Ok, now that that's over with...
I do not like Essensials. I think it is messing with a decent system that my group and I enjoy , and I could not imagine playing it with new players. But, if it gets even one more person to play 4e, I'm ok with it. The only thing that could possibly get me mad about essentials is if their will be no more PHBs or DMGs. I have heard that their will be Phb4, but has WotC officially said so?
At gen-con they specificly said they where going to make a DMG for epic tier (presumably called DMG3). They just pushed it back because most people didn't make it to epic yet.
Wonderful, so by the time it comes out, my group will be already done with epic on onto our next campaign.
pAt gen-con they specificly said they where going to make a DMG for epic tier (presumably called DMG3). They just pushed it back because most people didn't make it to epic yet.
Wonderful, so by the time it comes out, my group will be already done with epic on onto our next campaign.
I agree that it's a bit of a logical gaff there. You want to put the DMG3 out when most groups are in mid paragon, BEFORE they hit epic.
But still, they plan on making it.
Thanks for the feedback, but I am still wondering about phb4.
Most likely. They said that after essentials they'd go back to "normal". Which presumably means PHB4 and power books.
Though they where a bit flakey on weather they'd be hard or soft bound.
Edit: if i had to speculate, i think PHB4 would mostly contain shadow power stuff. And PHB5 would be Elementals.
Most likely. They said that after essentials they'd go back to "normal". Which presumably means PHB4 and power books.
Hasn't it been shown that the "back to 'normal'" promise was false though? I mean, we've got info on a ton of releases after essentials line finishes up by the end of the year and we've seen nothing but new formats in 2011.
pAt gen-con they specificly said they where going to make a DMG for epic tier (presumably called DMG3). They just pushed it back because most people didn't make it to epic yet.
Wonderful, so by the time it comes out, my group will be already done with epic on onto our next campaign.
I agree that it's a bit of a logical gaff there. You want to put the DMG3 out when most groups are in mid paragon, BEFORE they hit epic.
But still, they plan on making it.
My group is level 20 now (we'd be epic if we didnt have attendance issues all summer), we were lucky enough to get paragon support in DMGII a tad late, but it did help. Epic is a tricky deal though as its well, the big finale.
Maybe I'll go see about getting some other opinions on the DM forum, I'd rather not mess it up.
There almost certainly will not be a book actually called 'Player's Handbook 4'. However, all the stuff you'd expect to see in such a book will still get released in some form.
Champions of the Heroic Tier will have non-DS themes, plus new feats and some non-combat options (that's the book Cyber-Dave is thinking of).
Heroes of Shadow will have new races and classes, as well as various ways of allowing existing classes to take shadow powers.
Likewise, there probably isn't ever going to be a book called 'Dungeon Master's Guide 3', but there presumably will still be new books aimed at DMs and there will eventually be a book for running epic tier campaigns. Nobody at WotC is working on one yet, though.
Mike Mearls was told specifically to start working on a book of skill challenges.
The problem with numbered titles is that they imply (falsely) that you need all the previous-numbered books to make use of the new one. WotC don't want new players going to the gaming store, seeing PHB1, PHB3 and PHB4 and not buying any of them because they think they need PHB2 before they get numbers 3 and 4.
The problem with numbered titles is that they imply (falsely) that you need all the previous-numbered books to make use of the new one. WotC don't want new players going to the gaming store, seeing PHB1, PHB3 and PHB4 and not buying any of them because they think they need PHB2 before they get numbers 3 and 4.
Much like the problem with AD&D, as "advanced" implied that you needed basic D&D (which I believe was no longer in print by the time 2e rolled around) to use it. I know it certainly confused the hell out of me.
I should clarify that that last paragraph is not based on anything said in the seminars. It's just what I suspect is one of the reasons for the shift away from numbered books. I'm still pretty sure it's right, though.
I don't mind it. Though i do think they should call the epic DM guide, DMG3. Since, you generally do want to read those in order.
Though that brings up another question. Is hero's of shadow considered "Essentials"? Or is it really PHB4: Shadows?
Though that brings up another question. Is hero's of shadow considered "Essentials"? Or is it really PHB4: Shadows?
Nope. 'Essentials' is ten specific products and HoS is not one of them. It sounds like it's more like a mini-PHB devoted to one power source than anything else.
Though that brings up another question. Is hero's of shadow considered "Essentials"? Or is it really PHB4: Shadows?
Nope. 'Essentials' is ten specific products and HoS is not one of them. It sounds like it's more like a mini-PHB devoted to one power source than anything else.
Cool, i was wondering how they'd do a "simple" version of the necromancer. Seems like it would be one of the more complex classes.
I'm hopeing it will be like the shaman. That's a fun class, but as a controller (crosses fingers), it would be awsome.