Apparently this is the big "story line" WotC has in store for the 40th anniversary: http://www.wizards.com/Dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dnd/tyrannyofdragons

Maybe that's what was originally meant in the Next press release with "the most fearsome monster of all time"?

If so... yeah. Treating D&D like a fantasy fiction property to launch across multiple gaming platforms. Sigh.

Quote from: Benoist;726660Apparently this is the big "story line" WotC has in store for the 40th anniversary: http://www.wizards.com/Dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dnd/tyrannyofdragons

Maybe that's what was originally meant in the Next press release with "the most fearsome monster of all time"?

If so... yeah. Treating D&D like a fantasy fiction property to launch across multiple gaming platforms. Sigh.

If it is confined to FR, i wint really mind (since i havent used the realms in about fifteen years) but if it is similar to how they did things with points if light, where it assumed to be in all campaigns, that would kind of irk me.

Meh.  FR has always been their default campaign world, and lots of people use it, and rely on the fiction of it.  This is just them coming up with a way to try to explain how they're uncluster fucking the Sundering, or whatever it was.  They're a business, FR is the biggest campaign setting, so I expect them to focus on that for their cross platform promotions.  As always, I use my own setting so I'm not worried about it at all.  Doesn't affect me.

yay.... The return of the metaplot...


The 90s called, they want their Metaplot back...

"Dragon Whisperers"? Jesus.

Quote from: Benoist;726660Apparently this is the big "story line" WotC has in store for the 40th anniversary: http://www.wizards.com/Dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dnd/tyrannyofdragons

Maybe that's what was originally meant in the Next press release with "the most fearsome monster of all time"?

If so... yeah. Treating D&D like a fantasy fiction property to launch across multiple gaming platforms. Sigh.

I'm afraid this is never going away; the suits over at Hasbro probably se D&D as an IP first and as a game second.

I feel the best we can hope for, from Hasbro, is an edition that acommodates multiple playstyles. You know, like every pre-4e edition. Which supposedly was the whole point of Next anyway. But I'm not really up to speed on what Next will look like, so I could be catastrophically wrong.

With regards to the campaign, well, that's just a pitch, and not even a bad one. This could be the next Masks of Nyarlathotep for all I know, with PCs battling apocalyptic dragon cultists all over the Forgotten Realms. I think it's a tad too early to declare it DoA.

Hell, I could totally see myself running a campaign with the same premise, with gray box FR and C&C. I'd even call it "Masks of Tiamat" and my Dragonlance-loving players might even dig it (until they start dying). What do you think?

Quote from: TristramEvans;726688"Dragon Whisperers"? Jesus.

The quotes around it I hope meant that was just the shorthand version, but in any case, my god that's awful.  Stop getting interns to write the fucking ad copy.

Quote from: The Butcher;726697With regards to the campaign, well, that's just a pitch, and not even a bad one. This could be the next Masks of Nyarlathotep for all I know, with PCs battling apocalyptic dragon cultists all over the Forgotten Realms. I think it's a tad too early to declare it DoA.

True. It could actually be okay, or even good. We'll see.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;726666i wint .

"...pardon?"

Quoteeach one a "dragon whisperer"

"Psst...fly over there...and breath fire on them..."

Quote...Icewind Dale...Neverwinter, Waterdeep, Baldur’s Gate

-"All great video games!  So by extension THIS will be great!"


WOW WHAT AN EXCITING CAMPAIGN WORLD...said no-one, anywhere, ever.

Quote from: CRKrueger;726698The quotes around it I hope meant that was just the shorthand version, but in any case, my god that's awful.  Stop getting interns to write the fucking ad copy.

No, they actually said that.

Whole thing gives me unpleasant Pern flashbacks.

So we've gone from the Tyranny of Fun to the Tyranny of Dragons? Is that better or worse?

Meh, they can goof up the Forgotten Realms all they want. Just so long as it doesnt infect the main rulebooks.

Cant help but think there are going to be some railroady modules ahead, though.

If it was the premise for a novel series I'd laugh at it.

But it's not, and it's a reasonable if not very exciting premise for role-playing game products.

It doesn't sound hugely novel or exciting or groundbreaking or anything like that, (and if it was trying to that would be the time to say the 90s called), rather it seems like an incredibly (reassuringly?) D&D type plot.  Which overall seems to fit the spirit they're going for with Next.

It will really depend on the quality the material.

Should be called Tyranny of Banknotes.

Quote from: The Butcher;726697I'm afraid this is never going away; the suits over at Hasbro probably se D&D as an IP first and as a game second.

And don't the Forgotten Realms novels bring in more money for Hasbro than the D&D system?

It sucks that the FR tail is wagging the D&D dog, but WotC are a business, just as all commercial RPG publishers are. Gygax was the same way, neglecting the game during its heyday to chase deals in L.A. But if he wasn't interested in making piles of money, D&D would have stayed a mimeographed wargame alternative sold out of his car at conventions. Most of people on this board owe their introduction to RPGs to an ambitious man trying to use D&D to make a lot of money.

So the suits are only doing their job. No money, no commercially-published game. It's no different from companies that make shoes, printers, and vacuum cleaners. I'm surprised Paizo isn't putting more effort into book/meta crossover books. Maybe foster their own Greenwood or Salvatore.