- M&M's Steve Kenson Interview on Villains and Design Green Ronin's staff designer Steve Kenson discusses villains, superheroes, and the secret origins of the True20 system at Kobold Quarterly.
- EN World, the most popular site for D&D news The RPG Examiner interviews the EN World community about what makes the site the number one source for D&D news and views.
- Official D&D Updates:
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[*]Divine Power D&D Podcast Hosts Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford look back at the origins of the divine power source, as originally encapsulated in the cleric, and where the game brings new options in Divine Power.
[*]Excerpts: Divine Power Avatar of Death In today's Divine Power preview, we present a new epic destiny -- the mortal incarnation of a deity who holds sway over death itself, the Avatar of Death!
[*]Legendary Evils D&D Miniatures It's time to kick off previews for Legendary Evils, and Peter launches the series with a bang. Not only do you get to glimpse five upcoming miniatures, but you also get full details on rarity packing in the boosters.
[*]Excerpts: ECG Q'barra & Table of Contents In today’s Eberron Campaign Guide preview, we take a look at Q'barra as well as show off the table of contents!
[*]Mike Mearls on the inspiration for 4E classes:
- Backdrop: Tu'narath Tu'narath is the greatest and most influential city of the githyanki, dwarfing all of their other settlements in size, wealth, and power. It embodies their unfailing spirit -- as long as Tu'narath stands, the githyanki cannot fail.
I can't speak for the design team as a whole, but I definitely had a few specific influences in mind when I worked on 4e. It's late, so these are a little all over the place. It's easiest for me to break them down by class, since that was how I approached a lot of the work. Most of my contributions for the core rules centered on designed DM tools, like monster design, the treasure parcel system, stuff like that.
In most cases, D&D itself provided the core for the class. However, fictional characters served a useful role in making sure that the class fit in with what people would expect and want.
Rogue: The Gray Mouser is a 4e rogue. I did a fair amount of work on the class, and Leiber's Lankhmar stories were my guide. Leiber is easily my favorite fantasy author, and I've wanted to play the Gray Mouser in D&D since 1984. IMNSHO, the rogue has been saddled with the status of "class that has to suck since it's the only one that can deal with traps." To me, that was always the least interesting and compelling part of the class. I'm fairly happy with how the class turned out.
Other inspirations include Danny Trejo's character from Desperado (making daggers useful) and Luca Brasi from The Godfather (Strength-based rogue). Cugel the Clever from Vance's Dying Earth was the inspiration for the Charisma-based rogue.
Fighter: Conan served as a model for a fighter. While he's (obviously) the ur barbarian, he isn't much like a *D&D* barbarian. IMO, he's much more a fighter, multiclassed rogue, with high stats across the board. I wanted the fighter to feel a bit predatory, hence the marking mechanic and free attacks. Only a fool takes his eyes off a fighter.
Ranger: Surprise! Drizzt was a big inspiration for the design direction, as was Legolas from the LotR movies.
Warlock: Dr. Strange was something of an indirect inspiration, filtered through the 3e binder class and a dash of Lovecraft.
Avenger: Ripping aside the ethereal nature of Wolf's Book of the New Sun and treating it as a comic book of sorts, Severian the torturer was a major influence on this class's initial feel and direction. Obviously its divine roots steered in a different direction, but I can easily see playing an avenger based on fantasy's most famous torturer.
Bard: Fflewddur Fflam from Alexander's Prydain books provided a fair amount of inspiration.
Invoker: As this class shaped up, it became increasingly clear that Gandalf was our best model, both from Tolkien's books and Jackson's film version.
That's off the top of my head. There are more I'm sure, but in a lot of ways D&D has become its own influence. Really, every player comes to the table with his or her own set of expectations, favorite characters, and preferences that pushing D&D too hard in any one fantasy lit direction is a recipe for disaster.
In most cases, D&D itself provided the core for the class. However, fictional characters served a useful role in making sure that the class fit in with what people would expect and want.
Rogue: The Gray Mouser is a 4e rogue. I did a fair amount of work on the class, and Leiber's Lankhmar stories were my guide. Leiber is easily my favorite fantasy author, and I've wanted to play the Gray Mouser in D&D since 1984. IMNSHO, the rogue has been saddled with the status of "class that has to suck since it's the only one that can deal with traps." To me, that was always the least interesting and compelling part of the class. I'm fairly happy with how the class turned out.
Other inspirations include Danny Trejo's character from Desperado (making daggers useful) and Luca Brasi from The Godfather (Strength-based rogue). Cugel the Clever from Vance's Dying Earth was the inspiration for the Charisma-based rogue.
Fighter: Conan served as a model for a fighter. While he's (obviously) the ur barbarian, he isn't much like a *D&D* barbarian. IMO, he's much more a fighter, multiclassed rogue, with high stats across the board. I wanted the fighter to feel a bit predatory, hence the marking mechanic and free attacks. Only a fool takes his eyes off a fighter.
Ranger: Surprise! Drizzt was a big inspiration for the design direction, as was Legolas from the LotR movies.
Warlock: Dr. Strange was something of an indirect inspiration, filtered through the 3e binder class and a dash of Lovecraft.
Avenger: Ripping aside the ethereal nature of Wolf's Book of the New Sun and treating it as a comic book of sorts, Severian the torturer was a major influence on this class's initial feel and direction. Obviously its divine roots steered in a different direction, but I can easily see playing an avenger based on fantasy's most famous torturer.
Bard: Fflewddur Fflam from Alexander's Prydain books provided a fair amount of inspiration.
Invoker: As this class shaped up, it became increasingly clear that Gandalf was our best model, both from Tolkien's books and Jackson's film version.
That's off the top of my head. There are more I'm sure, but in a lot of ways D&D has become its own influence. Really, every player comes to the table with his or her own set of expectations, favorite characters, and preferences that pushing D&D too hard in any one fantasy lit direction is a recipe for disaster.
Hello once again from the ENnies!
GenCon is fast approaching and the ENnies machine is in full swing. Starting today, July 10, fans can nominate their favorite publisher for the ENnies Fan Award for Best Publisher. To view the form and nominate your favorite, click the link below:
2009 ENnies Fan Award for Best Publisher Nomination Form
All you have to do is input the name of the publisher and your e-mail address. It's that simple. Just make sure to do it on or before July 17, which is the last day for publisher nominations.
On the heels of that, next Monday, July 13, brings the announcement of the prodcuct nominees. Then, on July 24, the polls will open for you to vote on products and publishers.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. You can either reply here or e-mail me directly at [EMAIL="pr@ennieawards.com."]pr@ennieawards.com.[/EMAIL]
GenCon is fast approaching and the ENnies machine is in full swing. Starting today, July 10, fans can nominate their favorite publisher for the ENnies Fan Award for Best Publisher. To view the form and nominate your favorite, click the link below:
2009 ENnies Fan Award for Best Publisher Nomination Form
All you have to do is input the name of the publisher and your e-mail address. It's that simple. Just make sure to do it on or before July 17, which is the last day for publisher nominations.
On the heels of that, next Monday, July 13, brings the announcement of the prodcuct nominees. Then, on July 24, the polls will open for you to vote on products and publishers.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. You can either reply here or e-mail me directly at [EMAIL="pr@ennieawards.com."]pr@ennieawards.com.[/EMAIL]
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