Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Roleplaying Game Starter Set

For those of you that have been curious about Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition but have not had the opportunity to try it out or have been unwilling to fork over your hard earned cash for the core books, Wizards of the Coast has published a starter set to give the system a try before you commit to anything.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition has become a monster in its own right, with several supplements already out (and more being released all the time), so it’s no surprise that for someone new to the hobby, or to 4th Edition, it can be very intimidating.

So here’s a product that, for a few dollars, can give someone a really good idea if Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is the system for them.

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set (D&D Introductory Game)

The set includes:

16 Page Quick Start Rules Booklet
64 Page Dungeon Masters Book
3 Sheets Of Double Sided Dungeon Tiles
50 Tokens (Representing Characters & Monsters)
6 Dice

The only thing that seems to be missing are some minis…

The D&D Roleplaying Game Starter Set introduces the complex world of D&D play to new fans in simple, easy-to-understand ways while retaining the fantastic inspiration of the full game experience.

This product includes an introductory version of the 4th Edition rules, dice, map tiles, and an adventure to get starting playing right away! Read more

R.I.P. Dave Arneson, 1947-2009

Dave Arneson, co-creator with Gary Gygax of Dungeons and Dragons, passed away last night in the company of his family. Arneson and Gygax both designed games before Dungeons and Dragons (Chainmail in the case of Gygax and Blackmoor in the case of Arneson), but put their talents together in the early 70s to create the first Dungeons and Dragons game, which was released by TSR in 1974.

Arneson filed the first of five lawsuits against TSR in 1979, eventually resulting in being credited as the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons. Arneson also ran his own company, Adventure Games, for a time. He returned to TSR in the mid-80s and produced a series of Blackmoor modules.

In his later years, Arneson worked in the computer industry and taught.

Arneson was preceded in death by Gygax, who passed away last year

Source

Dave Arneson Hospitalized, Resting Comfortably

Dave Arneson, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, has been hospitalized due to an ongoing illness.

Here is a note from Dave’s family…

“As of this writing, Dave is still with us. We have moved him into a facility where we can focus on keeping him comfortable. We have been and will continue to watch the forums and blogs and are passing along everyone’s thoughts and prayers. Right now our focus is on getting Dave into the best possible position to maintain his comfort and his dignity. We will update the community as we can. We want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers and ask that you continue to send Dave your support in whatever form that means to you.”

You can learn more about Dave Arneson at his Wikipedia page HERE

D&D Links - 20 Free Random Generators

DungeonMastering.com has compiled a bunch a great random generators that will help any Dungeon Master in his or her campaign…

1. Dragon description generator - oh, yeah!
2. Government generator - because we’re all boring of adventuring in “The Kingdom” or “The Empire” and would rather explore the “Legendary and Perfected Federation” or some place with a funky name.
3. Whacky class generator - don’t you wan’t to play a Crocodile Kicker?
4. Detailed character generator - a short description and quick roleplaying notes will make bring any anonymous NPC to life.
5. Goblin namer - even though goblins can kill you, most of the time they die. Having a unique name gives them personality, which in turn increases their chances to be spared.  “Ktozs scared.  Pleeease don’t kill Ktozs…”
6. Fractal world generator - interesting and maybe even useful.
7. Dungeon generator - try the “labyrinth” setting to mees with your players’ mind.
8. Snake generator - what the hell?  Do we really need a snake generator? Well, it’s there just in case…
9. Pirate name generator - I could click that button all day!
10. NaNoWriMo motivator - maybe you’ve tried to write a book during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and maybe you failed (like me!) and maybe you could have used some motivation!
11. Martial arts move generator - ninja time!
12. Wrestler name generator - trust me, you’ll find a way to squeeze these names in your campaign.
13. Namator - probably the best looking random gen website
14. The Forge - you don’t know it yet but you like flash-based generators.
15. Lorem Ipsum - it’s made for print and web filler text, but you can use it to impress your players with scrolls filled with gibberish (I think it’s latin)
16. Candy generator - every inn cooks up something sweet, unique, and delicious.
17. Magic invocation generator - this one is especially fun!
18. Drink recipe generator - don’t try this at home…
19. Darth maker - it has nothing to do with D&D but I enjoyed it a lot!
20. Humorous fantasy class generator - a butler sorceress and footpad nanny walk into a bar…

And there’s so much more out there!  Seventh Sanctum has the most fun generators.  So have fun and click aways.

Source: DungeonMastering.com Read more

WotC Ending Support For D&D Minis Skirmish Game

Wizards of the Coast will end support for its Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures skirmish game in the coming months, as it moves its D&D Miniatures from a separate game to acting only as accessories for the D&D RPG. In addition to changing the composition of the miniatures packages (see “D&D Minis Less Random”), a number of other changes will take place between now and the middle of 2009.

The next D&D Minis release, Demonweb in November, will be the last to include skirmish statistics. No further D&D Miniatures skirmish events will be officially sanctioned after D&D Experience in February. WotC will continue to update miniatures stats from previous sets to the current ruleset, to be completed by mid-2009.

D&D Sr. Brand Manager Scott Rouse explained the reasons for the moves in a follow-up post on the WotC Website. Sanctioned skirmish play began to decline in 2006, according to the post, a trend that the company had not been able to reverse. At the same time, rising costs were making the pricing on the mini packages as previously constituted untenable. So WotC sought a solution that reflected what the minis were being used for, and that would change the packages in a way that helped deal with pricing issues. The solution was new packaging that moved away from random packs (which allowed a higher price per mini while giving players more pieces they could use), and acknowledging that D&D Minis were primarily being used for roleplay support, rather than as a separate game.

The integration of D&D Minis and D&D RPG will involve content moving from the miniatures to the RPG. Character class powers from the power cards in the Players Handbook Heroes packs will be added to the databases on the D&D Insider Website, and may eventually be included in a D&D game book.

Rouse expressed regret at the ending of support for the skirmish game, along with the hope that it would continue at some level. “We hope to see skirmish play continue at the grassroots level, using the hundreds of miniatures produced for the game over the past six years and encouraged by the passionate fan sites that exist for the D&D Miniatures skirmish game,” he said.

Source: icv2.com

WotC to Revise D&D 4th Ed. Game System License (GSL)

Wizards of the Coast has announced on its Website that it is planning to issue a revision to the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Game System License (GSL) and System Reference Document (SRD). Linae Foster, the D&D Licensing Manager, put it this way: “We recognize the important role third party publishing support plays in the success of the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. We have listened to the community and our valued colleagues and have taken their concerns and recommendations to heart. Our commitment to the health of the industry and hobby gaming lifestyle is reflected in the revisions to the Game System License.” The announcement indicated that the revised GSL and SRD documents “will be available in the very near future.” Read more

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition - My Final Verdict

I think I’ve made up my mind about the new 4th edition. I think that “out of the box” it’s completely playable but it doesn’t quite suit my needs for a gaming system so here’s what I did… Read more

Free Dungeons & Dragons Resources

Since getting the new 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, I did a search online for resources that would allow me to be creative without the usual headache that accompanies the process.

Well, the fine folks over at DungeonMastering.com have put together a couple of great posts that provide more than enough material to get the DM Juices flowing.

Here are the links to those posts:

387 Free D&D Maps

83 Free D&D Adventures

Thanks to DungeonMastering.com for researching this material.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition - My Impressions Part 2

Ok, so now I’ve rolled up another character in my quest to become familiar with the new rules. This time around I created a Dwarf Cleric. The way in which the powers function makes it easy to fill in the blanks without having to learn how spells work as opposed to melee abilities. My son and daughter have each rolled up characters as well. My daughter Kyla created a human warlock and my son Logan created a dragonborn ranger.

This process is really helping me understand the mechanics of the new 4th edition as well, and I think will make jumping into our first adventure a lot easier. For example, while in the process of creating these characters, I’ve been able to look up the rules for combat, movement, powers, skills, etc., and now have a basic working knowledge of the flow of the game.

Back in 1978, the first adventure I ran for my friends was Dungeon Module G1 - Steading Of The Hill Giant Chief by TSR. I took some liberties with the module and added a bunch of stuff on my own, including hordes of orc fodder. However, I don’t think I’ll ever forget when Andy’s character betrayed Marty’s, took the loot and escaped to become one of our favorite villains. After 30 years, some of the details have slipped my mind, but the feeling in the air during our sessions is still with me.

I’m going to create a few more characters this weekend and then take my kids through their first 4th edition adventure. Until then, keep fighting!

Romans Used 20-Sided Dice Two Millennia Before D&D

Many of us geeks take great pride in the ability to recite the history of role-playing games based on the 20-sided die, but what about the history of the die itself? Apparently it predates the original Dungeons and Dragons by almost two millenia.

Christie’s, auctioneer to the rich and famous, sold a glass d20 from Roman times. It was included in a collection of other antiquities that sold in 2003. The markings on the die don’t appear to be either Arabic or Roman numerals, but it’s probably a safe bet that it was used in a game of chance. As the auction catalog notes that several polyhedral dice are known from the Roman era, but remarks, ” Modern scholarship has not yet established the game for which these dice were used.”

I wonder - how do you say “critical hit” in Latin? (Ed. note: “maxima plaga”)

The seller acquired this die from his father, who picked it up in the 1920s in Egypt. Sounds like the beginning of an Indiana Jones movie, doesn’t it?

Source

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