D&D 5E Rebalanced Tyranny of Dragons Coming In January

According to Amazon a 'rebalanced' version of Tyranny of Dragons is being released by WotC in January. There's no indication if there's a new cover, but the "adventure has been rebalanced to be easier for a new Dungeon Master to run and a better play experience".

2019's Tyranny of Dragons combined 2014's Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat with errata and new cover art. It was originally produced for WotC by Kobold Press during the early period of 5E when adventures were outsourced to local companies run by ex-WotC employees, such as Kobold Press, Green Ronin and Sasquatch Game Studios. This will be the third version of these adventures.

Tyranny of Dragons combines and refines two action-packed Dungeons & Dragons adventures—Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat—into a single sweeping campaign. It also includes a gallery of concept art providing a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of an epic adventure spotlighting Tiamat, one of the most legendary foes in D&D.

• A wonderful re-introduction to 5th edition’s first published adventures for new fans
• Begins as a low-level adventure suitable for new players and evolves into an epic, sprawling campaign bringing players all the way from level 1 to level 15
• Adventure has been rebalanced to be easier for a new Dungeon Master to run and a better play experience.
• Book includes gallery of concept art spotlighting Tiamat, one of the most legendary foes in D&D

 

[Retreater]

why not update an adventure just to make it better?

Why not just update it the last time they reprinted it in a new version? Why see it 3 times during the lifetime of a single edition?
Is it an instant classic? The pinnacle of 5e adventure design?

 

[Reynard]

Why not just update it the last time they reprinted it in a new version? Why see it 3 times during the lifetime of a single edition?
Is it an instant classic? The pinnacle of 5e adventure design?

No that's Strahd (apparently; I've never played it).

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Why not just update it the last time they reprinted it in a new version? Why see it 3 times during the lifetime of a single edition?
Is it an instant classic? The pinnacle of 5e adventure design?

I’m not trying to advocate what WotC has done or is doing. I’m trying to advocate for the idea of really listen to feedback from and adventure and then rereleasing it with improvements based on that feedback.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Why not just update it the last time they reprinted it in a new version?

Because they missed some stuff.

If you are consistently perfect, that's amazing and I'm genuinely happy for you, but it's something that's hard for the rest of us to pull off.

Now, if they realize they did miss some stuff, how is it better for them to not do anything about it?

 

[darjr]

For all the naysayers Hoard is still selling really well. What? 9 years, 8 years, after release?


Rise isn’t selling as well.


But it’s also out of print and the best you can buy it in that listing on Amazon US is $169.

 

[Hussar]

Why not just update it the last time they reprinted it in a new version? Why see it 3 times during the lifetime of a single edition?
Is it an instant classic? The pinnacle of 5e adventure design?

Well considering it’s almost ten years old and is still one of the best selling 5e modules, I would absolutely say that it is at least as classic as any other module.

 

[Retreater]

Because they missed some stuff.

If you are consistently perfect, that's amazing and I'm genuinely happy for you, but it's something that's hard for the rest of us to pull off.

Now, if they realize they did miss some stuff, how is it better for them to not do anything about it?

Well, that's a product that takes up space on a store shelf, advertising, layout, and other resources.
I'm not suggesting that my work is perfect, but I think a team at a major publishing company should be able to produce a competent project without needing three versions.
And coming a couple months after another "big dragon adventure starring Tiamat?"
It's like printing too many Magic cards all over again. What market will there be for the third printing of an adventure that ...
a) if you're a casual fan, seems very similar to Dragonlance.
b) if you're a serious fan, you already own a previous printing.

 

[darjr]

Well, that's a product that takes up space on a store shelf, advertising, layout, and other resources.
I'm not suggesting that my work is perfect, but I think a team at a major publishing company should be able to produce a competent project without needing three versions.
And coming a couple months after another "big dragon adventure starring Tiamat?"
It's like printing too many Magic cards all over again. What market will there be for the third printing of an adventure that ...
a) if you're a casual fan, seems very similar to Dragonlance.
b) if you're a serious fan, you already own a previous printing.

The out of print is selling well, there is demand. They have a combined print probably ready to go.

Business should sell things customers want. It looks like people want it.

 

[darjr]

The old cover, ostensibly reserved for stores, and from what I know was a limited print run. (Wasn’t it?)

Sells for a lot in Amazon.



So why not get it back into print, but in a way they can out it up in Amazon, keep it in print going forward, and not dilute the value of the special cover print.

I dunno if the content is different at all, but even if it’s not this still sounds like a solid idea.

 

[darjr]

Huh. An enterprising DMsGuild maker might even find a way to turn the higher levels of this into a sequel of sorts for Shadow of the Dragon Queen….