Hey, Readerland. Stepped away from wrestling in this edition and stepping up to gaming. By the way, you can now find me on Twitter (yes, I caved) @WillMyers2.
So, the big news in the gaming world is that Monte Cook, long-time gamer/game designer and creator of Malhavoc Press, has rejoined Wizards of the Coast (www.wizards.com) in an "advisor" position. This has made Monte Cook fanboys squeal with delight and gamers in general at least perk up and go 'Huh,' for this is indeed Big News.
Of course, the biggest question that comes from this re-pairing of gaming giants is 'What comes next?' See, there's been a hug division of the Dungeons and Dragons crowd over the release of the 4th Edition D&D game, which was essentially nothing like the 3rd and 3.5 Edition. Given that I've never played 4th Edition, from what I can gather, it has become more of a miniatures wargame than a roleplaying game. (This next section contains a fair amount of generalizations. You have been warned.) 4E players were tired of the rules bloat that was the 3/3.5E mess. Seriously, there were seemed extra books (called 'splat books') for everything in 3/3.5. 3E players didn't want to have to buy minis and game boards and have less customization in their characters. Then there was also the monetary factor. With so many supplements, if you wanted to stay current with all of your splat books, you were putting down a chunk of change. For example, during my own 3/3.5 days, I got the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manuals I, II, and III, Lords of Madness, and the Call of Cthulhu d20 book. Each of those books ran at least $30, so just for what I had, it cost me around $210 and probably more.
In March of 2008, Paizo Publishing (paizo.com) came in and created the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game under the WotC open gaming license. A few tweaks to the gaming system and Paizo was continuing the 3/3.5E tradition that WotC has stopped producing with the advent of 4E. Some people, myself included, call Pathfinder "D&D 3.6." One big change for Pathfinder from the WotC plan was the Core Rulebook, which is 576 pages and combines both of what would be considered the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master's Guide from D&D, at a slightly reduced cost from the 3E books ($50 compared to $60).
Another big change for Pathfinder is the 'adventure path.' An adventure path is several prewritten modules that link together to form one overarching campaign. Paizo produces two adventure paths a year. While 'adventure path' as a term dates back to 3E, it's more commonly used for the Paizo products.
So, after four years (at least) of having two or three editions to choose from, what is going to come from Monte Cook joining back up with WotC? Will it be revisions to 4E? A fifth edition? I've even seen some people say that WotC should go back to producing 3E material, with the counterpoint being that they've already created massive amounts of content for 3E, so why create more, unless they're going to go back and make tweaks or add errata, which would then either lead to new books with few changes replacing old books at old prices or loads and loads of small downloads required to keep up with the 'new' 3/3.5 edition.
So, what will come of this? Personally, I'm not sure how much it will effect me, as I play Pathfinder and not D&D of any edition at the moment, though I suppose there could be a time when I go back to 3E. Honestly, I think what's going to happen is that there will be more splat books made for 4E, because there can always be another campaign setting or set of character options.
But will Monte Cook usher in the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons? I don't know, but here's what I think: It doesn't matter. Honestly, I think the creation of a 5th Edition would mean little to me, because I'm at a point in my gaming career where having fun is more important than staying up with the next big thing. I certainly wouldn't be looking to sink a ton of money into it, that's for sure. If I bust out my 3E or my AD&D stuff for a laugh, then so be it. I could probably throw together a group and run something off the top of my head at this point and it would (probably) be fun for everyone involved and in the end, that's what really matter.
That's all I've got, I hope you've enjoyed. Don't for get to find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter (@WillMyers2) and until next time, be awesome to each other. #WWWYKI.
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