Picking up from last week Part 3 of the Next goals is here and I continue to like what I see. I think 3E multiclassing is cool but it is one of the things that helped break the game so we will see if they can keep it under control. Down in the comments someone posted that they would like to see 1E/2E style multiclassing make a comeback and after laughing at the idea at first I had to stop and think ... I actually did like those multiclass options quite a bit. Why not take a stab at that? I doubt it will happen but it's something to think about. If not and someone wants this feel I suppose the best way would be to start everyone at 2nd level.
Part 4 is here and while this one didn't thrill me quite as much as a lot of the changes they describe don't really interest me some of the modular stuff will be a big deal. I do like that someone is thinking about how to structure the whole thing in advance, but we saw a lot of that with 4E that weakened considerably just a year or two into the game. "Cautious Optimism" is my feeling right now.
The Barbarian class for Next is out and it looks pretty cool - shades of the 1E version with a double stat bonus for AC and I had a flashback to my 2E Tempus specialty priest when I saw the "Incite Rage" ability that lets you add bonuses to willing buddies. If I get a chance to play I think I know which class I'm taking first.
The 4E campaigns continue here. The Apprentices have finally reached the Temple while a couple of party deaths in the Impiltur campaign threw the group off for a few weeks but they have recovered now. I really need to get back to catching up on those session summaries ...
The other interesting development is that I finally broke down and picked up Stonehell. As much as I like 4E it does tend to center around those big set piece fights. While I am experimenting with a more traditional D&D approach in the ToEE game with wandering monsters and more open "encounters" it does still take a while to run a fight and I would like something a little faster to run on weeknights. I was looking at the latest playtest pack for Next and it has potential, but it's also very much in flux from month to month making it hard to run a sustained campaign. I dug back into Labyrinth Lord, specifically the Advanced Companion, and realized that it covered a lot of what I was looking for - then all I needed was something fresh to run and Stonehell struck my fancy. So I'm reading it this week and thinking the Apprentices and I may start a new game this week. More on that later.
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