THE SATYR

It's no secret that I've been excited about Heroes of the Feywild since it was announced. It's also not a secret that I was extremely excited when WOTC announced the book would feature the Satyr as a playable race.

Well, the book is coming out next month and WOTC has begun to release preview exerpts from it...and this week, they've released the Satyr! Yes!

The race information is set like those of the other Heroes books...plenty of role-playing "fluff" mixed with the crunch. The race looks really exciting!

Here's a few stats:

Satyrs get a +2 to charisma, dexterity, or constitution which makes perfect sense to me...especially charisma...they've always been known as charmers.

All Satyrs have to be male...love it!

Satyrs can make saving throws both at the beginning and ending of their turn against fear based effects.

Bluff is always a class skill...makes perfect sense.

And Satyrs get the lure of enchantment racial ability which allows the Satyr to slide an enemy three squares and gain combat advantage against it.

There's also plenty of fluff to go along with all the mechanical rules that really gets me excited about trying out the Satyr.

Recommended classes are: Bard, Rogue, Sorcerer, and Warlock (with Fey pack).

If the rest of this book matches this excerpt, it will turn out to be a hell of a supplement and well worth my wait and excitement!

Think I may roll up a Satyr Bard/Rogue!

THE ART OF THE "RED BOX"

It's not secret that I'm in love with Larry Elmore's artwork, especially his cover to the classic Dungeons & Dragons "red box," but there's an alternate "red box" cover out there that I think deserves as much respect as the original Elmore design.

When WOTC decided to update the original 1983 basic set as part of their new Essentials line, I was excited because it was the first time in many, many years that the classic Elmore print I so loved would be back on store shelves, but when I opened the box, I was surprised to see that Elmore's artwork no longer donned the actual books! What greeted me was a new print by Ralph Horsley that paid homage to the Elmore classic. I was a little ticked off at first, but as I studied the artwork I became more and more enamored over it. The print not only pays homage to the original Elmore classic, it takes the idea of a single man battling a force of great evil and presents it to a new generation. I think that is why I have always loved this particular image, it, to me, showcases what DnD is all about: a lowly adventurer overcoming great odds.

RECURRING NPCs

Just a another tidbit I picked up from DMG2:

Have players create two recurring NPCs that have ties to their characters. They can be friends or enemies.

Not a bad idea. I've always, of course, used my own recurring NPCs, but never really thought about having the players incorporate their own.

Good stuff!

COOPERATIVE PLAYING

Rereading the 4e DMG 2 has given me something to think about: cooperative playing. In most games I've played in and ran, I don't think I've ever seen players work out how their characters met or if they have a prior relationship. Sure, in the games I've ran, I've had players work on their back stories and character motivations, but I've never, that I can remember, had players work out why all these characters were fighting together. They were together because they just were...that was usually my reasoning.

I think next game I run, I'm going to have a pregame sit down where everyone throws around character ideas, story ideas, etc. May even make a random table to determine how characters "know" each other.

Interesting things to think about...

That's why I always like to reread the DMGs at least once a year...always find new ideas.

An Unprecedented Event

As the title says, I’m thinking of doing something I’ve never done before in my role-playing career: run a game in a published setting. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve never “turned my nose up” at campaign settings, on the contrary, I’ve kept up with pretty much every setting published since 2e…but, I’ve never ran a game in one. I always felt it was “bad form,” as Captain Hook would say, to use someone else’s world. To me it was saying that their world was better than mine and that my ideas weren’t good enough…which is bullshit, of course, but I’ve always been a bit “off.” I have used published adventures in my campaigns before, I've made quite a nice BECMI campaign based around The Keep on the Borderlands and The Isle of Dread, but I've never used a whole campaign setting. Anyway, I’m bringing this up because I’ve been reading the 4e Forgotten Realms campaign guide (mainly to see if it is as bad as everyone says it is), and it has really sparked my interest in running a Realms based game…something other campaign guides usually fail to do. Now the Forgotten Realms and I have never been “close.” I always preferred Dragonlance, Ravenloft, and Dark Sun to the Realms, but I’ve always respected it as a nice, fleshed out world. I have to admit, I like what WOTC did with 4e Forgotten Realms (I will blog more about this later), and I think it’s a nice starting place for DMs to enter into the world. Not to mention, WOTC is releasing a new NEVERWINTER campaign setting which will just add more to the Realms.

So, next chance I have to DM a 4e game, I think I will run a campaign set in the Realms!

THE ESSENTIALS OF DUNGEON CRAWLING...

Picked up my copies of HEROES OF THE FALLEN LANDS and the RULES COMPENDIUM today! I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about the Essentials line. It makes me want to start a fresh, new campaign based more on the traditional dungeon crawling aspects of the game.

Just flipping through the books, I can tell these will be great references to new players or older players who have yet to play 4e. The books feel more "classic" than the actual PHB and DMG for 4e, and I think that will be a big selling point for the line. I also like the format of the books. When I first heard of the change from hardback to a smaller, digest sized paperback, I was a little dismayed. The end result, however, is quite nice and will be of more use to players and DMs at the table.

Oh, well, I better stop. I'm starting to sound like a WOTC spokesman.

THE TOWER OF MIRRORS...

So, I'm beginning work on a 4e adventure. It's not really fleshed out at this point, but I'm using the working title: THE TOWER OF MIRRORS. The name is partly inspired by the ending to Conan: The Destroyer, but the context of the adventure will center around the exploits of a 4e character I once played as an NPC. The character was a dwarven artificer who was exposed to the elements of the Far Realm...the after effects of which...well, let's just say it "changed" him a bit.

I had originally used this character to flesh out a party, but had the idea (around the time Psionics was introduced into 4e) to have him turn on the party. I had deduced that since Psionics were not a natural part of the character's world, exposure to it would probably cause him to go quite mad. He was going to become a major villain after turning on the party, but, sadly, that never came to complete fruition.

Anyway, he now has become the major villain of my newest adventure.

Stay tuned for details.



Edit: I've changed the title of the adventure from "The Temple of Mirrors" to "The Tower of Mirrors."

Wait...is it 1983 or 2010?!

So, I purchased the new Dungeons & Dragons "Red Box" today. I have to admit, I got somewhat of a thrill seeing that classic Larry Elmore illustration and retro DnD logo on a store shelf! I haven't opened it yet...I suppose I am savoring the moment. I'll put a review up when I open it.

ATTEND, YE GODS!

Love the new retro look on the official Dungeons & Dragons page! They're using everything from the Moldvay basic set to Warduke! All the people on the message boards are bitching because of it. It's funny, the current 4e players are bitching because the game has "gone retro" and the old-school guys are bitching because 4e is a "World of Warcraft wannabe." Nobody's ever satisfied. Oh, well, I like it myself...

STOCK UP ON SUNSCREEN!!!!

Oh, man, I received a copy of DARK SUN 4e today, and I have to agree with most of the reviews I've read: this is one of the best products WOTC has put out for 4e! I've only flipped through the guide, and I've seen tons of things that have inspired me! Can't wait to actually read through it...and hopefully run it at some point...