MAKE THEM FIGHT FOR IT Read all about it at Baur’s LJ. Diana Jones Award info here.
Author: Mike Sugarbaker
WotC amends D&D4 GSL in soon-to-be-specified ways
One of the big complaints about the Game System License for D&D 4 has been the clause that says they can change it without notification; well, apparently they have every intention of at least getting word to people who read the web, and here’s us doing our part. Changes to
A passing thought about RPG systems and conversion
So, my sleeping shadow army, riddle me this: how might one go about designing an RPG system that wasn’t necessarily meant to be played in and of itself, but was designed instead for easy and consistent conversion to any reasonably traditional RPG system? I don’t even know if there’s any
Reaper puts the lead back in leads
Not in all of them, granted – just the new P-65 Heavy Metal miniatures line. Apparently, real, honest-to-Orcus lead is perfectly legal in miniatures! That tidbit and a bunch of fascinating other ones are available on the linked FAQ. Kudos to Reaper for finding a way to turn economic necessity
Audio Report: Joe Goodman on Dungeon Crawl Classics for 4E
This was supposed to be up yesterday – a little of the ol’ epic fail on my part there, sorry – but now, in all its glory: Joe Goodman tells us just how, exactly, he is making modules for D&D 4E and publishing them before the sanctioned October GSL threshold.
Gleemax is one dead-ass brain-in-a-jar
“We’re not going to abandon the vision, but we are going to put large chunks of it on the backburner until we prove that we can succeed at the most important pieces. Those pieces are Magic Online and D&D Insider.” It’s a shame WotC doesn’t have the resources to execute
Yay, we’re all insiders! Or something
Dragon #364 is, for the moment at least, a free download. You do have to log in if you want to read articles as plain HTML, plus the links will go for-pay eventually, or else I’d link you straight to top-billed DMG author James Wyatt’s commentary on the design of
Today’s RPG Zen koan, with oregano on the side
“If geeks talked about cookbooks the way they talk about RPG books.” The question, grasshopper: if this makes you laugh instead of cry, have you been spending too much time on RPG forum sites, or too little?
WizKids cuts everything but HeroClix and card models by year’s end?
So WizKids is moving its offices to Topps’ location in NY, “focusing” on just a few lines, and by year’s end, “aligning its staff with its product portfolio.” Uhh… good times. Rumors still abound that MechWarrior has life ahead of it, but you’ll note that it isn’t in the list
Suddenly, D&D4’s launch marketing makes terrible sense
“In the new edition of the game, people who employ excessive secrecy are likely to be followers of Vecna.”
D&D 4th Edition ships without the thing everyone thinks it is
Well, okay, what everyone seemed to think it would be, back when 4E was first announced with all the tantalizing screenshots and online play noise. I guess we can give WotC PR due credit for successfully reassuring the world that D&D would, in fact, continue to be playable on un-augmented,
CCG crunch continues with a vengeance
Couple of news bits coming hot-ish on the heels of the Upper Deck layoffs: Tenacious Games has folded – apparently The Spoils were too meager. Also, and this one’s a bit more surprising, the publisher of the former Fullmetal Alchemist and 24 CCGs has formally closed its game-publishing arm. Maybe
Long review, average-length Audio Report
First, if it escaped your attention, Lee Valentine has an exhaustively thorough look at Ken Hite’s new Trail of Cthulhu RPG. If you’ve got questions about whether this latest complete game on the Mythos is the one for you, Lee probably has answers. Second, our post-DunDraCon podcast is finally ready
Because you weren’t confused enough: WotC modifies the D&D 4 license deal
Announcement. The upshot as far as I can tell is that the SRD will now be free, to someone anyway, and the go date for publishing 4E GSL-licensed material will be October, not January 2009 or whatever it was. That is, the associated SRD will be free for download on
Gary Gygax dead at 69
Steve Chenault of Troll Lord Games has just given word on the Troll Lord forums that original D&D publisher and co-creator Gary Gygax has died in his home, last night or this morning. Details are still sketchy and the forum site is not loading so well at the moment, but