Gen Con: Slavicsek says core books will continue to be published, other tidbits

[Mithreinmaethor]

Their big reveal is on Saturday. So another day and a half or so of waiting.

 

[Rex Blunder]

They also mentioned:

-WotC is unlikely to be changing all the MM1 monsters to fit with the new power levels in the MM3, but will likely be coming out with some guidelines to adjust your MM1 monsters some time in the future.


-Someone asked about Con/Int races and martial controllers: WotC has no pressing desire to try to fill "holes" in certain power type or stat combos since a fundamental part of the design philosophy of 4e is to avoid needless symmetry.

 

[Aegeri]

Yeah, the Gladiator in Dark Sun began life as a Martial Controller and now it's just a theme (a good one at that apparently).

I am wondering, because I am desperate to know: Did they announce future books like a DMG3, Draconomicon 3, Feywild/Shadowfell splat book and similar? I'm dying to know when we're going back to things I really want for my games again post-essentials.

 

[CasvalRemDeikun]

Yeah, the Gladiator in Dark Sun began life as a Martial Controller and now it's just a theme (a good one at that apparently).

I am wondering, because I am desperate to know: Did they announce future books like a DMG3, Draconomicon 3, Feywild/Shadowfell splat book and similar? I'm dying to know when we're going back to things I really want for my games again post-essentials.

I believe all of the big announcements will be coming on Saturday (they did that last year IIRC).

As to the OP, all very good news. Thanks for the information!

 

[Aegeri]

Saturday is the day for Jerks.

I want them now

 

[Holy Bovine]

I wonder how much of his annoyance was due to the fact that it wasnt really a rumor and was an actual leak of their plans... And now they have continue printing just to stymy any major issues that could arise... Just a thought...

*golfclap*

Well played sir. I salute you!

8.2/10

 

[ggroy]

*** Live on X-Files ***

 

[JoeGKushner]

I wonder how much of his annoyance was due to the fact that it wasnt really a rumor and was an actual leak of their plans... And now they have continue printing just to stymy any major issues that could arise... Just a thought...

Next they will bow to Old Geezer and others of the internet and reprint the original Dungeons and Dragons! go forth internet minions and spread the word! Make them bow before you!

 

[ourchair]

It's been said many ways in many threads but they should really just replace the MM1 monsters. Just have Monster Vault versions of the classic monsters. I don't want to open the Monster Builder and see 800 different kinds of Kobold just cause they can't back down and admit they need to get rid of old and broken monsters.

The problem though is that if they did that, then there'll be a significant number of people who will feel bilked by their purchase of MM1. They can't *sell* corrected material without annoying early purchasers.

This wouldn't be a problem if the 4e experience was an online thing and monster content was entirely a DDI database that could be updated constantly (not an experience I approve of, but that's not the point) which is obviously what they were trying to do at first.

So the result is a stance where they can say that the new monsters in the Vault or in MM3 are better designed, but they can't strongly suggest that they are what all monsters should've been in the first place in a manner that suggests that previous monsters are defective.

 

[Tony Vargas]

1. Bill Slavicsek confirms that Essentials will not be replacing the PHB 1. They will continue to print the core books as needed. (Slavicsek said the no-reprint rumors were untrue and seemed a little annoyed about the whole rumor.)

Furious backpeddling. Good to see. Of course, nothing stops PH1 content from being 'updated' to death.

2. The monsters in Essentials will be iconic d&d monsters, like goblins, orcs, giants, and trolls, but they won't be replacing current MM1 monsters, just adding new varieties of those monsters.

Didn't even occur to me. The 4e aproach to monsters is one of the best things about the ed, second only to the class balanced it achieved, and it makes it almost trivially easy to expand upon classic monsters. You could publish a Monster Manual style book containing nothing but orcs, filling every monster role from level 1-30 - though you might be in danger of running out of adjectives.

3. Essentials won't have a slew of new feats, since there's kind of a sense that D&D 4e already has a bit too many feats.
5. Essentials will also be helping codify skill challenges, expanding on work already done in the Dungeon Masters Guide 2.

Both good to hear. Can't see any reason to be suspicious of them, either. 4e does have a lotta feats, and most will work fine with Essentials characters. Skill Challenges can do with some more work.

4. Some powers will be updated to make them slightly stronger/weaker with the essentials release. Example: Lightning Bolt will have a new keyword (evocation, which matters to essentials mages) and do half damage on a miss.

Slightly troubling. The job they did on Magic Missle doesn't exactly fill one with confidence. I suspect a lot of powers/feats/items/etc dealing with Basic Attacks will have to be adjusted, given what the Martial classes will be like going forward.