D&D 5E D&D Products That Were Never Used By Anyone?

Zardnaar

Legend
Now I have a few D&D products on my shelf that I have barely ever used- perhaps a single spell or feat maybe a prestige class but I am wondering are there any products TSR/WoTC ever produced that literally no one actually used? This is for basically somewhat mainstream products that were released not some TSR module that only ever had a dozen or 100 copies made.

Now I am sure that someone somewhere used something, but I'm wondering that can we find a product that no one on these forums ever used in an actual game. Sure the forums are not indicative of the entire D&D playerbase but I'm not being absolute here. Maybe the designer used the product in playtesting for example or home games. I suspect a few prestige classes from 3.5 may fall into that category but the books they were used from probably saw some amount of use. I thought the old BECMI Immortal rules may have been this, but apparently some people online have said they have used them, Birthright was also never really that popular either but a few people did use it.

So what I suggest is you nominate a product and see if another forum user admits to using it (even in a minor way like mining it for example).

My nomination- Netheril Empire of Magic (AD&D 2E). Fun read never seen or heard of a game being used with it.
 

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ccs

41st lv DM
2e Chronomancer.
I know of roughly a dozen people (myself included) who
own a copy but zero who've ever actually used any part of it.
Interesting/odd read, but really needs stuff be written to encorperate it.
 

jasper

Rotten DM
Since I used them under 5 times. 1E Dungeoneer and Wilderness survival guides. IF they would be one work, I would have no problem with but. MONEY GRAB!
All of Grimtooth's traps books, Funny as hell never used them.
 

Ezequielramone

Explorer
Mmm I sold a LOT of forgotten realms products from ad&d that never used also selling lot of 3.5 FR books. Now I keep only things I use or have plans to use. I think that maybe, following your idea, Dragon Kings* is the book I have to choose. For sure I have read it but I don't think that book offers options for the type of game I want to run in Athas. Probably in the future I'll use some ideas as narrative hooks or scenes. But not for players or tracking enemies progress.

*In dark sun you can transform yourself in a dragon (evil wizard), an avangion (good wizard), elemental spirit(cleric) or spirit of the land (druid) after lvl 20. And that's like not the game I think of when thinking about dark sun.
 




Zardnaar

Legend
Mmm I sold a LOT of forgotten realms products from ad&d that never used also selling lot of 3.5 FR books. Now I keep only things I use or have plans to use. I think that maybe, following your idea, Dragon Kings* is the book I have to choose. For sure I have read it but I don't think that book offers options for the type of game I want to run in Athas. Probably in the future I'll use some ideas as narrative hooks or scenes. But not for players or tracking enemies progress.

*In dark sun you can transform yourself in a dragon (evil wizard), an avangion (good wizard), elemental spirit(cleric) or spirit of the land (druid) after lvl 20. And that's like not the game I think of when thinking about dark sun.

Yeah I own Dragon Kings, never actually used it either.
 

Zardnaar

Legend
Let me support my Immortal Rules supposition.

We always talk about B/X and BECMI (sometimes interchangeably).

But in terms of actual play, the majority of players played AD&D (1e), not BECMI during the 80s.

Especially once you got past the Red Box (Basic) set.

Now, the Immortal Rules were published in 1986, for characters that had surpassed 36th level using the BECMI (Basic) rules.

So two things-

One, the Rules Cyclopedia was published in 1991.

Two, the rules were ... um, interesting, but pretty much completely bat**** and unplayable.


While I am sure that someone out there did use it (there's always someone!) this has to have been one of the niche-iest of niche products released by TSR, ever.

I have heard of players actually using the immortal rules but yeah them and Dragonkings and Netheril all have a common theme. Really high levels of play.
 


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