Hands On: Monster Builder Beta
The Monster Builder was released today to DDI subscribers, allowing us to build our own monsters for 4e. Of course, we could already do that… through Asmor’s Monster Maker, the Dungeonmastering Tools, or WotC’s own bonus tools utility.
So what does the new software bring to the table? Well, you still can’t use it to build encounters and have it print out stat blocks. Nor can you use it to apply templates to monsters. What you can do, that was mostly unavailable before, is modify existing monsters, swap powers between monsters, and build all new monsters by using bits and pieces from other monsters (and not just for Flesh Golems).
So here’s a walkthrough (with screenshots) of some of the Monster Builder features. As a few caveats, I don’t do a lot of homemade monster creation. I find the existing monsters in the game more than sufficient, and when I need something else, I can almost always shemp something into shape. So I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the specifics of monster creation when building some samples… mostly, I was just playing around.
First things first: I now use a MacBook, with VMWare installed to run Windows XP, in order to use the Character Builder and now the Monster Builder. The Character Builder was already installed, making the installation process easy, but your mileage may vary.
So after closing Character Builder, I installed and fired up the new Monster Builder. The first screen lists the “Adventure Tools”, of which Monster Builder is only one, with 4 other empty slots. What will these slots contain? Only time (and probably a lot of it) will tell. Anyway, next step was to click on Monster Builder, and then the launch took about a minute.
First screen lists some of the things you can do with the Monster Builder. A number of helpful tool tips appear on screen at various times to guide you through the process.
On the left, a list of all the official monsters from the Compendium. (Presumably, like the CB, Adventure Tools will update every month with new monsters). You can filter by name, keywords, level, and more. The middle shows the currently selected monster. The right has a “holding pen” where you can place a couple monsters you want to work with. The bottom middle has options for what you can do with the current monster: edit custom creature (for monsters you’ve made yourself that you want to modify), duplicate and edit creature (to use an existing monster as a starting point), or create new custom creature (to start from scratch).
Let’s start with modifying a monster. A few weeks back, I ran an adventure that needed Dwarven pirates. Let’s make a Dwarven pirate captain. I start with the Human Pirate Captain from MM2, which I find by typing in “pirate.”
I selected it, and it brought up all the details, with a separate entry in each block on the side for each of his powers.
I changed his name, up his level to make him more menacing, and add the Dwarf keyword. The powers automatically have their attack bonuses increase.
I gave him an extra range attack, his trusty flintlock pistol, with a recharge to represent reloading. I made it his basic ranged attack, and added some text. I modified the default cutlass melee attack to be a little weaker.
I needed to Dwarfify him, so I searched for Dwarf in the right sidebar. Oops- turns out that there’s a Dwarven buccaneer already. That’s OK, my Dwarven pirate will be way better. I clicked and dragged the “Stand Your Ground” racial power over. I saved the modified creature. I can copy it to the clipboard in rich text and paste into TextEdit or in image form (but that wasn’t working for me- couldn’t paste into Photoshop or any other program). I can also print my Captain, so I sent it to PDF.
To get back to the main screen, I clicked the X which says “Cancel Monster” since that’s the only option to go back. It prompts to save, even if you’ve already saved it.
OK, now a new monster. I clicked the make new monster button, and entered in the basic details. Paragon monster sounds about right, and now I need some powers.
As you can see, I can grab all kinds of different powers from different monsters, and it automatically recalibrates the attack and damage for level, though there’s no indication of when I’ve added too many powers for the level, so I just wing it.
I changed a few power names and a few keywords/damage types, and voila! I have a new monster.
I have a statblock ready to print and bring to my game table.
My analysis? It’s still early in the development of the tool, but clearly a boon for those who love to make their own monsters. The ability to move around powers between monsters (and even the ability to build off existing monsters) is a huge benefit to monster makers and tinkerers. However, for someone like myself who doesn’t have a lot of experience with doing it, it’s difficult to judge just what I’m doing and if my final creation is balanced along the lines of existing monsters. Swapping racial powers is useful, but not enough to make it invaluable when planning my game. Add in encounter building with statblocks and templating, and you’ll have yourself a deal.
Review: "Eberron Campaign Guide"
Overview: The DM companion book to the Eberron Player’s Guide, the Eberron Campaign Guide presents all of the information a DM could need to run a 4th Edition D&D game in the unique and interesting fantasy world of Eberron. Unlike the Player’s Guide, this is a book that mostly only DMs who want to run a game in Eberron are going to want to buy. However, what I did not expect is that reading this book would instill me with the insane desire to play D&D in a setting I was not really interested in beforehand.
In-Depth: As I stated in my review of the Eberron Player’s Guide, “the setting specific Campiagn Guides that come out are not books that I pay much attention to.” However, after reading through this book I am now hotly anticipating the first time I get to play or run a game on the continent of Khorvaire. If you’re not familiar with the story, back in 2002 Wizards of the Coast ran a competition to design your own setting with the hopes of finding something fresh and new to help boost the 3rd edition of D&D. I know Dave at least worked on an entry for the contest, but thankfully the very polite and friendly Keith Baker ended up winning with his entry that became the world of Eberron.
What’s so special and interesting about Eberron? I would actually say that there is nothing too special about it, which is exactly why it is so compelling. Nothing in the setting feels out of place or gimmicky. It uses many of the classic elements of Dungeons & Dragons in organic but unfamiliar ways mixed with a healthy dose of dark mystery, swashbuckling adventure, and magical technology. I’ve read through the 3E Eberron book almost exclusively to learn about Warforged and Artificers for the sole purpose of stealing them for my own games, and as you know I’m a big advocate of liberally mining the 4E Eberron Player’s Guide, but I have to say that while reading through this Campaign Guide I found myself more and more wanting to modify my game to fit into Eberron instead.
I originally intended to write another “Mining of…” review for this book, but when it comes to a setting you have locations, specific characters, and organizations which are more specific and difficult to simply yank out of the book for your homebrew game. Also, Wizards beat me to the punch with a small section right in the front of the book titled “Loot this book!” which mentions the savage/less demonic gnolls, ancestor-worshipping elves, eladrin cities in the feywild, and the magically devastated Mournland as suggestions for what you might want to use in your own game. Personally the piece that I want to loot the most is the cross-continent Lightning Rail! The fact of the matter is, once you’ve read each of these concepts you don’t really need the book to use them in your game. However, I think that the world of Eberron merges so well with the 4th Edition rules that everyone should play at least one game in this setting to experience it.
So many things seem to just line up when it comes to Eberron in 4E, whether its the less powerful magic items and Eberron’s prevalence of lesser magics, or the “every race is special” concept that plays nicely with Eberron’s various nationalities. The Halflings of the Talenta plains are far more intriguing to me than the standard Halflings in the PHB, and the same goes for the gnomes of Zilargo or the Warforged from the Mournland. Each race really begins to shine on its own when viewed as a part of this setting with all of the supporting mechanics behind it. In 4th edition it feels like every character has tricks up their sleeve and special abilities which I feel adds to the high adventure and sleek mystery that comes hand-in-hand with this setting.
This book has single-handedly changed my opinion: I will be playing in Eberron sometime soon. Now I’m going back and instead of just mining the Player’s Guide, I’m looking at what I would use to create a character to fit into this world.
Details: The Eberron Campaign Guide is a very well put together book and the piece that stands out the most to me is the artwork. From the Lord of Blades painting by Wayne Reynolds on the cover through the entire book the artwork really puts you into the world of action that is Eberron. Nothing quite excites me like seeing a Warforged with a bigass sword hanging from an airship over an oncoming lightning rail train. My main complaint with the book is that I like to see monsters all in one place, like they were in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, but the monsters in this book are spread out and presented with their accompanying nations/locales. It does, on the other hand, come with a classic fold-up map of Khorvaire in the back which is always a welcome addition to a campaign setting. The Eberron Campaign Guide was released yesterday and is available now.
Two Words to Convince You to Buy Kobold Quarterly #10
Gelantinous Cubes.
We don’t have to tell you that Kobold Quarterly is great, or that it’s been nominated for 3 Ennies (though it’s going down in the Best Website category!), or that it includes tons of material for both 3.5 players (with a preview of Pathfinder) and 4e player. We don’t have to tell you about the interview with game designer Jeff Grubb that talks about the genesis of several famous D&D settings as well as other history and game design advice from one of the greats. We don’t even have to sell you on the Nevermet Press collaboration that includes even more skill challenges for your game, or Monte Cook’s article about enjoying both old school and new school games.
All we have to tell you is the name of an article: “Secrets of the Gelatinous Cube.”
That not enough? Within that article you’ll find information about “cubists”, those collectors obsessed with the care and feeding of Gelatinous Cubes. You’ll find information about shaping cubes into other shapes (like the round Gelatinous Cube I unleashed on my party during an homage to Temple of Doom). You’ll even find information about the greatest/nastiest subjects of all: Gelatinous Reproduction.
So if you looked back at the 3e Arms & Equipment guide and thought, “Hey, a saddle to ride a Gelatinous Cube would be pretty sweet”, or if you believe all the facts about Gelatinous Cubes, or even if you just believe they’re not a dumb monster and are quite deadly when parties stumble into them, you too will want this issue of KQ and declare yourself a cubist.
Review: "Divine Power"
Overview: Divine Power is the latest sourcebook for the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons that includes new options for the Avenger, Cleric, Invoker, and Paladin classes. Each class gets a new build along with a ton of new powers, paragon paths, feats, and epic destinies. If you or one of your players is enjoying playing a divine class then this book is definitely a must have, but there are actually a surprising number of features that other players and DMs will want to borrow your copy to read as well!
In-Depth: Every player of a divine class should take a look at the ‘Divine Options‘ section of this book which starts by introducing the classic concept of Domains and how they work in 4th Edition. Every divine character gains access to the domains listed for the deity that they worship, each domain has a divinity feat and a domain feat associated with it. For example, if your character is a cleric of Avandra then you have access to the change, freedom, and luck domains. Other domains (there are over thirty total!) include arcana, creation, darkness, desctruction, earth, freedom, justice, knowledge, poison, undeath, and plenty of others. The domain feats grant different bonuses to a character’s at-will attack powers, while the divinity feats provide access to a new channel divinity power, each of which is gained exactly like any other feat.
Perhaps most surprising in this book is the ‘Your Deity and You‘ section, which several of the players at my game yesterday wanted to read to find out more information about the implications of worshipping particular deities, in particular the kinds of enemies that an Avenger of each deity would hunt. While the book is still probably light on fluff from what people expect of previous editions, this book definitely seems like a step in the direction of including more fluff.
Throughout the book there are many sidebar stories and suggestions that really flesh out the ideas around divine characters. From the story of how Avandra inadvertently created doppelgangers to how a player can seriously try to play a peaceful character in the world of D&D. Also there is a nice sidebar in the cleric section of the book that provides some information on the few dead gods of the basic D&D 4E universe.
On to the crunchier side of the book, the new feats presented seem to be the standard fare for the power source books. A few are universally kickass like the Demonbane feat that lets your undead targetting powers also target elementals, while others are an assortment of race specific or class-build specific divine feats to further differentiate characters. At epic levels most divine characters will probably take the Glorious Channeler feat which lets them use two channel divinity powers in an encounter, and the new selection of multiclass feats are similar to the other power source books in giving paragon level multiclass characters more options. The one feat that really surprised me is the multiclass Divine Channeler feat, which lets any character with a wisdom of 13 and trained in religion to gain the channel divinity ability, which I think is a great option for some people to inject a little divinity into their non-divine characters!
Divine Power introduces a whopping 10 new Epic Destinies, seven of which are based upon specific domains that the character uses such as Avatar of Death, Avatar of Hope, and the Avatar of War. I am very happy to see the altered demigod epic destiny that appeared in the Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide called Chosen now reprinted for non FR fans with a selection of level 26 utility powers typed to each of the PHB deities. This reprint is effectively a house rule that I was already brainstorming for one of my players, so I’m very happy to see it made it into the official rules. The last two options are the Exalted Angel and the Saint, which are both rather self explanitory.
If you play an Avenger: The new Censure of Unity grants a bonus based on the number of allies adjacent to your enmity target, adding a slight leader-like edge to the class. The new avenger powers seem to fit in line with those in the PHB2, with a lot of focus on shifting and moving around the battlefield. Some of the highest level powers involve teleporting of both the avenger and enemies all around the battlefield that surely promise loads of fun and surprises for the DM!
The new paragon paths cover a wide range of avenger types, from the Ardent Champion that focuses on reckless and powerful attacks to the Favored Soul that actually lets you sprout wings and gain a permanent fly speed. The Relentless Slayer is very reminiscent of older edition rangers with a chosen type of enemy that they are especially good at killing, while the Watchful Shepherd path focuses on protecting and aiding allies.
If you play a Cleric: The new cleric builds is strongly focused on aiding allies and debuffing enemies instead of dealing damage. Many of the new cleric powers don’t do any damage at all, instead lowering a targets defenses or stunning and dazing them, while many of the new daily powers seem to be focused on boosts to allies that last until the end of the encounter or creating zones that can be sustained to change the course of battle. Dismissal is a new power that banishes a creature to a remote plan for a period of time, and this book finally sees the return of the spells Cure Critical Wounds and Mass Cure Serious Wounds.
The cleric now has a wide variety of paragon paths as well such as the Battle Chaplain and the Compassionate Healer, who is not suprisingly extremely adept at all kinds of healing. The Messenger of Peace is perhaps a functional presentation of a peaceful character in D&D that plays nicely with the new build and powers presented for the cleric, gaining a bonus to defenses when using non-damaging powers and bestowing a penalty to creature’s attack roles that are close to you. The last path that really stands out is the Seldarine Dedicate which is for elf and eladrin clerics who gain the ability to use longbows and shortbows as implements for cleric powers.
If you play an Invoker: The new Invoker build is focused more on moving and debuffing enemies. The new powers include three new at-wills which each seem to be very unique, one can target up to three creatures at a time while another actually boosts the effectiveness of a defender’s mark on the target. A large majority of the Invokers powers are area effects, as should be expected, but many of the new powers employ interesting and unique mechanics such as Trumpet of Eight Dooms which uses a d8 roll to instill various effects on each target. Invoked Devastation is a level 29 attack power that actually targets the Fortitude, Reflex, and Will of a target and can hit each target up to three times for a different effect.
The Invoker gets a selection of interesting new paragon paths, the Adept of Whispers that focuses on stealth and the more subtle side of the divine class while the Divine Philosopher is in a league all its own by gaining an at-will power from a different divine class as an encounter power in addition to the ability to use knowledge skills to gain advantages against various monsters. The Stonecaller path can actually create large earthquake zones of difficult terrain and the Theurge of the Compact can summon devilish fiends that will attack foes but may resort to attacking allies if nothing else is within range.
If you play a Paladin: The Paladin is probably the class that has been the most in need of an update such as Divine Power, and I hope that the diversity of new powers helps balance things out more. The new class features let a Paladin swap out their Lay on Hands ability to instead gain either the Ardent Vow feature or Virtue’s Touch, which removes afflictions from allies which I believe helps set the Paladin apart form other healing classes.
Ardent Vow is an ability that boosts damage to a target, but it also subjects the target to a Divine Sanction which is a new type of mark that does damage when an attack is made that does not include the paladin similar to divine challenge but with less restrictions. The book also introduces the new at-will power Ardent Strike which marks the target with divine sanction, effectively giving the paladin two marks to use in defending their allies! On top of this, a selection of new powers presented in the book also mark enemies with divine sanction some of which can mark numerous enemies at one time or even mark it for the rest of the encounter.
Champion of Corellon is a paragon path for paladins that focuses on effective use of heavy armors, while the Demonslayer and Dragonslayer both will be quite effective against their chosen enemies. The demonslayer does automatic damage to adjacent demons as well as preventing them from shifting, while the dragonslayer has resistance to fear and close/area attacks while having an attack that literally grounds and locks down a flying opponent. The Gray Guard is actually a presentation of the “not necessarily 100% good and righteous” paladin and Questing Knight is the classic paladin with a driving goal in life. Knight of the Chalice is particularly potent at fighting devils, and I bet you can guess what the Slayer of the Dead is good at fighting!
Conclusion: The Paladin seems to be the most improved class in this book, but the added options for the cleric, avenger, and invoker are also great new inclusions in the game. Most of all the general content such as domains and the epic destinies are the best parts of the book, with the fluff and stories sprinlked throughout really adding that extra layer of value and interest to the book. Much like Martial Power and Arcane Power, if you’re playing a divine character this book is really a must have. This sourcebook over the previous two, however, is the best one for a DM to own as it presents more information on the gods and provides some great mechanics for designing NPCs that worship evil gods!
Product Tie-in Video Games 101: A Lesson in Love and Paychecks
Good morning class. I’m your, like, instructor today in this important time in video gaming. Unlike your usual university fat cat professors, I’m gonna give you the REAL stuff, ‘cause I’ve been there, man. I’ve seen it all. You can just call me Ryan; I’m cool and informal like that. You can take your shoes off if you want and we’ll, like, rap about this learning thing. Seriously though, if I see you texting to your friends in class, I’m giving out detentions to ALL OF YOU. That’s rude, ya know?
Today we’re going to be discussing one of the biggest money makers for video game studios; Product Tie-ins. They are something that we’ve been accustomed to in video games, and all can form a general consensus when we hear their name said. From E.T. to Chronicles of Riddick, video games based on movies have been around for most of your brief gaming lives. When, though, did they start? Were they always bland and overpriced? We will also be looking at two of the newer movie tie-in games out right now, too, to see if these types of games have bettered themselves through the years – Danny, I’m serious, I will TAKE that phone away. Pay attention. Look at page 87 and we’ll discuss the most important theory in all of movie tie-in video gaming. [Read the rest of this article]
Put the Phone Away: A call to gamers still in the dark ages of handhelds (Part 2)
(Make sure to read Part 1 first!)
Although the PSP is selling wonderfully in many other parts of the world, it has struggled in the US market since its release. It would be hard to call it a failure with the many millions of systems sold stateside, but it definitely has struggled to find an identity in this country. The UMD video discs were a complete disaster for Sony, and the third-party market hasn’t embraced the system as much as it has its rival. With the PSP-Go on the horizon as a download-only system, what will happen to games released on UMD? Sony has announced that its entire back catalog of games will be available to download on the first day of the Go’s release, but it is unclear what third-party games will be ready then. It seems like Sony is setting up an unnecessary fight with itself for the soul of the PSP.
There are, however, enough people I know that have bought the system purely for the ease of playing emulators on it. A portable NES, SNES, and Genesis may be enough for you to buy it; it was for me. Still, emulators are on everything that has a processor these days. I can only play through Earthbound so many times (and it IS a lot of times) before I want to play something original on the machine I’ve bought. The PSP does have enough original games still to think about a purchase. [Read the rest of this article]
The Contrary Opinion – J.J. Abram's Star Trek (With Spoilers!)
If one takes the glowing reviews of J.J. Abram’s Star Trek as a representative sample of the populace, most people love this movie. I am not most people.
[Read the rest of this article]
Review: "The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena" (Xbox 360)
We last found our hero, Space Vin Diesel, breaking out of a….
Yeah… I have no idea.
You see, I never watched any of the Riddick flicks nor did I ever play the Butcher Bay game from the last console cycle. Let’s be honest, most of you haven’t either. I guess I was too busy being disappointed by The Matrix sequels earlier this decade to have ever bothered with this sci-fi property. Still…
I was minding my own business the other day, see? I’m in my kitchen playing Retro Game Challenge for the DS (Micro-sized Review: BAAAWWWWEESOME!), and there at the door is a package for me. But wait: it gets better. In this package is a FREE VIDEO GAME inside of it… FOR ME!
I smell it a little bit to check for poisonous materials. I poke it to check if it’s some sort of secretly disguised explosive material. Surely this is the terrorists trying to win. Nope, just a video game with a note attached. Maybe someone I moderately care for has a ransom over their head? Wrong again. All they want me to do is give my opinion. A free game for a mere opinion?! You want the guy who, just the other day, was debating with friends which Cereal Mascot would be the best villain in a Mega Man game to sway minds? Buh-okay! I can clackety-clack out some read-a-ma-bobs for the price of a video game ($44.87 according to Wal-Mart’s always low-price guarantee!) [Read the rest of this article]
Review: Monster Manual 2
Wizards of the Coast is really steam rolling out the content for 4th Edition! You might consider that a good or a bad statement; either you feel like there is a tsunami of new material out before you’ve even read last month’s new release, or you’re loving it and can’t get enough. If there’s one thing most DMs can agree on, it’s that having more monsters to pick and choose from is better than more options for players, so the Monster Manual 2 comes as a welcome addition to 4E. The MM2 expands on many of the monsters we’re already using as well as introduces a whole slew of new beasties to the mix. From front to back, this book really excites me as both a DM and a player, and it delivers a lot of excellent new content for the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
Some of the first monsters presented in the MM2 were noticeably lacking from the original Monster Manual. We now have Earth, Storm, and Water Archons; the first MM only gave us Fire and Ice Archons and I wondered where the rest of them were. Other welcome faces include the Behir (with kickass devouring abilities), the aptly named Beholder Ultimate Tyrant, the Cockatrice, Colossus, Djinns, and for the love of all that is holy, finally we have Metallic Dragons again! Many familiar monsters are reappearing in 4th Edition in exciting ways elaborate please, such as the Kenku, Myconid, Xorn, and finally the much feared and revered Rust Monster.
Many of the existing monster types see some excellent new additions. Demons and Devils each get a decent helping of new varieties, the same goes for the Eladrin, Humans, and Gnomes. Dwarves get nothing new but Duergars are present. The Elemental group is greatly expanded with 13 (yes, thirteen!) new types, still shying away from the classic ”earth elemental” concept and instead going for the more stylized “Stormfury” and “Tempest” approach. There are some very interesting additions to the Giants, such as the Eldritch giant/titan along with the Frost and Stone giants, which I think rounds out their variety quite nicely. There are also some new types of Warforged, Genasi, and Oozes.
There is one monster entry in this book that clearly stands out to me as being out of place: the Slaughterstone Constructs. These dwarven creations look and read more like mecha; along with the Warforged titan, these just stand out to me as decidedly sci-fi additions to an otherwise very fantasy setting. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but no special attention is given towards making them read or appear as clockwork or even rennaissance creations.
I am a bit disappointed that WotC did not take a more thematic approach to the MM2 and present mostly monsters that relate in some way to the primary “boss” featured – Demogorgon. Considering the abyssal lair of Demogorgon includes a large aquatic landscape I was hoping that a Kraken would show up along with a selection of other new aquatic creatures – perhaps even an Ixitxachitl or two, but alas that is not to be! The demon’s lair is also described as having various islands of jungle terrain inhabited by apes, birds, and dinosaurs, none of which are expanded upon in this manual. I view this as a missed opportunity by Wizards to not only create some coherency amongst the book but also to add some more solid justification to releasing a series of numbered Monster Manuals. I’m not saying I want the whole book to be these types of monsters, but at least a handful of them is all that would be needed. Really I’m just sad there weren’t any new dinosaurs (okay, “Behemoths”…) in the book, but I guess I’ll just have to do something to fix that omission. Also the reuse of artwork from up to ten years ago is surprising to me, while some of them are great pieces of artwork that I’m happy to see remain in print, others like the Dark Mantle just feel like they could really use a fresh perspective.
At the very end of the book there are only three new playable monster races: the Bullywug, Duergar, and Kenku. I’m happy to see the latter two, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone wanting to play a Bullywug! That said, the Bullywug race is actually interesting, as it introduces a more unique idea and I’m definitely considering using some Bullywug NPCs after seeing them in the book.
Despite a few flaws, the Monster Manual 2 is really an excellent source of new material for 4th edition D&D. This is especially true when looked at in conjunction with the first Monster Manual, where the two really serve to present a plethora of monsters and monster types for players to face off against and outsmart. In particular the Dragons now feels like a more complete entry in the manual, as do the Demons, Giants, Archons, and Golems. As with the MM and DMG there really isn’t much of a reason to get it if you’re only a player, but it is a must have for any DM!
Review: Omnifray
It’s taken me a long time to review this product, because it’s so obviously a labor of love. It takes dedication to write tens of thousands of words about your game setting and your system, then put it all together into not one but two books, and amazing amount of courage to put it out there in the world and hope that people will like it and play it. I commend and support that kind of initiative. Roleplaying has always been a creative, Do-It-Yourself kind of hobby and it’s one of the things I love most about it.
That’s what makes this hard for me to review. Because when someone like Matt West, the creator of Omnifray, has made this kind of commitment and clearly has such a strong belief about his baby, it’s hard to say anything negative without feeling like a jerk. [Read the rest of this article]
