The GameMastery team recently got together to hash out the next theme for our Item Card product line. While tossing around thoughts of undead scrolls and elven bows, it occurred to me that it might be fun to talk about how we come up with themes for our future sets. First, a bit of history.
The very first item card set, Item Pack 1, was specifically designed to be a starter set, with a wide variety of items so GMs could use the cards right away (for those of you unfamiliar with them, Item Cards are generic treasure cards that you can hand out when the PCs find loot, with a blank space on the back for writing in what the item does). While that first set was a big success, we needed a means for GMs to get a few more potions, scrolls, and other disposable items without having to buy a whole new deck of cards. Hero's Hoard was born soon after as a set of booster packs. This set had more items in line with those presented in Item Pack 1, but came in a booster pack with a set assortment (2 potions, 2 weapons, 2 wondrous items, 1 armor, 1 wand, 1 scroll, 1 rod/staff/ring, and 1 foil card in every pack).
It was at this point that we decided to do a themed set. Item Pack 1 and Hero's Hoard covered all your basic items, so we wanted the next set to branch out in new directions. Relics of War was our first foray into this arena, with all of the cards in the set themed to either good or evil. While you can't exactly tell this with some of the cards, others in the set, such as the "demonhide" and one of the "longswords," further the theme nicely.
By this point in time, the fan base for Item Cards had really started to take off, and the one thing everyone clamored for was a set of cards for the items that characters might typically carry, such as rope, a backpack, or rations. This made choosing our next theme easy. Adventure Gear came out late last year to give characters all the thieves' tools, holy symbols, and lantern cards they could handle, with the nice bonus that many of the cards in this set work well as magic items to boot. By popular demand, this set moved back to the deck format.
When it came time to plot out the fifth set, the idea of doing themes became much more solidified. Dragon's Trove, a 110-card deck, pulls out all the stops, is packed full of all the golden baubles, lamps, crowns, and swords you might expect to find in the hoard of a great wyrm. The set also includes a number of items made from dragons, to round out the theme. As this set just went off to the printer, I thought I might give you a few sneak peaks (with more to come soon).
Fortunately for you, the work of the Item Card team never ends. Our next set is called Elements of Power and should be out later this summer—I'll bet you can guess what the theme might be. Look for some cards tied directly to Pathfinder and the GameMastery Modules in this 54-card deck set as well.
Beyond that, however, the set themes are still malleable. Got any ideas for a set you'd like to see? Post it to our forums.
