everburning

We finally ran it. A few of us got together this weekend to play 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons. We wanted to give the game a fair shake so we played strictly by the rules. (We’ve got so many house rules for DnD that this was almost a challenge, heh.) We also played the adventure in the back of the Dungeons Masters guide as that seemed like a good way to start.

I was Tolvan an Eladrin Rogue. We also had a Dragonborn Warlord, a Dwarven Figher and a Tiefling Warlock. One character short of a full party but we scaled the monsters down as needed. As I mentioned, this was a learning game, there were a lot of combat rules referenced.

So, how did it go? The campaign went well. We accomplished the required quests (although I was an hour late leaving to visit my parents.) I think we got a feel for the game played with a strict adherence to the rules and I think we all got a feel on what we thought of 4th edition.

Now, I know you’re all chomping at the bit to know what I think but, one more interlude. These comments are based on playing with the real rules. Like I said, we never play with the real rules as we’ve house-ruled everything. We’re going to give this another shake at some point to see how it feels with our custom changes attached.

That aside, I was a little disappointed in how the game played. It has been mentioned in several places that 4th gives DnD an feel similar to a massively multiplayer online game. I’d have to agree with this statement. They’ve done a lot of work to simplify things (which, in some cases, makes it more convoluted) and changed the game a lot to cater to new players. Some of this served more to distract me then to add to the game.

What did I like? Well, I like the new skill combinations. Makes everything a lot simpler and makes a lot of sense. The idea that you just have Perception instead of Search, Spot, Listen and who knows what else is a good abstraction. The fact that you’re either Trained or Un-Trained I’m not so hot on. As well, the fact that you can only learn new skills though a feat? What the duse? (Yes, I know, re-training, but we’ll get to that.) I think the concept of skill points and ranks wasn’t too bad. It let me put points into things that aren’t necessarily combat related (yes, one of my characters has ranks in profession sailing) and the removal of the craft related skills takes something away from the game.

Powers are an interesting one. I’m on the fence about these. I like the idea, I think they add flavor to the game. The fact that I have to make every attack use a power or I’m gimped drives me up the wall. Whatever happened to good old fashioned, I’m hitting that guy? Now it’s I’m using my Sly Flourish power to hit that guy. Damn it, sometimes I just want to hit things and I don’t want to get gimped for it. (I’m also a little bitter in that every time I used my Daily power I missed so it didn’t have any effect.) The other side of powers that I both like and dislike is how they work. Your power will tell you what to roll and what’s used for defense against the power. Say, Dexterity vs Reflex. This is good, this is kinda cool. This gives me a way to hit the fighter with an armor class of 21 but a Reflex save of 10. This also kinda sucks in that it’s a pain in the ass to remember what modifiers you’re adding and what the defense is for that role.

What’s the deal with feats? There aren’t very many and even when you dig into them so many are class specific that there is a very small pool to choose from.

I said I’d get to it, so here we go, re-training. Similar to powers I both like and dislike re-training. Why is it good? Well, there have been several occasions where I get high enough level, pick a prestige class (yes, yes, 3.5 reference but it’s my reference point) and realize I’m missing a simple skill pre-requisite. I then have to wait until I’ve got enough skill points I can use to raise that skill. This always kinda sucks. (I guess if I was really anal I would plan out my character from first to 30th before I start to play but I’m just too lazy. I like the more random approach.)

In this situation re-training would be helpful as I can move the training from a more minor skill into the needed skill.

This also doesn’t make any sense. What, I magically wake up one day and forget about Religion and learn everything there is to know about Nature? Same argument for feats. What, I suddenly forget how to stab someone in the back so my Sneak Attack damage has decreased?

Re-training does make sense for powers as I still think of them similar to spells.

Speaking of spells, personally, I think wizards got gimped. Sure, they get twice as many powers but they still have to pick the same number as everyone else at the start of the day, they just have a wider selection. You can’t memorize the same spell twice, so I can’t cast fly on two characters in the same day? Suck.

As Deacon said, I can’t play this game, there’s no 10 foot pole.

Concluding, I’m going to give 4e another shake. We’ll see what happens when we house rule a few things. I’m leaning towards preferring 3.5 but who knows.

I’m sure you’ve all heard about the Wanted movie that’s come out in recent weeks. I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about the comic that the movie is kinda, sorta, maybe, if you squint enough, based upon.

I picked this one up while on my hunt for the Watchmen last week. It’s pretty short, so I started reading it on the subway on the way home. I finished it off this weekend.

Wanted is excellent. The writing, art and execution are all very well done. Although, if you don’t like mature content, I’d say skip this one.

Wanted is a story about villains. Super-villains to be exact. It’s the story of one mans rise from the drudgery of modern day to being the worlds greatest killer. There are a lot of little references and nods towards real comic book heros and villains but none are mentioned straight out.

I really liked the concept for this book and I’ve always had a soft spot for the villain as the hero (see Villains by Necessity for a great villain as hero novel) so this book appealed to me.

I’ve you’ve read a few graphic novels, maybe cut your teeth on some Preacher, give Wanted a go. You maybe pleasantly surprised. Or, you’ll throw the book across the room, burn it and say 100 Hail Marys to purge yourself after.

One or the other.

Before the showing of Batman was a preview for Watchmen. Sweet monkeys petunia it looks awesome. This, of course, prompted me to re-read my copy of the Watchmen. Which, in turn, has been more difficult then you’d think.

It seems that at some point in the past, I loaned my copy of Watchmen to someone. I have no idea who. I have no idea how to get it back. Obvious solution, buy a new copy. (If you, gentle reader, are in possession of said copy, merry birthday, jerk.)

Anyway, it seems I’m not the only person attempting to procure the Watchmen now that the trailer has been released. While downtown enjoying the magic meat kingdom of Korean Bar-B-Que Stacy and I wandered over to the Silver Snail. Sadly, closed. Bugger.

Ok, no problem, Chapters carries comics, up to the Eaton Center. Sadly, sold out. Bugger. Ok, no problem, The Worlds Biggest Bookstore is just two blocks north. Sadly, sold out. Bugger. That’s ok, I have to come downtown tomorrow anyway.

Next day, downtown, ok, Harry Tarantula, gaming and comic shop. Sadly, sold out. Bugger. Fine, back to the Snail. Sadly, sold out. Bugger. (At this point I realize I’ve walked past Grey Region, another comic shop, twice and didn’t think to stop in.)

In desperation, Pages an independent bookstore. Ah, finally, one copy remaining. Watchmen I’m watching you.

On the plus side, I also got a copy of Wanted which is the comic the new movie is based on but in the comic everyone is evil. How can you go wrong?

As an amusing aside, I think I went to more places trying to buy the Watchmen then Stacy and I did buying a car. Stacy thinks I have a problem.

I’ve been a big fan of Chuck Palahniuk for a while now having read through Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Rant and a few of his other books. So, it was with great expectations that I cracked open my copy of Snuff.

Snuff is a pretty quick read. I finished most of it on the flight to Seattle, I think I had about 20 pages left when I landed to get through. The book felt really similar to Rant in terms of how it was written and the way the story is presented.

Which was good, as I like the way Rant was written, heh. Snuff was good, it’s the typical tale of a woman trying to set the world gang bang record. Wholesome sunday reading at its best. There are a few twists and turns but the story is pretty straight forward.

I’d say, if you liked Palahniuk’s other works, you’ll probably like this one so go give it a read.

I’ve fallen a bit behind in recent months with the blog. Surprise surprise. Anyway, I’ve been traveling back and forth to Seattle a few times in the intervening days and have had a chance to consume some media. Instead of individual posts I’m just going to lump it all together.

First up, I purchased a copy of RubyCocoa in beta book form. I read through what’s currently available in about a day. Well written, easy to follow and a really interesting topic. I’m waiting impatiently for the next beta release so I can get some more of that Ruby + Cocoa goodness. (Well, besides doing a bit of ruby cocoa programming when I get time.)

Next up, for those long flights, I discovered the magic of screencasts. I purchased three series of these by The Pragmatic Programmers. The list of all screen casts can be found in their Screencasts section.

I grabbed the current videos for: Creating a compelling interface with core animation, Everyday Active Record and The Ruby object model and meta-programming.

As I suspected, it’s best to watch from the start even if you know the stuff they’re talking about. Makes it easier to follow along with the examples in the later versions. All three of these series are well written, well produced and, overall, well done. I’m going to be keeping up with them as they go along.

Wizards released Dragon #364 and Dungeon #155 as PDF downloads. I’d read a few of the articles over the month but I must say, both of these downloads were really well done. Lots of interesting information, well laid out, well written. Both turned out to be really good reads.

In terms of movies, I managed to keep my plane movie time down. One full length and ten minutes of another. The full length was the new Bank Job movie. This one was actually pretty good, Stacy would probably hate it, but it’s good for a few hours on an airplane. The second was 10,000 BC. I started this on a lark and thankfully the plane was landing 10 minutes later so I didn’t have to watch any more. Sweet god, talk about wooden. The mammoths looked cool, but that’s about all I’ll give it.