D&D 5E Yearly Releases Speculation Time

[Urriak Uruk]

I think @Parmandur and @Prakriti are probably right here, I just have two things...

One, do we actually know that the four adventures in the Wildemount book are not the "anthology" that Welch was editing? Any confirmation at all? Because I wouldn't be surprised if those adventures include one written by Marisha Ray (Mercer's wife) and DOA.

Second, where do gem dragons fit into these theories? I could see one gem dragon type (sapphire) fitting into almost any book, but there was a confirmation on Dragon Talk that all gem dragons (and by all I assume 5 types to match Chrom/Metallic) would get stats. I can only see that being released in a setting book, or more general player's/monster book (like Volo's or Mordenkainen's).

 

[Retreater]

S3 was recently published, under license, by Goodman's Games for their series of Original Adventures Reincarnated.

Well, that's disappointing.
In the hands of Wizards it could be a nice, fresh update and expansion of the material - instead of a $50 reprint that adds no new playability.

 

[Parmandur]

One, do we actually know that the four adventures in the Wildemount book are not the "anthology" that Welch was editing? Any confirmation at all? Because I wouldn't be surprised if those adventures include one written by Marisha Ray (Mercer's wife) and DOA.

Good question! Per James Haeck & James Introcaso recent appearance on D&D Beyond's Todd Talks, the four Adventures are written each by one of the book's four writers: one each by themselves, one by Mercer, and one by a Chris whose last name escapes me.

Welch's project is definitely something else altogether.

Second, where do gem dragons fit into these theories? I could see one gem dragon type (sapphire) fitting into almost any book, but there was a confirmation on Dragon Talk that all gem dragons (and by all I assume 5 types to match Chrom/Metallic) would get stats. I can only see that being released in a setting book, or more general player's/monster book (like Volo's or Mordenkainen's).

To be honest, they could fit in with any of these books: maybe Mercer really likes Gem Dragons and got WotC to go along with updating them, maybe they are in the Adventures for Welch's book, or play a role in Perkins' storyline, or maybe the November book is a Setting with a lot of Subclasses and a bunch of monsters.

 

[Parmandur]

Well, that's disappointing.
In the hands of Wizards it could be a nice, fresh update and expansion of the material - instead of a $50 reprint that adds no new playability.

The Goodman Games product adds a lot of new area to the module.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Good question! Per James Haeck & James Introcaso recent appearance on D&D Beyond's Todd Talks, the four Adventures are written each by one of the book's four writers: one each by themselves, one by Mercer, and one by a Chris whose last name escapes me.

Welch's project is definitely something else altogether.

To be honest, they could fit in with any of these books: maybe Mercer really likes Gem Dragons and got WotC to go along with updating them, maybe they are in the Adventures for Welch's book, or play a role in Perkins' storyline, or maybe the November book is a Setting with a lot of Subclasses and a bunch of monsters.

Thanks for the answer! Yeah that definitely means Welch's book is something else.

I really doubt that all of the gem dragons would go with an adventure book. It's true that adventures can debut new monsters, but this would be a total of 20 different statblocks (wyrmling/young/adult/ancient for each type). That's a lot, so I doubt it's going with an adventure book of any kind.

It could be the Wildemount, but I think it's more probably that this is something that Wizard's developed themselves (as these are more something Wizard's developed years ago than CR has ever used).

So yeah, I'm thinking whatever Crawford is making with have some new monsters in it, including these dragons. It could be a setting book, like Planescape/Spelljammer/MagicTG, or more general Volo's/Mordenkainen's style.

 

[darjr]

I love these threads, please continue and thanks!

 

[gyor]

It’s beginning to look something like this, from what I can gather online:

Campaign Guide - Wildemount
Module Anthology - Kate’s book
Adventure Path - Chris’ book
Expanded Player Options - James’ book

Wildemount doesn't count, it doesn't take up a slot, it's a bonus book.

 

[gyor]

I think @Parmandur and @Prakriti are probably right here, I just have two things...

One, do we actually know that the four adventures in the Wildemount book are not the "anthology" that Welch was editing? Any confirmation at all? Because I wouldn't be surprised if those adventures include one written by Marisha Ray (Mercer's wife) and DOA.

Second, where do gem dragons fit into these theories? I could see one gem dragon type (sapphire) fitting into almost any book, but there was a confirmation on Dragon Talk that all gem dragons (and by all I assume 5 types to match Chrom/Metallic) would get stats. I can only see that being released in a setting book, or more general player's/monster book (like Volo's or Mordenkainen's).

Gem Dragons would fit in a Planescape Setting Guide.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Thanks for the answer! Yeah that definitely means Welch's book is something else.

I really doubt that all of the gem dragons would go with an adventure book. It's true that adventures can debut new monsters, but this would be a total of 20 different statblocks (wyrmling/young/adult/ancient for each type). That's a lot, so I doubt it's going with an adventure book of any kind.

It could be the Wildemount, but I think it's more probably that this is something that Wizard's developed themselves (as these are more something Wizard's developed years ago than CR has ever used).

So yeah, I'm thinking whatever Crawford is making with have some new monsters in it, including these dragons. It could be a setting book, like Planescape/Spelljammer/MagicTG, or more general Volo's/Mordenkainen's style.

I wonder if we'll be seeing a sort of Volo's/Xanathar's hybrid, with lots of player options, but also with a significant bestiary. Or perhaps it will be mainly a player options book, but because it has psionics, it will have a few psionic creatures like the gem dragons in a limited bestiary.

 

[Fenris-77]

I think we'll see one of Dark Sun or Planejammer late in the year. Dark Sun would be my educated guess based on the psion UA stuff, but that could easily be a planes Illithid whatever thing too.