D&D Brand Manager of Fluff

[Dark Psion]

Originally Posted by Scott_Rouse
Would these be new settings or current but fallow settings? For example would a 300 page Planescape, Ravenloft, or Dark Sun setting book be enough for everyone?

Truthfully, you need to do three books; Player’s Guide to..., DM’s Guide to... and Monster Manual to.... When you try to do it all in one book, it always feels rushed and too much is left out. The one book that is especially needed is the DM’s Guide to a specific setting. Don’t just say here are the Zhentarim and here are their stats, a new DM needs a “Here is how you use the Zhentarim”.


From previous posts:
Faerie Book
Planescape & Sigil
Ravenloft Revisited
Fiendish Codex III
Campaign Template books (See BiggusGeekus post#52)


Tome of Psionics: You know how the Tome of Magic was “three books in one”? Well so too would the Tome of Psionics. First third would be the Player Handbook II, or how to play the existing psionic classes and how to make them more unique. The second third is the DM’s guide to psionics. Let’s face it, the number one obstacle to psionic PCs is a DM who won’t allow it into his game. The last part would be a third magic item compendium, a third spell compendium and a third monster manual, but all raided from DARK SUN.

Oriental Handbook: Kara-Tur, Rokugan or something completely new, but I really want to see a new oriental book.

Iconics: Don’t just give me a snapshot of Lidda, show me her from 1st level to 20th. Show me an Iconic for every class, including psionics, incarnum, sword saints and factotums. Show me iconic prestige classes as well and even a few iconic monsters.

Core Beliefs: Greyhawk/ Forgotten Realms/ Eberron: We don’t want stats for deities, we want stats for their followers. Core Beliefs in Dragon magazine did this perfectly and needs to be followed up with a book for each setting.

Complete Paragon: Third edition is based upon multi-classing and this would be a guide to creating multi-class characters. It was also expand upon the Mystic Theurge -type Prestige classes, but for all combinations; Monk/Paladin, Thief/ Sorcerer, Bard/ Druid, etc...

And just three more books, but not just any books. I want three Ptolus sized, Ptolus quality books that are the Definitive Guides to....

Greyhawk by Erik Mona
Forgotten Realms by Ed Greenwood & Eric L Boyd
Eberron by Keith Baker

Just think about it and try not to drool.......

 

[Sundragon2012]

What I would like from WoTC would be:

1.) More books that are about campaign style such as heroes of horror that are a combination of fluff and new OGL mechanics that make it easy to run different styles of D&D. Heroes of the High Seas, Heroes of Intrigue, Heroes of High Station, Heroes of Literary Fantasy, etc. You get the idea. I would like a book like Heroes of Literary Fantasy contain info on how to run a D&D game that is closer to fantasy found in literature (REH, Tolkien et al) and the mechanical changes necessary to do that easily (lower magic, less superhero antics ie falling 200 feet will kill you, integrating not having alignment into a campaign)

2.) More stylistic support for campaigns that are about much more than bashing in a dungeon door. Maybe a handbook called In Character: A Guide to Immersive Role Playing in D&D. I know this kind of thing is done in many campaigns like my own for instance, but to see WoTC officially back that up in print would help a lot of newer players see that the game can be deep and rich without being based solely on Magical Items, Cool Abilities, Leveling and Builds. One doesn't have to play White Wolf games to want a deeper role-playing experience. Old hands like myself might not need this book, but a lot of newer players and DMs could benefit from it. Of course all role playing games are about fun, but there are different kinds of fun.

3.) A book that supports the idea of prestige classes being prestigious and not just sloppily added on ability tickets. I know that many DMs actually work PRCs into the campaign, but too often when reading RP boards I see the idea that somehow a DM is violating a sacred covenant with his players if he chooses to enforce setting specific limitations on PRCs. This kind of book could contain other support for the DM and could actually be added to the In Character: A Guide to Immersive Role Playing in D&D mentioned above.

Just a few ideas.


Starlion

 

[WayneLigon]

Would these be new settings or current but fallow settings? For example would a 300 page Planescape, Ravenloft, or Dark Sun setting book be enough for everyone?

I would love one-shot campaign setting books. I think they would not only be good for teaching GMs how to create and manage their own worlds, but they would serve as a means to experiment some.

I'd be torn on the classic campaign settings. I think we need a Near East setting (especially after seeing the wonderful work done for True 20). I think we need another, different Far East setting, perhaps more focused on China than Japan (though a Japanese setting will pretty much outsell any other Asian-themed setting 5 to 1, I'm thinking). A water world. A world where everyone can use some magic. One where humanity retreated to the Underdark to escape even worse terrors from the stars.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Given the goodness that was Arabian Adventures, independent of setting stuff (some of which is very, very cool, especially the insertion of genies of all sorts into the lives of mortal races), I'm shocked that no one in D20 land has really picked up the gauntlet, although a few folks have created self-contained Arabian mini-settings.

 

[Kaodi]

I think Whizbang's Myths & Legends series and Klaus's Visual Guide series are both superior ideas, and pure fluff to boot. Personally, I vote Komarck for Eberron. I think a book full of scenery in the vein of his two paintings in the current Edition Wars art debate thread could fly off of the shelves.

Sundragon --> Your idea is kind of what I meant by the Complete Roleplayer, however such a tome would have to focus on getting and giving the most out of your play style, to benefit both yourself and the group, instead of limiting it to just immersive play acting.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

In an order to be determined later;

Races of the Horde: Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, orcs and trolls. This book would be a good addition to the race book series.

Expedition to the Prison of Unimaginable Suffering: A totally new adventure, something quite nasty and vexing for the PCs.

Shadowmen (or some such title with sinister tones): All about the secret (and not so secret) presence, influence, goals and operations of demons and devils in the campaign world. It is not about what they do in the Abyss or in Hell.

Forgotten Realms - Some land beyond Faerun: (Specific land to be determined) Al-Qadim, Mazteca and Kara-Tur, at least one of them deserves a revisit and people keep asking for it.

Grayhawk: Because everyone is asking for it, and really when was the default setting really visited?

Forgotten Realms: Heart Lands (Cormyr, Sembia, the Dalelands) Because people keep asking for it.

Sigil: Because everyone is asking for it.

An adaptation of Spelljammer: Because no one is asking for it.

 

[GreatLemur]

1. Terra Arcana/Where Magic Sleeps/The Tainted Lands: In worlds touched by magic, there will be places and touched by magic, from simple fey rings to deserts of ash, from natural leylines over created zones of elemental dominance to places of catastrophe like the Mournlands. Example regions described in the main text should be grandiose in some fashion (perhaps up to Mournland scope), and interesting places to set adventures. Smaller and/or less hostile places can be described in sidebars or appendices. Ruleswise, provide a number of (flexible) building blocks a la planar traits and a few character options dealing with magical terrain.

2. The Vast Above: Tagline - Not even the sky is the limit. Explore the castles of cloud giants, see the magic of the skies, and find what lies beyond. This may deal with "just" the world of the clouds, which is at least as expansive as the depths of earth and sea, but preferably would go above, and provide cosmology options for what the significance of the stars, the sun(s), and the moon(s) is, and the darkness between. It should stay clear of sci-fi or lovecraftian themes where possible, though (that's what d20 Future is there for).

I dig the hell out of these. In fact, I like almost all of your ideas (time travel doesn't really interest me), but these are especially cool. Magic-polluted zones (I'm thinking along the lines of the Cacotopic Stain from the Perdido Street Station books) are a great bit, and could really stand to be described and statted up in a new D&D environment book. And the sky as adventure environment is something that a lot of creatures and other things in D&D suggest, but I never considered how much it merited--and indeed needed--a more thorough examination.

Then I'd consider what would make the game more appealing, specially to gamers used to CRPGs. The main advantage a CRPG has over the tabletops is the graphics side. So I'd tap the artist base WotC can access and have them do illustrations that would be useful when running a game set in one setting, the kind of stuff that used to be in the Dragonlance calendars. Which begets:

- A Visual Guide to Eberron

- A Visual Guide to the Forgotten Realms

- A Visual Guide to the Planes

Very nice. This kind of supplement should be standard for all campaign settings. Expensive to produce, I have no doubt, but absolutely invaluable for getting people into a setting.

- Urban Arcana TV series. Increase the exposure of D&D with a reversal of the old D&D cartoon (instead of modern kids in fantasy world, fantasy creatures in modern world).

Also very freaking nice. Those of us who were the right age at that time know how much of a draw the D&D cartoon was, and I don't doubt that it got a hell of a lot of us into RPGs in the first place. I'm not sure if Urban Arcana is the right way to go, exactly--a straight-up D&D show might do the job best--but I'd sure like to see it. And it should definitely be animated. The audience for fantasy action cartoons ought to be bigger right now than it's ever been.

 

[Maldin]

Many of these have already been suggested, but I add my own voice to the choir...

Fiendish Codex III: The Yugoloths (including the demodands, and other odds and ends)

The Big Book of Giants (non-setting specific, though with info on incorporating into FR, EB AND GH)

The Spelljammer Campaign Setting (without the silliness)

And lastly, but most importantly...
Greyhawk Regional Gazetteer: The Sheldomar Valley
Greyhawk Regional Gazetteer: The Central Flanaess
Greyhawk Regional Gazetteer: The Far West
Greyhawk Regional Gazetteer: The Lands of Iuz
Greyhawk Regional Gazetteer: The Barbarian North
Greyhawk Regional Gazetteer: Shattered Empires
Greyhawk Regional Gazetteer: Sea and Jungle (The Southernmost Flanaess)

...or somesuch multi-volume combination... one book is not enough! All other setting, past and present (FR, EB, RL, DS, Mystara, for example) have proven that, and Greyhawk has never received that treatment (with the exception of Sargent's few supplements). The wonderful Living Greyhawk Gazetteer was large, yet could only devote a few pages to even the largest nations. Merely combining the material from the LGG with the LGJournals is several volumes!

Ok, I'm already past 8 books, but the Gazetteer series would be released over several years, and as editionless as possible (so it can span editions, of course... someone had to say it!)

Denis, aka "Maldin"
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com

 

[A'koss]

I love the planes and the concept of fantasy realms “on the edge” but it many ways they are simply too big... too undefined. The impact a PC can make on such a campaign often feels miniscule and insignificant in such a grand arena or they accomplish things far too great for what they feel they should be able to accomplish. It is a very tricky balancing act.

An idea has been rumbling around in the back of my head of a campaign set in the far-flung future of Planescape. The gods are long since dead and the outer planes have folded in upon themselves, fusing together create a single, irregular-shaped world. What remains of the planar races now dwell upon this world… but they have evolved from the creatures we knew. For example...

Ages ago the Yugoloths great gambit finally came to fruition and they won the Blood War, bringing together the Chaotic and Lawful fiends and created an entirely new, and unified, race of evil. But the pull of Law and Chaos is beginning to reassert itself and the ruling caste desperately tries to hold a race together that is slowly beginning to tear itself apart.

The modrons are no longer the crude and misshapen mechanical abominations, they are now wondrously complex machines of startlingly beauty and design. The compulsion to march is still strong though and they desire above all else to continue to improve themselves.

The PC Planetouched races find homes in all the varied realms, but their greatest city still endures (albeit much changed) – Sigil.

Anyway, I could go on, but you get the idea. The great planar drama now plays out on a single, finite world that takes the same-old, same-old and evolves in a natural way so that it remains familiar and yet is entire new at the same time. You'd really need a visionary artist who can take it to the limit here though.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Legends and Lore - expanded (NO DEITY STATS!!!), updated to 3.5; include Greyhawk Gods.

Without deity stats, it ain't D&D. Perhaps the expanded fluff could explain that many, many myth cycles and legends contain tales of deities who can be challenged by mortals. Happened all the time in Norse and Greek mythology. D&D heroes should have their shot at the immortals, as well.