Blue Bard Boards

For the No Artpunk 3 contest, Prince of Nothings outlined his judging standards for some of what distinguishes good high-level adventure designs---and by implication, good high-level play---in his blog post at https://princeofnothingblogs.wordpress.com/2023/11/29/nap-rating-high-level-adventures/ (as well as in the posts outlining the entrance criteria too). In addition to those he outlined, additional criteria rise to the level of "important" in my mind (and Prince never said his list was exhaustive, of course), including: • showcasing the strengths of high-level play, where PCs need disintegration to take down a wall of force, need to erase that symbol, and need to research and learn the truename of the demon to be banished (perhaps by any means necessary) • non-nerfing environmental challenges:  high-level modules should not be just the usual trip to the dungeon, cave, or ruin, but should offer distinctive challenges. Examples: aerial/aquatic/undersea environs, active volcanoes, magical/spatial anomalies, demi-planes, and other planes of existence. And while physical challenges are common, social and cultural obstacles can be equally effective:  urban, high-society/courtly, guild/organization based, and religious cultures and faction relationships may not only limit standard combat actions but may also shift the field of combat to influence and politics, and the repercussions of choices made and opportunities lost, rather than simple swordplay • knowledge (and perhaps even mastery) of the game system:  knowing your PCs and the capabilities of their abilities,  spells, and magic (both your own PC and the others in the party), knowing the foes/monsters, knowing the environment and setting, etc. • acting well as a group/team:  this follows on from knowledge above, but gets into coordinated and effective application of expertise, individually and as a group, at the table and in the moment, as well as looking tactically ahead to medium and long-term goals What other design principles guide your designs and play in high-level adventures? Allan.

Howdy y'all, been a while since I posted. As usual, I've got an odd question centered on unclear mechanics. Last night my players faced off against 2 shadow dragons (MM2, pg 58 I think.) The dragons employed their breath weapon, a cloud of black smoke which has the ability to temporarily energy drain victims caught within for either 1/2 or 3/4th their levels depending on the save vs Breath Weapon. One of the characters possess a Scarab of Protection (DMG pg 154.) While this wonderful item usually negates energy drain in exchange for a 1-1 ratio of charges, due to the character's high level this would suck the Scarab dry, and furthermore there's added complexity as this is only temporary drain, which the book of course has no info about (Temporary Energy Drain is also present in the Basic Creature Catalog via Agarats, so it had already existed by then.) I ruled the Scarab ineffective and unaffected vs the temporary drain, the player (A DM in his own right) says he thinks it should have negated the temporary drain since it can negate the permanent stuff. What's y'all's opinion on this?

I've noticed some houserules that strengthen crossbows on Anthony's DM screen and in the stat blocks of many NPCs in CotSP. This grants crossbows a 3/2 rate of fire and on the first round of combat a free shot before initiative is rolled. I assume that if both sides are armed with crossbows at the start of the round initiative is still rolled to see who shoots first, and then after this is resolved normal initiative procedures follow. Is this the case, or are such pre-initiative shots simultaneous? What if one side achieves surprise? Can they fire in the surprise round, fire again before initiative is rolled, and then continue with the 3/2 rate of fire afterwards? Or, in the case of complete surprise fire three times in the two segments of surprise (two in the first segment and once in the second given the 3/2 rate). I assume the free shot before initiative applies because the crossbow is loaded, and getting a shot in the surprise round negates this advantage. (With regards to the triple rate of fire possible with surprise, the DMG states this is possible if the necessary ammunition is ready, and if not the normal rate of fire applies. I interpret this to mean that this is possible if you're setting an ambush or manning a guard post where you can set your ammunition before you in anticipation of targets; it wouldn't apply to adventurers who blunder around a corner into a group of monsters and get lucky on the surprise roll. But if such preparations are made, I guess the enterprising crossbow weilder gets nine shots in the two surprise segments under this house rule. I once decimated an overly-cocky group of adventurers in D1-2 this way when they blundered in front of and were subsequently surprised by a drow guard outpost allowing each of the drow to fire six times...they all fell to the sleep poison!) Also, in CotSP there are Clerics and Cavaliers armed with crossbows, such as with the adventuring companies in the Tables and Handouts book. Is this allowed to all members of those classes? Finally, on the DM screen it states that the rate of fire for crossbows improves to 2 at level 7 and 5/2 at level 13. Is that just for Fighters or for all classes?