I haven't heard anything, but this is what I hope...
* Some common (and interesting) skill challenges, like surviving in harsh environments, social challenges such as running for town mayor, and so on.
* A whole lot more traps
* A whole lot more poisons
* A whole lot more encounter features, something beyond basic combat and skill challenges. Not sure what that would be at this point - perhaps some sample puzzles that can be incorporated into any campaign. Or how to run large scale war with the 5 PCs in the middle of it all and how they may effect the overall outcome.
I'm assuming they'll have a bunch of new NPC and monster templates, particularly those that fit with PHB II and MM II.
The DMG II will be aimed at enhancing games in the Paragon level. They will also include a city setting which, I believe, will be Sigil.
It's also going to have monster themes.
It's also going to have monster themes.Could someone please explain monster themes? Thank you.
Monster themes are sort of a minor template you can apply to any number of creatures to make them fit a particular theme within the adventure better.
For instance, you might have a wide assortment of different creatures and monsters acting as cultists of Demogorgon. While the creatures themselves could exhibit a huge amount of variety, their shared worship of Demogorgon means they are united by a theme. In order to translate that theme into interesting game mechanics, these different monster cultists might receive new traits or powers that reflect their theme - some might have tentacles, or even two heads. And all of them might receive a +2 bonus to Intimidate for sharing this theme.
Monster themes are previewed in detail in this article, but it does require an Insider subscription.
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Looks interesting, I am waiting for that one 4e release that gets me keen on DMing 4e again. Playing is fun and interesting but I'm a DM at heart and so far 4e as failed to spark for me in that area.
Thanks for the link Scott it remained me to get a year subscription before the price increase!
Cheers,
S.
I want to see lots of new traps and skill challenges and ideas for how to combine the two and combine them with encounters. Puzzles and hazards would be cool, too. Basically, I want to see a bunch of stuff that will help in building encounters.
My guess would be info on incorporating the DDI tools (Char. Bldr., Monster Bldr., the as-yet-released "Campaign Tools") into game preparation. Maybe more info on selecting/building a world/setting for your games and matching up game "look & feel" to what the players are looking for. Probably they'll incorporate some stuff from past Dragon/Dungeon articles: revised skill challenges, party composition & building party-matched encounters.
I'm personally hoping for far more sample traps & puzzles (I like the previous editions' books on such things, maybe they'll do a few updates of old favorites) as well as more sample diseases and broader advice on designing custom monster powers (fits with the monster themes, I'd think).
Something cool & off-the-wall that would be a carry-over from the 3.5e DMG2 would be magic locations & magic events. I've got a decent idea of how to hack a 4e version together, but some professional R&D couldn't hurt. I'd love to see a 4e Planar Rift that offered the effects on existing people, places, & monsters to complement the "random bad stuff happens" from the new Planar HB/Manual.
Has anyone seen the section on Sigil in DMG2?The DMG II will be aimed at enhancing games in the Paragon level. They will also include a city setting which, I believe, will be Sigil.Does anyone know how detailed Sigil will be (or how many pages will be devoted to the description)?
The section describing the Sigil and it's inhabitants is about seventeen pages. It briefly describes Sigil, portals connecting to Sigil, Lady of Pain, some of the current organizations [Not really knowledgable about Sigil, but I think that the organizations have changed since the previous edition's descriptions], a bit more detail of individual wards of the city, and a couple pages detailing other notable individuals in the city. In this there are a few monster stat blocks and a terrain feature.
Following that section are two encounters that set in Sigil. Then there is a couple pages on the gate-towns before it gets into an 11th level Sigil-based adventure set up to introduce parties to the city. Two pages of introduction lead into four two-page encounters and one three-page encounter.