Descent Into Avernus Platinum Edition Review - Beadle & Grimm's D&D Supplements 

Thanks, Roberto! Glad you enjoyed it! -Theo

Thank you and very kind of you to say. Your unboxings are lovely as well, knowledgeable and well-spoken which is especially impressive since you're doing it live while we do it heavily scripted and edited! -Grady

@@TheGallantGoblin Thank you! Get in touch if you fancy collaborating on a project, it would be my pleasure :)

I don’t know if that’s how it’ll work for everyone, but ours arrived separately on the same day as the main package. -Theo

@@TheGallantGoblin I'm sure I will receive the cards. I just wouldn't have known to watch for the package and I had it shipped to my work. Awesome review, by the way.

Me too! -Theo

Thank you! -Theo

Thanks for watching! -Grady

Ah! I’ll have to try that next time! 🤢 -Theo

It's quite the box! Now I need to find time to run the adventure. See ya tonight! :-D -Theo

@@TheGallantGoblin so many games so little time! see you tonight!!

Heh, thanks! And yes, Panda Express and my tummy have had their altercations in the past. :-P -Theo

Ha! I was wondering if anyone would recognize that. Seemed fitting for Avernus. ;-) -Theo

The in-world informational hand out about the 9 hells is an amazing prop and I would gladly pay to purchase something like that. It's versatility goes far beyond this campaign and would benefit any campaign that wishes to dip its toes into the Hells

Its a huge scam and shows Wizards corporate attitude which is invading everything and getting disgusting..Taking advantage of the fans is the name of the game of businesses now

that would defeat the purpose of making these exclusive, limited edition collector box sets ;-)

@@JoeStoryteller sure the exclusive element is the fact that this is all compiled together is what makes it exclusive. The custom miniature, the additional encounters, sure. Im talking about things that benefit the base adventure and furthermore campaigns outside of this adventure. The props; in world documents about the hells, the gold talisman message in infernal the players can decifer... seems ridiculous to not allow SEPERATE purchase of these props.. We'll never be able to buy it all together in one nice big box sure, thats the benefit of the premium limited edition box... But why leave the rest of the dnd community wanting for such great props and content?? Just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

All valid points. B&G has made some of the components available for purchase in the past, but it's typically the hardware and not the maps or other components. It's possible they may change that based on feedback, especially for the non-platinum editions (their upcoming product for Eberron especially should be super useful since it's all setting stuff and no adventure). They're a small operation though so some of these decisions may simply be a function of their own limits. I did want to note that Wizards of the Coast really has no hand in these products. Yes, they agreed to license the content for B&G to reproduce, but otherwise B&G is an independent operation much like Gale Force Nine. -Grady

Hehe we actually had that same discussion while reviewing the footage! We were especially concerned that they might look like they were part of the product. This time was particularly an issue because there was just so much stuff on the table so we'll be try to be more cognizant of the placement in the future! -Grady

We keep looking at getting the Gale Force Nine minis but between their sporadic availability and them needing assembly and painting, it's always just seemed like too much to handle. Theo still has piles of minis and terrain pieces that need painting, haha. -Grady

Hehe, I need *all* the plushies! I dig the larger coin. It's really cool. I do want to find a bunch of "soul coins" that can be handed out to the players when they find them though. -Theo

So this is Grady speaking solely for himself, but I do understand how you feel. I've never been fond of limited edition products. I don't really want to say more, not because I think any of our partners would get upset if I did, but mainly because you've already said everything that needs to be said about it. That said, there's some misunderstandings in your post that I wanted to point out. Whether that makes it better from your perspective is up to you, but I hope it helps you make a more informed decision on how to proceed. First, Beadle & Grimm's is an independent company run on pretty narrow margins by 5 people who have other jobs. It's not run by Wizards of the Coast or Hasbro, and it's not even their main job. They're not rolling in money, and they do it because they're passionate about it and trying to make things they themselves want to see. So taking it as representative of the industry isn't really appropriate. Next, the platinum editions are limited edition by design for those who like that sort of thing, but they're NOT necessary to run the game. It's not core content-it's produced by a third party company with as much relation to Wizards of the Coast as, say, the Baldur's Gate video games. There's also actually very few things in them that are completely exclusive. They've started releasing silver editions of the platinum editions which include all the critical content, including the DM aids. All the non-platinum products they plan to reissue at some point and that's an issue of supply and demand. So yeah, if you want to collect, there's always going to be something you can't get and that's the nature of collecting, but if you just want cool stuff to help you run the game more easily or with more shininess, Beadle & Grimm's offers that content without exclusivity. Third, I don't think B&G actually is limited to 1,000 by their license, though I could be wrong with that. They simply chose a ballpark number they thought they could sell and have stuck with that for now. But again, that's only the platinum runs, and I believe there's even a possibility of them raising the number for future platinum boxes as demand increases. The silver and gold and legendary editions all have no restrictions on the number produced and contain largely the same content. Finally, Icewind Dale did not sell out immediately to previous buyers. It took almost 2 months for 1,000 copies to sell. It was available for purchase during D&D Live 2020 in July and didn't sell out until this week (mid-August). It took much longer for previous editions to sell out-the platinum edition for Avernus didn't sell out until shortly before its release. Considering how expensive the boxes are, it's a big risk for the company to order and produce a quantity that they're not sure they can sell. To date, 1,000 boxes actually has been a very reasonable run for a limited edition product.

@@TheGallantGoblin I emailed Beadle & Grimm and they have a contract with Wizards of the Coast that keeps their company small and forbids them from selling any of their products packed within the platinum sets individually (such as battle maps). Thanks for writing back to me! As for Icewind Dale, 2 months might as well be 5 minutes considering I just found out the company existed last night - after a year of buying stuff for various published campaigns! It's just frustrating, I didn't want to get into an expensive collecting hobby that would normally be expensive enough even if they just sold everything and everything however you wanted (included bundled together). I wonder how many people are buying minis for things other than playing with them - like collecting or resale. I bought some bricks and realized I could sell them all individually on ebay and probably turn a profit! That's the WizKids sales model, and I get that its a "hobby" and the game is to "collect", but really I wouldn't want anything less than the entire "collection" and keeping it out of reach makes me just want to give up altogether and not even try. Maybe learning how to paint would be less effort after all. hahaha because that's what this all started over! having to paint! hahahaha

Hehe, we try. :-) -Theo

Hmm... that's pretty tough. I think you could watch Terrain Toolkit map stickers, special edition war machine, syrinscape exclusive sound set, and exclusive preassembled minis of Beadle and Grimm. I'm afraid most of the material here is fairly spoilery. -Theo

@@TheGallantGoblin Thank you! That Syrinscape exclusive sound set sounded pretty neat! I wish I had that more of my adventures!

Ungulates Thanks! Yes, I’ve been using Syrinscape in my games for awhile now. They have an extensive library of sounds and music for fantasy and sci-fi settings, and several official Wizards and Paizo sets for specific D&D, Pathfinder, and Starfinder adventures. They’re pretty great. -Theo

Thats what I hate about these adventures rail roady and spoilery..dont buy this crap make your own stuff..They release these stupid adventures and milk it for everything its got and I cant stand the lets make a novel together tone the game is becoming...DnD is suppose to be a fantasy life simulator not a movie, players should have choices and not bogged down to "Well guess we are going to Hell and there is nothing I can do about it" You might as well play a video game..DnD is so much more than this

B&G are not your 'normal' box sets; they are premium exclusive limited edition box sets for people with $$$

Thanks for the feedback! Just want to note that B&G is not part of Wizards of the Coast-they're a separate company that licenses the content to make their own products. -Grady

@@JoeStoryteller I understand that. I'm saying I wish wizards would release box sets as the normal release like TSR used to do in the 90s when I started playing. Thanks for the reply.

@@spider_shack777 I mean, they have 3 box sets

Every group has their preference on how the DM runs their adventure or uses materials provided by Wizards of the Coast. The price point of these premium products often means a group may split the price. Communication is always key and the most important thing is the DM and the players are on the same page regarding the type of play they want. -Grady

They often do have some pieces for sale separately in their warehouse store, particularly the hardware pieces from Han Cholo. Just check back there in a few weeks as they usually add them after shipping out all the boxes. -Theo

That’s the way Mahadi presents himself in the adventure and in the official art in the book. One of the perks of being able to “cast disguise” self at will. -Theo

@@TheGallantGoblin ahh I forgot about that he can disguise himself. tou che'.

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying your box! We try to provide as much information as possible for these products so people can make an informed decision. People can have wildly different expectations about what should come at certain price points (Theo and I have our own disagreements, haha) and these are absolutely not necessary to have a good time in D&D so we think the important thing is not whether one owns a product or not but whether they're going to feel they got their money's worth! -Grady

Heh, I'm sure some of the designers probably had that in mind when they wrote this adventure! You'll have to contact the folks at B&G about payment options. :-) -Theo

@@TheGallantGoblin unfortunately I lost some much beloved books and modules 🤬🤬🤬🤬, not the least the 2nd Ed AD&D Ravenloft realm of terror box set that I saved several weeks working for a farmer bailing hay and shoveling manure to get 😕, the weird thing is mom was usually very level headed about things, eventually she realized that those groups were just wack jobs that looked for anything to blame their problems on instead of accepting responsibility for how they raised their crotch goblins.

We've found that having multiple paperbacks makes referencing information easier for a DM, though Wizards has made strides in that area such as by including more stat blocks in the text of the adventure as well as the appendix. That said I definitely understand the appeal of having the hardcover as well. -Grady