Marathon, Broadway, and Catacomb: Upcoming D&D Products?

WotC has been using codenames for its upcoming products for some time, mainly to stop anybody figuring our what's in the pipeline. Those codenames end up as placeholders on bookstores and the like. Eagle-eyed reader Sean spotted some upcoming items on McNally Robinson, a Canadian bookstore's website.

The items spotted were a 192-page hardcover accessory codenamed "Marathon" (May 2018); a 256-page hardcover adventure codenamed "Broadway" (September 2018), and another 256-page hardcover adventure codenamed "Catacomb" (November 2018). There's also a set of "Broadway" dice.

Past codenames have included "Labyrinth", which turned out to be Tomb of Annihilation, and "Dust", "Midway", "Cloak", and "Dagger".

Let the speculation begin!

D&D "Marathon" HC
By Rpg Team Wizards
ISBN: 9780786966240
format: Hardcover
series: D&D Accessory
pages: 192
publisher: Wizards of the Coast
pub. date: 2018-05-29

D&D "Broadway" Dice
By Rpg Team Wizards
ISBN: 9780786966288
format: Game
series: D&D Accessory
pages: n/a
publisher: Wizards of the Coast
pub. date: 2018-09-18

D&D "Broadway" HC
By Rpg Team Wizards
ISBN: 9780786966257
format: Hardcover
series: D&D Adventure
pages: 256
publisher: Wizards of the Coast
pub. date: 2018-09-18

D&D "Catacomb" HC
By Rpg Team Wizards
ISBN: 9780786966264
format: Hardcover
series: D&D Adventure
pages: 256
publisher: Wizards of the Coast
pub. date: 2018-11-20

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[jimmytheccomic]

To me, "Broadway" evokes the idea of a big glitzy Fey Adventure, and "Catacomb" could be Yawning Portal 2.

 

[Burnside]

Pretty sure it's been stated that the current AL season is supposed to run for a full year, which would support the idea of no new adventure book until September 2018.

Maybe...

May = rules supplement
Sep = big adventure
Nov = Yawning Portal-style compilation

Only issue there is it seems odd to publish back-to-back rules books (Xanathar in Nov 2017 followed by another one in May 2018).

Pretty sure Mearls or Perkins said they were unlikely to do pure gazeteer/setting-based material (a choice supported by SCAG being the weakest-selling book of the 5E line) but would rather present setting info in the form of an adventure a la CoS, SKT, and ToA. So I doubt they'd do a stand-alone "Manual of the Planes" type book for May 2018.

 

[Parmandur]

Pretty sure it's been stated that the current AL season is supposed to run for a full year, which would support the idea of no new adventure book until September 2018.

Maybe...

May = rules supplement
Sep = big adventure
Nov = Yawning Portal-style compilation

Only issue there is it seems odd to publish back-to-back rules books (Xanathar in Nov 2017 followed by another one in May 2018).

Pretty sure Mearls or Perkins said they were unlikely to do pure gazeteer/setting-based material (a choice supported by SCAG being the weakest-selling book of the 5E line) but would rather present setting info in the form of an adventure a la CoS, SKT, and ToA. So I doubt they'd do a stand-alone "Manual of the Planes" type book for May 2018.

I doubt they would do a Planes book for May, either, since that book is already written per Mearls earlier commentary, and they are testing Planar material now (about the time to test for next November, ala XGtE). They seem pretty set at one Adventure book per year now, at least. A Planes book wouldn't necessarily be setting material, so much as PC and monster material: here are the rules for Gith PCs (being tested in UA), here is a breakdown of the Archduke's of Hell and how they relate to their cults (being tested in UA), here is some info on how Demon Lords pervert their followers (being tested in UA), and so on. Setting material proper for a Planar AP, "generic D&D Planes" material for Eliminster's Guide to the Cosmos (or whatever).

The May release is the real Wild Card: I feel that will be a rules supplement, but something less rules innovative than Xanathar's Guide, and less in need of gouging public interest than whatever Planar book they are brewing. Dragons seem a decent bet, but time shall tell.

 

[robus]

I really can't believe there will be back to back rules supplements! I think:

May will be the classic adventures reboot (a la TotYP) - small packages to insert into homebrew campaigns and not requiring a big commitment from a group.

Sep is the big setting expansion (a compilation of setting info and rules expansion to support those settings)

Nov is the big adventure - it's the Undermountain megadungeon they were going to release last year but had to sub in the classic adventure reboot because of the movie timing... (total guess ) but there's not been any good explanation as to why the entrance to Undermountain was described but none of the adventures are set there...

 

[Parmandur]

I really can't believe there will be back to back rules supplements! I think:

May will be the classic adventures reboot (a la TotYP) - small packages to insert into homebrew campaigns and not requiring a big commitment from a group.

Sep is the big setting expansion (a compilation of setting info and rules expansion to support those settings)

Nov is the big adventure - it's the Undermountain megadungeon they were going to release last year but had to sub in the classic adventure reboot because of the movie timing... (total guess ) but there's not been any good explanation as to why the entrance to Undermountain was described but none of the adventures are set there...

Reason to suppose the September book is the adventure is the Adventurer's League season timing: that and it has a tie-in dice set just like ToA.

 

[robus]

Reason to suppose the September book is the adventure is the Adventurer's League season timing: that and it has a tie-in dice set just like ToA.

You're probably right and really there's been little movement on the movie front (thank goodness!) so I'm not really convinced. So perhaps I have the last two reversed (and the movie connection is madness ) - but I'll eat my hat if there's another rules expansion after Xanathar!

 

[Burnside]

You're probably right and really there's been little movement on the movie front (thank goodness!) so I'm not really convinced. So perhaps I have the last two reversed (and the movie connection is madness ) - but I'll eat my hat if there's another rules expansion after Xanathar!

May - compilation
Sep - adventure
Nov - supplement

...is what I would prefer, but I guess we'll see. Should be a lot clearer in a couple of months.

 

[Parmandur]

You're probably right and really there's been little movement on the movie front (thank goodness!) so I'm not really convinced. So perhaps I have the last two reversed (and the movie connection is madness ) - but I'll eat my hat if there's another rules expansion after Xanathar!

It has the right page count for a rules accessory; probably not going to be a player-centric or variant rule heavy book: but a fluffy book with monsters? Nothing like Xanathar's Guide, seems plausible.

 

[GarrettKP]

I'd guess that Marathon is actually an expansion or sequel of sorts to Tomb of Annihilation. Since the AL season is going long. Maybe the Lantan adventure that Perkins mentioned on their podcast a month back? Could be a level 11+ adventure add on to keep the Chult stuff going long enough for them to finish whatever Catacomb and Broadway are.

 

[IchneumonWasp]

It has the right page count for a rules accessory; probably not going to be a player-centric or variant rule heavy book: but a fluffy but ok with monsters? Nothing like Xanathar's Guide.

Yeah, maybe something similar to Volo's guide to monsters? Primarily aimed at DM's, with also some cool options for players.