When Dragon and Dungeon magazines shed their physical forms to go to an online model, who knew so many publications for tabletop RPG players would burst onto the scene?
Next week Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition designer Monte Cook will launch Dungeonaday.com, which he describes as “a subscription-based website that will offer new game content every weekday. Basically, what I’ll be doing is building an ongoing dungeon-based campaign of a decidedly old-school tradition, but utilizing all the newest presentation options. So expect an adventure like no other with hypertext references to all the important game content (including various rules references), fluid encounters, and incredible amounts of detail.”
You can read more about the venture here, but basically the content will be somewhat “rules-lite” with a focus on the 3.5 D&D rules set.
Since last year, when D&D launched its 4th edition along with an online component that offers tools and articles for dungeon masters and players alike, several magazines have popped up to fill the void many fans have felt since the official print magazines ended: Kobold Quarterly (print and PDF) is a big one, but Goodman Games will soon launch Level Up (print and PDF). And a host of blog-style sites seek to duplicate the feel of the old Dragon and Dungeon mags (Gnome Stew, Dragon Avenue, Critical Hits, Dungeon Mastering and many more).
This cottage industry extends to the game itself. Paizo, the company that held the license to publish Dragon and Dungeon, reacted industriously to its revocation by focusing on the publishing of adventure modules for the older game and, ultimately, by creating the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game using the open-source core of the 3.5 rules.
Not only does this give gamers a new source of periodical material for their adventures, but it also offers fans of the 3.5 edition another alternative to the recently released 4th Edition. While many forum members speculate who will “win” the “edition wars,” the real winner will be the consumer, who gets more options to choose from.
See also:
No dice: Gifts for the dragonslayer who has everything
Putting the Advanced back in Dungeons & Dragons
GEN CON ‘08: When is D&D not D&D? When it’s Pathfinder