I found this snippet from the new DMG and thought it was amusing:

QuoteSupplies
What do you need to play D&D?

What You Need to Play
- A place to play
- Rulebooks
- Dice
- Paper and pencils
- Battle grid or D&D Dungeon Tiles
- Dungeon Master’s Screen
- D&D Miniatures

Useful Additions
- Character sheets
- Snacks
- Laptop computer, PDA, smart phone, or digital camera
- D&D Insider

The battle grid and minis are considered necessary to play.  Hunh.  And the DM's screen, too?  But character sheets are optional.  And why do "A place to play" and "Snacks" even need to be mentioned?  D'uh.  And what the hell is the digital camera going to be used for?

Okay, look, this game could be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but this DM's advice is totally pants.

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaI found this snippet from the new DMG and thought it was amusing:The battle grid and minis are considered necessary to play.  Hunh.  And the DM's screen, too?  But character sheets are optional.  And why do "A place to play" and "Snacks" even need to be mentioned?  D'uh.  And what the hell is the digital camera going to be used for?

Okay, look, this game could be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but this DM's advice is totally pants.

!i!

I think I've been pretty clear in my concerns over the new edition...but...

Could it be that they assumed a difference between Paper & Pencil and Character Sheets? IOW, you could track what you need on a sheet of paper - but it's easier with optional character sheets - available on line form the DDI store, of course!

I could see that...

It´s written in a manner that´s the opposite of "timeless". That´s what makes the DMG soooooooo disposable, even if you are a 4 fanboy.

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaAnd what the hell is the digital camera going to be used for?

To take pictures of the guys masturbating on Borgstorm ?

Regards,
David R

But I will say that even if read in this light, it still shows a kind of lack of 'getting it' at some level. Because while it might make perfect sense to the author, the point is to write for the audience.

Why someone didn't look at that and say "Wow, this could be taken wrong - let's add some parenthetical stuff after the P&P line to clarify," I'll never understand.

Then again, I'm neither author or editor, so maybe I'm way off on this one.

Do I get this right: The reason they suggest to xerox the character sheet or call it optional is because they won't offer a free character sheet for download?

IOW, are they calling it optional because you have to subscribe to DDI in order to get an official sheet?

Not a rhetoric question, I plain don't know.

Quote from: Pierce InverarityDo I get this right: The reason they suggest to xerox the character sheet or call it optional is because they won't offer a free character sheet for download?

IOW, are they calling it optional because you have to subscribe to DDI in order to get an official sheet?

Not a rhetoric question, I plain don't know.

Not from me will you get an official answer - I made the DDI reference flippantly...

I THINK what you are supposed to do is to create your character online, so you´ll get all the powers printed on your individual character sheet.

That might also be the reason why they aren´t selling power-cards.

It specifies in the book (in the paragraph after that list) that the digital camera is useful in case you have to stop playing in the middle of an encounter -- you can take a picture of the board and everybody's positions on it so that you can pick up where you left off later. Which is apparently an easier and better way to handle that situation than, say, noting that info on a piece of paper (or, for that matter, making your encounters short enough that you're not likely to have to stop playing in the middle of one...).

I'll ask, but I suspect I already know the answer: does the 4e DMG contain an "inspirational reading/viewing" list?

Gygax's list of books that inspired him in writing AD&D became a reading list I still draw from almost 30 years later. I love lists like that. GURPS does a great job in its books of including very nice appendices of source material for any given game book's topic or genre - the recent GURPS Fantasy, Space, and Infinite Worlds are good examples.

D&D hasn't had such lists in its core books since 1e (I don't recall them in 2e, but I could be wrong). I know that source material is touched upon here and there in the 3e books, very, very lightly, but it disappoints me that they didn't go into the literary and cinematic "roots" of D&D. I'd be interested in seeing what influences the designers of 3e and 4e had.

Quote from: ColonelHardisson...but it disappoints me that they didn't go into the literary and cinematic "roots" of D&D. I'd be interested in seeing what influences the designers of 3e and 4e had.

There's very little here of roots. It's a different game. I would like to know what this edition's inspirations are, but haven't read it that thoroughly just yet. For now I'm going to go with a "that's not in there" in the hopes that someone else will find it just to correct me.

Quote from: beejazzI would like to know what this edition's inspirations are, but haven't read it that thoroughly just yet.

Wow.  I thought it was obvious.

Quote from: StuartWow.  I thought it was obvious.

That I hadn't read every word, or what the inspirations were?

To me it looks like they just had some knowledge about previous editions, nixed what they didn't like, and core-ified the stuff they did like. Very little is truly new. A proto-warlord appeared in the Miniatures Handbook, for example. And people have been messing around with the idea of "dragon people" for a while now, most recently in the whole "Races of the Dragon" thing. Gnomes and most of the non-core races that had any major following all appear at the back of the MM too.

...or were you implying that it was based on World of Warcraft / Magic the Gathering / Final Fantasy / other conspiracy theory?

I should have capitalized the second W.

The influences? Ironically, we went through this once. I found this thread where it's discussed.  I'm trying to find the original quote from Mearls stating the influence...

Man, that thread is a read.....