D&D Movie/TV Where is all of the Honor Among Thieves D&D stuff, WotC?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

With today's revelation that Keys from the Golden Vault is apparently a generic set of adventures set in Generica (or the Forgotten Realms, we'll see), I go back to my former stance of "wait, they're about to release a movie with no tie-in game products, really?"

At the very least, they should have commissioned a set of artwork to rebrand Stormwreck Isle with the not-appearing-in-this-adventure movie characters instead of the not-appearing-in-this-adventure cartoon characters. If the movie was a dog in rough cut back in the fall, they could have opted out, but the movie doesn't look like a dog.

I'd also have a set of polyhedrals for each character in a different color along with the game stats for each character included with that set.

And, finally, once the movie is out and well-liked, I'd have -- on D&D Beyond, at a minimum -- those character sheets along with adventures walking everyone through the movie, the two prequel novels and prequel comic book.

If your brand is undermonetized, where is all of the no-brainer Honor Among Thieves D&D content? (And yes, I also would have wanted this stuff for the original D&D movie and was sad when WotC hid all of the Izmeer content that was briefly on their site.)

What the heck, WotC?

 

[Demetrios1453]

With today's revelation that Keys from the Golden Vault is apparently a generic set of adventures set in Generica (or the Forgotten Realms, we'll see), I go back to my former stance of "wait, they're about to release a movie with no tie-in game products, really?"

At the very least, they should have commissioned a set of artwork to rebrand Stormwreck Isle with the not-appearing-in-this-adventure movie characters instead of the not-appearing-in-this-adventure cartoon characters. If the movie was a dog in rough cut back in the fall, they could have opted out, but the movie doesn't look like a dog.

I'd also have a set of polyhedrals for each character in a different color along with the game stats for each character included with that set.

And, finally, once the movie is out and well-liked, I'd have -- on D&D Beyond, at a minimum -- those character sheets along with adventures walking everyone through the movie, the two prequel novels and prequel comic book.

If your brand is undermonetized, where is all of the non-brainer Honor Among Thieves D&D content? (And yes, I also would have wanted this stuff for the original D&D movie and was sad when WotC hid all of the Izmeer content that was briefly on their site.)

What the heck, WotC?

As I said in that thread, how do we know if there are no tie-ins with the movie? We just have a small blurb. The characters from the movie might appear and might even have stats. The Golden Vault organization might appear in the movie. Some of the adventures might be the same locations as in the movie. You're extrapolating some big assumptions from just a couple of paragraphs.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

As I said in that thread, how do we know if there are no tie-ins with the movie? We just have a small blurb.

Because that blurb is to convince retailers to stock the book. "Hey, this is a tie-in for a big movie" is the kind of thing you'd lead with, to say nothing of putting the characters on at least one of the two covers.

I know the OGL mess has made it clear that WotC has some PR issues, but this is Marketing 101. At the very least, their retail sales team would have come back and asked why there weren't any obvious indicators about the movie connections if that's what this book is intended as.

Might there be some locations that carry over? Sure. Apparently the frozen prison from Rime of the Frostmaiden is in the movie and was developed for the movie first, but I don't think we can reasonably see Rime as a movie tie-in product unless, say, they wanted to put out either an alternate cover or a sticker or something showing the "AS SEEN IN THE HIT MOTION PICTURE" prison on the book.

 

[Umbran]

You're extrapolating some big assumptions from just a couple of paragraphs.

Well, if it was a serious movie tie-in, wouldn't you want to make that fact blazingly obvious? He's reading into the fact that it is not blazingly obvious.

 

[Undrave]

I think they got action figures coming out...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think they got action figures coming out...

Oh, everything that's not under the direct control of WotC is happening. I expect we'll get the soundtrack track listing any day now.

It's just that the actual D&D stuff supporting a D&D movie, which would be the responsibility of the D&D folks in the room, is mysteriously AWOL.

I am not one of the people who was the most upset about the "undermonitized" stuff, but holy crap, it's hard to say that Hasbro might not have a point there.

 

[JAMUMU]

I was in a bookstore today and looked to see how many copies of the D&D starter set they had in (it usually numbers 1d6+1), but all they had was some ugly looking D&D board game with sub-heroquest production values. The board game was not a movie tie in board game. Maybe they're holding off for a blitz nearer the time?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I was in a bookstore today and looked to see how many copies of the D&D starter set they had in (it usually numbers 1d6+1), but all they had was some ugly looking D&D board game with sub-heroquest production values. The board game was not a movie tie in board game. Maybe they're holding off for a blitz nearer the time?

They've got to tell retailers, though, if they're going to get stocked. That's what the Golden Vault "announcement" today was.

If there are more tie-ins, they're running out of time to have them on store shelves.

In an ideal world, people are going to come out of the movie jazzed and want to drive to Target, Barnes & Noble and their FLGS/comic shop and buy something with the cast on the front cover. Right now, it looks like that thing might be the tie-in novels, comic book and art book but not anything to actually get people to play actual D&D.

We are in a scenario where, after people leave a movie called Dungeons & Dragons, the tie-in starter set they might pick up off the shelves will be branded with Rick & Morty or Stranger Things.

 

[Zardnaar]

"As always we remain strategic geniuses"- WotC (probably).

 

[delericho]

It's bizarre. Right now, it seems hard to imagine them doing worse if they were trying to tank the brand.

Actually... are we certain Chris Cocks isn't related to Jack Chick or something?