D&D 4?

I’ve followed the D&D development from Purple Basic D&D/1E AD&D thru D&D 3.25 (we’re playing 3.0 with some of the 3.5 ideas that we like and that don’t upheave our long-standing campaign thrown in for good measure). Though I’m still smarting from the 3.5 release…I mean, was that really necessary?, I’m still hoping that the promise of the 4.0 edition (still d20, but different) pans out. Here’s the news of the month for table top gamers:

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition coming in 2008
Posted 2007-08-16 19:24:29 by JoyceGreenholdt

BREAKING NEWS An Anonymous Reader Reports: by Joyce Greenholdt
Editor, Scrye magazine

Wizards of the Coast announced at Gen Con Indy Aug. 16 that the much-rumored fourth edition of the seminal role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons will be released in May 2008. However, several D&D support products

scheduled for earlier release, including January’s Classes and Races book and the April adventure Keep on the Shadowfell, will be 4th Edition previews.

The transition to D&D 4th Edition begins in April with a new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures starter set and the Dungeons of Dread booster expansion. Older D&D minis will need updated stat cards to be used with the new editon rules. Wizards plans to release converted cards for figures in Unhallowed, Night Below, and Desert of Desolation via the company’s website, as well as updated cards for select “all-star” figures from previous D&D Minis expansions.

For the role-playing game, the 4th Edition Player’s Handbook is scheduled for May release, followed by the Monster Manual in June and the Dungeon Master’s Guide in July, with additional volumes to follow. D&D 4th Edition will continue to use the d20 game system — according to Wizards of the Coasts designers, the 4th Edition rules will be an “evolution of the system, not a revolution.” 4th Edition play is designed to be faster and easier for the Dungeon Master to adjudicate. Each character class will have a specific, defined role within an adventuring party, and the designers’ goal was to give each class interesting options for gameplay at every level. Character races have undergone a similar overhaul, with at least two new player races included in the Player’s Handbook, and the core rules now go up to level 30 for characters; with the levels divided into three tiers: heroic for levels 1-10, paragon for 11-20, and epic for 21-30. One goal was to avoid having a single “sweet spot” — a specific range in levels where everyone wants to play. In D&D 3.5, this tends to be levels 7-13. For Dungeon Masters, the new edition includes new ways to build encounters by giving every monster in an encounter a role to play, and addresses or removes “game-stopping” rules like grappling in combat….(cont)…

A new edition, that seems about right assuming we don’t consider the 3.5 (we get a new edition about once/decade)……YMMV

~AoB

Big Time Game Developer

When Damianov said he was adding me to his blogroll on his Voyages in Eternity blog site, I had no idea I’d be put in a place of such prominence.

There I am between Chaosium, Inc. (RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, BRP, Stormbringer, Hawkmoon, etc.) and Iron Crown Enterprises (Rolemaster, Spacemaster, MERP, HARP, etc.), both of which have 25+ years designing games. I guess I’ve finally arrived. My day is here….

Look out, all you game designing choads, there’s another big dog on the blog…and this time there’s a bitch…er, a HAG involved.

In a seemingly unrelated item, I have also taken the Barrowdowns Lord of the Rings Personality Quiz with the following result:

 

 The Barrow-Downs
presents
Lord of the Rings
Personality Test

---

Based on your answers, you are most like
Aragorn

You were also very much like
Pippin

 

 It looks like I pretty much rule. I’m most like the rightful heir of Numenorean (aka Atlantean) Royalty. Ties right in to my master plan:

 Phase I – Collect the world’s underpants, Phase III – World Domination.

 I rule.

Or not. Good night to all.

 

~Adaen of Bridgewater

The Atlantean Sword…

The Fabled City of Atlantis….

This here is the sword of my fathers whose might welled from Atlantis. It hath served well in their hands and in mine own and awaits to be again called to battle…

~From the Chronicles of Eairis, Warrior-Bard of Avalonia

Aega Mythea – Update Coming Soon

I’ve been a little slow on posting over the last two weeks. In part due to personal time constraints and in part because I’m hoping to get some more Aega Mythea materials worked out and posted.

I have some time over the next few days; so there should be some new development content up here by the end of the week.

-Adaen of Bridgewater

Aega Mythea Thought Item — Two-weapon fighting

Aega Mythea Thought Item — Two-weapon fighting

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/rpg-create/messages/41477?threaded=1&m=e&…

I have been thinking a bit about how to model two-weapon fighting combinations in Aega Mythea. In many systems an additional attack or attacks are awarded, but the effectiveness of ALL attacks is decreased (i.e., penalties with regard to success or failure are applied). This solution seems to be based upon balance consideration. Balance is definitely not the only consideration for Aega Mythea. In some cases, it is a non-factor.

I envision a solution that has both positives and negative (balance again, I suppose), but does so at a different level of abstraction, perhaps in a completely different manner. I would like to treat a shield as a weapon that has a poor offensive capability, but an excellent defensive capability (and actual “weapons” as just the opposite).

I’m going to do some research as to how this is handled in existing games. Some of interest are: TRoS, DragonQuest, RQ, Powers & Perils, Conan RPG from Mongoose, Masterbook, GURPS, Rolemaster, HARP, Age of Heroes, etc. With some of these I already have familiarity, but a re-examination can’t hurt. If anyone has any suggestions as to interesting treatments of this issue, please send them my way.

~Adaen of Bridgewater

Tuesday September 12, 2006 – 10:43pm (EDT)