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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Old Drew Id" data-source="post: 3348692" data-attributes="member: 12175">I think Wizards made a huge HUGE strategic mistake with d20 Past. Aside from the book itself being a poor quality release (not just writing, but also size and in paperback) but I think they missed the boat on a potentially huge line of products. Were I in charge of the modern line at that point, I would have turned d20 Past into a line of at least 11 books, hitting every major time period. These would include:d20 Prehistoricd20 Ancient Timesd20 Romed20 Dark Agesd20 Renaissance d20 Age of Explorationd20 Musketeersd20 Wild West / Civil Ward20 Victoriand20 Roaring Twentiesd20 World War IIFor each book, I would include at a bare minimum, the following content:Actual Real-world Timeline including major events, inventions, discoveries, catastrophes, wars, etc. Linked Fictional Timeline including legends, myths, rumors, conspiracies, and similar supernatural events. (When added all together, the books could form one long official continuity)Threat Countdown - listing major players (nations, churches, factions) as well as environmental threats like Black Plague Fictional Countdown - same listing, but includes witches, dinosaurs, voodoo, or whatever else is appropriate to the eraHot Spots - listing key adventure areas for the time period. Should include some regional maps, like the Middle East or Mediterranean during the Ancient Period and the Caribbean during the Age of ExplorationDanger Zones - around 3-6 battle maps of sample encounter areas, like a pirate ship or a civil war battlefieldNPC templates for common people of the eraSpecific NPC's - for major real or fictional people of the areaEquipment - give us a real in-depth list for each era, with a price guidePrestige Classes - at least a half-dozen per eraOccupations - one or two extra per eraAdventure Hooks - a standard list of 101 hooks per eraSpecial Rules - how to have a Wild West quick draw competition or similar custom rulesSpecial Advice - how to get the right feel for each eraAt this point, you would have an easy 300 pg book, suitable for hardcover with a respectable price. To me, as a fan of d20, I would probably purchase every one of those books. You could even set up an iconic set of time-traveling heroes to time them together, or maybe an iconic family tree. You could set up NPC groups and see how the evolve from book to book. You could encourage the adoption of these eras as official settings for the 3rd party publishers, and expand on any of them that really hit it off. I think there is no way this would not have been profitable. Instead, what did they do? They released something like a 90 page softcover designed to cover the entire expanse of human history. They did a poor job of writing it, and they decided that its failure in the marketplace was an indication of waning interest in the entire d20 Modern line.</blockquote>

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