News Archive #4 November 1999 News from November 1999: November 30, 1999 WotC RPG Business Manager Keith Strohm described the 3E Player's Handbook on DND-L:  "The new PHB will be a hardcover book with 288 pages, full color throughout. It will retail for $19.95." I've whipped up a couple of graphs comparing the 2E experience point progression with that of 3E.  In the examples below you can see that the new progression is much more linear.  The 2E example uses the Fighter table.  The first graph shows levels 1-20, while the second shows a closer view of the first few levels. November 29, 1999 Wizard Bits:  Designer Sean Reynolds had a few interesting things to say about spellslingers on the 3E message board: On "wimpy wizards":  "If your problem is 'Wizards are too weak to stand up to much,' then yes, I see it, and we have upped the power of wizards a bit in 3E D&D to compensate for that - now people can play a single-classed wizard at all levels and not think they need to be protected from goblins, giant centipedes, and stray pebbles. Not only do wizards get bonus spells for high Int, they also have better familiars and some cool feats. :)  Basically, I'll repeat what we have said often: the classes are now balanced at all levels, and so there's no obvious fantastic or lame character class." On 2E multiclassed characters vs. 3E multis:  "In 2E, being multiclassed at 1st level was a no brainer because technically you were a level ahead of everyone else; you made up for it later by being at least a level behind everyone else. Now it's such that a multiclassed character is the same power level as the other characters of the same character level.  Here's an example from a playtest campaign I was in. We converted over at about 10th level. My character was a single-classed wizard. Bruce Cordell was running a thief that had dual-classed to wizard (he was about T6/W6 when we converted, I think, because thieves advance faster). After his conversion (Monte told him that [his character] was to be 10th level after the conversion), Bruce made him Thief 6/Wizard 4. Even without his lightning bolt spell, he was still a good character (heck, he was 10th level), and I wouldn't want Nosh (my character) to go toe-to-toe with him (he'd start from far away and use his heat-seeking custom fireballs to whack on him a while :))." Heat-seeking custom fireballs??  "...that variant fireball was still 3rd level but had a shorter range and only a 5' radius, but it came in handy time and again when we were fighting big monsters ... I could throw it at their heads and not hurt my allies in melee. I only got to use the heat-seeking effect once, but it was worth it: I used it to kill my evil clone, which had attacked me from invisibility; I hit it with a cloudkill, and while I couldn't see it, it still gave off heat ... boom, dead. Very satisfying. :)" November 27, 1999 You may have noticed a new link called Buy D&D Stuff.  As my one concession to commercialism, I've become an Amazon.com Associate.  If you use the Amazon.com links from my site, a teeny tiny commission is sent my way.  So if you were planning on buying books, CDs, software, videos or electronics online at Amazon anyway ... I would greatly appreciate it if you kept me in mind and stopped here first and use my links!  :-)  You can search for anything you normally would search for, but as an added service I've listed a few current and forthcoming RPG titles from Wizards of the Coast at the Buy D&D Stuff page.  Each product is linked to its Amazon.com entry as well as its WotC Product Catalog description.  Right now the Buy D&D Stuff page is more of a curiosity, but as the release 3E approaches I suspect many of you will want to use Amazon to pre-order a copy of the 3rd Edition Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide and Monster Manual.  Then, after the release of 3E, I'll probably begin supplementing my product lists with reviews (mine, yours, whoever's).  Okay, commercial's over.  This is the last time I'll bug you about it -- promise!  :)  (Hey, it beats a stupid banner ad, right?  ;-) November 26, 1999 WotC held a chat with 3E Lead Designer Jonathan Tweet tonight.  You can read the chat log here (thanks to Baloo for logging).  "JoT" is Jonathan Tweet in the log.  Some of the highlights include: If there are no racial level limits, why play a human?  "The reason level limits go away is that they're a very, very bad way to balance characters of different races.  They mean that as long as your campaign is at low or mid-level, the demihumans are better (because the supposed balancing effect of the limits is not present).  But if you have a high-level campaign, the limits are incredibly harsh.  It's just not fair to have someone build their character up and then slam against an arbitrary level limit rule.  This rule dates back to 1974 when Gygax didn't really expect people to play nonhumans, and when characters didn't get much better after 10th level.  Of course, with level limits gone, we need to provide the humans with some benefits, and we do. Humans are still a good choice, especially for certain character types.  But you'll have to wait a bit longer to hear what the human benefits are, or you'll have to get into a demo (where we answer lots of questions)." On Priest spell spheres:  "The old 'sphere' system, which made some clerics really good and others really bad, is gone.  There's a new, more balanced way to determine how a cleric's religion affects their spellcasting abilities." Are 3E characters more powerful than 2E characters?  "It's clear that low-level characters are more powerful in 3E than in 2E.  We made that change to make low-level play more fun.  It's not clear that high-level characters are more powerful.  For example, the difficulty of saves now scales with the power of a magical attack.  While a 2E high-level PC can usually make a save on a 2 or whatever, in 3E saves can still be tough at high levels.  Another way that characters are generally more powerful is that bonuses start at ability scores of 12, whereas in 2E they generally start at 15.  We made this change to get rid of the weird dead zone between 7 and 14 where it really didn't matter what your score was.  Finally, we treat monsters as characters.  They have ability scores.  They have Con bonuses to hit points.  The PCs need to be pretty tough to face up to the new and improved monsters." Are there still class-based weapon restrictions?  "There are class-based starting points -- what a characters starts the game knowing -- but you can have your character learn to use new weapons.  Also, the crossbow is now the 'simple ranged weapon.'  After all, you just point and shoot.  Even wizards can use crossbows." Will 3E changes result in fewer monsters in the Monster Manual?"We're bringing back 1/2 page monster descriptions, so we can cram more monsters in the MM than we could with the 1-page minimum format of 2E....  Plus, we're describing the monsters as succinctly as we can to fit more in." On monks:  "...the higher a monk's Wisdom, the better his AC." TSR's Jim Butler announced a revitalized D&D Downloads area of the WotC web site.  It contains "official stuff" but is also eagerly awaiting adventures, maps, character sheets, Core Rules .xpt files, and all sorts of other stuff to be submitted by D&D players.  Note that each of the campaign setting pages also has its own downloads page.  (on DND-L) The November Playtest Group of the Month helped set the combat movement rate straight, as reported in the Playtesters at Work page:  "The basic tactical movement rate for an unencumbered human is now given as 30 feet per round. A character can choose to hustle, which doubles his or her movement rate to 60 feet per round. A character can also choose to run, which raises his or her movement rate to three times the basic rate if the character is wearing heavy armor or four times the basic rate if the character is wearing light, medium, or no armor."  (thanks to Ralph for hustling us the scoop) The November Playtest Group of the Month also reveals the presence of orisons, or priestly cantrips, in the 3E rules.  It's in their "quote of the week."  Wizards have long had access to cantrips (minor magical effects), and now apparently priests have them as well.  How they'll be implemented is another question.  (thanks to Allister Huggins for the scoop) November 24, 1999 The WotC First Quarter Product Catalog is available online at the WotC site.  You can see what's going to be available for D&D and other products in January, February, March and April of 2000.  Some of the highlights include Vortex of Madness (a collection of extraplanar adventures), Secrets of the Magister (FR supplement), Diablo II: the Monastery (adventure/supplement -- crossover product), Starcraft (an Alternity accessory -- not D&D but still very cool), The Apocalypse Stone (high level adventure), and Slavers (a Greyhawk adventure). The remaining Dragon Fist chapters are now available for download. November 23, 1999 Going to GenCon 2000?  Of course you are.  That's where Wizards of the Coast will be unveiling the 3E Player's Handbook, where Bioware will probably be demoing Baldur's Gate 2 and Neverwinter Nights, and where you can see this really realistic statue of a security guard.  If you have writing talent and want to get in for free, you might want to take a look at this contest announcement from WotC. November 22, 1999 Gen Con to leave Milwaukee:  Okay, it ain't earth-shattering news, and it isn't going to happen for a few years now, but the Milwauke Journal Sentinel reported on Nov. 20th that Gen Con would be moving to Indianapolis.  Here's part of the article: As Milwaukee convention officials had feared, Gen Con has decided to move its annual August gathering of gamers to Indianapolis in 2003, citing inadequate hotel space in Milwaukee, a convention official said Friday. "This is a huge disappointment to us, but the show must go on," said Dawn Poker, vice president of sales and marketing for the Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau. The event, one of the city's largest conventions and the biggest gaming convention in North America, has been a fixture in Milwaukee since 1985. It has its roots in Wisconsin. The event grew out of a tiny show begun in Lake Geneva in 1968 by Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax.  (thanks to Joseph King for the scoop)   Why Dragon Fist?  TSR VP Ryan Dancey addressed the issue of Dragon Fist's web-only release as well as its seeming similarity to what we've seen of the 3E rules (on DND-L): "The game was originally scheduled as a release for 1999.  However, the "concept" behind it - that of creating variations on the D&D baseline game has been scrapped (it just promotes the factionalization we're trying to get away from). "Chris Pramas, the author, requested permission to release the material anyway.  Since the bulk of the heavy lifting was already complete, we decided to allow Chris to scrounge up resources for art, editing, and design and compose the PDF files you see today.  All the resources that contributed to the product were voluntary - otherwise there would have been no way to afford to do the work. "DF was developed separately from 3e.  There are some things in DF that are reminincent of 3e rules, but that's parallel evolution, not concious design.  Although Chris has had the 3e manuscript available and may have tweaked a few things since the last time I read it (at turnover) near the beginning of the year.  In any case, I would consider it at best a distant cousin to 3e. "We hope you enjoy it; as an experiment in pushing boundaries, we think it's an interesting test.  We'll be curious to see how many people download the files.  Perhaps someday in the future when the core of D&D has been rebuilt and the foundations are again strong and stable, we'll think about looking at similar tests.  We're a little bit nervous about it - right now, the whole focus on the business is getting people playing D&D and looking forward to 3e; we're concered that DF may create a diversion.  However, the work is interesting enough, and Chris is a pretty persistent guy, so we're willing to take a little chance.  I like to tell my staff that great products trump strategy, and in this case, that's exactly what happened." November 21, 1999 I've updated the Conversions page with more info about what to expect as the release date of 3E draws closer.  Basically I'm just laying the groundwork for a sizable library of 2nd Edition to 3rd Edition conversion documents.  If you're interested, take a look. November 20, 1999 WotC Miniatures:  You probably know that WotC is launching its own line of D&D miniatures.  According to WotC Miniatures guy Chris Pramas (who's also the designer of the Dragonfist game), the initial release will include the following:  Human Paladin, Human Cleric, Halfling Thief, Elven Fighter/Mage (female), Human Fighter, Dwarven Fighter, Human Fighter (female), Bugbear, Hobgoblin, Lesser Vampire, Dwarven Cleric, Elven Thief (female), Evil Mage, Human Barbarian, Orc, Carrion Crawler, Cyclops, Red Dragon, Ogre, Minotaur, Hill Giant, Ettin, Fire Giant, Good Mage.  Note that these aren't necessarily "3rd Edition" minatures, but what the heck -- an orc's an orc, right?  (from rec.games.frp.dnd) 3E Article and Ryan Dancey Interview in Inquest:  Allister Huggins sent in the following scoop:  "My friend just lent me his Inquest Gamer (October issue, cover by r.k. post) magazine and lo and behold, there's a general article and a small interview with Ryan Dancey. Highlights from the article: The DMG & the PHB will both come in at 256 pages with the MM being slightly longer. Other 'core' 2nd ed books (Book of Artifacts, Legends and Lore, Tome of Magic) will see some sort of 3ed treatment. One setting we won't see is a Dominaria as WotC wants to keep the two relatively separate. However, we will see some cross-over product. The first thing that they probably would do according to Ryan is a Monstrous Compendium  volume of interesting Magic creatures. An update to the Core Rules CD won't be until 2001 at the earliest." November 19, 1999 The Playtesters at Work section for the November Playtest Group of the Month has been updated again.  The playtest group suggested a possible remedy to the problem of a wizard's vulnerability to Attacks of Opportunity when casting spells in close combat: "The rules now include a feat called Combat Casting, which any spellcasting character can have as early as 1st level if he or she desires to have it. A character who is capable of this feat gets a +4 bonus to any Concentration skill checks that are required while the character is casting a spell. (There's more to it than that, but the central point is that Combat Casting might not have come into existence if John's group hadn't brought it up.)"  (thanks to Allister Huggins for the scoop) WotC has released the first three chapters of a new, free, web-published RPG called Dragon Fist.  It is a game inspired by Hong Kong fantasy & martial arts movies.  Its rules may seem a little familiar:  "Is This an AD&D Supplement?  While this may look like an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons® supplement, it is in fact a standalone roleplaying game. The rules are an AD&D® variant, though, so if you’ve played AD&D before, you’ll find much here that’s familiar. Read carefully, however, since some liberties have been taken with the rules to better simulate the genre.  If you’ve never played AD&D before, not to worry. This rulebook contains everything you need to enter the exciting world of Dragon Fist. You’ll learn about the Empire of Tianguo, how to make a character, and, most importantly, how to kick butt HK style."  Here's what you can download so far (all files are in PDF format): Introduction & Chapter 1:  Sets the stage for the game, and provides a map and region descriptions of the land of Tianguo. Chapter 2:  Character creation.  Create a Fighter, Wizard, Shaman or Thief, with abilities like Strength, Intelligence, ... you get the picture.  ;)  It's very similar to D&D in some ways, but an interesting twist is that each class has a Martial Arts Maneuvers chart which determines how many special martial arts "tricks" they know; the maneuvers are ranked by levels, much like wizard or priest spells.  The weapon lists are here, too.  One interesting adjustment is that weapon speed is rated as slow, average or fast; each of these categories grants a different penalty or bonus to Initiative.  Armor class seems to go up, ala 3E. Chapter 3:  Martial Arts and Combat.  Combat revolves around stunts and feats.  Stunts are combat actions, including special Martial Arts tricks.  Feats are any kind of action that isn't covered by the stunts system.  Feats are accomplished by rolling a TN, or Target Number.  (Can you say "Difficulty Class"?)  Easy feats require a 10 or higher on d20; Average feats are a 15; Difficult feats are a 20, and Ridiculous feats are a 25.  Some of the 2E system is still there (surprise rolled on a d10, the old saving throw table, one-minute combat rounds), and some shadows of 3E are there (the initiative system). Chapter 4:  Magic.  The bulk of this chapter deals with Wizard and Shaman spells.  Casting times are given as Fast, Average or Slow (like the weapon speeds).  There are a bunch of neat new spells here. There are a lot of new twists to old rules in this game -- some seem eerily similar to what 3E may hold.  Personally, it looks like a great deal of fun, kind of a souped up Oriental Adventures for 2nd Edition AD&D.  Future releases will include chapters on Gods & Monsters, Conversion (to AD&D 2nd Edition) Notes, and Adventures.  (thanks to LrdTuerny and Ralp for the scoop) Designer Sean Reynolds (on the 3E Message Board) commented on the topic of whether it is possible for DMs to create new Heroic Feats: "You can easily create new feats and skills (I'm already tinkering with ideas for Realms-specific feats in the FR 3E D&D book) but as there are already over 50 of them you'll find that most of what you'd want to do without getting really campaign-specific are covered (I suppose you could come up with, say, a bunch of dwarven feats that cover fighting opponents a lot bigger than you, elven feats for casting a spell with your weapon hand or firing two arrows at once, etc.)."  (thanks to Pierre-Paul Durastanti for the scoop) Playtester Der Verdammte dropped me a note regarding my sample characters Tweedledee and Tweedledum, specifically addressing my questions on Class Abilities vs. Heroic Feats: "There are definitely standard abilities for each class.  Heroic feats are add-ons to the basic class 'package.'  I've seen some mention of being able to tweak class abilities if you want; this will probably be in the DMG (I think Sean [Reynolds] mentioned this, too), along with rules for making new classes." November 18, 1999 So, can we make 3E characters yet?  We know quite a bit about 3E characters by this point, and if we use modifications of certain 2E tables, we can get pretty close to accomplishing this.  However, as my examples below demonstrate, there are several areas we know next to nothing about.  My examples are twin brothers -- so I can also demonstrate the new multi-classing principles. Tweedledum, 6th-Level Fighter / 4th-level Wizard 17 Human 1 XP 45,000 2 HP 6d10+4d4 3 ST 13  (+1)  DX 16 (+3) CN 10 (+0) IN 15 (+2)  WI 7 (-2)  CH 8 (-1) 4 Melee Attack Bonus: 5  +5 (for 6th level Fighter)6, +1 (for 4th level Wizard) 6, +1 (for ST), for a total of +7 Missile Attack Bonus: 5  +5 (for 6th level Fighter)6, +1 (for 4th level Wizard) 6, +3 (for DX), for a total of +9 Damage Bonus:  +1 (for ST) Initiative Bonus: 8 +3 (for high DX) Armor Class: 9bracers of defense AC 12, +3 for high DX, for a total 15 Saving Throw Bonuses: 11 Special Abilities: 12  weapon specialization 13, extra melee attacks (not as many as his brother, probably) 14 , spell-like powers/cantrips 18 Spells:  5x1st, 3x2nd (bonus spells due to high IN) 19 Proficiencies: 15 Heroic Feats:16 Tweedledee, 10th-Level Fighter Human 1 XP 45,000 2 HP 10d10 3 ST 13  (+1)  DX 16 (+3) CN 10 (+0) IN 15 (+2)  WI 7 (-2)  CH 8 (-1) 4 Melee Attack Bonus: 5  +9 (for 10th level Fighter) 6 , +1 (for ST), for a total of +10 Missile Attack Bonus: 5  +9 (for 10th level Fighter) 6,  +3 (for DX), for a total of +12 Damage Bonus:  +1 (for ST) Initiative Bonus: 8  0 (wearing heavy armor) 7 Armor Class: 9  Splint Mail (AC 17) 10, no bonuses for high DX because of the weight of this kind of armor 7 Saving Throw Bonuses:  11 Special Abilities: 12  weapon specialization 13, extra melee attacks 14 Proficiencies: 15 Heroic Feats:  16 Notes:  1.  Humans can multiclass.  Level limits for demihumans have been removed.  What additional bonuses Humans receive is yet unknown. 2.  Based on a hypothetical XP table that was given to demonstrate the non-geometric progression of the new XP table.  All classes use the same XP table.  Monster XP will likely be adjusted to help balance these changes. 3. Hit points, like many other character features, are additive for multiclass characters. 4.  Atributes will range from 3-18 for beginning player characters.  Characters can improve their scores as they gain levels.  Monsters are also rated on these attributes, and can have far higher scores.  The adjustments in parentheses are based on an Ability Score chart that has been called "semi-accurate" by a reliable source. 5.  Instead of a gradually decreasing THAC0, characters will receive a gradually increasing Attack Bonus.  Each class has a different chart.  The Attack Bonus chart I am using is just the 2E chart "reverse engineered" to fit the new combat system.  The 3E chart will likely be the same idea with different numbers.  As in 2E, missile and melee combat scores will be different because they rely on different attributes (ST for melee, DX for missile).  6.  Single-class characters use one value from the Attack Bonus chart to calculate their bonus, while a multiclass character adds the bonuses from each class. 7.  This partial Armor Table released by WotC reveals that heavy armors will impose a DX Bonus cap, keeping dextrous characters from gaining the benefits of tough armor and agility at the same time. 8.  Initiative in 3E is (like all other checks) made on a d20, with the highest going first.  It is adjusted by DX.  Once the initiative order is set, it stays that way for the entire combat unless someone gives up an attack to attack first in the next round ("Focus") or voluntarily delays until the end of the current round ("Delay"). 9.  AC in 3E ranges from 10 (no armor) up to 30 (the best magical armors).  That number is the number an attacker must achieve (including all bonuses) in order to score a hit. 10.  This comes from the Armor Table; if one were to "reverse engineer" Splint's 2E AC, it would be AC 16.  Somewhere in the new AC tables, some armors have shifted around a bit, apparently. 11.  Details about 3E Saving Throws have yet to be fully revealed.  There will be three categories of saving throw:  Reflex (adjusted by DX), Fortitude (adjusted by CN), and Mental (adjusted by WI).  Instead of a score that changes as characters increase in level, however, 3E saves are expressed in terms of saving throw bonuses that increase with level (much like the Attack Bonuses), and Difficulty Classes (differing levels of danger will have different "target numbers" to achieve).  We don't know much about what classes will be particularly vulnerable or resistant to what kinds of attacks. 12.  There are a lot of unknowns in this area.  Have all class-related abilities been replaced by Heroic Feats?  Are there some core class abilities that aren't "optional"?  For instance, what skills can a Thief have that a Priest absolutely cannot? 13.  We don't know much about weapon specialization  -- its bonuses, its effect on number of attacks per round, whether specialization can lead to Mastery and Grand Mastery, if specialization is a kind of Heroic Feat, etc. 14.  Rumor has it that all 3E characters can achieve multiple attacks per round; some just gain the ability earlier than others. 15.  We don't know a lot about 3E proficiencies.  There are hints that it may be a sort of Broad Skill/Specialty Skill system like Alternity.  Different levels of difficulty will be expressed as DCs ("Difficulty Class," e.g. a target number).  Character ability scores will impact these checks, and presumably characters can improve their scores as they gain levels.  16.  Heroic Feats are perhaps one of the most mysterious aspects of the game.  They are clearly special abilities, many of them combat-related.  They aren't tied to any one class, but certain classes will be better than others at particular Feats.  Indications are that Feats are "pick-and-choose" abilities that will help make characters unique. 17.  Characters can start out as one class and add other classes along the way.  A fourth level fighter will need as much experience to achieve 5th level as a fighter as she would to attain first level as a wizard.  Multiclassing in 3E is additive.  Combat bonuses, saving throw bonuses, and hit points are combined from each class. 18.  It has been suggested that certain 2E spells (like detect magic, read magic, find familiar, identify, and cantrip) will become skills or spell-like powers that do not take up spell slots.  19.  The base spell charts for 3E haven't been revealed, so I've used the 2E wizard spell chart.  The extra spells are due to high Intelligence.  Clerics and druids will gain extra spells for high Wisdom, and Sorcerers and Bards gain extra spells for high Charisma. The Bonus Spell chart appears at the bottom of the Ability Score chart, and is based on information from a reliable source. A fair amount of discussion of combat on the 3E Message Board today (thanks to Synaptic Dragon and Pierre-Paul Durastanti for the scoop): Can characters knock opponents unconscious instead of killing them in 3E? Ryan Dancey:  Yes.  And be worried: There are monsters that will actively seek to do it to the PCs to either feed at liesure or ransom heroes back to their friends. How long does combat take to run (in real time)? Ryan Dancey:  I ran an encounter last weekend between 24 orcs, an Ogre Mage, and three PCs.  The total melee ran to more than a hundred rounds and took two hours to resolve from start to finish, including a fairly extensive strategy session by the players before the actual fight started.  We didn't use miniatures, though I did keep a running graphic on a piece of notebook paper. Can different fighting styles be created with unique flavors? Sean Reynolds:  That's largely covered by the feats & skills that you take. For example, my dwarf fighter in Chris Perkins' game is trained to take out large numbers of derro. He has combat options (feats and skills) that let him attack first from a hidden position, strike even if he can't see, do extra damage at the expense of a penalty to hit (handy if you know you're going to be able to hit them but want to do enough damage to put them down in one hit), and the ability to take out more than one weak creature per round (came in handy last night fighting zombies & grimlocks, actually).  Another person could build a character to take advantage of a higher Dex, dodging around and in between opponents, hitting several opponents per round, and jumping back out before she can be hit. You can also focus on mounted combat, disarming, etc., or combinations of the above. If you want to put a _name_ to a particular combo of feats ("feat package"?) in your campaign you could easily do so, and actually that would be pretty cool (I can see a character template for a particular fighting school from one region giving you a "path" for the feats and skills to take...). The official 3E web site had been updated with an interview with 3E Lead Designer Jonathan Tweet.  As in prior interviews, this one is peppered with audio-only segments, which I have transcribed below.  (scoop sent in by Ralph). Jonathan, you certainly have a lengthy list of credits to your name.  Do you see any common thread running through your design work as a whole?  I'd say that my games are built to inspire the player's imagination.  My goal has been to provide exciting ideas to get the player thinking and then to provide the flexibility to let him create the character that he wants.  Some RPG designers fill their games with cool things that they've invented, but I'm more interested in creating a context for players and game masters to come up with their own ideas.  Underneath the touchy-feely stuff, however, is a very intentional approach to the craft of RPG design.  I use game theory and math to make sure that the game system runs smoothly and the players can have fun without having to jury-rig the rules. When you talk about "core systems" and "subsystems" in the design for 3rd Edition, you sound as though you're talking about an elaborate machine or even a computer.  How difficult was it to unify the hard mathematics of the rules with the imaginative world of D&D?  It's very difficult.  The D&D game presents so many racial features, class powers, spells and magic items, many of which the players can combine at will, that it was hard to create a system that ran smoothly regardless of what the characters tried to do.  Like, if you're a hasted halfling monk, the rules have to determine how far you can jump, and they have to do that in a reasonable way.  But that is the game designer's job, to suffer the headaches, so the players have an easy time of it. On the other hand, once the hard work of building a system is done, it's pretty easy to add the imaginative and strange ideas that the D&D game is known for. Given you've been working at the most intimate levels of the game and know so much about the game, is it going to be hard for you to wait until August to talk about the nuts and bolts of the game?  It is hard to not talk about the game, because it's a lot of fun and the rules are really exciting.  I'd like to tell everyone about it.  It's especially frustrating to hear complaints based on partial information and then not be able to explain the whole story, so I'm looking forward to August. Well, hopefully you won't keep everything under your hat until August.  Are you going to let loose with a few more tidbits for us between now and August? We are going to release information regularly, both on the website and in Dragon.  We're also running demos wherever we can.  I'm going to be at some conventions running 3rd Edition D&D demos.  Our experience is that the more D&D players know about the new edition, the more they like it. November 15, 1999 TSR VP Ryan Dancey answered some 3E questions posed on the TSR message board (thanks to Synaptic Dragon for the exellent questions and for sending in the scoop): On alignment in 3E:  "The rules about alignment haven't changed much.  There is no longer a relationship between your experience and your alignment - shifts in alignment are handled on a class by class basis.  The DM is still the final arbiter of what your alignment is, based on your character's actions and behavior.  The descriptions of how alignment affects a character's behavior are pretty clearly written.  The axis' are still the same (law/chaos, good/evil), and they still mean basically the same thing (respect for authority, effect on others)." How have spells been revised?  "Most of the mechanical revisions are designed to clarify ranges, the effects of magic resistance, or to standardize effects (so spells that create 'magical fire' all create magical fire that works the same way), etc." On spells that rely on caster throwing/targeting ability: "A wizard could chose to become a better 'shot' with Rays than normal..."  (Is this a Heroic Feat available to spellcasters?  Hmmm...) On low-level spells with "level caps":  "Here's the theory:  High level spells should do more absolute damage than low level spells.  In 1st edition, the best one-on-one attack was almost always Magic Missile.  The best area of effect attack was almost always Fireball.  In 3e, Magic Missile stops being the best one-on-one attack at a certain point, and Fireball stops being the best area of effect attack.  That encourages players to investigate the uses of higher level spells, and not become over-reliant on 'the old standbys'." Are Combat Bonuses based on class "groups" or individual classes?"Class.  There are no groups in 3rd Edition.  Each class has it's own Attack Bonus chart." Pokémon's Evil Influences:  No, I'm not talking about parental concerns -- I'm talking about its effect on the Wizards web site.  And so is D&D Brand Manager Jim Butler: "I've been chatting with the web team, and the problem has to do with load balancing. We're getting hit by so many Pokemon requests, that the servers can't handle the traffic load.  They're working on getting the problem fixed, and we're hoping it will all be history by the end of the week."  (on the TSR Message Boards) Chat with one of the 3E designers, Jonathan Tweet, on Friday, November 26, from 6-7pm PST.  Click here to log in when the time comes. Dragon 266 (December 1999) arrived in my mailbox today, and it contained a couple of 3E tidbits.  Should I share them with you?  Well, why not... This month's "Countdown to Third Edition" column focused on 3E concept artists Sam Wood and Todd Lockwood.  They have been working on illustrations that will depict the various classes (one male and one female of each class, and at least one non-human of each class) and races in the core D&D books, as well as "a series of 'iconic characters,' figures who will appear consistently throughout the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide."  In addition, the article is graced by three new Lockwood illustrations that haven't been released to date (as far as I know) -- a male elf archer, a female human monk, and a male wizard (?) who is either a dwarf or a short, fat human.  :) In response to comments about the "Ten Ways to Play 3E" article that appeared two issues ago, designer Jonathan Tweet had this to say about the ability of clerics to swap spells for healing:  "The rule of spontaneously healing others by swapping out a memorized spell ... applies only to good clerics (or neutral clerics of good deities, or neutral clerics who worship neutral deities but "lean" toward good).  Evil clerics (or neutral clerics of evil deities, or neutral clerics who worship neutral deities but "lean" toward evil) can swap out a memorized spell to deal damage." Will female characters be better represented in the upcoming 3E minatures line from WotC?  Yes.  But wait, there's more: "3rd-Edition miniatures releases are scheduled to include both male and female versions of the iconic player characters.  When asked about the barmaid factor, [Chaz Elliot, Creative Director for the Miniatures Division] replied, 'The concepts show women as just as evil, nasty, hard, rip-your-head-off tough as the guys and the monsters." Magic Missile Miracle:  The Playtesters at Work section of the official 3E web site has been updated.  The November Playtest Group of the Month managed to save one of the staples of D&D, the first level wizard spell magic missile: From the playtest document:  The 1st-level wizard spell magic missile was changed from the 2nd Edition AD&D version in two big ways: Targets of the spell were allowed a saving throw to take only half damage, and the damage from each missile was set at 1d6+1 points. After receiving comments from the playtesters, the designers had a change of heart... From the revised rules:  The old magic missile is back: No saving throw, damage per missile set at 1d4+1, just as it was in the 2nd Edition rules.  (thanks to David Hatfield for the scoop) November 11, 1999 Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn was officially announced yesterday by Black Isle Studios and Bioware.  The sequel to the successful computer game based on the AD&D 2nd Edition rules and the Forgotten Realms setting will not be using 3rd Edition rules.  It is tentatively scheduled for a Fall 2000 release.  See the official BG 2 page at Interplay and BG Chronicles for more info. The Scrying Room, a fansite for the forthcoming Pool of Radiance II: Ruins of Myth Drannor, posted an interview with the game's producer, Jon Kromrey.  As the game will use the 3E rules, there were some "3E moments":   Scrying Room: Is everyone involved with the development of PoR2 also a beta tester for 3rd edition D&D? Jon: Yes. We've a weekly 3rd Edition play-test session that we all look forward to. I've gotten to like the new rules set so much that I find it hard to go back to the 2nd Edition. Scrying Room: From what you've experienced, would you say the 3rd edition rules are better to use for D&D CRPGs than 2nd edition rules were. Is the 3rd edition rule set easier to work with than the 2nd? Jon: In a nutshell, yes. In my particular opinion I am finding that I am enjoying the game better, and many of the rules are "back to basics" an aspect of D&D that we were targeting with Pool or Radiance. Because of this we've found it easy to transition from support of the 2nd Edition into the 3rd Edition. There's some very cool new parts of the game that I'm sure many people will love. Scrying Room: Whether the assassin will be a player character class in 3e D&D seems to be unclear based on some recent statements from Wizards of the Coast. Will assassins be a selectable class in PoR2? Are the complete list of possible new classes still Sorcerers, Assassins and Barbarians as well as Half-orcs as a new player race? Jon: Assassins have been removed from our list of characters. We will be 3rd Edition compliant... ;) November 10, 1999 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms Supplement Updated with Heroic Feats: The authors of the 3E FR Supplement have updated their enormous page with a big section on Heroic Feats.  It starts about half way down the page.  A couple of warnings:  First, the page is nearly 1MB in size -- that's a lot of text!  Second, as before, the information here is highly speculative.  It makes for some fun reading -- their take on Heroic Feats is to combine things like the Players Option Traits/Disadvantages, Fighting Styles, and a bunch of other stuff.  If you're hungry for 3E info and don't mind that it's in no way official, you'll want to take a look.  Questions and comments may be directed to Kevin Rocha or David Hatfield, the people responsible.  Kevin adds:  "...please give a big plug to David Hatfield.  As before, I mostly just edited his work."  (thanks to Kevin Rocha for the scoop) November 9, 1999 Message Boards Fixed (Mostly):  Once again, for your entertainment, here is WotC Tank (Message Board Administrator):  "OK.  As of now (9-NOV-99, 7pm EST) the boards are back online, and the needed "tweaks" are done.  Some topics are having issues with web access, including 3rd Edition, but the news server cipher.wizards.com appears to still be working.  You can now resume getting your fix on 3e info." For those who don't know, you can view the message boards using your web browser by logging in here, or with your newsgroup reader at cipher.wizards.com, where most of the 3E action takes place in RPG.DnD.3rd-Edition. November 8, 1999 More Info on Message Board Problems:  Here it is, straight from WotC Tank (Message Board Administrator):  "Just FYI...  The boards ARE intact, but due to some 'issue' with the license number that was entered, only administrators (i.e. me) can access the boards.  There are some settings which were apparently reset in the move to the new server, leaving the boards not quite fit for public consumption.  As soon as I can, I will put the settings back to where they should be."  Hope it gets cleared up quick -- that's where the majority of my scoops come from!  (thanks to WotC Tank for the scoop) November 6, 1999 TSR Message Board Troubles?  Many folks have been reporting that they are having trouble accessing the TSR Message Boards.  I have been having the same problem.  I read the message boards through my news reader and was using the server tsronline.wizards.com.  At the Message Board Login page, a new server is listed:  cipher.wizards.com.  Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be working either.  If you have information that could help, feel free to drop me a line. Update:  This was posted by Wogsilver on rec.games.frp.dnd: "I've been informed by Sue Cook that due to the upgrades on software and server hardware, the WotC boards are down temporarily....  You're right though, the new server, for those using the newsreader option, is cipher.wizards.com." November 4, 1999 A few updates to the official 3E web site (thanks to Der Verdammte for the scoop): A reprint of the Dragon Magazine article on 10 Ways to Play 3rd Edition Today. The November Playtest Group of the Month is introduced.  In their first Playtesters At Work entry, the November group helped beef up the benefits of a wizard having a familiar: Familiars got a major revamping in the updated version of the rules. A wizard of levels 1-2 can summon a familiar that has an Intelligence of 6. While his or her familiar is within arm's reach, the wizard gains the benefit of the feat Alertness (in place of the saving throw bonus). Most types of familiars bestow a particular benefit on the wizard, depending on their nature; for instance, having a cat familiar gives a wizard a +2 bonus on all Move Silently skill checks.  The revised rules go into much more detail than the earlier rules did about what familiars are capable of and how they benefit their masters. Dragon Annual 1999:  This year's Dragon Annual arrived in the mail today.  It's pretty sparse on 3E related news, but here are some tidbits I gleaned: From "The Wyrm's Turn" (Editorial Column) by Dragon Editor Dave Gross:  The Hasbro acquisition means little in the scheme of WotC, and as far as they're concerned it's "business as usual."  In the months between now and the release of 3E, we'll be seeing mechanics-light articles -- "think pieces" as Dave calls them.  After the launch of 3E, expect to see a lot of "back to basics" articles that will approach D&D as if readers were learning to play it for the first time (which we will be! -- can't wait!) From "50 Years of D&D Gaming" by Gary Gygax:  Mr. Gygax covers the history of the D&D game over several pages, mentioning 3E in the final paragraphs.  He seems pretty pleased with what he's seen so far.  Also presented is a light-hearted look at what Gygax believes the next 25 years of D&D hold (things like the release of Return to Return to the Tomb of Horrors, and the release of the film D&D: the Ghostly Menace starring Bruce Willis Jr.) Plans for the Forgotten Realms setting:  A new FR hardcover by Troy Denning and Ed Greenwood is slated to be released at GenCon 2000 -- "no Realms fan will want to miss this turning point for Faerun."  Also confirmed is a FR CD-ROM containing out-of-print FR publications. From "Roleplaying Revivus!" by WotC Group Publisher Johnny L. Wilson:  3E will bring us "less charts, more action," "less niche, more support," "less paper, more rules," "less dice, more story," and "less mapping, more miniatures."  This last one refers to greater support for miniatures rules in 3E. The Annual has a bunch of fun articles and an Alternity DarkMatter adventure.  Buy one, now, I command you! November 2, 1999 Master Chef and other Skills:  TSR VP Ryan Dancey made some comments about the 3E skill system, particularly as it pertains to how skills are improved and what a "high score" in a skill really means.  (on the TSR Message Board; thanks to Keith Sletten for the scoop) In order to keep rules complexity at a manageable level, the ability to improve in a skill normally just increases the percentage chance that you'll successfully use the skill when tested, or reduce the time or complexity of the materials involved in using the skill.  In some limited cases, improvements in one skill make other, related skills work better.  Some skills can be used "untrained" - that is, you can use the skill even if you have no experience in it and hope you just get lucky (or the task is really simple to complete).  In that case, the skill check is basically an ability check (although sometimes using a skill "untrained" can apply negative modifiers to the roll not just a +0).  Other skills can only be used with some basic knowledge - in other words, the character must have used some discretionary skill points on acquiring that skill.  Some skills have prerequisites "you must have X points of Craft:  Cooking before you can select Craft: Master Chef"). November 1, 1999 I returned from vacation to find a couple of nifty 3E info-bits in my e-mail box, so without further ado... The official 3E web site has been updated again, with another entry in the Playtesters at Work section.  This time, Der Verdammte's group saved the Ranger's ability to fight with two weapons simultaneously.  Here's what the final description of the Ranger's Weapon and Armor skills looks like (thanks to Der Verdammte for the scoop): Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A ranger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields. When wearing light armor, a ranger can fight with two weapons as if he had the feats Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting. Now, that may not look like much, but let's analyze this a bit: Weapon groupings:  it looks like weapons are grouped by how easy they are to master.  "Simple weapons," presumably, could be learned by anyone, even wizards.  Perhaps there will be restrictions on who can use "martial weapons."  And there could be other groupings as well.  Remember Oriental Adventures?  It grouped certain weapons into a "ninja weapons" group and there were rules about certain classes not being able to use those weapons.  This makes a lot of sense:  now, instead of having a laundry list of weapons each class can learn, 3E will simply tell us which groups of weapons can be used by the class in question. Weapon proficiency:  If the Ranger starts out "proficient" in these two broad categories of weapons, this begs the question:  do the fighter types need to even spend "proficiency points" (or whatever they might be called in 3E) to become proficient?  It appears not.  What about the other classes?  Or does "proficient" even mean the same thing in 3E?  How does this affect abilities like Weapon Specialization?  Lots of unanswered questions here. Armor proficiency:  Armors have apparently been grouped as well, by relative encumbrance.  Looks like the Ranger won't normally be found wearing Full Plate armor (though presumably this sort of skill could be purchased in some way).  And what does "proficient with" mean in terms of armor?  What are the "non-proficiency" penalties? Rangers rewarded for wearing light armor:  Note that the Ranger only gets the two-weapon perks if wearing Light armor.  As we've already seen, armor will play a part in how well characters can use certain Dexterity-related skills and movement skills like swimming and climbing.  Interesting... Feats:  The concept of Heroic Feats has been tossed around for a while now, and it's been a little hard to describe what they are.  From this description, it seems that they are kind of a cross between the special powers in the High Level Campaigns book, the Special Maneuvers and Weapon Skills from Combat and Tactics, and some of the Traits from Skills and Powers.  I'm sure we'll all be keeping our eyes open for more on this topic. 3E Info from Italian comics convention:  "Ataru Moroboshi," the webmaster of the Italian translation of this site, wrote in with a scoop of his own: Yesterday (30 October) at Lucca Comics (the most important Italian Comics exhibition), I was present at the official Italian announce of D&D Third Edition by 25 Edition, the Italian AD&D publisher.  I got the following info: The Prime Requisite for Sorcerer is Charisma. Character size gives a bonus (or malus [penalty]) to Armour Class and the difference in size between attacker and defender will give a bonus or a malus to the to hit roll (a human attacking a giant will get a bonus, a giant attacking an human will get a malus). I don't know the exact value of the malus/bonus. Maximal ability scores for races have been removed (an halfling  can have a STR over 17). A first level warrior get an attack bonus of +1 (the sample table in 3ecombat.htm say all first level character get a +0).  [Note:  the chart on the Combat page is for translating 2E THAC0s into bonuses that can be used with 3E Armor Class system -- Eric Noah.] Every 3 levels a character get to choice a new Heroic Feat (there are over 100 Heroic Feat from which to choice), some example of Heroic Feat that I heard are: Thieves: Evasion (damage from direct spell, like Fireball or Lightning) is halved. Magic-User: to cast spell at the beginning of the round (not waiting for his turn in the initiative cycle), to cast spell ignoring required verbal component, to cast spell ignoring required somatic component, to cast spell ignoring required material component, to increase spell range, to cast spells wearing armour (1 Heroic Feat for light armour, 2 Heroic Feat for medium armour and 3 Heroic Feat for heavy armour), to use swords (and other long weapons). Other Heroic Feat: to be ambidextrous, to fight with two weapon with the same dimension [e.g. two weapons of the same size]. Every 4 levels a character can raise an ability score (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA) of +1 (there are no limits to the maximum number of times you can raise an attribute). The to hit roll for touch spells (like Shocking Grasp or Vampiric Touch) will ignore target armour and magical bonus from magical items that do not change the apparent position of target position (for example the target will not get any bonus to the armour class from a Ring of Protection +1 but it will get the bonus from a Cloak of Displacement). An elf will get a +2 bonus to DEX and a -2 to CON. A half-orc will get a +2 to STR, a -2 to CHA and -2 to DEX. At every level change a character will get some points (I don't know how many) to divide between his skills. The points assigned to a skill will be added to roll of a skill check for this skill. For example if you assign 3 points to Swimming every time you roll a check against Swimming you get to add 3 to the d20 roll. Italian Edition will be presented at Lucca 2000 (at the end of October 2000), the German Edition will be presented at Essen (I think in the middle of October) and the Spanish edition will be presented in the middle of November 2000. Dungeons & Dragons, D&D 3E and AD&D are all property of Wizards of the Coast.