Why no WotC M:tG and D&D crossover?

[Impeesa]

Although I question the idea of a full-on campaign setting crossover, I'm with the others above - a book (or small series of books) covering the many unique monsters of Magic would be incredibly cool, and I'd love to see it done. If the CCG R&D guys want collectible, go with the suggestion above and do one a year for each new block - after covering the old stuff, of course.

--Impeesa--

 

[blackshirt5]

I would so totally buy an Ice Age setting, a Mirage/Visions/Weatherlight setting...whatever the block after that was; and if they released the creatures I'd be all over them.

 

[I'm A Banana]

The thing that annoyed me the MOST about Magic was the collectability. I *hated* not being able to get the cards I wanted. Not so much because I wanted power, I just wanted a *theme*. Without spending hundreds of bling bling on it.

But I loved the ideas in the various cards. Playing the creatures and casting the spells would be great...

And I don't understand why it wouldn't work just because Wrath of God is an epic-level spell (for instance), but you could use it early in the game...I was under the impression that in the playing of M:tG you were assumed to be fairly high level spellcaster anyway.....

I think a wierder mechanic would be the 'lands = mana' idea....how would a D&D character get lands? How much mana would that give them? How would that define their spell list?

Not that it couldn't be done...just that either it would resemble the FFd20 Geomancer (in that the spell list changes based on the terrain), or take the Lands system out of the game. Wheras epic-level characters could maybe cast spells directly from the land under their control?

 

[SemperJase]

Originally posted by Halivar
Why doesn't WotC capitalize on M:tG's popularity to boost D&D sales?

This thread is funny compared to posts going around on the Internet during the WotC acquisition of TSR. At the time too many were complaining the would never play D&D again if WotC released a M:tG campaign world. Somehow they perceived it to be a sign of unrestrained greed. I didn't really understand the reasoning at the time. It appears others are now aware of the benefits.

Originally posted by shadow
Many D&D players would feel violated by allowing Magic elements to come into D&D, and many Magic players want nothing to do with D&D.

This is the reasoning I don't understand. Why would D&D players feel violated? They benefit by getting more source material. D&D players know that you don't have to buy every supplement that is published.

Magic players violated? Only in some juvenile "I don't want others to use my stuff" mentality. D&D supplements would not impact their game in any way.

Originally posted by Mercule
Because there would be rioting in the streets. Okay, maybe not, but it would be a bad idea.

I, personally, would lose quite a bit of faith in WotC. And I suspect I'm not alone. A D&D/M:tG crossover would be a joke, but I wouldn't be laughing.

Beyond mere assertion, give us some reasons why it would be a bad idea. Others have provided some pretty good ideas. Monster books for example. What reason is there to "lose quite a bit of faith in WotC"?

 

[Gez]

I still think a monster book would be a good marketing idea.



Also, small gazeteers detailing the various regions could be tried, as "generic campaign setting" to fit anywhere. The Homeland, Benalia, the Hurloon mountains, all these places could get a small 32 or 64 pager -- maybe WotC could try itself at the PDF business for them, selling cheap PDF gazeteers to gauge the market. Two or three of them would not be too costly to do as an experiment, and would allow to test the marketability of a full-blown campaign setting.

These gazeteers could be inserted in an existing campaign setting, or be utilized together to form their own world, at the DM's option. (After all, planewalkers don't care for geography, so we don't really know how these lands are organized in worlds and cosmologies.)

 

[redhawk]

Well, actually...

my DM has converted the "iconic" planeswalkers/characters as gods for her campaign.

So, in no particular order, we've got Serra (LG goddess of healing, good, and a bunch of other stuff like that), Radiant (LN goddess of retribution, vengeance, law, protection, etc etc etc), Freyalise (TN Wicca-type goddess of weather), Gaia (TN goddess of Taoist nature), Teferi (C god of wanderers, fools, magic, rogues, bards, song, bastards, and everything else no one else wanted), Zephid (N god of prophecy and the seas), Lim-Dol (C god of necromancy and Bad Things) and Tourach (CE god of Really Bad Dead Things).

And then there's that crazy Shiv and Keld, both of whom are bat**** insane and want to do Bad Things. Shiv is N, Keld is E. Shiv's a pyromaniac, and Keld's a mass murderer. Fun bunch.

And then we've got Eron the Relentless, who we just found out is a major PITA and the Minor God of Gluttony. Other than the name, he has virtually nothing to do with the M:tG character.

Our party consists of the grandchild of a Goddess (Radiant), the Divine Agent of another (Teferi), the Chosen Sperm-Donor of yet another (Freyalise), a wizard, a her-player-lives-in-Australia-so-we-don't-see-her-as-often-as-we'd-like dwarven swamp druid, and a really cranky planeswalking half-fire-elemental sorcerer with a fun imp familiar named Ed.

For wrestling fans, Ed is modelled visually after X-Pac. It's a strange, strange group, but we're having a ton of fun with it. Especially now that Ed is the _first_ cleric and Chosen of Eron. Too bad Ed's player moved away.

Ed is entirely too fond of hiding in barrels from the Aasimar paladin grandchild of Radiant and creating food and drink via his unique domain Chosen of Eron ability.

But I digress. You can get that M:tG feel just by taking flavor and aspects of the CCG and moving them into the RPG world. It can be done.

Redhawk, who plays the Aasimar paladin

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

it's not like the additional material in the forms of a creature book, spell and artifact book would damage the game any... It's totally non core.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

Ah but there is a very obvious reason why we haven't seen a D&D M:TG crossover yet;
A lot of D&D players turn their noses up at M:TG as being somehow beneath them, and M:TG players' eyes always glass over when you try to explain that D&D books are never packed at random and rarely appreciate in value.

 

[jeffsforehead]

Haha, I would go for this. I found the expansion worlds (Fallen Empires, Homelands, Ice Age/Alliances) to be better (or at least more interesting) thematically, than the "core world". Fallen Empires and Homelands, though, would both probably be more low-powered than the others.

Hell, I even liked the books, as horrid as they were. I was in third grade. Don't hit me.

 

[TheAntiSummit]

Magic players violated? Only in some juvenile "I don't want others to use my stuff" mentality. D&D supplements would not impact their game in any way.QUOTE]

Even though i would love to see a MtG setting, I am not sure that thats totally true. I do not doubt the greed of any company and I do not think it is above WotC to do some ridiculous tie ins, like a special limited edition card that only comes with the book, or new optional rules for cardplay included in the books, and for serious MtG fans who want that card but dont want a DnD book, thats gonna make them angry.

Now with that said, Its ironic that this thread came up because I have been creating a MtG setting for my own system and D20 simultaneously. I wasn't planning on selling it, just doing it because i thought it would be cool and maybe running a campain with it and I'll probably post it on the web somewhere. Is that gonna get me sued like someone on the first page said?

And Lastly- yeah, planeswalkers are the most powerful beings in the MtG worlds, but they didnt start out that way. You dont have to choose between converting a planeswalker or a dinky 1/1 creature. I have already created a new caster class that is basically someone on their way to becoming a planeswalker, a standard wizard in the MtG world. Lands and mana are incorporated, and instead of specializing in schools of magic DnD style, they can specialize in a color, and a spell type (summon, enchantment, sorcery...) I think its pretty cool, and i would definitely pay for a proffessional version of what I myself am doing.