...Yes I am apparently very impatient....
:P
"When are we going to start playing?"
"You have the adventure, just run it!"
They don't understand...I have a design dammit! A grand design! A plan to fit this into the next great campaign! It will be wonderful, I know it...yes..yes..wonderful...my campaign...my precious cam...ummm..ok.
Yeah..I did say I was impatient right?
I did make Douven ir'Staul an excentric noble and sporatic lecturer at Morgrave; the party generally knows him from Clifftop, where he lives with his wife and daughters.
I've been struggling with Dragonborn. The player and I decided he was an undercover agent of the chamber pretending to be a Blackscale Lizardfolk.
This lead to an interesting exchange among the town guards when the examined his traveling papers before letting him in.
At least you have KoTS to look at. It hadn't made it as far as New Zealand as of my last visit to the game store. There's always a silver lining somewhere, even if it's only that others are worse off than you. ;)
I expect the Eberron and FR conversions are going to be released after the core rules, because I have a sneaky suspicion that the pregens will be a warforged and a shifter, and that WotC don't want to preview those races before release.
While I understand the reasoning here, it also kind of ruins the whole point of the early release of the adventure, so players can begin to get a feel for the system.
Be glad.
There's always a silver lining somewhere, even if it's only that others are worse off than you. ;)
That truly is unfair and sad, and at another time maybe the idea of someone elses suffering would appease me to some degree....
But at the moment I am an impatient bastard, so NAH!!!
Thanks for trying though. :D
Is the Keep on the Shadowfell really a Keep to Kyber or Malbar?
Not sure what to do about Orcus, keep him as is or change the cult to an offshoot of the Blood of Vol much like the Emerald Claw and Orcus to something else.
Any and all ideas welcome.
Warning, possible KoTS Spoiler
Since the BBEG is trying to open a portal anyhow, I was thinking that he could actually stay a high priest of Orcus, who is trying to spread his influence to the Eberron dimension. Then even if the PCs fail, the repercussions could be the addition of a new player in the great prophecy and deitic challenger to the Dragon Below.
Show
For example in Eberron adaptation for Savage Tides demogorgon was below the rajah but above everything else (sort of like a prince to the rajah's king).
I think, it's been a while.
I think, it's been a while.
Still no....Aw...nevermind...:raincloud
On a side note, I do have to say thank you Mr Mearls. That article on updating classics to 4e helps me alot, especially since I was aching to keep the Minotaur Cave from KotB in my pocket and spring it on my players sometime. :D
struggles some to get out of the cube, then decides what's the point, still no article. .....Maybe tommorrow...
leaning back, grabs a floating bowl of fruit and snacks some
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20080530a
As to the Eberron/FR article? Well, we all know the answer to that old chestnut, now don't we.
First off, the obvious, we got another nice piece of preview art. This one appears to be an Otyugh, and let me say it's definitely not something I would like to bump into on any kind of night, dark, stormy or otherwise.
Apparently owning KotS is not enough to actually allow you to play... you're supposed to wait.
I'm not sure how they think this will help them "create buzz" but apparently they do.
Some guy named Chris Youngs is involved.
Chris Youngs, formally known as Chris Thomasson, was an editor for Dragon Magazine and is as well an editor and designer of many other WotC D&D products.
Thanks for the info, by the way, I figured this was the case but am keeping hope alive! ;)
Keep it up !!
Cheers
Well, I'm just dropping in to say that, since I enjoy your daily posts very much, I'm begining to hope that this particuliar article will never see the light of day...
Keep it up !!
Cheers
Thanks so much! :D
Couldn't you just dump the thing out in Eldereen Reaches somewhere, and just roll with it?
Well there are two answers why I don't want to, both of which, I'll let you know now, are not very logical, but it's what I feel. First, I have really enjoyed every bit of fluff that has been put into the Eberron setting. The designers have, to me, been fantastic when it comes to giving this fan the types of things that make the world of Eberron really unique, so whenever there is a chance to get some actual official fluff, I go with it and embrace it wholeheartedly.
My second and less logical reason consists of this. I like posting, and being able to post my anxiousness and, let's face it, ridiculous level of impatience, on here makes being part of this online community that much more enjoyable. Honestly though, do you think with a name like Snarky_Monkey, I could do any less? ;)
Thanks both of you for posting and I hope, even if anyone reading this thinks I am a bit crazy, your all at least getting something positive out of it.
Now, anyone else want some jello?
That being said, let’s start out as we usually do with our new preview image. Outside of the fact that the form is practically a literal 180-degree shift in design, I am going to say that this is obviously a Yuan-Ti Anathema. Makes a medusa’s bad hair day a walk in the park in my opinion.
Just... just tell me this. What's the ****ING point of Pre-gens if I have the ****ING players handbook on the same day they're released? I mean really?!
If it helps any, my players and I are using Shadowfell as a trial run before we commit buckets of cash to buying rules we may or may not like.
Until I just saw this thread, though, I didn't know there were plans for an Eberron adaption or Eberron-themed pregens coming. If those pregens hit tomorrow ('cause our first session is Saturday) I may even offer my players the choice of playing in Eberron vice the assumed PoL setting.
Anyway….
Today is the big day! In a few small hours I will be heading to my local comic store and picking up a freshly packaged set of 4e Core Books. Having pre-ordered them months ago, the sense of excitement of getting a chance to rifle though their sweet, sweet, pages is going to make it hard to sleep. Will they be perfect? Course not, but being both a role-playing fan and a bit of a bibliophile, none of it will affect my pleasure of finally having them in hand. Course, perhaps part of my excitement is an attempt to compensate for the lack of, yet again, that elusive article. Never know, but whatever the reason, I’m happy so the end result in this situation is one I can deal with. That being said, my excitement pales compared to the mass of those who are currently collected in the rp store several miles south of me. A midnight release is surely not rare, heck I was there for the one for the last Harry Potter book, but after that fiasco I couldn’t get up the gumption to do it again. So I guess my very obvious impatience has lost out to what can only be described as an insanely intense desire to actually get some sleep tonight.
Now, to this day’s report. Preview image! That’s right, you’ve all seen it, and there is no doubt what this very sweet image is. It’s the majestic, if not very, very evil, red dragon, bane to the adventurer in most settings. Course, we are not most settings, so maybe red dragons in your campaign make gold ones look vicious. That is just one of the many beauties of our Eberron. Things are rarely how you expect them to be.
Umm..I mean the articles. That's right, WotC pulled a sweet little flim flam on me and released them while I was at work. You cheeky bastards! Needless to say I am about to dive into both the Warforged and more important, KotS Update Article and see what we got. Tune in later to see what else is up around the boards, and witness my glee of finally getting the article in my hands.
PS. jelly says "sploosh", which I assume means Hi.
Give me a second, I told myself I wasn’t going to cry.
I believe I have done more steady reading in the past several hours then I had to do all though my school days. My eyes are squinting from the strain and my neck appears to be locked in a position that would make a contortionist whimper. I feel the foul demon dogs of exhaustion nipping at my heels, but even with all this, I couldn’t be happier. Ok, maybe that’s not true, I’d be happier if I was running my campaign, which I can now start tomorrow! All in all, it's been a pretty good day.
Now to the articles. Let me just say that, despite appearances on this board, I did have my reservations about how they were going to fit KotS into Eberron. How much was I going to have to change? Will they capture the feel of the setting appropriately and above all will I like the ideas? My concerns have been squelched by this release and I now feel as though Winterhaven may become a recurring area in future sessions. The added hooks really work for me, especially since one of my PCs fits right into the Silver Flame hook as though it was written for him. I am not going to say much about the actual changes, since I would then feel obliged to sblock this whole paragraph, so instead let me just say that the intrigue elements that were added will definitely make the game more interesting, as will the replacement creatures. All of which really scream Eberron to me, and for that I am grateful.
The warforged article was frankly, more than I expected. It truly makes them a full race as well as adding some interesting descriptive fluff that addresses one of my biggest concerns. What I am speaking of is the paragraph outlaying the physical makeup of a warforged. They now have a skeletal system, muscles, and officially am arterial system as well. All things that, if you can recall, have been one of the most heated thread topics I have seen. For those who don’t understand the significance of say, a skeletal system, picture undead templates in 3.5. Most needed, at the very least, a skeletal structure to be used. Without one, it was virtually impossible by the rules to make an undead warforged such as the Woeforged alluded to in one of the setting books. Now I know there are some controversial changes as well, the first being no more immunities and the other being plating. The first is definitely a balancing issue as I see it, and the bonus they receive to saving throws makes for more fair play all around. Now the more upsetting topic to some is the plating. Warforged wear armor like the rest of us and as such aren’t wasting feats at first level on enhancing their defense. That being said, if you really are someone who misses this aspect, I would direct you to Keith Baker’s journal. He has just made an entry that expresses his feelings about the change as well as writing up an unofficial feat that allows a warforged to regain that 3.5 feel when it comes to their armor. I would repost it here, but since he has not yet shown it on these boards, I feel it is not my place to reproduce it. I do encourage everyone to take a look.
Third on tonight’s article docket is the Shadowfell Side Treks. This is a great little addition to the adventure. If your players are into more combat, here’s your chance to load them up with four more encounters to keep their bloodlust sated. If not, just save them, it’s always good to have a quick encounter already prepared for those unexpected moments.
Jelly, do you like articles about demons? Well, if anyone else does, check out the first 4e Demonomicon entry introducing the one and only demon prince of gnolls, Yeenoghu. No world is complete without a psychotic, demon, antro-jackal. You may call him The Destroyer, The Beast of Butchery, or even the Ruler of Ruin, to me; he is just a train wreck of slaughter waiting to happen.
To the threads Robin! First off, we’ve had a couple more threads pop up that bear support during this, the time of limbo. First off the existence of the Shadowfell in Eberron. It has been verified in the KotS article and now’s the time to expand on it and really make it a good fit. Also, a 4e Artificer thread has begun as well, and like the Dragonmarks this is an aspect of Eberron that is as intrinsic as the dragon below. Any work on these two threads will probably be the most helpful in our 4e campaigns. With that being said, don’t ignore the fluff ones either, we’re a creative lot, and what better way to show it than though some flavorful editions to the landscape as well.
In other board news, GamerZero has just put up a new interview with Chris Young, Editor-n-Chief of the DDI about what we should see and when we should expect it. The plan to slowly release aspects of the DDI seems to still be in place, citing that the applications are works in progress. I don’t truly mind a slow roll out, as long as during this period we aren’t expected to be paying anything. If that changes, I think WotC may have a problem on their hands. If you’re concerned that your favorite monster has been left out of the Monster Manual, fear not. Chris Perkins has put up on his blog a request for your favorite creatures, of the day or night, to be considered for future release. And before you ask, metallic dragons will be appearing, hopefully soon, so no worries there.
One last little tidbit. If your looking for some ideas or even thoughts about how to run a certain game or situation I would suggest perusing the Real Adventureboards and read the PbB games that are run there. They don’t advance very quickly, that being the nature of the beast I suppose, but can be an interesting read and a great place to pluck some nuances from. Just an FYI.
Well, that wraps it up for tonight. For those who may be thinking that now that the article is out you’re finally rid of me, well I am sorry to say your going to be disappointed. Turns out this whole writing posts everyday thing is becoming addictive. So, as I work though my twelve steps program, I hope you will indulge me some more and above all else have fun and don’t take all this too seriously. It’s a game after all, a pretty awesome one for sure, but still just a game. Now I am off to find Jelly before he gets his goop all over my brand new books. Nighty night all.
No Jelly, not the books! Awwww..
Being the weekend, new release news is going to be a bit on the low side tonight, but hopefully something will catch your eye.
If you have the core books in hand but still have a couple questions or concerns about what you see, the Knowledge Base now has 3 more FAQs to go along with the KotS one released a little while back. The individual links are as follows:
Player’s Handbook
Dungeon Master’s Guide
Monster Manual
And for those who didn’t know about it
Keep on the Shadowfell
I also stumbled over a couple interesting things that some may like to know about. For one, Ken Troop, executive producer of the D&D Insider has begun a thread to address and answer your questions and concerns about the release of the DDI applications and content. He intends this to be a place where you can have a dialogue with him to express any issues you may foresee or already have. I would encourage all at least attempt to take part, and show WotC that we can express our concerns better than a 3rd grader on a playground. ;)
Also, if your interested in the Character Visualizer, there have been a couple pictures released of the current state the program is in.
To those of you who have been active on the Warforged thread, or anyone who is interested in those mechanical marvels of our beloved setting, I thought you might be interested in a new post by Keith Baker on his LiveJournal. In it, he addresses the new 4e Warforged and gives us a bit of his take on the subject. It’s a good thing for any lover of those “automatons with a heart”.
In DDI news, G4TV did a report on 4th Edition and you can see the segment on their site. It’s not exactly groundbreaking, as the books are now out, but does show Insider information. The interview is with Bill Slavicek, Chris Youngs, and Scott Rouse.
I thought today I would bring up the subject of Power Cards. I personally like the idea of their use, though my first gut reaction to it wasn’t quite as positive. My first thought when I heard the term “power cards” was something along the lines of, is D&D going to become a new Magic: The Gathering franchise? Of course, this was just my alarmist mentality, as I had not even seen the 4e powers at the time, but I don’t think it was a concern only shared by myself. Now, after starting my first 4e campaign, I am finding that the use of cards is going to do nothing but increase the enjoyment of my play, as it’s so much easier to keep track of all abilities that a PC or NPC have. So, I have to say, I am a convert and am now hoping that WotC releases actual sets of pre-made power cards for each class and a MM one as well. Those would finally be some cards I could definitely see myself buying.
Today’s recipient of the “Pushed Aside” mention goes to Revvecor and his Fleshing Out the Demon Wastes thread. I have mentioned this thread previously with hope that we could rally, as we have for the Sharn and Mournlands ones of a similar nature, and give this a good homebrew fluff treatment, but sadly no one has had any input. So, we’ll give it one last shot, and if this one doesn’t pay off I fear it will have to wait for some other day when the Wastes are more on the minds of my fellow posters.
Well, that is about it for tonight. Hopefully more will be released throughout the day so I have something to go on about tomorrow. In the mean while I have to go check on Jelly. I made the mistake of buying one of those multi packs of Jell-O to munch on, and now he thinks he’s a mommy, and a protective one at that. For some reason, looking at my big gooey buddy huddled around those snack-sized treats makes a very obscure quote go though my mind:
“An enemy is only a friend that wants to kill you.”
1. Will there be a conversion article for each adventure in this series?
2. Do these articles have enough information to run these adventures in Eberron if i have little to no knowledge of the Eberron setting or should I wait for the books?
Have 2 questions.
1. Will there be a conversion article for each adventure in this series?
Odds are yes. Since they are a series of adventures, it wouldn't make much sense not to do the same thing for future ones as well. I personally hope this becomes the norm for every PoL adventure released.
2. Do these articles have enough information to run these adventures in Eberron if i have little to no knowledge of the Eberron setting or should I wait for the books?
That's a bit more difficult. You could probably get away with running the adventure in Eberron using just the 4e core and maybe some help from the boards on the fluff. Personally I think if you can get hold of a copy of the 3.5 ECS, which hopefully you can find at a pretty good price on Ebay or such, all the basic information about the setting is in there and the fluff will always be good, even when the 4e version comes out.
:D
Tumm..ta..tumm..tumm…..tum.tum.tum..
We take you away from your regularly scheduled program for another NKUY news break!
Our top story tonight concerns the DDI. A post made by Gamer_Zero as well as a news item released under the DDI news section has begun to address the release of V-minis. Supposedly every person who becomes a subscriber will be given access to a starter pack of virtual minis and dungeon tiles as a part of joining. Specialty tiles, v-minis, and sets will be sold at some future point as micro-transactions but will be supposedly optional content. I fear the idea of a Starter Set. We all know that in the normal 4e minis release this consisted of a grand total of five minis. If that is any indication of what is in store for the DDI, it’s less than appealing. I personally believe this so called set should include all creatures in the Monster Manual, with future purchases consisting of updates from any added creatures in the various books released. That would, at least to me, seem a bit fairer.
As I am sure you have all noticed, the preview image is no longer part of the home page of D&D, instead we have a snazzy flash display of sample art summed up with everyone’s, especially Jelly, favorite gnome. Since this is now the case, I thought I would highlight a piece of art from the boards or the D&D gallery just for fun instead. The first honored image will be from the Community Art boards, by a poster named Bastion. His sketches aren’t bad at all, but I thought this Wemic was exceptionally done.
Picture if you will a reporter who, in an attempt to review the boards the night before, fell into a pitiful and deep sleep beyond the likes of which no one has ever known. One so deep, not even the three dragons could awake him. As luck would have, this soul had befriended a cube of gelatin nature who, obsessed with it’s recent adoption of three cups of snack pack Jell-O, devoured said reporters bed to use as a nest for it’s imaginary offspring, causing him to drop to the ground and find himself in the land of consciousness once more.
First off, to anyone who noticed I didn’t post last night and thought to him or herself, ‘Thank the flame, this guy may be done!’, all I can say is, sorry I’m still here. Secondly, I just want to say, that though I am not quite sure how the whole “views” counter actually works on here, hitting over 900 is kind of adding fuel to the fire so to speak, so thank you all for, what I am sure, is the ill placed ego boost.
To the news. First off, we’ve been given a look at the new 4e D&D commercial that will be airing on certain networks. It’s cute, the beholder literally being the outsider watching everything go on was a funny play on its name and appearance. That being said, I can’t help but feel that a commercial with the awesome gnome from the flash interviews would have been a riot. Now I understand the idea is to hit a wider audience and using a giant beholder placed around the city is more likely something that may entice new customers, but I love that little guy! And dammit, I want a Francis DDI bonus minion released! And…and…I want a lair too!
We were also released a new article about the Ashen Covenant. It’s not bad, and has a few hooks as well as encounter ideas, including the stated leaders, more magical items, and even some monsters as well. Reading it, the first thing that popped into my head was how this could really work well as a splinter group inside the Blood of Vol cult. Would make an interesting power struggle in my mind, between Elder Arantham and the Lady Vol. All in all, not a bad article.
In the realm of customer support, the first incarnations of the official updates to the core books have been released as well. Though they don’t include a lot of information as of yet, there are corrections for a few typographical oversights in each book. I would bookmark this link for future use, as I am sure they will continue to grow.
The D&D Minis section also received a bone tonight, as the next of the Against the Giants previews was released. This one contains with a bit of a fire theme. The previews consist of an Eladrin Pyromancer and a Blazing Skeleton, both not looking too bad. I think the evolution of the painting techniques have come a long way from the first release of minis, even in the actual consumer packs. I remember being impressed with the latest batch, as to me, they seem to be including much more detail then they have ever before. I say keep it up, putting out better product is always something you can’t go wrong with.
Well, that is about it right now. I was hoping that, with my absence last night, I would have more to share, but sadly that is not the case. I understand WotC not wanting to release things too fast, and spread it out to entice us over the month, but the snails pace of releases can be kind of frustrating. Good thing it’s still all free right now, especially when Jelly thinks he has three more mouths…well…gel like apertures to feed.
Without further ado, let’s start off with the one, and only, new release that we seem to have been given so far tonight. Namely, part three of the Penny Arcade/PvP . As I have said before, this is at the very least a fun listen, and for anyone who wanted to know how Chris runs his games, this is the place to go. On a related note, let me just say, that nothing says evil like a creature that owns play-gob and pokemon cards. ;)
In the realm of artistic pursuits, tonight’s art highlight goes to a piece that was released with issue #151 of Dungeon magazine. It’s a nice little pict, and I enjoy the vertical layout. Though, to be honest, my high school day’s game rushing back to me as this little exchange played out in my head;
Nourvego - “I’m sorry George, I didn’t mean to hurt the bunny.”
Zousha – “That’s what you always say Lennie.”
:fight!:
Hello Everybody! It’s time yet again for the NKUY news update. That’s right, another night has tipped toed up behind us and is attempting a rather nasty sneak attack! Don’t you worry though, viewing this thread is sure to provide you with combat advantage for the rest of the evening, so sit back and read till your hearts content.
News, news, news! I am proud to say that tonight we actually have some. I’ll start off the night with the new article released called Converting Your Character. In it, you will find Andy Collins’ take on how to fill the void of those missing character classes some of us love so much. It’s a hopeful article at best, and the advice is helpful. I did get three, what I consider, big verifications for future release. First is the Bard. I had heard rumors that this class was done and just waiting to be released and I am happy to see it is slated for just that, I just hope it’s sometime soon. Secondly we have mention of the Druid and Monk, as implied classes that will be released. Then there is the Barbarian, which though doesn’t say it will be included at some future date, it does elude to the idea of using feats to give you the barbarian benefits, including mention of how 4e doesn’t YET offer a rage mechanic, so hope springs eternal for all you Thundarr fans. ;) Finally, what I consider the biggest hope for me personally is the mention of how both illusions and summoning will be coming latter for the wizard, and the word powers is used. Here’s hoping they stick to that idea and bring me back some monster summoning goodness.
Our second offering for the evening was released on the Dungeon magazine section of the DDI. It is an adventure for characters of 5th level called Heathen. A cursory glance of this material shows it to be an interesting little middle of nowhere town in trouble sort of adventure and could be fun to run. Heck all 4e material like this being released is great for us, since we are playing with nothing but the official WotC adventures for awhile, considering the allowed released date for 3rd party publishers won’t be till October. Still, the one obvious criticism I have with the adventure is the lack of suggestions for fitting it into Eberron or heck even FR. Considering this is an e-publication, I thought including that kind of treatment would become standard practice. I hope it will be in the future, just makes a DM’s job a little easier if they need to grab an adventure on the fly.
To anyone interested in the GSL, it is done but still not released. The delay is coming from the fact that the SRD needs to go though some final reviews before release and they are distributing it all together as a single download. Why should I be concerned with this, you may ask, as you do not publish product? Truth is, you don’t. My interest involves being able to put up homemade content based on 4e on either fan sites or just linking it to some web space for view on here. I have always enjoyed home-brewing, to an extent, and like being able to occasionally offer my own write-ups as well. I plan to do so though this thread, but want to know where I stand legalese wise before I do it. I have some interesting ideas though; such as a little creature I call a Vodoukin. Not going to give anything away though, but I will put a link as soon as I can for anyone who’s interest may be peaked.
For tonight’s spotlight image we are getting an oldie but a goodie. He got a literal facelift in the new system and now bears a striking resemblance to one of our prominent races here in Eberron. In fact, he looks just like them. I am of course speaking of the Doppelganger. The faceless grey beings that spurned the idea of a pair of breeches are shown here in all his naked glory. I do have to say one thing about the new version; at least reports of abductions and strange experiments by doppelgangers should cease in the more rural areas of Eberron.
That’s right true believer, it’s time yet again for the NKUY news report. Being this is the weekend report, we all know the pickings are going to be slim. Still, let’s see how verbose I can be in an attempt to make your screen have to scroll so you can read it all. ;)
First up in real news, Keith Baker has posted another entry to his LiveJournal, this time concerning skill challenges. It’s an interesting read, and as usual Keith definitely has some good ideas when it comes to working the system. I personally love the introduction of the skill challenge system since now the distribution of information or even tasks seems much more vital and important, as well as more stressful in some situations. One roll always seemed to lack luster , especially since it was hard to inspire RP when at the end of the day one roll was all you needed. Adding several attempts and letting them be spread though out a party just gives players more of an opportunity to get into the mood of the situation.
For tonight’s image spotlight we return to our talented artistic community with a bit of art from a poster named Pipino. Now, the art is in a style that I personally like, as it reminds me of some of the old animated movies from the 70s and early 80s, like the Hobbit. Not only is the poster a very talented artist, but not a bad sculptor as well, as shown by their dungeon tile creations and even a couple homemade minis. The multi level idea is one I wish WotC would consider as well, though I know the cost may be prohibitive. Still the addition of a more 3d effect is always a good thing in my book.
Fleeing from the Giant tyranny, the last egotist, Snarky, leads a goo filled fugitive cube on a quest for a transparent effort of self satisfaction know as the NKUY news report.
Hey yet again! That’s right, it’s time for the only report of it’s kind! And when I say “it’s kind” I mean that I write, so that makes it pretty unique. Let’s jump right into all the fantastic new things that have been released today!
…
Ok, after that long and deeply complicated telling of all that has happened, let’s move onto things that are less mentally and emotionally taxing.
Our spotlight image for today is one I have garnered from the DDI releases of character builds from Game Day. Many people were given the opportunity to make use of the current version of the still unrevealed Character Visualizer and some of the resulting images can be seen under the DDI News section of the Insider. This is just one of them, and it isn’t too bad. I do hope that facially, you can make a more attractive female, but I suppose it could be worse.
In the year 994 YK, House Cannith activates the last of Cyre’s magic creation forges. The schema placed inside the core of this massive forge, was a one-man hunter prototype disc - Ranger 3. The product of this mysterious schema, a lone warforged – Captain "Buck" - was to experience mystic forces beyond all comprehension. An awesome brush with death: in the blink of an eye, his life support components were frozen by temperatures beyond imagination, and in this way survived the devastation that was to follow. The Ranger 3 schema was blown out of the forge into an orbit a thousand times more vast than the rings themselves, an orbit which was to return the schema full circle to it’s point of origin 2 years later.
Phewww…we “Duck Dodger”ed that bullet!!!
Shock and surprise, I am posting yet again because the most amazing thing happened. We got new content released! I was so set off balance that I didn’t even notice that Jelly had consumed the living room couch again. Heck, I almost didn’t care. Ok, I did, I really like that couch. So without further ado…
Gnome Illusionists Unite! Sure, you were dealing with the lack of the Gnome in the player’s handbook with some dignity. I mean, they gave him a bit of NPC treatment in the MM, so that would help you get by for now right? Course then you turned to the wizard and discovered a deplorable lack of “fool your enemies” kind of effect and said, “What about my illusionist!?” Well my friends, your prayers have been answered as we now are presented with the first “Class Acts” concerning Wizards. Not just any wizard, but illusionists! If fooling the senses is your kind of thing, we now have a few spells, spread though the heroic tier, to help you out. If nothing else, this gives me hope as I for one am missing a summoning spell or two. Here’s hoping we get that as an article as well. Course, knowing the current track record, one of the mysterious classes in the PHB II, spoken of by Mike Mearls on his blog, will wind up stealing all the glory and my wizzie’s army of summoned monstrosities will be left in 3.5 limbo.
We also finally received PDF versions of the H1 : Keep on the Shadowfell character sheets. Though I am appreciative of this release, it would of served them much better to put this out right away with the release of the adventure, as now I am sure any who used those characters either made their own sheet, photo copied them, or, god forbid, tore them out of the book. (just saying that last part makes my skin crawl) Any advice on this matter I could give to WotC for future releases is, put this kind of thing out right away and save the possible mutilation of gaming adventures everywhere.
In GSL news, all signs are hopeful. Scott Rouse has reported that the SRD has been reviewed and if all things go well it will be up by late tomorrow along with its FAQ. As I have said previously I have been anxiously waiting for this and it feels good to finally see that little light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you Scott for keeping us informed, it’s really appreciated. Hopefully that kind of thing will become more of a habit with WotC in general. ;)
Picture pages, picture pages, time to get your picture pages! Don’t worry about supplies, this version doesn’t need your crayons or your pencils. In the art spotlight for tonight I did another little search of the Wizard Art Community and found this little darling. It comes from a poster named Katsh, who is apparently new to the boards. Here’s hoping she keeps sharing her work.
SM: Jelly, don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m…aww dammit, not the couch again!
The creature is wanted for the sheer amount of chaos he definitely commits. Snarky-Monkey is believed to be crazy for keeping the creature, and he must let the world think that, until he can find a way to control the “splooshing” spirit that dwells within his house.
Friends, Eberronians, posters, lend my your eyes! It is time yet again for another NKUY news update. That’s right, the only update that is “Recommended by 4 out of 5 doctors to help with frequent insomnia and constipation”*. Now, on to the report!
Well, as previously promised, the 4e GSL and SRD were finally released. That is the good news. The overall consensus of bad news so far concerns the opinion of many that the GSL is virtually crippling to 3rd party publishers. Whether this is the intention behind the GSL or not, the wording of the license, among other things, prevents reproduction of stat blocks in adventures and the use of any art which either duplicates or is derivative of anything they release. There are also specific illegalities regarding interactive media, miniatures, and character generators as well as any software that uses 4e mechanics. Needles to say, this has made quite a few people very upset. Sadly, it didn’t address my concerns specifically, as I was hoping to use web space to display anything I came up with and that needs to wait till the separate website restrictions and guidelines is released. I personally think they have taken the GSL a bit far. I appreciate wanting to protect your content, but putting down restrictions that make it almost pointless for 3PP to create a single supplementary product is a very poor decision. One I think will become a much larger issue as time passes.
Tonight, the focus of the art spotlight is turned back towards the galleries for something out of the Fiend Folio. In my opinion there are few more creepy concepts of a creature then the Half-Fey Centaur. A horse, with a human torso can be an elegant if not very odd thing to begin with, but when you start throwing in some fairy blood that’s when things start getting really weird. This guy is obviously not happy, and considering the bottom scrapping of the genetic pool he seems to have received, I don’t blame him.
Tonight, instead of my normal reporting, I decided to do something of an editorial since, very recently, I have found myself having a few issues concerning the topic of losing faith. Now, I don’t mean faith as in my belief system, that is pretty much as soundly intact as it usually is. What I really mean is something of a more specific faith, namely the one that has to do with the ability of WotC to provide the content they are advertising. When they first mentioned that the release of their D&DI applications would be changed to a slow rollout, I said to myself:
Me: “Self, that’s no big deal, more time to really beta test and get things working really well.”
Sure they didn’t meet the release date they kept advertising, and did so with little to no warning to any of us about it, but if you want true quality you have to wait right? Myself responded with:
Myself: “Ok mister positive, where’s the compendium at the very least? That’s just a search engine right? There are thousands of examples of them all over the net, so why the difficulty there?”
It’s at that moment that my faith began to begin to waiver since Myself had a pretty valid point. Still, the benefit of the doubt was given to WotC, just because of the sheer please RPing 3.5. Then, boom, out comes the GSL. Myself had a field day with that one:
Myself: "Hey, you see this thing? It’s a document that is sure to put 3rd party developers of D&D supplements on the endangered species list."
Me: "But why would they do that?"
Myself had no answer. Surely they had to understand the crippling effect this would have on their system sales, especially when they plan to limit there own production of supplements so as to not :
…repeat the overflow of new and confusing content that occurred during the run of 3.5.
Can’t remember what thread that quote was from, so no official props to the writer, but you know who you are.
So why do something that is so short sighted? Of course, without fail, attempts were made to reassure myself:
Me: "We are not a lawyer or a 3PP so perhaps it’s just an overreaction. This could be common practice."
And as expected, myself wasn’t having any of it:
Myself: "The GSL boards are filled with a different opinion. Sure, we don’t know any of them from Adam, so who knows if their thoughts are any more factual than our egocentric ramblings, but it’s odd that so many are coming to the same conclusion."
Still, having enough of Myself’s negative attitude, the decision was made to sit back and see what happens. With that in mind, focus was turned on what new things could be discovered and brought to this report, by searching though the site and various other threads. Positive thoughts in mind the community link was clicked only to be told for the 100th time that they are down for “extended unplanned maintenance”. Myself just chuckled ironically. I, surprisingly, had kept quiet during this whole conversation, which was frankly a bit odd since they usually never shut up.
So the question of the night is this; How is one supposed to keep a positive outlook on what is happening with D&D when they can’t even get the %^& damn boards to function reliably? It’s truly sad and down right frustrating to be a person who was excited about many of the changes that are being made, only to have WotC continue to let me down though inaction, flaw, and downright lack of thought. Still, with all this I am sadly, as Myself pointed out, an eternal optimist, so just letting out this little rant of sorts will give me the patience to deal with at least a couple months of this kind of ridiculous crap. After that, be sure to expect another editorial. Course, that assumes you guys put up with me for that long.
Well, that’s it for my small cathartic episode. Tune in tomorrow when hopefully I will bring some more interesting things to the report, or at the very least something that could be considered mildly entertaining. Now I am going try and post this between the inevitable board downtimes.
Goodnight and Good luck......seeing this anytime close to when I wanted it posted. ;)
Dunn..da..da..dun.dun..dun..da..DAAAAAA
Greetings, salutations, and a plain how ya doing everybody! After my little exploration of the cathartic I am back to share with you once more. In truth, there hasn’t been much, but a couple things have been released and hopefully it will tides us over till Monday. So let’s just dive right in.
First on our list tonight is the second installment of Convert Your Character, by Mister Andy Collins. Now, I need to be honest, this article was frankly not anywhere near as helpful as the first. Perhaps it was the fact that it covered classes from the Complete Adventurer, so a big total of three, which made it a bit lacking in my mind. That could surely be it. Still the advice didn’t even seem that useful this time, since the majority was just simple common sense. The Spellthief concept shouldn’t even have been approached considering it is currently an impossibility in 4e. I appreciate the idea of multiclassing into wizard, but having a power or two doesn’t really bring back the feel of that class to me. Since the capability of “stealing” other’s spells is pretty much self evident in the name, I guess I would of preferred a suggestion for homebrewing a balanced version of that ability instead of the, what to me has become, the much more common response type of advice we got. Still, I am very appreciative that Andy is attempting to give us some help with saving our 3.5 characters, so please keep it up. I may disagree with it this time, but that doesn’t mean you might not hit the nail right on the head on the next release, at least in my view.
Till now, I haven’t commented about the latest podcast that was released. For one, I hadn’t really watched it yet, and secondly I have been so distracted by the issues concerning the boards not functioning that I put it off. That being said, here’s my review. When I heard that they were recording a session, I was pretty excited. The idea of seeing the creators of my favorite hobby indulging in it themselves caused my mind to picture an impressive display. In my mind, the masters of the game were going to “show me how role-playing is really done”. Course, that was probably not the best way to go into it, since it set me up for a bigger let down. The game, as many of you surely know, was nothing more than a glorified D&D Minis session, save for the attempts of Dave to liven things up a bit with his NPC reactions and portrayals and one or two IC comments by a few players. Outside of that however, it was, in all honesty, a real snore fest. Before I get any possible comments about how I set my expectations too high and that it was done to show us the mechanics of a game, not teach us how to RP, let me just say I totally understand that in a cerebral sense. Since I tend to be ruled by my visceral reaction however, more so than I usually like to admit, my logical mind sort of took a back seat to the production. Heck, they didn’t even win the battle. Though not shown, apparently the decision was made to run away after a few rounds. Not exactly the D&D I play, and so not what I expected. Still, after my last post, I was able to strengthen my faith about Wizards some, so I know in my gut that this is not how they play the game. That being said, I hope that these video podcasts become a normal thing since it’s nice to put a face to some of the names that grace the inside lining of my corebooks. Perhaps next time they play, we can see some real RP, not to mention my favorite new addition to D&D, the Skill Challenge.
In the realm of, holy crap more Kobolds?!? We have the newest Creature Incarnations article by Mike Mearls. I have to say, I never thought I would be so up on the idea of more variations of such an iconic, yet in my mind overused, creature. Apparently miracles do seem to happen. I really love the flavor these will add to my campaigns and frankly the Kobold Victory Chart alone was worth this article to me. Sure, I would always role-play some expected reaction by an NPC when they defeat a player, but the shear variety of choices this little chart offers is enough to keep my party always guessing at what may happen. Slight variations of RP even when a duplicate effect is rolled, will still make this chart helpful even after repeated uses. I have to say, I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that Mike is one of my favorite WotC staffers, since his love of this game comes out though his interviews and especially his work so clearly.
After a long and arduous trek though the mountainous peaks of our community boards, my sherpa Jelly and I have located yet another piece of art to shine my ever present spotlight. Our contributor this time is a poster named Storn, who does this kind of thing for a living. He’s surely got talent, and it shows clearly though his work. This specific art really caught my eye as it reminded me of a character a player of mine loved desperately and is currently trying to recapture in 4e. If she had this picture originally, I think it would have instantly become here description, not to mention the appearance of her “Summoned Dragonmark”. ;)
.Dum da dum…DA DUM DUM…dadadadadada…dum dum dum dum…da DUM DUM….da..da..da.da.da..da…DUM DUM DUM DUM!
I hate to interrupt Jelly’s favorite show but, with the grace of our erratic boards, it is time for another installment of the NKUY news report. News as of late has been a bit slow to say the least. The least I can do, however, is try to point you all in the direction of one or two things that may catch your interest.
First off, I want to say a quick thanks for the support to Igotsmeakabob. Nice to know there are couple people who are enjoying my rants. As to starting a new thread and linking back to this one as an archive of sorts, I must admit I have considered it. Two things hold me back. For one I am fearful of this thread going the way of the dodo and no longer being linkable, considering the boards of late, this is a possibility. Secondly, I guess I am a bit sentimental. When I see the title, I think back on the days of achingly waiting for the release of the article and how it evolved to this….oh so many…ummm…ok, it wasn’t that long ago, but it will be someday, maybe, I hope! Still, I will give the idea some more thought, and who knows, maybe a new thread will suddenly pop up some night when you least expect it…kind of like the Spanish Inquisition.
Now on to our first subject of the night, our boards. Gamer_Zer0 has mentioned the apparent cause of our posting woes, which appears to be hardware failure along with issues with their database. Add to this the increased traffic caused by the launch of 4e, and you are blessed with our current situation. For a more technical explanation check here, as WotC_Tech posted an announcement concerning it as well. Now, I know I have said this before, and I also understand that comparing message boards to other applications is not exactly fair, but it does lend credence to the idea that wizards really doesn’t put enough thought into the practicality of what they attempt. If you expected a surge, wouldn’t you make sure your hardware and databases were up to the challenge? And if that’s going to be the pattern of behavior, then it’s no wonder the D&DI is so delayed. To paraphrase an old adage: WotC can’t see the forest for the trees, but if they prune them, they could be damn pretty, but may die in the process.
Though I don’t know how I missed it, the fourth installment of the Penny Arcade/PvP podcasthas been released. As usual, it’s a fun listen to, parental guidance suggested of course. I guess I just get a kick out of hearing new players experience something they’ve never come across before. Sends me back to my first days as a role-player, and how it was so fun and completely ridiculous at the same time. I have also come to the conclusion that every party needs a “Jim Darkmagic”, basically a player who constantly refers to himself in the third person. That, and someone has to have a monocle.
For tonight’s spotlight image, I thought I would focus on our setting and chose a goody from the D&D galleries. Since I have noticed a lot of new posters on the boards who are getting into Eberron for the first time with 4e, I assume they haven’t gotten to see much of the art from the 3.5 books. With that in mind, here is one of my favorites. If you thought prestidigitation was a useful spell for a warforged, it’s got nothing on Unseen Craftsman.
Though I don’t know how I missed it, the fourth installment of the Penny Arcade/PvP podcasthas been released. As usual, it’s a fun listen to, parental guidance suggested of course. I guess I just get a kick out of hearing new players experience something they’ve never come across before. Sends me back to my first days as a role-player, and how it was so fun and completely ridiculous at the same time. I have also come to the conclusion that every party needs a “Jim Darkmagic”, basically a player who constantly refers to himself in the third person. That, and someone has to have a monocle.
Also, I find it odd that this podcast seems a lot more interesting and fun than the official Wizards videocast of a game. It seemed in the videocast that some of them didn't really want to be there, but the PA guys and Scott are all really excited about their adventure.
/me relurks
JELLY: “Sploooosh”
With them he will travel to a thread more egocentric than most know. Now he is among us. A special breed of man, an explorer, traveling through our boards searching for threads and news not his own, knowing he will not go away until he has rambled on about them all. His name is Snarky Monkey and this is his story.
Salutations to all. Time yet again for another NKUY news report. I remember always hearing that the crazies really come out at night. Little did I know, that I would count myself among their proud membership. In all honesty, it’s not exactly something I aspired to. Yet here I am, close to night after night, typing away a deluge of gregarious nonsense in the hopes that maybe one of two of you would be interested in what I have to say. Turns out a few of you do, and I have to say I am both flattered and flabbergasted. Thanks for the support! Now for a bit of a ramble before the actual news.
Since you are reading this, you’ll have noticed that Changling_Bob brought up a great observation concerning the PvP podcast as compared to the videocast we received of a 4e session. Your so right CB, may I call you CB? When you listen to the one and then watch the other it is not hard to notice just how much fun the PvP people are having, and how it is no where near the case in the videocast. Now, one can assume that since this was the first video recording they have ever done, camera shyness was sure to take a large part, since we all know RPing with your friends is one thing, doing so in front of an audience well, that’s a pooka of a different color. Still though, the 4e video cast came off as though they were playing a "D&D Minis" or war game as opposed to what I would consider D&D. Why is this? See the above reason for one, or perhaps the emphasis on the rules could be another, since it is their main focus right now. As I think about it, there could be a third reason as well. Perhaps, and I say this with much sadness, there is also a certain level of jadedness when it comes to those who have played D&D for a long time. The path between role-playing your character and roll-playing your character is a very narrow one, and under the right circumstances anyone can drift to, in my mind, the “dark side”. When you are new however, what sets role-playing apart from monopoly isn’t just the setting, but the concept of becoming a minor actor of sorts. It’s a time before the obsession of making your character as optimal as possible sets in. A time of innocence and purity that many of us lose track of. When trapped in a mire of rules creation and continuous play testing, it’s easy for one to lose track of that special element that makes playing D&D or any RPG for that matter so much fun. If it turns out this is one of the reasons for the lackluster session, I can only hope that they take a step back before the next one, and remember how it was the first time you threatened a drooling goblin, or when you hit on that barmaid, or conned the mayor to fund your “expedition” to the local breweries as a fact finding mission to improve tourism. Ok, maybe the last one is a bit too specific, but I think you all get my point. ;)
Since that bout of verbal diarrhea has worked it’s way though my system, time to get to the good stuff. That’s right, believe it or not, we have some news tonight! The first of which being implementation of the Rules Compendium! You heard me right, the compendium is finally up and running, and anyone can just pop on and search till their hearts content. It’s limited right now, as it only contains information from the Player’s Handbook, but most of that info is completely accessible. The original word we were given involved it being something to the effect of a glorified D&D index, but that turns out not to be the case. Put in "Wizard", and you get a pretty complete text entry for the wizzie from the PHB. The same goes for powers, skills, races, paths, feats and rituals. Sadly, there is yet to be any rules information, such as explanations of conditions, like immobilized for example. Only the categories I have listed. Still, it’s more than I expected and will come in handy when searching for powers (unless you want to see all at-wills since for some reason that doesn’t work). The article released on the D&DI section details how this is just a basic version, and the search capabilities will be expanded as well as getting the addition of a “browse” feature. Also, all Dragon article information that pertains to the subjects listed, and any more they add, will be included after the release of the compiled issue of that month’s magazine. My true hope is that they add the MM as well, so we can search for monsters without having to rifle though the book. In the mean time, test the heck out of it and see what turns up. So far, I have noticed that both the Rogue and Warlord entries include two new build options each, some of which reference abilities and powers that are currently not included in the Player’s Handbook. Interesting…
On our image spotlight tonight I return to the D&D Galleries for a little something for the Dragonmarks book. I have a player who loved this little spell so much, she named the creature it created and it almost became another member of the party. (At the very least a mascot). So, with her in mind, I present to you the Summon Living Dragonmark spell. And let me just say to those who are currently arguing that Dragonmarks in 4e should be limited to just affecting rituals and to those others who may think summoning is not a big deal should remember the sheer impact this little beauty could make in the game, both mechanically and thematically. Also, I think my player named him Bob. :P
