D&D 5E (2014) The RPG or the Brand?

[Mishihari Lord]

Looking at the popular geek franchises mentioned, they all have something that D&D lacks: strong, recognizable characters. The only character that comes close is Drizzt Dourden, and there's enough hate for him among the existing fanbase that he's probably not feasible as the main star. And I don't think there will ever be such characters. RPGs are about playing your own characters, not about following someone else's story.

 

[Morrus]

Looking at the popular geek franchises mentioned, they all have something that D&D lacks: strong, recognizable characters. The only character that comes close is Drizzt Dourden, and there's enough hate for him among the existing fanbase that he's probably not feasible as the main star. And I don't think there will ever be such characters. RPGs are about playing your own characters, not about following someone else's story.

Elminster, Raistlin, Drizzt, Vecna, von Zarovich, Tiamat, Lloth, Soth ... there's plenty. Lots of D&D books hit the bestseller charts over the years; people read them. Who knew about about Star Lord before GotG? I didn't! I didn't even really know about Iron Man before Marvel lucked out with Robert Downey Jr., which is what launched their current trajectory. I'd never heard of Black Widow or Hawkeye.

And those are pre-existing characters. It's perfectly possible to launch and succeed with a brand new character. All characters were new once. Jason Bourne was brand new. So was Jack Bauer. Felicity Smoak is a new DC character launched by the Arrow show, and now in the comics.

Luck and marketing. Though I might have said that a few times already....

 

[Halivar]

Luck and marketing. Though I might have said that a few times already....

Marvel must have a sizeable Luck Department; the hits just don't stop with those guys...

 

[Greatwyrm]

I think they leave a lot of money on the table not using Magic: the Gathering as a gateway game to D&D. I've heard all the stuff about brand dilution and people flipping out about crossing the streams in gamedom -- CCG and RPG players forever unable to live in peace. But if they could get a fraction of MtG players turned into D&D fans, it would be huge.

MtG is a core brand for Hasbro. That means they look at it the same way they do NERF or Transformers or My Little Pony. It's a big deal. Make a MtG Monster Manual and an adventure guide that takes you on a walking tour of the more popular planes. Try to get a slice of that.

 

[Eric V]

Marvel must have a sizeable Luck Department; the hits just don't stop with those guys...

Disney makes sure great stories get told.

 

[Eric V]

I sort of think a live action DL Chronicles would be a great film trilogy, no? War, magic, romance, family issues, betrayal, comedy...

 

[weldon]

Luck and marketing.

I don't see luck having much to do with building brands. Can you give an example of the kind of luck you are talking about?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Looking at the popular geek franchises mentioned, they all have something that D&D lacks: strong, recognizable characters. The only character that comes close is Drizzt Dourden, and there's enough hate for him among the existing fanbase that he's probably not feasible as the main star. And I don't think there will ever be such characters. RPGs are about playing your own characters, not about following someone else's story.

This is a good insight, but note that narratives can be driven by organizations as well as characters. Men In Black, for example, stands independent of Agent J and Agent K.

I bet most Star Wars fans are less interested in becoming Luke than in joining the Rebel Alliance/the Empire.

Maybe you could do a movie like Tale of the Wayfarer: an immortal, amoral human assassin (Twilight Jack) and an elven bionoid (Reanyn the Wayfarer) outcast ex-IEN officer in a race for an abandoned super weapon from the beholder wars...

 

[weldon]

I don't follow the novels really. Anyone have any sense of how big a business this is?

I see they published 7 D&D novels in 2014. How much do you think those contributed to the D&D business?

I looked up as much as I could find about best sellers on the NYT list and Amazon and I'd guess that the novels contribute less than $1M in gross revenue and profits are probably slim.

 

[aramis erak]

We've had a lot of discussion about the release schedule for D&D and if this will be successful for the business and the players. I'm really curious about how the brand fares over the next couple years.

These are the things I keep mulling over:

• D&D has not grown in popularity as much as other "geeky" brands like superheroes and LOTR/Hobbit. (according to WotC?)
• The RPG team wants to bring in new players
• The new D&D team is focused on creating compelling stories, not lots of products (splatbooks, etc.)
• The new products are focused on big storylines that run through the RPG, MMO, comics, etc.
• Boys buy toys with strong narrative elements (according to LEGO group)
• Superheroes and LOTR/Hobbit are based on properties with strong narrative

I don't really have any good info here, but I imagine that D&D is a $10M business. Feel free to correct me if I'm way off, but the size of the team, the size of WotC, the size of D&D compared to Magic, common wisdom of $150k+ revenue per employee, etc. put me in this ballpark.

$150K? I doubt they get that much. I expect the average WotC staffer (and Linkedin lists WotC as 200-500 employees) makes maybe $30K, with the top few making $60K... $41K, by the way, is roughly $20/hour, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. At present, over twice the poverty line, and lower end of middle class. Union Journeymen often make more, but not always.