Scrying The 4e Crystal Ball: The Pit Fiend

The day after I posted this column last week the DDI actually had something cool. I know, amazing, isn't it. As I've said many times, I'd like Dungeons & Dragons Insider to be the really cool thing that Wizards of the Coast assures us it will be. One of the things most missing has been tangible information on 4e - something other than fluff that we can really sink our teeth into as gamers. Finally we have it... something more than just a miniatures stat card! Bill Slavicsek has posted in his Ampersand column the 4e stats for the pit fiend... fluff, crunch, the works. Of course, we don't know what half of the crunch means, but at least we're finally getting something!

Here's a teaser... for the whole deal go to the Ampersand column (It's the printer friendly version, so you shouldn't need to be logged in to DDI, though I'm sure they'll 'fix' that feature eventually, more's the pity):

Nobles of the Nine Hells, pit fiends form an elite ruling class that oversees vast numbers of lesser devils. Only the archdevils known as the Lords of the Nine stand higher than the pit fiends.

Each pit fiend is lord of a large domain within one of the layers of the Nine Hells and is vassal to the archdevil who rules that layer. A pit fiend might govern a city, command a fortress, lead a great legion, or serve as a seneschal or counselor for an archdevil. With the exception of Asmodeus, each Lord of the Nine commands no more than a dozen or so pit fiends.

I won't go into what this block tells us... other people go into that sort of analysis much better than I do, for instance, Jonathan Drain's d20 Source (though he hasn't done it, at least not on a public board, for the pit fiend yet that I've seen... I shall have to ask him why next time I see him on the various gaming forums). What it does indicate, I hope, is that we should start seeing more previews that include crunch, more stuff about how the game will actually work. I'm really hoping this is an indication of the sort of information they'll begin to share out of Wizards now that 4e is approaching a bit more rapidly. Anyway, I'll be watching for it, and if the info is forthcoming, you'll find it here at the Velvet Dicebag.