New Dog…Old Tricks?

Hello fellow gamers, I’m Bryan, the newest writer in the pack of wild Dice Monkeys.  I have a lot to say about the newest Dungeons and Dragons installation called 4th Edition. Some good, some bad, but all-in-all I believe 4th Edition is a step in the right direction; however, today I only wish to discuss one facet of my opinion.

4th Edition is not only a clean slate, it’s a brand-new one that has just been taken out of its box and bubble wrap.  New game, new rules, new style of gameplay, new strategy…all of this is as welcome as the scent of a brand-new car just off the showroom floor.  Unfortunately, classic head-thumping, heart-pounding adventures such as The Temple of Elemental Evil, Castle Ravenloft, and the epic series of Dragonlance adventures, may start to fall to the wayside if they haven’t already. I encourage DMs to go back through these legendary campaigns and breathe new life into them by converting them into 4th Edition.  Currently I am converting an old 3.0 Ravenloft adventure into 4.0, and it really is a lot of fun. In addition, you can put your own spin on the classic adventures, custom-fitting them to your own tastes or that of your players.  Creating monsters from scratch may be frustrating at first, but practice often makes perfect. Another interesting option may be to further the timeline of an old adventure, and bring the threat back into the limelight.  Dungeons and Dragons did just this with their release of Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, which I had the privilege of DMing for a short-time.

In closing, revamping old campaigns is also a good way for someone who has never DMed before to give it a try. The game is basically all set up for you, aside from the conversion, which is not difficult. For all you players who are a little timid when it comes to taking the helm and running the game, I promise it is just as fun running one PC as it is running everything else, if not more. I know this post doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for debate or discussion, but I’d love to know if any of you are already implenting this idea or if you plan to do so. Take care, everyone. Happy gaming.