News in Review for Aug 23 to Aug 29 2010
Feeling a mite under the weather today, so did not have time to prepare my usual commentary on this week’s D&D 4E News – there is nothing is quite so obnoxious as coming down with a head cold in hot summer weather. But to highlight this week’s activities, I would have to say that Magic Items and Monsters were definitely the topics to watch.
Kobold Quarterly’s King of the Monster Contest 2 announced its finalists, and there are some very interesting specimens of beasties and critters to check out on the official site. Voting for the Winner will begin tomorrow, August 30th.
And the sweeping changes to Magic Items, announced in the Countdown to Essentials column on the official Wizards of the Coast site sparked some interesting discussions around the web on blogsites and forums – including this one, of course. [Editor's Note: Personally, I could not be happier with the changes, and I am thrilled that the power over magic item rewards once again rests in the wise and capable hands of the Dungeon Master.]
There are some interesting reviews planned for this week and the weeks to come, so check back to find out more about GSL and Official Products! The Dark Sun Creature Catalog should be shipping out soon, and Neuroglyph Games will have a review as soon as possible once the Brown Box finally gets it here!
So until next blog… I wish you Happy Gaming!
- Bill Slavicsek offers a Mark of Nerath Encounter inspired from the Abyssal Plague novel, The Mark of Nerath. Download the Wolf Runners of the Trade Road encounter now from the WotC official site.
- Mike Mearls pens this week’s Countdown to Essentials column, discussing the new rules for Magic Item Rarity, and how to tell a Common item from and Uncommon one, and what makes a Rare Item so special!
- In this week’s Winning Races: Drow, learn how dark elves are disciplined as they are “taught” in the Academies of the Underdark. Now in Dragon #390!
- Peter Lee discusses in the Preview Archive “How Do We Make These Minis?” in the Lords of Madness Preview 2!
- Major computer game announcement! The next Online Role-Playing Game from Atari for Wizards of the Coast will be: Neverwinter Reborn Check out the official site for the game here!
- Kobold Quarterly announces the Top Ten Finalist in their King of the Monsters 2 Contest. Jusdging now begins, so cast your vote as King of the Monsters 2, Fight! for domination…
- Mike Shea at Critical-Hits.com posts a commentary on the Upcoming 4e Item Rarities and the Great 4e Rebalancing.
- The Tome Show podcasts Episode 146 with some Gen Con Interviews.
- At Penny Arcade, Tycho blogs about D&D Essentials in Traditional Values. The recent comic also depicts Gabe’s dilemma over finding the new “Red Box”!
- At-Will.com offers a ettin with an attitude in WorldBreaker: Troy and Bull, The Smashing Brothers!
- Mike Shea at Sly Flourish.com suggests Three Encounter-Changing Effects!
- Kobold Quarterly is posting the Finalists from the King of the Monsters Contest 2: Check out the Vital Necklace!
- Wimwick at Dungeon’s Master.com offers his experiences as A DM’s Debut: The Story of a First Time GenCon Judge!
- Greywulf’s Lair.com questions why Animal Characters have not caught on for a D&D Setting in Anthro Power!
- Kobold Quarterly has another of the Finalists from the King of the Monsters Contest 2: Here’s the Palaver!
- Stephen Radney-MacFarland posts this month’s Save My Game column in Dungeon #181, discussing Taking Time On the Other Side of the DM Screen taught him a few tricks at this year’s GenCon.
- The Slaver’s Stone is the new Chaos Scar Adventure in Dungeon #181, written by WotC’s Robert J. Schwalb. This adventure is designed for 5th Level Players
- WotC’s Mike Mearls & Jeremy Crawford have the August D&D Podcast, featuring their experiences from GenCon 2010!
- ChattyDM & son Nico at Critical-Hits.com post a special blog: The New D&D Starter Red Box: A Chatty and Nico Review!
- Here’s another Finalists from Kobold Quarterly’s King of the Monsters Contest 2: the Horakh!
- In the new Class Acts: Warlords, there are new Paragon Paths for multiclass and hybrid Warlords who are Uncommon Commanders. Available now in Dragon #390.
- In this month’s Confessions of a Full-Time Wizard discusses her experiences On Becoming a Gamer.
- In the second Treasure Options, Miranda Horner offers more hooks leading to WotC adventures in Estate of Deveron, Part 2.
- Kobold Quarterly has more Finalists from the King of the Monsters Contest 2: Ohsoram the Shattered King and Hooded Hunter!
- Bartoneus at Critical-Hits.com continues his series on applying real world design concepts in The Architect DM: Function & Playability.
- On Greg Bilsland’s In the Eye of the Beholder blogsite, the WotC Designer discusses The Fine Art of Party Building.
- At-Will.com takes a new look at how skills can be used in Serious Skills: Skills under the Microscope.
- Ameron at Dungeon’s Master.com has some more Adventure Hooks: Welcome to the Sun & Moon Tavern (Part 2)!
- WotC’s Organized Play Developer,Chris Tulach, has the August D&D Play Spotlight, discussing the recent events, as well as upcoming Game Days and D&D Encounters in a Return to Adventure!!
- Ed Greenwood has another Eye on the Realms in Dungeon #181, with the legend of a powerful magic item in The Circle of Fangs!
- In this month’s D&D Alumni, Bart Carroll queries designers, authors and editors about the origins of Athas in Alumni: Dark Sun!
- Kobold Quarterly has more three more Finalists from the King of the Monsters Contest 2: Andrenjinyi (Rainbow Serpent), the Thistle, and the Vapor Lynx!
- The Countdown to Essentials continues with Bill Slavicsek’s Ampersand Special: Essentials Previews, this time previewing A Vault Full of Monsters – take a glimpse into the D&D Essentials Monster Vault!
- James Wyatt discusses his Aquela Setting in Dungeoncraft 30, and takes a look at how the elements of Theme, Plot, and World can affect the setting. Now in Dungeon #181.
- Bart Carroll’s Spotlight Interview this Friday takes a look at the bloggers on the Something Awful.com site – featuring their “WTF, D&D!?” segments.
- Megan at RPGNet.com posts aReview of the Dark Sun Campaign Setting!
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