial under the current rules to take multiple versions of these types of ‘elite’ units.  But when those rules change with the new edition, it is often no longer a good idea to take multiple versions of that unit, or even any versions at all.  If you purchased two (or three!) of one of those types of unit, you might find that you won’t be using all of them in the next edition.

I am not, however, suggesting that you should avoid more elite or specialist units in favor of more basic troops.  Instead, I am suggesting that you invest in a variety of elite and specialist units rather than multiple “copies” of the same one.  For instance, if you play space marines, instead of collecting three Predators, collect one Predator, one Devastator Squad, and one Vindicator (or Whirlwind).  Or if you collect Dwarves, instead of buying that second unit of Ironbreakers, why don’t you consider a unit of Hammerers?  Once you have built up a variety of elite and specialist units (in addition to your ‘core’ of basic units) you will be able to react to any changes in the rules by being able to field a unit that works well with them.  If you invest in the same unit, you might be left without a lot of options when the rules change.

Of course, this logic has its limits.  For basic units, acquiring multiple “copies” of the same unit is not only mandatory for many armies, it is actually recommended for many others.  Even still, it is wise to invest in different types of basic units if they are available, as they too will benefit and suffer from the changing rules over multiple editions (though perhaps not as much as elite or specialized units).  Also, in some situations you may find that it is worth the possible loss of utility in the future in order to take advantage of a current imbalance in the rules.  That is a choice you have to make.  But the truth remains that if you collect a variety of units, it will probably mean fewer adjustments and new purchases when the next edition comes out.

Concluding Thoughts

So there you have it, six strategies for playing Warhammer that will allow you to collect a sizeable army without breaking the bank.  Good luck, and may the dice (and dollars) be with you!

1. Know Your Players

This is, incidentally, my #1 piece of advice for running ANY game, but that’s besides the point. The way you approach running a delve for a group of inexperienced players is different for running up against a group who want to try out their newest optimized killing machine.

In the former, try to ease them into it, and be prepared for questions as you go along. Don’t play your monsters stupidly, but don’t kick them while they’re down either just because they don’t know all the capabilities of their characters.

In the latter, look for synergies between your monsters, and challenge the PCs as much as possible.

In either case, you also need to know what the players are expecting. While dungeon delves aren’t necessarily built for a lot of story or character interaction, if the players are looking for it, it’s generally not hard to inject, you just don’t want to be taken off guard when they decide to capture the goblin instead of killing it.

2. Add Some Details

This is the way the WotC DMs usually handle it and it’s a small touch that goes a long way. Describe the monsters and monster attacks in terms of what the PCs see, not just the names from the book. Have the intelligent ones shout taunts at the PCs, or guffaw when another monster hits. They can even give hints to what lies ahead in the next section with the descriptions: “The kobolds look like they have acid burns, as if they were punished by some acid-breathing creature for disobediance.”

3. Look For Ways to Awesome Up the Encounters

If you read through the adventure and think, “man, wouldn’t it be great if this monster got to do this…”, chances are, you should try and make it happen. Not only does it make it more memorable for the players, it also might make it more fun for you as the DM. Just manuvering the monsters into the position of being able to unleash some combination you like is the easiest way, but you could go as far as swapping some powers around.

4. It’s Not Just Fights

One of my favorite Dungeon Delve encounters that I took directly from the book in my campaign has a trap that fills the room with sand. Others have skill challenges and other terrain features. Read these encounters carefully and make sure you know how they work first, and then how they work with everything else in the room. They’re there to be used, so specifically having your monsters get into situations where they’ve lured a PC into a trap is the order of the day.

5. Be Flexible

A dungeon delve isn’t likely to be a big roleplaying challenge involving lots of NPCs with complex interactions, but players always seem to find a way to make things go a bit unexpectedly. It’s a contained environment so it’s a bit easier to plan for, yet you still have to be ready for the unexpected. This is where “Saying Yes” can come in quite handy: since it’s not in a campaign or even a longer adventure, there’s less likely to be ripple effects if you make a bad call, and it encourages players to make the game their own.

On the flip side, even if your players stick to the plan, keep an eye on how much they’re NOT saying. If energy levels are low, if things are taking too long, or any other perceived problems, shake it up. Have monsters retreat or go all out on one PC. Jolt the situation and get things moving, because if the game is running too long in a short dungeon delve, there’s something wrong.

Those are my 5 tips, feel free to share more. And if all else fails, you can always really shake a delve up by reversing the dungeon…

Previous Halloween or Zombie YouTubes:

• Left 4 A Wonderful World
• Versus the Zombies
• Reasonable Zombie
• Who Do Cthulhu? You Do Cthulhu

This week I’d like to take a look at how often all of you play tabletop RPGs.  My own D&D campaign has been on a short hiatus for four weeks now and will be resuming in early November, but leading into the holiday season I’m scared the schedule is going to be disrupted for the next few adventures.  We have been running for a long time on a bi-weekly schedule, which works out very nicely for my players and for having some weekends completely free.  Dave’s game was on the opposite weekends, but he has recently gone to weekly (as scheduling permits) alternating between two groups of his players.  You can call him a wimp for not wanting to run 8-9 people every session, but I think it was a good move and is playing out to add some interesting dynamism to his ongoing adventures based on which characters can make it. 

Schedule can have a large impact on your game, if you run too often players could burn out or you could run into more scheduling issues just due to pure volume of sessions run.  If you have too much time between adventures, players forget what happened last and some time has to be spent catching up, but also as a DM you’re not as fresh and can easily forget things or remember something incorrectly.  When you start playing less than once a month the adventures end up feeling more like mini-campaigns on their own, which is not a bad thing but it takes on a different feel than a weekly foray into the same game world.  All of this basically says, by asking this question we are getting to know your games a bit more in an indirect and interesting way!

[poll id="144"]

Online only games count as well, even though it’s a digital table you still very much count.  If you’re in multiple games at once then just let us know how often you end up playing total, I only reference my campaign because it’s the only regular RPG game that I play in.

I’ve tried to break the periods of time into sensible portions, forgoing terms like “bi-weekly” in favor of “several times a month” because they are more inclusive.  I personally think of my game as bi-weekly rather than running 2-3 times a month just because some of my players are only available every other week, so a missed session usually results in a 4 week gap which is only one adventure per month (and makes me a very sad Danny).  So wherever your answer falls in the poll, please feel free to share all of the weird days/times that you crazy people get in your roleplaying!  I know that I was very surprised when Gabe from Penny Arcade started running his D&D game on Monday evenings, as this seems like the exact opposite from when most of the people I know would prefer to play.

The book opens with a lot of story elements to work into your game when using metallic dragons: their origins, personalities, and suggestions for using them in your campaigns. There’s some new dragon lair traps, and draconic skill challenges. There’s some adventure suggestions, artifacts, and organizations. Like before, a big chunk of the middle of the book is filled with Dragon Lair encounters/delves. At the end, there’s new monsters, including full stat write-ups for 7 new metallic dragons, and a few famous metallic dragons, including multiple stat blocks for Big Bad Bammy himself, Bahamut the Platinum Dragon God. There’s fewer other, dragon-related monsters then there were in Draconomicon, which is disappointing to me since it’s generally easier to use non-solo monsters in an adventure. There are still a few that are cool, like classic Dragonlance Draconians, and the ready-to-ride Drakkensteeds. 

Since we previewed Primal Power on Twitter, we decided to do some previews in a different venue, and answered questions on ENWorld about the book. Some excerpts that you might want to know:

What new (to 4e) metallics are there?

Brass

Bronze

Cobalt

Mercury

Mithral

Orium

Steel

Are there any cool alternate powers?

Adding shapechanging is one easy one, but I also like the gold dragon’s luck field (which is a cool callback), bronze dragons surrounding themselves with water (that gives vulnerable to lightning as well as forcing attackers to swim) and the mithral dragon’s powers to go into extraplanar stasis to recover health.

Is there any flavor text about useing good dragons as allies, and mentors?

Some, it varies by dragon but strongly emphasizes that they’re not always good anymore. There’s a section called “Dragons in the World” that talks about metallic dragon patrons, dragons as mysterious strangers, and occasional allies. My favorite though is a section on using Bahamut’s “Old Man with Canaries” as a supporting ally for the party taking on a big threat.

What surprised you?

In addition to the lack of other dragon monsters as mentioned earlier, I was also surprised at the use of DMG2 materials like organizations and campaign arcs. I was also pleasantly surprised that Council of Wyrms got a mention.

What the heck is orium?

“A crimson-hued metal used by ancient empires” that is supposed to enhance magic and may have originated in the Feywild, but is mostly long lost. Ari Marmell and Logan Bonner, who worked on the book, weigh in on ENWorld about where it came from and how it changed during development.

Look for Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons in November.

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