Boxed Sets 2018 Style

CubicsRube · Dec 2, 2018

Parmandur said:
B&G was going to have less premium boxes; those seem to have disappeared?

Maybe there isn't a major, viable market for more-than the Starter Set but less-than the B&G? WotC has tried before, but none of those products seemed to last.

I think it's hard to say, but with hardbacks going for aud60 or so, id pay 100 for some nice handouts to go along with it

CubicsRube · Dec 2, 2018

MNblockhead said:
I don't want core rule box sets. I want adventure box sets. Like Beadle & Grimm, but focused on minis and battlemaps and less on tchotchkes. Give me EVERYTHING I need to run the adventure. An affordably priced option would have paper battlemaps and punch out cardboard counters/pogs. A premium option would have wizkids pre-painted minis and maybe some premium poster maps, cloth maps, and hand outs.

Beadle & Grimm's is heading in the right direction, but I worry it is priced too high to be successful. I would like to see something similar but priced so that it could be sold in Target and which an average middle-class parent or grandparent would consider buying it a gift.

I still remember owning the ultima 9 box with it's cloth map of Britannia.

Oh my lordy, give me a tea towel map of the sword coast and some fake parchment letters and I'll run you an adventure!

Parmandur · Dec 2, 2018

gyor said:
The key market for box sets isn't APs, it's settings, which simply aren't being given enough meat.

[MENTION=6796661]MNblockhead[/MENTION] specified Adventures, not other kinds of products. I don't see that a Ravnica box set would have had different contents, but would have cost more?

pogre · Dec 2, 2018

I don't mind a boxed set for starters, but in every other context I would much rather have a book.

A lot of people do not use minis and square grid maps. I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum - I would never use the maps and minis, because my terrain, minis, and handouts are better.

The Dungeon of the Mad Mage release is headed in the right direction. The only thing they dropped the ball on is the map pack should have been $10 more expensive and included a bunch of encounter maps. Keeping it separate means folks that don't want it do not have to pay for it to get the adventure.

aco175 · Dec 3, 2018

I liked the boxed sets FR did in 2e days with regions of the world. They had softcover books of 32-64 pages. I think one was the regional overview and another was for an adventure in that land. They could throw in some maps and encounter maps.

What I am wondering is the cost of printing. I remember reading that this part is an incredible amount of final cost. The boxed set book were just folded and stapled. The heavy paper and binding is nice, but cheaper would be better to me. I mean, when 6e comes out in a few years most of the 5e stuff will be very limited in use.

SkidAce · Dec 3, 2018

aco175 said:
I mean, when 6e comes out in a few years most of the 5e stuff will be very limited in use.

Why?

aco175 · Dec 3, 2018

SkidAce said:
Why?

When a new edition comes out they make new adventures or update the old ones. All my Nentir vale 4e stuff sits on a shelf, maybe getting looked at twice since 5e came out. My 3e books and supplements are the same. I can convert the old modules or I can make new ones or even buy the new ones Hasbro puts out.

The time I get to play is better spent on the new edition materials rather than converting or buying someone else conversion.

SkidAce · Dec 3, 2018

aco175 said:
When a new edition comes out they make new adventures or update the old ones. All my Nentir vale 4e stuff sits on a shelf, maybe getting looked at twice since 5e came out. My 3e books and supplements are the same. I can convert the old modules or I can make new ones or even buy the new ones Hasbro puts out.

The time I get to play is better spent on the new edition materials rather than converting or buying someone else conversion.

Gotcha...

Fildrigar · Dec 3, 2018

One of the big expenses that come from box sets ( from a publisher point of view ) is damaged returns. It's very easy for a box set to get partially crushed during transit. ( Either from shipping it directly to the consumer or shipping to the distributor or shipping from the distributor to the retailer. )

MNblockhead · Dec 3, 2018

pogre said:
I don't mind a boxed set for starters, but in every other context I would much rather have a book.

A lot of people do not use minis and square grid maps. I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum - I would never use the maps and minis, because my terrain, minis, and handouts are better.

The Dungeon of the Mad Mage release is headed in the right direction. The only thing they dropped the ball on is the map pack should have been $10 more expensive and included a bunch of encounter maps. Keeping it separate means folks that don't want it do not have to pay for it to get the adventure.

Which is why I like to have the "boxed set" as a supplement. I would be happy buying the adventure as a book and then, if I want, I could buy a boxed set with minis/pogs and battlemaps (and maybe some handouts if the price doesn't get too out of hand). I can see the advantages to reprinting the adventure and spliting different sections of the book as in the B&G version of Dragon Heist, but I'm going to buy the hardback with or without the supplements. I don't really need another copy of the adventure text.