AD&D Reprints

I have to say I am thrilled that WotC is offering a limited-run reprint of the AD&D core rulebooks. I've got my set already reserved at the Fantasy Shop. Those guys are great. 

While I did manage to snag the AD&D Monster Manual, Monster Manual II, and Fiend Folio at their Used Gaming Auction last weekend, I was outbid for the Players Handbook and DM Guide. I'm definitely looking forward to getting brand spanking new copies of these core books. 

What does this mean for the OSR? I'm not sure. I think a lot of these copies will be snatched up quickly by folks already involved in old-school gaming. The price point is too high to lure in new players, and I don't think they'll be sitting on the shelves for very long at all. Perhaps all the talk of a new edition will sell some of these to folks who haven't played since the 80s, but who knows? 

I hope they sell out quick. I hope WotC makes a bunch of money to share with the Gygax Memorial Fund. If WotC comes out ahead on this one, I bet we'll see more of the old material re-released pretty quickly. Hey, if there's a market for it (and the fact that the OSR exists is proof of that), some penny-pincher at Hasbro will figure out a way to make some money off all those old files taking up space on their hard drives. The market for these books is certainly driven by more than nostalgia. These are products that will see use at a lot of game tables. 

My money's on a big fat Ravenloft book next. A hardbound reprint of several of those modules would move quickly. I'd plop down $50 or $60 in a heartbeat. 

D&D hits the New York Times

It's not everyday you see an article about Dungeons and Dragons in the New York Times. I can't be sure, but the game probably hasn't been mentioned in the papers since E. Gary Gygax passed away. Still, such an article bears mentioning.

Wizards of the Coast is expected to make a big announcement about plans for the next edition of our favorite past-time today. Player input into rules and an open playtest seem to be a big part of what's expected from the announcement. So basically they'll be doing what Paizo's been doing for years.

And really, it's what the folks in the OSR have been doing forever. Constantly play-testing their own rules, mixing and matching ideas from each other on how to best run the game for their own individual table. That is a huge part of what makes the game unique, and that's something WotC is going to have to understand to succeed with a new edition.

It was very nice to see a small nod to the OSR in the article, in the form of a quote from the writer of Adventurer Conquerer King, even if there was no mention of the huge community of bloggers out here who have been doing exactly what WotC is purportedly going to attempt with the new edition.

I have always felt that the splat-book drive that started with Type-II was not just TSR trying to make money off a slew of newer and newer option books. They wouldn't have pushed all that if there wasn't a large chunk of the player base consistently clamoring for more and more options for their games.

So if options are what we want, and often those options seem contradictory in nature, how will WotC square it all with the next edition? It's hard to tell. I will definitely be signing up for the playtest though, just to see the initial direction they take with it. I expect a significant departure from the Type-IV ruleset, particularly hit-point bloat and hour-long set piece combats. But they can't just publish what would amount to an "official" retroclone of the original rules. I would like to see a D&D game that takes what works well from each system and blends them into something easy to learn and easy to run, with lots of great ideas for adventure and world-building, and plenty of crunchy options that are really "optional" and fit into the game system without breaking it.

Monte Redeems Himself

D&D Insider: Legends and Lore
(linked article does not require a DDI subcription)

Monte Cook struck out in his first at-bat with his new gig writing the Legends and Lore column for Wizards of the Coast. His ideas about how Perception should work were basically the same as the system already in play in 4E, and his column seemed to betray that he didn't really have a grasp on the system in question. 

Today, though, in his second article, he hit a home run. He turned the spotlight on magic items, and made a point that's been a primary grognardian criticism of 3rd and 4th Edition D&D since the beginning: magic items have lost their magical feel, and it's because they are no longer a reward but have become an expected part of character advancement, and, indeed, a requirement to maintain PC power levels as they advance through the game. 

Ha! And he takes this swipe at the system right on the heels of the release of Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium, the finest collection of magic items WotC has given us to date. 

This is a good thing. Monte's clearly been paying attention to the old-school gaming movement. This definitely bodes well for the direction of the game. Word is that a 5th Edition is on its way, and if this is a primary assumption of the system, magic items as actual reward and not mechanical filler in the overglorified name of "balance", then maybe Wizards will strike gold. 

Return of the Ritual

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dra/201104rituals

This may be the most useful thing WotC has published on its website to date. It will probably get very little use by most groups, because the word on the street is that people just don't use ritual spells these days. It is a complete compilation of all rituals published to date by WotC in its various books, modules, and interweb magazines. It sorts them by type and also lists them by different uses at the end. 

Apparently, rituals are a very underused resource in typical 4e D&D games. This is probably because, the Rules As Written demand you give up some of your hard-earned gold for a one-time (possible) benefit. Player understanding of rituals is also a big time-sink. The players have a lot to think about at the table already, keeping track of powers and feats and status ailments and such. Getting the hang of the ritual system requires a LOT of reading and perusing texts and asking questions, when they've already done a whole lot of that. Nevermind the fact that the rituals are spread out over some twenty different sources. They are all easily accessible via the online Compendium, but that's still a whole lot of reading and processing to do. 

So, how am I planning to get my players more invested in ritual use? Well thank you for asking. 

First, screw paying for them. I treat ritual components like ammo and encumberance: we're not keeping track of it. 

Second, start including ritual scrolls in treasure parcels. Well, actually, I don't worry a whole lot about parcels and such. We don't don't worry about experience points either. Everyone levels up when I say they do. If we tried to follow the Rules as Written, it would take forever to advance out of the Heroic tier. I mean, really, the campaign world is all about floating islands in the freakin sky, so I think verisimilitude isn't all that terribly important. It's more about creating an epic story and having fun. Where was I? Oh yeah. Give the players ritual scrolls. Can't hurt. They'll either use them or lose them in the bag of holding. 

Yeah, this game is run fast and loose. Story, combat, role-playing, all good. It's not Dark Sun. The world won't kill the players if they don't have enough water. It's an epic tale. You never see Luke Skywalker worried about where his next meal might come from, after all. 

D&D the CCG

For the past week or so, there has been all manner of discussion, consternation, speculation and downright adject horror over some announcements that Wizards of the Coast has made regarding the future of their numerous product lines.  The timing of these announcements makes me wonder if WotC has any kind of Public Relations person in their office, but that’s beyond the scope of this article. 

First, there’s Fortune Cards, which will be a mandatory part of certain RPGA events and optional for others. 

Second, they dropped a few books out of their upcoming product releases, and pushed back another that I had been very much looking forward to. 

Third, they will stop compiling Dungeon and Dragon articles into monthly releases and will change how they release articles in both sections of the website. 

Fourth, they are discontinuing D&D Minis. 

Damn.  Did I miss anything? 

Oh yeah, our horoscope signs are now all different.  I’m a Leo instead of a Virgo and I have found this changes my entire outlook on life. 

There hasn’t been this much flaming and NerdRage around the ‘nets since 4E was released.  I know I’m opening a can of worms here by even broaching this topic, but I’m going to take a different tack with it. 

I’ve been using custom-printed cards for my D&D game for almost a year now, and I love them.  I have cards for action points, feats, powers, items, gems, quests, handouts, NPCs, initiative, and PC portraits and character quick-sheets, all made using a program called Magic Set Editor.  I also got Weem's condition cards, which have been very helpful in combat.

I can’t put up all of the cards I’ve made, because I’ve brazenly stolen all the artwork, but here are some examples of what I’m talking about. 

Action Points and Monster Initiative Cards

Feats, Abilities, Items

PC Cards

This works very well for our group.  D&D 4E is such a complex game for PCs, with so many feats and powers and abilities interacting, that it is often difficult to keep everything straight.  And we kept finding bugs in the character builder that kept things from adding up correctly, so we’ve taken to doing it all ourselves.  Having the cards to put down to actually “stack” your effects is great.  So, yeah, I can see D&D 4E going the way of the Collectible Card Game, and I can see it working pretty well. 

Just look at the Castle Ravenloft Board Game for more examples.  That game comes with some 200 cards for powers, items, and monsters.  There is another game, “Wrath of Ashardalon” being released in about a month that will have more of the same.  In fact, there will apparently be some overlap between the two. I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest to see booster packs, new PC classes, new quests, etc. for the D&D Board Game System being released sometime during the summer or fall.  In fact, I would welcome it.


Dungeons and Dragons will continue to lead the way in the RPG industry, as it has for years.  Hell, people are still copying the things they published in the Seventies!  There will always be people that like things the old-fashioned, original way, and there will always be people who enjoy the next big thing.  I'll take the best of both worlds, thank you.