Entry tags:
Another Time, Another Ivalice: Dalmasca
As I work on fleshing out my Ivalice D&D 4E game, I've been writing up some small descriptions of the major powers in the Galtean region. Here's a sample:
( Dalmasca )
( Dalmasca )
Bad breath.
With the 4e Ivalice game I'm kicking around, I'm going to need some 4e versions of Final Fantasy monsters. With this in mind, I decided to try my hand at monster design. First up, the status-inflicting terror known as the malboro.
( 4e stats within... )
Many thanks to the folks in the 4e D&D thread on FO for critiquing my original design and helping me fine-tune it!
( 4e stats within... )
Many thanks to the folks in the 4e D&D thread on FO for critiquing my original design and helping me fine-tune it!
Entry tags:
Another time, another Ivalice...
I've finally found my inspiration for a 4th Edition D&D campaign. It actually came to me in an interesting way - utter disillusionment with the game. I was unhappy with how bards were handled in Player's Handbook 2, but after discussing my misgivings with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
the_z, she likened them to Orators from Final Fantasy Tactics, and said that the entire 4e combat system sounded like a strategy RPG. This got my mind running right past my mental block and onward to somewhere completely different than where it had started.
I'm imagining a game in the Ivalice of Final Fantasy 12... or a re-imagining of it. Geographically, the world is the same, and the regional powers are mostly unchanged. Archadia's not quite as large - Dalmasca, Nabradia and Landis are still independent nations. However, Nabudis is still an undead-infested ruin; not because of a recent war, but because of an incident in the somewhat-distant past. The Yensan Sandseas are still jagd, as is the Ridorana Cataract - the remnants of ancient civilizations destroyed by a long-forgotten cataclysm. The jagds interfere with airship travel, but that mostly just cuts off Rozarria from having an easy, direct path to Rabanastre; trade caravans still skirt the Sandseas by land and bring goods back and forth.
As for races, a number of the more traditional D&D races are absent, most notably elves (and, by extension, eladrin and drow). So far, I'm thinking of using:
- humans (naturally)
- bangaa (using dragonborn rules)
- viera (using razorclaw shifter rules)
- gnomes (to fill in for moogles; I'm just not a big moogle fan, and gnomes fit the same niche)
- dwarves (there are a number of massive underground structures in Ivalice, and honestly, I just like dwarves too much to leave them out)
- tieflings (mostly hailing from Rozarria, especially near the Sandseas; possibly remnants of the civilization lost eons ago)
- seeqs (using orc rules from the Monster Manual)
Also, rather than the D&D pantheon, or going with the rather monotheistic religion of Ivalice, I'm going to borrow the Golarian gods from the Pathfinder campaign setting and remap them to 4e gods (for the purposes of items and divinity feats). So far, it's pretty much a 1:1 mapping, so it's been pretty painless. One happy coincidence - the Golarian god of magic is Nethys. The magic stones in FF12's Ivalice? Nethecite. I'm sure I can work that in somehow.
Anyway, that's as far as I've gotten, but I'm happily inspired. I may not be the most original person in the world, but I love taking other peoples' creations and reworking/reimaging them in interesting ways. Consider it a 4e/Pathfinder/Final Fantasy mash-up. :)
the_z, she likened them to Orators from Final Fantasy Tactics, and said that the entire 4e combat system sounded like a strategy RPG. This got my mind running right past my mental block and onward to somewhere completely different than where it had started.I'm imagining a game in the Ivalice of Final Fantasy 12... or a re-imagining of it. Geographically, the world is the same, and the regional powers are mostly unchanged. Archadia's not quite as large - Dalmasca, Nabradia and Landis are still independent nations. However, Nabudis is still an undead-infested ruin; not because of a recent war, but because of an incident in the somewhat-distant past. The Yensan Sandseas are still jagd, as is the Ridorana Cataract - the remnants of ancient civilizations destroyed by a long-forgotten cataclysm. The jagds interfere with airship travel, but that mostly just cuts off Rozarria from having an easy, direct path to Rabanastre; trade caravans still skirt the Sandseas by land and bring goods back and forth.
As for races, a number of the more traditional D&D races are absent, most notably elves (and, by extension, eladrin and drow). So far, I'm thinking of using:
- humans (naturally)
- bangaa (using dragonborn rules)
- viera (using razorclaw shifter rules)
- gnomes (to fill in for moogles; I'm just not a big moogle fan, and gnomes fit the same niche)
- dwarves (there are a number of massive underground structures in Ivalice, and honestly, I just like dwarves too much to leave them out)
- tieflings (mostly hailing from Rozarria, especially near the Sandseas; possibly remnants of the civilization lost eons ago)
- seeqs (using orc rules from the Monster Manual)
Also, rather than the D&D pantheon, or going with the rather monotheistic religion of Ivalice, I'm going to borrow the Golarian gods from the Pathfinder campaign setting and remap them to 4e gods (for the purposes of items and divinity feats). So far, it's pretty much a 1:1 mapping, so it's been pretty painless. One happy coincidence - the Golarian god of magic is Nethys. The magic stones in FF12's Ivalice? Nethecite. I'm sure I can work that in somehow.
Anyway, that's as far as I've gotten, but I'm happily inspired. I may not be the most original person in the world, but I love taking other peoples' creations and reworking/reimaging them in interesting ways. Consider it a 4e/Pathfinder/Final Fantasy mash-up. :)
Entry tags:
Miscellaneous matters
Two and a half hours to get into work today, thanks to the snow. I'm not looking forward to the commute home, and I hope I can get out an hour or two early. Rush hour is going to turn this place into even more of a parking lot than it is currently.
I still have a few people to shop for Friendsmas. Dennis, Dan, Richard, Nick, and Alicia are taken care of, but Tim, Jon, Kat, and Shawna are still gift-less. I'm sure we'll find something when we go out on Saturday. I may also do a bit of shopping on my lunch breaks. If there's one good thing about working in Overland Park (and there are several), it's that there is plenty of shopping opportunities within just a couple of miles.
I've been kicking around more ideas for a one-shot D&D Fourth Edition game for the crew playing in my semi-monthly Basic D&D game (which is one of the most lethal games I've ever seen, by the way). My main struggle is the struggle between getting every detail just right and getting just enough of them right to avoid major bizarreness. My problem is that I tend to heavily skew towards the former, which gets me caught up in analysis paralysis of sorts. Sometimes, being so detail-oriented is a blessing; this is not one of those times. I'm sure I have plenty of time, but I'd like to start getting the groundwork done now. Since this is just a one-night thing, I'll probably use the stock setting from the DMG. However, I probably won't use the adventure. Kobold Hall, well, it sucks. The layout of the dungeon underneath the hall doesn't even make sense - why would anyone build a dungeon like that? (See, there I go again.) Seriously, though, it wouldn't be hard to make the whole thing make sense by redoing the map. Oh, and dropping/redoing the White Dragon at the end. I don't even see how a dragon could get in and out of a sealed cave hidden behind a secret door at the end of a narrow hallway. Did someone just misplace an egg back there? (Again with the detail checking.)
In WoW news, I'm not yet to 72, but I'll be wrapping up Borean Tundra soon - I only have a handful of additional quests to complete - and then it's off to the Howling Fjord, and the Dragonblight after that. In the next week or two, I'm going to try to get a Nexus run as well, as I have all 4 quests for the non-heroic version. Also,hidaman and richman1 and I tried our hands at taking down Onyxia last night, just the three of us. Fifteen minutes later, we had a dead dragon, 60 gold each, and some sadly-underpowered (and vendor-cheap) classic-era raid loot. We might also start going after a Molten Core run, but if nothing else, we'll take fifteen minutes every Monday to drop her and take her money (and eventually get Tier 2 helms, because let's face it - the Judgement helm is awesome).
I still have a few people to shop for Friendsmas. Dennis, Dan, Richard, Nick, and Alicia are taken care of, but Tim, Jon, Kat, and Shawna are still gift-less. I'm sure we'll find something when we go out on Saturday. I may also do a bit of shopping on my lunch breaks. If there's one good thing about working in Overland Park (and there are several), it's that there is plenty of shopping opportunities within just a couple of miles.
I've been kicking around more ideas for a one-shot D&D Fourth Edition game for the crew playing in my semi-monthly Basic D&D game (which is one of the most lethal games I've ever seen, by the way). My main struggle is the struggle between getting every detail just right and getting just enough of them right to avoid major bizarreness. My problem is that I tend to heavily skew towards the former, which gets me caught up in analysis paralysis of sorts. Sometimes, being so detail-oriented is a blessing; this is not one of those times. I'm sure I have plenty of time, but I'd like to start getting the groundwork done now. Since this is just a one-night thing, I'll probably use the stock setting from the DMG. However, I probably won't use the adventure. Kobold Hall, well, it sucks. The layout of the dungeon underneath the hall doesn't even make sense - why would anyone build a dungeon like that? (See, there I go again.) Seriously, though, it wouldn't be hard to make the whole thing make sense by redoing the map. Oh, and dropping/redoing the White Dragon at the end. I don't even see how a dragon could get in and out of a sealed cave hidden behind a secret door at the end of a narrow hallway. Did someone just misplace an egg back there? (Again with the detail checking.)
In WoW news, I'm not yet to 72, but I'll be wrapping up Borean Tundra soon - I only have a handful of additional quests to complete - and then it's off to the Howling Fjord, and the Dragonblight after that. In the next week or two, I'm going to try to get a Nexus run as well, as I have all 4 quests for the non-heroic version. Also,
hidaman and richman1 and I tried our hands at taking down Onyxia last night, just the three of us. Fifteen minutes later, we had a dead dragon, 60 gold each, and some sadly-underpowered (and vendor-cheap) classic-era raid loot. We might also start going after a Molten Core run, but if nothing else, we'll take fifteen minutes every Monday to drop her and take her money (and eventually get Tier 2 helms, because let's face it - the Judgement helm is awesome).Entry tags:
I have seen the future of D&D4e...
...and it is the JRPG*.
I've been playing Tales of Vesperia lately, and as I get further into the game I've increasingly become aware of how closely it (and many of its JRPG ilk) fits some of the Fourth Edition tropes:
- A Points-of-Light setting where there are pockets of civilization surrounded by dangerous wilderness (and in ToV, this is a major focus of the plot).
- Ruins of past civilizations containing little-understood magic treasures.
- Dungeons that have puzzles that must be solved/devices that must be operated to complete the task at hand (skill challenges, anyone?).
- Monsters always attack in groups, save for the rare solo boss monster. Even major NPC fights have weaker minions running around and distracting you from the elite leader.
- Magical damage is divided into elemental subtypes, includingradiantlight and necroticdarkness.
- Combat is tactical, with movement, placement, combos, knockdown effects, and status effects being major factors.
- Characters have clearly-defined roles, and have named, repeatable attacks/powers to reinforce those roles.
On that last note, I can even guess the D&D4e classes of each character:
- Yuri (the male protagonist) is a straight-up Fighter, advancing into the Swordmaster paragon path
- Estelle (the female protagonist) is a Cleric, advancing into something healing-related (or the Radiant Servant, if that's unavailable)
- Rita is a Wizard through-and-through, advancing into a Battle Mage
- Karol is a Fighter with the Warrior of the Wild multiclass feat, possibly taking Ranger as his second class (and trained in Thievery as well).
- Raven is a Ranger (who manages to fight with bows and dual-wield) with the Sneak of Shadows multiclass feat, advancing into the Master Infiltrator paragon path
- Judith is (and I'm guessing here; haven't seen much of her) another straight-up Fighter, going Kensei and focusing on the spear/polearms
In all honesty, playing this game makes me see just as many elements of JRPGs (or at least those of the Tales series) in 4th Edition as I see elements borrowed from MMOs like World of Warcraft. The fact that JRPGs are mostly focused on telling a story (albeit one that admittedly doesn't vary much at a fundamental level from JRPG to JRPG) reassures me you can easily have 4e-style combat and not lose any of the roleplaying or storytelling from past editions. If anything, ToV is inspiring me to try running a 4e campaign set in Terca Lumireis (the world of ToV) or something directly inspired by it. I think that there are some interesting opportunities for adventure there, and with some tweaking and twisting to make it my own, it sounds like something I'd like to run.
* Japanese Role Playing Game, for those who are don't know the acronym.
I've been playing Tales of Vesperia lately, and as I get further into the game I've increasingly become aware of how closely it (and many of its JRPG ilk) fits some of the Fourth Edition tropes:
- A Points-of-Light setting where there are pockets of civilization surrounded by dangerous wilderness (and in ToV, this is a major focus of the plot).
- Ruins of past civilizations containing little-understood magic treasures.
- Dungeons that have puzzles that must be solved/devices that must be operated to complete the task at hand (skill challenges, anyone?).
- Monsters always attack in groups, save for the rare solo boss monster. Even major NPC fights have weaker minions running around and distracting you from the elite leader.
- Magical damage is divided into elemental subtypes, including
- Combat is tactical, with movement, placement, combos, knockdown effects, and status effects being major factors.
- Characters have clearly-defined roles, and have named, repeatable attacks/powers to reinforce those roles.
On that last note, I can even guess the D&D4e classes of each character:
- Yuri (the male protagonist) is a straight-up Fighter, advancing into the Swordmaster paragon path
- Estelle (the female protagonist) is a Cleric, advancing into something healing-related (or the Radiant Servant, if that's unavailable)
- Rita is a Wizard through-and-through, advancing into a Battle Mage
- Karol is a Fighter with the Warrior of the Wild multiclass feat, possibly taking Ranger as his second class (and trained in Thievery as well).
- Raven is a Ranger (who manages to fight with bows and dual-wield) with the Sneak of Shadows multiclass feat, advancing into the Master Infiltrator paragon path
- Judith is (and I'm guessing here; haven't seen much of her) another straight-up Fighter, going Kensei and focusing on the spear/polearms
In all honesty, playing this game makes me see just as many elements of JRPGs (or at least those of the Tales series) in 4th Edition as I see elements borrowed from MMOs like World of Warcraft. The fact that JRPGs are mostly focused on telling a story (albeit one that admittedly doesn't vary much at a fundamental level from JRPG to JRPG) reassures me you can easily have 4e-style combat and not lose any of the roleplaying or storytelling from past editions. If anything, ToV is inspiring me to try running a 4e campaign set in Terca Lumireis (the world of ToV) or something directly inspired by it. I think that there are some interesting opportunities for adventure there, and with some tweaking and twisting to make it my own, it sounds like something I'd like to run.
* Japanese Role Playing Game, for those who are don't know the acronym.
D&D4e Conversion: Averyl
Having discussed 4e recently with people, I decided to convert the last 3.5 character I've played into 4th Edition rules. It's not perfect by any means, but I think it's a serviceable conversion that captures the style of the character (an assassin that specialized in both stealth and impersonation). Granted, I'd use the old appearance of tieflings, rather than the "Big Red Demon" version that 4e uses.
( Say hello to Averyl )
( Say hello to Averyl )
Entry tags:
My Favorite Five: Things to Remember About 4e
Yes, D&D4e has been consuming many cycles of brain processing time as I absorb it, examine it, deconstruct it, and evaluate it, along with the various discussions, reviews, and commentaries that have been popping up around the 'net. If there's been one idea that gets repeated over and over and over again, it's that you have to approach 4e from a different angle than what you may be used to for D&D. So, with that in mind, here are...
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My Favorite Five: Things About Fourth Edition
Over the last week or two, my opinion of Fourth Edition has been shifting from negative to positive as I've been reading the books and digesting the contents. It's not perfect, and there are a number of things I'll want to houserule/homebrew into the game to give it the feel I want (more on that another time), but there are a number of things I'm definitely liking. So, without further ado...