Gaming Tonic
First Post
Pieces of the history of Dungeons & Dragons are uncovered and up for auction starting this week. Ed Greenwood continues to describe the Forgotten Realms, Mike Mearls talks rogue (not Thieves' Cant), and some other bits and pieces are discussed. A closed beta test is uncovered but how to get in on it is revealed, so have no fear. Now on with the news.- Rogue Design Goals is the focus of Legend and Lore by Mike Mearls and although what he says is vague the direction he is talking about taking the class is really exciting. Making the rogue a skill monkey instead of a combat machine like in 4th Edition leaves something for the assassin class. The end of the article has a little information about the upcoming playtest. I said a little information. The thread about this article here at EN World is on fire so click here to get in on the discussion.
[*]Know-It-All by Chris Perkins for The Dungeon Master Experience this week is clever and comical look at the NPC archetype described in the title. I really enjoyed this article and jotted down several interesting ideas for NPCs to use in my game while reading. I wasn’t really sure what to make of a female tiefling named Excellence and whether that was a real name or stage name.
[*]Check out the collection of gaming notes and what-not from Dave Arneson that was uncovered in a shed and is up for auction. Ethan Gilsdorf, an old school gamer from way back wrote the piece for Geek Dad and I wish I could possess every bit of this wonderful material. You can find the whole scoop and community reaction here.
[*]Logan Bonner talks dungeon delving development in Into the Unknown-Coming Full Circle in Design & Development. How the book was conceived, broken down, and assigned is revealed as well as some of the tidbits of some of the sections of the book. I like a dungeon delve but find them hard to sell to my players for weeks on end so I hope this book helps to spice them up. I have only become more and more curious as I have heard more about the content of this book.
[*]Sexism in Fantasy is the topic in Dragon’s Eye View by Jon Schindhette and lots of D&D fans are talking about it here. I am a fan of Robert E. Howard and his works and while that may have a place in a game somewhere I don’t think that Dungeons & Dragons should promote the chainmail bikini image. I like great artwork of male and female characters because I can’t draw and love to use images to help my game out in the description department. I vote mix it up Jon, but keep it in the realm of good taste.
[*]Bart Carroll writes about Infamous Dungeons in the Dungeon Survival Handbook Excerpt. Some of the most fun I had gaming was playing a couple of these dungeons that are mentioned in the article. If you have ever been curious about some of these classics then check out the article and then run them for your players. We will see if gamers still have the mettle they once did.
[*]Ed Greenwood focuses the Eye on the Realms on the Storm Bird this time around. This tells the story of a skyship over Waterdeep during the last three storms. The article contains all the description you have come to expect from Ed over the years and lots of great ways to use this in your own game as well contained in the Notes section.
[*]A close beta test for the Dungeons and Dragons Online expansion Menace of the Underdark begins May 10th. The beta test is exclusive to pre-order purchasers so if you are a fan of the game then get on it, you only have a couple of days. The launch date for Menace of the Underdark is June 25th. I will check and see if I can maybe get a code or two to give away. Check back next week.
[*]Rule of Three by Rodney Thompson handles your D&D Next questions vaguely for another week. We receive a bit about themes and feats. I am one of those playtesters Rodney mentions who really liked the way themes were used. Questions about skills and the rogue, and monster advancement are also discussed. The rogue with a few extra skills is pretty much a standard for any edition at this point. Would any of the readers build the rogue a different way than extra skills and rogue exclusive skills?
