Wednesday, August 4, 2010

New D&D Red Box

I just noticed this today, so pardon me if this is old news. Looks like Wizards of the Coast is putting out a basic starter box for D&D 4th Edition in the style of the old "Red Box" edition. In fact it looks to be an exact copy of the box, with some changes to the wording.



The Wizard's product listing
A video unboxing

I have to say I'm a bit confused by the packaging. It's just so out of line from the standard 4th Ed-style. My cynical side tells me "it's a trap" meant to lure in the old school crowd, away from the books they bought 20 years ago or the free PDF clones and back to the paying flock. Even that is a bit of a stretch, as it seems to me that if you remember the original Red Box fondly, there's a good chance you aren't interested in the new stuff, and if you're interested in the new stuff there's a good chance you won't care about the nostalgia factor of the old Red Box cover. Still, I think it's pretty snazzy to see the basic intro box set make a comeback.

UPDATE:
Skeleri mentioned a Gamma World boxed set on the horizon as well earlier today.

Wizard's Product Page

The rumor mill I've seen on this one indicates that mutations (which are much like Powers from D&D) will come from Magic-like booster packs. I sort of wondered when such a thing would happen, and was honestly surprised when the D&D Power cards weren't released as such. I'll probably check it out, but I guess I'm not getting my hopes too high on this one. Nonetheless, it's interesting to see how Wizards is trying to evolve their market.

2 comments:

  1. So the Gamma World box isn't out yet, eh? This is getting me more fired up as it sinks in. Maybe this is the way to force reluctant my players into using 4th edition.

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  2. Gamma World is set for an October release I believe. I wasn't too impressed the few times I've played 4th but I'd be willing to give it a try once more. But I can tell you this, if I have to sit through another tedious 3 hour fight with a single hobgoblin who has 200 hit points as the first encounter of a 1st level adventure, I think I might just break something.

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