Updated Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play

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Late yesterday afternoon Paizo released version 4.2 of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Pathfinder Society (PFS) Organized Play is Paizo’s form of organized play for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. The Guide is the “rulebook” for participating in PFS. The Guide sees updates throughout the year with the larger one typically coming shortly before Gen Con. This year has proven no different with the release of this version 4.2.

There were several major changes made with this release of the guide along with general clarification of rules in the guide. The major changes were listed on the Paizo Blog and a complete change log was posted to the Pathfinder Society Forums. I encourage you to check those locations for the complete details of the changes as I only intend to mention the larger changes and a couple of the smaller changes.

The larger changes that Paizo calls out on their blog are as follows:

  • Added three new races to character creation for all players to choose from: aasimar, tengu, and tiefling.
  • Scenarios and sanctioned module now have one unified set of rules for applying Chronicle sheets to pregenerated characters.
  • Added all hardcover rulebooks to the Core Assumption for GMs and advised that GMs can refer to the Pathfinder Reference Document for rules from any books they don’t own.
  • Updated text so GMs are now allowed to take boons when they are offered on a Chronicle sheet.

I am glad to see the scenarios and sanctioned modules having a unified set of rules for applying chronicle sheets to pregens. That just helps simplify things and make things a little easier to understand and handle correctly. I also think it is great that GMs can now take boons when they are offered on a Chronicle sheet. GMs work hard and it is good to see a GM able to get rewards to apply to their own character.

I am certainly not thrilled about the addition of the three races. I know a lot of people do like that change, but I have never really grown use to what I still consider “fringe” races. I am not a fan of GMing those races and even less of a fan of playing a character next to one of those races. My dislike of this rule is of course a personal bias. I suspect Mike Brock and Mark Moreland have heard frequent requests for these races and are just listening to the community.

While adding all hardcover books to the core assumption is likely a good thing, it does really increase the hurdle for a new GM to PFS. It is nice that Paizo says the PRD is a valid source for the rules removing the monetary hurdle of needing to own all of them, it still is a lot of rules for a new GM to PFS to be expected to know.

With this release of the PFS Guide several archetypes were cut from allowed for play:

  • Gravewalker Witch
  • Master Summoner
  • Synthesist Summoner
  • Undead Lord Cleric
  • Vivisectionist Alchemist

These archetypes are being removed either for not fitting with Golarion thematically or for power imbalance within organized play. I can respect that and think it is good that the campaign takes steps to correct some of these imbalances. I know I have heard numerous complaints about the Synthesist Summoner and it being ripe for abuse.

Let’s take a look at some of the changes from the change log that stand out to me.

First up:

“The leadership of this campaign assumes that you will use common sense in your interpretation of the rules. This includes being courteous and encouraging a mutual interest in playing, not engaging in endless rules discussions. While you are enjoying the game, be considerate of the others at the table and don’t let your actions keep them from having a good time too. In short, don’t be a jerk.”

I love this addition! So many times rule discussions can turn into something that sounds like two lawyers tearing apart the language used to make their case. Really, at the end of the day, Paizo just wants us to have fun playing this game. While the English language can be torn down to a finite point, use some common sense and try to realize we are here to play the game and have fun. The rules should facilitate that. Great addition!

Another added section is in regards to the Pathfinder Society Community:

You may not simply ignore rules clarifications made by the campaign leadership, including the campaign coordinator and campaign developer, on the paizo.com messageboards. GMs are not required to read every post on the messageboards, but GMs familiar with rules clarifications made by the campaign leadership (which have not been superseded by the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play or FAQ) must abide by these clarifications or rulings. If it is a significant clarification, it will be updated in the FAQ, and later in the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play if necessary.

I think this is a good move at trying to determine how the rulings on the message board are to work. Pretty much if you know something has been clarified on the message boards, but hasn’t made it to the FAQ yet, still follow it. Every effort will be made to add significant items to the FAQ which all GMs are responsible for knowing and following.

First Level retraining is noted in the change log. This is a pretty big deal and a good move for those getting their feet we with Pathfinder or Pathfinder Society in general. This allows a character to change anything they want with their character between adventures and before they hit 2n level as long as the PFS number remains the same. Exceptions to this rebuild will be listed in the PFS FAQ.

A couple of allowed to carry-over spells were added:

A character may have one each of the following spells that carries overs from scenario to scenario: continual flame, masterwork transformation, secret chest, and secret page.

Another good change in my opinion. The continual flame question seems to arise a lot on the message boards. In following with the common sense reading of rules above it only makes sense that continue flame be allowed to last from session to session.

There are numerous other small changes listed in the change log that I am not mentioning here. I have covered what I consider to be the highlights along with some of my commentary on them.

The look and feel of the guide has really improved over the years as well. The layout and feel continue to more closely emulate one of Paizo’s normally released books. Very crisp and clean. The additional attention to the look and feel is important I think as people new to Paizo’s organized play system will have this guide as their first contact with the system.

While I am not a fan of the new races, there are a lot of good changes in the Guide this time around. Whether I agree with the new races or not it does show the Paizo staff is listening to feedback and not afraid to make changes. I do believe they have the best interests of PFS in mind when they make these changes.

Review: Toys for the Sandbox – The Old Pier

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Author:  Quinn Conklin
Art: Teo Commons; Rodney Ruppert
Publisher:  Occult Moon Games
Price:  $1.99
Pages:   12

Occult Moon Games is already up to Issue #30 with their Toys for the Sandbox line. I admit, I’ve been following these Occult Moon guys on various social media networks and heard the name Toys for the Sandbox, but never really looked very closely. Recently though a couple of review copies from this line came my way.  It seems I have been missing out.

The Toys for the Sandbox line is described by Occult Moon as a framework for a GM to work from.  The product is system-less and provides the GM with a snack-sized chunk of a location that can be dropped into nearly any fantasy campaign world. Each issue contains a location with a map and flavor text, four NPCs with some background information, six plot hooks with twists to change them up a bit, and typically a table that includes rumors or encounters.

I was able to take a look at two different issues of the Toys for the Sandbox line, #23 The Pirate Island and #30 The Old Pier. As noted above, each contains a location with map, description, NPCs, and plot hooks. Both have enough story to get a GM up and running quickly for an evening’s diversion, without being tied too much to a particular setting. With that said, The Old Pier is written to fit in on the island described in The Pirate Island issue, but it could be transplanted to another city with minimal effort.

Each product described the location with enough detail for a GM to have an excellent starting point to drop the location into their own campaign. The NPCs included in each also had enough detail that a GM could read them with minimal prep and be ready to run them. The plot hooks, along with three twists per plot hook, were also wonderful time savers for a GM that needs to come up with something on the spur of the moment.

The maps in both products I reviewed were drawn by Teo Commons. Both were very well done, but the map in The Pirate Island was stunning. The map very clearly depicted the island as described and the color with aged effect was excellent.

Issue #30 has seen a page count increase and an improved layout. This issue contains a bookmarked table of contents. I find the bookmarks in the PDF valuable and a good improvement over Issue #23. One minor quibble was the font used for the text. The font looked nice, but I found it difficult to read.

Overall these are great resources when a GM needs to come up with something quickly for an evening of play. A GM that is planning ahead and simply wants a drop-in location with a lot of the heavy lifting already done can also use them. Being system-less is an added bonus. I will certainly be keeping a closer eye on this line from Occult Moon.

Angels, Daemons, and Beings Between: A Patron Sourcebook for DCC RPG

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Patrons are an interesting aspect of Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. Wizards work their magic by drawing from supernatural places and beings. In times of great need or desperation a Wizard can seek to call upon the powers of a patron directly. Doing so can be risky, but can have immense payoffs.

In DCC RPG each patron comes with a realm of influence or responsibility and have several tables that pertain to the Invoke Patron check, Patron Taint, Patron Spells, and spellburn options.

While the patrons included in the DCC RPG core rules are well detailed and set the example, many people have asked for more patrons to choose from. The rules encourage a judge to create their own patrons, but many gamers struggle to find time to prep adventures, much less design more patrons for their game.

For the judges that are looking for more patrons, you need to take a look at the Angels, Daemons, and Beings Between project over at indiegogo. The project has already met its initial funding goal with a little more than a week left to hit some of the stretch goals.

The project will be published by Dragon’s Hoard Publishing. The book will be 32 pages long and be available in PDF and Print depending on which level you join at. For each of the stretch goals that are reached an additional 16 pages will be added to the book.

If you are a DCC RPG judge that feels like they do not have time to tackle creating your own patrons, swing by indiegogo and take a look at this project. There is still a little over a week and a half to get in on this one.

DCC RPG: The Cleric

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We have reached the fourth installment of my weekly series taking a closer look at the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG character classes. So far I have looked at the Warrior, the Thief, and the Dwarf. This week I opened up voting to readers of the blog, the Google+ community and Twitter as to which character class I would be looking at. I suspected the Wizard would win, but it seems folks want to read about the Cleric! So this week we take a closer look at the Cleric character class.

The Class

The Dungeon Crawl Classics cleric draws his or her power from their god as a reward for their service to their deity. In DCC RPG The Old Ones established Law and Chaos which the gods fall under. The cleric follows his god, seeking to find relics and do battle with enemies of the faith or the beliefs of law or chaos.

A cleric gets a d8 for their hit dice. Their weapon training varies depending on which deity they worship, a chart is included that shows which weapons the followers of a specific deity use. A cleric can wear any type of armor.

The cleric’s deity is chosen at first level. The alignment of the cleric must match that of the deity they select. With three alignments in DCC RPG the cleric can choose to follow the path of Law, Chaos or Neutral. The cleric following the neutral path seeks a path of balance.

Clerics call upon their god for their magic. If the cleric is in good standing with their god and their god hears their request for divine aide and they approve of the request the cleric can cast their spell. Mechanically this is handled through a spell check. Roll a d20, add a couple of modifiers and check the chart that goes with the spell you are casting. A successful spell check means the spell is successful and your god grants you the aide through the spell.

There are some additional rules for cleric magic. A natural 1 on your spell check roll results in disapproval. This results in the spell being cast failing and a roll on a disapproval table. The disapproval table contains various results. These results typically are penalties or penalties until atonement has been achieved.

If a cleric fails their spell check roll, this increases the chance for a disapproval. For example, if a spell check is failed the cleric character now will need to roll on the disapproval table if they roll a 1 or a 2 on the d20 spell check. If they fail another spell check later in the same day then the disapproval chance increases to a 1, 2, or 3 on the d20 and so on and so on. A night’s rest will reset the disapproval chance back to a natural 1 on a d20.

A cleric can offset an increasing disapproval rating through a sacrifice to their deity. A cleric could also see a more rapid increase in their disapproval number if their deity perceived them doing something sinful or against the god’s beliefs.

A cleric also has a Turn unholy ability which is essentially another spell check to turn unholy creatures. There is a rather extensive chart to help adjudicate this check. A cleric can fail this check and increase their disapproval as well.

The cleric also has the ability to lay on hands to provide healing to other party members. The lay on hands mechanic is a bit complex with several variables to it. It requires a spell check to determine how many possible hit dice the cleric can roll to heal. This value is affected by whether you are healing someone of like alignment. If the cleric tries to heal someone to an adjacent alignment then the penalty is not as great. To heal someone of opposed alignment reduces the number of dice rolled further and generates sin for the cleric. Lay on hands also can allow a cleric to heal conditions instead of hit points.

Clerics also have an ability to seek out divine aide. This is aide above and beyond what they can already tap into through their spells and lay on hands ability. This check is made against a DC and imposes a significant penalty on the disapproval rating for future spell checks. Seeking divine aide is not to be taken lightly.

My Impression

As is readily evident by just the length the class description above, there is a lot going on with the DCC RPG cleric. Spells, lay on hands, the importance of alignment and how that affects various things can be a lot to grasp. Most of the class works around a series of spell checks for the various abilities which does help keep things straight. It is just a matter of getting used to what the cleric can do and how alignment may or may not affect certain abilities and keeping the disapproval mechanic in the back of your mind.

I like how alignment matters and has a mechanical aspect. A lawful cleric has an actual penalty for healing a chaotic party member in that the healing is less effective and they will be committing a sin in their god’s eyes. I suspect this will either lead to great roleplaying or we will see a lot of neutral clerics in play.

Another possibly overlooked item that I like about the cleric is in the caster level section. There it states caster level is generally the cleric level. But it leaves the door wide open for quests for the cleric to find items or other means to increase their caster level. I think this is great and just a rather pointed example that if you or your players don’t like how something work in the DCC RPG game, develop a quest for that character to break some barrier you see the rules putting forth.

In actual game sessions I have run one where a cleric was present and another where a cleric was not. The party with the cleric certainly had an easier time, still tough, but at least there was some means of adventuring on. The party that did not have a cleric was pretty beat up by the end of the adventure. DCC RPG certainly seems to be a game where having a cleric along is of great benefit, though not necessarily required.

The cleric in DCC RPG once again does a great job representing what a cleric “should” feel like to me. Alignment matters, they have the ability to heal multiple times per day and can have a slightly different feel based on the deity they choose to follow.

Next Week

This week’s character in-depth look was decided by the readers of this blog via feedback from comments here, Twitter and Google+.  Once again I am leaving it up to readers of The Iron Tavern to vote for which class they would like to see me look at next. I have covered the Warrior, Thief, Dwarf and now the Cleric.

Which character class should I look at next? Post a comment here, on Google+ or Twitter!

Review: Alternate Occupations

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Author:  Steven Bode
Publisher:  IDD Company
Price: PDF $2.00
Pages:   17
Tankard Rating:  4/5

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG has seen a lot of support from the 3PP scene. There are several areas within the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG that are ripe with opportunity for judges to unleash their full creativity. With this comes areas for 3PP’s to fill in some gaps for those of us with a little more limited time can cherry pick the fun ideas from them.

The Book

Today I take a look at Alternate Occupations from the IDD Company, written by Steven Bode. Some observant folks noticed it pop up on RPG Now a couple of days ago and a thread recently surfaced on the Goodman Games forums about this product. This PDF is a book of tables for starting occupations for players generating characters for a DCC RPG funnel adventure.

The tables are sorted into a Main Occupation table that has nearly 200 occupations on it. Each line item includes an occupation, race, trained weapon and trade good. There is overlap with the occupation table from the main DCC RPG rulebook, but that simply means you can roll on this larger table and not miss something from the rulebook’s occupation table. A die rolling mechanic is included on how to generate a number from 1 to 200.

While random determination of many items in DCC RPG is the essence of the game, there will be people that want to play a specific race or class. Racial tables include Human, Elf, Halfling, and Dwarf tables. Class tables include Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard tables. If a player knows they would rather play a certain race or class if they survive the funnel adventure they can choose to role on a specific race or class table, provided the judge allows it.

The PDF also define several of the more obscure occupations as well. I found this pretty handy, as I know I looked up a couple of professions from core DCC RPG rulebook. This is a handy little feature to be included.

The Reaction

I like how this supplement has expanded the starting occupations. The Main Occupation table it includes will ensure that the multitude of 0-level characters setting off to make a name for themselves will have varying occupations for variety. The tables are easy to read, the rolling mechanic is clear and concise.

At the moment I am embracing the pure randomness of the game. I suspect as time goes on I might want to have a better shot at playing a demi-human from the start of a game instead of trusting fate. The racial tables will be great for letting me roll up a starting occupation on a certain races table. These tables I am sure will become more valuable over time.

Overall, this PDF is a good buy for a quick and easy way to add more occupations to your DCC RPG game. The tables are cleanly formatted and easy to read and offers some fun occupation options to the game. Alternate Occupations is yet another strong product from a 3PP for DCC RPG.

Tankard Rating
4 tankards out of 5 tankards

DCC RPG Critical Hit Trap Table

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During a recent Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG game session we had a trap with an attack roll spring. A natural 20 was rolled for the trap’s attack and we checked for a Critical Table for Traps. We did not find one and I improvised and used a roll off the Monster table.

That moment got us talking and we thought maybe a Critical Table for Traps was in order. Several traps require attack rolls and it only seems reasonable that they get their own table!

There are several types of traps that typically get attack rolls – swinging scythes, rolling boulders, poison needle traps, etc. In designing this table I built it so it could be applicable to poison based traps or slashing, bludgeoning, or other types of traps.

To accomplish this I made the even numbered results applicable to slashing, bludgeoning or other types of traps that cause outright damage. Odd numbered entries are more poison oriented – whether that be poisoned needles, spear tips, or whatever devious traps DCC RPG judges can come up with. When rolling on the table if you get an odd number, but the trap is not a poison based trap, just drop down one result to get an applicable item.

For example, you roll a 20 an a poisoned needle and get a 16 on the critical roll. Just drop down and read the result from the 15 entry and you have a relevant and similarly damaging result.

Determining which dice to roll on a critical roll is the more subjective part on the Judge’s part. I am tempted to base it off of attack modifier to some degree, though those will rarely scale to the upper ends of the table. This would likely need to blend with the level of the adventure the judge is running. I think the dice progression used for ‘All Other’ from the Monster table is appropriate. I just need something other than HD to figure out which dice to roll.

I am still debating how to figure that portion out. Feel free to pop in with what you think in the comments. Until then, here is the Trap Critical Table I came up with.

Traps – Critical Table

Evens are slashing, bludgeoning, piercing, etc.
Odds are poison based traps

1 or Less: Trap sprung nearly perfectly! Add 1d3 damage.
2: The trap leaves the PC with blurry vision from the blow. +1d3 damage, -1 Reflex Saves for 6 hours.
3: The poison acts quickly, dulls reflexes. +1d3 damage, -1 Reflex Saves for 6 hours.
4: The trap scores a solid hit, penetrating deep into the PC’s body. +1d6 damage.
5: The poison burns as it enters the PC’s body! +1d6 damage.
6: The blow from the trap knocks the wind out of the PC. +1d6 damage, 1d2 temporary Stamina damage until healed.
7: The poison causes convulsions. +1d6 damage, 1d2 temporary Stamina damage until healed.
8: The trap causes bleeding that is difficult to stop. +1d8 damage.
9: Poison lingers unusually long in the PC’s body. +1d8 damage.
10: The trap strikes a central nerve. +2d4 damage, DC 14 Fort Save or fall unconscious.
11: The poison overwhelms central nervous system. +2d4 damage, DC14 Fort Save or fall unconscious.
12: The trap lands an overpowering blow. +1d12 damage.
13:  The poison has a brief, but very powerful chilling effect on the PC’s muscles. +1d12 damage
14: Trap cracks multiple ribs. +2d6 damage.
15: The poison causes the PC’s spleen to rupture. +2d6 damage.
16: The trap crushes the PC’s knee. PC’s movement rate is reduced by 5′.
17: The poison causes paralyzation in the PC’s arm.  PC loses use of one arm until healed by cleric 3rd level or higher.
18: The trap causes a sudden and extreme amount of blood loss. +1d16 damage. DC 16 Fort Save or fall unconscious.
19: The poison speeds its way to the PCs heart causing +1d16 damage. DC 16 Fort Save or fall unconscious.
20: The blow from the trap damages the optical nerve. PC is permanently blind.
21: The poison fogs the vision causing permanent blindness.
22: The trap delivers a stunning blow to the head causing irreversible vestibular system damage. 1d6 Agility damage.
23: The poison affects the PC’s core brain function. 1d6 Intelligence damage.
24: The trap’s blow causes severe damage to the PC’s spinal column causing complete and permanent paralysis.
25: The poison targets the PC’s central nervous system and causes complete and permanent paralysis.
26: The trap flays the flesh and exposes a wide swath of muscle to open air. +3d12 damage.
27: The poison has an acidic reaction with the PC’s blood stream causing extreme pain and anguish. +3d12 damage.
28: The trap damages multiple organs with a single strike causing immediate PC death.
29: The poison sends the PC’s heart rate into impossible to maintain numbers causing it to explode in the PCs chest, killing him.
30 or More: The gods frown upon the PC as the trap springs with uncanny execution and kills the PC outright in an extreme fashion.

Who Is IronWolf?

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Avatar by Wesley Hall

This blog is approaching its one year anniversary next month. It has been a good time writing the various articles here, exploring different fantasy RPG systems, reviews and other RPG related commentary. The Iron Tavern may just celebrate the upcoming anniversary with some form of contest next month! But that is not today’s topic.

When I started writing here I did so under the pseudonym of IronWolf. I have used that name in most RPG related places I have signed up with if it was not already taken. IronWolf was the name of one of my very first D&D characters. Many will also recognize it as the last name of the infamous Morgan Ironwolf, also from the D&D Basic Sets!

However, as time has gone on and my more frequent usage of Google+ I have become more accustomed to using my real name. The mixing of using my alias from various forum sites as my posting name here has also generated confusion on more than one occasion from someone not making the connection.

With much consideration and thought I think it is now time to bring things together under my real name as opposed to my posting alias. As my online social circles grow, The Iron Tavern grows in active readers and contribution credits increase I believe this consolidation will help keep things together a little better.

My posts here at The Iron Tavern will no longer appear as being authored by IronWolf, but as Jeffrey Tadlock now.

I have updated the About page here at The Iron Tavern to reflect the real name and added a few more things about me there. I have also updated my Twitter profile to display my real name as well, though my Twitter account is still under @ir0nwolf. I have also added more contact information to the About page to make reaching me easier.

DCC RPG: The Dwarf

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This is the third installment in my weekly series of looking at each of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG character classes. The first week I looked at the warrior and last week I looked at the thief. Be sure to check those articles out as well! This week I am taking a closer look at the dwarf character class.

The Class

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG returns to the mechanic of the case of the demi-human characters being your class, as well as your race. Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings are both race and class. In the Dwarf’s case he is very much like the warrior class with a few features to make him unique.

The DCC RPG dwarf is quite true to what I would consider a traditional feel for a dwarf in fantasy RPGs. They love the sight of treasure, short, stout, and strong, albeit wild, fighters. They live below the surface and tend to have excellent martial skills or craftsmen.

Dwarves start with a d10 hit dice, putting them a little below a human warrior, but still towards the top of the stack. Dwarves prefer battling with a weapon and shield and have a rather broad list of weapons they are trained in. They are free to wear whatever armor they can afford.

The same three alignments are available to the dwarf as the other character classes. The rulebook covers what type of dwarf might choose which alignment.

Dwarves have similar attack modifier mechanics as the warrior class does. They receive a deed die that they roll with each attack. This roll on the deed die applies to the attack and damage rolls and will vary depending on level which determines the deed die. At first level the dwarf would roll a d3 and add the result to attack and damage. As the dwarf levels, this die increases in the number of sides.

Also like the warrior the Dwarf can attempt a Mighty Deed of Arms. This allows them, like the warriors, to attempt special maneuvers during combat that succeed based on the value of the deed die. I am a big fan of this mechanic which I explain in my earlier warrior post. Be sure to check that post out for why I am a huge fan of the Mighty Deed of Arms.

Image Courtesy: http://interartcenter.net

Next up we have the sword and board feature. Dwarves like to fight with a shield and a weapon. If a dwarf fights with a shield the dwarf gains shield bash as a second attack – even at first level. The attack with the shield uses a lesser die to hit and does a small amount of damage, but I like the flavor. A Mighty Deed of Arms can be used with the shield bash.

Dwarves of course have infravision due to their time spent below the surface. They also have the slow movement speed of 20′.

Due to their time spent underground Dwarves have a list of underground skills allowing them bonuses to several types of skill checks when made underground. Another interesting feature is that they can smell gold and gems and determine which direction they are in depending on the amount of gold or gems near.

Finally, the dwarf can apply luck to one specific kind of weapon as the warrior does. They also start the game knowing the dwarven racial language.

My Impression

I find the Dwarven class in Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG really hit the right feel for dwarves for me. I do not mind that they made the race a character class that predefines its role. Sure, we might not see Dwarven Wizards or Rogues, but those should be fairly rare to begin with. The class as presented in DCC RPG does a good job of representing the typical dwarf.

Much like the warrior, the Mighty Deeds of Arms is a very fun mechanic. It works equally well with the Dwarven class. It also allows a Dwarven character many options.

From Forgotten Realms novels I have always had a fondness for Thibbledorf Pwent, a dwarven beserker. In D&D 3.x games or Pathfinder games I have had a hard time emulating this type of dwarf. I think with the Mighty Deeds at Arms and a judge I trusted that I could build a dwarven beserker with less trouble.

The other mechanic I really like from the Dwarven class is the sword and board feature. I always think of dwarves in close formation, shield in one hand, hammer or axe in the other. The sword and board class feature helps keep the shield useful for more than just an increased AC and allows the Dwarf to use it in battle to cause damage. I like the feel this gives the DCC RPG dwarf.

I have judged for a couple of dwarves in actual play. The characters seemed to do well and with the use of Mighty Deeds at Arms were able to do some excellent things. I recall one battle where the two dwarves formed up a shield wall to help cover a retreat.

The Dwarven character class is yet another class in DCC RPG that hits the right notes for me. The character class feels like what a dwarf should be in fantasy RPGs!

Next Week

So far I have looked at the Warrior class, the Thief and now this week the Dwarf. What would you like to see me look at more closely next? Post here in the comments or on either Google+ or Twitter and let me know which class I should turn to next!

Review: Never Unprepared – The Complete Game Master’s Guide to Session Prep

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Author:  Phil Vecchione
Publisher:  Engine Publishing
Price: Print+PDF Bundle $19.95 / PDF $9.95
Pages:   132 (digest)
Tankard Rating:  5/5

The Book

Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Master’s Guide to Session Prep is the third book out from Engine Publishing. The book is written by Phil Vecchione, a gamer with 30 years of experience and illustrated by Matt Morrow and Christopher Reach.

Never Unprepared is a guide to session prep of any type of system you like to play, whether that be a fantasy genre, sci-fi, modern, or any other genre. The process it works the reader through is applicable to your RPG system of choice. The book has three major sections as the author walks the reader through the process of session preparation.

What is Inside?

The first major section is about understanding prep. This area delves into the five phases of preparation – brainstorming, selection, conceptualizing, documentation, and review. Each of these sections cover the individual process and defines it, covers what happens if you spend too little time on that area, what happens if you spend too much time on that area and how to improve and strengthen this area of your prep. Each section closes with a short question and answer section to help give the reader a feel for their skill level for these areas.

The next major section covers the prep toolbox. This section talks about tools for prep. It does not try to steer you towards good old fashioned paper and pencil or to more modern electronic tools, but talks about pros and cons and knowing your own abilities. It also talks about what makes a good tool for each of the building blocks of prepping a session. This helps the reader make a good choice for themselves regardless of whether they prefer electronic or paper and pencil tools.

Another interesting portion of this section is mapping out your creative cycle. The author is a working professional with a family at home and knows what it is like to carve out prep time. He walks you through a technique to map out just how much free time you have and then figure out when you are most creative. Using this information you can more easily map out when you should be scheduling your prep time, yet still balance with work and your family life.

The final major section of the book covers evolving your style. This talks about various concepts to make your prep a little easier. It covers building templates for you to use to help guide your prep. These templates can vary based on when you consider your strengths as a GM and what you consider weaknesses. When prepping areas that hit your strengths you can get by with fewer details. When prepping areas that you feel weak in, including a little more detail can be good.

Using a prep-lite approach in for session preparation is also covered. This includes more tips for getting the amount of preparation you need as a GM just right, while using each of the five steps detailed earlier in the book.

The final portion of this section talks about what to do when the real world intervenes. We have all been there where something comes up that cuts even more into what little time we have to prep. Several scenarios are covered in this section and how various obstacles can affect your prep and how to adjust.

The PDF version of this book is wonderfully bookmarked and has an extensive index. It is good to see that Engine Publishing understands the value of a well bookmarked PDF and the value of a good index. These things do matter to RPG consumers.

But Is It Any Good?

This book was very good. This book should be standard issue to any new GM or any GM that says they simply don’t have time to run a game anymore as real life responsibilities increase. The author has been there like all of us, from the time where we could spend all afternoon evening prepping for games, reading about gaming and doing research for the game. Now, with careers and families there just isn’t the time to prep like we used to. This book shows you how to make the most of your time and get the prep done you need to run a quality game.

Session preparation is often looked at as a very large task. Never Unprepared breaks it down into reasonable chunks of preparation. Some of these chunks can be done in the shower, while you wait in line and other places with minutes of downtime. Other portions of prep do take more contiguous amounts of time, but the book helps you determine where you can find these chunks of time and how to reduce the stress sometimes associated with taking time out of your day to work on gaming prep.

I appreciated the fact that the tools section did not push you into one particular tool or style. The author spent the time to tell you what was required of the tool, leaving it to the reader to pick his or her preferred tool based on requirements, not on someone pushing you in one direction. Understanding what a tool needs to accomplish goes further to helping the reader choose the right tool than anything else.

I also found the mapping of your creative time in contrast with your free time very valuable. I have never sat down to map out my free time, much less apply a creative time peak map over that. These tips can go far to help reduce any tension you might have within your family for taking time to prep games. The methods outlined in this book do not require you to abandon your work of family responsibilities.

This book will help you better prep for your games and work this prep into your busy schedule. The techniques outlined in the book are very solid building blocks to making sure the time you spend prepping for your game is well spent.

The next time I hear someone say they do not have time to run a game I will immediately point them to Never Unprepared as a place to start. This is a high quality offering from Engine Publishing with invaluable advice to anyone trying to figure out how to more effectively prep for their game.

Tankard Rating
5 tankards out of 5 tankards

Note: The Iron Tavern was provided a review copy of this book.

Review: Bone Hoard of the Dancing Horror

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Author:  Daniel J. Bishop
Publisher:  Purple Duck Games
Price: PDF $2.75
Pages:   11
Tankard Rating:  4/5

Bone Hoard of the Dancing Horror is Purple Duck Games first release of an adventure to support Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games. This line of adventures from Purple Duck Games is designed to be picked up and used alone in a DCC RPG game. This adventure is written for a party of second level characters.

From the teaser text at RPG Now we learn that terrible horrors lurk on in the long since missing Dellspero the Philosopher’s workshop. Do the magics he worked on yet remain in this workshop setup in what was once a temple of the Chaos Lords?

Bone Hoard of the Dancing Hoard is a single level dungeon. The judge is provided with some background text to reveal the history of the location. A section for the judge is also included that provided with hints on integrating the adventure with an existing campaign, the flow of the adventure and why the magic items within are handled the way they are.

Just before the module moves into the room descriptions the general overall feel for the dungeon is described to help provide the judge with the information he or she needs to keep things consistent. Each room in the dungeon is keyed, includes a brief “boxed text” description and then the details necessary for the judge to run the room.

The adventure includes new monsters, in fact none of the monsters used in the adventure are traditional by any sense. I found the monsters used within the module very fun to describe and use against the players! The monster aspect seemed to hit the prevalent “Appendix N” feel of DCC RPG quite well.

The adventure also includes several new magic items. Many of the magic items are single use items in efforts to keep with DCC RPG’s “magic items are not common” approach. For the one powerful item it does give away in the adventure, notes are included for the judge on how to handle that if it poses an issue.

I found this adventure well written and suitably twisted enough to fit right in with the DCC RPG feel.

One frustrating factor was the empty room factor to the dungeon. There were several rooms that were listed as empty rooms. I tend to not include many empty rooms in a dungeon. This is not a huge issue though, as these rooms could be spiced up a bit if one desired.

I ran this adventure for a group of people over Google+ Hangouts. It took us two sessions to complete, probably about 2.5 hours each session. A great time was had. One of the big differences with DCC RPG and the adventures that tend to be associated with it in comparison to most d20 type games I have played is that sometimes the characters run away!

This module was no exception. Early on there was an attempt to flee a particular threat, which did not pan out as the movement rate of a couple of the party members was abysmally slow. However, this did lead to a dramatic moment involving a shield wall put up by the dwarves and a rolling Halfling ball of death!

Later on in the module the party caught glance of one of the threats and made a conscious effort to avoid that encounter at all costs. They carefully skirted the area in question and managed to make off with the prize without facing the encounter they sought to avoid.

Overall this was a fun adventure and worked well as a one-shot and could have easily been dropped into an existing campaign as well. With the module being easily prepped it could also be picked up to fill a game session relatively last minute as well, especially given the price. I look forward to the future DCC RPG adventure releases from Purple Duck Games.

4 out of 5 Tankards