Reports and News from D&D XP

[Pbartender]

That's really very cool.

But is it truly Greyhawk?

No. It's not, really. And I fully admit that. It's a whole bunch of Greyhawk stuff reshuffled into a home-brewed setting, but it's not Greyhawk.

But that's what I'd already said above... I don't specifically like Greyhawk itself as a setting, but really like a lot of the adventures and supplements that were written for Greyhawk, because they can be easily added to any D&D campaign, whether it's set in the actual Greyhawk world or not.

Let's say I look at Greyhawk as a "modular" campaign setting... If that makes sense.

On the other hand, where some people see the Greyhawk "classic D&D" experience as generic and malleable to any purpose, I see the setting as absolutely as specific as any other - to me, the classic D&D ideas about elves, dwarves, demons, gods, dungeons, and everything else aren't generic at all. They're very specific to D&D and D&D's inspirations . . .

And I'd agree with you completely. Greyhawk, for me, is the epitome of D&D -- it respresents the essence of D&D at its most basic... And that's exactly why its components are so easy to incorporate into any other setting.

I don't know another way to put it without making it sound like I think Greyhawk stuff is bland... It's just that Greyhawk "tastes" D&D. When carefully measured, it can be added to practically any recepe without ruining the flavor, and it usually enhances the entire meal. Looking at it that way, Greyhawk, for many of the Old School Grognards, is like the D&D equivalent of comfort food.

 

[Glyfair]

Not necessarily. 3.5 products in 2008 does not preclude a 2008 launch for 4th edition. They could easily put some books out in the first quarter and then launch 4E at GenCon 6 months later.

A lot comes down to what the presenter considers a "long way off." To me, next year doesn't count as a "long way off." I think that a long way off means that they aren't actively working on it. Yes, at some level they've been working on it since before 3.5 was released, but not actively.

 

[Pants]

With regard to the ongoing (and ongoing...and ongoing...) discussion, I'm not asking for a buttload of Greyhawk support from Wizards. I'm in total agreement with the posters who say that Greyhawk works best when WotC leaves it alone. There's really only one product I'm personally clamoring for, and hopefully we'll see it...if Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk does well: a well-done hardcover setting book for Greyhawk. Basic setting information and maybe a chapter on the City of Greyhawk and its environs.

Regards,
Darrell

That's really all I want.

I never played 1e, but a lot of the little cool tidbits of flavor that are sprinkled throughout D&D came from Greyhawk and while it makes a great, open-ended sandbox setting, I always want just a little more info without having to track down out-of-print 1e and 2e books.

If all that gets published is a Grehawk HC, I'd be happy.

 

[Shadowslayer]

Personally, I don't get why they wouldn't do a Greyhawk hardback. (Perhaps because the 3e softback one didn't fly?)

But then, I don't see why they can't do a one-shot deal hardback for a lot of their old settings. There seems to be enough guys that like Dark Sun, Known World, and Planescape.

 

[Lhorgrim]

With regard to the ongoing (and ongoing...and ongoing...) discussion, I'm not asking for a buttload of Greyhawk support from Wizards. I'm in total agreement with the posters who say that Greyhawk works best when WotC leaves it alone. There's really only one product I'm personally clamoring for, and hopefully we'll see it...if Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk does well: a well-done hardcover setting book for Greyhawk. Basic setting information and maybe a chapter on the City of Greyhawk and its environs.

My sentiments exactly!

I would just like to have a campaign setting book that would allow a new Greyhawk player to get comfortable with the setting. As it stands, there is so much Greyhawk history that the new players I have gamed with have gotten overwhelmed. Can you imagine trying to introduce a new gamer to the Forgotten Realms without some kind of reference book?

I like the LGG, and I use it for region info, but it doesn't fit the bill for introducing new players to Greyhawk.

I'm not one of those people demanding a hard cover Greyhawk setting, but I would drop $50 on one in a heartbeat.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I think it would be great if there were to be a one-shot - explicitly one-shot - Greyhawk Campaign Setting hardcover. That would satisfy a lot of people and also serve as a good singular Third Edition/modern vision of the setting.

In fact, I would be very surprised if this didn't appear in the last days before Fourth Edition - especially if it was light on mechanics and could serve as a campaign setting for Fourth as well as Third.

 

[grodog]

Let's say I look at Greyhawk as a "modular" campaign setting... If that makes sense.

If you haven't checked out Canonfire!, Pbartender, you'd probably like variety of GH flavors available there: www.canonfire.com

 

[Imaro]

I base my assumptions on this principle: cui bono?

Who benefits from Wizards of the Coast's continuing to release Eberron supplements if it is an unsuccessful brand? Likewise, if Third Edition D&D were doing poorly, who would benefit from the continued supply of new sourcebooks that's been forecast into 2008?

Wizards of the Coast certainly doesn't benefit if sales of Eberron books are lackluster compared to other books they could be producing with the same resources. Likewise, if sales of Third Edition supplements dip below a certain level without reasonable hope of recovery, that would be the signal for Fourth Edition to ramp up and roll out.

Since Wizards of the Coast is a business and not in the habit of providing charity to gamers starved for information on their favourite settings, we can assume that the continued supply of Eberron supplements and Third Edition material is of benefit to them.

This is, of course, simplistic - but there's a reason previous settings were cancelled, and in the vast majority of cases the reason was the same: poor sales.

I think anyone who suggests that Wizards of the Coast continues to support Eberron because it would "look bad" if they gave up on the setting they hyped so much, and that this is the only real reason why they continue to support the setting, is simply deluding themselves. Public perception simply doesn't matter anywhere near as much as does profit.

I am not saying you are wrong in your assumptions, but I wonder how far ahead is a book planned and resources devoted to it? How early did they have to decide that Eberron would be the setting for DDO, How early did they comission and sign contracts for Eberron fiction? All of this(basically resources that have already been devoted) can have an effect on whether a setting is trying to be pushed or is easily holding it's own. It even ties into the whole "limited settings" theory. Eberron can easily be a success as a brand but not as a setting for D&D

Second. At what level is Eberron considered successful? I mean if it sold on the level of a NWoD corebook, if it sold on the level of Exalted, if it sold on the level of FR, If it sold on the level of the 3.5 corebooks. You don't know. So once again there really is no way to tell if Eberron itself is successful as a continuing product.

As far as cancelling Eberron and starting a new setting, well IMHO that would be paramount to WotC shooting themselves in the foot at this stage. First see my point above. Second the OGL has allowed numerous third parties to create settings there are already a proliferation of options for consumers. Third it would further split their fanbase and resources, so no I don't think(until 4th edition) that WotC would cancel Eberron, even if it's sales weren't up to par. They still have the option of making the money back on it as a license(videogames, fiction, minis etc.).

 

[Ranger REG]

It's not my best, but go ahead and help yourself.



So, I keep looking at the title of the thread, and I can't help but thinking...

4th Edition will be entitled: "Dungeons & Dragons XP Home Edition" for a simpler, mechanically lighter game, and then maybe "Dungeons & Dragons XP Professional" for those of us who want all the extra options and add-ons.

"You are attempting to open the front cover of your D&D Home Premium Player's Handbook. Cancel or Allow?"

 

[coyote6]

2006 wasn't an obvious year for great products - the much maligned Complete Psionic is the only book in that series that was produced

Only book in what series? The "psionic series"*? I'm pretty sure Complete Mage came out in '06, too. It seemed (from my extremely limited POV) fairly popular.

I think it was Mike Mearls who said that the Book of Nine Swords was surprisingly successful, and they had copped a lot of flak for the tribal format in Monster Manual IV...

What's the "tribal format"? The worked examples of MM creatures with class levels?

Hmm, "tribal" -- maybe they can do a book with just that theme. Tribal Tome? They've already kind of assigned "Tome" to "books of new power subsystems" (Tome of Magic, Tome of Battle). What's another word for book that starts with 't'? "Tribal Treatise"? Nah...


*(A "series" of two books, AFAICT; three if you count the original 3.0e Psionics Handbook)