While I personally think that the 1st and 2nd edition covers are the best (and I admit, I may be biased to those editions), I think that the 4th edition cover is one that if you covered up the D&D name I would have thought Dungeons & Dragons the minute that I saw the artwork.
First of all not all "roleplay" is just talking. You can roleplay an escape from a burning building, and if you're a jerk about it then you're just going to fail. Second of all, there might be very good in-character reasons for an encounter not planned for combat to devolve into it.
When we use dungeon tiles, all of our maps and dungeons start to look the same. We'd much rather create interesting, cool-looking maps that DMs can try to replicate with tiles rather than hinder a designer's creativity when it comes to dungeon design. However, as per Nekrotech's request, we are planning to publish adventures specifically tied to Dungeon Tiles sets with encounter areas built using the tiles. For example, we have a short adventure called "A Knight in Shadowghast Manor" that...
View full commentWhen we use dungeon tiles, all of our maps and dungeons start to look the same. We'd much rather create interesting, cool-looking maps that DMs can try to replicate with tiles rather than hinder a designer's creativity when it comes to dungeon design. However, as per Nekrotech's request, we are planning to publish adventures specifically tied to Dungeon Tiles sets with encounter areas built using the tiles. For example, we have a short adventure called "A Knight in Shadowghast Manor" that includes maps built using the tiles in the Shadowghast Manor set (releasing later this year). I hope folks enjoy it!
Hey - as someone who has DM'd since the 70's (creak!) I wanted to mention this is great news. I can still recall when "read this text" boxes first appeared in the B* series way back when, so have watched this evolution as it happened. My opinion still is that the original Ravenloft was one of the better formats - just enough story and crunch in a good mix. I definitely feel the disconnect from the story that you mention by having the tactical encounters in a separate section or separate...
View full commentHey - as someone who has DM'd since the 70's (creak!) I wanted to mention this is great news. I can still recall when "read this text" boxes first appeared in the B* series way back when, so have watched this evolution as it happened. My opinion still is that the original Ravenloft was one of the better formats - just enough story and crunch in a good mix.
I definitely feel the disconnect from the story that you mention by having the tactical encounters in a separate section or separate book. Jumping back and forth does make it a bit of a disconnect for myself and the players. It sounds like you're going the right way with this though - keep the tactical setup in your bag of tricks but provide options to streamline encounters back into the narrative. Great idea. Keep up the good renovations.
I'm debating renewing my subscription, and I will admit to being one of those DMs who deeply disliked the encounter format for the reasons Mr. Cordell described above. As a non-subscriber though, I won't be able to see the changes made in "Going Ape" unless it is made available to me. Is it possible we might be able to preview the adventure or have it be made a non-subscriber piece; I believe I'm pre-disposed to liking the new format, but the opportunity to look over the article would help me...
View full commentI'm debating renewing my subscription, and I will admit to being one of those DMs who deeply disliked the encounter format for the reasons Mr. Cordell described above. As a non-subscriber though, I won't be able to see the changes made in "Going Ape" unless it is made available to me. Is it possible we might be able to preview the adventure or have it be made a non-subscriber piece; I believe I'm pre-disposed to liking the new format, but the opportunity to look over the article would help me decide whether or not to return to D&D Insider...