What Would Matt Do

No pithy comments or whatever else, just sadness. He truly brought to life the gamer in many of us. He will be missed and will always be remembered.

P.S. - thanks to PA for creating the exact right image.

It’s getting closer. Pretty soon D&D as we know it will be changed forever! It’ll be grand and exciting and better in all ways! Well, if you believe WoTC. Me, I’m pretty damn skeptical.

And things like this aren’t changing my mind:

Did they run out of money already? Because I know a guy down the street who can do better work for less money in his stolen copy of 3DMax. If that’s the level of quality we’re going to get with the D&D insider and 4.0…well, I’ll just cry quietly in the corner now.

On a maybe more positive note, this rogue class sounds interesting:

Role: Striker. You dart in to attack, do massive damage, and then retreat to safety. You do best when teamed with a defender to flank enemies.
Power Source: Martial. Your talents depend on extensive training and constant practice, innate skill, and natural coordination.
Key Abilities: Dexterity, Strength, Charisma

Armor Training: Leather
Weapon Proficiencies: Dagger, hand crossbow, shuriken, sling, short sword
Bonus to Defense: +2 Reflex

Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + Constitution score
Hit Points per Level Gained: 5
Healing Surges: 6 + Constitution modifier

Trained Skills: Stealth and Thievery plus four others. From the class skills list below, choose four more trained skills at 1st level.
Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dexterity), Athletics (Str), Bluff (Cha), Dungeoneering (Wis), Insight (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Perception (Wis), Stealth (Dexterity), Streetwise (Cha), Thievery (Dexterity)

Build Options: Brawny rogue, trickster rogue
Class Features: First Strike, Rogue Tactics, Rogue Weapon Talent, Sneak Attack

I can’t really say how good or bad that is without having the whole system to look at, but it is interesting. Things like HP gained have changed (used to be your CON added to HP at each level), build options is both odd and scary (hopefully that’s just tips for how to build your class, not a requirement to choose one or the other) and I wonder what a Healing Surge is… Is that going to be their way to fix clerics, everyone can now heal themselves a bit…?

We do have one piece of good news from this article on everything currently planned to be released for D&D 4.0:

The PHB cover IS set to change! Scott Rouse confirms in this video snippet that the current artwork on the Player’s Handbook is changing. Wayne Reynolds has been commissioned for the new piece, which will not feature the tiefling.

That’s the first good news I’ve heard about 4.0. The cover they announced a bit back blew chunks (a zing from the past!) compared to the other two books.

Per the norm, nothing really good to report about 4.0 other than that it’s getting closer. I don’t know if that’s really good other than the geek wars it’s sure to cause once you have to (note: WoTC says you won’t have to…) pay a monthly subscription fee to play your PnP game…

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What Would Matt Do: Know what I want to do? I want to rant and rave, I want to meet the designers of 4.0 and show them the backside of my hand…but most of all, I want to not be excited that another version of D&D is coming out. I’m such a god damn addict.

Wow… Back when I first covered 4.0, I asked that Hasbro/Wizards not screw it up. I realize that was asking for a lot. After playing Star Wars Saga (Talent trees stolen from WoW, no more rolling for saves, dumbed down lots of things) and seeing what they are saying about 4.0, I haven’t been that enthused…

Then a buddy tells me you can find out exactly what they are doing with 4.0, before it’s even released. I thought that was pretty sweet…then he tells me they are selling two separate books each at $20 a bucks a pop. Not with actual rules or anything. Nothing you’ll be able to use in the game when it finally releases in June. Just preview information. That’s it.

Just so we’re clear here, Hasbro is selling previews of their next system. SELLING IT. WTF?!?! I knew, I fucking knew it. I knew Hasbro was going to screw it up. I knew they were going to nickel and dime us. I knew they were going to milk every penny out of this shit. And even I didn’t foresee them selling got damn preview books. I can’t wait to see what else they charge us for. Maybe they’ll release new rules that requires everyone that wants to play owns all three of the core books, or that to run a game, you have to pay them a fee (like another company tried to do) or maybe sign away your first born. Or maybe even worse, they’ll want you to sign up to a monthly fee to access errata (i.e. - bug fixes), new adventures, character sheets, etc.

Thanks for ruining D&D Hasbro, thanks a fucking lot.

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What Would Matt Do: I guess I’m going to have to stick with 3.5 and White Wolf for now. Oh, and give a hearty fuck you to Wizards of Draining their Customer Base of Every Last Nickel and Dime, er, of the Coast. Sometimes I really hate being right.

If you’re a regular reader (I’m talking to both of you), you might have noticed I haven’t updated in over a week now. It may appear I’ve been slacking, but really, I’ve been chewing on D&D 4th Edition. I literally haven’t been able to post because I’ve been so unsure of what to think about the next version of D&D recently announced. And honestly, I still haven’t decided.

The Bad

Most people might start with the good, but me, I’m more worried about them ruining the game more than anything else. Yeah, that’s a pretty pessimistic view on the whole thing, but I’ve lost a lot of faith in Hasbro/Wizards since the release of 3.5 and beyond. With that in mind, lets see how they can screw this up.

Online Components

This is the big one, the potential clincher of full on suck. There isn’t too much known about it yet, but here it goes (reg required):

Sometime in the spring, when all of D&D Insider’s digital components go live, we’ll begin charging a monthly subscription fee to access some of our online content. We don’t have final pricing details ready to share, but one subscription fee will cover all aspects of D&D Insider, including more than two print issues’ worth of editorial content each month. You’ll get access to the amazing set of tools D&D Insider will provide—the D&D Game Table, the D&D Character Creator, and the Dungeon Master’s Toolkit, details of which will be unveiled in the coming months. You’ll also get more of the great content you’ve come to expect from Dragon and Dungeon over the past umpteen-dozen years.

That’s pretty much what we know right now…except this key point. Each book you buy will have online components that you can only get by subscribing to their site. Which will cost “more than a magazine subscription, but less than an MMO.”
Here’s my worry. Lets say I get the new Player’s Handbook. And to be able to view the Barbarian class (if it even exists in 4.0), I’ll need to sign up and pay a monthly fee. That will kill PnP. It’s expensive enough as it is to be a D&D PnPer. If you start adding even more cost in, you’re going to screw the guys that don’t have a lot of disposable income for their habit. And you’ll make the pool of available players less, not more, with your spiffy new system. This is my biggest worry about 4.0.

Roleplaying

This isn’t so much a worry as a request. Can we have some roleplaying in my roleplaying game? I don’t feel that’s asking for a lot. I’m not asking you to completely redesign the system in the manner of Vampire or the like where you don’t even talk about numbers or powers until after you come up with a character concept, motivation, etc, but maybe something closer? And they don’t need to be mandatory. Optional rules are just fine. I just want something as a DM I can point to say, “this is the idea, this is what I’m taking about”. I’d love it if the book would talk about these things before they had players rolling dice. Instead of Roll Dice > Pick Race > Pick Class > Pick Feat/Spells/Powers/Gear > Consider having some motivation and history for your character, I’d love to see the last step be the first. Just something to help people along towards being a roleplayer…in D&D, a RPG. I don’t think I’m asking for too much. And if this isn’t there, I won’t be stunned, but it would make 4.0 less than it could be.

The Good

Wow. Not the MMO, but the actual word. There is so much potential good to talk about, I’m considering being happier than a puppy with two peters. It could happen. Lets hit some of the best points.

Customization

Races (reg required):

In the final version of 4th Edition, most of your racial traits come into play right out of the gate at 1st level—dwarven resilience, elven evasion, a half-elf’s inspiring presence, and so on. As you go up levels, you can take racial feats to make those abilities even more exciting and gain new capabilities tied to your race. You can also take race-specific powers built into your class, which accomplish a lot of what racial substitution levels used to do: a dwarf fighter with the friend of earth power can do something that other 10th-level fighters just can’t do.

Classes (reg required):

The fighter is the only current 4th Edition class with capabilities that depend on the weapon they have chosen to train the most with. Even at 1st level, a fighter who uses an axe has a different power selection than a fighter who relies on a flail or a rapier or a pick. In the long run, fighters can diversify and master powers related to a few different weapons, but most will opt to focus on the weapon that suits their personal style, helps their interactions with the rest of the PCs in the group, and carries all the magical oomph they’ve managed to acquire.

Monsters (reg required):

In 4th Edition, your dungeons are going to be a lot more densely populated. The typical encounter has one monster per PC in the party, assuming that the monsters are about the same level as the PCs. An encounter’s total XP value determines its difficulty, allowing you a lot more freedom to mix tougher and weaker monsters. Even better, the difference between a level X monster and a level X + 1 monster is much smaller. You can create an encounter using monsters that are three or four levels above the party without much fear. Add in the rules for minions (which will be described in a future Design & Development article), and you could (in theory) match twenty goblins against a 1st-level party and have a fun, exciting, balanced fight.

I’m so going to be a shield and board dwarven fighter with earth power! Whatever that is! The point being, is you’ll have an almost unlimited number of ways to customize, and game/munchkin, the system. It’s like they are promising to ship non-model thin super models with the game. Well, maybe not quite that good, but close. And that doesn’t even get into the Talent trees, the way skills will be changed (the just released Star Wars book is supposedly a good preview of what they are planning on doing for both) and numerous other changes they are talking about (lots more monsters sounds particularly cool for encounters).

Temporary Conclusion

I’m excited. Very excited. But I’m cautious because this is Wizards and while they promised a lot from 3.5, all it really boiled down to were some slight modifications and bug fixes on 3.0. Which meant I had to buy numerous other books if I wanted to play 3.5, but it didn’t really have much bang for it’s buck. That doesn’t even go into the bajillions of books they’ve pumped out, like second player’s handbook, the six jillion class customization books, the extra races, etc. Most of which is pretty worthless. Not all of it mind you, but a fair amount of it isn’t worth the paper is was written on. Which is disappointing to say the least. So I’m hoping that’s not going to happen. Oh, and I wish they would release the damn books all at once. Why bother releasing the PHB without the DMG? They say they’ll be launching 4.0 in May, but really, it won’t be launched and playable until sometime in august. So I’m excited. Excited, but wary.

What Would Matt Do: I’m going to be praying and hoping they don’t pooch this one. Don’t charge me an arm and a leg to play it and screw the system up. That doesn’t seem like a tall task, but for Wizards/Hasbro, it just might be.

Yeah, it sounds stupid to me too. WotC thinks otherwise though. Yes the site looks pretty silly, is focused around a fictional alien named gleemax that… I don’t know, does some shit. And speaks to us:

THE PIXSW50ZXJlc3RpbmEL PROcgb2JzZXJ2YXRpb25JECT IS PROCEEDINzIHdpdGggXCJPcGVyG AS PLANYXRpb24gUG9wcHljb2NNED. I AM AWrXCIgZnJvbSB0aGlzIHZARE OF THE FACTIOpZGVvIHByYWN0aXRNS ALpb25lciBvZiB1IGNED AGAINbnVzdWFsIHByST ME. YOU ARE ON MY RAYW5rcw0KDQo=DAR.

ERROR CODE 64^$64. BEGINNING PHYSICAL MEMORY SCAN>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I know that kind of thing really makes me interested in a site and makes me want to find out more. All I know at this point is that Gleemax is fucking rad, dude!

So my real question, why does WotC hate us? Rumor is this site is why their magazine no longer exists. Lovely replacement.

More notes from ICv2:

“Our read on the core hobby industry is that it’s stable, but it’s aging,” WotC VP of Digital Games Randy Buehler told us. “We’re slowing down in terms of recruiting that next generation of hobby gamers. Today’s 15-year-olds have such a different experience than a 15-year-old did five years ago or 10 years ago, or when I was a 15-year-old. So today’s 15-year-old is online and doesn’t necessarily have any reason to leave his computer because there’s so much to do there.”

And this is their solution to that perceived problem?

WotC, if you want to know what your problems are, I’ll help you out.

1) You release way to many books these days and most of them aren’t up to any sort of quality level.
2) You have no idea what a roleplaying game is like. Yes, I love D20 and I love the 3.5 system. But do I love the way your books and system are laid out so as to discourage roleplaying? No.
3) You really have no idea what today’s kids are into. Let me just tell you, it’s not retarded sounding sites run by fakes aliens. If it were a real alien you might have something, but since it’s not. FAIL

Please, please do me a favor. Call me up. I’ll tell how to fix things, which books are good (Dungeon Master II) and why you should stop flooding the market with random stuff and diluting your brand.

What Would Matt Do: I’ll continue to make up house rules and help players with character creation so I’m not running pure hack and slash games when I play D&D 3.5. Also, lack of recent updates might be a good thing if all comes through. Watch this space for more info.