Robot Viking

Billy Gibbs has a great review of Super Genius Games’ Genius Guide to Archer Archetypes. There’s a lot of cool stuff in this one that will surely get you excited to roll up a ranger who goes way beyond the usual “nature guy with a bow” schtick.

There we were, ensconced in the Wizards’ of the Coast Steel Cocktail Lounge high above the Gen Con exhibitor’s hall, Laura Tommervik, Rodney Thompson and I. What else was there to do but open up that new D&D Red Box and find out what it’s all about?

Gavin O’Brien took over as DM of the regular Robot Viking D&D group this week, his first stint in the 4e DM’s chair. He helpfully explains what it was like to take his former companions for a spin on the Wheel of Pain.

If you’re a long-time D&D player, chances are you’ve had one or more characters killed by deathtraps in the classic Tomb of Horrors adventure. Ryk Perry brings us this in-depth review of the 4E update, revealing that it’s much more than just a rehash of the original, but it’s potentially as deadly as ever.

Here are some interesting ideas, blogs and gaming sites I’ve been checking out lately. If you like beer with your games, non sequitur gaming chatter or frequent character death, there’s something for you here.

One of the games I demoed at Gen Con that I’m most excited about is Fantasy Flight’s new Lord of the Rings card game. It’s a cooperative two-player game (or one-player solitaire game) that follows the “living card game” model used by Fantasy Flight’s Game of Thrones and Call of Cthulhu card games.

Let’s start the post-Gen Con reporting with the biggest news from the biggest company in gaming. Saturday morning, Wizards of the Coast devs gave a presentation outlining upcoming releases for D&D all the way into 2011. Gamma World, Ravenloft, rules changes, comic books, novels and more!

This is Hezutli, a plant demon who lurked in an ancient tomb protecting a guardian beast from artifact thieves and evil cultists. Hezutli was pretty horrible himself, but that explains why the good guys summoned him to protect their prophecied savior.

This hideous gibbering horror is what my gaming group will be facing later tonight. Why would they choose to confront such a heinous beast from the depths of some creeping, abhorrent dimension?

It’s time for another Pathfinder review from Billy Gibbs. If you have the blood of a deity flowing through your veins right from 1st level, you might want to take a Godling for a spin.

Our influx of Pathfinder (and, specifically, Super Genius Games) material continues today with Billy Gibbs’ review of the second Loot 4 Less volume, Pretty, Pretty, Rings. How’s that for a perfect example of the difference between 3.5 and 4E — magic rings for 1st level characters!

Any idiot with a staff or a wand can sling a fireball. For seriously indomitable power, try being an earth mage. Billy Gibbs returns with a review of Super Genius Games’ Genius Guide to Earth Magic for the Pathfinder system.

Owen K.C. Stephens has some impressive RPG writing and design credits to his name. From articles in Dragon Magazine (back when it was actually a magazine), co-designer of the Star Wars Saga system, a year at Wizards of the Coast, to his current position as Pathfinder-Compatible Product Developer for Super Genius Games, he’s been there [...]

Magic: the Gathering’s new core set comes out in just a few weeks. M11 carries on a new Magic tradition — 50 percent new cards in core sets. Here’s one of them, a tasty beverage that can breath new life into a rundown deck.