Gods Behaving Badly
Marie Phillips

What if the gods of ancient Greek mythology lived among us? Where would they live, how would they get by, and as immortals what would they do to pass the time? In Marie Phillips’ novel, Gods Behaving Badly, she explores this possibility.

The gods no longer live upon Mount Olympus; instead they all share a run-down, dilapidated flat in one of London’s less savory neighbourhoods. They’ve been living there for hundreds of years and retain only the bare minimum of their godly powers. Aside from their immortality, they’ve become very much like regular people. They’ve even had to get jobs.

Apollo is a failed actor reduced to performing as a TV psychic (and a poor one at that). Aphrodite makes a living as a saucy phone-sex operator. Artemis is a dog walker. Dionysus operates an underground nightclub. Life for the gods has become pathetic and boring.

But their hard times have not taught the gods humility. They still believe that they’re better than mortals and don’t understand why they have to play by the same rules as everyone else.

Plot Summary

With nothing but time on their hands, the gods have become bored. After being slighted by Apollo, Aphrodite concocts a scheme to get revenge upon him. Aphrodite enlists the aid of her son, Eros (who has become a born-again Christian). While Apollo is filming the pilot for his latest TV show, Eros shoots him with an arrow of love which will cause him to fall madly in love with the next person he sees — a very plain mortal custodian (cleaner) named Alice.

To complete Aphrodite’s plan of revenge, Eros is then supposed to shoot Alice with an arrow that will cause her to hate Apollo. However, Eros, being a good Christian, decides to give Apollo a fighting chance and does not end up shooting Alice. He decides to let the fates decide how things will play out.

Through a series of unfortunate and carefully orchestrated events, Alice looses her job only to find another as a house keeper in the very flat where the gods live – putting her back in Apollo’s life. Aphrodite takes great pleasure watching Apollo faun all over this mortal who clearly wants nothing to do with him.

When Alice spurns Apollo’s advances leaving no doubt that she will never love him, Apollo tricks Zeus into killing Alice. This only makes Apollo feel worse because now the love of his life is dead. Seeking to make himself feel better, Apollo visits Alice’s boyfriend, Neil, in order to apologizes for his part in her death.

Neil, who has been jealous of Apollo since the first time he saw him, does not believe his claims of godhood nor does he accept his apology. To prove his point and his sincerity, Apollo extinguishes the sun. However, because his power is so severely diminished, Apollo falls into a coma before he can reignite the sun.

Neil, contacts the other gods and with Artemis’ help ventures into the underworld where he must confront Cerberus, the three-headed dog, the River Styx, and even Hades himself if he ever wants to be reunited with Alice or awaken Apollo so that he can reignite the sun.

Review

Gods Behaving Badly isn’t my typical forum, but it was highly recommended to me by many people who known how much I like D&D, classic mythology and fantasy fiction. I find the very idea of the god themselves walking the Earth and occupying the same streets as the mortals they once ruled over intriguing.

Within the first few chapters you see how far the god have fallen from their place in the heavens. Not only have they taken on regular jobs, but the jobs are in many ways demeaning to them and the portfolios over which they once ruled so completely.

The in-fighting and practical jokes that happen between the gods is reminiscent of the behaviour you’re likely to find in a college dorm or in a large family with many children. Because the gods all share the same fate there is a sense of camaraderie, but there is also extreme jealousy and bitter hatred.

At first I was expecting this to be reminiscent of other D&D novels featuring gods as characters. I couldn’t have been more wrong. As much as I enjoyed the Avatar trilogy and other books in which the gods walk the realms and interact with mortals, those stories are nothing like the tale I found in Gods Behaving Badly. The most notable difference is that in the D&D stories, even the ones where the god have lost their power, mortals still have faith in these deities. In this novel the people of our real-life modern society no longer worship these gods of yesterday. Although they were once all-powerful, now they are little more than regular people.

This book is a fantastic read. The characters, both mortal and immortal, are believable and real. I was also really surprised at how funny this book was. The banter and bickering between the gods is great. Each god clearly has their own voice and it’s reflective of their portfolio.

Athena, goddess of Wisdom, speaks in large words and the other gods don’t understand what she’s saying. Aries can turn two best friends into bitter rivals just by being in the same room as them. Aphrodite makes the other god uncomfortable by answering calls on her mobile headset and saying the most filthy things imaginable at the most inopportune times.

I must caution readers that this book is clearly written for an adult audience and not the PG-13 rating that most Wizards of the Coast novels shoot for. There are a few sex scenes that are described in vivid detail (most involving Aphrodite in some way or another) that may not be suitable for younger readers.

Deities & Demigods

When I read a book I always try to get a mental image of what the characters look like. For me that was easy in this particular case. I immediately thought of the sketches by Jim Roslof from the original AD&D Deities & Demigods (later republished as Legends & Lore). Regardless of how the characters were actually described, this is how I have always imagined these gods to look like.

When I was writing this review and began looking for more information about Roslof I was saddened to learn that he died earlier this year. Wizards of the Coast published an article on March 23, shortly after Roslof’s death honouring and remembering this great artist that made so many great contributions to the D&D art gallery.

Coming Soon to Your TV

Ben Stiller’s production company, Red Hour Films, has optioned “Gods Behaving Badly” and is working to bring the book to the small screen as a television series. No further details are available at this time, but I for one eagerly await any news of casting. With the right actors in the roles of Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite and the other gods in the flat, this series could be an instant hit.

The other important factor will be whether or not this series ends up on regular network television or on cable. Although it could work as a family-friendly drama/comedy, I think any TV adaptation of this book would be a lot stronger if it couldhold true to the original source material and not have to be cleaned up as regular TV requires.

Gods Behaving Badly: 10 on a d10

Related reading:

• Is Deities and Demigods a 4e Necessity?
• Playing a Recognizable Archetype
• Divine Intervention

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Last week fantasy author Joel Rosenberg died. Rosenberg’s Guardians of the Flame series was my introduction to fantasy fiction. In book one, real world college students become the characters they created when they are transported into their fantasy role playing game. Once inside the game world they realize that in addition to possessing all of the powers and skills of their characters, they still also know everything they did in real life. These characters apply their modern beliefs and values along with rudimentary technology into the game world and become a powerful force striving to make an imperfect world better. As an avid gamer I thought this was the most brilliant premise I’d ever heard the first time I read these books.

The series capped at 10 books, but for many fans the essence of what made this series great ended with book five. Books six through 10 saw the real world character retire (or die) and their children become the focus of the adventures. I’ve read those first five books many times. And even though I’ve read hundreds of other fantasy novels since then I still think that the initial premise of the series holds up. I mean, really, who among us hasn’t imagined themselves as their character at one time or another?

One of the things that I enjoyed (and I guess still enjoy) about these books is that the line between player and character is erased. The players actually become the characters. They know whatever it was they studied at college as well as the magic or swordplay that their character excelled at. Add to that their knowledge of pop culture and these character are arguably more interesting than any found in the Forgotten Realms.

Inspired by The Guardians of the Flame, I’ve played in a couple of games over the years where we’ve used this plot device. We’ve actually made PCs based on ourselves. And you know what? It was a lot of fun. So let’s see how we might accomplish this undertaking using 4e D&D mechanics.

Character Creation – Method 1

When we undertook this exercise in previous editions of D&D we always began by stating ourselves. This usually doesn’t take very long since we don’t have many special powers relevant to D&D. For the most part our ability scores tend to fall between 8-10 across the board. Since most of my gaming friends have no weapon skills to speak of that means combat stats are nonexistent.

In order to best capture “you” in your character I strongly recommend that character creation happen collectively. Bring the entire gaming group together when creating your characters, both real world and fantasy world versions. By making it a group activity you can collectively decide on everybody’s abilities by comparing them to one another. For example, if my starting Constitution is 10 (average) and I work out 5 times a week, then I could argue that my friend, who’s in pretty good health but doesn’t exercise at all, might have a slightly lower starting Con, maybe 8-9. You get the idea.

After determining ability scores figure out what skills you possess. Since most of my peers are highly educated (all of us having at least one college or university degree) we realize that our lack of combat prowess is made up for with extensive training in multiple areas (more than most classes allow).

With our real life selves documented on a character sheet we figure out how best to transform ourselves into actual D&D characters. Playing ourselves as ourselves would be boring. Our lack of combat abilities and magical power means that the first encounter we faced would end up with us being taken prisoner or being eaten by monsters – no one’s idea of a good time. So instead we apply some character creation magic.

Begin with fantasy races. Just because we’re all Human in real life doesn’t mean that we’re all going to remain Human in the game world. Try to go with something that makes sense for the fantasy version of you that you envision. If you’re a big guy in real life perhaps you’re a Goliath or Minotaur in the game. Or maybe you feel that your gruff nature makes you more suitable to being a Dwarf. Perhaps your affinity for nature and aversion to meat mean you feel more akin to the fey races like Elves or Gnomes. Discus options as a group, just like you did for ability scores, and let the table weigh in before nailing down your character’s race.

To create actual playable D&D characters you now have to pump up your abilities (applying appropriate racial modifiers if you opted to be something other than Human). The DM determines how many points to apply and using the point-buy system assign scores using your real life stats as the baseline. Where possible, we look at which abilities scores are already exceptional in our real life stats and build on those.

For example, one of our players is a pharmacist with three university degrees. He owns and operates his own drug store, employing over 30 people. In real life Intelligence is absolutely his highest ability score, but his Charisma is a close second. So when he adds his points he should begin by pumping up these two abilities to exceptional levels based on D&D rules.

Next we look at class. There are two reasonable ways to decide on class selection. Either look at the class that you think most closely matches your real life vocation or look at classes that work best with your highest abilities. So our pharmacist friend could be a Druid or Assassin (based on his extensive knowledge of plants and medicines), or he could be a Wizard because of his high Intelligence. You could also argue that his role as a healer and a leader makes him a perfect Cleric.

With a solid foundationin place it’s time to complete your character. Finish the character as you would any other, by choosing powers and gear as appropriate for your class and level. This kind of game really works well if you begin above level 1. In the novels, the heroes just appear out of nowhere and are already pretty tough. This makes a lot of people take notice and puts them in the centre of the action. If they’d only been level 1 then they wouldn’t have had the power necessary to be as influential or troublesome to the establishment.

Character Creation – Method 2

A much easier way to play this kind of campaign is to run it just like they did in The Guardians of the Flame series. Everyone makes whatever character they want using the normal character creation rules. Then you tweak it, adding what the player knows and can do to the already completed PC. This may involve a bump to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma as well as adding extra feats and trained skill.

The danger to taking this approach is that some players will get greedy and make physically powerful character with low mental scores. They’ll essentially get to overwrite the PCs low Intelligence with their own (player’s) higher Intelligence.

If you opt to play this kind of campaign and take this second character creation method then I wouldn’t let the players in on the reveal until all of the characters are complete. This way everyone makes the character they actually want to play with no extra motivation or agenda to get more out of it by playing one kind of character over another.

The Campaign

Running this kind of game can be a lot of fun… at first. There needs to be a good reason that the players from the real world have become the PCs they created. In The Sleeping Dragon, the first book in The Guardians of the Flame, the heroes are looking for the gateway between worlds so that they can get home. Needless to say things don’t go as expected. But thought the first novel they know that the bigger objective is to find the gateway and get through it.

I suggest something like this to DMs because after a while, playing yourself in the game will become boring. A big part of why we play D&D in the first place is to escape our real lives and become a character. If the character is still you then what’s the point?

Another cautionary tale I will share with DMs is that if you’re going to try this gimmick, it has to include everyone. If only one or two players are playing themselves while the rest of the players are just running regular characters a lot of the chemistry and excitement disappears. The shared experience is the real thrill of playing this kind of adventure.

Have you ever played yourself as a D&D Character? How did you determine your ability scores, race, class and other statistics? How was the overall gaming experience with you as the character? Did you suffer a humiliating death or did you thrive and become a powerful PC in your campaign? If you’ve never tried playing yourself as a PC is it something you think you might be interested in trying?

As a writer I envision myself as a Gnome with the Mark of Scribing. Based on my many years in school, my love of reading and thirst for knowledge I envision myself as an arcane class – most likely a Bard, but possibly a Sorcerer. Assuming that I was thrust into the world of Eberron (where my regular home campaign takes place) then I also believe I’d be in some way associated with the Trust, the Gnomish secret police that have absolute power in Zilargo. But that’s just my initial concept. I’d have to see what the rest of my gaming group thought of this idea when compared to how they see themselves as D&D Characters.

The Books

If you haven’t read The Guardians of the Flame I strongly recommend that you find copies of these novels and get reading. You’ll be glad you did. Print copies may be tough to find anywhere but your local used books store or on eBay. You will likely have an easier time finding an ebook copy online.

• The Sleeping Dragon: 10 on a d10
• The Sword and the Chain: 9 on a d10
• The Silver Crown: 8 on a d10
• The Heir Apparent: 10 on a d10
• The Warrior Lives: 8 on a d10

R.I.P. Joel Rosenberg, May 1, 1954 – June 2, 2011.

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Elminster Ascending
Ed Greenwood

A Forgotten Realms Novel

Ed Greenwood’s Elminster Ascending: The Sage of Shadowdale omnibus collects three novels – Elminster: The Making of a Mage, Elminster in Myth Drannor and The Temptation of Elminster – that tell the story of Elminster’s origin.

Dungeon’s Master again welcomes Soklemon, our Forgotten Realms book reviewer. He is a Dungeon Master, Forgotten Realms fan, aspiring writer and high school student (in that order). We welcome his latest contribution and hope you enjoy his review of the Ed Greenwood Omnibus: Elminster Ascending.

The first novel’s title, The Making of a Mage, is a misnomer in some ways. For most of the first novel, Elminster abhorred magic and all who used it, hunting and killing many of them. He ran into the Magister early on and was awed by the power that magic could bring, but his mind was yet to be changed. The later two novels deal with Elminster apprenticing himself to various other Mages and Sorcerers, and occasionally only being beholden to Mystra, the goddess of magic herself.

The Making of a Mage deals with Elminster through his adolescence and young adulthood before he became the most powerful and well known Mage in the Forgotten Realms, and before he became one of the Chosen. Elminster was the Last Prince of the realm of Athalantar, also known as the Stag Throne. As magic became more and more prominent in Faerun, Elminster’s older relatives took on more responsibility as Court Mages. Eventually, those Mages overthrew the Stag Throne in all but name.

Elminster’s father, the ruler of the village of Heldon, was killed by one of these Mages. After witnessing his father’s murder, a young Elminster took the remnants of the Realm’s ceremonial blade, the Stag Sword, from his father’s charred remains.

After a harrowing run-in with the Mage who killed his father – and the Dragon that was doing his bidding – Elminster went back to the town he grew up in, only to find that it was utterly destroyed. He swore to his dead family that he would get revenge by killing the Mage responsible for destroying the village.

Elminster then fell in with what at first appeared to be Highwaymen, but later turned out to be the True Knights of the realm. They were loyal to the Throne, not the Mages, and were forced to flee the Capital and hide in the backlands. There, they destroyed patrols sent out to find them with relative ease.

Elminster gained great skill with weapons during this time, but never came to enjoy or even be comfortable with killing. Because of his aversion to killing, he moved into the capital of the realm where he became a Thief. He started his own Thieves’ Guild and ended up in a rivalry with the Moonclaws, a Mage-Backed group already working in the same area. Again, however, he moved on in pursuit of vengeance.

This time, he left what could have been a comfortable and lucrative lifestyle because of an encounter with the goddess Mystra. She told the Last Prince that he had to learn of magic and worship her. He agreed and she enacted her first test upon him.

Elminster the man was transformed into Elmara the woman, a form that forced the Last Prince to learn the ways, trials and hardships of women. He spent many years as a woman, eventually meeting Myrjala. Myrjala taught Elmara a great deal about magic and eventually helped her become Elminster the man once more.

After a time, Elminster enlisted the aid of all of his friends and allies to reclaim the Stag Throne. He enacted his vengeance and gave the throne to the leader of the outlawed Knights, an older man named Helm. Elminster left the realm in pursuit of greater magical knowledge which is where the story picks up when Elminster in Myth Drannor began.

Mystra commanded Elminster to journey to the city Cormanthor in the realm of the Elves. There, Elminster was apprenticed to the first in a line of powerful but cruel Wizards. Due to actions he takes on a dying Elf’s behalf, Elminster was named a Knight of the Realm, which caused a great commotion among the Nobility.

The Coronal of the Time sought to open the realm of Elves to other races, an idea most of the Elves he ruled over disliked. His grand plan was to put up a Mythal, which would allow the Elves to remain in control of the city. Elminster took part in this endeavour and achieved the narrowest margin of success in making the Mythal by the end of the second novel.

When The Temptation of Elminster began many years had passed since the events in the first two novels. A band of adventurers opened a Netherese tomb, and inside they found Elminster in stasis. It was unclear exactly how long he was trapped, but it was a very long time before being revived.

He went on several smaller missions of magic, and after completing one of these he met deity Azuth, Lord of Spells. Upon returning to the now-destroyed Myth Drannor, Azoth told Elminster that he must try to use as little magic as possible for the next year.

Elminster was later apprenticed to another dark Wizard. She was an evil Sorceress who worshiped Bane, and tried to tempt Elminster from Mystra’s path. Their confrontation was epic and was an immensely satisfying ending to this series. The final novel ends with Elminster taking on the role of foster father to three little girls. (Those readers familiar with Realms lore can probably guess who they are.)

So far I’ve only read the first three novels in Elminster’s saga, but they left me hungry for more! I highly recommend this collection. I do caution readers that these are not as straight forward or as easy to follow as other Forgotten Realms novels. These novels are very intensive, especially when it comes to keeping track of all the characters and places where the story is told. The third novel is especially treacherous in this regard.

Each of the three novels collected in this omnibus are considerably longer than typical Forgotten Realms novels. This is actually a good thing in my opinion because it allowed the author to make an even more compelling story. Where I usually just breeze through most Forgotten Realms novels, these really held my attention.

9 on a d10

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Return of the Archwizards
The Summoning / The Siege /
The Sorcerer
Troy Denning

A Forgotten Realms Novel

Troy Denning’s Return of the Archwizards trilogy – The Summoning, The Siege and The Sorcerer – was recently re-released by Wizards of the Coast in one collected volume. It follows the story of the Elf Galareon, an Evereskan tomb guard, as he discovers the power and mystery of shadow magic.

Today the Dungeon’s Master team welcomes our newest contributor, Soklemon. He asked us if he could write book reviews for our site and we were happy to say yes. He is a Dungeon Master, Forgotten Realms fan, aspiring writer and high school student (in that order). He’s relatively new to D&D, but is quickly getting plenty of experience as the DM for his gaming group. We welcome him to the team and hope you enjoy his first contribution, the review of the Troy Denning Omnibus: Return of the Archwizards.

While investigating a tomb robbery, Galareon discovers clan of Vassans humans trying to free the Wizard, Melegaunt Tanthul from his prison behind the Sharn Wall. The Sharn Wall is a magic barrier under the Anauroch desert that imprisoned not only Melegaunt, but evil creatures called the Phaerimm. Melegaunt is freed and during the ensuing struggle Galareon’s Weave magic and Melegaunt shadow magic collide creating a permanent hole in the Sharn Wall, freeing the Phaerimm after centuries of captivity.

Galareon returns to Evereska with those who survived the initial battle and tries to enlist help to investigate the Wall breach and stop the Phaerimm. He is unable to convince the Elves of the danger and despite his adamant request; they will not allow him to return to the Wall. He decides to take it upon himself to stop the Phaerimm. Melegaunt, his servant Vala and Galareon leave the city in search of something Melegaunt insists will destroy the Phaerimm threat.

Along the way they meet Malik, a character familiar to readers from Denning’s previous novels in the Avatar series. Malik is Cyric’s Seraph of Lies. Early in the journey Melegaunt exposes Galareon to shadow magic. Galareon falls into the corruption offered by shadow, becoming more and more addicted to the rush of using the Shadow Weave. He opens himself to his shadow, a dark reflection of himself. His struggle with his shadow is one he faces thoughtout the entire trilogy

At the end of the first book in the trilogy, the Netherese city Shade Enclave arrives in the natural world after 1,700 years of exile from Faerun. The Princes of Shade, especially Escanor and Rivalen become important character for the rest of the series, as is their father, the Most High. Joining the cast of characters is Vala (one of the Vassans), Keya (Galareon’s sister) and Takari (a scout in Galareon’s tomb guard patrol). The Chosen of Mystra also have large roles in the story. As the story continues we learn of the deep relationship that Vala and Takari both have with Galareon, and he for the each of them.

The story of the trapped Evereskans, before, during and after Shade Enclave raises a great wall of shadow to trap the Phaerimm is told primarily through Keya’s experiences.

Galareon is a very complex character. He is not a stereotypical Elf, especially once his shadow begins to try to subvert his very nature. His shadow leads to him make some choices most people would never make. After his close friend Aris is gravely wounded because of Galareon’s shadows influence, he swears off the use of shadow magic.

Despite his best intentions, his shadow still continues to influence his actions. Galareon struggles with his inner demons throughout the book. This conflict is truly representative of the struggle everybody faces when trying to figure out who they really are. Despite his shadow, Galareon resists the influence of the Shadovar during his time in Shade Enclave. The time he spends there provides the reader with great insight into the working of the Shadovar, and sets up a solid foundation for anyone reading other books that feature it, such as the Paul S. Kemp’s Twilight War trilogy featuring Erevis Cale.

Galareon also struggles to make a decision about the women in his life. Should he pursue a short and passionate relationship with the Human woman Vala, knowing he’ll live hundreds of years longer than her; or should he look for a more stable and traditional relationship like the one he could have with Takari, a Wood Elf like his mother.

Telamont Tanthul, the Most High of Sade Enclave, who was alive during the glory of the original Netherese Empire, is featured prominently in this book. He’s a powerful enemy for Galareon and all of Faerun.

The Netherese do nothing to endear themselves to their new neighbors. They begin to melt the High Ice with massive blankets of woven shadow, flooding the desert and all of the Heartlands. Galareon attempts to prove this to the Rulers of Cormyr and when he finally manages too do so the entire North turns against the Enclave.

The third and final part of the original trilogy ties up many of the plotlines started by the series, which is not always the case with Forgotten Realms books. Some elements of the returned Netherese are not answered, but I believe the author did this deliberately in order to keep them as the mysterious enemies of northern Faerun.

Wizards of the Coast made an excellent decision to rerelease Return of the Archwizards. It details the Shadovar, whom are a large part of the new face of Faerun after the Spellplauge. If you’re just discovering Forgotten Realms novels this is not a good entry point into the Forgotten Realms world. The overall story draws very heavily on the shared world knowledge, such as the Chosen of Mystra. For those well steeped in Realmslore, however, it is an excellent read. It provides an insight into Evereska and the Shade Enclave. This is also the only book I’ve discovered so far that has any detail about the character Most High.

Return of the Archwizards is a great series for those looking to use the Shadovar in a D&D campaign or anyone looking for a good read. Provided they have read enough FR books to easily grasp the shared world.

The Return of the Archwizards omnibus is now available at most book stores. Copies of the original trilogy, The Summoning, The Siege and The Sorcerer are difficult but not impossible to find online or in used book stores. There is also a short story anthology called Realms of Shadow that, although difficult to find, contains stories about many of the characters and locations featured in the Return of the Archwizards.

9 on a d10.

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Have you read any of the D&D novels? Hundreds have been written over the past 30 years if you look at all of the different campaign settings and worlds. With new books coming out every month it’s difficult to know which ones are worth reading and which ones you should pass on. Today at Dungeon’s Master we’ve launched a new page called The Book Report. This permanent new page will help you decide what to read next.

When I can’t play D&D I find that reading D&D fiction is a pretty good substitute. I read a lot anyway, so it only makes sense that I’d pick up the novels set in the Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Greyhawk, Ravenloft and Eberron (sorry Dragonlance). It’s not exactly the same as playing D&D, but there are many similarities. I find that the novels often serve as a source of inspiration for my campaign (when I’m the DM) and for the type of characters I might want to play (when I’m a player).

When I read a D&D novel it feels like I’m observing a D&D game already in progress. The author is the DM and I get to ride along with the PCs as an observer. In addition to the sheer entertainment that comes from reading a good book, D&D novels provide me with great inspiration for my games.

As a player I enjoy seeing the various race and class combinations that the author chooses for his heroes. As a DM I often borrow story-lines from D&D novels and incorporate them into my own campaign. Reading about places in the Forgotten Realms or Eberron really gives me a sense of what those places are like. I can then try to share that vision with my gaming group when our campaigns brings us to those same places.

Periodically we run book reviews here at Dungeon’s Master, but since this isn’t a site dedicated to book reviews I only write up reviews for a small fraction of what I actually read. That means that many of the novels I read get no mention on our site.

Over the past few months I’ve created a list of all the books I’ve read (most of them D&D novels) and scored them. My intent is to keep expanding the list as I continue reading new books – so about three new entries a month. This gives you a quick and easy way to see what D&D novels are actually worth your time. Along with each book I’ll provide a few short sentences giving my thoughts and opinions.

The permanent link to The Book Report is located in the left navigation below the Popular Posts and above the Staff Picks. Be sure to check back regularly to see how I scored the last book and to find out what I’m reading next.

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Taint of the Black Brigade
The Chronicles of Abraxis Wren
Paul Crilley

An Eberron Novel

If you like a little bit more than the typical hack and slash in your fantasy fiction then you’re in for a treat. At its heart, Taint of the Black Brigade is a detective story. Even though it takes place in Eberron and the characters use magic it’s not your typical D&D novel. The focus of this story is a mystery and the lengths that a detective will go to solve it.

Taint of the Black Brigade is Crilley’s second novel featuring Abraxis Wren. The first, Night of the Long Shadows, was part of the Inquisitives series and although it took place before Taint of the Black Brigade it’s not necessary for you to read it first. I know that I read it when it was first released but all I remember about it besides that it was set in Eberron and featured an Inquisitive was that I really enjoyed it. So when I began reading Taint of the Black Brigade I was coming to it without any detail from the first book.

Plot Summary

The story begins in Wroat where Lyra, a House Medani agent, takes a job as a bodyguard. She’s ambushed and forced to watch the murder of the man she was supposed to be protecting. She realizes that she’s been framed for his murder so she flees to Sharn seeking help from Abraxis Wren, her ex-husband.

Wren meanwhile has become a social joke. Since the events from the Night of the Long Shadows he’s been unable to find work as an inquisitive. However, his fame and notoriety have made him popular in certain social circles. We get a first-hand example of his exceptional deductive reasoning as well as his obliviousness to social etiquette as he makes a spectacle of himself during a dinner party.

When Lyra shows up on Wren’s doorstep he reluctantly agrees to help her after some prodding from Torin. The three of them travel back to Wroat where they investigate the murder and uncover details of the victim’s past.

The man Lyra was hired to protect was part of an elite, black-ops team called the Black Brigade. They worked for Breland during the last war. The 10-member squad reported directly to the king. No one else knew of their existence. They were sent to do the jobs that regular troops weren’t equipped to handle or that might result in political backlash. Towards the end of the war the Black Brigade realized that they could easily be hung out to dry after the war. They’d have nothing to fall back on. No recognition for a job well done and no military pension to live off of. So they decided to do something about it.

When the Black Brigade found a priceless treasure during one of their final ops, they decided to keep it. They realized that if they cashed it in immediately there would be questions. So they decided to bury the treasure, and dig it up years later, after the war was over. However, some of the members of the Black Brigade disagreed on this course of action and they turned on each other. With only four members remaining they agreed to a truce.

One of the remaining members swore an oath to the Silver Flame that he’d forever denounce his share of the treasure. The others agreed to let him hide the treasure on their behalf. He would then create a treasure map, divide it into three pieces and give each of the remaining members a section. He did as agreed and handed each man a sealed envelope. Before he could explain what was in the envelope they killed him. Opening their envelopes they realized that they’d been double-crossed. Inside the envelopes wasn’t three pieces of a map, but rather three riddles. The riddles, when deciphered, would lead each man to his piece of the map. For years each man struggled to solve his riddle.

In order to absolve Lyra of a murder she didn’t commit, Wren must solve the riddles and find the treasure before the other surviving members of the Black Brigade.

Review

I really enjoyed this book. I find that the Eberron novels are a step above most other D&D novels. The setting is so rich and the authors find the perfect balance between just showing us the setting and using it as a part of their story.

Crilley did a wonderful job of introducing (or in my case re-introducing) the readers to his main characters: Wren and Torin. Abraxis Wren is a confident detective (called an Inquisitive in Eberron). Because he’s almost always right, he comes off as arrogant. He lacks social graces but doesn’t seem to notice or be bothered about it. He’s highly observant and uses logic to deduce the most likely conclusions. Torin provides Wren with someone to talk to and bounce ideas off of. He’s also is the first to point out when Wren’s plan will ruffle feathers, alienate his peers, cause future headaches or is outright dangerous.

Wren and Torin are clearly reflections of the popular Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson archetypes (or Dr. Gregory House and Dr. James Wilson if you’d prefer a more modern example). The banter between these two seems real and natural. You believe that these guys are friends even though they often disagree. Beneath the frustration of these arguments is sense that both men enjoy the debate a great deal.

Wren, Torin and Lyra are all such believable characters. It’s their weaknesses and vulnerabilities that really made them feel real to me. Throughout the course of the story we learn more about what Lyra and Wren’s relationship was like when they were together and we learn the painful reasons for their divorce. Knowing that someone as aloof as Wren was capable of feeling this kind of passion and pain helped me overlook and forgive his abruptness.

There is also a great deal of humour in this story. The back and forth between Wren and Troin, and Wren and Lyra, make for great comedy. You really believe that these characters are long-time friends and have a tremendous amount of shared history.

I’m always fascinated when we get see a part of Eberron that hasn’t previously been explored in great detail. In this case Crilley describes the inner workings of the secretive House Medani and how they keep records they’re not supposed to have. We also learn that Wren, once a member of the house, dissolved his relationship under less-than-favourable conditions.

We’re given a look inside a House Lyrandar luxury air liner, a ship that can hold hundreds of passengers and caters to the very rich. A battle between Wren and a murderer on the deck of the moving airship was very exciting.

The real treat for me was to get an idea of how the Dwarves of House Kundarak keep treasures safe within their magic vaults. When Wren and his companions need to break into the impenetrable bank we are shown how an observant and intelligent Inquisitive can apply logic to defeat even the most impressive defenses.

If you’re looking for a good read then I highly recommend Taint of the Black Brigade. Read it as a stand-alone, Eberron adventure or, if you can find Night of Long Shadows, you read that one first. Either way you’ll be happy you did.

Taint of the Black Brigade: 8 on a d10

Listen to Paul Crilley read a chapter from his book, Taint of the Black Brigade by downloading the podcast from the Wizard of the Coast website.

Download sample chapters of Taint of the Black Brigade and Night of the Long Shadows courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

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D&D Essentials have arrived and yesterday I received my copy of the Rules Compendium and Heroes of the Fallen Lands. I have to admit that at first I had no intention of picking up any books in the Essentials line. I figured I would wait for Character Builder to update and then look at the new options that are available. I’m glad I didn’t.

For those not aware D&D Essentials is an alternate path for advancement available to your D&D characters. The Essentials line is a series of 10 products that gaming shops are encouraged to keep in stock. They are essentially the new entry point for beginner players. That being said, players other than beginners may find the new options to their liking. For more information on the Essentials line, including release dates, read our post regarding the Wizards of the Coast Preview.

There has certainly been a lot of debate about the merit of the Essentials line and it’s place in 4e D&D. I’m not here to tell you Essentials is the best thing since sliced bread or that it’s the worst product WotC has produced in years. Instead I’ll give you my honest feedback of what I’ve read so far and leave you to make your own decisions.

My biggest complaint with 4e is the lack of fluff. The PHB told me how to make a character, but I really felt it lacked the depth of material required for me to become immersed in the new edition. I’m fortunate that my home group plays in the Eberron campaign setting, so we already have a detailed world to become immersed in. If you are a new D&D player and you don’t have this resource to draw on, it could leave the initial release of 4e feeling hollow with a lot of information to absorb.

When I say a lot of information to absorb I mean the Player’s Handbook has 122 pages devoted to characters, more specifically powers. Only two pages per class were devoted to fluff. With 8 classes represented in the PHB1, that’s 16 pages of fluff and 106 pages of powers. If you pull out your PHB for 3.5 you’ll find 38 pages devoted to character classes in that book. Clearly, there was a large shift in how classes and the entire mechanics of 4e work. Now don’t get me wrong, I love 4e and can’t imagine going back and playing any of the previous editions. But it’s taken the release of the Essentials line to really hammer home what I don’t like about 4e. As much as I may enjoy the current edition, I’m not so naive as to think it’s perfect.

The Essentials line attempts to bridge the gap. On my first read through Heroes of the Fallen Lands my initial thought was that this book should have been released first. It should be the Player’s Handbook.

My reasons for purchasing Heroes of the Fallen Lands was the promise made during the WotC preview seminar at GenCon this year, that we would see more fluff and background material in the source books. I wanted to see if the release of this first Essentials product would deliver on that promise. I’m pleased to say that it does, though not as much as I had hoped. I’ll temper that comment with the revelation that I love background source material. This material is often some of the best material released as they fill the heads of DMs and players alike with ideas.

The books in the Essentials lineup were released in digest format and I must say I’m a fan. If I have one complaint about digest format it’s that I like to put my character sheet on my book and role dice on it. We all have our habits and this is one of mine. From a weight perspective the books are comparable to the PHB. The quality of the paper and binding is good, this is not a flimsy book and production values appear high. Heroes of the Fallen Lands comes in at 345 pages and the Rules Compendium contains 319 pages. I didn’t know there were that many rules either.

The cover and chapter art of the books are great, serving to suitably inspire all players with new ideas. Chapter art in the Heroes of the Fallen Lands contain a caption explaining the scene, presumably to assist new players in understanding the creatures and actions that are available. The interior art is also fantastic, many of the contributing artists are individuals whose names you’ve seen and heard before. Unfortunately, so are many of the images. Much of the art was released in earlier 4e products and has been recycled in in these first two Essentials products. I’m fairly disappointed by this, as I said the work is top notch, but if WotC is going to release a new product new art would also be nice. Especially if they want the existing player base to buy the product. My final comment on the art is that there isn’t enough of it. I’m not sure if this is because the book is in digest format, and therefore words and art are spread out further than a regular publication, but the book could use more art on the pages. Even another half dozen images would do wonders to making the book feel fuller and more vibrant.

Rules Compendium

I’m not going to label this a must buy. If you have a DDI subscription and a laptop open during your game sessions you have access to everything in the Rules Compendium, making this purchase redundant. I am going to label it a should own, the folks at WotC have done a great job of collecting all the rules and dropping them into one books.

The contents are organized in a structured way that makes sense and is easy to navigate. It also takes information contained over multiple sources, pares it down and combines it into one entry. Very helpful. A few weeks ago my group was looking up rules on disease and were bouncing between the DMG and MM. No longer, it’s all in one location. Some rules that didn’t seem clear before appear to have received clarification. Recently we wrote an article regarding rule clarifications on teleportation. Had the Rules Compendium existed when we wrote the article, well we wouldn’t have needed to write the article.

One of my favourite features of the Rules Compendium is the glossary. Every term and condition is briefly described at the back of the book. On its own this is a great resource, combined with the rest of the book it does make the Rules Compendium a great book to have on any gaming table.

Skill challenges, always a favourite subject here, have also received some attention. The new skill check DCs are included along with some new mechanics for larger skill challenges. There is information on skill challenge complexity, that is how many moderate and hard checks should be in a given challenge. A clear definition between primary and secondary skills in skill challenges is also present. Finally, a new mechanic called Advantages has been introduced for skill challenges that have a complexity level higher than three. The idea behind this mechanic is to provide the adventurers a way of gaining an advantage. Examples include awarding two successes for defeating a hard DC check. We and other bloggers have written a lot on skill challenges as they are a new and perhaps misunderstood element of the game. The section on skill challenges in the Rules Compendium helps to broaden the amount of official advice available from WotC. This section is well worth the read.

Heroes of the Fallen Lands

I felt like I was a kid again as I flipped through this book. The layout reminded me of opening Player’s Handbooks of editions gone by. Heroes of the Fallen Lands will tell you how to build a character from the ground up. If you purchase this book, you don’t need the PHB to fill in the rest of the rules. Everything is here from character creation, equipment and combat.

Heroes of the Fallen Lands details Clerics, Fighters, Rogues and Wizards, the core classes that belong in D&D and it does a good job of it. There is a great deal more fluff about playing the class. Read this as new-player friendly, if you’ve been playing D&D for years or any computer RPG then you really know what these classes do. What Heroes of the Fallen Lands does it help place the classes into the lore of Dungeons & Dragons.

The Essentials builds of these four iconic classes are different from the original release of 4e. However, much is still very familiar. While I haven’t built a character yet, the power level does seem to be on par with what is available in the PHB. While the Essentials version of the classes isn’t necessarily simpler, I do feel that they are what should have been released with the launch of 4e. The classes really feel like a hybrid of Original Red Box, AD&D 2e, 3.5e and 4e mixed together together in a cauldron with the end result being a very tasty concoction. For sure they aren’t for everyone, but they are worth looking at.

One of the big complaints that I’ve read is that the Essentials builds won’t be compatible with the existing 4e classes. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“Other Dungeons & Dragons supplements, including Dungeons & Dragons Insider, offer additional powers that you can choose from. Whenever you choose a new class power, you can select it from the list presented in this book or you can take a power of the same class, level and type (attack or utility) from another source.

For example, when your slayer reaches 2nd level, you could select a 2nd-level fighter utility power from a source other than this book or you could choose one of the 2nd-level fighter utility powers in the “Knight” section of this book.” – page 52, Heroes of the Fallen Lands.

What this provides is very easy power customization. Many of the options available to Essentials characters are very appealing. I play an Assassin in our home game and I’ll be reviewing the Essential Assassin released through the DDI (subscription required) to see if any of the options present there will work for my character. Yes, DDI members you get a bonus Essential class to play with. Think of it a test, if you like what you see you will probably enjoy the Essential builds.

The classes felt right to me. The Wizard felt like a Wizard should, an individual casting spells memorized from a book. Not an individual using a power, called a spell, like every other character. Fighters give up daily powers in favour of more at-will powers, representing stances. The stances vary from aggressive, to defensive, to everything in-between. From a flavour perspective it make sense and actually looks like a fun class to play. Based on the limited experience I had playing the Fighter during the Convention Delve at GenCon, the fighter should be fun to play.

While Heroes of the Fallen Lands details four classes it contains five builds. The Fighter is able to pick between the role of defender or striker. My thought on this was finally, as it’s something we wrote on well over a year ago in our article the Fighter as a Striker. It is also interesting to note that the two fighter builds receive different armour proficiencies. The Knight starts off with plate and shield proficiencies, the Slayer only receives training up to scale and has no training with shields. Both receive the same starting hit points and hit point progression. While both builds are Fighters, the Slayer does not receive the new Aura Mark or any other power that can mark an enemy. This demonstrates how WotC is playing with the role system and producing two builds that both feel like fighters. The Slayer might not be able to mark, but his other abilities make it so no enemy on the field will want to ignore him. With the release of Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms in November we will have our first martial controller represented in a Ranger build. This makes me wonder what similarities it may have with the Seeker.

The section on races does contain a little bit more background on how the race fits into the lore of D&D. Don’t look for 100% new material here though. Much of the content of the Dwarf, the only race I read in great detail (they are the best race), is pulled from the PHB. While disappointing, it’s not surprising. WotC wasn’t out to rewrite the lore on the races, just provide more information on where they fit in.

The feat section contains both new and old feats. Most of the new feats are themed around the deities and all start with Disciple of… Again the point of the release was not to provide 100% new content, but for an easy launching point for new players. As a result some of the most common feats are repeated.

Both the Rules Compendium and Heroes of the Fallen Lands are good releases. If you’ve been playing 4e since release you don’t need these books. However, if you are new to D&D (not just 4e, but D&D as a hobby) I will say that they are Essential. These releases are a better entry point into D&D than the original 4e core books. A copy of the Rules Compendium on your groups table would be a wise investment, but not necessary. If you are interested in seeing how WotC have again stretched the mechanics of 4e to create something new, yet compatible, pick up Heroes of the Fallen Lands.

Much of the debate and anger towards the Essentials release is the perception that they are D&D 4.5e. After reading them, I can say I don’t feel that they are. In many ways the Essentials release is superior to what we already have, but they aren’t a new edition. I would also wager that a group using characters built from the Essentials rules over a group using characters from existing sources will finish an encounter quicker. This is because the options have been pared down. In the case of the Fighter you aren’t debating what power to use, you know what power you’re going to use. You are going to swing your sword, everything else is window dressing.

If you’ve read this far it’s apparent that I’m a fan of what I’ve read in Heroes of the Fallen Lands. Other than the Convention Delve at GenCon I haven’t seen any of the new Essentials builds in action. The current season of Encounters should give both experienced and new players alike a better sense how good or bad these builds are.

Have you picked up any of the new Essentials products? How do you feel they measure up compared to other D&D 4e releases?

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Last week I received my copy of Open Game Table 2 in the mail. For those of you not familiar with this publication it’s a collection of great articles from around the blogsphere that highlight the best in gaming. There is a lot of D&D stuff in here but it’s not exclusive to D&D.

From Blog to Book

Creating OGT2 was a collaborative and interactive process. The articles selected for inclusion in OGT2 were done so after after a long and arduous vetting process. Anyone and everyone was invited to submit the URL of their favourite online gaming article for consideration in the OGT2. There were 376 submissions.

The next step was for the volunteer judges and editors to review all the articles and widdle this massive list down to something more manageable. After many weeks of intense review the list was pared down to 70 articles.

Many great blogs ended up contributing to OGT2. Check out the complete list at The Core Mechanic. I encourage you to look over the blog list and if you find one you don’t recognize, do yourself a favour and check it out.

Dungeon’s Master Involvement

Of the 376 articles originally submitted for consideration in OGT2, Dungeon’s Master had 11. After the review process we ended up having 3 of our 11 make the final cut. As ecstatic as we were to make the cut at all it was especially rewarding that our three articles were written by three different authors.

These are our three contributions to the OGT2.

• Engaging Your Players (written by Wimwick)
• I’m Your Cleric, Not Your Bitch! (written by Ameron)
• More Than Just Minions (written by Sterling)

Purchasing Open Game Table 2

To purchase your very own copy of Open Game Table 2, visit Lulu.com. Print copies are $22.95 and PDF copies are $9.95 (prices in US). Here’s the description of OGT2 from the publisher’s website.

Foreword by Justin Achilli. Through the combined efforts of over 70 authors, artists, editors, and fans of RPG blogs – Open Game Table is back! Inside you will find timeless interviews with Dave Arneson on the roots of roleplaying games, Robin D. Laws on RPG theory and game play, and Jonathan Roberts on his career as a master cartographer. Included in Volume 2 are 65 articles that serve as the perfect complement to Volume 1: GM and player advice on character and campaign design, sandboxing, story pacing, play styles, gaming with your kids, and much much more. WIRED.com’s GeekDad blog says Volume 1 is “… a treasure trove. A tome worth killing a few orcs for.” and “The kind of brain stimulus role players need, diverse and quality content.” Bards & Sages Fantasy Review says “Open Game Table, Volume 1 is the reference guide equivalent of a Deck of Many Things, … you can draw from it again and again.” Open Game Table, Volume 2 brings that same level of excellence back to the table, and never misses a roll.

The original Open Game Table anthology is also available for purchase. Print copies are $22.95 and PDF copies are $9.95 (prices in US). We’re not featured in the first anthology but please don’t let that stop you from picking up this book. It was because the first OGT was so successful and well received that they even considered putting together OGT2. Pick up the first book, you’ll be glad you did.

Thank You

We want to once again thank Jonathan Jacobs from The Core Mechanic for all of his hard work in putting together the Open Game Table books. If not for his leadership and drive the books would never have become a reality. We’d also like to thank everyone who volunteered their time and money to get OGT2 to press. And of course, we want to thank all of the readers. If it wasn’t for all of you we wouldn’t be writing these gaming blogs in the first place. No blogs means no materials for OGT. So thanks to the readers. Please purchase your very own copy of OGT and OGT2. You’re not only supporting the gaming community but you’re also getting a collection of some of the best gaming articles out there.

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Wizards of the Coast shared some highlights of their upcoming release schedule through the next year. We already covered D&D Essentials in our 2010-2011 Preview (Part 1). This installment is for the experienced gamers who want more materials for their existing campaign and characters. We’ll also share the limited details provided about D&D Gamma World. You may want to bookmark these articles and keep coming back throughout the next year to find out what Wizards is releasing next.

		Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set a.k.a The Red Box As the title implies, it’s a beginner’s guide to D&D. It provides everything someone new to the hobby needs to know to begin play. It comes with a solo adventure and it comes with dice. Although the packaging is not the same as the rest of the D&D Essentials line, this is considered one of the core 10 products that all game stores should keep stocked. Coming in September 2010.
		D&D Miniatures: Lords of Madness This is the only new line of D&D minis announced. It looks like they’re going back to the original format where all the minis are hidden. No more preview of at least one huge or large mini when you buy. Coming in September 2010.
		D&D Miniatures: Beholder Collector’s Set If you thought it was tough to get your hands on an Orcus mini, these beholders are going to be just as rare. You get four beholders in one set. The top panel of the box opens to display all four minis. Coming in November 2010.
		Dungeons & Dragons Wrath of Ashardalon Board Game In the same format and style as the Ravenloft board game, comes Wrath of Ashardalon. In this game you get to fight red dragons. The two board games will be compatible and Wizards plans to release information on their website on how to combine the two games into one massive adventure. It’s for for 1 to 5 players, so yes it is possible to play it by yourself. Coming in November 2010.
		Gazetteer: The Nentir Vale This is the campaign setting described in the D&D Essentials line so Wizards thought it might be a good idea to give us more information about it. The book will include a 6 x 9 gate-fold map. Coming in 2011, First Quarter.
		Players Option: Heroes of Shadow Introducing the shadow power source. Of course, DDI subscribers have already had a taste of the shadow power source with the Assassin and the Revenant. Wizards confirmed that Heroes of Shadow will support the previously released materials but that the content exclusive to DDI will remain exclusive to DDI. So new feats and paragon paths for the Assassin, but not a full description of the basic class. This book will contain more about the flavour and background of playing PCs with the shadow power source. Coming in 2011, First Quarter.
		Deluxe Dungeon Master’s Screen All the information a DM needs at his fingertips. The tables have been rearranged based on which ones are used most often. Anything that was updated since the original DM’s screen, like the DCs for skill challenges, was updated for this release. Coming in 2011, First Quarter.
		Deluxe Dungeon Master’s Screen Full mural spanning all four panels.
		Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium Call it what you want but this is Adventurer’s Vault 3. It will introduce some game-changing rules for magic items in 4e D&D. All items will be categorized as common, uncommon or rare. PCs cannot create or purchase uncommon or rare items. It’s unlikely that any PC will ever have more than one rare item. All existing magic items in 4e D&D are going to be retroactively categorized. Almost everything that’s already in print will become uncommon or rare. This change is intended to fix power creep and will put the control of magic items firmly back into the hands of the DM. I suspect that a lot of gamers will opt not to follow these new guidelines. Unless I hear something compelling, I intend to ignore this new mechanic and keep things as they are now in my home camping. Coming in 2011, Second Quarter.
		The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond This one is a boxed set and features the Shadowfell. If you’re going to release a shadow power book I guess it only makes sense to put out a supplement that provides locations to set adventures for the new shadow PCs. Coming in 2011, Second Quarter.
		Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale Another boxed set. This time it’s full of monsters. Included are tokens, maps and encounters featuring the new monsters. Coming in 2011, Second Quarter.
		Conquests of Nerath Board Game This board game is a strategy war game. They likened it to Risk and Axis & Allies. A world map is included as part of the game and this will be the first look at the entire setting map for the D&D Essentials world. Coming in 2011, Second Quarter.
		Players Handbook: Champions of the Heroic Tier With so many new players joining D&D in 2011 thanks to the D&D Essentials line, there is a heavy focus on heroic play. This supplement, although not part of D&D Essentials, incorporates some of the new materials from those books. It will include character themes, like those we’ll see in the upcoming Dark Sun materials. It will also provide new options to flesh out your character’s background. It sounded a lot like the non-weapon proficiency system from AD&D. Coming in 2011, Third Quarter.
		Neverwinter Campaign Guide Set in the Forgotten Realms, this is intended to provide plot options for DMs who want to adventure in Neverwinter. It will also feature a new class called the Bladesinger. This is a full treatment which includes powers for level 1-30, new feats and paragon paths. Coming in 2011, Third Quarter.
		Hero Builder’s Handbook If you’re looking to customize or optimize your character to the Nth degree then this is your book. It contains guidelines and details for making the very specific character you’ve envisioned. Coming in 2011, Third Quarter.
		The Madness of Gardmore Abbey This is the 2011 super adventure. The main plot of the adventure is to recover the Deck of Many Things. The cards have been scattered throughout the Abbey and it’s up to the PCs to collect them. It’s also likely that the PCs will find opportunity to use some of the cards in the process so beware. Coming in 2011, Third Quarter.
		Ravenloft Roleplaying Game Ravenloft is back and it’s part of the Shadowfell. Use it as a setting in and of itself or add it to any existing campaign setting. There will be rules for playing the vampires and werewolves as PCs. So for all of you teenage girls out there who wanted to create Jacob and Edward as D&D heroes, this book makes that possible. Coming in 2011, Third Quarter.

Although Dungeon’s Master is exclusively a 4e D&D website, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the upcoming D&D Gamma World setting. I’m not sure how closely aligned it will be with “real” D&D but I’m sure there are some folks who are interested in finding out. I remember the old Gamma Word RPG from the 80s and I just don’t see how they can call it D&D. However, I reserve judgement until I’ve had a chance to see the materials.

		D&D Gamma World Roleplaying Game Add laser guns and spaceships to your D&D campaign. Coming in September 2010.
		D&D Gamma World Booster Packs These cards will add an element of randomness to every Gamma World adventure. They are not intended or designed to be a collectible card set. You don’t buy them all and pick the ones you want to use. You buy a pack and then take whatever is in there and use them as appropriate. Coming in September 2010.
		D&D Gamma World: Famine in Far-Go This expansion set has more Gamma World goodies to keep your game from getting stale. More monsters and more adventures. Coming in December 2010.

There is also a lot going on throughout the upcoming year in the D&D novel line. I’ve decided to save that for another post. There was also a Q&A at the end of the seminar covering anything and everything that those in attendance wanted to know. The details will be included in our 2010-2011 Preview (Part 3) later this week.

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Wizards of the Coast shared some highlights of their upcoming release schedule through the next year. Since there is so much coming out over the next 12 months we’re breaking this into two articles. Part 1 focuses on the upcoming D&D Essentials products. Part 2 covers everything else. You may want to bookmark these articles and keep coming back throughout the next year to find out what Wizards is releasing next.

D&D Essentials

This article is going to focus on all of the upcoming releases for the D&D Essentials line. Wizards described their Essentials line as 10 key products that all gaming stores should have on hand at all times.

Note: They said there are 10 products, but only eight were discussed. I suspect that the other two were included in the seminar but perhaps we not exclusive to D&D Essentials and therefor were not packaged in the same way.

They emphasized many times that these will not replace the existing 4e books. The D&D Essentials line is still 4e. It offers new, and in many cases simplified, options. For experienced players looking for lots of choice they can stick with everything that’s already out. But for newer players or those who find the plethora of choice overwhelming, there is D&D Essentials.

Materials from the D&D Essentials line will be available through the normal DDI updates. So Character Builder will let you use the new rules presented in D&D Essentials if you want to. Likewise, the materials in the upcoming Monster Vault will be incorporated into the DDI Monster Builder a month after its release.

All of the books in the D&D Essentials line are softcover, 6×9 digest format and have lay-flat binding for easy use.

That’s all we have on the D&D Essentials. For all the other great D&D materials releasing in the next 12 months check out the 2010-2011 Preview (Part 2) later this afternoon.

Update: It looks like Part 2 won’t be ready until tomorrow (sorry). There is just so much stuff coming out over the next year it’s taking me a lot longer to put it all together than I thought.

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