April and Beyond: Actually full of things most people will like!

[Truename]

As a DM, sure, there was some good stuff there.

BUT, I:

Am also not seeing much
Do NOT like that fiction in there

Before this preview, I was pretty uninterested in Threats as well. I thought the fiction would fill space without adding a lot of value. But having seen it, I'm excited to get it. That tower is awesome, and the fiction does a great job of showing how you could use it in an adventure, without the boring "it could do this... it's been said that..." of previous books.

I think what we're seeing here is Wizards figuring out what to do with their physical books in the age of DDI. This looks like it's going to have real value even to someone with a DDI subscription.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

+1 for fiction and examples...

i like the catching phrase in all stories...

 

[the Jester]

Re: Cards- I'll never use them as a core part of my D&D game. Once in a while I'll make a random encounter deck or something, but basically, with all the dice, books, minis, etc. around the table, cards are far too much of a pain in the ass to keep track of.

 

[TerraDave]

Before this preview, I was pretty uninterested in Threats as well. I thought the fiction would fill space without adding a lot of value. But having seen it, I'm excited to get it. That tower is awesome, and the fiction does a great job of showing how you could use it in an adventure, without the boring "it could do this... it's been said that..." of previous books.

I think what we're seeing here is Wizards figuring out what to do with their physical books in the age of DDI. This looks like it's going to have real value even to someone with a DDI subscription.

By "fiction" I did not mean descriptive text (aka fluff), that I fully support!

I meant the novel and the short story collection. Do not need that!

 

[Knightfall]

By "fiction" I did not mean descriptive text (aka fluff), that I fully support!

I meant the novel and the short story collection. Do not need that!

Agreed.

I'd rather have them give "short" previews of what's going to appear in DRAGON and DUNGEON for each month, even though I'm not a subscriber, rather than novel previews.

 

[Truename]

I meant the novel and the short story collection. Do not need that!

Oh, the other things they previewed. Yeah, I ignored those so hard I didn't even realize you were talking about them.

 

[Incenjucar]

By "fiction" I did not mean descriptive text (aka fluff), that I fully support!

I meant the novel and the short story collection. Do not need that!

While I agree on a personal level, plenty of people get into D&D because of the fiction, so it's important for it to be there. Many people still enjoy reading D&D fiction even after they get into the game, and I'm happy for them to get what they like. It doesn't take up any design space, anyways.

 

[IanB]

I find the complaints about the fiction particularly interesting when set next to the praise for the Wandering Tower, which seems very clearly inspired by the Fritz Leiber short story "The Jewels in the Forest", with a side of Michael Moorcock's "The Vanishing Tower".

I don't read the D&D fiction myself, but fantasy lit clearly plays an important part in the game and I don't begrudge it a few lines in the preview article.

 

[Primal]

Seriously, check some of this stuff out.

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (April and Beyond)

The Wander Tower is especially fantastic. It's a monster that is basically its own adventure, and it can be converted into a hundred awesome concepts. Imagine being stuck on a spelljammer in the middle of the astral that turns out to be a giant mimic trying to eat you.

Very true; Wandering Tower, Penanggalan and Mirror Mimic are all great examples of flavorful monsters that can be turned into whole adventures with minimal effort. Looks like the Nentir Vale MV may turn out to be a must buy for all 4E DMs after all.

I'm pretty excited about Witchlight Fens myself; I had thought I already had more than enough Dungeon Tiles, and yet once again WoTC proves me wrong!

 

[Incenjucar]

There are never enough dungeon tiles.

Do we even have Elemental Chaos dungeon tiles yet?