D&D 5e Monster Conversion: Barghest

Noting that the Barghest was missing from the Monster Manual, I decided to try my hand at converting the d20 version.

I'm not certain about the challenge ratings. I'm going to do some more comparisons to the Monster Manual to determine. It's hard to tell how much tougher the damage resistance makes these creatures.

I tried to make the spell selection as close to the d20 version, but I think I need to add in a "Rage" equivalent because that would appear to be an important component of the tactics of the 3.x version. If you have any suggestions for the spell abilities, let me know in the comments.


Note: This version of the Barghest comes from the d20 System Reference Document with the stat block converted by the D&D 1E/3E to 5E Monster Converter by +Brent Newhall. It is presented under the terms of the OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a.

D&D 5e: Monster Manual Quick Critiques

Let me start this article like I've started all my Quick Critiques...

I love 5th Edition. Everything about it so far has been a breath of fresh air. For me, it really has combined all of the best parts from AD&D, 3.x and 4e. It's not perfect, but in my opinion, its the best version of D&D in its 40 year lifespan.

That said, now I'm going to nit-pick the s#!t out of the Monster Manual (Buy it now!Have it in time for Christmas!) over stupid little stuff that likely doesn't matter to most people... It's just what I do, but at least I name it for what it is up front.

D&D: Parting Shots in the Edition Wars

A couple years ago, Wizards of the Coast set out to glue back together the Humpty Dumpty that D&D had become due to "edition warring". In an effort to unite old school philosophy with modern game design, "D&D Next" was placed out into the public eye so the fans could lobby for the parts of the system they felt were important, while WotC showed what parts of the system it was lyposuctioning away in order to make a more lean, mean D&D.

There were many, many doubters who said it would never work... And many more, like myself, who thought it might work to some extent, but not so much that it would "reunite the family", so to speak. Interestingly enough, it appears Wizards of the Coast was pretty successful executing their goals.

Old schoolers are coming back. Pathfinders are coming back. Even 4e proponents have found things to like in this new edition. While we don't have sales numbers to go by, the buzz on social media has been that D&D is back, bigger and better than ever and firing on all cylinders. [As you might have noticed, I like my metaphors all mixed up into one giant gumbo.]

But that's not really what this post is about.

This post is about D&D 4th Edition.

Scott Haring Discusses Car Wars 6th Edition

In this video from Steve Jackson games, they do a 7-hour live chat about almost all of their product line, but the good stuff comes in at 6 hours and 2 minutes. Scott Haring sits down for his discussion on the Car Wars Classic reprints as well as shows off the prototypes for Car Wars Sixth Edition. He also talks about the play test and demos at Board Game Geek Con.

His discussions on the prototype and play test give a lot of insight on the direction they are going for the game design. The direction they've gone is pretty cool, and definitely takes some lessons from the design simplicity from the X-Wing game.

Watch below (skip to 6:02:00) or jump over to YouTube to link directly to the minute.  Embed video after the break.

WIP: D&D Primer Annotated Character Sheet

My D&D Primer series continues.

Last time, I attempted to illustrate the rules through a fictionalized example game between two friends. This time, I've taken a crack at annotating the character sheet (inspired by Pathfinder Beginner Box).

It displays best if you have your PDF viewer set to 2-page (side-by-side). There are a couple minor display artifacts I'm still cleaning up.

I'm still working on ideas for adding more "tips" to the sheet. Please share any ideas you may have to improve the sheet in the comments.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By4wksmFuwuSQzdlbk45RGZsTTg/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-wKC8kDw_zn1tpSByUwf2aw

WIP: A D&D Primer for new players and DMs

A couple months ago, the Angry DM posted a rant about how Wizards of the Coast has done a poor job in recent years creating a Starter Set that actually teaches new players and, more importantly, new DMs how to play and run a game.

Although I haven't looked through all the new player materials in recent years, I definitely agree with the Angry DM that the D&D Starter Set fails pretty significantly in this regard. The gist of the Angry DM article is that D&D often still requires someone knowledgeable about D&D to pass that knowledge on to the next wave of DMs and players. This is referred to as the "Older Cousin" sales model... which is a bad sales model because it places the burden of recruitment on existing players and DMs rather than on the introductory product itself.

I posted a similar critique of the Starter Set failing to be a good teacher in a recent article, but I didn't go quite as far as Angry DM. In retrospect, I should have emphasized this failure even more, as that would seem to be the most important goal of a Starter Set.

The Pathfinder Beginner Box does a much better job of explaining the basics of the character sheet and walking through character creation and the basics of running an adventure... However, even the Beginner Box doesn't quite present it in the best possible manner... and we're looking for a primer for D&D 5th Edition, not Pathfinder.

In that vein, I decided to try my hand at an example play session to help illustrate the Basic D&D core mechanics. I'd very much like to get some feedback. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but be gentle.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-q2EqROguspdCD8Jv_Kf9qkvYXCHUzZqyjObJ1IGLV4/edit?usp=sharing

This is very much a work in progress, but I would like to put it out there as a free PDF at some point and need insight on how it can be better. Give it a read and let me know. Thanks!

What rules would you put into your OSR stew?

Following up on my article on innovation, there was some intriguing discussion related to the subtle difference between creativity and innovation, which got me thinking...

If you were to make a giant OSR gumbo, what ingredients from different games would you stir together? 

• Encumbrance from Lamentations of the Flame Princess? 

• Kingdom management from Adventurer, Conqueror, King?

• Initiative and combat movement from HackMaster? 

• Prime attributes from Castles & Crusades? 

• A crap-load of spells from Fantastic Heroes & Witchery?

I'm curious to know more about what the community believes are the coolest or most interesting rules or mechanics that OSR games have added into the mix.

Name a mechanic and let me know why you think it's cool enough to stir into the stew. I'm interested in what kind of beast might emerge from the conglomeration.