Mercurius
Legend
A riff off of this thread, but a different emphasis. Where the question there was what might be the next book, the question here is: If WotC is upping the publication output, what might the pattern be? What will be that extra book or product (or more) be?
(Feel free to respond however you want, but the point is not to quibble about the ideal number of books published, but to play with a hypothetical).
To recap, here is a chart of the publishing schedule for 5E, year by year, with book type color-coded (green = rules splat, blue = adventures, magenta = setting, grey = other/special):
As you can see, there's some discernible patterns. After the first year in which the three core rulebooks and two parts of one adventure were published, plus the Starter Set, the schedule dropped to three a year from 2015-17, with two adventure books and one supplement. That increased in 2018 with a fourth book, a setting; 2019 added "special" product (Tyranny) plus three starter boxes. Furthermore, there's been at least one rules supplement each year (if we count Sword Coast, which I colored in pink because it is a hybrid of splat and setting), two adventure books in every year but 2020, unless we count Strahd Revamped and then there are two (or three in 2019), and at least one setting book from 2018 on.
It is hard to assess 2020 as the schedule may have been impacted by Covid, but even assuming if it wasn't altered it maintained the four book + special schedule of 2019. But of especial note is that two of the books were settings, with only one new adventure and one splat.
Now we do know that WotC is planning to increase the production output. "Increase" means more than the 4 + 1 special of 2019-2020 (we can say that what I called "non-essential" in 2019 doesn't count with the established main schedule). That likely means one of two things:
Option A: Four hardcovers + two or more special/non-essential products.
Option B: Five hardcovers + one or more special/non-essential products.
But let's say that, either way, we're looking at six major products, 4-5 of which will be hardcovers and 1 or more which will be something else.
So if the base 2019-20 publishing schedule is five of the following: 1-2 adventures, 1-2 settings, 1 supplement, 1 special/extra. An increase would imply a sixth product. What do you think that will be?
My guess is that they'll go with the following schedule going forward:
2 adventures (one compilation, one story arc)
2 settings (probably one classic, one new/Magic; or at least roughly two of each over a two year span)
1 supplement (monster, player's option, theme book)
1 special (box set, reprint, something new)
That would be the base, with some variation possible, year-to-year.
If this is the case, given that we've already got an adventure compilation and a classic setting book upcoming, that means we'd be seeing another setting book (another classic? Magic?), a story arc (FR? Dragonlance? Planes?), a supplement (Planes? Dragons/Fey?), and something else (Essentials 2?). In 2022, that "something else" could be a box set tied into the film.
Speculate away...
(Feel free to respond however you want, but the point is not to quibble about the ideal number of books published, but to play with a hypothetical).
To recap, here is a chart of the publishing schedule for 5E, year by year, with book type color-coded (green = rules splat, blue = adventures, magenta = setting, grey = other/special):
As you can see, there's some discernible patterns. After the first year in which the three core rulebooks and two parts of one adventure were published, plus the Starter Set, the schedule dropped to three a year from 2015-17, with two adventure books and one supplement. That increased in 2018 with a fourth book, a setting; 2019 added "special" product (Tyranny) plus three starter boxes. Furthermore, there's been at least one rules supplement each year (if we count Sword Coast, which I colored in pink because it is a hybrid of splat and setting), two adventure books in every year but 2020, unless we count Strahd Revamped and then there are two (or three in 2019), and at least one setting book from 2018 on.
It is hard to assess 2020 as the schedule may have been impacted by Covid, but even assuming if it wasn't altered it maintained the four book + special schedule of 2019. But of especial note is that two of the books were settings, with only one new adventure and one splat.
Now we do know that WotC is planning to increase the production output. "Increase" means more than the 4 + 1 special of 2019-2020 (we can say that what I called "non-essential" in 2019 doesn't count with the established main schedule). That likely means one of two things:
Option A: Four hardcovers + two or more special/non-essential products.
Option B: Five hardcovers + one or more special/non-essential products.
But let's say that, either way, we're looking at six major products, 4-5 of which will be hardcovers and 1 or more which will be something else.
So if the base 2019-20 publishing schedule is five of the following: 1-2 adventures, 1-2 settings, 1 supplement, 1 special/extra. An increase would imply a sixth product. What do you think that will be?
My guess is that they'll go with the following schedule going forward:
2 adventures (one compilation, one story arc)
2 settings (probably one classic, one new/Magic; or at least roughly two of each over a two year span)
1 supplement (monster, player's option, theme book)
1 special (box set, reprint, something new)
That would be the base, with some variation possible, year-to-year.
If this is the case, given that we've already got an adventure compilation and a classic setting book upcoming, that means we'd be seeing another setting book (another classic? Magic?), a story arc (FR? Dragonlance? Planes?), a supplement (Planes? Dragons/Fey?), and something else (Essentials 2?). In 2022, that "something else" could be a box set tied into the film.
Speculate away...
