Is it a cynical money grab by WOTC? Possible. So, I can't wait to buy it and actually play a classic with my closest friends. But I'm the lone OSR guy (If I had my druthers, I'd be playing Moldvay or BFRPG.) and the group has moved on to 5E. I missed out on actually getting to PLAY the classics. I couldn't find a group interested in playing, or an established group until 1995 (You know, the Dark Ages). While I've been reading D&D books since 1982 (old ones, we ones, whatever I could find), I grew up in a little place with almost no RPG community. While I agree with Badmike regarding the RPG talent that WOTC isn't utilizing at the moment, I have to say that I find the typical Grognard response just tedious.ĭon't like it? Whatevs. More likely, if they saw something they wanted to use they'd just contact the person, have them pull their product, and pay them a buck or two (hyperbole) to use the stuff and not have to worry about pesky folks yelling at them. what if the conversion kinda sucks or gets something wrong?) or angering fans.
It'd be interesting to see if they used any community-sourced conversions most of those are very thin documents primarily focused on a straight 1:1 conversion of monsters, traps, and magic items and (almost) nothing else, so I suspect the answer is that they didn't, instead using more interesting and thematic conversions to shake things up a little bit and update monsters rather than do some kind of "thessalgoyle = 2 gargoyles" or some such.Īs to the rights: you are playing in WOTC's court when you publish to DM's guild, so they can technically use your stuff all they want, but they have little impetus to do so in order to avoid watering down the brand (i.e. Not quite appealing to the OSR, not quite the style of modern 5e gamers - so what's the plan? Reply Delete So, while I love the cover art - I'm not sure the strategic value of the product from a marketing/publishing stance. But if it's for the newer generation of 5e gamers, is it really going to appeal to them? I mean as Bryce Lynch said above, these modules can be real meat grinders, and are not very story heavy - and I get the impression that that's the opposite of what the newer generation enjoys. With WotC ramping up the PoD of OSR products, is Yawning Portals supposed to draw more OSRers to 5e? If so, we're all either already on the 5e Train or still sitting back and happily playing our out of print or retro-clones. That being said, this product confusing me.
Given enough time, I’d also love to commit myself to mastering amateur astronomy, kendo, swing dancing, Civil War re-enacting and/or upscale cosplay, travel writing, running, gardening, curling, speaking Gaelic and/or Old Norse, and homebrewing.
Of late, I've settled down in the Greater Eau Claire Area of WI to enjoy a quiet family life with my daughter, progressive short term memory loss, and a list of new hobbies I am trying out that is longer than me.īesides gaming, I’ve spent most of my copious free time trying to get started as an indie filmmaker, a folk-rock singer-songwriter, or a long-order cook. Since then I’ve wandered from locale to locale, ending up at various times in East Lansing, MI, Dublin, Ireland, and Westchester, NY. Comics and sci-fi were all over the place in there too. Eau Claire, WI, United States I was crafted in Detroit during the waning days of the Nixon Administration and began my long career as a gaming geek around the age of 9, having been first introduced to Dungeons and Dragons at summer camp – whereupon my first character was promptly & ignominiously devoured by a purple worm.