D&D General WotC Reveals New Information and Covers for 'Keys from the Golden Vault'

Due in just a few weeks, Keys from the Golden Vault has receoved little fanfare so far. However, a cover and descrioption has appeared on the Wizards Play Network site. Wizards Play Network (WPN) is a network of WotC-approved stores.

An anthology of 13 heist-themed adventures for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.
 
Some jobs require more than simply wielding a sword or slinging a spell. Whether it’s procuring a well-guarded item or obtaining crucial information from an imprisoned contact, these tasks require careful planning and flawless execution. The secretive organization called the Golden Vault specializes in hiring crews for such jobs, and for the most daunting assignments—pursuing fabulous treasures and stopping dire threats—that crew is your characters.
Keys from the Golden Vault™ is a collection of 13 short, standalone Dungeons & Dragons adventures designed for characters levels 1–11. These adventures can be placed in any setting and you can run them as one-shot games or link them together into a campaign. This book also includes in-world maps to help players plan their heists, plus advice for running nontraditional games with high risks and huge rewards.

Contents:

• Book of 13 stand-alone adventures spanning levels 1–11, each focused on a single heist
• Adventures can be set in any D&D or homebrew world and can be played individually or as part of a full campaign
• Introduces the Golden Vault—a mysterious organization for which the player characters can work as heist operatives
• Each adventure includes a map to guide Dungeon Masters and a map to help players plan their heists
• Adventures emphasize player choice with each heist having multiple paths toward success
• Includes advice and detailed information for Dungeon Masters running nontraditional adventures with high risks and huge rewards

There's also an alternate cover.

 

[J.Quondam]

Hmmm... the deep conspiracy-minded might think this was the real plan all along: get a massive rebound of good-will sales of Keys From the Golden Vault, as well as a bump right before the movie...

That would certainly put the pain into "No pain, no gain."

 

[Maxperson]

Hmmm... the deep conspiracy-minded might think this was the real plan all along: get a massive rebound of good-will sales of Keys From the Golden Vault, as well as a bump right before the movie...

Now I'm hearing Charlie Sheen yell "Winning!"

 

[Parmandur]

Hmmm... the deep conspiracy-minded might think this was the real plan all along: get a massive rebound of good-will sales of Keys From the Golden Vault, as well as a bump right before the movie...

Like most conspiracy theories, that would just be a crutch to try to pretend that people are more in control than they actually are.

 

[EpicureanDM]

Are they going to all pile on the carpet and slow it down?

This kept circling in my head and I finally figured out why it misses the point.

If you read the rules for carpets of flying, you'll see that their speed (whether they speed up or slow down) isn't a function of how many people climb aboard. It's defined by the carpet's size. If the extra carpet of flying is big enough to carry four people, it's speed doesn't change if only one person gets on. It's still 30ft./round whether there's one character on it or four. There's no interesting or evocative decision to be made about whether piling onto the carpet will slow it down. If the carpet's big enough to carry a four-person party (or even a three-person party), it's already a losing option in this particular encounter.

You could have figured this out yourself if you'd just taken a minute to look at the published rules for carpets of flying. So could Justice Arman.

 

[billd91]

You could have figured this out yourself if you'd just taken a minute to look at the published rules for carpets of flying. So could Justice Arman.

Depends on their weight. The carpet’s capacity is written in terms of pounds, not people. Figuring out who’s going on the carpet is a very different prospect depending on party composition.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

break in... nope. In fact I can argue if I were playing the 9th level wizard I would most likely try the simple way to avoid useing the spell slot...

My issue is not using it to evade capture. Someone else said "improved Invisability plus misty step"

I that is a 2nd and 4th level slot... I guarantee you no one would bat an eyelash if they used them to double blast (cone of cold and what ever 2nd level spell they have for damage) but that fact that they HAVE those get out of jail free cards is an issue.

Did the players actually see the thieves cast Misty Step or Improved Invisibility? If not, they have no way of knowing they know those spells. NPC wizards have a Schrödinger's spellbook.

 

[EpicureanDM]

Depends on their weight. The carpet’s capacity is written in terms of pounds, not people. Figuring out who’s going on the carpet is a very different prospect depending on party composition.

The weight doesn't make a difference - at least, not in the way you might want it to - since the carpet doesn't magically shrink or grow based on how much weight it's carrying. The weight is the carpet's maximum capacity. For your idea to work, the rules for a carpet of flying would be something like: "The speed of a carpet of flying depends on how much weight it's carrying. If it's carrying 200 - 400lbs or less, it moves at 60ft per round. If it's carrying between 400 - 600lbs. or less, it moves at 45ft per round. If it's carrying 600 - 800lbs, it moves at 30ft. per round."

The DMG states: "The DM chooses the size of a given carpet or determines it randomly." The DM chooses a size and the details of the carpet are tied to that size. A 6x9 carpet has a maximum capacity of 800lbs. and moves at 30ft. per round. It can carry more than its weight, but that slows it down. The carpets don't get faster if they carry less than their maximum weight, only slower if they carry more.

Look, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to play the game using the rules. If ignoring or glossing over the rules is how your group has fun, go for it. I don't think that leeway should extend to the "game designers" who write and publish the game. If you're calling yourself a game designer, you should be an expert in the game and be good at using its rules. You should be able to design interesting encounters that rely on the game's rules to provide that interest. And you shouldn't build an encounter using rules that a DM might foreseeably need to ignore or revise in order for the encounter's intended design to make sense at the table.

 

[billd91]

The weight doesn't make a difference - at least, not in the way you might want it to - since the carpet doesn't magically shrink or grow based on how much weight it's carrying. The weight is the carpet's maximum capacity. For your idea to work, the rules for a carpet of flying would be something like: "The speed of a carpet of flying depends on how much weight it's carrying. If it's carrying 200 - 400lbs or less, it moves at 60ft per round. If it's carrying between 400 - 600lbs. or less, it moves at 45ft per round. If it's carrying 600 - 800lbs, it moves at 30ft. per round."

The DMG states: "The DM chooses the size of a given carpet or determines it randomly." The DM chooses a size and the details of the carpet are tied to that size. A 6x9 carpet has a maximum capacity of 800lbs. and moves at 30ft. per round. It can carry more than its weight, but that slows it down. The carpets don't get faster if they carry less than their maximum weight, only slower if they carry more.

Look, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to play the game using the rules. If ignoring or glossing over the rules is how your group has fun, go for it. I don't think that leeway should extend to the "game designers" who write and publish the game. If you're calling yourself a game designer, you should be an expert in the game and be good at using its rules. You should be able to design interesting encounters that rely on the game's rules to provide that interest. And you shouldn't build an encounter using rules that a DM might foreseeably need to ignore or revise in order for the encounter's intended design to make sense at the table.

I don't know what you're assuming here, but you really need to stop it. I'm not making nor implying the carpet would go faster with less weight than its printed speed. Rather, it can carry more of the party at full speed depending on the party's composition. I'd have no problem with putting a third halfling or gnome on the carpet and have it move at full speed (though with some potential repercussions on their defenses per the squeezing rule). But you can't get 2 goliaths on it without it slowing down.
But even with that in mind, there's no reason to believe that 2 medium PCs (who aren't pushing the boundaries of weight) can't pursue the two mages while other PCs work on other ways to do so from fly spells, to brooms of flying, wild shape, polymorph, running along at street level, etc. In other words, there's no reason to claim it's a non-sensical encounter.

 

[Clint_L]

With this OGL business taken care of, I'm just glad that D&D fans are able to get back to debating the things that really matter!

 

[Mind of tempest]

With this OGL business taken care of, I'm just glad that D&D fans are able to get back to debating the things that really matter!

such as?