Doc_Outlands's page

Ok, this is exciting! I started a project like this for my return to (A)D&D back just before 3.0 came out, using business cards and Print Master. Finding good appropriate-looking and -sized art was a royal PAIN!! I gave up on the project for quite a while. Well, now that the first gaming group broke up and a new one seems to be coalesing, I was dusting off the idea for another go at it.

NOW I DON'T HAVE TO!!!

Yeah, I'm gonna be in for this one, probably in a big way. I game with some young children, so certain concepts (like, say, erasing or marking off a potion you just drank) need something...tangible. We have minis for reinforcing perspective and now we'll have something tangible for reinforcing loot-control.

This approach might also be the way to handle spells and spell-casting...

I have to say the new Class Acts format shocked me when I picked up the March issue after having been away for several months. However, after the shock passed I thought about it and decided I can accept it. Here's why:

- Having a one-page article *every* month for *every* core PHB class probably turns into an editor's nightmare. "OH NO!!! The issue has to go out in 10 MINUTES and we have no C/A for the Sorcerer or Druid this month!!" Or maybe there's an idea perfect for a C/A, but it weighs in at 2 pages instead of one.

- The "Complete X" books have given us a lot of new core classes that could use some exploring, like the PHB classes were getting. I mean, C'MON!! I need some Warlock and Scout Class Acts!!! That is - the old formula no longer fit. Either writers and editors ignored the Complete X core-classes or the magazine expanded the C/A section by that many more pages - reducing *other* content by that many pages.

- Certain Class Act concepts could overlap several core classes.

I really liked the Class Acts format when it debuted and the new format was a major shock - especially since that was my *first* objective with the first issue in several months. However, I had seen some potential problems with the format early on and I think the new format goes quite a ways to clearing them up.

-Doc