Hi all,
The following was announced at GenCon yesterday;
----------------------------------------------------------
A Year of Change: The RPGA in 2008
As most of you reading this know, Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition was
announced at Gen Con Indy on this past Thursday evening. This means
great things for the game, and with that, big changes for the RPGA
and its programs. Ever since "The Announcement", one of the hot
topics both at the convention and online has been "What does this
mean for the future?"
At our members' meeting this evening, Ian and I talked to the
assembled players, judges, and staff about the RPGA's future. Even
though many of you can't be with us, we felt it necessary to send out
the "official word" to you as soon as the meeting was concluded, so
you could have all the information in one place. Here we go!
Campaigns Concluding
Living Greyhawk has been the face of organized play for the 3rd
Edition D&D game. Tremendously successful, thousands participate
worldwide in the biggest shared-world D&D game anywhere. LG has been
around since the beginning of 3rd Edition, and it will last to the
end of the 3rd Edition product line. Starting with a two-round
special at D&D Experience 2008 (February 28 – March 2), the campaign
will begin its final story arc – a series of core adventures that
will build into the climactic two-round finale at Origins 2008. We're
pulling out all the stops in these final adventures – no major NPC is
off-limits, and you're really going to be a part of the most world-
affecting story arc we've ever done. We're getting some of the best
authors to ever write for Living Greyhawk to help with these
adventures – what the Circle has planned is nothing short of amazing.
While the campaign concludes at Origins next year, it is our
sincerest desire to provide you an epic conclusion to the campaign we
all love so much.
I know you want more specifics, now that the cat's out of the bag.
Regions will have up to 6 adventures next year – all of them will
premiere no later than June 30, 2008. Metaregions will have 4
adventures next year, with the same premiere deadline. All adventures
released in 2007 and 2008 will be playable until December 31, 2008.
We're also looking at increasing play opportunities for your
characters in 2008 so they have a better chance of reaching the goals
you've set for them. The two specials next year – the first and last
adventures in the final core story arc – will be available for all
conventions soon after they premiere at their respective shows. Many
more players will be able to enjoy all of the final adventures for
Living Greyhawk, as the specials come to their local shows.
More information on Living Greyhawk's conclusion will become
available in the next few weeks on the website.
Xen'drik Expeditions will also be concluding at Origins 2008. As the
D&D Campaigns programs use 2-year story arcs, the campaign pulls into
its last stop right on time. The Factionmasters have prepared a great
final story arc that really engages all of the factions into a final
two-round spectacular at Origins next year. Stormreach will never be
the same after it's over.
We also bid a fond farewell to Living Kingdoms of Kalamar in 2008. At
D&D Experience next year, LK will run its special finale adventures.
All other adventures will be playable through the RPGA until March
31, 2008.
So, with the existing campaigns ending, what will rise up to take
their place? Read on!
Campaigns Beginning
At D&D Experience 2008, you'll be able to get your first full-on play
of D&D 4th Edition in its final form. This will come in the form of
preview adventures for the next Living campaign – Living Forgotten
Realms! The most popular campaign setting for D&D finally gets its
turn as a regionalized Living campaign. If you like the system for
Living Greyhawk, you'll love what we have in store with Living
Forgotten Realms: more play opportunities for the average gamer,
fully supported online and offline play, and a greater shared-world
experience than we've ever done before with a Living campaign. Living
Forgotten Realms will be the first truly global Living campaign.
But we can't do it without your help! We're placing a call out for
administrators to help us on both a global and regional level.
Information on how you can help will be available in September on the
RPGA website. Global and regional administrators will get previews of
4th Edition material as they work to provide the most immersive game
experience you'll ever find in an organized play campaign.
D&D Experience 2008 is the place to be for exciting previews of the
new Living campaign; the campaign fully launches at Gen Con Indy 2008.
With Xen'drik Expeditions ending, a new D&D Campaigns program will
take its place. As it is scheduled to begin in late summer/fall 2008,
we can't yet announce what it will be, but it will improve upon the
success of Xen'drik. (Of course, we'll be looking for help with that
as well – once again, check on the website in a few weeks for more
info.)
More to Come!
As 2007 rolls on, we'll have a lot more to talk about regarding our
current programs, the upcoming programs mentioned above, and other
exciting new programs coming out in 2008 and beyond. There's still a
lot more information we want to get out to you, but we have to save
some of our goodies for a little later!
Thanks to everyone involved in the RPGA for making our organization
the success it is today. Stay with us, as it's going to get even
better.
Game On!
Ian Richards
Chris Tulach
----------------------------------------------------------
As we know more we'll let you all know.
Cheers
Paul
Naerie Triad
An identical email was received from the Veluna Triad also. So does this put a nail in the coffin for Greyhawk?
Erik Mona recently said don't hold your breath for it to be licensed to a 3rd party publisher, either.
Do you mean the LG campaign, or the Greyhawk setting?
Do you mean the LG campaign, or the Greyhawk setting?
Erik was referring to the setting as a whole. He's tried multiple times to talk to WotC about licensing Greyhawk, and they've said no every time. But there is absolutely no way WotC would allow a rogue LG campaign either.
Denis, aka "Maldin"
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com
Greyhawk will live on with its fans and tens of thousands of home games.
I know it's churlish to hope that the LFR is less successful, but I do...
It's a real shame. But please can all the fans of LG work together to document the full history of the campaign once it is finished. It was a fantastically successful campaign and I'd hate to see it fade into obscurity but I have no idea how most of the plots turned out.
I know it's churlish to hope that the LFR is less successful, but I do...
I emphatically second this request. It would be a marvelous tribute for all the Circle and Triad members to compile histories for the last 7 or 8 years for our perusal....
Am I the only one a little worried about what this "world-affecting story arc" where " no major NPC is off-limits" tone, will GH remain in a recogizable and playable state after the epic conclusion for us dinosaurs that decide not to follow Wotc to new 4th edition or living edition.
Any conspiracy nut out there; would Wotc trash GH to bury the setting and try to force us to tag along or perhaps out of malice.
If WotC ever does another Greyhawk Campaign Sourcebook, it won't be building off of Living Greyhawk.
Considering that Living Greyhawk isn't canon and, due to the tangled web of IP issues, never ever will be I don't really see how some convention stunts that the RPGA might pull in their finale would affect the long term viability of the setting in any way.
If WotC ever does another Greyhawk Campaign Sourcebook, it won't be building off of Living Greyhawk.
The RPGA is owned by TSR/WotC/Hasbro and I think part of the standard release is that the RPGA owns anything it publishes. Never say never.
I do believe, however, that the only sort of Greyhawk material we will see for a long, long time will be tied to Living Greyhawk, if we see any at all. It's clear WotC isn't interested in giving Greyhawk to a third-party publisher, and they have shown no interest in putting out any large sourcebooks themselves.