Figurines of Wondrous Power: Allies and Pets

June 24th, 2011

alt textDid you know there are 24 figurines of wondrous power in the D&D game right now?  Ever wanted to play with them but found their benefits unclear and activation or control a bit wanting?  How about a new way to use figurines altogether: as full DMG2-style party companion characters?  You’ve come to the right place!

Figurines of wondrous power have been classic and exciting magical D&D treasures for years.  Yet these enchanted animal and beast statuettes feel a little more clunky in their execution in 4e.  Here are some ideas to better appreciate, include and improve figurines of wondrous power in your game.

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The Heart and Soul of D&D

June 22nd, 2011

alt textIt’s not just about the mechanics!  

In this week’s Legends and Lore article, Mike Mearls talks about and even lists out the Core of D&D, and it inspired an immediate thought in me, which I promptly posted as feedback in the comments section:

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Backup Healing: Endurance & Heal

June 20th, 2011

alt textMuch like a good backup weapon, it’s important to have some backup healing up your sleeve that goes beyond the obvious abilities, magic items and party healer. 

Here’s a selection of some of the best skill powers in the game to help you with just that.  This article focuses on skill powers for backup healing because every single character potentially has access to them, regardless of class or race, just by training in them via class skill list or background selections.

Training in either Endurance and Heal is already a natural advantage when it comes to things like surviving harsh elements, weathering and treating the ravages of disease, and getting your fallen allies up and right back into the fray.

Want to further enhance your and your party’s toughness and healing reserves?  Choose one or more of these excellent skill powers:

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Milestone: 50 D&D Articles

June 17th, 2011

Wednesday’s Global Encounter Elements proudly marked the 50th D&D article on Leonine Roar! 

First and foremost, I would like to thank all of you who read and subscribe to Leonine Roar, as well as all of you who follow me and the site on Twitter.  I love that you keep coming back for quality articles and ideas on how to improve and amp up your D&D game, whether you play, DM, or like me, do both. 

I also love hearing from you as much as I love writing about, playing and DM’ing D&D, so I want to thank every one of you for your fantastic comments and kind feedback since Leonine Roar launched in February.  Loyal readers and fans like you are worth your weight in platinum!  Thank you so much for being part of Leonine Roar.

Miss an article?  An apropros Leonine 12 follows:  

All-Time Most Popular Posts

1. Top 12 Ways to Stop Sounding So Damn Metagamey – also published in Johnn Four’s Roleplaying Tips Newsletter # 519 in May.  Thanks again, Johnn!

2. Attack the Darkness: Roll a d6!

3. Fight or Flight? Run Away!

4. Attack With Your Social Skills!

5. New Players and Playgroups: What to Buy

6. Encouraging Roleplay: 3 Easy Tips

But wait, there’s more!

7. Monster Complexity and Selection

8. Fight the Power… Groups!

9. The Leonine 12: D&D’s Top Blogs and Creative Minds – the original Leonine 12 list!

10. D&D4e: What Works and What Doesn’t Work for DMs

11. Conan the Barbarian

12. Guys, Girls & Minions

And now that I’ve earned this shiny new action point, here’s to fifty more posts!  See you at 100!

Global Encounter Elements

June 15th, 2011

alt textThe encounter status check between combat rounds is more than just a great place to see if parlay or retreat is a smart option for either side, it’s also an excellent place to include all of an encounter’s story and environmental triggers, all in one convenient, easier-to-remember and more smoothly executable place.

Running and resolving global components between rounds is more advantageous than forcing all those rules per turn, which tends to slow all turns down.  

Instead, have everyone make an acrobatics check on their turn to avoid falling down and go sliding ten feet across a storm-tossed ship deck on their turn.  Otherwise, resolving this effect on each turn means further complicating and extending turns and all the decisions a player already has to make.  Handle that event globally instead, as if the storm had its own initiative, at the start of each round. 

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What’s Your Poison?

June 13th, 2011

alt textPoison – a classic debilitator and killer, found throughout all editions of Dungeons & Dragons.  Seventeen colorful and insidious poisons dot the D&D 4e landscape, with all but one – the truly vicious Pit Toxin – found throughout heroic and paragon level play. 

However, in 4e, the there are only brief rules and advice in the DMG on how to best include poisons in your games, whether actively as a player or as part of encounters or adventures as the DM. 

Looking for some ideas?  Here are some considerations for poison use in your very next game – from attacks and encounters to entire adventures.

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Magic Items: Consumables and Transmutes

June 10th, 2011

alt textStill wrestling with consumable usage in your games?  Not sure they’re worth the trouble, time or money?  What if there was a way to keep ‘old’ ones relevant as you level?

With truckloads of consumables available, their inherent qualities and drawbacks, and plenty of options already for a PC to choose from on their character sheet, it’s not that surprising consumables might see less play in 4e than ever before.  Monetary cost, strategic use, action cost, and outleveling all factor into wanting or not wanting consumables. 

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True Encounter Difficulty: Challenge Your Players

June 8th, 2011

alt textIn reading and eating up Popcorn, I’ve done what D&D ‘DM to the Stars’ Chris Perkins does on the fly before, to make an encounter more challenging and “cool,” though I also knew it wasn’t “by-the-book” either at the time.  I have to say, I often feel a bit conflicted when I do this, even though the encounter definitely becomes more engaging for everyone, DM included.

Thing is, especially with the overlong 60 minute combat encounter average time in D&D, you may end up having little room for multiple combats –  never mind anything else core to D&D like exploration and roleplay opportunities – in a fairly typical 3-4 hour D&D session.  And so it’s usually a good idea to get in at least one engaging and challenging combat in the session at some point. 

So if a fight starts going south fast into “Easy and Boring Land” – for both players and the DM – why shouldn’t the DM make a few tweaks on the fly?

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Magic Items: Surprise Me

June 6th, 2011

alt textWish lists are new to D&D in 4th edition, representing a bridge between player or character (or both) tastes or desires and DM prep and magic item inclusion.  Keep in mind there are alternatives to how you use and communicate your wish lists with pros and cons for each approach. 

And whatever approach you use for your wish lists, do your part to promote the classic wonder of magic items – flesh them out to make them look, sound and feel truly magical!

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Faster Combat: Encounter Triggers Checklist

June 3rd, 2011

alt textWish you had less to track during D&D 4e combat encounters, especially as a DM?  Or as a player? 

Do you wonder why the typical 4e combat often moves so slowly from turn to turn, and if there is a better approach or tool – through a bird’s eye, whole encounter level view – to track all of its phases, triggers and Not So Immediate Actions?  You’ve come to the right place!

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