Unearthed Arcana semi-officially confirmed

[Maggan]

Quote from the DMG web enhancement:

"David Noonan, a game designer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. was one of the developers of the revised DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide. His other work includes Manual of the Planes, Stronghold Builder’s Guidebook, and the forthcoming Unearthed Arcana."

So the cat tries to get out of the bag once again.

Cheers!

Maggan

 

[johnsemlak]

Thanks for the scoop Maggan!

 

[Mythtify]

I wonder how much of it will be "unearthed" from previous books( think dmg 3.5), or actual new material.

 

[bolen]

The first one was reprints from dragon magazine. I wonder if this will be the same.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

I wouldn't object to that, as long as much of the material was new as well.

 

[Enceladus]

What's supposed to be in it?

 

[JoeGKushner]

Reprints of Dragon you say?

I think that if it is reprinted material from Dragon, that's not necessarily a bad thing as it'll update it to 3.5 and collect it in an easy to access format. I know I get tired of flipping through magaiznes looking for PrCs and my days of xeroxing everything under the sun are way over. I'll pay for material updated to 3.5, collected in a full color hardback that's logically organized by subject.

 

[Ezrael]

Am I entirely too much of a 1st Edition fanboy if I want them to bring back that huge series of polearms in the back of the original UA? I remember saying "Oh, that's what a bec de corbin looks like" when I first saw it.

If it is reprints of Dragon articles updated to 3.5, I find myself wondering what *kind* of articles it would be. There's a lot there to reprint.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I would find it truly astonishing if they were to release something with a name so similar to Monte's product. If the agreement was made for Monte to use the name he has (Arcana Unearthed), then for them to pick up and use an old name which can be so easily mistaken seems bad. I'd not have thought it would even be legal.

Watches with interest.

 

[Ezrael]

I can't see how it could be illegal. It's legal to release two unrelated books with similar titles...DC comics can't sue Pocket Books for releasing Man and Superman, as an example. Since WOTC owns the old TSR stuff, and since Unearthed Arcana was definitely an old TSR product, they're fine legally. Monte could have released Arcana Unearthed without asking them, but he chose to do so, which was probably a smart move on his part.

To some degree, it reminds me of how the Tome of Horrors got undercut by the release of the new Fiend Folio, but it's not illegal.