D&D General What are the "dead settings" of D&D?

[Doug McCrae]

These are the results of a 2015 survey conducted by WotC.

The popularity of settings in the survey fell into three distinct clusters. Not surprisingly, our most popular settings from prior editions landed at the top of the rankings, with Eberron, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, Planescape, and the Forgotten Realms all proving equally popular. Greyhawk, Dragonlance, and Spelljammer all shared a similar level of second-tier popularity, followed by a fairly steep drop-off to the rest of the settings. My sense is that Spelljammer has often lagged behind the broad popularity of other settings, falling into love-it-or-hate-it status depending on personal tastes. Greyhawk and Dragonlance hew fairly close to the assumptions we used in creating the fifth edition rulebooks, making them much easier to run with material from past editions. Of the top five settings, four require significant new material to function and the fifth is by far our most popular world.​

 

[Voadam]

Ghostwalk is an oddity in that it doesn't need to be it's own "setting" and can be associated with any other setting as an add-on. You can also combine it with a Planes book like Open Grave or a Necromancy book or Shadowfell or a variety of other combinations. And it's a self-contained book - you can add it to an existing setting and it needs no other materials outside that book for support.

Given all those factors, I'd say it's still in the running as more than "dead" for 5e. I can see how it could fit well with the 5e model.

Ravenloft can be an add on to any setting as a demiplane.

Spelljammer can be an add on as outer space for any world.

D&D has a bunch.

 

[Parmandur]

These are the results of a 2015 survey conducted by WotC.

The popularity of settings in the survey fell into three distinct clusters. Not surprisingly, our most popular settings from prior editions landed at the top of the rankings, with Eberron, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, Planescape, and the Forgotten Realms all proving equally popular. Greyhawk, Dragonlance, and Spelljammer all shared a similar level of second-tier popularity, followed by a fairly steep drop-off to the rest of the settings. My sense is that Spelljammer has often lagged behind the broad popularity of other settings, falling into love-it-or-hate-it status depending on personal tastes. Greyhawk and Dragonlance hew fairly close to the assumptions we used in creating the fifth edition rulebooks, making them much easier to run with material from past editions. Of the top five settings, four require significant new material to function and the fifth is by far our most popular world.​

Source

A lot of time has passed since then: a not-insignficant part of the player base was still wearing diapers.

Something like the Rabiah Scale, but for D&D, would be awesome.

 

[Voadam]

These are the results of a 2015 survey conducted by WotC.

The popularity of settings in the survey fell into three distinct clusters. Not surprisingly, our most popular settings from prior editions landed at the top of the rankings, with Eberron, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, Planescape, and the Forgotten Realms all proving equally popular. . . . Of the top five settings, four require significant new material to function and the fifth is by far our most popular world.​

Some settings are more equal than others.

 

[Mistwell]

Ravenloft can be an add on to any setting as a demiplane.

Spelljammer can be an add on as outer space for any world.

D&D has a bunch.

Right, and Ravenloft got just that kind of 5e treatment as part of an adventure. I can see Ghostwalk getting it too.

 

[Minigiant]

I think the first 2 tiers would have to be:

A Officially Campaigned
B Officially Acknowledged

Settings with official books are on different tiers that ones with blurbs and mentions in books.
You can't die if the designers keep mentioning you.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Right, and Ravenloft got just that kind of 5e treatment as part of an adventure. I can see Ghostwalk getting it too.

Theoretically, a lot of settings can either be standalone adventures (Ghostwalk, for example), consumed by the Forgotten Realms, or used as connective tissue between settings (Planescape, SpellJammer).

There are very few settings on the list that absolutely stand alone and cannot be used or easily cannibalized into something else.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

We just had a levels 1-10 5E official adventure for Ravenloft, and I'm pretty sure the stuff from Plansecape is referred to a fair bit now that the great wheel is back (there have been Sigil references etc, and decent into Avernus had a fair bit of references in there as well).

I'd give my kingdom for an official Birthright... anything really. Heck; just a reference in an official book somewhere would be nice. Faerun, Greyhawk, Eberron and Krynn get all the love.

I think you need to reread my post. CoS has very little to do with the Ravenloft setting. It contains none of the unique rules, few of the themes, and actively contradicts the settings at several points.

It doesn't even contain all of Barovia.

There's been valiant attempts by fans to detail the actual setting in the DMsGuild, but there is (and will not be) nothing official. WoTC's stance on it hasn't changed since they released "Expedition to Castle Ravenloft". As far as they are concerned, "Ravenloft" is merely the original 1st edition module by Tracy and Laura Hickman. Nothing more.

 

[Quartz]

D: Pellinore? Exactly. But it existed.

Some of us are old, TYVM. I still have my copies of Imagine. And GM Pubs. I'd love to run a party through The Awakening and The Rod of Seraillian.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

My suggestion is a new transitional setting based in the chronomancers and the time spheres, (and now the music of Doctor Who sounds in your minds).

Now the relation between Disney and Hasbro is very good. I wonder about if Warner produced Lord of the Rings, why not to allow Disney to produce its own version of Dragonlance? (Ok, Silvara and Goldmoon can't be sing like in a musical, we take note about it). This could be one of the best promotion of the brand.