When does Non Red Box Essentials come out?

[Stalker0]

I'll admit to being a bit confused with talk of red box and non red box essentials.


So when does the non red box, full essential books come out? What are the names of these initial books?

 

[Camelot]

Well, as you know, the "red box" come out on September 7th, though it's not actually called the red box, but rather the starter set.

The next essentials books are the Rules Compendium and Player's Essentials: Heroes of the Fallen Lands, which both come out on September 21st. I'm assuming that the Player's Essentials don't require the Starter Set, so that "seasoned 4e players" can skip the red box and get the other books. However, this I'm not sure about, and if anyone knows for sure (having seen the red box themselves, or having heard something from a reliable source), I would like to know.

 

[thalmin]

Red Box is not needed. This from a WotC seminar I attended Thursday at the ACD Games Day. (ACD is a distributor in Madison, WI. The Games Day was their open house for retailers to meet with manufacturers and each other.)

 

[Nadaka]

So the first of the essentials is not essential?

 

[Festivus]

So the first of the essentials is not essential?

I'd call it essential if you haven't played an RPG before and have nobody to teach you how to play.

 

[Scribble]

I'm really hoping this means the premier stores will have them on the shelves this upcoming weekend...

Probably won't see them start hitting shelves until around the 14th though.

 

[pedr]

I think it's 'essentials' as in 'essential oils' not as in 'essential for play'. In other words, the Essentials products reflect the boiled-down essence of D&D, from a box which presents everything you need to get started through a rules compendium which is a one-stop collection of the rules, to dice and tiles.

Players don't need them all, neither do GMs. They're not 'essential' in that sense. But if they're all you have, you have a great expression of the D&D game. If you have some of them, you have some of the most focussed products for adding to your D&D game. If you mix them with other products you have a great combination of bits and pieces to make a game good.

 

[Odhanan]

I put this list together for myself, based on the WotC catalog and Amazon, mainly:

D&D Roleplaying Game Dice Set - 08/17/10

Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game (Starter) 09/07/10

Player Essentials: Heroes of the Fallen Lands - 09/21/10
Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The Dungeon - 09/21/10
Dungeon Master’s Kit - 09/21/10
Rules Compendium - 09/21/10

Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The City - 10/19/10

Monster Vault - 11/16/10
Player Essentials: Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms - 11/16/10

Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The Wilderness - 12/21/10

 

[Plane Sailing]

So what is the 'Rules Compendium'?

 

[Klaus]

So what is the 'Rules Compendium'?

It's the rules for D&D, from levels 1-30. This includes (IIRC) character creation, combat, terrain, skill challenges, etc. It does not include the actual races, classes, magic items, rituals, adventuring and encounter-building stuff. These will be in the two "Heroes" books and the DM Kit. The monsters, of course, will be in Monster Vault.