-I would be remiss if I did not notice Wizards of the Coast’s gesture in doing a limited-edition run of the original 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons core books. I think this is a very good idea, and is obviously a conciliatory gesture for a number of retro gamers who likely felt ignored or marginalized with the past edition. If WotC wants to keep the goodwill going, the two biggest things I’d like to see is a return to selling previous-edition pdfs, and embracing the OGL once again in whatever form their new edition takes. For now, good for them, and good for us.
-If I were a publisher even remotely linked to the Old School Renaissance, I would be sure I was getting my A-game ready for this release. This is going to be as high-profile a look as many of these endeavors are going to get, and it's a great chance to introduce younger gamers to an entirely different subset of the hobby.
-I have to be honest, though: I like my games I have right now, especially with fantasy. Using Castles & Crusades as a Rosetta Stone and bringing in OGL and other published items from sources ranging from blogs to Hackmaster 4e to Paizo is something that works for me. That’s an awfully big inducement for me to not dig into 5e too deeply, unless it’s got some nifty elements I can port into what I have now. I know C&C isn’t perfect, but it’s perfect for me, if that makes sense.
-Speaking of C&C and Troll Lord Games, I really like the subscription/fundable-style of product offering Troll Lord is doing now, first with Classic Monsters and now with Winter Runes. I like getting a good deal on a book, free shipping, and the anticipation of seeing something come together. I’m sure the Trolls like knowing what the demand is for a product, as well. I wish more companies would follow suit.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Is a 5e D&D Relevant?
With the news reaching me today that Wizards of the Coast is planning to release Dungeons & Dragons 5.0, my reaction was pretty unspectacular. Oh, it sounds like they’ve learned some things from the divisive effect of 4th Edition in general and the unqualified success of Pathfinder—an open beta, relevant supporting mechanics for something other than combat, and more player investment in the process overall.
But really, why gamble?
That’s not a knock on Wizards of the Coast, but just the reality. Pathfinder, the various retro-clones, games such as Castles & Crusades—each of these choices for fantasy gaming are also out there. And something’s happened while WotC dickered around and alienated their fanbase with 4e—many of us discovered what the far wiser among us had long known. Holding a trademark doesn’t make Dungeons & Dragons. True D&D is found with the folks still making dungeons with the help of an old Dungeon Master’s Guide. It’s with the folks that have a crazy homebrew incorporating Hackmaster with Swords & Wizardry. And as my time for gaming continues to dwindle as I get older, I’m not going to waste time and money on something that’s far from a certain deal. If I’m going to try something new these days, it’s going to come from a company I trust or have had a good experience with.
Perhaps their new game with be awesome. I hope so, and I hope they find the creative flair that’s been missing. Certainly an open test, if done properly, is a step in the right direction. But I’m not willing to invest in a game produced by a corporation that has a marked history of incomplete products, cash grabs, and unfulfilled promises. The spirit of D&D these days is found elsewhere, at least for me. Others will beg to differ, and that’s fine.
Bottom line, I’ve got my games, I’ve got my gaming companies, and I’ve got gamers I like. Traveller, Castles & Crusades, perhaps a bit of Pathfinder and In Harm’s Way thrown in for good measure. As it becomes increasingly clear I’ll never have enough time to run all the game I want to, the folks I trust will get my business, my time, and my gaming attention.
The biggest thing Wizards of the Coast’s version of Dungeons & Dragons has had going for it for a while now is the concept of sanction, that it was legitimate. Much like newspapers against the new media, the idea of a legitimized upper hierarchy in gaming has proven an outdated, badly defeated concept. It remains to be seen if WotC is among the ranks of those who can adapt to the new reality, or cling to the old ways to the end.
Do you think 5e will be relevant to you? Yes, no, waiting to see what the open test holds?
But really, why gamble?
That’s not a knock on Wizards of the Coast, but just the reality. Pathfinder, the various retro-clones, games such as Castles & Crusades—each of these choices for fantasy gaming are also out there. And something’s happened while WotC dickered around and alienated their fanbase with 4e—many of us discovered what the far wiser among us had long known. Holding a trademark doesn’t make Dungeons & Dragons. True D&D is found with the folks still making dungeons with the help of an old Dungeon Master’s Guide. It’s with the folks that have a crazy homebrew incorporating Hackmaster with Swords & Wizardry. And as my time for gaming continues to dwindle as I get older, I’m not going to waste time and money on something that’s far from a certain deal. If I’m going to try something new these days, it’s going to come from a company I trust or have had a good experience with.
Perhaps their new game with be awesome. I hope so, and I hope they find the creative flair that’s been missing. Certainly an open test, if done properly, is a step in the right direction. But I’m not willing to invest in a game produced by a corporation that has a marked history of incomplete products, cash grabs, and unfulfilled promises. The spirit of D&D these days is found elsewhere, at least for me. Others will beg to differ, and that’s fine.
Bottom line, I’ve got my games, I’ve got my gaming companies, and I’ve got gamers I like. Traveller, Castles & Crusades, perhaps a bit of Pathfinder and In Harm’s Way thrown in for good measure. As it becomes increasingly clear I’ll never have enough time to run all the game I want to, the folks I trust will get my business, my time, and my gaming attention.
The biggest thing Wizards of the Coast’s version of Dungeons & Dragons has had going for it for a while now is the concept of sanction, that it was legitimate. Much like newspapers against the new media, the idea of a legitimized upper hierarchy in gaming has proven an outdated, badly defeated concept. It remains to be seen if WotC is among the ranks of those who can adapt to the new reality, or cling to the old ways to the end.
Do you think 5e will be relevant to you? Yes, no, waiting to see what the open test holds?
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters
I know I haven't posted much lately, but I had to share the news on the Castles & Crusades Kickstarter project from Troll Lord Games. Classic Monsters: The Manual looks to be a fun book for C&C fans, and the Kickstarter deal seems solid. Drawing from sources such as the Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II, this should give campaigns some new monsters to play about with. At the $25 level (where I pledged), you get an autographed hardcover copy of the book, an electronic copy (either pdf, Nook, or iTunes), acknowledgment in the book credits, and 5 of the Troll Lord coins.
If you're a C&C fan, you don't want to miss getting in on this. I'm curious to see if this is successful if it becomes a model the Trolls use for more products.
If you're a C&C fan, you don't want to miss getting in on this. I'm curious to see if this is successful if it becomes a model the Trolls use for more products.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Tonight's Rifts Game
Tonight:
-Someone punched the legs off a robot.
-Someone flew right through the guts of a robot.
-Heads turned into bloody or electronic sludge with called shots.
-Mini-missiles almost destroyed an entire dune buggy full of player characters.
-A giant rail gun was also mounted on the same dune buggy, with relatively predictable results.
-Serious time was spent attempting to figure out the terminal velocity of a rhinoceros dropped from the sky.
Yep. I love Rifts.
-Someone punched the legs off a robot.
-Someone flew right through the guts of a robot.
-Heads turned into bloody or electronic sludge with called shots.
-Mini-missiles almost destroyed an entire dune buggy full of player characters.
-A giant rail gun was also mounted on the same dune buggy, with relatively predictable results.
-Serious time was spent attempting to figure out the terminal velocity of a rhinoceros dropped from the sky.
Yep. I love Rifts.
Friday, August 19, 2011
More Rifts Ahoy
I haven’t posted much this week, but between work, family, IndyCar (WILD weekend there, let me tell you), and finishing up some stuff on the Megaversal Ambassadors, there’s not been much time for RPG blogging. The good news is, yes, we’re playing Rifts again tomorrow night! More explosions to come, a small town to defend, and a bandit army that’s going to come at them with all sorts of tricks! 6 against 100—in Rifts, we call that a 50/50 shot.
I’m worried one of my players lost their character sheet; he thinks he left it at my house, and I don’t see it anywhere. I usually scan in character sheets, but our scanner hasn’t been working quite right as of late. Along with the fact that we’ll have another noob with us this evening (awesome!), it illustrates one of the big issues with Rifts character generation that I’ve oft mentioned before—it’s a lot of fun, but it isn’t a 5-10 minute job, especially with first-timers. That’s one of those things where Castles & Crusades* gets you up and going much quicker, whatever you think of the relative granularity involved.
I’ve been messing with a templates system, close to what you see in d6, but some of the classes are hard to pin down in any sort of template. For now, I’m going to have to hope we can knock it out relatively quickly in the time we have. Fortunately, when it’s one-on-one like this, it goes much quicker than trying to get an entire group to go step-by-step.
*-Speaking of Castles & Crusades, don't miss out on the C&C sale they're having right now at Troll Lord Games. A Player's Handbook for $10 is a steal!
I’m worried one of my players lost their character sheet; he thinks he left it at my house, and I don’t see it anywhere. I usually scan in character sheets, but our scanner hasn’t been working quite right as of late. Along with the fact that we’ll have another noob with us this evening (awesome!), it illustrates one of the big issues with Rifts character generation that I’ve oft mentioned before—it’s a lot of fun, but it isn’t a 5-10 minute job, especially with first-timers. That’s one of those things where Castles & Crusades* gets you up and going much quicker, whatever you think of the relative granularity involved.
I’ve been messing with a templates system, close to what you see in d6, but some of the classes are hard to pin down in any sort of template. For now, I’m going to have to hope we can knock it out relatively quickly in the time we have. Fortunately, when it’s one-on-one like this, it goes much quicker than trying to get an entire group to go step-by-step.
*-Speaking of Castles & Crusades, don't miss out on the C&C sale they're having right now at Troll Lord Games. A Player's Handbook for $10 is a steal!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Not A Bad Little Weekend
Although I didn’t do any gaming this weekend, I still had a pretty nice time of it, in terms of RPG-related activity. I had long wanted to compile a handwritten book of some of my charts, tables, house rules, and special items for Castles and Crusades, and I got a nice jump on it on Friday night. I’m using an oversized acid-free sketchbook, and though it’d be easier to type it all out, there was something cathartic about having some time to myself, listening to my “relaxation” and “classical” playlists on Spotify and scribbling in this book all the while.
As much as I love my pdfs, there really is something nice about having this nice tome for use at the gaming table, even if it is in my chicken scratches.
I also decided to tackle my take on gem-based casting, where instead of regular spell components, casters must use precious metals or gems to cast spells. A 0-level spell may be cast with just a single copper or silver, but things get more expensive from there. Looking against spell components in the Castle Keeper’s Guide, some spells come out a little less expensive, whereas some are more expensive. For the highest-level spells, a flawless diamond or red ruby is needed. At lower spells, it might be a scrap of obsidian or tiger’s eye. It’s only for arcane casters; priests and the like must rely on their holy symbol, and I’m still working on some bits for that.
As much as I love my pdfs, there really is something nice about having this nice tome for use at the gaming table, even if it is in my chicken scratches.
I also decided to tackle my take on gem-based casting, where instead of regular spell components, casters must use precious metals or gems to cast spells. A 0-level spell may be cast with just a single copper or silver, but things get more expensive from there. Looking against spell components in the Castle Keeper’s Guide, some spells come out a little less expensive, whereas some are more expensive. For the highest-level spells, a flawless diamond or red ruby is needed. At lower spells, it might be a scrap of obsidian or tiger’s eye. It’s only for arcane casters; priests and the like must rely on their holy symbol, and I’m still working on some bits for that.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Neverwinter: The First What?
The city of Neverwinter in the Forgotten Realms has certainly had its share of publicity over the year—two video games (the Neverwinter Nights series), a pretty prominent place in Realms lore, and now it’s been cranked out for 4e as the Neverwinter Campaign Setting.
In the press release was buried this gem:
“It is the first-ever RPG book focused solely on one city”
Ahem. Let’s read it again:
“It is the first-ever RPG book focused solely on one city”
Amazing.
Of course, the Neverwinter Campaign Setting is not the first RPG book focused solely on one city. It isn’t the second, or third, or twentieth. Scads of books have focused on a single city, such, as, oh, The City of Greyhawk, which had an entire boxed set dedicated to it. There was Ptolus, which had about 3 reams of paper dedicated to Monte Cook’s behemoth. Palladium Books had Century Station. Judges Guild has City-State of the Invincible Overlord. Flip through the RPGnet Gaming Index, and find countless more examples.
For crying out loud, it isn’t even the first Forgotten Realms product dedicated to a specific city! Waterdeep cleaned up in that department in editions past. Even Ravens Bluff got 64 pages.
Of course, this isn’t the first time WotC has conveniently forgotten the history of Dungeons and Dragons. In the run-up to 4e, we had the Realms and Dragonlance mentioned as the first D&D campaign settings, while Greyhawk was quietly pulled off to one side.
This is a company that has shown no respect for the history of the game, other than a few superficial trappings that do nothing. Is it an outrage? No, but it is more sloppiness, ignorance, and disregard from a company that continues to show themselves a poor caretaker of a legacy game. It’s the little comments like these, an aversion to open licensing, and a history of heavy-handed behavior over items such as pdfs that ensure many gamers of previous editions will not embrace WotC, not matter what they decide to make available.
We want gamers running our companies, or at least influencing things. We want some sign you love the history of this game, or are at least cognizant of it. We want you to sound less like a shill, and more like a fan.
Next week, perhaps they can announce their next Dungeon Master’s Guide product is the “first-ever D&D resource for Dungeon Masters”. It would certainly be keeping in line with previous behavior.
In the press release was buried this gem:
“It is the first-ever RPG book focused solely on one city”
Ahem. Let’s read it again:
“It is the first-ever RPG book focused solely on one city”
Amazing.
Of course, the Neverwinter Campaign Setting is not the first RPG book focused solely on one city. It isn’t the second, or third, or twentieth. Scads of books have focused on a single city, such, as, oh, The City of Greyhawk, which had an entire boxed set dedicated to it. There was Ptolus, which had about 3 reams of paper dedicated to Monte Cook’s behemoth. Palladium Books had Century Station. Judges Guild has City-State of the Invincible Overlord. Flip through the RPGnet Gaming Index, and find countless more examples.
For crying out loud, it isn’t even the first Forgotten Realms product dedicated to a specific city! Waterdeep cleaned up in that department in editions past. Even Ravens Bluff got 64 pages.
Of course, this isn’t the first time WotC has conveniently forgotten the history of Dungeons and Dragons. In the run-up to 4e, we had the Realms and Dragonlance mentioned as the first D&D campaign settings, while Greyhawk was quietly pulled off to one side.
This is a company that has shown no respect for the history of the game, other than a few superficial trappings that do nothing. Is it an outrage? No, but it is more sloppiness, ignorance, and disregard from a company that continues to show themselves a poor caretaker of a legacy game. It’s the little comments like these, an aversion to open licensing, and a history of heavy-handed behavior over items such as pdfs that ensure many gamers of previous editions will not embrace WotC, not matter what they decide to make available.
We want gamers running our companies, or at least influencing things. We want some sign you love the history of this game, or are at least cognizant of it. We want you to sound less like a shill, and more like a fan.
Next week, perhaps they can announce their next Dungeon Master’s Guide product is the “first-ever D&D resource for Dungeon Masters”. It would certainly be keeping in line with previous behavior.
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