Community

GHA!! And I just started a new 4e campaign too. Just! Like last Saturday. We didn't even really play, just make characters and write backstories.

So has everyone seen the news today? Holy POO! If not check out the main site: here.  And much more over at ENWorld here and here. Go. Check it out and sign-up. I’ll wait. Okay, everyone caught up to speed: we have a “new iteration” of the D&D coming.

The announcement is rather timely for my blog: in the comments of my last entry, I had promised Kalontas a more upbeat take on the State of the Game. And I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing a “what I want from 5e” blog for a while now.

The use of “iteration” caught my eye: the announcement is careful not to say “edition”

I got into an argument on the message boards a few weeks back. I know, I’m shocked too. A disagreement on the internet? Scandalous!

The basis of the argument was the possibility of a new D&D video game. I’ve thought about this before and always been somewhat in favour, although increasingly sceptical as to the viability given the increasing development time of video games compared to the decreasing development time of pen-and-paper editions.

I’ve come to the conclusion the days of games that are direct and faithful adaptations of the Pen and Paper game are over. The reasons are three–fold: time, audience, and expertise.

Tick Tock

After forty years, RPG designers and companies have a good grasp on which books sell best: core books. New editions will generally

In the introduction to his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey evokes the fable of the goose that lays golden eggs. While geese that drop eggs of precious metals are found in various Fairy Tales, in this version the owner – becoming greedy – decides he cannot wait until the next day and cuts open the goose to get an early egg. This kills the goose and he gets no more eggs. The moral is that sacrificing a long term investment for short term gain is a bad idea. Covey expands this to the business world, emphasizing a balance between your productivity and your production capability.

This is a topical discussion because of 5th Edition; there’s increasing talk of a new edition, a feeling in the air. While there’s always speculation, it seems to be increasing.

*and what YOU can do about it.
 

Over the last three years, I’ve read quite a few blogs and forum thread by 4th Edition DMs complaining that all their players want to do is pick fights, how their games end up nothing but combat. I’ve also heard this echoed in panels, during interviews, on podcasts, and in reviews.

The response to this complaint is usually a weary “I don’t know, why are your games all combat?” The tonal implication is that it’s the DM’s fault, because they set the theme of the game.  

Now, this response is total B.S. It’s blaming the victim! “You were just asking for it, wearing that outfit behind the DM Screen.” And by just shifting the blame, this rebuttal does nothing to answer the question, resolve

The recent reintroduction of Kara-Tur in the pages of Dragon magazine, has set-off a few complaints of stereotyping, which reminded me of the topic of real world analogues in campaign settings. While Kara-Tur is undeniably an adaptation of Southeast Asia, this is oddly rare in Fourth Edition: one of the design goals of the redesign of the Forgotten Realms (also known as the "nuking of the Realms") was the removal of real world analogues.

But why? This is one of the odder changes to the Realms. The benefits of most of the others tweaks (reduction in gods, removal of high level NPCs, re-addition of mystery) are obvious, almost inarguable. But what are the benefits of removing real world analogues?

Pros

The largest benefit of adding a real world analogue to your fantasy campaign setting

More late coverage and discussion of GenCon news and rumours, specifically Mike Mearl’s GenCon talking point that WotC is going to be “supporting all of D&D”. Hey, if you wanted fresh news you’d be over on ENWorld.

This statement is being interpreted as opening up WotC’s equivalent of the Disney Vault and re-releasing old products, likely making them available as PDFs or an online equivalent. That is, if they’re not readying an action for when Print on Demand becomes even cheaper and higher quality. This is amazing and historic! Or would be if White Wolf wasn’t already selling PDFs, and announced last year they were working to make their back catalogue available for Print on Demand. (Yes, I’m a cynic who is pretty much dead on the inside.)

One of big selling points of 4e was that it was easier to run with less prep time. Monsters were easier to modify, treasure was easy to manage, and encounters simple to build. On the side of the players there were fewer rules, with a small number of overarching rules and many exceptions in the form of powers and feats.

However, with all that said, the game has hit a wall. There's only so far it can be simplified. Any farther and we start losing more of what makes the game what it is.

For Players

One of the problems of D&D is the daunting amount of information needed to play the game. It's a wall of text. There's a lot there. The books are heavy and full. Ostensibly, 4e has made this easier, with fewer rules than the massive combat chapter from 1e-3e.

In practice, 4e is no easier to

Let's get right to it, according to the gaming trade magazine ICv2, in Quarter 2 of 2011 (April-June) Paizo's Pathfinder line passed WotC's D&D as the best selling RPG. For the first time in the history of the hobby, D&D is not the best selling game.

But is this something to get worked-up about?

The Articles

The article by ICv2 can be found here. A few weeks ago, the CEO of Paizo echoed similar sentiments here.

There was also some discussion of both on the forums before the threads were locked or moved to the RPG General forum near the very bottom of the non-legacy forums, where forum threads are sent to die.

There's some dissent on theWotC forums about the veracity of the ICv2 article, because it might not contain DDI. But, by the same token, it might not reflect direct sales

A few weeks back I played a little Fourth Core, which is 4e D&D turned up to 11, where you have to play smart or die. It’s not my standard cup of tea but was still amazing fun as a one-shot with disposable characters, seeing how far we could make it on a time limit before dying. And I like the idea of occasionally challenging the player more than the character or dice.

It made me think about traps again in 4e.

I discussed this a looong time ago, in this blog. There’s been some changes since then, specifically the DCs that I singled-out as problematic. But traps themselves have not been changed.

The Trap of Traps

It’s very easy to make poor use of traps.

The best use of traps in 4e is a complication in combat. This is fun and makes for a dynamic fight, where the