Free World of Darkness Books
Hiya everyone,
Things are bustling work-wise this week. I even had to skip my golf game last night. I’m thoroughly bummed.
At any rate, my playtest of Keep on the Shadowfell won’t happen until this weekend, so it’ll be next Monday or so before I have it for you.
I’ve got an interesting idea for a post tomorrow, so come back then. In the meantime, you should check out the new Capturing Fantasy and Escaping Reality websites. A couple of colleagues of mine are launching a new blog and play-by-post World of Darkness game, today. The great thing about this game is that it’s run by two accomplished writers, and many of the players are writers, as well. I’ve joined, and I’d encourage you to do the same.
Oh, and did I mention they’re giving away $250 worth of WoD books?
RPGs and Fantasy Writing
I normally do my link-outs on Sundays, and I’ll have more for you this Sunday. I wanted to devote a full post today to two different friends of this blog, both of which connect two of my greatest loves in life: RPGs and writing.
First, most of you know Kameron Franklin, author of the Forgotten Realms novel, Maiden of Pain as a regular commenter on this blog. What you may not know is that Kam has re-launched his Blog, and is now focused on his experiences and thoughts on Fiction writing. He’s a good guy with a decent published novel and a great future, I think. Give Kam a visit at Pens and Swords. Tell him I sent you.
Next, I want you to check out this announcement over at Men with Pens. Harry and James are a couple of role-players who also happen to be kick-ass writers. They’re starting a new online creative writing RPG site next week, and you want to get in on this one. It’s play-by-post taken to it’s ultimate extreme. I’ll be there, and you should too.
Oh, plus they’ve got a picture of a mostly-naked chick. That alone is worth the price of admission.
And remember, there’s still time to submit your entry (or more entries) to my Name This Blog contest. Help me out, won’t you?
Keep on the Shadowfell
I’m not sure how, but I managed to devote a couple of hours last night to flipping through Keep on the Shadowfell, the preview adventure for D&D 4E. Now, until it’s played, I will reserve full judgment, but here is what I’m getting at first blush:
4E completes the work of making D&D a true gaming system, rather than a loosely-connected ruleset.
To be sure, 3E started this process, and it is the right path for D&D to take. No one has ever suggested that the rules in OD&D through AD&D 2nd Edition were balanced. In many cases, they were a bunch of disjointed ideas gathered in one place with often disastrous results. Did that make it a bad game? Of course not. If AD&D had sucked horribly, I wouldn’t be writing this blog today.
But, the next logical step in the evolution of the game was to truly systematize the ruleset. 3E started that process, and 4E seems to take to it’s logical conclusion. One of the things that 4E is sometimes criticized for is it’s resemblance to a Collectible Card Game. This may be true, to a degree; while there are no cards per se, creature and character stats and abilities have specific mechanical language, language that helps to define the rules of the game.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I think it’s good insofar as game balance is a concern. I also think it streamlines the system side of things, making it an easier game to learn. That brings me to my next point:
Keep on the Shadowfell reminds me of Basic D&D.
With a player’s guide and an adventure book, the opening pages of Keep on the Shadowfell read like Basic D&D. It lays the whole system out in just a few pages, and does a decent job of describing how D&D works to the initiate. While I’m certain the core books will feel very different, Keep on the Shadowfell is the sort of product a 13 year-old fantasy geek could pick up and be playing with his compatriots within a couple of hours. I’m not sure I can say that about any D&D product since Basic.
This is decidedly good. Anything that brings in a younger generation of players is a good thing. More players means more money, which means more R&D, which means higher-quality products. And, as a seasoned D&D player, I’m not offended in the least by the teaching tone of Keep on the Shadowfell. It’s designed to be introductory material.
So, what else is going on in Keep on the Shadowfell?
Keep on the Shadowfell is decidedly encounter-heavy, but also contains a sufficient amount of role-play material.
For me, D&D is collaborative storytelling, more than killing things and taking their stuff. The problem with collaborative storytelling is the collaborative part: you can never be certain what players will do. As such, it’s hard to design the story side of things for a single gaming group, much less a huge market of gamers. Having said that, D&D has done well over the years in providing some good role-play material.
Here’s what I like about the role-play material in Keep on the Shadowfell: it is designed such that any DM can pick up the adventure and implement the important NPC interactions with little trouble. This adventure really spells things out. Even so, Keep on the Shadowfell also offers DMs ideas about different directions they could take the role-playing side of things, which is something I’ve not seen enough of in recent D&D adventure materials.
If there is something I’d criticize about Keep on the Shadowfell, it is that combat encounters take precedence over non-combat encounters. I can’t say this is that different from previous versions, however.
There is something else I’ll criticize, too.
I’m mildly disappointed in the production value of Keep on the Shadowfell.
Keep on the Shadowfell consists of an Adventure booklet, a Players’ booklet, and 4 dual-sided poster maps, all inside of a card stock folder-style sleeve. This isn’t bad in itself, but I think Wizards cut some corners that they shouldn’t have here. I don’t mind paying $30 for a soft back adventure with 4 poster maps, especially one that is designed so well. Here’s what I have a problem with: the adventure booklet and the players’ booklet have standard glossy magazine-page quality covers. That stinks. Would it really have hurt production costs that much to use card stock or even a thicker glossy paper for the cover? I get that the cardboard sleeve is supposed to protect the contents, but I’m not going to read the thing inside the sleeve.
The production value isn’t horrid in the way that some 3rd party 3E products were horrid. Honestly, I think it’s just the cover thing that bugs me here.
Overall analysis
I give Keep on the Shadowfell 8.5 out of 10 stars. My personal preference for non-combat encounters and the crappy booklet covers keep it from hitting the top.
The real test will be next Monday, when I run the group through it for the first time. Hopefully, I can have some analysis shortly thereafter!
Check out Session Report & Review: Keep on the Shadowfelll (Part 1) from Critical Hits for more analysis.
The Night Before DnD-Mas
Keep on the Shadowfell, the 4E preview module, debuts tomorrow.
Tell me your final thoughts, just before it goes live.
Eve of Destruction:
or
Start of Something Big?
Dungeons and Dragons Sunday Link Smashup for May 17, 2008
Hi, everyone!
I’ve had a heck of a busy week, but I’ve still managed to find you all a few useful links. No commentary on them other than to say that there are a wide variety of 4E opinions in these links - on purpose.
Next Sunday’s Smashup should be good, as we’ll start to see more and more from the 4E preview module!
Name This Blog, and Win a Prize! (Like you haven’t already done this)
Dungeons And Dragons The Gathering
Why is charisma a primary attribute?
4th EDITION: DISSOCIATED MECHANICS
Ten Words to Victory, Winners and Runner Ups All Together!
Mike Mearls 4E Temple of Elemental Evil campaign diary
Why superheroes are fantasy fiction
Use That D20 For Something Besides Killing Orcs
Sharing some “Getting Started” Advice
Wizards of the Coast WILL be at Gen Con 2008!
Graham from Critical Ankle Bites, in his awesomeness, has discovered this post from the Wizards Message boards, from Chris Perkins:
http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15876256&postcount=1
Here’s the relevant Gen Con excerpt:
“I learned that we are, indeed, goin’ to Gen Con! Clearly, one of the big thrusts of the show will be 4E. We have a cap on the number of R&D people we can send, and I *did* attend last year, so I’m not sure whether I’ll be attending this year. I should know in the next few days, one way or the other.”
Shine on, you crazy diamond.
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Now, as important as that news is, don’t forget to give me your thoughts on these last couple of posts:
and
Does Monte Matter?
I almost hate to knock Name This Blog, Win A Prize off the top of the page, but I will. Keep in mind you’ve got a couple of weeks to continue to submit names for this blog still.
At any rate, this discussion is better late than never.
The news you’ve probably heard already is that Monte Cook, one of the 3 lead designers of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, has joined the Pathfinder RPG team.
I’ve got my opinion on what this means. I’m curious, though, to know what you think first? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll join the fracas after a bit.
Name This Blog, Win A Prize
UPDATE for June 3: Thanks to everyone for their entries. The contest is now closed. Make sure to come back on Friday when I announce the winner!
It’s time, I think.
When I started this web site, it was called “Dungeons and Dragons Reviews” and it was designed to be more of a static, article-based site, featuring reviews of D&D products. I quickly discovered, however, that I enjoyed the interactivity of blogging about Dungeons and Dragons much more than I enjoyed writing articles, and so The DMs Blog was born as a part of DnDReviews.com.
Today, I find myself in a branding crisis. I have no desire to write reviews all day long, so DnDReviews.com isn’t necessarily appropriate anymore. I could stick with “The DM’s Blog,” but I don’t think it is nearly original enough to describe what I do here. On top of that, folks like Yax at Dungeonmastering.com and Phil from ChattyDM.net sort of have the “DM” market cornered.
So, I’m at a bit of a loss. I need a new name.
This is where YOU come in.
Between now at June 3, 2008, I need as many suggestions as I can get for a name for this blog. Put yours right down below in the “comments” section. On June 4, I will pick my favorite, and announce the winner on the day 4E is released, June 6. The winner will receive her choice of any one of the 3 core 4E books, or a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate.
You can enter as many times as you’d like. Be creative. Be unique. Be interesting. Here’s what I know I want:
I want a blog name that has an available “.com” domain. In other words, if I’m to be The Jolly DM, I want jollyDM.com to be available. You can find whether a domain is available at http://www.domainsearch.com/.
- I want a blog name that has one of these keywords in it: dnd, dungeon, dragon, rpg, or roleplaying. This point isn’t mandatory, but if you can incorporate one of them it’d be swell.
- I want a blog name that is no more than 3 words long (excluding the word “blog”).
- I want a blog name that represents my writing style and my blog’s mission. For my writing style, you’d have to read some of my posts. For the mission, well, here is my newly-minted mission statement:
“(Name)’s purpose is to provide interesting and insightful information for Dungeons and Dragons players, DMs and fans, to facilitate discussion of issues in the Dungeons and Dragons community, and to serve the gaming community at large.”
Good luck to everyone. If you have questions, email me here: bob at dnd reviews dot com.
To follow the contest and know when I’ve announced the winner, Subscribe to The DM’s Blog via RSS, or via E-mail, and/or follow me on Twitter.
Why Dungeons and Dragons Geeks are Behind the Times
Before you get all pissed off and start ripping me a new asshole, let me say this:
I’m a Dungeons and Dragons geek, and I’m damned proud of it. I love my D&D peeps, and wouldn’t trade them for all the gold in World of Warcraft.
Having said that, I’ve noticed some things. See, I run a mildly popular writing blog, and I’ve had the chance to meet all sorts of folks in the blogosphere by way of that blog. And do you know what I’ve discovered? We D&D geeks are way behind on this Internet thing. The sad facts are:
Dungeons and Dragons is an underrepresented niche in the blogosphere.
Our Rockstar bloggers like Yax at Dungeonmastering.com boast 1200 or so RSS subscribers. That’s no small number, to be sure. But in the freelance writing area? The big blogs start at around 20,000 subscribers. Tech knowledge or no tech knowledge, that’s a pretty startling difference. If Dungeons and Dragons geeks are online, they’re not hanging out at D&D blogs.
But that’s not the only problem for Dungeons and Dragons Blogs.
Dungeons and Dragons players prefer interactivity to information gathering.
Forums do amazingly well in Dungeons and Dragons world of the Internet. While forums have, in many cases, become passé’ in other niches, our forums are going gangbusters. The EnWorld forums and the WotC forums together constitute more readers than any two freelance writing forums that I’m aware of.
Now, blogs are interactive, to be sure. But Dungeons and Dragons players don’t seem, as of yet, to really have grasped just how much more effective blogs are than forums. Blogs are intimate communities of, generally, about 30-50 active participants. Forums, in many cases, have thousands. Blogs focus on a single topic at a time, and carry that conversation from one blog to the next. Forums tend to keep everything in one neat little isolated forum thread, so if you skip one thread you miss volumes.
That’s not all of it, though.
Dungeons and Dragons players prefer pen-and-paper to computers.
This isn’t a hard and fast rule. One of my best friends is a huge Everquest guy, in addition to playing Dungeons and Dragons. But the nature of the game has been such that you don’t need a lot of technical knowledge to play.
This is, in some ways, why 4E is needed so badly. Specifically, the digital initiative is needed badly. If the hobby is going to continue to grow, it has to appeal to a generation of kids that have grown up with computers in the house. No, Dungeons and Dragons doesn’t have to be WOW-ified, but it does have to utilize some technology. This is why I’m so geeked about the DM Tools and the virtual tabletop: if they work as promised, they’ll bring Dungeons and Dragons into the 21st century. Truth be told, we should have been here a decade ago.
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So, what do you think? Are we stuck in a bygone era? If so, does it mean our game will soon become a thing of the past, replaced en toto by MMORPGs?
Prove me wrong: Subscribe to The DM’s Blog via RSS and follow me on Twitter.
Photo by Irena Kittenclaw
Dungeons and Dragons 4E Cosmology and Core World
One of the massive changes taking place in Dungeons and Dragons 4E is the creation of a core world. Up to this point, D&D has only ever provided players with elements of a core world or core cosmology - such as the old Greyhawk Deities in D&D 3E.
This change is a long time coming. Think about it: you’re a new D&D player. You pick up the core books at Barnes & Noble, and you want to run D&D for your friends. As it stands today, you either have to buy a campaign setting or create your own world from scratch. Do you know how overwhelming it is for a first-time DM to do either one of those? With the number of campaign settings, the neophyte won’t even know where to begin. Even if he does, what if he picks a crappy setting? He and his cohorts will write D&D off altogether. And don’t get me started on how lost the new DM feels trying to create a world. I’ve been DMing for almost three decades, so I enjoy campaign creation; and that new DM will too, in a couple of years.
Including a core setting and cosmology doesn’t forbid anyone from creating their own. In fact, WotC is now making the various campaign settings part of core. This means you can have a near-infinite number of settings and cosmologies without breaking the game. That’s a sweet deal, and it’s overdue.
For some other thoughts about these changes, check out this article at Critical Hits: D&D 4e: A Whole New World.
So, what do you all think? Is this a good move, or not?
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Updates
