As this week was leading up to a major release from WotC, I guess I should not be surprised by huge number of D&D 4E news items we had this week. In addition to not just one, but three pre-release reviews for the impending Player’s Handbook 3, there were some great posts on indie sites regarding everything from new variant rules for 4E, to monsters, to interviews, contests, and a lot more.

And of course, Wizards of the Coast kept releasing great material this week, especially for Eberron fans, with articles and an encounter module aimed at the setting. And we were still being tantalized by excerpts from PHB3, including a final Class release – the Runepriest!

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve already got my PHB3 on pre-order from Amazon, and can’t wait to spend some quality time next week riffling through freshly printed pages of 4E content! It’s been a heck of a news blitz this week, and it makes me wonder what Monday will bring!

• In the Feature Article, The Kalashtar: Power of the Mind, this enigmatic psionic race from Eberron is revealed, with backgrounds and new Feats – available in Dragon #385 .
• This Monday’s new excerpt from the upcoming Player’s Handbook 3 reveals the class features of the hallmark psionic class: Player’s Handbook 3 Excerpts: Psions!
• Critical-Hits.com’s Bartoneus has a new poll, asking what RPG game you’re playing the most of in Inq. of the Week: RPG System Showdown?.
• Dungeon’s Master.com has a three part review of the new Player’s Handbook 3! Check out the first part of this pre-release review, Player’s Handbook 3 (PHB3) Review (Part 1)!
• At LivingDice.com has a “sneak peek” at the cover art and Chapter One from the upcoming release from Dias Ex Machina/Goodman Games of the new 4E compatible system: First Look: Amethyst Role-Playing Game from Dias Ex Machina–4E GSL with Guns!!
• GameInformer also has a pre-release review of PHB3 – check out D&D Player’s Handbook 3 Early Review!
• Over at The Escapist there is an exclusive interview with Wizards of the Coast Andy Collins and Liz Schuh: The Truth About 4th Edition Part 1 and The Truth About 4th Edition Part 2!
• In Winning Races, the fighting secrets of the elves of Eberron is revealed, in Fighting Styles of the Valenar, with new Feats, fighting styles, and Paragon Paths – now available in Dragon #385 .
• In Haruuc’s Tomb: A Novel Adventure, you can play this Encounter based upon the Eberron novel, Word of Traitors, and is free for download from the WotC site now!
• Part 2 of Dungeon’s Master.com’s three part review of the new Player’s Handbook 3! Check out the second part of this pre-release review, Player’s Handbook 3 (PHB3) Review (Part 2)!
• At Buccaneer’s Guild, it’s the last day to enter the contest to Win a Player’s Handbook 3!
• In Class Acts this month, Wizards are shown the true power of Summoning, with a wide range of new Daily powers – now in Dragon #385 .
• EN World News reports that the second episode of Combat Advantage Live is now at the EN Store, and the editor of CA has an open call to any author interested in writing a Psionic-themed article for the July 2010 Combat Advantage magazine!
• At Critical-Hits.com, Matt James offers a way to create a Classless 4E game.
• In Thursday’s Class Acts, Sorcerers can now access the power of Elemental Chaos, and manipulate it’s forces with Wild Magic with new Feats and a new Paragon Path in Dragon #385 .
• In this Spotlight Interview, WotC Bart Carroll speaks to Zak Smith, who writes a fairly provocative blog about his D&D game.
• The Art Galleries from the Player’s Handbook 3 are now available to D&D Insider Subscribers now on the WotC site.
• At Kobold Quarterly, read about the repulsive new hazard that from the bloated bellies of undead creatures in Humpday Hazard: Ghoul Vomit.
• Bartoneous at Critical-Hits.com discusses the pros and cons of using villainous monsters as Player-Characters and offers his own take on Monstrous Races in 4E D&D – Githyanki.
• Over at Sly Flourish, you can check out the DM Tip Twitter Archive: February 2010 for some great ideas to help your game.
• The newest Chaos Scar adventure in this month’s Dungeon magazine, pits a group of 2nd Level Characters against the evil power of the Scar, augmented by the might of Orcus! Check out Dead by Dawn by Aeryn “Blackdirge” Rudel, now available to D&D Insider Subscribers.
• WotC’s Play Content Developer, Chris Tulach, shines the D&D Play Spotlight on upcoming events this month, such as the new D&D Encounters, in March Madness
• Even though the release of Player’s Handbook 3 is almost upon us, WotC still has the excerpts coming at us: learn all about another new Character Class in Player’s Handbook 3 Excerpts: The Runepriests!
• Christopher W. Richeson at RPGNet.com has a pre-release review of the upcoming Player’s Handbook 3!
• Dixon Trimline at Critical-Hits.com offers up a fast paced, 4E-inspired, combat game for 2 or more players, called Arena 4E.
• Chris Perkins runs D&D for the writers of Robot Chicken and you can check out the newest podcast in Robot Chicken Plays D&D Episode 18.
• Dave Chalker at Critical-Hits.com has a rules variant for running a “level-capped” 4E campaign that is more like the Heroic fantasy as seen in novels. Check out E11 – 4e Gritty Heroic Roleplay.
• Sly Flourish has some great suggestions on how to Pimp My Mindflayer.

Tags: D&D 4e, news, review

This entry was posted by Editor-in-Chief on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 2:22 pm and is filed under RPG News & Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.