My idea box set would be based on the core book box set, but instead of a PHB, DMG, And MM, it was be a Faerun Setting Guide, Kara Tur Setting Guide, Maztica Setting Guide, and Zakhara Setting Guide, detailed Poster Maps of all 4 and FR DM Screen, with all books the size the PHB, or better yet the size of pathfinders PHB! Dream big or go home as they say.
D&D 5E New survey from WotC about boxed sets
- Thread starter Enevhar Aldarion
- Start date
One thing to remember when figuring out which setting, if any, will get a boxed set: they have very thorough data that has shown time and again that about 55% of games are actually homebrew, though only about half of those are strict rejections of existing settings, while the remainder are just "will use whatever fits" looser ones. Coupled with the 35% using some form of the Realms, there's a reason products have been largely Realms-centric: between the FR campaigns and the "steal anything generic" campaigns, over half of the games out there can use Realms material.
That said, it won't be a FR box. They consider it covered by the hardbacks, each one acting as a regional gazetteer as well as an adventure path. And it's the adventure material that really appeals to the DMs whose campaigns are patchwork, not the hyper-detailed setting treatments. Most DMs just don't care about canon like that, nor should they if it's meaningless to their games. What happens at their table is what's important. They'd be just fine if the setting never advanced any further.
Eberron I can see as it's a popular setting and has a broad appeal of being not straight jacketed as a pseudo-medieval-European setting. And there's the fact that it's a fixed setting; when they considered advancing the timeline two years for the 4e version of the setting, the feedback was overwhelmingly negative. Time and again the idea has been rejected. For a perennial product, it's a logical choice.
Greyhawk, according to WOTC's data, is supposedly the second most popular setting, with about 5% of the games (all other setting combined are the remaining 5%). And they seem to have finally approached it as a separate setting. Ghosts of Saltmarsh isexplicitly set in Greyhawk, and there's a sidebar for using it in other settings. So the possibility exists for it to be used, but I kinda think it's going to get the FR treatment in that there might be future hardbacks that are both gazetteers and adventures in one. And like the recent ones, it'll get separate map or accessory packs.
What I found most interesting about that sidebar was not so much that they pushed the Realms into the sidebar, though I can see how that might surprise some based on the track record thus far with 5e, but that the settings listed were the Realms, Eberron, and ... Mystara. Maybe the recent Goodman Games hardcovers are also a way to reintroduce one of the oldest settings to the public.
That said, it won't be a FR box. They consider it covered by the hardbacks, each one acting as a regional gazetteer as well as an adventure path. And it's the adventure material that really appeals to the DMs whose campaigns are patchwork, not the hyper-detailed setting treatments. Most DMs just don't care about canon like that, nor should they if it's meaningless to their games. What happens at their table is what's important. They'd be just fine if the setting never advanced any further.
Eberron I can see as it's a popular setting and has a broad appeal of being not straight jacketed as a pseudo-medieval-European setting. And there's the fact that it's a fixed setting; when they considered advancing the timeline two years for the 4e version of the setting, the feedback was overwhelmingly negative. Time and again the idea has been rejected. For a perennial product, it's a logical choice.
Greyhawk, according to WOTC's data, is supposedly the second most popular setting, with about 5% of the games (all other setting combined are the remaining 5%). And they seem to have finally approached it as a separate setting. Ghosts of Saltmarsh isexplicitly set in Greyhawk, and there's a sidebar for using it in other settings. So the possibility exists for it to be used, but I kinda think it's going to get the FR treatment in that there might be future hardbacks that are both gazetteers and adventures in one. And like the recent ones, it'll get separate map or accessory packs.
What I found most interesting about that sidebar was not so much that they pushed the Realms into the sidebar, though I can see how that might surprise some based on the track record thus far with 5e, but that the settings listed were the Realms, Eberron, and ... Mystara. Maybe the recent Goodman Games hardcovers are also a way to reintroduce one of the oldest settings to the public.
Last edited:
I have a suspicion that Greyhawk fans will be waiting quite a while longer on getting a "proper" 5e treatment of their setting. Five years or so. Because in five years it will be 2024, which is 50 years since D&D was originally released - and that makes a nostalgia product perfect.
jgsugden
Legend
In a boxed set I want:
1.) A unique setting. It has to be a setting that is new to us.
2.) An adventure. You need to be able o sit down and play something that demonstrates the setting.
3.) Lore that is expressed independent of mechanics. I want to be able to branch out from that adventure with scores of adventure hooks... but I do not want to be stuck using this only for 5E. I want to be able to easily restat and use it in 6E or 7E.
1.) A unique setting. It has to be a setting that is new to us.
2.) An adventure. You need to be able o sit down and play something that demonstrates the setting.
3.) Lore that is expressed independent of mechanics. I want to be able to branch out from that adventure with scores of adventure hooks... but I do not want to be stuck using this only for 5E. I want to be able to easily restat and use it in 6E or 7E.
Last edited:
Parmandur
Book-Friend
The official D&D accounts shared it on Facebook and Twitter: it's legit, but it seems to be not something they wanted to make too big a deal about.
I could see that. Except what constitutes a "proper" setting treatment? The format of that has varied over the years. As does the answer to the question of what level of content to include; does the product give a broad overview of the high-level aspects of a setting, or does it deal with the close-in aspects of the day-to-day NPCs? Or does it do both by having multiple products, with regional guides released after the main broad setting guide? Or does it focus on those gazetteers as part of a series of adventure modules? All have been done over the years. The last is how WOTC has been handling it during the 5e era (even The Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica contains some adventure material), and it's been rather successful for them. The fact that they left Saltmarsh in Greyhawk and didn't make it completely generic (not that Greyhawk isn't a rather generic setting) or shoehorn it only the Realms (as others believed they would) makes me think they're relaxing on the settings quite a bit.
Last edited:
Well, the topic of the thread as a whole is about boxed sets, so presumably one of those. Or at least something on the scale of Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, describing a region in some detail and giving a short overview of the rest of the world.
Urriak
Explorer
It would be interesting, if probably unlikely, if the boxed set was for playing in Ravnica (or the MtG universe in general).
Put together a slim version of the Guildmaster's Guide, some character sheets, a bigger and new adventure in the setting plus the monster statblocks within it. Of course the map for Ravnica or whatever region they want to use. I was a little disapointed there hasn't been an official Ravnica adventure yet so this could scratch that itch.
It would probably depend upon the sales of the Guildmaster's Guide (if they're good this might happen, if they're not great then it won't). I haven't heard much bout it's sales so I'm not confident they're great.
Put together a slim version of the Guildmaster's Guide, some character sheets, a bigger and new adventure in the setting plus the monster statblocks within it. Of course the map for Ravnica or whatever region they want to use. I was a little disapointed there hasn't been an official Ravnica adventure yet so this could scratch that itch.
It would probably depend upon the sales of the Guildmaster's Guide (if they're good this might happen, if they're not great then it won't). I haven't heard much bout it's sales so I'm not confident they're great.
Parmandur
Book-Friend
Nate Stewart said on Spoilers & Swag that sales for Ravnica were excellent, and would be effecting their long term business strategy. A Ravnica box set seems possible, though they already have sold most of the contents under discussion in this survey for Ravnica last year (the "Maps & Miscellany" package, the dice set, and "Krenko's Way" cover most of the items involved).
AD6_gamerati_skyscraper
Recent & Upcoming Releases
-
April 16 2024 -
May 31 2024 -
June 3 2024 -
June 4 2024 -
June 18 2024 -
July 16 2024 -
September 17 2024 -
October 1 2024 -
November 12 2024 -
February 18 2025
