Given part of the reason for things like Pathfinder et al was the way they restricted use of the 4e system it's unlikely, but man I really wish 4e could get the same sort of updates and tweaks while retaining much of the basic core mechanics, 4e was hands down my favorite version of D&D but because of how wizards got fucky with their license for it it feels like it will be stuck in a limbo forever with the flaws and gaps in the system never fixed on a larger scale.
I like 4E, too, but to be honest given the trouble I see some players have remembering how to run their characters, understanding what spells do, and deciding what to do in combat in the relatively simpler 5E I can't see the much more demanding 4E, or a game like it, taking off in popularity.
EDIT: I've mostly tried to make peace with this by modding 5E combat to be at least a little more tactical using homebrew magic items, adding forced movement and status effect abilities to monsters, and giving Martial Adept as a bonus feat to characters that get a fighting style.
I don't really remember 4e being more demanding than 5e is, if anything the way powers worked and were laid out it seemed pretty straight forward to get the basics. There was Tactical depth and some wonky stuff with rituals and the like, to just pick up and play it seemed pretty well set up for newer players, and even the "trap" options weren't unplayable or anything.
4e is less demanding on the DM but more demanding on the players. It’s far easier to design interesting combat encounters but the level of choice for players can often make them freeze. (Plus oh my god the option bloat makes making a character hella hard)
Once you figure it out it’s not bad. You use a daily once per fight. Then you use all your encounter powers then you use your at-wills. But until you get to that point. You’re often like “ahhh so many options”
There is a lot of value in 5e’s simplicity (both in terms of character creation but also in terms of in game options) that I think allows players both to be more free (they’re less likely to think they cannot do a thing because they lack a power that gives them that ability) but also streamlines play. My inexperienced 5e group can get through combats faster than my experienced 4e group ever could.
Edit: oh yea except for all the stacking one round buffs and debuffs and other effects. It makes the battlefield hella complicated. The simplification to “advantage/disadvantage” is so much better. Even if it can be considered too “strong” in some cases
Given part of the reason for things like Pathfinder et al was the way they restricted use of the 4e system it's unlikely, but man I really wish 4e could get the same sort of updates and tweaks while retaining much of the basic core mechanics, 4e was hands down my favorite version of D&D but because of how wizards got fucky with their license for it it feels like it will be stuck in a limbo forever with the flaws and gaps in the system never fixed on a larger scale.
I like 4E, too, but to be honest given the trouble I see some players have remembering how to run their characters, understanding what spells do, and deciding what to do in combat in the relatively simpler 5E I can't see the much more demanding 4E, or a game like it, taking off in popularity.
EDIT: I've mostly tried to make peace with this by modding 5E combat to be at least a little more tactical using homebrew magic items, adding forced movement and status effect abilities to monsters, and giving Martial Adept as a bonus feat to characters that get a fighting style.
I don't really remember 4e being more demanding than 5e is, if anything the way powers worked and were laid out it seemed pretty straight forward to get the basics. There was Tactical depth and some wonky stuff with rituals and the like, to just pick up and play it seemed pretty well set up for newer players, and even the "trap" options weren't unplayable or anything.
The main things that I think would be a hindrance to some players in 4E is that 1) martials are of equal complexity to casters, 2) many one round buffs akin to 5E's Guiding Bolt, and 3) many out of turn triggers for immediate interrupts and immediate reactions that mean players must be paying full attention at all times or slow everything down for everyone.
Personally, when playing 5E I keep cliff notes of everything my PC can do, keep spell cards handy, have common attack routines written down, and write out ahead of time what I'm planning to do next turn and what dice and modifiers I'll have to keep my turns as short as possible. Meanwhile some other players will wait until their turn to ask for Xanathar's to look up a spell to see what it does and then still not understand half the time what it does despite having played 5E for years.
One of the guys at my table has been running a game of 5e for 8 years and he says he still has to tell his players what dice to roll to make an attack and for damage, or he had to remind them that they have skills and abilities and spells they can use and what they do. I told him that would literally drive me insane.
Whereas the rest of my group figured out all the rules except for a couple outliers we rarely use within a couple months, and we don't even pull out the books anymore when we play.
I wish standard 5E gave every class maneuvers instead of just the Battle Master and characters with the Martial Adept feat (more maneuvers and higher level ones ala the higher level Warlock invocations would be nice, too). As it stands I have a hard time playing a martial character other than the Battle Master Fighter. I'm playing an Echo Knight Fighter now, but I also took the Fighting Style that gives you a maneuver and the Dragonlance Squire and Knight feats for added options.
A simpler version of what the monk does could work well, leaning toward the 4E psion
Give players a resource pool and some abilities that cost varying amounts of that resource. I like the idea of letting the resource regen during combat, so if they do a daily-strength ability they can do a second one if they hold back for awhile, but they can't do it back-to-back. You could even finally have rogues that can assassinate a target by using up all their points at once, while ensuring they're much weaker for the rest of the fight.
+2
IanatorGaze upon my works, ye mightyand facepalm.Registered Userregular
"Spell Slot" is a horrible term for what it actually refers to. When I first started 5e I literally thought it was how many spells you have, or have readied, at that spell level. But no, they're just your mana points or daily casts.
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+3
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
edited February 2023
I still like the idea of “you have x spell points. Each spell costs x to cast. You can cast spells that cost up to x points “
As you level you gain access to higher point spells.
I also want modular spell building. The fire attribute costs 1 point, because it’s highly resisted, where force might be a 3 point attribute because nothing resists it. Single target touch is 1pt, ranged is 2. Self aoe is 2 for 5ft, plus a point for ranged and extra radius. Etc…
In the end you might have an 8pt spell that is fireball. And because it’s 8 points you might not be able to cast it until level 4 or wherever. Single target firebolt might be just 3 points though.
Have the book have a bunch of examples, but let them make their own too.
Lord_AsmodeusgoeticSobriquet:Here is your magical cryptic riddle-tumour: I AM A TIME MACHINERegistered Userregular
I do feel that making your own spells is a big part of the lore and fantasy of spellcasters, especially Wizards, and one that is generally not supported super well in RAW
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0
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
It would be a huge undertaking balance wise, and require a lot of collaboration between the DM and player if they don't want To use the ones out of the book.
So in Hounskull (it’ll be tiny and Creative Commons), everyone has 3 effort. Expending effort allows you to add a d6 to a roll and activate a stratagem.*
Spells are cast with effort; the d6 roll affecting number of targets, duration, length of line etc for variety, since magic shouldn’t be a science.
Effort is recovered naturally every hour (fill a 6 segment clock by rolling actions when roleplaying). But more importantly it’s the game’s equivalent of inspiration, and can go above your maximum this way. Save the sacrifice from the table rather than just hitting things? Get effort back.
So in general the idea is you never have access to all your powers in one go, but you’ll be using them regularly. A wizard might only cast 3 spells during an encounter, but they don’t have to fret over running out of them.
*If applicable, some are for attacks, some are for other actions.
The last three adventures in Keys From the Golden Vault are pretty wild.
“Affair on the Concordant Express (9th level characters) requires the players to break onto the multiverse-spanning train and get a list of true names of several powerful demons. The list was memorized by the prisoner being transported to stand trial.
“Party at Paliset Hall” (10th level characters) is set in the Feywild, so nothing is quite what it seems. The characters are hired to steal a magical diamond during an annual gala.
The goal in “Fire and Darkness” (11th level characters) is to steal the Book of Vile Darkness from an efreeti tyrant before it can be used. Betrayal is an aspect of this adventure.
Weird! I made a Concordant Express thing back when Planewalker.com existed. Those all sound pretty good.
+1
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
So speaking of the new book, I have been watching my retailers groups with keen interest. A lot of comments coming through now - reporting up to 80% decrease in typical preorders for the book. One store that normally sells 35-45 books per release has taken only 3 preorders for this book.
Looks like customers aren't forgetting, but still a limited self selecting sample. Will be interesting to see what the sales are like once it's out.
Is that an average for all books or are they taking into account that it's an anthology of adventures and not book of player options?
All books and especially compared with other adventures. Lot of comments about the uptick in Pathfinder in their stores too (which they're equally frustrated about because they can't get the books). Bear in mind this is just discussion through some retailers and will be self-selecting for the most pissed off/worried individuals, but I didn't see a single post from a store saying that they were doing fine and hadn't had a loss in sales, which says a lot. It does show that the whole OGL drama is having some substantial effect on some physical stores (as well as the classics like Amazon etc etc).
Sorry, I'm probably being more confused that necessary.
If it's in comparison to specifically adventure modules, then it's not in comparison with books in general, as player option books sell much, much better than DM option and adventures, I thought.
0
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Sorry, I'm probably being more confused that necessary.
If it's in comparison to specifically adventure modules, then it's not in comparison with books in general, as player option books sell much, much better than DM option and adventures, I thought.
Not inherently. A lot of these numbers will be from selling preorders of the alternative art covers, which you only get a limited amount of and you typically expect to completely sell out of entirely. So if you get 30 of them, no matter what they are for a players book or a DMs book, you expect to sell the vast majority of them (if not all of them). Like I would order my full allocation of alternative art cover books and I would expect to sell 90%-100% of them before they even hit my store shelves. If I was fortunate, there would be 1-2 left over and I typically got 12-20 books per release to give you an idea (And I was not a huge store).
So for preorders to be this bad is a really bad sign for the book.
Edit: Putting it more simply as a former retailer
DnD alternative cover book = Almost Guaranteed Monies
And now
DnD alternative cover book = Can't move it, wtf?!?!?!?
One complication is that this book probably got the least pre-release advertising from WotC out of any book in recent memory. The lead ups for Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, Spelljammer, and Dragonlance got a lot more fanfare, whereas during the OGL debacle WotC pretty much went silent, not advertising this or releasing any One D&D playtest packets.
EDIT: Just got home to find my copy in the mail. I'll post some impressions in a bit.
Hexmage-PA on
0
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
One complication is that this book probably got the least pre-release advertising from WotC out of any book in recent memory. The lead ups for Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, Spelljammer, and Dragonlance got a lot more fanfare, whereas during the OGL debacle WotC pretty much went silent, not advertising this or releasing any One D&D playtest packets.
Yeah there is discussion about that as well, but there was no advertising that Wizards could do that would have done a thing for this book. The OGL debacle immolated it from the get go and it's not just the regulars being unaware of it, they've also firmly moved on and aren't playing DnD anymore. So it's a combination of the OGL drama heavily impacting these stores communities and also the fact that the book has had basically zero advertising - but then again if you've read the comments on posts on social media about the book from Wizards etc they aren't pretty.
A part of me is pretty surprised that there has been such an effect. I'm not used to gamer rage actually turning into anything tangible. Just goes to show how far Wizards dropped the ball.
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
edited February 2023
I was actually getting served multiple-times-a-day Facebook ads for Keys all during the OGL debacle. I didn't see ads anywhere else (Google, Youtube, E-Mail), so either the Algorithms Aren't Playing Nice With Each Other, or WotC's ad spend on Keys outside of Facebook was drastically lower.
And it really, really doesn't help that the run-up/hype period for Keys was during the same period WotC was doing their damnedest to burn the community to the ground.
I've gotten probably an email a day about the Keys book. I claimed the free thing on D&D Beyond but I don't remember what it was. I've ignored it since then. But I'm not a great sample as I don't generally buy modules anyway.
The Murkmire Malevolence
- One of the scholars has learned that an artifact called the Murkmire Stone about to go on display at a museum is the egg of an "eldritch horror" that will hatch soon unless placed in a special container, but her concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
- The characters can get the general layout by attending a gala before the heist.
- A short list has the namesl, alignment, race, and a personality trait of every museum guard.
- Security measures are listed that include alarm spells, animated armor, a scarecrow, guard patrols, secret doors, net traps, and arcane locked doors.
- Multiple entrances and exits are detailed, including an underground tunnel and a skylight.
- A gnome-built animatronic allosaurus can be set to go haywire for ten minutes as a distraction.
- Several possibilities are given for outcomes should the PCs succeed or fail.
The Stygian Gambit
- The former business partner of the gnome who built the Afterlife Casino wants both the money she was chested out of and the prize for an upcoming gambling tournament.
- Magical mirrors project whatever they reflect in the security office.
- Three games of chance are given brief rules: three-dragon ante, life and death, and copper slots.
- The casino's owner, the gnome Quentin Togglepocket, has sold his sole to the archdevil Mammon and can summon two spined devils if threatened. However, if the party is found out, he's also willing to pay the party 150 gp each to deliver a short, mocking letter to their employer.
- Six casino patrons and eight tournament participants are detailed. The order in which the participants lose and the final winner (barring PC interference) are also provided.
- Various casino features are detailed, including the bar, spa, restaurant (menu included), and trained performing animals.
- The vault is guarded by doors with magical devil faces that breathe fire and a minotaur skeleton.
Reach for the Stars
- A Far Realm entity named Krokulmar has taken control of a man named Markos; the party must retrieve a book called the Celestial Codex from his mansion to stop a ritual meant to bring a fragment of Krokulmar into the world.
- Upon nearing the mansion the party is greeted by the disembodied head (!) of the leader of the last group to try and retrieve the Codex, warning them of dangers within the mansion. It's also stated that the head could join the party for the adventure, though it can't do anything other than move and speak.
- Eldritch Surges manifest whenever a spell is cast inside the mansion or in certain rooms. These include the air becoming thick enough to swim in, doors and windows growing teeth, a displacement effect on decor, and a creature's shadow animating.
- Monsters include animated objects crawling, crawling claws, a mimic (disguised as a mounted deer head), slaad tadpoles, a gibbering mother, psychic gray oozes, a nothic, ghouls, stirges, a ghost, and a butler turned hook horror. Quite the menagerie compared to the previous two adventures.
- Upon encountering Markos the party must interrupt his ritual or else face a fragment of Krokulmar, which amusingly is a tiny creature that animates and mounts a headless body (which uses the knight statblock, though the fragment of Krokulmar itself only has 10 hp and could easily be taken out by an AoE).
- While the first two adventures were definitely heists, this one feels more like a typical D&D adventure. Thankfully, the next adventure, Prisoner 13, looks to be closer to the first two adventures rather than this one.
One complication is that this book probably got the least pre-release advertising from WotC out of any book in recent memory. The lead ups for Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, Spelljammer, and Dragonlance got a lot more fanfare, whereas during the OGL debacle WotC pretty much went silent, not advertising this or releasing any One D&D playtest packets.
Yeah there is discussion about that as well, but there was no advertising that Wizards could do that would have done a thing for this book. The OGL debacle immolated it from the get go and it's not just the regulars being unaware of it, they've also firmly moved on and aren't playing DnD anymore. So it's a combination of the OGL drama heavily impacting these stores communities and also the fact that the book has had basically zero advertising - but then again if you've read the comments on posts on social media about the book from Wizards etc they aren't pretty.
A part of me is pretty surprised that there has been such an effect. I'm not used to gamer rage actually turning into anything tangible. Just goes to show how far Wizards dropped the ball.
I'd imagine this being a book of heists would also be a factor, given that D&D normally doesn't focus on such things and this book would therefore be full of more niche adventures. If the next books that are more typical D&D fare also underperform, though, that'll definitely be a bad sign.
In unsurprising news, Kyle Brink has stated in a new interview that Dark Sun isn't coming back any time soon:
I’ll be frank here, the Dark Sun setting is problematic in a lot of ways. And that’s the main reason we haven’t come back to it. We know it’s got a huge fan following and we have standards today that make it extraordinarily hard to be true to the source material and also meet our ethical and inclusion standards... We know there’s love out there for it and god we would love to make those people happy, and also we gotta be responsible.
EDIT: A poster over on ENworld chimed in that one of the first results when he Googled Dark Sun was a DM asking how to roleplay the slave a PC bought recently and if that slave would ever warm up to their owner. So yeah, I can see why Dark Sun 4E is probably the last one for a while, if not the last one ever, and why they originally were going to have the planet in Light of Xaryxis be a Dark Sun cameo.
New video on the feedback from the last play test packet. Big news here is that the Ardling has been shelved for the foreseeable future and they won’t be in the next PHB.
Big news here is that the Ardling has been shelved for the foreseeable future and they won’t be in the next PHB.
Good.. They are a tire fire design wise, and shuffling all otherkin (if there's another term someone please lemme know) under the same weird banner with no identity in any way was just laziness on the dev's part.
Big news here is that the Ardling has been shelved for the foreseeable future and they won’t be in the next PHB.
Good.. They are a tire fire design wise, and shuffling all otherkin (if there's another term someone please lemme know) under the same weird banner with no identity in any way was just laziness on the dev's part.
They do have an identity, though. Just one that's dependent on pre-4E planar lore that the majority of D&D's younger target demographic has no idea about.
I was looking forward to playing an Equinal-descended Aardling Paladin that held his sword and shield in his big weird hoof-hands...
EDIT: After watching the video I think the aardling might show up in Planescape.
I loved the original tieflings and genasi, but frankly in 2023 we should not have "races" caused by interbreeding with stuff a long time ago. Just make it themed optional species traits or ancestry feats (if you want to get PF2 about it).
"Yeah my great-great grandma Stoutbarrow was a bit of a halfling outlier...she married an earth elemental. Said her wedding day was the most stoned she'd ever been. They almost got exiled for her rock puns. Anyway because of great-great grandpa I can cast stoneskin once a day."
I've missed something......What's an Ardling and why is it not just an Aasimar?
My guess is they wanted to make one catch-all animal person species (because people want a playable D&D species for every possible animal; they caved with making harengon playable but refused with the dohwar) and were inspired by the animal person celestials called the Guardinals from 3E and prior.
I've missed something......What's an Ardling and why is it not just an Aasimar?
My guess is they wanted to make one catch-all animal person species (because people want a D&D species for every possible animal; they caved with making harengon playable but refused with the dohwar) and were inspired by the animal person celestials called the Guardinals from 3E and prior.
Oh.... they're celestial animal people, instead of just people with celestial heritage. Somehow I got the idea in my head that Aardlings were going to supplant Aasimar somehow as the celestial opposite of Tieflings. Which, IMO, would be stupid. Thanks for that nudge.
The problem with telling people who want to play furries to play guardinals is they are not interested in weird angel lore, they're interested in normal ass animal humanoids. Totally kills any enthusiasm for the character to only kind of sort of get to play the thing you are interested in.
They need to keep the concepts of ardlings and furries very separate. Caving into them having a bunch of physical animal powers was a mistake - they should have gone for symbolic powers instead. Give them a natural weapon as a nod to their animal head and stop there.
A catch-all furry race is fine in theory, but should be separate from the divine beings.
If anything, ardlings should be closer to devas than to tabaxi.
Also the whole point of animal people is "Hey, look at these cool animal specific powers I get" whereas the ardlings were generic as hell. I think you basically got one of four travel powers and that was it?
Give me acid spit and enhanced tracking and natural weapons and whatever other wacky stuff you can think of.
The problem with telling people who want to play furries to play guardinals is they are not interested in weird angel lore, they're interested in normal ass animal humanoids. Totally kills any enthusiasm for the character to only kind of sort of get to play the thing you are interested in.
Posts
4e is less demanding on the DM but more demanding on the players. It’s far easier to design interesting combat encounters but the level of choice for players can often make them freeze. (Plus oh my god the option bloat makes making a character hella hard)
Once you figure it out it’s not bad. You use a daily once per fight. Then you use all your encounter powers then you use your at-wills. But until you get to that point. You’re often like “ahhh so many options”
There is a lot of value in 5e’s simplicity (both in terms of character creation but also in terms of in game options) that I think allows players both to be more free (they’re less likely to think they cannot do a thing because they lack a power that gives them that ability) but also streamlines play. My inexperienced 5e group can get through combats faster than my experienced 4e group ever could.
Edit: oh yea except for all the stacking one round buffs and debuffs and other effects. It makes the battlefield hella complicated. The simplification to “advantage/disadvantage” is so much better. Even if it can be considered too “strong” in some cases
One of the guys at my table has been running a game of 5e for 8 years and he says he still has to tell his players what dice to roll to make an attack and for damage, or he had to remind them that they have skills and abilities and spells they can use and what they do. I told him that would literally drive me insane.
Whereas the rest of my group figured out all the rules except for a couple outliers we rarely use within a couple months, and we don't even pull out the books anymore when we play.
The problem is 4e made wizards less complex but then also made every class about as complex as that Wizard.
Give players a resource pool and some abilities that cost varying amounts of that resource. I like the idea of letting the resource regen during combat, so if they do a daily-strength ability they can do a second one if they hold back for awhile, but they can't do it back-to-back. You could even finally have rogues that can assassinate a target by using up all their points at once, while ensuring they're much weaker for the rest of the fight.
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Backlog Challenge List
As you level you gain access to higher point spells.
I also want modular spell building. The fire attribute costs 1 point, because it’s highly resisted, where force might be a 3 point attribute because nothing resists it. Single target touch is 1pt, ranged is 2. Self aoe is 2 for 5ft, plus a point for ranged and extra radius. Etc…
In the end you might have an 8pt spell that is fireball. And because it’s 8 points you might not be able to cast it until level 4 or wherever. Single target firebolt might be just 3 points though.
Have the book have a bunch of examples, but let them make their own too.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
So in Hounskull (it’ll be tiny and Creative Commons), everyone has 3 effort. Expending effort allows you to add a d6 to a roll and activate a stratagem.*
Spells are cast with effort; the d6 roll affecting number of targets, duration, length of line etc for variety, since magic shouldn’t be a science.
Effort is recovered naturally every hour (fill a 6 segment clock by rolling actions when roleplaying). But more importantly it’s the game’s equivalent of inspiration, and can go above your maximum this way. Save the sacrifice from the table rather than just hitting things? Get effort back.
So in general the idea is you never have access to all your powers in one go, but you’ll be using them regularly. A wizard might only cast 3 spells during an encounter, but they don’t have to fret over running out of them.
*If applicable, some are for attacks, some are for other actions.
Looks like customers aren't forgetting, but still a limited self selecting sample. Will be interesting to see what the sales are like once it's out.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
All books and especially compared with other adventures. Lot of comments about the uptick in Pathfinder in their stores too (which they're equally frustrated about because they can't get the books). Bear in mind this is just discussion through some retailers and will be self-selecting for the most pissed off/worried individuals, but I didn't see a single post from a store saying that they were doing fine and hadn't had a loss in sales, which says a lot. It does show that the whole OGL drama is having some substantial effect on some physical stores (as well as the classics like Amazon etc etc).
If it's in comparison to specifically adventure modules, then it's not in comparison with books in general, as player option books sell much, much better than DM option and adventures, I thought.
Not inherently. A lot of these numbers will be from selling preorders of the alternative art covers, which you only get a limited amount of and you typically expect to completely sell out of entirely. So if you get 30 of them, no matter what they are for a players book or a DMs book, you expect to sell the vast majority of them (if not all of them). Like I would order my full allocation of alternative art cover books and I would expect to sell 90%-100% of them before they even hit my store shelves. If I was fortunate, there would be 1-2 left over and I typically got 12-20 books per release to give you an idea (And I was not a huge store).
So for preorders to be this bad is a really bad sign for the book.
Edit: Putting it more simply as a former retailer
DnD alternative cover book = Almost Guaranteed Monies
And now
DnD alternative cover book = Can't move it, wtf?!?!?!?
Hopefully that makes everything clearer.
EDIT: Just got home to find my copy in the mail. I'll post some impressions in a bit.
Yeah there is discussion about that as well, but there was no advertising that Wizards could do that would have done a thing for this book. The OGL debacle immolated it from the get go and it's not just the regulars being unaware of it, they've also firmly moved on and aren't playing DnD anymore. So it's a combination of the OGL drama heavily impacting these stores communities and also the fact that the book has had basically zero advertising - but then again if you've read the comments on posts on social media about the book from Wizards etc they aren't pretty.
A part of me is pretty surprised that there has been such an effect. I'm not used to gamer rage actually turning into anything tangible. Just goes to show how far Wizards dropped the ball.
And it really, really doesn't help that the run-up/hype period for Keys was during the same period WotC was doing their damnedest to burn the community to the ground.
Like, you have a D&D movie about heists coming out, and a D&D book about heists ccoming out and you don't synergize them at all?
The Murkmire Malevolence
- One of the scholars has learned that an artifact called the Murkmire Stone about to go on display at a museum is the egg of an "eldritch horror" that will hatch soon unless placed in a special container, but her concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
- The characters can get the general layout by attending a gala before the heist.
- A short list has the namesl, alignment, race, and a personality trait of every museum guard.
- Security measures are listed that include alarm spells, animated armor, a scarecrow, guard patrols, secret doors, net traps, and arcane locked doors.
- Multiple entrances and exits are detailed, including an underground tunnel and a skylight.
- A gnome-built animatronic allosaurus can be set to go haywire for ten minutes as a distraction.
- Several possibilities are given for outcomes should the PCs succeed or fail.
The Stygian Gambit
- The former business partner of the gnome who built the Afterlife Casino wants both the money she was chested out of and the prize for an upcoming gambling tournament.
- Magical mirrors project whatever they reflect in the security office.
- Three games of chance are given brief rules: three-dragon ante, life and death, and copper slots.
- The casino's owner, the gnome Quentin Togglepocket, has sold his sole to the archdevil Mammon and can summon two spined devils if threatened. However, if the party is found out, he's also willing to pay the party 150 gp each to deliver a short, mocking letter to their employer.
- Six casino patrons and eight tournament participants are detailed. The order in which the participants lose and the final winner (barring PC interference) are also provided.
- Various casino features are detailed, including the bar, spa, restaurant (menu included), and trained performing animals.
- The vault is guarded by doors with magical devil faces that breathe fire and a minotaur skeleton.
Reach for the Stars
- A Far Realm entity named Krokulmar has taken control of a man named Markos; the party must retrieve a book called the Celestial Codex from his mansion to stop a ritual meant to bring a fragment of Krokulmar into the world.
- Upon nearing the mansion the party is greeted by the disembodied head (!) of the leader of the last group to try and retrieve the Codex, warning them of dangers within the mansion. It's also stated that the head could join the party for the adventure, though it can't do anything other than move and speak.
- Eldritch Surges manifest whenever a spell is cast inside the mansion or in certain rooms. These include the air becoming thick enough to swim in, doors and windows growing teeth, a displacement effect on decor, and a creature's shadow animating.
- Monsters include animated objects crawling, crawling claws, a mimic (disguised as a mounted deer head), slaad tadpoles, a gibbering mother, psychic gray oozes, a nothic, ghouls, stirges, a ghost, and a butler turned hook horror. Quite the menagerie compared to the previous two adventures.
- Upon encountering Markos the party must interrupt his ritual or else face a fragment of Krokulmar, which amusingly is a tiny creature that animates and mounts a headless body (which uses the knight statblock, though the fragment of Krokulmar itself only has 10 hp and could easily be taken out by an AoE).
- While the first two adventures were definitely heists, this one feels more like a typical D&D adventure. Thankfully, the next adventure, Prisoner 13, looks to be closer to the first two adventures rather than this one.
I'd imagine this being a book of heists would also be a factor, given that D&D normally doesn't focus on such things and this book would therefore be full of more niche adventures. If the next books that are more typical D&D fare also underperform, though, that'll definitely be a bad sign.
EDIT: A poster over on ENworld chimed in that one of the first results when he Googled Dark Sun was a DM asking how to roleplay the slave a PC bought recently and if that slave would ever warm up to their owner. So yeah, I can see why Dark Sun 4E is probably the last one for a while, if not the last one ever, and why they originally were going to have the planet in Light of Xaryxis be a Dark Sun cameo.
But still, alas.
New video on the feedback from the last play test packet. Big news here is that the Ardling has been shelved for the foreseeable future and they won’t be in the next PHB.
Good.. They are a tire fire design wise, and shuffling all otherkin (if there's another term someone please lemme know) under the same weird banner with no identity in any way was just laziness on the dev's part.
They do have an identity, though. Just one that's dependent on pre-4E planar lore that the majority of D&D's younger target demographic has no idea about.
I was looking forward to playing an Equinal-descended Aardling Paladin that held his sword and shield in his big weird hoof-hands...
EDIT: After watching the video I think the aardling might show up in Planescape.
"Yeah my great-great grandma Stoutbarrow was a bit of a halfling outlier...she married an earth elemental. Said her wedding day was the most stoned she'd ever been. They almost got exiled for her rock puns. Anyway because of great-great grandpa I can cast stoneskin once a day."
My guess is they wanted to make one catch-all animal person species (because people want a playable D&D species for every possible animal; they caved with making harengon playable but refused with the dohwar) and were inspired by the animal person celestials called the Guardinals from 3E and prior.
Oh.... they're celestial animal people, instead of just people with celestial heritage. Somehow I got the idea in my head that Aardlings were going to supplant Aasimar somehow as the celestial opposite of Tieflings. Which, IMO, would be stupid. Thanks for that nudge.
Also ardling is a stupid sounding name.
A catch-all furry race is fine in theory, but should be separate from the divine beings.
If anything, ardlings should be closer to devas than to tabaxi.
Give me acid spit and enhanced tracking and natural weapons and whatever other wacky stuff you can think of.
'Ardly a name at all.