Reading D&D Aloud "All of the $ should be coming to Wizards-" an interview with the former WotC Book Team Ep. 69
Sep 8, 2025
In this intriguing conversation, Liz Schuh, former Head of Publishing and Licensing at Wizards of the Coast, and Chris Lindsay, ex-product manager and voice of the DM’s Guild, share insider tales from their decades at D&D. They discuss Project Omelette, an abandoned food-themed game, and how evolving player demographics have shaped product development. The duo also reflects on the transition from a community-focused approach to a profit-driven model, revealing insights into the OGL scandal's impact on fan relationships and the future of Dungeons & Dragons.
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Product Managers Run The Chain
- Product managers coordinated schedules, printers, distributors, sales, and marketing to ensure books reached stores on time.
- They served as the last check that a product would delight the community before printing.
Schedule Shapes Sales And Play
- Scheduling balanced product cadence so players had time to play between releases and retailers had buying capacity.
- Teams coordinated across Magic and D&D to avoid competing releases and maximize retail cash flow.
Rebuilding Descent Into Avernus
- Descent Into Avernus needed major restructuring after the original lead struggled with adventure structure.
- Chris personally diagrammed and rewrote parts to salvage the adventure's flow and content.
