Scoop: Dungeon/Polyhedron Changes

[Macbeth]

Erik Mona has posted information on the upcoming changes to Dungeon Polyhedron Here
I'll qoute his post here:

1. Four Mini-Games per year. This allows us the opportunity to spend more pages supporting previously published Mini-Games as well as other stuff like Star Wars, the RPGA, d20 Modern, etc.

2. Poly now in back. The "flipped" format caused more trouble than it was worth. Trust me on this one. The Poly cover will still appear in the interior of the magazine, and all pages will face the right side up.

3. I'm killing the subscriber section. You heard it here first. Many, many, many readers complained that this section unfairly harmed retailers, and the idea seemed to annoy more people than it pleased. Again, this simplifies things. Determining what's in this month's Dungeon shouldn't be a math problem.

4. More than 2 adventures per issue. This won't always be possible on Mini-Game months or in months with an Adventure Path adventure (which happen to be long). We'll never do another issue with just one adventure.

5. The Dungeon/Poly split will no longer be absolute, and instead will depend upon the material we've got on hand. With the rare exception of a Mini-Game that simply won't work in less than 40 pages, the Dungeon side will always be larger than the Poly side. That's not to say the Poly side is going to shrink to oblivion--we're just going to keep it smaller than the other side of the magazine.

6. New Associate Editor. We've hired James Jacobs (Flood Season) as our new associate editor to help with submissions and rules. The two of us (with Art Director Sean Glenn) are now in charge of the whole shebang, and all of us are working on all the magazine, instead of splitting editorial duties in half.

7. I'm strongly considering making the format of David Noonan's "Zenith Trajectory" (102) the official format for all Dungeon adventures. It's certainly going to be the standard for the Adventure Path.

There will probably be others, but those are the most important ones off the top of my head.

--Erik

Any thoughts/comments on what this means for the future of Dungeon/Polyhedron? Opinions on the changes?

BTW, This is my 100th post. Yea!

 

[Brisk-sg]

I think these changes will improve the quality of the magazine.

These changes will give me more content that I can use, especially with increased support for LGJ and Star Wars. My only concern is if the removal of subscriber content is going to result in less content for me (a subscriber) or in more content for those who purchase the magazine in the store.

 

[The_Gneech]

Woohoo! I approve.

-The Gneech

 

[mhensley]

Hooray! These changes might actually make it worth my while to buy it again. I've never been a subscriber to Dungeon and the subscriber only stuff definitely kept me from buying issues lately. Why? Because when I saw all of the stuff that I was missing just because I wanted to buy it off the stand, I felt cheated. Right or not, this is how it made me feel.

7. I'm strongly considering making the format of David Noonan's "Zenith Trajectory" (102) the official format for all Dungeon adventures. It's certainly going to be the standard for the Adventure Path.

Can anyone elaborate on what this format looks like? And why its so much better?

 

[Mercule]

Any thoughts/comments on what this means for the future of Dungeon/Polyhedron? Opinions on the changes?

BTW, This is my 100th post. Yea!

Cool. Only 16000 or so to catch up to Crothian.

What it means is that I'm more likely to buy a Dungeon/Poly. I think I've bought 2 Dungeons over the last 20 years. About the time I realized how useful they could be (yeah, so I'm slow), Poly go mixed in. I think the minigames are cool, but not non-stop.

 

[drnuncheon]

Two thumbs way, way up.

(If I were a marilith, I'd be able to more fully express my feelings about these changes.)

J

 

[d20Dwarf]

Can anyone elaborate on what this format looks like? And why its so much better?

I can give you a rundown based on my skim-through.

1. Encounter areas begin with a "stat block" that tells you what sounds characters can hear, what auras they can detect, what level of light and source there is, and the reaction of other dungeon denizens to actions in the area.

This is very similar to the format I was using for my next Dire Kobold mega-dungeon (back me up Ross! ), but now I think I'll steal this one. Thanks Dave and Erik!

Obviously I like this change a lot.

2. Different individuals and groups have their Tactics sections called out, rather than one big hodgepodge. I think this will make combat easier round by round.

Another good change.

3. Creatures (mooks) found in multiple rooms have their stat block in an Appendix, rather than in each encounter area.

I'm not sure I like this change, as I prefer to have the stats at hand when I'm running an encounter.

I must say on a cursory lookthrough that this module appears to be very well fleshed out and includes a lot of interaction and roleplaying possibilities on top of a cool dungeon! Not to mention Dave Noonan's a helluva guy!

 

[Greatwyrm]

I've always wanted to be the first to complain about something that wasn't that bad, so I'm doing it now. I don't like it. Dungeon/Poly is ripping us off. It's probably some screwy lead-in to 4e.


Hmmm... that wasn't as fun as I thought it would be.

 

[Mercule]

Hmmm... that wasn't as fun as I thought it would be.

Maybe not for you, but I got a kick out of it.

That probably wasn't the intent, though.

 

[MadScientist]

I like all the changes presented there as well. The flipping the mag over for the Polyherdron material annoyed me! That change alone would get raves from me!