Critical Role Wildemount: Most Pre-orders Since D&D Core Rulebooks

It seems that the most popular D&D setting in the 5E era is... Wildemount! Talking about the upcoming Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, WotC's Greg Tito said on a Twitch stream recently that "we're pretty sure that this book has seen the most pre-orders and pre-release excitement since any of the core rulebooks for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition were released".

Here's the quote in full:

"...It was number 1, ranked number 1, for all books on Amazon. How many of you out there remember when Amazon was just selling books? Raise your hands. Yeah, that's me. So it's really cool, even though obviously I do a lot more other fun stuff right now, there is a ton out there that are excited for this book, and it isn't even out yet.

"We have little bit of an internal metrics, but we're pretty sure that this book has seen the most pre-orders and pre-release excitement since any of the core rulebooks for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition were released, and if you've been following along at home, Dungeons & Dragons has been selling like hotcakes since 5th Edition released in 2014."

It sounds like the Critical Role setting is proving more popular (at least right now) than traditional D&D settings like Ravenloft or Eberron, newer ones like Ravnica, or adventures set in the Forgotten Realms.

Explorer's Guide to Wildemount will hit game stores on March 17th.

 

[Jer]

Is that a reference to the last version of the GW setting, which featured an end-of-the-Mayan-calendar supercollider accident that condensed multiple universes into one, or are they shelling out for the DC crossover?

Man, if only a charismatic group of voice actors would create a hugely popular actual play franchise centered around Gamma World. Wizards might bring it back into print!

 

[Rikka66]

Now seriously. Maybe CR is the best broadcasting for the new products as settings or classes, and now CR is totally free to use D&D things with copyright, as the illithids. A couple of episodes set in Jakandor and everybody want to know what it was that mini-setting, for example.

I can't speak for the entire run of Critical Role, but they were using mind flayers and a beholder as antagonists in the first episodes. And while I can see WoTC "encouraging" them to run one-shots in other settings, I doubt they are going to risk the ire of fans by turning their main campaign into a marketing tool for a different company.

I also can't see WoTC asking CR to try to drum up interest in dead settings. I think a much more likely possibility are special streams that tie into future releases, say an adventure tying into a soon to be released setting. The Wendy's controversy, though tied into issues with that particular company, likely also has CR more on their toes about these kind of sponsorships.

 

[Reynard]

Man, if only a charismatic group of voice actors would create a hugely popular actual play franchise centered around Gamma World. Wizards might bring it back into print!

There are no less than 7 editions of Gamma World out there, most of them easily and cheaply available, and all of them fun and playable. Go get one!

Seriously, just because a game or setting is not currently supported doesn't mean it is bad or not worth playing.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I’ve not seen much Critical Role, so won’t be getting this book. However, I’m stoked to see D&D continuing to sell really well and I’m also happy that Critical Role fans get a book based on the setting. Winning all around.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

There are no less than 7 editions of Gamma World out there, most of them easily and cheaply available, and all of them fun and playable. Go get one!

Seriously, just because a game or setting is not currently supported doesn't mean it is bad or not worth playing.

I didn’t play 4E D&D, but I found the Gamma World editionthat used the 4E D&D rule set as its base fit Gamma World really well. The randomly changing abilities also fit nicely.

 

[Tony Vargas]

There are no less than 7 editions of Gamma World out there, most of them easily and cheaply available, and all of them fun and playable. Go get one!

Some of them are very different, though. The 1st & 2nd eds are similar to eachother and to Metamorphosis Alpha - and old-school D&D, mechanically. The 4th is somewhat like TSR D&D (it was contemporaneous with 2e AD&D), but with some hints at what 3e D&D would be like. There was no official 6th edition, per se, but there was a d20 GW published by S&SS, using d20 modern, that bore no resemblance to GW, and, in a dungeon magazine, a d20 mini-game called Omega World that did seem like a d20 update of GW. The 7th edition was similar to 4e D&D, but encounter-based and with (very) random chargen, and had an even whackier setting.

Then there were the no-resemblance 3rd edition, which used some variation on FASE-RIP, I think it was, and 5th, which used Alternity and was discontinued before it hit the shelves.
I question the playability of 3rd, and never got a look at Alternity in any form.

So, yeah, there's a lotta GW out there, some of it's primitive, some isn't really GW, and only a little of it (mostly stuff for 1e & 2e - and the original Metamorphosis Alpha) is at all compatible.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

For someone with zero Critical Role knowledge, how does this book “fit” with the Green Ronin Critical Role book?

Is the Green Ronin book a whole world guide a la Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and this book will just focus on one small section a la Sword Coast Adventurers Guide?

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

For someone with zero Critical Role knowledge, how does this book “fit” with the Green Ronin Critical Role book?

Is the Green Ronin book a whole world guide a la Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and this book will just focus on one small section a la Sword Coast Adventurers Guide?

It's another continent on the same world, basically.

 

[Reynard]

Some of them are very different, though. The 1st & 2nd eds are similar to eachother and to Metamorphosis Alpha - and old-school D&D, mechanically. The 4th is somewhat like TSR D&D (it was contemporaneous with 2e AD&D), but with some hints at what 3e D&D would be like. There was no official 6th edition, per se, but there was a d20 GW published by S&SS, using d20 modern, that bore no resemblance to GW, and, in a dungeon magazine, a d20 mini-game called Omega World that did seem like a d20 update of GW. The 7th edition was similar to 4e D&D, but encounter-based and with (very) random chargen, and had an even whackier setting.

Then there were the no-resemblance 3rd edition, which used some variation on FASE-RIP, I think it was, and 5th, which used Alternity and was discontinued before it hit the shelves.
I question the playability of 3rd, and never got a look at Alternity in any form.

So, yeah, there's a lotta GW out there, some of it's primitive, some isn't really GW, and only a little of it (mostly stuff for 1e & 2e - and the original Metamorphosis Alpha) is at all compatible.

Re: the bolded text: That version departed in some ways, but as someone who is really proud of their work on that version of the game, "no resemblance" is a little harsh.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Re: the bolded text: That version departed in some ways, but as someone who is really proud of their work on that version of the game, "no resemblance" is a little harsh.

No reflection on the quality of whatever work you did on it, which I'd love to hear about, BTW. (I've heard rumors about it's development.)

But, GW was way over on the Thundarr the Barbarian side of the post-apocalyptic spectrum. S&SS's version reminded me more of Survivors, with some speculative nano-tech frosting, and such very small nods to GW mainstays like mutant powers.