And I don't know what he's talking about James Jacobs or Erik Mona saying anything negative either.
Here, not so much.
James' blog is pretty negative. Erik's is pretty mixed, somewhat staying neutral.
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Wow! I've been looking forward to this, but it wasn't a must buy since I have the original. However, the best thing about the adventure has always been the maps. Getting the maps scaled for miniatures might move this to "must buy" (as long as it doesn't also move it to "can't afford").
It seems from the videos on u-tube that computers are becoming a more integral part of the game, that playing by remote and building your dungeons/encounters/characters on computer is a big selling point. Apparently this is thing about the announcement that WotC messed up the most. It was apparently quite confusing at the GenCon announcement. What WotC is really doing is creating two things; 4th edition and the D&D Insider. However, they are launching them at the same time, so they are inter-related. You don't need D&D Insider to play 4th edition, any more than you needed eTools, and the magazines for 3.5. There won't be a 3.5 D&D Insider (beyond a few issues of Dragon & Dungeon), but there could have been if they decided to do it earlier. They just felt, probably correctly, that launching 4E and D&D Insider at the same time made sense rather than developing the online tools that would soon be obsolete by the new edition.
But comments like "it will be so different that you will have trouble converting" leave me a bit queasy. :) Make sure to read that quote in context. A lot of people are reading "unlike 3E, 4E is so different we don't recommend converting." However, when that quote was made it was in the context of "3E conversion didn't really work. In fact it was so bad we aren't recommending trying with 4E." More recently they also have pointed out that another issue is that with all the sourcebooks that exist for 3.5 it's very likely that something you use won't initially appear in 4E. You can see those issues popping out in their playtest reports. What they really seem to be focusing on is that if you choose to do so "adapt" (more of an art) don't "convert" (more of a science). As for me, if they do what they say they are doing, I plan on converting. I might not actually switch my games over until they have published enough Eberron conversions so that I don't need to adapt too many house rules that will soon be obsolete for a smooth game.
8 classes in PHB, fighter, rogue, wizard and cleric for certain (confirmed by Logan Bonner on ENWorld) - More in 4E, but just 8 in PHB PHB II, DMG II, MM II a year after 4E releases, new ones every year after that (GenCon WotC seminar) Wizards can cast 25th level spells (Rodney Thompson's blog on WotC site) Lots of stuff in this thread - http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=204119
So yeah, I am very excited about finishing this (SO OVER DEADLINE! GAH!) If it's not breaking anything, what level is this for? My guess would be 10th or so?
. I heard that the D&D Insider is going to be free for the first couple of months. I believe the 2007 entry is going to be free, although that doesn't necessarily mean free Dragon/Dungeon access. After that $9.95/month for all of the D&D Insider stuff.It starts in October, so if the info is accurate that about 3 months of content.
WotC has apparently posted the contents of the next "issue of Dungeon." Due to the disappearing D&D website phenomenon, I only have this second hand, but it's a reliable source (Merric).
My understanding is that the D&D Insider will be free for the rest of the year, so we may get this as a free preview. BTW, the classic D&D module revisited?
So, soon we'll find out what Mr. Logue cooked up for the conclusion of the trilogy. I look forward to it. Another description:
I'm curious why Pathfinder is foregoing the d20 branding and license in favour of the broader OGL designation. It's probably because the conventional wisdom now is that the d20 brand doesn't really help sell a product. A lot of people either have no idea what the d20 brand means or avoid it entirely. Those who are aware of it are typically aware of which products are OGL and d20 compatible. Why bother worrying about the restrictions (even if you never go against them) if there is no advantage to using the logo?
If you don't know where a creature comes from, you can always look it up on DM Tools - I try to keep the lists current! Of course, some of the sources aren't WotC sources (and one is a website).
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed my issue of Kobold Quarterly. IMO it was jam packed with goodness! Ecology of the Derro, Titivillus: Prince of Hell, The Far Darrig, and the Interview withEric Mona were all excellent. I'm already looking forward to the Fall issue, and Open Design's Empire of the Ghoul! I'm really waiting for Keith Baker's "how to run a noir campaign" article (even if it he can't make next issue's deadline). The fact that I sort of suggested it notwithstanding.
Wolfgang posted them (for the most part) in this post on his Open Design site.
Therein lies the rub - you (WB) mention a potential online posting of the abbreviations, but it would have been cool to actually have that available in the zine. I believe it's an issue with the OGL. You can't reference any WotC trademarks in the product (except for specific ones), and that includes most of the references.
We are also offering Kobold Quarterly here on paizo.com for those who prefer to shop here. Check out our blog on the front page today! But not the limited print version. That's what he failed his will save aganst.
I love the idea that all my GameMastery products might eventually seamlessly tie in to one another, but I would hate to have to own the Sewers tiles (which I just ordered, but it's an example) in order to play an adventure, e.g., no map included in the module, instead, "Please see your Official GM Sewers tile pack for encounters 12-47, Tiles sold separately..." If the map isn't included then that's a problem. I suggest they include a map (as in every other adventure) that happens to be made up of tiles from a given set. You don't need the tiles to run the adventure. You don't need the adventure to use the tiles. If you have both, thouigh...magic ;)
Mark of Death abilities are not published as of yet. Mostly because the only person with the Mark can't use it (being undead). I think the intent is that it should be treated as a MacGuffin in most games that want to have it "return."
Has there been any thought about adding synergy between the various Paizo products? For example, I love the Gamemastery Map Tiles. What would be great would be if one of the adventures used the tiles to construct the maps. It would be seamless for those that have either product. Those with just the module who do what they usually do with adventure maps, and those with the tiles would still have them. However, if you have both you can save a lot of time setting up any battlefields.
I was discussing Gamemastery products with my local game store owner (who is also a friend) and he had some criticism on the marketing elements of the packaging. I told him to contact you all, but I know that he tends to be quite busy. Most of the criticism has been on the flip mats. He displays them in shelving units that leave the face out, Unfortunately, that leaves the top part flopping down not visible. That's bad given that all the information is on that part. It appears to only be designed to be displayed on a peg rack and not all (or even most) gaming stores have that. Also, we were discussing the Tavern Flip mat and he pointed out that you would have to look closely, even if displayed on a pegboard, to see the word "Tavern." The Gamemastery logo dominated the packaging. This is exacerbated by the fact that the visible part of the map is a bed, not a tavern. He feels that these seemingly minor bits make it hard for a customer to be attracted to the product. He loves the line and wishes it could do better. I know you all appreciate feedback, so I wanted to make sure you heard his comments. Thanks.
Actually, I'm not sure that "most" halflings are nomadic dinosaur riders. The halflings from the Talenta Plains are certain nomadic and many ride dinosaurs. However, I think most halflings that have left the plains are now "civilized" halflings. It's stated that House Jorasco is largely made up of these halflings. So, the civilized halflings might actually be a larger number of halflings than are still in the plains. Of these, I think those part of the Boromor clan are actually a pretty small percentage. They are just very notorious.
He posted these on his blog ( http://the-monkey-king.livejournal.com/206448.html#cutid1
I've used a few in my ongoing campaign which is 28 point buy and it seems balanced about right. In an earlier campaign I had 32 point buy and many, many encounters seemed much easier than were planned to be (admittedly, this was 3.0, but that shouldn't make that much of a difference here).
As Blizzard wrote, had I known about having to run ahead of time, I would have liked to do the Gencon 20th levelers vs. the dragon thing as well. How did that go??? I love the simple set up of that! It hurt that I wasn't very familiar with that level of combat (I've never played in a 3E campaign past 7th level or so). The first round I had inexperienced players and probably would have trashed them, but I went very easy when I saw how suboptimally they were playing. After 2 PCs bit the dust they started taking it more seriously, and I didn't catch up in time. The second time I had a player that kept complaining about the design of his/their characters. Comments like "How would a wizard have lived to this level?" and "Where are the mindlink spells so we can communicate without the dragon hearing?" We also had a rules argument (that I didn't let get far) that the dragon would fail a grapple check with a natural 1, arguing that it was an attack roll. I explained it wasn't an attack roll, but he didn't believe it. Even after that, I think they had fun. There were just a few min-max oriented players that were set in their ways of running high level tweaked characters.
With a very experienced (and usually story oriented) group you can try the "choose your own stats" variation of character generation. Let everyone create the character they want to play. Balance any inequalities within the game (have the straight 18 guy have a target on his back, unless he deliberately underplays his character).
Today is Worldwide D&D Gameday. I thought it would be good to share our experiences. I'm prepared to run the standard adventure at one venue. I'm also prepared to run the battle between the colossal red dragon vs. the 4 20th level characters that was recently posted on the WotC site at two venues.
I'm pretty sure it would count "CR 12" as 2 words, and "Fort +3, Will +4, Reflex +4" as six words. Indeed, running those statements through Word, that's what it comes up with.
No, there are a few of us that drop by from time to time.What part of Delaware are you hailing from? I am in Delaware City (near Bear). Pike Creek area myself.
You are the only person from Delaware I've ever met. I didn't really believe people lived there.I think it's kinda like Connecticut... Lots of people live there, just no one works there. On the 'occupation' line for all state documents it's automatically filled out 'commuter'. Nah, lots of people live here (as long as you are talking about density, and not total population). It's companies that have this issue. The number of Delaware companies, and companies that actually have a physical location in DE that are different.
No, there are a few of us that drop by from time to time.
I still haven't recieved my copy of 138 (probably Paizo's compensating for my last Dragon appearing the day after it shipped ;) ). What was the context for the question? Personally, I wouldn't mind a printed index during a key issue (#150, maybe) and then an annual update of the last year's issues. Every few years, do another complete index. Have a regularly updated online index for completeness.
You know, I hate to say it, but it might almost makes sense to turn the RPGA back into a "subscription" type membership again, and actually use some of those resources to makes sure the organization can do some more follow through on their promises, though I doubt this will happen, since they have largely turned a lot of the tournament tracking of various games over to the RPGA. Who would buy it with the current reputation of the RPGA? I'll note it's been almost another week and still no update.
I'll note that it's been a week and the most recent issue up on the RPGA site is still #135. The last day you could schedule a session using that adventure is Monday, and you need to schedule sessions 2 weeks in advance (it used to be shorter for home games, but the system has been enforcing 2 weeks recently). Given we are on 138, that's 3 missing issues from the database (admittedly, I'm still waiting on my copy of 138, probably Monday). While extending the time on the adventures would be better, I'm not sure that would help much. Checking back I've confirmed this is the 3rd time in the past year that there have been no Dungeon adventures available to sign up for. The RPGA clearly is not committed to supporting this. They catch up the adventures briefly, and then just ignore it for months at a time.
anywho, what are the benifits, from people who are part of it? From a completely materialistic POV, when you DM adventures (and are signed up for RPGA rewards) you get 3 campaign cards and a repainted D&D miniatures for every 20 pts. you earn (1 pt. for a home game, 2 pts. for a Dungeon adventure, 4 pts. for a Mark of Heroes or Xen'drik adventure). Mostly for doing paperwork for the campaign and following the RPGA rules (admittedly, many find them very restrictive, especially for a home game). From a social standpoint, you get to meet a lot of new players at RPGA events and play in a wide variety of adventures.
Even though every issue of Dungeon magazine advertises that their adventures can be played in the RPGA for RPGA points, the RPGA has consistantly allowed these adventures to lapse. As of now, you cannot schedule any RPGA games using Dungeon adventures. This is at least the second time this past year this has happened (and I think it was the 3rd). The last issue they have available is #135.
I haven't gone through the issue in detail yet. I'll also admit I'm not that interested in the Forgotten Realms. However, this article does seem well done, and goes into a lot of detail. I suspect having this in the same issue as the Pelor article is going to have the guys looking for heavy crunch complaining about the issue though. It's very crunch lite (which many will love), and the main mechanics article deals with using the Three-Dragon Ante game.
Greyhawk has a far longer history of publication than Eberron. It's been published longer than Forgotten Realms, although materials produced might be close now. Greyhawk is far close to "sewage drainage systems of Greyhawk" than Eberron is (many would argue the Forgotten Realms has hit that point, with Ed Greenwood's article on roofing in the Realms). Yes, they might reach the point where they decide to put out another campaign world because this issue. It won't be Greyhawk, because that run counter to the philosophy of having room to publish things that haven't been done and overdone. That doesn't mean that WotC won't release Greyhawk product in the future (although I don't see it anytime soon), but it certainly won't be for that reason.
It's unfortunate that Greyhawk didn't take off in third edition, although I can see some of the reasons why. The core setting book was called the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer rather than simply Greyhawk Campaign Setting, so it instantly appealed to existing Greyhawk fans at the cost of being mis-named and ill-marketed to target new DMs. I'm not so sure this theory is sound. IRRC, the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer was the first 3rd edition product that was announced as having sold out its print run.
If they want to produce material for D&D, their options are use the OGL and/or d20 licenses, or don't publish it. ;) Or make arrangements with WotC to be able to use the D&D license. I believe the only two "3rd party" companies with that ability are Paizo (which is a special case, anyway) and Kenzer & Company.
Please, Please make the Age of Worms Hardcover!! They've made it pretty clear that they want to do it. However, WotC must give them permission to do so. It's quite possible that WotC might require them to choose certain products. If might be a tough decision if they have to choose between a second Dragon Compendium or a Age of Worms hardcover, for example.
I'm currently running an Eberron campaign about twice monthly in Newark, DE. Due to real-life conflicts, we find ourselves short regular players. We are looking for one or two regular players. The group is a mix of experienced and new players. I started playing D&D in the late 70's, but a couple of our players are still in their teens and just getting their feet wet in roleplaying. Everyone else falls inbetween. My ideal player would have a good grasp of the central rules and be comfortable with voth a tactical combat and a purely roleplaying situation. However, we're pretty comfortable with most players who don't fall at the extremes. Campaign World: Eberron
Email glyfair@comcast.net if you are interested.
Has the magazine ever offered a means of storeing, issues , where as they are kept nice and or readily avalible of looking up past articles etc. etc. Am I makeing sence? Basicly I'm looking for a magazine binder to keep my issues nice and fresh... I've seen someone post a link somewhere to some companies that publish generic magazine binders. They usually have special inserts or covers you can get for whatever magazine company they have a deal with. Personally, I keep mine in a magazine box that you can get at any comic book store. Unlike the ones you typically get in office stores, they are acid free and are very good for long term storage.
Actually, I completely understand. My comment was completely directed at the person who essentially said "you should be glad for the free material" implying we shouldn't expect it. They're backed up and it's understandable that it's late. It's also understandable that they want to keep the product oriented deadlines as the priority. I completely understand Paizo's position. The only thing I'd change would be their implication that the supplement was online in the Dungeon (and I think, in retrospect, they would, too).
I think people should be a little more grateful towards a free online-supplement. While agree that patience is laudable, I think the focus on a "free online-supplement" is misplaced here. Much of this content was advertised as being part of the issue of Dragon it supports. This is their way of getting it out when it was promised and many players are counting on it (particularly the conversion notes for Eberron and Forgotten Realms). I can imagine Paizo has gotten at least a few letters from people buying the issue who don't have computer access (or at least reliable computer access) and won't have this information.
Maure Castle was a major part of the 1E TSR adventure "Mordenkainen's Fabulous Adventure." Last year it, the original creators (Gary Gygax and Rob Kuntz), updated it for 3E. This was considered such a major event that it was given an entire issue of Dungeon. I think the Maure Castle issue has had the best reaction of anything created for Dungeon recently (and possibly ever). The Adventure Paths are in the ballpark, too.
Is the map in 124 supposed to have four different pieces? If so I got 4 of the same pieces, or 4 of the same map. What gives? I got 1 map with 1 piece. I'm pretty sure you just ended up with 4 copies (should allow you to have fun customizing different versions).
Sorry, I'll disagree about it being a niche setting. It's not that far off from "baseline D&D." Previously supported settings such as Dark Sun (which has had several entire issues devoted to it recently), Al-Qadim, etc. were much further from that than Eberron is. I think Birthright is probably about the same level from baseline as Eberron is. Different enough to be distinctive, but not different enough that anything from D&D would fit into it.
I absolutely use everything, but I've started running a campaign in Eberron. I haven't seen anything that isn't reasonably easy to adapt, except for "Steel Shadows" (which is adaptable, but certainly would take a bit of adjustment). My verdict is that I like Eberron alright, but I like Mystara and Dark Sun and Birthright and lots of other worlds, too, and I'm still willing to acknowledge that two Dark Sun adventures in Dungeon in one year would be pushing it and more than that would be right out. However, Dark Sun isn't a supported setting and Eberron is. If it is really easy to convert, it's probably not using the setting to full potential (that is, in an interesting way), so why make it an Eberron adventure at all? I could say the same thing about Greyhawk (or Forgotten Realms). It's so that those followers of a campaign setting can have an adventure set in that world and not have to make adaptations to their setting. I personally think that less than 4 Eberron specific adventures a year would be too low, given Eberron is the "new kid on the block." However, I also support that a majority of those adventures should be readily adaptable to other campaigns. Why shouldn't an adventure that takes place on an airship not be adaptable to a sea adventure?
I was under the impression that the RPGA was still supporting Dungeons. At least, that's what the 122 Dungeon is advertised. However, at this time they only have adventures through Dungeon 120 listed and it's going to expire next week. 121 and 122 or missing and the RPGA is completely silent on this issue. Has the RPGA stopped allowing Dungeon adventures to be run under their program? |