WotC's Nathan Stewart: "Story, Story, Story"; and IS D&D a Tabletop Game?

Forbes spoke to WotC's Brand Director & Executive Producer for Dungeons & Dragons, who talked about the 5th Edition launch and his vision for D&D's future. The interview is fairly interesting - it confirms or repeats some information we already know, and also delves a little into the topic of D&D as a wider brand, rather than as a tabletop roleplaying game.

In the interview, he reiterates previous statements that this is the biggest D&D launch ever, in terms of both money and units sold.

[lq]We are story, story, story. The story drives everything.[/lq]

He repeats WoTC's emphasis on storylines, confirming the 1-2 stories per year philosphy. "We are story, story, story. The story drives everything. The need for new rules, the new races, new classes is just based on what’s going to really make this adventure, this story, this kind kind of theme happen." He goes on to say that "We’re not interested in putting out more books for books’ sake... there’s zero plans for a Player’s Handbook 2 any time on the horizon."

As for settings, he confirms that "we’re going to stay in the Forgotten Realms for the foreseeable future." That'll disappoint some folks, I'm sure, but it is their biggest setting, commercially.

Stewart is not "a hundred percent comfortable" with the status of digital tools because he felt like "we took a great step backwards."

[lq]Dungeons and Dragons stopped being a tabletop game years or decades ago. [/lq]

His thoughts on D&D's identity are interesting, too. He mentions that "Dungeons and Dragons stopped being a tabletop game years or decades ago". I'm not sure what that means. His view for the future of the brand includes video games, movies, action figures, and more: "This is no secret for anyone here, but the big thing I want to see is just a triple-A RPG video game. I want to see Baldur’s Gate 3, I want to see a huge open-world RPG. I would love movies about Dungeons and Dragons, or better yet, serialized entertainment where we’re doing seasons of D&D stories and things like Forgotten Realms action figures… of course I’d love that, I’m the biggest geek there is. But at the end of the day, the game’s what we’re missing in the portfolio."

You can read the full interview here.

 

[Jester David]

As for the game itself, they have stuck with their "two stories a year" plan, but they seem to have woken up to the fact that we homebrewers were not getting much out of that plan; hence Volo's and the upcoming book-that-ABSOLUTELY-IS-NOT-a-Player's-Handbook-2.

I don't think their plan changed or they're increasing their rate of book releases. They've done one book that is not an adventure each year: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Volo's Guide to Monsters, and whatever mechanical expansion they're doing for 2017.

All in all, I'd say Stewart's interview doesn't come off very well today. Yes, 5E was a tremendous smashing success, but not because of the brand or the stories or the tie-ins. It was a success because they built a damn good game. Now they are faced with the same challenge as every edition before them: How do you keep selling books once everyone has the new PHB? And they are quietly edging back toward the one solution that works: Splatbooks.

Planning one accessory that includes subclasses doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a 3e era splatbook. It could be 1/2 subclasses and 1/2 something else entirely, like SCAG is subclasses and world guide and VGtM is monster lore, monsters, and PC races.
And it certainly doesn't mean they're planning more after. At Gamehole Con, less than a month ago, Mearls reiterated that he wanted fewer new classes and class options and that races were going to be how they added new options.
We may only get 4-6 new options for each class. That's like 4 pages per class. Keep in mind that all four class we've seen so far take up all of twelve pages. All the classes will fill 36 pages. Doubling that number is only 72 pages. A third of a 256-page book....

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

I'm pretty pleased with the direction D&D is going at the moment. I would like to see some shorter adventures published though, preferably tying into the bigger story arcs.

This used to be the domain of Dungeon magazine. That role is now being filled by Adventurer's League and the DM's Guild. Lower quality (especially for the price of the AL modules), IMO, but readily available.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't think their plan changed or they're increasing their rate of book releases. They've done one book that is not an adventure each year: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Volo's Guide to Monsters, and whatever mechanical expansion they're doing for 2017.


Planning one accessory that includes subclasses doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a 3e era splatbook. It could be 1/2 subclasses and 1/2 something else entirely, like SCAG is subclasses and world guide and VGtM is monster lore, monsters, and PC races.
And it certainly doesn't mean they're planning more after. At Gamehole Con, less than a month ago, Mearls reiterated that he wanted fewer new classes and class options and that races were going to be how they added new options.
We may only get 4-6 new options for each class. That's like 4 pages per class. Keep in mind that all four class we've seen so far take up all of twelve pages. All the classes will fill 36 pages. Doubling that number is only 72 pages. A third of a 256-page book....

Yeah, between what they are doing in UA now, and have done previously, and several new classes...probably not much past 50 pages.

Not sure still why people are so confident that the movie will fail; Warner Bros. is throwing major resources at this, could go either way, easy.

 

[Uchawi]

I believe they can maintain the pace of 2 adventures, supplements, or whatever else you call it per year as long as there is not major competition. If there is a new breakout RPG and players want something new, then progress forward will diminish or stop. At that point they will have to decide if investing in more rules, etc. is worth it. I believe that is the biggest change in reference to the current version of D&D, versus predecessors, i.e. the lack of competition or something new to draw players away. Regardless, story is always important.

 

[Jester David]

Not sure still why people are so confident that the movie will fail; Warner Bros. is throwing major resources at this, could go either way, easy.

Because it failed the last time they tried a theatrical release.
But... you could say the same thing about, oh, Lemony Snickey's A Series of Unfortunate Events or The Golden Compass/ His Dark Materials, Daredevil, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a myriad other properties that produced a terrible first adaptation.

(Ironically, of the ones I grabbed, looking back they're all now TV series...)

Anyhoo... WB wants another franchise so bad they can taste it. They'll want to throw money at it, like Harry Potter. I thought for sure Fantastic Beasts would fail as well, but that seems to be doing very well. Because they're a film studio company that wants another hit franchise they can control to compete with Disney.

 

[Parmandur]

Because it failed the last time they tried a theatrical release.
But... you could say the same thing about, oh, Lemony Snickey's A Series of Unfortunate Events or The Golden Compass/ His Dark Materials, Daredevil, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a myriad other properties that produced a terrible first adaptation.

(Ironically, of the ones I grabbed, looking back they're all now TV series...)

Anyhoo... WB wants another franchise so bad they can taste it. They'll want to throw money at it, like Harry Potter. I thought for sure Fantastic Beasts would fail as well, but that seems to be doing very well. Because they're a film studio company that wants another hit franchise they can control to compete with Disney.

Good point about Fantastic Beasts; between Harry Potter and Tolkien flicks, Warner Bros is the premiere fantasy film studio: institutional knowledge there. The film-makers have been involved in an array of movies, some bad, some good, some fantastic: but at any rate, they are experienced professionals. Way too early to say where this will go, but I am intrigues.

 

[Lanliss]

Because it failed the last time they tried a theatrical release.
But... you could say the same thing about, oh, Lemony Snickey's A Series of Unfortunate Events or The Golden Compass/ His Dark Materials, Daredevil, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a myriad other properties that produced a terrible first adaptation.

(Ironically, of the ones I grabbed, looking back they're all now TV series...)

Anyhoo... WB wants another franchise so bad they can taste it. They'll want to throw money at it, like Harry Potter. I thought for sure Fantastic Beasts would fail as well, but that seems to be doing very well. Because they're a film studio company that wants another hit franchise they can control to compete with Disney.

Wait, golden compass got a tv series? When, and how did I not know?

EDIT: Never mind, I looked it up. Mildly disappointed I cannot watch it immediately.

 

[Jester David]

Good point about Fantastic Beasts; between Harry Potter and Tolkien flicks, Warner Bros is the premiere fantasy film studio: institutional knowledge there. The film-makers have been involved in an array of movies, some bad, some good, some fantastic: but at any rate, they are experienced professionals. Way too early to say where this will go, but I am intrigues.

Exactly.
There's a lot of people with superhero fatigue. I'm not one, but do think some diversity among franchises would be nice. Rather than lots of DC Universe movies, Warner Brothers could have fewer of those and more fantasy and Potter. Which leaves Marvel more room as well. Everyone wins.

Really, if the WB could have regular new Tolkien films, they would. They'd love that. But they can't, and Christopher Tolkien ain't giving them the rights to the Silmarillion anytime soon. (Until he dies anyway, and the WB backs up a dump truck full of money to the next literary executor.)
In the meantime, a D&D franchise is just as good. They can make as many of then as they want for as long as they want.

Wait, golden compass got a tv series? When, and how did I not know?

EDIT: Never mind, I looked it up. Mildly disappointed I cannot watch it immediately.

Sorry I got your hopes up.
But it's coming!

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Read it through the filter of the High Church of Marketing (he is, after all, the Brand Manager), and the meaning is clearer: D&D isn't a tabletop game, it's a brand. The tabletop game is one expression of that brand - it's "spiritual core," in the interview. But the tabletop game isn't all of D&D - that would imply that people who play the D&D videogames or who enjoy a D&D movie or a D&D TV show aren't "part of D&D," and they would be, when you look at the world through Brand-colored glasses, because they're spending money on D&D things.

I do like that he mentioned that he wants digital tools to help enhance the tabletop experience, that was an interesting statement. And from the biz perspective, "the best launch we've ever had" speaks pretty highly of 5e's success.

But Nathan Stewart is a brand dude, so he'll see the thing through those glasses. Those are the glasses he is paid to wear.

He is 100% right, so that helps. It's also more than a brand, though, and I think that is what he actually was saying.

DnD is a cultural icon. Has been for most of it's life, but these days more so than ever before.

Its not "brand colored glasses", it's just the plain truth.

People who play DnD video games are part of DnD. Just as much as people who only play the ttrpg. And people who love the DnD novels. And if there springs up a DnD movie or tv show fandom someday, they will be just as much part of DnD, as well.

 

[guachi]

I find the "story, story, story" push depressing. It's probably why I've purchased zero of the big adventures for 5e.

It's like I'm just playing a computer game where the entire story and conclusion have been pre-chosen by someone else.

And also because i find a big hardback to be a poor choice of format to run an adventure from as a DM.

Also, also - I really hate the Forgotten Realms. So much "lore" it makes me feel like I'm not playing in a world where the PCs are primary. I care not a whit for anything that's happened in the Realms and any of the explanations for why stuff has changed to fit the rules.

It's an RPG not some poorly written comic. I always thought there should be a separation between what happened in the books and what happened in the setting itself. That the books should be an example of the adventures you could have yourself and not that the events and characters, like Drizzt, actually exist.