Just got my Dragon Compendium - Pretty!

[BOZ]

right, i know. and i can't say i disagree that the book is lacking something for not having it, i just hope that doesn't contribute enough to lost sales that further volumes become unlikely. Erik assures us that the stuff everyone really wants to see would come out in further volumes, so i'd like to be able to trust that...

 

[JoeGKushner]

So is this thing being sold on Amazon?

 

[philreed]

Well, this is the thing a lot of people were crying foul over in the "holding the good material hostage".

I suspect it had more to do with having a limited budget and selecting the material that would be easiest to work with. Updating old articles, especially those from the #50 and under issues, would be a significant job for any developer/editor. I mean, it's not as if standards were high in those days. And the material doesn't lend itself easily to the current version of the rules.

 

[MKMcArtor]

Just starting to browse the feats now. No new spells, so it looks like they were aware of the Spell Compendium coming out soon, and worked to not overlap with it.

Indeed, since the editor of the DC I also worked on the SC I and sits 10 feet from Erik Mona (who helped choose what went into the DC I).

 

[The Lemon Merchant]

If there are future volumes (it's up to WotC, of course), they will feature a wider array of eras than this first volume. We had to prove that there was a market for this type of product at all before we got too esoteric, but my desk is filled to bursting with old articles begging to be included in future volumes.

This is good to hear. While I was disappointed that the content was relatively recent, it is nice to have it in a single location, particularly the new feats. I do hope there are future volumes, as I love Dragon and really like the idea of having some of the older material updated. Of course it could just be that I'm lazy and don't want to do the conversions myself

 

[Erik Mona]

You know, flipping through the printed product there really is a LOT of information from old issues of the magazine. The feats, prestige classes, and magic items are mostly recent, but the monsters, "classics," classes, and races all come from a variety of sources. Specifically, the Compendium contains material from the following issues, all of which predate third edition:

Strategic Review
-------------------
1

Dragon
--------
17
38
39
48
50
59
60
65
69
76
78
89
93
135
140
159
162
175
180
184
199
210
223
238
248
267
271

Based on the above listing, I think it's fair to say that comments about the Compendium not including enough "old stuff" should be taken with a grain of salt. There are sections comprised mostly of newer material, but for feats and prestige classes, it's because those things did not exist prior to third edition. There are more than 4000 pages of material in the Dragon archive. There's no way we could have fit all of it in one book, but even with the new material, the Dragon Compendium Volume 1 contains a good sample of excellent material from all eras of the magazine's rich history.

Is there more good stuff to be culled? Of course, and we hope to be able to bring that to you over the course of the next few years.

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dragon & Dungeon

 

[Morgenstern]

Now Erik, don't skew the numbers . List *all* the articles so we can get sense of percentage of the total.

And again, I support the first effort and slapped down money at your store to vote with my wallet that I want to see a second one. I liked the selctions for the most part - the Bloodline feats and spell templating were two of the most innovative and genuinely usefull aritcles I've seen in thast few years and both of them were right there gleaming in their new setting. Some of the prestige classes I ignored before and I'll ignore now (osteomancer?), but the force missile mage was actually brought to my attention by appearing in the compendium, and I have some fun uses in mind for him. But, you have to expect that things like the Death Master are going to be the real gems for new players and old: It massages my nostalgia nerve while provinding something genuinely new to younger players.

Dig deeper boys- there's gold in them thar hills!!

 

[hexgrid]

Is there more good stuff to be culled? Of course, and we hope to be able to bring that to you over the course of the next few years.

How about a Dungeon version, compiling and updating classic adventures from over the years?

 

[smootrk]

Erik Mona, any comments on the sales figures so far? When will you get a good idea when a new compilation could be in the works?

 

[Erik Mona]

Initial orders are very strong, and I suspect we will have to reprint the book. This is a very good thing. We have a request in to Wizards of the Coast regarding future hardcovers, but haven't yet received their official response.

So we'll see. I'm quite optimistic, given the circumstances.

--Erik