Wizards in a rough patch?

[hong]

I'm actually not a fan of any of the stuff past the core and the old storyteller's companion that came with the GM's screen. Dragonblooded was ok, but I didn't get the jollies out of it that it seems everyone else did. And the rest, including the fan-fave Games of Divinity, was just blah.

Mang, at this rate I'm gonna have to get myself a robot avatar.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Can't say I fully agree with you, but the products are getting more 'niche' like in their coverage as opposed to the broader elements that they've previously been hitting.

However, I'm dying to see the PHB II and there are some other recent good books that I'm looking forward to. For example, they've recently done adventurers like the FR Grumish one. Something that people have wanted to see "olfficially" done for many moons (WoTC adventure as opposed to 3rd party adventure.) so I think they're listening.

However, that doesn't mean I don't want to see other stuff revised and updated like Oriental Adventures or other goods.

 

[Psion]

Can't say I fully agree with you, but the products are getting more 'niche' like in their coverage as opposed to the broader elements that they've previously been hitting.

That's not that far from how I feel. The way it seems to me, they have fished out the territory of easily doable broad appeal, and are harder pressed to come up with products with broad appeal.

That said, it seems that they have not been hitting the mark on narrow topics that do appeal to me (frex, Planar Handbook... )

 

[MerricB]

That said, it seems that they have not been hitting the market on narrow topics that do appeal to me (frex, Planar Handbook... )

I'd classify how they did the Planar Handbook as attempting to give the planes "broad appeal".

Pity about the execution, hey?

Cheers!

 

[DragonLancer]

I know I'm gonna regret bringing this up, but what was wrong with the Dungeon/Dragon special on Dark Sun? Having never played old DS or any old editions of D&D, I have no reference point.

I've not seen the Dragon/Dungeon issues that tried to update Dark Sun to 3.5 but I've heard enough to be sure that it was a poor job.

Paladins don't exist on Athas (no one is that altruistic or good), and Athasian bards are asassins and killers for hire rather than casters/morale boosters. Those are two big differences that ASAIK were ignored in the mentioned issues.

 

[Henry]

I've not seen the Dragon/Dungeon issues that tried to update Dark Sun to 3.5 but I've heard enough to be sure that it was a poor job.

Paladins don't exist on Athas (no one is that altruistic or good), and Athasian bards are asassins and killers for hire rather than casters/morale boosters. Those are two big differences that ASAIK were ignored in the mentioned issues.

The three biggest stumbling blocks for many of the previous DC fans on the Dragon update were:

1) Paladins. Morality being such a tenuous thing in original Dark Sun, someone dedicated to seflessness and sacrifice and law and good just didn't ring well with Dark Sun, where most civilized areas were oppressed by law, and where slavery was the norm for all except one City-state.

2) Sorcerers. Magic Use was a curse, a price to be extracted from the land, and only those who were careful about magic use could do it and not harm nature. (Nature in that setting was already "harmed" to the breaking point.) Instead, sorcerers, are inborn mages, something that the setting didn't intimate was possible. Further, there have been several takes on defiling and preserving magic over the years, and the fan base whole has never been completely satisfied with the results.

3) Rules for non-metal weapons, and the lack of metal inherent in the setting was really glossed over, if I recall correctly. Metal armor is something that middle class men and women could not afford with every penny they made in their lives put together; a sorcerer-king (title, not class) could, either afford to equip 20 men in plate mail, or add a substantial addition to his city walls, it was that scarce. On the plus side, most people didn't need metal armor, because they'd die of the heat stroke anyway.

www.athas.org as well as several other sites have offered alternative rules, so even if a long-time fan didn't like the treatment, there were others to choose from, and "new" fans wouldn't know the difference anyway.

 

[Ranger REG]

Pretty much. I don't buy books to replicate content I already have. I want new, cool stuff. And settings is one of the (few) things that TSR did right. Bring 'em back, and you'll have loads of happy customers.

Just one book per setting, or would you prefer a continuing line of products?

 

[Ranger REG]

I've not seen the Dragon/Dungeon issues that tried to update Dark Sun to 3.5 but I've heard enough to be sure that it was a poor job.

So, a lot of heasay would prevent you from testing it yourself?

 

[tetsujin28]

Just one book per setting, or would you prefer a continuing line of products?

I like one book. Less risk for the publisher, more for me to fill in. If they feel like publishing more, fine. But I don't want to end up with something that isn't playable without an entire line.

 

[Ranger REG]

I like one book. Less risk for the publisher, more for me to fill in. If they feel like publishing more, fine. But I don't want to end up with something that isn't playable without an entire line.

Riiight. And once you get that one main campaign setting book, you will not ever ask, plead, beg, or even slyly suggest making more products on a certain campaign-specific topic, right? Even if that one book didn't have enough information that you desire? Can you resist the temptation? Can anyone -- be it curious newbie fan as well as hardcore fans -- resist?