Encounter-a-Day

Treasure Trove and Quartermaster have both been updated with all the items from Adventurer’s Vault, as well as new UI upgrades necessary thanks to the new kinds of items.

What a pain. I actually typed in every single item in the book… 899 unique items in all.

Well, it’s all downhill from here… Until the Monster Manual 2, I guess.

Fun fact: There are 899 unique items in the Adventurer’s Vault; from every book, magazine article, and adventure released to date, there were a total of ~260 unique items, and 860 total items (counting, for example, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5 and +6 magic weapon has 6 different items).

In other words, there are more unique items in AV than there are total items in everything else that’s been released so far.

And in case you’re wondering, I forgot the exact number, but there are now a total of just over 3200 items in my database.

If anyone’s interested, I uploaded the spreadsheet I made with all these items on ENWorld… here’s the link.

The PCs confront a villain and discover him to be wearing a plain white porcelain mask. The villain is suave and articulate, taunting the PCs even as they defeat him. When the mask is removed– or if it is broken– the man suddenly slumps into a lifeless corpse. Someone with any medical training can easily tell that the body has been dead for some time, days if not weeks.

Not long after, the PCs find another foe, again in a porcelain mask. He clearly remembers the PCs, and from his demeanor and jabs it is clearly the same person. However, when the mask is removed, the same thing happens: it was apparently tied onto a lifeless corpse.

This pattern repeats itself off and on for some time. Depending on your needs, the PCs might find clues leading to the true villain’s identity by searching the dead bodies, or he might remain concealed for years, popping up when opportune to stymie your players.

I’ve updated the Monster Maker to version 2.4.

New feature in this version: you can now import powers and auras from other monsters, so if you’re making several similar monsters you can save keystrokes and help ensure consistency.

Also fixed some minor bugs.

I’ve finished updating Treasure Trove and Quartermaster so that you can filter by types of weapons, kind of like with armor.

It seems like a small feature, but due to the complicated and hierarchical nature of the weapons and groups, it was a fun challenge and I’m satisfied with the way it came out.

Right now I’m working on implementing code so that Treasure Trove and Quartermaster can be filtered by types of weapons, like armor.

Of course, there’s way, way more options for filtering weapons than there are armor… Armor is pretty cut and dry, it’s one of 6 different types. Weapons have a relatively complicated hiererarchy, where each weapon can be contained in multiple different groups (e.g. a halberd is a 2-handed melee weapon, an axe, and a polearm), and there are even some strange special cases (specifically the shuriken– the only light blade ranged weapon).

I’ve actually come up with a relatively simple solution, and now it’s a matter of just slogging through and coding everything. It’s also going to be a pain to figure out how the hell I’m supposed to lay this stuff out when I do add it to those programs… The list is going to be very long and difficult to manage. Not sure exactly how I’ll handle that. I’m thinking one list for the weapon groups, and one list for individual weapons might break it up nicely.

For those curious, here’s what I’ve got so far:

http://www.asmor.com/scripts/4eMagicItems/weaponGroupTest.html

Ok, no new content (like I said, hectic time for me), but here’s a compromise…

I’ve made a random treasure generator for 4th edition, using the same database as Treasure Trove, with all the same controls over exactly which kinds of items you want to include and from which sources.

Check out Quartermaster now!

The PCs travel to the desert city of Baiyra and, thanks to their reputations, are welcomed as guests of the Sultan. Baiyra has long been famed for its peaceful streets, beautiful architecture, and exotic wares, but when the PCs arrive much of the city seems neglected. Crime is rife, buildings are in a state of disrepair if not outright crumbling, and statues and sculptures are defaced and unkept.

Sultan Abdurahman is 104 years old, and survived only by one of his nine grandchildren, Rasshid ibn Taj ibn Abdurahman, the current heir to the throne. Abdurahman is always accompanied by his advisor, Nazim, a man who seems almost as old as the king himself. Known only to the Sultan himself, Nazim is actually a genie who’s advised every sultan in the city’s history. Nazim is bound to three duties: enforce the city’s laws, ensure the city prospers, and follow the dictates of the sultan. Each of the duties is equally important and given equal weight.

The PCs arrive at a somewhat inopportune time, as the same night they arrive there is an assassination attempt on Sultan Abdurahman. The attempt is botched, and it is relatively easy to discover that Nazim was behind it.

If the PCs suggest to the Sultan that it was Nazim, he dismisses that as preposterous (since he believes Nazim cannot harm him) When confronted, Nazim is clearly despondent about the attack, but unapologetic. He explains that Abdurahman, though once a great and powerful leader, has simply grown too old. He is older than any mortal has any right to be, and his mind has been ravaged by age. The Sultan no longer looks after his city as he should, is easily confused and his memory is all but gone.

The laws of the city are very clear, though: so long as Abdurahman still draws breath, only he may lead it. Thus Nazim orchestrated the assassination attempt so that the leadership would pass to Rasshid.

As if to punctuate Nazim’s accusations, the next day the Sultan holds court, and many seek him out for help. He seems to listen to them, but when asked for aid he has no idea what was just said, but rather he was (for example) entranced by the memory of a monkey he once saw stealing a fig from a goat. Nazim does his best to cover up for the Sultan, but there is little that can be done.

Depending on your point of view, this may well be a bit of a cop out post… But nonetheless, it’s something I’m really excited about and have been looking forward to doing.

I’ve made a compilation of the 27 monsters released so far here on Encounter-a-Day. I plan on updating the compilation regularly, maybe once a month or so.

Grab it now!

By the way, you should still check it out even if you’ve downloaded all the PDFs I’ve released until now. I’ve updated the style so it looks a bit nicer.

Sick of slivers yet? Me neither! Download the PDF now for…

• The Deathbloom Sliver, which creates zones of healing whenever another sliver dies.
• The Ovine Sliver, whose horned crest will knock the wind out of even the heartiest adventurer.
• The Shadowsneak Sliver, sure to have your PCs swearing a blue streak trying to find the thing.
• The Sliver Triagist, which turns the tide of battle just as a cleric or warlord does for the PCs.

I’ve just updated my Monster Maker to version 2.3. This is a pretty big update.

It now incorporates the functionality of my 4e Monster Math Cruncher so that you can automatically generate the base numbers, saving you a bit of time and hassle. I’ve also fixed a bug where auras appeared to be deleted, but weren’t.

Go download it at my site.