Get out and game, and buy something too.

Newbie DM has recently lamented about local bookstores becoming a thing of the past. Sadly, I think we are at a huge transition with the written media. When kindle and book readers came out in the market, I really didn’t think they reached that great of an audience. Now with the advent of tablets and the iPad, I think that customer base for digital books has exploded. I really feel in another 5 years, you are going to see most kids coming out of high school with a preference for books in a digital format. It is simply something they are used to working with and familiar. It’s going to happen.

What does this say about games? I’ve got some thoughts on that to fold into another post. However there is something I’ve touched on before and I think worth mentioning again. If you have a local gaming store, and they offer a means to get folks together and play games, throw them some business. Occasionally step up and actually buy something from their shelves.

Years ago I was at a small bookstore/game shop participating in a 40K demo (way back with 3rd edition). I along with a few other guys were fans of the game and were offering to a public play event in the store and help get some folks excited about playing. As far as I was concerned, the shop got business, and we got some new blood stepping into the local play scene. It was win-win for me.

There was a new person that gotten a great interest in playing. He started asking about how to get started and what should he pick up. Quietly one of the guys running the demo took him aside and said he should pick up his stuff online from website X. They offered discount deals below retail that you could get at the local store.

Now this is a hobby, and I can understand trying to get the best deal you can sometimes (GW stuff can be an expensive hobby to pick up), however I was rather floored by this. Okay maybe the bulk of your army get someplace else, but at least suggest getting the rules and a squad or two (not to mention paints and other supplies) right off the shelves in the store. Nope, he was adamant that the guy get stuff online at a cheaper price.

Mr. Cheapo failed to realize that without us playing in the store, we’d likely never have gotten this guy interested in 40K in the first place. Here was a person ready to jump into the hobby. In a month or so, we could have been seeing a new face around every few Saturday afternoons, with a new army in tow, anxious to play. A new guy to play and a new customer for the store, win-win. Mr. Cheapo just didn’t see the big picture here.

So don’t be that guy. If you frequent a game shop and they offer a friendly place for the local game community to hang out, give them some business. I get saving money and making your gaming purchases frugal. But once in a while, stop by that local game shop and buy something. Without them you’ll likely find it a tough time meeting new gamers.

Oh and after a few years, that bookstore dumped it’s gaming stock. Just wasn’t profitable to dedicate space for merchandise that wasn’t selling.

4E combat isn’t a melee, it’s an event

When I started DMing 4E, it took me a little time to work out thinking up combat encounters. Some worked out well, while others dragged on, or others just weren’t that exciting. Technically, I could sit there and get an encounter together with the proper XP budget. However at times things were a little off.

I typically planned out too many fights, and would fail to realize that while some combats looked brief on paper, might drag out in real play. Other times, I’d forget the context of an encounter in relation with others designing a dungeon. While I would think the fight might be challenging, the PCs managed to bypass certain encounters and traps, having a lot more in-game resources to throw at that baddie for the final epic fight. In turn, the players sometimes just rolled over the opposition for something I thought might be a climatic battle (no harm as I think once in a while it’s great when PCs totally kickass in a fight).

It dawned on me that I was still planning out combats like I used to when I was DMing AD&D. Players would hack through a fight in 15-30 minutes, do a little exploration, and roll into another battle. Fights were in general vicious bouts of die-rolling that ended in a brutal, quick fashion. I tended to think about adventures as the PCs hitting group A (logically placed as initial ‘guards’), then on to group B (that would be lounging away in some kind of ‘barracks’), followed by group C (more guards for some important area), etc.

I initially failed to realize that small change in 4E game philosophy. I would sit down and plan something like, ‘Okay, the players tear through this group of gang dockworkers. They beat them all, then find a clue through interrogation (or some other means) about the underworld chief that is running the docks.’ In previous editions this could be a very throwaway fight. But if I sat down and made a level appropriate encounter for 4E, it could potentially mushroom into a larger event around the game table.

What clicked in my head was that 4E fights worked well when they were these grand, cinematic, action-packed scenes. Duking it out on open ground just made for a boring fight. The monsters were made for trading blows with the PCs. If I wanted a quick, knock-down brawl, I had to be ready for a combat to take more time.

So I had to readjust how I planned out my fights. I found I should have less fights in 4E and concentrate more on making them engaging and exciting. I could still have that simple fight, but I needed to think of other ways to run it aside from planning out a typical encounter as per the DMG. So some quick points I’ve used are:

Make fights memorable – If the group is going to fight, make it important and interesting. Consider using hazardous terrain, split levels, and think about the opposition you place down. Heading off against 5 soldier types of the same monster will make for an uninteresting fight. Try to mix it up with some minions and another role (just try not to go overboard and be sure to run a mix you are comfortable DMing with).

Consider the fluff also. Having players fight along the edge of a huge chasm can be a lot more evocative than having them duke it out in another nameless dungeon room. List off some trappings in the area and be ready to roll with it if a player wants to utilize something for combat. If you are describing a dingy barracks with piles of fur and refuse scattered around a large cauldron with some foul stew simmering in it, be ready for that one player wanting to knock over the cauldron towards some baddies. Allow that wizard to maybe get one additional square of area covered if they put up a wall of fire near the piles of furs on the floor. In short, provide some details and let the PCs play with them if needed.

I think another key point is to help create movement in your battles. You really need to encourage players to move around. Either through traps and hazards, or forcing the players to move up and engage certain targets. Oddly, while sticking together in a group within a hallway might be an excellent way to deal with a melee combat might make for an excellent tactic in a real world situation, it makes for a very boring fight in 4E. D&D is a game of heroic fantasy, push the players to move around and have a dynamic fight.

40 minute fight time – If the fight is not a critical story element (such as a final epic battle against the main villain), make 40 minutes your goal time for the encounter. At the the half hour mark, I start wrapping up the combat. Either I make the monsters flee, surrender, or secretly crit (or double) all PC damage. A great indicator for you as a DM is to look at the powers your players are using. If most have used their encounter powers and are continually using at will attacks, likely it is time to wrap up the combat.

If your players are familiar with their powers and roles, typically I find that 40 minutes becomes the make or break time for keeping their interest. By that time, they have pretty much done all the cool things they can do, maneuvered around a bit, gotten the tactics of the fight. Usually at the tail end of a combat, things are pretty much on autopilot as much of the encounter powers and daily powers have been used. If they get into a rut of doing the same actions repeatedly, it is time to move on.

Consider abstract combats – If it is appropriate storywise that the players fight a series of engagements, I’d consider using some other way narrating combats. One thing I’ve liked is having monsters make a basic attack against all the players, taking a healing surge if they hit. If I want to make this more engaging, I have the players all make an attack of their choice to set the bonus and targeted defense (at will, encounter, or daily). If less than half the players hit, the monsters get 2 rounds to roll attacks, otherwise they only get one.

The result is that the players get a healing surge knocked off (or possibly two). I can narrate their progress, and get through a few ‘battles’ if needed. Sometimes this makes sense, like the PCs storming a guarded tower. They likely have a few groups of guards to go through. I might play out the first fight making it very easy (just so they have some experience fighting the typical monsters in the place), and narrate any other remaining fights. I save that last big battle for the main bad guy at the end where you want to pull out the map and have a huge combat.

Use, and retool, the minion – Use minions, use them a lot, and don’t shy off using them exclusively for quick battles. If you really want them to give a little lasting power, consider giving them a death save (an idea stolen from someone else). If a player hits, roll a D20 with a 10 or more meaning the creature is still on his feet. If the same minion passes 2-3 saves, consider just dropping it on the next hit. Some folks use 2 hit minions also. Just don’t be afraid to place down minions for a quick fight and be willing to tweak them a bit if you want a more engaging combat. They do a great job allowing the players to quickly run through a fight, and still keep the story rolling.

Out of the box, 4E combat is designed to be engaging and exciting. It’s made to be part of the story, allowing a sweeping battle to be played out with the players making critical decisions on their actions each turn. When you don’t approach fights that way, you end up with a boring melee. Either it turns into a slugfest, with players moving around in a simple area, or it tends to drag on with misses and high monster HP totals. While a simple random encounter in older editions might make for a fun quick battle, it can become a boring, slog of a fight in 4E (especially if not having any interesting terrain).

I think it is interesting that 4E combats by the rules aren’t that dynamic in their implementation. A DM really has to approach them as important events. Conversely, in older editions I think you could make fights either these epic combats or a simple ‘monster crashes out of the underbrush’ type of encounter. 4E just doesn’t seem that flexible, I think you have to tweak the encounter design process to make things more applicable to different game situations. I’d be curious if others found this idea similar in their game, and how they found ways to incorporate simpler fights around the game table.Trampier Battle

Working with a hardcopy of WotC errata

I think it is a double edged sword for D&D and the errata that is out there. On one hand, I like that WotC is taking feedback from folks, and continually evaluating some abilities and powers to limit the cheese-factor. On the other hand, at times I get miffed I’ve got books that have been practically gutted with rule changes that have occurred over the years (I’m looking at you PHB). Still, I think WotC has to be commended for trying to address issues with 4E. In a way it puts the burden on the players and whether they want to keep up with the rules. If a DM decides to let things slide, they can. If the DM wants the most up to date incarnation of every build, treasure, and monster, that is an option also.

I’ve spoke before how 4E errata are not that overwhelming but I might have to retract that now. I think for many core player classes there has been a huge change with how many powers and abilities work. If you were running straight out of the original 4E core books, you’d have to give many things a look to make sure they weren’t changed too drastically. Even with the new essentials books, it looks like some things are modified a bit.

I’ve been doing this a while, but I keep everything in a notebook with page protectors. I keep everything sectioned with sticky tabs as dividers. So I can have all the errata for the PHB, PHB2, and PHB3 split for easy reference. Fortunately WotC allows this to be done with printed PDFs as everything is split into major sections depending on the sourcebook, and individual changes are listed page-wise for each book.

I turn around and go back to my original books and highlight any sections or key points in the text to reflect rule updates. So if something in my rule book is highlighted, I can then open my errata notebook, flip to the relevant section, and find the page number entry with the specific rule change. Since a lot of changes deal with character powers and abilities, I typically only need to keep this in mind when PCs are made or when they level up. So it is pretty manageable.

I chide WotC a lot, but I will admit that it is nice they offer errata to folks that don’t have a current DDI subscription. Granted with the compendium and character builder, it has to have these features (I’d be really upset if they weren’t regularly updated). However, it’s nice to give people an offline, hardcopy means of keeping their books updated, even without having access to DDI.

(Oh and WotC, can you please update your errata for skill check values to reflect the new target numbers in the essentials rule book? I think they are still listed as the DMG2 values. kthnxbai…)

Expeditions of Amazing Adventure: The powerful molten metal of the Voc-Khal peaks

Far to the south, past the great deserts, lay the vast mountain ranges the dwarves claim as their homeland. The highest reaches of these ranges are the Voc-Khal peaks. The great heights of these mountains are constantly battered with cold winds, and their stoic caps are frequently covered with snow.

However these inhospitable mountains are also dotted with several volcanos. These turbulent cracks in the surface of the world disgorge molten earth in a constant flow. Legend speaks of the great demon war. Envious of the grand world created by the gods for man, demons broke through the underworld, clawing their way to the surface. They emerged from the planes of beyond though these pocks of lava and fire.

The dwarves claim that to this day, the metal forged from these molten rivers still carry magic of demons and the outer worlds. The blades carry the keenest edge and armor possess the greatest resiliency. They covet the rich veins that border the steams and rivers of flowing lava. Hence, many noble families try to gain greater stature and establish a stronghold within the Vok-Khal peaks.

Such grand endeavors rarely last however. The fiery lands are rife with elemental creatures, twisted forms infused with the mystical energies that flow through the magma streams. They make infrequent raids on any keeps the industrious dwarves carve out of the mountains. It is as if they are driven by an impulse to crush any form of civilization in the peaks, and tear down any erected walls.

It is not only elemental creatures that prowl the Vok-Khal peaks, but also the cruel duergar. They are known to invade and retain holds created by dwarves. Many a dwarven family have sought to reclaim lost keeps from their evil distant kin. However, some dwarves claim that further in the depths of the fiery peaks are vast duergar cities. They had scavenged the cavernous ruins created by the old demons and made them home, further refining the rough hewn tunnels to crafted halls and deviously ingenious forges.

Although dwarven families will rarely admit this due to pride, their numbers are declining. Some still are driven to reclaim lost family holds, and reclaim past glories. This is such a strong desire, they reluctantly will hire out adventurers willing to join them in expeditions to claim lost houses. More more unscrupulous merchants are willing to aid in these risky ventures offering mercenaries. All done in hopes to secure the rights to transport any fine metalworks the dwarves create in these reclaimed holds and forges.

Others state that duergar strongholds deep within the mountains are not just rumors. These wickedly crafty humanoids have established grand forges and intricate fortresses. They covet the mystical ore as much as the dwarves, and create fine metalworks that rival their distant cousins (a claim best spoken out of earshot of any dwarf if one seeks to retain all their teeth). Such rumors are more than enough to inspire those adventurers brave enough to make the treacherous journey to the distant Voc-Khal peaks.

Power2ool – a great 4E tool for DMs and players alike

So I stumbled onto Power2ool that seems to be a wonderful program for 4E. Conceptually, you have a giant cork board where you can place and remove note cards. In addition, these notes come in different formats as blank cards, powers, magic items, and monsters. All the virtual note cards can be edited and the entire workspace is saved under your login id.

The program can also be synced with the DDI compendium. So folks with an active account can port over powers and monster stat blocks. Best of all, you can edit them. So a player could keep all their powers, edit their own ability and enhancement modifiers and have it saved. You level up or gain a new magic weapon? No problem as you can go back and individually change the powers needed. No bothering with going back to the character creator again. Not to mention, you can print out all the items in a section. It’s a snap to get all your powers printed out on a sheet of paper.

Want to keep track of everything digitally? No worries, as you can double click a power and it will gray out indicating it was used. I can see players keeping a simple stat block of their defenses and HP with all their powers organized the way they want to for combats. Best of all, they have different ‘cork boards’ for keeping different characters. How about the built in dice roller function? Very nice indeed.

For DMs I see this as a great tool. They can split up their entire work area under different encounters. Just a single click and they could get all the monster stats, with a few more virtual note cards to add any tactics, descriptions, rewards, or other notes. Move on to the next room and just open up another section of your workspace. Did I mention you can print all this stuff out?

Don’t have a DDI subscription? You can still create custom power cards (or copy down the ones from a book). Want to make up a monster on the fly? Power2ool also has an option to create a level specific generic monster. All the fields will be filled out with the appropriate bonuses to hit, defences, and damage, and every thing can be edited the way you want. For folks that want to create homebrew items and monsters, or get something together for distribution at a con or gaming event, this program is a great resource.

You can browse through a series of video tutorials and demos of its functionality online. It seems very intuitive and pretty easy to manipulate and edit stuff. I have not had a chance to delve too deeply into this, but I think the learning curve for is almost nonexistent. I particularly like the fact that it is server based. No need to have anything loaded on a PC/Mac meaning you could run over to someone’s house and run a game (provided you can jump onto their wifi). Be sure to check this out as it seems to be a great tool for 4E games.Power2oolPic

Reconsidering combat fumbles

I never really liked having fumbles in combat. I know some DMs like to have players drop weapons, potentially hit other players, fall down, and all sorts of unfortunate things happen when PCs roll a 1 on their attack. I just don’t like it. It’s sort of kicking a player when they are down. Worse of all, it’s not because of a bad choice or poor decision, they just bumbled a die roll.

I think as a game philosophy, 4E has moved away from this idea. I like that the save or die concept has been dropped. Players have a few chances to turn things around. So the idea of having fumbles in combat seems to go against the grain of 4E.

I do like the idea of critical failures for skill checks. Even with a PC that has spectacular diplomacy training, you could have some noble zoning out and thinking about what wine they should drink with the evening meal, completely ignoring the pleas from that character. I don’t mind that players completely blow skill checks. I usually set them up with a -4 penalty to their following check (and conversely give them bonus if they roll a 20).

I avoid fumbles in combat though. You get a lot of dice being thrown around. Get a group of 5 folks rolling D20s, after a few rounds you can expect that one of them will roll a 1. Another reason I never liked it is that you tend to penalize the player that has multiple attacks. That chance of having a single fumble for the wizard that plops down a burst hitting 4 monsters is going to find it mushrooming from 1 in 20 to nearly 20%.

Still I’m wrestling with doing something with fumbles in combat. It does add a small aspect of chaos in how a combat develops and makes things a little more unpredictable for players. I don’t want some major mishap like a player falling prone, but I am wondering about having some small penalty.

So I’ve settled on taking a cue from the DMG. If a player rolls a natural 1 on their attack, they complete their turn as normal but grant combat advantage until the beginning of their next turn. If a player makes multiple attacks, only the attack roll for the first target is subject to being a fumble, with the rest of the attack rolls ignored if a 1 is rolled (just counts as a miss). That way there is a slight chance a player can get a fumble and it is the same regardless of how many attacks you make.

I see this as a player overswinging, losing their footing, or something else happening that makes them distracted and not able to effectively keep their guard up. Possibly that wizard had a surge of energy that landed a bit too close, distracting them, or they summoned too much energy temporarily making them a bit dizzy.

I’m going to try this out a bit and see how my players feel about it. I think they might welcome a little more randomness in fights, and hopefully not get too worked up about granting combat advantage. So if you have critical fumbles in combat, how do you work them out?

Pathfinder – Inner Sea world guide as a 4E resource

I’ve gone round and round with pathfinder but I think I’m still in the camp for passing on it. At the heart of it is that I’ve got my 3.5 D&D books. I see pathfinder as a refinement of those rules. I think 4E really made changes to how D&D plays and I liked what WotC did. I just don’t see me going back to previous editions and I feel pathfinder goes in that direction.

For a lot of folks, I think pathfinder is a perfect fit for their D&D game. It tweaks and retools the stuff some might have found lacking in earlier D&D editions. I can completely understand the things they love about pathfinder and why it is their D&D game of choice nowadays. It’s just not my thing.

I will however step up and say that Paizo has some wonderful products in the pathfinder line. And I think for people that enjoy fantasy RPGs, you will be doing a disservice to your group if you don’t give some of them a try at your game table. I also feel that a lot of the material (with a little elbow grease) can work for your 4E game. One such product is the pathfinder campaign setting, the Inner Sea world guide (ISWG).

This is the default campaign setting for pathfinder. Don’t let that put you off. If you play any edition of D&D, you simply need to buy this book. It’s a wonderful setting and fleshed out world that is rife with inspiration for a high fantasy campaign.

The book is a meaty tome that gives details on 40+ countries and locations that make up one of the many continents within the world of Golarion. What I particularly like is the digest-size write up of each region. About 3-4 pages are provided listing a brief history, government and politics, along with some details on the major settlements and noteworthy locations in that region. It’s enough to give a DM a grasp of the country along with enough ideas to write up an adventure, without saddling you with pages and pages of fluff, background, and other ‘facts’ that can trip up your story.

The key element I enjoy about ISWG is the variety of the lands given. Humans are the most common and are of a variety of ethnicities and cultures. You have different governments and political ideologies. Some countries are stable, others constantly at war (both civil and external), while others are in a constant cycle of violent revolution with their ruling class. Add to this regions with heavy undead and demon influence, wasted lands devoid of magic, while others seem to be warped with bizarre creatures from a wizard’s imagination, you’ve got a lot on your plate as a DM to choose from.

The sheer variety of campaigns you could run in the ISWG is staggering. Obviously you could have the typical high fantasy world. However if you want a bit of steampunk, a Ravenloft-like setting, fighting in demon lands, or even a touch of Gamma World (one land having a mysterious ‘meteor’ crashing into it’s borders), there are options here for the DM. I think this alone makes for a wonderful product, as you could start your campaign in different regions of the same game world and get very different types of settings.

Making the transition from a pathfinder source book to 4E is not too difficult. Much of the core races are there (halfings, dwarves, gnomes, elves, etc.). I think the pathfinder elves are a bit closer to the 4E eladrin than your typical 4E elf, but I think you have enough room to encompass just about any 4E race into this world. Tieflings could obviously come about from the many demon controlled kingdoms, with goliaths being an easy shoe-in for the northern lands, and drow are all ready within the ISWG lore.

There is a full pantheon listed of the many gods and faiths within the Inner Seas that I think can be tooled around with if needed (particularly with the alignments). The ISWG has information listed in the traditional D&D 9 step alignments but aren’t that difficult to craft into the reduced alignments of 4E. While there is a simple creature bestiary listed, they are primarily based off stock entries in the pathfinder bestiary. Something a 4E DM should adopt, and simply re-skin the many creatures currently in the monster manuals if needed.

The campaign setting specific class options in the ISWG bring about exciting possibilities, especially with WotC’s new heroes of shadow book out. I can envision the Red Mantis easily as an assassin character option, as well as the Hellknights being a step away from a blackguard. I particularly like how the book details certain factions based on a philosophy that encompass more than those just driven by a nationalist agenda.

There is a lot of stuff in this book. It is well organized and I particularly like the sections that help detail normal life of most people within the world, covering mundane aspects of trade, state of current technological achievements, to the role of magic in the world. This book covers a lot, and best of all manages to distill things down to bite-sized chunks of information that can be easily processed.

You don’t need to have a complete grasp of the entire world geo-political layout to play. You can simply pick a land, skim through the neighboring regions, and have a complete historical and political handle (not to mention the major factions) on what is happening in that part of the campaign world. It’s a fantastic 4E resource, gorgeously presented in color with great art, not to mention a nice poster map of the entire place.

Do your group a favor and pick up this book. Even if you aren’t set on running a game in the Inner Seas, you’ll definitely find some ideas for your game.

Will other old WotC RPGs ever get the 4E treatment?

With the complete release of Gamma World wrapped up now, I’ve been wondering if some of the older WotC properties inherited from TSR would get a new edition makeover. I also wonder how well they would mesh with 4E mechanics. Given how 4E has changed since its release and the tweaks made with Gamma World, I think some elements would work really well with a re-skinned version of these older RPGs.

Power Points and Augments – This is a neat mechanic. A base set of powers that can be altered to boost its effect. You don’t need a laundry list of powers for different classes. Having characters with different training could work into the amount of power points they have, or what abilities they could boost. Every character might be able to do a basic attack, but that spy with military training might be able to augment the attack with a couple of power points. With a few power selections, you get a lot of flexibility simply based on the power points used to augment them. Pretty nifty stuff.

A variant to this can be seen in Gamma World with the ability to boost alpha mutations. Again this might be another approach, with a failure being no special effect (rather than something unfortunate for the player), while having the appropriate background skill/training allows a player to get a bonus on altering the power effect. It’s a little more random than power points, but could still make for a fun mechanic.

Equipment Cards – Having a special equipment deck similar to omega tech cards in Gamma World is something I could totally see in Top Secret. Each mission a player draws 1-2 cards from a Q deck. You end up with some nifty gear that can get you out of a tight spot. It’s all cutting edge, prototype equipment, so you likely can’t depend on steady access to the same items. Something like this would be perfect for an espionage game.

Skill Challenges – I still think this is something that is more of a framework, rather than a hard rule set for 4E. But having an element in the game where a DM (or would that be administrator?) has guidelines to work out a non-combat challenge that still awards xp is a nice toolset. I think structured right, an entire adventure could be an extended skill challenge, where incremental successes and failures could be represented by a series of small engagements (or advantages) the players go through. It’s a neat idea that can be tinkered with and I think would work well with other RPGs.

Backgrounds and Themes – Gamma World got away without having any classes. I think Dark Sun showed how well over-arching character themes could work with D&D classes. You don’t need a bounty hunter or prospector class for a Boot Hill reboot, these would work better as character themes. I think this is an idea that definitely would work well, allowing players to get that additional flexibility in character generation without getting saddled with long lists of separate abilities and powers.

DDI Subscription Content – Who said that Boot Hill has to be released as a complete RPG? Maybe it would be better as a series of articles in Dragon? Having some exclusive content via DDI might help keep those subscriptions active. Best of all, WotC could get some feedback on the popularity of the content (based on downloads and forum response), including a bit of play testing. If enough interest is there, maybe you’d eventually see a printed product. Actually having the games as just downloadable content would be a solid approach, as you’re eliminating the costs for printing, warehousing, and distributing a boxed game entirely.

I wonder over the next year if WotC will take a look at other RPGs and give them a 4E reboot. It seems that the D&D brand is spreading out over different products, from board games to comics. It would be nice to see other older games get revisited. Until then, I guess you might have to stick with fan-made content, some of which I think is quite good (like the re-skinning of Star Frontiers over at This is my Game).

Two years…

As of this month it has been 2 years I’ve been running this blog. Been a little off and on over that time as I had slowed down posts here to focus on This is My Game for a while (and still regularly contribute there). I will likely take a few of those posts and port em over here just for the sake of completeness (like to have all the expiditions of amazing adventure posts collected together sometime).

It’s been fun and I’ve managed to correspond a bit with other folks on games and blogging in general. I’ve learned a lot and think the whole process has kept my love for RPGs going. So there is definitely more rambling posts to come, and hopefully a few more years of blogging in the future.

New article submission process for Dragon and Dungeon

WotC has announced a new process for submitting articles for publication in Dragon and Dungeon. The skinny of it is that twice a year they are opening up 2 month windows to allow new articles and adventures to be sent in. I like the idea. I think it will allow for a more even flow of content from the magazines. As they stated, it’ll give them a more structured means to get some feedback. I think this will also allow the company to plan out personnel resources and lay out upcoming projects more effectively (I expect you’ll be seeing a few interns at local colleges pulling a semester at WotC to help out with those rejection letters).

I’ve lamented a bit about the lack of content for other WotC games in Dragon and Dungeon, particularly Gamma World. Maybe with this new submission system you can see more stuff geared towards non-D&D games coming out. I do think if Dragon and Dungeon somewhat expanded their coverage to an occasional article or adventure/scenario for Gamma World (or their other board games), there’d be more of an incentive to keep up a DDI subscription.

I’ve heard on podcasts and some blogs some grumbling with how the current system is sort of non-responsive. It’s a given you are rejected unless noted otherwise. You send something in and basically will never get any response until you eventually get an acceptance letter. It is a little wonky. So I’m hoping this new submission process can provide better feedback to folks sending stuff in. I also hope it helps WotC crank out better, and more varied, content for their digital mags.