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.

 

[Dire Bare]

I'm always left cold when I hear folks at WotC talking about 'the brand', because as a gamer, I'm not really interacting with 'the brand'.

If you love the D&D game, would you like D&D t-shirts? Action figures? Posters? Movies? (Awesome) video games? Sure, not everybody cares about all of that. But I want it.

Part of my enjoyment of Star Wars is the many ways I can enjoy the universe. I didn't stop with the original film, I've got Star Wars geekery all over the place. Same with DC Comics and other brands I love. D&D is lagging behind the curve here, and I'm excited they are trying to catch up.

And, as stated tons of places, in this thread and elsewhere, the game itself doesn't bring in that much revenue. It's the core of the brand, without which the rest doesn't work, but it isn't a money maker. Without the "brand", there would be no game. Of course, without the game, there would be no "brand".

Basically I get the feeling that the WotC brand guys want to be the Marvel brand guys when they grow up.

Who doesn't? Marvel has been so successful recently that the entire Hollywood machine is trying to replicate their mad level of success.

The D&D team is right to want and shoot for that level of success as a brand, and I want them to do it! A D&D movie made with triple-A level budget, writers, directors and actors? Yes please!

 

[Jester David]

I don't mean to be a downer here, but are D&D stories really any good? I have only limited experience, but all the pre-made stories I've seen come out of WotC, including lost mine of Phandelver, are cheesy as hell.

Most are pretty "blah". But WotC spent fifteen years poo-pooing adventures and only releasing them because they felt they had to but not really making an effort. There were only a couple really noteworthy adventures released during all of 3e and 4e (which was when they opted to actually make some effort).

Now they're struggling to shift their focus back onto story and adventures, after slowly culling themselves of the talent that can write good adventure books. There's a learning curve. They'll only get better...

 

[Tony Vargas]

The most recent AP is centered around elemental themes and we got the genasi. A future AP could be centered around psionic themes and we'll get the psion.

AL-legal in a free pdf? That'd be hard to complain about.

 

[Guyanthalas]

I'm probably late to this party, but I think the point is relevant. I'm not going to quote or name names, people can read and make their own judgments.

Regarding our own stories, vs. the WotC stories. I have a home brew campaign going on right now that I started in 4e. I'm transitioning it to 5e. Its not FR, its not Dark sun, Grayhawk, or any other settings. Its mine. I decided demons don't exist (they are the major villain coming back in higher levels). Its mine.

My girlfriend just DM'ed her first game a few days ago. It went well. She made her own plot line, and even used the DMG to create a random dungeon and populate it with monsters. (Planar gate, she used elementals). I think she's read the dark elf trilogy, and maybe the icewind dale trilogy, but that's as close as she has ever been to Forgotten Realms. She's more likely to create a Mercedes Lackey world than any of the normal D&D settings.

At no point did WotC invade the game and make us switch to an approved campaign setting. Her new plan for a setting is entirely home brew. She loves the DMG, and loves how it helps her make her dungeons. Sure, that isn't a campaign setting, but isn't there a lot on that subject already? Isn't it mostly what we dream up anyway?

To be fair to the campaign points, its entirely possible that I did not understand the request of additional home-brew tools. At first blush it feels like you're upset they haven't solved a problem that you are having trouble articulating, but that could very well be ignorance on my part. I'd love some more insight into what you feel a good solution is, and any correction if I missed the mark entirely.

 

[Dire Bare]

And that's what I crave. The last FRCS is a decade ingame time out of date. That itself wouldn't be that much of an issue if the world didn't just go through a cataclysm supposed to give it a total overhaul. Nobody has a real picture about the state of things. I want to know how the slate looks right now.

Meh. I used to think I wanted a new, massive, FR campaign book. The updated version of the beautiful 3E version. But the more we have these discussions, the more I realize I don't really.

I would LOVE an article on the website that details the changes of the Sundering. I too am driving myself a little crazy with it all being so fuzzy. But the need for a new campaign book? Nah.

At best, I'd go for a "Sword Coast Gazetteer" that details the, well, Sword Coast and brings in some classic FR crunchy bits, gives us that Sundering update, and maybe includes a new adventure. Tie it in with the new game, like the Neverwinter guide did for the Neverwinter video game.

And I think there are more of me than there are of you. WotC has done their marketing, and I think they are delivering exactly what *most* of their fans want. Certainly not what *all* of their fans want, that's not even possible. No evidence, just my hunch.

 

[Mirtek]

More campaign settings would if everyone who is a fan of a setting didn't already own the books.

If those settings would not be out of date ingame. And an AP taking place in a subregion of a setting is actually targeting an even small niche of the customer base.

At best, I'd go for a "Sword Coast Gazetteer" that details the, well, Sword Coast

And then you'd need a Dale Lands Gazetter, a Cormyr Gazetter, a Amn Gazetter, and in the end you haven a FRCS split into 20 smaller softcover

 

[daddystabz]

I am not terribly happy overall with all this. The main issue I have is settings. I want other settings besides freaking Forgotten Realms!!! I want out of the Realms. I want to play in Ravenloft, Dark Sun, Birthright, Greyhawk, etc!

 

[Halivar]

I want to play in Ravenloft, Dark Sun, Birthright, Greyhawk, etc!

Why aren't you? With the exception of Dark Sun, you have all the crunch you need to run those settings in 5E.

 

[Morrus]

I am not terribly happy overall with all this. The main issue I have is settings. I want other settings besides freaking Forgotten Realms!!! I want out of the Realms. I want to play in Ravenloft, Dark Sun, Birthright, Greyhawk, etc!

I'm the opposite. I don't want the same material retrod over and over again - repetition bores me. I want new settings, not endless reruns of old ones.

 

[Trickster Spirit]

If those settings would not be out of date ingame. And an AP taking place in a subregion of a setting is actually targeting an even small niche of the customer base.

Is it though? Or is it targeting a far larger portion of the customer base? A campaign setting only appeals to those interested in running that campaign setting, or those who are creating their own setting and want to mine it for ideas. An adventure path on the other hand, appeals to those who are looking to run that adventure, or those who are creating their own adventures and want to mine it for ideas.

The thing is, a new DM can easily run a D&D campaign completely ignoring "setting" altogether - you just go with the default assumptions of a vaguely medieval world with magic and all the races in the PHB, and make up place-names on the spot. New DMs won't really have a grasp of how to wing their adventures, though - that's a skill that even a lot of experienced DMs haven't really honed.

So while you and I might not have any really interest in an AP, I'm thinking there are a lot more groups looking to have a campaign outline handed to them than there are ones interested in the Forgotten Realms (or Eberron, or Dark Sun, or Planescape, etc.).