Thursday, May 31, 2012

Dungeon Command Rulebook Available For Download

Several months ago, Wizards of the Coast announced that it was developing a new miniatures game for release this summer. The new minis game eventually became Dungeon Command and is scheduled for release on July 24, 2012.  It will be released in faction packs, starting with Sting of Lolth, for the drow forces and their spider minions, and Heart of Cormyr, for the heroes and adventurers of Cormyr (I pre-ordered both packs so expect my reviews on them shortly after release).  Further expansion packs are expected to be released in subsequent months, with Tyranny of Goblins in August, consisting of goblin creatures and their allies, and Curse of Undeath in November.

In preparation for the launch of their new minis game, WotC has made the complete rulebook for Dungeon Command freely available to anyone who is interested, not only to D&D Insider members.  This will allow customers to learn the game rules beforehand and jump into the play action as soon as they get their faction packs. The rulebook is a short 15 pages and includes both basic and advanced play rules. You can download it here.

According to the Dungeon Command rulebook, each faction pack should include 12 miniatures, 12 Creature cards - one for each miniature, 36 Order cards to give commands to your troops in battle, and 2 Commander cards (which represent you in the battlefield, so you choose which Commander you want to play).  Other items included are Battlefield tiles (2 large and 2 small tiles), Treasure chest markers, Treasure tokens, Damage tokens and markers to record your warband's Morale and Leadership.  My initial thought right now is, damn, this must be complicated...  Lol.

Also included are rules to allow two players to engage in a small 6 vs 6 skirmish if only one faction pack is available.  This is excellent if you want to learn the game without having to incur the expense of buying two sets of minis or faction packs.  As an added bonus, you can us the minis for your regular Dungeons and Dragons game.  You can also incorporate the minis and their creature cards as possible adversaries or allies in the D&D Adventure System series of games, such as Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon and The Legend of Drizzt.

Understandably, I can't comment on the gameplay of Dungeon Command.  After all, the game is not out yet and WotC has not provided me with a copy for review.  Furthermore, Dungeon Command will be my first minis game, so my comments are from the viewpoint of a newcomer to the minis hobby.  As such, I will give you my first impression of the game from my brief evaluation of the rulebook.

The Stack showing 3 actions to be resolved.
Initially, the game does not seem too complicated.  Each turn is divided in 4 phases: Refresh, Activate, Deploy and Cleanup.  A new concept for this new minis players (that is, me) is the action resolution mechanism referred to in the rulebook as The Stack. The Stack is premised on the concept that when an action takes place, it does not happen immediately.  Each player gets a chance to respond to that action.

Whenever a creature takes an action, or an effect is triggered, that action goes on top of the stack. If any player responds to that action, the responding action goes onto the stack on top of what was already waiting there. When no more players respond, the action on the top of the stack is resolved.  After that action is resolved, all players get another chance to respond with new actions. Any new action goes on top of the stack, and players can respond to that action as normal. If no one does, the next action waiting on the stack is resolved. If no actions remain on the stack, the player taking his or her turn continues play.

Movement is reminiscent of 4E. A creature that enters a square adjacent to an enemy creature must stop its movement. While I did not see anything akin to an attack of opportunity, your movement/speed while in a square adjacent to an enemy creature is 1. Players of 4E will see the incorporation into Dungeon Command of familiar terms and effects such as difficult terrain, shift and slide, as well as standard, minor and immediate actions, and line of sight and coverage.  I particularly liked that different creatures can have different forms of movement, like flying for the Copper Dragon or burrow for the Umber Hulk.

As for actual gameplay, I guess we'll have to wait two more months before we can try this game out and see if it is as much fun as it appears, or whether it is the combat slow-fest associated with 4E.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

D&D Next Chat Summary & Full Transcript

Earlier today, I took part in the D&D Next online chat with Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford.  Salient things to me where:

The detailed 4E style of combat resolution will most likely be offered as an optional module that you and your gaming group can choose to incorporate.  It will not be part of the core rules.

Wizards at-will abilities may be a bit overpowered right now.  Specific reference was made to the auto-hit magic missile.  However, their current design philosophy is start powerful and then tone down, if necessary.

The design team is currently working on a combat maneuver system that will form part of the playtest later on.

Some races will have a cultural affinity for certain weapons. This cultural affinity will give them a bigger damage die when using those weapons, like a halfling using a sling has a 1d8 damage die instead of the regular 1d6.

Different possibilities for Attacks of Opportunities were discussed.  Bottom line, current design team does not want everyone to be able to have them as part of the core rules, but they expect certain characters and monsters to be able to do them as a special ability.

As far as playtest schedule goes, they expect to put out big updates every 5 to 6 weeks.  Upcoming are more fighter options and a tactical rules module.

There was good discussion on background and themes.  Can't summarize it all here but suffice it to say that themes and their perks will improve as you level up and rules are being considered for allowing a player to have more than one theme as the character develops.

They recognized that the Ambusher rogue ability is currently "very lame in practice".  It will be either revised or eliminated.

It is likely that long term wounds will not be part of the core rules.  Optional wound rules may be provided for the DMs to incorporate in their campaigns.  Mike Mearls has toyed with the idea of a "wound system where you get some effect each time you drop below 0 hp, to represent a bad injury, For instance, broken bones, strained joints, concussions, etc."

The "long rest heals everything" rule may be dialed back.  Under consideration are rules that will allow you to heal a specific number of hit dice only, based on CON or class.

A lot more stuff was discussed.  You will find the full transcript of the online chat below.


FULL CHAT TRANSCRIPT

11:42
Trevor: 
Welcome to this week's D&D Next Playtest Q&A. Mike and Jeremy will be joining us shortly. This is a moderated chat, which means we will see your questions and comments, but the room won't see them until we push them live so Mike and Jeremy can give you an answer. 

11:45
Trevor: 
And the stars have arrived! Let's get a brief introduction from the two of you and then jump into some questions!

11:45
Mearls: 
Hey everyone. My name is Mike Mearls and I am the senior manager for the D&D team.

11:46
Jeremy Crawford: 
I'm Jeremy Crawford, head of development and editing for D&D.

11:46
Jeremy Crawford: 
Bring on the questions!

11:46
Trevor: 
Starting up the questions now!

11:47

Comment From Mike Looney 
I've noticed that to hit doesn't seem to go up with levels or with monster's hit points. Is this in fact correct or is it an artifact of the play test material being for 1-3rd level only?


11:48
Mearls: 
You don't see those number rise at levels 1 to 3, but we are overall toning down numerical advancement. The classes generally get more stuff to do, rather than bigger numbers. With a flatter curve, we can make monsters and characters scale much better. For instance, a 10th-level party can still take on orcs as a viable threat, they'll just fight a ton of them. 

11:48
Jeremy Crawford: 
Yeah, we want to see less number inflation throughout the system.

11:49
Jeremy Crawford: 
Except for the number of monsters, that is. :)

11:50

Comment From Brian 
Can you explain where the extra +2 damage for the fighter comes from (beyond Weapon Focus)? Will we get an explanation of the racial benefits to damage and hit dice soon so we can understand what to do as characters change equipment?

11:50
Jeremy Crawford: 
The fighter's bonus comes from the class's advancement table. It's a class feature.

11:51

Comment From mepstein73 
Hello! Just wondering why the wizard's cantrips are so strong. Ray of Frost can end combat pretty quickly, and Magic Missile is very powerful if it's unlimited/day.

11:51
Jeremy Crawford: 
As for the racial benefits, there will more explanation when we release the information on building your own character. 

11:53
Mearls: 
I think that for at-will abilities, we might have made them a little overpowered a bit in terms of math and feel. For instance, does it feel OK that magic missile does auto damage every round? The speed thing on ray of frost is tricky, because it can vary from being very powerful to being useless.

11:53
Mearls: 
I think getting the minor spells right will take a few iterations. NQ.

11:53
Jeremy Crawford: 
When we playtest things, we prefer to start powerful and tone things down, rather than starting weak and beefing things up, hence the spells' potency.

11:53

Comment From lucinian 
Thanks for taking the time to do these chats. They're very informative, and help let us know you really care what we think. My question: There seems to be, overall, very little from 4E that's made it into the core rules for D&D Next. What can 4E fans expect going forward?

11:54
Jeremy Crawford: 
Things we love about 4th Edition continue to work their way into the design. The at-will spells are a great example of such a thing. 

11:55
Mearls: 
There are quite a few core 4e changes that are in the game - at will magic, the hit die mechanic, the clarity of the combat rules. These are all trend lines that started with 4e and have moved forward. In terms of powers, we're working on a combat maneuver system right now and will show that off as part the ongoing playtest.

11:55
Mearls: 
Also, I did some work over the weekend on the tactical rules options. In many ways, the depth of 4e's approach to combat and options will sit atop the system you've seen so far as rules modules.

11:55
Jeremy Crawford: 
Our current work on monsters is also being informed by some of the advances that 4E brought to the presentation of monsters' abilities. 

11:56
Mearls: 
That's right - monsters haven't seen much work yet, so you'll see a 4e influence there, too. NQ

11:56

Comment From Guest 
One of my questions is this... in the weapons descriptions the sling is listed as a 1d6 weapon. However, with the rogue character it is a 1d8. Why is that?

11:57
Mearls: 
Races that have a cultural affinity for weapons get a die bump in damage. So, halflings are good with slings and therefore use a bigger damage die. NQ.

11:57

Comment From NumberOneTheLarch 
Hello and thank you for answering our questions. I wanted to ask about skills themselves. In the playtest, your skill bonuses are derived from your Background. In your plans for DnD Next, is this the only source for skill bonuses, or will there be an option or implementation to select individual skill bonuses through other means? Thank you again!

11:57
Jeremy Crawford: 
Also, one of our developers is currently doing a review of every weapon. Expect some of the dice to change. 

11:58
Mearls: 
You can gain more skills through your class and through your theme. 

11:58
Mearls: 
The samples we showed off don't happen to offer that. But as an example - the rogue class receives a few bonus skill, and you can expect the same for the ranger. NQ. 

11:58
Jeremy Crawford: 
We will also provide an option for you to build your own background, which effectively means you can choose skills a la carte.

11:59

Comment From Rheim 
I have a question about Armor balance. From the playtesting guide, it seems that there isn't a good balance between Light/Medium and Heavy Armors. Are there revised rules coming out on this? Right now there seems little advantage to wearing say, Heavy Armor versus Medium Armor.

12:00
Jeremy Crawford: 
Armor--that's going through the same review with weapons, so I expect changes there too. 

12:00
Mearls: 
Yes, armor will go back to the drawing board. We included it in the document as a reference, but it hasn't received a lot of attention. I'd like to see if we even need medium armor in the game. Starting gear might also change - you might start lower on the totem pole and buy your way up to better armor over the first few levels. NQ. 

12:00

Comment From Roll 3d6 
I like where this edition is going. Thank you! Had a question regarding the Guardian Talent for the Cleric. We saw that there is currently no limit for how often the Cleric can shield someone. Should this be 1x/round?

12:01
Jeremy Crawford: 
That ability requires the cleric to use it as a reaction, and a character can take a reaction only once per round.

12:02
Jeremy Crawford: 
Next question! 

12:02

Comment From The rogue 
Why did you decide to remove the different types of actions? (Standard/Move/Minor/Free)

12:03
Mearls: 
Two reasons. First, we wanted to speed up play. We found that some players felt that they had to use each of those actions, and would slow the game down trying to find things to do. Second, we decided to start with simple rules and see what people felt they needed added to the core, as opposed to a rules module, through the test. Sometimes, having the action buckets led to design that existed only to fill those buckets, rather than design that made the game more fun or more interesting. 

12:04
Jeremy Crawford: 
We have played with several versions of the action system. The one you're using now is the simplest. We want to see how far we can go with it. 

12:04
Jeremy Crawford: 
Next question! 

12:04

Comment From Guest 
About hiding. When I try to hide it is an action. If no-one see me (no LoS) I guess it's no roll and no action, right?

12:05
Jeremy Crawford: 
The thing to keep in mind is that hiding involves being both out of sight and silent. 

12:05
Jeremy Crawford: 
If you're out of sight, you aren't necessarily hidden. You could be making a bunch of noise.

12:06
Jeremy Crawford: 
Hiding is something you do consciously and carefully, hence it requiring an action. 

12:06
Jeremy Crawford: 
Next question!

12:07

Comment From Pentadrone 
How will low wisdom rogues be able to scout effectively? Feats? Will you be adding skills back into the mix so characters can overcome stat deficiencies?

12:08
Mearls: 
Obviously, the pregen isn't the best scout. We had talked about giving the rogue class an extra bonus to finding traps, so that's something we'll look at. The key with the rogue will be in making sure that the class does the things people expect. The error might simply be in treating Wis as the dump stat for the pregen. We've also thought about letting rogues use a different stat to find traps, such as Intelligence. NQ. 

12:10

Comment From Darklight 
Q: When are we going to be given the chance to provide some actual feedback, and when do you estimate the next phase of the playtest will take place?

12:12
Mearls: 
I believe that the first survey launches later this week, plus we're watching forums and blogs for reactions. Posting a playtest recap in a forum or blog is great, because we get to read it and it helps get people talking about issues.

The next phase will depend on what the feedback looks like. I'd like to start pushing out some more fighter options and perhaps show off the tactical rules module.

As far as an actual schedule, we're aiming at a big update about every 5 to 6 weeks. NQ.


12:12
Jeremy Crawford: 
Mike is typing away. 

12:12

Comment From Scipio202 
Right now there are no rules that give a downside for moving in combat. Opportunity attacks can get complicated quickly, but are you considering a simple version for the core rules? (e.g. the mover is only subject to OAs from enemies that made a melee attack at them within the last round)

12:14
Mearls: 
A rule for breaking away from melee is something we've seen come up a bit. It's a tricky thing to navigate. It might come in as a rules module. The hard part has been finding a rule that works that also doesn't feel too restrictive. For instance, for a while the rule was that your movement stopped if you entered a hostile creature's reach. However, that feels a little artificial. 

12:15
Jeremy Crawford: 
We have experimented with a number of opportunity attack alternatives. Ultimately, we don't want everyone in the core system to make such attacks, but we expect certain characters and monsters to be able to do so as a special ability. 

12:15
Mearls: 
Another one we talked about - leaving a creature's reach is an action. If you don't use that action, it gets a free hack at you. So, you can't attack and move away without a return attack. This is an area where after playing without such a mechanic, I'd like to put it out there as an option and see if people want it as an option or in the core. NQ. 

12:15

Comment From Jon 
Can you talk about the motivation behind the advantage/disadvantage?

12:17
Mearls: 
This was a contentious issue on the design team. Basically, we wanted to do two things -

1. Make modifiers much more important, rather than relying on lots of little ones that don't have a big effect but require a lot of bookkeeping.

2. Introduce a benefit or disadvantage that you can apply after you rolled and forgot about it. I like that if you forget advantage or disad, you can just throw another die and resolve it. I've found in my games that sometimes people roll, announce a result, pick up their dice, and forget what they had when someone points out a missing mod 5 seconds later.

NQ 


12:18

Comment From The rogue 
Can distance be measured in squares instead of feet? As a european/non-american it's hard to convert from feet all the time>. In squares it's rather universal.

12:18
Jeremy Crawford: 
Sure! The rule of thumb is that 5 feet equal a square. 

12:19
Jeremy Crawford: 
When we break out miniatures and a grid, we find ourselves saying "squares" instead of "feet." It's been easy, thankfully, to switch back and forth. 

12:20
Mearls: 
We tried to keep things at a 5 feet minimum because we felt that both with and without minis, that's the easiest distance to imagine in your head.
Personally, I actually like meters because if you draw a map with one meter per square, the dimensions of rooms are more realistic. Alas, we're based in the US and people like their non-metric measures here.
It might be something we'll look at for translations and such in the future. NQ. 


12:20

Comment From Lyrant 
As my group and I were going over our character sheets for the playtest we noticed a few numbers that were higher than anything on the page said they had a right to be. For instance, the Cleric of Moradin had a +2 to AC that couldn't be found anywhere, and some other characters had similar bits with their damage, whassup with that?

12:21
Jeremy Crawford: 
The bonuses are coming from a variety of sources, especially class and race.

12:21
Mearls: 
I think I know where that comes from. Dwarves get +1 AC in medium and heavy armor. Also, I think that the armor chart in the test is 1 point off from the armor as given to the characters. When in doubt, use the character sheet number. That's what we based the monsters off of. 

12:22
Mearls: 
This stuff will all make sense when we move to letting people make characters for the test. NQ.

12:22

Comment From Guest 
What makes a good theme or background? What do you look for?

12:23
Jeremy Crawford: 
A good background says something evocative about a character's place in the world, especially the character's place before the campaign started. 

12:24
Jeremy Crawford: 
The background should have skills, a trait, and starting equipment that all say something flavorful about a character.

12:25
Mearls: 
A good theme should be evocative and really speak to how your class operates. The themes we have right now are mostly mechanical in nature, but as we flesh them out you'll see more evocative ones.

For instance, I like the idea of a necromancer theme that alters all of your spells in some minor way. For instance, when you damage a creature with a spell you get some small healing. Or, if you kill a creature with a spell it pops back up as a skeleton or zombie.

If a class says what you can do, a theme says how you can do it. So, the paladin, fighter, or ranger who is a two-weapon duelist looks much different than the character who took the guardian theme and is an expert with his or her shield.

What it boils down to is that the theme does something interesting or fun that rests outside character class. Think of it as the sum expression of your feats. NQ.


12:25
Jeremy Crawford: 
In many ways, backgrounds can be a guide to roleplaying. The commoner fighter and the noble fighter, for instance, are likely to have very different motivations. 

12:25

Comment From August 
In the 'How to Play' section (page 7), it notes that if you attack a creature from whom you are hidden, you gain advantage. That makes sense. But doesn't it make the Thief's 'Ambusher' power completely irrelevant?

12:26
Mearls: 
Since the core math advancements rests only in class, we can afford for themes to be much more flavorful and specialized. 

12:27
Jeremy Crawford: 
One more thing about backgrounds and themes: A background, ultimately, describes who you were before you started adventuring, whereas a theme flavors how you adventure. 

12:27
Mearls: 
There's a subtle point to Ambusher that make make it fairly lame in practice.

When you're hidden, you are no longer hidden the moment that you are no longer obscured from view. So, if you hide and then step out into bright light to stab an orc, the orc sees you as you attack and you lose advantage.

Ambusher negates that - you keep advantage until your turn ends, so you can step out into the light and then attack with it. I think the rule might be a little too fiddly, though. NQ. 


12:28
Mearls: 
Just testing my connection. I think I lost something I tried to post. 

12:28

Comment From SlyFlourish 
Is the plan to give each PC something exciting each level and how do you plan to put that burden across race, class, theme, and background?

12:28

Comment From SlyFlourish 
Is the plan to give each PC something exciting each level and how do you plan to put that burden across race, class, theme, and background?

12:30
Mearls: 
We're definitely aiming for something at each level, and you can expect that to be spread across class and theme. Race does not automatically give you something, but we've talked about race-based themes (dwarven defender) that speak to your race abilities.

So, you could imagine that at each level you get either a class thing, a theme thing, or an improvement to an existing ability. I do believe that your skill bonuses increase at a couple, specific levels, so backgrounds do improve. NQ.


12:32

Comment From Guest 
Will characters only have one theme or background over their character life or will they be able to add more later? What about changing them out as the character changes over the story?

12:33
Jeremy Crawford: 
We expect certain characters to have more than one theme, and we are exploring the concept of advanced themes at higher levels.

12:33
Mearls: 
Background is a level 1 choice that represents what you did before becoming an adventurer, so it doesn't change. However, you can gain access to more skills and traits at higher levels through class and theme.

For themes, you can pick one and advance in it, mix a couple, or build your own by selecting feats a la carte. I also hope that DMs see them as a tool to create custom themes for their campaigns. 


12:34
Jeremy Crawford: 
We have even talked about fighters getting two themes at 1st level. 

12:34
Mearls: 
As far as changing stuff, that is an option we'll include. The first step will likely be, "Talk to your DM", but it makes sense to give people the option to do-over choices. NQ. 

12:34

Comment From ExtendedRest 
Is there a plan to deal with long term wounds? Right now having all health and everything reset after a long rest seems a little too easy. Especially with as little healing options as a Next party have access to on their own right now.

12:36
Jeremy Crawford: 
We're not likely to make long-term wounds a part of the core, but we have discussed providing a wound option for DMs to incorporate into their campaigns. 

12:36
Mearls: 
We erred on the side of letting long rests heal everything, primarily because we were fairly split on how to treat it. Personally, I'd like to see a rule where you get back a certain amount of hit dice each extended rest. It might be based on Con and/or class. I have to admit that the current rule picks at my sense of realism. 

12:37
Mearls: 
To follow-up what Jeremy said, I've toyed with a wound system where you get some effect each time you drop below 0 hp, to represent a bad injury, For instance, broken bones, strained joints, concussions, etc. NQ. 

12:37
Mearls: 
But that would be a rules module. 

12:37
Jeremy Crawford: 
This is another example (the long rest) of us leading with the powerful version of something with the expectation that we might end up dialing it back, based on playtest feedback. 

12:37

Comment From Duskreign 
How exactly does the cone from Burning Hands look? We had a few issues with how it is supposed to look on the grid.

12:38
Jeremy Crawford: 
We will eventually show you how we expect things like cones to look on the grid. 

12:39
Mearls: 
Yeah, we'll figure out if its a template or if we draw it to fit the grid. NQ. 


12:39

Comment From Jon McCarty 
Given the feedback about Save or Die mechanics, I sort of expected we might see something a little different in the bestiary. From what I've seen, it appears that only the Medusa really has such a mechanic, and it appears to be the old sort without anything like an HP threshold. Do we have anything more forgiving coming up? Are Stirges supposed to be a less direct save or die monster?

12:39
Jeremy Crawford: 
As we've mentioned before, the rules do not assume the use of miniatures, but we will provide support for the use of miniatures. Almost everyone in the office likes to use minis at some point during an adventure. 

12:41
Mearls: 
Monsters are still a work in progress. With the medusa, we tried a mechanic where a character can choose to take a risk or avert his eyes and suffer a drawback. The stirge also shows something of a 4e approach, with a condition that gets worse and can scale up. It does have an issue with stacking, though, so the final form might be a save or check each round, rather than a situation where three stirges pounce on and kill a character. NQ. 

12:42

Comment From Stephen 
What was the thought process behind brining electrum back into D&D?

12:43
Jeremy Crawford: 
Bringing electrum pieces back is a nod to the game's history. The coins also have a nice story now; they're remnants of lost kingdoms and fallen empires. 

12:44
Jeremy Crawford: 
In other words, we don't expect electrum pieces to be part of a kingdom's normal economy. They're exotic. 

12:44
Jeremy Crawford: 
Next question! 

12:45

Comment From Guest 
Are critical hits always only maximum damage, i.e. is there every anything additional? Criticals seem noticeably weaker and more boring than in past editions.

12:45
Jeremy Crawford: 
We've playtested more critical hit systems than I can count. :) 

12:45
Mearls: 
This is another area where we kept it simple and will see what kind of feedback we get. NQ.

12:46
Trevor: 
Alright, one last question then we'll let these guys get back to work. 

12:46

Comment From Felix T. Katt 
What has the quality of the playtest feedback been so far? Are there things you would like the community to sound off more or less about?

12:48
Jeremy Crawford: 
Mike is typing a novel.

12:48
Mearls: 
The feedback so far has been good. The big thing is to write about the conditions of the game - did you play it like a regular session, was it just a test of the combat rules, and so on. It also helps to get a sense of what you want and where the game failed to deliver it.

Really, everything is useful. It can range from doing some math and finding something that looks to good to coming across an unclear rule in play. For instance, the questions about the Ambusher ability show us that it isn't clear and might be too fiddly.

The feel is very important, too. Does this feel like D&D? Are you missing rules? Did rules get in the way?

The big thing is to avoid snark and an overly antagonistic attitude. We're human, and it's easy to tune out someone who comes across as a crank.



12:49
Mearls: 
So, basically play the game, read over the rules, ask questions, and post your thoughts. This is a big undertaking - the biggest tabletop gaming play test ever - and we're committed to making it work.

12:50
Mearls: 
Thanks for the questions, everyone! It's great to see what issues are coming up and how the game is playing.

12:50
Jeremy Crawford: 
We also like it when people make a distinction in their feedback between their reading of a rule and their play of it. The two experiences are often quite different from each other.

12:50
Jeremy Crawford: 
Yeah, thanks, everyone! We hope you're enjoying digging into the game. We look forward to your feedback now and in the months ahead.

12:51
Trevor: 
That wraps our this Q&A. Thanks much to everyone for being a part of this and the D&D Next playtest! We'll keep you updated on the upcoming chats and other communications!



D&D Next Chat Today With Mike Mearls & Jeremy Crawford

Wizards of the Coast's Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford will hold an online chat today to discuss the newly opened D&D Next playtest.  The chat will take place from 11:45 to 12:45 PDT, which should be 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. on the East Coast.

For a chance to comment and get your questions answered about D&D Next, or simply to see what the community has to say as well as Mearls and Crawford's responses, go to:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd%2F4news%2Fdndnextchat2


Monday, May 28, 2012

D&D Next: Kobolds Bleed Red

Yesterday, was our first playtest of the Caves of Chaos adventure included with the D&D Next playtest materials.  It is an 11-cave complex that is home to bugbears, owlbears and more.  We followed the smallest set of tracks to the entrance of a cave.  Before long, we spotted a small band of 8 kobolds leaving the cave, so we decided to raid the cave and the kobolds remaining inside.

In true kobold fashion, the cave entrance was rigged with a pit trap. Our rogue spotted it but then activated it while trying to disarm it. Using the simplified long jump rules, we were able to jump over the side of the pit and engage the two kobold guards on the other side.  Before long, the two kobold guards were joined by about 6 more kobolds and it was time to paint the mother red...  red with kobold blood and intestines.  However, the true test of D&D Next combat came later on, when we faced about 10 kobolds in a more open space and the 8 kobold patrol that returned to the cave just as we were finishing this second encounter. These are my observations.


THE GOOD

First, combat is really fast.  As melee, you only have your 2-handed battleaxe (dwarf warrior) or your battlehammer (guardian cleric) to swing.  No plethora of powers like in 4E.  This didn't make the combat feel boring.  Maybe because time wasn't spent pouring over powers, combat felt quicker. You definitely had to wait less between turns.

Second, fighters are deadly.  At 1st level, the provided pregen fighter was swinging a 2-handed battleaxe with a +6 to hit and doing 2d6+7 damage. Every time it crit, it made spaghetti out of the kobold.

Third, a wizard in time saves 5. Our wizard filled all three of his spell slots with burning hands, forsaking shield and sleep.  There's no doubt that the wizard was the MVP of the raid.  Also, the return of actual cones for spell coverage provided not only a dose of realism but actually made you think carefully of character placement and facing to ensure adequate spell coverage.

Fourth, did you say cleric tank?  Yes, I did... and what helluva a job!  While D&D Next does not provide for roles like defender, leader, striker or controller, it appears you may actually choose to go any of those routes through themes and specialization.  Our cleric of Moradin's chainmail and shield gave him the best AC so he stepped into the role of the defender.  He also had the Guardian theme, which gave him the Defender feat.  This feat allows the cleric, as a reaction, to interpose his shield when a creature within 5 feet of him is attacked. This gives the attacker disadvantage, which means the attacker has to roll another d20 and take the lowest roll as his attack roll.  Of the several times he used the Defender feat, only once did the disadvantage result in a missed attack.  This certainly makes the D&D Next defender much weaker than the 4E one, since depending on the 4E defender all attacks that don't target the defender made by a creature in the defender's aura have a -2 penalty to the attack roll, where the defender may get a free AoO against creatures in their aura in certain situations, or where they can absorb the damage inflicted by a creature on a nearby ally.

Fifth, no AoO can equal ouchie for the ranged/casters. You don't need minis for D&D Next. It can be a true throwback to OD&D and that can be huge fun! However, we decided to use minis to truly gauge the difference between D&D Next and 4E combat. No Attacks of Opportunity means you have to be more conscious of character placement to protect your squishy wizard and healer.  It can be quite disconcerting when you see a stream of four kobolds rushing past you on their way to your healer and wizard, and you are unable to smack them as they run past you, or do anything at that precise moment to stop the flow.  I imagine that WotC will provide a feat you can train that would grant you an AoO in certain situations.  Anyway, at third level the guardian cleric gains Hold The Line and the hold person spell, which should help a bit with this. Notwithstanding, no AoO is not necessarily bad. It made combat more fluid, forced our front line to re-evaluate its priorities and forced the rear line to react and improvise in order to hold off the rushing attackers while the fighter and guardian cleric disengaged and rushed back.  I only have one word to describe this new element of hecticness: MUCHO FUN!  (Ok, that's two words.)

Sixth, healing in combat was fluid. I don't think the mechanics of that one have changed much.  It certainly didn't seem alien to me, unlike the breaching kobolds.  Also the combination of a guardian cleric with a healer cleric worked much better than I expected.  The guardian cleric's healing word is a very small heal when compared with the healer cleric's cure light wounds (1d6 versus 1d8 + your magic ability modifier).  However, healing word allows the guardian cleric to make a ranged attack, melee attack or cast a minor spell after casting the healing word.  Fighting 8 and 10 kobolds at a time, it wasn't long before our healer cleric ran out of cure light wounds spells.The guardian cleric's clutch heal allowed him to keep our wizard alive and also inflict damage on the surrounding kobolds, all in the same round!  This truly felt heroic when I did it.

Seventh, the healing kit brings heroes back to the mortal world.  I described this healing mechanic in our blog entry three days ago, so I won't do it again here, but I will tell you how it worked out last night.  Our dwarf fighter, named Dwarfo (hey, give me a break, we were testing WotC's originality in their new rules, not my originality naming characters!), fell below 0 hit point in our last encounter.  He was brought to about 8 hit points in mid fight thanks to a cure light wounds spell.  After the fight, we barred the doorway to the encounter room and took a 10 minute rest.  Using a healing kit, Dwarfo was able to heal himself for 1d12 + his constitution modifier.  However, being a level 1 character, this means that Dwarfo would not be able to benefit again from a healing kit until after a long rest.  This is very different from 4E, where you can have 6 healing surges and use them in different short rests.  Now, Dwarfo must rely on magical heals until tomorrow, when he regains the hit dice used and can benefit from the healing kit again.


THE BAD

I can't say there's anything really bad, right now.  The lack of AoO or other manner for guardian clerics to control enemies before level 3 is new and may be something you just have to get used to.  It can be countered with forethought and proper character positioning and, in any event, it added a helluva lot of fun to the fight when those kobolds ran through a hole in our front line.  At level 3, the guardian cleric can use Hold The Line as a reaction when a creature his size or smaller enters his reach.  This causes the creature to lose the rest of its movement on that turn.  He also gains the hold person spell.  If successful, the target of the spell can be paralyzed or held in place, depending on its hit points, for up to 10 rounds.  However, the creature gets a saving throw on each round so this spell may not be the most reliable form of crowd control.


THE GAMER

As a player, last night's game was a lot of fun.  Combat was quick and fast, which is a nice change from 4E.  However, this may change at higher levels.  Next Sunday, we'll try for creatures a bit more challenging.  We'll see how we like D&D Next then.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

D&D Next: The Caves of Chaos

I think everyone knows about my unabashed love for the Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands.  I even blogged about it a few months back. Considering the number of hits that page still gets, it appears that The Keep on the Borderlands struck a chord with a lot of people. I am betting that most of those learned to play D&D with a box that looked something like the one pictured on the right.  Thus, it was a very pleasant surprise when I saw that the playtest adventure for D&D Next was none other than The Caves of Chaos!

For this playtest, WotC has gone retro and actually reproduced the old school blue and white map for the Caves of Chaos.  The multiple caves complex spanning 60+ rooms has been updated to give playtesters a chance to run their pregen characters through adventures ranging from levels 1 - 3.

It's been over thirty years since I played the Caves of Chaos and am thrilled with the idea of revisiting them.  Particularly, because I will actually be playing a character and not DM'ing the adventure.  Well, considering that I still remember that a medusa, an owlbear and a minotuar were among the dwellers of the Caves of Chaos, maybe I should be more worried than thrilled...

While we appreciate WotC's attempts at going old school.  We're not that hard core.  For our playtetst tomorrow, we'll be going with the beautiful maps made by Weem. I blogged about Weem's maps in February but I won't make you go back to that post for the link to Weem's website.  However, do check Weem's website if you are playing any version/edition of the Caves of Chaos.  Weem provides both keyed and unkeyed maps for DMs and players, and both look stunning!

Friday, May 25, 2012

D&D Next Playtest: How to Play

If you read yesterday's post, you already know the fiasco that became WotC's distribution of the D&D Next playtest materials.  I will not go over it again.  I got my playtest mats close to midnight. Today, I will tell you a little bit about the new rules being tested.  The new rules are short and sweet, and take me back to the late 70s and early 80s, when I was playing OD&D and then AD&D.

THINGS THAT HAVE NOT CHANGED

You still have the traditional six abilities (strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom and charisma) and their modifiers.  I don't think anyone was expecting any changes here.

Checks and Difficulty Class ("DC")  are still there.  Some of them are referred to as 'contests', like when you try to force open a door that a troll is holding shut from the other side.  The player and the troll each make a check and the highest one wins.

Attacks are very much the same.  Roll 1d20, add bonuses and penalties, compare to target's Armor Class ("AC").

Time hasn't changed.  Combat rounds still represent about six seconds each.

Natural 1 is an automatic miss, natural 20 is a critical hit, and critical hits deal the maximum possible damage for the attack.

There are different damage types: slashing, piercing, fire, etc.  Like in 4E, in most occasions the damage type is not important, except when the target of the attack has a vulnerability or resistance to it.

The option of dealing nonlethal damage is still there for melee attacks.

Arcane and divine magic are still here.  There are unconfirmed rumors of "a strange form of power that derives from the mind".


THINGS THAT ARE GONE

Attacks of opportunity ("AoO")  are now gone.  I guess AoO will become one of those "modular" things you and your group can choose to incorporate, or not, into your campaign.  There is also talk of optional abilities you can train that would grant you an AoO, but only once per round instead of against every creature that provoked on AoO in that round.   I have to see this in action before I am fully convinced by it.  However, I am inclined to like it as absence of AoO's should speed up combat a bit.

Fortitude, Reflex and Will are gone. That's because your attacks are against AC.

Concealment is gone, or maybe absorbed by cover.  See below.

Second wind is gone. So are healing surges.

Weapon proficiency bonuses are gone. 


THINGS THAT HAVE CHANGED

I initially thought about naming this section "Things That Are New", but then realized that the title would be misleading.  Point of fact: spell casting.  In D&D Next, most of your spell attacks are against AC.  This is new in comparison to 4E, but it is not new in D&D as this is how OD&D and AD&D used to work.  Thus, things that have "changed" seems more appropriate than things that are "new".

Saving throws and DCs are a little less arbitrary now.  Let's say your wizard casts a burning hands spell in a cone in front of him.  In 4E, this would be an Int vs Reflex attack, with the creatures taking half damage if you missed your roll.  Now, burning hands hits all the creatures in the cone.  However, each creature gets to roll a saving throw.  While the DC for the saving throw is not static, the formula is: 10 + your relevant magic ability modifier (usually Int or Wis).  This is reminiscent of 3 and 3.5, and is one of the things I liked about those versions.

Movement has been simplified. Take jump, for example.  In 4E,you had to roll an Athletics check, divide by ten, consult a table... Now, a long jump with a 10 feet running start is a maximum of your Str score.  Without the running start, half that distance.  A high jump with a 10 feet running start is 3 + your Str modifier.  Without the running start, just your Str modifier (minimum 1). I appreciate not having to fire up my Excel spreadsheet to calculate how far or how high a player can jump.  Climb, Swim, Crawl and Stand Up have been similarly simplified.

I love the way Prone has been modified.  Before, you had to spend your entire move action just to stand up. Now, standing up from a Prone position uses only 5 feet of your total movement. This means you can stand up from a Prone position and move around the battlefield.

Surprise has changed quite a bit.  A creature who is surprised takes a -20 penalty to its initiative.

Concealment is gone, substituted by the all-encompassing Cover.  A creature can enjoy Half Cover (+2 to AC), Three-Quarters Cover (+5 to AC) and Full Cover (cannot be targeted for attacks).  Contrary to 4E, if an ally is between you and a creature, that ally grants the creature Half Cover, or +2 bonus to the creature's AC...  and if your ally is fat enough, he could grant the creature Three-Quarters Cover, lol!  Ah, well, that's how I would rule it, anyway...  but then again, that's why I am Bad DM.

Casting a spell or making a ranged attack while in melee range used to provoke an AoO.  Now, it places you in a disadvantage. Check the "Things That Are New" section below to learn about this new bonus/penalty mechanism.

Resistance and vulnerability are different now.  Before, a creature could have a resistant fire 5, and 5 points would be subtracted from the damage roll.  Now, resistance halves all damage of that type, while vulnerability doubles it.

Death has changed a bit.  In 4E, you die if your hit points drop below your negative bloodied value.  Now, you die when your hit points drop to a negative value equal to your Con score plus your character's level.  A 3rd level fighter with a Con of 17 dies if his hit points drop to 20.

Dying can sometimes be deadlier than in 4E, depending how far below 0 hit points the attack left you, but in most instances should prove less so.  In 4E, you roll 1d20 on each round that you are unconscious (at or below 0 hit points).  If you roll below 10 three times before taking a rest or receiving any healing, you die.  In theory, you could spend a 15-round fight unconscious as long as you never rolled below 10 more than twice.  Now, you roll a DC 10 Con saving throw. On a success, you remain dying but your condition does not worsen.  Three successes and you become stabilized. However, every failure inflicts 1d6 damage on your character.  This damage cannot be reduced in any way.  Depending on how close you are to your death value (Con + lvl), one failure may be all you need to visit the underworld.

Healing has an interesting mechanic.  You can heal yourself during a short rest but you must have a healer's kit.  The healer's kit allows you to spend one or more of your hit dice, up to your maximum hit dice, for healing.  For each hit die you spend, roll the die and add your Con modifier.  The result is the amount of hit points you gain.  Once you have used up all your hit dice, you must spend a long rest to regain them.  For example, the 1st level dwarf fighter pregen included with the playtest mats has a hit dice of 1d12 and, with a Con score of 14, a Con modifier of +2.  During a short rest and if he had a healer's kit, this dwarf fighter would roll 1d12, add +2 to the die roll, and that would be the amount of hit points he would gain.  At 1st level, he only has 1 hit die, so the healer's kit will not avail him again until he takes a long rest and regains his hit die.  Taking a long rest replenishes both your hit dice and your lost hit points, but you can only take one long rest every 24 hours.  A healer's kit has ten uses.

Conditions have pretty much stayed the same, except that those that would impose a penalty/benefit to an attack roll, AC, etc., now grant Advantage/Disadvantage instead.

Vancian magic is back.  Wizards and clerics, the two magic-using classes for the playtest, have a combination of minor spells (cantrips for wizards and orisons for clerics) that can be used as often and whenever they want, and high level spells.  Contrary to cantrips and orisons, higher level spells must be prepared beforehand and assigned a slot of the spell's level or higher.


THINGS THAT ARE NEW

The playtest rules have something I don't recall seeing in earlier editions.  They call it Advantage/Disadvantage.  Basically, when situations give you an edge, like when you attack from a hidden position, you get an advantage.  You can get an advantage to attacks, checks or saving throws.  Having an advantage means that you get to roll a second d20.  You then get to use the highest roll for your result.  In the case of a disadvantage, you must use the lowest roll.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

The D&D Next Playtest Has Begun!

That was the subject of an email I received from Wizards Customer Support at 9:29 a.m.  After clicking on the provided link, I was taken to a login screen to confirm my D&D Insider account.  D&D Insider members get to start the playtest a little bit sooner than non-members.  After loging in and executing the pertinent agreements, you then have to wait 30-60 minutes for another email with the actual download link for the D&D Next playtest materials.

There is one thing I did like about the new D&D Next Playtest Agreement.  The non-disclosure part of it has been seriously relaxed.  You still cannot distribute, display, disseminate, blah, blah, blah...  the actual playtest materials.  However, now you can publicly discuss your thoughts about the materials and your experience with them.  This is great!

As you know, every Sunday my 4E group gets together to play a modified version of the War of the Burning Sky set in the Forgotten Realms.  This Sunday, however, we'll be running the D&D Next playtest materials.  As a result of the revised D&D Next Playtest Agreement, we'll be able to post our comments and opinions on this first round of the playtest.


Update (11:41 p.m.): download link working.  Got my playtest material.

 Update (8:50 p.m.): no solutions from Wizards yet, other than try again later and hope there are less people occupying the servers.  Support thread closed again.  Its been over 10 hours and still can't get my playtest materials from WotC.  That's it for me for tonight.  Am going to some more of The Wind Through the Keyhole.

Update (6:49 p.m.): still no relief in sight for the droves of playtesters who cannot get their playtest materials due to the inadequacy of WotC's IT department. I must admit that this particular post made me laugh like a madman about the whole situation:

Well, after 8 hours of playtesting, I'm disappointed with 5E. The documents are incredibly sparse. It only seems to have one monster called "HTTP Error", and I can't figure out whether 400 is its AC, or its hit points, or what. And there aren't any character pregens, so I can't even see how an encounter might go.

Update (5:15 p.m.): support thread reopened, severs still unavailable for most playtesters, including us.


Update (4:55 p.m.): after 47 pages, Wizards closed the D&D Next Playtest support thread.  Sigh...

Update (4:13 p.m.): Wizards' playtest rollout has been a major FUBAR. The thread where Wizards' inability to provide adequate server/bandwith for the downloads is being discussed has hit over 50,000 views. The few playtesters that have been able to get their materials are attempting to help the majority by placing the playtest materials on other file sharing services like rapidshare, etc.  Of course, this is in violation of the Playtest Agreement. So, right now, we have a race in the Wizards' Community forums, with playtesters posting links to alternate download services and forum moderators erasing those posts almost as soon as they're up. So ridiculous...  6 hours later I still cannot download my playtest materials from the Wizards' servers...

Update (2:59 p.m.): Wizards' servers still cannot put up with the demand. One D&D Insider member put it best a few minutes ago, when he wrote in the Wizards Community forums:

Tried the multitude of links the have been presented between here and Enworld...Sure enough, no luck. Thanks WOTC. This is why Paizo is wrecking you. I guess i'll try back tomorrow.

Update (1:50 p.m.):  After several hours trying and retrying the download links, a good number of people have been unable to get their playtest materials - myself included. It appears that Wizards' servers cannot handle the amount of traffic the public playtest has generated.  This is baffling to me. Considering this wave of playtesting is limited to D&D Insider subscribers, how could Wizards not have foreseen the number of people that would be hitting their servers for their playtest materials? Of course, the online community is nerd-raging in the Wizards community forums, and I think I agree with them. This should not have happened.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Escaping Bloodstone Pass, Part I

Editor's Note: what follows is the latest update of the Rage Against Vaasa campaign, a version of War of the Burning Sky set in the Forgotten Realms. For more information, check out our Rage Against Vaasa page.

It is the third day after the attack and the skies in the afternoon are clearer. Unlike the previous night, no snowfall hampers the Vasaan siege. As the party rests, the refugees within learn of the events occurring outside the safe house. At sunset, an Inquisitor delivered a message to the soldiers at the western gate: Allow a group of Inquisitors into the city or the attacks will be renewed. If the party will see its mission through, they must leave Bloodstone Pass now!

After discussing several options for leaving the city, they conclude that their best option is attempting to secure the aid of Councilman Erdan Menash.  The party still has the orders discovered at the warehouse where they fought the White Wyrms terrorist group and that made reference to an attempt on the Councilman's person.  Maybe they can convince the Councilman that his best bet to stay alive is to leave Bloodstone Pass, with the party as his bodyguards.

In the nobles’ district, in the shadow of the 90-foot statue of the now deceased Emperor Coaltongue, a manor painted vivid green, yellow, and purple stands at the edge of the grand square. Three stories tall, its garish appearance is matched only by the equally garish tabards the Councilman’s guards wear. Despite their appearance, the guards are polite and professional and usher the party into the grand salon.

If the building’s outside seemed odd, the interior of the manor is simply bizarre. Exotic weapons from all corners of the world adorn the walls. Whips, strange orc weapons called urgroshes, double axes, double swords, monk weapons, and even a heavy repeating crossbow designed to look like a porcupine; everything — even the now trite spiked chain — is made more exotic by unorthodox decorations like red and yellow frogs on pommels, or axeheads in the shape of bunnies. The only room that is not strange or unusual is the small chapel to the god of knowledge that is to the right of the grand salon. The party is informed that the councilman is not in; he is in a council meeting, but he will return soon. They are invited to wait until he arrives.

When Erdan arrives he is frustrated, complaining in a high-pitched, wheezing voice about the nincompoops in charge of the city. He does a double take when he sees the party, surprised to have guests.  Erdan asks their names and their business, and was especially interested in details of what happened to them during the attack two nights ago. Erdan, however, seems to have a bad case of ADD.  On more than one occasion, he interrupted party members to give them a tour of his house’s many oddities.

After a very frustrating audience, Erdan refused to abandon Bloodstone Pass.  His duty is with his people and his city. However, he understands the importance of the party's mission - once it was divulged to him - and he will aid them in their escape from Bloodstone Pass.  He also bequeaths the party with gear of his own design.  A pink plate mail armor with flamingo beak helmet, green feathers adorning the waist area and purple feather adornments protruding from the shoulders; a short sword with the blade in the shape of a dolphin; a dagger with a banana-shaped hilt and pommel; and other similarly garish gear.

Erdan also gave them a note for Captain Herreman and directions to his post (located one district to the east, less than a mile away, near a large stable and barracks), begged them to send aid as soon as they can, and bid them good luck. Just before the party exits, he excitedly called them back. “Just one more thing!” he said as he motioned the party towards the chapel.

From underneath the small table of worship items, Erdan pulled out a package about the size of a fist and handed it to the party. He explained that this odd item was discovered in the old dwarven galleries under Bloodstone Pass in a recent excavation, and he can find no explanation of what it is, but the Lyceum might know. He asked that the party deliver it to Dougan Rambausen, a dwarf instructor at the academy. He hoped that an answer to its origin could be found.

This strange blue device is a marvel of dwarven technology. Despite its age, it appears new and shiny. A small door appears on the front with a glass window just above it. Four strangely marked buttons are found on the top and a small plate containing Dwarven runes appears to be instructions, but the dialect is not translatable. A number of holes cover the back and the sides have a fine-mesh grill covering a shallow depression. The technical skill that made this object appears lost in today’s society. It is lightweight and warm to the touch. There are no visible screws to allow one to open the box. A translatable formal text does show what appears to be its name, “Dianoem – Mk IV.”

Friday, May 18, 2012

Halls of Undermountain: A Review

Halls of Undermountain was published by Wizards of the Coast in April 2012.  It revisits the most well known dungeon crawl in the Forgotten Realms lore, this time around updated for 4E.  I got it last week and have spent the past few days pouring over its pages.  These are Bad DM's thoughts on it.


THE GOOD

At a short 96 pages, Halls of Undermountain still packs a lot of punch.  You get a giant poster size mega map of the first floor of the Halls of Undermountain.  The other side of the map is The Yawning Portal.  A 3-floor tavern/inn whose main attraction is a well in the middle of the tap room where adventurers can descend into the Halls of Undermountain.

Original Box Set
You also get two poster size encounter maps, like those you've come to expect from WotC's other published adventures; three adventures for character levels 1 - 5 that can be run independently or as a campaign; and an 80-room dungeon.  A big clarification: these 80 room descriptions are not like the original boxed set, where descriptions were "empty" or "3 trolls - hp 25, 27, 22".  These 80 rooms have full descriptions, including a description for the DM, flavor text for the players, notes on traps, monsters and magic items.

I think there's a lot of crunch here for such a short book.  For example, The Yawning Portal.  Expecting that this will become the party's base of operations, Halls of Undermountain provides good information for several patrons to encourage role playing.  My favorites are The White Lady, Brother Sepulcher and Old Stannoc.  I think the Yawning Portal provides for very flavorful role playing.  Just think of the party's first visit to the tap room, where they find a roomful of patrons drinking and toasting a fresh group of adventurers about to descend into the Halls of Undermountain, while other patrons run around taking and placing bets on how many of those adventurers will actually make it out alive, if any.

The Tap Room at The Yawning Portal



Halls of Undermountain also provides several interesting hooks to get the party into the fray.  Some of them have to do with backstabbing noble politics, others with more common concerns.  Either way, there is good information here for the DM that wants to make a campaign in this locale, including obtaining patronage from a noble family.

The first adventure makes good sense, the encounters are pretty logical and they will not tap into your reserve of incredulity to make them work.  Of course, this also assumes that the DM has taken the time to inform his players about the lore of the Halls of  Undermountain, its legendary traps, history, etc.  The book does a pretty decent job of explaining this, including the post-Spellplague status of this massive and legendary dungeon.

The book also provides very good advice for the starting DM.  For example, it has good suggestions for how to react when the party made a "wrong" turn and headed to an area of the dungeon that you haven't prepared for because you did not expect them to head that way.

One of the first encounters in Halls of Undermountain
Other things I liked about Halls of Undermountain: if you or your players took part in D&D Encounters: The Elder Elemental Eye, there are good suggestions for continuing that adventure here; seven new monsters and magic items; good tie-ins for the upcoming Drow related books; good random tables for the beginning DM for creating dungeon room descriptions; and particularly good for new DMs, the book encourages the DM to change rooms and encounters as he deems necessary to make the game fun for the DM and the players.


THE BAD

Ok, I don't want to sound cheap, but I have to point the obvious: for the suggested retail price of $29.95, I expected more than just 96 pages.  I'll admit the glossy pages and art are beautifully rendered and the book does pack a lot of info.  Still, there's so much more that could have been added...  a few pages about Waterdeep to help the DM that does not own the Forgotten Realms Campaign guide to add flavor to the city; a few of the factions that thrive in Waterdeep and their specific interests in having the adventurers do/find/prevent/hide/discover/destroy something inside the Halls of Undermountain, etc.

Giant Poster Size Map of Level 1
You cannot run this adventure if you do not own the Monster Vault.  No monster stats are provided in this book, except for the new monsters introduced.  Personally, I would have rather seen a complete adventure with complete monster stats so that I do not have to have two books open on the gaming table, or spend time switching between books to prepare the adventure for my players.

Only level 1.  Yep, you only get 1 level of this infamous locale.  You do get a huge 80 room first level and many ideas and suggestion for the lower levels.  But still...

Some of the encounters seemed a little unbalanced.  Take, for example, the trapped corridor which the players encounter soon after their initial descent into the Halls of Undermountain and which may very well be the players first encounter.  I don't want to spoil the encounter for those who might be playing this in the future, but I can see this corridor wiping a Level 1 party somewhat easily.  I understand that WotC wants to portray the deadlines and ingenuity of the legendary traps for which Undermountain is well known.  However, you do not need to kill the party to get the message across.  At least not in the first encounter, lol.


THE GAMER

I haven't played any of the adventures in the Halls of Undermountain.  Yet, they seem a lot of fun and have a lot of different angles to get players interested in what's going on under the city of Waterdeep.  This summer I will be introducing two young teens to D&D and this is the adventure I plan to run with them.  Stay tuned for a follow up review of the actual play through of Halls of Undermountain.