Spelljammer D&D Direct Live Report: 9am PDT (5pm BST) SPELLJAMMER CONFIRMED! DRAGONLANCE!

Parmandur · Apr 22, 2022

Urriak Uruk said:
The more I learn about people's preferred "version" of a setting, the more I believe people prefer the version they grew up with. Meaning, folks whose first experience with Ravenloft was THE OG Ravenloft, like that version. The folks who first started with the Core, like that. And then there's folks (like me) who started with Curse of Strahd and like that.

Kind of like music, or television.

ersatzphil · Apr 22, 2022

AcererakTriple6 said:
I don't know exactly what the setting was like in previous editions, but from what I've heard, the idea of a "Core" is dumb anyways.

While I also enjoyed the 5e Ravenloft book, admitting you don’t know the old stuff but calling it ‘dumb’ seems a bit silly.

Urriak Uruk · Apr 22, 2022

Parmandur said:
Kind of like music, or television.

The power of nostalgia. It was always better when we were kids... doesn't matter who we are!

OblivionDrive · Apr 22, 2022

darjr said:
Just when I thought most of the big news dropped.

View attachment 155738
B&G Spelljammer Platinum and Silver editions

Oh damnit… I was kinda thinking I could keep holding strong on not ordering from them since Lillard got involved in NFT crap but... This is painful, or could be, depending on what’s in the box.

Levistus's_Leviathan · Apr 22, 2022

ersatzphil said:
While I also enjoyed the 5e Ravenloft book, admitting you don’t know the old stuff but calling it ‘dumb’ seems a bit silly.

I think the idea that the Mists capture lands from across the multiverse and trap them in individual pocket dimensions mostly unconnected from each other both makes more sense and helps get the feeling of horror across better than just merging them all together into a continent. A big part of making effective horror is the feeling of isolation. That's why "splitting the party" is so common in horror movies. It increases the tension. Having all of the domains of dread be connected in one giant continent is counterintuitive to the idea of a horror setting, because it undermines the feeling of isolation that is important to effectively running a horror game.

And there's nothing in the new book that prevents you from using the Core if you want it. It's just not a good idea for a horror setting, which is probably why they got rid of it.

Urriak Uruk · Apr 22, 2022

ersatzphil said:
While I also enjoyed the 5e Ravenloft book, admitting you don’t know the old stuff but calling it ‘dumb’ seems a bit silly.

I know a bit about old "Core" Ravenloft, having done a bit of research on it for fun. I wouldn't call it "dumb" (this is D&D, any or all of it can be called silly) but I don't really love the concept of the Core. I idea of all these different little countries, torn from different worlds and meshed together... well, it's Battleworld from Marvel. And I don't entirely dislike that, but it's also a little odd for a horror setting.

The 5E version feels a little more like "Tales from the Crypt Keeper" where you can jump around to different domains and stories that might be connected, but don't have to be. Tickles my fancy a bit more, and reminds me of that fun cartoon when I was but a wee child...

OblivionDrive · Apr 22, 2022

TwoSix said:
Personally, I'm not really concerned about the price point, I just don't like getting only 192 pages on a subject matter that would warrant a deeper dive.

Plus, a 64 page hardcover just rubs me the wrong way. Hardcovers should be for meatier books (personal belief here).

So I did a quick comparison for anyone who wants to get a visual idea. The Sandy Peterson Cthulhu Mythos 5e game has been releasing adventure arcs in a multi-part hardcover format around that size.

Here’s Vol 1-3 of Ghoul Island next to Eberron for scale. Vol 1 is 64pg, Vol 2 is 54pg and Vol 3 is 50.

Parmandur · Apr 22, 2022

OblivionDrive said:
So I did a quick comparison for anyone who wants to get a visual idea. The Sandy Peterson Cthulhu Mythos 5e game has been releasing adventure arcs in a multi-part hardcover format around that size.

Here’s Vol 1-3 of Ghoul Island next to Eberron for scale. Vol 1 is 64pg, Vol 2 is 54pg and Vol 3 is 50.

Looks like those are going for $25 a lot of places: so $75 total.

Jer · Apr 22, 2022

Urriak Uruk said:
The more I learn about people's preferred "version" of a setting, the more I believe people prefer the version they grew up with. Meaning, folks whose first experience with Ravenloft was THE OG Ravenloft, like that version. The folks who first started with the Core, like that. And then there's folks (like me) who started with Curse of Strahd and like that.

I'm an exception to that - I have every Ravenloft product produced for 2e and 3e over on my shelves and I prefer the 5e version (though I'll happily go into my older books for ideas). I always preferred the more self-contained "Islands of Terror" model even in earlier editions, and now basically all of the domains are in that model. I know some folks liked the political aspects of "the Core" domains, but really that stuff never mattered to us when we played - each Domain had its own politics that took precedence in our adventures and that's what mattered the most.

dave2008 · Apr 22, 2022

I hear the 64 pages a lot. Do we know that each book is 64 pages? I have seen a comment on a few sites that the adventure is 64 pages, but I haven't seen it confirmed that all three are. They are probably just mock-ups, but the image of the three books makes them look like they are not all the same size.