Eberron=Core in 4E? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Eberron=Core in 4E? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
18DELTA
04-30-08, 10:10 PM -Ampersand (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dramp/20080430)
You may have noticed that my column is a little late this month. That's because things have been even crazier as we get closer and closer to the launch of D&D 4th Edition. I spent a lot of this past month on the road. It started in early April with a trip to I-CON at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. Mike Mearls and I gave a 4E Preview Seminar to a packed hall, ran a bunch of demos, and talked to very enthusiastic fans. We had a wonderful time, met lots of wonderful people, and had a lot of fun showing off the new game system.

Then I traveled to Los Angeles with The Rouse and Chris Youngs, to hold a series of press conferences with various media outlets including the gang from G4's MMO Report. We talked all about 4th Edition, including the physical products and the digital offerings, and showed off the latest versions of the D&D Game Table and D&D Character Visualizer. These components are getting closer and closer to completion with each iteration, and I can't wait to start playing for real with the release versions. Soon, soon.

Finally, last week I was at the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas, showing off the first production copies of the three core rulebooks (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual), H1: Keep on the Shadowfell, and the new D&D Dungeon Master's Screen. I'm happy with the finished products, and everyone who came by and spoke to me seemed enthusiastic and excited as well.

This month, I also ordered the D&D Insider team to ramp up the preview content and show off the system. We've been releasing artwork and key sections of the core rulebooks three times a week, and the response continues to be great. We're closing in on D&D 4E Release Day (June 6th) and D&D Game Day (June 7th) -- and I can't wait for the products to hit the stores and for people to start playing! Soon, soon.

Campaign Settings
I wanted to take a few moments to clarify what I said at GTS last week. In regards to campaign settings, our goal for this edition is to make each setting we release unique and exciting on its own while still making it usable in any D&D campaign. Now, what exactly does that mean?

You wouldn't believe how many times over the years I've heard people say "I play in [insert favorite campaign setting here] so product X is of no use to me," or "I only play Core D&D (whatever that means) so I can't use that [insert campaign setting here] product." I plan to change that under 4th Edition by getting the word out that it's okay to mix and match. Go ahead. Get peanut butter in the chocolate. Some of the best campaigns I ever ran or had the pleasure to play in had a little bit of [insert campaign setting here] mixed with a smattering of [insert other campaign setting here] and combined all that with homebrew ideas to create something totally new and different.

So under 4th Edition, we're making every product look like a core product. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide releasing in August, for example, is a separate and unique setting on one hand, while being totally core D&D on the other. That means you can play a strictly Forgotten Realms campaign, or you can borrow the bits you like best to use in whatever D&D campaign you're playing in. This has always been true, but you wouldn't believe how many players were reluctant to cross the streams like that. I say cross away! (At least as far as your personal campaigns are concerned.) Why not use the best ideas, powers, feats, monsters, villains, and plot hooks from any product -- regardless of the campaign world your game is set in?

This means we won't be producing campaign lines, per se. For the Forgotten Realms, for example, you'll get the Campaign Guide, Player's Guide, and an adventure as physical products, as well as our ongoing line of bestselling novels, and plenty of ongoing support via D&D Insider. If a product idea comes along later that makes sense, we'll do it, but there won't be an ongoing regular release schedule of Forgotten Realms game products. Why not? Because every D&D product we do is a Forgotten Realms [or insert your favorite campaign setting here] game product. This is a subtle but significant change in philosophy geared toward making all players D&D players. It just makes the products and the brand stronger if every player is using the same material.

This is significantly different than what has occurred in the past. We won't be making the mistakes of line proliferation that helped sink TSR, and we won't be actively segmenting our audience. Instead we'll be providing all kinds of options and ideas through the core line of D&D RPG products. It's all D&D, all the time.

The model described above will be used every year, and we'll focus on a different campaign setting. Next year, we'll give this treatment to Eberron. After that? Well, we'll be exploring the best worlds from our vault, as well as creating new worlds as warranted. I can't guarantee which worlds will see this treatment as of yet, but chances are that your favorite campaign setting is on my list for consideration. And for all of them, in addition to the physical products we do, you'll see novels and novel lines (as appropriate), and ongoing support that continues to explore the worlds through D&D Insider. This plan makes D&D stronger, without sacrificing the heart of any campaign setting.

Next month… H1: Keep on the Shadowfell releases, complete with D&D Quick Start Rules and ready-to-play characters. Everyone will be able to start playing 4E!

Keep playing!
--Bill Slavicsek

About the Author

Bill Slavicsek is the R&D Director for Roleplaying Games, Miniatures, and Book Publishing at Wizards of the Coast. All of the game designers, developers, editors, book editors, and D&D Insider content managers working on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, and the WotC Publishing Group report into Bill's R&D team.
-So that means I can have Warforged in my Realms! One Core to Rule them ALL!

18D:eek:
Mystrich
05-01-08, 02:53 AM -So that means I can have Warforged in my Realms! One Core to Rule them ALL!
They're in the Monster Manual anyway, so you could. But this also means Elminster is in Eberron.
But I think this is more of what we were already seeing in some more recent books.
Stats, then a paragraph on where it can fit in in Eberron and Forgotten Realms.
Edymnion
05-01-08, 12:18 PM Yes, 4e apparently is going with the "We don't want to print any more niche market books than we absolutely freaking have to, so we're making everything so generic that they won't be needed."
Arcane Guyver
05-01-08, 02:45 PM I'm guessing from this that if a player wants to play as a drow in Eberron, he'll have to pick up the FR Player's Guide.

Here's hoping they keep the "[This Game Piece] in Eberron" stuff online, rather than cluttering up the books.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
18DELTA 04-30-08, 10:10 PM	-Ampersand (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dramp/20080430) You may have noticed that my column is a little late this month. That's because things have been even crazier as we get closer and closer to the launch of D&D 4th Edition. I spent a lot of this past month on the road. It started in early April with a trip to I-CON at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. Mike Mearls and I gave a 4E Preview Seminar to a packed hall, ran a bunch of demos, and talked to very enthusiastic fans. We had a wonderful time, met lots of wonderful people, and had a lot of fun showing off the new game system. Then I traveled to Los Angeles with The Rouse and Chris Youngs, to hold a series of press conferences with various media outlets including the gang from G4's MMO Report. We talked all about 4th Edition, including the physical products and the digital offerings, and showed off the latest versions of the D&D Game Table and D&D Character Visualizer. These components are getting closer and closer to completion with each iteration, and I can't wait to start playing for real with the release versions. Soon, soon. Finally, last week I was at the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas, showing off the first production copies of the three core rulebooks (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual), H1: Keep on the Shadowfell, and the new D&D Dungeon Master's Screen. I'm happy with the finished products, and everyone who came by and spoke to me seemed enthusiastic and excited as well. This month, I also ordered the D&D Insider team to ramp up the preview content and show off the system. We've been releasing artwork and key sections of the core rulebooks three times a week, and the response continues to be great. We're closing in on D&D 4E Release Day (June 6th) and D&D Game Day (June 7th) -- and I can't wait for the products to hit the stores and for people to start playing! Soon, soon. Campaign Settings I wanted to take a few moments to clarify what I said at GTS last week. In regards to campaign settings, our goal for this edition is to make each setting we release unique and exciting on its own while still making it usable in any D&D campaign. Now, what exactly does that mean? You wouldn't believe how many times over the years I've heard people say "I play in [insert favorite campaign setting here] so product X is of no use to me," or "I only play Core D&D (whatever that means) so I can't use that [insert campaign setting here] product." I plan to change that under 4th Edition by getting the word out that it's okay to mix and match. Go ahead. Get peanut butter in the chocolate. Some of the best campaigns I ever ran or had the pleasure to play in had a little bit of [insert campaign setting here] mixed with a smattering of [insert other campaign setting here] and combined all that with homebrew ideas to create something totally new and different. So under 4th Edition, we're making every product look like a core product. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide releasing in August, for example, is a separate and unique setting on one hand, while being totally core D&D on the other. That means you can play a strictly Forgotten Realms campaign, or you can borrow the bits you like best to use in whatever D&D campaign you're playing in. This has always been true, but you wouldn't believe how many players were reluctant to cross the streams like that. I say cross away! (At least as far as your personal campaigns are concerned.) Why not use the best ideas, powers, feats, monsters, villains, and plot hooks from any product -- regardless of the campaign world your game is set in? This means we won't be producing campaign lines, per se. For the Forgotten Realms, for example, you'll get the Campaign Guide, Player's Guide, and an adventure as physical products, as well as our ongoing line of bestselling novels, and plenty of ongoing support via D&D Insider. If a product idea comes along later that makes sense, we'll do it, but there won't be an ongoing regular release schedule of Forgotten Realms game products. Why not? Because every D&D product we do is a Forgotten Realms [or insert your favorite campaign setting here] game product. This is a subtle but significant change in philosophy geared toward making all players D&D players. It just makes the products and the brand stronger if every player is using the same material. This is significantly different than what has occurred in the past. We won't be making the mistakes of line proliferation that helped sink TSR, and we won't be actively segmenting our audience. Instead we'll be providing all kinds of options and ideas through the core line of D&D RPG products. It's all D&D, all the time. The model described above will be used every year, and we'll focus on a different campaign setting. Next year, we'll give this treatment to Eberron. After that? Well, we'll be exploring the best worlds from our vault, as well as creating new worlds as warranted. I can't guarantee which worlds will see this treatment as of yet, but chances are that your favorite campaign setting is on my list for consideration. And for all of them, in addition to the physical products we do, you'll see novels and novel lines (as appropriate), and ongoing support that continues to explore the worlds through D&D Insider. This plan makes D&D stronger, without sacrificing the heart of any campaign setting. Next month… H1: Keep on the Shadowfell releases, complete with D&D Quick Start Rules and ready-to-play characters. Everyone will be able to start playing 4E! Keep playing! --Bill Slavicsek About the Author Bill Slavicsek is the R&D Director for Roleplaying Games, Miniatures, and Book Publishing at Wizards of the Coast. All of the game designers, developers, editors, book editors, and D&D Insider content managers working on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, and the WotC Publishing Group report into Bill's R&D team. -So that means I can have Warforged in my Realms! One Core to Rule them ALL! 18D:eek:
Mystrich 05-01-08, 02:53 AM	-So that means I can have Warforged in my Realms! One Core to Rule them ALL! They're in the Monster Manual anyway, so you could. But this also means Elminster is in Eberron. But I think this is more of what we were already seeing in some more recent books. Stats, then a paragraph on where it can fit in in Eberron and Forgotten Realms.
Edymnion 05-01-08, 12:18 PM	Yes, 4e apparently is going with the "We don't want to print any more niche market books than we absolutely freaking have to, so we're making everything so generic that they won't be needed."
Arcane Guyver 05-01-08, 02:45 PM	I'm guessing from this that if a player wants to play as a drow in Eberron, he'll have to pick up the FR Player's Guide. Here's hoping they keep the "[This Game Piece] in Eberron" stuff online, rather than cluttering up the books.