4th Edition… I can still remember playing first edition rules on a bench swing in my grandfather’s carport, trying to explain how this whole D&D thing worked to my cousin and little brother. I didn’t totally understand it all myself but I faked it as best I could and we had fun. Things have come along way since those days, but I can honestly say that 4th Edition is quite possibly the most approachable of the past editions. It’s a lot more focused on the action and while rules still play a big part in the D&D experience, I don’t feel as weighed down by them as I have in the past.

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You’ll notice a slightly different look to the blog today. I’ve been working on a brand new Inner Circle website for the past month (much to my wife’s chagrin) and we are just getting ready to unveil it. The slight changes on the blog here fit inline with the rest of the Inner Circle website. Read the rest of this entry »

4th Edition is finally here and I’ve read a pretty good portion of the core books. So far, I’m still sticking to what I wrote in the pre-release 4e review I did in my previous post. More importantly, I’ve been playing D&D almost every week since Keep on the Shadowfell (KotS) has been released. I’m really digging the new edition and I’ve had more fun playing D&D then ever before. The crux of this entry will focus on my review of KotS. I’m going to keep this pretty much spoiler free, so if you are planning on running through this you should be OK. Read the rest of this entry »

The review of 4e I’ve been promising comes today with a review of Keep on the Shadowfell (KotS) to come soon hereafter. Reviews are something you haven’t seen on Arcane Sight before, but it is something you’ll start to see more frequently. We want to start getting more engaged with the community and having a frequently updated website and adding reviews of video games, movies, and comics will be one way for us to do that. Read the rest of this entry »

So I’m back from Florida and just starting to settle back into the normal life (yuck!). I can’t recall a vacation I took that was two weeks of nothing to do. My vacations usually consist of the following: we need to get Denizens of Avadnu finished, so I’ll take off a few days or let’s run a booth at GTS, Gencon, or Origins and take those days off. Two weeks off with nothing work-related was pretty awesome. I’m still so relaxed that it’s kinda weird. Read the rest of this entry »

My Comic Con update comes a bit late as I’m putting the finishing touches on some freelance work for Twilight East and getting prepared to leave for Florida for my wedding (and impending doom… LOL!). Comic Con was pretty much like all of the other Comic Conventions I’ve attended and I didn’t see much that was new and exciting.

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Even though there were a lot of naysayers over on EN World, I was pretty sure that 3rd Party Support and the spirit of Open Gaming would exist with the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. I was even more convinced when a redone d20 logo appeared on the back of the latest Dungeons & Dragons Miniature’s Set, Dungeons of Dread. I scanned a copy of the logo and took about 30 minutes to touch it up in Photoshop. A lot of people think its really retro and ugly, but I happen to like it quite a bit. It will reduce very well, and work a lot better than the old d20 Logo in my opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

This post by Mike Lescault has caused a lot of worry on the EN World forums:

They dragged me, kicking and screaming, back from vacation and I wanted to follow up on this issue as promised. Obviously, Linae’s a key person working on this stuff and her insight into the area will forever dwarf what little informaton and undestanding I can track down, but with that said, I have a quote from Liz Schuh, D&D Publishing Brand Director.

“We’re still vetting our final policy regarding open gaming. As soon as that process is complete, we’ll make an official announcement. Stay tuned for more information.”

I’ll make sure additional informaton is passed on when I receive it, but for now this is the best we can do for a quote.

Normally, I would be like yeah, they trying to figure out the licenses and all of that. In fact, that was my first reaction when all of this started. The warning flag for me was when Clark Peterson from Necromancer chimed in and said he thinks that its a very real possibility. Now I am worried. Read the rest of this entry »

This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately and this is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write. I’ve really been trying to put this all into perspective and find the right words. I’m certainly not going to be as eloquent as some of my esteemed designer colleagues, but I’ll give it my best. No, I’m not talking about my pending review of 4e, that will have to wait for a few more days. I’m referring to the loss of Gary Gygax who passed away on GM’s Day March 4th. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve read my other post on 4e here, you know, as I said, I’m excited. Sure, I’m excited to get a well done new edition of D&D, but more than that, I’m really excited for our company this year. Read the rest of this entry »