4

So WotC has announced the upcoming release of the Fourth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. And you probably knew about this way before the event, or if you didn't know, you could have predicted it, or if neither of those two you may be in the category that is thinking "Wow. They still make Dungeons & Dragons?"

Of the mechanics themselves there are bits and pieces being released for general consumption, but there are two items in the roll-out that caught my eye, one good, and one bad (from my Ancient-One-Like standpoint).

First off, the initial press release leads off with this line -

"Whether you storm a mad wizard’s tower every week or haven’t delved into a dungeon since you had a mullet and a mean pair of parachute pants, one thing is certain, millions of D&D® players worldwide have anticipated the coming of 4th Edition for many years."

Great, when the off-hand comment about what old gamers are like is ten years younger than you were when you started playing the game, you know you're old.

On the other hand, the roll-out itself was incredibly good. My old gaming group buddies, Bill Slavicsek and Chris Perkins spoke geekness to geeks, as shown in this video. In particular, the video with Chris as DM over the years (his hair shorter with every version) was amusing. AND the fact that play comes to a grinding halt as soon as grappling is mentioned is lifted directly out of our Thursday night game (and a bunch of other games as well.

Both Chris and Bill are generally shy people, and their ease at the presentation is a dead giveaway that they know what they are talking about. The presentation continues here, here, and here, and is worth checking out.

Now, were did I put my mullet?

More later.