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August 15, 2008

Coming Out to Smell the Roses

Phew, I've been shutting myself for the past week, writing for this blog's first series (part1, part2, part3). It's been some pretty hard work and I'm just glad that I've been to finish writing it. Thanks to everyone who has been reading it, especially to Jonathan (from the Core Mechanic) and Anonynos for their comments and discussion.

For now, it's time to come out and smell some roses.

I don't know what's with me and Wizards but it seems I've been having a bad case of timing with them for the past few months. Everytime when I'm too busy to come online, they like to make some big changes in my absence. Hmm...maybe I should stop haunting their website all day because everyone's at Gencon.

So, here are (a rehash of) some of the big news that is happening in Wizards'.

1. WoTC to revise D&D 4th Edition GSL and SRD

Got this heads up from The Gamer Dome, you can see his comments there. Just one question, who is Clark Peterson?

It's good to see that WoTC is still paying attention to the 3rd party publishers and still wants them on board to make 4E everyone's game. But we'll still have to see what are the real changes being made. I think WoTC will have to give in a little bit on this one to the publishers.

Stay tune for Critical-Hits' interview with WoTC about the revision.

2. New 4E Errata Released (8/11)

This one courtesy of Critical-Hits.

Like the first major errata before this, the Stealth-Perception skill mechanics has gone through an overhaul.

These are quite some dramatic changes to the core rulebooks. As they have entered into the third round of printing, there are concerns whether these erratas will be included in the newer printings of the core rulebooks or not.

3. More Insider Stuff

It seems to be making good progress (or at least that's what Randy Buehler is telling us) so far. With some minor and improvement to the D&D Compendium, they have added the Monster tab and are also including material from Dungeon and Dragon magazines into their database. They are also opening up their communication channels regarding any problems with the compendium. So meet Cort Odekirk, who will be taking questions and try to answer them here.

I personally praise WoTC for this PR effort and I'm glad that even Odekrik agrees that we could all use a little bit of communication,
Basically I think we can only benefit from strong communication between the devs and the people who are using the product (or at least the subset that likes to post on forums about it), I get a feel for people's concerns and response to the features we are building and you get an inside look and the what and why of the things we build.

There are more questions answered about the pricing structure. So please check it out to find out more.

They are also adding a 3rd Bonus Tools and planning on a 4th.

4. Excerpts, excerpts and more excerpts.

September is another big month with big releases if you checked out the Previews for August and Beyond. WoTC is teasing us with more sneak peeks of future products again and this time for everyone.

From the Adventurer's Vault













Airships
Alchemy

From the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide











Warlock (Dark Pact)
Amn, War Wizard

5. Ritually Speaking...











This one thanks to the Core Mechanics. Dragon has added a significantly large number of new Rituals and I'll let this quote from Jonathan do the talking.

There's a new (well written) article from Peter Schaefer entitled "Ritually Speaking" that includes 33 new Rituals. Considering the PHB only contained 49 Rituals, this is a 67% increase in the total number of rituals in the game. So, grab this quick before they make you pay for it. All in all, this is a very nice addition to the existing RAW ritual set. Here's a summary list in the same format as the one in the PHB (click to make it bigger):


6. Siege of Bordrin's Watch


The 2nd adventure for the Scales of War Adventure Path is up in Dungeon. This time the players get to defend an ancient dwarven fortress located at an important pass of the Elsir Vale by infiltrating into a tunnel to take out the advance army.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Underground tunnel warfare! Getting right into the action, war is coming in full swing. So be sure to check it out and download it while it's still free!

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