D&D 5E How should 5th edition introduce the remaining classic settings?

[tetrasodium]

Opening stuff up to dmsguild is huge - it means people can write conversions of old adventures in a setting without WOTC having to put their tiny team on it. Sure, an individual DM can do the work, but the success of the dmsguild proves plenty would rather pay for someone else to.

Not only that, having a start point for settings like eberron did with wayfinders gives the community a startpoint to build off of. Prior to wayfinders there were multiple people trying to build enough foundational stuff to run eberron games in 5e & not all of them were compatible. After wayfinders & rising those projects shifted to extending the base in ways that were more compatible.

I've seen multiple attempts at building 5e darksun & wouldn't be surprised if other settings had similar too.

 

[ChaosOS]

Yeah doing a baseline "Here are the racial traits for our signature races and mechanics" goes a long way to unifying the community. To continue the Dark Sun example, if you know the rules for defiling will be consistent you can run different adventures from different authors that play with the mechanic while keeping consistency for your players.

 

[Wulffolk]

I don't have a lot of use for adventures.

Bring on the setting books.

I prefer using my imagination to create custom adventures tailored to suit the PC's in the group.

 

[Coroc]

Keep them hands of, it can cause more harm than good in some cases.

Those who are dm in those classic settings have their homegrown solutions already. And most of these settings have plenty of old material (still available as pdf) which can be converted, and even if they would bring out new stuff you would have to do the conversions if you also wanted to use old adventures.

In terms of new canon, e.g. enhance the timeline, you can only fall into the FR trap so that is not feasible either.

 

[Asensur]

If it includes new player options: sourcebook
If it adapts player options: adventure
If it is only unlocked in dmsguild: pdf

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

If I want "crunch" (feats, spells, magic item, subclasses) I don't need the settings. And if I want "fluff" (lore/background) I haven't to spend money when I can read the fandom wikis.

I suggest a module compilation about Ravenloft and the gran condjuction. The best way for the return of Dragonlance should be a new media title, maybe a videogame, but the right game, or the right (cartoon?) teleserie. This needs a lot of time and work.

The risk for the resurecction of the old settings is how to explain the new added races and classes from the last edition is harder. How can you explain the psionic races from the 3.5 Expanded Handbook in Dark Sun?

Birthright is perfect to try a strategy videogame.

In the past I have suggested the return of the time spheres, an idea from the AD&D 2nd sourcebook Chronomancer. This would allow fans to publish their own version of D&D worlds in DM guild, for example plane-explorers from Kaladesh discovering a new world but they don't know yet this is the "home" of a D&D version of the maximal vs predacons "Beast Wars", or a timeline of Dragonlance being "invaded" by the cults of the gods Raitlins and the god (former kingpriest) Beldinas Pilofiro.

 

[Don Durito]

Dark Sun needs to be a hexcrawl sandbox

 

[Coroc]

...
Birthright is perfect to try a strategy videogame.
...

There was a birthright video game trying to combine realm management with 3d combat. But it never was successful, Computers back then probably lacked the power to realize this in a good way. I only played it a bit, mainly because I did not like the interfaces.

 

[Delazar]

Adventures! Adventures all the time!

 

[Helldritch]

I voted the three that Wizards is actually doing. IF they do not want to update the old settings, then they should open up the Guild.