Quote from: Werekoala;366287Actually, Kyle, why don't you start a fitness thread in Other Media? I'd be interested to see what kind of tips you can offer. I certainly could stand to lose a few pounds.

Actually I'd be interested too. I've lost alot of the weight I gained during my knee surgeries and recovery, but I could really use advice about developing a workout plan that would let me work with my bad knees (arthritis).

Quote from: RPGPundit;366237Well, I for one think this is a fantastic development.
I'm certainly not going to shit all over it just because its 4e. Would I be happier if it was a brand new version of D&D that was closer to the original D&D mechanical concepts? Sure. But ANY time WoTC makes any kind of move that I feel is a step in the right direction, I'm going to fucking praise them for it.

And this, to all external appearances, is WoTC doing what I've been saying they should do for years now.

So good for them.

RPGPundit

Exactly right. This looks like the best introductory set since the original BD&D line was discontinued.

Quote from: Imperator;366271Maybe I'm misreading you, but I can't see the sim bits in OD&D. OD&D is a lean beast of a game, focused on the gamey parts of it. There's no sim there, there's no world, there's nothing but the dungeon and the rules.

From my understanding of sim play, there doesn't necessarily need to be an explicit world, just one implied through the rules.  I'd say things like dungeon movement-rate, encumbrance, marching order (with specific measurements for the space occupied by a single humanoid), vancian casting, morale rules, etc., are all sim bits.  

I could be mistaken, but that's just my view.

Quote from: Werekoala;366287Actually, Kyle, why don't you start a fitness thread in Other Media? I'd be interested to see what kind of tips you can offer. I certainly could stand to lose a few pounds.

I don't think it's appropriate for this forum. I'm certain Pundit would close it

You can email me on aptphysicaltraining@gmail.com

I don't think that a thread encouraging RPG gamers to be more fit would be inappropriate, quite the contrary, it would be something that some people may direly need.
Feel free to open it in the Pundit's forum, in fact.

RPGPundit
(who spent years practicing Qi Gong and has in recent months moved on to more strenuous Tibetan Yoga)

Update

Wizards of the Coast GTS 2010 Seminar | LivingDice.com

Actual picture of the product:

I'm planning on picking it up.

I actually think I will too. If nothing else, it'll be a realtively cost-effective way to show my regular group what 4e is like, and it might pull on some of the nostalgic heartstrings as well. As I've stated before, I really don't have a problem with 4e, it's just far different than D&D was. And probably more different that it should be. But I'm not being indecisive.

Probably not on my radar, but that's a great-looking boxed set cover!

I appreciate how they're trying to get people into the game.  I really hope the boxed set isn't crippleware, and is a full game as they seem to indicate it is.

Some more info can be found here.

Apparently, the essentials line will consist of all new material, with no reprints.

Perhaps this is a stealth 4.5 afterall.

Quote from: Shazbot79;369796Apparently, the essentials line will consist of all new material, with no reprints.

Weird decision to call it 'essentials' then, isn't it?

Quote from: jrients;369800Weird decision to call it 'essentials' then, isn't it?

From the link by Shazbot (which I linked on Enworld and TheDen recently),

QuoteAll of the new D&D Essentials will have new material. Not a reprint of existing product.

The old hardback books are still supported.

No rules changes. This is still 4.0

Here's my take. They're talking the rules text they have and simplify them. A less kind term would be "dumb them down", but personally I'd rather not put a value judgement on it (besides, I prefer simplified rules text). This is just highly speculative on my part, but I think a real window on what's going on is comparing some of the 4E language in 2010 with that in 2008 (and there's always Wolf Baur's handy review of PHB2 to compare 4E language in 2009 with 2008).

Here's the minotaur's racial feature (if used as a PC race rather than a monster),

2008 version (MM, p.278):
"Ferocity: If you are reduced to 0 hit points, you can make a basic melee attack as a free action before falling unconscious."

2010 version (PHB 3, p.10)
"Ferocity: When you drop to 0 hit points or fewer, you can make a basic melee attack as an immediate interrupt."

Two points stand out:
(1.) Apparently the word "reduce" is to complicated, especially in the passive ("are reduced to").
(2.) On the other hand, a greater degree of precision in the rules bit: "as an immediate interrupt" specifies exactly where what when takes place. Sure, it presupposes that people know how interrupts work, but once they do, there's absolutely no room for interpreting it further.

That's the twin tendencies that I predict Essentials 4E will capitalize on - dumb down the prose, and rigidify the rules terms as much as possible. Not a bad way to go, I think.

The result, then, is a solidification of the 4.0 rules text, very far from a simple (if selective) reprint of the rules text they have in their books currently. Which is what the above quote says. It's 4.0.

Quote from: jrients;369800Weird decision to call it 'essentials' then, isn't it?

Not if you recall the reaction of many fans when 3.5 was announced.

Then again, WotC has also stated that material published as part of the Essentials line would be fully compatible with pre-existing 4th edition products...whereas 3.5 effectively replaced the initial 3rd edition line.

Personally, I'm all for it, if the update signifigantly improves the game. I just wish they had gotten it right the first time around.

The new boxed set seems like they listened to everything people who were unenthused about 4e have been saying they should do since it came out.

* Put it in a boxed set
* Get some dice in there
* Have all the maps and stuff you need to play
* Make the cover art better / more like Elmore
* Have a players book and a GM book
* Cut the page count way down
* Have an intro single-player CYOA style tutorial adventure
* Ditch the new races and classes
* Make it more straight forward
* Make it something you give to kids (Ages 12+) as a gift

I'm honestly impressed with that. Isn't this more or less everything that we were all posting about here and saying they should do?

I never said any of that.  I couldn't care less about the kiddies, for one, I think chasing them is as idiotic and creepy as it is misguided and clueless about the current market for genre material.

It's the system I hate, and that's still in there.  When they rip 4e out of the box and put Basic Fantasy in there I'll consider it.