D&D (2024) So what happened to the new and classic campaign settings? (and what's next?)

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Do we really need yet-another kitchen sink to support the less than 10 years of innovation we've had in the fantasy space? Things haven't really changed that much.

As beloved as Nentir Vale is, it was very late 1990s fantasy, rather than 21st century. It was what the developers were interested in, rather a product created for the youngest-ever D&D audience.

 

[Clint_L]

They sort of did introduce a new setting: Exandria. They worked with Matt Mercer to release The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount and Call of the Netherdeep,

EGtW is my favourite 5e setting. It tends towards traditional fantasy/D&D, made a bit more contemporary. It feels very natural to run games in. For me.

 

[TwoSix]

As beloved as Nentir Vale is, it was very late 1990s fantasy, rather than 21st century. It was what the developers were interested in, rather a product created for the youngest-ever D&D audience.

I wasn't talking about Nentir Vale? I didn't even mention it.

 

[Aldarc]

As beloved as Nentir Vale is, it was very late 1990s fantasy, rather than 21st century. It was what the developers were interested in, rather a product created for the youngest-ever D&D audience.

Nentir Vale was written from the ground up as a sample setting that supported the assumptions of 4e, which was basically the Millenial edition. Nentir Vale was very much 2008.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I wasn't talking about Nentir Vale? I didn't even mention it.

Sorry, I replied to the wrong person.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Nentir Vale was written from the ground up as a sample setting that supported the assumptions of 4e, which was basically the Millenial edition. Nentir Vale was very much 2008.

Granted, it used avocado toast instead of iron rations, but its fiction and tone were very much in keeping with late 1990s fantasy from what I've seen.

In any case, Millennials != Gen Z

 

[Aldarc]

but its fiction and tone were very much in keeping with late 1990s fantasy from what I've seen.

Is that your opinion as a non-Millennial?

In any case, Millennials != Gen Z

It's not a confusion that I am making, but at the time it was a setting for the Millennials.

 

[TwoSix]

Granted, it used avocado toast instead of iron rations, but its fiction and tone were very much in keeping with late 1990s fantasy from what I've seen.

In any case, Millennials != Gen Z

What tropes and trappings would need to be included in a generic fantasy gen Z setting?

 

[Aldarc]

What tropes and trappings would need to be included in a generic fantasy gen Z setting?

The guess will likely be one generation behind, much like Eberron was a setting beloved by Millennials but, according to some here, aimed at GenX.

 

[TwoSix]

I think I just fundamentally don't agree that we need a new and better generic fantasy world every 10 years or so because the new generation just won't get what's already in existence.

A good generic fantasy setting should have a degree of timelessness, or at least be capable of fantastical concepts that span a few generations.