August and Beyond
Only one month down the road?
Despite my vehement apathy towards Forgotten Realms, I am ironically kind of looking forward to Neverwinter Campaign Setting, as I could see myself doing a short heroic tier campaign arc there depending on how accessible it is. I find it interesting that while the red wizard theme is intended for mages, the level 5 feature could be easily houseruled to apply to specific spells that the DM and player agree on, or even spells with a certain keyword (effectively mimicking what it already does). The rest of the stuff just swaps out Apprentice Mage and Expert Mage features, so it is not like they lose anything, there. If nothing else there is always the bladesinger class, which if replaced with swordmage is my attitude towards Forgotten Realms Player's Guide.
Though Madness at Gardmore Abbey looks fun--especially considering how it is centered around the Deck of Many Things--my weekday group is not normally up for starting mid-tier for short-term adventure arcs, so this might be something I run with my weekend group, but will probably end up collecting dust next to Tomb of Horrors. Of course I recently tried running Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, so maybe in five years I'll get around to it.
Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium is the leading contender for Product I Am Mostly Likely To Actually Use. More magic items are always nice, I suppose, but this book purports to add more superior weapons, mundane gear, henchmen, hirelings, and cursed items, the last of which most of this preview is actually devoted to. Cursed items function normally until the curse is triggered, can have the curse removed by fulfilling some sort of requirement, or can be disenchanted for half price. I do not really like being able to make a simple Arcana check to strip a curse, but could see a ritual being used to fix it (though I prefer the quest/task method).
Despite my vehement apathy towards Forgotten Realms, I am ironically kind of looking forward to Neverwinter Campaign Setting, as I could see myself doing a short heroic tier campaign arc there depending on how accessible it is. I find it interesting that while the red wizard theme is intended for mages, the level 5 feature could be easily houseruled to apply to specific spells that the DM and player agree on, or even spells with a certain keyword (effectively mimicking what it already does). The rest of the stuff just swaps out Apprentice Mage and Expert Mage features, so it is not like they lose anything, there. If nothing else there is always the bladesinger class, which if replaced with swordmage is my attitude towards Forgotten Realms Player's Guide.
Though Madness at Gardmore Abbey looks fun--especially considering how it is centered around the Deck of Many Things--my weekday group is not normally up for starting mid-tier for short-term adventure arcs, so this might be something I run with my weekend group, but will probably end up collecting dust next to Tomb of Horrors. Of course I recently tried running Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, so maybe in five years I'll get around to it.
Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium is the leading contender for Product I Am Mostly Likely To Actually Use. More magic items are always nice, I suppose, but this book purports to add more superior weapons, mundane gear, henchmen, hirelings, and cursed items, the last of which most of this preview is actually devoted to. Cursed items function normally until the curse is triggered, can have the curse removed by fulfilling some sort of requirement, or can be disenchanted for half price. I do not really like being able to make a simple Arcana check to strip a curse, but could see a ritual being used to fix it (though I prefer the quest/task method).
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