WotC Will Not Exhibit At Gen Con 2013

This year, Wizards of the Coast will not have a presence on the Gen Con exhibit floor.  As explained in our previous article, attendees pre-ordering the D&D Next preview and mini-campaign Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle will have to pick up their merchandise through Gale Force Nine's booth.  Those who pre-order Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle will also receive a Dungeons & Dragons miniature from Gale Force Nine.

The above notwithstanding, Wizards of the Coast remains a co-sponsor of Gen Con and will also have  a full slate of Magic: The Gathering and Kaijudo events through the show, as well as its D&D events.

D&D Next Goes To Print

On May 24, 2012, Wizards of the Coast launched a public test of a fledgling new edition of the classic fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.  In response to a continually shrinking market share and gamer attrition, Wizards of the Coast attempted to unify the best aspects of the previous five editions into a single modular system called D&D Next.  In celebration of the playtest's anniversary, Wizards of the Coast announced that it will release a limited edition commemorative book containing the most up to date version of of the D&D Next rules and four all-new adventures for player levels one through ten, written by Chris Perkins and the rest of the D&D design team.

Unfortunately for most of us, Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle will only be available to Gen Con 2013 attendees, which will be held in Indianapolis, IN, August 15 through 18.  It is priced at $29.99 and can be pre-ordered for pick up at Gen Con through the online hobby shop Gale Force Nine.  The book is designed to be a memento and even includes space so that you can get the designers to sign your book whenever you run into them during Gen Con.  It must be emphasized, though, that the rules set contained in Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle are not the final version of the new edition.  They merely reflect the current state of the D&D Next public playtest.  They will include the four core classes: fighter, rogue, wizard and cleric.

Wizards of the Coast will also run a special playtest of D&D Next during Gen Con.  It will be centered around Candlekeep, a fortress library in the Forgotten Realms setting and which was also featured in the classic computer game Baldur's Gate.  As explained by Mike Mearls:

"All throughout the entire weekend, we're going to have a constantly running game where you just get in line - if you want to DM, you can DM your friends or we'll have volunteer DM's on hand - and you can play through scenes of this climactic battle."

What makes the Candlekeep adventure new and exciting is that after each group finishes its adventure, the results of their actions will be tabulated and used to determine the fate of Candlekeep, which will be announced on the last day of Gen Con:

"If you're told to go behind enemy lines and trash a caravan, whether you succeed or fail will tie into the greater results of the entire weekend.  Essentially, it is one massive interactive adventure."

Although Wizards of the Coast will not say when it plans to close the public playtest and release the final version of the new rules, many fans expect the game to be released in mid 2014, to coincide with the game's 40th anniversary.

Star Trek: Attack Wing Mini-Tournament at GenCon

As part of their release of their new miniatures game Star Trek: Attack Wing during GenCon, Wizkids announced yesterday that it will be hosting sealed/constructed format mini-tournaments in the tournament hall.  As explained in the release on their website:

"In these sealed/constructed battles, players will be grouped into pods of 4 players.  Each player will receive one of the initial 8 expansion packs by random draw.  Players must use the expansion ship they receive to fill out a 100 point build (players will need to bring their own collection of ships from the Starter Set and/or expansion sets which will be available for purchase at the WizKids Games booth).  Players in the group will be paired up randomly for the first round of head-to-head play.  The winners from the first round will play against each other in a second round to determine a final winner of the mini-tournament.  The mini-tournament winner will receive an additional expansion pack (by random draw) and a special Promo Card."

The entry fee for the mini-tournaments is $18 per person (entry fee includes the random expansion pack).  The Star Trek: Attack Wing Mini-Tournaments will run on Thursday from 1:00pm to 9:00pm; Friday & Saturday from 10:00am to 8:00pm; Sunday from 10:00am to 2:00pm.  The 4-player mini-tournaments will start once a group has four players.

Obligatory Cthulu Expansion For Smash Up!

When Alderac Entertainment Group announced their shuffle-building card game Smash Up, they sold out right there in GenCon.  In Smash Up, players draft two factions from the eight 20-card faction decks and shuffle them together and start competing to smash up bases.  The included factions are "Aliens", "Dinosaurs", "Ninjas", "Pirates", "Robots", "Tricksters", "Wizards", and "Zombies".  The combination of the factions is what provides the fun and challenge in this game.  For example, a Ninjas/Zombies deck must be played differently than a Ninja/Dinosaurs deck, or a Pirates/Aliens deck.

AEG just announced plans for an expansion to Smash Up.  It will be called The Obligatory Cthulu Set.  Set in the Cthulu universe, The Obligatory Cthulu Set adds a new "madness" mechanic to the shuffle building game.  It also includes recurrent Cthulu Mythos groups and themes, such as the Miskatonic University, the fishmen of Innsmouth, Elder Things, and Cthulu cultists.  Like the original Smash Up, each faction in The Obligatory Cthulu Set is composed of a 20-card deck.  The expansion also includes eight new bases, 30 madness cards, victory point tokens and game rules.  It is expected to retail at $19.99.

Star Trek: Attack Wing Organized Play To Begin In September

In September, WizKids will launch a 6-month long storyline organized play event for Star Trek: Attack Wing, its new Star Trek miniatures tactical space combat game.  Participating stores will host tournaments where players challenge each other for dominance of the Alpha Quadrant, as part of the Dominion War.  Players will collect a participation prize each month and will compete for a new playable ship that will be offered only through the organized play events.  At the end of the six months, the player with the best record will be awarded the title of Fleet Admiral as well as a special grand prize.

The Dominion War story line was mostly developed throughout the Deep Space Nine series and features the struggle and chaos faced by the Federation and their allies when the Jem'Hadar and the Breen Confederacy established a presence in the Alpha Quadrant and attempted to conquer everything in their path with the help of their allies, the Cardassian Union.

The Star Trek: Attack Wing Starter Set will be released in August and includes the U.S.S. Enterprise-D/Galaxy-class, the I.K.S. Maht-H'a/Vor'Cha-class, and the I.R.W. Khazara/D'deridex-class ships as well as a rulebook and all the components necessary for play.  August will also see the release of the first 8 expansion packs for Star Trek: Attack Wing, two each of Federation, Klingon, Romulan and Dominion faction ships.

Fallen: Coming To Kickstarter in June

Fallen is Oregon gaming company Watchtower Games' debut product and is scheduled to hit Kickstarter sometime in the month of June.  I don't know if my pocket can afford it, but this is another project that I plan to support.  Read on and maybe you'll join me in supporting what appears to be a great game.

Fallen is a two-player dungeon exploration game.  One player chooses his hero from three available characters.  The other player is the Dungeon Lord.  The premise is simple enough.  The hero delves deeper into the dungeon, in search of the dungeon's ultimate evil.  The Dungeon Lord throws traps and monsters in the hero's path in an attempt to foil the hero's plan.  If the hero can overcome the traps and monsters, the game culminates in an epic battle between the hero and the Dungeon Lord.  A battle that only one of them will survive.

The dungeon is randomly generated and made up of Story Cards.  Each Story Card is a scenario that the hero must complete in order to keep moving deeper into the dungeon.  Each Story Card or scenario contains ten challenges that branch into ten different directions that the hero can take.  This ensures that no two dungeons are the same.  Challenges can have the hero attempting to jump over chasms, solving ancient puzzles and fighting terrible monsters, among many other different challenges.

There are three heroes: the Pit Fighter, the Thief and the Sorceress.  At first glance, it would appear that the availability of only three heroes will quickly cause the game to grow stale.  However, appearances can be deceiving.  Each hero comes with 9 unique skills that allow you to build your character your way.  For example, you can build a Pit Fighter that has monstrous strength or one that has a tactical advantage during combat; a classic sorceress that calls forth devastating spells of power, or a swordmage capable of fighting toe to toe with spell and sword.  Besides the 9 unique skills, there are 10 specialized power cards and custom starting equipment.  This should provide plenty of different ways to explore the random dungeons.  The system is also set up in such a way that expansions should be plenty and prompt in coming.

There is equal diversity to the role of the Dungeon Lord.  The Dungeon Lord can choose from the Archivist of Souls, the Forge Master, and Krogarn the Ogre King.  Each Dungeon Lord has 10 unique power cards that range from necromantic spells to deadly traps.  This makes the Dungeon Lord's mission of giving hell to the hero a lot of fun.  For example, a Story Card challenge may require that the player decipher ancient runes in a sarcophagus.  The Dungeon Lord can make turn this mundane challenge into a living nightmare by sending a Shadow Fiend screaming into the room.  Each time the hero is defeated, the Dungeon Lord grows in power.  This allows leveling up of summoned creatures to give them greater strength and new abilities.  Defeat the hero enough times and the Omen card enters into play, giving the Dungeon Lord a deadly trick to play whenever the hero is at his weakest.

Four different challenges must be faced in each Story Card.  Each challenge moves the hero deeper into the dungeon and sets the stakes and type of dice to be rolled.  In this example, the hero player finds himself in the midst of a "Bloody Melee", fighting thieves in an old hall.  With his back against the wall, the thieves press their advantage causing the hero to sustain 1 point of damage (the single blood drop).  The treasure symbol informs that success in this challenge will earn the hero a valuable treasure card.  The arm inside the red circle tells the player that this is a strength challenge.

The Dungeon Lord chooses a Creature card to use for the challenge. Each Creature card shows the type of dice rolled. The Dungeon Lord rolls the dice, plays any special abilities from Power cards, and counts the total number of swords rolled on the dice. The Hero then rolls the type of dice based on their strength, agility, or intelligence. The Hero rolls the dice, plays Power cards, and counts the total number of swords rolled. Equipment such as the Iron Sword, Storm Flail, or Mana Ring can be used to help win the challenge. If the Hero rolls the most swords, then he is victorious gaining treasures, experience, and new abilities. However, if the Dungeon Lord wins the challenge, then the summoned monsters grow stronger and the dungeon becomes even more perilous.

The adventure culminates in an epic battle between the hero and the Dungeon Lord with only one player left standing.  Here, at the bottom of the dungeon, surrounded by minions and dark spells, the evil Dungeon Lord faces off against the hero.  With the skills and magical artifacts recovered from the dungeon, the Hero must rise to the challenge to finally bring an end to the Dungeon Lord.  One final battle to return the world to the light or plunge it back into darkness.  

Nazgȗl, Or... 'Kill Those Hobbits!'

Maybe you are like me.  You loved The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings when you read it.  You still enjoyed it when you read them for the third time.  Then...  came the movies.

You still liked the movies but you found that Frodo's frailty may have been exaggerated...  a lot.  That Sam seemed way too needy of Frodo, and that Frodo seemed way too comfortable with that neediness.

In fact, by the the time The Return of the King hit the theaters, you outwardly wished for the success of Frodo and his friends, but inwardly...  silently growing somewhere inside a small dark corner in your heart...  was the hope that Peter Jackson had prepared a surprise ending that deviated, oh, so little, from the original story...  a surprise ending where those two little walking mounds of frailty and neediness became Nazgȗl feed...

If so, on May 30, 2013, Fantasy Flight will be releasing the board game that you - and I - have been waiting for:

"The dark lord Sauron is pleased that you have... chosen... to champion the true destiny of Middle-earth. Some prefer the hopeless cause of men and their miserable allies. Theirs is a fool's choice! You show no affinity for such delusions. You seek glory for Sauron, and your rewards shall be great!

You are one of Sauron's most powerful minions: a Nazgul! You must work together with the other Nazgul to stop the cursed hobbits and destroy the resistance of men. But at the same time, you must strive to prove your own worth to the dark lord. After all, there are rumors that even the Witch-king can be killed, and Sauron may soon need a new leader for the Nazgul. 

In The Lord of the Rings: Nazgul Board Game, you are faced with three Campaigns that you must conquer before the Ring-bearer carries The One Ring to Mount Doom. If you cannot complete them in time, all players lose! Along the way, you will earn Victory Points; and if the group succeeds in its duty, the player with the most VPs wins!"

Expansion Packs for Star Trek: Attack Wing

In March, WizKids announced plans for Star Trek: Attack Wing, a new board game in its Star Trek Heroclix line.  Expected to be released in August during Gen Con Indy, the game uses miniatures and the same FlightPath maneuver system as the Star Wars X-Wing game from Fantasy Flight Games.

Games will be played on Star Trek space maps distributed via an organized play program and will be sold in non-blind configurations with three-ship starter box sets. However, despite sharing the same mechanics system, the Star Trek: Attack Wing game is not compatible with Star Wars X-Wing.

Just this past Monday, WizKids announced eight single-ship expansion packs for Star Trek: Attack Wing.  The first expansion packs for the game are:

1. Federation U.S.S. Reliant Expansion Pack.
2. Federation U.S.S. Enterprise Expansion Pack.
3. Romulan I.R.W. Valdore Expansion Pack.
4. Romulan I.R.S. Apnex Expansion Pack.
5. Klingon I.K.S. Gr'oth Expansion Pack.
6. Klingon I.K.S. Negh'var Expansion Pack.
7. Dominion Kraxon Expansion Pack.
8. Dominion Gor Portas Expansion Pack.

Star Wars Rebels: The Rebellion Begins

When the popular series Star Wars: The Clone Wars was cancelled, recent LucasFilm purchaser Walt Disney Co. ("Disney") promised a new Star Wars animated series that would be set in an era as of yet unexplored by any previous Star Wars movie or TV series. Star Wars Rebels is Disney's attempt at fulfilling that promise.

Today, Disney announced that it had already commenced work on the upcoming new animated series Star Wars Rebels.  The new series will be set in the 20-year period between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.  This is the time when dread sith lord Darth Sidious ruled the Empire and his efforts were focused on securing the Empire's iron grip on the galaxy by hunting down the remaining Jedi knights.  This also the time when a fledgling rebellion against the Empire was born and began to take shape.

Simon Kinberg (X-Men First Class, Sherlock Homes, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) is writing the first episode and is also consulting on the new live action Star Wars movies.  He is also co-executive producer of Star Wars Rebels, along with Dave Filoni (supervising director Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, Young Justice, The Spectacular Spider-Man).

Star Wars Rebels will be produced by a team from LucasFilm Animation formed by many of the talents that made Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Among them are former design lead and now art director Killian Plunket; and Joel Aron, CG Supervisor for the Clone Wars series who will also be CG Supervisor for Rebels.

The 1-hour premiere of Star Wars Rebels will be in fall 2004 in the Disney Channel.  It will be followed by a regular half-hour animated series on the Disney XD channel.

Guardians Chronicles, by IELLO

I am trying to scale back on my Kickstarter related contributions (or expenditures, if you ask my accountant).  However, since I just received my rewards from one of the Kickstarter projects I helped fund (Kickstarter: The Dice Tower), I decided to fund another one.  The lucky receiver of my money is Guardians Chronicles, by IELLO.

Guardians Chronicles is a 2 to 5 player semi-cooperative game.  One player assumes the role of evil Super Villian Pr. Skarov.  The remaining players assume the role of one of several superheroes, each with unique powers.  There are a different number of scenarios.  Each scenario poses different objectives and challenges for the Superheroes.  For example, a particular scenario may require that the Superheroes defeat three of Pr. Skarov minions and also stop the Super Villian from launching nuclear missiles that will reign destruction upon civilians.

The concept of Guardians Chronicles is not new.  In fact, it immediately brought to mind my experience playing Descent 2.0.  I really liked Descent 2.0.  Seeing how the mechanics are similar, I decided to fund this Kickstarter project hoping it will be as much fun as Descent 2.0.

The Kickstarter page for Guardians Chronicles has a playthru video, where the developers play a round or so of the game.  The playing pieces shown therein are *not* the final production pieces, so don't let that scare you.  However, the video will give you a good enough idea of whether this looks like the type of game you may be interested in backing.  If you like superhero RPGs, CCGs, LCGs or board games, this Kickstarter project may right up your alley.

James Robinson Leaves DC Comics

DC Comics writer James Robinson announced that Earth 2 #16 will be his last effort with DC Comics.  The departure of the multiple Eisner Award-winning writer and creator of The Golden Age and Starman came as quite as a surprise.  During an interview with Comic Book Resources in WonderCon, Robinson hinted at big things for Earth 2, including the first New-52 era meeting of Earth 1 and 2.

Robinson is not the first writer to recently leave DC Comics.  Other recent departures have included Rob Liefeld, Andy Diggle, Joshua Hale Fiakov, and Tony Daniels.