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9 months ago ::
Sep 20, 2012 - 10:22PM
#1
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Date Joined:
May 12, 2009
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D&D Alimni
Small BeginningsBy James Maliszewski If you've ever seen the cover of one of the little brown rulebooks that first appeared in early 1974, what you'll immediately notice is that they all carry a subtitle beneath the familiar words Dungeons & Dragons, which reads: “Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures.” Compared to the inspired simplicity of the game's title, that subtitle is a confusing mouthful. Yet, it's also an important touchstone in understanding the history—and prehistory—of what we today call “roleplaying games.” Talk about this article here. 
Yan
Montréal, Canada
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9 months ago ::
Sep 21, 2012 - 5:53AM
#2
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Date Joined:
Oct 24, 2001
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This article should be required reading in every PHB.
Here are the PHB essentia, in my opinion: - Three Basic Rules (p 11)
- Power Types and Usage (p 54)
- Skills (p178-179)
- Feats (p 192)
- Rest and Recovery (p 263)
- All of Chapter 9 [Combat] (p 264-295)
A player needs to read the sections for building his or her character -- race, class, powers, feats, equipment, etc. But those are PC-specific. The above list is for everyone, regardless of the race or class or build or concept they are playing.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 21, 2012 - 7:33AM
#3
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i enjoy james' articles and his blog. what i dont enjoy, however, is how wizards refer to this as dragon mag content, but they do not put it into pdf form. it is bad enough, hell, embarrassing enough, that wizards do not compile magazines, but if you insist on making the "magazines" a loose, half-assed collection of pdfs, at least put all of the articles into that format.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 21, 2012 - 9:03AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Oct 24, 2001
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I can concur with frothsof on the state of the magazine aspect of DDI. When WotC yanks the 4e Character Builder out from under us, I'll be ending my subscription, which will also mean the first time I have not been receiving Dragon Magazine since I started with issue #20.
Here are the PHB essentia, in my opinion: - Three Basic Rules (p 11)
- Power Types and Usage (p 54)
- Skills (p178-179)
- Feats (p 192)
- Rest and Recovery (p 263)
- All of Chapter 9 [Combat] (p 264-295)
A player needs to read the sections for building his or her character -- race, class, powers, feats, equipment, etc. But those are PC-specific. The above list is for everyone, regardless of the race or class or build or concept they are playing.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 21, 2012 - 2:52PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Aug 29, 2008
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I can concur with frothsof on the state of the magazine aspect of DDI. When WotC yanks the 4e Character Builder out from under us, I'll be ending my subscription, which will also mean the first time I have not been receiving Dragon Magazine since I started with issue #20.
wow, you're really old Seeker! Kidding, I'm only a couple of years younger. Anyway, yes I agree that the lack of a compiled PDF for both magazines is not good. I really dug this article though.
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