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You know, this might be the second 4e book that I buy just for the details on Sigil. Unless they hack it to death.
I'll take a look at it in the store to be sure, but I'm not honestly sure what to expect. Given 4e design focus thus far, I'm worried as you say that it might be hacked to death. I'll give the authors the benefit of the doubt, though I'm not aware of any of them having worked on anything planar (except for Laws co-authoring FC:II, which wasn't bad).
I'm surprised that Schwalb wasn't brought in to help on the Sigil writeup, given the really good job that he did with the City of Doors, and some of the factions in a DDI article on the Mercykillers. If they hold to that level of quality I'll be very happy, but again given how 4e has handled previous planar concepts so far, I'm still leery.
__________________ "I can just see the 4e adventure anthology "Tale from the Limited Staircase"." - Ken Marable
Hmmm, I'll have to check out the DMG2 before I purchase it. I bought the 3.5 DMG2 and it didn't really do anything for me. Even if it doesn't tickle my fancy the crunchy bits will still go up in the Compendium, right?
Dragon Mag Annual Vol. 1 I'll probably skip too, having a DDI subscription and all. A cool resource for those who don't, though!
Draconomicon II, The Plane Below, & Primal Power are all must-gets though! Thanks, thalmin!
What extra value is there in getting the Dragon Mag Annual if I already have a DDI sub?
__________________ Game on, gang! Ptolus #16 (with customized, personalized sig from Monte. Awesomesauce.), Rappan Athuk Reloaded #37 (Another Awesomesauce, the Necromancer way.)
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Characters & Games
Books currently in play: Dungeon & Dragon Magazine (*Scales of War AP*), WOTC 4e Core and Supplemental books
Current Campaign: Scales of War - Lost Mines of Karak -- Kodirgo, Minotaur Barbarian 6; Vondal, Dwarf Cleric 6; Karithul, Gnome Bard 6; Marshaun, Elf Druid 6
I'll take a look at it in the store to be sure, but I'm not honestly sure what to expect. Given 4e design focus thus far, I'm worried as you say that it might be hacked to death. I'll give the authors the benefit of the doubt, though I'm not aware of any of them having worked on anything planar (except for Laws co-authoring FC:II, which wasn't bad).
Well, I'm sure there will be changes to Sigil. I'm just hoping they don't dump the city's entire background. Hopefully its good. Still, it have to be real good for me to want to buy DMG2 since I likely won't care much about anything else in the book.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shemeska
I'm surprised that Schwalb wasn't brought in to help on the Sigil writeup, given the really good job that he did with the City of Doors, and some of the factions in a DDI article on the Mercykillers. If they hold to that level of quality I'll be very happy, but again given how 4e has handled previous planar concepts so far, I'm still leery.
Different times... different authors. I doubt WotC would make a special effort to get a specific author to work on a particular book.
I don't have access to DDI so I can't say about the article you mentioned. However, I'm reading the 4e Manual of the Planes and I can honestly say I'm enjoying it. The new cosmology would never replace my own cosmology but it has tidbits that I could see adding to my Mirrored Cosmology. I really liked the Feywild chapter.
__________________ Robert Blezard I write; therefore, I am!
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What extra value is there in getting the Dragon Mag Annual if I already have a DDI sub?
Unless your really interested in that behind the scenes stuff I doubt much. It probably is almost entirely tailored for those without a sub.
I am personally looking forward to: DMG2: More Skill Challenge goodness and finally Trap Rules. As well, as of course Sigil, I have extremely enjoyed their planar stuff so far, so greatly looking forward to Sigil. Will be nice to have lots more resources when I play games in my Sigil.
Planes Below: More planar goodness! Plus, I am greatly pleased that it will be including the Abyss, I like my demons Also a recent campaign idea I have been having ( Brainstorming: A City Within a Wall ) would be greatly served by this book.
Primal Power: Next to Martial, Primal is my favourite Power Source out right now. So you know I will be getting this book, more goodness for Shaman, Warden, Druid and Barbarian, yes please. I think when all the Power Sources are out it will still rank highly for me alongside Martial and hopefully Psionics and Shadow (with a special call out to Warlock from Arcane).
The only other one that somewhat interests me but I will be just relying on DDI to get stuff from is Draconomicon 2. I don't really need dragon fluff.
__________________ Secret Member of... *blink, blink* Damn you amnesia!
[quote=thalmin;4736953]Just got the Wizards of the Coast Fall 2009 Catalog. Here goes.
D&D Dungeon Master's Guide 2
Sold.
Dragon Magazine Annual, Volume 1
I've enjoyed my DDI sub but there has been a dearth of ecologies, dragon's beastiary, bizarre of the bazzar, legends & lords, etc... So unless I'm dying for some hard print copy, probably pass.
Primal Power
This may be the first "Power" book I skip unless I start being a player. As a GM, the Primal Power source didn't grab me and I don't see a need to support it unless I'm actually using it as a player.
E3 Prince of Undeath
Probably. Probably...
Sinister Woods Dungeon Tiles
Why do they call this terrain eh? Tiles yes, terrain no. Fat Dragon Games on the other hand...
Draconomicon 2: Metallic Dragons
Yup. I hope they do Ferrous Dragons next. Or Gem.
Arcane Power Cards
Did I mention I love the DDI?
The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos
Another easy buy.
Monster Manual: Savage Encounters
So will the game stats on these be right? Will they include XP on the encounter cards? Will they have actual utility outside of the miniatures? Haven't seen any of the 'new' random sets to judge paintjobs but I've got hope.
Really. Not to be a 'richardwad' or anything, but I won't be buying any of these books. None of them seem all that appealing. especially interesting as the Summer 2009 catalog is filled with tantalizing little treats...
I suppose that's good, as the Star Wars books have a whole lot of sexiness about them. And they're $5 to $10 more per book than the D&D stuff!
Last edited by Wraith Form; 3rd April 2009 at 04:43 AM..
I can't speak with any authority on what WotC may or may not do, but I wouldn't count on this; to the best of my knowledge, such dragon types don't exist--or at least haven't been confirmed as existing--in 4E at all.
According to the MM, the five dragon families acknowledged in 4E (so far, anyway) are the chromatic, metallic, planar, scourge (aka linnorms), and catastrophic dragons.
While the planar dragons aren't really a family unto themselves--some of them appeared as variants or relatives of the chromatics in Draconomicon I--I'd expect that we'd see books on the other two types already announced before there'd be any chance of covering types not yet introduced.
(Acknowledgment of personal bias: I personally never cared for the gem dragons, and I think the minimal descriptions we've gotten of the scourge and catastrophic dragons sound really cool, so the above is not only what I expect, but also what I hope. That fact aside, however, I also believe that my reasoning is fairly solid on this. I can't imagine they'd introduce a dragon type into the game and then ignore it in favor of a new type that hasn't yet gotten so much as a name check in the current edition.)
__________________ Ari Marmell
aka
Mouseferatu
--Rodent of the Dark
And to me, this is part of my problem with 4e. Not that there isn't some great stuff in it, but I want all of my old stuff updated.
And I want it now.
For example, there are a ton of things in the Forgotten Realms that could easily be updated that would be like the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide in that it'd be useful for all settings. Prayers for the Faithful, The Magister, and Pages from the Mages jumpt to mind immediately for example. Who can't use more magic items and spells eh?
I worry that WoTC is so 4e that the thing that made up D&D for 40 years are being left in the "we'll get to it" pile in favor of new things which while cool, are not the things I'd have personally wanted to see first.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mouseferatu
I can't speak with any authority on what WotC may or may not do, but I wouldn't count on this; to the best of my knowledge, such dragon types don't exist--or at least haven't been confirmed as existing--in 4E at all.
According to the MM, the five dragon families acknowledged in 4E (so far, anyway) are the chromatic, metallic, planar, scourge (aka linnorms), and catastrophic dragons.
While the planar dragons aren't really a family unto themselves--some of them appeared as variants or relatives of the chromatics in Draconomicon I--I'd expect that we'd see books on the other two types already announced before there'd be any chance of covering types not yet introduced.
(Acknowledgment of personal bias: I personally never cared for the gem dragons, and I think the minimal descriptions we've gotten of the scourge and catastrophic dragons sound really cool, so the above is not only what I expect, but also what I hope. That fact aside, however, I also believe that my reasoning is fairly solid on this. I can't imagine they'd introduce a dragon type into the game and then ignore it in favor of a new type that hasn't yet gotten so much as a name check in the current edition.)
And don't forget the price increase. I believe it's 5 figs for the old cost of 8?
Yes, I believe that's correct. As mentioned, that's part of the cost of moving to a semi-nonrandomized model. (It doesn't help that in the past year or so, the cost of everything that even touches minis production has skyrocketed.)
Personally, I think that's going to be offset by the removal of the PC and skirmish-oriented minis. If I'm right, while the price-per-mini is going up, the price-per-mini-I-actually-want may stay pretty flat. . . .
Personally the only things on that list I'm looking forward to are the SW Galaxy at War supplement and the corresponding minis expansion. But then again, I'm a bit biased on that count
Edit: D'oh! Dunno how I forgot about the droid book. I've long felt droids got the short end of the stick in both the current and prior editions (save perhaps for the Hero's Guide for the RCR).
But I guess of the two, G@W is the one I'm mostly curious to see.
If I'm right, while the price-per-mini is going up, the price-per-mini-I-actually-want may stay pretty flat. . . .
According to my preliminary calculations that will be the case for me, as well.
Since I'm not a DDI subscriber I'm also looking forward to the Dragon collection. I really hope they've been careful about selecting only the truly remarkable, most useful and balanced stuff.
Personally the only things on that list I'm looking forward to are the SW Galaxy at War supplement and the corresponding minis expansion. But then again, I'm a bit biased on that count
I'd say the same, except I'm not a huge minis fan, so just the SWSE rulebook.
I may pick up DMG2 (because I may DM 4e someday) and the SWSE Droids book (mostly because not getting it would mean there are SWSE books I don't own), but maybe not, too.
I can't speak with any authority on what WotC may or may not do, but I wouldn't count on this; to the best of my knowledge, such dragon types don't exist--or at least haven't been confirmed as existing--in 4E at all.
Since iron dragons have been confirmed as metallic, I wouldn't be surprised if the other ferrous dragons got folded into metallic as well.
I for one would be disappointed if gem dragons never made an appearance. (Hoping for MM3 to go along with the psionic classes I hope are in PHB3).
Gem Dragons could perhaps be also transferred into other Dragon types as well. We have already gotten one form of a psychic dragon in the Draconomicon with the Purple Dragon.
__________________ Secret Member of... *blink, blink* Damn you amnesia!
I for one would be disappointed if gem dragons never made an appearance. (Hoping for MM3 to go along with the psionic classes I hope are in PHB3).
Again, I can't say for certain--I honestly don't have any "inside knowledge" on this one--but I'd expect not, for the same reasoning I gave for the Draconomicons, above. I expect that WotC won't be putting new dragon types in the MMs until they've fleshed out all the types named so far in the first MM.
__________________ Ari Marmell
aka
Mouseferatu
--Rodent of the Dark
Also a recent campaign idea I have been having ( 
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