Comments on the 4th Ed fact thread

[Jonathan Winters]

Darn Catman Jim!

You beat me to it!

I haven't digested that news yet. I'm really not sure what to think...

Here is an interesting thread from Open Design (Wolfgang Baur)...
http://open-design.livejournal.com/161680.html

Patrick

[Lord Soth]

$5,000 + a business license, don't forget that. Sooo... anyone around here got a business license?

[HuManBing]

We've talked a bit about the Fraternity publishing stuff.

Does the Fraternity want (could it actually do anything with) a license?

$5k divided equally across all members of the board would probably be manageable.

[Ail]

But would the members be willing to pay?

I like to come here and discuss Ravenloft with you. And I like the fan material that is published here. But I view the FoS as merely a place where I can learn from and share with others the experience of playing in Ravenloft, free of charge.

But I don't read much anymore of any kind of gaming book, and I would not be paying to allow someone to produce books I'm probably not going to read in a long time and about a set of rules that I don't know yet if I'm going to use.

I'm not preventing any other of doing so, but I would not go along, at the risk of sounding a bit selfish or greedy (though I do think that has nothing to do with it).

Frankly, from what I've read above, won't the 5K simply be redundant 6 months later?

Alex

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Considering how long it takes us to write anything, it's unlikely that you'd see a netbook on 4E Ravenloft in time for June even if we did have access to such preview materials. Plus, it'd mean that we couldn't draw upon the game-mechanical savvy and playtesting of folks on this forum, which we'll probably want to do to ensure the converted rules work.

Beyond that, I really don't think we'd meet WotC's standards as potential purchasers of an OGL package. They want to sell those to people whose open-license products will effectively promote the 4E game system, and this website's fans are only a niche-market. It's publishers with a proven track-record as businesses who'll be buying the OGL at this stage, not not-for-profit fan sites.

[HuManBing]

Feh. Say what you want but Drusilla needs stats dammit.

[Lord Soth]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd be willing to chip in if the Fraternity wanted it (Not right away, as I'm flat busted broke at the moment, but I would).

[Rotipher of the FoS]

As much as we do appreciate the offers to contribute (:shock: five grand, no less! ), a majority of the mods agree that this would be a poor investment of our time and everyone's financial resources. We've already got the NS Gaz and Player's Guide to finish in the next month or two, as well as the Break-the-World project and other upcoming netbooks in the pipeline. Given a choice, we'd rather keep releasing cool new stuff for the setting, and deal with the new rules once everyone has access to them; that way, we won't all look back two years from now and feel bad about how we'd squandered your money.

We are very grateful for your enthusiasm, though, and we'll do our best to create a proper set of conversion guidelines this summer. Until then, Drusilla will just have to get by with loaded d20 and stats she makes up on the fly, like she always has.

[alhoon]

Drusilla will just have to get by with loaded d20 and stats she makes up on the fly, like she always has.

How large is that fly?

[HuManBing]

At least as big as that cannon that all the vampires in Ravenloft can fit into.

[HuManBing]

Hurray for Shelly Mazzanoble! I loved her Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress and even gave a copy of it to my girlfriend in an attempt to woo her to DnD.

(It didn't quite work out as planned. My girlfriend never got round to reading it because of work constraints, and eventually her 14-yo kid sister read it instead and now wants to roleplay a druid.)

[Lord Cyclohexane]

Looks like it's gonna be raining criticals, folks:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drdd/20080104

(snip)

Check out the stat-list on the war pick, BTW. "Prof. 2"? "Category Pick"? Again, with the teasers!

This is the most delicious teaser to me, especially the Column marked "Properties" with "High crit, versatile" properties.

You mean we'll be able to finally create/buy mundane non-magical weapons that can have some special properties, depending on the skill of the craftsman?

You mean there's now a purpose to having Craft (Weaponsmith) at higher than +10?

You mean I *won't* have to throw around eighteen million magical weapons in my no-longer low magic campaign?

Sweet.

[Jonathan Winters]

As a side note...

It took something like three and half days for Open Design to pony up 5K (!). (We are talking patron contributions here!)

No matter what people say, I think that's the best indicator that 4E will be a winner.

(Not that I am supporting it. Very happy with my 3E )

Patrick

[Jester of the FoS]

Looks like it's gonna be raining criticals, folks:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drdd/20080104

(snip)

Check out the stat-list on the war pick, BTW. "Prof. 2"? "Category Pick"? Again, with the teasers!

This is the most delicious teaser to me, especially the Column marked "Properties" with "High crit, versatile" properties.

You mean we'll be able to finally create/buy mundane non-magical weapons that can have some special properties, depending on the skill of the craftsman?

You mean there's now a purpose to having Craft (Weaponsmith) at higher than +10?

You mean I *won't* have to throw around eighteen million magical weapons in my no-longer low magic campaign?

Sweet.

Something I'm doing is handing out innate bonuses.
I took 1/2 the gold per level and found appropriate gear for that cost, mostly stat-boost items, and made the bonus natural, so the character just gets a +1 to AC for being higher level or a +2 to a stat of choice.
Then I can fill the other 1/2 of level appropriate gold with neat items and unique magical trinkets.

[alhoon]

This is the most delicious teaser to me, especially the Column marked "Properties" with "High crit, versatile" properties.

You mean we'll be able to finally create/buy mundane non-magical weapons that can have some special properties, depending on the skill of the craftsman?

You mean there's now a purpose to having Craft (Weaponsmith) at higher than +10?

Well, I wouldn't like to spoil your enthusiasm, but in the previous teasers the designers said they will downgrade crafts to focus chars more on RP and creature bashing. As they said "If you want your char to be a cobbler just put it in his background".

Also the way the pick is written just mentions the properties of the war pick. The same way flails give a +2 to disarm checks or scimitars have a 18-20 critical range or axes have x3 crit modifier.
All war picks will have such stats. So I guess that Craft weaponsmith at +10 will be as useful as in 3rd edition (if no less so, in order for people to concentrate on other aspects of the game).

IMO proficiency group 2 means that the war pick will be grouped with a group of similar weapons for things like feats etc.

It would be cool to have properties depending on the skill of the crafter though, I agree on that... let's just hope something like that will be incorporated.