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Cast of Characters

Erika - Rona Gemheart, Female Dwarf Cleric of Moradin
Melissa - Jarla Gemheart, Female Dwarf Fighter
Katie - Bree Klepto, Female Halfling Rogue
Andrea - Nelenna Sunsworn, Female Human Cleric of Pelor
Montana - Sariel the Green, Female Elf Wizard

I had an interesting opportunity on Saturday (June 2nd). My girlfriend, better known to readers of my blog as Liz but who is in actuality named Erika, invited me to her cousin Melissa's house in the middle of the night to DM a session of Caves of Chaos for her, Melissa, and "the room-mates".

Introduction

Melissa and her room-mates (Katie, Andrea, and Montana) had been regaled with the exploits of the Group A playtest party and wanted to get in on the action. This was very agreeable in my sight, so I hurried over with my printed out materials...

Cast of Characters

Paul - Eberk, Male Dwarf Cleric of Moradin
Trent - Jozan, Male Human Cleric of Pelor
Travis - Tordek, Male Dwarf Fighter
Angel - Lidda, Female Halfling Rogue
Sarah - Mialee, Female Elf Wizard

Introduction

This is Group B's first run through the Caves of Chaos. I had originally planned on letting them start at a higher level, but the group objected, claiming that starting at level 1 was the only way to go. I conceded to the point.

The combat style for Group A was "Theater of the Mind", but for Group B (a group of seasoned Fourthers) I decided to use Battlegrid combat, to see how it worked out, and whether D&DN would be able to accomodate the Fourthers (and Thirders, to a lesser extent). This inevitably led to hours of painstaking battle-grid preparation, since the adventure is...

So, you may have heard that there was some kind of Playtest Packet released regarding the next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons. No? Well, it happened, and the Forums have been abuzz with the sounds of incessant whining, nitpicking, foul-mouthing, presumption, speculation, and overall childishness.

It seems that some people signed up for the Playtest, not because they wanted to be a part of the next edition, but so they could have a basis for comparison to complain about how it isn't the edition they like to play. Fourth editioners are by far the worst, in my opinion. The OD&D through D&D 3.5 crowds have pretty much accepted that they'll have to manage with whatever material they have available to them, but the Fourthers are so adamant about keeping 4e alive that it's almost ridiculous.

And...

The title of this post probably conjures up a seemingly negative outlook, but let me begin by saying that this feeling isn't written in stone. I simply think, based on my perusal of the forums and blog comments regarding D&DN, that loyalists of previous editions are going to cause D&DN to fail in its mission of unification.

Every time a new bit of information is released regarding the next iteration of D&D a whole slew of naysayers come out of the woodwork to tell the developers why it isn't as good as a previous edition. I've been one of those people, to be honest, but I'm starting to realize that my loyalty to a previous edition (in my case, 3rd) is a barrier rather than a boon. I'm not being objective in my criticism, and rather than focusing on what D&DN is, I've been focusing on what...