Sean Merwin

That's a good question. When asked about who is publishing this, Chris Cox answered an investor's question by saying that it is a co-publishing deal. and that Hasbro and Sabre will be the publishers of record. So it's always a question of how much is Wizards putting into the production? How much are they getting out of the production? How much oversight do they have in terms of that design?

That's a good question. When asked about who is publishing this, Chris Cox answered an investor's question by saying that it is a co-publishing deal. and that Hasbro and Sabre will be the publishers of record. So it's always a question of how much is Wizards putting into the production? How much are they getting out of the production? How much oversight do they have in terms of that design?

And we never know the exact details, but we know with Baldur's Gate 3, we assume they were happy with it because it made them a ton of money. And the interaction between Wizards and Larian was quite robust from what I've heard. So we'll see if that same level of interaction goes on here. If the game is any good, and then if it is, what Wizards takes away from that deal.

And we never know the exact details, but we know with Baldur's Gate 3, we assume they were happy with it because it made them a ton of money. And the interaction between Wizards and Larian was quite robust from what I've heard. So we'll see if that same level of interaction goes on here. If the game is any good, and then if it is, what Wizards takes away from that deal.

And Cox went on to say, we should expect one to two video game releases per year from 2026 to 2030. But we've been saying that for several years, Cox added. So yeah, we'll see what comes of that. We will keep an eye.

And Cox went on to say, we should expect one to two video game releases per year from 2026 to 2030. But we've been saying that for several years, Cox added. So yeah, we'll see what comes of that. We will keep an eye.

and we will also talk about tom dunn who took a a minute or an hour or several days to break down the 2024 monster manual what did tom have to say to us tom's a joy to to to chat with um i've had a lot of fun in fact just today we're talking about something that was blowing my mind and

and we will also talk about tom dunn who took a a minute or an hour or several days to break down the 2024 monster manual what did tom have to say to us tom's a joy to to to chat with um i've had a lot of fun in fact just today we're talking about something that was blowing my mind and

Yeah. And then the non-legendary monsters. are mostly similar in power as their 2014 counterparts. Now, those that are above CR5, Tom figured, did get roughly a 10% boost. So again, the higher level, getting a little bit more, which makes sense based on the experiences, I assume, of a lot of DMs who saw that levels 1 to 4 played pretty well. Yeah.

Yeah. And then the non-legendary monsters. are mostly similar in power as their 2014 counterparts. Now, those that are above CR5, Tom figured, did get roughly a 10% boost. So again, the higher level, getting a little bit more, which makes sense based on the experiences, I assume, of a lot of DMs who saw that levels 1 to 4 played pretty well. Yeah.

and then levels five and higher it was very tough using the cr encounter rules that that the monster manual and the dungeon master's guide had it was hard to challenge players at that level

and then levels five and higher it was very tough using the cr encounter rules that that the monster manual and the dungeon master's guide had it was hard to challenge players at that level

And one of the other things that Tom notes that people noticed right away as they started thumbing through their Dungeon Master's Guide was the initiative changes. The 2014 approach was just use the dexterity modifier. And now monsters, some just use their dexterity modifier, but some have a significantly higher initiative bonus, especially at higher levels.

And one of the other things that Tom notes that people noticed right away as they started thumbing through their Dungeon Master's Guide was the initiative changes. The 2014 approach was just use the dexterity modifier. And now monsters, some just use their dexterity modifier, but some have a significantly higher initiative bonus, especially at higher levels.

According to Tom, monsters with an initiative bonus of six or higher, a monster with an initiative bonus of six or higher than the PCs will deal about 10% more damage. So in other words, if you go before the creature or before the players, you're more likely to do more damage to the players.

According to Tom, monsters with an initiative bonus of six or higher, a monster with an initiative bonus of six or higher than the PCs will deal about 10% more damage. So in other words, if you go before the creature or before the players, you're more likely to do more damage to the players.

Mm-hmm. And Tom also provided formulas that you can use to estimate various statistics about monsters. For example, he came up with a formula that said the armor class is roughly 13 plus its CR rating divided by 3. So a CR 9 monster, 9 divided by 3 is 3. So 13 plus 3 would be AC 16. So roughly that works out across the monsters.

Mm-hmm. And Tom also provided formulas that you can use to estimate various statistics about monsters. For example, he came up with a formula that said the armor class is roughly 13 plus its CR rating divided by 3. So a CR 9 monster, 9 divided by 3 is 3. So 13 plus 3 would be AC 16. So roughly that works out across the monsters.

Yep. Cool.

Yep. Cool.