D&D (2024) "The Future of D&D" (New Core Books in 2024!)

The online D&D Celebration event, which has been running all weekend, comes to a close with The Future of D&D, a panel featuring WotC's Ray Winninger, Liz Schuh, Chris Perkins, and Jeremy Crawford, hosted by Elle Osili-Wood.

D&D is exploring the multiverse
Revisiting classic settings. 1st of 3 settings (Ravenloft) released this year. Next year, the other two major classic D&D settings come out. Both in formats they've never published products before.

Plus a "little peek" at a third classic D&D setting - a cameo.

In 2023, yet another classic setting is coming out.

Evolving D&D
Because of new players, they're always listening. Exploring new styles of play (like no combat needed in Wild Beyond the Witchlight). Also presentation of monsters and spells. New product formats. More adventure anthologies.

Making products easier to use. Ways to create the best experience. Experimenting and looking into technology.

Approaches to Design
Wild Beyond the Witchlight has interior design and tools to make running the adventure easier. Story tracker, guidance.

Beyond the books, they want to make different and varied products - packaging and form factor. Things different to hardcovers and boxed sets.

A blog post is coming soon detailing some of the changes, with more to come in future posts.

50th Anniversary in 2024
They've begun work on new versions of the core rulebooks. Recent surveys tie into that. They're still making plans, but expect more surveys. More will be said next year.

They will be completely compatible!

New experiences in the digital arena.

January Gift Set
Rules Expansion Gift Set -- Xanathar, Tasha, and a new book: Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. All in a slipcase. Was intended for the Holidays, but global production issues mean January instead. There's also an alternate cover version.

D&D 5E - A Closer Look At January's D&D Rules Expansion Gift Set

WotC earlier announced a D&D Rules Expansion Gift Set for January, which includes three books - Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and the new Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. These were intended for the holidays, but the global production issues...

www.enworld.org

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse
A treasure trove of creature related material from previous products compiled into one book and updated.

Opportunity to update material with a feel for how the 50th Anniversary books will be.

Improvements based on feedback, rebalancing, new and old art.

Over 250 monsters, and 30 playable races. All of the setting agnostic races that have been published outside the Player's Handbook.

Some content from Witchlight, Fizban's, and Strixhaven was influenced by Mordenkainen's.

Available first in the gift set, but separately later in the year.

Monsters alphabetized throughout rather than using subsections.

D&D 5E - Zooming In On Monsters of the Multiverse [UPDATED!]

Earlier, WotC announced Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse, a new D&D compilation of monster material from previous products updated to a new format. These screen grabs are as good as I could get them. They're not terribly clear, but you can make more out than in the original...

www.enworld.org

Stat block changes --

Spellcasting trait is gone. Spellcasting action, slimmed down. Spellcasting monsters need less prep.

Spell slots are gone for NPCs. Regular actions that would have once been spells.

It was too easy for a DM to use spells which result in the monster having a too low effective CR.

Monsters can be friends or foes, and some magic will help rather than hinder PCs.

Where are we going?
More adventure anthologies. Another classic setting fairly soon.

Two all-new settings. Completely new. In development stage, an 'exploration' phase, testing the viability of them. They might not see the light of day.

Retooling nostalgia and blending it with new concepts. A blend of things that you know, and things that they have never done before.

In the short term -- more news next month about a new product for 2022 which goes into a new scary place we've never been before.

Boo the miniature giant space hamster
Below is an sketch from Hydro74's alt cover, which features Boo the miniature giant space hamster.

 

[teitan]

Wow. I personally think Mystara and Greyhawk are way down below on the list of the options of previous editions' settings to convert to D&D 5e, and the more likely options are Planescape, Dark Sun, and apparently Spelljammer (due to the Boo-book cover).

My thoughts are, with Greyhawk, that Saltmarsh sold extremely well and was one of the best received adventure books. It is the fourth adventure on the list of top 100 D&D products, only outsold by Strahd (twice), Dragon Heist, Candlekeep and Witchlight, the last of which is no. 1 and time will tell if it continues to sell so well. This is a pretty consistent rank for it and Ravenloft would have been thought to be pretty low on the list as well but got a setting book on the strength of Strahd. On top of that it's the "original" setting and the anniversary is coming up for D&D. WHile still early for a 50th anniversary book, it is still fitting to get it out.

Spelljammer would also be pretty low on that priority list because historically it didn't sell. Boo is not a SPelljammer character, he is a Baldur's Gate, thus FR, character so it more strongly hints at FR than Spelljammer. Boo never appeared in a SPelljammer product, post-dating Spelljammer byt a handful of years. So a Spelljammer may appear in an adventure with Minsc & Boo as characters the PC's encounter, fulfilling the cameo.

Planescape, more than SPelljammer, is a certainty, in the vein of Ravenloft. Most likely as a book on Sigil with the core planes as examples and rules on making new planes of existence. That seems to be the model with something like this that they are going to explore.

Yeah but Spelljammer, people have hyped themselves on that a lot. I just don't see it being anything more than a rules set and some guidelines they can put in a book, it doesn't really need a setting.

 

[Iamoutofhere]

I’m an old fart who thinks 5e wandered into blandsville of blandness land. They keep smoothing any rough edges off to the point where it’s hard to get a grip on the game. It’s become the Lego Movie of roleplaying games...everything is awesome.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I’m an old fart who thinks 5e wandered into blandsville of blandness land. They keep smoothing any rough edges off to the point where it’s hard to get a grip on the game. It’s become the Lego Movie of roleplaying games...everything is awesome.

You know the Lego Movie was massively popular and profitable, right?

 

[teitan]

I'm disappointed on 3 more years for a rehash of 5e and then probably a 3-7 year lifecycle for that. I'm just not sure that the base will be happy playing virtually the same game for 6-10 more years.

Why not? It works for Call of Cthulhu, Vampire: The Masquerade, Traveller, GURPS, Hero... etc...

 

[teitan]

And Vecna, if you count the Hand of Vecna appearing in Descent into Avernus.

Also Planar, it just starts in the Realms.

 

[teitan]

I don't think that quote means they're publishing four classic setting products, but three, plus a fourth showing us a cameo.

My guess would be Planescape, Dark Sun and Dragonlance, with Spelljammer being the cameo via a spelljammer ship being part of an adventure.

We already know one of the three was Ravenlost so... you can pick 2.

 

[Aldarc]

Huzzah for revised core books! Top of my wishlist:

- Fix Feats that give you new spells to all let you cast them with your regular spell slots, a la Tasha’s.

- Tasha’s alternate class features baked into the classes from the get-go (I’ll get over the features I don’t love being there).

- Expanded class spell lists from Tasha’s and Xanathar’s

- Tasha’s Beastmaster companions in at base instead of picking a stat block from the monster manual.

- Maybe a big ask, but rework Wild Shape to modify your own stats instead of picking a stat block from the monster manual.

- Tasha’s summon spells replacing the ones that let you summon stat blocks from the monster manual.

- New Dragonborn replacing the current PHB Dragonborn

- Tiefling subraces in the PHB

I too am hoping for a revised Wild Shape with less book-keeping. I did suggest that WotC switch to Wild Shape templates (e.g., Guardian, Flight, Swim, etc.) that scale with Druid level rather than having to know and memorize each animal or beast.

- My biggest wish, and also the one that’s least likely to come true: please, please PLEASE don’t replace everything that recovers on a short rest with PB uses per long rest.

- Since the previous item is definitely not going to come true, at least leave the Warlock alone. Please, if there is any justice in this world, let the Warlock remain it’s bizarre and cool self and not just become another boring daily caster.

In the recent core PHB survey, I did suggest that they switch the Warlock's spellcasting a bit, namely its pact magic to equal proficiency modifier. The Warlock's current spells per short rest feels too limiting, especially when you are stuck on 2 spells per short rest for what feels like an eternity.

Well, it was forgettable!

One issue is that we never got the Nentir Vale Setting Book that was apparently in the works. So the lore for Nentir Vale, the Dawn War, and Nerath are all over the place. But IMHO, the Nentir Vale was D&D's high myth, points-of-light setting that was great for DIY DMs to use without too much worry about lore or history. I don't expect Nentir Vale in 5e. If so, I would want Rich Baker, James Wyatt, and Chris Perkins for the writing team. IMHO, these are the people on staff that probably get the setting best, though I would be curious about @Zeromaru X's dream team for the writing staff.

 

[Lucas Yew]

Eh, more and more further from my ideal "balanced simulationism" rules... (sigh)

 

[Demetrios1453]

This was my first thought too... Spelljammer adventure, starting in FR but heading to SPAAAACE. Lots of spooky Far Realm shenanigans, Mind Flayers, beholders, etc.

That's definitely a possibility (and the one I think is more likely), but I'm also considering the possibility it might be an anthology collection of "crazy adventures with Minsc and Boo" that, like the other anthologies can be run separately or lightly linked together. One of which would be a Spelljammer adventure as our "sneak peek"...

 

[Henadic Theologian]

We already know one of the three was Ravenlost so... you can pick 2.

He was referring to a new 3rd classic setting coming in 2023, after the 2.5 classic settings in 2022.

I think it's going to be Planescape, Dragonlance, with a Spelljammer camoe in an FR adventure exploring realmspace, and the one in 2023 the classic setting will be a revisit to FR to tie onto the D&D $100,000,0000 dollar movie and BG3's full release.

Does anyone want to hazard a guess on the two new settings will be and if they survive the exploration phase? Could be a Domain of Delight setting?

I think one of them will be a setting inspired by Africa or Oceania. Or both if there is no Domains of Delight book. They've never really done a Setting or even a subsettibg based on Africa (except Egypt) or Oceania before. Otherwise maybe a completely aquatic setting with Atlanteans as water breathing human race.