But Why Does it Have to Be So HARD?!

Designing classes is not easy!

I can almost hear the chorus of "Oh really? No shit, Sherlock!" going on as people read that opening line, but the difficulty is in the small things. Some things I was able to 'hand wave' away, like, why can an Alchemist only create so many concoctions in a single day. (Because they're extremely volatile chemicals, and you don't have the skill to manage too many at once.)

The hard part is getting the balance between fire power and staying power. First, I decided to have a d6 for the hit die, just like a mage. This makes the Alchemist a bit flimsy in terms of taking a hit, but when I put it up to a d8, they became a bit too tough at lower levels. (Huff!)

Then there was the problem with just how powerful an Alchemist's damaging extracts should be. I tried following the spell damage table in the DMG, but as there are no spell levels to 'level up' the hit effect (without simply making a bottle mage), the fire power gets a bit low. No problem, just up the level a little, or give on-going damage, right? Oh, Hell no. That makes them just too powerful.

I'm toying with the idea of on-going damage again, limited by the level of the Alchemist, and I'll let you know how that goes, but for now, WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO HARD?!

Never a Dull Moment

Well, I apologise for not having a post out this week and just wanted to explain why. One of the aspects of medieval life that always fascinated me was the problematic relationship between science and religion. Fears of witchcraft may well have been responsible for delays in forwarding medicine, chemistry and biology by centuries, a delay only overcome once the age of enlightenment began.

I can understand why. Let's face it: the only way to really learn about the how the human body works is to cut them up. In societies where the body is a vessel for a soul that becomes an issue. People who want to cut up bodies to learn how they work become abominations. The entire premise to Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus was the interference of science in natural order. Even using the title "The Modern Prometheus" puts the moral message in its full context: Prometheus was punished by the gods for his 'stolen' knowledge of fire. His pride/hubris was his downfall, whereas, in reality, his only crime was helping his fellow man and removing their dependency on the gods themselves. Arguably, this was a similar situation for medieval scientists.

The most fascinating aspect of science in this age was the position of the alchemist. Alchemy was the first attempt at proper science, with practitioners attempting to properly quantify the nature and substance of what made up the world around us. Few would argue that alchemy was the basis of modern scientific investigation, but the fear of persecution led to a strange mixture of knowledge, faith and superstition that could possibly be seen as an attempt to stay 'in favour' with the church.

This doesn't seem to have any place in the D&D universe: priests follow many and various gods, demons and spirits. Magic users are, while not a 'day-to-day' experience, not either an anomaly, despised and mistrusted by their peers. They can mix with ordinary people and are often called upon to help communities.

The mage who best fits the position of alchemist is the Transmuter. He gets some abilities to alter properties for a short time (Minor Alchemy), the Transmuter's Stone (a poor man's philosopher's stone), and then, at 14th level, Master Transmuter, which comes with a panoply of abilities that match some of the Cliff Notes version of true alchemy.

Pathfinder has an alchemist class, favoured among goblins, that is effectively little more than a reskinned mage with bombs. The idea of an alchemist class is difficult to envision. It shouldn't, to my mind, just be a reskinned mage, but should reflect the essence of alchemy from a historical perspective. Naturally, to be useful in a party and attractive to players, the alchemist needs to have a bit of a wow factor and be able to hold its own in a fight, so some kind of chemical explosiveness is required. That's where the day-to-day stuff comes in, but she should also be able to discover deeper secrets than just what is handy in a tight corner.

So that's where I'm at. I'm trying to design an alchemist that is historical in context, but still useful to a party, and independent of other classes already in D&D. It's in testing, and I'll release it to the world when I can.

The Dread Lord Patron

As I said last week, I'm working on some customisations for D&D 5e, and I decided I'd have a go at a Warlock Patron. I like the idea of the Fae patron and thought that something darker might be in order (I think it's obvious the direction my campaign might be going), but as I have no Warlock players at the moment, I haven't had a chance to test this one, but anyone who remembers the Ravenloft Campaign setting should feel right at home with it. What if the Mists are unravelling? What if the masters of the Dread Realms were trying to find agents to help them escape into our world?
Most of the powers are adaptations of existing powers within 5e, except the Avatar of Shadows, which I've adapted from the Heroes of Shadow 4e sourcebook.

The Dread Lord

Through your journeys into the darkness you have been touched by the mind of a prisoner in a dark realm. The lords of The Dread Realms have told you secrets of darkness, and you can use them to punish and manipulate those around you. What promises have you made to these dark masters? Could you be hoping to set them free?

Dread Lords Strahd von Zarovich and Azalin are examples of those who would grant the power of the Shadows to their clients.

Expanded Spell List

The Dread Lord lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Dark Lord Expanded Spell List

Spell Level	Spells
1st	fog cloud, wrathful smite
2nd	pass without trace, phantasmal force
3rd	gaseous form, vampiric touch
4th	phantasmal killer, staggering smite
5th	antilife shell, planar binding

Shadow Stealth

Starting at 1^st level, your patron bestows upon you the ability to take advantage of dark places to hide yourself. While in dim light or darkness, you can take the Hide action as a bonus action.

Aspect of Shadow

Beginning at 6^th level your patron begins to teach you the ways of the Undead. For one round you become incorporeal. You can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. However, if you end your turn inside an object or creature you suffer 1d10 force damage.
You cannot use this feature again until you complete a short or long rest.

Fog of Despair

From 10^th level on, you begin to feel the touch of the Dread Realm around you all the time. You carry an aura of shadow out to 10 feet. This counts as Light Obscurity. While you are conscious, creatures entering the aura to attack you must make a Charisma Saving Throw against your Warlock Save DC or suffer disadvantage on all attacks they make against you. Additionally, if their attack succeeds, they suffer necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier + half your level (rounded down).

Avatar of the Shadows

At 14^th level you can summon the power of your Dread Master to aid you in battle. Your skin pales to white and your eyes become pools of darkness. When you strike with a melee attack, you add your Charisma modifier (minimum +1) to your damage and create a 10’ radius sphere centred on the target. All creatures within the Sphere take 1d10 necrotic damage. For each creature affected you recover hit points equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1 per creature).
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Revised: I'm trying to tie in some of the changes recommended by commenters below (with my own flavour, of course).

Revised 27/04/15: Made a few changes to some of the features, particularly the Channel Divinity. In testing seemed a little over powered, but not as much as suspected. Went for a complete revision, but I can recover it to the original if requested. Also clarified the Shadow Guardians spell.

So, I'm trying out my hand at some customisations in 5e and I thought I'd have a go at a domain. I haven't had much chance to playtest this. I've only used it as a Domain for some priests possessed by a shadow being I was using in one of my story arcs. Let me know how you get on if you use it. Is it too powerful/underpowered? Does the motif seem overbearing or have limited usage? Is it something your players want to use?

Shadow Domain

Gods of Darkness, Night, Evil and Death can all grant their followers access to the Domain of Shadow. Often perceived as being gods of trickery, fear, and "dark deeds", gods of this domain can send their followers to spread fear and mistrust, or to protect those whose activities are associated with night and darkness.

SHADOW DOMAIN SPELLS

Cleric Level	Spells
1st	Chill Touch, Blindness/Deafness
3rd	Darkness, Darkvision
5th	Fear, Shadow Guardians (as Spirit Guardians, but the spirits appear as shadows and the damage is cold damage, not radiant or necrotic)
7th	Conjure Shadow Elemental, Shadow Mantle (as Crusaders Mantle, but the damage is cold damage, not Radiant)
9th	Antilife shell, Shadow Walk

Bonus Proficiencies

At 1st level you gain proficiency in and advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) and Charisma (Deception) checks.

Shadow Ward

If you are targeted with an effect that causes necrotic damage, you can use your reaction to gain resistance against the damage and for an additional number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. You may use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you complete a long rest.

Channel Divinity: Veil of Shadows

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to create a "gloom" within 30 feet of you. All enemies within the area must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or have disadvantage on their next attack against you. Also, you gain advantage until the effect ends on all attacks against the next enemy within the "gloom" to strike you. The effect lasts for 1 round plus your Wisdom bonus (minimum of 1 round).

Shadow Zone

Beginning at 6th level, you can extend your Shadow Ward out to a radius of 30 feet. All allies within that range gain resistance to necrotic damage for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1 round).

Dark Strike

At 8th level you gain the ability to infuse your attacks with the power of shadow. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 necrotic damage. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

The Stuff of Nightmares

Starting at 17th level, you can use your action to activate an aura of shadows that lasts for one minute or until you dismiss it using another action. Each creature of your choice that is within 60 feet of you and must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the fear effect for the next 24 hours. The area is considered heavily obscured, thus everyone within is considered to have concealment from everyone except you.
 

The 'Corrupting' Effect of Celestials

Over at Dyvers Campaign there's been discussion of the corrupting effects of consorting with Fiendish creatures. I've always liked mechanics like this in games, as it deals with consequences for the players' actions (which I'm a bit of a fan of).


The Conversion of Saul

That said, it is always easier to look at these things from the point of view of someone consorting with fiendish characters, but what about characters summoning Celestials to their aid? Are there never to be consequences for this? Surely the presence of a Celestial being is as likely to corrupt the mere mortal soul of a human being? The power that exudes from them must be immense. In Christian mysticism, it is said that to hear the voice of the divine would often render the listener disabled (Saul/Paul was struck blind for three days following his revelation on the road to Damascus).

But, what about long term or frequent exposure to Celestial presence? What would happen if these characters became (for example) completely unable to tell lies? Imagine the chaos that would cause in the court of a corpulent king, who asks if his new robes suit him well.

What if the character couldn't even handle "stolen goods"? How long ago would that have to have been stolen before it was no longer painful to put your hands upon it? What if there was no time limit? A holy relic that was stolen from a temple on far Sphene has been found in the Platinum Hills. Your party can recover it, but for each day it is in your possession, you lost one Hit Die until you return it to its rightful owners. What do you do if they're dead and gone?

I'm not saying that this should be something that prevents characters from ever using summoning spells, but it does make you think that, if a being of raw evil bends the world around them, surely a being of raw good would do the same?

Adventure Report 28/10/2013

OK, so I haven't done one of these for a while and a lot has happened since the last. First, I should say that "The End of 4E" was probably the last real adventure report, as it kind of summed up where we ended the last game.

But here we are, and as my players are now helping me to playtest D&D Next, there is a lot I can't tell you, but here it goes.

The game started with one of the party, our ranger, being summoned by his "handler" to go on a quest. Another of his "brothers" is missing and needs to be tracked down, as he is carrying something very important that needs to be either delivered or recovered. This something is in a satchel with a gold buckle that must not be opened under any circumstances.

The players head off towards the town of Kelbar to track down Orin Selwyn, the missing messenger, or Loklor, the intended recipient of the package. If Loklor has the package, then no harm is done and nobody need worry. If Selwyn is missing with the package, he may be a traitor and must be dispatched. One would assume that this should all be done with reasonable "discretion" ...

... unless they happen to be my players.

Now: in their defence, they are both 10 (the only adult player was not available this week, which made this quest of dubious morality easier to get on with as he plays a paladin). However, I did not expect them to inquire the whereabouts of Loklor from the town guards on the gate, a mistake which resulted in their immediate arrest. The charge was association with known criminals.

After a night in the cells, beside another poor unfortunate who looked as though he'd been set on fire (a thought which they were a little too comfortable with), they got to explain themselves to the guard captain, at which point the ranger told him everything!! That's right: EVERYTHING!!

Of course, the guard captain had the satchel and the poor unfortunate in the next cell was the missing Orin Selwyn whom, the guard captain reveals, was set on fire by none other than Loklor himself. At this point he informs the players that they have one night in town while the storm passes, but must leave by dawn the next day. The players agree and, after a completely uneventful night (I bet you didn't see that coming), they hire a couple of horses and decide to head back to the city to report in to the "handler".

---

Naturally this isn't going to be easy. As they approach a river they had crossed on the way here, they find it has been collapsed by the storm. The gap is too wide for the horses to jump and the drop to the river too steep and high for the horses to navigate, plus, horse theft is a crime, and if the players don't return the horses to a designated stable at the city they will be accused and potentially hanged.

Returning to the nearest hamlet, they are given two options: go east, up the hills towards a fording point, a shorter path, but one not often taken by travellers, though nobody is sure why; go west, to the lower bridge, which may have survived the storm, but is a longer route.

They decided to go the shorter path, much to my delight, and travel for the rest of the day with little incident. As night begins to fall the spot some house lights through the trees and make for the village. There is nobody in the street and all the doors are closed. Trying the first house, they find it unlocked. Nobody is within and there appears to be signs of a struggle. The second is also unlocked, but when they look into the second room they are attacked by a dog within. The ranger tries to use animal handling to calm the beast, but when he rolls a natural 20 and it still doesn't work, he knows something is wrong.

They force the beast outside and manage to close the doors, but the dog is determined and starts to chew its way through the shutters on one of the windows. By this point, things are getting a little freaky, and the players end up finishing off the dog. Uncomfortable in this house, they move on to the next, which they find locked.

The rogue pops the lock and they enter the building, to find themselves confronted by a human occupant who demands they lock the door immediately, before "the animals come". I overlayed this NPC a bit: she is holding a dinner knife, dirty and dishevelled, refusing to look the players in the eyes. She rants a bit and carries out automatic actions with a quickness that they find discomfitting. It isn't long before they're nervous.

---

Talking to the woman reveals a few things: the village has changed since "the priests" came. They spoke grandly of protecting the villagers, but then went to the cave to the north. That's when the animals became "possessed". It couldn't have been "the priests" of course, so it must have been soemone else. Conveniently "the priests" come back to town with the bodies of some "intruders". Again the speak of protecting the village and some of the townsfolk agree. That's when the people start to change.

The night is coming and its time for watch. During the first watch, the ranger hears the noise of a great many animals moving around outside, howling, snarling and sniffing at the door. This continues through the night, and one of the players gives the woman a dagger to protect herself with.

As morning dawns, the players go out to investigate and see the town tracked too and fro with animal tracks. They decide to make a break for it, and go to the horses. One has been injured in the night, but they make for the trees. They don't get far before they are being harried by two wolves. Trying to shoot from horseback, they finish one off, but one of the horses becomes panicked and it and the rogue are disappearing off into the trees.

The ranger decides to face off the second wolf. He gets his horse stopped and jumps down, but the wolf manages to finish off the horse! The ranger kills the beast before it can finish him, but realises there are more animals coming through the trees. The only way to go is back to the village.

Meanwhile, the rogue has managed to get her horse back under control, but becomes aware of an approaching bear. She too realises that she is becoming surrounded and the only place to go is back to the village.

As the old woman had promised, they weren't allowed to leave.

---

As time progresses I took an opportunity to make the players uncomfortable. As I passed behind each player, moving around the table, I would lean in for a moment and whisper a word or two. I would then make them roll a Wisdom save, but not tell them why.

This became invaluable in setting the tone for the rest of the adventure. The players realised that they too were under threat from whatever was affecting the village. The old woman used the term possessed more than once, and this surely affected how the players were now treating the situation. Could they, too, become possessed?

Of course, the answer is yes, but so far they were succeeding their saves, although they didn't know that's what they were doing. Each time I did this, they became a little more paranoid (and I think a little more uncomfortable).

Eventually, I said, just clearly enough, behind the Ranger "Give Up!" Now they were freaked out. He made his save, although he doesn't know that. Things were getting more disconcerting though, and they were genuingely worried that their characters were not going to make it out.

---

The players decide to face up to whatever it is that has caused this curse. The make their way north, realising that the animals are reluctant to come out of the trees. They surmise (correctly) that the beasts are afraid of daylight, so as long as the sun is up they're safe.

It only takes minutes to get to and through the graveyard, at which point they discover the remains of an encampment. One survivor, a priest of Úisean, comes forward and describes "the priests" who attacked his companions. One wore a strange artifact which writhed with shadows, possibly the source of this difficulty. He has been hiding for some time in a barrow he made for himself, unable to get through the trees to freedom.

The rogue hears the word "MINE!!" in a malicious whisper, but of course, nothing is behind her.

A few minutes later the players are within sight of the cave. The sun is still high, and there are several villagers in the cave mouth. Deciding they don't want to kill hte villagers if they can avoid it, they ask for volunteers to go forwards to speak to them. The priest ends up becoming the volunteer, but as he approaches they charge at him. The arrangement to have the players hidden to provide covering fire becomes the saving grace of the encounter, but the old woman charges forward to attack, fighting ferociously.

The party move on towards the cave. As they enter its shade a creature of living darkness moves forwards and pointing at the rogue says "MINE!!"

This is the creature behind the voice she heard earlier. The old woman attacks, the ranger begins shooting, the priest uses his Sacred Flame and the rogue herself attacks. To add to the tension for her, her rolls suddenly become inexplicably poor. While the others slowly hack away at the creature (which only takes half damage from non-magical attacks) she is unable to harm her tormentor. A convenient fluke for me.

Finally, the beast is put down, although the rogue and priest were rendered unconscious. The ranger used a healing kit to stabilise them and, after a while, they became conscious again. The priest then healed himself, but the rogue had to use her hit die to recover. Despite this, the party pressed on into the cave to face whatever lay ahead.

---

The players decided that avoiding direct combat with the villagers would be the only way to avoid killing more. They go into stealth mode and begin to search around the cave for "the priests". Eventually they find them, with the head priest, looking a little the worst for wear, sitting in the centre of a ritual, with six others around him, chanting and praying in a language the players don't understand. The rogue does a shortbow sneak attack, while the ranger fires his longbow. Two successful strikes and the Dark Priest is injured. Pressing home their advantage, they go into full attack.

Anything that could go wrong for me at this stage did. The players were pressing home their advantage, and quickly put paid to the Dark Priest. This disabled the villagers, who were moving to join the fray. The acolytes, lasted a little longer than expected, but the old woman's fury put paid to most of them.

With "the priests" dead and the villagers disabled, it was time to look at what to do with the artifact... but that would have to wait.

---

The outcome of this game was never certain. Again, I made this up on the fly, although it is full of tropes from many sources (but the "mad old woman" is usually a "mad old man"). I hadn't decided to do a scary game, but once I had the idea of possessed animals and people, I just got stuck in. It is kind of tempting to run the follow up on Hallowe'en and really go for broke on the terror level, but the kids are only 10 so I don't want to over do it.

Next rules really help with the fear factor. 1st level characters are really vulnerable compared to 1st level 4e characters. This makes them worth more to my players, not less. They area fraid of losing a character too quickly, and this drive to preserve gives the character more value.

I realised the protagonists were very tough in this game. The shadow creature was based on the wraith, without the long term damage, and I used the Dark Priest from the bestiary for the head honcho. These were two very challenging foes and it was luck of the dice that kept the party alive. The second level was well earned here, and I do hope my players enjoy it. We level up next time, then we deal with whatever dark artifact the priest had.

Adventure Report 13/07/13

Well, tonight turned out to be one of those adventures where I hadn't quite tidied up properly from last session, but there wouldn't be time to do that and prepare for the next phase of the adventure. What to do in those circumstances?

Wing it!

In a setup that I was completely making up as I went along, the party end up split (NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY!!), with our cleric in a purging ritual which would allow her to recover her powers at long last (assuming she survived) and the two kids' characters making their way back to the city (having no interest in this religious hokum).

Upon reaching the city, the two find out that the Mages' tower, part of the King's castle grounds, has been the target of several recent attacks in search of the tome which details how to use the unusual stone discovered in the earliest adventure. This stone is currently in the hands of the King's half brother, who wishes to overthrow the King and take control of the city of Geredar.

The players are kind of volunteered to be on patrol on their first night, but fail in their duty. Thankfully, their failure was not a catastrophe, as the leader of the tower mages had a decoy tome in place in the library.

But the thieves had access to some powerful magic, allowing them to teleport and create mildly toxic distractions to affect an escape. The one prisoner they manage to keep alive tells htme that the thieves were only hired to get the book and don't care what's in it. Their captain was being paid handsomely for the tome and awaits the return of the thieves on his ship, The Rapahali.

But then, having decided the book was too dangerous and should be destroyed, the players try to use the prisoner to bring the book to them, rather than risk triggering the magical traps protecting it. Despite their precautions, he had kept two trinkets bundle up in this braids, and broke one to blind the players and another to make his escape, presumably to the ship.

---

What of the priest? Well, after three days of starvation and sleeplessness, she was sent on the last leg of the pilgrimage facing The Mirror, The Voice and finally the Temple.

At The Mirror, a well above the aquaduct they are walking along (see The Silver Skeleton, a previously published D&D adventure from Wizards), she was shown an image of herself in the guise of The Sainted Devil, a reformed succubus they had rescued the previous week. This was a reference to the Devil's innate evil being overcome on the path to redemption.

At The Voice, a cave from which uninitiated echoes feed out into the world, taunting the faithful for their weaknesses and failings, she was mocked for her selfishness, spite and the loneliness of being without her god.

Finally, as she reached the ruins of the Temple at the highest point on the path, she was given weapons and asked to defend the temple, as had Sonnlinor Stoneheart, a stone giant who converted to the faith of Gered in the past. As the dragon rose towards the Temple, she cast herself towards it, with no hope of success, and the flames reached out to consume her.

The players will not know the true outcome of all of this before the next session, which will hopefully be next week.