Good news from the next world

Wow. What a week! Many great things are happening in den 3E/Pathfinder scene.
Let's start with:

Game veteran Monte Cook has presented another surpise. At the Alliterates blog he announced his new project dungeonaday.com, a subscription-based website that will offer new game content every weekday. The website is supposed to start at march 2009. Dungeonaday.com describes Dragon’s Delve, a mysterious (mega-)dungeon of vast size, fascinating secrets, and great danger. The website will have a blog, where Monte shares some insight information, and it will have some community functions like forums and polls. Best of all: The whole thing is based on 3.5E and maybe conversions for pathfinder will be available. "The cost for membership–if you join in March and become a charter member–is only $7 a month." Go for it!

Finally Pathfinder has released the Pathfinder Compatiblity License and the Paizo Community Use Policy. Check out both links for details.
The good folks at paizo have also provided the Compatibility Logo:

Automated Character Sheet for Pathfinder RPG

The Only Sheet, a powerful automated Character Sheet available for the D&D3.5, is now compatible with the PF RPG system. There is a demo available in the download section. Check out The Only Sheet at www.theonlysheet.com

Instant high quality fantasy music

Every now and then the topic background music for gaming sessions pops up. Most of the time people discuss cd's featuring soundtracks or other genres that could enhance a session. I'd like to introduce you to a quick way to find the right music for your sessions.
Check out Radio Rivendell - the fantasy station. These guys have a very good selection of the best fantasy music around.
Have fun!

When the hurlyburly's done - A Forgotten Realms CS review

I) I'm a Grognard. I don't like 4E. I never will. I won't support this edition. I'm a battleworn paladin in the Edition Wars. I'll smite 4E whenever I can!

II) I'm a huge Forgotten Realms fan for almost twenty years now. I had my best times at the gaming table in the Forgotten Realms. I love all stuff from Ed Greenwood.

III) It seems I have a problem! What should I think of the new FRCS?
Finally I decided to get a copy of the new FRCS. Mainly out of curiosity. Full stop. Here is my review:

The good news:
There is not much crunch in the new FRCS, but mostly fluff. Thus you can easily convert what 4E stats you find to your favorite system (like Pathfinder RPG). Most npcs even don't have a level given. So you are fairly free to play the setting with the rules you want.

The bad news:
The new Realms (or the Shattered Realms by some) feel very different for experienced FR gamers. You might feel alienated with some of the changes, like [spoiler] that the concept of magic with Mystra and the weave was never true, or what will happen to your favorite npcs, places, or organizations, or the sudden appearance of new empires, or the drastic changes in the FR cosmology[/spoiler]
The book also reads at some points, as if it was put together in a hurry. It lacks many explanations about what has happend during the time jump, which may annoy you if it comes to some of the major changes to the Realms, as well as these little lovely details you find in other FR books.

Conclusion:
The new FRCS really looks and feels like it has been designed like a completly new campaign setting with only as much information provided as needed to get things running. Which is basically what was WotC's idea for the Realms - to make them playable for new gamers who might feel overwhelmed by the tons of realmslore available.
The Realms feel flat and colorless, which is already announced on the back cover "lands of dark peril await" - Indeed, but IMO WotC has gone one step to far.

Here are my suggestions:
Don't buy the book...
... if you can't live with major changes to the realms. Don't buy it even if you are curious, because the new FRCS will even affect how you see the old Realms when you read it.
... if you like to find plausible explanations for the major changes
... if you are interessted what has happend during the time jump
... if you are an old school FR fan.

Remeber to tell WotC why you did not buy the book.

Buy the book...
... if you think that the old Realms are overloaded with too much Realmslore, but if you still like some of the elements of FR.
... if you are a new gamer
... if you don't care about anything at all

consider to play it not with 4E but with Pathfinder RPG.

As an alternative try the new Pathfinder Campaign Setting or Motherland Campaign Setting at 3POINT75.org, which is strongly influenced by the old Realms.

Poll results

In august we asked our visitors 'What products would you like to see pathfinderized?'
Here are the results:

1. Book of monsters 19
2. alternate classes, like warlock 17
3. campaign settings 14
4. Book of spells 11
5. Book of magic items 9
Book of feats 9
Book of skills 9
modern roleplaying 9
6. future roleplaying 7

Most people would like to see a book of monsters. As you might already know this may happen. There are plans to do a Tome of Horror (Necromancer games) Pathfinder edition.

Second place is 'alternate classes'. As some popular classes like the warlock are not part of the SRD, it is interessting to see what paizo, or other companies will do to make this come true.

Third place is 'campaign settings'. Obviously people are not happy about the way WotC changes their realms. Check out our new poll about this topic.

A 'book of spells' is fourth in line. Of course we have the massive spell compendium, but there is still much to do, for example remove absolutes.

'Book of magical items' is fifth. We already have a magic item compendium. Still some people would like to see basic items overhauled, and new items added to this book.

'Book of feats' is fifth. As PRPG claims to be compatible with 3e this is no surprise. However it would be nice to have a single reference with balanced feats.

'Book of skills' also fifth. PRPG changed the skill system slightly. Maybe a book about expanded skill use would be interessting to some people.

'Modern roleplaying' the pathfinder way is of minor interest for most people.

'Future roleplaying' as well, but check out WARP20 to change your mind ;o)

New poll:
We'd like to know...
If you could cast a powerful spell that would be able to steal a WotC campaign setting, and give it to Paizo, what setting would that be.

Welcome to the new iteration of 3POINT75.org

Mission statement
3POINT75 is a small but shiny little point of light in the D&D Community. It was the makeshift home of Players and Dungeon Masters alike, who wanted to stick to their favorite game after the announcement of 4th edition D&D. Now it has a new agenda.

At that time 3POINT75 was a place for those people who wanted to polish their game, rather than to invest money in a new edition of D&D that completely overhauls the game in such a radical manner as 4E did. At the 3POINT75 message boards members shared their ideas about how 3.75E should look like.
3POINT75 also hosted a petition where people could ask companies to provide some sort of polished 3.5 edition (at that time called 3.75E), so that they could continue their games, with some major rules issues settled.

Finally Paizo announced Pathfinder Roleplaying Game (PRPG), that would exactly be what the people wanted. The new PRPG is now the new benchmark for all 3.75 fans.
But the journey for 3POINT75.org does not end with the final release of PRPG, as other companies decide to stay 3E.

3POINT75 is a place where you can find information about all thing 3E and meet other like-minded people, for example at the message boards.

There are many things to be done:

* Collect news about other 3.75 movements
* Talk about other 3rd party stuff and it's compatibility to PFRPG
* Conversion of 3.x stuff to PRPG
* Settings for the PRPG

We'd be happy to welcome you at 3POINT75