Skylla: D&D 4th Edition

For a while now I have wanted to see how the various spellcasters of D&D4th edition would stack up.  In particular the Witch (Wizard) vs. the Warlock.  Also I having just done this with Skylla for D&D 5 I thought it would be good to see how the 4th Ed Witch would work out.

For this conversion I am doing it completely by hand. No character builder what so ever.
My sources are:

• Player's Handbook, for Wizard and Warlock
• Player's Option: Heroes of the Feywild, for the Witch
• Arcane Power, for additional powers for the Wizard and Warlock

I have to admit that these (Feywild and Arcane Power) are two of my most favorite D&D books.  One day I want to run an adventure series, maybe small, set completely in the Feywild or Faerie Lands and use D&D4 for it.  I think it would be fantastic.

In this case however I think I am going to find that the Witch build (based on the Wizard) is going to be closer to what I want.  Though I am willing to be surprised.

In this case since so many of the ability scores are expected to rise I started her slightly lower than her Basic D&D counterpart and raised score by the rules.  She did end up with a greater score in Intelligence.  While getting high for a Basic D&D character this actually puts her on the "low average" side of a D&D4 character.

Skylla, level 7
Human, Wizard (Witch)
Moon Coven Option: Dark Moon Coven
Dark Apprenticeship (+2 to Intimidate)

ABILITY SCORES
STR 9 (+2)
CON 10 (+3)
DEX 11 (+3)
INT 17 (+6)
WIS 12 (+4)
CHA 11 (+3)

AC: 16 Fort: 14 Ref: 17 Will: 17
HP: 49 Bloodied: 24 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 12

TRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +14, Dungeoneering +9, History +11, Insight +9, Intimidate +10, Nature +9

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +3, Athletics +2, Bluff +5, Diplomacy +3, Endurance +3, Heal +4, Perception +4, Religion +6, Stealth +5, Streetwise +3, Thievery +3

POWERS
Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack, Staff  +2
Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack, Dagger (thrown) +3

CANTRIPS
Chameleon's Mask

AT-WILL
Magic Missile
Ray of Frost
Witch Bolt

ENCOUNTER
Dread Presence
Color Spray
Lightning Bolt

DAILY
Acid Arrow
Sleep
Bigby's Icy Grasp
Web

UTILITY
Feather Fall
Dimension Door
Invisibility
Shield

FEATS
Arcane Familiar (Dragonling), Action Surge, Toughness, Skill Focus (Arcana), Ritual Caster, Arcane Reserves

ITEMS
Battle Staff +1 x1
Delver's Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing) +1 x1
Cloak of Resistance +1 x1
Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing)
Adventurer's Kit
Staff Implement x1

While going through this I am very sure what the Warlock class would give me.  Skylla is a seeker of knowledge so a pact with a demon or vestige might work, but the spells are rather different.
Still. I could see it working.

This build shows again how powerful the 4e characters are vs other editions.  Skylla here has 14 spells she can use at least once per day, often more.  I have always said that D&D4 characters are about 2-3 levels in power compared to a same "name" level character of other editions.
5e really scales this back.

Compare the stats above to her BECMI, Pathfinder and 5th Edition D&D versions.

I like this witch class, just not sure if it works as well as I want here.

In case I forgot them, here are some more links about Skylla and her proposed appearance in the classic Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon.
http://www.dungeonsdragonscartoon.com/2009/08/yugol-and-curse-of-stone.html
http://www.dungeonsdragonscartoon.com/2009/08/skylla.html

The A to Z Blogging Challenge Theme Reveal

I am participating in this year A to Z Blogging challenge again.

While the challenge for me is not to post every day, I already do that, but to post with the proper subject letter AND to stick to my theme.

The theme reveal this year will be on March 23.   Come back and see what I choose...although I have not been very secretive about it.

You can see what others are doing as well. If you are interested in doing the challenge (and I would suggest you try it at least once) and thinking of a theme the head on over to the sign up list.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2015/02/the-great-and-powerful-to-z-theme.html

Even if you don't sign up for the Theme Reveal, you can see what others are doing in time to sign up for the A to Z yourself.

White Dwarf Wednesday: Games Workshop History

I know, sort of a cheesy way to use my supposed retired weekly feature.  But a couple of things came up in the past week to make it seem worthwhile.

First up is Part 1 of a History of Games Workshop. It also covers the same time I spent discussing White Dwarf here.  From Unplugged Games.
http://www.unpluggedgames.co.uk/2015/02/13/games-workshop-the-inside-story-part-one/

Honestly it is a fascinating read and gave me some insight to what I was reading "between the lines" in White Dwarf.

Ian and Steve

The map of Ian Livinstone's first dungeon just begs to be used somewhere.

There is some great anecdotes here too. For example they had a bigger issue with the cover of White Dwarf #44 than I did.

And then from ENWorld, a posting about how the first ever Games Workshop store is now going to be demolished.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?2344-First-Ever-GAMES-WORKSHOP-Store-Is-Being-Demolished#.VOSN6vnF_ZQ

Opening day in 1978

And today

While Games Workshop went into new directions around the end of my reviews, I still enjoy all the fun and wonder those early days gave me.

President's Day Gaming - Converting to 5e from 3.x

Had yesterday off so wanted to spend the day doing some gaming.

My boys wanted to play our 5e game, but we were a player down, so I suggested we wrap up our 3e game.  That didn't go over as well to be honest.
Both boys said they were burned out on 3e and everything took so long compared to 5e.  I reminded them that their 3e characters are nearing Epic levels and all combats will take forever at that level.

So long story short, we all decided to convert the 3e game to something else.  I was pushing pretty hard for 1st Ed but the boys wanted 5th ed.  I cant say that I blame them really.

Converting adventures is easy. I do that on the fly 90% of the time anyway.  Converting characters is a bit more involved.  The group's wizard converted fine. For the paladin/dragon-rider we went with a straight paladin.  The rogue/ranger/sorcerer/arcane archer required me to get more creative. In 5e the character became a rogue (arcane trickster)/ranger (hunter).  I let him take spells from the sorcerer list or the druid list where appropriate for the character concept and what he had been able to do in the past.

My 3.e Witch GMPC was more difficult.  I started out by converting her to a Warlock with a pact of the Tome feature.  This gives me access to more spells.  I then took the Magic Initiate feat and the Ritual Caster feat to gain some extra spells.  I like it, but I am not 100% happy with it.

It occurs to me that that old 2nd Ed Witch Kit and the 4th Ed Witch "sub" class might be good starting points for what a 5th ed witch might look like using the wizard as a base.

I compared the Wizard and Warlock in form of Skylla for 5th a while back.  With her I Was happier with the Wizard build even though the Warlock build had some interesting things going for it.

It is worth a little extra research.  I am NOT in the market to build a 5e Witch class right now.  I still have other commitments to finish.  Plus I enjoy playing 5e and not necessarily having to play and play-test with the same game.

Besides I think I would like to see some other people's take on a witch class.

Zatannurday: Traci Thirteen

Traci Thirteen is another member of the Homo-magi race and thus a distant relative to Zatanna.

http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Traci_Thirteen_%28New_Earth%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traci_Thirteen
http://www.comicvine.com/traci-13/4005-46538/

I always liked the idea of Traci Thirteen.  I liked her "urban magic" and felt it was it fit in well with the gritty feel of the earl 2000s.  I have also always thought she would be great as a YA, Modern Supernatural book heroine;  a character somewhere in between Harry Potter and Harry Dresden.  Only female of course and give her a whole set of unique problems.  DC has demonstrated they can de-couple their worlds when it comes to magic (see Hellblazer) and still tell a great story.

While a "Young Zatanna" story would be fun, a Traci Thirteen one might actually be better. You could even include, or work up to, her boyfriend Jaime Reyes to current Blue Beetle. Plus Traci has a different outlook than Zee does and it might work to bring younger readers in.

Traci Thirteen
Cinematic Unisystem (Buffy/Ghosts of Albion)
Life Points
Drama Points 10

Attributes
Strength 2
Dexterity 3
Constitution 3
Intelligence 3
Perception 5
Willpower 5

Qualities
Attractiveness +2
Contacts (the Justice League) 2
Contacts (Supernatural) 3
Hard to Kill 1
Fast Reaction Time
Magic 4  (Homo Magi race)
Magical Family
Nerves of Steel
Occult Library (Impressive)
Resources 3
Situational Awareness
Supernatural Senses (the Sight)

Drawbacks
Adversaries 3
Honorable (Minimal)
Mental Problems (Fear of Commitment)
Obligation (mundane humans, Important)
Secret 1 (really uses magic)

Useful Information
Initiative +4
Actions 1/2
Observation 1d10 + 11
Lesser Sensing +14

Skills
Armed Mayhem/Getting Medieval 2
Art 6 (stage performance)
Athletics 2
Crime 1
Computers 2
Drive / Ride 1
Engineering 2
Fisticuffs/Kung-fu 2
Influence 4
Knowledge 3
Languages 3 (English, Cantonese, Latin)
Marksmanship 3
Notice 5
Occultism 5
Physician 2
Wild Card

Combat

Maneuver	Bonus	Damage	Notes
Dodge / Parry	+5	-	Defense Action
Grapple	+5	-	Defense Action
Punch	+5	4	Bash
Magic	+14	per spell	additional +1 to +3 with various artifacts
- Deflect	+14	Special	Deflects spell 45 degrees
- Hold	+13	Special	Deflects spell 45 degrees
- Dispell	+11	Special	Deflects spell 45 degrees

Traci and Zatanna

Traci and John

Flashpoint Traci

I should do some more writeups for her.  She looks like a really fun character.

Friday Night Videos: Led Zeppelin

Welcome to the Friday the 13th edition of Friday Night Videos!

If Iron Maiden represents AD&D 1st Ed. Then Original D&D is Led Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin were the pioneers of what would become "Hard Rock" and even "Heavy Metal".  Though it would take bands like Black Sabbath to really provide what we think of when we consider 70s and 80s metal.

Led Zeppelin was heavily influenced by jazz, blues and folk music. Plus a rather healthy dose of themes from J.R.R. Tolkien, they have long been associated with the 70s occult scene (backward masking, drugs, lyrics) and by association D&D.

Let's start with what was start for many my age, Led Zeppelin's 4th album from 1971.  Sometimes called "4", "Sticks", "Zoso" or "Symbols". I prefer "Zeppelin IV" myself.   This song was on the B side and is often overlooked due to the fantastic set on the A side.  Pack your bags for the Misty Mountain Hop.



The same album gave us two other greats. Well it gave us a lot of greats, but two in particular.

Honestly I doubt there is a more D&D song than Battle of Evermore.  This song features the amazing vocals of Sandy Denny, the "fifth" symbol on this album.



Zeppelin IV also gave us one of Led Zeppelin's most enduring, if not overplayed song. Stairway to Heaven.


This one song fueled more D&D games of mine than I carry to consider.

Going back a bit to 1970's "Led Zeppelin III" another great song is The Immigrant Song.  What it lacks in length it makes up for in Saxon fueled energy.



Finally no Led Zeppelin discussion can happen with out a nod to the near Moorcock-like visuals of Kashmir from 1975's Physical Graffiti.




This barely scratches the surface of their catalog.

Post 2600!

Why pick such an arbitrary posting milestone?

Well as many gamers my age might recall the "2600" was the part number of the first Atari home video game console.

The Atari 2600 changed how looked at home entertainment forever.

Given the general feel of 80s nostalgia we have here on the Other Side and other related blogs I am a little surprised that the Atari is not mentioned more.  Maybe it could be that unlike some others my age (or older) I always *liked* the idea of computers and video games working with D&D.
I am sure we all (or most) remember this game.

Yeah, it was a weak ass version of "D&D" but hey for the late 70s/early 80s it was the best we had and I played the hell out of it.  I even played again it here just recently (like a month ago) on my Atari Flashback 5.  Yeah I still had fun.

Though some of my most favorite memories of playing "D&D" is playing "Rogue" on my TRS-80 Color Computer 3.

Sure. It wasn't D&D, but it was still fun.  Plus we know that there would not have been any of these games had it not been for D&D.

So yeah while I am looking up old RPG books from the 70s on eBay I have been looking up old computers too.  I have an Atari (and an emulator) but I keep looking at the various Tandy Color Computers too.  With the recent news that Radio Shack is closing I have been thinking more and more about it.

I know it is a stupid idea. I can get emulator and run them on my phone that 1000s times faster than the original machines.  There are even browser based emulators to play the games I liked. But I also have a program I worked on back in the day to manage and run a party of AD&D characters that would be fun to dust off.  I still have the source code in fact.

 For me at least, D&D and computers have always gone hand in hand.