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Interesting trivia bit: at one point, we thought about doing milestones pretty much the way you describe. We decided against it because we figured that for story-based games, the DM would have a natural progression of scenes, while for a dungeon-based game it might be a pain to label some...

I didn't get my hands on a copy until probably high school, so I never really obsessed over it like I did the FF. Also, I'm a sucker for everything produced by TSR's UK branch, from Beyond the Crystal Cave to Drums on Fire Mountain.

I think you're overstating the DMG's approach to things. There's a world of difference between game balance, and running a dangerous campaign. Balance makes options equivalent in power for a player. All things being equal, you can build a rogue or a wizard without worrying about playing a lame...

I think that's a big part of old school for a lot of people, but it isn't necessarily something I see as key. As a DM, I tend to mix the two approaches. For a puzzle, I avoid dice. But for something like Sense Motive, or say a Perception check against a monster's Hide check, i like using dice...

I could not disagree more. What 4e does is push the mechanical repercussions more into individual encounters, than into a series of encounters. And I think it cuts both ways. In 4e, players don't have the "smart bomb" of a sleep spell to escape one fight per day at low levels. On the other...

I think that "old school" is a completely subjective label. Everyone has different experiences in playing D&D, and it's foolish to claim that there is anything resembling a monolithic expression of the game. From the kids playing tiefling warlocks today to the guys who 34 years ago threw 3d6 in...

It's unclear as of now. I wouldn't expect it, since it is temporary, but I wouldn't expect to see more powers like that, either.

The Monster Manual racial descriptions were never intended to be the canonical mechanics for those races. As the MM itself states, those stats are for DMs to create NPCs. You can use them as PCs, but a DM allows them at his own peril. Thus, you'll see things like giving monsters oversized...

Alas, modrons made the fatal mistake of not appearing in 1e Fiend Folio, so I am neutral toward them. I mostly checked out of AD&D during 2e, so I know little about them WRT Planescape. OTOH, I don't have a knee jerk, negative reaction toward them. I'm the guy who designed a 4e version of the...

All I'll say is that when I started at WotC 3 years ago, they told me I'd never be able to put norkers back into the game.

Yeah, the post that sparked this thread pretty much summarizes most of what I've done with Greyhawk in my current campaign. In fact, the characters were in the midst of getting carved up by Obmi and a small host of Iuz's followers when we broke our last session. I can't speak to what WotC will...

I'm running 4e Greyhawk, as is I believe at least one other person in the office, and I had no need for a world changing event. I tweaked a few things, but in play I haven't noticed any disconnect in the setting and, say, the change in how magic works. Keep in mind, I use the 1983 boxed set as...

I've been able to sneak a couple of Fiend Folio monsters into adventures, too. The norker shows up in H2, along with the needleman reconcepted as the arborean. A few other creatures started out as mechanics, then received major flavor makeovers. For instance, the qullan became the foulspawn...

I'm running a Greyhawk campaign, with various bits and pieces modified to fit my whims. I'm using the 1983 boxed set as the starting point, but changing a fair amount of stuff. I placed dragonborn as originating from the far south, beyond the Amedio jungle. Tieflings are from the Horned...

My PH 2 deadline has been chasing me like a pack of angry ninjas for the past six weeks, but here's some of the influences on my bits of those adventures: The Well of Demons from H2 is a crude attempt at a tribute to White Plume Mountain. The idea of several branching paths you have to follow...

Contact customer service for a replacement miniature. I had something similar happen with an ice devil a few sets back. They can set you up.

You know, that's an interesting idea. One of the things that Ryan talked about was this idea of templated rules. An open project might describe the effect a rule generates, and maybe give an example for one game, but that basic description could be applied to a number of games. For instance...

Sadly, I think it's more likely that my destiny is to mow the lawn tomorrow night.

We posted a version a while back: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20051007a

Of course there's no problem with that, and in many ways what I am envisioning directly speaks to that. Let's say you like tinkering with rules in your campaign. There exists a community of like-minded people, let's say a web forum, who talk about design, present bits and pieces of design, and...