Wizards of the Coast will release Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook II in May at a $34.95 MSRP.  It will be a follow-up to Players Handbook I in the same way that the Dungeon Masters Guide II was a follow-up to the DMG I.  It will include new character options, new rules, new races, new character classes, and some additional teamwork benefits.  WotC expects sales at least as good as those on Dungeon Masters Guide II.

 

In June, WotC will release the Dungeons and Dragons Players Kit, a transition product between the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Game (see 'WotC Seeks Old, New D&D Customers') and full-blown Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying.  Like the Basic Game, the Players Kit will be a boxed set of products.  It will include a trade paperback version of the D&D Players Handbook, dice, and a supplementary book that gradually introduces the player to the character creation process, all at a $29.95 MSRP.

 

There's also big news on the WotC fiction front.  In July, WotC will release Dragons of the Dwarven Depths, volume one in the new Dark Chronicles Trilogy (see 'WotC To Publish New Dragonlance Novels'), by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, in a $25.95 hardcover format.  The new trilogy will be supported with a New York City launch party to welcome back Hickman and Weis (their last collaboration ended in 2002), and with a multi-city author tour.