GameHole Con Hints At An "As Yet Unannounced Setting" for D&D This Year

Parmandur · Mar 18, 2019

dwayne said:
This is what i was talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Level_Handbook being over 50 you should have known this. Those "events" don't mean crap to the bigger picture as they may cause a draw but a setting and material would draw much more. If he was talking about some dumb game con thing i would think he would have said that, as this seemed more of a hint. But again i tend to read more into things than most and over estimate the intelligence of people which always disappoint me in the end.

Everyone got that you were thinking about that: however, Epic is a specific kind of Adventurers League event held at conventions, which is what is being referenced clearly in the post. The significant thing is that one of WotC preferred conventions is having a big organized play event in an unannounced campaign setting.

Parmandur · Mar 18, 2019

AmerginLiath said:
As others have noted (and I’ve done the same), references to Spelljammer by developers and comments that Spelljammer won’t be a setting aren’t necessarily at odds: in the “D&D Multiverse” nature of 5e, it makes sense that a lot of SJ elements are being brought into the core planar cosmology (especially as defining how the Prime Material Planes work, as we’ve seen developers comment); any sourcebook or adventure/set of adventures about the planes is likely to have dashes of Spelljammer to it as much as it has dashes of Planescape.

In terms of the setting vs. Campaign Setting question, particularly dealing with epic tier adventures, I think the talk of the planes and Planescape as a source of setting (vs. a Setting) are possibly apt. Mechanics and material on the planes — including references to Sigil and other PS ideas — have been appearing more commonly in recent sources, so I expect we’ll see the planes (feeling like a combination of the 1e/3e Manual version and the 2e Planescape version, with Spelljammer elements salted in) appearing in a sense in their original use as “where adventurers go when they run out of things on their own world to challenge them” (not to say there won’t be lower-level uses too, but I’d expect a focus on the *literal* larger-than-life out there). Seeing perhaps a set of high-level adventures based out of Sigil or somewhere like it would strike me as a way to introduce that while a product for it is in the works (I’ve long suspected that, given how 5e makes each book multifaceted, we’ll see a planar book that is also the high-level campaigns book).

As for other Campaign Settings, I agree that Dark Sun is a setting we’re likely to see appear in a fashion similar to Eberron, but with the Psion class anchoring it rather than the Artificer class (complete with a quasi-playtest release and use of DMs Guild and work with old designers). As for Dragonlance (my personal favorite setting), my question from a neutral standpoint is trying to see where they can sell it distinctive from FR (note how the beginning of the push on Greyhawk toward some release is focusing on a grim ‘n gritty swords ‘n sorcery element, presumably that should color setting rules elements in any release); I’ve wondered for a while if the long-delayed Mass Combat rules will play into any DL release (along with more detailed mounted and flying combat options similar to what’s now coming out for ships), but that only covers part of the “why play here and not FR?”

They haven't said there will be no Spell hammer: Stewart pointedly keeps saying that there will be no Spelljammer in 2019.

Demetrios1453 · Mar 19, 2019

Rils said:
Today the D&D YouTube channel posted a LYSK about the "Rule of Threes" - direct nod to Planescape. Fingers crossed.

And today's LYSK is on the Nine Hells. Again, a Planescape subject...

EDIT - And Greg Tito ends with saying that they'll be talking about other planes, and specifically asks what does the Lady of Pain have to do with all this...

Hmmmmmmmm....

darjr · Mar 19, 2019

Does Voltaire ring any bells?

View attachment 105478

Demetrios1453 · Mar 19, 2019

darjr said:
Does Voltaire ring any bells?

Hmm, Voltaire was an 18th century French philosopher, well known for his novel Candide and his quote that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire..

Candide, with some fantasy tweaks, could make for an interesting basis for a campaign, but I doubt they would build a whole setting around it!

I've always thought that the main areas of the Greyhawk setting were loosely based on the era that the Holy Roman Empire was decaying - an empire in name (the Great Kingdom), but all the counties, duchies, kingdoms, and city states are all now de facto independent. But again, that's a stretch.

Going back to Planescape though - perhaps it's a reference to the famous "philosophers with clubs" quote that describes the Factions?

Staffan · Mar 19, 2019

darjr said:
Does Voltaire ring any bells?

Well, he's in this video (lyrics somewhat NSFW)...
[video=youtube;0N_RO-jL-90]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N_RO-jL-90[/video]

briggart · Mar 19, 2019

Given this is related to AL, it could still just be either Eberron or Ravnica. There hasn't been an Epic in either setting yet, so that could be reason enough to keep it under wraps until an official statement from AL management.

I do hope for Planescape, though.

Parmandur · Mar 19, 2019

Their codenames are nonsensical: Stewart said recently they are so opaque he always has to force people to use the real product name in meetings so he can follow along