Acquisitions Incorporated

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Acquisitions Incorporated
Acquisitions Incorporated.jpg
Cover art by Mike Krahulik
Rules requiredDungeons & Dragons, 5th edition
Character levels1–6
Campaign setting Forgotten Realms
Lead designers Jerry Holkins, Elyssa Grant, Scott Fitzgerald Gray
AuthorsShawn Merwin, Teos Abadía, Chris S. Sims, Ben Petrisor, Jeremy Crawford
First publishedJune 18, 2019
ISBN 9780786966905

Acquisitions Incorporated is a sourcebook for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The book includes content of the actual play series of the same name by the creators of Penny Arcade , which is among the longest-running actual play series. Acquisitions Incorporated uses satire and the series' signature office humor as an introduction to Dungeons & Dragons. The book includes an adventure for beginner players. [1]

Contents

Publication history

Background

In 2008, the creators of Penny Arcade partnered with Wizards of the Coast to create an actual play podcast of a few 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons adventures which led to the creation of the Acquisitions Incorporated. [2] [3] [4] After the podcast was well-received, the players began livestreaming games starting in 2010 at the PAX festival. [2] : 108  [5] In 2012, Acquisitions Incorporated switched to 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons as their game system with the Forgotten Realms as their new campaign setting. [6] In 2019, this work led to the official Acquisitions Incorporated sourcebook featuring the series' concept and characters. [1] [7]

Release

Acquisitions Incorporated was published by Wizards of the Coast on June 18, 2019. [1] [7] The sourcebook was the first "partnership with an outside design team since 2015" [8] and marked the first time in 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons that third-party intellectual property became part of Wizards of the Coast canon. [9] [10] Originally, Penny Arcade approached Wizards of the Coast on crowdfunding in order to create the sourcebook. Following discussions, Wizards of the Coast suggested publishing it as an official sourcebook. [9] [11]

Jeremy Crawford, Dungeons & Dragons lead rules designer and an Acquisitions Incorporated Dungeon Master, "said Wizards gave Penny Arcade plenty of creative liberty, stepping back and offering advice here and there especially for game design but leaving storytelling to their new partners". [9] Syfy Wire commented on the different art styles of Wizards of the Coast and Penny Arcade; rather than merging these styles, the art team "used both, with high fantasy art styles rendered by Wizards artists for larger pieces and then smaller illustrations more reflective of the Penny Arcade comics style. Browsing the pages, it feels like a standard D&D book in many ways, infused with that unique AI spirit throughout". [9]

Acquisitions Incorporated was also released as a digital product through the following Wizards of the Coast licensees: D&D Beyond, Fantasy Grounds, and Roll20. [7] [12] To mark their subsequent acquisition of D&D Beyond, Wizards of the Coast gave registered D&D Beyond users the digital edition of Acquisitions Incorporated in May 2022. [13] [14]

Reception

In Publishers Weekly 's "Best-selling Books Week Ending July 1, 2019", Acquisitions Incorporated was #13 in "Hardcover Nonfiction" with 5,870 units sold. [15] [16]

Gavin Sheehan of Bleeding Cool noted that the book is filled with humor, summarizes the series well and its content allows for an enjoyable alternative to serious playing. [17] Richard Jansen-Parkes, for the UK print magazine Tabletop Gaming, called the sourcebook a "wonderful supplement" for pre-existing Acquisitions Incorporated fans and "still worth checking out" for non-fans who wish to incorporate "absurd comedy". [18] He opined that the player options are not "revolutionary", however, they are "damned fun and have the chance to be genuinely funny too. This strong sense of humour and absurdity extends through the lengthy campaign that takes up much of the book's page count". [18] Christian Hoffer of ComicBook.com wrote that the sourcebook "has a decidedly different tone and feel than other D&D publication, with a careful balance of humorous commentary that captures the spirit of the Acquisitions Incorporated podcast and providing a robust set of practical faction rules for founding and growing a new Acquisitions Incorporated franchise within any home game". [10] Hoffer praised the codification and expansion of common player roles, such as item hoarder or strategist, with the sourcebook's Company Positions system, noting that it rewards common player "behavior by giving them extra abilities that makes their jobs easier to do". [10]

Sheehan's review praised the adventure The Orrery of the Wanderer but criticized that certain characters from the series and a location map were missing. [17] Jansen-Parkes noted that behind the adventure's "silly façade" there "is a genuinely well-written, well-structured story. It's heavily scripted in the very beginning and the nature of playing a franchise means the party is rarely in total control of their goals, but there are plenty of opportunities for players to forge creative paths through the melee". [18] Hoffer called the adventure "fun", commenting that the "lore and corporate humor of Acquisitions Incorporated" is a requirement but the adventure is "short enough to give players a taste of that world without requiring a full multi-year commitment to building a franchise". [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Plante, Corey (June 16, 2019). "Acquisition Incorporated's Adventure Book Is Perfect for New D&D Players". Inverse . Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  2. 1 2 Carbonell, Curtis D. (2019). Dread Trident: Tabletop Role-Playing Games and the Modern Fantastic. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN   978-1-78962-468-7. OCLC   1129971339.
  3. ↑ Jones, Shelly (2024). "Chapter 18: Documented and Actual Play in Role-Playing Games". In Zagal, José P.; Deterding, Sebastian (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Role-Playing Game Studies. Routledge Media and Cultural Studies Handbooks. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781003298045. ISBN   978-1-032-27778-3.
  4. ↑ Friedman, Emily C. (April 8, 2023). "Who Owns Dungeons & Dragons?". Los Angeles Review of Books . Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  5. ↑ Farough, Amanda (March 17, 2021). "How tabletop RPG actual play shows are inspiring a new generation of fans — and products". VentureBeat . Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  6. ↑ Cacciatore, Francesco (December 7, 2025). "The longest-running D&D actual play shifted to Daggerheart — and convinced me to try it". Polygon. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 "Acquisitions Incorporated". Wizards of the Coast . Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  8. ↑ Haeck, James (March 28, 2019). "Everything You Need to Know About Acquisitions Incorporated: The Book" (Press release). D&D Beyond . Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Granshaw, Lisa (September 8, 2019). "How a podcast became an official canon Dungeons & Dragons book". Syfy Wire . Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Hoffer, Christian (June 23, 2019). "Review: Acquisition Incorporated Provides New Faction Rules for Dungeons & Dragons With Tongue-in-Cheek Commentary". ComicBook.com . Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  11. ↑ Knox, Kelly (April 30, 2019). "Penny Arcade Breaks Down New ACQUISITIONS INC. D&D Sourcebook". Geek and Sundry . Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  12. ↑ Williams, Tommy (June 18, 2019). "My First Look Impressions for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ACQUISITIONS INCORPORATED". GeekTyrant. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  13. ↑ "D&D Beyond to Give Away Two Dungeons & Dragons Books Next Week". ComicBook.com . May 15, 2022. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  14. ↑ Diaz, Ana (May 19, 2022). "D&D Beyond is giving away the Acquisitions Incorporated campaign book for free". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 21, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Publishers Weekly Bestseller Lists - Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction". Publishers Weekly . July 1, 2019. Archived from the original on January 23, 2026. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  16. ↑ "The Try Guys, 'Where the Crawdads Sing' top Publishers Weekly best-sellers". Chicago Sun-Times . June 27, 2019. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  17. 1 2 Sheehan, Gavin (July 4, 2019). "Review – Dungeons & Dragons: Acquisitions Incorporated Sourcebook". Bleeding Cool . Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  18. 1 2 3 Jansen-Parkes, Richard (July 14, 2019). "Dungeons & Dragons: Acquisitions Incorporated". Tabletop Gaming. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
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