This is the transcript of the D&D Next (5E) live chat held today. Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford were on hand to answer questions about the upcoming public playtests of D&D Next. Mearls: Hello world. Trevor: There's Mike Mearls, one of the stars of the show! Mearls: Jeremy Crawford will be a little late. We just finished up a meeting on the playtest packet. Trevor: You want to regale us with any playtest tidbits while we wait for him, Mike?

The public playtest package for D&D Next, available from May 24th (Thursday) will contain: Five pregenerated characters Two clerics to test the range of the domain/deity system. One of the clerics is more of an armor-and-mace fellow, and the other is more of a mystic. Also a fighter and a classic wizard. The five characters will feature the background and theme system that WotC has alluded to in the past few months. The Caves of Chaos adventure A bestiary to accompany the adventure

Hell or High Water by Ari Marmell Chapter Four: In the Lair of the White Leech "Which one's the Gullet want?" "Don't think he cares, long as it ain't one of the new ones. Someone been in there at least a few days."

There are powers, and then there are powers about powers: Meta-Powers. This profile looks at the powers used to influence the powers of others, from Power Mimicry and Power Theft to Power Nullification and Nemesis, with a close look at the Variable effect from the core rules, the foundation of many of these powers. For M&M Third Edition. Mutants & Masterminds Power Profile: Meta-Powers More...

At 11 AM PDT today (that's 7 PM GMT for those outside the US), WotC is holding a one-hour live chat about the next iteration of D&D. You can access it here. Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford will be attending. On Monday (21st May) we should - if the stars align - be bringing you an exclusive interview with Mike Mearls which you'll be able to read right here on EN World. And then next Thursday (the 24th) the public playtest starts - and lots of NDAs get lifted! Expect the messageboards to explode in a fiery ball of a concentrated mix of both jubilation and ire. Oh, and Robert Schwalb describes skills and action resolution in this column (which echoes strongly what I predicted in this article!)

A short alternate history that deals with the War-Bringer, the Pristine Tower and their relationship with Iron. Read More More...

I have a hex map detailing the lands north of Steffenhold — the barony town that serves as the central point of my home campaign. The map is perfectly serviceable. The main geographic feature of each 10-mile hex is shown by a mapping symbol. There are lakes, rivers, roads and dots for towns.   Hex More...

In a world where powerful defilers rule over their populaces with an iron fist, more subtle dangers can go unnoticed. This has allowed a hidden threat to grow without arousing the suspicions of even the most vigilant defenders of the people. This threat is known as the tsochar, a species of parasitic creatures that take over the bodies and minds of their hosts, asserting their will in the place of an unsuspecting victim. Read The Tsochar on D&D Insider here!

Ah, the owlbear. This week, Senior Creative Director Jon Schindehette gives you some insight into what's going on with the owlbear, plus shows you how the process for creating concept art works. Read The Making of an Owlbear on D&D Insider here!

The dungeon is an inseparable part of Dungeons & Dragons, but one that rarely gets put into the spotlight. Matt James discusses the joys and challenges of being a co-designer of the recently released Into the Unknown, the Dungeoneer Survival Guide. Read Back to the Dungeon on D&D Insider here!

You know that player.:) The one who sits in at the far end of the table, plays around on their phone, and occasionally throws the (sometimes wrong) dice when prompted.:) They never remember the rules, they aren't involved in any subplots, and they just bob along after the rest of the party.:) But when you ask them why they aren't engaged with the game, they respond, "Are you kidding?:) I'm having a blast!" As casual gaming become more and more a part of our culture, many GMs face the challenge of creating a game that can appease both their casual and hardcore players.:) This week, Jason and the crew discuss their own experiences with casuals and the solutions they've found. We'd also like to welcome Jonathan Strootman to the crew!:) Jonathan is the man behind Grok Bloodface's intimidating scowl.:) Go check out his work at the Tales of an Orc kickstarter page! Listen to this podcast here

This chapter picks up right where Chapter 4 left off, but can also be played as a stand-alone adventure. This PDF is available for just $3.99, and uses the Mutants & Masterminds Third Edition rules. Emerald City Knights Chapter 5: Rise of the Masterminds (PDF) More...

This month's WoTC Book Club is focused on Brimstone Angels and the discussion has been particularly fiery, befitting the book itself! Read May Book Club on D&D Insider here!

A new Kickstarter project! Deadlands Noir: Deadlands Noir is a pen-and-paper roleplaying game set in the world of Pinnacle Entertainment’s award-winning Deadlands universe. It includes new Edges, Hindrances, and powers, as well as new rules for handling detective work, the state of the Union and the CSA in the Depression-era, a complete Plot Point campaign, and of course, more monsters and ghouls than you can shake a smoking .45 automatic at. Deadlands Noir uses the best-selling Savage Worlds rules. Check out the Test Drive version of the rules for free at www.peginc.com! Check out and contribute to this new Kickstarter project here. CONTENT ENCODED

I originally posted this on my Google+ page, I am reposting it here for those not on G+. I play tested space combat in my SW/Age hack last night, and it went pretty well. :)I’m going to get into a bit of the crunchy AGE bits here, so bear with me if you don’t understand More...

Advanced Race Guide Preview: Letting the Cat out of the Bag Tuesday, May 1.35, 2012 Actually, we are letting the cat out of the book. Last week, after previewing the tengu section of the Advanced Race Guide, we asked you what you wanted to see next. We received many good suggestions, but it seems that many of you wanted to see the catfolk. These lithe and agile creatures make excellent monks, rangers, and especially rogues, but they also have a mysterious side, as they are sometimes able to control luck and can draw on supernatural powers and spells that are very catlike in nature. This week’s preview examines just some examples of these themes in the catfolk section.

Being a father to a little baby was cool. He was all cute and snuggly and I loved the first words and the first steps and all that stuff. I remember getting Sam a "Level 0 Gamer" bib and a couple nerdy onesies before he was born. Now he's 4 and loves lots of geeky stuff. But how long can I keep this up? The hopes, dreams, and fears of a nerdly papa, after the jump. More...

This is a May of the Dead post, part of a a Blog Carnival hosted by The Going Last Podcast. As you may surmise the May of the Dead post has to do with undead, in this post The Wanderer, an Athasian who is famous for exploring the mysteries of the Dark Sun world tracks down Hak'Trin, rare undead thri-kreen. Read More More...

A new Kickstarter project! D&D Supplement: Heroic Threats: Heroic Threats is a collection of monsters for 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons, to be published under the GSL. Heroic Threats contains 110 monsters from levels 1 to 10. :)In each level, you get a monster of each of the standard types, two minions, an elite, a solo, and an additional monster. :)Each of these monsters has a full stat block, and a tactics section telling you exactly how to get the most use out of your monsters. Check out and contribute to this new Kickstarter project here. CONTENT ENCODED

The Five Room Dungeon has been around almost as long as RPGs themselves, and has been enjoying a surge of popularity in the past few years as a quick and easy way to build a dungeon crawl.:) Interestingly enough, it turns out there are only 9 base designs for the five room dungeon. With so More...