Dungeons & Dragons release date, lineup emerges from the Underdark

 

The next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons, the venerable role-playing game that deeply influenced modern gaming culture, rolls out onto shelves beginning this July. 

 

Wizards of the Coast, the Washington-based company that has developed, published and marketed Dungeons & Dragons ever since it acquired original copyright owners TSR, Inc. in 1997, revealed the covers and release dates for the game on their website. Prices and other relevant details have subsequently begun to appear on online retailers like Amazon.com.

 

Ready to play

 

The release schedule begins July 15 with the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set, a ready to play box that contains a ready to run adventure book for the Dungeon Master, five pre-generated characters and a rulebook plus supporting reference material and six polyhedral dice. The Player's Handbook hits stores on August 19th and provides information for character creation and advancement as well as combat rules. Finally, the Dungeon Master's Guide arrives on November 19th and provides world-building tools and various rules to create adventures and settings for players.

 

Also staggered throughout the release calendar is the 'Tyranny of Dragons' adventure path, which are a series of pre-created adventures designed to take players and DMs through a planned campaign arc focusing on the threat of a resurgent draconic empire and its queen from the Nine Hells. The adventure path is being designed and developed in collaboration with Kobold Press, a third-party design studio that has been developing D&D content for several years. 

 

3rd-party collaborations

 

The partnership reflects a shift towards more collaborations with third party studios to develop the Dungeons &Dragons brand. Wizards of the Coast has hired Wizkids, a company best known for its Mage Knight and HeroClix line of miniature games located ten states away in New Jersey, to develop the D&D miniature products. The current lineup of miniature products include a starter pack of adventurers and a booster pack that includes random creatures that can be used in the Tyranny of Dragons adventures.

 

This new line of Dungeons & Dragons products represents the fifth iteration of the game, collectively referred to by roleplaying enthusiasts and Wizards itself as '5th Edition' or 'D&D Next.' However, despite these catchy monikers, Wizards is keen to brand this as the definitive version of the game, as a new logo redesign as well as the above products are simply described as 'Dungeons & Dragons' without any reference to past editions or even the 'Next' name.

 

Development of this new edition was announced in January 2012, and was subjected to a rigorous open playtesting process that lasted two years and crowd sourced the feedback and input of fans to help determine the direction of the game design process. The final product makes the popular Forgotten Realms universe the game's core setting and the rules are said to reflect a return to old-school mechanics. — TJD, GMA News