The blog must perish so the challenge may survive...

Sooooo. I'm not too wild about how this blog is turning out. Just a bit too much depth here for the intended function.

It's ultimately good news, though, as I've decided to just go ahead and start a general D&D 4E blog...one more floating around the blogosphere couldn't hurt, right?

I'm still going to do this C3 thing over in my new digs, but I'll be doing it once a week instead (5 levels at a time so it will move at the same pace), and it'll have a few more columns to keep it company, too.

Today's new column: Saving Throw, in which I'll write up a chunk of (hopefully) useful material for DMs who get caught unawares. Hey, we all know how that goes.

Make sure to check it out - The Blog of the Beholder!

Challenge - The Minotaur Rogue, Level Five

It occurs to me that coming up with an interesting image to go with thirty different articles about the same class/race combination is going to get tough! Should I go to a text-only format, perhaps? Start posting things only loosely related to the character (ahem)? Or maybe come up with an image that helps describe some spectacular quest the character completed between levels? I like that last idea the best, but I don't think I'll have the brainpower to do it every day...maybe next time!

Every five levels I'll be posting a .dnd4e file for anyone to copy into their character builder. That way you can go over the build a bit more thoroughly if you like...perhaps fiddle with it so you can comment on all the ways I screwed the character up. :) And, hey, maybe even use him in a game! If you do, please report back with how he fared.

Of course, I recognize that not everyone has an updated version of the character builder available to them, so you'll also find a list of references to go along with the file. I'm not going to bother to post page numbers, but I'll at least let you know the specific book or Dragon issue where you can find every power, feat, item etc. on the character sheet.

You'll find both the file and the reference list at the bottom of the post. Let's get down to it...

In the event that this blog has any readers...

...hey, I'm not being cynical, just realistic! It's only been up a week; I have high hopes but not THAT high. ;)

I've been kinda fiddle-faddlin' on what kind of schedule works best...and I think Wed-Sun. is where it's going to land.

Level 5 will go up today but level 6 won't go up until Wednesday.

Challenge - The Minotaur Rogue, Level Four

Level four is one of the few levels on the path to thirty during which the character doesn't gain a new power. But that's okay...we're going to get two more attribute points and a third feat. We now have enough feats to play around with combinations, and I think there's a fairly obvious one here that's worth dropping one of our old feats for...

Challenge - The Minotaur Rogue, Level Three

Another day, another level for the minorogue. Today is pretty basic compared to the first couple of levels - there's no feat to worry about, for one thing, and 10 possible choices for his level 3 power (compared to 14 yesterday).


Will defense is still a problem, and it probably will be for some time. However, we did manage to snag some low-level magic armor: leather armor of sudden recovery +1. This is a very nice item from Adventurer's Vault 2; it has a property and a daily power which will both help stave off ongoing damage, one of the most significant threats our low-hp minorogue must face. Still holding out for that neck item!

Note that from now on I'll be listing potential damage of some attacks; these ranges assume the power is being used to its fullest and that the character's current "main" weapon is being used for the attack. The "range" of damage is the minimum and maximum damage the attack can do, and the numbers in parentheses indicate the additional damage the minorogue can add with sneak attack.


Encounter power discussion after the break...

Challenge - The Minotaur Rogue, Level Two

Yesterday, we established the foundation of the "minorogue." I made the decision to focus on getting his + hit and dmg up to a respectable level instead of his defenses. This has resulted in a character with what I consider to be all-around good starting statistics with one exception - Will defense. 10! Ugh.

But that's okay...today the minorogue hits level 2, and that means he's getting an extra tick in all of his defenses, a utility power, another feat and his first magic item. As the character grows up, I'll be keeping my eyes open for items that could potentially offset his most significant weakness. Other than that, though, the number one focus most strikers should make their priority is 1) how can I hit more often? and 2) how can I cause the most amount of damage when I land that hit? Let's start things off by looking over his level 2 power options...

Challenge - The Minotaur Rogue, Level One

Fate has chosen a particularly interesting combination for our first challenge - a minotaur rogue. The traditional image of a minotaur - in or out of D&D - is that of a brutal, hulking warrior. Over time, minotaurs have evolved into a savage but noble and honorable race in fantasy literature and games, with a code of honor and strong loyalty to the minotaur's tribe. Sorta like Chewbacca with horns.

The 4th Edition minotaur is faithful to that duality; the opening passage of the Dragon feature on minotaurs in issue 369 describes them as the embodiment of "the tension between civilization and savagery...discipline and madness." Therefore, while the influence of World of Warcraft's tauren has softened the minotaur's image dramatically, the 4E minotaur is still strongly associated with the monstrous Greek legend from which all other minotaur stories arose. We'll keep the race's origin in mind as we build our minorogue...

Build #1 is...

A Minotaur Rogue! Certainly off to an interesting start.

Level 1 will be up Tuesday.

Welcome to the Character Creation Challenge!

I'm a dungeon master. I've always been a game master; within my first year of tabletop RPGs I found myself behind the screen.

While I enjoy being a GM, it robs me of the chance to partake of one of my favorite RPG activities - character creation and advancement. This has resulted in dozens, perhaps hundreds, of characters created over the last two decades that have never seen the light of day.

With the new edition of Dungeons and Dragons, I believe I have stumbled upon a unique opportunity. There are a LOT of critical choices to be made during character creation and with every single level up; with just one year under its belt the number of choices available is. Furthermore, magic item selection has become much more interesting; players are often encouraged to create "wish lists" of items they'd like to pursue. In many campaigns, players can even purchase most of these items with ease (DM's discretion, naturally). Therefore, one could feasibly map out a character's entire lifespan and have a good time… without even bringing him to the table.

So…why a blog, if I’m doing this solely for my own amusement? Well, this is where the “challenge” part comes in...