Andy Collins speaks - Upcoming Products

[Belen]

[PLUG] If you didn't get much use out of Sandstorm, you might want to consider looking into Green Ronin's Egyptian Adventures: Hamunaptra boxed set.[/PLUG]

Happy gaming.

--
CAS

Own it.

 

[Melkor]

Toll Carom -

If you are (even partially) responsible for Hamunaptra - my hat's off to you.

I've always been a fan of the ancient Egypt stuff (and have used homebrew AD&D/D&D Egypt themes for almost every campaign I've run) and boxed sets. When I saw it in the store, that's all it took for me to buy it on the spot.

After reading some of it, I really was happy with the purchase. I think it's excellent, and
I will probably be incorporating some of it into the Wilderlands campaign I just started last week.

Well, if you are enjoying Hamunaptra, then you just might enjoy Heroes of Horror, too, as it was brought to you by the very same people.

Seriously, it's cool to see my setting mentioned. If you ever get a Hamunaptra game off the ground, please return and let me know how it goes. You can PM me with it, if you like.

Happy gaming!

--
CAS

 

[Mouseferatu]

Toll Carom -

If you are (even partially) responsible for Hamunaptra - my hat's off to you.

I've always been a fan of the ancient Egypt stuff (and have used homebrew AD&D/D&D Egypt themes for almost every campaign I've run) and boxed sets. When I saw it in the store, that's all it took for me to buy it on the spot.

After reading some of it, I really was happy with the purchase. I think it's excellent, and
I will probably be incorporating some of it into the Wilderlands campaign I just started last week.

Toll Carom (C.A. Suleiman) is primarily responsible for Hamunaptra.

Steve Kenson and I both did part of the writing, and I'm absolutely honored to have done so. Hamunaptra is one of the best products I've ever worked on, IMO. And of course, we couldn't have done it without Chris Pramas agreeing to publish it.

But when all is said and done, Hamunaptra is C.A.'s baby. He envisioned it, he created the outline/setting bible, and he wrote more of it than Steve and me combined.

I'm delighted to see it received so well, and I know he is too. Thanks for the kind words.

 

[Shemeska]

Magic of Incarnum: I'm curious, so this will at least get a look.

Fantastic Locations products: I play DnD, not a minis skirmish game.

Magic of Eberron: No interest in Eberron. And wasn't market fragmentation by publishing too many competing settings the reason all the TSR settings got canned originally?...

Spell Compendium: I play so fast and loose with the rules I don't really see much use of this, though some of my players may find enough use to get it.

Races of the Dragon: I'm drooling over this one. Must buy.

Player's Guide to Eberron: Again with the no interest in Eberron

Heroes of Horror, Tome of Magic, or Complete Psionic: I'd need to know more before I have much opinion on these.

 

[William Ronald]

Magic of Incarnum: I'm curious, so this will at least get a look.

Fantastic Locations products: I play DnD, not a minis skirmish game.

Magic of Eberron: No interest in Eberron. And wasn't market fragmentation by publishing too many competing settings the reason all the TSR settings got canned originally?...

Spell Compendium: I play so fast and loose with the rules I don't really see much use of this, though some of my players may find enough use to get it.

Races of the Dragon: I'm drooling over this one. Must buy.

Player's Guide to Eberron: Again with the no interest in Eberron

Heroes of Horror, Tome of Magic, or Complete Psionic: I'd need to know more before I have much opinion on these.

On the issue of fragmentation, I think WotC can support two or three settings. I think part of the problem with TSR was that it was supporting multiple settings and games simultaneously, included the Dragon Dice game. You might want to read Why TSR failed? by Ryan Dancey. I don't think that WotC is making the same mistakes. Also, magic on Eberron is a bit different than in the Realms or the core rules. (The dragonmarked houses do have a big impact on Eberron. Without them, and the centuries long stability of the Empire of Galifar on Khorvaire, I doubt the setting could have such things as the Lightning Rail.)

 

[MerricB]

Wizards are basically supporting two settings:

Traditional D&D (Tolkienesque/Mediaeval) Fantasy - Forgotten Realms
Non-traditional D&D Fantasy - Eberron

That's not really a lot of settings. (Both Greyhawk and the Realms were competing for the same spot, incidentally).

Cheers!

 

[Desdichado]

I haven't talked about Heroes of Horror, Tome of Magic, or Complete Psionic (since I wasn't significantly involved with any of them), but I can say with confidence that these are all books that I'd be grabbing off the shelf of my FLGS.

What; he doesn't even get to buy them at employee discount from the company store? I thought that was the whole reason to work at WotC...

 

[Desdichado]

Heh. Since when does "an opinion" = "community at large"?

No kidding. It seemt to me very clear that WotC is listening to market feedback. At least, the recent products seem to be tailored towards a lot of gripes that I've heard for a few years now.

Personally, I think WotC is introducing more interesting material now than at any time since the original 3e release.

 

[William Ronald]

No kidding. It seemt to me very clear that WotC is listening to market feedback. At least, the recent products seem to be tailored towards a lot of gripes that I've heard for a few years now.

Personally, I think WotC is introducing more interesting material now than at any time since the original 3e release.

A lot of the material is interesting. The Tome of Magic Alone covers several areas of magic -- including true names and pact magic. Magic of Incarnum seems to be about giving characters options on relying on something besides magic items for powerful abilities. The other books may also offer a few good ideas.

I hope WotC is listening to market feedback. Ryan Dancey's essay shows what happens when a company does not pay attention to its customer base.

 

[Desdichado]

I'm not just talking about this upcoming stuff; for the last year or two, I think WotC has done a remarkable job of putting out stuff that the market is looking for. They're a very market savvy company (at least for this industry) and my hat's off to them. I don't always follow mainstream marketing trends, so I don't always want the stuff that the rest of the market does, I can recognize good marketing work when I see it, and WotC is doing a great job of finding out what the customers want, and producing exactly that, IMO.