224 page book on Drow yet...

[EyeontheMountain]

I'll definitely be skipping buying this one. Making an entire (more than) full book about a single opponent is just too much of a play for the fanboy dollar. I seriously beleive that all the drow business is jsut plain silly, and the result of the powers-that-be forcing designers to expand on a bad idea to sell another book or supplement.

Yes, I am negative. Sue me.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Actually, I do expect the complete books of fey, giants, and orcs are on the horizon.

Fey, yes. Giants, yes. Orcs? No way. I really doubt it. I'm quite sure the demand for a book about orcs wouldn't be quite enough for Wizards to consider it.

The fact that 4E is looming around the corner

Fact?

means that in a few years there will be yet another drow book, and Drow of the Underdark, Queen of the Demonweb Pits, Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, Underdark, and City of the Spider Queen will be obsolete not because the data requires updating, but because the gaming language is out-dated.

Huh? So because there are rumors and speculations about the next edition somewhere 2008 or later, Wizards should stop making books?

A book dealing with giants could be cool. Focusing on fey could also be cool.

Why? The book will be obsolete next week apparently

Tap more new veins, please. Somebody. Anybody!

Ask White Wolf. Monte's working on something like that, too, or so I hear.

I know DotU will sell, only because it has the darn word "DROW" on it despite so many people being bored of them.

For everyone bored of them there's 10 who are not. Wizards will cater to those 10 rather to the one. I'd do the same if I earned my money by selling these books. Before I starve because I catered to some jaded people, I'll continue eating because I sell to the majority.

I agree about the fact that Drow are overdone

I don't. Neither does that majority I keep talking about. They won't change their mind because some people don't share their tastes.

and they could've devoted their money and time to exploring and making "sexy" the Fey creatures of D&D or even the Giants of D&D. Look how well-made and well-sold Draconomicon is and even Lords of Madness. 'Course, they screwed up with Libris Mortis but it was still decent.

Yeah, Draconomicon was great. It was also about Dragons. DoTU will be about Drow. Both are quite popular. Fey might make a nice book. Or they might not. They might make a better book then DotU, or not, but I'm sure DotU will sell better.

What I find really really odd is how short and miniscule FCI and FCII are when they are CLEARLY just as cool (if not cooler) and more diversified than Drow.

Not, they're not. No need to shout.

I mean, exactly how many people run a campaign without demons or devils or both? Very few, I'm sure.

I'm sure most use them simply as encounters: Someone summons a demon, someone has a devil in a circle which breaks out, planar breach.

But yet, they get such short attention by WotC and Drow, once again, receive all the good chunks of their budget...

Maybe because that way, WotC will receive the good chunks of dosh.

It's sad really.

That it is.

 

[Paragon Kobold]

Ah, but drow are photogenic.

Quite right. There is a lot of Drow Porn on the internet, but very little Mind Flayer porn.
WotC knows this.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

very little Mind Flayer porn.

So you don't watch that Hentai stuff?

 

[Mark Plemmons]

I imagine that they'll give the drow a treatment that allows one to start as a 1st level character and take drow levels if they want, ala Savage Species.

Admittedly this list doesn't have a single comprehensive book on Drow, but there certainly have been many 3rd party books, and very good ones at that. Even with all the major editing problems that Mongoose has had, they have put out some really great fluff on Drow. Goodman Games' book is very good and I am a fan of the Green Ronin stuff too. (see thread here)

The problem is that MOST gamers never even look at 3rd party material -- and what a shame that is -- and this is why WOTC may be putting out a Drow book.

I can sum up what you need in one word.

BloodAndShadows:TheDarkElvesOfTellene

Okay, sort of one word...

 

[Li Shenron]

The first thing that comes to my mind as to which monster category deserves a 224-page book would be:

FEY

What's the deal with this? It's been a lightly touched subject since D&D first began and it's a subject many people would actually love to see written about. I don't understand why WotC has yet to do a Fey book.

Because mostly you don't kill Feys.

And even if you make a book of evil feys, they aren't so different from humanoids and monstrous humanoids. I think they may rather do one book for all of them.

 

[Li Shenron]

It's not my thing, but I'm happy for the drow fans.

Now, tell me there's a 224 pg Secrets of Zilargo in the pipeline, and then I'll get excited.

There may be a lot of character material, but to fill 224 pages this book is definitely going to have some adventure inside, or otherwise a huge section on drow locations.

 

[Crust]

Fact?

Is it wiser to assume there won't be a 4E? Judging from the past, each edition lasts about 10 years. 3E/3.5 doesn't have much time left (about three years). And the rumor of a 2008 release of 4E makes me sick. Way too soon.

I'd would definitely rather see 3.5 around for another ten years (3.5 d20 is a great system), but 4E means more money. Not a better game. More money. Which is a sad, sad given we all understand and do nothing about (not sure what we could do about it anyway). :\

Huh? So because there are rumors and speculations about the next edition somewhere 2008 or later, Wizards should stop making books?

Well of course they're not going to stop. That should also be understood as a given.

Time will tell. I suspect we'll have 3.5 books coming at us right up until the last month of 3.5's tenure, some being released after 4E's arrival. Not that I'm going to blindly buy them. It's just annoying to see it happening. It was annoying seeing books like Cloak and Dagger and Secrets of the Magister released right around the transition from 2E to 3E. Hell, Secrets was released AFTER 3E, which was just plain stupid. Granted, those books were mostly fluff (and were good reads), but they were still using 2E language and stats. History is bound to repeat itself.

I certainly hope to be proven wrong, though. That would be very nice.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Hopefully it makes drow society make sense... undoing the long line of crap that's come before this would take at least 224 pages. Something so retardedly self-destructive, coupled with long gestation times should have been destroyed long ago. Drow are the stupid man's derro or kuo-toa - they've become a parody of evil.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Is it wiser to assume there won't be a 4E?

You weren't talking about assuming. You were saying it's a fact. There's actually a difference. A fact needs to be actually true and proven.

Judging from the past, each edition lasts about 10 years.

And that's not the prove I'm talking about.

And the rumor

So now it's a rumor? What happened to fact?

4E means more money. Not a better game. More money.

More facts? Do you prove this the same way as you proved that 4e is already off to the printers? "2e was better than 3e, so 3e must be better than 4e"?

Which is a sad, sad given we all understand and do nothing about

We should go out on the streets and that's a "fact"....

Well of course they're not going to stop. That should also be understood as a given.

So why the objection to a book that, as you said, will be rendered obsolete once 4e gets here?

Time will tell. I suspect we'll have 3.5 books coming at us right up until the last month of 3.5's tenure, some being released after 4E's arrival. Not that I'm going to blindly buy them. It's just annoying to see it happening.

Or it were, if it actually happened yet in this case.

History is bound to repeat itself.

You mean like they did incorporate some of 3.5e's features into the last couple of 3e books that came out in the months before the Revised 3e books came out?