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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gothmog" data-source="post: 3266261" data-attributes="member: 317">Yeah, I'd say you'd hit the problem on the head 3catcircus.  There isn't much 3rd party support for D&D anymore- instead they are focusing their efforts in new directions or their own D20 games.  Green Ronin came out with True 20 which I love, but that also means their conventional D20/D&D releases are cut back.  Caliphate Nights came out from Paradigm Concepts for True 20, and is a great Arabian Adventures setting (better than Al-Qadim in many respects).  FFG still makes Midnight which is a great setting and very high quality, but again, a niche market with their own variants.WotC on the other hand hasn't put out anything that has made me stop and think WOW in years now.  Expedition to Castle Ravenloft was well done but not ground breaking, Fiendiesh Codex I and (to a lesser degree) II left me cold- how can they take something with as much potential as fiends and make them, well, DULL?  Those books failed IMO because they focused on stats, feats, spells, items and telling you what was going on behind the scenes rather than tantilizing our brains with cool plot hooks, ideas, or "fluff" about the fiends.  This has become something my friends and I call "WotC syndrome".  Tome of Battle sucked, and Tome of Magic had some decent ideas, but poor implementation.  Red Hand of Doom was ok, but very simplistic and below the quality of many 2nd edition modules.  The recent Monster Manuals were bad, and my expectations for WotC and D&D are so low now that there is NOTHING in the next year being released for D&D that has me excited.  So the answer is yes, for D&D there is a serious and noticable dearth of inspiring materials, and has been for a few years.Now that does NOT mean there isn't some cool, new, exciting stuff being made by other RPG designerns, its just not for D&D/D20 in most cases.  For example, some of the best RPG products I have bought in the last ten years have been by Pinnacle for their Savage Worlds system, including the awesome new Deadlands Reloaded.  They are also coming out with Soloman Kane, Pirates of the Spanish Main, and other cool new settings, and every one of their books has the WOW factor D&D used to hold for me, but lost.  Likewise, Black Library/Green Ronin's Warhammer FRP 2 has the wow factor as well- an awesome setting, incredible production values, really interesting new ideas, AND great mechanics.  D&D hasn't had those things for a long time for me, or for many people I know and game with.  My advice for you is branch out and try something different- we rediscovered the WOW factor in our games, but its VERY far away from D&D/D20.</blockquote>

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