The changes for 4E are numerous.
Like the core game, a lot of rules have been simplified and a good deal of the setting has been simplified as well. There have also been ground-shaking changes to the Toril, which will allow players to explore a whole different world from that encountered in the V3 setting. However, the best place to start is probably with the physical book it's-self.

One of the most striking changes to book is that the logo and styles of artwork which once made Forgotten Realms stand out from the Core Rules are gone. They have been replaced with artwork and logos identical to that of the three Core Rule books. This is a sign that Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast are being much stricter with the design than in then past or that they are trying to make Forgotten Realms a bigger part of the core D&D experience (for reference, at least some of the pre-made campaigns which have been issued in the past few months are set in parts of the Forgotten Realms).
Physically, the book is slightly thinner then the previous edition, with around 280 pages compared to the V3's 320 pages. The arrangement of chapters has also been improved and now bares a resemblance to the Monster Manual, with each country or major town receiving two (or occasionally four or six) pages to it's-self. Other short chapters cover new monsters, the history of Toril, the Gods, the Planes and a selection of sample adventures.
Unfortunately, the majority of these chapters appear to have had content cut since their V3 iteration. Much of what has been cut is of no great consequence and can easily be restored by the GM, or indeed, supplanted with homebrew ideas and rules, but it is clear that WOTC want you to purchase the forthcoming Forgotten Realms Player Guide as well, which will presumably contain cut content such as the additional character classes and races, further information about the deities and the rather useful information about running a FR campaign.

Having looked at the outside of Toril as it were, it is probably best to turn to the actual setting for a while.
The biggest plot change, and indeed the premise for much of the setting, is that roughly ten years after the information in the V3 setting was published (1375 DR in the in game calendar), a massive catastrophe known as the Spellplague destroyed The Weave, which was the main source for much of Toril's magic. The consequences of this were far reaching, resulting in much death, destruction and the worlds of Toril and Abeir (or Earth) colliding in a massive inter-dimensional rift.
The year is now 1479 and while magic has been recovered, there are many scars left on the landscape and on the people of Toril and a large number of consequences in the world, such as the death of some of the Gods, realignment of some Gods (in line with the reduced number of alignments in the Core Rules), the destruction of some Planes and a redraw of much of the Southern portion of Faerûn.

I don't have problems with the vast majority of these changes. In fact, I really like the idea of a campaign that runs though the Spellplague - something the book suggests as a way of updating older characters or allowing them to be replaced.
Overall, I do feel disappointed by the 4E setting so far. It seems less detailed and less comprehensive then the previous editions. On one hand, this is a blessing for GMs because they can just lift areas of Toril for use without using the rule changes that are forth coming in FR Player Guide, but on the other hand, GMs may be asked to purchase (or indeed feel obliged to purchase) the extra book because players want the extra rule changes, races, classes and so on.
I suspect that with the addition of the Player Guide, it will feel a lot more rounded and like a complete setting instead of just an empty world.

Other then that, my only real niggle is to do with the condition of the book. Unfortunately, I bought the last copy from the usually excellent Static Games in Glasgow, and it has a couple of very damaged pages which I didn't notice until I got home.
Not sure if they'd let me swap it, but I might mention it next time I'm buying from there and see if I can swing a discount.

Dungeons and Dragons - Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide is out now priced at £24.99 (±$50). It's companion volume, the Forgotten Realms Player Guide is due out September 2008.

Honestly, I was not aware of Michael Goldfarb or his comments against D&D and its players. I had assumed most people moved on. To be blunt, the allegations against D&D and its players were ludicrous back when it was hip to blame D&D for everything wrong with the world (that stigma now belongs to video games, again), but to continue the rhetoric into the modern era is pathetic.

Wizards of the Coast posted a response to Michael Goldfarb's comments (Goldfarb's jabs were published in the New York Times and John McCain's website: in public) on their website which I felt defended D&D in a diplomatic fashion while pointing out the absurdity of a supposedly pro-military campaign slandering a company, game, and community that actually supports the military men and women deployed around the world.

John Goldfarb's article: Smears the Left Can Fight For [Warning: this link leads to McCain/Palin campaign website ~ed.]

Letter in response from Wizards of the Coast: A Letter to Mr. Goldfarb

Host a Dungeons & Dragons event for your library patrons!

It is a huge hit with teens and adults! D&D is an ongoing activity played with books, paper and pencils, and it requires creativity, imagination, and cooperation (with a bit of math and reading thrown in).

Resources are available at www.wizards.com/dndlibrary and you can email Wizards of the Coast directly for information at dndlibrary@wizards.com.

-Erica

There was another announcement about the status of the new look of magicthegathering.com today. They are apparently ahead of schedule and looking to put the sight up in a day or two. I'm excited to hear the news as I'm acious to see how the new site will function. They haven't updated any articles but there is a new card of the day. They probably have the current site in some sort of freeze situation as they switch servers. We have a similar situation going on at my office with our new site.

Anyway there was one little spoiler art on the homepage that linked to the announcement.

Any speculation on these guys? Wizards in Esper no doubt. I'd say it is a council card of some sort. Maybe like Droning Bureaucrats except these guys look smarter and more serious.

"Nos reconhecemos o papel importante do suporte das publicações de terceiros para o sucesso da Quarta Edição de Dungeons & Dragons. Nos ouvimos a comunidade e nossos estimados colegas e levamos em consideração suas preocupações e conselhos. Nosso comprometimento para a longevidade do estilo de vida do hobby e dá indústria se refletirá em revisões para a Game System License."
-- Linae Foster, administradora da licença de D&D.

A Wizards não anunciou uma data para a revisão, mas promete que será num futuro próximo.

A nova política para sites de fãs também será publicada mais adiante, quando estiver pronta.

Notícia originalmente postada na REDERPG.

Era de se esperar que, um dia, a Wizards of the Coast fosse lançar uma versão nova de seu jogo mais popular, o famoso D&D. A 4a. edição foi lançada recentemente nos EUA, já tem um monte de suplementos adicionais e traz algumas novidades para o jogo. Como sempre, o sistema básico é dividido em três livros principais: o Player's Handbook, o Dungeon Master Guide e o Monster Manual.

Visualmente, os livros são estonteantes. Os desenhos são muito bem feitos, a diagramação e a programação visual são perfeitas. Não daria pra esperar menos, afinal, a Wizards tem um staff enorme, com muito dinheiro para gastar com isso. Os melhores ilustradores de fantasia na atualidade deram sua contribuição. A impressão e a diagramação valorizam muito o visual dos livros.

Com relação ao sistema, o principal a ser notado é que muitos dos detalhes do sistema d20 -- como apareceram na 3a. edição -- foram meio que deixados de lado. O sistema ainda é baseado no d20, ainda existem raças e classes, muitos dos detalhes do sistema ainda existem, mas as assim chamadas complicações foram deixadas de lado. Talvez isso não seja tão bom, porque existe alguma coisa no sistema que torna o D&D um jogo com sua própria atmosfera, e isso pode ter sumido. Eu ainda não joguei, então isso é apenas especulação, e posso estar completamente enganado.

Existem duas raças novas: os Dragonborn e os Eladrin. Os Dragonborn são descendentes de dragões (como era de se esperar) remanescentes de um império em decadência, e com grande honra. Os Eladrin são simplesmente os alto-elfos -- ao invés de diversos tipos de elfos, o D&D novo faz uma separação entre altos-elfos e elfos-cinza, cada nova raça com suas habilidades pertinentes. Muitas das classes antigas sumiram, mas os suspeitos de sempre estão lá: guerreiro, paladino, ladrão, mago, ranger, clérigo, etc. Entre as classes eliminadas estão druidas e monges, o que eu acho meio ruim. Existe a classe do warlord, líderes de combate, perfeita para os Dragonborn. Além disso, as classes tem um aspecto adicional, o 'role', ou o papel que a classe desempenha dentro de um grupo (líder, protetor, etc.) Isso pode ajudar na criação de grupos mais coerentes.

Uma impressão que eu tive foi que os personagens têm a tendência a crescer muito rápido e ficarem muito poderosos. De uma forma geral, parecido com jogos de RPG on-line, como World of Warcraft e similares. Provavelmente, houve a preocupação em chamar a atenção desse público, já que é o RPG on-line que faz sucesso hoje em dia. Mas as regras acabam permitindo a criação de verdadeiros tanques de guerra, especializados em atropelar o inimigo sem perceber, o que pode não ser muito divertido se o grupo quer se divertir com o outro aspecto do RPG: a interpretação.

Resumindo, não é o lançamento mais brilhante do sistema, mas dá uma renovada no que estávamos acostumados a ver. Daqui pra frente, é esperar pra ver se o novo sistema tem o mesmo sabor de D&D de sempre.

I think I should point out that I actually enjoy being the one who throws the hideous perils at the players, and actually get quite mardy when said perils strike me down in other arenas of geeky fantasy fun, such as World of Warcraft.

In this episode of Barbarian Needs Food, Evan and Paul talk about Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 and 3.5, a role-playing game of high fantasy in realms of magic and monsters.

Discussion includes: an in-depth look at basic game mechanics, a brief digression into the philosophy of role playing, discussion of differences of earlier versions, tips on how to prevent players from abusing certain rules, and examination of the d20 System and Open Game License developments.

NEXT EPISODE:

It looks like September is going to be a tough month for some of us gamers on the internet. Vimeo will be banning "in game videos" on their site come September 1 and, Gleemax will be completely phased out.

At least there's some hope. Vimeo users can easily hop over to WeGame . For those of us who are table top gamers or, Magic: The Gathering lovers, we can always check out the other options Wizards of the Coast gives us.

Honestly, the Gleemax announcement isn't a huge shock to me.Gleemax just didn't take off at all. The site was created in October 2007 and, has had little hype around the gamers circuit. Not many people use it, no large gaming sites had much information on it. Gleemax was almost self-sufficient only bringing in the hardcore WoC fans. That's definitely not enough.

Hopefully, Gleemax going away will allow WoC to bring us some very cool stuff in the form of online networks and, resources for some of our favorite games. By the way...I'll bet no one knew D&D has a podcast put out by WoC . Yeah..it's another thing that they forgot to hype up.

If you are interested in the full article click here.

Wizards of the Coast has released a very brief glimpse of the 1st quarter 2009 publication schedule and I have to say that it has certainly peaked my interest.

January 2009 brings us the new undead resource Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead. It is still unclear what this tome may hold, but I am hopeful for new undead creatures, templates, rules and maybe even some more information pertaining to the Shadowfell. Wizards has yet to explain whether books like this will be geared more toward the player or the DM. From a marketing standpoint, they will probably try and cover both, but in my opinion, books that span that gap tend to ruin the surprises that a DM can hit their players with. Let's hope they choose one side.

February brings a true mystery down the pipeline. The title, Dungeon Delve is all we have to speculate on, but that won't keep me from jumping to conclusions. Hopefully this supplement will bring a little more life to those dungeon crawls that we all enjoy. My money is on an assortment of Traps, Environmental Hazards, Terrain Features, Plot Hooks and maybe a sample dungeon setting or two.

March brings us the most exciting entry of the spring line up, The Players Handbook 2! We have gleaned tid bits of information about the Players Handbook Series since even before the release of 4th edition. Generally what we can expect to see is a new Players Handbook every year, implementing new races, classes, power sources, feats, weapons, armor and more. The Players Handbook 2 according to it's cover (so far as we can discern) will cover the Arcane, Divine and Primal power sources. This leads me to believe that a few of the most anticipated legacy classes will be fleshed out in this rules supplement. My guesses? The Arcane power source will likely be the Sorcerer as they have already explained the basic concept in the Races and Classes preview. Primal will likely encompass the Druid and Barbarian classes. This leaves the Divine power source. I think that the Druid is moving away from being a divine caster class, but based on the use of spirit animals in the cover art, I am thinking that they will probably explore the Shaman class or perhaps the necromancer, though I am betting that is a very very slim chance indeed. I am also tempted to speculate that they will be re-introducing the Goliath race that first appeared in the 3rd edition Races of Stone supplement. I base this on the hulking figure displayed on the cover of the PHB2, though it is pretty hard to tell for certain. It would also make sense if my class assertions are right as the Goliaths are ideally suited to the Barbarian, Druid and Shaman classes. Any opinions on your part? Post 'em in the comments.

Lastly, in April 2009 we will get the second of the Power Source Supplements, Arcane Power. Hopefully, with it's publication coming after the Players Handbook 2, it will have some additional features linked to the Arcane class or classes debuted in that publication.

All in all, it looks like this slew of rules supplements will keep us all busy as we ramp up for the summer months.

Official 2009 D&D Schedule

4:22 AM on a stormy, sleepless night and my mind wanders to lessons learned in youth. Here then, is a primer on how to win at Magic.

You must decrease the variables.

There is always one unknown variable: what cards your opponent will be playing. It's entertaining to think of this as the 1st deduction you have to claim for yourself when you do your taxes. It's always there. No getting around it.

In order to win at Magic, it's best to understand that you're actually playing against yourself. The decisions you make prior to the duel will determine your success.

Here are some guidelines:

1.) Never play with more than 60 cards in your deck. Remember those bad variables? Every card over 60 is one of them. You don't want to be in the position of guessing what cards you'll be playing in addition to what cards your opponent is playing.

2.) Always distribute your manna in a 2 cards to 1 land ratio. It's perfectly legal to stack your deck with the 2 cards to 1 land prior to the shuffle. Not lacking manna removes another variable.

3.) Play with only one color. Black or Red are highly recommended. This used to be somewhat less important when dual lands were more prevalent, but even then, it was best to eliminate any chance of not getting the cards you need.

4.) Your deck should do one and only one thing extremely well. Again, limit the variables. If everything in your deck works, then everything works. Whether it's a rack or land-fucker deck, only stick to relevant cards with an inexpensive casting cost.

5.) You should always strive for the fastest possible deck. If you can't cast it on the first or second turn with a dark ritual, forget about it. Big creatures are a waste. They're far easier for your opponent to dispel than they are for you to summon. If you can beat the other duelist to the punch, it matters much less what cards she has. Don't let her use them.

He looks cool, but won't help you win.

If you follow these rules, you will win more at Magic. Your dorm room or corporate prestige will grow. And in less time, with my system, you will command a superior view of the plains of Dominia.

I'd close by wishing you luck, duelist. But I hope I've shown that in fact your success rests upon the elimination of variables. And that's something you can control.

This post is affectionately dedicated to J.L., with whom I crawled the early morning streets of Williamsport PA because somebody somewhere was looking to trade.

Earlier today I read an article on Magic.tcgplayer.com, that was basically a follow up interview with Mark Rosewater (Maro), link to the article here. I haven't really made a comment on the changes as of yet because I agree that there are too many cards to keep track of with a release every three months or so. Especially for the casual player.

At first I didn't really think too much of the insertion of lands into the booster packs. I didn't really like the idea because I don't ever seem to have a problem collecting plenty land each new set (did Wizards forget about Tournament Packs?). Anyway why I'm bringing this all up is because Maro suggested that the land cards will be passed down to the newer players who need the land, which is the whole point to begin with. Here are his words as written, 

 The land in the booster packs is meant to supplement the intro pack lands not be the sole source. In addition, having the lands in every booster pack will help get more lands into the system which we anticipate will funnel down to the new players.

Now I'm all in favor of making Magic more accessible to newer players, but I'm a little annoyed that Wizards wants to pass the cost of getting lands into new players hands through it's current player base. I really think this extra land will be really annoying in draft and limited. The more I think about it the more I feel like we, the consumer, are loosing out. And hey Wizards, for the record I have a whole box of land that I always share with newer players (or anyone) who needs some land. So the current player base is already out there to support the new guys. 

I think there are a lot of ways Wizards could use it's current player base to help reach out to newer players. Like a referral program or official Learn to Play Magic days, bring a friend Friday. 

I'm not out to slam Wizards or Maro, I just thought that this piece of their new plan isn't that great. I do believe that Wizards is trying to do the best for it's players and I think that they do a good job overall to support the community. So if someone from Wizards is out there reading this I'd be happy to act as a sounding board for ideas. I've actually brought a few new players to the game myself this year.

Otherwise I can't wait for Eventide.  

Here is the list of developers, publishers, and various other companies that will be attending:

    - 1up.com
    - 2K Games
    - Activision
    - Antec, Inc.
    - Astro Gaming
    -The Behemoth
    - Bethesda
    - Bioware
    - Blizzard
    - Brawndo
    - Bungie
    - CCP/Whitewolf
    - CDV
    - clubNAMCO.com
    - Cogswell Polytechnical College
    - Cryptic Studios
    - D3P
    - Destineer
    - Dolby
    - EA Mythic
    - ECA (Entertainment Consumer's Association)
    - Electronic Arts
    - Fantasy Flight Games
    - Flying Frog Productions
    - Flying Lab Software
    - Foundation 9 Entertainment
    - Game Publishers Association
    - Gamecock
    - GameTrailers
    - Garage Games
    - Guildhall at SMU
    - Harmonix
    - Hothead Games
    - Hudson
    - Indiecade
    - Intel
    - ITT Tech
    - Klei Entertainment
    - Media-blasters NYC
    - Mega64
    - Meteor Games
    - Microsoft XNA
    - Microsoft
    - Midway
    - Namco Bandai
    - NCsoft
    - Nintendo
    - Nokia
    - Patriot Memory
    - Pegasus Publishing
    - Pink Godzilla
    - Plantronics
    - Privateer Press
    - Razer
    - Rockstar
    - Roosterteeth.com
    - Sierra/Vivendi
    - Sony
    - SouthPeak Games
    - Stardock
    - Sumo Lounge
    - Telltale
    - THQ
    - Tinderbox Entertainment
    - Tritton Technologies
    - Turbine
    - Ubisoft
    - Udon Entertainment / Oni Press
    - Upper Deck
    - Vivox
    - Wizards of the Coast
    - Zenimax

And, naturally, here's the list of the ones NOT attending:

    - Valve
    - Sega
    - Konami
    - Lucas Arts
    - WB Games
    - Monolith Studios
    - Eidos
    - Codemasters
    - Capcom

Her novel, Crypt of the Moaning Diamond, was recently published by Wizards of the Coast.

Blurb:
Alone in the dark, trapped underground, the water is rising.

There is no going back.

The city is built on its own ruins. Monsters stalk its long-collapsed corridors, hungry for fresh meat. Artifacts from a forgotten age lie in wait, corrupting all they touch. Water rising from the depths steals all hope of survival.

Visit the author's website.

Purchase and/or read a sample chapter here.

The Good:

UPDATE:  Forgot about the no penalties thing!  All defenses are modified by 1 of 2 possible stats.  You choose which at character creation.  Have a lumbering fighter with low dex?  No problem, simple add your strength to AC instead of dexterity!  A wizard smarter than she is nimble?  No problem, use intelligence to determine your reflex defense in place of dexterity.  Again this all serves towards the general trend of defining your character by what the CAN do rather than by what he/she CAN'T do.

Save for opening chapter the PHB lacks fluff and is super crunchy.  Not different from previous editions, but reads more like a Manual than other editions.  Essentially this lets the player learn the game before settling into a campaign, and leaves the DM free to craft the environment and atmosphere of the campaign world.  I've always felt that established campaign worlds have a lot of baggage for a DM to manage, by sketching only the barest outlines of a game world WotC leaves things wide open from a creative standpoint.  Of course this leaves later, non-essential, supplements to add flavor and fluff to the campaign world.  For those who love their established settings late 3.x saw WotC place emphasis on the Player's Guide to [insert Campaign Setting]; a trend I like and a trend that will continue with September's Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms.  The separation of Player info and DM info is a good thing and a published guide for Players certainly takes some of the onus off of the DM for conveying the mountain of information often needed to introduce a new campaign setting.

Read on for more.....

Fourth edition offers a clear set of rules for non-combat encounters.  Detractors, at least prior to release (you know who you are!), claimed this discourages roleplaying, but I would argue that the opposite is true.  By designing specific rules for handling skill based encounters WotC has, in essence, created an outline by which to guide roleplaying; not to override it completely.  The example in the DMG of a Skill Challenge is heavy on the role-playing with each player's in-character reactions unlocking different skills to use throughout the encounter.  In this instance structure begets possibility.

Magic Items are now in the PHB.  How many times as a DM in 3.x have you had to hand over your trusty blue book to a player on a shopping spree?  Or had more than one player clamoring to take a look.  I know I've lost count.  With magic items in the hands of the players this is now a non-issue.  Changes to the function of many magic items make them more interesting though not necessarily more powerful.  Elemental weapons now deal all elemental damage rather than additional (this can be turned on and off) and all magic weapons deal additional damage on a critical (d6 per enhancement bonus, if I'm not mistaken) and, in addition all items (that aren't just a generic +x whatever) typically have some sort of cool daily ability to use.  Certain types of items are gone completely, namely items that grant static enhancements to ability scores, instead an increased rate of ability point gain is built into character progression (yay!) leaving magic items to enhance, not determine, what you can do.  All in all, really cool stuff.

No extraneous rolling.  Things that required two or more rolls in previous editions are, as far as I can see, down to 1 roll.  Things like grapple and critical hits.  You do have to confirm a critical hit (something not mentioned Keep on the Shadowfell) but it doesn't require a second roll; only that your natural 20 (an automatic hit, regardless) modified by your attack meet or beat the target defense score (i.e. a natural 20 with an attack modifier of 6 is a critical hit vs. AC 17).  I can't see many cases where this is really an issue, especially at lower levels.

The Bad:

Multiclassing.  Already said my piece in my overview, but non-min/maxers that liked mixing classes are SOOL here.  Min/maxers are supremely screwed in multiclassing; but I'm not going to cry about that.  Not a deal breaker but certainly a bit of a let down.

We are missing a  lot of core classes.  I love druids, which are M.I.A.  Monks, and bards are missing as well, though the Warlord functions similar to the 3.x bard, and is class I really like.  The druid's emphasis on his animal companion is the likely source for his exclusion.  As much as I like the animal companion as a player, as a DM they can be a bit of a headache, and I won't cry too much when the 4e druid shows up minus his furry friend (Note:  suspected but not confirmed).  The Sorcerer is also gone, but hints abound on the 'net already regarding his ongoing redesign (wild magic anyone?).  I'm curious what the Sorcerer will look like in 4e, since his 3.x self had been crying for some kind of redesign since its release.  With the stated intention of releasing new Player's Handbooks on a vaguely regular timetable we will most certainly see the return of classes missed in this initial outing.

The ascetics of the books are little too clean for my tastes.  The clean lines and starkly contrasted colors, while an aid to readability, deprive the books of some character.  Not a deal breaker, but a little of an attempt to replicate that old school feel would have been appreciated.  I was particularly distressed to see that same uniformity of design carried over into the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide as setting books have, in the past, had their own unique look and feel.

The epic destinies chapter was a little sparse for my tastes.  I would have liked this chapter expanded and moved to the DMG, or at least expanded in the DMG, to provide some tips on how to integrate some of this material in a campaign.

Not really a bad thing I admit, but everything is awesome.  This makes character creation difficult.  Every class has something I like, every race is cool making character creation an arduous process.  I just want to play everything.  You hear me WotC!  Make things less awesome...or don't.

The Badder:

A sudden steep drop off in productivity?  If I were still in school I might be lamenting the sudden cliff-like drop in GPA thanks to devoting too much free time to play D&D.  If that's the worst part, and so far it is, congratulations WotC on a frickin' kick-ass product.

Honestly, I can't think of anything to put here.  At least, not this early in my experience with the game.  Once I've seen more and gotten a better handle on leveling and power scaling I might have something to add here, I hope not, but you never know.

The feature is about how WotC "fixed" Leaping Lizards Magic Online product and is entitled "Do You Believe In Magic... Online" Nope, unfortunately I don't, I wish I could!

Ahh the infamy!

Still - at least the CCG has taken a turn for the better with the last few releases! I've thouroughly enjoyed Lorwyn^TM and Shadowmoor^TM releases :-)

Der folgende Spielbericht enthält massiv Spoiler zum Abenteuer. Wer also nach dem Game Day noch das Abenteuer als Spieler erleben möchte, der sollte den Artikel nicht weiter lesen.

Ich kam kurz vor 16 Uhr an und verteilte das durch WotC und Feder & Schwert großzügig mitgeschickte Werbematerial. Direkt danach konnten wir auch schon loslegen, allerdings mit sechs statt der geplanten vier Spieler. Kurz vorher hatte sich einer der zusätzlichen Spieler noch angemeldet, so das ich zumindest teilweise vorgewarnt war und noch schnell ein paar Charakterbögen auf der fürchterlich unübersichtlichen Homepage der Küstenmagier ausdrucken konnte. Zusätzlich zu den fünf Grundcharakteren wurde der Tiefling Warlord gewählt und wir begannen das Abenteuer "In die Schattenflucht" (herunterzuladen hier). Ich hielt mich ziemlich eng an das Abenteuer, deswegen wurde der Prolog größtenteils übersprungen, indem ich den Intro-Text vorlas. Meine Gruppe zeigte direkt Initiative (nachdem herzlich über den Namen des Auftraggebers gelacht wurde) und ermittelte Infos über die Schattenflucht, bevor sie sich in das Mausoleum stürzten. Hier erwartete die Gruppe ein Rätsel und ein Geheimgang. Rätsel setze ich nicht gerne in meinen Abenteuern ein, weil sie sehr unnatürlich wirken und... naja, wenn man es mal innerhalb der Spielwelt betrachtet, so sind die sie auch nicht sonderlich praktisch. Wenn man eine Tür abschließt und den Schlüssel mitnimmt, so muss man das Türschloss knacken, es aufbrechen oder den Schlüssel suchen, um hinter die Tür zu gelangen. Bei einem Rätsel verschließt man es mit einem Lösungsweg oder -wort, das jeder anwenden kann, da meist auch noch die passende Frage im gleichen Raum zu finden ist. Das ist, als würde man einen Schlüssel neben der Tür verstecken und auf der Türe umschreiben, dass er unter dem Blumentopf liegt. Naja, meine Gruppe kam sehr schnell darauf, dass man die Statuen (die einzig beweglichen Teile des Raums) in eine bestimmte Reihenfolge bringen muss, damit sich die bereits im Obelisken gefundene Geheimtür öffnet. Dann ging es runter in den Gang und der erste Encounter startete. Und der war verdammt cool! Zwei Hobgoblins haben sich hinter Sarkophagen verschanzt. Auf jedem dieser Sarkophage stand eine Lampe. Die Sarkophage hatten sehr dünne Deckel, die bei Belastung einbrachen... und jeder Sarkophag war mit Lampenöl gefüllt. :) Sobald ein Spieler auf die mit Bögen bewaffneten Hobgoblins zusprang, brach er sehr wahrscheinlich durch den Deckel, entzündete die Falle und ging in Flammen auf. Die Sarkophage konnte aber auch umgekippt werden, um den Hobgoblins ihre eigene Falle schmecken zu lassen. Sehr, sehr feiner Kampf, bei dem die Spieler flott merkten, dass D&D4 ein enorm taktisches Spiel ist. Es verging kaum eine Runde, in der sich nicht neu positioniert wurde, um weitere Kräfte einzusetzen, Hobgoblins ins Feuer zu stoßen oder Kampfvorteile zu erringen. Im folgenden Raum wurden die zu suchenden Kinder in einem magischen Kreis gefunden und erst mal in diesem belassen, weil angeblich eine Falle den Ausbruch der beiden verhindern soll. Neugierig ging es dann in den nächsten Raum, wo sie der schurkische Elfenmagier auf einem Podest erwartete, umringt von vier Skeletten. Während der Magier von oben Sprüche schleuderte, beschäftigten die Skelette die anderen Spieler. Womit die Spieler zu diesem Zeitpunkt nicht gerechnet hatten, waren die Belebten Statuen, welche sich aus dem vernachlässigten Raum mit den Kindern auf machten, in den Kampf einzugreifen. Und hier konnte die Spieler dann erste Erfahrungen mit negativen Trefferpunkten und den Rettungswürfen gegen Tod machen. Die verdammt harten Statuen hoben den Encounterlevel des Kampfes mal eben von ordentlichen 3 auf knochenbrecherische 5. Der Spieler der Elfenmagierin nutze dann clever seine Rassenfähigkeit und teleportierte sich auf das Podest und drückte den Magier mit einer Druckwelle auf den Boden der Tatsachen. Am Ende konnte der Zwergenkrieger kurz vorm Tod noch gerettet werden und die Gruppe kam ohne Verluste und siegreich aus dem Dungeon heraus.

Das lag aber wohl vor allem am sechsten Helden, denn die zweite Gruppe ging ähnlich vor wie die erste, hatte aber mit nur fünf Charakteren bzw. Spielern im finalen Kampf enorme Probleme. Schlußendlich konnte die Gruppe dank einer heroischen Aktion des Halbelfenschurken, in welcher er den anwesenden, bislang neutralen Schattengeist auf seine Seite ziehen konnte, das Abenteuer noch lösen. Allerdings lebten am Ende nur noch zwei Charaktere, die beiden Menschen (Kleriker und Kämpfer). Das könnte auch daran gelegen haben, dass bei der zweiten Gruppe gefühlte drei Dutzend kritische Treffer erzielt wurden, vor allem durch mich als SL. Die erste Gruppe kam, wenn ich mich recht entsinne, auf überhaupt keinen Crit, weder von meiner Seite, noch von ihrer.

Erstaunlich ist, dass beide Gruppen exakt gleich auf den einen hilfreichen Hinweis des Schattengeistes reagierten. Nachdem die Gruppen die sterblichen Überreste der Vorfahren des Geistes beerdigt hatten, zeigte dieser an der letzten Treppenstufe auf einen losen Stein. Spontane Reaktion von jeweils einem Spieler: "Ich tret da mal gegen!" Tja, man hörte ein "Klirr" und eine Flüssigkeit floss untem dem Stein heraus... und die Gruppe schaute betroffen auf den zerstörten Heiltrank. Ganz großes Kino. :D

Das Abenteuer hat jeweils ziemlich genau vier Stunden gedauert, was ich im Vorfeld niemals vermutet hatte. Die Encounter bei D&D4 brauchen schon ziemlich lange, aber zu keinem Zeitpunkt hatte ich oder einer der Spieler Langweile. Es gab immer etwas zu tun, immer eine neue Taktik zu besprechen und jeder Charakter konnte sich immer sinnvoll einbringen. Daher kann ich die Aktion von meiner Seite aus nur als großen Erfolg verbuchen. :)

Aber auch einige Kritikpunkte muss ich anmerken. Das Abenteuer ist schon verdammt fordernd. Gerade in einem Demoabenteue, welches neue Leute ans Spiel bringen soll, hätte es ruhig etwas weniger knifflig sein dürfen. Sie sollten nichts geschenkt bekommen, aber effektiv ein Level fünf Encounter gegen eine Gruppe von Level 1 Charakteren, welche das Spiel und die Fähigkeiten ihrer Helden noch kennenlernen... woah. Der Rollenspielansatz und die Interaktion mit NSCs kommen in dem Abenteuer effektiv nicht vor. Nun gut, das Abenteuer soll zeigen, worin D&D4 besonders gut und das wurde durch die fordernden Kämpfe auch sehr gut erfüllt. Ich hatte im Vorfeld etwas Sorge, dass einige Leute vorbeikommen könnten, die lieber "richtige Rollenspiele" spielen, also stundenlanges blabla ohne Drama, Ziel oder Charakterentwicklung. Aber so etwas wurde nicht einmal am Rande erwähnt, alle Leute konzentrierten sich auf die Herausforderung vor ihnen auf dem Plan. Was leider auch überhaupt nicht verlangt wurde, waren die "Automatischen Skill-Checks" auf Wahrnehmung und Einschätzen. Die Democharaktere hatten diese zwar auf ihren Bögen, doch das Abenteuer verlangte immer wieder aktive Proben, statt die passiven Werte abzufragen. Ein weitaus größeres Problem hatten wir aber mit den verschiedenen "Zuständen", in die man Gegner bringen konnte. Wenn die Magierin ihren Gegner bewegungslos macht, was heißt das dann? 0 Felder Bewegung? Erhält jeder gegen diesen Gegner einen Kampfvorteil? Ein Blick ins englischsprachige Player's Handbook führte dann erstmal zukurzen Diskussionen, weil keiner wusste, wie nun welcher Begriff übersetzt worden war. Da hätte man noch etwas mehr Mühe in die Democharaktbögen investieren sollen. Außerdem hat es mich in meiner Meinung bestärkt, am Spieltisch nur Regelwerke in einer Sprache zu verwenden. Am System von D&D4 hat mich erstmal nur ein Punkt extrem gestört: die Rettungswürfe. Wieso ist der Rettungswurf immer 50%? Unabhängig von der Stärke des Effektes, welcher den Rettungswurf auslöste oder der Reflexe / Zähigkeit / Willenskraft des Ziels? Oder habe ich da etwas falsch verstanden?

Insgesamt aber wirklich eine feine Veranstaltung mit einem feinem Spiel.

Impressionen der zweiten Runde gibt es auch noch als Fotos: