Wizards Fall Catalogue

[lockdar]

Yeah -- these days, one book a month IS a trickle; regular splats is the norm for most companies over a certain size, that I can see.

I think it's rather the fact that they are releasing a whole new edition and simply want several books on the shelves for all their players. This way you get alot of new info out and give the game more depth.
I assume that in 2009 this will change.

 

[Frostmarrow]

There are also a smattering of adventures and they are re-releasing the entire Prism Pentad novel set.

I'd like to hear more about this smattering...

 

[amethal]

I really dislike the fact they're releasing a book-a-month. I think that's too much, and - if I may be so melodramatic - will kill 4E just like the glut of splat killed 3E.

The heart of 3rd edition is still beating.

 

[Vradna]

The fact that, in today's market, that model won't support the game.

It's a simple fact--regular sourcebooks make the line profitable. A primary focus on adventures does not.

I was going to disagree with this and quote examples of Paizo and Goodman Games, but given that D&D4E is purportedly easier to run and minimises prep time, I can see that this edition of D&D does not necessarily need the support of published adventures. So I will admit that your statement is a true-ism: Today's market, that model will not support the game. Regular sourcebooks make the line profitable (emphasis mine).

I will still say that if regular sourcebooks are the only way to make today's line profitable, I believe that any edition will become so bent outta shape with player options and changes that any edition of D&D will have a time limit.

 

[Khairn]

I consider the FRCS to be one of the best books published for 3E. But I noticed that the 4E FRPG is only 160 pages, compared to the 320 in the FRCS. Is there another 4E FR book being released that I'm missing?

 

[Irda Ranger]

I consider the FRCS to be one of the best books published for 3E. But I noticed that the 4E FRPG is only 160 pages, compared to the 320 in the FRCS. Is there another 4E FR book being released that I'm missing?

FR Players Guide vs. FR Campaign Setting (aka, FR DM's Guide). Two different books.

I really dislike the fact they're releasing a book-a-month. I think that's too much, and - if I may be so melodramatic - will kill 4E just like the glut of splat killed 3E.

Splats didn't kill 3.5 for me because I never bought them. Resist the urge.

I like the option to buy them though. You never know which of the 12 books they release in a year will be the perfect supplement for your particular campaign.

 

[Dausuul]

I really dislike the fact they're releasing a book-a-month. I think that's too much, and - if I may be so melodramatic - will kill 4E just like the glut of splat killed 3E.

Splat didn't kill 3E. Old age did. 3E had a very successful run, but there comes a point when the flaws and limitations of any given edition become so glaringly apparent that it's time to move on. The same thing will happen to 4E eventually.

I was going to disagree with this and quote examples of Paizo and Goodman Games, but given that D&D4E is purportedly easier to run and minimises prep time, I can see that this edition of D&D does not necessarily need the support of published adventures. So I will admit that your statement is a true-ism: Today's market, that model will not support the game. Regular sourcebooks make the line profitable (emphasis mine).

Paizo and Goodman Games are tiny companies serving niche markets. One of the lessons of TSR was that published adventures sell to much smaller audiences than general-use sourcebooks. A company like Paizo can sustain itself on that revenue stream; a company like Wizards of the Coast (or even WotC's RPG division) cannot.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I was going to disagree with this and quote examples of Paizo and Goodman Games, but given that D&D4E is purportedly easier to run and minimises prep time, I can see that this edition of D&D does not necessarily need the support of published adventures. So I will admit that your statement is a true-ism: Today's market, that model will not support the game. Regular sourcebooks make the line profitable (emphasis mine).

I will still say that if regular sourcebooks are the only way to make today's line profitable, I believe that any edition will become so bent outta shape with player options and changes that any edition of D&D will have a time limit.

This has nothing to do with 4E. The same was true of 3E, and 2E for that matter.

Paizo and Goodman are tiny. They need a far lower profit margin to be considered successful. But the D&D game itself, under TSR and then WotC, hasn't been able to survive on adventures since mid-1E. 2E tried to make up for it with campaign settings, and we saw what happened there. 3E did so with sourcebooks, and proved that sourcebooks sell, on average, better than anything else.

 

[Irda Ranger]

I am really hoping the Brown Dragon is a traditional; big, flying monster that breathes fire, eats sheep and farmers and has the intelligence of a animal kind of Dragon.

The owlbear of Dragons. I can dig that.

As for the Grey Dragon, my mind went instantly to fog. I can just imagine a Grey Dragon residing within or creating rolling banks of fog.

Wheres mine went to Stone Giants and Duergar. I'm thinking granite. The unfeeling weight of ages; the patience of mountains. To me the Grey Dragon could be thought of as the Stone Dragon; the chromatic version of the Iron Dragon. Basic. Tough. A sleeping Grey Dragon was mistaken for a granite outcropping once and a town was built on it.

As for Purple, nothing much popped instantly into my head

Me neither. As a color I'm fine with it, but nothing really comes to mind, thematically. Maybe subterranean? I don't think it will be plane-hopping though. Dragons seem pretty closely tied to "the World." And if there were going to be a planar dwelling Dragon I would expect it to arrive in the Manual of the Planes.

I think this is the Underdark Dragon. It eats Purple Worms like an sparrow eats earth worms. It is completely immune to Mind Blast, a defense earned through generations of territorial disputes with Mind Flayers. It still has wings, but it uses them more like a bat does to cling to cavern roofs.

 

[Voss]

WotC needs to seriously think about its price points. I'm not terribly enthused by any of these, and I don't know if I'll want a slew of new powers for half the classes after 3 months. I guess I'll flip through the martial and treasure books and see if there is enough worthwhile material to justify the cost, but on the whole, these books seem uninspired.