Den Next Design Challenge

[Josh_Kablack]

i. Intro and Contents

The Cover Art


Game world map


Foreward:
Here in DND next, our boundedly accurate exception based approach where the math just works and the numbers don’t lie is one of the major benefits of using our Next system, because math is hard.

In DND Next, this approach allows us to assist the GM in creating the game that they want to play while still leaving time left over to run the game. Sci-fi, fantasy, powerful, weak; our system can create anything you desire. The only limit is your imagination.


Chapter… Page

Introduction to DND Next … 1
Fundamentals of DND Next … 2
Design theory of DND Next … 4
Character Race/Class Packages in DND Next … 205
Monsters in DND Next … 214
Sample Next World: Athas … 223
Running a DND Next Campaign … 227
Items in DND Next … 435
Abilities in DND Next … 436
GM Advice for DND Next … 590
Index … 913

I. Setting

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NEXT's campaign setting features a large and vibrant world filled to the brim with various, fantastic elements that bring the world to life. Inside this world characters must take their place on the center stage and work to change the world, for better or worse. Throughout NEXT you will find various pieces of the setting integrated neatly into the rules. From the races to the classes the setting is folded smoothly into every option available such that you will never be lacking background information to set your character into the world at large.

Each of the Races presented here are the primary playable Races. Each Race has unique features, both mechanical and flavorful, that set them apart from each other. Deciding upon a Race will not only adjust your starting statistics and abilities but it will also provide a foundation for building your character's background. Will you be a noble elf, born of the court, expected to use your verbal skills and knowledge to further your clan's goals? Perhaps you are an elf but not so noble. Perhaps you are a court assassin often sent out to “settle” matters with cloak and dagger. Perhaps you are instead a whimsical halfling who's slightly planar lineage might allow you to live an adventurous lifestyle without fear of capture. Maybe you are a mysterious human instead. Hailing from lands unknown you bring with you a yet unknown power as a disciplined monk.

The choice is yours as each of the 9 Races featured herein have their own affinities and features, fully fleshed out and detailed in order to get you right into the game. Along with Race a character also has their Character Class to consider. Each Class, along with offering the character thematic and fantastic abilities, also aids in placing your character into the world. Each class comes with a vivid description of their place within the setting. This description gives you a summary of their abilities and theme, their outlook, and typical race associations that will further develop your character's back story.

These are not your only choices or the only possibilities. NEXT features a wealth of aids that will also help in quickly producing a character's background information. These quickly generated backgrounds can be used as is or customized to fit the character's theme. Of course the option always exists to play against the setting's assumptions. The scope of NEXT's setting is broad enough to produce any number of oddities both in race and culture.

To help player's get started we have provided a quick overview of NEXT's setting.
Primary Region: Tegaden –
This is the primary continent in NEXT's setting. The large landmass sits at the center of the setting where most of the various Races and Cultures clash and battle for dominance. Tegaden is called many different things by the people who live on it but the ancestral name given by the Great Builder is the one most commonly used. The land boasts different looks and feels depending on where you go. One could spend their entire life attempting to travel to every corner and never make it. Tegaden holds many secrets and many more dangers. For every shining monument to the advances of a civilization there lurks a grim undertone. Most campaigns are assumed to take place chiefly on this continent though others are available though they will not be covered here.

Major Races – These are the primary playable Races as mentioned before. Each one is given a brief overview here but are covered in more detail later on.
Races
Drow – These militant elves hail from the west. These distant cousins of the elves have emerged from the western lands and forcefully dismounted the elves from their former thrones. For reasons unknown they brought the gift of magic to many peoples that had lacked it under the rule of elves. While the drow have made a firm enemy in the elves these militaristic elves have formed powerful alliances amongst those they've aided.
Dwarf – These earth blessed creatures boast a long history of tradition and honor. They are a sturdy and stout people who have mastered crafting and forging. Dwarves are hard working traditionalists that take as long to move as the mountains they are fond of toiling under. They are classically stubborn and fiercely loyal. Few leave their ancestral homes.
Elf – These long lived, mentally powerful creatures, are former rulers. They enjoyed a long history of supremacy and progress and have been since unseated as the unchallenged rulers of the land. They struggle now to regain their former place. Others enjoy the break from isolation and seek to connect with other races.
Goblin – These plentiful creatures keep incredible numbers despite their short life spans. Goblins are a short race of group minded people. Goblins are generally only found in groups and prefer working together with others whenever they can. Goblins that break away from this try their best to find another group to fill the void. Goblins work well as a group and are often used for labor.
Gnome – These flame blessed creatures are known for having fiery spirits. Gnomes are easily excitable and always very passionate. When they can keep their passion from blowing up in their own face gnomes have been known to achieve big things despite their small stature. Gnomes tend to be fickle but driven.
Halfling – These air blessed people are creatures of whimsy. They are travelers to their very core and hate to be bound up anywhere for too long. Their wanderlust drives them to and past the very edges of civilization and back. Because of this halflings are storied wanderers and nomads who hate being bound in any fashion.
Human – This mysterious race from the east are relatively new to Tegaden but have created a sturdy foothold for themselves. They bring many foreign customs and odd cultures with them as well. They may be relatively new to the continent but they have proven their capacity to endure until the end.
Orc – These warlike people trace their ancestry back to the very titans. Orcs have had a long run of bad luck but have proven their mettle each and every time. They have a long and storied history of battling other races for one reason or another earning themselves the ire of many. Despite being looked down upon by others they have endured and even flourished making strong allies out of the humans and drow. The long time they've spent etching out a culture in the various wildernesses have afforded them a knowledge of nature and a connection to the beasts of the world unparalleled by any others.
Tiefling – Possibly more despised than the orc are the tieflings. They live in the shadows of society untrusted and often unloved by any. Their demonic heritage and the resulting social stigma often times keeps their hopes low and their stories sad. Still they persist as a true testament to the ingenuity of the downtrodden. Every so often a tiefling rises above the unfavorable conditions of their birth to make a name for themselves.
Major Religions:
The Builder – He is the creator god said to have pieced together Tegaden himself, his own masterpiece. He is the god of creation, mending, and order. It is by his edicts that many live their daily lives by. He is a largely passive god ;ending his blessing to those that create while being worshipped in passing by those who seek to mend or bring order. His holy symbol is a golden bird.

Falacie – He's a god of deception, trickery, and treacherous roads. He sometimes he invades other god's portfolios as well and causes a lot of confusion for everyone involved, including himself. His holy symbol is a scarecrow.

Linnik – Insane Demon God of Chaos and Whimsy. Linnik is a demon God said to have been driven mad, or maybe he was always so. His followers lead lives of whimsy and chance, always hungering to do something different or perhaps nothing at all. He is the god people pray to right before doing something stupid. His holy symbol is undetermined as each sect seems to have invented their own.

Kaelik – Archdemon God of Rage. Devotees of Kaelik often turn their wrath against targets who offended them in speech or manner, and such folk are in easy supply. But they just as often fight each other. His symbol is a blood red fist.

Ahfk – Goddess of time and repenting. Ahfk is a very powerful god who is said to be able to turn the clock back a few seconds and undo mistakes instantly. Few invoke her name properly - many ignorantly lengthen her name into two syllables and are not granted her gift. Her symbol is a scatnily clad woman.

Samma – The Grainlord. A dark and bloody god. He knows the secrets of agriculture and guards them jealously. He demands blood sacrifices and blind obedience, but rewards his most faithful with incredible crop yields. Some of this is from supernatural blessings, but Samma's rites require crop rotation and sophisticated fertilization. Isolated farming communities near roads worship him with depressing frequency, enjoying the sudden bounty and paying Samma's blood-prices with kidnapped travelers. His symbols are a highly guarded, ever changing secret as worship of this god is looked down upon by many.

II. Chargen

Character Generation

In order to play a game of Next, you need to make a character that represents you in the game. You can choose a number of options to customize your character at the cost of increasing complexity. But until you have a better idea of how the game works, you might want to produce a character quickly by choosing a Race and a Class. After doing that, you will need to assign your character's Attributes. There are additional customization modules you may wish to use to make your character more unique - these are Themes, Feats, Skills, and Spells.

A character's Race is their actual species, since Next takes place in a fantasy world it does not overly concern itself with the differences between Koreans and Native Americans but instead between humans and elves, goblins and dwarves. Next can be played to tell stories in many different worlds, and there are many creatures that live in them including ogres, trolls, and even mighty dragons. The races listed in this book are by no means comprehensive, and stand merely as the races that are most accessible as protagonists in most worlds.

A character's Class is what they do in the context of being an adventurer. Your character may be an accomplished painter or carpenter or something, but those aspects of a character are considered Skills. When performing quests, exploring caverns, and hunting monsters it is a character's proficiency with a spell or blade that distinguishes one from another. And it is a character's Class that determines what those strengths actually are.

So it is that by describing your character in terms of race and class, you can cover the basics of what they are and what they can do. If you tell the other players that you are playing a Halfling Fighter, the other players will know that your character is small and lucky, and also that they are a master of weapons who can slay dragons with a sword or spear. If you tell other players that you are playing a Drow Illusionist, they will know that your character is a tall dark elf who is able to use magic to deceive and beguile. But you still need to determine your character's Attributes. Attributes are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma, and they are associated with a number that is normally between 3 and 18. A higher attribute represents being better in the field, while a lower attribute represents being worse. Even two characters of the same race and clas will likely have different attributes and thus have different strengths and weaknesses in the story and in the game.

If you want to get started quickly, you can choose to select the Default Theme for your Class, at which point you are essentially done with character generation. The Theme will come with a number of skills, feats, and spells that allow the character to be able to pull their weight as an adventurer in the expected way. However, you may customize your Theme by trading skills, feats, or spells for other examples of the same. Each class also comes with two other potential Themes that are intended for more advanced players. These Advanced Themes have more complex abilities and also come with their feats, skills, and spells unselected. It is assumed that players who want to use Advanced Themes will be selecting their abilities anyway.

Races

Every character has a Race, the kind of being that they are. If Next were set in our world, this choice would be easy: you are a human. But in the worlds of Next there are many races that a character could be. Races are available that are larger or smaller than humans are, and even ones that are inherently magical. A character of any particular race gets a couple of special abilities listed in the race's description. Each race also has a couple of Favored Attributes and a Scorned Attribute: these represent what is normal and admired for a particular race.

Elves have favored attributes of Dexterity and Wisdom, which means that a majority of Elves have Dexterity and Wisdom as their highest attributes. It also means that Elvish society values characters with high Dexterity and high Wisdom quite a bit. Elves also have Constitution as a scorned attribute. That means that for a majority of Elves, Constitution is their lowest attribute. It also means that Constitution is scorned socially in Elvish society - feats of endurance are not only rare in Elf Kingdoms, but the people don't really care if you can do them or not. As you might expect, Elves are quite frequently Rangers or Druids, and very rarely Barbarians or Warlocks. Still, nothing is actually stopping you from being a strong Gnome or a clumsy Elf, the favored and scorned attributes simply indicate that such a character would be very exceptional and fit in poorly in those lands.

Humans are a special case, in that their special ability is merely that they can select an extra Feat and an extra Skill. This means that Human may be better suited to more advanced players who are more familiar with the Feats and Skills. The other races have pre-selected abilities, and new players should be encouraged to play one of them. Humans can also have children with Elves, Drow, and Orcs, yielding Half-Human offspring (or Half-Drow, Half-Elves, and Half-Orcs, depending on your point of view). Such characters can use the racial package of either their human or non-human parent.

• Drow
• Dwarf
• Elf
• Goblin
• Gnome
• Halfling
• Human
• Orc
• Tiefling

Classes

Each adventurer has a player character Class. There are also characters who don't have adventuring skills and have what are called "NPC Classes", but since your character is not going to be an ineffectual bystander, those classes are not listed here. A Class gives out abilities that allow the character to contribute to completing quests and defeating monsters.

Not all classes contribute in the same way. The Ranger gets abilities that enhance their contributions with tracking and reconnaisance, while the Illusionist gets abilities that enhance their contributions with camouflage and trickery. In battle, the Ranger can call upon advanced combat maneuvers and devastating called shots, while the Illusionist hurts enemies with mind fire and protects allies with distracting images. But both characters contribute something both before and during a major battle.

Themes

Each Class is presented with three Themes, presented in order of complexity, and you have to choose one of them. The first presented is the Default Theme, which is intended to get people playing quickly even if starting at higher level. The Default Theme has pre-selections of all Feats and Skills, allowing them to be picked up and played. You may swap a Feat or Skill for another you think fits your character better, but remember that doing so slows down character generation. The next is the Complex Theme. It represents another type of character within the same class, but has abilities that may take more familiarity with the game to use effectively. For example: the Default Theme presented for the Warlock is the Evoker, who hurls eldritch blasts and rains fire upon his enemies - this is relatively easy for a new player to keep track of because it is mostly direct attacks. The presented Complex Theme for the Warlock is the Summoner, which uses imps and ongoing fire pillars to accomplish goals. This is more bookkeeping, and suggested for more advanced players. More Complex Themes will be added for classes in later books.

The third presented Theme is the Multiclass Theme. A Multiclass Theme gives only a limited sampling of the abilities of the class, but it can be combined with a Multiclass Theme from another class. A character with Multiclass Themes thus has two classes, though their ability set from each class is restricted. Complex and Multiclass Themes are not presented with preselected Feats and Skills.

• Assassin
• Barbarian
• Bard
• Cleric
• Druid
• Fighter
• Illusionist
• Magic User
• Monk
• Paladin
• Ranger
• Rogue
• Sorcerer
• Thief
• Warlock
• Warlord
• Wizard

III. Combat

Combat
This chapter covers the basics of battle, what you can do in battle, and how actions effect the encounter.

The Very Basics

Rounds
Combat in Next is cyclical, where each player and enemy takes a series of actions on their turn. The duration of time that each participant acts is a round and represents about six seconds of game time.

Initiative
Initiative determines when each participant acts in combat. At the beginning of combat, all creatures roll 1d20 + their Base attack bonus + Wisdom modifier. The GM may rule that certain creatures (such as those in a mobs) act together on the same initiative count, and will roll initiative for the group instead of individually.

Each participant then acts in the first round starting at the highest value and going down to the lowest, at which point the process repeats.

Surprise
Sometimes, you need to model one or more combatants getting the edge over others at the beginning of the fight because of a successful ambush, an unexpected assault, or anything else that would catch certain members of the fight off-guard. This is modeled using a Surprise round.

During a surprise round, the creatures that are surprised do not roll initiative. Any combatant that is not surprised rolls initiative to determine order of action, and then each creature that wasn’t surprised can take a Minor Action or a Swift Action (see “Actions in Combat”) in order of their initiative. After that, everyone who hasn’t yet rolled initiative does so, the order is readjusted, and combat proceeds normally.

Edge
In combat, if you have a higher base attack bonus than an opponent, you have the Edge on that opponent. If the difference between your base attack bonus and an opponent’s base attack bonus is 3 or more, you Outclass that opponent. Having the Edge on an opponent gives you an advantage over them in combat, and Outclassing an opponent gives you a much larger advantage. You can always tell who you have the Edge on, who you Outclass, and vice versa.

Actions in Combat
Each turn in combat is divided into three actions: Swift, Minor, and Standard. Standard Actions are a significant investment in a given round, while Minor Actions only require a small amount, and Swift Actions take almost no time or attention at all. A Swift Action can be performed as a Minor or Standard Action, and a Minor Action can be performed as a Standard. You may specifically perform one action at a larger action cost in order not to provoke attacks of opportunity (see “Attacks of Opportunity”). Most class, race, and theme-based abilities have an action cost and are viewed individually.

Standard Actions

Attack
Attacks are determined by making an attack roll, where you add your attack bonus to a d20 roll. With a ranged weapon you may do this out to the weapon’s range, but with a melee weapon you use your melee range (5’ normally). If your result beats the target;s Defense, you hit and deal damage. Your attack bonus with a weapon is:

Base attack bonus + Intelligence modifier

And a target’s Defense is:

5 + base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier

If you Outclass your target, you do not need to make an attack roll and instead automatically hit. On a natural 1, if you don’t have the Edge on your target, you automatically miss. On a natural 20, you automatically hit regardless of miss chance or Defense, and score a critical hit if you aren’t Outclassed (see below). When your attack succeeds, you deal damage. The damage dealt depends on the weapon you use plus your Strength modifier and any other applicable damage modifiers.

Critical Hits
On a natural 20 if you aren’t Outclassed by your attack target, you deal a critical hit. A critical hit doubles all non-Strength damage you deal. For every +2 of your Strength modifier, you score a critical hit on the next lowest value of the die (For example, if a player with a Strength modifier of +0 attacks a goblin, they automatically hit and score a critical on a roll of 20. A player with a Strength modifier of +3 can score a critical hit on a 19 or 20, but if they roll 19 they still need to compare the attack roll to the goblin’s Defense.).

Knock Down
Regardless of whether you’re tripping, pulling, or barreling over an enemy, you’re always knocking them down. To knock someone down, you make a melee attack against them, but you can add your Strength or Dexterity modifier to the attack roll instead of your Intelligence. You deal damage equal to your Strength modifier and leave the opponent prone. Prone opponents -4 penalty to attack rolls, and melee attacks gain a +4 bonus to hit them.

Reckless Strike
When hitting something is absolutely important, you can make a reckless strike. Recklessly striking gives you a +3 to your attack bonus but you take a -3 to Defense until the beginning of your next turn.

Minor Actions

Defend
You can only use this option if you haven’t made an attack of any kind this round. You gain a +2 dodge bonus to Defense, by take a -2 penalty to your attack bonus. These last until the beginning of your next turn.

Expand Reach
You can actively expand the area you threaten, increasing your melee range by 5’ until the beginning of your next turn.

Hide
You may attempt to hide by rolling a stealth skill check. The result becomes your stealth value for the encounter. Any time you move faster than half your speed, apply a -2 to this value. Any time you perform an attack, apply a -5 to this value. Any round where you are not moving or have cover, your stealth value is increased by +3 for that round only. The stealth value lasts until you re-roll it or until you must roll for initiative again. Enemies may attempt to detect you as a swift action once per round by rolling a perception skill check—if their roll is higher than your current stealth value, they can see you. Enemies that do not make this roll or fail to beat your stealth value cannot see you, meaning they do not have line of sight to you, but they do not forget you if they saw you beforehand. Opponents you Outclass always fail to detect you unless your stealth value is 5 or lower.

Inhibit Movement
If you decide to inhibit movement, choose a save. Every time you successfully attack until the beginning of your next turn, you may choose to not deal damage and instead force the opponent to make a save or halt (if they are moving) and be unable to use any actions to move except for a 5’ step. If you have the Edge on the opponent, the save you chose is the one they use, and if you Outclass an opponent, they do not get a save to resist this effect. The DC is equal to your attack roll.

Move
With this action, you may move up to your movement speed.

Stand up
If you are knocked prone, you may stand up.

Swift Actions

Detect an Opponent
Roll a perception check. If this beats any opponent’s stealth value, you detect them and have line of sight to them.

Fight Like Mad
You may take a -3 penalty to your attack bonus until the beginning of your next turn so that your basic attack this turn target a number of creatures within your range equal to your base attack bonus, or all creatures that you outclass within melee range.

Pick Something Up
It takes only a swift action to pick up something that is easily accessible, like on the ground or resting on a table.

Use a Consumable
You may lay a trap, use a potion, or activate any other quick, consumable item in this time.

Immediate and Free Actions
When you are trying to interrupt an opponent, you may use an Immediate Action. There are no common Immediate Actions, but you may use an Immediate Action in response to any action or event that occurs in combat. Using an Immediate Action takes up your Swift Action next round.

In addition, some things in combat, like talking to your allies or dropping held items, are so fast that they don’t require real expenditure of effort. These are dubbed Free Actions, and you may take as many as you like in a given round.

Readying Actions
On your initiative, you may decide not to use an action and instead to ready it. When you ready an action, you decide what you’re going to do with the action, and the circumstance in which you will use it. If that circumstance arises, your action will go off just before. If the circumstance never comes up, your action is wasted for that round and you can’t get it back.

5-Foot Steps
If you do not use any action to move during your turn in a round, you may move 5’ as a Free Action.

Attacks of Opportunity
At times, you may perform an action in combat that leaves you particularly vulnerable, and your opponent can seize the opportunity to make an attack out of turn without an Immediate Action. This is called an attack of opportunity.

An attack of opportunity is called when one creature performs a distracting action within an opponent’s melee range. These actions include any ranged attacks, hiding, starting to move, using a consumable, or an action not on this list the DM deems distracting from combat.

When you make your first attack of opportunity in a round, you roll your attack and keep the result. That roll applies to the Defense of all opponents that you make attacks of opportunity against until the end of your next turn. You may make one attack of opportunity per opponent per round if you have the Edge on them, and may only make one attack of opportunity otherwise.

Mobbing
A mob is a group of five or more combatants. Mobs take up space equal to the base creature’s space, increased in length and width for every five participants.

Mob’s speed is half the base creature’s speed and if it was formed in combat, its initiative is the lowest initiative of the group members. Mobs may not overlap, but two mobs can join together by moving into one another, and become a larger mob. A separated mob places its units in the closest squares available.

Mobs count as one creature, but each creature in the mob must be killed until it is brought down below 5 in number for it to break down. Mobs deal damage by moving into the square of their target. This provokes an attack of opportunity, if one wasn’t drawn for movement already, but automatically deals damage to the target equal to the attack of one creature plus 1 damage per each creature in the mob (minimum 5) regardless of the base creature’s attack bonus.

When attacking a mob, a player provokes one attack of opportunity from the mob if both they and the mob are in the same square, but cannot move out of the mob until the mob is dead or separated.

IV. Adversaries
Optional Simplified Adversary Class Rules Module:

In Next, enemies come in seven classes: Demons, Undead, Bad People, Beasts, Things With Tentacles, Things Made Out Of Stuff, and Dragons.

Demons
Demons are evil supernatural beings from hell. They always have fangs, claws, horns, and bat wings, but are otherwise a varied bunch. Demons can be encountered at any level, ranging from the lowly imp through the sexy Succubus to the fearsome Balor.

Undead
Not all beings rest easily in the grave. Undead are corpses re-animated by negative energy. They feed on the life energy of the living, and are harmed by life energy. This makes undead very grumpy. Undead range from the lowly Zombie through the sexy Vampire to the fearsome Lich. Ghosts are also undead.

Bad People
Bad People are just like normal people, but bad. Bad People are easy to tell apart from good people, because they have different skin and hair colors, they wear strange clothes, and they speak strange and frightening languages. Bad People range from the lowly Cultist through the sexy Dark Elf to the fearsome Red Dwarf.

Beasts
Beasts are like good domestic animals, but scary and wild. While they are not truly Evil, their natural instincts always lead them to attack people, which makes it alright (even necessary) to kill them. Beasts range from the lowly squirrel through the sexyscary wolf to the fearsome bear.

Things With Tentacles
Tentacles make things seem alien and disturbing. In the land of D&D next, all sorts of things have tentacles. Most Things With Tentacles want to eat human brains. Things With Tentacles range from the lowly Octopus through the sexy Kelpie to the fearsome Mind Flayer.

Things Made Out Of Stuff
In the world of D&DNEXT, sometimes things are made out of odd stuff. There are people made of iron, cats made of wood, snakes made of water, demons made of steam, and something made out of air. There are even people made out of people called "Frankenstein Golems". Pretty much anything made out of something weird probably wants to kill you, so you're best off killing it first and taking its (most likely burned or soaked) stuff. Things Made Out Of Stuff range from the lowly Hommunculus through the sexy goo girlWater Nymph the fearsome Really Old Fire Elemental.

Dragons
Dragons are scaled beasts with bat wings and bad breath. For some reason they like to horde gold. Dragons range from the lowly Baby White Dragon through the sexy Young Adult Silver Dragon to the fearsome Really Old Red Dragon

Adversaries for Levels 1-4:

-Magikarp



Initiative: +0
HP: 4
Attack Bonus: +0
Damage: 1d3
AC: 8
DR: 0
Saves: -1/-2/-1

Special Abilities:
Splash: Magikarp cannot attack until it has splashed uselessly 30 times in a row.
Struggle: Whenever Magikarp deals damage, it takes 1 damage itself.

In the distant past, it was somewhat stronger than the horribly weak descendants that exist today.

-North Korean Soldier



Initiative: +1
HP: 6
Attack Bonus: +1
Damage: 1d8 (ranged)
AC: 11
DR: 0
Saves: 0/1/0

Special Ability:
Driver: When riding any kind of mount, NK soldiers always deal max damage with a trample attack

Servants of the sinister General Choi Song from the land of North Korea, they are zealots who will fight for their general to the death.

-Pidgey



Initiative: +3
HP: 4
Attack Bonus: +2
Damage: 1d4
AC: 14
DR: 0
Saves: 1/4/-1

Special Ability:
Sand Attack: As an attack action, Pidgey can make a Sand Attack against a single target. On a failed Reflex save, DC 14, the target takes a -1 penalty to their attack rolls for the rest of the battle.

A common sight in forests and woods. It flaps its wings at ground level to kick up blinding sand.

-Rattata



Initiative: +3
HP: 6
Attack Bonus: +1
Damage: 1d6
AC: 13
DR: 0
Saves: 1/3/-1

Special Abilities:
Freakin' Everywhere: Any time the party is attacked by any kind of random encounter, they are also attacked by a Rattata.

Bites anything when it attacks. Small and very quick, it is a common sight in many places.

-Zaku I



Initiative: +0
HP: 8
Attack Bonus: +2
AC: 10
DR: 1
Saves: 2/0/-1

Special Abilities:
IT'S A GUNDAM: If dealt even a single point of damage, will immediately explode unless piloted by a named character.

Created by the Zeon Principality for use in the front lines in the early stages of the One Year War, this suit of armor is now outdated. Many of them have fallen into the wrong(er) hands.

-Zergling



Initiative: +0
HP: 4
Attack Bonus: +3
Damage: 1d6
AC: 11
DR: 1
Saves: 3/2/-2

Special Abilities:
Two For One: Whenever the party encounters Zerglings, they encounter twice as many as the module or adventure notes say they should be fighting.

These vicious creatures infest nearly every corner of the world, and often act as scouts for the Zerg Swarm. They are not dangerous, but when used in overwhelming numbers, they can be deadly.

Level 2:

-Charmander



Initiative: +1
HP: 12
Attack Bonus: +3
Damage: 1d6
AC: 12
DR: 0
Saves: 3/2/0

Special Abilities:
Ember: Charmander can spit flaming embers to deal 1d8 fire damage once per battle.

Obviously prefers hot places. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of its tail.

-SWAT Officer



Initiative: +2
HP: 16
Attack Bonus: +4
Damage: 1d8 (ranged)
AC: 10
DR: 2
Saves: 2/1/1

Special Abilities:
Stun Baton: As a melee attack dealing 1d4 damage, SWAT officers can stun their opponent for one turn.
Tear Gas: As a ranged AoE attack with a radius of 5 feet, SWAT officers can stun all opponents hit by the attack for one turn and impose a -1 attack penalty for the rest of the battle. This ability may only be used once per battle, and deals no damage.

A rapid response unit utilized by many nations in the distant future when magic has died, a chrono-storm has displaced many of them to distant past, where the secrets of their strange weapons have remained a closely guarded secret.

-Terran Marine



Initiative: +1
HP: 18
Attack Bonus: +4
Damage: 1d10 (ranged)
AC: 9
DR: 3
Saves: 4/0/1

Special Abilities:
Stim Pak: By taking 1d4 damage, a Terran Marine can grant themselves one extra action on their turn. This is a free action.

The frontline soldiers of the Terran Dominion, they are locked in eternal conflict with the Protoss and Zerg and will shoot on sight anyone they perceive as being aligned with either of the two races.

-Zaku II



Initiative: +1
HP: 12
Attack Bonus: +3
Damage: 1d8 (ranged)
AC: 12
DR: 2
Saves: 3/2/2

Special Abilities:
IT'S A GUNDAM: If dealt even a single point of damage, will immediately explode unless piloted by a named character.
Char Custom: Any Zaku II that is painted red immediately gains a +6 bonus to Initiative, Attack Bonus, AC, and Reflex saves.

A more advanced version of the Zaku created in the aftermath of the colony drops in the early stages of the One Year War, after the focus of the war shifted from battering opponents into submission with massacre and towards more directed conflict with mobile suits.

-Zealot



Initiative: +2
HP: 10/10
Attack Bonus: +4
Damage: 1d6
AC: 11
DR: 1
Saves: 2/2/4

Special Abilities:

Psiblade: A Zealot's attack counts as a magic weapon for purposes of bypassing DR.

In ancient times, these were the frontline of the Protoss purging armies, but in recent years they have been replaced by the more powerful Dragoon, and are now used primarily as scout and support units.

Level 3:

-North Korean Commando



Initiative: +4
HP: 22
Attack Bonus: +6
Damage: 1d8 (ranged)
AC: 17
DR: 2
Saves: 3/4/3

Special Abilities:
Camouflage: North Korean Commandos blend in with their surroundings, granting them a +2 bonus to all attempts to hide from notice.

These elite soldiers of the sinister General Choi Song are often inserted behind enemy lines to wreak havoc.

-Pikachu



Initiative: +5
HP: 18
Attack Bonus: +4
Damage: 1d6
AC: 18
DR: 0
Saves: 2/5/1

Special Abilities:
Thundershock: Once every three turns, a Pikachu can make a ranged attack on an opponent which deals 1d12 electric damage and stuns them for 1d3 rounds.

When several of these Pokémon gather, their electricity could build and cause lightning storms.

-Raticate



Initiative: +6
HP: 22
Attack Bonus: +5
Damage: 1d8
AC: 16
DR: 0
Saves: 3/4/1

It uses its whiskers to maintain its balance and will slow down if they are cut off.

-Space Leo



Initiative: +4
HP: 28
Attack Bonus: +4
Damage: 1d8 (ranged)
AC: 14
DR: 1
Saves: 4/3/2

Special Abilities:
IT'S A GUNDAM: If dealt even a single point of damage, will immediately explode unless piloted by a named character.
Space Capable: A Space Leo does not take penalties when fighting in space.

Created by OZ in response to the increasing presence of resistance of their colonies in the Astral Plane, this suit of armor is specially adapted for battle in the ether.

-Dragoon



Initiative: +3
HP: 18/18
Attack Bonus: +5
Damage: 1d10 (ranged)
AC: 13
DR: 3
Saves: 4/1/5

Special Abilities:
Energy Attack: A Dragoon's attacks count as magic weapons for purposes of bypassing DR.
Quadruped: All attempts to knock a Dragoon off of its feet take a -4 penalty.

Level 4:

-Alot



Initiative: +2
HP: 68
Attack Bonus: +7
Damage: 1d12
AC: 12
DR: 2
Saves: 5/3/2

Special Abilities:
Furry: Alots gain a +2 bonus against all Fortitude saves vs. cold or cold effects. Alots further have +2 DR against all cold damage.

Famed for turning up in all manner of bizarre forms and varieties, the normal, shaggy-furred alot is still, by far, the most common.

-Charmeleon



Initiative: +3
HP: 40
Attack Bonus: +6
Damage: 1d6
AC: 15
DR: 2
Saves: 3/4/2

Special Abilities:
Flamethrower: Once every other turn, a Charmander can spit out a stream of fire, dealing 3d6 fire damage to the target.

When it swings its burning tail, it elevates the temperature to unbearably high levels.

-Tauros



Initiative: +2
HP: 56
Attack Bonus: +6
Damage: 1d10
AC: 14
DR: 1
Saves: 6/3/2

Special Abilities:
Trample: A Tauros can make use of the Trample ability as though it were a mount.
Quadruped: All attempts to knock a Tauros off of its feet take a -4 penalty.

When it targets an enemy, it charges furiously while whipping its body with its long tails.

-Mutalisk



Initiative: +4
HP: 48
Attack Bonus: +5
Damage: 1d8 (ranged)
AC: 15
DR: 0
Saves: 4/6/1

Special Abilities:
Flight: Mutalisks can fly indefinitely.
Acid: A mutalisk's attack ignores half of all DR granted by armor.

These acid-spitting, bat-winged monsters are the staples of the Zerg Swarm's air forces.

-Goliath



Initiative: +3
HP: 66
Attack Bonus: +7
Damage: 1d10/1d10 (ranged)
AC: 14
DR: 5
Saves: 5/2/4

Special Abilities:
Missiles: When attacking flying creatures, Goliaths can fire dual-wielded missiles that deal 2d8 damage each.

Golems whose heart is the still-living remnants of a critically wounded (or surgically altered) humanoid, these are the shock troops of the Terran Dominion.

NEXT MM2 Part 2: Monstrous Boogaloo (level 5-10 adversaries)

Level 5:

-Alot of Fire

Initiative: +2
HP: 68
Attack Bonus: +8
Damage: 2d8 (fire)
AC: 14
DR: 2
Saves: 5/3/1

Special Abilities:
On Fire: The Alot of Fire is made of fire and anyone who makes a melee attack against it must make a DC 15 Reflex save or take 1d6 fire damage.

An alot of fire is one of the most common types of elemental alot, frequently emerging from improperly cast fire spells.

-Alot of Ice

Initiative: +2
HP: 68
Attack bonus: +8
Damage: 1d8 (cold)
AC: 14
DR: 4
Saves: 5/3/1

Special Abilities:
On Ice: The Alot of Ice is made of ice and anyone who makes a melee attack against it must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or take 1d6 cold damage from its frosty aura.

An alot of ice is slightly less common than some other alot types, as ice magic is in general less common than fire.

-Haunter



Initiative: +3
HP: 54
Attack Bonus: +9
Damage: 1d8
AC: 21
DR: 1
Saves: 7/6/2

Special Abilities:
Incorporeal: Haunters are incorporeal and thus cannot take any damage at all from non-magic sources.
Flight: Can fly.

Because of its ability to slip through block walls, it is said to be from another dimension.

-Tauros



Initiative: +5
HP: 52
Attack Bonus: +12
Damage: 1d12 (ranged)
AC: 18
DR: 2
Saves: 5/6/3

Special Abilities:
IT'S A GUNDAM: If dealt even a single point of damage, will immediately explode unless piloted by a named character.
Space Capable: A Tauros does not take penalties when fighting in space.
Flight: Tauros can fly.

Used by OZ in order to keep the peace in the Astral colonies after their coup against the Prime Sphere Alliance. This suit is sometimes piloted by a disembodied magical spirit, and these autonomous variants are known as "mobile dolls."

-Ultralisk



Initiative: +3
HP: 88
Attack Bonus: +7
Damage: 1d10/1d10
AC: 15
DR: 4
Saves: 8/4/1

Special Abilities:
Quadruped: All attempts to knock an Ultralisk off of its feet take a -4 penalty.

These gargantuan beasts are the strongest of the ground forces of the Zerg Swarm, feared in all kingdoms as heralds of an imminent Swarm attack and often devastating to small patrols on their own.

Level 6:

-Siege Tank



Initiative: +3
HP: 110
Attack Bonus: +9
Damage: 1d12 (ranged)
AC: 13
DR: 6
Saves: 9/3/5

Special Abilities:
Siege Mode: As a full-round action, a siege tank can convert to and from siege mode. In siege mode the tank is immobile and has a -4 penalty to AC and Reflex saves, but its damage is boosted to 3d8.

Used by the Terran Dominion primarily as artillery, when in tank mode it is an effective but not optimal unit.

-Dragonite



Initiative: +4
HP: 92
Attack Bonus: +10
Damage: 1d6
AC: 22
DR: 1
Saves: 7/8/4

Special Abilities:
Hyper Beam: As a full round action, Dragonite can charge hyper beam. During the next round, Dragonite must either attack with hyper beam as a standard action or waste the charge. Hyper Beam deals 5d8 damage.
Flight: Dragonite can fly.

An extremely rarely seen marine Pokémon. Its intelligence is said to match that of humans.

-Wight Knight

Initiative: +3
HP: 96
Attack Bonus: +9
Damage: 1d8
AC: 19
DR: 4
Saves: 10/7/3

Special Abilities:
Undead: Wight Knights are undead.
Level Drain: Every successful attack from a Wight Knight provokes a Fortitude save, DC 21. If failed, one level is drained.

This wight has been heavily armored and was once a skilled combatant in life, and is now all the more deadly in death.

Level 7:

-Charizard



Initiative: +3
HP: 124
Attack Bonus: +11
Damage: 1d8
AC: 22
DR: 3
Saves: 8/7/4

Special Abilities:
Flight: Can fly.
Firestorm: Once every other turn, a Charizard can spit a fireball from its mouth dealing 4d6 damage as a standard action.

It spits fire that is hot enough to melt boulders. Known to cause forest fires unintentionally.

-Gyrados



Initiative: +3
HP: 132
Attack Bonus: +11
Damage: 1d10
AC: 20
DR: 3
Saves: 9/6/3

Special Abilities:
Hyper Beam: As a full round action, Dragonite can charge hyper beam. During the next round, Dragonite must either attack with hyper beam as a standard action or waste the charge. Hyper Beam deals 5d8 damage.
Aquatic: Gyrados takes no penalties when fighting in the water, and instead takes the same penalties when fighting on land.

Rarely seen in the wild. Huge and vicious, it is capable of destroying entire cities in a rage.

-Skeleton Harvester



Initiative: +6
HP: 112
Attack Bonus: +14
Damage: 1d8
AC: 25
DR: 0
Saves: 7/11/8

Special Abilities:
Flight: Skeleton Harvester can fly.
Spot Weakness: As a swift action, Skeleton Harvester can spot a weakness that grants +1 damage to the next attack on a creature. This effect does not wear off until Skeleton Harvester makes an attack on the targeted creature, and can be stacked with itself infinitely.

Skeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletonsskeletons

-Virgo



Initiative: +4
HP: 126
Attack Bonus: +10
Damage: 2d8
AC: 23
DR: 4
Saves: 9/9/5

Special Abilities:
Shield: In place of attacking, a Virgo can power up its ether shield, granting it a +4 to AC.
IT'S A GUNDAM: If dealt even a single point of damage, will immediately explode unless piloted by a named character.
Space Capable: A Tauros does not take penalties when fighting in space.

This mobile suit was developed by the Rommefeller Foundation for use against OZ and the White Fang rebels. It is exclusively used as a mobile doll and cannot actually be worn by a humanoid.

Level 8:

-Wing Gundam

https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/image ... KgjZwY7EyA

Initiative: +5
HP: 154
Attack Bonus: +15
Damage: 1d10
AC: 27
DR: 8
Saves: 9/13/12

Special Abilities:
Flight: The Wing Gundam can fly.
Buster Cannon: Three times per battle, the Wing Gundam can fire its buster cannon, dealing 5d6 damage in a cone, Reflex save DC 24 for half.

This Gundam mobile suit was created as a weapon of terror for purposes of indiscriminate retaliation by White Fang against the Prime Material Plane, but its wearer and designer secretly changed the mission to more focused retaliation.

-Battlecruiser



Initiative: +0
HP: 288
Attack Bonus: +12
Damage: 4d6
AC: 11
DR: 11
Saves: 14/5/9

Special Abilities:
Flight: Battlecruisers can fly.
Yamato Cannon: Once per battle, the battle cruiser can spend a full-round action charging their Yamato Cannon. The following round, they can make an attack which instantly vaporizes the target, DC 21 Fortitude save to take 20d8 damage instead.

The Terran Dominion's ultimate weapons, a fleet of battlecruisers is often enough to win battles spanning entire demi-planes single-handedly.

-Carrier



Initiative: +0
HP: 128/128
Attack Bonus: +0
Damage: 1d3
AC: 11
DR: 13
Saves: 12/5/12

Special Abilities:
Flight: Carriers can fly.
Drones: Carriers can house up to a dozen flying creatures.

-Alakazam



Initiative: +2
HP: 174
Attack Bonus: +14
Damage: 1d6
AC: 19
DR: 0
Saves: 9/10/17

Special Abilities:
Psychic Blast: Once per turn, Alakazam can attack a living creature's mind. This instantly incapacitates the target on a failed DC 21 Will save. Otherwise it deals 2d8 damage.

Its brain can outperform a super-computer. Its intelligence quotient is said to be 5,000.

Level 9:

-Alot of Death

Initiative: +1
HP: 294
Attack Bonus: +17
Damage: 2d6
AC: 18
DR: 3
Saves: 15/9/8

Special Abilities:
On Death: Every time anyone makes or is hit by a melee attack by an alot of death, they must succeed on a DC 17 Fortitude save or else be instantly killed.

These feared alots arise from the site of massacres and bloodbaths.

-Alot of Power

Initiative: +1
HP: 314
Attack Bonus: +15
Damage: 3d8
AC: 17
DR: 4
Saves: 16/8/8

Special Abilities:
On Power: An alot of power has two special abilities, feats, or class features of the GM's choice.

The most powerful and versatile of all alots, they are spawned spontaneously in the wake of gods.

Level 10:

-Mewtwo



Initiative: +3
HP: 348
Attack Bonus: +19
Damage: 1d6
AC: 28
DR: 1
Saves: 12/14/21

Special Abilities:
Flight: Mewtwo can fly.
Psychic Blast: Once per turn, Mewtwo can attack a living creature's mind. This instantly incapacitates the target on a failed DC 30 Will save. Otherwise it deals 4d8 damage.

It was created by a scientist after years of horrific gene splicing and DNA engineering experiments.

-Sky Walker

Initiative: +1
HP: 396
Attack Bonus: +12
Damage: 8d12
AC: 14
DR: 7
Saves: 15/8/11

Special Abilities:
Walk On Sky: The Sky Walker walks inverted on the clouds, rather than on the ground. Its reach is such that it can attack most creatures on the ground anyway.

There once was a creature that crawled on the sky,
With very sharp teeth that caused people to die,
Made only of bone and an instinct to kill,
It wound over oceans and stalked over hills,
Any village that found this thing at its door,
Very quickly became a village no more.

-Wing Zero



Initiative: +7
HP: 292
Attack Bonus: +25
Damage: 3d8
AC: 31
DR: 9
Saves: 17/21/20

Special Abilities:
ZERO Spirit: When activated, this supernatural helper grants a +8 bonus to all attack and damage rolls, but it also provokes a DC 21 Will save every round. If failed, the wearer of the suit enters a berserk and attacks friend and foe alike until they succeed on a DC 28 Will save to regain control.
Flight: The Wing Zero can fly.
Double Buster Cannon: Three times per round, the Wing Zero can fire two cones at once, each dealing 5d6 damage in a cone, Reflex save DC 21 for half, or fire a single cone dealing 10d6 damage, Reflex save DC 25 for half.

The original Gundam created by the White Fang developers, it was scrapped because its ZERO Spirit drove pilots insane. The suit is still in existence, however, mothballed in an astral colony somewhere.

V. Running Next

Running Next
So you've got together a group? Sweet! First step is to create your characters via your favorite character creation method (Ours was Crap Shoot outlined in Section iia of chapter 2. It really built group fellowship and camaraderie when each player was responsible for rolling a stat for the group. We kept thanking the wizard and fighter for rolling everyone 18 Constitution and Charisma, respectively).

Once you've decided on group themes and purpose, now you have to actually run a game for the mightiest variety of gamer--the dread tabletop gamer! Oh, you will rue the day!

Haha, just kidding, folks. To take the sting and surprise out of it, gather up some helpful tools (available in gaming stores and on our website) and read the next sections:

Combat
This is the part we all find boring, right? So let’s get it out of the way and get to the good stuff. You NEED a grid. You NEED character figurines. You MUST have counters and markers to signify different status effects. You also NEED the Turn Counter. Seriously, we found it’s an essential tool. You enter each character’s name and turn order, and when the turn is over, you just press the button and it shows whose turn it is. It’s perfect for keeping track of turn order, and you’ll need it because combat is so tactical and strategic, we were sweating bullets. Every. Single. Turn. We knew the party would live or die on the roll of every die, so we had to summon all our years of experience to ensure victory!

Speaking of dice, you need some. As your perused the previous sections, you may have noticed some oddly-numbered die. We really do feel it’s an essential part of the game to have an 18-sided die for rolling stats, and a 17-sider for Battle Communication rolls and 42-sided dice for Philosophy checks. You can pick these up for cheap at your gaming stores or our website (Note to Editor: insert web address here and tell Tommy to get off his ass and register us a domain name before this goes to print). No true gamer will ever regret buying more dice!

Gameplay
Always, always, always, always, ALWAYS, have fun. Don’t ever let the rules get in the way of the game! We’re trying to deliver a way for buddies to hang out and forge memories and stories for a lifetime! Why, one time, Thomas accidentally moved his Umbral Assassin to behind the Yellow Priest in The Eldritch Bookstore and used his Shadow Strike. The problem was, he miscounted squares and he was short by two squares. He got a critical hit and poisoned the Yellow Priest before James noticed the miscount. James told he had to take the move back, which broke our hearts. We all told him that was so awesome to get a critical, and it should stand. James saw we were having fun, so he decided to make it a rule that some things are so epic that the Limits of Fate (what he called the rules in-game, when he needed to explain something to the characters) would allow it to stand. We had fun!

Another time, Karina the cleric gave a very moving speech to the king, to persuade him how he should give the party money for equipment, and James thought it was so awesome that he didn’t even ask for a Persuasion roll. So the message here is, play the game, not the rules.

Hanging Out At the Table
If you’re reading this, you’re probably the Game Maestro. It’s important to just be one of the guys. So when you’re playing, sit in the middle of everyone, instead of at one end, away from them. This will create a friendly cooperative atmosphere. Don’t power trip. Don’t run roughshod over the players. You’re just a guy! Remember to buy pizza and bring chips and drinks on your turn, like everyone else.

Handling Players
If you’re reading this, you’re probably the Game Maestro. The organization and running of the game are in your hands. Sometimes you need to make unpopular calls. It’s important to be able to put your foot down and hold firm and keep the game moving, and good roleplayers will understand that and accede to your wishes and trust that you know best.

This happened during playtesting. We were exploring a dungeon and an arrow trap from nowhere killed Thomas’s Umbral Assassin, thanks to a roll made behind James’ DM screen. Tommy complained that there was no way to avoid it, and everyone else had walked through the same square-wide corridor. James said he was gonna handle it, it was story important. And then Sagaxus the World Druid—yes, THAT Sagaxus, the Servant of the World-Spirit himself, from the history of the world in Chapter 3—appeared out of the shadows and said the fate of the world depended on our venture. So he made tapped into the Spirit Sea and hastened Karag’s reincarnation—and imagine our surprise was reborn as a dark elf of extraordinary beauty! Tommy didn’t like it much, but the rest of us were in awe. It wasn’t something we’d covered in the rules! James said he’d had the idea last night and written it up. Tommy said he really wanted to play Karag still, but James explained how the whole story DEPENDED on a dark elf Umbral Assassin finding love with a werewolf lord, and how Tommy should be proud he gets to hold up such an important end of the plot.

The rest of us agreed. We wanted to see what James had in mind and were super-excited by the teaser. Werewolf Lord? We’re in! Tommy rolled with it! It’s such a tragedy, though, that we never got to see what happened with the werewolf lord Luparex we ran into at the end of the session. Thomas’s grandmother tragically passed away the next day, of tuberculosis, and Tommy had to go care for his extremely ill aunt. We all wish him the best, and he was such a good guy for rolling with the game to the very end.

I wouldn’t have told that story, except it’s the perfect illustration of the moral: You’re boss. The have to trust in you if there’s going to be a game.

Campaigns
These are the campaigns we played when testing the game. They’re covered in more detail elswhere, but we’re sure these teasers will make go lose yourself like we did:

Bow and Fang, Together for Ever: Wise Sagaxus wishes to make a union between the elves and werewolves to forever protect the untamed and mysterious soul of the world!

The Yellow King: An unspeakable evil cult is trying to summon its evil patron to this world, and they start by sending giant rats to terrorize sewers and cellars. For mature gamers only—seriously, the torture chambers gave us nightmares.

The Orc Emperor: An army of a billion foul orcs threatens the Peace Lands! You have to stop the invasion, yet no force can stand against that many! This was a special favorite of ours, because this is a story that could only be told in NEXT, because no other tabletop game has the math to make this work right! We couldn't just go slay the invading horde!

Final Word
If everyone plays nice together and tries to have fun and follows the guidelines in this section, there’s no way you can fail to enjoy playing NEXT, and forge legend to be forever remembered in the NEXT Age!

VI. Optional Rules Modules

NEXT Rule Module #12: Mass Combat via Skill Challenges

(note to editor: the bit about how rules modules are outlines of possible game options, instead of fully fleshed out rules, goes here.)
got it, will do - The Ed.

Whether your character leads a small scouting force of elven rangers, captains a rough and tumble halfling pirate crew, or simply commands an army of skeletons, there are times when you want to have your team fight someone else’s team, without grinding through the delicate combat rules for each individual arrow. In this Rule Module, we present an option for handling this sort of Mass Combat via the “Skill Challenge” rules (see Modules 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11).

Each player who commands a group is a Leader, and has a Leadership score based on his or her level (see Table 1: Leadership scores and Table 2: Leadership modifiers). Players who are not Leaders can assist a Leader, providing half their Leadership score, rounded down, as a bonus. Or a player can split their forces into smaller groups, each of which gets the full Leadership bonus of the player commanding that group, and half the Leadership score, rounded up, of the original Leader.

In each combat round, Leaders may announce whom they are attacking, and what action they are having their group take, and make a Leadership Check, or, optionally, a Skill Check. Be sure to consult Table 2: Leadership Modifiers, as certain actions or events can modify Leadership scores during the course of a Mass Combat Skill Challenge. For an ordinary Leadership Check, the player should roll a d20 and add their Leadership score, and likewise for Skill Checks. As usual, 20s are a critical success and 1s are an automatic failure. A roll above 14, before adding in the Leadership score, is a normal success, while a roll below 8 is a normal failure. Intermediate rolls should be adjudicated based on the circumstances, but should not go well for players with low Leadership scores. For example, Sally could have her bandit character order her goblin raiders to set an ambush for the trade caravan, then to attack the guards, and then to set fire to the wagons. Each of these would be resolved via a Leadership Check.

If a side has been split into smaller groups under one main Leader, then failures of each sub group count against the total group (but track successes separately). However, if players are assisting a single Leader, this will not apply. Enemy groups should always have their failures tracked separately.

Players who can cast spells, or take other actions that could directly influence the Mass Combat Skill Challenge, may do so directly on their turn, instead of making a Leadership check. Resolve these actions as appropriate.

Each group has defense ratings based on the average score of the group members, as modified by the Leader’s Leadership Score (see Table 3: Leadership Modifiers). Whichever side first gets enough successes to overcome another group’s defenses wins the Mass Combat Skill Challenge, with results as appropriate for the actions taken during the challenge. If any groups remain besides the winner and the loser, they may immediately initiate a new Mass Combat Skill Challenge.

[Josh_Kablack]

And the collected hype:

• Every class from every PHB edition included.
• Complexity dials up with themes.
• Skills are optional.
• Races and Classes make up the core math.
• Smaller damage and hit point numbers.
• Tight strategic grid-based tactics
• Free-form Gameplay with no gimmicks or frills.
• Seating Arrangements For Optimal Table Time
• Essential DM Tools To Add To The Game Experience
• Useful Advice on How to Handle Players
• Steampunk.
• Unique versions of classic races.
• Clash between Fantastic Science and High Fantasy
• Setting neatly integrated with mechanics
• Unique campaign itsy bits
• Adversaries wfrom a wide variety of different sources, both mythological and modern, allowing GMs to make a campaign that suits their group and setting.
• Adversaries written in such a way to encourage multiple methods of conflict resolution instead of all combat all the time.
• Adversaries have a level, but adversaries within a level will cover a wide range of power, so that a sub-optimal party and a munchkin party will both be able to fight level-appropriate opponents.
• Adversaries make use of unique tactics and special attacks so that each one of them feels different from the rest.

The forthcoming alternate Setting Module

• Does away with boring and overused classical european tropes.
• Focuses on being easy for new players to understand and established players to switch over to.
• No racist overtones, no complex cosmologies, nothing but the Setting You Need.
• Gives the DM the Freedom to Design whatever geography they want. No limits, man!
• Based on The Jungle Book. Where everyone's a talking animal.

[Maxus]

Why, oh WHYYYYYYY!

Why did I have to see this only ten minutes before I leave for work!

[Red_Rob]

I LOL'd. More than once.

Some parody was subtle, some was blatant, but it all made me smile. The kicker is, this is probably more playable and more finished than the real Next!

[Whatever]

This was all great, but my favorite part, by far, was:

[Chamomile]

The DM Advice was brilliant. All the "this one time from our campaign was so cool" bits were priceless.

EDIT: I just realized that the MM1 never got sent in. Which means due to miscommunication and schedule slip, the product is shipping with a bestiary that is 100% Pokemon, Gundams, and memes. I think this is the best way the adversaries section could possibly have turned out.

[Maxus]

The DM Advice was brilliant. All the "this one time from our campaign was so cool" bits were priceless.

Thanks. I started off "What's the most contradictory, douchenozzle advice, filled with anecdotes that showed terrible, railroady DMing I can think of? And what's the most terrible and/or generic campaign ideas I can think of? So I came up with: DM PC-o-rama, cheapass dungeon crawl, and then a "foil the invasion" type thing that's just generic fantasy junk."

Edit: Josh--or whoever did the table of contents--deserves some credit there, too. Look at the page values of the table of contents.

[Koumei]

Yeah, the page values are hilarious. And despite being a joke on almost every level, this still looks more coherent and interesting than the actual Next.

[Prak]

Ok, so here's that Intro Adventure. I've been waiting til I finished it to actually look at the posted results, so the effect should be retained.

I'm actually not sure if this rates better or worse than actual published adventures...

NEXT Sample Introductory Adventure

The Aether mines of Gunkrieg have been taken over by a Fiend Cabalist Goblin and his crew of demon-tainted underlings. They have killed or run out the workers, and caved in the entrance, creating a multitude of boltholes that only creatures their size or smaller can move through. Any attempt to remove the rubble of the entrance is met with assault from well positioned goblins.
Now the folk nearby are becoming increasingly afraid of acting to free their mine, as the goblins have begun to show demonic traits.

Gunkrieg is a large village that operates a series of Aether mines. The exporting of this substance has made the people fairly well off, certainly wealthier than other villages in the area, and has drawn a large number of people to move in to work the mines. This influx of people is beginning to turn the village into a town, and has not only increased the number of workers in the mine, but also has seen a number of new businesses created, in hastily risen tents and shacks. Bars and brothels and moving picture tents all jostle and push for space and slowly spread outwards. It was easy enough for goblins to infiltrate, the mine always accepts new workers, no matter their size or appearance. Clearing out the mine of non-goblins was likewise simple, a carefully planned sabotage that forced others out, that the goblins said only they could adapt to, supposedly to fix the “accident,” allowed them to take their defensive positions while the cabalist set up his ritual space.

The mine is a large, sprawling complex, and the map shows only the main shafts and chambers. Many smaller tunnels branch off of these passages, especially now that the goblins have begun adding to them, creating alcoves and secret tunnels to aid in their hit and run attacks on attempted intruders. These passages grant the goblins near total concealment, as well as giving them surprise attacks and the edge against characters who haven't spotted them.

[insert map]

The Entrance
The main entrance to the mine is a solid wall of rubble, four feet thick. Clearing the rubble completely will take two days. The rubble can be blasted out of the way, but setting charges is a high-concentration task, and anyone who approaches within 20' of the mine entrance is attacked by Fiend-Tainted Goblin Rogues. Any spell that exerts force similar to a mining blast will also clear the rubble, and possibly injure the goblins.

[insert detailed map of entrance area with goblin positions]

There are 40 goblins working for the Cabalist, all with the Fiend Tainted theme. 28 of these goblins have the Flame-throwing trait, 10 possess the Spider Fiend trait, and 2 have the Fiendish Brute trait.
Four Flame-throwing Goblins guard the entrance, and each bolthole is guarded by a pair, leaving eight to patrol the tunnels. Five Spider Fiend Goblins are located in areas 3, 5, 6, and 9, 1 each (two in area 9). The Fiendish Brute Goblins are in are 15, serving as guards for the Cabalist and his Aether sapping equipment.

Enemies

Flame Throwing Goblin Rogue (20)
HD 1d8+3 (11 hp)
Initiative +6
Speed 30'
Saves Fort +1 Ref +6 Will +0 Alacrity +4
Attacks 2 balls of flame +4 ranged touch, 1d6+1 fire damage
Abilities Str 6, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8
Feats Two Weapon Fighting
Themes Fiend-tainted (fire fiend)
Skills Stealth +14, Climb +2, Jump +2,
Special Sneak Attack +1d6, Flame-throwing

Spider Fiend Goblin Rogue (10)
HD 1d8+3 (11 hp)
Initiative +6
Speed 30' (Climb)
Saves Fort +1 Ref +6 Will +0 Alacrity +4
Attacks Bite +0 melee 1d3-2 (poison, Fort 12, 1d6 con) or dagger +5 ranged (1d3-2)
Abilities Str 6, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8
Feats Two Weapon Fighting
Themes Fiend-tainted (Spider fiend)
Skills Stealth +14, Climb +10, Jump +2,
Special

Fiend Brute Goblin Fighter (2)
HD 1d10+6 (16 hp)
Initiative +4
Speed 20'
Armour Leather mining gear (DR 2/slashing)
Saves Fort +5 Ref +6 Will +2 Alacrity +0
Attacks Mining Pick +3 (1d8+3)
Abilities Str 16, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 10 Wis 10, Cha 4
Feats Combat Focus (Improvised Weapons)
Themes Fiend-tainted (Fiendish Brute)
Skills Stealth +14, Climb +2, Jump +2,
Special

Fiend Cabalist (Goblin Warlock 3)
HD 3d8+9 (11 hp)
Initiative +3
Speed 30'
Saves Fort +1 Ref +6 Will +0 Alacrity +4
Attacks Eldritch Blast +6 ranged touch (2d6 fire)
Abilities Str 8, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 18
Feats Augmented Summons, Extra Summons
Themes Fiend-tainted (Fiend Master)
Skills Diplomacy +8 (+12 with fiends), Climb +2, Jump +2,
Special Eldritch Blast, Fiend Summoning

Fiend Summoning: The Fiend Cabalist can attempt to summon a fiend a number of times equal to 3+Cha Mod (7). He rolls a diplomacy check and can summon any demon with HD equal to or less than his roll-10.

[sidebar]New Theme-Fiend Tainted
Fiend Tainted is a new theme that any member of any race or class can take. It represents a corruption by fiendish energies, that the character was exposed to either willingly or unwillingly. The theme grants one of the following traits, chosen when the theme is taken:
Flame-throwing: The character may, as a standard action, wreath their arms in flame. This grants them the ability to make ranged touch attacks that deal 1d6 fire damage, +1 point per hit die. This ability lasts a number of minutes equal to twice their Hit Die. They may use this ability 3/day, plus one per point of Charisma modifier.
Spider Fiend: You have been touched by the dark fiends of the Demon-web Pits, emulating their climbing, poisonous bite and web creation abilities. You can climb, have a bite attack which deals damage appropriate to your size, and can create sticky webs that impede movement as a monstrous spider of your size. You have Edge against any creature caught in webs.
Fiendish Brute: You are considered to be one size larger than normal for weapon use, opposed rolls, and threatened space. You gain +6 str and con, and lose 4 int and cha, and your speed is decreased by 10'
Talk to your DM about creating other traits to fit other fiends.
This theme also grants 3 bonus hp per hit die.

[sabs]

An adventture with power creap! Awesome

[Josh_Kablack]

Edit: Josh--or whoever did the table of contents--deserves some credit there, too. Look at the page values of the table of contents.

Credits:
Intro and Contents: Duke Flarous
Chargen: Frank Trollman
Running NEXT: Maxus
Setting: MGuy
Combat: You Lost Me
Classes of Monsters: Catharz Godfoot
Adversaries: Chamomile
Mass Combat via Skill Challenges: Whatever
Sample Adventure: Prak Anima
1% inspiration, copypasta and writing 6 whole words: Me

[Prak]

I love the idea that the book has over 200 pages of Design Theory, and over 300 pages of GM Advice...

[Maxus]

And 9 pages each of Classes/Races and Monsters.

[Prak]

That could actually conceivably be done, at least in the Race/Class area, since Frank showed how he'd do races in about 50 words, and there's a large chapter given to "Abilities." A Keyword heavy, low-art book could seriously do 17 classes and a handful of races in 9 pages.

[Chamomile]

That's still a horrifying crunch-to-fluff ratio. Especially since the fluff isn't even actual fluff like setting detail and stuff, but instead just 300 pages of DM advice. 300 pages of terrible campaign anecdotes used to support the worst possible advice conceivable, ultimately resulting in an erratic chronicle of a group that slowly bleeds its tolerable players off until only the worst people ever are left. An entire novel's worth of this.

I want to see rules modules 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, and 11 (or whatever those ones detailing skill challenges were). The first one would just be a description of skill challenges, then the second one would start with something like "we've had some complaints about the difficulty of skill challenges, so we've provided this modified "easy mode" version for people who want PCs to succeed more often in their campaigns." Then seven would be "we've decided that skill challenges need to do more to be inclusive of all party members," and eight would start with "party members shouldn't be dragging the entire party down and making their mates wish they'd left them at home, so these new rules avoid forcing people to participate in skill challenges they're no good for," and then nine starts with "we changed our minds again, skill challenges should be easier, but also longer, and everyone has to participate again," and then eleven is "whatever, just fill in the numbers yourself, it's your game!"

[Red_Rob]

I thought some of the ideas in the combat section were interesting - Edge triggering the 1 and 20 rule is a neat way of stopping crit hunting, and the outclassed rule brings a kind of CAN-lite feel to combat.

[MGuy]

Organization is so easy to do when Denizens work together. How beautiful.

[Maxus]

I thought some of the ideas in the combat section were interesting - Edge triggering the 1 and 20 rule is a neat way of stopping crit hunting, and the outclassed rule brings a kind of CAN-lite feel to combat.

Yeah, I liked the Outclassed thing, myself.

[nockermensch]

An adventture with power creap! Awesome

Every time I bought a Dungeon magazine or any other adventure supplement was to get some character option.

[sabs]

that's what makes it awesome.
It's classic d&d, and one of the most irritating things about d&d

[ishy]

So uhmmm

Primary Region: Tegaden

Where is it on the world map !?!

[Chamomile]

Where is it on the world map !?!

Bonus points: Also locate North Korea on the world map.

[Duke Flauros]

So uhmmm

Primary Region: Tegaden

Where is it on the world map !?!

The World Map is of Synnibar, the table of contents lists the location as Athas, and the setting is listed as Teagaden.

[Korgan0]

I thought some of the ideas in the combat section were interesting - Edge triggering the 1 and 20 rule is a neat way of stopping crit hunting, and the outclassed rule brings a kind of CAN-lite feel to combat.

I also thought the hiding rules were one of the better ways, out of all the ones I've seen, of making in-combat stealth work.

[Username17]

To be honest, the whole "favored attributes" thing is a pretty reasonable way to do things. I admit that I was making fun of 4th edition's class-stat identities with that (Rangers are Dex/Wis, Druids are Wis/Dex). But if you didn't have dual-stat class identities, it would be fine.

-Username17