There seems to have been a fair bit of discussion around the web over Mike Mearls’ annoucement that Monte Cook was rejoining the R&D team at Wizards of the Coast. What did it mean? Where are they going this time? Well, Monte’s first column is up today, so what does it mean… ??

Most people seem to think it proves there’s a brand new edition on the way … others question whether Monte (who after all co-designed 3rd Edition) is going to bend it all back that direction…

Well, I’ve got a lot of time for Monte Cook – I’m a subscriber to Dungeon-A-Day, which was started up by Monte before he turned it over to Super Genius Games (and in which he used to write a regular ‘musings about DMing’ blog, actually quite similar to the Legends and Lore column), and I’ve got his Ptolus setting, which just has to rank as one of the greatest ever city settings. So I’m looking forward to the columns …

… BUT, you know what, I kinda hope there’s not too much change on the way! I like 4E! I liked Basic D&D as well…and AD&D, and 2nd Edition!! 3E and 3.5E I can’t comment on, as I never played them.

I don’t get to play (or write for) D&D nearly as much as I’d like, so really despite the several years since the 4E release, I feel there’s a huge amount more to explore…and really I can’t be bothered with all the change that a new edition would bring. I think the core rules engine is pretty solid, and the tactical nature of combat is cool. There’s a load of flavour possibilities and role-playing options to work with, despite what the nay-sayers say.

Wizards, here’s my take: Looking forward to what Monte has to say, but please, don’t listen to everything the moaners have to say.  There’s a lot of people out there (I believe) that are pretty happy with what they’ve got…

Now, if you would just concentrate on producing more cool adventures and settings, rather than endless player options … 🙂