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Irda Ranger said:

If the Wheel is gone (and I hope it is), my first choice would be that no one knows where Sigil "is". Everyone's been there (through a portal), but no one has actually ever found it by non-portal means. It's still a torus, and it's floating over some really big spire, and you can just barely see (way, way down) a land of some kind. Only the largest geographical features are visible (rivers, oceans, mountains, the greensward of some large and ancient forest, etc.) but no one in Sigil (or anywhere else among the Domains) has ever been there or knows anything about it, or ever met anyone from there.

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I'm with Mouseferatu - this is just a brilliant idea.

After all, apart from portals, how else would you get to a city that high in the sky?

Tallarn said:

I'm with Mouseferatu - this is just a brilliant idea.

After all, apart from portals, how else would you get to a city that high in the sky?

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There was never a way to enter Sigil except via its portals. Plenty of legends about people attempting to climb the spire, but being infinite in height (yet paradoxically having a top with Sigil -or something we assume to be Sigil- floating above it) that made it rather impossible.

And the idea was already there in a slightly different form: there was actual doubt about if Sigil was what people could see from the Outlands atop the spire. No way in but the portals, and looking over the edge of Sigil's torus didn't clarify the situation. You didn't see the spire, you didn't see the Outlands, you didn't see clouds or sky or even a void. You saw nothingness. Not nothing, but nothingness. At was as if the absolute nullification of the Outlands near the spire were personified by something terrible and unfathomable lurking just over the edge of the ring. Mortal and immortal brains alike couldn't define it nor describe it as anything other than nothingness. And of course, anyone who jumped over the edge never returned to tell what they found or where they went. There wasn't a -single- instance of anyone coming back. Mysterious, evocative, and depending on the tone of the game, harrowing to think about the implications.

I had an idea for a one shot game at one point about a man climbing over the edge of Sigil from the other side: shaken, terrified, and confused. "Oh God. Not again. Still trapped. Everything is all wrong."

Got back this morning from GTS in Vegas, and I have shinny pics to share with you all:











There was a line of people wanting to look through the books, thus why there's not more pics. They did have all 3 core books in their slipcase, Keep on the Shadowfell, the DM Screen (which looks very nice and sturdy) and the next map pack.

I know I should be trying to read the text on those pics, but I failed my will save and have been enthralled by the art. Look at the purrdy pictures!

Wow, that's colorful artwork! Gone are the days of faux-canvas/ink sketches!

Color me impressed

And in case anyone missed it, there's so more Paragon Path info w/ powers, and confirmation of 2WF for Rangers. Also, it looks like Rangers don't have the Nature skill by default, so perhaps we can make non-woodsy Rangers right out of the woods Forgive the pun.

Vael said:

I know I should be trying to read the text on those pics, but I failed my will save and have been enthralled by the art. Look at the purrdy pictures!

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Yep, and one more thing, the covers to the books are textured. If you look closely at the image on the PHB and MM, you can see the reflection of the light in the shinny slightly-raised parts.

Vael said:

I know I should be trying to read the text on those pics, but I failed my will save and have been enthralled by the art. Look at the purrdy pictures!

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I was enthralled, but still managed to read the text...

Scoops:

Justiciar (previously confirmed) and Hospitaller are two of the Paragon Paths available to paladins.

Lots of powers listed for both of the above. Basically, we have the whole of the Justiciar paragon path now.

Ranger info! I know some of this had previously been suspected, but we now have confirmation of the following in print:

1. Build options include archer ranger and two blade ranger.
2. Rangers get +1 Fortitude and +1 Reflex at 1st-level.
3. Rangers get choice of Nature or Dungeoneering and 4 other skills.
4. Ranger class skills include Acrobatics, Athletics, Dungeoneering, Endurance, Heal, Nature, Perception and Stealth.
5. Rangers are proficient in cloth, leather, & hide armor and both simple and military melee and ranged weapons.
6. Ranger class abilities include Fighting Style, Hunter's Quarry, and Prime Shot
7. Rangers get 6 + Con Mod surges per day, 12 + Con Score hp at 1st-level, and 5 per level thereafter.

Even if we knew most of it, that's quite a list.

Feats :
As you advance in level you gain a number of benefits that improve your capabilities. These benefits are called feats. Typically, a feat doesn't give you a new ability, but instead, improves something you are already able to do. A feat might provide a bonus to a skill check, grant a bonus to one of your defense scores, or allow you to ignore a particular restriction or penalty in certain situationes. Some feats also allow you to use skills in different ways, alter the effects of your powers, improve your racial traits or even grant you capabilities from another class.

Epic Destinies:

A selection of epic destinies that your character can achieve.


(so not class related).

re: a brand new setting
Bill Slaviscek did say there would be a brand new setting, but he did not say when it was scheduled to come out.

re: Draconomicon
The first Draconomicon, due out in November, will be all about Chromatic dragons. There will be no metallics in there, as reported on my blog http://thegamerdome.com/4th-edition-dd-product-rundown/

re: the core books
Yeah, they were beautiful. The raised, shiny covers are really deluxe. I thought about snapping a pic of the MM's table of contents, but I like my robotic balls too much to have done that in front of Bill Slaviscek. Actually, I don't think he would have cared. I can report that the Galeb Duhr is in there.

great pics..thanks! The books just say 'quality' to me