D&D 5E Is there even a new D&D setting?

Though we’ve been speculating about what the new setting recently pre-announced for D&D might or might not be (Icewind Dale being one suggestion), there's some doubt about whether it exists at all!

The press release that was sent out said:

Fans of D&D will learn all about the new setting and storyline as well as accompanying new products

The web page for the event says:

Fans of D&D will learn all about the new storyline as well as accompanying new products

The word “setting” is missing from the web page, but exists in the press release. The text is the same otherwise.

I don’t know which order the two were written in, or if the latter changed, or if the former contains extra information.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I don't think it will be named after the Lady of Pain. She'll surely get mentioned in the Sigil portion of the book, but probably won't be the focus of the book or narrated by her.

 

[darjr]

Shemenskas shiftless sheets

 

[darjr]

The book will be bound in leather with only a crude tattoo scratched across it

Don’t trust the skull.

But on the back cover.

 

[agrayday]

If you look at MtG code names they are so completely unrelated with the actual product, not sure a leak would help anyway.

One of the block's after Zendikar is code-name hockey. Can't wait for the Canadian/Russian themed magic deck!

Hockey is played on "Ice".... so must be Icewind Dale! there has to be a Hockey Rink in one of those PC games.....

 

[Xenonnonex]

Hockey is played on "Ice".... so must be Icewind Dale! there has to be a Hockey Rink in one of those PC games.....

Or set in Canada.

 

[Zardnaar]

What does god of x magic mean. It does not care about distinction of class.
Again. The right timeline needs to be made clear. Sorcerers arose after the Chaos War. In that timeline the gods left.
Evil renegades get their powers from Takhisis.

Not interested in DL post Dragons of Summer Flame.

 

[Mercurius]

Not interested in DL post Dragons of Summer Flame.

Me too. I didn't read any of the books past Chronicles, Legends, and one or two of the Tales books. In the early 90s, when I was in my late teens, I found my tolerance for RPG novels--as well as many comic books--lessening. Partially an "I'm no longer a kid" thing, but also as my literary and aesthetic tastes matured. I think it was the last Drizzt book I read, 1992's The Legacy, that did it for me, as well as the downturn that occurred with my favorite superhero comic, the X-Men, after Chris Claremont left.

People have recommended some RPG novels that they claimed were better written, but I could just never find my way back in.

Anyhow, I never read Dragons of Summer Flame, or War of Souls. I've heard they are decent, but to refer to one of your favorite subjects, I always felt like they were sort of like the Star Wars prequels or Disney films: they have the stamp of "canon," but feel either like inferior additions or big production fan-fic.

 

[Zardnaar]

Me too. I didn't read any of the books past Chronicles, Legends, and one or two of the Tales books. In the early 90s, when I was in my late teens, I found my tolerance for RPG novels--as well as many comic books--lessening. Partially an "I'm no longer a kid" thing, but also as my literary and aesthetic tastes matured. I think it was the last Drizzt book I read, 1992's The Legacy, that did it for me, as well as the downturn that occurred with my favorite superhero comic, the X-Men, after Chris Claremont left.

People have recommended some RPG novels that they claimed were better written, but I could just never find my way back in.

Anyhow, I never read Dragons of Summer Flame, or War of Souls. I've heard they are decent, but to refer to one of your favorite subjects, I always felt like they were sort of like the Star Wars prequels or Disney films: they have the stamp of "canon," but feel either like inferior additions or big production fan-fic.

For me Dragons of Summer Flame was the last hurrah.

I think between that, Saga, and War of Lost Souls people just checked out.

 

[teitan]

Eberron in pdf first then hardcover was a great way to reintroduce an old setting. Personally I don't feel they will do Dragonlance as its close in its genre to the Realms. Dark Sun, Spelljammer and Planescape have more chances and an old setting each 2 years is perfect: Ravenloft in 2016, Eberron in 2018 and now another oldy for 2020

So looking at Dragonlance on its face, sure, you are correct. But it really stops there. Dragonlance is very Wagnerian really, it's also very Tolkienesque vs the Realms more, well, realmsian flavor. There was nothing quite like the realms and everything like the Realms when they came out. It was unique and vanilla and redefined fantasy as a shared world experience of many authors, more akin to comic books or even G.R.R. Martin's Wild Cards book series. Dragonlance on the other hand taps into the same vein as LOTR, Shannara (especially the generational aspects) and similar epic fantasy series but with more magic. It's not very like the Realms at all.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Me too. I didn't read any of the books past Chronicles, Legends, and one or two of the Tales books. In the early 90s, when I was in my late teens, I found my tolerance for RPG novels--as well as many comic books--lessening. Partially an "I'm no longer a kid" thing, but also as my literary and aesthetic tastes matured. I think it was the last Drizzt book I read, 1992's The Legacy, that did it for me, as well as the downturn that occurred with my favorite superhero comic, the X-Men, after Chris Claremont left.

People have recommended some RPG novels that they claimed were better written, but I could just never find my way back in.

Anyhow, I never read Dragons of Summer Flame, or War of Souls. I've heard they are decent, but to refer to one of your favorite subjects, I always felt like they were sort of like the Star Wars prequels or Disney films: they have the stamp of "canon," but feel either like inferior additions or big production fan-fic.

The thing with literature we enjoyed as a child/adolescent is when we return to them as adults we see things we didn't see before, for good or ill. It maybe things that the author put in intentionally, but sometimes the author unintentionally revels part of their own soul.

And we can also learn about the times when they where written. Dragonlance was ahead of it's time in a way. It was intentionally "YA" before publishers invented the category. It was soppy teen romance long before Twilight, reflecting a generation who grew up with nothing more important to worry about apart from who was dating whom.