This weekend at GenCon, WOTC announced that they would be releasing D&D 4th edition in May, June, July of 2008.
I was a bit surprised by this: I figured that they would wait until the release date was a bit closer so that they would not create an impression of "Obsolescence" for any and all upcoming releases.
I personally look forward to the new release with the hope that it will make NPC generation a less daunting task. I especially look forward to the online tools and "portrait" generation. (though I fear that they may be a bit to clunkey or archane to use). The price tag of $120 a year for DNDInsider (some day this link will actually go somewhere besides the home WOTC home page) seems a might bit steep, though I have spent more on RPG software that I don't use.
For the most part I feel that most of the books that I own would still be usefull for concepts, though the rules heavy books and spell book will be the first ones that are Obsoleted.
Now, to get on a regular schedule of NPC posting.
Snork
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Snorkey: There are clouds on the horizon, a change is coming.