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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 3277784" data-attributes="member: 7635">Without Strong competition, TSR continues to languish in a mire of 2nd edition products. There is no need for wasted capital on Dragon Dice, Spellfire, etc, so money goes back into the general fund for more RPG products.1997 sees the first return of Greyhawk, including a box set, modules and supplements.1998 is the reintroduction of Oriental Adventures. 1999 announces AD&D 3rd edition. Unlike the d20 version, this is more of a patch/fix than a new system. As such...  A.) % Strength is dropped, and ability modifiers resemble that of BD&D.   B.) Half-orc, Monk and Assassin are re-introduced.   C.) Some classes are cleaned up and codified, but not the major overhauls. Each class still gains XP at different rates. Fighters get Weapon Focus built in, rangers are still Good, Clerics have a "specialty priest" ability built in (and customizable, hello supplements), wizards get bonus spells for int, and rogues get a better backstab and some defensive abilities (like Evasion). Monks and assassins look like those in Scarlet Brotherhood.  D.) Skills become based on pseudo DC system. Each skill is level + ability score bonus, DC set by DM. Otherwise, they look alot like NWPs.  E.) Some "feats" are included as WP.  F.) Magic is generally untouched, but spells are swapped out or altered some.  H.) Monsters have ability scores, but not much else changes. To celebrate, WotC releases new books for Greyhawk, Realms, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, and Planescape.2000. Sales of the Complete X Handbooks are strong, but complaints on how the new "character role" glut begins to happen. Do we need seperate roles for samurai, knight, and solider?2001 A new Basic game in introduced, simplifiying and reducing the AD&D 3e line for novices. This attracts a lot of attention of BD&D players though, and the market begins to sustain two games, AD&D3 and BD&D3 (each with its own supplements). 2002 TSR acquires the rights to produce the LotR setting. This adds yet another setting to GH, Realms, RL, DL, PS, Mystara (BD&D), OA and LotR. To remove the bloat, PS and RL are rolled into a "generic" line, and DL is reduced to 2 supplements a year.2003 Core Rules 3.5 facilitates a cheap, buggy, but generally accepted version of Online RPGing. KKWorld (named after founder Kevin Kulp) reals with the possibilties...2004 Struggling to keep its fractured lines, TSR reduces GH, RL, PS, and DL to a minimum and focuses on LotR and Realms. Bioware's "Drizzt" game for the PS2 game brings in some new fans, and a glut of Drow material is published.2005. TSR strikes a deal with Reaper. Official TSR minis are made again. 2006. TSR's LotR rights run out. They quickly ressurect DL as the du jour setting and push a line of novels to go.2007 Facing a huge loss of cash from the loss of LoTR, WotC begins its "count to Fourth Edition" this year...</blockquote>

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