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I think what I meant with my original question was, "If D&D Next were wide open to third party publishers, would Paizo prefer to produce its content for that game rather than continue with Pathfinder?" And the answer here is, "No, they'd prefer to keep doing Pathfinder as long as that will be...

I fully expect them to offer both.

I love D&D and dislike Vancian magic. Of course, I play 4e, which doesn't really have Vancian magic. I had a small amount of familiarity with 3e from years ago, and when I read the 4e books and saw at-will spells for the wizard, I thought, "Wow, this is fantastic!" I still feel that way.

I agree that it would be nice if the game had a realistic option to let players make characters using the books, pen and paper, and dice alone. But I think that saying, "The game should not have digital tools to support it" sounds strange. Why not have those tools? Given what we're hearing so...

Obviously this will all be wild speculation at this point. But what might Paizo's role be with 5e (or whatever the new iteration of D&D ends up being called)? I think it will depend heavily on the license for the new game, of course. If it's restrictive, I can't see any reason for Paizo to do...

I don't like Vancian spellcasting. That said, some people love it and won't play D&D without it, so I'd be shocked if it didn't exist in dndnext. I'm guessing they'll try for something like the wizard vs. sorcerer from 3e, but I'll bet that there will be both a Vancian and non-Vancian wizard...

I'm a huge proponent of MapTool. If you can find a way to make the hosting work, I think you'll enjoy it. That said, the first virtual tabletop program I tried was OpenRPG. I moved from there to Gametable and then MapTool, but I did go back to OpenRPG for one session when I was in a hotel and...

Interesting question. My guess is that experience will generally help, but I'm not sure that having an "old school style" is a strict positive or negative. It's probably a positive for some groups and a negative for others. I'm certainly new school, having run games for less than two years now...

I think I'm naive on this one. I thought D&D was a brand of fantasy role-playing game. Different versions of a game bearing that brand name have come out over the years (OD&D, BECMI, AD&D 1st Edtion, 2e, 3e, 3.5e, 4e... maybe some I'm forgetting). There have also been other fantasy role-playing...

I'll echo the "it's the stores" argument. WotC has made it very clear that they really, really value the relationship with friendly local games stores (Encounters, Lair Assault, Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium). I really don't get why this relationship is so critically important to them, but...

In case it helps people interpret the effect of Wyatt's infamous quote one way or the other, I'm a DM who really only started in RPGs with 4th Edition (I had looked at 3.0 years ago but never got a game going). I read the 4th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide cover to cover before I started running...

I want PDF adventures that come with digital images both for the maps and for the opponents that I can use in MapTool. I appreciate the maps and available NPC portraits in ZEITGEIST; these are very much along the lines of what I'm talking about (though I'd love token images for all of the...

I personally agree with you here, but I thought it was worth pointing out that for some players an endless string of combats interspersed with the occasional rest IS fun. It boggles my mind, too, but the players in one of my campaigns fall into this group. They patiently humor me as I try to...

Hmm, back of the envelope here. I'll assume an 18 post-racial primary ability (optimizers will likely go with a 20, plus feats that help with damage, etc.). Defender: Figure a fighter or paladin swinging a longsword, that's d8+4 at first level for an at-will, which works out to 8.5 damage per...

I read both DMGs before I started DMing. I've had no problems running 4e and have in fact enjoyed it very much. For whatever that's worth.

I'd say running a module that you've already been through as a player is great! As Rechan said, the fact that you know it is useful. I personally prefer this when I can get it. As for a good all-in-one adventure (at least I'm assuming that's what AIO stands for - took me a minute to figure that...

I'm going totally off-topic here, but you raise an interesting point. I completely agree that a good game book should present options, help the DM think about different ways of handling things, and so on. I'm on your side there. But a completely separate question in my mind is whether the book...

I gather that a lot of players feel that the sort of activities labeled in the quote as "not fun" actually help with a feeling of simulation, that the game world is realistic. Some have taken this quote as emblematic of the notion that 4e is all about combat, with no role-playing. If you skip...

My only comment is that MapTool at least is a virtual table that seems to have found success. Not commercial success, of course - it's a free program! But success in letting friends play RPGs online? Yep. My game is a year and a half in and going strong, and I have a secondary game I play online...

I guess I'm personally falling down on the job a little here, since I'm a very regular blogger and I do write product reviews from time to time, and I've been running WotBS for a year and a half, and I write very little about it. I've also run the first two sessions of ZEITGEIST with a different...