Daggerheart Pre-Orders, DnD 2024 Alt Cover Cancellations, ElfQuest Reprint - TTRPG News 9/18/2024

The tabletop RPG industry saw some big news on the publication side of things, and StartPlaying is once again here to break it down for you. So take a quick break, come read up on the latest happenings, and then get back to rolling dice.

This past week, Critical Role opened pre-orders of its Daggerheart game, Dungeons & Dragons allegedly failed to produce enough of its new book for Australian customers, ElfQuest came back for its 40th, and a new Ravenloft novel was discovered. 

Critical Role's Daggerheart Pre-Orders Live 

Darrington Press, the publishing arm of Critical Role, opened pre-orders for Daggerheart. Two editions are up for grabs: a $59.99 Core Set that comes with a hardcover rulebook and set of cards for character abilities, and a $149.99 Limited Edition that has the rulebook, cards, GM screen, dice set, and tokens. Both will ship in Spring 2025 and both will come with a PDF of the rulebook. You can pre-order here. 

Australian and New Zealand "Severely Undersupplied" On DnD 2024 Alt Cover

According to several posters on Reddit and EN World forums, DnD consumers in Australia and New Zealand are having their 2024 Player’s Handbook pre-orders canceled and refunded due to unexpectedly low stock. In particular, it’s the retailer exclusive alternate cover featuring a gold dragon that’s not getting enough copies. 

One Reddit poster shared an alleged email from Gameology that states their stores are receiving “less than 10%” of their ordered stock of the alternate cover. This is supposedly due to a massive manufacturing issue that left many Australian suppliers short of books. Even worse, the Gameology email claims Wizards of the Coast will not consider any reprint of the alt cover.

Over on the EN World forums, a New Zealand-based user wrote that their pre-order of an alt cover was canceled due to less-than-ordered allocation. Their store also mentioned that standard cover stock was less than expected, but they’re counting on steady reprints to honor pre-orders.

ElfQuest Gets Reprint For 40th Anniversary 

The 1984 classic TTRPG ElfQuest is returning via a Kickstarter campaign courtesy of Chaosium. The Kickstarter is set to launch in October and offer the game in its original boxed format. The set will also include later supplements. Wendy and Richard Pini, the creators of the original ElfQuest comics, have been brought on by Chaosium to help with the presentation of the reprint. 

DnD Ravenloft Novel Arrives In 2025

A listing for a new untitled Ravenloft novel was discovered on book retailer websites, reports EN World. Penguin Random House also has a listing for the book in its website, citing an April 2025 release and suggested $30 retail price. 

There’s no author listed for the novel, but there is a rather vague synopsis. “A group of adventurers must fight their way through a dark and twisted realm known as the Domains of Dread, where powerful darklords rule over worlds filled with supernatural horrors.” Strahd is also mentioned by name. 

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That’s the end of this week’s TTRPG news! Have fun in your games this weekend, and may your dice be kind.