D&D 5E Keith Baker's Eberron/Ravenloft Crossover Comes Next Week!

Eberron-creator Keith Baker will be launching an Eberron/Ravenloft crossover supplement next week on DMs Guild. It's called Dread Metrol: Into the Mists, and will be released on Tuesday, July 13th.

The queen watches as the sun sets and the undead lay siege...

Tall, handsome, powerful...
the undisputed master of House Cannith is also a new kind of artificer...

The monsters of the mists aren't always the ones with claws or snake hair...
they could be the victims...

Deals are needed to cross the Bridge of the Dead...
​

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Will there be a hardcover or just .pdf?

Exploring Eberron has a print on demand option, it's likely this one will too. Should know for sure on Tuesday!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Maybe this is a stupid question but... could WotC allow or agree an intercompany crossover between Ravenloft and an 3PP's IP (the lost citadel, Obsidian Apocalypse, Kaidan, Grimfall, Shadow over Varthak)...?

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Maybe this is a stupid question but... could WotC allow or agree an intercompany crossover between Ravenloft and an 3PP's IP (the lost citadel, Obsidian Apocalypse, Kaidan, Grimfall, Shadow over Varthak)...?

I mean, they can, but they won't.

It is not in WotC's best interest to promote 3rd party IPs. They want to keep the illusion that they are the only TTRPG that matters, and the best way to do that is pretend others don't exist.

I'm honestly surprised WotC even allows Goodman Games to reprint their old adventures in the Reincarnated Series.

 

[Parmandur]

I mean, they can, but they won't.

It is not in WotC's best interest to promote 3rd party IPs. They want to keep the illusion that they are the only TTRPG that matters, and the best way to do that is pretend others don't exist.

I'm honestly surprised WotC even allows Goodman Games to reprint their old adventures in the Reincarnated Series.

That's not true: Greg Tito actually talks with his guests about other games on Dragon Talk fairly frequently (Salvatore went into his game a while back). Third party RPGs aren't a threat to WotC, and they know it.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

That's not true: Greg Tito actually talks with his guests about other games on Dragon Talk fairly frequently (Salvatore went into his game a while back). Third party RPGs aren't a threat to WotC, and they know it.

I'm a pretty avid listener of Dragon Talk, and although they occasionally mention other games, it's few and far between... additionally, there is a pretty big difference between mentioning a game on their podcast, and working in partnership with your competitors.

 

[ChaosOS]

I might get this, is there any indication as to the level range?

There is an adventure actually - I'm not sure how much of the final book it will be, but per the producer and adventure designer in the discord "
The Mourning After is for brand new characters and uses milestone leveling."

Will there be a hardcover or just .pdf?

Only a pdf - hardcover approval process is tricky these days, and this isn't nearly as long as ExE. The next hardcover product will be Frontiers of Eberron, which Keith discusses in this interview with Todd Kenreck.

Re: other stuff. As has been mentioned, the dmsguild is pretty limited with what settings are legally available for creators to use - there's a ton of enthusiasm on the author side to dig into all those other classic settings, but wotc rules are strongly enforced on the platform. And as mentioned, Wildemount is still owned by Matt Mercer/the CR company, and was only licensed for the purpose of a single book but is not available on the dmsguild.

 

[ChaosOS]

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I mean, they can, but they won't.

It is not in WotC's best interest to promote 3rd party IPs. They want to keep the illusion that they are the only TTRPG that matters, and the best way to do that is pretend others don't exist.

I'm honestly surprised WotC even allows Goodman Games to reprint their old adventures in the Reincarnated Series.

You may totally right, but I mean if some 3PP IPs becomes very popular then Hasbro/WotC could think about new acquisitions, not only to publish more TTRPGs but also toys and even some action-live production by Entertainment-One. Hasbro has been a "figh fish eating littler fishes" and this could happen again. If somebody tells me in the next ten years Pugmire will be a cartoon broadcasted by Hasbro and a line of action-figures, I wouldn't be totally surprised. (and we know Pugmire is an, kid-friendly, IP by Onyx Path/White Wolf).

Hasbro is the owner of Entertainment-One and this can produce action-live horror movies. These shouldn't be linked Ravenloft setting, at least it wouldn't be necessary in the beginning, but retconnected later, something like lord Sorth, of famous characters from movies as "guest artists" in the videogame "Dead by Daylight". If Hasbro's videogame studios discovery the right keys for the gameplay of horror games then they could offer some deals with the 3PPs, at least to be the first, before they could adcquired by a rival company. Disney could buy Paizo only to produce a Pathfinder cartoon. (Of course this is a total crazy idea, but it was only an example about the type of things could happen in this industry).

 

[Urriak Uruk]

You may totally right, but I mean if some 3PP IPs becomes very popular then Hasbro/WotC could think about new acquisitions, not only to publish more TTRPGs but also toys and even some action-live production by Entertainment-One. Hasbro has been a "figh fish eating littler fishes" and this could happen again. If somebody tells me in the next ten years Pugmire will be a cartoon broadcasted by Hasbro and a line of action-figures, I wouldn't be totally surprised. (and we know Pugmire is an, kid-friendly, IP by Onyx Path/White Wolf).

Hasbro is the owner of Entertainment-One and this can produce action-live horror movies. These shouldn't be linked Ravenloft setting, at least it wouldn't be necessary in the beginning, but retconnected later, something like lord Sorth, of famous characters from movies as "guest artists" in the videogame "Dead by Daylight". If Hasbro's videogame studios discovery the right keys for the gameplay of horror games then they could offer some deals with the 3PPs, at least to be the first, before they could adcquired by a rival company. Disney could buy Paizo only to produce a Pathfinder cartoon. (Of course this is a total crazy idea, but it was only an example about the type of things could happen in this industry).

I know you're a big fan of crossovers and adaptations, but if you actually look at the sales of these third-parties, very few of them hold a candle to the sales of a company like Wizards of the Coast. I know Hasbro is a company that is quick to absorb toy brands that they think are valuable, but I'm quite certain there is almost no TTRPG company out there that they'd consider a merger with, with the exception of Games Workshop (because they're actually quite large).

The sales of Pugmire for example are such a small drop in the bucket, I'm doubtful a single person on Hasbro's M&A team is aware of who they are or what they're product is.

Now, I think you would be correct that more video games and movies are possible, but that's contingent on the early ones being a success. The launch of Dark Alliance, which seems to be mostly panned, is already throwing a wrench in that. I'm sure more are coming anyway, but if they keep launching products that do poorly this could easily stop. The movie for example could be a complete bust, ending any future of D&D media in film/TV.

 

[Urriak Uruk]