8 years ago this month at EN World ...

[Olgar Shiverstone]

August 1999

Wow, we knew a lot about 3E a year out, but there was even more we didn't know, and a lot of what we thought we knew was just plain wrong ... still stuck in 2E thinking.

(apologies to Glyfair for kill-stealing his thread. )

 

[Glyfair]

(apologies to Glyfair for kill-stealing his thread. )

Why you little....

Actually, I was thinking of starting with "rumors about 3E that didn't materialize" first.

For example, from August:

Derek Long (on rec.games.frp.dnd) says he e-mailed Gary Gygax about his rumored involvement in 3E. The response:

* "He will be reviewing and critiquing the 3rd ed materials for WotC. He also said he may possibly be writing adventure material for WoG [World of Greyhawk] for the 3rd edition and contributing articles to Dragon magazine and other mags as well.".

Never did see any adventuring material from Gary.

Fighters receive special abilities called "Heroic Feats." Some of these include Quickness (an initiative bonus), Weapon Focus (an attack bonus with a chosen weapon), and Heroic Fray (doubles the number of attacks for a short while). Details about how and when these Feats are earned were unavailable.
# Some large-sized weapons penalize the wielder's chance to hit an opponent, but have a bigger Critical Hit multiplier or make a Critical Hit more often (say, on a natural 18-20 instead of just a 20).

Get me some of that "Heroic Fray."

 

[EyeontheMountain]

Heroic Fray sounds like something they did print in Bo9S.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

The Feb 2000 new page notes that "Heroic Fray" became "Whirlwind Attack".

 

[Henry]

"He will be reviewing and critiquing the 3rd ed materials for WotC. He also said he may possibly be writing adventure material for WoG [World of Greyhawk] for the 3rd edition and contributing articles to Dragon magazine and other mags as well.".

One out of three ain't bad.

It could well have come down to a lack of time for Gary, or creative differences (since then we know Gary ain't fond of 3rd Edition) or some other reason, but only Gary and the heads of WotC at the time know for sure.


One other change: ENWorld didn't exist then, but because the community has been together that long, and ENWorld taking over for Eric's site, it's easy to forget.

 

[Celebrim]

Why you little....

Actually, I was thinking of starting with "rumors about 3E that didn't materialize" first...Get me some of that "Heroic Fray."

I'm actually surprised by how few 3E rumors didn't pan out.

The ones you quote are really weak examples. There might have been some discussion of getting material from EGG at some point, and 'Heroic Fray' might have been dropped or altered during playtesting.

 

[EricNoah]

The OGL / d20 situation certainly changed Gary's options and was something none of us could have anticipated. He did end up getting some d20 stuff published, just not through WotC. I have an autographed copy his "The Hermit" (Troll Lord Games).

 

[Glyfair]

The ones you quote are really weak examples. There might have been some discussion of getting material from EGG at some point, and 'Heroic Fray' might have been dropped or altered during playtesting.

I specifically said "didn't materialize." I had no reason to suggest that they were false because they didn't materialize. Look at the 3E Monster Manual gallery to see some of the monsters that were going to be in the MM that didn't make it (Lolth, for example).