Gaming Tonic
First Post
This week I flew to Wizards of the Coast and got an excellent look at just how hard people have to work to bring you the latest in Dungeons & Dragons products. I got a chance to talk with Mike Mearls, head of R&D, so read on for his responses to questions about disarm, house rules, and his personal gaming tastes. Lots of great stuff on the way but let's get started with what was delivered to us last week.
- Nerathi Legends: Rangers of Cernall by Richard Baker in Dragon 406 details a new organization for use in your game. We get a great look at background and power structure, as well as locations and a new magic item, The Silver Clasp. Even if you don't adventure in Cernall you can find a home for this piece in your game.
[*]Shelly Mazzanoble sits down with Ethan Gilsdorf from Wired.com for his Geek Dad article. Shelly is very spirited and passionate about D&D and it shows in this interview. Ethan is an excellent writer and has been playing rpg's for years. Check out his book, Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks.
[*]Black Hearted Knave by Robert J. Schwalb delivers another theme for your campaign. This theme is for those characters who walk the line between villain and hero and usually meet an end with a little character on character violence. That is alright because sometimes those are the best stories when told later.
[*]The Temperature of the Rules in Legends & Lore by Monte Cook the rules and how the DM applies them or sticks to them in their game is examined. This furthers Monte's exploration into what you like and want in your D&D game. If you don't answer the poll questions at the end of the article that is a huge mistake. Feedback is important, your feedback is priceless.
[*]Rich Baker throws out answers in Rule of Three to the questions you submitted. This week it is subclasses, the use, or lack of rituals in your game, and decision paralysis. This is an honest look and set of answers to some common questions that have plagued game tables.
[*]Riot Acts in The Dungeon Master Experience by Chris Perkins talks...wait for it...epic tier. We all know epic has needed some support for some time and in this article Chris looks at how to take care of that support for yourself as well as dispelling some of the myths about the deadly factor in high level D&D.
[*]The Book of Vile Darkness in Design & Development by Robert J. Schwalb gives you a behind the scenes look at the angst and hard work that go into producing a book. Especially a book that Monte Cook did the previous version for the last edition. EN World.org is talking about this on the forums here.
[*]Keith Baker examines The Trust in Eye on Eberron and Khorvaire will never be the same. An intelligence organization that uses gnomes is great. I am admittedly for some reason a fan of the gnomes, so power to the little people. This is a great piece and I wish I had it when I played Castar my gnome wizard from Zilargo. I admitted that publicly now moving on.
So I asked Mike Mearls a few questions about the disarm mechanic and his taste in rpg's in general and here are his responses.
EN World.org: Why was the decision made to leave out a disarm mechanic in 4E?
Mearls: Didn't fighters have it hard enough in previous editions? It would have applied to the fighter more than other classes, or martial characters anyway. It wouldn't have applied to all monsters and would have taken away from the importance of the monsters it did apply to.
EN World.org: What sort of house-rules do you use in your own 4th Edition D&D games?:
Mearls: Unfortunately I don't get to do much with house rules since I am usually testing something. I get to make a lot of monsters which give my players variety and surprise.
EN World.org: What is your favorite class to play? What is your least favorite class to play?:
Mearls: Wizards are my favorite and warlocks can be cursed.
Thanks to Mike for taking the time to talk rpg's with a fan, and to all the people at Wizards of the Coast for listening to what the gamers have to say.
