News Archive #8 March 2000 News from March 2000: March 31, 2000 WotC Owns Your Stuff? Not Quite: When you create an adventure or story and post it online, and you use copyrighted creatures, spells or characters from the D&D game, does WotC own your work? No. WotC's CEO Peter Adkison explains (on rec.games.frp.dnd by way of Melissa Tarkington): Here's the scoop. Anything that someone writes is theirs, to the extent it does not infringe on something that is already owned by someone else. If someone writes an original story about a fantasy warrior who treks across the wasteland destroying ogres and trolls (public domain monsters that nobody owns), that story belongs to the writer. If the writer throws in a beholder (a monster that WotC owns), then that story is no longer owned just by the writer; this is because one of WotC's monsters is a part of it. However, that story doesn't belong to WotC either. In effect, no one can use the story without the other's consent. By the way, just to make sure, I ran this answer past Brian Lewis, our General Counsel (legal guy). So this is an answer both from the CEO AND the legal department. :-) Feel free to pass this along to any of those discussion forums where you think it might be helpful. Stay on target, Peter Adkison CEO, Wizards of the Coast Sector Head, Hobby Games, Hasbro Magic Item Creation: The March Playtest Group of the Month's page has been updated over on the official 3E site. This week we get to see the evolution of the magic item creation system. (thanks to Beau Yarbrough, Joel Flank and Pierre-Paul Durastanti for the scoop) The way for a character to create a magic item [in the earlier draft of the rules] was by casting a spell: Brew Potion, Craft Staff, Enchant Arms and Armor, Enchant Wondrous Item, and other spells were all designed to spell out and standardize the process for creating magic items. ...the uniformity in the system for creating magic items was a good thing -- and we maintained that uniformity while avoiding potential problems related to the casting of spells (such as, Is this spell the right level compared with this other one?) by turning the spells into feats. Item creation feats are only available to spellcasters, and most of them are not available to a character until he or she has reached a certain level (making them like spells in that respect). The best aspect of the change, for spellcasting characters, is that they don't have to prepare a spell (and use up a spell slot) just because they want to create a magic item. The time it takes to complete the process is now simply expressed as an amount of time, rather than an amount of casting time. An item creation feat can't be interrupted the way the casting of a spell can be, and thus there is no chance of a character not being able to finish the process because he was interrupted or distracted. Bye-Bye, System Shock: No, not the computer game -- the D&D game mechanic that works like a saving throw in certain situations. Playtester John Troy reveals the facts (on the 3E Message Board, thanks to James Hoover for the scoop): "System Shock" is pretty much purged from 3rd Edition. In the few cases where an SS type roll would exist, you'd make a Fortitude save. But they've purged the need for any checks for Polymorph and Raise Dead spells, among others. Turning from Stone to Flesh still apparently requires a survival check, as does the "massive damage" rule from 2e. The restoring from dead stuff has other rules not related to fortitude saves. Size and Combat: I don't usually post speculation from the fans as "news" but one fellow named CLAVDIVS sent in an observation so good I just couldn't resist: A thought about the +1 AC and to-hit gnomes get for their small size, and the -1 to AC the umber hulk gets for its large size: I'm thinking maybe they're giving all size categories AC and to-hit modifiers based on how far they are from Medium. If they use the 2E sizes, the could do it at +/-1 per step, ranging from +2 for Tiny to -3 for Gargantuan. If this is how they're doing it, the modifiers exactly cancel when creatures of the same size category are fighting. Gnome A's +1 AC cancels gnome B's +1 to hit, so you could just not use the modifiers if you like (although it would be easier to just use them consistently). And the relative modifiers would be the same for every relative size combination, thus the modifiers would be effectively the same for a gnome fighting a human or for a human fighting an umber hulk. This, then, is a very elegant solution to the problem of different sized attackers in combat without resorting to a sliding scale of adjustments that changes with every possible combination. I've run this by Anonymous and he says, "Although the exact numbers aren't necessarily accurate, that is exactly how things work in 3e." March 30, 2000 Damage Reduction: The monster revealed by WotC's Anthony Valterra yesterday, the Tyrantfog Zombie, had an unexplained special defense called "damage reduction." Anonymous sources have confirmed that this is the way 3E handles monsters that can only be hit by magical weapons. The entry "Damage Reduction 15/+1" means that each physical attack against this type of zombie is reduced by 15 hp per attack unless the attacker is using a +1 or better weapon. So it's conceivable that if this zombie was attacked by a very skilled and strong warrior, these attacks could be successful, but each hit would do 15 hp less damage than normal unless he had a magic weapon. An Image from Air: Air Garcia, webmaster of the Spanish-language Dragones y Mazmorras 3ªEdición site, sent a great drawing he did of a chuul. This was a monster recently revealed on this site, and you can go to the Monsters page to see its stats. Air promises to send along a picture of Skurge Dwarfsbane the Troll Barbarian soon! :) Dave Arneson and the D&D Movie: You can read an article by D&D co-creator Dave Arneson about his experiences on the set of the forthcoming D&D movie. (thanks to Daniel the Neon Knight for the scoop) Mailing List Archives: WotC's Jim Butler announced that archives of the various mailing lists they host are now available at http://www.wizards.com/lists/#ListsAlphabetical. These archives include DND-L, GREYHAWK-L, REALMS-L, PLANESCAPE-L ... you get the idea. So if you're ever interested in seeing really old news, this is the place to be. :) March 29, 2000 An Open and Close Case: WotC's Anthony Valterra addressed the issue of how one could create D20 System compatible products under the Open Gaming License and yet keep some of the creation "closed" while some remains "open" to further development. He provides an example of a monster where the monster's name and general description are "closed" (and thus couldn't be used in any other D20 compatible or derived products) while the game mechanics would be "open." Whether you're following the legal issues or not, the sample monster is pretty nifty in itself. (on OGF-L, thanks to Doug Meerschaert for the scoop). (this part is "closed") Zombie, Tyrantfog These wretched undead are the remains of the priests and worshipers of evil gods who have been struck down by the raw power of another evil god. Tyrantfog zombies appear as rotting corpses surrounded by lingering wisps of dark fog. The fog fills their lungs and trickles from their noses and mouths. Their eyes and sharp fingernails, as well as any exposed bone, glow with a dim, emerald green light. Combat Tyrantfog zombies attack with their claws, spreading the foul disease that ended their mortal lives. They are smarter than normal zombies, and show cunning and at least a primitive sense of tactics in their attacks. Still, they fight relentlessly, with no motive of self-preservation. Sickening cloud: The fog that lingers around Tyrantfog zombies saps the endurance of creatures within it. Infective touch: The claws of a Tyrantfog zombie carry disease. (this part is "open" or is considered "Covered Material") Medium-Size Undead Hit Dice: 4d12+3 (29 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 30' AC: 15 (+5 deflection) Attacks: 2 claws +2 Damage: Claws 1d6+1 plus disease Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Sickening cloud, infective touch Special Defenses: Damage reduction (15/+1) Saves: Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +4 Abilities: Str 13, Dex 10, Con , Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13 Skills: Climb +4, Listen +6, Search +3, Spot +6 Feats: Toughness Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground Organization: Solitary or Pack (2-5) Challenge Rating: 3 Treasure: Standard Alignment: Always evil Advancement Range: 5 HD to 8 HD (Medium-Size) Sickening Cloud: A character who comes within 5' of these creatures must make a DC13 Fortitude save or suffer 1 point of temporary Constitution damage. A single character only needs to make one saving throw per encounter with these creatures. Infective touch: A character wounded by a these creatures must make a DC 13 Fortitude save at the end of the battle. Success indicates that the character fights off the infection. If the character fails the save, she sickens over the next 1d4 days, suffering 1 point of temporary Strength damage at the end of that time. Each day thereafter, the character must make another DC 13 Fortitude save or lose 1d2 points of Constitution and 1d4 points of Strength. The character must then make another saving throw to avoid permanently losing 1 point each of Strength and Constitution. Forgotten Realms, 3E Style: WotC's Jim Butler explained how the 3E FR setting will handle new character classes and new abilities in characters that didn't really "exist" before (on the Forgotten Realms message board, thanks to James Hoover for the scoop): We're not going to try and justify the appearance of the new classes, skills, feats, and other elements of the 3rd Edition game in a Realms context. The D&D game rules are the window through which you view the Forgotten Realms campaign. As these rules have matured, we've been able to better represent the world in which those rules are used. Thus, you might see some minor NPC who was classified as a "wizard" in a previous supplement suddenly being classed as a "sorcerer" with no explanation given. The reasoning is that we can now better show you what the NPC is really like using the new rules. There's not going to be a lot of this sort of thing, but we will be using the new rules to better represent the campaign world under the new rules. We plan to start showing you more of a glimpse into the 3rd Edition D&D version of the Forgotten Realms after we release the new rules. Stay tuned... More about Open Gaming and D20 at Salon.com: Salon has come up with another article on the Open Gaming Movement, a sort of companion piece to their earlier report about my recent Ryan Dancey Open Gaming Interview. This article includes more pro-and-con arguments from gamers, as well as more supporting quotes from Ryan and Gary Gygax. Here's a link to the first of three pages. (thanks to Kevin Kulp for the scoop) March 28, 2000 D&D Site Updates: The Official D&D site at WotC has a couple of new items you might want to see: Mini-Me Part II -- more instructions on painting miniatures. Labrynth of Madness Comic Book -- Originally released in 1996 and inspired by the dungeon module of the same name, you can now read this comic online. SAGA to 3E Conversion? WotC's Jim Butler talks about converting from SAGA to 3rd Edition for those who currently use SAGA to run their Dragonlance games (on DRAGONLANCE-L, thanks to Doug Meerschaert for the scoop): I see no reason why we can't provide a conversion booklet from SAGA to 3rd Edition rules. We're doing a similar conversion for Alternity to D20. I'll look into it... Years of Planning and Preparation: WotC's Keith Strohm explains why it has taken over two years to design and produce the 3rd Edition rules (on rec.games.frp.dnd, thanks to JTWombat for the scoop): The design of the 3E ruleset has taken over two years of creation and testing. That being said, here's a little insight into the creation of an RPG product at Wizards of the Coast: 1) Design: Designers generally have one month to complete 32 pages of "playtested" text. This amount of text is called a module unit in house. This means that a large product (like the PHB which is over 9 module units) would normally take 9 months to design and playtest. It took us a bit longer because the 3E PHB was such an important product, we wanted to make it the best it could be. 2) Editing: The editors work on a schedule similar to designers. For simplicity sake, just assume that the editors have 1 month per module unit of text for editing, developing mechanics, proofreading, and storyboarding. Thus, the PHB described above would go through another 9 months of editing. 3) Graphic Design: While this is happening, the art directors are working off of the art order generated by the designers. They commission the artwork and work with creative directors to make sure the art and graphic layout of the product work. Once they establish the layout (ad the text is finished from editing), it goes to typesetting. 4) Typesetting: Working from the storyboard, the typesetters flow text into the graphic layout template and then drop in illos. In many ways, typesetting a product for WotC is more of an art than a science. This process can take several weeks. 5) After the product is out of typesetting, their is a whole lot of preproduction work (color correction, image matching, and other arcane things that I know little about) that gets done. Once that work is done, the files are sent to the printer, who then prints the product. Time is inserted in the schedule to do press checks, if necessary, and look over any sampe copies for glaring errors. After this, the printers produce however many tens (or hundreds) of thousands copies. This is a somewhat over-simplified snapshot of what happens to create a product here. But as you can see, a large product can take almost 2 years without adding any extra time for special handling. Add on to that the fact that our distribution partners (especially St. Martin's Press) work on sales cycles almost a year in advance, and we need to know exactly what we're producing several years ahead of when that product will actually see the light of day. This is why my team will soon be working onthe 2002 tabletop RPG schedule. I hope this helps. Avoiding Attacks of Opportunity: An anonymous source has provided information on how spellcasters can avoid Attacks of Opportunity when they choose to cast spells while in close-quarters combat: "You may attempt to cast a spell while 'on the defensive.' This does not provoke an attack of opportunity anymore than standing there does. You must however make a Concentration check with a DC of 15 plus the spell's level to pull it off or you lose the spell." Notes/Analysis: Interesting. From what we've heard previously, if you get hit while spellcasting, you have to make a concentration check. Now, to avoid getting attacked you also have to make a concentration check. I guess it's preferable to have a chance of blowing the spell but also avoid getting whacked than to have a chance of blowing the spell and also getting damaged. Armor: An anonymous source has provided the "full listing" for Studded Leather Armor. Analysis and explanation to follow: Light Armor   AC bonus Max Dex Check penalty Arcane Failure Speed WT. Studded Leather +3 +5 -1 15% 30/20 20 Analysis & Notes: Studded Leather is one of a few types of Light Armor. Light Armor Proficiency will be required in order to effectively use this armor; there will be Medium and Heavy armors as well. Instead of "setting" the AC, armor provides a bonus, just as high DX, magic, and other factors provide bonuses. "Max Dex" refers to the maximum bonus due to Dexterity that the wearer of this armor can enjoy. Since you'd have to have a Dex of 22 in order to have a +6 bonus, a typical character won't find studded leather to be too encumbering. This "cap" will impact all sorts of Dexterity-related actions -- skills like Pick Pockets, firing or throwing missile weapons, and Dexterity adjustments to Armor Class. "Check Penalty" is a penalty to certain non-Dexterity related actions, probably skills like Jump, Swim or Climb which might be based on Strength rather than Dex. "Arcane Failure" -- apparently wearing armor will be possible for arcane spellcasters, but there's a chance of spell failure. Why is this expressed in percentage terms instead of in "3 in 20" terms? Some on the 3E board have speculated that it's to keep players from thinking that this is a Difficulty Class that can be adjusted by high ability scores. Hopefully we'll learn more about this soon. Speed: A man-sized character wearing this armor can move the normal movement rate (30 feet per round) in this armor, and a small character can move the normal "small" movement rate (20 feet per round). In other words, there's no movement rate penalty for studded leather. Anonymous indicates that as the armors get heavier, the movement rates decrease -- we might find armors that only allow 15/10 movement rates somewhere down the line. Take a look at Jozan's movement rate -- as a human he'd normally move 30, but 20 is listed on his character sheet -- probably due to his armor. Gnomes: An anonymous source has provided a list of perks that gnome characters receive. Analysis and explanation to follow: Gnome Racial Traits +2 Con, -2 Str Small Sized: +1 AC and +1 to Hit. +4 to hide. Must use small-sized equipment +2 Save vs. Illusions +1 bonus to attack vs Kobolds and Goblinoids Low Light Vision +4 Dodge Vs. Giants +2 Listen Checks +2 Alchemy Checks Analysis & Notes: Anonymous confirms that the most recent draft of the rules has Gnomes with a STR penalty instead of the WIS penalty we've seen. Presumably the Small-sized benefits/restrictions would also apply to Halflings. Not sure what the +4 Dodge Vs. Giants means -- could possibly be related to the Dodge feat, which seems to indicate that a gnome facing several giants can only gain the bonus against one opponent per round. March 27, 2000 Settings: On the RPG.DnD.Spelljammer message board, Jim Butler talked about plans for some of the D&D game settings (thanks to Sean Curtin for the scoop): We'll be focusing our efforts on the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance campaigns, relaunching both of them shortly after 3rd Edition D&D releases (in the 2001 timeframe). Greyhawk becomes the world behind the D&D game, where we'll use it as placenames and background for official D&D logo products. The RPGA will further develop Greyhawk products through its membership. We'll produce a couple of Greyhawk products at the end of this year, but other than those you'll need to go to the RPGA to get your Greyhawk fix. Planescape and Ravenloft both have their core concepts (planar travel and horror) rolled back into the core D&D game. We don't have any plans to produce new products for those settings, either. Spelljammer, Planescape, and Ravenoft were great settings, but they just don't sell enough to warrant us producing new products for them. Jim added more information about Dragonlance on DND-L (thanks to jbs for the scoop): We're currently planning to produce a Dragonlance campaign setting product next year. We're not planning on developing a line of products to rival that of the Forgotten Realms, but we would like to move the existing SAGA players over to 3rd Edition. That product will be classic Dragonlance, set before Dragons of Summer Flame. Until the War of Souls [novel] trilogy ends in 2002, we won't be producing a "current" version of Dragonlance. Star Wars RPG, 3E & the D20 System: WotC's Andy Collins summarized the current info on the forthcoming Star Wars RPG (on the Star Wars message board): The Star Wars RPG will be a complete RPG in a single hardback book. [He adds in a separate message,] There will, of course, be a line of support products, but the game itself will be contained within one book. It will use the "D20 System" of core mechanics. You will NOT need to buy the [D&D] 3E PHB or any other book in order to play Star Wars. We will also be publishing an "Introductory" version of the game -- as we've been doing with many of our RPG recently -- to help those new to RPGs to learn the hobby. Veggie Boy Annoyed: WotC's Sean "Veggie Boy" Reynolds shared an anecdote with the friendly folks of rec.games.frp.dnd about 3E's quality and ease of use: "I was asked to write the 8-page Adventurer's Guild tie-in adventure for the 2E Slavers book that Chris Pramas and I wrote. After spending all of this time working on 3rd edition D&D, going back to 2nd edition is such an awful chore that it has taken me FOUR WEEKS to write this thing. 3rd edition D&D is so superior that I literally become agitated and annoyed when I have to use any 2E products. That's why I'm giving away or selling my 2E stuff." March 26, 2000 3E Midterm Exam: So you think you know a lot about 3rd Edition D&D, eh? Well, test your knowledge on a little quiz I call the 3E Midterm Exam. Why "Midterm?" Well, we've been waiting for 3E for a long time, and we have a long time yet to go! :) Plus, if you flunk you still have time to pull your grade back up between now and final exam day on August 9. You'll find questions about Armor Class, Attack Bonuses, Saving Throws, Experience Points, and some 3E trivia thrown in for good measure. All of the answers can be found on various parts of this site. The exam opens in a new browser window so you can come back to this page and hunt around for the answer, then switch back to the quiz as needed. Good luck! Gaining Arcane Spells: Anonymous dropped by with a little tidbit that you might find interesting on the topic of gaining new arcane spells: "Wizards gain 2 spells per level to put in their spell book. These spells must be of levels the wizard can cast. Sorcerers and Bards gain 1 Spell per level in this manner." D&D 3E Community: If you haven't stopped by my Links section recently, you should. In particular, you should regularly check out the other 3E fan sites out there. Allow me to highlight some of these sites and what they have to offer: Return to the Dungeon -- Dan Taylor (aka OmegaOdd) offers fan-contributed house rules, a character sheet in Word format, David Hatfield's speculative 3E PHB, and accepts submissions. 3rd Edition Rules Speculation Page -- Tenzhi provides character sheets, his versions of the Sorcerer and Barbarian classes, David Hatfield's speculative 3E PHB, and other goodies. Forgotten Realms 3rd Edition Supplement -- Kevin Rocha's site is practially an entire D&D 3E PHB in itself, but with a Forgotten Realms twist. Der Verdammte's Obligatory Third Edition D&D Page -- Der Verdammte is an active member of the 3E Message Board. His site answers what questions he can, and you can be pretty sure that his info is on the mark.   The 3E D&D Hall of Adventures -- WSmith provides house rules, miniatures information, David Hatfield's speculative 3E PHB, and links to online gaming resources. Joe's Roleplayer's Pages -- Joe has information on converting 2E spells to 3E, and character creation notes. Melgin's Keep -- A list of changes to the D&D rules in 3E. Bryan's 3rd Edition Info -- Summaries of some of the basic 3E features, plus a nice HTML character sheet ready for printing. Parli Italiano? -- Rocco's page is an Italian translation of my site. He's usually only a few days behind in translation, so if Italian's your thing, there's no better place to be. "Qui trovi informazioni riguardanti AD&D 3a Edizione." Hablo Español?  -- No mere translation, Air Garcia's site contains unique content and news coverage for 3E including character sheets and armor and weapon tables. "La primera página del D&D 3ª Edición en español." March 25, 2000 Write for Dragon: Dave Gross, editor of Dragon Magazine, has suggestions for those of you who want to contribute to the pages of Dragon. He not only addresses the need for 3E material but gives some good general suggestions as well. Also, be sure to check out the somewhat out-of-date but still very useful Dragon Magazine Submissions Guidelines. (on the Dragon Magazine message board) 1. I have all the 2nd Edition articles I'll ever need. So many, in fact, that I'll probably have to translate some of them into 3rd Edition. Please don't propose any 2nd Edition articles! 2. I can always use good, idea-generating articles that don't depend on any one edition of the game. So even if you haven't been a playtester, you can pitch me "101 Picked Pockets" or "How To Be the Queen's Best Friend." 3. If you are a playtester, or as soon as you get your mits on the new edition, pitch me interesting 3rd Edition articles. There are a bunch of caveats to this one: 3a. Don't pitch me 3rd-Edition versions of previously published articles (or rules from sourcebooks). Give me something new and fresh. I know that's a daunting task after 25 years of D&D, but you're a clever lot. 3b. DO pitch me "Arcane Lore," "Ecology," "Bazaar of the Bizarre," and "Dragon's Bestiary" articles. Normally we get so many of these that we don't encourage more, but with the new edition we can use a bunch early on. When it comes to spells, monsters, and magical items, we'll pick the ones that are the most surprising, innovative, and just plain cool. No retreads! Give us new stuff. 3c. Don't ask me what themes I'm looking to fill! (Unless you've been working with me a while, in which case I'm likely to tap you for something specific.) Instead, propose an article you're passionate about. Yes, if you're passionate about Boot Hilll, I'll have little use for you, but I'll still think you're a swell person. I need D&D articles. 3d. Pitch 3 or 4 ideas at a time in email to dragon@wizards.com. Keep them short, no more than two or three sentences (unless you need a short phrase to describe each of a group of creatures or spells, in which case a little longer is fine). 3e. Keep pitching. If you're hopeless, I'll suggest you hold off or stop trying. (In the nicest possible way, of course.) Sometimes all it takes is persistance, and you finally hit the right formula one day and keep running. Some of our regulars are folks who sent in dozens or even hundreds of proposals before "clicking." Some still do send in a lot more proposals than we greenlight, and some send in a lot of manuscripts that don't work out. But some of those folks work hard and keep at it, and it pays off. If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask them here or in email to dragon@wizards.com. Pool of Radiance II Preview: A new preview of the forthcoming Pool of Radiance II: Ruins of Myth Drannor CRPG has been spotted by scooper Jonathan Petersen. As this game will use the 3E rules, the preview discusses certain aspects of the rules. Here's a little snippet on multiclassing: Class blending is of particular interest. For example, a player has the ability to start off as a paladin and at each level up, the player can continue as a paladin or choose to be almost anything else. Switching classes will not cause you to lose experience in your first class, and it's possible to switch back and forth between classes. Therefore, you could conceivably end up with a level 6 paladin, a level 4 thief and a level 5 cleric, all in the same character. In Ruins, players are limited to a combined maximum level of 16; i.e., your levels in each class are added together, and that total can't be greater than 16. For coverage of PoRII be sure to check out The Scrying Room, an RPGPlanet hosted site covering this game. DCs for Spell Saving Throws: Setting the Difficulty Class for a spell saving throw is one of the big mysteries of the 3E rules -- or it was, until now (thanks to Anonymous for the scoop): The DC [for a spell] is 10 + the level of the spell + the [Int or Wis or Cha] modifier of the caster. That's it. So a wizard with an Intelligence of 14 (+2) casting a fireball (+3) will create a fireball that needs to be saved vs. Reflex against a DC of 15. Intelligence would modify DCs for Wizard spells, Wisdom would modify DCs for Cleric and Druid spells, and Charisma would do the same for Bard and Sorcerer spells. Of course, each spell will indicate whether the save is a Will, Reflex or Fortitude save. Anonymous adds, "Casters can adjust the saving throw number, too, using a feat." March 24, 2000 3E Preview at Origins: I recently reported that the Origins game convention is going to be allowing people to preview the Player's Handbook. You can read more about the 3E festivities at Origins here. Origins takes place July 13-16 in Columbus, OH. (thanks to Lodestone for the scoop) Old and Wise: The Playtest Group of the Month page was updated on the official 3E site. This time, the playtesters helped straighten out the rules on the effects of aging. (thanks to Dionysus, Beau Yarbrough, Chris Kennedy, and Ben Brown for the scoop) A character who attains Old Age gets a –2 decrease to all of his physical ability scores (Str, Dex, Con) and a +2 increase to all of his mental ability scores (Int. Wis, Cha). When that character reaches Venerable age, he loses an additional 3 points from each of his physical ability scores and gains 1 more point to each of his mental ability scores. D&D Adventure Game: WotC's Keith Strohm explains the potential target market for the D&D Adventure Game to be released in August (on the 3E Message Board, thanks to James Hoover for the scoop): The D&D Adventure Game is intended for new players, not current experienced gamers. These folks will probably not find the box that compelling; nor should they. Although it is written for new players, it is not written for a younger audience. Bill Slavicsek and his team have worked hard to make sure the text doesn't talk down to anyone. this box doesn't assume that you're "little Billy" who wants to play make believe with your friends. The target age for the box is 14 to 16 yers old. I have read the text and I can say with some surety that even an older person can read the text and not feel like he or she is reading a kiddie game. Spiritually Hammered: The official 3E site has been updated with the Spell of the Month for March: Spiritual Weapon. The spell and my analysis are below. (thanks to Michael Sullivan, Doug Justice, and about a dozen other scoopers) Spiritual Weapon Evocation [Force] Level: Clr 2, War 2 Components: V, S, DF Casting Time: 1 action Range: Medium (100 ft.+10 ft./level) Effect: A magical weapon of force Duration: 1 round/level (D) Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: Yes A melee weapon made of pure force springs into existence and attacks opponents at a distance, as you direct it, dealing 1d8 damage per hit. The weapon takes the shape of a weapon favored by your deity or a weapon with some spiritual significance or symbolism to you (see below) and has the same critical threat ranges and multipliers as a real weapon of its form. It strikes the opponent you designate, starting with one attack the round the spell is cast and continuing each round thereafter. It uses your base attack as its attack bonus (possibly allowing it multiple attacks per round in subsequent rounds). It strikes as a spell, not as a weapon, so, for example, it can strike incorporeal creatures. The weapon always strikes from your direction. It does not get a flanking bonus or help a combatant get one. Your feats (such as Weapon Focus) or combat actions (such as charge) do not affect the weapon. If the weapon goes beyond the spell range, if it goes out of your sight, or if you are not directing it, the weapon returns to you and hovers. Each round after the first, you can use a standard action to switch the weapon to a new target. If you do not, the weapon continues to attack the previous round’s target. On any round that the weapon switches targets, it gets one attack. Subsequent rounds of attacking that target allow the weapon to make multiple attacks if your base attacks would allow it to. The spiritual weapon cannot be attacked or damaged. If an attacked creature has SR, the resistance is checked the first time that the spiritual weapon strikes it. If the weapon is successfully resisted, the spell is dispelled. If not, the weapon has its normal full effect for the duration of the spell. The weapon that you get is often a force replica of your deity’s own personal weapon, many of which have individual names. A cleric without a deity gets a weapon based on his alignment. A neutral cleric without a particular deity can create a spiritual weapon of any alignment provided he is acting at least generally in accord with that alignment at the time. Notes The 2E version of this spell was called Spiritual Hammer and created only a hammer of force rather than a weapon associated with the cleric's deity or alignment. We see one of the "sub-categories" of the Evocation school (Force). Like most Cleric spells, this one has a Divine Focus (DF) as a material component. As compared to the 2E version, this spell loses duration overall and has a shorter range at higher caster levels. What does the "D" mean next to the duration? My guess is that the spell can be dispelled by the caster at will. Thus the duration is 1 round per level or until dismissed by the caster. Some 3E lingo is dropped in the spell description: "base attack," "critical threat range and multipliers," "flanking bonus," "feats," "combat actions," "standard action," "SR" [Spell Resistance]. The descriptions mentions weapons based on alignment -- but such a list is missing. One wonders if a chart would accompany the spell. Farewell, Mr. Schend: I recently reported that Steven Schend, a prolific designer of Forgotten Realms material for WotC, has left the company. A scooper by the name of "Fagan Skullcrusher" has sent along a copy of the farewell letter Steven posted to the FR mailing list: Hi all. Steven Schend here. As many of you have sent me email and queries over the years and we've also chatted here on the Realms list, I figured I should briefly mention a change in the works. After 10 years and odd-months, I'm leaving Wizards of the Coast and trying my hand at some different things. It's been a good run with many good memories and fun times, but it's time for something new. For most if not all of my time at TSR/WotC, I've just about lived in the Realms, and it's one of the things I'll miss the most. Still, my devotion for the setting doesn't change--I get to remain a fan no matter what! I'm thinking about developing my personal website to discuss and add miscellanei and stray thoughts to Realmslore I've produced, but that's a bit in the future. For now, all that's really changing in regards to this list is my email. From here on out, I'll be at seschend@earthlink.net, for those with questions and queries and nits to pick with me. Well, gotta run. Mintiper Moonsilver, Elminster, and Volo just showed up and we're off on a brief walkabout through worlds factual and fictional. I may even come back soon with "Steven's Guide to the Pacific Northwest" as a travelogue.....though I'm hoping to avoid any places with more than a 2 dagger rating....... :) May the Realms always surround you all with laughter, light, magic, and wonder. I know it always has for me.... Steven E. Schend March 23, 2000 Logos Galore: How many times have you tossed and turned all night wondering, "What graphic can I use to link my web page to Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3E News site?" Probably more than you can count. Well never fear. Over the past months, a number of kind souls have created graphics that might come in handy for this purpose... 3E Glossary: Want a quick run-down of D&D (and specifically 3E) terminology and abreviations? Check out the glossary created by Fihnakis at the Scrying Room, a fan site for the forthcoming Pool of Radiance II: Ruins of Myth Drannor computer RPG. Free Shipping at WotC Store: If you were thinking about buying something through the Wizards of the Coast online store, this might be a good time. From now until April 15th, they're offering free shipping (if you pick the standard 3-Day UPS option). Start hoarding your Pokémon cards now! DiTerlizzi's Art: Not strictly 3E related, but fantasy artist Tony DiTerlizzi has posted the first four of a series of character portraits that might look really, really spiffy on your character sheet next time you play D&D. Take a look here. (thanks to Jason Carr for the scoop) I, Spy: Gamespy, the network that includes RPGPlanet, which in turn hosts my site, has posted an interview with the world's coolest webmaster. You'll want to take a look. [Stares meaningfully at you.] Really. March 22, 2000 New 3E Art in Majesty 3E Sneak Preview: You can find the pictures below in the 3E preview on the Majesty CD-ROM. These (and one other previously released pic) are provided "in negative" as desktop wallpaper. Oh, and by the way, I did get to look at the rest of the sneak preview -- it really is nothing to write home about. The new monsters are spiffy, as are the desktop images, but the rest ... you can find right on this site! :) (thanks to Christian for the scoop) Bye-bye to Steven Schend? Rumor flying about has it that WotC game designer Steven Schend is leaving the company. Mr. Schend is responsible for such Forgotten Realms accessories as Hellgate Keep, Calimport, Cormanthor: Empire of the Elves, Sea of Fallen Stars, Fall of Myth Drannor and many others. Here's hoping the rumor is false; and if it's true, here's hoping the parting of ways is amicable. (thanks to Silverdawn for the scoop) 3E PHB Under Glass: Apparently there will be copies of the 3E Player's Handbook available for inspection at the Origins gaming convention in July. They'll be kept under bullet-proof glass, and people will be allowed to inspect one only while wearing gloves for a 10-minute stretch. Why all the hype? WotC's Anthony Valterra explains (on DND-L): "Its a joke folks. I mean yes we are going to do it but its a gag. We don't really think the product is so "valuable" that it needs that type of protection but we are making fun of the hype aropund it by putting it in a bullet proof case (what we're afraid someone's going to shoot it?) and making people reach in with gloves (like someone's fingerprints are going to damage it and all copies will have the damage?). Its a goof for laughs. Don't take it seriously." WotC's Ryan Dancey adds, "We wanted to do something lighthearted and fun at ORIGINS that recognizes that by this point, there aren't going to be many secrets left to keep. Do I think a few fans will line up and take a look at a PHB? Absolutely. But it's being done in jest, not as a serious attempt at security." March 21, 2000 Source of Magic: The difference between the Sorcerer's and the Wizard's spellcasting power is briefly detailed on the Playtest Group of the Month's page, which was recently updated. (thanks to Paul San Clemente and a whole slough of other scoopers): Sorcerers create magic the way a poet creates poems, with inborn talent honed by practice. They have no books, no mentors, no theories—just raw power that they direct at will. Some sorcerers claim that the blood of dragons courses through their veins. It may even be true—it is common knowledge that certain powerful dragons can take humanoid form and even have humanoid lovers, and it’s difficult to prove that a given sorcerer does not have a dragon ancestor. New Monsters on Majesty CD: Yesterday I reported that the computer game Majesty contained a sneak preview of 3E, but that it was mostly known information. My original scooper, Christian, sent me a PDF file that included two brand new monsters, with complete stats. He also sent me screenshots of the prettied-up FAQ and quotes from 3E designers (apparently from the interviews posted on the web). The monster stuff is definitely the most interesting and revealing. Analysis follows. (Thanks, Christian!) Digester -- a monster from the 3E Sneak Preview on the Majesty CD Medium Magical Beast Hit Dice: 8d10+24 (68 hp) Initiative: +6 (Dex, Improved Initiative) Movement: 60´ AC: 17 (+2 Dex, +5 natural) Attacks: Rake +11 melee Damage: Rake 1d8+3 Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attack: Squirt acid Special Defenses: Scent, acid Immunity Saves: Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +3 Abilities: Str 17, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10 Skills: Hide +11, Listen +6, Jump +10, Spot +6 Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Improved Initiative These swift predators produce an acidic spray that can reduce a human to a pool of glop in seconds. Digesters lurk almost anywhere there is prey to be found from barren deserts to steaming jungles. A digester resembles a carnivorous dinosaur with powerful hind legs and a long tail. It has a narrow head with a sucking mouth. The digester projects acid from an orifice in its forehead. A digester stands about 5 feet tall, but is 8 feet long from snout to tail. Combat A digester is a hunting and eating machine. When it is not hungry (which is rarely) it lies low and avoids most other creatures. When hunting, it looks about for a likely target, then charges forth and delivers a gout of acid. If the initial attack is insufficient to kill the prey, the digester attacks with it’s hind feet until it can squirt acid again. Squirt Acid: A digester can produce a spray of acid in a cone 20 feet long. This delivers 4d8 points of acid damage to everything in the area. The creature also can produce a concentrated stream of acid that can affect a single target within 5 feet; this inflicts 8d8 points of acid damage. In either case, a successful Reflex save vs. DC 17 reduces the damage by half. Skills: The digester’s coloration gives it a +4 to hide checks. It also has a +4 to jump checks. Climate/Terrain: Any temperate or warm land and underground Organization: solitary (1) Challenge Level: 5 Alignment: Usually neutral Advancement Range: up to +10 HD Chuul -- a monster from the 3E Sneak Preview on the Majesty CD Large Aberration Hit Dice: 11d8+44 (53 hp) [typo -- should be 93?] Initiative: +3 (Dex) Speed: 30´ Swim 20´ AC: 22 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +10 natural) Attacks: claws +12 melee Damage: 2 claws 2d6+5 Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: Grab, crush, paralysis Special Defenses: Immune to paralysis and poison Saves: Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +9 Abilities: Str 20, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 5 Skills: Hide +16, Listen +9 A horrible mix of crustacean, insect, and serpent, the chuul is a horrible abomination with huge pincer-like claws, four webbed legs, a wide tail, and a mandibled mouth surrounded by squirming tentacles. Its entire body is encased in an orange and black carapace. Amphibious, chuul are clumsy swimmers and actually prefer to be on land or in very shallow water. Chuul love to prey upon lizard-folk, for they enjoy killing and eating intelligent prey more than animals or beasts. Chuul are known to collect trophies from their kills. Although unable to use weapons, armor or most other belongings of their intelligent victims, chuul keep them in their submerged or partially submerged lairs. If the victim has no interesting possessions, the chuul will keep its skull. Although most live in swamps and jungles, some chuul have adapted to subterranean life, hunting in and near underground streams and lakes. These underground chuul have darkvision and are sometimes in the thrall of beholders or mind flayers and prey upon troglodytes and unwary drow. Combat The chuul prefers to wait by the shore, submerged in murky water, until it hears prey (in or out of the water) come by that it can attack with surprise. When it attacks, if it faces multiple opponents, the chuul grabs with its pincer-claws, crushes its foes, and then passes one into its tentacles for biting and eating. It tries to always have one claw free, so if it faces a great many opponents, it drops paralyzed or dead victims without eating them so that it may continue grabbing, crushing and paralyzing. Grab: When the chuul makes a successful claw attack, make a grappling check. If it gets a hold the opponent is caught in the pincer-like claw and damage is automatic each round, with an additional +1d6 bludgeoning damage from the crushing force, until the opponent escapes or is forced into the creature’s tentacles. Paralyzation: The chuul can transfer grabbed victims from its claw to its tentacles. The tentacles grapple the victim with the same strength as the claw, but deliver no damage themselves. However, the touch of the tentacles carries with it a paralytic secretion. A Fort saving throw (DC 19) is required to avoid the paralysis, which lasts for 2d6 rounds. While held in the tentacles, paralyzed or not, the victim is automatically bitten each round by the creature’s mandibles for 1d8+2 damage. Climate/Terrain: Temperate or warm marsh or forest or underground Organization: Solitary (1), pack (1d4+1) Challenge Level: 10 (solitary) 12 (pack) Alignment: Usually chaotic evil Advancement Range: Up to +5 HD Analysis of Monsters from Majesty CD We see a new "monster type" -- Magical Beast. The digester's acid "cone" isn't given a diameter at the far end. Presumably all attacks that are "cone" shaped will be defined -- perhaps all cones are half as wide as they are long, or somesuch. These monsters give us definite examples of specific, set DCs for saving throws. I wonder what is the difference between a "rake" attack and "claw" attacks? Very interesting that there is another little stat block at the end of each description. The stats at the top seem to be the more combat-oriented stats, while those at the bottom outline things like organization, alignment, etc. Challenge Level refers how difficult it would be for characters to defeat this creature. CL 5 means about four 5th level characters could defeat it. Challenge Level not only gives the DM an idea of how tough the monster is overall, but will be used to determine XP awards. Advancement Range gives an indication of how much this monster might be beefed up. This allows for tougher variants to be encountered, thus making them useful for higher level parties. It's possible that if a monster can take a character class, this would be listed here as well. March 20, 2000 3E Preview on Majesty CD: The computer game Majesty apparently has a 3E "sneak peek" included on the CD for the game. You can read a teeny, tiny blurb about it here (second paragraph). (Thanks to Joel Flank and Rob Rogers for the scoop)  A German scooper by the name of Christian wrote me on this subject a couple of days ago and told me that there wasn't much to it -- the FAQ and the "10 Ways to Play 3E Today" article. If anyone out there has more info, please drop me a line. D&D Movie Photos: There are apparently some new photos from the forthcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie posted on the WotC site.   March 19, 2000 Color Me Good: I'm redesigning the site's color scheme a few pages at a time. I should have the whole thing completed sometime this week, though I think I'm going to leave the News Archive pages as they were. Please excuse my mess! :)    March 18, 2000 Amazon.com Sets Pricing on First 3E Products: You'll recall that Amazon.com has been offering the 3E Player's Handbook, Character Record Sheets and the D&D Adventure Game for preorder for some time now. However, they hadn't listed the Amazon.com price yet, only the SRP. I just checked and the PHB is selling for $13.97 (30% off SRP of $19.95), the Character Sheets are going for $8.46 (compared to $9.95), and the D&D Adventure Game's price is $7.46 (compared to $9.95). Still no cover photos yet! :)  All Feats Equal? WotC's Skip "The Sage" Williams admits that some feats are more powerful or useful than others, and explains why (on DND-L):  Indeed, feats are *not* balanced with each other. So, why are they there? Several reasons: 1. To support folks who just aren't interested in cranking out the best possible character; these include players who are more interested in character development that min/maxing, and DMs creating NPCs (NPCs don't read the rulebooks). 2. To provide development paths and themes for characters. For example, the "weak" +1 to AC feat [e.g. Dodge] comes early in a chain of feats that together build up to some pretty hefty abilities. The "attack everyone nearby" [e.g. Whirlwind Attack] comes late in a chain. It a great feat, but you have to know other feats before you can get. (This is an example of prequisites in action). 3. To provide flexibility and in character creation and distinction among characters. Sure, a feat that lets you make magical items is cool, but making available as a feat also lets you forgo that ability and take some other cool feat instead. Core Adventure Module Line: WotC's Keith Strohm talks about the planned eight core adventure modules to be produced for D&D 3rd Edition (on DND-L): "Although there may be some level 'holes' between them, these 8 core modules will take characters from 1st through 20th level." These core modules will be the exception to the rule that WotC will be getting out of the individual adventure module business. Instead, most adventure material will appear in a beefed-up Dungeon Adventures magazine to debut in August, and in occasional "super-modules"). WotC Gaming Survey: When WotC suits drone on and on about market research, what do they mean and where do they get the figures they get? Well, you can take a look here (note this is page one of a two-page report) to see some recent data about RPG players collected and scrutinized. It's a dry read, but revealing. TSR, WotC and Customer Service: Ryan Dancey posted a long, revealing letter to DND-L that lays out why TSR drove itself into the ground, what WotC has been doing to pick up the pieces and the thinking that has driven some of their current decisions and future plans for D&D. You can read it here. (thanks to ScootGames for the head's up) Monte Cook Chat Notes: A scooper known as "The Elder Wyrm" attended some of the Monte Cook chat on Friday, and came away with some very intriguing notes:  During the Friday night chat with Monte Cook we confirmed that the Use Magic Item skill will allow rogues to use any magic item. "I have heard that there is a rogue skill "Use magic item". Will this duplicate the old read magic scroll & will it allow them to use any magic item?ga/" MonteCook says, "Exactly. Just like how they had a chance to use a scroll, now a Rogue has a chance to use any item, even if normally she couldn't." One of the new feats that should make many players very happy is one called Weapon Finesse:  "can you tell us some of the rogues feats?" MonteCook says, "Well, everyone shares the same basic feat list. However, Rogues are going to be particularly interested in, for example, weapon finesse, which allows them to use Dexterity in melee rather than Strength." There is a feat that will allow rogues to use any weapon, apparently the feat has to be taken for each exotic or martial weapon. Sorry don't have the quote. There were also several Priest questions: "A question not quite related to rogues - will the spell mix in the PHB include priest spells from the new spheres introduced in Tome of Magic?" MonteCook says, "A small handful of spells from the Tome of Magic will be in the new Player's Handbook. Not many, however. A few cleric spells along the lines of some of the order and chaos sphere spells, are in the Player's Handbook. Just a couple, though." "Will there be a generic book about specialty priests (beyond not-so-plain-anymore clerics) - that is, non-world-specific guidelines on how to create them? /ga" MonteCook says, "Well, basically, clerics are specialty priests in 3E. Each is devoted to a particular deity and has a slightly different spell selection and special power based on that deity. However, it's a good topic, so it's a fair bet that we might go further in another book sometime on that subject." And on Magic Item Creation: "Will the methods of making magical spells and items be changing notably? /ga" MonteCook says, "The means to make magic items is going to become much simpler. A low-level caster can make low-level scrolls, now, although there are some balancing costs. The exact level, gold cost, etc. that it takes to make an item is described in the DMG as well as some information on introducing new spells into the game." The Assassin's Path? Anthony Valterra (identified on the WotC site as an Associate Business Manager) dropped some interesting tidbits about the possible Feat requirements (or at least suggested feats) for a character to take the Assassin prestige class. In this example, he's speaking hypothetically of creating a character that would balanced against an equal level fighter: "...my Rogue/Sorcerer takes this route - Weapon Finesse/Point Blank/Far Shot/Improved Critical and takes the Assassin Prestige class. By the time we both reach a high enough level to get all of these feats I'll have about 6 levels in Assassin.... I've got a darn good chance of taking you down in one shot and I can keep firing at you even into melee." (on DND-L; thanks to Joe Crow and Allister Huggins for the scoop)  March 17, 2000 (Happy St. Patrick's Day!) Difficulty Classes: Playtester Der Verdammte explains how a DM could "eyeball it" when setting target numbers (Difficulty Classes) for different tasks: "Routine tasks, if they required a roll, would be at DC 5. DC 10 is a slightly challenging task, DC 15 is a moderately challenging task, and DC 20 is a difficult task. DCs beyond 20 represent things that only experts can do." (on the 3E Message Board) Adept NPC: We've heard that there will be different NPC classes such as Commoner, Noble, and Expert. About the Adept NPC class, playtester John Troy says, "Think of Adept as the Shaman/Witchdoctor of AD&D, or a 'hedge wizard.'" (on the 3E Message Board) Silver Princess Released from Captivity! WotC has posted the entire Basic D&D module B3 "Palace of the Silver Princess" online as a PDF file. This is a very, very old module (circa 1981) that has an especially interesting history due to the fact that it was withdrawn from publication by TSR due to some "racy" artwork that appeared inside. You can read all about the interesting history of this module at the link above. The file is 2.3 MB in size, but it includes all of the interior art, exterior art and maps. This is a hoot -- take a look if you can. (thanks to Pierre-Paul Durastanti, Cthulhudrew, and The Elder Wyrm for the scoop)    Anti-Magic: Playtester John Troy elaborates on what can and cannot be affected by "anti-magic" effects in the 3E rules: "The way third edition works is that just about anything that doesn't have to deal with normal physical movement on the standard material plane or the life of the creature that violates the known or extrapolated laws of physics is considered a magic power -- thus breath weapons, invisibility, displacement, energy drain, psionics, the monk's Ki powers, etc, would all be considered magical and nullified by Anti-Magic. Stuff like Poison, "Swallowing Whole", Regeneration, Natural Acids (like a pudding), Hiding in Shadows and most of the other feats and skills, etc, would not." (on the 3E Message Board)  Psionics = Magic? John elaborates: "There IS an OPTIONAL rule in the DMG that says DMs can say Psionics are a different form of power and will not be affected by Anti-Magic, and they even classify the powers as seperate, so don't fret. But for the core rules, to keep things balanced and protect Psionics from being too powerful, they treat all Psionic effects as standard, and leave it up to the DM."  March 16, 2000 New WotC Message Boards: There have been a couple of recent additions to the message boards at WotC, including Community.Conventions.Gen_Con_Game_Fair for discussing Gen Con, and Community.Conventions.Origins_International_Game_Expo_&_Fair for Origins. If you haven't been on the message boards before, read this page to find out how to access them. D&D and Profitability: WotC's Ryan Dancey addressed the issue of why a 3rd Edition of D&D is necessary when 2nd Edition is still making a profit: "It made a very small profit last year, at immense opportunity cost to the company. Sales of the game are a fraction of what they were just five years ago. A million and a half people play some version of D&D every month in this country, and less than 50,000 of them bought a D&D product last year. Without the excitement surrounding 3rd Edition, my personal belief is that sales of the core 2e books would have been lower in '99 than they were in '98, and if we didn't do 3e, sales of those books would eventually reach a number closely resembling zero. Something has to change." (on DND-L) Message Board Bits: The last couple of days have not yielded much big news, but there have been teeny, tiny bits of info dropped here and there. Here's a quick summary (all scoops from the 3E Message Board unless otherwise noted): Multiclassed from the start? "Unless you use a variant rule in the DMG, your PCs starts with just 1 class, and at 2nd level can mulitclass." (WotC's Dale Donovan) 3E Minis: "The 3rd edition line being released will add to the miniatures that are already available. They will be the same '28mm' format that the current mini's are scaled at. We will also be releasing Diablo 2 and Starcraft miniatures to go along with those RPGs. Those should be out in May or June." (WotC Game Support; scoop sent in by Thor Biafore) Gnomes: "3E D&D gnomes are not tinker gnomes." (WotC's Sean Reynolds) "Gnomes are more like gnomes now than they ever were.... The only thing dwarves and gnomes have in common is the +2 to Con. There are some HUGE differences." (Playtester Der Verdammte; scoop sent in by James Hoover) Monks: "Monk does not = unarmed combat expert." (Playtester Der Verdammte; scoop sent in by Kyle Thomason) Spell Power: Discussion on the message boards indicates that some high-level spells such as Shapechange and Wish may have been scaled back in power compared to their 2E equivalents. In particular, "the 9th Level Shapechange won't allow you to gain any of the monster 'supernatural' or 'spell-like' abilities." (Playtester John Troy) [Note: now that I look at my 2E PHB, you couldn't get supernatural or spell-like powers with the 2E version of Shapechange, either. Hmmm ... I'll see if I can get more info on this.] 4th Quarter WotC Catalog? WotC's Keith Strohm indicates we'll see the September - December 2000 catalog probably sometime in April. PHB Cover? When will we be given a glimpse of the 3E PHB cover artwork? WotC's Keith Strohm: "Probably in the next month or two." March 15, 2000 Dangerous Dancey V: The Final Frontier: The fifth installment of Ryan Dancey's The Most Dangerous Column in Gaming has been posted to the WotC web site. It should look vaguely familiar... :) Diablo II Beta Sign-up Announced: Blizzard has announced that they will take online applications for beta testers on Monday, March 20th. More info here. Diablo II D&D Fast Play Removed: A new D&D fast play game entitled "The Bloodstone Tomb" was posted earlier today on the WotC site. I've been informed by WotC management, however, that it has been removed as it was posted prematurely. The page in question now says "Coming Soon!" Hope you grabbed yours while you still had a chance. (Thanks to Jeff Hoffman and Richard Connery for the original scoop) March 14, 2000 Lidda ... In Technicolor: A new illustration graces this month's Character Close-up. And it's in color! Will wonders never cease. Next thing you know they'll have talking picture shows. (thanks to maximillian for the scoop). March 13, 2000 Pool of Radiance II Product Tie-Ins: In an interview with Jonathan Kromrey (producer of the forthcoming Pool of Radiance II: Ruins of Myth Drannor computer game, which will use the 3E rules), it's revealed that there will be table-top products produced by WotC to tie in with the computer game (thanks to Pierre-Paul Durastanti for the scoop): Wizards: Will there be novels and tabletop roleplaying products based off the computer game? Jon: Yes! Carrie Bebris is working closely with the design team and is writing the companion novel, and we're providing Wizards of the Coast with content for a fast-[play] 3rd Edition D&D module, an adventure module based on the game, several articles for Dragon Magazine, and an adventure for Dungeon Adventures. You can learn more about this game at The Scrying Room, an RPGPlanet hosted site. Slavers Illustrated: April will see the release of the Sean Reynolds & Chris Pramas Greyhawk adventure, Slavers. WotC has posted some of the interior art from this adventure in the WotC product catalog. Diablo II for 3E? Okay, so you know there are two AD&D 2nd Edition products "waiting in the wings" that will tie in with the release of the Diablo II computer game. But how does that help those who are going to switch to 3E? According to WotC game designer J.D. Wilker, "Barring unforseen circumstances, a version of Diablo II for 3rd Edition should be out later this year, or early next." (on the 3E Message Board) Aw, Ain't He Cute? The cuddly Umber Hulk has been revealed in all his glory on the official 3E site. Go look! (thanks to Kevin Greene and Franzel for the scoop) March 12, 2000 Diablo II Beta "Very Soon": DiabloII.net is reporting that the beta testing for Blizzard's upcoming sequel will be announced within the week. More here. (No, this doesn't strictly have anything to do with 3E. But once DII is released, then WotC can release its Diablo II D&D products! :) D&D Minis: The D&D Miniatures page has been updated with more photos and descriptions of the current lineup. (thanks to Joe Coons for the scoop) Also, on the topic of minis for 3E, Ryan Dancey had the following to say: "Yes, there absolutely will be [a miniatures line for 3E]. Hundreds and hundreds of figures over the long haul. The first figs should be ready in August." (on the 3E Message Board) March 11, 2000 The Incredible Vanishing Umber Hulk: Four people have written to tell me that the Umber Hulk has been posted on this month's Monthly Monster Mayhem page. I have not been able to confirm this, as every time I check, last month's critter (the beholder) is there. Fortunately, one industrious soul has captured the text from this appearing-and-disappearing page. Thanks to Doug Justice for the scoop! Umber Hulk Large Aberration HD: 8d8+32 (68 hp) Initiative: +1 (Dex) Speed: 20 ft., burrow 20 ft. AC: 17 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +7 natural) Attacks: 2 claws +11 melee; bite +9 melee Damage: Claw 2d4+6; bite 2d8+3 Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: Confusing gaze Special Defenses: Tremorsense Saves: Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +6 Abilities: Str 23, Dex 13, Con 19, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 13 Skills: Climb +17, Jump +14, Listen +11 Feats: Multiattack Umber hulks are massive creatures dwelling deep beneath the earth. Ripping through rock and stone as though light underbrush, they rampage continuously-leaving a wake of destruction. An umber hulk is powerfully built, looking something like a cross between a great ape and a beetle. The wedge-shaped creature stands roughly 8 feet tall and measures nearly 5 feet across, weighing about 800 pounds. Armor plates cover virtually all of its chitinous body, whose scattered feelers resemble sparse hair. A massive pair of mandibles and rows of triangular teeth dominate the low, rounded head. Despite its great bulk, the umber hulk is an intelligent creature. When brute force won't overcome an enemy, it is more than capable of outthinking those who assume it to be a stupid beast. Umber hulks often use their tunneling ability to create deadfalls and pits for the unwary. Notes: Like last month's critter, the Beholder, the Umber Hulk is an "aberration" type creature. It has a pretty slow combat movement rate considering it's a Large creature. Being Large makes you easier to hit. Unlike the Beholder, there's an entry here for Face/Reach. Face is a measurement of how much area the critter takes up on the battlefield (in this case one 5'x5' square, the basic unit of measure on the battlefield). Reach is how far the critter can reach (in this case, it can reach into the next 5' square, and into the 5' square beyond that -- so it has a 2-square reach, as is appropriate for a Large-sized creature). Its strength contributes to its damage and attack bonuses, while its great constitution gives it a bunch of bonus hit points. As with the Beholder, this is only a partial description. We don't have any information about how the "tremorsense" or "confusion" abilities work. Multiattack looks like it may reduce the penalty for multiple attacks. Normally, when a high-level character gains multiple attacks per round, he gains his normal bonuses on the first attack and -5 on each subsequent attack. Looks like the Umber Hulk's first "attack" is really two claws (neither of which is "off-hand"), and his second attack is a bite at only -2 compared to his claws. Does Being in the News Count as News? Salon.com has posted a short summary of the issues surrounding the Open Gaming License concept, and is pointing people to my recent Ryan Dancey interview. Here's more info about Salon.com in case you [like me] don't know anything about the site. My guess is that this is as close as my site will ever come to being in some sort of legit news report! :) You Bastard ... Sword: Why is the bastard sword considered an "exotic" weapon? Der Verdammte sheds some light: "A bastard sword can be used as a martial weapon if it's used two-handed. If it's used one-handed, there's a penalty unless the character has it as an exotic weapon." (on the 3E Message Board) Preferred Class and Experience Penalties: Playtester Der Verdammte explains what is meant by a "preferred class" and how that concept applies to race and class combinations and experience point penalties (on the 3E Message Board): Humans have no "preferred class." At one point, they had an ability that allowed them to get around this, but at this time it's unclear (but unlikely, based on the surrounding materials) whether this ability will return. All other races have one or more "preferred classes." Having a preferred class has no effect unless the character multiclasses. If the character is multiclassed, and one of his classes is a preferred class for his race, there is STILL no effect until there's a significant level difference between his preferred class and his other classes. Then, and only then, it comes into play, negating the 20% experience penalty for having a big difference in class levels. When a character has a preferred class, his level in that class is not counted when calculating multiclassing penalties. ... there is NO penalty for multiclassing except for the 20% penalty for having a big difference between classes. Let me use an elf for an example: Classes Levels Penalty Fighter 4 0% Fighter/wizard 4/1 0% (it's a preferred class) Fighter/wizard/rogue 4/1/1 20% Fighter/wizard/rogue 4/1/3 0% And a couple other examples: Elven fighter/wizard/barbarian/rogue, levels 5/1/2/2 -- 40% penalty Same as above, levels 5/1/4/4 -- 0% penalty Adventure Writers Wanted: Fiend Games is looking for people to write adventures for the D20 system. Right now they seem to be targeting 3E playtesters because they already know the core D20 rules, but I suspect come August they might be interested in the rest of us poor shlubs, too. :) March 10, 2000 Metamagic Feats: The March Playtest Group of the Month helped clarify rules for Metamagic feats. In short, the spellcaster only has to acquire each Metamagic feat once to be able to use them on any spell he knows; and he can stack multiple metamagic feats together to buff up a single spell. (thanks to Dick van de Bunt for the scoop) More Updates: There have been major updates to the 3E Art Gallery. Several new pics never seen before, as well as some that have only graced the pages of Dragon Magazine. (thanks to Allister Huggins for the scoop) Official Updates: The official 3E site has been updated. The Monte Cook interview is up, as is the Character Closeup for the halfling Rogue, Lidda. (I apologize to the scooper for this -- I had your name posted, then deleted it when I re-wrote the section -- write me and I'll get your name back up here.) Monte Cook Interview: Not a whole lot of new stuff in the written portion. The audio portion has some interesting details about a campaign that Monte runs. He also mentions that he's currently working on a 3E "mega adventure," a mini-campaign that can take PCs from 3rd to about 11th level; he guesses it matches "Night Below" in scope. He concludes the audio portion of the interview thus: "The excitement level around the office among the people who are working on 3rd edition is really high ... the game opens up so many new possibilities and options that when I play I get that same excitement as when I started playing D&D for the first time ... I hope other people feel that way, too." ( He started playing in 1979 -- I can tell you, that was a good year! :) Lidda the Halfling Rogue: Not much to say about her. No, I'm not going to guess how many points she spent on her skills! We do see a new feat -- Finesse (Specific Weapon), but there's no indication what this might do. Alternity to D20 Conversion? Ryan Dancey mentions that there are plans for a product that will convert Alternity to the D20 System (the core of D&D 3E -- see the recent Ryan Dancey interview for more info): "In fact, Jim Butler and I were just talking about that last night. We've got a lot of people busy on a lot of projects right now, but sometime near the end of the year I am hoping we can publish a fairly useful and extensive Alt -> D20 document." (from OGM-L; spotted at Fiend Games by Pierre-Paul Durastanti) 3E Info in Dragon #270: Well that didn't take long! The April issue of Dragon arrived in my mail today. Let's see what it holds, shall we? (Look a couple of stories down for more from Dale Donovan on this topic, too.) "Fighters and Feats" is the theme of this month's "Countdown to Third Edition" column. In addition to the points made by Dale Donovan (see below), here are more goodies: What are Feats? Feats are described as "bonuses that PCs can apply to skills, combat or other actions." Feats don't cost points, don't require a roll to succeed (they're bonuses rather than skills), they have prerequisites, and some of them can be taken more than once to enhance the bonus they provide. There are more than 70 feats in the Player's Handbook. Some feat specifics: All characters gain one feat at first level, and one every three levels; Fighters gain bonus feats (from a select list of combat-oriented feats) starting at 2nd level and every other level thereafter. "A typical 10th-level fighter has ten feats, while the typical 10th-level non-fighter has four." [Note: so far, the consensus is that a 10th level fighter has only 9 feats -- the normal feats for levels 1, 3, 6 and 9, plus the fighter bonus feats at levels 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. However, the sidebar in the article also says "Start with a bonus feat." So maybe that's the mysterious tenth feat.] Dodge "lets you designate one opponent against whom your character gains a +1 bonus to AC." Its prerequisites is a DX of 13 or highter. Dodge is, in turn, the prerequisite for a feat called Mobility; and Mobility is the prerequisite for a feat called Spring Attack. Alertness provides a +2 bonus to Listen or Spot checks. Whirlwind Attack allows a Fighter to give up his regular attacks to make one melee attack against all opponents within 5'. It has a lot of requirements, including INT 13+, DEX 13+, base attack of +4 or higher, and all of the following feats: Expertise, Dodge, Mobility, and Spring Attack. Note that you don't have to be a Fighter to take this feat; but a Fighter will be able to take it earlier than a non-fighter because of the base attack minimum. Toughness grants +3 to hit points, and can be taken more than once. Weapons and Armor: There are three categories of weapons: Simple, Martial, and Exotic. Exotic weapons include bastard sword, dwarven waraxe, spiked chain, dire flail, and "dwarven urgrosh." Exotic weapons may deal out more damage, or may have some other special effect. See the illustration/sidebar below for more on this topic. Fighters must take the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat in order to gain proficiency in one Exotic weapon. There are four categories of armor: light, medium and heavy armor, and shields. Fighters begin with proficiency in all types of armor and shields. Weapon Specialization is a feat only available to Fighters. Its requirement is Weapon Focus (+1 attack bonus with one particular weapon). Weapon Specialization grants +2 to damage to all melee attacks with the chosen weapon, or if a missile weapon, +2 to damage if within point blank range. Combat Options: The basic combat actions include Attacking, Charging, and Full Attack. Full Attack means making multiple attacks, using a feat or special ability that prevents you from making a partial action or movement in that round. "Miscellaneous actions" include one called a "bull rush" that allows Fighters to push opponents around on the battlefield. Other actions such as disarm, grapple, feint, overrun, and striking a weapon also fall into this "miscellaneous" category. Racial Choice: Half-Orcs "make the best brute fighters." Halflings and Elves make "great long-range fighters" with missile weapons. Dwarves and Gnomes are tougher and can last longer in combat due to CON bonuses. Humans gain a bonus feat at first level "and thus can master the most powerful feats sooner than other characters." Dwarven Urgrosh? The April "Countdown to 3rd Edition" column mentions a weapon called the "dwarven urgrosh." According to the article, it falls into the Exotic weapon category. Like many other Exotic weapons, the urgrosh has a special effect. "... the urgrosh is a double weapon. A fighter using one can make an extra attack as if with a second weapon, but treating it as if it were made by a light weapon, for a reduced off-hand penalty." This illustration accompanied the Fighter article. Whether this dwarf is holding a "dwarven urgrosh" or not is anyone's guess. But given that blade at the bottom, it sure looks like a "double weapon" to me! :) Other 3E Tidbits from Dragon: A Profile of Sean Reynolds, "nice guy," indicates that Sean has a large role in shaping the 3E Monster Manual, particularly the "core humanoids." The article mentions a new monster of his creation called the krenshar, which has some sort of cause fear ability. His forthcoming work includes Slavers, Cloak and Dagger, Green Goblin's Guide to Crime, and the 3rd Edition Monster Manual. Gen Con 2000: Some of the events slated include... Character Generation Workshop Adventure Design for 3E Convert Your Campaign Monster Builder's Seminar Min/Max Your New 3E Character ("advanced character generation, including multi-classing, feats, skills, and prestige classes.") To 20th Level and Beyond What's Next for D&D? What's a DM to Do Now? Dungeon Delve Online: Okay, this isn't strictly 3rd Edition related, but you really should check out the online version of the GenCon 1999 Dungeon Delve. Room after room of monsters, big clickable map, what more could you want? D20 Compatible Product: A fellow by the name of Kyle Charron dropped me a note indicating that his company, Fiend Games, intends to be the first publisher out of the gate to release D20 System-compatible game products. As Kyle puts it, "The working title of our current game is Crime, Sin and the City™, a modern day crime drama RPG." All about Fighters in April Dragon: WotC's Dale Donovan stopped by the 3E message board with a preview of the "Countdown to 3E" article that will appear in the next issue of Dragon. ...here's an excerpted list from the issue noted above on why, in D&D3, you want to "Play A Fighter": proficient in all Simple and Martial weapons start with a bonus Feat specialize at 4th level gain bonus Feats every other level use any armor and shield. The 2-page article discusses all of the the topics above, plus combat options, which races make good fighters, and the prerequisites you need for your fighter to take the "whirlwind attack" Feat. Dale also notes that May's column will focus on the Monk class. Skill System Summary: Ryan Dancey provided information on how the 3E skill system works Nothing really new here, but an excellent, concise summary (on OGF-L, thanks to Brad Thompson for the scoop): Every time a character levels, they get more skill points, based on a formula using their INT modifier and the class they are leveling in. Those skill points can be used to increase the character's "rank" in a skill or to add a new skill at rank 1. Skills that are "class skills" (i.e., designated as skills directly relevant to a class) cost one point per rank. "Cross class skills" (i.e., skills that are not relevant to a class) cost two points per reank. There are some "restricted skills" that can only be used by a subset of the classes. There are caps as to how many ranks a skill can have, based on character level ("character level" is the total of all a character's class levels added together). The mechanism for using a skill is: D20 + Relevant Ability Mod + Skill Rank + Other Modifiers vs. Difficulty Class (Target Number). So each "rank" of skill is worth approximately 5%. Most skills link to an ability by definition; but the rules allow the DM/GM to substitute another ability mod based on circumstances. March 9, 2000 Earth-Shaking Change: The official 3E page has been altered ever so slightly -- instead of promising a look at the Intellect Devourer in this month's Monthly Monster Mayhem, they're now indicating that this month's critter will be the Umber Hulk. Now, don't go rushing over there quite yet -- the monster itself hasn't been posted. But I'll let you know if anything changes -- promise! :) March 8, 2000 Exclusive Interview with Ryan Dancey: WotC's Ryan Dancey answers some questions about the D20 System, Open Source Gaming, and the future of D&D in an exclusive interview. It's a long read -- too long to post out here in the news section -- so follow me right this way, won't you? Update: Ryan has answered additional questions on the 3E Message Boards, which I've summarized at the end of the interview. (thanks to James Hoover for the scoop) No Monster Annual in 2000: WotC's Keith Strohm confirmed that there will be no Monstrous Compendium Annual this year. (On the 3E Message Board, thanks to James "Old Reliable" Hoover for the scoop) Update: Spake Keith: "There will be additional Monster books for D&D. These may not be annual, however." March 7, 2000 Ability Scores for Rogues: Playtester Der Verdammte weighed in on why all ability scores are important for the Rogue class and his recommendations for the most important abilities (on the 3E Message Board): STR: This is great for the combat bonuses, and it always helps on a critical. The carrying capacity is an advantage, too, and there are at least two very important Str-based skills for rogues. [He could be talking about skills like Jump and Climb.] DEX: This is THE ability for rogue skills. The difference between talent and skill is all-important, sometimes, and a high dex helps a rogue succeed in those "evasion" reflex saves. [Presumably DEX would help with skills like Escape Artist, Tumble, Pick Pockets, Move Silently, Hide, and Disable Device.] CON: Well, extra hp, mostly. Being able to make good fortitude saves can help a lot if you're afraid of being poisoned, turned to stone, etc. INT: Two things: extra skill points and Search. Search is what you use to find traps. [It could also come in handy with a skill like Decipher Script.] WIS: This affects your Will saves, which can be extremely important in some situations (hmm, can't really list specific spells to worry about here...). [Will saves would be needed agains charm effects.] Also, this is the ability that affects Spot and Listen, two fairly important skills, and another skill that's really important (that I ain't gonna name). [Could be Sense Motive, a skill that counters the Bluff skill.] CHA: Two extremely important skills depend on this stat (other, less important skills also). The two most important skills are indispensible in the types of games I play, and they are particularly useful to any rogue who comes into contact with important people (like guards who walk in on his jewelry heist, or virtually anything else). Placing it as high as I did in my list of priorities is a matter of personal taste, but I'd still put it in the top three because of the versatility of the two skills. [He's probably talking about Bluff and possibly Gather Information -- using a network of informants? -- or maybe Diplomacy.] Two most important skills: DEX and CHA. Skills I'd take penalties in: STR and/or CON. A Few of My Favorite Things: The March Playtest Group of the Month has a lot to say about their favorite aspects of 3E (thanks to Joe King for the heads up): ...the universal mechanic that serves as the game’s core system. It has proven itself easy to learn and easier to use than any other game system I’ve played. ...the initiative system. Combat that once took hours has been cut down to minutes, forcing players to react in an instant where before they had minutes. ...how easy it was to pick up the rules. [The DM] sat down with us for an hour, and we understood the basis of the entire game. ...the improvements made to the wizard class. I like the fact that a 1st-level wizard can now summon a minor creature with which to defend himself. ...wizards. With a wider variety of spells to choose from at low level, and the ability to cast more of them, the wizard has made a comeback. Cantrips really make the wizard a more playable class, giving them a variety of options, even at low level. The cleric is more versatile, carries more spells than its 2nd Edition counterpart, and is all around a better class. Miniatures in Combat: Are miniatures required in order to run combat in 3E? Here's what WotC's Ryan Dancey says: "Miniatures are not required. There was, at one time, a heavy emphasis on tactical battlefield management in 3e, but it has been reduced." (on the 3E Message Board, thanks to James Hoover for the scoop) Racial Ability Score Ranges: A table on the Living World of Greyhawk site shows the minimum and maximum ability scores from each race. From that table, we can derive the bonuses and penalties each race receives upon initial character generation (thanks to Pierre-Paul Durastanti for the scoop): Ability Score Adjustments by Race Race Adjustments Human none Dwarf +2 CON, -2 CHA Elf +2 DEX, -2 CON Gnome +2 CON, -2 WIS Half-elf none Half-orc +2 STR, -2 INT, -2 CHA Halfling -2 STR, +2 DEX March 6, 2000 Forgotten Realms Atlas Update #2: If you have the FR Atlas program, you'll definitely want to download the second update, which is available on the WotC Electronics Products download page. In addition to corrected maps from previous versions of the Atlas, the update contains a whole bunch of new maps, including overland, city and dungeon maps from Zakhara and Kara-tur, the city of Skullport, and maps from the Desert of Desolation module series. Below are sample maps from the 2nd FR Atlas update: The Sunken City of Pazar, and a section of Skullport. WotC Boards: The official message boards have been down for much of the day, but they appear to be back up as of about 4:00 Central Standard Time. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves. New Beta Patch for Core Rules Expansion: Evermore Entertainment has announced a new beta patch for the AD&D Core Rules program. This should only be used by those who have the Expansion installed. Read more about it here. March 4, 2000 Preparing and Printing the Player's Handbook: WotC's Ryan Dancey explains what's happening right now and what is to come regarding the physical production of the 3E Player's Handbook (on the 3E Message Board): "The book is undergoing the final stages of being prepared for production. That means that artwork is being scanned and inserted into the document, various aspects of the graphic design of the book are being added (like page borders, graphic bullet points for call-outs, etc.). Next step will be output to the printing company and actual production of the book. I expect that I'll see a sample or two sometime in May or maybe June." In the latest installment of Ryan's "Most Dangerous Column in Gaming," he explains that WotC now uses a "direct-to-plate" printing method that markedly cuts down on production errors that occur during the process. "The new direct-to-plate process is a marvel of modern digital technology. Now, we deliver the completed files for our products via a high-speed network link directly to the printer. The printer then transmits the data directly to the press itself, where a technique similar to a sophisticated laser printer creates the metallic printing surface that will be used to print the product in question. Needless to say, this has drastically reduced errors and damage, has shortened the time it takes to prepare to print, and because we can maintain quality throughout the entire process, means that the finished product is closer to the vision the artists and designers had for the way they want the product to appear." March 3, 2000 End of the Line for Alternity: WotC's Jim Buttler announced today on the Alternity message board that the company will not be producing any more Alternity products after it releases its slate of products in 2000. These products include the forthcoming Starcraft and Gamma World campaign settings, the Star*Drive supplements Alien Compendium II and Externals, the Star*Drive novels Two of Minds , Nightfall at Algemron, and Gridrunner, the Dark*Matter supplements The Final Church and Xenoforms, and the Dark*Matter novel In Hollow Houses. Jim notes that Alternity will still be supported in Amazing Stories magazine, RPGA's LivingVerge, and on "official" fan-created web sites. Dragon Magazine, which has run a number of Alternity-related articles in the past, will serve up D&D materials exclusively once 3E is released. So what does Alternity's end have to do with D&D 3E? Jim makes it very clear: Having two slightly different sets of rules in Alternity and Dungeons & Dragons makes it difficult to focus the company's resources on developing and retaining players. That is the driving reason behind our decision to shift resources away from continuing to develop the Alternity game. In the future, we will continue to explore the worlds of science fiction roleplaying using rules that are derived from 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons. The legacy of Alternity lives on in the new D&D rules. Many of the important lessons learned in developing Alternity, like the importance of a standardized core mechanic, the use of a flexible skill system, and an emphasis on balance at all power levels have been carried over to the D&D development effort. In this sense, the new edition of D&D is a hybrid of the classic Dungeons & Dragons game and the modern Alternity rules. We will be referring to this foundation in the future as the "D20 System"; a game that is neither fantasy nor science fiction but has the potential to be used for both kinds of role playing successfully. That shared foundation will allow us to deliver a consistent gaming experience to players regardless of genre and will directly impact our ability to bring new players into the hobby and keep them gaming longer than before. (thanks to LtPhoenix for the scoop) Addendum: Two things: 1) Can you say "Star Wars RPG?" 2) Check out this link. More on #2 to come... Official Updates: The 3E site's been updated. The main page sets the stage for this month's theme, "Rogue's Rundown." We can expect to see a Character Closeup feature on a rogue named Lidda, a peak at the intellect devourer in Monthly Monster Mayhem, and an interview with Monte Cook as well as Monte's favorite spell in the Spellbook. We're also introduced to the new Playtest Group of the Month, which is led by Todd Antill. Todd's group was impressed with 3E's combat system: "...this is the best initiative and combat system I have every played. The system flowed so quickly from event to event that the players really felt that they were there. By the time they decided what their next action was going to be, it was their turn to go again." Another goodie we pick up from their introductory page is that "fighters ... know how to use every kind of weapon." Finally, in this week's Playtester's at Work, we see how Todd's group influenced the relationship between character Strength and how much they can carry: The table is now called "Carrying Capacity," and the numbers for how much weight a character or creature with low Strength can carry have been scaled down. In addition [to the Maximum a character can carry in pounds], the table includes figures for Medium Load (which slows you down) and Heavy Load (which slows you down even more): Str Medium Load Heavy Load Maximum Load 1 3 6 10 2 6 13 20 3 10 20 30 4 13 26 40 5 16 33 50 (Thanks to Pierre-Paul Durastanti, Joe, and Shard O'Glase for the scoop) New Speculative PHB Document for Download: David Hatfield, author of the Forgotten Realms 3E Supplement web site, has created a slick-looking document he calls the 3E Player's Handbook. It's a Word .doc file, 554k zipped, and it's posted over at Tenzhi's 3E Speculation Page. While it is highly speculative, it's an entertaining read. Spanish 3E Mailing List: A fellow named Neuro informs me there's a new mailing list for discussing D&D 3E in Spanish. You can visit http://www.onelist.com/group/dnd-es for more information. March 2, 2000 Refresher Course: I know many visitors have been coming here for a long time, but I just wanted to take a minute to welcome any new visitors who may have stopped by since my move to RPG Planet. You probably have burning questions about the site and about me, such as ... What is this site's purpose? I gather up all of the news and rumors surrounding the impending release of the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game. What stuff is on this site? You can find the current rumors and news about the Combat system (weapons and armor, saving throws, movement rates), Characters (races, classes, ability scores, skills, feats), Magic & Psionics (magic items, spell details, spell lists), Campaign Settings (the "demise" of some, the rise or change of others), and Monsters. There's also a list of 3E-related Links, and information (skimpy so far) about Conversion of materials written for previous editions of D&D to 3E format. D&D 3E isn't a computer game. It's a table-top role-playing game. So, no, there are no interactive demos, MP3s, or screenshots here. But there are lots of words! Many of my words are direct quotes from important people, typically employees of Wizards of the Coast (publisher of said RPG). These are indicated by a different font and color. Who is Eric anyway? I'm just this guy, you know? I like D&D, I heard about this 3rd edition thing, and I was in the right place at the right time. My task: to wade through message boards, discussion groups, and web sites, looking for precious nuggets of knowledge to share with you. Why do I do it? My doctor says I have a "compulsive behavior disorder." My wife says it's because I'm "a geek." I say, "Because it's fun!" I welcome questions, comments, and snyde remarks, all of which can be e-mailed to me at ericnoah@home.com. Thanks for stopping by! Toughness of 3E Characters: WotC VP Ryan Dancey explains why low-level 3E characters are tougher and more powerful than their 2nd edition equivalents: New players have their characters die too quickly for the time investment they spend on creation and learning the rules. Keeping a low level 2e character alive requires a certain mind set involving caution, retreat, the liberal use of healing, etc. Things that people who play the game regularly do as a reflexive action. However, for new players, none of those good habits have developed, plus, they have an immense disincentive to invest the time needed to learn those skills vs. spending their entertainment time on something less demanding. By making lower level characters slightly more hardy, we hope to keep more people in the game by making their first experiences with play more enjoyable and less frustrating. Which is not to say that low level characters should be invincible, just that the bar should be higher than it is on the fragility scale. (on DND-L) World-Shaking Events in 3E Realms? Those of us who were around when the 2nd Edition of D&D was introduced recall that the Forgotten Realms campaign setting was shaken up by events known as the Time of Troubles. Using a series of adventure modules and related novels, TSR pushed the FR timeline in directions that some felt were too extreme -- killing off gods in the established pantheon and the like. These world-shaking events were created, in part, to support the changes to the D&D rules in the new edition of the game. With 3E around the corner, some are justifiably worried that there are more world-shaking events in store for FR, particularly as they pertain to the forthcoming novel, Death of the Dragon. Rumors are that King Azoun of Cormyr will be killed off in this novel. Should the FR timeline advance? How major should "events" created by WotC be? How does this affect the setting's "core continuity? WotC's Dale Donovan addressed these topics: "We want you all to take the setting and make it yours. We don't want a 'one true' FR setting. We want as many thousands of versions of FR as gamers can create. Sure, we assume a certain baseline for a number of years, and then we feel the need to redefine that baseline (such as with the upcoming FR3). But as I've said before, stagnancy will spell doom for a game setting far faster than change will (even 'bad"'changes, in some cases). Take, for example, the [Time of Troubles]. Those three novels STILL sell well for us, which might suggest to some that such large-scale changes are Good, since an event over a decade ago is still driving sales today. But we're not going down that road again, as we've said. Sure, the ToT caused a lot of repercussions and believe me, we learned from that experience. And so, we're not doing anything like that with FR3, despite the profits that the ToT has garnered us since 1989." So who's driving the FR bus, so to speak -- the gamers who value the Realms as a stable game setting and who would rather avoid World-Shaking Events, or the readers who read Realms novels and expect or enjoy World Shaking Events? Dale agrees it's an important question: We know that the novel audience is not the same as the game audience (though crossover exists--obviously!). In fact, that's a big part of the dilemma we face with the FR [intellectual property]: balancing the needs of the audiences. We may not have done this well in the past, but that is the past. We're working on resolving that dilemma as best we can for today and tomorrow. (on the 3E Message Board, thanks to James Hoover for the scoop) March 1, 2000 200K! Sometime today, the site rolled past 200,000 hits since the beginning of August 1999. Of course, I have no illusions that there have been 200,000 unique viewers. I know for a fact that there's only three of you, and you just load up this page 750 times a day each! Stop that, will you? ;) Signs of Spring: The official 3E page is showing signs that WotC is gearing up for this month's theme, Rogues Rundown. Not much to see yet -- no new Spell of the Month, Monthly Monster Madness, Character Close-up, Playtest Group, or Personality Spotlight -- but what do you expect, it's only the first day of the new month. They've got plenty of time, right? :) (thanks to Neil Ikerd and Taliesin for the scoop) Dungeons & Dragons, D&D 3E and AD&D are all property of Wizards of the Coast.