D&D 5E Yearly Releases Speculation Time

[Parmandur]

Spinning off from the thread about this Winter's forthcoming Critical Role book, it strikes me that WotC can put out a Spring book in a few months, then the Summer storyline like every year, and then a November release in Fall, and have a release every Season quite reasonably.

Indeed, we now have good reason to think three releases are forthcoming: this is not the book Welch is working on with Marisha Ray, Deborah Ann Woll and others, nor is this Chris Perkins big storyline, nor is this whatever Crawford has cooking. And finally, none of those three other known projects are likely to be identical with each other.

Four hardcovers is more than their 5E publishing year average, but would also constitute slowing down from 2019.

So, I currently posit that we are going to see 1 Setting in Winter, 1 compilation of smaller material in Spring (bonus speculation: maybe they'll use some part of Greyhawk as a sandbox hub?), a big Forgotten Realms Storyline in Summer, and a follow-up to Xanathar's Guide in the Fall to finish the year out for the Holidays.

Thoughts?

 

[Prakriti]

Well, since the Kate Welch book was slated for 2020 (according to sources from last year), I guess we can expect to get it this year. Probably in the spring.

And WotC can't seem to help itself when it comes to adventure paths, so I think we'll get another one of those too. Probably in late summer.

And there has always been a fall release, so I think we'll get one of those too. It could be another Xanathar's Guide, or it could be another campaign setting.

My predicted schedule for 2020:
Spring: Book of short adventures (edited by Kate Welch)
Summer: Adventure Path (by Chris "If you liked Curse of Strahd, you'll like what I'm working on for 2020" Perkins)
Fall: Rules Supplement or Campaign Setting

 

[Parmandur]

Well, since the Kate Welch book was slated for 2020 (according to sources from last year), I guess we can expect to get it this year. Probably in the spring.

And WotC can't seem to help itself when it comes to adventure paths, so I think we'll get another one of those too. Probably in late summer.

And there has always been a fall release, so I think we'll get one of those too. It could be another Xanathar's Guide, or it could be another campaign setting.

My predicted schedule for 2020:
Spring: Book of short adventures (edited by Kate Welch)
Summer: Adventure Path (by Chris "If you liked Curse of Strahd, you'll like what I'm working on for 2020" Perkins)
Fall: Rules Supplement or Campaign Setting

The stock for a big Xanathar's style book went way up in my eyes with the UA "Subclasses, Part 1" this week, suggesting another 8-9 Subclasses at least.

 

[gyor]

I'm breaking from the trend here and saying I think there will at least be four books this year. Kate's book (which doesn't interest me at all), an AP, and I still think we will get a another setting & Generic options book or 2 settings. And I think of them could be Al Qadim from the last UA.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm breaking from the trend here and saying I think there will at least be four books this year. Kate's book (which doesn't interest me at all), an AP, and I still think we will get a another setting & Generic options book or 2 settings. And I think of them could be Al Qadim from the last UA.

Could be: Perkins was at pains to say at the recent Gameholecon panel that 2019 was unusual, with several publishing opportunities like the Essentials Kit or Rick & Morty popping up unexpectedly, and that the release schedule would slow down again.

 

[ccs]

I predict 4 books.
●One of wich I'll have no interest in.
●One of wich I'll definitely pick up.
●Two will be somewhere on the spectrum of 0% - 100% interest/use to me.
*At least one of these four will be an adventure. And since Wizards isnt that good at starting adventures, odds are that it'll have a really crappy into/in game premise for the action.
●A bunch of misc stuff - dice, cards, dm screens, whatever that I've 0 interest in & less use.

 

[gyor]

Could be: Perkins was at pains to say at the recent Gameholecon panel that 2019 was unusual, with several publishing opportunities like the Essentials Kit or Rick & Morty popping up unexpectedly, and that the release schedule would slow down again.

Well if they publish zero box sets it will by definition slow down.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Hopefully something for us older fans like Planescape or Dark Sun (if only to stop people asking for it...) or as someone posted upthread an anthology with Greyhawk as the touchstone.

So, they've done Dragons, Giants, the Blood War. Maybe it's time for Gith v Mind Flayers. And perhaps taking place outside the North. Moonshae or Sea of Fallen Stars. Or, as others have posited Al-Qadim...

 

[Demetrios1453]

Hopefully something for us older fans like Planescape or Dark Sun (if only to stop people asking for it...) or as someone posted upthread an anthology with Greyhawk as the touchstone.

So, they've done Dragons, Giants, the Blood War. Maybe it's time for Gith v Mind Flayers. And perhaps taking place outside the North. Moonshae or Sea of Fallen Stars. Or, as others have posited Al-Qadim...

I've recently been thinking that if they want to do a fey-centric adventure (I'm not saying it's coming up, but it would definitely be different from previous 5e adventures), the Moonshaes would be perfect. It would also have the added bonus of moving us away from the Sword Coast, at least nominally.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The stock for a big Xanathar's style book went way up in my eyes with the UA "Subclasses, Part 1" this week, suggesting another 8-9 Subclasses at least.

One assumes they will UA two for each class, so we are due another sorcerer, bard, cleric, druid, ranger, artificer (I reckon the main motivation for doing the book now is to reprint the artificer for people who don't like Eberron). The rate of release seems to be stepped up - 2 at a time, 3 at a time, 4 at a time, suggesting the date of content lockdown is getting closer. But there is still quite a long time between content lockdown and publication. So my best guess is this book will come out in September, +/- 2 months.