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Actually, the quote was that they were "shooting for the moon" with the intention of including every class that had ever been in a PHB 1. That would mean: Assassin (1e) Barbarian (3e) Bard (2e-3e, even 1e, sorta) Cleric (all) Druid (1e-3e) Fighter (all) Illusionist (1e-2e) Monk (1e & 3e)...

Two minor points.... Lieber (6'4" and 200+ lbs.) was Fahfrd, whereas Harry Otto Fischer was the Mouser. And Faramir isn't really a Mary Sue, nor a main character. So if Tolkien identified with Faramir, he basically relegated himself to playing a strictly supporting role. That said, Faramir is...

Off-topic, but I love the idea of making "finesse" a weapon property rather than a class ability. And since WotC did just that in "Gamma World," we can only hope they might port that over to D&D.

I have to chime in here. As a player of just about every edition of D&D, I prefer slightly more survivability as a default. However, there are times when playing an "Apprentice level" starting character would make for an intriguing change of pace. So, by default, I'd like the 1st-level wizard...

My tastes tend toward Classic+. Core Four: Fighter, Wizard (mage), Rogue (thief), Cleric Traditional: Ranger, Druid, Paladin, Bard Legacy: Assassin, Barbarian, Monk Fun: Warlock, Cavalier (better name for warlord) NEW: Swordmage or some other Gish. Given the widespread popularity of...

Page 111. I believe the game is called "Papers & Paychecks" - which is the title of the book the cleric is reading. The wizard is throwing dice and the fighter is explaining to the innkeeper: "It's a great new fantasy role-playing game. We pretend we're workers and students in an industrialized...

I have been seriously tempted to get some friends together and run a couple Basic D&D sessions just for kicks and grins. Or maybe I'll pull out my copy of Castles & Crusades...

"A few other things..." My guess is that includes: d20 combat resolution, initiative, "roll for damage," "fire and forget" magic, races, alignment, xp, gold pieces as currency, treasure as reward, +X magic items, multi-colored dragons, goblinoids as opponents, and some form of "exotic damage...

Here's a whacky thought... The community gets to work this spring on playtesting the next edition of D&D. For the next year, we start beating the crap out of the rules, focusing early on (via direction from WotC) on the first 5 levels and the "Core 4" classes and races. At GenCon 2013, WotC...

As usual, I totally agree with you. Mearls explained the design change as being partly to "make it so that player choice more closely mirrors character choice." And as an old-school D&D player myself, I appreciate the "build your own attack" feel that I get from the Essentials martial (and...

I normally DM but I whipped up a character for D&D Encounters Season 3: Keep on the Borderlands. I tend to like martial characters, and have always had an attraction to rogues. So this time, I whipped up a Thief (to try out the new Essentials mechanics). I opted for human because that's my...

Check out the Arcane Archer article in Dragon #374 for an alternate take on how to build a bard. They recommended Drow to get the +2 Cha/+2 Dex you need for proper stats (of course, then they wasted it by taking a 13 DEX - the way they built it, you want a CHA/WIS race). I'm pretty sure you can...

I'm also in the camp of not finding stat bonuses to be as necessary as everyone else. If you're willing to start with a 16 or 17 rather than an 18, there's plenty of viable options for any character race. That said, the half-elf ranger could use a little love. That's my favorite race/class...

I play it as written and generally don't use critical fumble rules. However, IF a natural 1 is a miss (as it almost always is), I make the flavor decision to describe it as a "wildly inaccurate miss." You don't hit your buddy, or drop your weapon, but your opponent might batter off the swing...

ROFLMAO!!! I have so missed those cartoons! And for some reason, it brings to mind the homebrew ninja class we whipped up in my early 1st-Edition days. I had a ninja character named..."Nameless." What? I was like 10.

Random speculation: does this mean that Athas used to be plagued with an infestation of Rust Monsters? Could THAT be why it's so metal poor?

Well, that's true - if you go to 3rd level. As I said, I'm less convinced the game needs rules to go to level 3 than I am that it needs the complete rules to go to level 2. Equipment lists, for one. If there were class and race descriptions, you could create a new character (after your first...

I disagree. Where the game goes AFTER the starter product is largely irrelevant to the design of the starter product itself. Whether it's intended to segue to other boxes, to softcover books, or to hardcover books, a starter product is just that - a starter product. My contention is that the...

I'd actually like to see both builds be able to switch hit between ranged and melee. That, to me, is the essence of the ranger. The scout can be a more typical damage-dealer - the perfect class for Legolas. The Hunter? That should be Aragorn or Faramir ALL the way. How to do it? I'm not sure...

I also see no reason the ranger has to be a BA class. It could be, of course, but there's no reason it HAS to be. On the other hand, they could have the Scout build be a simple basic attack striker, much like the rogue, whereas the Hunter could be a more complex power-using class. One thing...