D&D 5E (2014) Exclusive D&D Next Campaign available at Gen Con Only

[I'm A Banana]

I like the art, but I keep thinking "what are the characters doing? Is the dwarf hitting the air? What's happening with the eyes of the two figures with staves? What is the elf aiming at? Is the fighter ordering a charge off the cliff? Who is the rogue dodging?"

It's a fair point. I kind of assumed this was part of a bigger piece where what's going on to the left (ie, on the back cover?) is more obvious, but heck, mebbe not.

 

[Plaguescarred]

Interesting stuff!

I hope that sometimes after Gen Con, Ghost of Dragonspear Castle will be available for sales in either paperback or PDF format. A level 1-10 mini campaign and an overview of Daggerford is a product i would buy in a snap.

 

[Plaguescarred]

There's also a FAQ about the adventure

wizards.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/...

 

[Texicles]

I like the art, but I keep thinking "what are the characters doing?...

You and I think alike it seems. My aforementioned snarky thoughts included things like, Sword-guy having an internal dialogue about whether or not to nudge the dwarf off of the cliff so he doesn't have to keep sharing armor drops with him, or the dude-in-orange preparing to cross the streams (if you will) with the gal-in-blue, just to mess with whatever she's trying to accomplish.

I don't know why, but as far back as I can remember (specifically, 2e), I've found part of what makes D&D art iconic is those little, sorta nonsensical poses and expressions.

 

[Mark CMG]

I guess this heralds a phase of actual open playtest since they cannot really expect folks to sign an NDA on something they are buying.

 

[tuxgeo]

[redacted]

 

[darjr]

autocorrect's

 

[Jester David]

I'm cool with con exclusive content. It's a perk for those dedicated enough to find the time and money to attend the convention. It's a nice something special. However, I prefer it when it's something like a repainted miniature, an alternate cover, some dice, or something else that's a small bonus or otherwise attainable elsewhere.


This is not that.
This is very much not that.


Okay, if it were just the core rules being cheaply published as a softcover rulebook playtest, that would be fine. I did a post on this a while back advocating a finalizing of the form and focus on fine tuning over heavy revison. This is a good thing, especially if we can continue to get the playtest information as a slightly less pretty PDF. No big deal.

But adventures?! Content for the actual game. No. I'm sorry but that's unfair. The proportion of people in the hobby able to make it to GenCon is a huge, huge minority. If 1% of D&D players gets out to GenCon each year I would be incredibly surprised.
I love GenCon and plan to go next year but cannot afford to go every year.
And this is not a cheap hobby. Plus there are many collector geeks out there who want everything. Geeks tend to be obsessive that way. WotC seems dead set on making it hard to be a D&D completist. They don't re-release Encounters, they don't reliably make their free RPG day content available, they've released exclusive stuff to the RPGA, and more.


Especially when they announce this so far in advance.
All this does is encourage non-D&D players to get the product so they can sell it on eBay or elsewhere.

 

[Sunseeker]

The exclusivity is immaterial. It's simply a test to see how many of the people who playtest are willing to actually put their money down for the product. If it sells well, you'll likely see PDF or revised releases come along later, if not both. This is just Wizards way of sticking their toe in the proverbial waters, it's win/win for them. If it sells well, clearly they're on the right track with DDN. If it sells poorly then the playtest simply needs to keep going, though perhaps in a new direction. Not to mention, this is also Wizards showing an intent to bundle DDN with more adventure support(that ever-successful Paizo tactic),

 

[gyor]

I don't know why anyone would want it honestly. Pay 30 bucks for an adventure whose rules will be out of date soon after, no thanks.

Anyone that completist should get themselves checked for OCD.