Because selling craploads of little adventures each year didn't work. Selling two big adventures a year does.
Paizo can get away with it because they inherited all the Dragon/Dungeon magazine subscriptions and applied them to their adventure paths.
D&D 5E Amazon: PHB has new competition and Tales from the Yawning Portal...
Because selling craploads of little adventures each year didn't work. Selling two big adventures a year does.
Paizo can get away with it because they inherited all the Dragon/Dungeon magazine subscriptions and applied them to their adventure paths.
Zardnaar
Legend
The rise of Paizo and the AP's would be my arguement. From UA onwards they switched the focus from adventures to splat as the 1st UA more or less saved TSR.
Older playerbase may be a factor as well. They have the money but less time so splatbook xyz is less appealing when you have not exhausted the phb.
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TerraDave
5ever, or until 2024
THIS particular adventure is selling really well. At this time. Given that the PHB has sold really well for over 2 years, that probably means there are a lot of DMs to buy it, and that it is particularly appealing. But I expect that in a couple of months (or less) the pattern will return and the corebooks, plus maybe Volos, are the top sellers.
They are eager to avoid system bloat. Thats important. They clearly feel that selling a lot of supplements under mines core-books sales.
If you are talking about profitability per book, the adventures probably are covering their costs. Again, the corebooks are selling far more then such products have normally sold for a sustained period of time. The adventure books might be selling well compared to whats expected. They could be covering their costs and then some.
But clearly they are seen as part of a larger strategy to help DMs start and run games. I don't think it is much more complicated then that.
Sword of Spirit
Legend
I really need to look into those adventures to see if they are what I'm going for.
Jester David
Hero
There could be a few reasons.
One was during 2nd Edition, most adventures were setting specific. So they appealed to fans of the setting, but not the fans of generic adventures or fans of other settings. At that point there was also a LOT of classic adventures runnable without conversion (competing against the entire back catalogue) and not all of the new adventures were good.
In 3e, I think the overall lack of a story made some of the adventures unappealing. Plus, there was more competition from splatbooks.
In most recent cases, from 2e to 4e, the adventures were also small, thin products that vanished on store shelves. You couldn't see the spines or easily identify them. Hardcovers give you more adventure material for your buck (a full campaign of 20-30 odd sessions for $50 rather than 2-3 sessions for $10) so the purchase feels more worthwhile.
Again, the lack of competition from splatbooks helps. Fans wants to spend money on the game and often don't care how. So that boosts sales slightly. But having a half-dozen adventures is easier on your game table than a half-dozen splatbooks of new options.
LordEntrails
Hero
Free AAW adventure. Note they also have FG conversions, but not sure if they have a free one, https://adventureaweek.com/subscribe/free-adventure/
Here's a free is a free ENsid5r, https://www.patreon.com/posts/into-feywild-100-6755905
TerraDave
5ever, or until 2024
Of course we now know they will move away from 2 APs a year.
So there.
And TftYP is not an AP. And is selling really, really well.
One thing that I think that throws people off is that they are working on a long-time horizon. They want this edition to last many years.
So they could have all sorts of new and different things planned. You just have to wait for them.
So there.
And TftYP is not an AP. And is selling really, really well.
One thing that I think that throws people off is that they are working on a long-time horizon. They want this edition to last many years.
So they could have all sorts of new and different things planned. You just have to wait for them.
Jester David
Hero
Mearl's spoken statement* sounded like he meant campaign/ storyline adventures. Level 1-10+ adventures. He could mean more collections of modular dungeons or short adventures.
* It was an offhand non-written statement, which increases the odds of him mid-speaking.
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