of Dice and Dragons

I had hoped to post something over the last few days but was unable to due to the workload at my job but in the midst of my reading tonight I came across the announcement that Arthur C. Clarke passed away.

Most will remember him for his outstanding science fiction contributions, in particular 2001: A Space Odyssey which I think just about anyone that’s enjoyed the genre has enjoyed and even more saw the film.

There’s a nice write up on Bloomberg for those that are interested in learning a bit more about the man behind who gave us HAL.

It is with sadness that I pass along this bit of news to those that may not have heard yet - Gary Gygax one of the co-creators of D&D has passed away.

I think I can speak for many that without him our hobby and outlook on gaming would be very different and he will be sorely missed.

Cnet news has a nice write up located at http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9885383-7.html?tag=head and according to that article Troll Lord Games will post more information later today.

Farewell Gary.

(photo from Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gygax)

As much as I try to stay away from the 4th Edition discussions that are out there, I felt I needed to pass along that the folks over at Wizards have released a Rules Primer for those of us that will not be able to attend D&D Experience 2008. You can pull a copy from http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4news/20080228a.

It’s only two pages but it does shed light on a number of the mechanics that will be changing in the next edition, take healing for example:

Hit points still measure your ability to stay in the fight, but
healing’s no longer just the burden of one character
anymore. Each character has a certain number of healing
surges. Once during each encounter, you can take a
standard action called a second wind; this gives you a certain
amount of hit points back equal to your healing surge value
and gives you a +2 bonus to all your defenses until the start
of your next turn.

In addition after an extended rest, which is defined as 6 hours, you’ll be fully healed - big change from 3rd.

I have to admit some of the things I’ve ready are encouraging and may just make it into my next run as GM even if we don’t make the move to 4th Edition - but as for our group making the move, I’m thinking it won’t happen in the near future.

So, what are your thoughts? Do you like what you’ve seen so far?

May your dice roll well.