There seems to be an uptick in old-school computer RPGs lately, with Wasteland 2, Pillars of Eternity, and Torment: Tides of Numenera on the horizon. But it doesn’t get much more old-school than good old-fashioned paper and pencil role-playing. The classic Dungeons and Dragons had a recent “reset” with their 5th Edition rules, harkening back to older D&D versions with faster, looser play (less of a tactical boardgame feel.) The big launch last fall has simmered down and it’s time to take a look at the line to see how it’s matured. Both D&D and Pathfinder (the other big player on the market) continue to find ways to cater to less experienced players. We’ll start with new items from Pathfinder and D&D, and finish off with the newest D&D themed co-op boardgame, just released by Wizkids.

Pathfinder by Paizo Publishing
In the past few years, the Pathfinder RPG was the top selling RPG system. It was an offshoot of the older 3.5 edition of Dungeons and Dragons, with specific improvements to make classes more powerful and simplify some combat issues. It continues to run strong with fans, providing supplements and adventure modules on a regular basis. The most current supplement is Pathfinder Unchained.

The Pathfinder RPG has grown over time with many supplements and with various new options and rules. The new supplement, Pathfinder Unchained, tries to make the game a bit simpler for new players. In addition, it takes a look at some of the base classes from the start of the game and gives them a little tender loving care – typically with a bit more “oomph.” A few of the earliest classes were given new options so that they would be slightly stronger and, more importantly, be a bit easier to play at the table for less experienced gamers. The book also presents changes to combat a bit to give more flavor to combat through revised actions and combat tricks that can be learned. New skill options are listed, along with some advice to help streamline character creation. GM’s get some ideas for simplifying new monster creation, and rules for creating magic items that can grow in power over time to keep up with a character’s advancement.

Another new book is the Pathfinder Strategy Guide. This tome is targeted directly at new (or new-ish) players to help them make sense of the rather large body of information available for such an established game. The goal of the book is to help a new player develop a strong (not overpowered, of course) character that captures the desires of that player. Step by step guidelines (there is even one of those “who do you want to be” polls at the start, if you want) take a player through the creation of a new character of any of the 11 basic classes. Tips and advice are given for each class, sometimes even subclasses, so a player can rely on the book for advice from first level all the way to level 20. There is a section on both combat and how to deal with situations outside of combat as a character and as a player in cooperating with other players. An overview of some of the common Pathfinder terms and concepts is listed as well as a short tutorial on how to get involved in the ongoing “official” Pathfinder gaming club (the Pathfinder Society organized play program.) While not needed by more experienced players, I found the book easy to read and rather fun to use to ponder some character class choices I don’t normally make. I intend to keep the book on hand for any new players to read as it is a great way for new players to get up to speed with what is now a somewhat large body of published information on the game.

Dungeons and Dragons, 5th Edition – Wizards of the Coast
D&D 5th Edition was rolled out throughout the Fall of 2014. The three main handbooks (player’s, dungeon master’s, and monster book) came out about a month after each other. At the same time, an overarching storyline, Tyranny of Dragons, was used to tie all of D&D products together. The primary role-playing aspects of the story were two linked adventure books starting with Hoard of the Dragon Queen for levels 1 to 7 and finishing with Rise of Tiamat for levels 8 to 15.

With that dragon-themed storyline completed, the next theme for D&D is Elemental Evil. Focusing on the four elements (water, earth, fire, air), this storyline focuses on a secret cult for each element, each working together to try to bring a big-ugly-bad guy thing into the world who will then destroy everything. Role players can follow along with the story through the super-adventure (going from level 1 to 15) Princes of the Apocalypse. Unsurprisingly, the new adventure has an emphasis on elemental powers, abilities, and enemies. New options for player characters are included (races, spells, and options) to better tie into the storyline. There is also a free Elemental Evil Player’s Guide (not a guide for evil players) downloadable PDF that covers the new character options.

Elemental Evil permeates all the various D&D properties. Aside from a new boardgame (see the review below), there are specific miniatures (via Gale Force 9 and Wizkids) and expansions for the D&D video games. Dungeons and Dragons Online (the older MMORPG) sports a new Reign of Elemental Evil dungeon. The largest dungeon yet created for the online game. It sports narration by the nerd-celebrity Wil Wheaton. The expansion also makes some improvements and changes to the rogue class. The more recent Neverwinter MMORPG’s take on the storyline is a new module simply titled Elemental Evil. In addition to the expected new quests there is a new class (Oathbound Paladin) and the level cap for characters is increased to level 70.

 
Finally, Wizards has released their D&D content magazine, Dragon, on digital devices. Rather than publish an official magazine, Dragon+ is a free app that provides a platform to read new D&D content as it is released.

Temple of Elemental Evil by WizKids

The Temple of Elemental Evil is a cooperative boardgame where 1-5 players enter into a dungeon and struggle against random “monsters” and traps in order to accomplish their thematic goal. Players move their characters around a tile-based layout, adding tiles whenever they explore off the map. Adding a new tile typically adds in a new monster. Monsters are “preprogrammed” to attack the players (usually they attack the nearest character or move towards the nearest one.) Players keep exploring until they find their final objective and (typically) combat that level’s final boss. A typical game will last about an hour, depending on the specific scenario in play.

Each possible player character is unique, having special one-use powers and basic reusable attacks. “Once per game” powers presents players with a hard decision to spend or save it for later. Characters also acquire “trophies” when defeating monsters and find the occasional useful treasure. In this way, one’s character slowly improves in power over the course of one game. The pace of the game starts off gentle, but as the game goes on more monsters come into play, often making the end-game a race to survive long enough to meet the central goal of the scenario.

There are 13 different scenarios in the game. Temple of Elemental Evil is the latest in a series of “D&D Adventure System” boardgames and can be mixed and matched with previous games. (Primarily by transferring characters and/or monsters between games. The strongest difference in the Temple of Elemental Evil is the new mechanism where players can play through all 13 scenarios in sequence to make the game more of a “campaign” (although any scenario can still be played as a one-off game.) Previous games in the series reset everything for each new scenario, but in this game’s campaign mode players are given small boons or benefits (depending on their performance so far) that they can carry into future scenarios.

I’m a fan of cooperative board games, and while the D&D Adventure System is quite enjoyable, perfect for specific situations. It manages to capture a good portion of the enjoyment of a role playing game. Many of the game mechanisms are only a step or two away from standard D&D rules, making it a great stepping stone for my two young boys. The new campaign mode increases the “feel” of an role playing game, making Temple of Elemental Evil my favorite of the D&D Adventure System series.

Kid Factor(s):
Role playing games are as kid friendly as the GM who runs them. Know your kids’ friends (or run the game yourself) and you’ll know what sorts of topics come up. Running a game requires a lot of reading and writing, so at a minimum the GM will need to be old enough to keep things going. I’ve found Pathfinder (partly due to its more established rules system) to require a bit more depth of knowledge than 5th Edition D&D so beginners may want to start with 5th Edition. (Both systems have a pretty decent “beginner box” to teach newcomers the basic ins and outs of the rules.)

The Temple of Elemental Evil boardgame is in a similar situation, but requires less overhead for the GM, an experienced tween-ager shouldn’t have any issues running the game with younger siblings. Lots of reading required during the game, but not so much it can’t be explained as it comes. Death and combats with monsters are always around the corner, but shouldn’t be too much of an issue except for a more sensitive child.

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