D&D 5E Will 5e D&D re-claim its campaign settings.

[RotGrub]

Be it a short conversion document or single book filled with rules for all the campaign settings of old, do you think 5e will at some point attempt to re-claim them all?

As someone who runs home-brew games using official campaign settings, I can't say that I've been interested in buying any of the 5e modules.

 

[jayoungr]

I have a feeling they're thinking about it, since a recent poll asked which settings people were most interested in. The new Ravenloft module dips a toe in the water, and it seems to be well received. So I have a feeling we'll be seeing more stuff in the older settings, but I don't know when.

In the meantime, have you seen the awesome fan conversion Mystara guide? There's a thread about it somewhere on this site if you search. And of course, there have been playtest documents for Eberron, though consensus seems to be that most of the material needs more work.

Then too, there's always the OGL...

 

[RotGrub]

I have a feeling they're thinking about it, since a recent poll asked which settings people were most interested in. The new Ravenloft module dips a toe in the water, and it seems to be well received. So I have a feeling we'll be seeing more stuff in the older settings, but I don't know when.

In the meantime, have you seen the awesome fan conversion Mystara guide? There's a thread about it somewhere on this site if you search. And of course, there have been playtest documents for Eberron, though consensus seems to be that most of the material needs more work.

Then too, there's always the OGL...

That's interesting. Not a fan of Eberron, but I'll have to check out the Mystara guide. I still have my 2e Mystara monster manual.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I believe they will support all of the settings in at least a general way, and they will occasionally create content that uses one or more settings more specifically.

I don't expect a sourcebook for every setting or one that has all settings. I don't think it is worth their time to create such a product. I know many people are very vocal about wanting that, but such a product may have pretty limited appeal. Because of that, they are going to focus their resources on products they feel will appeal to a larger audience.

I have a feeling that we'll see some kind of Manual of the Planes, which will scratch the Planescape itch for lots of people. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a Dark Sun adventure, especially if they produce a psionics handbook of some sort. An Ebberon adventure might be possible as well.

All pure conjecture on my part. The presence of the DMsGuild means that they can allow a lot of this to fall to the community. Since most settings don't really need more fluff material published, just the crunch converted to 5E, they probably assume if you really want to play Dark Sun before they produce something official, you can find racial conversions and weapon types, and so on,, that has been created by the community.

 

[jayoungr]

That's interesting. Not a fan of Eberron, but I'll have to check out the Mystara guide. I still have my 2e Mystara monster manual.

Found it! Check out this thread:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?467583-Mystara-5th-Edition-Fan-Made-Supplement

I just tried the link and confirmed that the manual is still available.

 

[RotGrub]

I believe they will support all of the settings in at least a general way, and they will occasionally create content that uses one or more settings more specifically.

I don't expect a sourcebook for every setting or one that has all settings. I don't think it is worth their time to create such a product. I know many people are very vocal about wanting that, but such a product may have pretty limited appeal. Because of that, they are going to focus their resources on products they feel will appeal to a larger audience.

I have a feeling that we'll see some kind of Manual of the Planes, which will scratch the Planescape itch for lots of people. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a Dark Sun adventure, especially if they produce a psionics handbook of some sort. An Ebberon adventure might be possible as well.

All pure conjecture on my part. The presence of the DMsGuild means that they can allow a lot of this to fall to the community. Since most settings don't really need more fluff material published, just the crunch converted to 5E, they probably assume if you really want to play Dark Sun before they produce something official, you can find racial conversions and weapon types, and so on,, that has been created by the community.

I think the DMs guild will suffer from inconsistent fan created content. Imagine buying a few Ravenloft modules that contain different rules for powers checks. I think they need to give us the platform before telling us to create fan created content for it. Without official conversions the campaign settings are just not official.

Settings that have a larger appeal are obviously going to be the ones with the most support across the most recent editions. It's important to note that people will vote for the campaign settings they know. You're not going to see very many votes for Lankhmar or Taladas if people have never played them. I'd really like to see conversions for all the campaign settings. Allow people to buy the old campaign settings online with the 5e conversion documents. Give all the campaign settings a fair chance to become popular again.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I think the DMs guild will suffer from inconsistent fan created content. Imagine buying a few Ravenloft modules that contain different rules for powers checks. I think they need to give us the platform before telling us to create fan created content for it. Without official conversions the campaign settings are just not official.

Settings that have a larger appeal are obviously going to be the ones with the most support across the most recent editions. It's important to note that people will vote for the campaign settings they know. You're not going to see very many votes for Lankhmar or Taladas if people have never played them. I'd really like to see conversions for all the campaign settings. Allow people to buy the old campaign settings online with the 5e conversion documents. Give all the campaign settings a fair chance to become popular again.

Yes, the DMsGuild will be inconsistent. But it exists...meaning you can likely find the options you are looking for, and if more than one rendition of the option exists, you decide which is better for you. Or you use one or more of the renditions to create one that does work for you.

As for the settings, why should they all have a chance? I mean, we can discuss the chicken or egg aspect of the supported systems being popular or the popular systems being supported all day....the truth is that it's likely a bit of both. But there are some settings that are clearly not that desired. Lankhmar? Why exactly does it deserve a fair chance? I mean, I like Fahfred and the Grey Mouser, but I don't need a D&D published setting for them. Plus, I don't even know what you would need outside of the core rules to actually realize a game set in Lankhmar. If the setting had remained that popular it would have thrived through later editions, and we'd see Leiber's novels in the popular fantasy sections alongside Tolkien and Martin.

I feel the same is true of most settings, actually, which is why I think they're more likely to dip their toes into the settings that are either thematically different (such as Ravenloft) or mechanically different (such as Dark Sun), than they are on a setting that needs little to no modification to the rules as presented in the core books (such as Dragonlance or Mystara).

I say all this not necessarily because it's what I want, just what I expect to be the case. The backlog of material from prior editions is there for story and setting inspiration. The mechanical aspects are what's missing....and most of the settings don't require a whole lot of mechanical work to make them ready for 5E.

 

[RotGrub]

Yes, the DMsGuild will be inconsistent. But it exists...meaning you can likely find the options you are looking for, and if more than one rendition of the option exists, you decide which is better for you. Or you use one or more of the renditions to create one that does work for you.

As for the settings, why should they all have a chance? I mean, we can discuss the chicken or egg aspect of the supported systems being popular or the popular systems being supported all day....the truth is that it's likely a bit of both. But there are some settings that are clearly not that desired. Lankhmar? Why exactly does it deserve a fair chance? I mean, I like Fahfred and the Grey Mouser, but I don't need a D&D published setting for them. Plus, I don't even know what you would need outside of the core rules to actually realize a game set in Lankhmar. If the setting had remained that popular it would have thrived through later editions, and we'd see Leiber's novels in the popular fantasy sections alongside Tolkien and Martin.

I feel the same is true of most settings, actually, which is why I think they're more likely to dip their toes into the settings that are either thematically different (such as Ravenloft) or mechanically different (such as Dark Sun), than they are on a setting that needs little to no modification to the rules as presented in the core books (such as Dragonlance or Mystara).

I say all this not necessarily because it's what I want, just what I expect to be the case. The backlog of material from prior editions is there for story and setting inspiration. The mechanical aspects are what's missing....and most of the settings don't require a whole lot of mechanical work to make them ready for 5E.

Updating the various settings of old would be positive thing for the game, Sure, some people might not value certain campaign settings, but they all have their fan base. I really don't see why a particular setting has to be justified by popularity or potential dollar value before it can be supported. Even if support is a a single page of conversion notes, it would make fans happy. Like you said, many settings don't need a lot of mechanical work, which is why it wouldn't take much for them to be updated. It would also help to peek the interest of newer generations of gamers. It's not like releasing a sub classes and races for Taladas would require WotC to make any further commitments. The justified dollar value in this case would be increased sales of older campaign settings. Sure, there are some folks who hate certain campaign settings, but the game doesn't grow by catering to the whims of haters.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Updating the various settings of old would be positive thing for the game, Sure, some people might not value certain campaign settings, but they all have their fan base. I really don't see why a particular setting has to be justified by popularity or potential dollar value before it can be supported. Even if support is a a single page of conversion notes, it would make fans happy. Like you said, many settings don't need a lot of mechanical work, which is why it wouldn't take much for them to be updated. It would also help to peek the interest of newer generations of gamers. It's not like releasing a sub classes and races for Taladas would require WotC to make any further commitments. The justified dollar value in this case would be increased sales of older campaign settings. Sure, there are some folks who hate certain campaign settings, but the game doesn't grow by catering to the whims of haters.

I don't think it's settings that need to be justified from a potential dollar value before it can be supported...I think that's true of anything that they do. Any product they are going to produce needs to be looked at as an investment of resources with some expectation of return.

Let's say they produce a PDF only version of "The Worlds of D&D", a short guide to many of their past campaign worlds. It could have the required mechanical aspects of each setting, such as races and subclasses, and perhaps a bare minimum of fluff info to get them started, while also siting previous works that can be found to enhance that experience.

I don't think that it would be incredibly difficult to do this. I think it would be a bit more of an investment in time than maybe you are imagining, but overall, I think it could be done. The play testing would most likely be the biggest time investment.

The question really comes down to what isn't being done while that is? Let's say that Chris Perkins does the majority of the work and then Jeremy Crawford has to proof read and vet it and then finally Mike Mearls has to review and approve it (this is probably in no way accurate to how things happen over there, but is just an example). That is all time on their part. Time that would otherwise be spent on another product. Do they scratch another product to focus on this? DO they delay the release of another product to work on this?

Those are the questions that come into play, I think.

I am pretty sure they are looking at it as "Lankhmar isn't going to hook new players, it is something that appeals to existing players" and as such, material for that is best left to the community for now.

They have limited resources, so they have to decide what would be best. My examples are pretty basic and crude, but I think that's what it boils down to...they have limited resources and have to decide how to spend those resources and maintain their production schedule and sales expectations.

I say this knowing that if they did put out a Worlds of D&D, I'd likely snatch a copy up immediately.

 

[joshinminn]

I think seeing new materials from the older settings with the art direction of 5e would be really cool. But not if they can't really afford to do it in their business model.