In a quest to define a series of simple-yet-deadly hazards, here is one that’s easy to run. Just place your favorite marker of stalagmites on the battlemat. Then have any living, non-necrotic creature that begins its turn within 1 square of these take 10 necrotic damage, as they suck the living out of them.
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Place as many as you need in your room to present terrain challenges. Then have creatures push unwitting characters into them.
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Simple but effective.
Posted in Hazard by Adam A. Thompson with .
Here’s an early Xmas present from the gamers at Claw/Claw/Bite.
Wizards and others have provided cardboard cutouts to enhance the gaming experience. This is great, but they’re pretty pricey and limited if you want a collection of tiles the represent the breadth of your imagination. I recommend making your own, so you have more creative control over your adventures. In a few simple steps, you can have terrain tiles in a variety of shapes and colors.
Step 1: Download Images And Print Them to Your Scale
Most standard tiles are 1″x1″, representing 5′ squares in most fantasy and sci-fi games. There are a host of good tiles on rpgnowand elsewhere on the web, easily found with a g search. Use a color printer, ideally one that leaves a waxy resin on the page. This way the spray epoxy used in step 4 doesn’t warp the paper.
Step 2: Cut Images from Printouts
Use a regular pair of craft scissors, the kind they have at work, or that you can buy for a few dollars at a craft store. Leave a few mm to a cm along every edge so you can apply a goodly amount of pressure along the edges of the images later to ensure a tight seal along the edge of the final tiles. X-acto knives also work for this purpose; just make sure you place your work on a cutting board to avoid injury and damage to your furniture.
Step 3: Raid Your Recycle Bin For Light Cardboard
Use cereal and oatmeal boxes or any other post-consumer packaging. Cut them at the edges so you have flat surfaces to work with. Ask your neighbors or take home used dry food boxes from work. Or go spend money on a thicker cardstock as others have reported online. Personally, I prefer using what I’ve already paid for, taking advantage of the second R in the reduce, reuse, recycle cycle. If nothing else, it makes me feel less guilty about buying food that comes in a cardboard box.
Make sure you gently bend the cardboard to straighten them out before you glue the terain printouts to them; otherwise you may loosen the seal between the two.
Step 4: Spray Cardboard with Epoxy
I recommend using Elmers or 3M spray epoxies for this task. Use these spray expoxies outdoors where there’s plenty of ventilation. Try to use evan coats by holding the can 12″ away from the surface, and gliding across the surface quickly. Alternately, use epoxies that come with applicators that allow you to apply an even coat of epoxy to the surface of the cardboard.
Step 5: Press Cutouts to Cardboard
Starting in the center, run your hands to the edges of the images. This way, you avoid air pockets between the paper and the cardboard. If you’ve kept enough of a lip around the exterior of the image, you should be able to press to the edge of the image without getting residual glue all over your hands.
Step 6: Wait Overnight
Overnight is best to ensure that the epoxy is fully dried. These should be stored indoors to prevent air pockets due to moisture or temperature changes. Keep these away from where you sleep, as there are epoxy aerosols and other air pollutants that leech out from the tiles. If you do not wait long enough, the bond may not be strong enough to hold the pieces together in the long term.
Step 7: Cut off Excess Cardboard
I cut mine all the way to the edge of the image so I can place the tiles together to create larger rooms and dungeons. They fit together pretty neatly if you make straight enough cuts.
Once this is done, you may want to touch up the edges with a marker to hide the white cardboard underneath from view when your terrain is deployed on your gaming table.
I have found that for a $10 can of spray epoxy, I easily get between 120 and 150 8×8 tiles worth of tiles in a wide assortment of styles. I’ve put them to use in science fiction stories, Gamma World settings, and Dungeons and Dragons encounters. This variety of tiles is a must for any storyteller who likes to mix up their adventures using a variety of terrains.
Have fun with it and make your players proud!
Note: If you use these tips, please take photos and send ‘em our way. We love to see what other gamers are up to in their creative construction and use of terrain.
Posted in Miniatures and tagged Terrain by Adam A. Thompson with .
I recently ran a group through an encounter involving a lich, and found them grossly underpowered. Their lack of a melee attack renders them weak in the face of a single 15th lvl fighter, let alone a full party. To make up for this likely accidental shortcoming, here are some powers that beef up the 4e lich.
Fear Aura (psychic) 
Aura 3
Any creature beginning its turn in the aura takes 5 damage and is immobilized (save ends).
Necrotic Touch (necrotic) At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature) +15 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 2d6 +5 necrotic damage, and the creature is dazed until the end of the lich’s next turn
Dominate the Living (psychic) Minor Recharge 
Attack: One living creature within close burst 10, +15 vs. Will
Effect: The lich dominates one living creature (save ends).
These effects provide the lich with plenty of up-close-and-personal, up-in-your-Kool-Aid power that will make your players truly fear an encounter with this granddaddy of the undead. Feel free to adjust the numbers to make an appropriately-powered lich for your encounters.
Update: after writing a draft of this post, Scott Murray of Save Versus Death pointed me to the Monster Vault, which includes a number of improved variants of classic creatures that seemed underwhelming in 4e. The Lich Necromancer on page 183 takes on similar traits, as well as added ranged attacks and movement.
Happy player hunting!
Posted in 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons, Creature by Adam A. Thompson with .
The result of an evil presence that sits too long in water, necrotic pools grow to hate the living, and do all they can to render their prey lifeless to feed the need for evil.
Necrotic Pool Level 10 Blaster
Hazard XP 400
A tendril of necrotic liquid spills outward from the dark pool.
Hazard: The pool becomes active when triggered. Thereafter, it attacks every round on its initiative.
Perception
✦ DC 28: The character detects the pool before moving within 3 squares of it.
Additional Skill: Nature or Dungeoneering
✦ DC 24: The character recognizes the danger of the pool before moving within 3 squares of it.
Initiative +4
Trigger
The pool rolls initiative when one or more characters move within 2 squares of it. It is also triggered when a character falls into it, receiving a free attack when this occurs.
Attack
Standard Action Close burst 2
Targets: Creatures in burst
Attack: +14 vs. Reflex
Hit: 3d6+3 necrotic damage and followup.
Followup: +12 vs. Fortitude.
Hit: Ongoing 5 necrotic damage and dazed (save ends).
Miss: Half damage.
Countermeasure
✦ A character in the burst can minimize the damage of the pool with a DC 28 Acrobatics check made as an immediate interrupt before the pool’s attack. With a successful check, the character takes half damage if the pool hits and no damage if it misses. This countermeasure is unavailable if the character is immersed within the pool, for instance after falling in.
Posted in Hazard by Adam A. Thompson with .
We have set up our blog to send out a tweet every time we post a new entry. Follow us on Twitter @clawclawbite, or by clicking on the Twitter logo at the right.
Other means to follow us include RSS, Facebook (again, follow links on the right), and visiting our site on a regular basis. See you around!
Note: This also serves as a test of our Twitter-WordPress connection.
Posted in announcement by Adam A. Thompson with .
By Kevin Gates & Adam A Thompson
Astral Magic is a new way for spellcasters to gain access to metamagic-like abilities. Through study of the mystical properties of the stars and constellations spellcasters are able to modify the warp and weft of their spells, increasing their power, changing their shape, changing their range, and modifying them in other ways.
Planisphæri Cœleste
Astral Magic
Recorded in the pages of the grimoireConstelation Magic by the sage Gevestikan are the secrets of using the power of the stars to modify spells.
A character who finds one of the rare copies of this tome gains access to a new knowledge skill – Astronomy. Reading the tome makes knowledge (Astronomy) a class skill and gives the reader a +2 competence bonus in the skill. Fully studying the tome takes a total of 24 hours of reading.
A character with ranks in Knowledge (Astronomy) has 3 uses of star magic per day. You make a Knowledge (Astronomy) check to successfully invoke the stars you know. Using Star Magic is a move action.
Stars
Rigel – on a DC 20 check, the damage rolled for the next spell you cast cannot be less than 50% of the possible damage. On a DC 25 check, it can’t be less than 75%, and on a DC 35 check, it’s maximized.
Izar – a DC 20 check lets you cast an area spell that excludes one
ally within the area of effect. A DC25 lets you exclude 2 allies. A DC 35
check lets you exclude all allies within the area.
Altair – a DC 20 check lets you invoke Altair. When a spell requires concentration, invoking Altair allows the caster to instead concentrate as a swift
action for one round per three caster levels (minimum 1 round).
Alpheratz – Invoking Alpheratz lets you cast your next touch spell as a ranged spell at the following distances. DC 20: 15 feet. DC 25: 30 feet. DC 35: 60 feet.
Pollux – Invoking Pollux requires a DC 30 knowledge (Astronomy) check, and allows the next spell you cast to effect 1 additional target who is within 30 feet of all of the original targets. Spells with the target “self only” cannot be modified with this ability.
Optional Rules
By night under the open sky knowledge (Astronomy) checks are +2. Underground they are -4.
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Variant Rules by Adam A. Thompson with .
We’ll be there at Rice University in Houston in person, gaming, talking dungeon-making, and even running a few games this year: High Water Marks andKeepsakes (see below).
We had a great time last year, playing a bunch of 4e DnD, Advanced Civ, Rail Baron, and immersive BattleTech in the pods, and vowed to return. And so we will. Look for us at these locations. We’ll also likely tweet our locations @clawclawbite (also at http://twitter.com/clawclawbite).
Register here and attend as well, and you too will have fun the weekend of Jan 28-30, 2011.
| High Water Marks |
4 – 6 players |
| Sun1000 (6) |
Intermediate |
| Your 5th-level party starts off in a downtrodden village where it has rained a full fortnight. Among the muck, the fistfights and verbal ill-will broken out between the denizens hints at problems that run deeper than the water. With all the enemies afoot, you will soon learn that a more sinister plot faces the village from higher ground.GM – Stephen Hilderbrand |
| Keepsakes |
4 – 6 players |
| Sun1500 (5) |
Intermediate |
| You and your 5th-level party are traveling on a road along the southern route in a expansive moor, a journey not without considerable challenges. While paying a toll under the shadow of a keep among rocky crags, it is recommended that you seek accommodations within, as a chilly rain has begun to fall, and the eerie glow of the overcast night is about to follow suit.GM – Stephen Hilderbrand |
Posted in convention by Adam A. Thompson with .
These savage beast-men hail from the dark woods of the Feywild, descended from both wolves and wild elves. Feral, they live in tribes and hunt the untrammeled moon-lit forests of the deepest depths of that enchanted land. In appearence they are much like wild elves, small of stature but strong and fast, with light beards that grow into wild sideburns, long, furry ears, and pronounced cannine teeth.
Occasionally a great warrior will arise from the Vargyr and lead their tribes in forays into the lands of the seelie fey, raiding, killing, and tearing down the strongholds of the Eladrin nobles.
This adventure is the tale of one Eladrin’s war to revenge himself upon the horde of Vargyr who descended upon his family’s lands, killed every member of his family and household, and left him for dead upon the battlefield. Now he quests for a group of heroes who will return with him to his family stronghold, drive the Vargyr warriors out, and slay the mighty warrior who leads them. This is the war of the last Silma-Eltha.
Vargyr Feywolf ✦ Level 16 Skirmishers
Size origin type ✦ XP 1,400
Initiative +15 Senses Perception +8
HP 148; Bloodied 74
AC 30; Fortitude 28, Reflex 28, Will 28
Speed 8
Powers
Claw ✦At-Will, Standard Action, Melee 1
melee basic
The wolf-elf lunges at you with tearing claws.
Attack: +21 vs. AC
Hit: 2d8 + 7 damage.
Short Bow ✦At-Will, Standard Action, Ranged 10/20
ranged basic
Attack: +19 vs. AC
Hit: 1d8 + 5 damage.
Longtooth Shifting ✦ Encounter, Minor Action, Personal
Healing
The wolf-elf unleashes the primal beast within and takes on a more savage countenance.
Special: The Vargyr Feywolf must be bloodied to use this power.
Effect: Until the end of the encounter or until rendered unconscious, the Vargyr Feywolf gains a +2 bonus to damage rolls. In addition, for as long as the Vargyr Feywolf is bloodied, it gains regeneration 4.
Alignment neutral Languages Common
Skills Athletics +20, Nature +13
Str 24 (+15) Dex 21 (+13) Wis 11 (+8)
Con 12 (+9) Int 10 (+8) Cha 21 (+13)
Equipment:small hand weapon, leather armor, short bow
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged creature: paragon skirmisher, War of the Last Silma-Eltha by Adam A. Thompson with .
Frank organized a Gamma World adventure this weekend, and we had a blast. We got to choose whether we were city dwellers with greater Alpha Tech hell-bent on ensuring order or whether we’d rely on more mutations as members of an outcast tribe on the edge of the world with the goal of reclaiming our mother elder from a band of kidnappers. We chose the latter, falling back on the classic underdog hero’s role. This seems fitting for an introduction to a new system…
I ended up a radioactive swarm comprised of rodents that once were lab rats. The shared sentience assumed the name of “Doctor Radkowski”, one of the doctors killed in the blast from the Great Mistake. Over the course of the session, they devoiced the “d” in “rad” to a “t”, as only a punning rat swarm could do. They sang arias, tossed grenades, and swarmed over all the guard bots and mutated plant beasts that they could. Other characters in the party included a radioactive punk rock timecop, an electrified giant spotter with a dual nature and delusions of grandeur, and a shadowy, largely amorphous being that called itself “The Hamburgler”, named for a term it found on a discarded fast food wrapper.
All signs pointed to the kidnappers hailing from the city, including the paths dragged into the sand. The trail grew warmer, and we had to find a pass into the city. We posed as arms dealers and learned of a widow who held a position in town. Soon we were fighting off robotic sentinels and animated plants. In all, we had a blast.
The system is interesting in that it is very similar to 4e DnD, only the character skills are limited, and the bonuses stack on a per-level basis, rather than every-other-level. The generic gamma world is very tongue-in-cheek, necessary for such an otherwise gritty setting. The system leaves a lot to the storyteller to fill in, which leaves lots of room for role playing. Don’t let the tongue-in-cheekness fool you; it’s plenty deadly out there with 20-something hit points and 3d6 and 4d6 damage in the air.
The box set comes with a printed battlemap geared toward the near future setting. Frank used it well, creating some nice verbal terrain out of the cryogenic capsules in the center of the room.
Another thing I liked about the system is that the character sheet isn’t even geared for leveling very far; the post-apocalyptic setting is perfect for one-off and short, multi-session story arcs. This is about the attention span of most of us these days, especially if a gamer has to miss a session every now and again.
Finally, the randomness of the character generation is something to aspire to as a game designer. How does it work that not making choices at the beginning is more fun than choosing my own starting gear? Because it’s challenging. It’s what makes the post-apocalyptic world pop.
Back to another GM thing that Frank did well — the building of Alpha and Omega Tech decks based on which side we chose to play. This made this kind of decision important to the story, a welcome element in any role playing game. Even in a one-off, it’s nice to see the effects of your choices as a player.
In this last image, I was the brown wafer of a disc under the red d6 (I was bloodied at the time). When you play, here are a few final thoughts: don’t forget to use Second Wind once you’re bloodied, always use your Alpha Tech powers (they go away after encounters — trade or gift them if necessary), and don’t get too stuck to the notion of “classes” (ranger, etc.) or “roles” (striker, etc.); if you play it right, everyone has a chance to defend, strike, control, and lead over the course of a single Gamma World session.
Have fun with Gamma World; I highly recommend it from the bottom of my six-valved, mutant heart.
Posted in Gamma World, Review by Adam A. Thompson with .
We rolled up to Round Rock last weekend to play some D&D, and ended up playing Pathfinder all weekend.
For those who don’t know, MilleniumCon is a yearly convention put on by Lone Star Historical Miniatures and is primarily focused on, as their name implies, historical miniature wargames. It’s pretty much the closest convention to us here in Austin, so we usually make it. They generously provide space for the RPGA folks, and this year they also had Pathfinder Organized Play set up in one of the four-table conference rooms.
Originally Dan and I had intended to get in some XP for our 4e RPGA characters. I was looking forward to honing my tactics with my elven barbarian Sithadel, specifically figuring out how to play him without getting him killed. He tends to die once per convention – that’s what I get for making a dex-based barbarian I guess. I like to play unconventional characters.
That all got derailed when I took the Pathfinder core book to work. Dan picked them up when they came out however long ago but I had only read the alpha version they put out online when Pathfinder was first announced. At any rate, I decided to roll up a character just for grins. I came up with Kes, a 1st level wizard specialized in abjuration and prohibited from casting evocation and necromancy. At the end of the process I was really curious to see how this character played, and how Pathfinder played.
So when we got to MilleniumCon we went ahead and jumped in on a Pathfinder game and played. It reminded me a bit of the old RPGA, with the adventure record sheets given out at the end of each session. I liked how some of the organized play elements were structured. For example, at the end of each adventure you get a list of magic items you can buy with the gold you’ve accumulated. By the end of four adventures we had a decently broad list to pick from. Overall it seems nicely structured to keep the characters balanced and play fun.
So, we played two slots of Pathfinder on Friday night, and two more slots on Saturday. At the end of it all I have to say that I enjoyed playing Pathfinder quite a bit. Of course I think the changes to skills in PF are great moves: I’ve hated Hide vs Spot and Move Silently vs Listen since the first time I had to roll them both when 3e first came out. The changes to the classes are great, too. My 1st level wizard was able to contribute to the combat on every round because now 0th level spells aren’t used up when you cast them, so I could throw an acid splash or cast daze every round. The changes to concentration and spell casting times also pleased me – I’ve always thought that spellcasters had it too easy in melee. Now you really have to think twice about where you put your wizard. The changes to how poison work also impressed me.
There were a few downsides, or course. Over and over again I had to hear from the other players how much more they liked Pathfinder then 4th edition D&D. I play 4e, 3.5e, and a little Pathfinder in one game, and I don’t like the “us vs them” these conversations usually take, so I always get turned off when the topic comes up. And of course the Pathfinder fans trotted out the same old saw about how confusing grapple was in 3e. I have always disagreed – 3e grapple wasn’t a blocker for us, and as far as I can tell it’s pretty similar in Pathfinder.
But the real downside for me was all the minmaxing. Just like in the bad old days of ultimate 3.5 cheese some of the players were rolling with some uber powerful summoner class that they couldn’t stop talking about. I was lucky enough to not actually have to play with the roll-players, but it reminded me of how much less 4e games seem to breed uber-powergamers. And I was reminded once again how much I disliked that.
But that was really minor for me and was totally overshadowed by how much fun I had and by how well-organized the mustering and gaming was. Kudos to the Pathfinder Organized Play folks. Next year I’ll definitely be back for more.
Posted in convention and tagged news: convention by Adam A. Thompson with .
