D&D 4E 4E PHB II & DMG II 1 year after release (and a new one every year after that)

[Glyfair]

I'm 99% certain that gnomes will appear in D&D Insider ASAP. If nothing else, they're very important to Eberron, having one of the dragonmarks, and James Wyatt has promised strong Eberron content online right out of the gate.

IIRC, it was stated they would be in a supplement "soon" after the core books release. Of course, with WotC's time sense, it could be 2009.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

It's possible that they'll be included in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting relaunch, which is only two months after the corebooks are all out.

 

[Klaus]

It's possible that they'll be included in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting relaunch, which is only two months after the corebooks are all out.

Y'know, in addition to the annual PHB, DMG and MM, they could have semi-annual issues of Dragon and Dungeon, collecting the best of the online content in the period and putting out physical magazines again.

 

[Glyfair]

Y'know, in addition to the annual PHB, DMG and MM, they could have semi-annual issues of Dragon and Dungeon, collecting the best of the online content in the period and putting out physical magazines again.

In fact, they have hinted at that.

 

[Khairn]

3 Core books each year sounds absolutely brilliant! By making them all core, everyone has to buy them to be current. And with all of it core, your choice as a GM is to either carry around dozens of core books, or just buy a laptop, make certain you always play at a wi-fi location and subscribe to DDI.

I am truly in awe of the marketing genius who is putting all this together. It will cost players over $200 a year just to remain current (inc DDI), before they even get to setting supplements, splatbooks and other goodies. Brilliant!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

By making them all core, everyone has to buy them to be current. And with all of it core, your choice as a GM is to either carry around dozens of core books, or just buy a laptop, make certain you always play at a wi-fi location and subscribe to DDI.

Wha....what?!

I think I lost count of how many conclusions you've jumped to here, none of which are supported at all by anything I've seen anywhere.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Perhaps I'm reading this wrong, but do some people on this thread think that the release schedule will include just the 3 core books each year (or variants of i.e. PHB2, PHB3, etc.), 1 setting book, and some adventures?

I can't see this happening. I think we will also see other books released such as Draconomicon/Lords of Madness type books, a new Dieties and Demigods book, a new Planar book, new add-on books such as Tome of Magic etc.,

Of course, I may be just misreading other peoples posts and they are just saying that they are happy with the change from Complete X, to PHB X, DMG X, MM X.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Osgood]

I was in the seminar where this was mentioned. There are some points that should be added.

One of the concepts they said was important to 4E was that of power sources--arcane and divine are two we are all familiar with... the PHB has a sub-heading of "Arcane, Divine, and Martial characters." So it will focus on these sources, with martial power being the source of abilities we find in the Book of Nine Swords. Character classes are made by combining the power source and the role; for example a fighter is a martial defender, while a paladin is a divine defender. Presumably this means we might see arcane healers or martial controlers and so on. I'm pretty sure there aren't 12 classes, so I am certain that there will not be a seperate class for every role/power source combo, but this may be achieved through talent selection.

They indicated that PHB2 would provide three new sources, one of which will be psionic. I have no idea what the other sources might be, but I would imagine we will see things like pacts and maybe even steam/technology in the future (making the gnomes more like the Krynn tinkers would fit well with that last idea).

Pure specualation on my part, but I wonder if this means that the DMG and MM sequels will be themed along the same lines as the PHB... with many psionic monsters in MM2 and the like.

 

[Khairn]

Wha....what?!

I think I lost count of how many conclusions you've jumped to here, none of which are supported at all by anything I've seen anywhere.

Read the first post.

Now follow the logic. If each year WotC is releasing a set of 3 books (PHB, DMG amd MM) which will be the "core" rules, how many core books is that after 2 or 3 years. Now add in the settings, supplements and splats and what do you get?

Sure, a dozen books after the first year is an exaggeration. My bad.

But releasing Core (not optional) DMG's and PHB's every year? That's bloody brilliant!

And what an incredible incentive for the DDI!

Honestly, I may look into Hasbro stock. This is looking better than the hey day of Games Workshop!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Read the first post.

Now follow the logic. If each year WotC is releasing a set of 3 books (PHB, DMG amd MM) which will be the "core" rules, how many core books is that after 2 or 3 years. Now add in the settings, supplements and splats and what do you get?

Sure, a dozen after the first year is an exaggeration. My bad. Now if I'm an RPGA GM, or want to stay current and use at least the core rules in my FR game, that's different.

But releasing Core (not optional) DMG's and PHB's every year? That's bloody brilliant!

And what an incredible incentive for the DDI!

Honestly, I may look into Hasbro stock. This is looking better than the hey day of Games Workshop!

I read it...and I can see the sticking point for you.

However, I'm seeing this more like a PHBII and DMGII thing that we got not too long ago. They aren't 'core', per se, but instead additional materials in the same vein of what are in the Core books themselves.

That's what I've seen this as. Essentially, more things like the PHB and DMG II, which were some of the absolute best books put out for 3e.