In today’s short DMJ I’d like to share a couple of powers that I created for use in the adventure module I am writing, “Something Sinister in Cespius.”

Both powers resurrect aspects of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 and update them to 4e mechanics. The first takes one of the most powerful feats in 3.5 and turns it into a potent rogue attack power. In 3.5, the Improved Critical feat doubled your critical hit range. When paired with a weapon with a high crit range such as a rapier, a character could score a critical hit one-quarter of the time. The critical hit mechanic was updated for simplicity in 4e and, sadly, Improved Critical became a thing of the past. Well, mourn no longer — Improved Critical is back in the game. Well, at least it’s back in my game.

In 3.5 I played a wizard. I became accustomed to slinging spells and laying waste to my enemies with an array of potent spells. One spell in particular, while not the most powerful in my arsenal, was always one of my favorites based on concept alone.

Defenestration (throwing people out of high windows) was a popular form of execution in medieval Prague, and the 3.5 spell defenestrating Sphere allowed wizards to play the executioner. The spell created a sphere of wind that threw enemies into the air (and out windows if they were present). The spell was fairly complicated, forcing players to determine falling damage and the random location where the enemy landed. I’ve simplified the damage, and themed the spell for the wizard’s controller roll with the slide effect. I’ve also tried to incorporate the automatic defenestration of the 3.5 spell by giving enemies a penalty to their saving throw to avoid being slid over an edge.

These are first drafts and I’d love feedback on balance and level appropriateness. Feel free to use these powers in your game and please leave suggestions in the comments.

A few posts ago I shared an illustration of a female fighter I was in the middle of. In this post I’d like to show how the pencil drawing turned out, then give a couple of tips on how to color a pencil drawing in Photoshop for a nice cartoony result.

Starting with the finished, shaded pencil drawing, use the magnetic lasso tool to mask off the character you wish to color.  Go to “Select>Save Selection” so you can easily retrieve your mask if you accidentally de-select it. For more precise control I sometimes make a separate mask for each color, but on this drawing I simply masked off the outline and carefully colored the interior colors. Here is the fully shaded illustrating with the selection mask applied.

An optional step to create a nicer gradient in the shading and fade some of the sharper pencil lines is to apply a blur filter. Duplicate the layer to preserve the original image. At this point I also painted everything outside the mask white (not mandatory, but I like the cleanness). Now, with you pencil drawing selected, go to “Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur” and apply with a radius of 1 to 2. This not only smudges your pencil lines, it helps take out any white area left in the drawing. Pure white won’t apply tone to the color layer and will remain pure white in the final illustration.

Now create a new layer and change the layer type to “Color.” As you apply your color to this layer, the blurred pencil drawing will create the tone. In areas where the color isn’t as saturated as I’d like, or in places I need some more shading, I use the burn tool on the blurred layer. Here is what the color layer looks like alone and with the values applied with the blurred layer. Notice that the values in the “color” layer are much more saturated than on the combined illustration. Keep this in mind when you are shading your illustration with pencil before scanning it into Photoshop.

And here is the final version. I’m really looking forward to putting this on the character sheets. I’ll post the other classes as I finish them. In the mean time, please feel free to ask questions or share your own work in the comments section.

As I continue to work on my 4e adventure mod “Something Sinister in Cespius,” I have completed fleshing out the town in which the adventure is set. I still need to stat up the NPCs and build the encounters, but having the setting fully realized is a nice starting point. Following is a list of key locations in the town, along with a short description and who might be found in each place. A town map is coming soon.

Key Locations

1. The Crumbled Keep:  Perched atop the low hill that rises north of town is a crumbled keep, its weathered stones pocked by some powerful caustic substance. One of the towers has been restored and is the residence of the Lady of the town, Raspha Apocola.  When Raspha Apocola isn’t out adventuring or at Ballard’s Brewhouse, she can usually be found lounging in the restored section of the old crumbled keep. Regular NPCs: Raspha Apocola
2. The Constable’s Barracks: A long low building runs along one side of the parade ground at the base of the hill to the north of town. Guards drill basic maneuvers with their pole arms, overseen by a grizzled old veteran who sporadically barks commands and reprimands.   Kaleb Bolbeck commands the twenty regular constables who live in the barracks. He also oversees the training of 100 additional irregular volunteers.
3. Ballard’s Brewhouse:  The smell of hops and boiling wort hangs in the air around the two story brewery leaning over the river that winds through town. A stone hops drying kiln on one side of the building belches bitter smoke skyward. Bolder and Bradin Ballard run the local brewery.  The two dwarf brothers left their ancestral home to bring their exquisite ales to the surface-dwellers.  Bolder, the brew-master, is short of words and spends most of his time in back tending the casks of ale. Ballard holds down the front, keeping the taps and conversation flowing in the common room.   Regular NPCs: Raspha Apocola (evenings), Bolder and Bradin Ballard, Kaleb Bolbec (evenings), Hogrin Hammerhand (evenings)
4. The Fortnight:  A rambling one story building, the Fortnight is the biggest inn in Cespius, and the most popular spot for a bit of good company outside of Ballard’s Brewhouse. Phaydra, the proprietor of the Fortnight, offers hearty meals (2sp) as well as ale from Ballard’s Brewhouse (1sp). A variety of rooms are available for anywhere from 5sp (communal bunk) to 2gp (luxury suite).  Regular NPCs: Phaydra, Romanel (evenings), Cephlin (evenings)
5. Fedwick’s Outfitting: A small warehouse on the north side of the market square bares a weathered sign, its pealing blue paint labels the building as Fedwick’s Outfitting. The smell of oil, leather and grain drifts through the darkened opening large sliding door. Fedwick is a retired half-elven farmer. His shop supplies the local farms with tools, equipment and seeds. He also has some mundane adventuring gear. Regular NPCs: Fedwick Farhaven
6. Romanel’s Curious Curios: The tall crooked tower on the western edge of town seems poised to fall over at any moment. Despite it’s dangerous appearance, the building is obviously occupied. Romanel the old elven wizard lives in the upper floors of the tower and keeps a shop of exotic magical wonders and weapons on the ground level. The precarious appearance of his tower is more of an advertisement than anything. Magic stronger than any mortar keeps the tower from toppling. Romanel is a former adventuring companion of Raspha’s and remains fiercely loyal her. Regular NPCs: Romanel
7. Shrine of Avandra: This small stone structure just off the main road into town houses an effigy of Avandra. The marble figure is wrapped in scraps of cloth and leather, left as offering by travelers passing through town. A stone bowl at her feet burns incense and stubs of candles clutter the stone floor.
8. Temple of the Harvest: One of the few stone buildings in town, the Temple of the Harvest rises on the eastern side of the market square, the golden sun of Pelor gleaming on its steeple. Offerings of grain and small casks of ale clutter an alter just inside the open doors.                                           Cephlin, a cleric of Pelor, serves the population of Cespius by blessing crops and farm tools. The church stores the grain and ale offerings left by the pious farmers in a warehouse in case of a bad harvest year. He is also able to perform rituals for troubled adventurers. Regular NPCs: Cephlin
9. Smithy: The sound of hammer on anvil rings in the air and the smell of fire and iron fill your nostrils. Farm tools, horseshoes and a few pieces of weaponry and armor hang from hooks or lean against the walls of the blazing forge. A powerful man pounds a red-hot ingot with practiced blows. Hogrin Hammerhand, the human blacksmith, does a fair trade repairing damaged farm equipment and shodding horses, but relishes the opportunity to show his craft with the rare commission for a fine suit of armor or a masterwork blade. Regular NPCs: Hogrin Hammerhand
10. Market Square: The two main streets that cross Cespius meet in the middle of town and form a large square. On weekends, farmers set up stalls to vend their harvest and local craftsmen sell their goods. On Market days, many items that would not normally be available to PCs can be found in Cespius as many merchants bring their goods to town only on these days. Any of the regular NPCs might be found in the market square on a market day.

Several weeks ago I promised a post about the monsters of Ismia and I’m here to deliver. In the last GDD I discussed resource collection and management as a central part of questing in the world of Ismia, but what is a quest without its fair dose of beasties. Many quests and locations in the game require the player to attempt a combat. The main combat mechanic has remained fairly unchanged since the game’s inception. Every monster has a level and most have bonuses or penalties based on who or where they are fighting. Characters also have levels and bonuses based on their training and equipment. Both character and monster roll some dice, add the results to their modified levels and the higher result wins.

The system worked, but after the first play test it was apparent that it needed some serious tweaking. When a player drew a level appropriate monster from the monster deck combat was exciting and suspenseful, but it was much more common to draw a monster that was either impossible to defeat or impossible to lose against. We tried a few solutions such as monster hordes where if you drew too low-level a monster you would have to fight two or three of them, but the new rules were clunky and didn’t solve all the problems. Finally we came to the realization that it wasn’t the rules of combat that were flawed but the organization of the monsters. I separated all the monsters by level into three stacks and decided that characters from level 1 to 3 would draw from the low-level “Tier 1″ stack, levels 4-6 draw from “Tier 2″ and the highest level characters, levels 7-10, draw from the vicious “Tier 3″ deck.

I also decided that rolling one die just wasn’t enough. The more dice you roll at once, the more predictable the results become (7 being the most common result on 2d6). More dice also increased the range of defeat-able monsters at any particular level. In the current iteration of the rules, players always roll 2d6 before modification by powers and cards, while monsters roll 1d6 per tier.

The upshot has been much more exciting combats with more predictable results. Most monsters are surmountable but not without a good deal of sweat, and combats that are so easy you don’t bother rolling are a thing of the past (or at least a thing of the previous tier). Most importantly, combat has gone from being something you had to but didn’t really want to do to the most exciting aspect of the game, as it should be.

P.S. Thank you to the many anonymous artists in google images who unknowingly provided placeholder artwork for my prototype. I am working on illustrating the game but  haven’t had time for all the monsters.

So most of the people who read this blog know that I have written a novel; a novel that I feel is pretty darn good, maybe good enough to get published. The problem is, after submitting to numerous agents and editors, it hasn’t been picked up for representation or even consideration.  I have spent the greater part of the last two years either rewriting the manuscript or bemoaning the fact that it hasn’t gotten any attention. Basically doing anything but picking myself up and moving on to the next novel, as a writer should. Now, two years after completing the first draft and several rewrites later, I think I have the distance from the work required to see what it truly is: my most brilliant failure.

Now don’t think I am getting down on myself or fishing for reassurance. This minor epiphany came as I was listening to a program about a Dutch organization called the Institute of Brilliant Failures. The group studies the effects of failure and bankruptcy on businesspeople.  Most businesspeople, after going through the heartbreak and trauma of their crumbling dreams, give up on starting their own business and never try again. However, the Institute of Brilliant Failures has found that businesspeople who go through the collapse of their first business and persevere in the business world to start another venture are much more successful the second time around, having learned from the mistakes of their failure.

It was an amazing act of perseverance to simply write my first novel, and while writing it I was confident that it would be published right away. I learned so much as a writer during the five years I spent composing the story: about plot, character, and about my own writing process. I didn’t realize that when the writing stopped the learning continued. I think the greatest lesson my novel can teach me is to keep trying, to pick myself up and take a crack at another novel. It is possible that the best thing for my career as a novelist is not publishing my first manuscript, and I think the Institute of Brilliant Failures would agree.

After lurking at the top of my Gamefly queue for several months, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood finally slipped through the mail slot a few days ago. AC: Brotherhood is the third installment of the Assassin’s Creed franchise which has been both capitalizing on and contributing to the internet phenomena of parkour since 2007. For those unfamiliar with parkour/freerunning, they are sports in which one attempts to get from point A to point B as quickly, fluidly and creatively as possible; they are also activities in which we see that Darwinism is still alive and well in the human species. While it’s easy to watch a couple of videos and marvel at the lunacy of human beings, I must admit that after playing AC: Brotherhood for a few days, it’s hard to resist the temptation to go over buildings instead of around them. This is a tribute to the stunning graphics and immersive game play that have become a hallmark of the series; a series which has become progressively better and more interesting with each new addition (a quality that is all too rare these days).

If the first Assassin’s Creed laid the groundwork with an intriguing story, intricate terrain traversal and  strike-from-behind assassinations, Brotherhood has realized the genre’s potential, eliminating the few week points of its predecessors (namely repetitive assignments and all-too-easy accidental deaths) while offering so much more. Rome circa 1500 is a sandbox full of buildings to renovate,  treasure to find, citizens to save and corrupt politicians to kill.  The coolest addition in Brotherhood is the ability to recruit and train assassins as you slowly prepare an army to take down the reviled Borgia.  There are still plenty of the assassination contracts and wall climbing that made the earlier games feel a little rote, but the abundance and diversity of other activities make gameplay anything but routine.

Before playing the game I read some reviews that panned the game as fleshed out DLC whose only real worth was the online play content.  I don’t know what those reviewers were smoking, but I don’t want any; it would hinder my ability to follow the well written and engrossing plot (and I’d probably fall off a building). In the short time I’ve had the game, I’ve logged more hours than I care to publicly admit and I’m still only 30% through the story. Granted I’m not in any hurry to finish.  I’m more than happy leaping from rooftop to rooftop, training new assassins and bringing stealthy justice to corrupt officials.

RARscore: Solid. 9.0

After play testing Heroes of Ismia last week, my friend requested that I change the Fighter character sheet illustration from the cliche male dwarf fighter to a human female. Here is the result of that conversation.  There’s still some work to be done in detail and shading especially in the armor. I think the next female fighter I illustrate will have more realistic armor.  While I avoid resorting to drawing the chainmail bikini at all times, I find it difficult as a male to draw full armor on my female models… A weakness I’ll have to address as I further illustrate “Heroes of Ismia.”

Fifty years ago, Cespius was a ghost town and its environs were a desolate waste, scoured by a ravenous black dragon lairing in the crumbled keep that dominated countryside. Just why Raspha Apocola, an elven paladin of Avandra, came to Cespius or how she slew the dragon depends on who is telling the tale but her suit of finely wrought black dragon scale armor is evidence that there is at lease a grain truth to all the tales.

After slaying the dragon, Raspha began repairs on a section of the ruined keep and claimed it as her home. With the dragon vanquished and a powerful warden in the keep, farmers soon returned to the fertile countryside and the merchants and commerce followed soon after. A small town sprouted at the foot of the keep seemingly overnight, with much of the new construction paid for in dragon’s gold.

Today Cespius is a bustling farm town, famous for its fertile fields, quality ale, and benevolent ruler.

Cespius

A small farming community, overlooked by a crumbling keep and surrounded by fields of wheat and barley.

Population: 450 in the town proper, with another 100 living on surrounding farms who consider Cespius their home.

Demographics: Mostly humans and Halflings with some elves and half-elves.  Two dwarves run the celebrated local brewery. No eladrin or dragonborn have settled permanently.

Government: Raspha Apocola is widely considered the ruler of the town, but she shuns any title that would name her so. Still, she is responsible for organizing the town’s defenses and is often called upon to rule on local disputes.

Defense: The town’s most prominent defense is the Lady Raspha Apocola herself (see stat block). Kaleb Bolbeck is responsible for training the town militia and commands a local guard of 20 regular constables with an additional 100 irregulars available at need.

Inns and Taverns: Ballard’s Brewhouse is the famous brewery and the most popular meeting spot for locals and travelers alike; The Fortnight offers lodging and hearty meals to travelers.

Supplies and Equipment: Fedwick’s Outfitting is the local supplier of farming equipment and can provide some adventuring gear. Romanel’s Curious Curios has numerous minor magic items.

Religion: Shrine of Avandra; Temple of the Harvest (Pelor)

While I was standing there, trying to find my street on the faded map of the city through the misty glass, a bus pulled up behind me with a rattle and a startling hiss. It stopped there and waited. At first, I didn’t turn around; I just kept staring as hard as I could at that white, wrinkled paper, trying to burn a hole through the frosted glass with my eyes. But then the driver opened the doors, and I was bathed in this warm light.

Suddenly, I couldn’t stand the city anymore; I couldn’t stand the fog or the neon lights, and I couldn’t stand the two-fifty for a cup of tea; I couldn’t stand the fake store windows with the mannequins and the empty gift boxes.

I turned around and looked up at the driver. He was just sitting there smiling, waiting, like he knew I was gonna get on. So I did, without even looking at where the bus was going. I brushed the fog off my jacket and out of my hair and stepped into the soft, warm light.

I took out my wallet to pay the driver, but all I had in it was the white paper flower. I showed the driver my empty wallet and he told me not to worry about it this time. I went halfway to the back of the bus and sat down, with my damp pea coat on and everything. I sat there holding the white paper flower with that warm feeling all inside my body.

When we crossed the bridge a minute ago, it looked like the fog might break up. I’m still not sure where I’m going, but it doesn’t really matter. Maybe I’ll go find that little girl and take her ice skating or something; I don’t really know. I just know that this white paper flower has six petals and a leaf, and that the little girl was right, nobody should have to feel lonely. And I don’t. I just feel warm, like I haven’t felt in a long time. The driver turned out the lights on the bus a while back, so I can’t really see the drawing of the flower. I can only feel the paper, soft from weeks in my wallet, but I don’t need the light to see the flower anymore. It’s inside me, keeping me warm.

Looking out the window now, I notice the fog really has lifted. I can see stars. For the first time since moving to the city, I can see stars between stars.

© Reed A Raymond 2011

I have been DMing for quite some time now.  I’ve created campaign worlds, and run both pre-published mods and elaborate adventures lovingly crafted by my own hand.  To date, these worlds and adventures have existed solely in my sloppy, disorganized notes and later in the minds of my players. That all changes now.

I will use my Dungeon Master’s Journal to record and share my new mini-adventure tentatively (and alliteratively) titled “Something Sinister in Cespius.” The whole adventure will be released on my site in single encounter chunks, including all the handy maps and information you find in those fancy WotC pre-pub mods. I am also looking forward to fleshing out the little village of Cespius, a town that my very first character (back in ADnD2) became the leader of in her retirement.  You can expect she will feature in the adventure in some fashion.

I’ll detail prominent NPCs and locations in the town, as well as some DM-only intrigue and schemes to help you fit the village nicely into any setting, or possibly spawn an entire campaign!

The adventure will be much more than simply a well fleshed-out village for your campaign setting and a couple random encounters, though.  It will also include new items, powers, monsters and even a new disease all created by yours truly. But enough about what I am going to do in the future, let’s get down to what the adventure will be about.

Adventure Synopsis: The heroes will find themselves in the village of Cespius by means of a provided hook or by the DM’s own contriving. Not long after the heroes arrive, terrible things begin to happen. Several villagers disappear, then others become ill with a mysterious disease.  Events take a ghastly turn when the sickened villagers lose their minds and begin to viciously attack the heroes and other townsfolk.  The adventurers must get to the bottom of the mysterious illness, while avoiding the contagion themselves and dealing with the villager’s suspicions that the events were triggered by the heroes themselves.  Their investigation will eventually reveal the sinister plot of a maniacal magi who bound a Plague Demon in his mad quest for power.  In the climactic battle, the heroes must face the wizard, bolstered by his bound demon, and defeat him without unleashing the powerful fiend upon the town itself!

It has long been a goal of mine to publish an adventure with Wizards of the Coast and this might be a good starting point. Even if it doesn’t see its way into the annals of DDI, it will be fun to share this setting with the D&D community through my site.  I look forward to feedback on the town and encounters as I post them.