Highmoon's Ponderings

Hey all. Just sending a quick hi from GTS in Las Vegas.

Yes, those are slot machines in the airport, right outside my gate…

What a weird place this is; so fake, so constructed, so artificial. Everything is AN EXPERIENCE!!! But it’s just a facade, and honestly, a very thin one, too. I’ll have more to say once I get back; right now I have to use the most of my time here for biz stuff (and I start my Day 2 account with a quick trip to Kinko’s to print business card, since I left mine in Miami – doh!).

The trade show is going good, and Pulp Gamer has been kicking ass in getting awesome podcasting coverage. Today I will be doing some interviews as well (hopefully). Fear the Boot’s Dan Repperger is here as well (schmoozing like a pro), as is Ed Healy from Dark Whisper (or as he is better known, the Kobold Quarterly Ad-Pimp Master), Fred Hicks from That’s How We Roll, The Butcher Block and Evil Hat, Chris Hanrahan from 2d6 Feet in a Random Direction, and Allan Sugarbaker from OgreCave Audio Report. A podcaster takeover could very well happen; watch the gaming news just in case.

WotC is being tight-lipped about the 4e GSL and its ramifications, Paizo is secretly dancing the fandango, Green Ronin is cursing WotC for out-staging their press release about the True20 open license, and the World of Warcraft pre-painted minis are OMG incredible.

More later. Have fun.

Though at the moment it is still too early to really know what our plans at Highmoon Media Productions will be once the D&D 4th Edition SRD is released, we can tell you a couple of things that have more or less been decided upon already. Barring any unforseen circumstances, HMP will continue to support d20 SRD-based products via the OGL (and maybe a possible new d20 System License). We like d20–in fact, we like it a lot–and look forward to tinkering around with this new iteration of the d20 rules. Whether we will convert all our current products to 4e is what remains to be seen, however. The Liber Sodalitas line will most likely see a conversion to the new rules, as will Targum Magazine and the Terra Mythica line. Bardic Lore is on hiatus at the moment, and it is unknown when that will end, if at all (4e or not). The DaVinci Labs line is going on hiatus at the moment, awaiting either news of a new Modern SRD release, or the release of the Modern 2.0 rules being developed by Charles Rice of RPG Objects, whichever comes first and/or rocks the most. We do, however, have a couple of d20 Modern-based products, and a new system-independent product line from Bret Boyd, coming soon. The MonkeyGod adventures will, with almost complete certainty, not be converted to the new rules system; they simply would take too much work and time. So unless we have an overwhelming response to this announcement, these will remain as 3.0/3.5 adventures (we are, however, open to fan-made conversions, if there is enough interest), though we have no intention of taking them off the market. The biggest announcement we have to make at this moment is that we have discussed the possibility of (and received agreeable feedback on) publishing a 4e version of From Stone to Steel, MonkeyGod’s encyclopedia of weapons and armors throughout the ages. Beyond the interest in doing an update to that fantastic book, nothing has been decided as we set about finding the layout files, rearranging some things, and preparing for when the rules are released and we can begin the process of conversion. We’ll look at printing and distribution a bit further down the line. If you want to see this project happen, please be sure to let us know via a comment on the blog post, the forums or by email/contact form. As new plans are solidifed, we’ll let you all know what’s going on with HMP as 4e approaches.

Berin Kinsman, at UncleBear.com, has posted a Wish List of stuff he’d like to see on a possible (or rather, upcoming and innevitable) 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. I think his list is excellent and right on the money on the kind of changes I’d like to see to the game, too, and we’ve been commenting back and forth about it. Go take a look and add your thoughts as well. Even if WotC/Hasbro (see what Berin has to say about this) doesn’t use these suggestions, they might influence a better version of an OGL d20-derivative core system (and for the record, I think True20 comes pretty close already).