D&D General Dan Rawson Named New Head Of D&D

Hasbro has announced a former Microsoft digital commerce is the new senior vice president in charge of Dungeons & Dragons. Dan Rawson was the COO of Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Hasbro also hired Cynthia Williams earlier this year; she too, came from Microsoft. Of Rawson, she said "We couldn’t be bringing on Dan at a better time. With the acquisition of D&D Beyond earlier this year, the digital capabilities and opportunities for Dungeons & Dragons are accelerating faster than ever. I am excited to partner with Dan to explore the global potential of the brand while maintaining Hasbro’s core value as a player-first company.”

Rawson himself says that "Leading D&D is the realization of a childhood dream. I’m excited to work with Cynthia once again, and I’m thrilled to work with a talented team to expand the global reach of D&D, a game I grew up with and now play with my own kids.”

Interestingly, Ray Wininger -- who has been running D&D for the last couple of years -- has removed mention of WotC and Hasbro from his Twitter bio.

 

[dave2008]

we both remember 2e but it seems like we may remember entire different games

That is one of my favorite things about D&D, two different people can have two very different experiences!

 

[AnotherGuy]

thank you for reminding people powergaming isn't the only reason to custimize

Look we were all much younger then and didn't have the wealth of experience and knowledge we have now that we can share on Enworld. Mistakes were made (I made plenty) especially with books that brought about so much freedom such as S&P.
You and Max would probably be just fine at a table.

 

[Maxperson]

That is one of my favorite things about D&D, two different people can have two very different experiences!

This is true, but to be fair, the 2e Skills and Powers did change 2e into a very different game if you used it.

 

[Staffan]

2e came out in 1989 and stopped being made in 1997, so 1995 when those books came out was near the end and tacked on. There was no balance to them at all and a lot of them were pretty darn broken.

2e stuff kept being made right up until a month or two before the 3e PHB was released in August 2000. I'm not sure when the last printings were, but it's not like Wizards killed 2e right off. They pruned the settings, but kept on with the core material. So 1995 is pretty much square in the middle of 2e.

Skills and powers were a power gamers wet dream, which I was back then. I was totally a power gamer until my late 20's. Why have a 16 strength as a fighter when you could drop stamina down to 10 and have 22 muscle, gaining +4, +10 to hit and damage instead of +0, +1. Why have a 14 dex as a fighter when you could Drop aim to 3 and have a 25 balance, getting +5 to initiative, -6 to ac and just not use missile weapons in combat? Why not have that 12 in con drop to 3 health and 21 fitness for +6 hit points per level. Resurrections in 2e were nearly impossible to get at lower levels anyway? And so on.

Because you couldn't adjust sub-abilities by more than +/-2. Still, the point stands that the sub-abilities were in many cases heavily unbalanced. IIRC, Strength/Stamina covered carrying capacity (before penalties), while Strength/Muscle covered attack bonus, damage bonus, bend bars/lift gates, and max press. This, combined with the fact that most stats had a pretty big dead zone (the difference between Dex 7 and 14 was none other than actual Dex checks) meant that it was pretty easy min/maxing them.

 

[Maxperson]

sigh... right cause when you don't like something it's ONLY powergamers that used it... nothing I have brought up raised fighters above wizards and clerics by any meaningful amount.

That isn't at all what I said or implied.

cause you had to have them within 4 of each other and nothing above 18? Maybe you were just playing with house rules letting you have a 22 and 10 when you at best could by the rules have a 14 and 18 (I don't remember how it interacted with % str)

Okay, so I misremembered the level of abuse you could engage in. But it was still abusable. That 16 still became 14/18 with a percentile roll. that 14 con still became as 12/16 with +2 to hit points where you had 0. You still ended up with exceptional scores with bonuses where you needed them for your class when you otherwise would have gotten bupkis.

 

[Maxperson]

Do you feel that way about it - even as a DM?

Sure. I play with people similar to me. They made nifty character concepts, not broken damage beasts just because.............DAMAGE!!!!1!!!!!1!

 

[Maxperson]

Look we were all much younger then and didn't have the wealth of experience and knowledge we have now that we can share on Enworld. Mistakes were made (I made plenty) especially with books that brought about so much freedom such as S&P.
You and Max would probably be just fine at a table.

For sure. I stopped playing that way back during 2e and continue to play character first through today.

 

[Maxperson]

2e stuff kept being made right up until a month or two before the 3e PHB was released in August 2000. I'm not sure when the last printings were, but it's not like Wizards killed 2e right off. They pruned the settings, but kept on with the core material. So 1995 is pretty much square in the middle of 2e.

Sure, but WotC didn't make any new content, so 1997 is when 2e stopped being made. Continuing to print books already released isn't the same thing.

The edition was over as of 1997, it just didn't know it was dead and stop twitching until 2000 when 3e was released.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Skills and powers were a power gamers wet dream, which I was back then. I was totally a power gamer until my late 20's. Why have a 16 strength as a fighter when you could drop stamina down to 10 and have 22 muscle, gaining +4,

I am 99%* sure you were not allowed to have such wide spread in one ability. I think +2/-2, so a 4 point differemce was the maximum allowed...

but yeah we were all power games at some point in time and we dropped the split very soon after we started using it.

*Edit: looked it up. Yes the subabilities must be within four (4) points.
Right in the first paragraph of the ability score section.

 

[Maxperson]

I am 99%* sure you were not allowed to have such wide spread in one ability. I think +2/-2, so a 4 point differemce was the maximum allowed...

but yeah we were all power games at some point in time and we dropped the split very soon after we started using it.

*Edit: looked it up. Yes the subabilities must be within four (4) points.
Right in the first paragraph of the ability score section.

Yeah. It has been a very long time since I've had it to even look at. Memory was fuzzy. It was still a very strong ability for PCs.

 

[Seramus]

They didn't make 4e an MMO

They did! Neverwinter is still kicking and predominantly uses 4E rules and powers. It's pretty fun at first, though super grindy as most MMOs are.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Yeah. It has been a very long time since I've had it to even look at. Memory was fuzzy. It was still a very strong ability for PCs.

it was a strong option if you knew the other side having a negative wouldn't matter... but it wasn't game breaking. I don't even remember the main power gamers in my group doing it regularly.

 

[Staffan]

Sure, but WotC didn't make any new content, so 1997 is when 2e stopped being made. Continuing to print books already released isn't the same thing.

The edition was over as of 1997, it just didn't know it was dead and stop twitching until 2000 when 3e was released.

Here's a list of stuff Wizards released after they took over mid-1997 until 3e was released in August 2000:

Spoiler: Products

Tale of the Comet (July 1997)
Return to the Tomb of Horrors (July 1998)
Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Four (November 1998)
Of Ships and the Sea (September 1997The Sea Devils (July 1997)
Evil Tide (August 1997)
Night of the Shark (October 1997)
Sea of Blood (December 1997)
The Illithiad (April 1998)
A Darkness Gathering (June 1998)
Masters of Eternal Night (August 1998)
Dawn of the Overmind (October 1998)
Wizard's Spell Compendium, Volume Two (October 1997)
Wizard's Spell Compendium, Volume Three (missing Wild Magic table; February 1998)
Wizard's Spell Compendium, Volume Four (September 1998)
Priest's Spell Compendium, Volume One (May 1999)
Priest's Spell Compendium, Volume Two (October 1999)
Priest's Spell Compendium, Volume Three (February 2000)
Jakandor: Island of War (January 1998)
Jakandor: Isle of Destiny (June 1998)
Jakandor: Land of Legend (October 1998)
Warriors of Heaven (September 1999)
Bastion of Faith (December 1999)
Guide to Hell (December 1999)
The Vortex of Madness and Other Planar Perils (January 2000)
Diablo II: The Awakening (March 2000)
A Paladin in Hell (September 1998)
Destiny of Kings (November 1998)
The Shattered Circle (January 1999)
Dungeons of Despair (February 1999)
TSR Jam 1999 (The Manxome Foe) (March 1999)
Return to the Keep on the Borderlands (June 1999)
Die Vecna Die! (June 2000)

The Star of Kolhapur (1997)
Moonlight Madness (February 1998)
The Lost Shrine of Bundushatur (1998)
Ravenloft (25th Anniversary) (August 1999)
Wand of Archeal (1999)
College of Wizardry (January 1998)
Dungeon Builder's Guidebook (May 1998)

Children of the Night: Ghosts (December 1997)
The Shadow Rift (April 1998)
Champions of the Mists (June 1998)
Children of the Night: Werebeasts (November 1998)
Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium, Volume One (February 1999)
Children of the Night: The Created (May 1999)
Carnival (October 1999)
Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium, Volume Two (December 1999)
Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium, Volume Three (April 2000)
The Forgotten Terror (October 1997)
Servants of Darkness (February 1998)
Vecna Reborn (August 1998)
Ravenloft (Silver Anniversary Edition) (August 1999)

Player's Secrets of Hogunmark (June 1998)
The Book of Priestcraft (November 1997)
Tribes of the Heartless Waste (December 1997)
The Book of Regency (January 2002)
King of the Giantdowns (August 1997)

Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix III (March 1998)
Faces of Evil: The Fiends (September 1997)
A Guide to the Ethereal Plane (August 1998)
The Inner Planes (November 1998)
The Great Modron March (October 1997)
Dead Gods (November 1997)
Tales from the Infinite Staircase (May 1998)
Faction War (October 1998)

Dragonlance Classics: 15th Anniversary Edition (May 1999)

Return to the Tomb of Horrors (July 1998)
Player's Guide to Greyhawk (June 1998)
The Adventure Begins (July 1998)
The Scarlet Brotherhood (March 1999)
Return of the Eight (May 1998)
Lost Tombs 1: The Star Cairns (September 1998)
Lost Tombs 2: Crypt of Lyzandred the Mad (October 1998)
Lost Tombs 3: The Doomgrinder (November 1998)
Return to the Keep on the Borderlands (June 1999)
Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff (August 1999)
Return to White Plume Mountain (November 1999)
Slavers (April 2000)

Lands of Intrigue (August 1997)
Empires of the Shining Sea (September 1998)
Powers & Pantheons (August 1997)
Prayers from the Faithful (December 1997)
FOR8: Cult of the Dragon (January 1998)
Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves (March 1998)
Villains' Lorebook (July 1998)
The City of Ravens Bluff (October 1998)
Demihuman Deities (November 1998)
Demihumans of the Realms (January 1999)
Skullport (June 1999)
Sea of Fallen Stars (August 1999)
Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark (November 1999)
FOR9: Secrets of the Magister (February 2000)
Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II (July 2000)
Calimport (October 1998)
Castle Spulzeer (October 1997)
Four from Cormyr (November 1997)
Hellgate Keep (February 1998)
For Duty and Deity (May 1998)
The Fall of Myth Drannor (June 1998)
The Accursed Tower (March 1999, PDF)
Wyrmskull Throne (September 1999)
The Dungeon of Death (May 2000, PDF)
Cloak & Dagger (June 2000)

Certainly, many of these were already in the pipeline when Wizards took over, but anything 1999 or later is probably all Wizards.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Yeah. It has been a very long time since I've had it to even look at. Memory was fuzzy. It was still a very strong ability for PCs.

And going from 16 Str to 14/18 already helped a lot.
But some rules were even more overpowered if you didn't read them correctly... or if you in your adolescent light-headedness thought that restrictions can be ignored, because it is just there to prevent you from having fun...

 

[Maxperson]

And going from 16 Str to 14/18 already helped a lot.
But some rules were even more overpowered if you didn't read them correctly... or if you in your adolescent light-headedness thought that restrictions can be ignored, because it is just there to prevent you from having fun...

I remember double specialization coming from somewhere. Was it in Skills and Powers or one of the class handbooks? I think it took you from +1, +2 to +3, +3 and an even better attack rate.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I remember double specialization coming from somewhere. Was it in Skills and Powers or one of the class handbooks? I think it took you from +1, +2 to +3, +3 and an even better attack rate.

I think combat and tactics had mastery (3rd slot) for making it +3/+3 and high mastery that gave a -2 to weapon speed and grand mastery that allowed the next die code higher for damage...

 

[GMforPowergamers]

the better initative was called quickness I found that one...

Quickness

• Fighter, Thief Initial rating: 3, 2 proficiency slots
• A character with this talent is unusually fast. Her hand-eye coordination is excellent, and she can often get past her opponent's defenses before they realize how quick she really is. In combat, she gains a special –2 bonus to her initiative roll if she makes a proficiency check. She can use this bonus if she moves or makes an attack with a weapon of average speed or quicker, but her special bonus does not apply to attacks with slow weapons or stationary actions such as guarding or parrying.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

and I could have swore this was called danger sense...

Trouble Sense

• All Classes Initial rating: 3, 1 proficiency slot
• Sometimes known as a danger sense, this talent gives the character a chance to detect otherwise undetectable threats by instinct. The character's trouble sense comes into play when the character is threatened by a danger he hasn't noticed yet.
• The DM should make trouble sense checks in secret. If the character succeeds, he is only surprised on a roll of 1 by a sneak attack and treats any rear attacks as flank attacks instead. The DM can modify the proficiency check if the character is taking extra precautions or if the attacker would be particularly hard to notice before striking.

 

[TheWriterFantastic™]

I think combat and tactics had mastery (3rd slot) for making it +3/+3 and high mastery that gave a -2 to weapon speed and grand mastery that allowed the next die code higher for damage...

Double Specialization was from 1E's Unearthed Arcana, revived and renamed as Mastery in 2E's Combat & Tactics...

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Double Specialization was from 1E's Unearthed Arcana, revived and renamed as Mastery in 2E's Combat & Tactics...

thank you... I didn't play 1e but I always just assumed when people said double spec they meant mastery.