Hunter’s Quarry Poll: DDXP

So I’ve been watching videos coming out of DDXP about the next iteration of D&D. I’ve seen activity on forums ranging from hysterical accolades to hate-filled diatribes. I’m curious if others out there are following the news. Sound out in the current Hunter’s Quarry poll.

Read Full Post »

What Will D&DNext Bring? Is a 5th Edition Really Necessary?

Ok, so the word should be out by now. WotC revealed they are hard at work designing the next edition of Dungeons and Dragons. If you missed this announcement you can check it out here. When I first read the news, I was curious and intrigued. I had been following the Legends & Lore columns of both Mike Mearls and newly re-hired Monte Cook for the last few months. I very much enjoyed their ruminations on past editions of the game, what we learned from them, and how they might impact modern design goals. The comments frequently devolved into a hot mess of hate-on-hate action but were frequently peppered with thought provoking responses. It was a heady time and a fun place to be as we all collectively speculated if these seemingly innocuous conversations had some higher purpose. It turns out they did. Hit the jump to find out how.

Read Full Post »

Hungry for Treasure

So I was trolling the WotC product catalog and I noticed a book that was absent has made a return to the release schedule. It’s Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium. It’s billed as “A wondrous collection of magical treasures for any campaign.” and shows a release date of September 20, 2011. It was originally scheduled for release in April of this year but was pulled off the schedule sometime in January.  Word on the WotC boards and some podcasts was that the content would still be released, but likely digitally. They had said that they were not sure of the best way to release the content. I was one of the many gamers who were disappointed with this change. I had read that this was going to be similar in concept to the earlier Adventurer Vault books but with a greater focus on flavor and story. This is exactly what I had hoped the Adventurers Vault books would have been rather than simple compendiums of magical items. Don’t get me wrong, I love the AV books, but they could definitely be improved with the inclusion of more story elements. WotC has been doing a good job lately in that respect. Products like the Monster Vaults, Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Heroes of Shadow have done a lot to move the ball downfield with regard to infusing greater amounts of story into the content. I look forward to getting my hands on the newest feast of magical items come September.

Read Full Post »

D&D Daggerdale: Simple, buggy, fun.

So I just downloaded the most recent incarnation of digital Dungeons & Dragons. It comes via XBOX LIVE Arcade (or PC download) in the new game from Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale.  The game is set in the Forgotten Realms setting and is developed by Bedlam Games. It’s published by Atari, holder of the D&D license for some years now. It pits 4 archetypal heroes against Rezlus, a cleric of Bane who now occupies the evil ediface known as The Tower of the Void.  You work your way through underground caverns and mines and eventually through the tower itself, on the the journey to defeat Rezlus and save Daggerdale from his heinous scheme.

Read Full Post »