D&D (2024) Gunslinger Class (from Valda's Spire of Secrets) on DnD Beyond!

no, it is not a loss leader, far from it
It absolutely is. The three core books are the biggest books the make and they are still $50.00. All the supplement books from last year (Phandelver, Vecna, etc) were 60 for less pages. Forge of the Artificer is $30 ($20 digital) and only 192 pages. They intentionally underpriced the holy Trinity to make upgrading more appealing.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

It absolutely is. The three core books are the biggest books the make and they are still $50.00.
and they still turn a profit on them, so they are not loss leaders. They are their most profitable D&D products due to volume.

In addition, this was about the digital DDB copy too, where there is no relevant cost difference between a 200 page ‘book’ and a 400 page one at the same price. So this is even less true there
 
Last edited:


I could suspect some class by Mage Hand Press could appear in D&DBeyond but the surprise arrives because there is no warning.

I guess the adventage of the 3PP classes in D&DB should be the free homemade subclasses. Even if theses hadn't got the right power balance enoughly refined other player with enough experience could publish his own "update patch".

Other point is the PC vs DM "arm race". For example the DM could say the cities have got a special magic area effect thanks the temples and when a firearm is shooted thanks divination magic the investigators can know where, when, the shooter and possible victim, and where is the fireram is now. Firearms couldn't work within certain magic areas. For example if a group of robbers who entered a bank during a robbery their guns couldn't be shoot, their canons would be blocked, and a minute later the bullets would be teletransported out. Only the gun by the security guard could shoot.

The castles and strongholds could enjoy some "wondrous architecture" (immobile magic item) that created a magic area where the gunpowder by attackers could work. (magitek firearms could work but they are more expensive and then the power balance shouldn't be broken so easily).

The automatic firearms may be too powerful for D&D standards but its complex mechanism make those too easy to be unusable thanks low-level magic, something style the gun jumming, or the barrel may be deformed by the heat. A "handcrafted" automatic firearm may be too expensive, or no not very much cheaper that magic wands. The automatic firearms "imported" from other wildspaces or industrial factories from Mechanus are too expensive because you have to pay the travel. Deities will not allow building of firearm factories.

What if a player wanted to create a biopunk crossbow with artificial muscles that allowed to reload itself? At least it would be quieter during stealth operations.
MHP is pretty good about balancing (the folks there are intense about math) and the classes end up almost underpowered, if anything. My favorites are Investigator, Witch, and Necromancer
 



Remove ads

Top