7 Years of D&D Stories? And a "Big Reveal" Coming?

When asked what he was working on, WotC's Chris Perkins revealed a couple of juicy tidbits. They're not much, but they're certainly tantalizing. Initially, he said that "Our marketing team has a big reveal in the works", and followed that up separately with "Right now I'm working on the next seven years of D&D stories". What all that might mean is anybody's guess, but it sounds like there are plans for D&D stretching into the foreseeable future! Thanks to Barantor for the scoop!

 

[Remathilis]

I'm not sure other APs will get a free PDF. This PDF was supposed to be a splatbook, but it got cancelled. Instead of shelving it and wasting the money invested in it, they decided to give people free goodies. If too many books are bad, the next AP just won't see a companion being develop, so no free PDF to give people.

The other reason why it could have been dropped is that it was too hard to develop two books at a time for SG and/or WotC. So maybe they could be more prepared for the next release. If it happens.

Perhaps, but those spells and the genasi are both from the Princes of the Apocalypse book, so they may continue to produce new material for the modules and then put it in the pdfs.

I mean, the only "cancelled" material that was in the pdf that wasn't in PotA is the goliath, deep gnomes, ans aarakroca.

 

[Halivar]

So the problem is just WotC.

I was implying that Paizo and MCG, being stacked with ex-WotC employees, are disproofs of your assertion that ex-WotC employees have a Curse of Doom reputation.

 

[Kramodlog]

I was implying that Paizo and MCG, being stacked with ex-WotC employees, are disproofs of your assertion that ex-WotC employees have a Curse of Doom reputation.

Heh, that is not what I said. Better check the posts again.

 

[Kramodlog]

Perhaps, but those spells and the genasi are both from the Princes of the Apocalypse book, so they may continue to produce new material for the modules and then put it in the pdfs.

I mean, the only "cancelled" material that was in the pdf that wasn't in PotA is the goliath, deep gnomes, ans aarakroca.

But originally, were they supposed to be in the AP or in the Handbook that got cancelled?

From The original ad copys, the splatbook was supposed to have the races

An accessory that expands the number of options available for character creation for the Elemental Evil story arc, providing expanded backgrounds, class builds, and races meant specifically for this campaign.

and the AP was supposed to be DM centric

A super-adventure for the Elemental Evil story arc, Princes of the Apocalypse provides everything a Dungeon Master needs to create an exciting and memorable play experience.

.

It seems they transfered stuff from the splatbook to the AP once it got flushed. At least plausibly.

 

[Staffan]

Maybe. Maybe not. Remember, too many books hurt D&D. Maybe one AP is a year is more than enough and nothing has been announced, so it all can be non-cancel.

I think our problem is that we want a fairly rapid release schedule, but we don't want dozens of books in stores in a year or two. Unfortunately, the latter kind of follows from the former.

 

[Staffan]

Box sets are too expensive to be general RPG products. Besides starter sets and anniversary sets, who's made a box set RPG in the past ten years? ( And I'm quite certain someone will turn some up. Doesn't matter, they're too expensive for general use. )

In the first post-release survey, they did ask about boxed sets.

Personally, I love them, at least if they're done right. In order to justify the box, you need doodads - a box with just one or two books (that could easily have been one big book) plus a map is rather pointless. I'm thinking several maps - the 2e FRCS had four of them, two large-scale (90 miles per inch) covering all of Faerûn and two small-scale (30 miles per inch) covering the Heartlands - as well as handouts and stuff.

 

[aramis erak]

Box sets are too expensive to be general RPG products. Besides starter sets and anniversary sets, who's made a box set RPG in the past ten years? ( And I'm quite certain someone will turn some up. Doesn't matter, they're too expensive for general use. )

Slipcover Sets: Cubicle 7 (The One Ring core, 1E).
Boxed Sets proper: Cubicle 7 (Dr Who) and Green Ronin (Dragon Age). Oh, and when it comes out, Flying Buffalo's T&T Deluxe.

Those are just the ones that come immediately to mind. Several others are out there, mostly as kickstarters, but not always.

 

[delericho]

I'm not sure other APs will get a free PDF. This PDF was supposed to be a splatbook, but it got cancelled. Instead of shelving it and wasting the money invested in it, they decided to give people free goodies. If too many books are bad, the next AP just won't see a companion being develop, so no free PDF to give people.

I think we will. I'm inclined to think that the non-cancellation was due to a replanning that saw them shift to a free PDF player's guide instead of an in-print supplement.

It's a good idea to provide a limited amount of player-side material for your current storyline - this helps players tie their characters in with that specific campaign, and also gives them the interest of playing with some new options. And by keeping it small and free, they also have easy justification for saying that groups can use the PG for the current campaign but not for previous campaigns, which helps mitigate bloat (even the very slow bloat of a 25-page PDF every six months).

It's a good strategy, and it works for Paizo. So I think they'll continue with it.

But... I suspect the amount of new material in the Player's Guides may well decrease as some things are repeated over time. For example, they may reuse Deep Gnomes for their "Underdark" storyline.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I think our problem is that we want a fairly rapid release schedule, but we don't want dozens of books in stores in a year or two. Unfortunately, the latter kind of follows from the former.

I'm not really seeing people asking for a "rapid release schedule".

As far as I can tell, "people" want two things:

1) To have some fairly solid idea as to what is coming out (as in the nature of the product, not just a vague name) and when. Why wouldn't hurt, either.

2) For those books to not just be attached to some WotC-decided "D&D story", but rather to support us telling our own stories.

I also personally feel like there's a desire for any splatbooks/rules expansions to be a bit more, well, solid, than the free one. I mean, fair play, it was free, but had someone tried to sell me that, in hardback, for say, £15 or more, I'd have been very irritated. If future splatbooks will be similarly lightweight but actually charged for? Yikes...

 

[BryonD]

I think we will. I'm inclined to think that the non-cancellation was due to a replanning that saw them shift to a free PDF player's guide instead of an in-print supplement.

It's a good strategy, and it works for Paizo. So I think they'll continue with it.

I think you are exactly right as to the plan.

But "it works for Paizo" still includes more new things to buy. There is something new every month if you count everything, and one solid hardback "splat" a year if you are very selective in your counting.

I expect something in this direction will inevitably appear because the demand will drive it.