… and not in a piracital way, neither. I’m talking real, honest to goodness freely downloadable test-drive of 4e D&D, straight from the Wizards’ mouth.
Get the Quick Start rules and the complete Keep on the Shadowfell adventure (yes, really! – well, except the battlemats) for zero dollars, right here.
Whether they’re fishing for positive PR after so much negativity or not, that’s incredibly generous. Thank you, Wizards of the Coast!
Here’s hoping it’s a sign of things to come.
Also worth noting, the free character builder beta being advertised there (which we already knew about but some might not have), which you can use to get through Keep On The Shadowfell with practically all the level 1-3 material released so far, since iirc the character builder has already been updated with the new stuff. So you really CAN test-drive anything in D&D 4e.
Pretty solid move on the part of Wizard’s. Now if only Keep On The Shadowfell wasn’t such a stinker…
Wyatts last blog post..Races of Eden II
That’s pretty cool. I’ve been wanting to run keep of the shadowfell since the Penny Arcade PvP podcasts started running. I’ll have to go download that right now.
shinobicows last blog post..Scales of War in Japan : Game 2
Isn’t giving away a free quickstart relatively standard in the industry? I know that White Wolf regularly gives away nicely printed ones. I’d hardly call giving away a free PDF a year after the game’s release incredibly generous… particularly when you sold the same content (and not cheaply) at the outset.
Stuarts last blog post..Inspiration: Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory
@Stuart Plenty of other companies offer free trial downloads, yes. There’s GURPS Lite and the entire first chapter of Mutants & Masterminds up for grabs, for example. It’s a brilliant way to showcase the game that should hopefully attract new players to the fold.
Chalk this one up as: Wizards getting a clue. After getting it wrong when it comes to PR for so long, it’s nice to be able to pat them on the back for this one thing.