Dice4Hire
First Post
Planer would be a good way to go in the future, I agree.
April and Beyond: Actually full of things most people will like!
- Thread starter Incenjucar
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Planer would be a good way to go in the future, I agree.
TikkchikFenTikktikk
First Post
(This is me being 80% knee-jerk contrarian, 19% done with new 4E releases, and 1% exploiting an opportunity for Ren & Stimpy nostalgia. I'd usually be very interested in the Shadowfell and Monster Vault supplements and the dungeon tiles, but I seem to be suffering a serious case of the dreaded "just don't give a
what is coming out of WotC's orifices anymore and I already have more than I can use in a decade anyway" syndrome.)
Drammattex
First Post
We could talk about this elsewhere, Ian, but hey we're both here now.
The Wandering Tower was a callback to the Shy Tower from 2e's Return to the Keep on the Borderlands. I assume Chris Perkins assigned me that one because I enjoy working with, and feeding mimics (see MM3).
About six months before this assignment I read the first half of Leiber's Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser tales (including The Jewels in the Forest). If anything, that story made me feel more legitimate about what I was doing with the tower--in a literary sense, I mean. On the other hand, haven't we all run the "This is no cave" adventure at some point in our DMing careers?
Side note: I'm tickled to see the "Here may you find all you desire" line in print.
Drammattex
First Post
Yes. Only part that wasn't mine was the dwarf story--but I really like that it's connected by that recurring line.
Jeremy Crawford is the one to thank for having me re-concept and improve some of the mechanics; the mirror mimic came out of that revision.
Jeremy Crawford is the one to thank for having me re-concept and improve some of the mechanics; the mirror mimic came out of that revision.
Make sure you tell Jeremy that he is a sadistic man for the way the mirror mimic works. In case anyone hasn't checked it out, if your controller gets overexcited and blows up all the duplicates (even while trying to get the mimic at the same time) he could inflict 9d8+30 automatic damage on the poor guy the power duplicated. So getting those insight checks and picking out the mimic specifically is by far the more rewarding strategy :O. I also really loved the towers mechanics as well and how you can combine all those elements into an entire adventure.
I wish the Peryton had been previewed though, I wonder how they will compare to my own versions.
I wish the Peryton had been previewed though, I wonder how they will compare to my own versions.
Drammattex
First Post
The mirror mimic came about because I am an idiot.
I didn't quite understand the monster groupings concept at first and I turned in a MM3 impersonator mimic with the Wandering Tower, to be used with/inside it.
Jeremy said, "Hey this is the same monster as the one in MM3."
I said, "Uh... I can have it not be."
Jeremy was the one who suggested the tower core should have some hazard-like features, which were more graceful than the direction I'd gone and accomplished the same idea (but better).
I'd written the story with the impersonator mimic in mind and wanted to find a way to still include a mimic that could play that part. But coming up with a mimic that works differently from other mimics (but can still fill the impersonator's role in the story) was a brain-buster. I asked Jeremy if I could take another stab at including a different variety of mimic. A bit later, I gave it back to Jeremy and I guess he liked it because there it is!
I didn't quite understand the monster groupings concept at first and I turned in a MM3 impersonator mimic with the Wandering Tower, to be used with/inside it.
Jeremy said, "Hey this is the same monster as the one in MM3."
I said, "Uh... I can have it not be."
Jeremy was the one who suggested the tower core should have some hazard-like features, which were more graceful than the direction I'd gone and accomplished the same idea (but better).
I'd written the story with the impersonator mimic in mind and wanted to find a way to still include a mimic that could play that part. But coming up with a mimic that works differently from other mimics (but can still fill the impersonator's role in the story) was a brain-buster. I asked Jeremy if I could take another stab at including a different variety of mimic. A bit later, I gave it back to Jeremy and I guess he liked it because there it is!
Yeah I really liked the concept and particularly appealing to me is the idea the tower might be some kind of malevolent store. A mirror mimic in a room full of mirrors could be a fascinating concept. I would probably change the encounter, so not only could the PCs use insight to figure out what the mimic was - but somehow use the mirrors (maybe it doesn't have a reflection in a mirror?). The punishment for getting it wrong and whacking the wrong duplicate is severe enough, that I think an encounter built around the mimic is worth exploring.
I am even thinking about trying a solo like version with a similar 'discovery' mechanic to the above.
Edit: Are the monster groupings a core part of the whole book, or are they used for some monsters and others are just a sort of list? Either way I'm not really worried. Especially if I get me some epic tier monsters one way or another.
I am even thinking about trying a solo like version with a similar 'discovery' mechanic to the above.
Edit: Are the monster groupings a core part of the whole book, or are they used for some monsters and others are just a sort of list? Either way I'm not really worried. Especially if I get me some epic tier monsters one way or another.
I feel a little thick. Is the idea that the core of the Wandering Tower is a separate hunk of flesh and whatnot that exists inside the structure? You go in, and everything looks normal until a big blob bursts out of the floor and ganks you?
I love the concept, but I'm a little fuzzy on the details.
I love the concept, but I'm a little fuzzy on the details.
Drammattex
First Post
It's like: the tower is alive. It can be as large or small as you wish. You can put as many nasty traps (or mimics!) inside it as you like. (To my mind, it's the mother that spawns other mimics that live there and feast on those it tricks--that's sort of how they work in MM3.) The core is a mechanical expression of that tower. Since the structure could be of variable size, the core is a way to give stats to "when the structure itself comes alive around you and tries to kill you." It's like the thing's central brain.
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