Anyone know the lead time on D&D books.

[Imaro]

Just curious if anyone knows what the lead time is in a D&D book? Thought I had seen someone state this before but can't remember where/who or when.

 

[Mercurius]

I would think it depends upon the book. One of the campaign settings probably takes longer than a power book. Or a mega-book like the Pathfinder Core takes years. I also wouldn't be surprised if there is a kind of "gestation" for many books, like monster books for example, where the designers are told "think up 30 monsters each over the next six months" rather than "think up 150 monsters as a team over the next month."

I'm just guessing, though.

 

[Henry]

Given previous statements and incidentally collected data, I believe it's anywhere from 10 to 18 months, depending on the size of the project. Mearls mentioned one developer who had been working on D&D Essentials since September of 2009, as one recent example. In other statements, Dave Noonan has said before that most design work begins about a year out, and development work a few months after that.

I'm betting they're working on products for Q3 2011 as we speak.

 

[ggroy]

Mearls mentioned one developer who had been working on D&D Essentials since September of 2009, as one recent example..

From the WotC July 2010 podcast:

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (D&D Podcast: Essentials)

they mention at around 00:00:57 in the podcast, that they started working on 4E Essentials sometime back in September 2009.

From the start to the release date of 4E Essentials, it's around one year.

 

[Scribe Ineti]

IIRC, WOTC announced Dark Sun at GenCon last year, which suggests there's at least a year's lead time. And IIRC, GenCon announced a Ravenloft RPG at this year's GenCon, and that's slated for a fall 2011 release, also about a year's lead time.

10-18 months sounds about right.

 

[Terry DM]

And if they "fast-track" something (for whatever reason) it's conceivable that they could do it in less time, no?

 

[Stormonu]

And if they "fast-track" something (for whatever reason) it's conceivable that they could do it in less time, no?

Yes, though it's fairly rare. I remember that Dragon Magic for 3.5 was fast-tracked and produced in about 1/2 the normal time. This was something stated by one of the designers (I forget who) when it was discussed in panel when revealed.

From my own limited experience, it appears to take between 8-12 months minimum to write a decent 120+ page book for a single author.