Word of Wizards - 31/1/09

So there goes January but it's been a pretty interesting week I might say.

First off is the launch of the full version of the Character Builder but it was riddled with problems for subscribers from installing, updating and using the Builder itself.

Wizards seem to be working on it but the Builder has been troubled with bugs and other problems since the Beta stage and it looks like future troubles like these are just going to turn out some subscribers.

On the brighter side of things, I was very amused with something written by Shelly Mazzanoble where she shared her experience about teaching D&D to her over 60 year old parents.

The Sorcerer preview came out and it appeared to have make some players happy with the return of Wild Magic.

We were also fed 2 podcasts of two recent Realms authors (Richard Baker and Bruce Cordell)who read a chapter from their latest novels; Swordmage and Plague of Spells

Since it's the end of the month, the online magazines are compiled and their respective art and map galleries are made available for download. Getting personally burned out of what to write about these galleries, I've decided to try something new that might put a refreshing perspective at future artworks.

So here's the summary of links for this week.

Monday (26/1/09)
D&D Podcast: Author Reading 1
The Sorcerer, Levels 1-3
Judy and Tom's Excellent Adventure

Tuesday (27/1/09)
Character Builder Goes Live!

Wednesday (28/1/09)
D&D Podcast: Author Reading 2
Digital Insider #23
Dungeon 162 Art Gallery

Friday (30/1/09)
Dragon 371 Art Gallery

Next week, we'll be seeing a preview of the seventh class that will appear in the shortly upcoming PHB II; the Shanman which is only confirmed so far to have a spirit companion. More previews for the coming months ahead will also be available on the first week of February.

Unfortunately, I won't be covering the news for next week as I will be disconnected from the cyber plane for a while. So I hope you guys won't miss too much. In any case, I think I will just be able to make do with a weekend post (like this one) to make up for those missing posts.

To all my Chinese readers wherever you are, I wish you a Happy Chinese New Year!

See you guys soon.

Word of Wizards - Dragon 371 Art Gallery

Dragon 371 Art Gallery

The art gallery for Dragon 371 is up and it looks pretty jammed pack with undead and some other gruesome illustrations. Rather than telling you how to use them (if you hadn't use them better yourself), I've decided to go through these kind of news with something new.

So hope you enjoy them (and hopefully I can keep this up in the future).

Word of Wizards - Digital Insider #23

Digital Insider #23

Wizards have now announced that they have released the full version of the Character Builder which can be downloaded. While subscribers will have access to all 30 levels of character options and generation. Non-subscribers could still take advantage of its new content but only up to 3 levels.

They are also aware that the Builder is not without its flaws and so have setup links to address the issues.

D&D Character Builder FAQ
D&D Character Builder Known Issues list

Any bugs should be reported to here

Finally, if you want to know what has been included in this version of the Builder, you can check at the Included Sources list.

Word of Wizards - Dungeon 162 Art Gallery

Dungeon 162 Art Gallery

Dragon 162 looks like an issue above the heroic tier so there are illustrations of monsters that are within the paragon or epic tier. There are a few ice-themed artworks and also an underdark-esque torture chamber of some sort in it.

Word of Wizards - D&D Podcast: Author Reading 2

D&D Podcast Author Reading 2

The second author reading comes from Brude Cordell and his novel, Plague of Spells. The podcast is a reading of Chapter 7 but there is no preview chapter from the next book in the series.

There's a small break in the audio and I don't know if it was intentional.

One More Things

Last year, I talked about single elements that can be the main focal point for an entire campaign. After giving some more thought and a comment from Ravyn. I would like to expand more on the list of one things that you can based an entire campaign on.

One Location
This was pointed out by Ravyn. An entire campaign doesn't always have to take your players outside one environment. It could stay in the same place as long as there is always something to do or something is constantly happening around the PCs.

Cities are a good example of creating a one location campaign and there are published settings out there that takes this idea (Ptolus, Sharn, Waterdeep, City of Brass) but it is not always limited in urban areas. It could also be wilderness based such as an island, a forest, a mountain, a plain or even a dungeon (World's Largest Dungeon, Undermountain, Castle Greyhawk).

One location campaigns sounds very much like sandbox campaigns and the way to run this is to maintain the dyanmics of the setting while you keep surprising your players all campaign long.

One Race
This may sound odd at first but there is quite a few potential of creating a campaign where all players are only allowed to play as one race. I don't know how common it is but I have heard alot of people only allowing humans in their campaign.

By doing so, they increase the value and mystery of the other staple races and this allows the GM to expand on them in different directions that wouldn't be balance if they were playable. In a human only campaign, elves could be elevated to wield more arcane power and appear more feyish or dwarves do really stay in their mountain homes and never leave them which creates an adventure for the human players to find them.

Another potential benefit of playing in a human-only campaign is that roleplaying can become easier. Some players and newbies could find it hard to roleplay as any other race because they themselves don't think or behave like them. In the end we are just humans pretending to be elves and dwarves (or half-orcs) so why not just be ourselves?

However, this idea isn't limited to only humans. What not try playing a campaign where you're only allowed to be halflings? Or a monstrous race?

One Power Source
Alright, the idea sounds very 4E-ish but it is already being done in other RPGs before it, just look at any of the World of Darkness RPGs. In 3.x days, you could build an entire campaign out of the Psionic Handbook, Tome of Magic or Book of Nine Swords.

With new 4E classes coming out almost by the buckloads that would most likely let each power source cover all the roles, it would be interesting to see how different classes from the same power source match up with or against each other.

Certain power sources could inspire themes that won't normally be as effective when used in a campaign that also allows other power sources. For example, a combat tournament or arena to find the best martial character in the world holds more significance and would not ostracize any players in a martial power source only campaign.

One Incident
This normally works as a campaign setting's background. All post-apocalypse campaigns are based on this. In fantasy, a recent example is the Spellplague in the Forgotten Realms. Although world destruction is a very common and dramatic incident to have an entire campaign based on but there could be other more mundane incidents that could affect the campaign setting as well.

In modern settings, 9/11 is the catalyst of war on terror and it could be the incident which could spark a international anti-terrorism campaign where players either play as spies or an international elite squad of counter terrorist.

The same could be done with medieval fantasy setting where the king is dead and a civil war of succession is erupting in the campaign setting. This was done in Eberron with the end of the Last War but it sets the stage for a campaign centered on fantasy espionage, politics and intrigue.

Incidents don't also have to be disasters or tragedies, sudden dramatic and perceived to be positive changes could still be used to create conflict. Perhaps a recent scientific or magical breakthrough or discovery in medicine could lead into a potentially good effect towards the campaign setting but there is also a dark side of using the drug.

The most important thing about these campaigns is that the details of the incident itself has to be clear and its effects to the campaign setting (good or ill) has to be prevalent enough to change the life of those in the setting or how the campaign is run. They are usually more memorable if the incident is named like The Rapture or The Revolution.


Well, that's it for now. Anymore one thing campaigns that you would like to share?

Word of Wizards - Character Builder Goes Live!

There's no official annoucement yet but according to sources from the Wizards forum, the full version of the Character Builder can now be downloaded at the Character Builder page.

Although the page hasn't change and still indicates that the Character Builder is in beta but the smaller wordings and the download link is for the full version of the Builder.

Subscribers will require their email address that they submitted for their accounts to access the Builder as their User ID. The Builder will be provided with new content each month but would need to use the update feature.

Each update does not require the subscriber to reinstall the builder but there is a limit to how many times the subscriber can install the builder.

Each month, subscribers are only limited to install the Builder for 5 times but the limit will reset after every update. Any special case that requires an extra installation will have to go through Wizards' Customer Service department.

Word of Wizards - Judy and Tom's Excellent Adventure

Confessions of a Full-Time Wizard: Judy and Tom's Excellent Adventure

Normally, I don't include any of these Confessions articles in my coverage of the Wizard's site but this is just too funny to pass up.

If you've read about the Chatty DM playing RPGs with his 6 year old son, wait till you read about Shelly teaching her 60 years old parents playing D&D!

It's a very amusing read and already there some problems faced in running a game for the elderly which ensues some very humorous conversations and situations.

I highly recommend reading this just for laughs and I wonder if any of the younger generation of players ever thought of introducing their games to their parents.

Word of Wizards - The Sorcerer, Levels 1-3

The Sorcerer, Levels 1-3

The waiting is over, one of the much speculated counterpart of the Wizard is now revelaed. Is it a controller or a striker?

The Sorcerer is an Arcane Striker that uses magic to blast his enemies fueled by the powers in his blood. It keys off the main ability stats of Charisma and Dexterity but a surprising tertiary ability is Strength.

Although it can wear the same protection as the Wizard but it has proficiency in both ranged and melee simple weapons. The implements of the sorcerer are daggers and staves.

The sorcerer is also slightly tougher in terms of hitpoints and number of healing surges but has the same healing surge value as the Wizard.

Finally, the sorcerer has a longer skill list with 10 skills (Arcana, Athletics, Bluff, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering, Endurance, History, Insight, Intimidate & Nature) to choose from over the Wizards' 7.

Word of Wizards - D&D Podcast: Author Reading 1

D&D Podcast Author Reading 1

This is the first author reading session that they have with Richard Baker reading a chapter out of his recent novel, Swordmage. There is also a preview chapter for his upcoming book, Corsair, which is the second book in the Blades of the Moonsea series.

Nothing much here in terms of the podcast itself but at least the illustrations were really nice.

Questing's Readings - 25/1/09

Starting from this week, I would like to introduce a new feature that will be appearing on a regular basis which is on every Sunday. I call them 'Questing's Readings'.

I know that I don't really produce content up to the right quality and quantity but there are so many articles, threads or blog post out there about RPGs that are much better written and more diverse than I could have possibly written about them.

So I would like to share the best readings that I have picked up throughout the week that I find engaging, interesting and thought provoking. These choices are based on personal preferences and are most likely influenced by what is occupying my mind for that week.

Hopefully in the future, I will do a personal compilation of the best (or available) readings on a certain topic from a list of these readings.

Without further ado, I present to you my first list of readings that I highly recommend to be digested.

ENWorld
Why Do We Have Such Different Experiences?.
Posters in this thread share about what factors that makes their gaming experiences even different even though they use the same rules set (3.x).

Transparency and Immersion
The OP makes a very good case of the balance between transparency and immersion. Read the OP alone even if you're not interested in following the discussion therein.

Seven Principles of Dynamic Temples
A very well thought out OP that extends on the functions of the typical fantasy temples other than just a healing station.

What Level of Detail Do You Like in Your Game?
A very interesting sharing of DMs on whether they keep track of equipment, encumberence, ammo etc. and why.

A History & Analysis of TSR’s Copyright Policies
There's a very interesting article that can be downloaded from the OP on legal matters during the TSR days.

Incredible Vehicle
Class Affinities
4E is still a relatively new game and there's still much of the mechanics that is awaiting to be discovered. Either that or I love to read about crunch talk in regards to character generation. Some of the data and figures in this analysis are very useful to make good min/maxing decisions.

The Art of the Near TPK
Race/Class Synergy in 4e: Revised Analysis
Another interesting revelation about race/class combos in 4E and comes with a table too!

Philosophy of Games
5 Things All Gamers Should Try
I agree with everything in that list and I think every gamer owe themselves to give a try at least once.

TheLemming
epic preparation - must-reads
This is a compiled list of great posts by other bloggers on the subject of adventure preparation, character deaths, villains, DM mistakes as a prelude to what will be an interesting series on epic campaigns.

Bard of Valiant
Game Masters and Leadership Skills: Part 1
Games Masters and Leadership Skills: Part 2
This series makes an interesting connection between GM and leadership qualities. It examies the different leadership ability of the GM and how it affects the game and players. The series isn't over yet so I'll be watching it for further installments.

Gaming Brouhaha
Things you must read - a follow up
An interesting list of good reads and don't forget to check back the previous list.

RPG Blog II
RPG Publishers & Keeping Their Release Schedules
The comments in this posts are pretty insightful about how products are released and why they are sometimes not on schedule.

Roleplaying Pro
What Do Gamers Want From Gaming Blogs?
Some very good observations for a young blog that is sure to be helpful to other bloggers (like myself) to improve on their content and how to catch a good traffic.

Word of Wizards - 24/1/09

This week saw the release of Open Grave. If you haven't bought it yet or don't intend to, you can still use some free undead themed artworks and maps. While we were at it, we also took a look at the history of two famous undeads in D&D.

If you already own the Draconomicon, there's some advises and ideas for you to make more uses out of it. If you're looking for something new, you can check out the excerpt of a faerie book for little ones.

Wizards also came up with a quick solution for the accounts and auto-renewal problems that subscribers have been facing last week but this isn's stopping them for making an appearance in the upcoming NY Comic Con shortly after this year's D&D XP.

However, this week we also mourn the loss of the Veteran's Armor in the latest update to all the core rulebooks and supplements.

As January comes to a close, we already know what we can expect to see in February.

So here's the rundown for this week.

Monday (19/1/09)
Excerpts: Practical Guide to Faeries

Wednesday (21/1/09)
D&D Alumni: Open Grave
Digital Insider #22
D&D at NY Comic Con
New Update for 4th Edition Books

Friday (23/1/09)
Open Grave Art & Map Gallery
The Treasure Thieves
February Editorial Calendar

Next week, Insiders will be able to preview the Sorcerer which is sure to get everyone speculative and eager. We would also be getting an excerpt from the Dungeon Delve and maybe even a podcast.

That's all for this week!

Word of Wizards - February Editorial Calendar

February Editorial Calendar

The editorial calendar for February is up and it is going to be a pretty exciting month.

This month we also be taking sneak peeks in the form of excerpts from the much awaited Player's Handbook 2. Subscribers would be pleased with inside previews of the Shaman and Primal Power.

We'll also be listening in to the Penny Arcade/PVP play podcasts.

Some great articles to expect would be Playing Shadar-kai, Necromatic Rituals, Bane and Planar Epic Destinies.

Can't wait.

Word of Wizards - The Treasure Thieves

The Treasure Thieves

This is a rough outline for an adventure detailed with possible encounters, plot hooks and suggestions on expanding these ideas into a full adventure that utilizes the Draconomicon I.

This is pretty useful to have if you want to make the best use out of the book without being restricting because the ideas are mostly open ended. This gives the DM freedom to take it to whatever direction he wants. It can also act as an extra resource if you have already exhausted the lairs in the book.

Word of Wizards - Open Grave Art & Map Gallery

Open Grave Art Gallery
Open Grave Map Gallery

I have to say that I'm quite impressed with the artwork for this book. They went with the right tone and style that gave a real sense of creepiness that suits a book of undeath. The illustration that I put above is giving me a mental picture of a undead pirates campaign what with the recent fascination with pirates and all.

Sadly, I can't really say the same for their maps. Most of the maps in the gallery are marked which makes it difficult for DMs to try and recreate them as battlemats and they are no unmarked version. I hope they would do the same as they did with the magazines for future products.

As usual, artworks and maps in the gallery can be downloaded piece by piece but subscribers can get them all in a single file.

Word of Wizards - New Update for 4th Edition Books

Official D&D Updates

Wizards has released a new updates of the rules. This is their fourth update for the core rulebooks and the first update for the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, Adventurer's Vault, Martial Power and the Dungeon Master's Screen.

Most of the correction are on the powers and there aren't any drastic erratas like the previous one which overhauled the Stealth skill.

Some major corrections are,

Adventurer's Vault

• Veteran's Armor has lost its power, probably after seeing how dangerous it can be for Barbarians.
• Pact Hammer does not include the extra damage from a Warlock's curse

Martial Power

• Bladed Fullisade of the Flying-Blade Adept paragon path is confirmed to be a Daily rather than an Encounter power.

.

Word of Wizards - D&D at NY Comic Con

Wizards of the Coast returns to NYCC!

Wizards will be having a booth there from the 6th to 8th February with previews, demos and convention games. They are also giving away D&D backpacks to anyone who subscribes to D&D Insider at the booth.

This is probably the only chance that non-subscribers will get to preview the new classes from PHB II.

Check out their schedule that is also listed at the bottom of the link.

Word of Wizards - Digital Insider #22

Digital Insider #22

Since last week, Wizards have worked up a quick solution to fix the auto-renewal function of subscribers' accounts, so anyone having problems with theirs can find further instructions to deal with it in this FAQ.

Wizards will be broadcasting the second session they had with the cast and crew of Penny Arcade/PVP by mid-February all the way till March. There would be a collaboration of articles and comics released by both sides on their websites. For Insiders, you could even get yourself a copy of the adventure they're playing in future Dungeon.

The full version of the Character Builder is still coming up smoothly so delays don't seem to be imminent.

Word of Wizards - D&D Alumni: Open Grave

D&D Alumni: Open Grave

This article traces the origins of the most powerful undeads in the D&D universe; Vecna and Acerak. It was very interesting to read about what had inspired the Eye and Hand of Vecna and how the Hand had worked in the 1st edition.

The only ways to damage Acerak in the original Tomb of Horrors were quite new and interesting as well as I didn't play through the original module. Check out the 4E epic level trap that they remade for the demilich trap in that module.

Thoughts on the Character Builder Beta

With the full version of the Character Builder looming for subscribers by the end of this month, I would like to share my thoughts on the Beta version. Sorry for the late review but I wanted to play with it a little longer before coming out with a verdict.

One thing's for sure that I will say about the Character Builder is that it is fast. I whipped out my first character in almost less than five minutes. The option of using a pre-build character based on race and class or rolling a whole new character from scratch, either way is a very quick process. All you have to do is make choices, click them and you're almost done.

The comprehensiveness of the builder is also definately a plus. Although the feature was locked for the beta but being able to customize the builder to show only certain books and Dragon issues in the build options will prevent the sense of being overwhelmed by too much choices (or should I say 'power creep'). This also takes into consideration that not all DMs will allow every supplement or setting that is being released in their game.

However, even with just Adventurer's Vault, Martial Power, Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms and a few issues of Dragon, it is still a very daunting list.

For the interface, I appreciate that they have the section which shows what powers actually do and below that is the calculation of modifiers, although I have noticed a few mistakes and bugs. However, because of the calculations being shown, I think the point of choosing powers should be after, rather than before, choosing of equipments. 4E powers are so heavily modified or dependent towards equipment that it would save a small hassle to pick the equipment before the powers without having to switch back to see how the powers and equipment complimented each other.

I think the screen which list the options for feats and equipment need to be much bigger because it can easily become a very long list and sometimes you would have to scroll a long way down to see your options. I think the same problem for powers would soon be prevalent if more core and splat books are released along the way.

My biggest love for the Builder is at the end of the process. I really love being able to fiddle around with the layout of the character sheet which from my experience can really increase the speed of combat. The printed power cards is a great bonus to that.

Overall, while in its Beta stage I will say that Wizards did exceed my expectations with a few surprises and it does show that they have put alot more thought and effort in building the Character Builder than those who expect it to be vaporware. I would say that the Character Builder is heading towards the right direction and already the potential of reducing character generation from hours to minutes is very evident.

But I also will say this upfront. When I generate a character, I don't only just build them. I plan them. When I approach the builder with that in mind, it does not fulfill all my needs but that can't be blamed. It's a character builder afterall, not a planner.

I like to weight my options and while I'm not a extreme min/maxer when I play but I do believe in creating an efficient and functional character that suits with my character concept. Also I do like to experiment with different builds, feats, power and equipment combinations. With the amount of data stored in the builder I thought it would be easier to do just that that but it turned out to be a greater hassle than advantage.

The Character Builder is just a bit too linear in the process for me. Although you may argue that the builder actually allows you to skip the steps but it doesn't allow you to start character generation without first picking a race and a class first. I could sometimes base a character concept on a certain feat and power combination and go backwards from there which is made all the more frustrating by the small screen to view all your choices. I find myself actually having to open my books just to work with the builder more effectively which is ironic if you think about it.

I also prefer to do the math by hand. Not only is the beta calculations not 100% reliable yet but I do want to know what factors are taken into account. Still the character builder is useful for double checking your math in that respect.

In the end, I'm just an old-fashioned kind of guy. When you are writing your numbers and class features on your character sheet with a pen or pencil, you really feel that your character is coming alive. With the builder, the painstaking process that we still enjoy is over almost effortlessly. It's convenient but the builder does kill the charm of creating YOUR very own character that you created by hand.

Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Practical Guide to Faeries

Practical Guide to Faeries Excerpts

I was curious to see what this book is really all about but at least my initial predictions of it were correct. If you haven't guessed it, it's a children's book about faeries, written for easy understanding and comes with alot of cute illustrations of faeries (but the redcap does look mean).

I'm not sure how exactly is this related with D&D but I guessed the mere mention of the word 'Feywild' justifies it. Although written plainly and obviously for a younger audience, there are a few things that can be picked up and turned into a good adventure seed or a simplified fluff of the fey so at least this book isn't actually useless for DMs.

The excerpts themselves are pretty useful to have if you need a little more ideas to flesh out the Feywild in your game. If the book itself is inexpensive, it's probably worth picking it up or if you have kids then this book should point a good direction towards fantasy roleplaying.

Word of Wizards - 17/1/09

It's so soon and we're already halfway through January. It was a pretty interesting week shaped up by some good content on the Wizards' side.

We had a podcast which brought up an interesting discussions on skill challenges and healing surges by Mike Mearls and his new co-host, Jeremy Crawford. There's also a few insights on future books and classes which tells us what we can expect in the future.

There was also an interview with Wayne Reynolds which let us know more about him and how the art direction happens for Wizards.

For this week's excerpts, we took a look at templates, alternative powers for liches and the demilich from Open Grave.

On the Insider of things, the full version of the Character Builder seems to be building up pretty well for its scheduled release at the end of the month. Wizards have also made their intentions known to take action about some troubles that subscribers have with their accounts and terminating their subscriptions.

So if you missed any of these, you can simply check back from this week's rundown.

Monday (12/1/09)
D&D Podcast: Episode 31
Open Grave Excerpts: Spirit Possessed

Wednesday (14/1/09)
Steal This Hook! Winter in the Forest
Digital Insider #21

Friday (16/1/09)
Open Grave Excerpts: Demilich
Spotlight Interview: Wayne Reynolds

Next week will be the release of Open Grave and we'll be seeing an excerpt from a book that's been rarely talked about so far. I'm hoping to be surprise for this one.

See ya!

Word of Wizards - Spotlight Interview: Wayne Reynolds

Spotlight Interview: Wayne Reynolds

Wizards interviews the artist who has behind the great artwork that graces the covers of all the 4th edition core rulebooks, Wayne Reynolds. The interview asks about the background of his art style, how he visualizes his artwork and gives a great insight into the art direction process in Wizards.

Wayne is definately one of my favorite artist as I have admired his work since in Eberron and also in Pathfinder. Be sure to visit his own website, waynereynolds.com and catch his previous interviews which you can find at the bottom of the interview.

Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Demilich

Open Grave Excerpts: Demilich

Today's excerpt gives us the crunchy stats of the demilich.

This tiny Level 20 Solo Artillery is one mean litle monster that has a Intruding Terror aura which grants a -2 to attack rolls to enemies within the aura 2 and has fly 12 (hover).

For ranged attacks, the demilich rains down a deadly barrage. It can make 2 Shadow Ray (standard; at-will) attacks that deals 3d6+8 necrotic damage with Twin Rays (standard; at-will) followed by its Obsidian Eye (minor; at-will) that deals 10 ongoing necrotic damage (save ends). This makes it effectively able to make 3 attacks in a single round.

When in close range, the demilich can Drain Soul (standard; at-will) which is the first equivalent of a save or die effect in 4E after being dazed, stunned and restrained. It is made worse by every time an enemy makes a failed save against Drain Soul, the demilich would use Soul Shrivelling Pulse (immediate reaction; at-will) which deals 3d6+5 necrotic damage to enemies within close burst 5 and induces a -2 penalty to saving throws (save ends)!

Despite it's dangerous attacks, it's also very resilient. Firstly, it has regeneration 20 but it can be suspended for one turn if it takes any radiant damage. It also effectively has 2 healing surges in the beginning of the encounter stored in 2 out of its 6 Soul Gems which can be replenished by anyone who is killed by its Drain Soul.

Ultimately, the demilich is Indestructible and will reappear 1d10 days beside it's phylactery if it's not destroyed.

There's also a mention of the infamous demilich, Acerak so we can expect to see him in the hall of infamous undead.

Other lich goodness in this excerpt includes the lore of other lich types. It's quite surprising to see that they have decided to fold the baelnorn from the Forgotten Realms into the core world while void lich and the thicket dryad lich sounds interesting.

Word of Wizards - Digital Insider #21

Digital Insider #21

I was wondering why wasn't there an update yesterday but now it's up.

There isn't anything new on the full version of the Character Builder, it is still scheduled to be released by the end of January (which foiled all my earlier predictions that it might be released early).

The other important thing about this update is that Wizards are well aware of the recent account problems they have been facing which has resulted in some outrage over the blogs and forums.

(You can read about them from the Geek Related and the Purple Pawn)

No concrete plan has been set out to fix the problem so far but subscribers can expect to hear some instructions on how to manage their subscriptions shortly. IMO, while slightly reassuring isn't the best way to put it.

Word of Wizards - Steal This Hook! Winter in the Forest

Steal This Hook! Winter in the Forest

This month's column has plot hooks that can happen above, on and below the ground. The plot hooks look like they are suited for a side-trek adventure that involves slaying a certain monster.

Most of the potential story elements of the plot hooks look pretty predictable but there is also a twist for each of the plot hooks which can turn into some interesting adventures.

I really wish they would create playable stats for the Raptorian in future supplements. The idea of making them just elves with wings that fly just doesn't sit right with me. It's been a while I've seen them and I'm just glad that they havent' forgotten them for the new edition.

If anything, at least the illustrations are nice (even reused).

New Year, New Quests

Another year, another list of resolutions to keep reminding ourselves that we have achieved nothing in the past year.

Fortunately for the first month of this year's RPG Blog Carnival is all about new year gaming resolutions. So I'm making my contribution to it by having my own list of what I want to do for gaming this year.

Major Quest: Game More

This is technically not too hard to do because the number of times I have gamed last year is zero. None. So if I'm just able to get one game going or be part of a game, this will be easily ticked off my list.

I haven't game for a while for various real life reasons and issues that I hope I can resolve them to make some time for myself for gaming. It's really quite hard to believe how I can actually write a RPG blog and not even be gaming.

Currently, I'm looking to run one-shots adventures or convention-style gaming because I don't think I can commit to a full fledged campaign with my current schedule and other more important commitments.

But I really hope to roll some dices real soon for this year.

Major Quest: Attempt to Turn My Significant Other Into a Gamer

I spend alot of time with my girlfriend (and I'm proud of that) and when there are times when I'm not with her, she would constantly catch my hand in the cookie jar, reading stuff about RPGs and gaming.

I appreciate that she doesn't have a real adverse attitude towards this hobby of mine but this year I want to challenge myself to see if I can turn her into a gamer. I bet that it would be a real kick-ass relationship to have when your significant other shares a hobby with the same amount of passion as you do.

The challenging part is trying to introduce the concept of roleplaying to her and why it's more fun than her other hobbies. The other part of why this is difficult to me is because I can't use English to explain it to her because the text in most of the rulebooks is too complicated for her.

My girlfriend has a very different perception about games than me so I'm not sure how keen is she on the idea (Hi, dear!). I'll go for trying to convince her to play in a solo campaign or two.

Major Quest: Try a New Game

I'll admit it that I've only been playing D&D for most of my gaming life since I started. My brain is wired to only playing RPGs that has a d20 in it. I'm naturally reluctant to try any of the World of Darkness games (although I did really enjoy myself with Trinity when I was much younger) because the system and character creations was so different than what I have been used to all these years.

Now it's time to change that and it's also because I don't think that D&D has always been the right system for me. I had my fair share of frustration with the system and they were somethings that irked me to no end which I didn't like. My exposure to other game systems started with reading the forums online and expanded rapidly since I started reading other blogs (from the RPG Bloggers Network, of course).

So for this year, I'm going to run/play a game that is not D&D or is not made by WoTC. I already have a few systems in mind which has perked my interest such as; Mutants and Mastermind (damn you, greywulf!), True 20, Savage Worlds, Anima and Primetime Adventures (Pathfinder doesn't really count because it's partly 3.5 but I still want to run it).

Though I doubt I would get the chance to run all of them and my list is far from comprehensive of what I want to play. I'm expecting that I might add or throw a few systems here and there along the way, depending on how many players I could buy-in.

I hope one day I would be able to run multiple systems on the fly without a hitch.

Minor Quest: Prep More

Being a GM, I acutally enjoy prepping for games or campaigns that I know won't make it to the gaming table just for the sake of it. There is the little pack-rat in me that likes to see me gather up ideas, NPCs, plot hooks and encounters pile up all over a dungeon or campaign.

This past year without gaming has most likely made me rusty. So it looks like it's back to square one for me. Although I might not game as much as I want to for this year, I think I should spend more time on prep. Even though it is time-consuming but it is half of the fun filled when I'm not gaming.

Besides, you can never have too much prep.

Minor Quest: Start Getting Into Some Design Work

Reading through many blogs last year got me a little inspired.

I have seen the Chatty DM jumping off the cliff with his Chatty Studio and he seems to be doing pretty well. I have seen many design work being done by ordinary bloggers who can churned out some pretty interesting stuff and have an audience to match.

I'm thinking if they can do it, why can't it? So for this year, I'll be trying to come out with complete creations of my own (whether adventure modules, feats, monsters or another magic item) and post them on this blog for feedback. I'm really taking a leap of fate here as I'm not sure if I know what I'm doing but what the heck.

I'm also graduating soon so who knows if this will land me a job somewhere or sometime in the future?

Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Spirit Possessed

Open Grave Excerpts: Spirit Possessed

This excerpts shows some of the DM's tools that they will find in Open Grave to customize and modify their undead creatures to be set on the PCs.

The Spirit Possessed template basically gives the host psychic attacks that isn't too powerful but it's most dangerous ability is that the spirit is able to transfer itself onto another host (even the PCs).

I particularly like the alternative powers that are being introduced. This exceprt showcases a couple of alternative powers that can be swapped with the powers that Liches typically have which reminds me alot of the substitution race/class features back in 3.x.

Mindspike (standard; recharge 6) which can make an opponent lose an encounter power or take damage which I think is just brutal than Spellmastery.

I'll be looking to see more of these when the book releases.

Word of Wizards - D&D Podcast: Episode 31

D&D Podcast: Episode 31 (January 2009)

This episode is the second installment of answering questions from the mailbag. They have introduced a new host to replace Dave Noonan. So meet Jeremey Crawford, who is a 'seasoned' new guy and editor at Wizards of the Coast.

Mike and Jeremey answered some questions and also discussed of the the finer elements of the game. They talked about skill challenges, some of the future design work that is going on for new classes and books, some finer points of ruling and tips for aspiring game designers.

But here's some other interesting questions that deserve to get some attention.

Andrew asks, "Please put to rest how the sleep spell is intended to work. I have been ruling that it is a forced natural sleep but which one can be awoken from by the same means as natural sleep."

They answered that shouting or slapping those affected by the sleep spell can't wake up until they make their saves. Sleep is a magical sleep and can also affect creatures that don't normally sleep (which now sucks for the elves).

Shadow Elf asks, "Is there going to be a necromancer class?"

Answer is Maybe.

So listen it out, there are a few interesting commentaries and even campaign ideas in this one.

Word of Wizards - 10/1/09

This week has been a pretty slow week. Insiders have previewed the new Warden class for the upcoming Player's Handbook II while the excerpts from Open Grave have been creeping in steadily.

So here's the rundown for this week.

Monday (5/1/09)
The Warden, Levels 1-3
Previews for January and Beyond
Open Grave Excerpts: Undead Lairs

Wednesday (7/1/09)
Vicious Venues - Slyvan Cathedral
Digital Insider #20

Friday (9/1/09)
Open Grave Excerpts: Kas the Betrayer

The full version of the Character Builder hasn't been released yet this week so maybe we can expect them next week. Other than the regular excerpts, we can also expect to tune in to a new podcast.

Until next week!

Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Kas the Betrayer

Open Graves Excerpts: Kas the Betrayer

Today we take a look at an icon of the undead; Kas the Betrayer, once was Vecna's trusted lieutenant who was responsible of creating the Hand and Eye of Vecna quite literally.

In 4E, since his betrayal, Kas has styled himself as a ruler of a kingdom in the Shadowfell (by paying lip service to the Raven Queen) while maintaining an astral dominion of eternal darkness and everflowing rivers of blood. In his obsidian buildings, Kas awaits for the chance to deal with his sworn rival and former master.

Kas is a Level 26 Solo Soldier and vampire lord so he has the hallmark powers of Blood Drain (standard; encounter), Dominating Gaze (minor, recharge 6) and Mist Form (standard; sustain minor; encounter) of an ordinary vampire.

In addition to that, Kas has a Terrifying Smite (standard; at-will) which pushes an opponent 5 squares and immobilizes them (save ends). The Betrayer's Whirlwind (standard; recharge 6) blinds (save ends) anyone within his 1 close burst.

Kas still honors the knightly virtues of his evil paladinhood. Therefore he can mark enemies similar with the Paladin's Divine Challenge with Kas's Challenge (minor/1 round; at will). An enemy without 5 sqaures marked by Kas who does not include him as a target in their next attack takes 10 necrotic damage (save ends).

When bloodied, Kas's Recovery (free; while bloodied, recharges when Kas reduces an enemy to 0 hitpoints) allows him to spend a healing surge to regain 297 hitpoints out of his 1190 hitpoints and removes all adverse effects affecting him.

Kas is seldom found alone and his encounter entourage introduces his servants that unlike him, serves him unswervingly with loyalty; the Blackstar Knight.

These greatsword wielding black statues animated by undead spirits mark their opponents with its basic attack and duels with them to the end.

Anyone who has been marked by a Black Star Knight will find No Escape (move; at-will) as it teleports 10 squares to be adjacent to an enemy that it has marked.

It's Deathsword (standard; at-will) only works on marked enemies which increases its basic attack by one die (from 2d10 to 3d10) and an additional ongoing 10 necrotic damage (save ends).

It performs its Soldier's Duty (when reduced to 0 hitpoints) by granting 25 temporary hitpoints to undead allies within its close burst 2.

Word of Wizards - Digital Insider #20

Digital Insider #20: Back from the Holidays

It's a short update for this week but Bill Slavicsek says that the full version of the Character Builder will be coming out soon this month (maybe this week?).

It will continue to be updated just as the Compendium as more and more content is released through the Insider or books.

Other than that, Bill just asks us to stay tune to what's coming up next for the Insider.

Word of Wizards - Vicious Venues - Sylvan Cathedral

Vicious Venues - Slyvan Cathedral

This month's Vicious Venues goes wild. A forest sanctuary that is the perfect place for celebrations and reveries for the fey, elves and other denizens of the wild where they can feel at peace.

The cathedral is tended by the dryad, Larixii who appears as a elf or eladrin dressed in green robes who also acts as guardian for this place. When the cathedral is attacked, she is aided by satyrs and dire boars.

It's a pretty good write up which tells DMs on how to use it in their game and makes for a good resting spot for side-trekked adventures. Check out also the stats for the unicorn (level 11 skirmisher leader).

However, I think this writeup would have greatly benefited with a map of the location itself or at least a piece of artwork for greater visualization.

Word of Wizards - The Warden, Levels 1-3

Monday is the release of the preview for the Warden. Although I'm no subscriber but Wizards is kind enough to let some general information of the class be posted on the website for non-subscribers.

Class Traits
Role: Defender. You are sturdy and resilient, and you can assume bestial or treelike forms to destroy your foes. Depending on your choice of class features and powers, you lean toward either controller or striker as a secondary role.
Power Source: Primal. You are a primal champion, a guardian of the natural world and custodian of all living things.
Key Abilities: Strength, Constitution, Wisdom

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide; light shield, heavy shield
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, military melee, simple ranged
Bonus to Defense: +1 Fortitude, +1 Will

Hit Points at 1st Level: 17 + Constitution score
Hit Points per Level Gained: 7
Healing Surges per Day: 9 + Constitution modifier

Trained Skills: Nature. From the class skills list below, choose three more trained skills at 1st level.
Class Skills: Athletics (Str), Dungeoneering (Wis), Endurance (Con), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Nature (Wis), Perception (Wis)

Class Features: Font of Life, Guardian Might, Nature's Wrath

Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Undead Lairs

Open Grave Excerpts: Undead Lairs

Today's excerpt talks about undead lairs. It gives two principles of what an undead lair should not have, which are good points and easily forgotten.

• no light
• no warmth, sanitation, water, food, sleeping and socializing space

Although there are exceptions to the rule such as vampires but it just makes sense that undead have no need for these comforts which makes them and their lair unbearable.

The excerpt also gives an overview of a sample lair which can be turned into an adventure in itself called the Bloodtowers of the Moorland. Pun namaes aside, it is suited for level 12 adventures that comes with a map. A sample encounter of the lair can be found in the Preview for January and Beyond.

Word of Wizards - Previews for January and Beyond

Previews for January and Beyond

Sorry for the late update. I have been meainig to start my regular blogging schedule this year since Monday but my confounded internet connection has been down for almost a week since the New Year. Only yesterday my line is restoring slightly back to its normal self and I don't know if it's going to get better or worse.

Anyway, better late than never.

It's that time of the month (and I'm not referring to period pains) where Wizards shows us a few previews of products that we can expect to see in the coming first months of 2009.

Unfortunately, this month's preview is lacking in the juicy bits of excerpts and exciting annoucements that we don't already know.

First up, January,

Open Grave is coming out this month and some may have gotten their hands on it early from the release date. Excerpts from the book will continue till then (the last appearing on the 16th about the well-feared demilich).

There's an extra excerpt which supplements with Monday's excerpt. The extra excerpt is the Black Petal encounter in the Bloodtower on the Moorland which is a level 14 encounter which pits the PCs against a female necromancer, a Boneclaw and 3 Marrowshriek Skeletons in a room filled with traps of spectral tendrils.

It's a pretty challenging encounter because it has many changing elements in terms of tactics and terrain which would add good value to the book.

Nothing much is being said about Practical Guide to Faeries except for a short blurb and that it will have a tie-in support for DDI subscribers in Dragon, a sample chapter and an art gallery. Certainly useful for adventures or understanding the Feywild but there's just too little information about it.

February is the month for tactical players and DMs alike.

For the players, prepared to be challenged by 30 delves for 30 levels in Dungeon Delve. There isn't much that can be said about this book because it's as straightforward as it can get.

The sample delve shown are mostly very smalled sized map and keyed encounters which oculd be done in an evening's session. It looks like the perfect replacement game when the players in your group aren't up for the main campaign and just want to have a good hack & slash evening.

For the DMs, another set of dungeon tiles is being released and it's all about caves and carnage. Expect tiles of dead bodies and stone caves to be added into your collection of tiles for adventures in the Underdark or other cavernous environment.

March is the month of the big releases.

This is the first preview where the Player's Handbook II is in the horizon but there are no new excerpts to be found. However, if you are a DDI subscriber you have probably seen alot of the new classes that will be in the book (Druid, Invoker, Warden, Barbarian & Bard).

It's also the first book where classes with a new power source; primal, will make it's debut so we'll just have to make do with the history and origins of the primal power source, which is 'meh'.

Also coming out during March is the next installment of adventure modules by Wizards and the final Paragon tier adventure; Assault in Nightwyrm Fortress.

Here's synopsis of the adventure.

Infesting old crumbling cities and sunken palaces, shadow dragons are greedy and voracious, hungry for power, wealth, and of course, food. Pitiless and driven to commit atrocities to slake their appetite for all these things, shadow dragons regularly enslave other races, dominating them to work as soldiers and servants. Thankfully, most shadow dragons lair far from large cities and nations, and are content to prey mostly on those who dare the shadows that congregate beyond the lamps of civilization.

But some time ago, a shadow dragon named Urishtar discovered a relic structure in the Shadowfell, a structure whose foundation may well predate the rise of the Raven Queen on Shadow’s dark plain. Claiming the site for herself, Urishtar rechristened the dread edifice Nightwyrm Fortress. Within the ancient halls and dungeons, Urishtar learned much about the passage of mortal souls from life into death. Perhaps too much. With her new-found knowledge, Urishtar discovered the trick of capturing fleeting spirits of just-slain mortals as they raced through the Shadowfell. When she catches a soul, she diverts it away from whatever its fate should be, possibly risking the wrath of the Raven Queen herself. Urishtar cares not. She has other uses in mind.

Can't wait.