A young elven wizard is on a pilgrimage to the Grandfather Tree, and she has hired the Champions to escort her.

The wizard has foreseen an acorn falling from the tree - an extraordinary and truly rare occurrence - and she hopes to collect the holy relic to take to Silverymoon.

Yet as the party ventures forth, the very forest itself resists them, while elves from the Feywild and the Underdark seek to claim the acorn for themselves...

The Running 4 introduces Shaka, Tiefling Celestial Warlock of Rivals of Waterdeep, and brings back Krydle, the charismatic half-elf rogue of the Heroes of Baldur's Gate, Spurt, the beloved shortlived Kobold. Players have until Monday, May 10th at 12PM Pacific to complete their The Running 4 unlocks and objectives.

For more information about Year 4 Events and how they work, please check out our Year 4 Events Dev Blog.

I. New Champion: Shaka

As a member of Rivals of Waterdeep, Shaka is always looking for the latest adventure and the latest puzzle. His party has encountered mysteries and foes throughout Waterdeep, Candlekeep, Icewind Dale, and Avernus. Their base of operations is located in the Trollskull Manor in Waterdeep where a brain in a jar named Brian stands watch.

Shaka is here to help, using his keen intellect to solve the Celestial Puzzle and bolstering his allies with Celestial Resistance. When you want to add him to your formation, you can swap him with Makos (Slot 9).

II. Shaka’s Stats

Race: Tiefling	Alignment: Neutral Good
Class: Warlock (Celestial)	Gender: Male
Age: 29	Affiliation: Rivals of Waterdeep

STR: 10	DEX: 16	CON: 15
INT: 16	WIS: 13	CHA: 16

Role: Support & Healing
Eligible for Patrons: Mirt the Moneylender, Vajra Safahr, Strahd von Zarovich, Zariel
Slot: 9 (Makos)

Shaka's Abilities

Shaka is a Support and Healing Champion. He can boost damage with A Celestial Puzzle, provide shielding with Celestial Resistance, and further amplify his abilities through specialization choices.

If more direct action is needed, Shaka can summon a Wall of Light as his Ultimate Ability and choose to Blind or Disintegrate enemies. The Blinding Wall of Light will push enemies away from the formation and cause their attacks to miss, while the Disintegrating Wall of Light will kill or damage those attempting to do his friends harm!

For more information on Shaka and his abilities, check out his Champion Spotlight!

Year Four Variants

• The Web Was On The Wall — Giant Spiders appear in each area. Whenever a Champion destroys a Giant Spider, they become webbed (stunned) for 3 seconds. Gold Find is reduced by 99%.
• Reach Area 75.

• Shaka's Puzzle — Shaka starts in the formation, he can be moved. Only Shaka and the Champions who match the tag for their slot from Shaka's A Celestial Puzzle ability can deal damage; Shaka's A Celestial Puzzle starts out unlocked.
  Getting to know Shaka: Shaka's main ability is A Celestial Puzzle. It will tag 4 random slots with a specific tag. When you solve the puzzle and place a Champion that matches the tag, A Celestial Puzzle buffs the damage of the entire party by 100%. Match all the tags to give your party the biggest boost.
• Reach Area 125.

• Lolth's Blessing — A Drow Wizard spawns in each area, with the Blessing of Lolth: 8 armored hit points that must be cleared before they can be killed. While the Drow Wizard is alive, all Drow enemies deal 300% additional damage and move 100% faster.
• Reach Area 175.

For information on previous years' variants, check out the The Running 3 blog.

A young elven wizard is on a pilgrimage to the Grandfather Tree, and she has hired the Champions to escort her.

The wizard has foreseen an acorn falling from the tree - an extraordinary and truly rare occurrence - and she hopes to collect the holy relic to take to Silverymoon.

Yet as the party ventures forth, the very forest itself resists them, while elves from the Feywild and the Underdark seek to claim the acorn for themselves...

The Running 3 introduces Krydle, the charismatic half-elf rogue of the Heroes of Baldur's Gate, and brings back Spurt and Catti-brie. Players have until Monday, May 4th at 12PM Pacific to complete their event unlocks and objectives.

Year 3 Champion: Krydle

A Charismatic Leader, a dashing thief and poet, Krydle is the quintessential rogue with a heart of gold. A resident of Baldur's Gate, Krydle rejects the upper city political machinations of his estranged father Coran, but nevertheless has familiarity of the city's nobles and their schemes, as well those of the city's criminal network. Certainly a handy chap to know...

Krydle is a DPS and Support Champion. His legendary charm buffs other Champions based on their charisma, and his Thieves Cant ability amplifies this buff for each rogue in the party. When you want to add Krydle to your formation, you can swap him with Celeste (Slot 2).

For more information about Krydle, check out the Idle Champion Spotlight: Krydle dev blog!

Year 2 Champion: Spurt

Spurt the Kobold Inventor is crafty and quick with his hands. He builds improvised weapons in the hope of gaining some new advantage in combat. Spurt never knew he would have such lasting appeal when he met a mighty group of adventurers in a cave, but here we are. Packed to the gills with his "awesome" inventions this clever kobold brings his 11-days of life experiences to the Champions, along with a really cool 'Centi-pult'!

Spurt is a Kobold Inventor and Support Champion. He buffs the formation through his Centipede Net, Wa-spiration, and Pack Tactics abilities. Spurt can also perform a Heroic Sacrifice to boost his buffs! When you want to add Spurt to your formation, you can swap him with Nayeli (Slot 3).

For more information about Spurt, check out the Idle Champion Spotlight: Spurt dev blog!

Year 1 Champion: Catti-brie

"When I first laid eyes on Catti-brie, she had just punched a rather menacing fellow who was threatening to break every bone in my body. She hit the lout with such surprising force that he flopped to the floor like a sackful of mullet. Over the years, I’ve come to call her a friend. Underneath Catti-brie’s rough exterior lies a heart of gold. She cares deeply for her friends and will protect what she holds dear without fail. If she takes a shine to you, be sure to count your lucky pennies, because her enemies rarely fare well for long."
~Volothamp Geddarm

Catti-brie is a DPS and Support Champion. Her Powerful Draw and Critical Hit abilities help her deal damage at long range, while her Mark for Death weakens enemies. When you want to add Catti-brie to your formation, you can swap her with Minsc (Slot 7).

Year Three Variants

• Split Up — Champions cannot be placed adjacent to each other.
  Reach Area 75.


• The Early Bird Gets The Acorn — Only Champions in slots 1-7 can be used.
  Reach Area 125.


• Krydle's Posse — Krydle starts out in slot 4 and can not be moved, removed, or swapped out. Only Champions with a Charisma (CHA) score of 12-16 can be used.
  Reach Area 175.

Year Two Variants

• Delusions of Grandeur — Spurt and his Centipult start in the formation, taking up two slots. The Centipult launches centipedes at random enemies, enraging them and increasing their speed and damage.
  Reach Area 75.


• Elves are Wild — All Elves (Elf, Eladrin, Drow) & Half-Elves in the formation have their attack speed increased. Drow enemies now have armor. Additional Eladrin spawn in each area, and they are immune to damage until after they attack.
  Reach Area 125.


• Alignment Askew — Champions are all affected by different debuffs based on the formation's alignment.
  Reach Area 175.

Year One Variants

• The Wolves in the Woods — Werewolves randomly spawn and attack the party, each with special abilities. Catti-brie's silver arrows deal double damage/hits to these creatures.
  Reach Area 75.


• Critter Companions — Two forest critters take up slots in the formation, increasing the damage of adjacent Champions by 400% moving around every 25 areas.
  Reach Area 125.


• Catti-alone — Catti-brie is the only Champion available for this mission. Her damage increases by 40% per area, stacking multiplicatively, her attack speed is greatly increased, and her Ultimate ability cooldown is reduced to 10 seconds.
  Reach Area 175.

See the in-game FAQ for more information!

It's a once-in-a-human-lifetime event: an acorn from the ancient Grandfather Tree will soon fall into the forest below. These acorns are among the holiest of relics, and a young Harper wizard has recruited the Champions to help them make the journey to recover this prize for Silverymoon.

However, as the party makes their journey towards the Grandfather Tree, the very forest itself seems to fight their advance. Eladrin from the Feywild, the plane of Faerie, attack the party — and Drow from the Underdark soon show up as well...

The Running 2 introduces Spurt, the Kobold Inventor played by Chris Perkins on Critical Role, and brings back Catti-brie, Human Fighter and Companion of the Hall. Players will have until Monday, May 13th, 2019 at 12:00pm PDT, to unlock them!

New Champion: Spurt

Spurt the Kobold Inventor is crafty and quick with his hands. He builds improvised weapons in the hope of gaining some new advantage in combat. Spurt never knew he would have such lasting appeal when he met a mighty group of adventurers in a cave, but here we are. Packed to the gills with his "awesome" inventions this clever kobold brings his 11-days of life experiences to the Champions, along with a really cool 'Centi-pult'!

Spurt is a clever Kobold Inventor and Support Champion. He buffs the party with his Centipede Net, Wa-spiration, Pack Tactics, and Heroic Sacrifice abilities.

When you want to add Spurt to your formation, you can swap him with Nayeli (Slot 3). For more information about our latest Champion, check out the Idle Champion Spotlight: Spurt dev blog!

Returning Champion: Catti-brie

"When I first laid eyes on Catti-brie, she had just punched a rather menacing fellow who was threatening to break every bone in my body. She hit the lout with such surprising force that he flopped to the floor like a sackful of mullet. Over the years, I’ve come to call her a friend. Underneath Catti-brie’s rough exterior lies a heart of gold. She cares deeply for her friends and will protect what she holds dear without fail. If she takes a shine to you, be sure to count your lucky pennies, because her enemies rarely fare well for long."
~Volothamp Geddarm

Catti-brie is a DPS and Support Champion. Her Powerful Draw and Critical Hit abilities help her deal damage at long range, while her Mark for Death weakens enemies.

Balance Update: Catti-brie can now cause double, triple, or higher crits if her crit chance is above 100%. At 100%-199% crit chance she will always crit, with a chance to hit for double crit damage. At 200%-299% crit chance she will always double crit, with a chance to cause 3x crit damage. These higher crits show a (xN) in their hit text, with the N being the crit multiplier that was applied. When you want to add Catti-brie to your formation, you can swap her with Minsc (Slot 7).

Year Two Variants

• Delusions of Grandeur — Spurt and his Centipult start in the formation, taking up two slots. The Centipult launches centipedes at random enemies, enraging them and increasing their speed and damage.


• Elves are Wild — All Elves (Elf, Eladrin, Drow) & Half-Elves in the formation have their attack speed increased. Drow enemies now have armor. Additional Eladrin spawn in each area, and they are immune to damage until after they attack.


• Alignment Askew — Champions are all affected by different debuffs based on the formation's alignment.

Year One Variants

• The Wolves in the Woods — Werewolves randomly spawn and attack the party, each with special abilities. Catti-brie's silver arrows deal double damage/hits to these creatures.


• Critter Companions — Two forest critters take up slots in the formation, increasing the damage of adjacent Champions by 400% moving around every 25 areas.


• Catti-alone — Catti-brie is the only Champion available for this mission. Her damage increases by 40% per area, stacking multiplicatively, her attack speed is greatly increased, and her Ultimate ability cooldown is reduced to 10 seconds.

See the in-game FAQ for more information!

He quietly tied a knot around the cage that held his pet skunk.

"Soon" he whispered as he shook the cage. "SOON WE'LL BE READY!"

He put the cage down and started strapping on his adventuring gear, the daydreams he held close to his heart dancing in his head as he whispered a song only he knew: "nah nah nah nah nah Spurt am the beeeeeest!" He swiped his dagger through the air as he sang. It was covered in drippy stuff. He threw it away into the pile of equipment he'd collected. Some of it was glowing, or on fire, but he learned long ago not to touch those. Yesterday he got a pretty nasty burn. He picked up his foot and licked it subconsciously. Then he nibbled on his toenails a bit. That part was on purpose. There's a lot of protein in toenails, you know.

He strapped on the green slime pot that killed his brother. Perhaps one day he could turn him back into a real kobold. He collected his stoppered gourds, wishing he had labeled them. No matter. He was an adventurer now. He would know which one to use when the time came.

He reached for Stingy, the scorpion he'd tied to the top of his stick. If it wasn't for his awesome cup bracers, Stingy would have stung him a lot more, but he was an inventor. And an inventor is smarter than a scorpion most of the time.

Finally, he tied the bagged wasp nest onto his stick, shaking it for good luck. The buzzing got louder so he threw the stick across the room till they quieted down. How rude!

He was alerted to sounds up ahead. Steps. Whispers. Arguing? It was finally time. Spurt was going to find his mommy and become a real adventurer. If only he knew which way was out.

Today, we've got a special treat for you. We are revealing our newest champion (for the second time). Spurt, the Kobold Inventor (Rogue) is coming to Idle Champions THIS WEEK! I want to take a few minutes to go over his kit, and explain how to use this quirky, silly, kobold.

Who is Spurt?

Spurt was created by Chris Perkins on the fly during episode 50 of Campaign 2 on Critical Role. He was an honorary member of the Mighty Nein for all of 20 minutes, as he hilariously found a way into all of our hearts before a Fire Giant's hammer finished him off.

You can see his epic origin story here:

Spurt's Stats

Race: Kobold	Class: Inventor (Rogue)	Alignment: Lawful Evil
STR: 7	DEX: 15	CON: 12
INT: 8	WIS: 7	CHA: 8

When you want to add Spurt to your formation, you can swap him with Nayeli (Slot 3).

Spurt's Story

He's an 11-day old kobold who fancies himself an inventor, rogue, and hero depending how much rotten cave water he drank.

Basic Attack

Spurt tosses a wasp nest at a random enemy, dealing damage.

Formation Abilities

Before we get into his abilities, I want to talk about two states that Spurt can be in. First, when he's alive, he acts just like any normal Champion, attacking on a timer and granting formation buffs to other Champions. However, once he uses his You Dead! ultimate (more on that soon), he becomes Spurt's Spirit. While he's a Spirit, he no longer attacks, but his buffs are turned up to 11, granting even more support to his team given the Heroic Sacrifice he just made!

• Heroic Sacrifice — This ability unlocks the You Dead! ultimate attack. Additionally, it details how Spurt remains in his Spirit form during the cooldown of the ultimate, buffing his other formation abilities in unique ways.


• Centipede Net — Increases the damage of adjacent Champions.


• Wa-Spiration — Whenever Spurt attacks an enemy, wasps swarm that enemy until they are killed. When 4 wasp-ed enemies are killed, Spurt invents a random effect for 60 seconds. Each effect can stack up to 5 times (with each stack expiring separately).


• Stingy — Champions that attack with melee attacks deal additional damage.
• Skunky — Enemies that approach the party (the same range as Strix's stinky ability) take extra damage.
• Grubby — All Champions' base attack cooldowns are reduced.


• Pack Tactics — Increases the damage of all Champions by for every Kobold in the formation, including Spurt. That's right. It's time to create the epic Kobold/Bard adventuring group with Deekin and Ishi!

Specializations

• Centi-Pult — Choosing this specialization will allow Champions who are 2 slots away from spurt to recieve the buff from Centipede Net, not just those adjacent!


• Kobold Family — Choosing this specialization will maximize the damage boost to all champions from Pack Tactics! Great if you're doing a run with Deekin or Ishi!

Ultimate Attack

You Dead! — Spurt jumps in front of the formation and tosses a wasp nest at a stalking giant. He is then immediately killed. He comes back as a Spirit (see above), increasing the effects of his abilities until he revives near the end of the ultimate cooldown. That's right. You want as LOOOOOOONG of a cooldown as possible to maximize Spurt's support potential. What does that mean? More hammers. So many more hammers.

Equipment

• Spurt's Staff — Stingy (and the versions that came before it), help Spurt survive. Since Spurt isn't very good at surviving, the staff buffs all Champions. Maybe they can help.


• Spurt's Rot Grubs — Do you need any more motivation than "There's a rot grub on your tail"?


• Spurt's Centipede Basket — This equipment buffs his Centipede Net ability, buffing those adjacent to him!


• Spurt's Skunk — Pepe may not listen, but it enjoys Kobolds. That's why it buffs his Pack Tactics ability!


• Spurt's Green Slime — "Don't go digging in there."


• Spurt's Wasp Nest in a Bag — Could this be Spurt's most popular invention? He thinks so. Given that you want to have Spurt as a Spirit as long as you can, this equipment item INCREASES the cooldown of his ultimate, meaning he spends more time in his uber-spirit form. Ahhh the memories.

Final Thoughts

We are super excited to release Spurt into the wild. He's one of our goofiest champions, and we want to pass along a big thanks to Chris Perkins and all of our partners at Wizards of the Coast for helping us bring this epic Kobold to life! In the words of Spurt: "I win!"

As always, feel free to send us feedback on via the Idle Champions Subreddit, Steam forum, or the Idle Champions Discord!

Welcome, everyone! I'm here to chat with our newest "Champion": Spurt the Kobold Inventor. Some of you may remember him from his 20-minute epic guest spot on Critical Role, played by none other than Chris Perkins himself!


I'm Spurt. Can we be friends?

I'm an adventurer!

Spurt, we're getting off track.

AHHHHH! You're really loud.

How's this?

Much better. Have you seen my skunk, Pepe? He smells real nice.

Spurt. . .

That’s me!

You're here to tell us what makes you cool and why the Idle Champion fans will love you!

I eat my own poo.

Sigh. What makes you a great adventurer?

I like to explore and make weapons out of stuff.

A Champion for those less fortunate.

Less fortunate than me?

What's that on your stick?

This is Stingy. He's a scorpion that stings.

A scorpion on a staff, that's a pretty formidable attack!

He once stung a Goblin in the eye.

OK, and what other cool inventions do you come with?

I have a centi-pult. It throws centipedes.

Oh? And what else?

I can put rot grubs in your mouth when you're sleeping!

No thanks, Spurt.

I have a wasp's nest in a bag.

That makes sense. We normally get into a bit more detail though. How is your kit built? What is your focus: DPS, Support, Gold Find, or Tanking?

I think I’m a tank.

Did I read this correctly? You worked with the Mighty Nein?

The Mighty What?

You're only 11 days old?

Hey, did they say I died?!?

Nevermind that. Which Champion are you excited to work with?

The big one that pukes is pretty cool.

His name is Donaar.

Donut?

When are you joining the Idle Champions?

Huh?

OK. How about an easy one. What are your stats?

OH! I have the biggest stat block. Bigger than a dragon’s!

Race: First	Class: INVENTOR!	Alignment: Askew
Weak: 7	Fast: 15	Don't Eat That: 12
Dum: 8	Smarts: 7	Level of Drool: 8

Um, are you sure about those? Those don't look like actual stats.

I'm 11 days old. What do you expect?

Fair enough. What should I list as your top tier ability?

I die well.



I think that's enough foolishness for today. You heard it here first: Spurt, the Kobold Inventor will be joining the Champions in an upcoming event! At least he thinks he will.


I win!