D&D 5E March's D&D Book To Be Announced On January 9th

A mysterious entry has appeared on Amazon! With a product title of "Dungeons & Dragons March Release Book (Title announced January 9th)" and a release date of March 17th, 2020, this $49.95 hardcover release will be revealed in under a week!

The description reads "Your first look at the next D&D title comes on January 9th! Keep an eye on wherever you get your D&D news for a preview of the book."

Could there be a clue in the dice being released on the same day? Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit is described as "Dice and miscellany for the world's greatest roleplaying game" for $29.99. We'll find out on Thursday!

Who's Laeral Silverhand? She's a prolific creator of magic items from Waterdeep, and one of the most powerful wizards in the Forgotten Realms. She's one of the Seven Sisters, introduced in 1987's Forgotten Realms boxed set, although Laeral herself wasn't described in that product. Ed Greenwood'sThe Seven Sisters supplement fully detailed them in 1995. Laeral and Khlben 'Blackstaff' Arunsun led a group called the Moonstars. In 5th edition, she appears in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

My point is just that I think that in the year 2020, conditions are right to do better fantasy versions of non-Western cultures than have been previously done in the history of RPGs, and I think that, when done right, this sort of thing can really benefit the game.

It would suck if the fear of offending a marginalized historical group makes it so that we can't explore, in fantasy recreation, some of the rich histories that those groups had, the way we do European "history". (I mean, really, we butcher European history in fantasy, don't we? I mean, I'm not saying we should butcher it, just explore it. People could learn a lot.)

 

[generic]

It would suck if the fear of offending a marginalized historical group makes it so that we can't explore, in fantasy recreation, some of the rich histories that those groups had, the way we do European "history". (I mean, really, we butcher European history in fantasy, don't we?)

Butcher European history? Never.

Oh wait.

English feudal structure + French castle design + Random bits of Celtic mythology + apparently Norse mythology is part of central European heritage now + Roman sewers + Victorian tech + Parliamentary systems + A single regent = Default D&D

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

But the Starter Set and Essentials set come with a perfectly good set of dice, for a lot less money.

Yes, one set of dice for the DM to use. I would never expect every member of a new group to buy either of those sets, unless they wanted to, so they still need their own dice from somewhere else.

 

[generic]

Yes, one set of dice for the DM to use. I would never expect every member of a new group to buy either of those sets, unless they wanted to, so they still need their own dice from somewhere else.

Or, better yet, tell your players to buy $2.00 off-brand sets that work just as well.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Or, better yet, tell your players to buy $2.00 off-brand sets that work just as well.

That is why I said somewhere else, not specifically this set, or any of the other specialized sets. I have not bought any of them either. If I want new dice, I can get cool, interesting looking full sets for under $10.

 

[generic]

That is why I said somewhere else, not specifically this set, or any of the other specialized sets. I have not bought any of them either. If I want new dice, I can get cool, interesting looking full sets for under $10.

Sorry, I meant to quote Paul Farquhar, but it's nice to see that we're in agreement.

 

[JPL]

It would suck if the fear of offending a marginalized historical group makes it so that we can't explore, in fantasy recreation, some of the rich histories that those groups had, the way we do European "history". (I mean, really, we butcher European history in fantasy, don't we?)

Dunno about "fear of offending" . . . I think of it more in positive terms --- a desire to include. And from a storytelling standpoint, it's just good to be open to these different perspectives and different influences, because it's all new ingredients to throw in the pot, right?

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Meh. I think the target audience is: people who have more money than they know what to do with.

Oh, so you mean the gaming industry as a whole. Sure, there are some low-priced game systems and starter sets out there, but when the core book you need to get into a system is $50+, this is definitely a luxury hobby.

 

[generic]

Oh, so you mean the gaming industry as a whole. Sure, there are some low-priced game systems and starter sets out there, but when the core book you need to get into a system is $50+, this is definitely a luxury hobby.

Eh, there are more people who own a $300 Nintendo Switch, so, perhaps it's not as much of a luxury as one might assume.

 

[Fenris-77]

This is a cheap hobby, at least compared to other luxury hobbies. Anyone who console games regularly drops $50-100 on a new game and RPGs don't have a $300-$500 start up cost added on. Even someone who shoots pool is probably dropping the cost of a hardback in table rental every time they go to the pool hall. Once you count in the reuseability of RPG products the difference is pretty stark.