KnightErrantJR's page

The only thing I wonder is why we all always can picture a LG zealot and how he might screw up this or that and might come into conflict with the party, but we never think of a Chaotic good zealot.

Chaotic is as extreme as Lawful is. Think about it. A great evil is unleashed on the land. A large, lawful good church has a means to help defeat it, but the chaotic good zealot thinks the party can handle it on their own, doesn't trust the church, thinks it has ulterior motives, etc. . . generally allowing the evil to grow unchecked as the CG zealot tries to find a way to act individually and with out looking outside for help . . .

Erik, I do have to say, as much I would love for Wil's columns to be banished to Tarterus (can you imagine the kind of prison pen pal you could get there?) I have to say that the magazine overall is much improved, which is, of course why I am a subscriber now.

But Wil still rankles me . . .

Kyle, this is going to be a bizzare compliment, but I really do have a lot of respect for you and the answer that you gave. I appologize if it came across that I though you made Downer the way you did becuase of a marketing plan. My comment was more about why I think it may have had some of the appeal that it did, more than that you had a concerted plan in conceiving it. So while I still don't like Downer, I have to say that I respect you as a creator very much (as I said at the begining of my first post).

Not to mention I like you analysis of Eberron as Xtreme D&D. But that is just my opinion, and like I said in my first post, if it appeals to you that is great.

Oh, I understand completely. I know it was an unfortunate timing incident, I guess I just to to get it off my chest. I blame no one, just a horrible twist of fate.

Just out of curiousity, is this an editorial function, or does the author usually write the "scaling the adventure" sidebar?

Zherog said:

However, my own second hand annecdotal information is most likely useless to everybody. ;)

And yet it is still more relevant that 90% of Wil's columns . . . go figure.

First off I have to say that I have a lot of respect for Kyle Hunter for putting his creation in the public eye. Its a double edged sword and for every person that loves your work you have a very vocal and public person that is willing to evicerate you in front of the whole world. I would also like to say that it is very obvious that Kyle has his own style and "voice" and that is great (as an old comic book geek, I remember how infuriating it was in the 90s when all the young artists decided that it was "in" to do their books "manga" style rather than developing a unique personal style).

I will also say that I know that the comic does not appeal to me. I don't really like the modern slang and self aware in game comments. I don't like the short attention span scene cuts. But I also know that some people "get" this style and it appeals to them.

But part of what bothers me about some of Kyle's defence of his strip reminds me of the recent line I have heard in Dragon and from WoTC that worries me. It seems to me that there is a group of people that are telling us that the younger crowd doesn't like "Classic" fantasy. They're hip and they need a wink and a nod to keep the genre relevant. Those of us that are interested in "psuedo-medieval" elements of the game are silly and stuck in the past.

It reminds me of the comments in Dragon about how Eberron is the salvation of the game, because it is psuedo modern and fast paced. Youngsters will never come to the game with Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and DragonLance on the table.

I know that Downer will appeal to certain people while it does not appeal to me. I know that Eberron will appeal to certain people while it does nothing for me, and that is great. Not everything can be about me. But at times I feel like as an older gamer that enjoys "silly" things like the psuedo medeival element of classic D&D I am being told that I am out of step and the game in in danger becuase I won't change and adapt to "flashy" new psuedo modern settings.

I guess I have to wrap up by saying . . . all these youngsters that don't like medieval fantasy . . . are they the ones I see buying up all the Lord of the Rings action figures at Wal Mart?
We aren't loosing young gamers because we need hipper setting and characters as represented by Downer and Eberron etc. We are loosing them them to Final Fantasy on PS2, Everquest and World of Warcraft on PC, etc. The medium of RPGs has expanded and a lot of kids don't want to write down characters, take notes, etc, they want to point and click.

Finally . . . I am not saying Downer should be cancelled or that Eberron should not be published. They should be there if there is a market for them. Just don't tell me that becuase I don't like them I am hurting the game.

You know, it really sucks that when I get my first issue on my subscription and I decide to start posting on these boards, and I want to snark about Wil Save . . . this months was actually about playing D&D, at least in a round about way. I still don't really like the column, but I can't attack this one.

Now last months . . . just becuase Wizards owns it doesn't mean Magic and D&D are interchangeable.

Oh well, I guess I'll see if the next issue continues Wil's newfound rememberence of what the column was suppose to be. Some months I think he just cuts and pastes stuff from his blog and then adds a sentence to make is seem "gamer"

Hexblade was the first that caught my attention, and I think that Swashbuckler just seemed logical instead of making it a prestige class. Samurai is nothing compared to the OA samurai, and that is pretty much true of all of the "asian" classes that appear in the Complete books.

Different game mechanics aside, I like the Marshall and I think it really does fill in a niche. I also thought of this . . . I often like to play rangers that do not gain all of their spells, since that seems to distract from the stealth/tracking, kill enemies in the wild aspect of them, and I like the idea of multi-classing into scout.

It might be interesting, and it might even be logical, but remember some changes that seemed logical were axed becuase of tradition. There is only so much you can change before you can say . . . "this is a fun d20 game, but its not D&D"

And I think the interesting thing about this discussion is that we are discussing that a feature that was optional was made mandatory for the character classes . . . I have a hard time picturing Elminster or the Simbul or Khelbun, or even Raistling, Dalamar, or Palin with a familiar, and in a way the "everyone's got a familiar" deal seems to go against tradition.

If anyone is interested though, there are some interesing optional abilities in Unearthed Arcana.

I have to agree that the art for "Final Resting Place" was not my favorite. The groteque proportions and "Mad Magazine-eque" gross/funny appearance just doesn't do much for me.

The art for "Fiendish Footprints" was good, and "Root of Evil" was increadible, my favorites being the purple worm encounter. The artwork in the Eberron article was interesting and good even though I am not tht interested in the setting.

I have to say though, and I know it wasn't intentional and its not neccisarily any one's fault given when the magazine is put together as opposed to when it gets shipped, but I still canno read the "Atypical Enemies" article becuase of the drooling, elderly pontif on the first page. It just feels very disrespectful, given when I first got the magazine, but I would like to say again, I understand it was out of your hands and not intentional.