Well it’s official!! Everyone had assumed anyway I think the DnD Next (or whatever they will actually call it…) would be released for GenCon 2014, and Thursday’s press release seems to support that!

A lot of chatter across about this across the internet, including a lot of comments on the ‘multiple gaming platforms’ suggestion in the text. To my mind this is simply Wizards’ strategy around the ‘Sundering’  i.e releasing novels, D&D Encounters seasons and even now iOS games which all tie into the storyline in some way. All of this seems to be a way to keep interest up while there isn’t much in the way of RPG products available until the official launch!

It’s no secret that I haven’t quite got the DnD Next bug. I’ve posted a number of times (for example here and here and here)  about it, always with the intention of starting a playtest, or a mini-campaign, to try it out … but the simple fact is that I haven’t!! Much of this has to do with time pressures hindering any sort of DnD, but a lot has to do with the fact that a) I enjoy creating adventures and DMing in 4E, so it still seems a little premature to be thinking about the next edition and b) well, I’ll be honest … I don’t really know how I feel about DnD Next yet … and given the official product is only around 8 months away, I think now I’ll just wait and see!

So far there has been no mention of any digital tools (e.g. Character Builder and Adventure Tools) which is a worry for me as I totally rely on these for my prep! Also, I certainly hope there is a practical 3rd party licence, as otherwise I think other publishers will simply continue with Pathfinder RPG being the default choice!!

I guess we’ll know next summer!! 😉