Firing to Suppress

No, I haven't forgotten about my Gears and Gunpowder campaign (although we haven't started it yet either). I'm still mulling over ideas for themes, and jotting down notes for the general setting.

I've an idea for the campaign that has echoes of the 100 Bullets comic series. Corruption, cartels, and a conspiracy that dates back centuries (I won't say any more than that, for fear of spoilers).

Thankfully, thinking about gangsters and gunfights has given me some ideas for updating my firearms rules. So, with that in mind, I give you my new rules for suppressive fire. Now you can shout out "cover me!" and have it actually mean something.

SUPPRESSIVE FIRE

When making a ranged weapon attack with a firearm, you can choose to fire to suppress. Only firearms fitted with a magazine can be used for suppressive fire.

Firing to suppress: When firing to suppress, you take a -2 penalty to your attack roll, and must fire one or more additional rounds of loaded ammunition. These additional rounds automatically miss. After the attack has been resolved, the target must pass a saving throw or become suppressed until the end of their next turn. For every additional round that was fired, they receive a -1 penalty to this saving throw.

Hitting the dirt: The target can choose to fall prone as a free action when they make their saving throw. Doing so grants a +5 bonus to the save, and cancels all penalties imposed by multiple shots.

SUPPRESSED

• You grant combat advantage.
• Your speed is halved.
• Enemies have partial concealment if they are 5 or more squares from your position.

USING "AID ANOTHER" FOR SUPPRESSIVE FIRE

Creatures can also use the Aid Another action in combat to help an ally suppress their enemy.

Aid Another (Standard Action)

You fire one or more rounds of ammunition at an enemy to turn the next ranged attack made against them by one of your allies into a suppressive fire attack. All rounds that you fire automatically miss. Any firearm can be used for this purpose, including those that do not have a magazine.

The ally does not gain the +2 bonus to their attack roll that is normally granted by aiding, but does not need to fire to suppress. Once the attack has been resolved, the target makes a saving throw as though it had been targeted by a suppressive fire attack. When calculating the saving throw penalty, additional rounds fired by aiding creatures are counted in addition to those that may have been fired by the ally.

Thaumatic Themes: Ragwheeler

In truth, I thought about transferring "Tabletop" over to 4th Edition back when it first came out. I spent a few weeks in autumn 2009 working up my own classes, but then things picked up in our main campaign, and I realised people weren't going to want to switch. I'm glad now we didn't - the last three years have given me a much clearer understanding of the system, and I'm in a better position now to start a homebrew campaign. But those early class ideas became the basis of the themes I'm looking at today. Or, at least, they did until Sandy and Mike got involved. Damn them.

The problem with game designers is they always want to design their own stuff. Stacey loved the "Bombardier", but when I presented Sandy with the "Deathcrook" - another of my old classes I'd boiled down into a theme - he wasn't quite so sold. Personally, I couldn't understand why not: a class that could steal the souls of those it killed, and use them as fuel for necrotic attacks - even summon them as minions? What's not to like?

However, when Sandy mailed me through a near-complete theme of his own devising, I had to swallow my pride. Because his creation - which we named the "Ragwheeler" - was something special: a slave bound to its masters through a deadly shackle. Powers aside, what I loved about this was the flavour. Reading his description of the work-slum, I really got an image of what these poor blighters had to live through - and that's exactly what a theme should do.

But don't just take my word for it: take a look for yourselves. I'm really looking forward to seeing this in action!

If you like it, or have any suggestions, please drop me a comment. This time, I promise I won't delete them! (I'm still getting used to Blogger, as on Friday I accidentally deleted all of the previous comments whilst playing around with the dashboard. Doh.)

Thaumatic Themes: Bombardier

"Themes" are very popular at the moment. In case you've missed them, they're templates that sit above your chosen class, and grant bonus powers throughout the heroic tier. Each theme also has optional Utility powers you can swap out with those from your main class.

In many respects, they're a lot like a Paragon Path, or an Epic Destiny. Themes first surfaced in the Dark Sun Campaign Guide, and thanks to their popularity, Wizards soon released a set for general play through DDI. Most recently, the Neverwinter Campaign Guide featured a bunch of themes for the Forgotten Realms. So, it looks like they're here to stay.

Themes are great for bringing out the unique aspects of your campaign world. For example, if you're playing in Forgotten Realms, your mage could choose to be a Renegade Red Wizard. Or, your entire party could choose to be "Harpers": members of a secret society sworn to fighting evil.

For my rebooted campaign world, making some unique themes seemed a great way to flavour the party. Recently I've been working closely with my players to flesh out the themes they'd like to play, and over the next few weeks, I'll be previewing them here. Stacey's "Bombardier" is the first: a regimental soldier schooled in the use of firearms. This theme works alongside my custom rules for firearms, which I detailed in the recent Gears and Gunpowder article.

A World of Gears and Gunpowder

I’m starting a new campaign soon.

On top of my bi-weekly game, I’ve decided to start up another campaign for Friday nights. This gives me a chance to finally convert “Tabletop” over to 4^th Edition: the homebrew world I built for the last edition.

Start small, and work outwards- the guiding principle behind any new campaign

It’s a daunting undertaking, but starting a new campaign is certainly the best way to go about it. In fact, it gives me a chance to trim the world back to its barebones. With new characters (and new players!) there’s no legacy to get in the way. I can start again, and that’s liberating. I can pick the best bits, and focus on them. In Hollywood terms, it’s a reboot!

So how do you go about explaining a new campaign world to your players? Well, at work I’ve pitched a bunch of concepts to publishers, and I’ve learned that most people don’t like to read. I’ve seen the glazed look on their faces as they skim a concept doc, and fielded countless calls from bosses to “just boil this down to a one-pager”.

Not that I condemn them. In fact, they’re right - I don’t like reading either. If we sit down to play D&D, the last thing I want to do beforehand is trudge through a 100-page treatise about your world. Or a 10-page treatise, for that matter. No, if I'm to read anything at all, I want it all on a single page, damn it!

So without further ado, here’s the one-pager for my rebooted “Tabletop”, now called "The Riddle World". That’s nine points that spell out the lore of the world, all on a single side of A4.

But how does this gumpf actually affect the game? I guess, for me, back in 3^rd Edition, it was heroes wielding pistols, battles atop chain-rails, and dangerous journeys into the null-magic that really defined my world. So “thaumatic power” and “fluctuating magic” were two systems I absolutely had to design before we began.

And here they are, for you. Hopefully, with a bit of imagination, you’ll find some use for them in your games!

Herein you'll find full rules for firearms, and a smattering of Steampunk items (including, to my knowledge, the first ever D&D bicycle rules!*)

Here you'll find rules for running fluctuating magic fields - which could be handy for an adventures set near a planar rift. Or maybe you could bring them into play for a magical storm, or an eclipse?

* Yes, that's right. D&D Bicycle Rules!!