EN World - D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / RPGs

News for Friday, 21 November

Dragonkard Slashes Prices "In response to feedback from customers, we have decided to cut the price of Dragonkard significantly. We have also added a 50 sheet pack option which further reduces the price per sheet. "
SEP Donating November and December Profits to Charity Sword's Edge Publishing will be donating its profits from November and December to a charitable effort to provide cows to impoverished families in the third world through Worldvision.
City Builder Volume 11: Underworld Places Skirmisher Publishing has released 'City Builder Volume 11: Underworld Places', the final volume in the 'City Builder' series.
ICE and Øone Games Partnership
Critter Encounters: Bugged Out Blackdirge Publishing and Goodman Games have released Critter Encounters: Bugged Out, a short 4E adventure scenario. SkeletonKey Games has released a companion tile set for all maps in the adventure.
Review: "Martial Power" Review by Critical Hits.
D&D 4e: New Encounters "I began putting together some new Encounter group templates that can be used to expedite your game planning and hopefully present your players with some new experiences and challenges."
Dragon Warriors and Ducks - In Stores Now!
PDF preview of Random Esoteric Creature Generator
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: Skip Williams on Gestalt Characters Gestalt characters can be tricky. Ask the Kobold straightens them out for you.
D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

Dragon Slayers Fighting dragons is a hazardous undertaking, even for adventurers. Prepare for the inevitable with "Dragon Slayers," which features plenty of options for heroes about to fight these fierce and deadly creatures.
Excerpts: Astral Dreadnought In today’s Martial Power preview, we bring you a new creature haunting the Astral Sea--the Astral Dreadnought!
Confessions of a full-time wizard: Dungeon Diaries

News for Wednesday, 19 November

Amazon.co.uk cannot deliver Martial Power until mid-December/early January, so I'd suggest going elsewhere to buy it. Report any other problems here.
Dungeons and Dragons goes online A video report by the BBC on D&D Insider - made during GenCon UK 2008.
Job Opening at Paizo Publishing: Editorial Intern Paizo Publishing is looking for a talented intern [unpaid] to aid in the creation of their Pathfinder d20 roleplaying products and Planet Stories novels.
New 4E Race from Poison Ivy Press Debut product, "IVe Races: The Kroola" includes new PC race, racial feats, paragon math, 8 new monsters, campaign advice, sample NPCs and locations, and more! New announcements for upcoming "Insurrection" line, and free enchancement for their first product release.
Emerson's Bookshelf Reviews Rite Publishing's Items Evolved: Conflict Emerson's Bookshelf reviews the third release in the Items Evolved series, Conflict, by Rite Publishing's Steven D. Russell.
Paizo Open Call Write a 750-word outline for Pathfinder Society scenarios #19 and #20.
Dungeons & Dragons 4E books in PDF Revised. "If you already bought one or more of the core books from us, you'll be able to download the updated files for free; if you haven't gotten 4E core books yet, what are you waiting for?"
D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

DDM: Demonweb Stat Cards This is the week Demonweb casts its snare over D&D Miniatures players everywhere. You've already seen the gallery, but now you can download the set list, rules insert, and full stat cards for both skirmish and RPG play.
The Trash Cart One town boasts a tireless trash collector who truly loves his job. Is this person a mere eccentric, or does a deeper motive underlie his work?
The Villains of Greenbrier It's time for James to give serious thought to the villains in his Greenbrier campaign. Villains are more than just monsters for PCs to hack through as they delve into the chasm. They need to earn the PCs' hatred.
Summer's End Dungeon Delve, releasing in February, 2009, features a number of delve-style adventures, familiar to those of you who have played a D&D event at a recent convention. If you're new to the delve or just want a sneak peek at what the book will hold, check out "Summer’s End," a delve adventure for characters of 18th level.
DUNGEON: The Tomb of the Sand King's Daughter The Tomb of Urum-Shar is the lair of a powerful brown dragon, with a hoard almost unmatched in myth and legend. If your PCs enter the "Tomb of the Sand King's Daughter," they can take on the potent Urum-Shar herself. Building off the Tomb of Urum-Shar entry from the recently released Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons supplement, this adventure brings the legend of the ancient brown wyrm to life.
Digital Insider #16 Builder Beta Feedback

New reviews:

The Lost Arrows of Aristemis The Lost Arrows of Aristemis is a pretty good module for low level characters. It offers some good encounters and packs a lot into the dungeon crawl.

New blog entries:

News for Tuesday, 18 November

Tabletop Adventures: Overlord's Birthday sale "The minions offer a 20% discount on all electronic products, in honor of the Overlord's birthday."
More 4E "Critters" from Goodman & Blackdirge Goodman Games and Blackdirge Publishing have posted details on two upcoming monster releases: Critter Cache: Prehistoric Beasts and Critter Cache: Animals & Beasts.
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: the Skycaster An aeronautical prestige class for characters on airships.
New blog entries:

News for Monday, 17 November

Some new War of the Burning Sky 3.5 compiled hardcover preview images A few more images from the "New Rules" appendix. The next appendix aftes this will cover the monsters, allies and enemies. The New Rules appendix contains: 1 race, 1 core class, 1 prestige class, 1 racial paragon class, 6 alternate class features, 37 feats (including 6 regional feats), 4 weapons, 5 alchemical items, 16 magic items, 3 artifacts, 1 rules subsystem, 1 bardic music ability (The Song of Forms), 20 spells, and 7 epic spells.
What do you want to know about the Draconomicon? Some has it and is anseering questions!

1: Dragon Lore -- pgs 4-42
2: DM's Guid to Dragons - -pgs 44-88
3: Dragon Lairs -- pgs 90-164
4: New Monsters - -pgs166-254

4E 3rd Party Publishers‎ Wiki page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
RPG Software Wiki page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
The 12 RPGs Every Gamer Should Play Before They Die Gnome Stew's list, from Dread and D&D to Rifts.
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: Dual-Stat Huldra This week's Monday Monster features stats for both 3E and 4E players.
Digital Grimoire Now Available Digital Grimoire is Catalyst Game Labs first PDF-only project for Shadowrun.
A random name generator, new fiction, and a new artifact at the World of Farland
D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

Do the Right Thing Stephen makes a shocking confession about altering and even ignoring the rules, then elaborates a list of reasons why that's sometimes the best thing to do. You can follow his example by following his advice.
Excerpts: Types of Planes In today’s Manual of the Planes preview, we introduce various types of planes the book covers, as well as the planar law of mutability.
Gnolls: The Get of Yeenoghu Few of the humanoid races are as feared as the bestial, demon-worshiping gnolls. In the name of their Abyssal lord Yeenoghu, they lay waste to entire communities -- and of all their victims, the dead are the luckiest by far.
Io'vanthor: Lost City of the Dragonborn The long-lost dragonborn empire of Arkhosia once boasted one shining city after another, each a bastion of knowledge and evidence of the empire's might.

New blog entries:

News for Saturday, 15 November

News for Tuesday, 11 November

Various reviews of the 4E Character Builder (see yesterday's news, below) are coming in:

Emerson's Bookshelf "Overall, I'm really enjoying the Character Builder, as it does what it is expected to do and it does it quite well, almost seamlessly."
Dragon Avenue "And let me go on record here: if the final version ships soon and the subscription price of $59/year for D&DI stays the same, it will be worth every single penny. "
RPGcentric "All in all, this is a very, very nice product and it definitely makes my subscription worthwhile. It is very easy to use and beats the tar out of the 3E Character Generator."
Critical Hits "It'll be a boon for those just starting out, but as someone involved in an ongoing campaign, it's not as useful as I was hoping right off the bat. Still, I already have high hopes for it, and I'm already more impressed with it than I was with e-tools."

New blog entries:

[Øone Games] Take a walk in the park
The last-last chance for Epic Words beta benefits is Nov 15
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: Mantraps Traps that combo with secondary effects.
Laptops at the Gaming Table, Part 2 of 2 Gnome Stew, the game mastering blog, offers tips on running games with the help of a laptop.
Much Ado About Nothing Gnome Stew also tackles the blowup surrounding GenCon and the Christian Children's Fund.
Tabletop Adventures Special Offer for Veterans’ Day Tell about a veteran you know who plays roleplaying games and receive a coupon for 30% off the product of your choice. Offer good through November 15.

News for Monday, 10 November

4E 3rd Party Publishers‎ Wiki page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
eFuture Tiles: Maintenance Tunnels This PDF of 25 miniatures-scale tiles is perfect for those tight quarters areas between starship decks or below the working levels of a high-tech facility.
Complete Control: Character Design for the Uninhibited Dreamscarred Press has released a classless system for the 3.x rule set.
Dragon's Hoard is Available for 4th Edition In this first issue, are 3 new paragon paths (Ancestral Knight, Dark Champion, and Knights of the Dawn), new rules for noble titles, joining organizations such as the power noble family, House Caitiff, and a preview of the upcoming Possessed mulitclass character.
A Witch’s Choice Preview Part I of The Rituals of Choice Adventure Path is now available as a free download. This preview showcases the adventure hooks the players get to choose, an event encounter, and a unique magical item that PCs can acquire. The previewed sections were chosen by the current senior patrons of Rite Publishing's patronage project, based on their reviews of the current manuscript.
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: the Wendigo See a twist on the Wendigo in the Monday Monsters series.
Coat of Arms Creator Visual Designer User Interface Updated Users can now add several copies of a creature or symbol easily and drag creatures and symbols to move and resize them. Plus a slew of other small enhancements have been made.
D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

Insider's Early Access to the Beta Get ready to start making characters like you’ve never been able to. When we launch the completed Character Builder, it’ll have everything you need to build and level up your characters all the way to 30th Level—updated regularly to include content from every D&D rulebook and online magazine article. Right now, we want you to play around with what we’ve got set up for levels 1 to 3. Start rolling up characters. Level ‘em up. Try different builds. Explore every option and possibility you can think of. Just try it out and let us know what you think.

Baphomet, Prince of Beasts The Demonomicon of Iggwilv reveals another of its entries, this time focusing on the Prince of Beasts, Baphomet. This article delves deep into the inner workings of the savage and unpredictable demon prince.
D&D Podcast Episode 28 In this episode, we discuss the future of DDM with R&D’s Andy Collins, Peter Lee, as well as Brand’s Scott Rouse. Find out more regarding the recent changes announced for D&D Minis.
Excerpts: Heart of Darkness In today’s Draconomicon preview, we enter the lair of an elder purple dragon -- a series of caverns once home to a clan of beholders that carved them from living rock.
RPGA Part 9: DMing in Public You've been DMing a Living FR game, and now you want to jump to the big time: Running a game at a convention or other event. Here's what you need to know to prepare!

New review:

City Supplement 2: Aerie City Supplement 2: Aerie does deliver a useful mountaintop city which could very well be useful to many fantasy campaigns.

EN World passes 1000 blog entries Recent entries:

New groups:

The Lounge A place where you can game in a relaxing setting.
Eastern Canada RPG group A group for anyone living in Eastern Canada who plays RPGs. Connect, discuss, feel less lonely, have fun!
GnomesRAwesome My Gnomes test group.

Some fun stats from Google Analytics:

In the last two weeks, EN World was visited 423,994 times; these people called 2,020,419 page views. 26.5% of those visitors were new visitors.
That inclues 131,970 absolutely unique vistors!
EN World's traffic mainly comes from search engines (47%), direct traffic (34%) and referring sites (19%).
Of those referring sites, the top ones were, in order: Gleemax, Circvs Maximvs, RPGnet, Paizo, The Gamer Dome, Dragon Avenue, Necromancer Games, Goodman Games, Wikipedia, Critical Hits, RPGNow, DnD Adventures, Knights n Knaves, DnD Gate, Kobold Quarterly. There's another 50-odd pages of these, but they're the top few.

News for Friday, 7 November

D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

DRAGON: A Motley Assortment of Magic Items The extra creative work put into a magic item's history can forge a lasting legacy for the item. It's not the norm in the D&D game, but history and a unique story tied to the PC make magic items more fun.
DRAGON: Ruling Skill Challenges This column aims to share with the typical D&D gamer what we at Wizards have learned about skill challenges.
DRAGON: The Warlord This issue, Class Acts brings new powers and options for the warlord. Masters of strategy, these leaders excel at leading their allies through one difficult battle after another. But in this article, learn about the warlords of long-fallen Bael Turath and the powers their multiclass warlord/warlocks wielded.
Excerpts: Bone Mongrel Dracolich In today’s Draconomicon preview, we introduce you to a new dragon -- a new undead dragon: the bone mongrel dracolich.
Excerpts: Flamebrow Commander In today’s Martial Power preview, we introduce you to a new paragon path for warlords: Flamebrow Commander.
D&D Alumni: Fighting Men Look back at the Fighting-Men of editions past -- with two specific goals in mind. First, let's follow the evolution of the fighter class itself, since it reflects the mechanics of the various editions. In addition, we also wanted to take a look at a subset of the fighter as it relates to a recent Dragon Magazine offering: the Gladiator.

Emerson's Bookshelf talks about the D&D Insider Emerson’s Bookshelf talks about the D&D Insider, a first blush at the initial offering from Wizards of the Coast.
SJGames Pyramid goes PDF and subscription
Goodman Games grab bags
Combat Advantage #6: Reputation Feats Don't just buy feats, earn them. Reputation feats can be awarded by generous GMs at no cost or earned through difficult combat to gain special benefits in and outside of battle. And it's FREE!
New review:

Advanced Bestiary The Advanced Bestiary provides a menagerie of templates for the 3.5 game, providing some useful and imaginative encounters.

New blog entries:

News for Thursday, 6 November

D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

DUNGEON: Beyond the Trollhaunt If you didn’t get enough troll action in King of the Trollhaunt Warrens, this will suit your needs. These encounters can form a short adventure, a stand-alone Side Trek, or extra encounters for a longer adventure.
D&D Insider The D&D Insider Character Builder is planned to become available in beta form, for Insider subscribers only, next week. Here's a collection of info you'll want to read as you prepare to try this incredible tool.
November and Beyond While winter is settling in, we're still hard at work providing you with some fun things to add to your campaigns. So, if you're trying to avoid the chill yourself, grab a cup of hot spiced cider or cocoa, and come see what we have for you.
DDM: Demonweb Preview 9 Here's the final preview for Demonweb, featuring three figures that can be used for adventuring-outside-the-box player characters. One is a dragonborn champion, one is a skirmishing ranger, and one is unusual.

So I have the Martial Powers book EN World member Bagpuss has the book, shares thoughts and answers questions.
Goodman and Blackdirge Release Critter Cache I: Big Bugs Goodman Games and Blackdirge Publishing have released the first in a new line of 4E monster PDFs. Critter Cache I: Big Bugs features 20 new giant insects and other creepy crawlies for your 4E game.
100 Dragon Breath Weapons The Open Design gang has put together 100 breath weapons to spice up your next draconic encounter.
CCF did NOT refuse any charity money from Gen Con "To be clear, Gen Con made the decision not to donate to CCF; at no time did CCF refuse to take charity money from Gen Con."
Emerson's Bookshelf talks about Character Portraits Emerson's Bookshelf reminisces about player character portraits and the allure homebrew campaigns.
Dndorks has put up a review of the 4e Adventurer’s Vault Jason and Rich from dndorks.com go through the adventurer’s vault and talk about how it applies to their game, what it has in it, and who (if any) should buy it.
PCGen Releases "Children of the Void" Data Set Data set for Paizo Publishing's Second Darkness Adventure Path, Chapter 2: Children of the Void.
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: Whip Traps The second in the traps article series, four variants of the whip trap free and illustrated.
New blog entries:

News for Tuesday, 4 November

News for Monday, 3 November

4E 3rd Party Publishers‎ Wiki page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

November Editorial Calendar As announced in Digital Insider, we’re publishing our current editorial calendar to offer a forthcoming look at the Dragon, Dungeon and free content you can expect throughout the month.
Excerpts: Bravura Presence In today’s Martial Power preview, we introduce you to the basics of the warlord's chapter, as well as a new feature: Bravura Presence.
Excerpts: Famous Dragons In today’s Draconomicon preview, we introduce you to a new dragon -- a new abyssal dragon: the iron-plated Frostforged Wyrm.
Excerpts: Daring Acrobat In today’s Martial Power preview, we introduce you to a new paragon path for rogues: Daring Acrobat.
DRAGON: Playing Minotaurs Minotaurs embody the tension between civilization and savagery, discipline and madness. Tugged toward wanton violence but bound by conscience, numerous minotaurs are driven to rise above their dark impulses.
Welcome to the Inside In this column, I'm going to show you another class from Player's Handbook 2. This time out, you get to see the bard. I'm showing off one bard build, from level 1 to level 10. Just to give you a taste of how another classic character class translates into 4th Edition. But we'll get to the bard a bit later. I've got a few other things to share with you first.
DDM: Shifter Claw Adept

Myth Merchant Press releases Tankard Tales: Willowbark's - A 4E location Eat, Drink and Be Merry! Willowbark’s is a fully fleshed-out tavern with two 17x20 Battlemaps and heroic and paragon tier encounters. Includes cutout tavern pieces to make your own floorplans as well.
Emerson's Bookshelf Updates Emerson's Bookshelf checks out Rite Publishing's Mandragoran preview from Heroes of the Jade Oath, talks about Kobold Quarterly's Friday Funny, and shares a Wand of Wonder story of his own.
New Lone Wolf Novels Now Available
GOLD Web Series Premieres Nov. 21
Signs & Portents 62 - Ready for Download
A D&D 4e player's perspective on Goodman Game's Forgotten Heroes: Fang, Fist and Song
Walker in the Wastes Audio Game - Comes in from the Cold
Issue #41 of 1001+1 Nights Available Now
Poison Ivy Press New 3rd party publisher with high aims announces new product lines for 4th Edition D&D products.
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: the Simurgh A free bardic monster from Persian mythology, suitable for any desert or mountain campaign. Plus R.A. Salvatore Friday Funny.
Free Master Tiles No. 0 from SkeletonKey Games Master Tiles No. 0 – Infinite Chamber offers up five miniatures-scale tiles that a game master customize using the layers feature in Acrobat.
New review:

Master at Arms - Glaive Knight This short PDF presents a new 5-level prestige class around using the glaive. It also has two new weapons, and a fully-developed example NPC.

New blog entries:

News for Thursday, 30 October

D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

Dungeon 159 Art Gallery This month brings The Scales of War "The Lost Mine of Karak", plus the "The Ziggurat Beyond Time", and "Menace of the Icy Spire". Here now are a full set of the illustrations from Dungeon 159.
Dungeon 159 Map Gallery. Here now are a full set of the maps -- tagged and untagged -- from Dungeon 159!
DDM: Blood War Stat Cards FINAL The FINAL VERSIONS of Blood War stat cards are ready to be downloaded, printed, and played with. These are their finished version, legal in all forms of play.
DDM: Demonweb Preview 8 Some people fear bugs. The bigger the bug, the bigger the fear. This week's previews are not, strictly speaking, bugs. They are, however, sufficiently buglike, and definitely big enough, to disturb the average entomophobe.
The Oligarchy of Mavet Rav This article explores such an unorthodox regime and presents four NPCs for inspiration or immediate usage in your campaign.
Marking Marked and Other 4E-isms This month, we'll talk about tracking table conditions and all the little modifiers, conditions, and other bundles of joy that occur in the heat of the battle grid shuffle.
Digital Insider #13: Character Builder Most of this week’s update is devoted to a show-and-tell featuring lots of screenshots from the Character Builder.

4E 3rd Party Publishers‎ Wiki page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
Dungeons Daring Released The Vintyri Project has released the free, open Dungeons Daring RPG in PDF format, and it is available for free downloading. Also available free: Various electronic accessories for the game, the Dungeons Daring Open Game Content Reference Document (OGL 1.0a) and trademark license documents.
Rome: Decline and Fall (Adventure Series) EN World member Paul Strack has posted some very detailed campaign notes concerning his custom 4e campaign setting based in Rome.
New groups:

Berwyn Illinois Gaming Club Berwyn Il Gaming Club as hosted by the Berwyn Moose Lodge , welcomes all players. We are currently playing a Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 game, but are open and willing to start any new game system or adventures!
York, Harrogate, Leeds area A gathering place for players of this region.

New blog entries:

News for Wednesday, 29 October

Burning Sky Battlemaps 1-inch scale battlemaps for War of the Burning Sky #11 and #12 (Under the Eye of the Tempest and The Beating of the Aquiline Heart) have been added to the official WotBS web page.
PCGen 5.15.6 (Alpha) Released
Emerson's Bookshelf talks about Patronage and the Role-Playing Game Industry An opinion piece on the nascent patronage movement in the RPG industry, it’s obvious benefits to the patron and artist, and weighing of the pros versus the cons.
4E 3rd Party Publishers‎ Wiki page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
New review:

Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Monsters Revisited Pathfinder and the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path famously reimagined goblins, detailing their culture, mannerisms, and tactics in a way that made a boring old monster one of the most hotly discussed foes in fantasy roleplaying. Now, the minds that bring you Pathfinder have applied the same...

New blog entries:

News for Tuesday, 28 October

Combat Advantage Free PDFs for 4E
High Moon Media's Latest Heroic Moment
Emerson's Bookshelf reviews Monday Monsters and offers advice on Play by Post gaming
[LPJDesign] Races of Fantasy: The Demigod released
Rite Publishing launches Adventure Path Patronage Project The ultimate goal of which is to create a campaign saga that takes player characters from 1^st to 25^th level with adventures specifically designed for Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved. Patronage sign up is now available for the first adventure A Witch's Choice.
New Lazy GM product from The Creative Conclave Forty-one monsters get the Lazy GM treatment, for nearly 200 pages of ready to run statistic blocks. From Assassin Vine to Yrthak, including a full array of dinosaurs and golems. All Open Content and compatible with 3.5 rules.
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: How to Run a Horror Adventure DM tips and tricks for better horror adventures from DUNGEON author Tim Connors.
Mongoose Website Update
Pathfinder Beta web enhancement with Prestige Classes has been released
[Øone Games] The Revolution Begins Now
New blog entries:

News for Monday, 27 October

D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

Excerpts: Hoards In today’s Draconomicon preview, we look at sample dragon hoards, including using them as terrain, as well as tables of art objects worked into the wealth.
Excerpts: The Aerialist Rogue In today’s Martial Power preview, we introduce you to the basics of the rogue's chapter, as well as a new build: the Aerialist Rogue.
DUNGEON: Episode 8: Story and Prophecy: Dungeoncraft (how many titles?) Episode 8 of Dungeoncraft brings us back to James's Greenbrier Campaign with a focus on Story and Prophecy. It's time to go beyond adventures with story, and beyond story with far-reaching prophecy.
DRAGON: Domains of Dread: Sunderheart, the Funeral City The Domains of Dread come in many sizes and varieties. Each is a corrupt prison for the darklord that rules there. In this article, learn about Harack Unarth, the ancient Bael Turathian city known as Sunderheart.
FICTION: Pyre by Ari Marmell.

RPG Software Wiki page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
4E 3rd Party Publishers‎ Wiki page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
Master Gamer Theater: Player Motivations A Masterpiece Theater-esque production based upon the Player Motivations section of the 4E Dungeon Masters Guide.
Goodman Games to publish 4E "Raider Guild" adventures in cooperation with Axe Initiative Games
Against the Shadow fansite new domain The Midnight d20 campaign setting fansite has found a new domain name to be used from now: www.againsttheshadow.net.
[Conan] Cimmeria & Cities of Hyboria - Out This Week
Marktoberfest This week is Marktoberfest and Creative Mountain Games is celebrating this very odd occasion with a very odd sale. Prices reduced to $1, $3, $5, $7 and $9.
Secrets of The Mind Masters on sale
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: Jack the Ripper Stats A free set of stats for Jack the Ripper done in a fantasy style.
Christian Children’s Fund Refuses Charity Tainted by D&D
New blog entries:

New reviews:

The Random Esoteric Creature Generator A book of charts and advice for randomly generating unique creatures to challenge your players.
Locales Volume One A series of maps for use with fantasy roleplaying games.
DCC 55: Isle of the Sea Drake Not quite a "dungeon crawl," but a creative, fun adventure!

News for Friday, 24 October

D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

Excerpts: Brown Dragons In today’s Draconomicon preview, we introduced brown dragons -- of all the chromatics, the least likely to head great armies, rule kingdoms, or otherwise seek to carve out empires; instead, they prefer the comfort of their desert lairs and are at home below the earth.
Excerpts: Feral Spirit In today’s Martial Power preview, we introduce you to a new paragon path for rangers and their animal companions: Feral Spirit.
Game Shame: Confessions of a Full-Time Wizard Lots of people proudly advertise their hobbies to the world -- yet some D&D players take pains to conceal their habit from strangers and even friends. Shelly conducted an experiment to find out why.
RPGA: Living Forgotten Realms Updates We've just updated some key Living Forgotten Realms Campaign resources. The Writer's Guidelines have changed a bit, and you'll definitely want to download the unified RPGA Character Creation Guide.
Stillwater Station: Expeditionary Dispatches A new Expeditionary Dispatch is here! Learn about a small community struggling to survive on the edge of the Mournland: Stillwater Station.
King of the Trollhaunt Warrens Map Gallery
King of the Trollhaunt Warrens Art Gallery

4E 3rd Party Publishers‎ Wiki page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
D&D Miniatures Official Response There have been a number of official responses in messageboard posts to the news of the discontinuation of the D&D Miniatures skirmish game and its replacement with a product dedicated to purely supporting the RPG.MerricB has collected a number of them here.
[Øone Games] The Great City featured on Atomic Array
Wayfarers Character Creation Contest Wayfarers Character Creation Contest: 1st and 2nd place creators win a copy of the Wayfarers RPG from the YOGC. Entries accepted until 11-24-08, winners announced 11-28-08.
GOLD: an RPG Web Series GOLD is a comedy series about Professional Role Playing Gamers. The American and British teams, long-time rivals, are gearing up for the world Goblins and Gold championships.
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: More Airships Three more airships as a free Web enhancement to the article in issue #7.
New blog entries:

News for Wednesday, 22 October

War of the Burning Sky #12: The Beating of the Aquiline Heart It's finally here - the conclusion to the War of the Burning Sky Campaign Saga! A 107-page D&D 3.5 adventure for 19th-20th level characters.
In the stunning finale to the War of the Burning Sky Campaign Saga, the heroes lead their armies on a final assault against the might of the Ragesian Empire, and cut out the heart of their foe, the tyrannical Leska.

Companies of fiends, legions of deadly warriors, furious beaats, and titanic arcane creations defend the desolate Opaline Wastes, for in the caverns below, Supreme Inquisitor Leska crafts dark sorcery which will bind the world to eternal war.

From the throne room of the Imperial Palace, to the ash-stained fields of war, to the ancient and accursed Heart of History, epic dangers loom against the heroes, and tens of thousands will fight and bleed and die at their side to save their many homelands, for both the end of the war and the fate of the world are tied to the beating of the Aquiline Heart.

Where can you get this adventure? If you're a subscriber, you should already have received your download link. Otherwise, you have plenty of options:

Buy in PDF from RPGNow for $6.99
Buy in PDF from YourGamesNow for $6.99
Buy in PDF from Paizo (as soon as they approve it) for $6.99
Buy in paperback format (either full color $24.99 or black-and-white $12.98 for the budget-conscious) at EN Publishing's Lulu storefront.
Subscribe to the entire campaign saga at RPGNow and receive all 12 adventures for only $49.99.

And if you're still not sure:

Check out the War of the Burning Sky web page, which contains links to preview art, the free Player's Guide and Campaign Guide, and much more!

D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

DUNGEON The Lost Mines of Karak (The Scales of War, part 4) The next installment in the Scales of War Adventure Path is here! A long-lost mine has been discovered, ready to supply Overlook's defenses. It's up to the PCs to find a route to the mine and secure it for the powerful Ironfell clan.
DDM: D&D Miniatures Announcement Visible PC Heroes packs (you can see what's inside!), and monster packs whch allow you to see one of the miniatures inside.
DDM: Wild Things - The Art of Warbands Warbands from the Wild faction became all the rage just before the DDM Constructed Championships at GenCon last year. Here's a fun yet competitive warband that uses some familiar pieces in what may be an unfamiliar build.
DDM: Demonweb Preview 7 Demonweb has something not seen since the Wardrums set: a pair of large miniatures of the same race. Back then, it was Hill Giants. This time, it's Ogres.

4E 3rd Party Publishers‎ Wiki page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
4E Game Aids & Accessories Wiki page updated. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
RPG Software Wiki page updated. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
The Forgotten Realms design team is seeking fan feedback Specifically they are looking for Realms fans to vote on the region they should cover next in D&D Insider.
PCGen Releases 'Nuisances: Directors Cut' Data Set PCGen, the worlds most flexible d20 character generation software, is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of the data set for Skirmisher Publishing LLC Nuisances: Director's Cut.
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: Issue #7 Ships The new issue includes official Pathfinder content, steampunk monsters, airships, and gunpowder magic. Plus gear for rogues and an Ecology article.
New blog entries:

New downloads:

Manual of Monster Creation By popular demand, here is my detailed guide to creating simple and balanced monsters for 4th Edition. Within you will find: A no-nonsense step-by-step walkthrough to assigning your monster's stats and abilities. A simple set of modifications to make any monster into an elite, solo or any other 'ranked' type. An example of monster design, featuring the violet dragon. A quick and dirty rule for converting published monster stats to my guidelines.
Warlock - Dark Pack power cards These are the cards from the Forgotten Realms Player Guide on the Dark Pack Warlock. I used the template from Grandpa.

News for Monday, 20 October

D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

D&D Podcast Episode 27 (October 2008) In this episode, we sit down with authors R.A. and Geno Salvatore, to find out more regarding their forthcoming books: The Pirate King and The Stowaway.
Excerpts: Beastmaster Ranger In today’s Martial Power preview, we introduce you to the basics of the ranger's chapter, as well as a new build: the Beastmaster.
Excerpts: Origins In today’s Draconomicon preview, we present the origins of dragons (at least, according to the sages), including a look at the first dragons and the sundering of Io's children.
DRAGON: Fight! Battles in the Gladiatorial Arena This is the second half of Dragon's two-part article series on running and playing in gladiatorial games. "Fight!" provides you with everything you need to run a gladiatorial adventure or campaign.

Preview of War of the Burning Sky #12: The Beating of the Aquiline Heart Final WotBS adventure due out this week! A 3.5 adventure for 20th level characters; the twelfth adventure and fiery conclusion of the War of the Burning Sky campaign saga.
Goodman Games to publish Amethyst setting
Horror Helper: The ultimate in terrifying goodness Four electronic publishers team up to give you everything you need to add a little spice to your game and make it easier to cook up an adventure.
RPG Life Special Guest Chats Starting Oct 18th 3pm CST with Ken St. Andre and later that night with Chuck Welon through the next with with Eddy Webb, Sean Patrick Fannon, Matt Forbeck, Stan!, Keith Baker and finally Bill from the Escapist!
4E 3rd Party Publishers‎ Page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: Lyeflesh Zombie The Monday Monster series of new and free creatures continues with a twist on zombie horror.
Living Spycraft (based on Crafty Games Spycraft) is back as Spymaster.
New blog entries:

New reviews:

H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth A D&D 4E adventure for character levels 4-6. Beneath Thunderspire Mountain lies a sprawling network of mazes, tombs, and caverns collectively known as the Labyrinth. What will the heroes find when they enter its passages and chambers?
Lands of Darkness #1: The Barrow Grounds I really can't recommend this product. The encounters are perfunctory without much thought about the terrain or the need for more manuevering space. There is a decided lack of thought about how things interact.

New download:

Crescent Striker preview from The Lunar Scrolls — S7S Page one: Header and intro rules to the book. Page two: The crescent striker multiclass-only class. Page three: The crescent striker paragon path. Page four: Vismaurati, an example crescent striker.

New group:

RPG Bloggers Unite! Members of RPGbloggers.com.

News for Friday, 17 October

D&D Insider Updates: (some items require subscription; I'll mark which ones):

[FREE] Excerpts: The Epic Fighter In today’s Martial Power preview, we introduce you to a new epic destiny for the fighter: Eternal Defender!
[FREE] Start Here 4th Edition's Starter Set releases this month, so what better time to look back—with great fondness—at starter sets of past editions?
DRAGON: We Who Are About to Die ... D&D Gladiators Part one of a two-part series on gladiators kicks off with "We Who Are About to Die…" featuring a new feat series and new weapon options, plus gladiator character backgrounds for all classes.

4E 3rd Party Publishers‎ Page updated again. You may need to login. Feel free to add to or edit the page.
KOBOLD QUARTERLY: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman Interview Weis and Hickman speak to the Kobold Diplomats about humor, characters, writing, and their current projects.
Review: "Medieval Bestiary: Anthropophagi" and "Feudal Characters: Noble" Both Medieval Bestiary: Anthropophagi and Feudal Characters: Noble are PDF supplements for 4e, released under the GSL. MB:A details a new kind of monster, with 3 different versions plus racial traits for making an NPC. FC: N details a multiclass-only class called the Noble, complete with everything needed to supplement the class.
Fat Dragon Games releases free Sampler Pack<