D&D 5E The March D&D Book Will Be Announced Next Tuesday

As has become standard these days, the upcoming D&D book has appeared -- in an anonymous, secretive guise -- on various bookstores in advance of an announcement. In this case, Amazon, Penguin Random House, and Barnes & Noble, all of whom confirm that the book will be announced next Tuesday on January 12th, and released on March 16th.

The book will cost $49.99. B&N has its dimensions as being 6.5 x 9.5 inches, which is smaller than a standard D&D hardcover (but that information could just be a placeholder). B&N also indicates that the authors are Peter Lee and Rodney Thompson, but they also say that for Tasha's Cauldron and other WotC books, so that also looks like it's just their boilerplate for WotC. There's also an ISBN number: 978-0786967223.

This is almost an exact mirror of this time last year, almost down to the dates (last year it appeared on stores on Jan 6th, was announced as Explorer's Guide to Wildemount on Jan 9th, and released March 17th).

There's been plenty of speculation recently. Last year WotC said that three classic settings were getting active attention, and that the coming years would have a greater emphasis on settings, as well as more anthologies and Magic: The Gathering collaborations. And, of course, WotC has recently been involved in a Dragonlance lawsuit, which was voluntarily dismissed in December with Margaret Weis tweeting that there was exciting news in the weeks to come.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The old AD&D Book of Lairs were great, they printed a few different ones IIRC. They were a collection of 1 page short adventures. I would definitely buy something like this of even 5-10 page one-shots.

There are a massive number of these, both as individual adventures and collections, on DMs Guild, written by the same people who were tapped to write Rime of the Frostmaiden.

That said, WotC seemed pleased with how Ghosts of Saltmarsh went, so I'd expect another loosely connected set of adventures like that from them again soon, collecting TSR and Dungeon and Dragon adventure remakes together. I would guess the Slavers series, for one, is a good candidate for that treatment.

 

[darjr]

Go ask yer questions, maybe he'll hint?

 

[R_J_K75]

There are a massive number of these, both as individual adventures and collections, on DMs Guild, written by the same people who were tapped to write Rime of the Frostmaiden.

I'm going to have to start paying more attention to who is writing and where then, as well as what I buy off of DMs Guild. I haven't bought much since its inception but I will say most of its decent if not outright good. Although the few books I had even mild interest in the print on demand option was too pricey for me. I may be about to eat crow which I'll gladly admit with some of what Ive said in this and other threads; this is the one instance where a .pdf would be ideal to print one or two pages for the session. Although I do like a hard copy on the book shelf, a 200+ page of short one shots by WotC would be welcome whether they are stand alone or loosely connected.

 

[Alzrius]

The old AD&D Book of Lairs were great, they printed a few different ones IIRC. They were a collection of 1 page short adventures. I would definitely buy something like this of even 5-10 page one-shots.

At the risk of going off-topic, my favorite one of those technically didn't go by the "Book of Lairs" title (there were, if I recall correctly, three books by that name). Instead it was the RR1 Darklords supplement for Ravenloft (just barely edging out RR4 Islands of Terror). Not just monsters to be killed, the NPCs in those books were all mini-adventures unto themselves, all the more for being actual "big bads" of Ravenloft! (Even if, most of the time, they were only minor antagonists compared to the likes of Strahd and Azalin.)

Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.

 

[R_J_K75]

At the risk of going off-topic

I do it too from time to time and try not to let it go to far, but in the end threads are conversations, it happens. Honestly I dont think your post was off topic at all, just a progression.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm going to have to start paying more attention to who is writing and where then, as well as what I buy off of DMs Guild. I haven't bought much since its inception but I will say most of its decent if not outright good. Although the few books I had even mild interest in the print on demand option was too pricey for me. I may be about to eat crow which I'll gladly admit with some of what Ive said in this and other threads; this is the one instance where a .pdf would be ideal to print one or two pages for the session. Although I do like a hard copy on the book shelf, a 200+ page of short one shots by WotC would be welcome whether they are stand alone or loosely connected.

I view the DMs Guild as the successor to Dragon Magazine, with the same variation quality. Getting stuff strictly from Guild Adepts increases the quality, as a rule. Even more interesting is the stuff on the Drive Thru RPG side of things, although some of that has to be converted from OSR rulesets.

And yes, a lot of the POD options are expensive, especially for giant books like Monster Manual Expanded. I try to limit POD purchases to the absolute fewest.

 

[azathosk]

I think you’re close. It’s very likely Ravenloft themed. But I think it’s an Adventure Anthology, not a “setting book.”

That’s not bad either to be honest. I would love an adventure where the roles would face either Azalin or Lord Soth.

 

[R_J_K75]

And yes, a lot of the POD options are expensive, especially for giant books like Monster Manual Expanded

Did you buy it POD, hows the quality, print wise and content?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Did you buy it POD, hows the quality, print wise and content?

Years ago, it was pretty mixed. Now, it's excellent, as good as a mid-level professional publisher.

Note that the content creator also has some responsibility in this: If they don't create the text for the spine, for instance, there won't be any.

But as this semi-pro sector is getting more and more pro, the nicer books are indistinguishable from what you might get in a game store. It's how a lot of Kickstarters now fulfill their print orders, for instance.

 

[Morrus]

Years ago, it was pretty mixed. Now, it's excellent, as good as a mid-level professional publisher.

Nah, it's not as nice as offset printing. We do a lot of books where we have an offset print run and we do a PoD option via DTRPG, and the offset print run is notably higher quality (and cheaper, but that's by the by). You put them side by side and you really notice the difference