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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gaming Tonic" data-source="post: 5910079" data-attributes="member: 6679316">[align=right]http://wizards.com/dnd/images/411_kenku.jpg[/align]This week Mike Mearls finally weighs in about what might happen in the next edition to balance the wizard with the other classes.  An excellent Dark Sun adventure by Chris Perkins is released in Dungeon as well.  The open playtest is right around the corner and fans of Dungeons & Dragons are clamoring for any little bit of info they can get.  Check out some of the forums to see for yourself.  I am excited because in ten days we can all really start talking and making our opinions heard.  Now on with the news.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20120514" target="_blank">Balancing Wizards in D&D</a> is the focus of Legends and Lore this week by Mike Mearls.  I agree with Mike that some groups might not see the way wizards played in some previous editions as a problem.  Most of the gamers I have played and talked with are on the other side of the issue.  What I have seen so far of the next edition, and who knows how much that will change, has done a great job of getting more balance among the classes in a way that doesn’t make it all feel the same.   This is really causing a lot of chatter <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/new-horizons-upcoming-edition-d-d/323080-l-l-balancing-wizards-d-d.html" target="_blank">here</a>. [*]<a href="http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/drfe/racekenku" target="_blank">Winning Races: Kenku</a> by David Adams in Dragon 411 peaks into the shadows and offers new feats and powers for the flightless bird race.  There is a lot of excellent background material provided for your 4th Edition game.  The power to fly is also provided as a 10th level racial utility so eventually you will earn your wings. [*]<a href="http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dun/desertwind" target="_blank">Cruel as a Desert Wind</a> is a Dark Sun adventure by Chris Perkins for 6-8th level characters in Dungeon 202.  This like most things in Dark Sun is a tough adventure, in fact it appears surprisingly challenging during a few encounters.  The concluding the adventure part is excellent for a DM that wants to continue the story and have it roll right into the next adventure for the PCs. [*]<a href="http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dra/humanity" target="_blank">Quests for Humanity</a> by Jeff Tidball outlines several major and minor quests for your PCs to choose from at each tier of play.  The article even includes an epic destiny, God-Emperor.  This is an interesting way to outline a path for your character and for the DM to perhaps work in a more personal angle for each PC.  I really enjoyed this article and I hope that we see a bit of this that works for 4th Edition and has some use in the next edition as well. [*]Chris Perkins discusses the <a href="http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4dmxp/20120510" target="_blank">Triple Threat</a> in The Dungeon Master Experience this week.  I have really enjoyed some of these and this is one of the better ones.  Chris talks about the DM, and using intuition and knowledge of the players to know what is the right call to make on the fly in your campaign.  There is no right answer for this but the more prepared you are the easier it is to make these calls, and deal with whatever the players may do in response. [*]Make sure to check out the <a href="http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4news/dndnextchat1" target="_blank">D&D Next Chat</a> with Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford on January 16 at 11 AM Pacific Time.  With the open playtest almost here you may actually get a useful tidbit of information if you are curious. [*]Rodney Thompson answers away in <a href="http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ro3/20120508" target="_blank">Rule of Three</a>.  This week the questions are about D&D Next. Answers for D&D Next releases for 2012, clerics who don’t wear armor and smite with holy power, and keeping the cleric and wizard from stepping on the other characters toes are provided.  The last one is of true importance as many gamers seem to feel this has been a problem in some earlier editions.  [*]The <a href="http://community.wizards.com/dndnext/blog/2012/05/10/goblins_care_only_about_your_axe" target="_blank">Blog: Goblins Care Only About Your Axe</a> by Bruce Cordell is an amusing and provoking entry about the Theater of the Mind used alongside grid maps and minis in the next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons.  The readers at EN World have had a lot to say about this, check out their opinions and give your own <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/new-horizons-upcoming-edition-d-d/322948-d-d-blog-goblin-care-only-about-your-axe.html" target="_blank">here</a>. [*]The city of <a href="http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dra/201205eoe" target="_blank">Eston</a> gets the focus of Keith Baker in Eye on Eberron.  Here we learn of a city inhabited by living spells, warforged cults, and metallic vines which guard The Steel Gardens.  Eston is an excellent city of magic, technology, and mystery that allows you to use it in any edition of the game.  I am glad we are getting so much of this type of article so that we can prepare for our D&D Next open playtest.  [*]Jon Schindehette opens up about his <a href="http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4dreye/20120509" target="_blank">D&D Art Philosophy</a> in Dragon's Eye View and it really has me puzzled.  With so much rich artwork over the history of the game I feel like artwork that feels like D&D is well established.  Some of the classic Dragon covers would be one example.  I did enjoy the part about differentiating the look of monsters who may be somewhat similar in their power or origin.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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