Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 JohnLynch Jan 28, 2010 17:54:01	I was surprised not to see any threads on D&D Experience, so here's new information I could find from the con and WotC's website. Martial Power 2 1 Fighter build 2 ranger builds 1 rogue build 2 warlord builds Psionic Power Coming in august one new build for each psionic class. Hammerfast Poster map of the town Vor Rukoth RT @criticalhits: July- Vor Rukoth. Like Hammerfast, more Paragon-focused. Ruins of Tiefling city, east of Nentir Vale. Extraplanar bad guys Demonomicon Demonicon in July details Demon Lords history of Abyss "make it adventurable" Encounter tables Miniatures Orcus coming in June for 74.99 and very limited quantity In addition to Orcus we also have one huge set (Lords of Madness), and a surprise. No news on next year. If we have lords of madness at GenCon, it will be very limited. Streets of Shadow has been canceled. Minis set has been upped from 40 to 60. We won't be doing a whole set of just Dark Sun minis but expect to see Dark Sun themed minis in future minis releases Castle Ravenloft Board Game Mearls: The basic idea for castle ravenloft - if you are hanging out with friends, but you don't want to launch into a 4 hour d&d session then this is for you. Looked at games like space hulk and pandemic Cooperative game, the players are constantly on the edge of defeat - really tense, surrounded by undead, get through the crypts and get to your goal Castle Ravenloft game should last about an hour. Different goals per game, such as retrieve the holy symbol of ravenloft, or defeat Strahd comes with 42 minis including characters and monsters. Miniatures are not painted. Sheets of tiles for a modular board game experience cards for monsters/traps/events that are flipped over as you go through the crypts/castle A very fast paced, very hectic, rising sense of horror from this board game. Minis are reprints of existing D&D miniatures. "A nice big heavy box - you're getting a lot in there" Will get DDI support Dungeons of Dragonfire Mountain Another board game in November. We looked a the Castle Ravenloft boardgame, the core system. Shares the same basic mechanics but with different twists. Still a fast paced dungeon crawl adventure, different theme/different hooks. As both board games are modular tiles, you can combine both Designed for 1–5 players, this boardgame features multiple scenarios, challenging quests, and cooperative game play. 42 plastic heroes and monsters 13 sheets of interlocking cardstock dungeon tiles 200 encounter cards and treasure cards Has the Rulebook Has a Scenario book Has a 20-sided die Will get DDI support Gamma World Coming in October We're big fans of Gamma world and excited to bring it back. The assumption for Gamma world is that your character is probably going to be a mutant... might be part cockroch, part yeti - or a pyrokinetic yet... or a plant. The game also has a card component. A deck of 80 cards with 40 tech cards and 40 mutation cards you might suddently manifest Could be something useful like life-leach or something comical like big floppy feet Gamma world random booster packs include more mutations and tech. These will be found in core stores Game days for gamma world will revolve around picking up some boosters, and creating a character based on the cards you get Gamma World Boxed Set The rule book is 160 pages. Includes everything you need. Strongly rooted in the 4E dnd mechanics. Character creation - how to GM 30 different monsters including the batters and the yarns. Also includes a 10 encounter adventure - 2 levels worth of xp 2 sheets of die-cut character and monster tokens 2 double-sided battle maps Cardstock character sheets and mutation power cards Mutation power card deck Loot power card deck Famine in Fargo Boxed set, adventure focused 16 encounters. 160-page adventure book, including new mutant monsters 4 sheets of die-cut mutant monster tokens A fold-out battle map 10 additional cards for GM card deck. Mutants that are chicken creatures and vege-pigmys Legion of Gold 160-page adventure book, including new mutant monsters and 4 sheets of die-cut mutant monster tokens A fold-out battle map Essential Line of Products Having an essential tile line will make it easier to give unique tiles in the expansions "Red box and the essentials line is creating a landing strip for new players" Essentials line as a whole - broken down into how we expect people to come into D&D start playing. Red Box, to Rules Compendium, to Player Essentials, to DM kit, and moving on to the monster vault and the Dungeon tile sets How does a store sell a player on the essentials and then on the other core books? We drive new players to The Red Box. Once they're in red box, there's a clear migration path. Once people are already playing, they can go to the shelf and find the products they want. Dungeon Tiles Master set Coming in July A baseline standard dungeon tile set that remains in print Dungeon Master Set Tiles: City Set Another Master Set tiles - City set 10 double-sided sheets. Coming in October Dungeon Master Set Tiles: Wilderness Set 3rd of the essential master tile set in December "The Wilderness" Has 10 double-sided sheets. The Red Box Coming in September the red box includes a solo play experience to guide a person through their first play experience and helps define/create your character Rules Compendium Coming in September Rules compendium takes all the current rules and puts them in one book we're not rewriting the rules 19.95 soft cover book, includes errata Heroes of the Fallen Lands This is a book Player Essentials in September - Continues on from The Red Box. Covers classic character classes, fighter, cleric, wizard, rogue, ranger This does not replace what was in the PH release - it will be new builds We tried to create an easier stepping stone for new people, and make it a bit easier to understand the character classes and creation Feat chapter in Player Essentials is almost completely new Player Essentials is also 19.95 DM Kit Dungeon Masters Kit is the essentials part for DMs Coming in October The DM analog fo the Player Essientials - here's the things you need to start running a game as a DM. This is a big box with a whooooole bunch of stuff. 96-page book of rules and advice for Dungeon Masters 32-page monster book Two 32-page adventures 2 sheets of die-cut dungeon terrain tiles 2 sheets of die-cut monster tokens 2 double-sided battle maps Fold-out Dungeon Master’s screen Costs $40 Rich - the adventure is pretty good, I wrote it Perfect product if you feel that you're a player, but you want to occassionaly DM Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms Coming in November Soft Cover book for $20.00 Offers new builds for paladin, druid, ranger, rogue and warlock. We're focusing on the lost empires of old in this one. Human, dragonborn, tiefling, half-orc, drow, half-elf. Along with Player Essentials book, provides the basis for new players. Monster Vault Boxed set 10 sheets of die-cut monster tokens which will incorporate a token for every kind of creature found in the book 160-page book of monsters 32-page adventure Unsorted Rich: New 3 Dragon Ante. Expansion to the original and stand alone game December - Human book, similar to Dragonborn and Tiefling releases. We can't talk too much about 2011, but we'll be doing some similar trade dress and continue on with what we've been doing. Question - if the Castle Ravenloft game does well, will you do more? Answer - Definitely yes.
#2 JohnLynch Jan 28, 2010 18:30:25	Obligatory Doom Saying OMG I can't believe how awful this is. Wizards of the Coast aren't even trying to hide the fact they're making D&D a board game with collectible cards! First we get 2 board games with Ravenloft and Dungeons of Dragonfire Mountain! But now they've got randomised collectible card game using 4th ed rules! 5th edition is going to just be a card game, they've ruined D&D so much! I HATE WO$C!!! Actual Post Now with that out of the way (as I'm sure its going to be coming no matter what I try to do to avoid it), here's my actual thoughts. I won't be buying as much stuff First of all, with all these new types of game material coming out, my expenditure of D&D stuff has decreased dramatically. In 2009 WotC produced 1 book per month (on average) that I wanted to buy. There were only 2 books I didn't want to buy in the whole year. In contrast in 2010 I want somewhere from 9 to 12 of the books/boxed sets. So while I might end up with buying as much stuff in 2010 as I did in 2009, WotC is producing 25 books/boxed sets. So at best I'll be getting half of the books/boxed sets they produce. That's quite a change from 2009. Essentials Line I'll definitely be getting the Dungeon Tiles. I came to D&D with 4th ed so I've been struggling a bit when it comes to Dungeon Tiles. I'm also interested with the player supplements Heroes of the Fallen Lands and Heroes of Forgtten Kingdoms. I might get the Monster Vault depending if its mainly reprints or new material. So although I obviously won't be getting the stuff specifically for new DMs and players, I will pretty much be getting the rest of this line. Thoughts on Assorted Products I won't be getting any of the board games or Gamma World. Although I might play in Gamma World as a player if at the end of one of our current campaigns one of the DMs decides to run a game in it. I'm also heartened to see the Miniatures line has gone back to how it was. I was rather dismayed by its separation of civilised and monstrous miniatures. I don't think anyone wants to pay $5 per miniature if they have to buy an additional 2 they don't necessarily want.
#3 excalainen Jan 28, 2010 19:46:37	John, thanks for your summary. I'm a little bit nervous of this product schedule. There doesn't seem to be much for experienced players. I really, really hope that in 2011 we get new power books, phb4 with shadow classes, feywild book, shadowfell book, and that kind of stuff. Serving noobs is all fine and well, but don't forget your core audience!
#4 Marandahir Jan 28, 2010 20:25:05	John, thanks for your summary. I'm a little bit nervous of this product schedule. There doesn't seem to be much for experienced players. I really, really hope that in 2011 we get new power books, phb4 with shadow classes, feywild book, shadowfell book, and that kind of stuff. Serving noobs is all fine and well, but don't forget your core audience! Well, the "Player Essentials" books aren't just for newbies.  They have builds not included in previous releases, meaning they'll be markets for players of those classes.  New feats and other support (probably backgrounds) for those first two sets of races will likely be in there as well. I actually like this "thematic" approach.  Cleric gets triple support, though (Red Box, Player Essentials 1, Player Essentials 2).  At least the other Red Box classes are only covered again in Player Essentials 1. I like how they're doing it.  I bet they'll bring back Tordek, Rozen, Lidda, and Mialee as examples, as well, for the Red Box.
#5 yaldabaoth Jan 28, 2010 20:58:21	Something doesn't add up. From the tweetin': criticalhits:
#6 sirvimes Jan 28, 2010 21:14:53	The Wizards_DnD Twitter feed had the same info on the Rules Compendium being included in the DM Kit.
#7 zyzyx1701d Jan 28, 2010 21:54:13	Does this mean DMG3 is not going to happen?
#8 MechaPilot Jan 28, 2010 22:00:32	Gamma World Coming in October We're big fans of Gamma world and excited to bring it back. The assumption for Gamma world is that your character is probably going to be a mutant... might be part cockroch, part yeti - or a pyrokinetic yet... or a plant. The game also has a card component. A deck of 80 cards with 40 tech cards and 40 mutation cards you might suddently manifest Could be something useful like life-leach or something comical like big floppy feet Gamma world random booster packs include more mutations and tech. These will be found in core stores Game days for gamma world will revolve around picking up some boosters, and creating a character based on the cards you get Boosters?  In a pen-&-paper rpg? Oh WotC, why do you hate low-income gamers? Pen-&-paper games were one of the last few corners of the hobbyist world where a player's discretionary funds didn't dictate the quality of your in-game abilities.  I have nothing against people who can spend more money on the hobby they enjoy.  Instead, my ire is raised at those who allow games to be designed so low-income players get shafted in the game world as well.  WotC can expect me (and many other low-income hobbyists) to bail out of any product line that goes this route. It's stupid, it's classist, and it smacks of their utter disregard for us as customers.
#9 Bargle0 Jan 28, 2010 22:08:47	Does this mean DMG3 is not going to happen? Does it need to happen?  IMHO, no. I think there will be plenty of stuff in DDI for experienced players.  I do hope the general quality of stuff in DDI goes up. Honestly, I'm starting to feel a little splat book fatigue with MP2, so I think this is a good direction for the line.  Also, I think it provides a better entry point for casual players.  I wonder if they will leverage Hasbro to get wider distribution of the new red box? The thing I'm most disappointed about is cutting back on the DDM line.  That they exist means I always have something to buy when I walk in to my FLGS.
#10 Bargle0 Jan 28, 2010 22:18:51	It's stupid, it's classist, and it smacks of their utter disregard for us as customers. Classist?  Are you kidding me?  WotC is a business, not a charity.  Besides, we don't even know yet if those sorts of things will be mandatory for play or just another interesting add-on for people with the inclination and the income to purchase.  Even now they sell DDM boosters that are random, but you don't need anything more than graph paper, a pair of scissors, and some cardstock to run combats in 4e.
#11 MechaPilot Jan 28, 2010 23:11:38	It's stupid, it's classist, and it smacks of their utter disregard for us as customers. Classist?  Are you kidding me?  WotC is a business, not a charity.  Besides, we don't even know yet if those sorts of things will be mandatory for play or just another interesting add-on for people with the inclination and the income to purchase.  Even now they sell DDM boosters that are random, but you don't need anything more than graph paper, a pair of scissors, and some cardstock to run combats in 4e. Let me be clear.  I'm not asking for chairty.  I am a business student, and I have a clear grasp of the principles of business. If you take the best powers and gear out of an rpg book and give access to them only through booster packs, you are saying that people who can't spend extra money on the boosters don't deserve to have the same game rules or in-game items as people who can spend money on boosters.  This base jusdgement is classist.  It segregates the in-game ability of players for out-of-game reasons... personal income. Your argument about the minitures is inherently flawed.  Not having the miniatures does not preclude access to magic items and powers.  They didn't take the Holy Defender out of the CRB and say you need to find it in a booster to know it's stats.  They didn't make the raise dead ritual a collectible card that you need to find in a booster.  I'm sure if you take the time, you can see the difference between relegating game content to random boosters and having boosters of minis that one doesn't even need to paly the game.
#12 Bargle0 Jan 29, 2010 0:10:33	It's stupid, it's classist, and it smacks of their utter disregard for us as customers. Classist?  Are you kidding me?  WotC is a business, not a charity.  Besides, we don't even know yet if those sorts of things will be mandatory for play or just another interesting add-on for people with the inclination and the income to purchase.  Even now they sell DDM boosters that are random, but you don't need anything more than graph paper, a pair of scissors, and some cardstock to run combats in 4e. Let me be clear.  I'm not asking for chairty.  I am a business student, and I have a clear grasp of the principles of business. If you take the best powers and gear out of an rpg book and give access to them only through booster packs, you are saying that people who can't spend extra money on the boosters don't deserve to have the same game rules or in-game items as people who can spend money on boosters.  This base jusdgement is classist.  It segregates the in-game ability of players for out-of-game reasons... personal income. Your argument about the minitures is inherently flawed.  Not having the miniatures does not preclude access to magic items and powers.  They didn't take the Holy Defender out of the CRB and say you need to find it in a booster to know it's stats.  They didn't make the raise dead ritual a collectible card that you need to find in a booster.  I'm sure if you take the time, you can see the difference between relegating game content to random boosters and having boosters of minis that one doesn't even need to paly the game. Your argument that it is classist is inherently flawed because we do not yet know the nature of the product.  You are attacking a straw man.  Furthermore, the game itself is predicated on being able to buy the products.  Can't afford PHB3 or DDI?  Then you can't make a psionic character because you simply don't have access to the material.  Even going back to 0e, if you didn't get Supplement 1: Greyhawk, you didn't make a Paladin or a Thief.  On the other hand, people still make copies or write the material down for themselves, which is what I imagine a lot of people will do with the Gamma World stuff.  Selling random packs of cards is no more classist than selling any other copyrighted material. This isn't like M:tG where people will be playing in a competetive environment where you will need the card and not just a proxy.  This is a Role Playing Game!  Anyone who slavishly sticks to the rules doesn't get it.  The only situation where I could see your scenario becoming a problem is if they tried to force the Gamma World model in to something like the new "D&D Encounters" organized play system.  Admittedly, this would piss me off to no end.  However, I don't see them doing this since I don't think people need yet another disincentive to participate in organized play.  This new system is already a replacement for something that has failed.  Seriously, who is going to tell you "you can't put that mutation on your character because you don't own the card"?
#13 zyzyx1701d Jan 29, 2010 2:19:00	Does this mean DMG3 is not going to happen? Does it need to happen?  IMHO, no. I think there will be plenty of stuff in DDI for experienced players.  I do hope the general quality of stuff in DDI goes up. Honestly, I'm starting to feel a little splat book fatigue with MP2, so I think this is a good direction for the line.  Also, I think it provides a better entry point for casual players.  I wonder if they will leverage Hasbro to get wider distribution of the new red box? The thing I'm most disappointed about is cutting back on the DDM line.  That they exist means I always have something to buy when I walk in to my FLGS. I guess it doesn't NEED to happen, at least in the sense that the game is perfectly playable without it. But DMG2 added a lot for Paragon tier characters, and since Epic tier still seems to me the least defined, it seems like we could benefit from a book focused on Epic play. I do agree with you, however, that the new direction makes a much better entry point for casual players. I just don't see why the new direction can't continue alongside the old style books written for more experienced players.
#14 tristan_g Jan 29, 2010 3:57:16	2nd Half of 2010 looks pretty washed out for existing players - I would have throught we would see a Shadowfell or Feywild book - after all we got the 2 planar books and the Underdark in a 6 month period........  I also would have thought Arcane Power 2 would have been on the cards (more love for Artificers and maybe more Fluff with the Crunch a la Primal Power)......Aaah well, a short rest for the wallet and hope 2011 brings something more interesting........ BTW, I would have through Draconomicon 3 would have hit towards the end of the year - the potential fun to be had with Catastrophic Dragons is something that should be delivered!!!!!
#15 Marandahir Jan 29, 2010 14:23:40	Does this mean DMG3 is not going to happen? Does it need to happen?  IMHO, no. I think there will be plenty of stuff in DDI for experienced players.  I do hope the general quality of stuff in DDI goes up. Honestly, I'm starting to feel a little splat book fatigue with MP2, so I think this is a good direction for the line.  Also, I think it provides a better entry point for casual players.  I wonder if they will leverage Hasbro to get wider distribution of the new red box? The thing I'm most disappointed about is cutting back on the DDM line.  That they exist means I always have something to buy when I walk in to my FLGS. I guess it doesn't NEED to happen, at least in the sense that the game is perfectly playable without it. But DMG2 added a lot for Paragon tier characters, and since Epic tier still seems to me the least defined, it seems like we could benefit from a book focused on Epic play. I do agree with you, however, that the new direction makes a much better entry point for casual players. I just don't see why the new direction can't continue alongside the old style books written for more experienced players. I can see DMG3 coming out once Shadow and Elemental have come out, and a lot more people are playing in Epic Tier.  Right now, most people are playing in Heroic, with some (like myself) in Paragon, either for the hell of it, or because they were playing long enough to get up there.  Some people may have followed the Adventure Path or the Core Modules far enough to make it all the way to the end of each (we're done with Scales of War this February, is it?), but most have not.  So while Epic Tier may be the least defined, it's also the least played, and we'll probably get more support for it as we advance later into the edition.
#16 excalainen Jan 29, 2010 15:20:11	Does this mean DMG3 is not going to happen? Does it need to happen?  IMHO, no. I think there will be plenty of stuff in DDI for experienced players.  I do hope the general quality of stuff in DDI goes up. Honestly, I'm starting to feel a little splat book fatigue with MP2, so I think this is a good direction for the line.  Also, I think it provides a better entry point for casual players.  I wonder if they will leverage Hasbro to get wider distribution of the new red box? The thing I'm most disappointed about is cutting back on the DDM line.  That they exist means I always have something to buy when I walk in to my FLGS. I guess it doesn't NEED to happen, at least in the sense that the game is perfectly playable without it. But DMG2 added a lot for Paragon tier characters, and since Epic tier still seems to me the least defined, it seems like we could benefit from a book focused on Epic play. I do agree with you, however, that the new direction makes a much better entry point for casual players. I just don't see why the new direction can't continue alongside the old style books written for more experienced players. I can see DMG3 coming out once Shadow and Elemental have come out, and a lot more people are playing in Epic Tier.  Right now, most people are playing in Heroic, with some (like myself) in Paragon, either for the hell of it, or because they were playing long enough to get up there.  Some people may have followed the Adventure Path or the Core Modules far enough to make it all the way to the end of each (we're done with Scales of War this February, is it?), but most have not.  So while Epic Tier may be the least defined, it's also the least played, and we'll probably get more support for it as we advance later into the edition. I want to present a counter-example. I am at the moment DMing one campaign of each tier, and the paragon tier campaign is already at level 19. The epic level campaign is nearing its end as the characters just hit level 30. Both those campaigns began in the summer of 2008, and I imagine that many campaigns out there that began at that time are deep in the epic now.
#17 yaldabaoth Jan 31, 2010 18:01:43	The Wizards_DnD Twitter feed had the same info on the Rules Compendium being included in the DM Kit. Yep. Kirin on DM Kit - This is a big box with a whooooole bunch of stuff. Includes the Rules compendium, monster tokens, 2 adventures... I assume "Kirin" is Kirin Chase. I didn't hear it in the podcast, but it could have been cut. [Shrug] From the latest 2010 D&D Product Overview session today, it doesn't sound like the Rules Compendium is mentioned in the kit: docs.google.com/View?id=dftrw6m8_77g8hz8... Dungeon Master's Kit - Essentials Line How to DM How to build a campaign 32 Page Advenutre Monster Tokens for all the monsters in the adventures Poster Map Box Set $39.99 Next step from Heroes of the Fallen Lands Again, can we get a confirmation one way or the other on this?
#18 Herid_Fel Jan 31, 2010 22:12:14	From today's Product Overview, we heard that there will be a DMG3, but it is currently not on the schedule for 2010. The Essentials lines are drawing a lot of the time of folks who would work on it, and it was slipping to the next year. We also heard that there will not be a Game Day for MM3 (which surprised Mike Mearls, who thought he was writing it), but there will be for PHB3, Dark Sun, and Gamma World.
#19 Duke5150 Feb 01, 2010 1:52:13	Martial Power 2 1 Fighter build 2 ranger builds 1 rogue build 2 warlord builds I'll be buying this.   Psionic Power Coming in august one new build for each psionic class. This is a must have for me.   Hammerfast Poster map of the town I'll be looking into this. Very good chance I'll buy it. I love maps.   Vor Rukoth RT @criticalhits: July- Vor Rukoth. Like Hammerfast, more Paragon-focused. Ruins of Tiefling city, east of Nentir Vale. Extraplanar bad guys Again, I'll wait and see, but chances are good I'll buy it. Again, I love maps.   Demonomicon Demonicon in July details Demon Lords history of Abyss "make it adventurable" Encounter tables I'll be buying this.   Miniatures Orcus coming in June for 74.99 and very limited quantity In addition to Orcus we also have one huge set (Lords of Madness), and a surprise. No news on next year. If we have lords of madness at GenCon, it will be very limited. Streets of Shadow has been canceled. Minis set has been upped from 40 to 60. We won't be doing a whole set of just Dark Sun minis but expect to see Dark Sun themed minis in future minis releases I'm not a figure collector, so I'll probably be skipping everything on this list unless I can find it on ebay for cheap and in bulk.   Castle Ravenloft Board Game Mearls: The basic idea for castle ravenloft - if you are hanging out with friends, but you don't want to launch into a 4 hour d&d session then this is for you. Looked at games like space hulk and pandemic Cooperative game, the players are constantly on the edge of defeat - really tense, surrounded by undead, get through the crypts and get to your goal Castle Ravenloft game should last about an hour. Different goals per game, such as retrieve the holy symbol of ravenloft, or defeat Strahd comes with 42 minis including characters and monsters. Miniatures are not painted. Sheets of tiles for a modular board game experience cards for monsters/traps/events that are flipped over as you go through the crypts/castle A very fast paced, very hectic, rising sense of horror from this board game. Minis are reprints of existing D&D miniatures. "A nice big heavy box - you're getting a lot in there" Will get DDI support I'm very interested in these D&D board games. I'll be checking out the underdark game when I can. So I'm on a wait and see method with these products. Very good chance I'll buy them, simply for cheap figures and terrain.   Dungeons of Dragonfire Mountain Another board game in November. We looked a the Castle Ravenloft boardgame, the core system. Shares the same basic mechanics but with different twists. Still a fast paced dungeon crawl adventure, different theme/different hooks. As both board games are modular tiles, you can combine both Designed for 1–5 players, this boardgame features multiple scenarios, challenging quests, and cooperative game play. 42 plastic heroes and monsters 13 sheets of interlocking cardstock dungeon tiles 200 encounter cards and treasure cards Has the Rulebook Has a Scenario book Has a 20-sided die Will get DDI support Same as above. I'll see what it offers, then speak with my wallet.   Gamma World Coming in October We're big fans of Gamma world and excited to bring it back. The assumption for Gamma world is that your character is probably going to be a mutant... might be part cockroch, part yeti - or a pyrokinetic yet... or a plant. The game also has a card component. A deck of 80 cards with 40 tech cards and 40 mutation cards you might suddently manifest Could be something useful like life-leach or something comical like big floppy feet Gamma world random booster packs include more mutations and tech. These will be found in core stores Game days for gamma world will revolve around picking up some boosters, and creating a character based on the cards you get Very, VERY good chance I'm NOT going to buy this. I left card games long ago and I'v no desire to start shelling out cash for booster packs again. I'll just let a friend buy it if they like it and play it with them. But I high doubt I'll buy this.   Gamma World Boxed Set The rule book is 160 pages. Includes everything you need. Strongly rooted in the 4E dnd mechanics. Character creation - how to GM 30 different monsters including the batters and the yarns. Also includes a 10 encounter adventure - 2 levels worth of xp 2 sheets of die-cut character and monster tokens 2 double-sided battle maps Cardstock character sheets and mutation power cards Mutation power card deck Loot power card deck Again, I'm probably going to skip this completely. I don't want to deal with randomized booster packs of cards ever again.   Famine in Fargo Boxed set, adventure focused 16 encounters. 160-page adventure book, including new mutant monsters 4 sheets of die-cut mutant monster tokens A fold-out battle map 10 additional cards for GM card deck. Mutants that are chicken creatures and vege-pigmys As above.   Legion of Gold 160-page adventure book, including new mutant monsters and 4 sheets of die-cut mutant monster tokens A fold-out battle map Again, see above.   Essential Line of Products Having an essential tile line will make it easier to give unique tiles in the expansions "Red box and the essentials line is creating a landing strip for new players" Essentials line as a whole - broken down into how we expect people to come into D&D start playing. Red Box, to Rules Compendium, to Player Essentials, to DM kit, and moving on to the monster vault and the Dungeon tile sets How does a store sell a player on the essentials and then on the other core books? We drive new players to The Red Box. Once they're in red box, there's a clear migration path. Once people are already playing, they can go to the shelf and find the products they want. I'm on a wait and see with this.   Dungeon Tiles Master set Coming in July A baseline standard dungeon tile set that remains in print I collect map tiles, so this I'm probably going to buy this.   Dungeon Master Set Tiles: City Set Another Master Set tiles - City set 10 double-sided sheets. Coming in October A city tile set? Yes please.   Dungeon Master Set Tiles: Wilderness Set 3rd of the essential master tile set in December "The Wilderness" Has 10 double-sided sheets. As long as its not the same old wilderness tiles, I'll buy it.   The Red Box Coming in September the red box includes a solo play experience to guide a person through their first play experience and helps define/create your character I have no use for this.   Rules Compendium Coming in September Rules compendium takes all the current rules and puts them in one book we're not rewriting the rules 19.95 soft cover book, includes errata I might buy this, just for errata. But if this book doesn't address common RAI issues, then I might skip it.   Heroes of the Fallen Lands This is a book Player Essentials in September - Continues on from The Red Box. Covers classic character classes, fighter, cleric, wizard, rogue, ranger This does not replace what was in the PH release - it will be new builds We tried to create an easier stepping stone for new people, and make it a bit easier to understand the character classes and creation Feat chapter in Player Essentials is almost completely new Player Essentials is also 19.95 I'll probably buy this.   DM Kit Dungeon Masters Kit is the essentials part for DMs Coming in October The DM analog fo the Player Essientials - here's the things you need to start running a game as a DM. This is a big box with a whooooole bunch of stuff. 96-page book of rules and advice for Dungeon Masters 32-page monster book Two 32-page adventures 2 sheets of die-cut dungeon terrain tiles 2 sheets of die-cut monster tokens 2 double-sided battle maps Fold-out Dungeon Master’s screen Costs $40 Rich - the adventure is pretty good, I wrote it Perfect product if you feel that you're a player, but you want to occassionaly DM This is something I'll be buying.   Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms Coming in November Soft Cover book for $20.00 Offers new builds for paladin, druid, ranger, rogue and warlock. We're focusing on the lost empires of old in this one. Human, dragonborn, tiefling, half-orc, drow, half-elf. Along with Player Essentials book, provides the basis for new players. Again, I will probably be buying this.   Monster Vault Boxed set 10 sheets of die-cut monster tokens which will incorporate a token for every kind of creature found in the book 160-page book of monsters 32-page adventure 160 page of NEW monsters? If so, this is a no brainer. I'll be buying this ASAP. I love monsters. That is, unless its filled with recycled artwork, which I hate. In which case, I'll just wait for someone else to buy it and then write the monsters I like down.   Unsorted Rich: New 3 Dragon Ante. Expansion to the original and stand alone game December - Human book, similar to Dragonborn and Tiefling releases. We can't talk too much about 2011, but we'll be doing some similar trade dress and continue on with what we've been doing. Question - if the Castle Ravenloft game does well, will you do more? Answer - Definitely yes. Never got into 3 dragon ante, so I'll skip it. As for the Human racial book, I'll be buying that, for certain. I must say, I'm as happy about the product line as I am disappointed. I was looking forward to products that I guess I must wait yet another year for. I'm thankful that I at least "know" what's NOT coming out, so I know what I can work on myself.
#20 red_castle Feb 01, 2010 11:09:14	Well, they can count on me to buy those boardgames. I really love coop style games. There is just one thing I don't understand: Minis that come with it are DDM reprints and yet they won't be painted... Not that the painting is good on those mini anyway but at the price of the game, they could at least painted them...
#21 Jer Feb 01, 2010 21:32:14	Well, they can count on me to buy those boardgames. I really love coop style games. There is just one thing I don't understand: Minis that come with it are DDM reprints and yet they won't be painted... Not that the painting is good on those mini anyway but at the price of the game, they could at least painted them...  On the podcast they suggested that if they had put painted minis in the set instead of unpainted ones, then they would have had 6 minis in the set instead of 42. I assume that was a bit of an exaggeration, but only a bit - 42 minis is over 8 sets of minis under the current scheme of 5 minis per box.  Assume it's $15 per set and you're talking over $120 just for the minis.  Even being generous and assuming that they could get away with only charging the equivalent of $10 a set for the boardgame and you're still looking at $80 just for the minis. I don't think people realize how expensive those minis are to paint.  IIRC, each of those minis are painted by hand.  So as labor in China gets more expensive, the cost per mini is going up.
#22 yellerSumner Feb 01, 2010 21:41:29	Dungeons of Dragonfire Mountain Designed for 1–5 players, this boardgame features multiple scenarios, challenging quests, and cooperative game play. 1-5 players? Well... Guess I'll stop buying books and just save up for these.
#23 red_castle Feb 02, 2010 10:35:31	Dungeons of Dragonfire Mountain Designed for 1–5 players, this boardgame features multiple scenarios, challenging quests, and cooperative game play. 1-5 players? Well... Guess I'll stop buying books and just save up for these. It probably work like Arkham Horrors or the likes; players against the board. I really love those kind of games. And I didn't knew they were hand painted... the quality of some really show that the guy/girl was at the end of his shift and really tired....... ;P
#24 starphoenix26 Feb 03, 2010 15:00:54	hmmm; disappointed that Streets of Shadows was cancelled - would've bought 2 cases of that alone. looking forward to the tiles sets, and the 2 board games, the lords of madness set (Heroslayer Hydra please... pretty much pass on everything else.