Tunnels of Doom

The guys behind Penny Arcade and Player vs. Player got together to do a promotional thing for the soon-released Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition: They played through the advance copy module, “Keep on the Shadowfell,” and recorded it. Now they’re releasing the recordings as episodic podcasts and I just finished the first one.

The short version: It’s awesome and hilarious and you should listen to it right away.

The longer version is that it’s great podcasting in a general sense: Fans of D&D are going to get a nice insight into some of the 4th Edition changes while even people who aren’t interested in the nuts and bolts of the game can get a good sense of what a good role-playing session is like. It’s sometimes tough to explain to people who don’t play RPGs what makes it fun, and this is a great exercise because it captures that essence right away and it just so happens the PvP and PA guys are hilarious so it’s framed in a comedic backdrop that really pulls the whole thing together.

Plus the first episode includes the phrase “I’m just super-good at D&D” that had me in stitches so, yeah, it’s worth listening. As if that wasn’t enough, they’re also building an accompanying comic that chronicles the adventure and it’s pretty sweet in and of itself (though a bit context-less without having listened to the podcast).

As with most stuff the PA guys do, the language gets pretty rough so it’s maybe not for kids, but everyone else should make time to check this out.

You may have heard that Wizards of the Coast is releasing Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition. Wizards describes the changes going from 3.5 to 4 as evolutionary which is supposed to mean that people familiar with the existing rules won’t have to start playing what amounts to an entirely new game. Which is fine and makes sense for Wizards of the Coast.

But I’m not here to talk about specific changes to D&D but rather to ask a question: Considering that D&D is basically the flagship product not only for WotC but for role-playing in general, what ought 4th Edition look like? What changes need to be made to this essential title to meet the varied criteria for a) New players b) Veterans and c) Lapsed players, especially those who may have felt put off by the changes from AD&D 2nd Edition to 3rd and 3.5?

(more…)