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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="THEMNGMNT" data-source="post: 9869526" data-attributes="member: 6809274">Now that we know what's coming in 2026, I feel the urge to muse on what it tells us about the product strategy...<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Expansions and Adventures.This year, the expansion and adventure are a pair. Magical rules expansion with player options plus a magic-themed campaign. They even share a title. In "5E/2014", that's not how things were done. The adventure paths were basically an adventure combined with a campaign setting. Out of the Abyss, Tomb of Annihilation, Dragon Heist, Descent Into Avernus, etc, etc. Rules expansions like the "Of Everything" books were setting agnostic. And books like "Glory of the Giants" and "Treasury of Dragons" were almost a sort of orphan, not tied to any sort of product or marketing effort. So there has been a change in product strategy. I believe it's the new normal, a preview of what's to come for "5.5E/2024". We should expect to see:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Campaign settings published independently of adventure paths</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Adventure paths be shorter and cheaper, but paired with...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rules expansions with a strong theme, which suggests...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The "Of Everything" books are a thing of the past</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Settings. Since the new 5.5E/2024 launch of the core books, WotC has fast followed with setting books for FR and Eberron that are "soft" updates to the 5E/2014 versions. Ravenloft is the last of those. I believe they did this to service the fans of those settings and not piss them off. It will be interesting to see what happens now that the "old" settings are mostly updated. I believe we'll see new settings, but at a slower pace.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Volume. We're likely getting 4 or 5 books this year. This is fairly consistent with the output from the original 5E/2014 era. WotC must believe that's the optimal output for maximum profit. Which leads me to...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Digital. There is a lot of 3rd party content coming to D&D Beyond. Like, a lot. It's not just the top tier books from top tier publishers. It's second tier, too. It's clear that digital revenue is a huge part of WotC's business. If it's not the majority of their revenue, it soon will be.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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