WotC Fall 2009 Catalog report

Just got the Wizards of the Coast Fall 2009 Catalog. Here goes.

D&D
Dungeon Master's Guide 2 by Mike Mearls, Robin D. Laws, and Greg Gorden
This core rulebook for the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game features advice and rules for Dungeon Masters of all levels of experience, with a particular focus on running adventures and campaigns in the paragon tier (levels 11-20). It includes advanced encounter-building tools (including traps and skill challenges), storytelling tips to bring your game to life, new monster frameworks to help you craft the perfect villian, example campaign arcs, a comprehensive look at skill challenges, and a detailed "home base" for paragon-tier adventures -- the interplanar city of Sigil.
Sept 15, 2009
224 page hardcover $34.95

Dragon Magazine Annual, Volume 1 Editied by Chris Youngs
This book collects the best Dragon magazine content from the past year into one easy-to-reference source. The articles contained herein provide exciting character options for players as well as inspiration and campaign-building support for Dungeon Masters. All of this material is 100% official and suitable for any D&D game.
In addition to the compiled articles, the book contains never-before -seen notes from the designers, developers, and editors that take you behind the curtain, offering a firsthand glimpse into the origin and evolution of each article.
Sept 15, 2009
160 page hardcover $29.95

Primal Power by Mike Mearls, Rob Heinsoo, Logan Bonner, and Robert J Schwalb
Take a walk on the wild side! This must-have book is the latest in a line of player-friendly game supplements offering hundreds of new options for D&D characters, specifically focusing on heroes who draw power from the spirits that preserve and sustain the world. It provides new archtypal builds for barbarians, druids, shamans, and wardens, including new character powers, feats, paragon paths, and epic destinies.
Oct 20, 2009
160 page hardcover $29.95

E3 Prince of Undeath by Bruce R. Cordell and Scott Fitzgerald Gray
This epic-level D&D adventure is designed to take characters from 27th to 30th level. In this adventure, the demon lord Orcus tries to usurp the Raven Queen's power over death using a shard of evil plucked from the depths of the Abyss. Only the world's most powerful heroes have the slightest hope of stopping him.
This adventure can be played as a stand-alone adventure or as the conclusion of a three-part series that spans 10 levels of gameplay.
Oct 20, 2009
$24.95

Sinister Woods Dungeon Tiles
This D&D game accessory gives Dungeon Masters an easy and inexpensive way to include great-looking terrain in their games. This set provides ready-to-use, configurable tiles with which to build encounter locations. It allows DMs to build outdoor encounter sites with wondrous terrain.
Oct 20, 2009
6 double-sided sheets $9.95

Draconomicon 2: Metallic Dragons by Richard Baker, Ari Marmell, David Noonan, and Robert J. Schwalb
Draconomicon 2: Metallic Dragons describes several varieties of dragons, including gold, silver, copper, iron, and adamantine dragons. It also introduces several other kinds of metallic dragons suitable for any D&D campaign.
This supplement presents dragons both malevolent and benign, and gives details on each dragon's powers, tactics, myths, lairs, servitors, and more. In addition, this book provides new information abut the roles that metallic dragons fill in a D&D game. Story and campaign elements in the book give Dungeon Masters ready-to-play material that is easily incorporated into a game, including adventure hooks, quests, encounters, and pregenerated treasure hoards.
Nov 17, 2009
288 page hardcover $39.95

Arcane Power Cards
Each deck of 100 cards includes all the powers from Arcane Power for each of the five classes featured in the book - swordmage, bard, wizard, warlock, and sorcerer, - plus a few blank cards for players to use for other powers.
(note: the catalog gives SKUs for 6 different decks - bard, sorcerer, warlock, wizard, swordmage 1, and swordmage 2 - as well as an SKU for the assortment display. thalmin) edit: the swordmage 1 deck is probably the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide deck, while the swordmage 2 deck would be the Arcane Powers deck.
Nov 17, 2009
$9.99 per deck

The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos by Ari Marmell, Bruce R. Cordell, and Luke Johnson
A hotbed of adventure opportunities awaits you in the roiling maelstrom of the Elemental Chaos - a plane of titans, elementals, genies, slaads, and demons. This game supplement builds on the overview of the Elemental Chaos presented in the Manual of the Planes game supplement and explores the tumultuous plane in greater detail. From the City of Brass to the githzerai monestary of Zerthadlun to the spiraling depths of the Abyss, adventure lurks behind every lava waterfall, across every icy battlefield, and beyond every raging lightning storm.
This game supplement describes the Elemental Chaos in detail, featuring key locations throughout the plane. It also presents a multitude of new monsters, mighty primordials, and powerful demons, as well as adventure hooks, encounters, hazards, and everything Dungeon Masters need to make Elemental Chaos a featured setting in their campaigns.
December 15, 2009
160 page hardcover $29.95

Star Wars
Galaxy at War by Rodney Thompson, Gary Astleford, Eric Cagle, and Daniel Wallace
Warfare is a common theme throughout the Star Wars saga. From the Clone Wars to the Galactic Civil War, soldiers have their work cut out for them. this supplement gives players and Gamemasters everything they need to run games or play characters in a war-torn galaxy. Includes rules for military units as well as new character options, new gear and starships, and a host of adventure hooks and campaign seeds that can be used to inject military flavor into campaigns of all eras.
Contains new content based on the popular animated series, The Clone Wars
Sept 15, 2009
224 page hardcover $39.95

Scavenger's Guide to Droids by Rodney Thompson, Sterling Hershey, Patrick Stutzman, and Rob Wieland
The Scavenger's Guide to Droids is the ultimate reference to droids across the Star Wars saga. With this guide, players and gamemasters will find tools to build their own droid characters, using templates from various manufacturers. New options for game play include talents, feats, equipment, modifications, quirks, and prestige classes for any droid character. This supplement also contains scores of new droids for Gamemasters to include in adventures and campaigns set in any Star Wars era, as well as tips for customizing unique droid models.
Nov 17, 2009
160 page hardcover $34.95

Miniatures
Axis & Allies Early War: 1939-1941
Tanks, aircraft, and infantry from the early campaigns in Poland, Belgium, and France will debut in this set. It will also include German and Russian units that fought in the furious opening battles of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. 50 figures in the set, 5 random figures per booster.
Sept 15, 2009
$14.99

Star Wars Galaxy at War
This set features characters from The Clone Wars animated series. 40 figures in the set, 7 random figures per booster.
Oct 30, 2009

Monster Manual: Savage Encounters
This set features miniatures from the Monster Manual and other game supplements. 40 monsters in the set, 1 visible and 4 random figures per booster.
Nov 17, 2009
$14.99

thalmin said:

D&D
Dungeon Master's Guide 2 by Mike Mearls, Robin D. Laws, and Greg Gorden
This core rulebook for the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game features advice and rules for Dungeon Masters of all levels of experience, with a particular focus on running adventures and campaigns in the paragon tier (levels 11-20). It includes advanced encounter-building tools (including traps and skill challenges), storytelling tips to bring your game to life, new monster frameworks to help you craft the perfect villian, example campaign arcs, a comprehensive look at skill challenges, and a detailed "home base" for paragon-tier adventures -- the interplanar city of Sigil.
Sept 15, 2009
224 page hardcover $34.95

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You know, this might be the second 4e book that I buy just for the details on Sigil. Unless they hack it to death.

thalmin said:

Dragon Magazine Annual, Volume 1 Editied by Chris Youngs
This book collects the best Dragon magazine content from the past year into one easy-to-reference source. The articles contained herein provide exciting character options for players as well as inspiration and campaign-building support for Dungeon Masters. All of this material is 100% official and suitable for any D&D game.
In addition to the compiled articles, the book contains never-before -seen notes from the designers, developers, and editors that take you behind the curtain, offering a firsthand glimpse into the origin and evolution of each article.
Sept 15, 2009
160 page hardcover $29.95

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Hmm... maybe. Not for sure.

thalmin said:

The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos by Ari Marmell, Bruce R. Cordell, and Luke Johnson
A hotbed of adventure opportunities awaits you in the roiling maelstrom of the Elemental Chaos - a plane of titans, elementals, genies, slaads, and demons. This game supplement builds on the overview of the Elemental Chaos presented in the Manual of the Planes game supplement and explores the tumultuous plane in greater detail. From the City of Brass to the githzerai monestary of Zerthadlun to the spiraling depths of the Abyss, adventure lurks behind every lava waterfall, across every icy battlefield, and beyond every raging lightning storm.
This game supplement describes the Elemental Chaos in detail, featuring key locations throughout the plane. It also presents a multitude of new monsters, mighty primordials, and powerful demons, as well as adventure hooks, encounters, hazards, and everything Dungeon Masters need to make Elemental Chaos a featured setting in their campaigns.
December 15, 2009
160 page hardcover $29.95

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I'm definitely interested in this one.

I thought they were moving away from randomized minis? Is that not so?

Nathal said:

I thought they were moving away from randomized minis? Is that not so?

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Not completely. They have found a middle ground. Only time will see how it turns out as a business decision.

Thalmin, you need to pick a better day to post. I was combing through your post looking for the joke.

Nathal said:

I thought they were moving away from randomized minis? Is that not so?

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For D&D Minis. But my understanding is that most D&D minis purchases are by tabletop players, whereas most SW Minis purchases are by SW collectors who may not even play the minis game.

Nathal said:

I thought they were moving away from randomized minis? Is that not so?

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Not entirely.

For D&D, they're focusing on roleplaying use over wargaming. For that strategy, they've broken minis into two basic categories: Minis that players want (for their characters), and minis that DMs want (basically, monsters).

The character minis are now non-randomized. You buy them in packs of three, and all three are visible. You know exactly what you're buying.

The monster minis remain randomized, though they're still presented differently from the old days.

• Each set is smaller (40 minis per set, I think)?
• The minis are all monsters, not characters. (Of course, some "monsters," like, say, drow, are pretty character-like.)
• The selection is based purely on the needs of the RPG, so you don't get minis that were designed to balance out the wargame, but are useless to most DMs.
• One mini in each booster is visible, so the purchase isn't entirely blind.

I think the idea is that while PCs want only a small number of minis--and they want to choose the mini that's perfect for them--DMs need lots of minis. Randomized remains the most effective way to deliver lots of minis cheap, and DMs won't mind so much when all of the minis are potentially useful to them (not designed for players or wargamers).

For non-D&D minis, the strategy hasn't changed. Star Wars and A&A are still focused on their wargame and collector customers.

arscott said:

Thalmin, you need to pick a better day to post. I was combing through your post looking for the joke.

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His mistake was not picking this day, it was not including a joke!

And don't forget the price increase. I believe it's 5 figs for the old cost of 8?

CharlesRyan said:

Not entirely.

For D&D, they're focusing on roleplaying use over wargaming. For that strategy, they've broken minis into two basic categories: Minis that players want (for their characters), and minis that DMs want (basically, monsters).

The character minis are now non-randomized. You buy them in packs of three, and all three are visible. You know exactly what you're buying.

The monster minis remain randomized, though they're still presented differently from the old days.

• Each set is smaller (40 minis per set, I think)?
• The minis are all monsters, not characters. (Of course, some "monsters," like, say, drow, are pretty character-like.)
• The selection is based purely on the needs of the RPG, so you don't get minis that were designed to balance out the wargame, but are useless to most DMs.
• One mini in each booster is visible, so the purchase isn't entirely blind.

I think the idea is that while PCs want only a small number of minis--and they want to choose the mini that's perfect for them--DMs need lots of minis. Randomized remains the most effective way to deliver lots of minis cheap, and DMs won't mind so much when all of the minis are potentially useful to them (not designed for players or wargamers).

For non-D&D minis, the strategy hasn't changed. Star Wars and A&A are still focused on their wargame and collector customers.

Click to expand...

I was surprised at the announced 2 different decks for swordmage, then realised it would be the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide deck as well as the Arcane Powers deck.

JoeGKushner said:

And don't forget the price increase. I believe it's 5 figs for the old cost of 8?

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Indeed, this is part of the cost of moving away from randomization (as Charles alludes to in his next to last paragraph). I'm sure the price would be higher if they went further away from the randomization method.