Since the first Hurloon Minotaur was blocked by a giant Plague Rat, gamers have dreamed of Magic: The Gathering becoming an RPG setting. Within recent years, Wizards of the Coast have even released more and more elaborate campaign material to run your D&D game in one of the settings of the never-ending sets. But with the upcoming release of actual published material for Ravnica on the horizon, I argue that as much as Magic is becoming part of D&D, Dungeons and Dragons appears to have embraced the Magic marketing models.
Depsite a multi-system upbringing, one of the most intriguing things was looking up the upcoming releases in the "TSR Previews" section of Dragon Magazine. Even in 1988, TSR had a prodigious release schedule, chock full of paperback novels and role-playing games for multiple systems. Just looking at Dragon #137 the September books shipping (aka release at GenCon) included the Greyhawk Adventures hardcover, GAZ5 The Five Shires, FR5 The Savage Frontier, the Forgotten Realms City System boxed set and TWO Top Secret sourcebooks. I now remember where all my lawn mowing and leaf raking money went into the Fall. Sure, there were multiple iterartions of Buck Rogers and odd board games like Magestones, but TSR was a cornucopia of product, and at least two or three items every month caught my attention, if not my Velcro wallet.
Fast forward thirty years, and Wizards releases what could be considered a trickle of material. As I look at the monthly releases (which have already been teased on Amazon for six-plus months), I see a handful of $50-60 hardcovers, a smattering of accesories whose prices make this old miser flinch, and a disorganized assortment of third party licences.
But even someone as clueless as me could pick up on the growing hype for the latest release: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.
The "mad romp through the streets of Waterdeep" is a hardcover campaign for levels 1-5 and people I know who wouldn't even touch a Forgotten Realms pamphlet, much less something broader like The Tomb of Annihilation seem enthralled by this product.
Tuesday, I was struck with a barrage of social media posts from various FLGS, flouting their recently received shipment. No, it wasn't Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (that arrives on September 18th), but it was boxes upon boxes of the D&D Icons of the Realms Dragon Heist minis produced by Wizkids. Coupled with the support product (dice, maps) and the promotions for pdfs of the book and loadable maps on Roll20, I finally came upon the realization. D&D products aren't just a huge catalog of products and what sells sticks to future production, D&D books are now an event. I'm amazed at how many people are finishing up old campaigns and clearing schedules to indulge in the full glory of Dragon Heist.
It's actually RPG-version of a Magic pre-release or release weekend, dice and accessories replacing fat packs, promos, and card accessories. People come from far and wide to immerse themselves into the game at whatever level they're comfortable in, be it the main $50 book, some minis, or the $500 Platinum Edition. When one measly softcover book for a Pathfinder or Starfinder game sets you back over twenty bucks, this is looking to be a better and better option.
I'm actually quite impressed by entire model, and if it results in good sales for Wizards, it means more events, so be it.
And I'll ponder a new copy of FR5 through RPGnow. Softcover copy and pdf for $11.99 pre-shipping sounds like a steal.
Depsite a multi-system upbringing, one of the most intriguing things was looking up the upcoming releases in the "TSR Previews" section of Dragon Magazine. Even in 1988, TSR had a prodigious release schedule, chock full of paperback novels and role-playing games for multiple systems. Just looking at Dragon #137 the September books shipping (aka release at GenCon) included the Greyhawk Adventures hardcover, GAZ5 The Five Shires, FR5 The Savage Frontier, the Forgotten Realms City System boxed set and TWO Top Secret sourcebooks. I now remember where all my lawn mowing and leaf raking money went into the Fall. Sure, there were multiple iterartions of Buck Rogers and odd board games like Magestones, but TSR was a cornucopia of product, and at least two or three items every month caught my attention, if not my Velcro wallet.
Fast forward thirty years, and Wizards releases what could be considered a trickle of material. As I look at the monthly releases (which have already been teased on Amazon for six-plus months), I see a handful of $50-60 hardcovers, a smattering of accesories whose prices make this old miser flinch, and a disorganized assortment of third party licences.
But even someone as clueless as me could pick up on the growing hype for the latest release: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.
The "mad romp through the streets of Waterdeep" is a hardcover campaign for levels 1-5 and people I know who wouldn't even touch a Forgotten Realms pamphlet, much less something broader like The Tomb of Annihilation seem enthralled by this product.
Tuesday, I was struck with a barrage of social media posts from various FLGS, flouting their recently received shipment. No, it wasn't Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (that arrives on September 18th), but it was boxes upon boxes of the D&D Icons of the Realms Dragon Heist minis produced by Wizkids. Coupled with the support product (dice, maps) and the promotions for pdfs of the book and loadable maps on Roll20, I finally came upon the realization. D&D products aren't just a huge catalog of products and what sells sticks to future production, D&D books are now an event. I'm amazed at how many people are finishing up old campaigns and clearing schedules to indulge in the full glory of Dragon Heist.
I'm actually quite impressed by entire model, and if it results in good sales for Wizards, it means more events, so be it.
And I'll ponder a new copy of FR5 through RPGnow. Softcover copy and pdf for $11.99 pre-shipping sounds like a steal.
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| This Elmore art inspires my gaming more than anything this century #oldfart |
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