TSR settings sales numbers from Ben Riggs, starting with Lankmar, Maztica, Al-Qadim and Planescape!

[Henadic Theologian]

Nah, I don't want Wizards of the Coast to re-release it. It's just too much of a risk for them as a company, for too little payout. For every CleverNickName out there who would love to have an updated Red Steel campaign setting, there are a hundred others who would scream bloody murder at them for not giving them a different, more popular setting like OA or Dark Sun, or for doing this one wrong, or for just existing as a company.

I think if Red Steel 5E is ever going to be a thing, it would have to be fan-written, like what @The Glen did with the 5E Mystara Project. Fans don't have as much of a financial risk to absorb, and they aren't expected to be infallible mind-readers.




EDIT: sorry for the rant; I pulled an all-nighter and I'm cranky. Reading through certain threads probably isn't helping my disposition, either.

If we go by OA on dmsguild it's what a Platinum seller at least. So it's still popular.

Just get don't call it OA, hire Ajit George to co-lead it, pick his team and risk completely averted. It's not hard. Radiant Citadel was practically a test run for Kara Tur and Al Qadim.

I have faith Ajit and his wife, who is of East Asian descent, can handle doing this book. No one can complain.

 

[Zardnaar]

I guess I was one of the very, very few who loved the Red Steel campaign setting. ~sigh

I like my Karameikos kingdom of adventure set but have known for a while it's not very popular along with Birthright.

No Glantri though I preferred that over Karameikos. It's probably even less popular

 

[Dire Bare]

If we go by OA on dmsguild it's what a Platinum seller at least. So it's still popular.

Just get don't call it OA, hire Ajit George to co-lead it, pick his team and risk completely averted. It's not hard. Radiant Citadel was practically a test run for Kara Tur and Al Qadim.

I have faith Ajit and his wife, who is of East Asian descent, can handle doing this book. No one can complain.

"No one can complain"??

Have you met the internet?

I do think a new OA, minus the awful title, and plus designers of Asian descent could be a very cool product. Same could be done for Al-Qadim and Maztica.

But if the new books used the original settings, they would have to be heavily re-imagined, which would set off a certain crowd. And if they used new settings, the same crowd would complain about the older settings not getting updated.

 

[Reynard]

Eastern stories settings are HUGE for Western geek media. It hasn't changed over the last 50+ years. The biggest RPG Kickstarter ever is an adaptation of a Western story about Eastern characters. WotC not doing a5E OA is just leaving money on the table. It's silly.

 

[The Glen]

Nah, I don't want Wizards of the Coast to re-release it. It's just too much of a risk for them as a company, and for too little payout. For every CleverNickName out there who would love to have an updated Red Steel campaign setting, there are a hundred others who would scream bloody murder at them for not giving them a different, more popular setting like OA or Dark Sun, or for doing this one wrong, or for just existing as a company.

I think if Red Steel 5E is ever going to be a thing, it would have to be fan-written and supported, the way @The Glen did with the 5E Mystara Project. Fans don't have as much of a financial risk to absorb, and they aren't expected to be infallible mind-readers with unlimited resources.




EDIT: sorry if I sound bitter; I pulled an all-nighter and I'm cranky. Reading through certain threads probably isn't helping my disposition, either.

EDIT: go give @The Glen some of your money if you can. The D&D 5E Mystara project is still going, and still needs artists and resources.

Problem you will have with Red Steel more than any other setting is that mechanically, it's an unholy mess. Whole concept is an entire region under the effects of three different curses, but the books contradict each other multiple times. The areas under the curse differ completely from the player's handbook and the dm's book in the same boxed set. One book says the curse is spread across not just the baronies, but the entire coast. The other book says nope, it's just the baronies. The spread of the different abilities granted by the curse aren't followed by their own sources, and the map that shows what ability goes where is useless because of the decision to just the same color ink for everything. The majority of the work to update Red Steel is going to be just trying to make something useful out of Legacies, as the entire setting suffered from TSR's insane production schedule, meaning there was little to no testing.

 

[Parmandur]

Eastern stories settings are HUGE for Western geek media. It hasn't changed over the last 50+ years. The biggest RPG Kickstarter ever is an adaptation of a Western story about Eastern characters. WotC not doing a5E OA is just leaving money on the table. It's silly.

They have been doing Asian stories: in Candlekeep Mysteries or Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel (which has like t Adian Settings in it). They will get around to a more thorough Asian-inspired full Setting with Asian creators, probably on Toril.

 

[CleverNickName]

Problem you will have with Red Steel more than any other setting is that mechanically, it's an unholy mess. Whole concept is an entire region under the effects of three different curses, but the books contradict each other multiple times. The areas under the curse differ completely from the player's handbook and the dm's book in the same boxed set. One book says the curse is spread across not just the baronies, but the entire coast. The other book says nope, it's just the baronies. The spread of the different abilities granted by the curse aren't followed by their own sources, and the map that shows what ability goes where is useless because of the decision to just the same color ink for everything. The majority of the work to update Red Steel is going to be just trying to make something useful out of Legacies, as the entire setting suffered from TSR's insane production schedule, meaning there was little to no testing.

You're not wrong. Somewhere on a thumb drive, I have a ton of conversion notes for a Red Steel 3.5E campaign setting, where Legacies were given out at 1st level as bonus feats. I don't remember how far I got with that...I think I had converted enough of them to make a playable demo, but geez, that was like 15 or 16 years ago. I also had a playable Rakasta (I built it on a Halfling chassis), and...maybe something about cinnabryl and vermeil?

It was a fun project, but I ended up shelving it when I moved to the West Coast and I never picked it back up. I imagine if I were going to adapt it to 5E, I would probably just start over. Going from the original AD&D boxed set to 5E would be easier than trying to convert my conversion...

 

[CleverNickName]

I like my Karameikos kingdom of adventure set but have known for a while it's not very popular along with Birthright.

No Glantri though I preferred that over Karameikos. It's probably even less popular

Since you're a fan, I thought I'd let you know that both Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure and Glantri: Kingdom of Magic are available in Print-on-Demand, for $16 (or $21, if you want hardcover). It doesn't have the audio CDs, alas.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Don't forget the impact of samurai media. Kurosawa's Ran came out in 1985 as well. Usagi Yojimbo first appeared in 1984. James Clavell's Shogun was published in 1975, made into a miniseries in 1980. The OA pump was well-primed.

TMNT MAN! Between that and snake eyes/storm shadow, every kid in then80s was primed for ninjas lol. I’m not even talking about all the ninja movies and tv shows geared towards adults…

 

[Zardnaar]

Since you're a fan, I thought I'd let you know that both Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure and Glantri: Kingdom of Magic are available in Print-on-Demand, for $16 (or $21, if you want hardcover). It doesn't have the audio CDs, alas.

What is this print on demand malarkey you speak of?