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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
D&D live chat May 16th
D&D Next Chat Transcript (Mike Mearls & Jeremy Crawford)
This
is the transcript of the D&D Next (5E) live chat held today. Mike
Mearls and Jeremy Crawford were on hand to answer questions about the upcoming
public playtests of D&D Next.
Mearls: Hello world.
Trevor: There's Mike Mearls, one of the stars of the show!
Mearls: Jeremy Crawford will be a little late. We just finished up a meeting on the playtest packet.
Trevor: You want to regale us with any playtest tidbits while we wait for him, Mike?
Mearls: Hmmm... let's see. I've been DMing mostly, and the rules have changed a lot over the past few days. Probably the funniest thing was guest starring as a librarian in a playtest game at DDXP. Also, I got to test the DR rules when the players had to cut open a dead wererat's stomach to find a gem it had swallowed. That was not how I expected to test those rules.
Trevor, you can go ahead with questions. Jeremy will be here shortly, and I can defer to him as needed.
Trevor: Alright, lets get the intro blurb in there and get started then.
Welcome everyone to the Q&A for the next iteration of D&D and the upcoming playtest! I'm Trevor Kidd, Community Manager for Wizards and D&D and I'll be facilitating the chat. Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford from the D&D design and development teams will be fielding Your questions.
Jeremy Crawford: Hello, everyone!
Trevor: This is a moderated chat, which means every comment or question you make is seen on our end of things, but you won't see it until we publish it to the room for Mike and/or Jeremy to talk about. With all that said, let me get out of the way and let Mike and Jeremy introduce themselves and say a few words. After that, we'll start fielding your questions!
And there we have Jeremy!
Alright - I'll leave the floor to you two. When you're done with introductions let me know and I'll get on to the questions.
Mearls: I'm Mike Mearls and I'm the senior manager for the D&D team. My job is to oversee the development of the game and make sure all the teams work together.
Jeremy Crawford: And I'm Jeremy Crawford, head of editing and development for D&D products.
Mearls: I also pitch in as needed to get work done. For instance, my other open window has the rules text for rituals, though those won't be in the initial playtest.
Jeremy Crawford: I do enjoy trying to get Mike to work as a writer still.
Mearls: I think we're ready for questions.
Trevor: To cover a lot of very basic questions out there, can you remind us when the playtest starts and give us a little information about what people can expect from this first playtest packet?
Mearls: The playtests starts on the 24th. That's next Thursday. Which is much sooner than it seems. Much, much sooner.
Jeremy Crawford: Here's what to expect in the packet . . .
Five pregenerated characters
The Caves of Chaos adventure
A bestiary to accompany the adventure
And rules of play, both for players and DMs
Mearls: We're doing two clerics to test the range of the domain/deity system.
Jeremy Crawford: One of the clerics is more of an armor-and-mace fellow, and the other is more of a mystic
The five characters will feature the background and theme system that we've alluded to in the past few months.
Trevor: Another very popular set of questions from many in the room: Who can play in the playtest, and how are we going to distribute the playtest information to people?
Jeremy Crawford: We hope everyone will play!
Mearls: The playtest is open to anyone who signs up, and the information will be available digitally. As part of signing up, there will be an online playtest agreement similar to the one we used for Dungeon Command last year.
monstermanual: What level of complexity will we see in the first wave playtest PCs, and what options will we have to adjust them to our taste?
Jeremy Crawford: There will be a range of complexity, from a relatively straightforward fighter to a class wizard.
By "class" I mean "classic".
Mearls: Character customization will come in a bit later. To start with, we're focusing on the core system.
Jeremy Crawford: We will roll out adjustment options in the next few months. For now, we'd like people to play with the pregens.
OngoingDamage: How different will the 5/24 playtest materials be from what we saw at PAX East? Did any of the PAX East playtest feedback get incorporated into the current version?
Jeremy Crawford: There will be many differences, both in the core mechanics and in the characters.
Mearls: Yes, we incorporated that feedback. The playtest will look fairly different in terms of characters. Mostly, things will look a little simpler for DMs. The classes, themes, and backgrounds are a little better organized, and we've done some work in figuring out what parts of a character sit where.
shamsael: How much can we expect the rules to change from the start of public playtesting to final release? To put it differently, how much of the system at this point is set in stone and how much is free to be tweaked or rewritten at this point?
Mearls: Probably the biggest change is in the mechanic for advantage and disadvantage. We've also have done a lot to the cleric, fleshing out domains and making those a bigger part of the class that changes a lot of stuff.
Jeremy Crawford: An example change: Spellcasters all have at-will spell options now.
Mearls: Nothing is set in stone. Since we're starting simple, we can make huge changes without massively reworking tons of text. We're taking it slowly precisely because we expect to release rules, incorporate feedback, than use that to drive the next wave of material.
John Sussenberger: Will we be able to run play tests in public locations, such as a game store or convention?
Jeremy Crawford: Addressing the previous question: The only things we won't budge on are the things set in D&D's stone, such as using the d20 or that the game contains wizards.
Mearls: I believe we're working on that option now. Right now, for the playtest each person taking part should sign up. We're working on something right now that will alow cons and stores to run stuff.
Gerardo: Hi, thanks for making this live chat. I've been following the character class design post and I'm intrigued to know how you measure balance. How do you know a class is balanced or not? Some number or value attached to powers that you add up and say OK it's good, or is it more a gut feeling based on the designers experience and playtest feedback?
Jeremy Crawford: It's a mix of math, playtest feedback, and a dash of intuition.
Mearls: It's a combination of the two. D&D covers so much ground, that we can balance stuff based on combat without actually balancing anything for a specific campaign. We're looking at each area of the game - combat, exploration, interaction - and making sure that characters can contribute in each area. It's maybe 50/50 art and science.
Mearls: Feedback will be the biggest, important factor for us.
The Mormegil: Can you tell us more about movement and positioning in D&D Next? What will it look like?What about attacks of opportunity? What are your thoughts about interrupts and other out-of-turn actions?
Jeremy Crawford: That's a Russian nesting doll of questions! Mike and I are conferring . . .
Our desks are next to each other, so we're chatting at the same time. The simple stuff first: Attacks of opportunity are not in this playtest, but the system does have rules that point to the peril of making ranged attacks in melee, for instance.
Mearls: Ha! Jeremy will love this question. I'm really not a fan of giving people extra turns in addition to their own turn. I think it really slows the game down. For movement and positioning, the goal is to focus more on terrain and interesting things to move to and around, rather than flanking and such.
There are off-turn actions in the game, but the philosophy now is to have them eat into your turn or have something you have to set up. For instance, instead of everyone automatically getting opportunity attacks, a character might need to take a feat or choose an ability that basically says, "If you make a melee attack on your turn, you get one opportunity attack for the next round."
A rogue might have this - you can move away from an enemy that moves next to you, but you lose your move on your next turn.
Arbanax: Can I ask how Monsters will be handled in terms of stat blocks and information, the off table help and fluff and the at table crunch?
Jeremy Crawford: In this playtest, you'll see shortened stat blocks in the adventure, and then full stat blocks in the bestiary.
The bestiary includes both mechanical information and lore.
What you'll see is just a starting point. We expect the stat block format and the lore information to evolve quite a bit in response to playtesting.
Jools: I'd love to know what your thoughts are on conditions in 5e. Something spoilery would be nice!
Jeremy Crawford: We've been discussing conditions quite a bit lately. They're certainly in the game. I'll be revising them this afternoon, in fact.
We're fans of conditions that make sense both as game mechanics and as something in the world. Prone, for example, is a useful game concept, and it matches what's going in the story. You're knocked on your butt!
Mearls: We're trying to keep the list of conditions slim and make it apply to things that are obvious changes in the world. For instance, right now invisible and ethereal are on the list of conditions. We also added intoxicated. Basically, what are things that when they happen to you have a clear effect on how you interact with the world?
Here's another thing - with stuff like paralyzed, we're dealing more in describing what happens rather than trying to make everything mechanical. So paralyzed says that you can' t move your limbs. Spellcasting specifies that you need to move your arms to cast a spell. Thus, a paralyzed creature can't cast spells.
The idea is that we give the DM clear mechanics, but also make it clear what's happening in the world so the DM can make any judgment calls as needed.
Jeremy Crawford: My favorite new condition is intoxicated.
Mike: How are we going to provide feedback on the open playtest?
Mearls: We'll have a series of surveys we're sending out. I also think that we might have a dedicated forum on the site for discussion, but I think Trevor might now more about that. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for us to capture feedback, while also reaching as wide an audience as possible.
Mearls: BTW, the surveys are being put together by the folks at WotC who do that for a living.
The Mormegil: I know your top one priority is making the game feel like D&D, but those of us who do not notice any distinctive feel in D&D and would like to help too may need a direction for their efforts. What are you looking for in this playtest? What do you expect from it?
Jeremy Crawford: We also want to know whether the game is enjoyable for you, whether the rules make sense, and whether is evokes a swords-and-sorcery feel.
Mearls: There are two ways to look at it.
If you're a long-time D&D fan, the playtest should feel like you're coming home again. We want the rules to be easy to use, rulings simple to make, and the game to move at a good pace. All while feeling like D&D at its heart.
If you don't have a particular attachment to D&D or its specific feel, then the game should be fun to play, interesting to run, and an overall good fantasy RPG.
Our biggest goal is making sure that the core rules are easy to understand, easy to use, and fully functional.
Tara: What were some of the major changes from the last few days?
Jeremy Crawford: Haha!
Mearls: Hmmm... is there anything we haven't changed in the past few days?
Jeremy Crawford: One of my favorite changes from this week is adding more flavorful effects to some of the cantrips.
Mearls: I did a review of our weapon table, and I think the spear was the one weapon I didn't comment on. Probably the biggest things are rogue schemes and cleric domains.
Jeremy Crawford: Yeah, the rogue has really come into focus this week.
Mearls: Yes, cantrips that you use to attack are basically utility cantrips that have a way you can use them against creatures. The ignite cantrip lets you start fires, whether its lighting a torch or a goblin's butt.
Kamikaze Midget: Can you tell us about anything you guys have discovered in focusing the game on the entire adventure, rather than on the individual encounter?
Jeremy Crawford: The poor goblin and his butt.
Mearls: The biggest thing is making it OK for one character to own a particularly encounter. If the wizard casts sleep and KOs a group of six kobolds, that's OK. In the next encounter, the rogue might sneak up on the kobold shaman and gank him, or the fighter blocks a doorway and takes down a wave of attackers. Same goes for characters with good social abilities, and so on.
It also means for a much faster game - characters contribute in each encounter, but we can let someone shine without feeling that everyone must have at least 4 or 5 turns to do their thing.
Jeremy Crawford: There is a tremendous amount of world texture that we can include when there isn't pressure to make everything count in every single combat encounter. We can include character options that speak to social situations, exploration, traveling on the high seas, hopping into other planes of existence, and so on, without segregating those options into little buckets.
Mearls: It also means that "unbalanced" options are more viable. For instance, in one adventure the characters fought a gang of hobgoblins. One of the hobgobs was a beast master who used a whip and a prod to drive a pair of giant scorpions forward. The rogue sniped the beast master, so the scorpions turned around and had their revenge on the tribe.
It ended the fight pretty quickly, but it made for a fun adventure. The characters ended up luring the scorpions into a room with a window, locking them in there while the rogue climbed out.
Brian: How do you plan on handling the discrepancy between the 4e-style spells for wizards/sorcerors (Powers) vs the older-style spells (A lot of very unique and varied spells)? Would both styles of play get along nicely in a game?
Jeremy Crawford: Yes, they get along together very nicely.
Mearls: We have some potentially interesting ideas for the warlock vs. sorcerer vs. the wizard. I can't say much, but when you have two or three classes using arcane magic, you have room to maneuver. In 3e the warlock was sort of 4e-like, as was the binder. I think we can make room for both in a way that makes those classes unique and fun.
The great thing about classes is that you can have a spell slot system, a spell point system, and a power system all in the same game.
Somnambulant gamer: Everyone's incredibly excited about this initial offering, do we know what kind of timeframe we're looking at for materials to generate new characters and a chance to see more of the core classes that will be released?
Jeremy Crawford: Even in the playtest spells, you will see elements from classic spells and elements from powers.
Mearls: Let me check our schedule. It's on a white board on the other side of my desk...
Jeremy Crawford: We plan to roll out character-customization options this summer.
Mearls: OK, if things go smoothly you'll have that stuff before the end of the summer. Keep in mind that feedback is a part of this, and it's all contingent on how much we need to change based on round 1.
Jeremy Crawford: And we'll roll out other classes bit by bit. Since our focus is on collecting feedback, we are not going to release too much at once. We want to make sure each part of the game gets the love it deserves.
Andrew: Can you comment on adventure pacing versus the wonder of magic? In 3e, PCs were often required to rest after the cleric/wizard were out of spells, regardless of the state of the rest of the party. In 4e, everyone can keep going until out of surges, but there was less "magical pizazz" across the classes -- a sword being a magic missile being a druid's claw.
Jeremy Crawford: We have been striving to connect pacing to concrete things in the game world: magical resources, such as spells; hit points; and various options that might rely on a character expending some of his or her vitality.
Mearls: That's a great question. We want magical to feel magical yet rooted in the world. The cantrip thing ties into this. Cantrips aren't specifically made to blast people, but a cantrip you use to create a small amount of acid as part of an alchemy experiment can also be a useful weapon. Spells should feel magical and maybe even mysterious in some way.
For instance, going back to cantrips, we specifically didn't want to just make a spell that was the same as a crossbow but it did fire damage. That sells magic short, IMO.
Somnambulant gamer: You mentioned all casters have at-will spell "options" now. Are these class features, or tied into the themes or backgrounds?
Jeremy Crawford: Both! The cleric and the wizard get them, and some backgrounds and themes offer them.
Mearls: Yes, both. At-will spells come with classes. Rogues and fighters can opt into that if they want. I'd also like to at some point offer an option for a non-at-will magic game, but we received overwhelming feedback in favor of at-will magic. That feedback was largely edition independent.
Jeremy Crawford: Yeah, when playing a spellcaster, many people like to feel like a spellcaster all the time and not have to resort to a crossbow--or a dart!
Preston: What races will be in the play test? Do you see race or culture as being a driving force behind a characters mechanics?
Jeremy Crawford: The classic four will be in the playtest: dwarf, elf, halfling, and human.
Mearls: Halfling, human, dwarf, and elf. We're actually doing a mix of race and culture with our approach. A high elf and a wood elf share some innately elf things, but also get some things distinct to their specific culture.
Jeremy Crawford: Right out of the gate, you'll see the high elf, for instance.
HustontheTodd: What I love about 4e is the ease with which I can throw an encounter together. What can I expect from dndnext to make adventure building fun?
Jeremy Crawford: While Mike answers that, I'll say something else about race. A thing I love about our current approach is that you don't just pick your race, such as dwarf. You also pick what kind of dwarf you are.
Mearls: 4e provides the standard we're using for DM tools and adventure building. My goal is to do a mix of basic D&D - which was fairly step-by-step - combined with 4e's approach, though focusing more on the adventure as a whole rather than encounters. We also know that DM experience plays a big role in how people approach adventure and campaign design, so we want to offer a lot of options including "roll lots of dice and randomly determine everything" to "do whatever you want."
RupertDnD: Are Fighters getting cool stuff too, like powers or maneuvers?
Jeremy Crawford: The fighter gets to carry my wizard's tea!
Mearls: Right now, we're keeping the fighter fairly basic but giving you those options in feats. However, the fighter does get a couple unique mechanics to make him different. This is definitely an area where we're looking at feedback, but so far people seemed more concerned with getting at-will magic that in making manuevers something all fighters automatically get.
And to be clear, right now if you spend a feat for maneuvers you're getting a whole suite of options to use, not just one thing. Also, I don't think the first pregen fighter has maneuvers to start with.
Jeremy Crawford: We're committed to giving fighter players interesting tactical options, but we also want to make it possible to play the simple basher. Feedback is usually split on wanting both types of fighter.
Jozh: Prestige Classes/Paragon Paths? In or out?
Mearls: We're not sure yet. One of our next big tasks is to look at high level play and how things might evolve beyond class. If we do paths or prestige classes, we want to make sure that they fit into the overall Next system in an organic way, We don't want to just bolt them in.
OK, one more question then I have a lunch meeting.
Jeremy Crawford: Our initial high-level playtests were a hoot and included elements similar to paragon paths / prestige classes, but we're still exploring options.
EdofDoom: Are there any obvious tanking mechanics in the new edition? Something that guarantees a wizard in the back doesn't get ganged up on by people running past the fighter?
Jeremy Crawford: There are definitely ways for one character to protect another. We have a whole theme dedicated to the concept, in fact, but you won't see a tank per se in the first batch of five characters.
Mearls: There are two things. First, creatures grant cover. So, cowering behind people is a good idea. That said, the basic option for that rests in a theme right now. My feeling on tanks is that it's best if a player wants to do that, rather than saying an entire swatch of characters are assigned that when a player might want to be a fighter to be good in combat.
I'd rather it be clear that a player has taken a theme to do that and is getting into it because that's what the player enjoys doing in D&D.
Thanks for the questions, everyone. This was a lot of fun. I've asked Trevor to capture the questions we couldn't get to so we can cover them before the playtest launches.
Jeremy Crawford: Yes, thank you, everyone!
Trevor: Alright, that wraps things up for the Q&A! Thanks everyone for all the great questions. We weren't able to get to them all, but as Mike mentioned, we will be trying to answer as many as we can in future articles and conversations.
Thans toMorrus for transcribing.
Mearls: Hello world.
Trevor: There's Mike Mearls, one of the stars of the show!
Mearls: Jeremy Crawford will be a little late. We just finished up a meeting on the playtest packet.
Trevor: You want to regale us with any playtest tidbits while we wait for him, Mike?
Mearls: Hmmm... let's see. I've been DMing mostly, and the rules have changed a lot over the past few days. Probably the funniest thing was guest starring as a librarian in a playtest game at DDXP. Also, I got to test the DR rules when the players had to cut open a dead wererat's stomach to find a gem it had swallowed. That was not how I expected to test those rules.
Trevor, you can go ahead with questions. Jeremy will be here shortly, and I can defer to him as needed.
Trevor: Alright, lets get the intro blurb in there and get started then.
Welcome everyone to the Q&A for the next iteration of D&D and the upcoming playtest! I'm Trevor Kidd, Community Manager for Wizards and D&D and I'll be facilitating the chat. Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford from the D&D design and development teams will be fielding Your questions.
Jeremy Crawford: Hello, everyone!
Trevor: This is a moderated chat, which means every comment or question you make is seen on our end of things, but you won't see it until we publish it to the room for Mike and/or Jeremy to talk about. With all that said, let me get out of the way and let Mike and Jeremy introduce themselves and say a few words. After that, we'll start fielding your questions!
And there we have Jeremy!
Alright - I'll leave the floor to you two. When you're done with introductions let me know and I'll get on to the questions.
Mearls: I'm Mike Mearls and I'm the senior manager for the D&D team. My job is to oversee the development of the game and make sure all the teams work together.
Jeremy Crawford: And I'm Jeremy Crawford, head of editing and development for D&D products.
Mearls: I also pitch in as needed to get work done. For instance, my other open window has the rules text for rituals, though those won't be in the initial playtest.
Jeremy Crawford: I do enjoy trying to get Mike to work as a writer still.
Mearls: I think we're ready for questions.
Trevor: To cover a lot of very basic questions out there, can you remind us when the playtest starts and give us a little information about what people can expect from this first playtest packet?
Mearls: The playtests starts on the 24th. That's next Thursday. Which is much sooner than it seems. Much, much sooner.
Jeremy Crawford: Here's what to expect in the packet . . .
Five pregenerated characters
The Caves of Chaos adventure
A bestiary to accompany the adventure
And rules of play, both for players and DMs
Mearls: We're doing two clerics to test the range of the domain/deity system.
Jeremy Crawford: One of the clerics is more of an armor-and-mace fellow, and the other is more of a mystic
The five characters will feature the background and theme system that we've alluded to in the past few months.
Trevor: Another very popular set of questions from many in the room: Who can play in the playtest, and how are we going to distribute the playtest information to people?
Jeremy Crawford: We hope everyone will play!
Mearls: The playtest is open to anyone who signs up, and the information will be available digitally. As part of signing up, there will be an online playtest agreement similar to the one we used for Dungeon Command last year.
monstermanual: What level of complexity will we see in the first wave playtest PCs, and what options will we have to adjust them to our taste?
Jeremy Crawford: There will be a range of complexity, from a relatively straightforward fighter to a class wizard.
By "class" I mean "classic".
Mearls: Character customization will come in a bit later. To start with, we're focusing on the core system.
Jeremy Crawford: We will roll out adjustment options in the next few months. For now, we'd like people to play with the pregens.
OngoingDamage: How different will the 5/24 playtest materials be from what we saw at PAX East? Did any of the PAX East playtest feedback get incorporated into the current version?
Jeremy Crawford: There will be many differences, both in the core mechanics and in the characters.
Mearls: Yes, we incorporated that feedback. The playtest will look fairly different in terms of characters. Mostly, things will look a little simpler for DMs. The classes, themes, and backgrounds are a little better organized, and we've done some work in figuring out what parts of a character sit where.
shamsael: How much can we expect the rules to change from the start of public playtesting to final release? To put it differently, how much of the system at this point is set in stone and how much is free to be tweaked or rewritten at this point?
Mearls: Probably the biggest change is in the mechanic for advantage and disadvantage. We've also have done a lot to the cleric, fleshing out domains and making those a bigger part of the class that changes a lot of stuff.
Jeremy Crawford: An example change: Spellcasters all have at-will spell options now.
Mearls: Nothing is set in stone. Since we're starting simple, we can make huge changes without massively reworking tons of text. We're taking it slowly precisely because we expect to release rules, incorporate feedback, than use that to drive the next wave of material.
John Sussenberger: Will we be able to run play tests in public locations, such as a game store or convention?
Jeremy Crawford: Addressing the previous question: The only things we won't budge on are the things set in D&D's stone, such as using the d20 or that the game contains wizards.
Mearls: I believe we're working on that option now. Right now, for the playtest each person taking part should sign up. We're working on something right now that will alow cons and stores to run stuff.
Gerardo: Hi, thanks for making this live chat. I've been following the character class design post and I'm intrigued to know how you measure balance. How do you know a class is balanced or not? Some number or value attached to powers that you add up and say OK it's good, or is it more a gut feeling based on the designers experience and playtest feedback?
Jeremy Crawford: It's a mix of math, playtest feedback, and a dash of intuition.
Mearls: It's a combination of the two. D&D covers so much ground, that we can balance stuff based on combat without actually balancing anything for a specific campaign. We're looking at each area of the game - combat, exploration, interaction - and making sure that characters can contribute in each area. It's maybe 50/50 art and science.
Mearls: Feedback will be the biggest, important factor for us.
The Mormegil: Can you tell us more about movement and positioning in D&D Next? What will it look like?What about attacks of opportunity? What are your thoughts about interrupts and other out-of-turn actions?
Jeremy Crawford: That's a Russian nesting doll of questions! Mike and I are conferring . . .
Our desks are next to each other, so we're chatting at the same time. The simple stuff first: Attacks of opportunity are not in this playtest, but the system does have rules that point to the peril of making ranged attacks in melee, for instance.
Mearls: Ha! Jeremy will love this question. I'm really not a fan of giving people extra turns in addition to their own turn. I think it really slows the game down. For movement and positioning, the goal is to focus more on terrain and interesting things to move to and around, rather than flanking and such.
There are off-turn actions in the game, but the philosophy now is to have them eat into your turn or have something you have to set up. For instance, instead of everyone automatically getting opportunity attacks, a character might need to take a feat or choose an ability that basically says, "If you make a melee attack on your turn, you get one opportunity attack for the next round."
A rogue might have this - you can move away from an enemy that moves next to you, but you lose your move on your next turn.
Arbanax: Can I ask how Monsters will be handled in terms of stat blocks and information, the off table help and fluff and the at table crunch?
Jeremy Crawford: In this playtest, you'll see shortened stat blocks in the adventure, and then full stat blocks in the bestiary.
The bestiary includes both mechanical information and lore.
What you'll see is just a starting point. We expect the stat block format and the lore information to evolve quite a bit in response to playtesting.
Jools: I'd love to know what your thoughts are on conditions in 5e. Something spoilery would be nice!
Jeremy Crawford: We've been discussing conditions quite a bit lately. They're certainly in the game. I'll be revising them this afternoon, in fact.
We're fans of conditions that make sense both as game mechanics and as something in the world. Prone, for example, is a useful game concept, and it matches what's going in the story. You're knocked on your butt!
Mearls: We're trying to keep the list of conditions slim and make it apply to things that are obvious changes in the world. For instance, right now invisible and ethereal are on the list of conditions. We also added intoxicated. Basically, what are things that when they happen to you have a clear effect on how you interact with the world?
Here's another thing - with stuff like paralyzed, we're dealing more in describing what happens rather than trying to make everything mechanical. So paralyzed says that you can' t move your limbs. Spellcasting specifies that you need to move your arms to cast a spell. Thus, a paralyzed creature can't cast spells.
The idea is that we give the DM clear mechanics, but also make it clear what's happening in the world so the DM can make any judgment calls as needed.
Jeremy Crawford: My favorite new condition is intoxicated.
Mike: How are we going to provide feedback on the open playtest?
Mearls: We'll have a series of surveys we're sending out. I also think that we might have a dedicated forum on the site for discussion, but I think Trevor might now more about that. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for us to capture feedback, while also reaching as wide an audience as possible.
Mearls: BTW, the surveys are being put together by the folks at WotC who do that for a living.
The Mormegil: I know your top one priority is making the game feel like D&D, but those of us who do not notice any distinctive feel in D&D and would like to help too may need a direction for their efforts. What are you looking for in this playtest? What do you expect from it?
Jeremy Crawford: We also want to know whether the game is enjoyable for you, whether the rules make sense, and whether is evokes a swords-and-sorcery feel.
Mearls: There are two ways to look at it.
If you're a long-time D&D fan, the playtest should feel like you're coming home again. We want the rules to be easy to use, rulings simple to make, and the game to move at a good pace. All while feeling like D&D at its heart.
If you don't have a particular attachment to D&D or its specific feel, then the game should be fun to play, interesting to run, and an overall good fantasy RPG.
Our biggest goal is making sure that the core rules are easy to understand, easy to use, and fully functional.
Tara: What were some of the major changes from the last few days?
Jeremy Crawford: Haha!
Mearls: Hmmm... is there anything we haven't changed in the past few days?
Jeremy Crawford: One of my favorite changes from this week is adding more flavorful effects to some of the cantrips.
Mearls: I did a review of our weapon table, and I think the spear was the one weapon I didn't comment on. Probably the biggest things are rogue schemes and cleric domains.
Jeremy Crawford: Yeah, the rogue has really come into focus this week.
Mearls: Yes, cantrips that you use to attack are basically utility cantrips that have a way you can use them against creatures. The ignite cantrip lets you start fires, whether its lighting a torch or a goblin's butt.
Kamikaze Midget: Can you tell us about anything you guys have discovered in focusing the game on the entire adventure, rather than on the individual encounter?
Jeremy Crawford: The poor goblin and his butt.
Mearls: The biggest thing is making it OK for one character to own a particularly encounter. If the wizard casts sleep and KOs a group of six kobolds, that's OK. In the next encounter, the rogue might sneak up on the kobold shaman and gank him, or the fighter blocks a doorway and takes down a wave of attackers. Same goes for characters with good social abilities, and so on.
It also means for a much faster game - characters contribute in each encounter, but we can let someone shine without feeling that everyone must have at least 4 or 5 turns to do their thing.
Jeremy Crawford: There is a tremendous amount of world texture that we can include when there isn't pressure to make everything count in every single combat encounter. We can include character options that speak to social situations, exploration, traveling on the high seas, hopping into other planes of existence, and so on, without segregating those options into little buckets.
Mearls: It also means that "unbalanced" options are more viable. For instance, in one adventure the characters fought a gang of hobgoblins. One of the hobgobs was a beast master who used a whip and a prod to drive a pair of giant scorpions forward. The rogue sniped the beast master, so the scorpions turned around and had their revenge on the tribe.
It ended the fight pretty quickly, but it made for a fun adventure. The characters ended up luring the scorpions into a room with a window, locking them in there while the rogue climbed out.
Brian: How do you plan on handling the discrepancy between the 4e-style spells for wizards/sorcerors (Powers) vs the older-style spells (A lot of very unique and varied spells)? Would both styles of play get along nicely in a game?
Jeremy Crawford: Yes, they get along together very nicely.
Mearls: We have some potentially interesting ideas for the warlock vs. sorcerer vs. the wizard. I can't say much, but when you have two or three classes using arcane magic, you have room to maneuver. In 3e the warlock was sort of 4e-like, as was the binder. I think we can make room for both in a way that makes those classes unique and fun.
The great thing about classes is that you can have a spell slot system, a spell point system, and a power system all in the same game.
Somnambulant gamer: Everyone's incredibly excited about this initial offering, do we know what kind of timeframe we're looking at for materials to generate new characters and a chance to see more of the core classes that will be released?
Jeremy Crawford: Even in the playtest spells, you will see elements from classic spells and elements from powers.
Mearls: Let me check our schedule. It's on a white board on the other side of my desk...
Jeremy Crawford: We plan to roll out character-customization options this summer.
Mearls: OK, if things go smoothly you'll have that stuff before the end of the summer. Keep in mind that feedback is a part of this, and it's all contingent on how much we need to change based on round 1.
Jeremy Crawford: And we'll roll out other classes bit by bit. Since our focus is on collecting feedback, we are not going to release too much at once. We want to make sure each part of the game gets the love it deserves.
Andrew: Can you comment on adventure pacing versus the wonder of magic? In 3e, PCs were often required to rest after the cleric/wizard were out of spells, regardless of the state of the rest of the party. In 4e, everyone can keep going until out of surges, but there was less "magical pizazz" across the classes -- a sword being a magic missile being a druid's claw.
Jeremy Crawford: We have been striving to connect pacing to concrete things in the game world: magical resources, such as spells; hit points; and various options that might rely on a character expending some of his or her vitality.
Mearls: That's a great question. We want magical to feel magical yet rooted in the world. The cantrip thing ties into this. Cantrips aren't specifically made to blast people, but a cantrip you use to create a small amount of acid as part of an alchemy experiment can also be a useful weapon. Spells should feel magical and maybe even mysterious in some way.
For instance, going back to cantrips, we specifically didn't want to just make a spell that was the same as a crossbow but it did fire damage. That sells magic short, IMO.
Somnambulant gamer: You mentioned all casters have at-will spell "options" now. Are these class features, or tied into the themes or backgrounds?
Jeremy Crawford: Both! The cleric and the wizard get them, and some backgrounds and themes offer them.
Mearls: Yes, both. At-will spells come with classes. Rogues and fighters can opt into that if they want. I'd also like to at some point offer an option for a non-at-will magic game, but we received overwhelming feedback in favor of at-will magic. That feedback was largely edition independent.
Jeremy Crawford: Yeah, when playing a spellcaster, many people like to feel like a spellcaster all the time and not have to resort to a crossbow--or a dart!
Preston: What races will be in the play test? Do you see race or culture as being a driving force behind a characters mechanics?
Jeremy Crawford: The classic four will be in the playtest: dwarf, elf, halfling, and human.
Mearls: Halfling, human, dwarf, and elf. We're actually doing a mix of race and culture with our approach. A high elf and a wood elf share some innately elf things, but also get some things distinct to their specific culture.
Jeremy Crawford: Right out of the gate, you'll see the high elf, for instance.
HustontheTodd: What I love about 4e is the ease with which I can throw an encounter together. What can I expect from dndnext to make adventure building fun?
Jeremy Crawford: While Mike answers that, I'll say something else about race. A thing I love about our current approach is that you don't just pick your race, such as dwarf. You also pick what kind of dwarf you are.
Mearls: 4e provides the standard we're using for DM tools and adventure building. My goal is to do a mix of basic D&D - which was fairly step-by-step - combined with 4e's approach, though focusing more on the adventure as a whole rather than encounters. We also know that DM experience plays a big role in how people approach adventure and campaign design, so we want to offer a lot of options including "roll lots of dice and randomly determine everything" to "do whatever you want."
RupertDnD: Are Fighters getting cool stuff too, like powers or maneuvers?
Jeremy Crawford: The fighter gets to carry my wizard's tea!
Mearls: Right now, we're keeping the fighter fairly basic but giving you those options in feats. However, the fighter does get a couple unique mechanics to make him different. This is definitely an area where we're looking at feedback, but so far people seemed more concerned with getting at-will magic that in making manuevers something all fighters automatically get.
And to be clear, right now if you spend a feat for maneuvers you're getting a whole suite of options to use, not just one thing. Also, I don't think the first pregen fighter has maneuvers to start with.
Jeremy Crawford: We're committed to giving fighter players interesting tactical options, but we also want to make it possible to play the simple basher. Feedback is usually split on wanting both types of fighter.
Jozh: Prestige Classes/Paragon Paths? In or out?
Mearls: We're not sure yet. One of our next big tasks is to look at high level play and how things might evolve beyond class. If we do paths or prestige classes, we want to make sure that they fit into the overall Next system in an organic way, We don't want to just bolt them in.
OK, one more question then I have a lunch meeting.
Jeremy Crawford: Our initial high-level playtests were a hoot and included elements similar to paragon paths / prestige classes, but we're still exploring options.
EdofDoom: Are there any obvious tanking mechanics in the new edition? Something that guarantees a wizard in the back doesn't get ganged up on by people running past the fighter?
Jeremy Crawford: There are definitely ways for one character to protect another. We have a whole theme dedicated to the concept, in fact, but you won't see a tank per se in the first batch of five characters.
Mearls: There are two things. First, creatures grant cover. So, cowering behind people is a good idea. That said, the basic option for that rests in a theme right now. My feeling on tanks is that it's best if a player wants to do that, rather than saying an entire swatch of characters are assigned that when a player might want to be a fighter to be good in combat.
I'd rather it be clear that a player has taken a theme to do that and is getting into it because that's what the player enjoys doing in D&D.
Thanks for the questions, everyone. This was a lot of fun. I've asked Trevor to capture the questions we couldn't get to so we can cover them before the playtest launches.
Jeremy Crawford: Yes, thank you, everyone!
Trevor: Alright, that wraps things up for the Q&A! Thanks everyone for all the great questions. We weren't able to get to them all, but as Mike mentioned, we will be trying to answer as many as we can in future articles and conversations.
Thans toMorrus for transcribing.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
2012 Gen Con Indy Event Catalog Posted
The Gen Con Indy 2012 Event Catalog is live!
Please take the next two weeks to review and begin planning your 2012 event schedule. You will be able to register for events beginning on Sunday, May 20 at noon eastern time, provided you have purchased your 2012 Gen Con Badge.
You can find event listings at registration.gencon.com. To view the listings, you will need to log into your Gen Con account, and click the “Find Events” link in the left navigation pane. From there, you can browse events by type, day, group, and more.
Additionally, you may review the schedule online at www.gencon.com at a link that will appear under the “Attend” menu. From “Attend,” you can mouse to “Events,” then click on “Event Catalog.”
Finally to download the spreadsheet version of the catalog, you can to the Community downloads page.
The Gen Con Indy 2012 Event Catalog is live!
Please take the next two weeks to review and begin planning your 2012 event schedule. You will be able to register for events beginning on Sunday, May 20 at noon eastern time, provided you have purchased your 2012 Gen Con Badge.
You can find event listings at registration.gencon.com. To view the listings, you will need to log into your Gen Con account, and click the “Find Events” link in the left navigation pane. From there, you can browse events by type, day, group, and more.
Additionally, you may review the schedule online at www.gencon.com at a link that will appear under the “Attend” menu. From “Attend,” you can mouse to “Events,” then click on “Event Catalog.”
Finally to download the spreadsheet version of the catalog, you can to the Community downloads page.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Final marketing fellowship winners announced for GENCON
Final Four Marketing Fellowship Winners Announced
The final four companies have been awarded the remaining Gen Con Indy 2012 Marketing Fellowships, joining Dead General’s Society LLC and Floodgate games which were previously announced. Marketing Fellowship recipients receive increased exposure, expanded booth space, and featured on-site marketing placements.
Companies selected include:
The Very Us Artists
The Very Us Artists are thrilled to make their debut at Gen Con Indy this year. They hope to bring something new and different to the Gen Con exhibit experience, namely a cyberpunk-fuelled multimedia anthology of original music and fiction called Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero.
To learn more about the Very Us Artists, check out http://foreshadows.net and visit them in Entrepreneurs’ Avenue at booth #1749.
Rather Dashing Games
Rather Dashing Games also will make their Gen Con Indy debut in 2012. Veteran game designer Mike Richie and intrepid artist Grant Wilson (of Ghost Hunters fame) have pooled their talents to launch an all-new game company. Their Gen Con launch product, Four Taverns will have players competing to manage the greatest tavern in the land, where thirsty adventurers gather at the close of their epic quests.
To find out more about Rather Dashing Games, go to www.ratherdashinggames.comor check out their booth (#1849) in Entrepreneurs’ Avenue.
Wargames Factory LLC
Wargames Factory LLC specializes in hard plastic, wargaming miniatures in 28mm scale. They also recently have branched into 15mm scale with their new WWII line. Currently their kits cover Sci Fi, Historical, Fantasy and Modern genres with many new figures in the works. Their team prides themselves on achieving the highest detail obtainable in plastic miniatures and providing their kits at excellent prices.
Find Wargames Factory LLC in Entrepreneurs' Avenue at booth #1649 or learn more about their products at www.wargamesfactory.com
Scallywags International, LLC
Scallywags International, LLC, the mad partnership between the massive master of mustaches, Darren J. Gendron, and the tiny tattooed terror, Obsidian Abnormal, is showing off two new games at Gen Con Indy 2012.The Scallywags’ first board game release, Scurvy Dogs: Pirates and Privateers, was the result of a successful Kickstarter launch. As part of that promotion, the secret limited edition cards of the Mermaid, Melusine, Siren and Manatee will be available over Gen Con weekend.
Also, the Scallywags will be demoing a project known only as C3G. There are rumors of ninjas, weretigers, zombies, gnomes, erasers, Santa, and geeks involved.
Visit Scallywags International, LLC in Entrepreneurs' Avenue at booth #1949 and view their games at www.dernworks.com
The final four companies have been awarded the remaining Gen Con Indy 2012 Marketing Fellowships, joining Dead General’s Society LLC and Floodgate games which were previously announced. Marketing Fellowship recipients receive increased exposure, expanded booth space, and featured on-site marketing placements.
Companies selected include:
The Very Us Artists
The Very Us Artists are thrilled to make their debut at Gen Con Indy this year. They hope to bring something new and different to the Gen Con exhibit experience, namely a cyberpunk-fuelled multimedia anthology of original music and fiction called Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero.
To learn more about the Very Us Artists, check out http://foreshadows.net and visit them in Entrepreneurs’ Avenue at booth #1749.
Rather Dashing Games
Rather Dashing Games also will make their Gen Con Indy debut in 2012. Veteran game designer Mike Richie and intrepid artist Grant Wilson (of Ghost Hunters fame) have pooled their talents to launch an all-new game company. Their Gen Con launch product, Four Taverns will have players competing to manage the greatest tavern in the land, where thirsty adventurers gather at the close of their epic quests.
To find out more about Rather Dashing Games, go to www.ratherdashinggames.comor check out their booth (#1849) in Entrepreneurs’ Avenue.
Wargames Factory LLC
Wargames Factory LLC specializes in hard plastic, wargaming miniatures in 28mm scale. They also recently have branched into 15mm scale with their new WWII line. Currently their kits cover Sci Fi, Historical, Fantasy and Modern genres with many new figures in the works. Their team prides themselves on achieving the highest detail obtainable in plastic miniatures and providing their kits at excellent prices.
Find Wargames Factory LLC in Entrepreneurs' Avenue at booth #1649 or learn more about their products at www.wargamesfactory.com
Scallywags International, LLC
Scallywags International, LLC, the mad partnership between the massive master of mustaches, Darren J. Gendron, and the tiny tattooed terror, Obsidian Abnormal, is showing off two new games at Gen Con Indy 2012.The Scallywags’ first board game release, Scurvy Dogs: Pirates and Privateers, was the result of a successful Kickstarter launch. As part of that promotion, the secret limited edition cards of the Mermaid, Melusine, Siren and Manatee will be available over Gen Con weekend.
Also, the Scallywags will be demoing a project known only as C3G. There are rumors of ninjas, weretigers, zombies, gnomes, erasers, Santa, and geeks involved.
Visit Scallywags International, LLC in Entrepreneurs' Avenue at booth #1949 and view their games at www.dernworks.com
Wonderful article from Morris concerning 5th edition.
Prose, Terminology, Fluff, & Presentation: Spreadsheets or Haiku?
One
subject which seems to be raging like wildfire across various threads here on
the forums right now is not about the rules of D&D Next, but merely about the way those
rules are presented.
It turns out that this is a highly contentious topic. The opinions people hold are widespread and diametric, and very, very strongly held. Unfortunately, while a modular rules system can possibly appeal to different tastes in terms of mechanical complexity, the books themselves can only have one approach to presentation. That makes this a particularly difficult subject for WotC - there is no way they will able to not annoy a whole bunch of people, whatever they choose to do (unless they literally produce three different versions of each book!)
Here are just some of the threads which address this topic: I've given my own opinion a number of times; some people agree with me, but it's clear that an equal number do not. This really appears to be a divisive issue.
So, what is the issue? Well, to try and break it down into its simplest terms, it's about the language and layout used when presenting rules material. If I were to engage hyperbolic mode and create a witty and hilarious (no, really!) "scale" depicting the range of opinion, it might look something like this. Or it might not. Maybe a little. Anyway:
Now, obviously that's me being a little silly. But I hope it gives you a sense of what I mean when I talk of varied opinions as to how the rules text should be presented.
For the record, I am personally firmly positioned about 3/4 of the way between 1E (Gygax) and 3E/Pathfinder.
On a very basic level, those who trend towards the "spreadsheet" end of the scale tend to do so in support of clarity; while those who trend towards the haiku end of the scale tend to do so in support of flavour and immersion. Generally speaking, the former support "fluff" text, but want it kept away from the mechanics with an iron wall, and the latter - with some exceptions - don't generally want a return to Gygax's specific personal writing style, but to a style which is more prose-inclined than table-delineated. I don't think anybody is advocating either of the extremes on my scale.
Let's look at some examples. I'm grabbing these from the above linked threads, so thanks to those who originally posted them.
That's probably not even close to the best example of what I mean. The difference is even more pronounced when it comes to magic items (and if anyone wants to whip up some examples, I'd love to include them here).
So, other than briefly mentioning my own preference above, I've avoided arguing my opinion so far in this article in favour of simply summarizing the discussion. To put my opinion shortly: I personally believe that greater gameworld immersion is achieved when the flavour is intermixed and thus harder to ignore (I find that 4E's powers in-game have a tendency to manifest as a non-descript attack roll and effect, though I'm sure your own mileage may well vary), whereas when playing a 3E wizard I "feel" more wizardly as I read the spell description. I recognise that some of you will feel that it's my own fault if I find it harder to immerse with one than the other, and that it's all to do with the player not the game, but you'll remember that I've already argued that game syntax and rules structure are as influential as the people themselves when it comes to how a game manifests itself at the game table, and that the same exact people will play differently when given different RPGs to play. So the presentation does have something to do with it.
So that's one half of the debate. The other half deals with the concept of readability. Is a D&D rulebook designed to be read, or simply referenced? Again, as you'd expect, opinions are divided.
When I was younger, I used to spend hours reading and re-reading my DMG and PHB and other books - both 1E and 2E materials. They engaged me; and they still do - I frequently pull them off the shelf and read a few pages. That consequently excited my imagination.
I did that less with 3E, and I don't do it at all with 4E. With 4E, I just look stuff up, like I'm using a dictionary.
Now you might argue that's not a problem. The books are rulebooks; their function is the same as the instruction manual for a VCR, not a novel. You use them to access information, but you don't buy them to read. That may well be true for many, but it isn't for me - reading those 1E and 2E books was an integral and pleasant - I'd argue vital - part of my D&D experience growing up; a memory I cherish, and one I'd love to experience again. But I can understand the position of those who simply want clarity of information and ease of reference: I don't share their desire, but I understand it.
When I say I don't share their desire for clarity, I guess I should be clear myself - I'm certainly not advocating an opaque, incomprehensible wall of text. I'm advocating clearly written, engaging, well-indexed rules. I like clarity as much as the next guy; just not at the expense of readability.
I'd also like to add that I'm not talking about pages of "story fluff" or filling the books with sidebars of torrid fiction. Hints at a default setting are fine, but I don't want to be swamped with one; fiction I get from good fiction novelists, and settings I get from setting books or my own imagination. I want the text to prod my imagination so that I come up with my own stufff, not tell me a story. I'm talking about the presentation of the rules, not fluff text.
As I said, it's a contentious issue, and there really does not seem to be a consensus on it. In fact, it seems to get people quite angry in places!
As a final note before I sign off - I'd just like to mention that if I open the 5E PHB and see a sentence along the lines of:
Thoughts are welcome. I know this one is gonna be divisive, so please make sure you stay civil to each other.
It turns out that this is a highly contentious topic. The opinions people hold are widespread and diametric, and very, very strongly held. Unfortunately, while a modular rules system can possibly appeal to different tastes in terms of mechanical complexity, the books themselves can only have one approach to presentation. That makes this a particularly difficult subject for WotC - there is no way they will able to not annoy a whole bunch of people, whatever they choose to do (unless they literally produce three different versions of each book!)
Here are just some of the threads which address this topic: I've given my own opinion a number of times; some people agree with me, but it's clear that an equal number do not. This really appears to be a divisive issue.
So, what is the issue? Well, to try and break it down into its simplest terms, it's about the language and layout used when presenting rules material. If I were to engage hyperbolic mode and create a witty and hilarious (no, really!) "scale" depicting the range of opinion, it might look something like this. Or it might not. Maybe a little. Anyway:
Now, obviously that's me being a little silly. But I hope it gives you a sense of what I mean when I talk of varied opinions as to how the rules text should be presented.
For the record, I am personally firmly positioned about 3/4 of the way between 1E (Gygax) and 3E/Pathfinder.
On a very basic level, those who trend towards the "spreadsheet" end of the scale tend to do so in support of clarity; while those who trend towards the haiku end of the scale tend to do so in support of flavour and immersion. Generally speaking, the former support "fluff" text, but want it kept away from the mechanics with an iron wall, and the latter - with some exceptions - don't generally want a return to Gygax's specific personal writing style, but to a style which is more prose-inclined than table-delineated. I don't think anybody is advocating either of the extremes on my scale.
Let's look at some examples. I'm grabbing these from the above linked threads, so thanks to those who originally posted them.
Sleep (3rd Edition)The difference in styles is, I hope, fairly clear. Both are presenting similar information, but in very different ways. To me, they feel very different; neither is filled with paragraphs of torrid fiction or fluff text, but the former - to me - is more evocative than the latter. One interests and engages me, the other does not. One makes me want to cast a sleep spell, the other just lists the mechanical advantages of doing so. One feels to me like fantasy, the other just feels like information. It actually saddens me that our hobby, the hobby I grew up with, has reached the point where people consider a paragraph a turgid barrier of insurmountable difficulty. What happened?
Level: Brd 1, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area: One or more living creatures within a 10-ft.-radius burst
Duration: 1 min./level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
A sleep spell causes a magical slumber to come upon 4 Hit Dice of creatures. Creatures with the fewest HD are affected first. Among creatures with equal HD, those who are closest to the spell’s point of origin are affected first. Hit Dice that are not sufficient to affect a creature are wasted.
Sleeping creatures are helpless. Slapping or wounding awakens an affected creature, but normal noise does not. Awakening a creature is a standard action (an application of the aid another action).
Sleep does not target unconscious creatures, constructs, or undead creatures.
Material Component: A pinch of fine sand, rose petals, or a live cricket.
Sleep (4th Edition)
You exert your will against your foes, seeking to overwhelm them
with a tide of magical weariness.
Daily ✦ Arcane, Implement, Sleep
Standard Action Area burst 2 within 20 squares
Target: Each creature in burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
Hit: The target is slowed (save ends). If the target fails its
first saving throw against this power, the target becomes
unconscious (save ends).
Miss: The target is slowed (save ends).
That's probably not even close to the best example of what I mean. The difference is even more pronounced when it comes to magic items (and if anyone wants to whip up some examples, I'd love to include them here).
So, other than briefly mentioning my own preference above, I've avoided arguing my opinion so far in this article in favour of simply summarizing the discussion. To put my opinion shortly: I personally believe that greater gameworld immersion is achieved when the flavour is intermixed and thus harder to ignore (I find that 4E's powers in-game have a tendency to manifest as a non-descript attack roll and effect, though I'm sure your own mileage may well vary), whereas when playing a 3E wizard I "feel" more wizardly as I read the spell description. I recognise that some of you will feel that it's my own fault if I find it harder to immerse with one than the other, and that it's all to do with the player not the game, but you'll remember that I've already argued that game syntax and rules structure are as influential as the people themselves when it comes to how a game manifests itself at the game table, and that the same exact people will play differently when given different RPGs to play. So the presentation does have something to do with it.
So that's one half of the debate. The other half deals with the concept of readability. Is a D&D rulebook designed to be read, or simply referenced? Again, as you'd expect, opinions are divided.
When I was younger, I used to spend hours reading and re-reading my DMG and PHB and other books - both 1E and 2E materials. They engaged me; and they still do - I frequently pull them off the shelf and read a few pages. That consequently excited my imagination.
I did that less with 3E, and I don't do it at all with 4E. With 4E, I just look stuff up, like I'm using a dictionary.
Now you might argue that's not a problem. The books are rulebooks; their function is the same as the instruction manual for a VCR, not a novel. You use them to access information, but you don't buy them to read. That may well be true for many, but it isn't for me - reading those 1E and 2E books was an integral and pleasant - I'd argue vital - part of my D&D experience growing up; a memory I cherish, and one I'd love to experience again. But I can understand the position of those who simply want clarity of information and ease of reference: I don't share their desire, but I understand it.
When I say I don't share their desire for clarity, I guess I should be clear myself - I'm certainly not advocating an opaque, incomprehensible wall of text. I'm advocating clearly written, engaging, well-indexed rules. I like clarity as much as the next guy; just not at the expense of readability.
I'd also like to add that I'm not talking about pages of "story fluff" or filling the books with sidebars of torrid fiction. Hints at a default setting are fine, but I don't want to be swamped with one; fiction I get from good fiction novelists, and settings I get from setting books or my own imagination. I want the text to prod my imagination so that I come up with my own stufff, not tell me a story. I'm talking about the presentation of the rules, not fluff text.
As I said, it's a contentious issue, and there really does not seem to be a consensus on it. In fact, it seems to get people quite angry in places!
As a final note before I sign off - I'd just like to mention that if I open the 5E PHB and see a sentence along the lines of:
... then Lisa Stevens, Erik Mona, and Jason Bulmahn will have won me as a customer for life without ever having to lift a finger! I understand the desire to appeal to all demographics, but I feel that 4E was pitched a little too young for me.
Play a dragonborn if:
- You want to be scaly.
Thoughts are welcome. I know this one is gonna be divisive, so please make sure you stay civil to each other.
A Hobbyist's Blog: Fading Suns 3 Stillborn
APossible tentative tale to help my freelancer friends.
A Hobbyist's Blog: Fading Suns 3 Stillborn: Fading Suns 3rd edition has been a long road for me. I have spent 4 years of my spare time labouring on it, and it has been a labour of l...
A Hobbyist's Blog: Fading Suns 3 Stillborn: Fading Suns 3rd edition has been a long road for me. I have spent 4 years of my spare time labouring on it, and it has been a labour of l...
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Cleric Design Goals)
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Cleric Design Goals)
The five points of designing ythe new cleric.
The five points of designing ythe new cleric.
Monday, April 23, 2012
PAX EAST 2012: Menace of the Underdark brings big changes to Dungeons and Dragons Online | Massively
PAX East 2012: Menace of the Underdark brings big changes to Dungeons and Dragons Online | Massively
Interviews, Massively Event Coverage
Dungeons and Dragons Online players are in for a whole new world of adventure when Menace of the Underdark launches this summer. The expansion, due to release on June 25th, will send players into the Forgotten Realms to fight against the Queen of Spiders, Lolth. Executive Producer Fernando Paiz and Senior Producer Eric Boyer welcomed us into their lair... er, Turbine's booth... to talk about the upcoming expansion at this year's PAX East. Read on for our preview!
One of the key features of the Menace of the Underdark expansion is the new areas it'll give players access to: Lolth's domain, the spookily beautiful Demonweb Pits; the still-tightly-under-wraps Underdark; and the landscapes of Faerûn. The transition to these new locations is driven by a storyline revolving around Lolth. After fighting the Spinner of Shadows (Eberron's manifestation of Lolth), players will pursue her through the Demonweb, through the Underdark of Forgotten Realms into Faerûn near a town called Eveningstar. As they're struggling against Lolth's machinations, they will find that strange things are afoot in and around Eveningstar. Forest Hags are spying on the dreams of the townspeople, dryads are becoming indiscriminately violent in response to drow depredations of the forest, and the drow have learned how to sink broad areas into sudden darkness. This tendency of the drow to drop a mini-eclipse over a battlefield, along with adventures in the Underdark, will eventually lead to the inclusion of a new feature called darkvision, which the team is not yet ready to show but is nevertheless very excited about. Darkvision functions pretty much precisely as you'd imagine, and most fans of Dungeons and Dragons and the Forgotten Realms will recognize it as a long-standing part of the mythos.
As they travel through these new areas, players will have access to droves of new mobs: new and improved drow, driders (which differ from the canon driders in that rather than being a punishment from Lolth, they are half-drow, half-spider monstrosities being honored by the chance to be more like the goddess), draegloths (half-demon, half-drow nightmares in possession of a pretty wicked long-distance snare, among other nasty skills), and a host of other appropriately flavored baddies. Along with these garden-variety monsters, some new dragons and other high-powered bosses are being planted in the world. Menace of the Underdark will be introducing green dragons ("Poison is overdue to become scary again," says Fernando, referring to the special attacks of the new green dragons) as well as a new line of red dragons.
We'll also have exciting gameplay changes to look forward to. Along with updated visuals (grass that waves in reaction to players running through it was one lovely example), DDO on the whole will be experiencing an updated quest style. Certain mobs and quests will have a more randomized appearance in the game world, and some quests may even end differently based on certain circumstances. Fernando gave as an example a group of huntsmen who ask you to dine with them and might either give you perfectly tasty food that'll bestow on you a brief buff... or turn into werewolves totally intent on eating your face. Moreover, players will be able to pursue their Epic Destinies as they take character progression beyond 20 up to 25.
Of course, discussion of this expansion wouldn't be complete without mention of the much-requested new class, the Druid. A long-standing tradition in D&D, the Druid is the last of the core classes to be included in DDO, and it brings a lot of versatility and fun to the table. Druids are a pet class with the ability to level their pets as the characters themselves progress, leading to pet specialization. You can choose, for example, to have a pet that's more tanky than DPS-oriented. More importantly, Druids have natural transformation as a core class mechanic, such that they can follow one of three transformation lines (wolf, bear, and elemental) to customize their style of combat. In addition to those two fun mechanics, Druids have access to one of the richest spellbooks of any class, making them highly effective in many different fighting roles. Druids are a premium class, but they'll be free to VIP players and accessible through expansion bundles.
There's a tremendous amount of story and adventure rolled into the upcoming expansion. Menace of the Underdark will surely bring some long-desired changes and exciting updates to the world of DDO.
Interviews, Massively Event Coverage
Dungeons and Dragons Online players are in for a whole new world of adventure when Menace of the Underdark launches this summer. The expansion, due to release on June 25th, will send players into the Forgotten Realms to fight against the Queen of Spiders, Lolth. Executive Producer Fernando Paiz and Senior Producer Eric Boyer welcomed us into their lair... er, Turbine's booth... to talk about the upcoming expansion at this year's PAX East. Read on for our preview!
One of the key features of the Menace of the Underdark expansion is the new areas it'll give players access to: Lolth's domain, the spookily beautiful Demonweb Pits; the still-tightly-under-wraps Underdark; and the landscapes of Faerûn. The transition to these new locations is driven by a storyline revolving around Lolth. After fighting the Spinner of Shadows (Eberron's manifestation of Lolth), players will pursue her through the Demonweb, through the Underdark of Forgotten Realms into Faerûn near a town called Eveningstar. As they're struggling against Lolth's machinations, they will find that strange things are afoot in and around Eveningstar. Forest Hags are spying on the dreams of the townspeople, dryads are becoming indiscriminately violent in response to drow depredations of the forest, and the drow have learned how to sink broad areas into sudden darkness. This tendency of the drow to drop a mini-eclipse over a battlefield, along with adventures in the Underdark, will eventually lead to the inclusion of a new feature called darkvision, which the team is not yet ready to show but is nevertheless very excited about. Darkvision functions pretty much precisely as you'd imagine, and most fans of Dungeons and Dragons and the Forgotten Realms will recognize it as a long-standing part of the mythos.
As they travel through these new areas, players will have access to droves of new mobs: new and improved drow, driders (which differ from the canon driders in that rather than being a punishment from Lolth, they are half-drow, half-spider monstrosities being honored by the chance to be more like the goddess), draegloths (half-demon, half-drow nightmares in possession of a pretty wicked long-distance snare, among other nasty skills), and a host of other appropriately flavored baddies. Along with these garden-variety monsters, some new dragons and other high-powered bosses are being planted in the world. Menace of the Underdark will be introducing green dragons ("Poison is overdue to become scary again," says Fernando, referring to the special attacks of the new green dragons) as well as a new line of red dragons.
We'll also have exciting gameplay changes to look forward to. Along with updated visuals (grass that waves in reaction to players running through it was one lovely example), DDO on the whole will be experiencing an updated quest style. Certain mobs and quests will have a more randomized appearance in the game world, and some quests may even end differently based on certain circumstances. Fernando gave as an example a group of huntsmen who ask you to dine with them and might either give you perfectly tasty food that'll bestow on you a brief buff... or turn into werewolves totally intent on eating your face. Moreover, players will be able to pursue their Epic Destinies as they take character progression beyond 20 up to 25.
Of course, discussion of this expansion wouldn't be complete without mention of the much-requested new class, the Druid. A long-standing tradition in D&D, the Druid is the last of the core classes to be included in DDO, and it brings a lot of versatility and fun to the table. Druids are a pet class with the ability to level their pets as the characters themselves progress, leading to pet specialization. You can choose, for example, to have a pet that's more tanky than DPS-oriented. More importantly, Druids have natural transformation as a core class mechanic, such that they can follow one of three transformation lines (wolf, bear, and elemental) to customize their style of combat. In addition to those two fun mechanics, Druids have access to one of the richest spellbooks of any class, making them highly effective in many different fighting roles. Druids are a premium class, but they'll be free to VIP players and accessible through expansion bundles.
There's a tremendous amount of story and adventure rolled into the upcoming expansion. Menace of the Underdark will surely bring some long-desired changes and exciting updates to the world of DDO.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Campaign Wiki DungeonMaps: One Page Dungeon Contest 2012
Campaign Wiki DungeonMaps: One Page Dungeon Contest 2012
Submissions: Here’s how to submit your entry.
• Create a One Page Dungeon.
• Submitting a dungeon to the contest releases it under the Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license with credit to the contest participant (see FAQ).
• The submission must have a name, an author, and a link to the license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).
• The judges and readers play a variety of systems. Don’t waste valuable space with a lot of system-specific stats.
• A link to extra material on your blog such as wandering monsters, random events, adventure background, introduction, descriptions of tricks or traps are welcome for readers but will not be considered part of your submission.
• One entry per participant. Participants may revise/replace their entries up until the end of contest, with the last revision counting as their official entry.
• If your font size is too small to read, you will most probably not win.
• Many people will print your submission as a black and white document. Adding colors is no problem as long as the black and white printed copy is still good enough.
• Help us keep file size in check. A single page should not take more than an image with 3000x2000 pixels (1-2MB is cool, 5MB still works, 10MB is too much).
• Submission must be mailed in PDF format to Alex Schröder → kensanata@gmail.com. Usually we can help you convert your Open Office and Microsoft Word documents to PDF.
• If you have a blog article talking about your submission
Submissions: Here’s how to submit your entry.
• Create a One Page Dungeon.
• Submitting a dungeon to the contest releases it under the Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license with credit to the contest participant (see FAQ).
• The submission must have a name, an author, and a link to the license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).
• The judges and readers play a variety of systems. Don’t waste valuable space with a lot of system-specific stats.
• A link to extra material on your blog such as wandering monsters, random events, adventure background, introduction, descriptions of tricks or traps are welcome for readers but will not be considered part of your submission.
• One entry per participant. Participants may revise/replace their entries up until the end of contest, with the last revision counting as their official entry.
• If your font size is too small to read, you will most probably not win.
• Many people will print your submission as a black and white document. Adding colors is no problem as long as the black and white printed copy is still good enough.
• Help us keep file size in check. A single page should not take more than an image with 3000x2000 pixels (1-2MB is cool, 5MB still works, 10MB is too much).
• Submission must be mailed in PDF format to Alex Schröder → kensanata@gmail.com. Usually we can help you convert your Open Office and Microsoft Word documents to PDF.
• If you have a blog article talking about your submission
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Get hammered on Tyrion's quips with the Game of Thrones drinking game
Get hammered on Tyrion's quips with the Game of Thrones drinking game
Get hammered on Tyrion’s quips with the Game of Thrones drinking game
Should neither Game of Thrones' abundant nudity nor its taut political machinations hold your interest, there's always the option to spice Westeros up with a tipple. That's exactly what Anna Lucylle has done for the show's second season. Here's a larger, printable version of her rules, and you can find more ill-advised science fiction and fantasy drinking games here.
Get hammered on Tyrion’s quips with the Game of Thrones drinking game
Should neither Game of Thrones' abundant nudity nor its taut political machinations hold your interest, there's always the option to spice Westeros up with a tipple. That's exactly what Anna Lucylle has done for the show's second season. Here's a larger, printable version of her rules, and you can find more ill-advised science fiction and fantasy drinking games here.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D Next Design Considerations)
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (D&D Next Design Considerations)
Great article on theWOTC site for what to expect for D&D Next
Great article on theWOTC site for what to expect for D&D Next
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Future of D&D Panel at PAX East - 2012 - YouTube
The Future of D&D Panel at PAX East - 2012 - YouTube
The next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons is on its way! Join D&D Senior Manager Mike Mearls and Lead Rules Editor Jeremy Crawford in a Q&A about the next D&D, and how the open playtest is using fan feedback to help shape the future of the game.
Category:
Gaming
Tags:
Dungeons and Dragons DnD Next DnDNext
License:
Standard YouTube License
The next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons is on its way! Join D&D Senior Manager Mike Mearls and Lead Rules Editor Jeremy Crawford in a Q&A about the next D&D, and how the open playtest is using fan feedback to help shape the future of the game.
Category:
Gaming
Tags:
Dungeons and Dragons DnD Next DnDNext
License:
Standard YouTube License
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
7 of the World's Most Overgrown Churches - All in One English County! | Urban Ghosts |
7 of the World's Most Overgrown Churches - All in One English County! | Urban Ghosts |
Great pictures to inspire encounters and local.
Great pictures to inspire encounters and local.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
A science fictional map of San Francisco as an archipelago city
A science fictional map of San Francisco as an archipelago city
part of the planning boards 2070 development.
part of the planning boards 2070 development.
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