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AICN TABLETOP: Massawyrm Sits Down With Hardback D&D 4E And Talks About The Magnificent Egos Relaunch!!
Hola all. Massawyrm here.
Well, after seven different kinds of hell broke loose with my review/gushing over Dungeons & Dragons 4E, Harry and I sat down over a pair of very delicious gourmet hot cocoas at a friends birthday party and he gave me that sarcastic you’re-so-gay look he’s fond of giving me. Which of course kind of loses its effect when you're sipping hot cocoa with another grown ass man. Looking sidewise at me he said “Look, I don’t want to write about that dorky game shit on my website….so you’ll have to write about that dorky game shit on my website.” Then he smiled. And in that moment, what many people have been asking me to do for years finally came about.
Welcome to AICN Tabletop.
This column should cover all manner of tabletop gaming sins. From D&D to miniatures to board and party games. And it’s a BIG year. D&D has a 4th edition. Warhammer 40K is getting the much lauded 5th edition. Rackham’s Confrontation has rebooted as a PPP (Pre-Painted Plastic) game and AT-43 is getting new races and campaign books to change the nature of the game. So pretty much all my major gaming love affairs are getting facelifts this year.
Already my friends at FFG have sent over a case of games to test out, including their much anticipated new Mutant Chronicles miniatures game (that review will be coming shortly.) And they’ve secured a number of big time geek licenses that should blow some folks skirts up. Word has it that there’s a new, radically different expansion for the World of Warcraft Board Game that should be showing up at the Casa de la Wyrm very soon. There have also been a few other companies nosing around wondering if I plan to cover this kind of stuff further – and I can’t wait to see what they have in store, because yes. I do. Speaking of which.
Magnificent Egos resurrected!
Just in time for 4E, Magnificent Egos is back in the fold. After some financial restructuring, the Texas based mini company is back in full swing with a new slant on their product. For those of you unfamiliar with them, Magnificent Egos is one of my longtime favorite unpainted metal miniature companies. When you go to your local hobby store looking for that perfect mini to match your characters every detail, Magnificent Egos isn’t the company you’re looking for. That’s what Reaper does. No, these are the guys you turn to when you’re not sure what to play in your next campaign and you thumb through the stacks until you find something that makes you shout “Cool! I want to play this!”
Their designs are always on the unique side – Half Dragon Rangers, Naked Wild Elf barbarians, Egyptian style executioners, Paladins wielding giant mauls, druidic knights, archers firing multiple arrows. All sculpted to look AWESOME on the table. And their monsters are handled the same way. Half-dragon Dire Wolves and Demonic Giant Spiders and Storm Giant Sorcerers and zombies made of stitched together appendages. The kind of thing that a DM looks at and finds instant inspiration. I had never considered slapping a half-dragon template on a dire wolf until I saw Marlyte – but once I did, the whole arc just unfolded in front of me and my players were going to face a new, diabolical villain. Their greatest asset to DMs however is that they’ve made a series of finely sculpted miniatures that represent popular spell effects. Ghostly/flying weapons, elemental walls, portals to Hell, large grasping hands, etc. You know, the stuff you usually represent with dice or pennies. That’s how I got turned on to them to begin with.
So Chris over at ME dropped me a line after the 4E piece dropped and told me about the company’s new direction. Unlike many of their competitors, ME isn’t going into the realm of PPP. Instead, they’ve found a way to cast their intricate minis in single pieces, removing the need to assemble them. Now, while I find the assembly of minis a relaxing and rewarding experience (that my wife prefers to describe as an unbearable hour of swearing, screaming and cursing the gods) not everyone wants to deal with it – especially when you consider some of those incredibly small pieces. So very soon they’ll begin producing their existing line and new minis in single pieces.
Fan of assembly or not, they’ve relaunched their website and are back in business at www.magnificentegosminis.com.
D&D 4E finally in print!
This weekend I sat down with three beautifully bound books that bring about an end to the waiting for me. Finally I have a complete, final ruleset without worrying about what’s going to change this week. No longer do I have to listen to my wife complain about how they nerfed Magic Missile this month or watch magic items in my party’s possession act radically different than it did last week. For months now we’ve been operating with a mechanic we called Fairy Dust - kind of a gamers version of The Lathe of Heaven in which each session bled seamlessly into the next, ignoring the fact that the Dragonborn doesn’t have native critical hit protection anymore or that the dragon they killed last week has twice as many HPs this week. Yes friends, those days are gone and the books (and consistency) are finally coming our way.
Thanks to a buddy I got to sit down with them this weekend and spend a goodly amount of time perusing them. The verdict? For the most part, I’m happy.
The Ups.
The Players Handbook is easily the single most organized D&D PHB ever put to print. It is unbelievably easy to use. All of the racial and class STATS are placed in a nice, easy to find block at the beginning of the entry. Everything you will need to know about your characters class - its traits, abilities, and paragon classes – are all located in the same section. Everything that has to do with the warlord is found in the warlord section. The only exception is Rituals (out of combat spellcasting that often requires large amounts of time and or gold to cast) which has its own chapter as anyone can use them as long as they devote the skill and feats necessary to doing so. (In otherwords a DM now has the ability to allow ANY class to be a spellcasting class and tailor it exactly how he likes by limiting the types of spells the caster has access to. But Wizards get the feat and meet the prereqs for free.) The feats are split up according to what tier they become available, which removes some of the frustration my players had during feat selection (every two levels now!) But best of all, every rule you need for skill checks is in the skill chapter, and every rule you need for combat is filed neatly in the combat chapter.
There’s no more cross-referencing chapters. It is simple, easy and elegant. The combat section is alphabetical. Turn to C and find CONDITIONS and you get a bullet point list of all the combat conditions and what they do. It’s that simple. There’s an index, but I don’t anticipate needing it much. If at all.
The DMG isn’t so simple, but then again of all the books it’s the one that probably doesn’t need to be. I’m really happy to report that the monster stat block generation section remained intact. In fact, it is far more streamlined than it was in even our playtest copies. Stating out original monsters is so damned easy now that it’s criminal. The passage is a two page spread that includes a chart that lets you eyeball all the numbers with a Level + X depending on the monsters role. Likewise Templates have become more of an exact science with each entry giving the necessary stat mods and turning the creature modified into an ELITE (worth double the XP and thus taking the place of two normal creatures in an encounter.) The new perfectly scaled exact science and total lack of Challenge Ratings makes life as a DM so much easier.
And the Monster Manual follows the same format that we saw towards the end of 3.5. That is to say that each entry begins and ends on a full page. No half page entries any more. I haven’t found a single split stat block. The new stat block design is quick and easy to read, with all the powers and abilities readily available and organized by type and range of attack (melee, range, area effect, etc.)
And of course a lot of the art is incredible. 4E ushers in large spreads of evocative art meant to inspire adventures scenes and settings in a way we haven’t seen since 2nd ed. There are a series of monster I overlooked or ignored in our playtest manuals that just leap off the page and beg to be played once you’ve seen their art. Even classic monster get great new art or redesign – the Tarrasque is sweet as all hell, and the zombie and skeleton sections go hand in hand with their redesign to make you want to run your players against them consistently. The art also does a nice job of bringing together the new unified setting concept.
The concept behind 3E was to provide tools for your own fantasy world and Greyhawk was just something of a default setting that they never did much with. The result was a very vanilla system that let you do whatever you wanted. The downside was that the shared experience many of us had in 1E and 2E was lost. Gone was common villains or quests, dungeons that we’d all delved and could discuss together. The biggest name to come out of 3E was Meepo for crissakes. 4E is aiming to return to that shared world, to give names to the leaders of races and to the most notorious among them. The art and book reflects that.
The books are sweet. They look great, they’re easy to use and they accentuate everything that is great about 4E.
The Downs
My biggest beef remains the Monster Manual. I get that they focused on the whole ROLE aspect of monster – what fits where and what makes something else redundant. And while I’m certainly happy that they made a real effort to include most of the monsters that have minis (DDM) in print, there are certain CORE monsters that are missing. Thumbing through the book made that even more painfully obvious than before. The Metallics were one thing, but when I noticed the Golem entry it hit me that there were a couple missing. Namely Iron and Clay. That’s more than a little disturbing. I know, I know. They’ll get around to putting the rest of the iconic D&D monsters in later MMs, but that doesn’t stop me from bitching and moaning every time I see the two page Kruthik spread and wonder why I couldn’t get one page for two lousy, classic golems. Hell, they have Shield Guardians, but no Iron golem. Sigh. Sure, some of my personal favorite latecomers made it to the core book – like the Flameskull and Boneclaw – but there’s gonna be a shitton of griping about the Warforged making CORE along with male Medusas. Not to mention the handful of others that are clearly just designer favorites.
And for all the great art, there are a couple of duds as well. I’m convinced WotC hates the Nightwalker – the poor thing will never look cool. This time he shows up as if taken right off of an old Iron Maiden or Dakken album cover. He’s even playing air guitar. Swear to Pelor. The Grick has mysteriously changed colors between editions, now becoming bright blue. And I’m still not sold on these elemental Archon thingees. They just look kinda lame. Their background is kind of neat, but their design just chaffs me a little. There’s also a fair amount of recycled art – none of which bothers me a bit, but it will no doubt ruffle some feathers.
The only thing missing from playtest that I can honestly complain about is the trap/hazard creation rules. While the monster stat rules survived, the similar trap rules did not. They were pretty swell, so I hope we see them again shortly in one of the upcoming books or as part of the digital initiative.
The Verdict.
4E rocks. We’re finally reaching the end of the fighting, the put up or shut up stage of every new game edition relaunch. The old holdouts will still play their older edition and bitch loudly for a few more months while those on the fence will try the game and no doubt slowly adapt even if they don’t fall as in love with it as I did – remembering both the good and the bad of previous editions. But those anxiously awaiting the release are going to be pleased. Very pleased.
Thanks for all the e-mails about the upcoming edition. From the looks of it, old school gamers are coming out of the woodwork to try D&D again. And one high school science teacher wrote to tell me that after reading articles on 4E, he’s preordered a number of sets and is starting an after school D&D program with his gifted students. And that is 100%, Grade A Geek BADASS right there. That dude is my new fucking hero. Where the fuck was that guy when I was in high school? Anyway, only a few more weeks folks guys, only a few more weeks.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
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Google is your friend. Try typing: Massawyrm D&D 4E. That'll give you a rough idea.
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you guys are nerds. Oh wait.
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Sheesh. And AICN Tabletop? Great idea! Well, if meshing the worlds of tabletop gaming and inane talkbacks is a great idea, then it's a great idea. Oh, and Mass? Get rid of that tiny font. I'm an old man for ghoddsakes.
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already on top of that. That was me boning the coding for the story. I just HAD to play with all the pretty colors.
It should be fixed shortly. -
Total destruction of the Forgotten Realms setting. "Fixing" what wasn't broken. Third edition in less than ten years (3, 3.5, 4). Dumbed down MMORPG rules. Yeah... pass.
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wish Danny would just go away? Hazards of the internet.
I'm not crazy about 4E. I will, however, probably end up purchasing a hardback copy of my own eventually. -
Although I hope you review/pass along news about more than just Wizards of the Coast and Games Workshop products. I'd argue some of the best stuff out there is being put out by smaller publishers. Anyway, for Danny and the rest of his ilk: I'm impressed your lives are so interesting you took time off your busy schedule of humping Megan Fox just to post here. Really, I'm flattered.
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That's the hope! And I agree, there's some AMAZING small publishers out there.
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I don't get it? It comes to the top of the page, but who is going to search for it that way?
Now searching "D&D 4E" you drop in around 5th on the list, that's still good :P
(I'm looking forward to trying the new edition out) -
I'll admit to being intrigued, especially since I put D&D aside quite a while ago. Not to say that I don't play anything, quite the opposite but I've focused more on smaller games. Have to admit though some of the 4th Ed stuff I've seen reminds of those many years ago when I first bought the red box D&D and the dice I had to color myself. As long as the mechanics hold up to the nostalgia I'll give it a try.
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but looks interesting, if not way to complicated
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I'm 28 years old. I have a girlfriend of 3 years that will soon be my wife. I pay my bills and some how don't live in my mom's basement. I smoke weed and play MAGIC the GATHERING with other people from 22 to 38 in age range. It's some of the best competetive fun I've had while not sweating.
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Now I'm gonna have Jon Stewart in my head all night
Sure...you've played M:TG...But have you played M:TG...ON WEEEEED? -
it looks like he's wielding Conan's father's sword, no? +1
I could never get into D&D back in the 80s I was already hooked on video games. Atari 2600. Atari 800 and Commodore 64 gaming.
Good luck on your new column...I know there are others that will thoroughly enjoy this.
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I'm 46 years old, married, have a job and actually am not shunned by society in general. At heart I'm a gamer and always will be. I played D&D when it first came out in the 70's. I've played MtG and just about any other game you've ever heard of. I'm excited about the new column and about gaming in general. If you're not interested, don't read the column. Pretty simple, huh?
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I was around to play the ORIGINAL D&D -- That little paper scroll in a little brown box. I played Basic D&D, Advanced D&D, D&D 2nd Edition, and a little of D&D 3rd Edition, but stopped before 3.5 was released.
Now, this seems to be a nice way to get back into it for the old-school players.
The only problem is that I really don't know anyone who would play it. I could join some of the college students around here, but they're all half my age (which is fun when they're chicks, but annoying when they're dudes).
I might get the books anyway. Hrm. -
Spengler approves this column.
I'm still a tabletop geek at heart and love reading about this kind of shit. Piss off Dickblood. -
I still roleplay every other week. I'm 42, married, father of two, not overweight or deformed and I'm a teacher. I'm very happy about the new column. Thanks AICN, keep up the good work
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Can't wait for the 4.5 editions.
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Now can we have a review on how horrendously craptacular the new "enhanced" Camel blend is? I wanna send it to RJR so they can see what they've wrought.
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Dear god. Don't even joke about that.
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Your review was damn helpful--tells me just what to expect if I jump back in with 4E. Thanks for that, seriously.
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but GOD i love reading about it. it's like listening to someone speak french slowly - i kinda get bits of it, but there's still bits that may as well be martian.
good work though Wrymfood! -
Man, I miss thac0.
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I'm only new to the RPG/Tabletop geek area, but I'm pretty sure your glowing reviews of 4E are going to drag me all the way in!
Will you have Star Wars minis news when it comes up? -
The time between your first post and your fifth post was two minutes. It takes a bit of the wind out of your snark. just sayin'. I'm happy to see this section of AICN. Even if it doesn't get alot of traffic, it's only obtrusive for those who click on the link.
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but it won't ever be 4th. :)
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Great Addition keep it going
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Looks like no Ewok song tonight, yub yub!
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So I find it rather difficult to play D&D, yet I'm staring at 50 books, four editions of D&D core books, right above my monitor.
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between D&D players and Magic card enthusiasts?
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Congrats on the section! I'm at a school that offers game development(ie Videogame), but most of those kids are into the "old school" way also, so have been thinking about hanging with them some coming weekend. But I did D&D 15 years ago and would be more interested in purusing a different world, maybe something more sci-fi/noir-ish, so hopefully I'll discover some other options.
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Great column. -
I have 4e pre-ordered on amazon since they have such a stunningly good deal on the 3 book gift set. I really hope it fills all the needs I have. I like to custimize monsters a lot, give them class levels, etc. I hope 4e makes things like this just as easy and flexible as ever. I've been kinda disappointed at the stat previews on WotC's website. Usually they give 3 versions of a critter and the only real difference is the level, hit points, damage, etc. but the powers don't change much, if at all. I just don't want a world full of vanilla monsters
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I'm happy to see gaming goodness coming to the "main stream". I am an avid gamer and am preparing to head out to a convention this weekend for some good ol' LARPing. Maybe squeeze in a couple of board games in between the frontin and the drinkin. Still trying to figure out how I'm gonna Bonegnawer some sleeping space.
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marvel films is confirming the following...cap will be set in ww2...events of the film will be a lead in to the avengers film, which will be released 6 weeks later...the star on the tony starks work bench is indeed a part of the shield....looks like marvel is getting it right...
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Gotta drive into the City (4 hours away from our little mountain town) to pick up the 4E on June 6. Your earlier reviews made me stoked to get back into D&D again, which I haven't played since my Pop banned it when I was a kid.
Good Stuff, Mass(!) -
We had a Wizards of the Coast rep come to the local comic shop near me and we played a sample session with stock characters. It was interesting. I like what they did with the fighter class. That always seemed like the red-headed step child of the sword weilding classes.
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I always liked the Dangerous Journeys system Gygax came out with after he left TSR. From what I hear his wife put the kaputz to it, and they don't make it anymore.
I do play alot of WarHammer role playing too, and just got the dark Heresy book. -
Speaking as a professional who has worked in the illustration, video game and tabletop game industry for seven years now, it is great to see this happen here.
So, Massa--are you going to Gen Con this year? You might want to check out the Pathfinder Core Rulebook that is coming out from Paizo...I know a lot of people who are eagerly anticipating it.
And yes, that was a blatant plug for some of my friends and clients. -
Let's see...WotC is a subsidary of Hasbro, and WotC formerly held rights to Pokemon and currently holds rights to Magic.Translate that any way you wish.I'll stick to 1st Edition, thanks. I support D&D systems that don't have such nonsense as vampiric monks and, um, half-dragon rangers...
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Thanks for the review all the same, Massawyrm. I may not get into 4E, but power to those that do. In any case, I'm still a D&D fan.
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Actually I'm a big Paizo fan and Pathfinder was actually a topic of discussion here at the Casa de la Wyrm this past weekend. Very curious to see what they do with this whole 3.75 thing, (we knew someone was going to break from the pack) especially if what I hear about Monte Cook giving input is true.
Perhaps you should put a bug in your friends ear to drop me a line. -
Good move AICN! Let's see lots of news and reviews.
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Gygax shifted his allegiance and work toward Castles & Crusades at Troll Lord Games. Far better update to AD&D than the bastardized, min/max-y, power game/video game-esque 3rd and 4th editions. Other than using the 1st or 2nd edition, you are better off with C&C, Kenzer & Co.'s Hackmaster, or any edition of GURPS.
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I actually chuckled to myself because although I consider myself a geek, I have absolutely NO idea what you were talking about...first time I think that's ever happened to me on AICN...good times...
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I hope you can cast a wide net; I'd like to see review of a lot of different game styles... rpg, miniatures, wargames (like the Avalon Hill games), and so on.
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seriously, thanks to AICN for doing this: it makes sense if you guys cover comics and even novels (cough*Quint*cough) to include games as well.
so how about that RuneQuest huh? -
http://www.koboldsatemybaby.com/
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anyone like the err novels based on such games??? horus heresy novels kick ass!!!
reminds me of reading my lil brothers tyrannid codex years ago and being fascinated! couldn't paint figures cos i suck!! anyone seen that clint langley art book of 40k? its mint! that world of darkness stuff sounds interesting....being a girl, its well funny walking into a games workshop store and seeing the guys look all puzzled....gasp!!! a female!!! with boobs!! heh heh heh -
Nice addition, i just hope it is better than AICN games which is awful. Any chance of linking to Boardgamegeek.com or highlighting it in your news section. It is an awesome site that always could use more publicity (ps. im just a fan)If any of you have never heard of it and love this sort of thing then give it a whirl.
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Nice to see RPGs getting represented on here. If AICN can discuss movies, tv and comics...why not RPGs?
They still use THAC0 in D&D? I haven't played since 2nd Edition, but THAC0 was crazy.
Then we jumped to Star Wars 2nd Edition. That was a great system. I think D6 is my personal favorite. Then West End Games was bought by WotC and they changed to a d20 system. What that hell? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. We still use d6 rules (when we have a chance to play). Anyway, nice to read about the RPG community on here! Brings back great memories. -
And I don't even play D&D.
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Movies are based on video games and comics and there are plenty of table top games based on all those properties so having a tabletop review column makes sense. There was that D&D movie (if you want to call it that) that came out a few years ago so it won't be surprising if more gaming properties do eventually become movies.
I too hope you review some of the Avalon hill games (like Arkham Horror) as well as the popular miniature games like Star Wars Miniatures as well as a throw back to classics that are no longer in print like Space Hulk.
SPAAAAAAACE HUUUUUULK!!!!!!! -
MWyrm,
Your review seemed odd. Specifically, you talked almost entirely about the art and organization, not the mechanics. I play with a group of friends that, on their other gaming night, were lucky enough to be 4E playtesters for some time now. I didn't myself, but all of them absolutely hated the mechanics in the new edition. These guys arent old people resistant to change either. These guys span in age from 21 to 51 and everywhere in between. Most of them play multiple different systems, and lots of them play both crunchy systems as well as simpler systems. Heck, one of them is even into Capes, for crying out loud.
So, I guess I'm saying that you paint this really great picture of 4E, but your review based it off rules presentation. Since I know of one group that hates it based on mechanics reasons, it would have been good if your review could have touched on that area, since for many people that will be the issue. -
were covered in a 3 part, 7000wd series almost three months ago. This is the follow up talking about how that system was compiled into hardback. BTW - I loved the mechanics.
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I said "but your review based it off rules presentation" but I meant to say "GRAPHICS PRESENTATION". My bad.
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MWyrm ... you are fast. Wow! Fair enough then, I guess I missed the original article. Thank!
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Damn, that's one sucky omission. But I'm giddy the Tarrasque is still around.
BTW, Massa: I think it's great you're doing this. Fuck the haters. And "Swear to Pelor"? Your Geek Fu is greater than my Geek Fu -
Glad to see you haven't been overwhelemed by the shitheads that haunt this site yet, Big Wyrm. I'm look at you, Danny, you goofy fuck. Based on your reviews so far I've pre-ordered my copy of the core books through Amazon for $60, and I can't wait to get a crack at 'em! And thanks for the email response back during the 3 part series, bro. Sorry I haven't responded 'til now. Tabletop 4 life, suckahs!
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Massawyrm, thanks! I've been playing D&D for almost 25 years, and I definitely appreciate AICN doing this. I played in a demo of 4E at a con back in March and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Oh, regarding the fears of "4.5," I think we can relax. A couple of the developers have publicly said that doing v3.5 so soon was a mistake (duh), and they're still feeling the repercussions from that.
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I was interested in your original 4e previews and I like the idea of "AICN TABLETOP"... but c'mon, no mention of Paizo's attempts to keep 3.5e alive in this BIG YEAR of tabletop gaming stuff? If you're going to report, please report across the board, not just on your gaming love affairs.
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I really want to get back into D&D and this seems like the perfect time to. Now if I could just get some fellow geeks to play with.
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While I've had several opportunities to play 4E, I'm still SOOO torn between what IMO they did right and what they did wrong. To me, the biggest thing they did wrong was how characters were retooled. Character creation no longer feels like developing a character to me, instead it feels like building a deck for a collectable card game. It feels a lot more mechanics driven than story driven from the players side. On the otherhand, they've done the exact opposite for DM's - they've given him tools to make it easier to drive the game thru story without having to "fake" mechanics for it.
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I've played a variety of RPG's since about 1982 or 1983. Still undecided on D&D 4th. Have played all other editions, but not so much in the last few years. I've been playing the great Savage Worlds rpg. (From Shane Hensley-creator of the old Deadlands rpg). The current rulebook is a 160 page, full-color softcover. $10.00 It does so many genres very well. Plus, they have print and pdf plot points from pirates, to 4 color supers, military, and fantasy, etc. Not to mention, pdf toolkits for pulp, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. Also, cardstock characters, screen inserts, etc. It's a very simple, fast, fun, and furious game. Check em' out at peginc.com Also, whoever praised Castles and Crusades(from Troll Lord Games) as being a better successor to the D&D throne...you're exactly right. Love that game (for my fantasy needs)! Gary G's Castle Zagyg is fantastic. Check those guys out at trolllord.com Mass, if you haven't played Sav Worlds, or Castles and Crusades, I think you're in for a treat.
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And I'VE got my copy of the PHB pre-ordered.
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And looking forward to more editions of this column! I am intrigued by this new WoW Board Game expansion you hint at.....
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I don't plat D&D anymore, but I read alot of fantasy novels that also have D&D settings and enjoy reading the modules. Any word as to what is going to happen with Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, etc?
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They are going to provide limited, focused support for campaign settings. This year, they have several 4E Forgotten Realms books (a Campaign setting and I think a Player's Guide), but aside from maybe a few adventures, some articles on D&D Insider (the new web platform for Dungeon and Dragon magazines), and maybe one other sourcebook that'll be all you will see for that setting. Other settings will receive support at the rate of roughly one a year (2009 will be Eberron, after that they haven't decided). The goal is to focus on Core rules that everyone can use, not niche setting products that only a certain portion of the fanbase is interested in.
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So it could be 3 years before a new dragonlance campaign comes out? Thats pretty lame. They will have a new edition of D&D by that time.
What about contracting licences out? I know they have done that in the past. Dragonlance in particular has seen some really good stuff come out in recent years because of it. -
Yeah, it could be a bit before they hit various campaign settings, and some of them may not get book support at all (although it is highly likely that there will be articles for other campaign settings on D&D Insider before there are actual books for them).
As far as contracting out, I think it is unlikely. In the process of gearing up for 4E, Wizards let all of their external licensing lapse (including Dragonlance, Ravenloft, and Dungeon/Dragon magazines) and took control of the intellectual properties again. None of the licensees were doing poorly by the settings, so there is little to no reason why WotC would have chosen to do so unless they intended to keep the IP's in-house. -
If you're not opposed to playing 3.5 supported material, you should be able to find the d20 Dragonlance stuff from Margaret Weis Productions. THey're license has either run out, or will soon. Didn't actually play any of it, but bought some at a discount. Looks good.
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yeah, I picked up some of the stuff put out by MWP and its great stuff! I don't play any of it, but its great background filler for the novels. Not to mention the art work, maps and other great details you get along with the modules.
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That positive review George W. Bush gave of of Shia Lebeouf's new tabletop wargame "LeBeefcake!" I've been playing the Even Steven faction, myself...
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not true.
The games work like a regular RPG game on playstation. have you ever played Final fantasy for example? You go on quests to find/kill/ect. In D&D the whole thing is lead by a dungeon master who plans things out a guides players along the quest, but still has to react to what players want to do. And players can pretty much do what ever they want to do. If you want your character to hump an oger's leg, you can do that, but get ready for what the ogre will do to you. Some people use miniatures and stuff to show whats going on, other people who are poor describe it.
When you get into a battle, your success is dependant on your dice. You role to see if you manage to hit what ever, roll to see how much damage you do, you roll to see if you can doge that fireball that was just cast at you, or that dragon who is trying to bite you in half.
Basically its a game where the only limitations you face are your imagination and luck with dice. I recomend it be played with doritos and mountain dew. -
I just got my copy of 'Keep on the Shadowfell', a new adventure for 4E. It's got a quick-play rulebook and 5 pre-gen characters. It's....well, interesting to say the least. Even after reading Wyrm's review of the mechanics from a while back there are some things that surprised me (maybe my memory sucks and you refered to them Massa, but I don't remember you saying anything about At-Will powers.) The combat abilites for the five classes that were represented were amazing. A 1st-level Wizard with 23 hit points?!?! A Dragonborn Paladin?!?! With a breath-weapon?!?! Wow. Um. This is going to take some getting used to. The Healing Surge ability that any class can use? I'm intrigued, and geeked about playing, but it's a far cry from the D&D that I'm used to. But, I think I like it!
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What it is about 4th edition that is bringing the old guys back into the fold. I've been following the progress, really enjoying what I've seen, and while it certainly has some really cool ideas, I don't get the "feels like 2nd edition" going on. Can anyone remind me what it was about 2nd edition that seems so familiar in 4th? I have played since the red box, but this edition feels new. Better, but not reminiscent of pre 3.0
That being said, I think the art has something to do with my failure at connecting this beast to the older editions. Man, I miss Elmore. I love that old black and white art too; the new art looks polished and too detailed. Shadows made all the difference back in the day. Wyrm's mention of the art style as a throwback has me interested. -
HiWayRobry, yeah, that was one thing I dug a lot in the demo I played in March. A vicious sneeze will no longer kill a 1st-level character. He can now take a few hits. Also, because of the At-Will abilities, you can participate a lot longer (especially if you're a spellcaster, who used to be able to throw a couple of wussy magic missiles at 1st level, and then had to resort to, um, rocks). One of the biggest themes I've seen in 4E seems to be "Keep things moving" and with the rewards for tactical movement, the At-Will abilities, and the Healing Surges, they've apparently succeeded.
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Although I'm still not exactly sure how the Healing Surges work. According to the Second Wind ability you can use SW to activate a HS as a standard action. But I was under the impression, since you have multiple HS uses a day, that you could use HS as a standard action at any time. But then, after reading the Cleric abilities, it looks like you can only use HS, when stated, by the actions of a Cleric (or Paladin). That makes me assume that the other HS's you have can only be used when taking a brief rest or an extended rest. At least that's the way I see it.
And I agree about the spellcasters being significantly bettered at low levels. I wonder if that means they will be nerfed at higher levels? I hope not. Bring on the 'Stinking Cloud'! -
1) Yes, 1st lvl PC's can take a hit and have a lot more options than before. BUT, there is a slow steady advancement after that. No more d12 HP lvls. It tends to be between 4-6HP/lvl.
You CAN use a healing surge whenever you want. But Paladin/clerics/warlords also have abilities that heal you by using healing surges (they have nonsurge using powers as well.) This prevents the party from completely full healing as often as they want all day. There still is a certain level of definite mortality. The neat thing about this whole surge business is that you can play without a cleric in the party without needing weeks between adventures to heal up. -
I see Tom Bodet found himself a Motel 8 to snooze in!
So you CAN use a surge as a standard action at any time. Interesting. That does make a Cleric non-essential but still makes them a viable class to play, what with their Undead turning abilities and such.
I have to admit that I didn't like 3.0 or 3.5 but so far I'm really digging 4E (even though I have yet to actually PLAY!). -
would be Motel 6.
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Principal difference as far as I can see- Final Fantasy is good and you always get some eye candy. Whereas this you've got to rely on the power of your imagination. And the big kids will steal your lunch money and probably give you a swirly too. (J/k)No interest at all, but the Talkbacks on these are hysterical- especially when the NEEEERRRRRRDDDDD brigade show up. Ain't nothing geekier than having an AICN ID. Except maybe LARP.
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Massawyrn, thanks for the posts, you've got my curiosity piqued. I played D&D since 1st edition, but quit many years ago (with 2nd edition). I hated what they did with the 3rd edition Halflings ( I liked them as Hobbits-es), so I never got that far. I have a few pals who still play regularly once a month and I'll be joining them soon to try out the 4th edition.
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What about multi-classing in D&D 4.0, Massawyrm? From what I read you can't do that until 11th level. Yes, I am a D&D Geek...
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Actually, most folks can only use second wind once per encounter. If you need more healing than that, you need a cleric/warlord to use your healing surges for you (although out of combat, you can "second wind" every few minutes until you run out of surges, if you desire).
Also, Leafar, you can multiclass much earlier (heck, at 1st level). There is a preview article on multiclassing at http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20080430a -
So, which is it? Can you use a Healing Surge as a standard action, or not? Seems we have differing opinions on the subject.
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No difference of opinion on the type of action it uses...just stating that you can only use Second Wind once per encounter.
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But Second Wind and Healing Surges are completely different things. Massa was implying that you can use a Healing Surge as a standard action at any time, and from what you are saying you can only use a Healing Surge (as a Second Wind action) once per encounter.
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You can use a healing surge as a standard action once per encounter. This is called a second wind. My wording of any time meant that you didn't need a special power to do that. BUT those powers do allow you to blow through more than one healing surge in an encounter. But you can only do it on your own, unassisted by a power, once per encounter.
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