Invested in Essentials

The newest additions to my Essentials library.

Dammit Wizards of the Coast! You've gone and done it. Pulled me back into DnD when I swore I was out! I'm really digging this new Essentials line. I just dropped by Endgame and picked up a copy of the Monster's Vault and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdom. While I haven't had a chance to read them in depth, I'm again impressed by their production value and content. The Monster's Vault in particular I'm very impressed with. The book format is great and the die cut tokens are fantastic. Not too sure how I feel about the adventure yet, but I'm confident I can edit it to my satisfaction. I can't wait to spring this stuff on the Dandies!

I'm four books deep into the Essentials line. That should suffice.

I'm really digging the tokens.

The adventures line up for the Dandies 

Meet the Party

We're into our 4th session so far and we are LOVIN' it! The Dandies are really enjoying their charactersm and I'm really having fun with where it's going. I just finished running the group through the "Twisted Halls" adventure in the Red Box, and while it did get hairy, there were no casualties (there were a few near death experiences though.)
One of the things we really love doing is casting our characters. It immediately gives us all an idea of where the characters are coming from, and what they're like. So without further ado, meet the Netir Vale Avengers:

Gottri- Dwarven Knight
(Brian Cox)

One of the few remaining members of an order of Dwarven Knights that was almost wiped out by an Orc invasion, Gottri seeks to return the order to it's formal glory and to one day win back the Hold that fell to the Orcs.

Valora- Elven Warpriest
(Tilda Swinton)

Hailing from the mysterious Cloak Wood Valora has ventured into human lands as part of a pilgramage for her Lord Pelor. Driven by mysterious visions of the Netir Vale in flames, Valora seeks the favor of her god to help prevent this tragic vision from coming true.

Daeven- Human Mage
(Jesse Eisenberg)

A wandering sage and powerful illusionist, much of the young mage's background and motives are shrouded in mystery. He aims good or ill are kept very close to his chest.

Kipling- Halfling Thief
(Mark Sheppard)

A member of the illustrious and industrous Weatherwill Clan (his words, not ours), Kipling seeks to extend his families already extensive network (again, his words) even further throughout the Vale. Unfortunately his mother's fallen a foul of a "corrupt" religious leader and much now be "liberated by her loving son.


Now the you've met the players, next time I'll post their misadventures.

The Red Box

So for some reason I've been on a serious D&D kick. Not Old School DnD, or 3.5 or Pathfinder (which I was very close to running a few weeks ago). I'm talking 4th Edition here. Yes the boys at WotC managed to pull me back in. I tried the original 4th edition rules (which spawned the Dandies), but none of us really dug the feel. But this new Essentials line... something about it called to me. Kicking it all off with that iconic red box with the classic Elmore painting on the front went a long way towards that. And after checking some of the sneak peeks on the Wizards site, I finally caved in and picked it up.  I have to say, I'm liking it. There's a solo adventure/character creation in the set that really brought back some memories. I sat down and tried it (and the additional downloadable solo) out and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. They did a really good job of introducing the rules to the player and getting you into the game.
So I'm giving you another shot DnD. I'm hoping it plays as good as it all looks.