2005 January-April Wizards products

[Kvantum]

*deleted* - Amazon info on Codex Anathema already posted

 

[Faraer]

Ancient Empires will cover Mulhorand, Unther and Chessenta. As such, it will be an update the 1E product, Old Empires (the product that introduced me to FR).

Where d'you hear this? Hints so far indicate it's about the past civilizations of central Faerûn.

 

[buzz]

...what is left of Rogue and Bard which could not be covered in the first 3 books?

Everything that's not combat and casting spells, which is a LOT of stuff. I think there's a truckload of material that could be written about skill use alone; skills get way overlooked in D&D, or at least the games that I play in. How about introducing a PC version of a class like the Expert? That would rawk.

This the Complete book I've been looking forward to the most.

 

[sellars]

D20 Past? A victorian/old west book? ala boot hill and Masque of the Red death?

I was hoping the next d20 Modern setting was for the Psionics setting.

Mike

Oh man! that could be really cool!! I'm a BIG fan of Masque ot Red Death!

 

[buzz]

Good grief, I was joking when I speculated about Races of Eberron. What's next, Magic of Eberron? Player's Guide to Eberron?

Why should this come as a surprise? It's a campaign setting. This is what publishers do with campaign settings. Midnight has a creature book, and a magic book, and a player's book, as does Kalamar, as does Dawnforge, as does Scarred Lands, as will Iron Kingdoms, etc, etc.

I love Eberron. I'll be first in line for these books.

 

[buzz]

I was hoping the next d20 Modern setting was for the Psionics setting.

I'm guessing d20 Past will not be a setting, but rather a general sourcebook for campaigns set in the past, the same way that d20 Future is a general guide to using the d20M engine for all things SF.

I also feel fairly confident telling you that we will not see an Agents of PSI campaign setting book in the forseeable future. (Which is fine by me, honestly. WotC isn't allowed to do any more d20M settings until they do d20 Dark*Matter, anyway. )

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

While it may be true that you can find many things in those books that apply to Rogues/Bards...

[Booming advertising voice]

Coming soon from Wizards of the Coast...

The Complete Mooch!

For all of your bard or rogue needs!

See feats for rogues for shaking small sized characters upside down till all their money falls out!

See feats to allow bards to get mondo nookie 1d6+6 times a night - even in the middle of a god's forsaken dungeon!

See skills that make the rest of the party ignore how close to useless your character really is!

See the magic cod-piece of holding where your character can hide all kinds of stuff ripped off from the rest of the party and they can't find it unless they start looking down your pants!

The Complete Mooch!

Available soon at gaming stores near you!

[/Booming advertising voice]

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Hints so far indicate it's (Ancient Empires) about the past civilizations of central Faerûn.

A book coving Mulhorand, Unther and Chessenta makes the most sense for several reasons.

1. Since 3.0 and 3.5, WotC has not spent a lot of time on regional books on “the Heartlands,” e.g. Cormyr, the Dalelands, etc. They have published books on the North, on the Unapproachable East and have forthcoming books on the Shinning South and the Serpent Kingdoms. Publishing a book on Mulhorand, Unther and Chessenta would follow this pattern, while a book on past civilizations of central Faerûn would break this pattern in terms of both geography and time-line.

2.Traditionally, Mulhorand, Unther and Chessenta are refered to as the “Old Empires.” It is not much of a jump from “Old Empires” to “Ancient Empires.”

3. The “Old Empires” have not had any updates, aside from the section in 3.0 FR book, since the early 1990s. Further, as of 3.0 Mulhorand has effectively annihilated Unther, flat-out conquering 75 percent of that country and leaving the rest in shambles. As such, both Mulhorand and Unther are going through massive changes on every level. The city-states Chessenta are always after each other like a bucket full of angry lobsters. Not only is the region due a book, but recent events there warrant a book.

4. There have only been a few empires ever to control the Heartlands, such as Netheril, Calimshan and Cormanthyr. Of the three, only Cormanthyr was ever in the Heartlands – Netheril and Calimshan were located elsewhere and simply spread out.

 

[Faraer]

Rich Baker just posted this:

Hmmm, well, hadn't seen that before. Uh, in that case--yeah, we are doing a book called Ancient Empires. The authors are Travis Stout and Ed Bonny. I handled the mechanical development work on the book, while Eric Boyd and George Krashos handled a Herculean job of continuity-checking and tweaking.

The main features of the book include:
- A chapter on feats and prestige classes themed around ancient empires.
- A chapter on monsters you often find in or around ancient ruins (which, coincidentally enough, is pretty much the PGtoF's cut monster chapter, with a few new additons).
- A chapter each on half-a-dozen key eras/regions/groupings of fallen empires.
- A number of ready-to-play adventure sites themed around the ruins.
- A brief look at some of the more important "dead" gods, and (at last) a mechanical explanation for why some still have clerics running around.
- A map of Faerun as it appeared in -676 DR, 2000 years ago.

 

[Ashardalon]

I think we can probably assume Humanoids and Animals will NOT get their own book. I'd probably add to that Elementals (too limited in context), Oozes, Plants, and Vermin.

For the Humanoids and Monstrous Humanoids, the Races of ... Books should fit the niche. I could actually see a book about elementals. Oozes might end up in the Codex Anathema, while plants, vermin, animals and magical beasts together might be in a book together - Fantastic Flora and Fauna?

d20 Past

Product Details

Paperback: 96 pages ??? Really strange

Publisher: Wizards of the Coast; (April 16, 2005)
ISBN: 0786936568

Really strange, indeed. I highly doubt that WotC will put out a paperback anytime soon outside of adventures. Most likely Amazon is wrong on that count. (And it would be the shortest d20 Modern book to date - Modern and UA at 320, Future and MM at 224, and Weapons Locker at 192. Not that this means much.)