Campaign in a Box

[Quickleaf]

I've had this dream for years of a complete campaign in a box. Yes I know the price would be prohibitive given the small market this would appeal to. Yes I know that many campaigns burn out before reaching high level. Yes I know that not everyone would agree on whether there should be tokens versus miniatures included.

I just think the idea is sexy. And I'd want to be part of that project.

Has anyone else dreamed of such a thing? Or even (like me) been working on a fantasy heartbreaker campaign, dreaming of seeing it in glorious 792 pages of pure adventuring goodness?

Do you have any creative critique about why this would be a Bad Idea? Precautionary tales of failed ventures?

And what the heck would you find in such a massive product? Here's one take on such a dream product...

CAMPAIGN IN A BOX
For levels 1-10, this boxed set includes everything you need to play a heroic campaign.

62-page Campaign Book
Six 40-page Adventures (with a LFR adventure record sheet for each)
Two Battlemaps
A Kingdom/macro-scale Poster Map
Miniatures of recurring NPCs or main villains (about 10 or so)
Pawns of enemies for every single encounter (pathfinder style, paper image stand-ups)
Quest & Treasure Cards
Player Handouts
An Audio CD with some theme music
Wolfgang Baur (...ok cloning and space might restrict this )

 

[Sonny]

I've had this dream for years of a complete campaign in a box. Yes I know the price would be prohibitive given the small market this would appeal to. Yes I know that many campaigns burn out before reaching high level. Yes I know that not everyone would agree on whether there should be tokens versus miniatures included.

I just think the idea is sexy. And I'd want to be part of that project.

Has anyone else dreamed of such a thing? Or even (like me) been working on a fantasy heartbreaker campaign, dreaming of seeing it in glorious 792 pages of pure adventuring goodness?

Do you have any creative critique about why this would be a Bad Idea? Precautionary tales of failed ventures?

And what the heck would you find in such a massive product? Here's one take on such a dream product...

CAMPAIGN IN A BOX
For levels 1-10, this boxed set includes everything you need to play a heroic campaign.

62-page Campaign Book
Six 40-page Adventures (with a LFR adventure record sheet for each)
Two Battlemaps
A Kingdom/macro-scale Poster Map
Miniatures of recurring NPCs or main villains (about 10 or so)
Pawns of enemies for every single encounter (pathfinder style, paper image stand-ups)
Quest & Treasure Cards
Player Handouts
An Audio CD with some theme music
Wolfgang Baur (...ok cloning and space might restrict this )

It would be a nice product to have. I think the closest I've ever seen to a "campaign in a box" was Ptolus. Sans the minis, cd, and cards of course.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I'm in.

In fact, you could "start small." Maybe 3-5 levels. Everything you need.

If that sells well, you could put out further expansions, each one a few levels, that you could mix-n-match, or use just purely out of the box.

You could even sell "compliation" books on the side for people who, say, just want the class info.

I would think you'd need a system to support it; any current D&D as written wouldn't do the job very well, since 30 levels is part of a package and player options are paramount. I would almost certainly make it a "light" system.

But this has kind of been my dream project for a few years now. FFZ, in part, is written with this idea in mind: a practical view of what it takes to run a complete game. That's part of why it's such a light system.

 

[Kzach]

I would love something like this but at the same time, the expense would turn me off it.

 

[S'mon]

How well does the upcoming Neverwinter box match this description?

 

[Stormonu]

Well, if you're willing to do roleplay lite (or forgo roleplaying altogether), it sorta exists with FFG's Descent + Road to Legend expansion. At the very least, you could use it as the basis of such a project.

 

[delericho]

Has anyone else dreamed of such a thing?

Castle Whiterock would seem to come close.

Do you have any creative critique about why this would be a Bad Idea? Precautionary tales of failed ventures?

I like it. I think it's a good idea. However...

Such a product is only ever going to appeal to a very small segment of the market. As such, it's important for it to find its niche. You're looking at a luxury product aimed at the top-spending segment of the market. That is, market it at at least $100, produce only a hundred (or so) of them, individually number them, and sell them as collector's items.

Try to do it on the cheap, or mess up on the quality, and you'll have a very expensive dud on your hands. (Oh, and whatever you do, don't do this as your first product. Establish a reputation for quality first, then bet the company on this mad venture!)

And what the heck would you find in such a massive product? Here's one take on such a dream product...

CAMPAIGN IN A BOX
For levels 1-10, this boxed set includes everything you need to play a heroic campaign.

62-page Campaign Book
Six 40-page Adventures (with a LFR adventure record sheet for each)

If you're doing a "campaign in a box", I wouldn't bother with separate adventures. Present the whole thing as a mega-adventure, a campaign arc, or whatever. Also, 6x40 is probably too many for the 1-10 range.

Two Battlemaps
A Kingdom/macro-scale Poster Map

Not enough maps!

Miniatures of recurring NPCs or main villains (about 10 or so)
Pawns of enemies for every single encounter (pathfinder style, paper image stand-ups)
Quest & Treasure Cards
Player Handouts
An Audio CD with some theme music
Wolfgang Baur (...ok cloning and space might restrict this )

By and large, I like what you're suggesting here. I would probably drop the miniatures in favour of going all-token. (Can't afford to do minis for everything, and going for a mix feels like you've gone miserly.) The cards, handouts and CD are definitely a good touch.

One thing: I wouldn't buy such a product from WotC, and not just because I don't run 4e. Simply put, WotC don't have the reputation for adventures that would be necessary to sell me on something like this, and the price is too much for me to risk based on "they might not have messed it up this time." (And, sad to say, I just don't trust reviews of WotC products, which are almost always heavily biased one way or the other.)

That's not to say I think it's a bad idea - if Paizo or (maybe) Goodman or EN Publishing did such a thing, I would certainly be interested.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

How well does the upcoming Neverwinter box match this description?

They also were unable to fit Wolfgang Baur inside.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That's not to say I think it's a bad idea - if Paizo or (maybe) Goodman or EN Publishing did such a thing, I would certainly be interested.

Arguably Necromancer Games, Malhavoc Press and Goodman Games all did one of these during the 3E era, minus the miniatures.

 

[Jhaelen]

Castle Whiterock would seem to come close.

Yup, that's what I immediately thought of.

Add the Gazetteer and you've got the game world in a box, too.