WotC Strixhaven sounds like it'd be a nice mini-setting for D&D

[Parmandur]

For a bearfolk, I'd even be willing to go so far as to add blindsight based on smell.

Nice touch.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

There's definitely some sort of break of precedence brewing here, but that is a specialty of WotC lately.

To beat the dead horse, the points we have towards future D&D products right now:

UA Dragon Subclasses: a Monk who has learned mystical secrets from Dragons, and a Ranger who has a pet Drake and some Dragon themed powers. Strixhaven has Elder Dragons who run organizations of mortals to whom they have taught mystical secrets. We don't know much more than that about the Dragons in Strixhaven, but the material fits like a glove, while notably not fitting with any other Setting that I am aware of.

Four Fey Lineage options in the recent UA.

- Fairies as a specifically named "Fairy" do not have much of a history in D&D at all...but they do in Magic. We don't know what Fairies will look like in Strixhaven particularly (because they have not yet detailed the Setting much at all), with two Green Houses I reckon they will be present. Magic has recently introduced larger Fairies, that would fit the Lineage description to a T.

View attachment 134235

- "Hobgoblins of the Feywild" notably deviate entirely from the established D&D story (though I'm there for it), but Magic Goblinoids are decidedly Fey. They vary from Plane to Plane, but there is a larger Goblinoid of some sort in one of the images we have. The powers of this Lineage fit with a strain of Magic Goblin from the broader history of the game:

View attachment 134236

- Owlfolk, pretty prominently featured in Strixhaven art so far, and they do not fit anything Owl related from D&D history...but work great as Owl Aven.

- Rabbitfolk don't have any history in D&D, and not much in Magic. We don't know if any Rabbits will show up in Strixhaven, but this is a recent Magic card of some interest:

View attachment 134237

I was really not expecting anything like Strixhaven before this UA, but...these six elements all fit in Strixhaven, at least in theory, while I don't see them working in other Settings at all. I'd be shocked if they put out a Strixhaven book, but I'd be shocked at anything they do with these options, frankly.

Although nothing you've written here is actually untrue, and you craft a fair argument, I do have a couple of counterpoints...

The first being, we have very little info on the Strixhaven dragons. My interpretation of them so far is that as Elder Dragons, they behave less like D&D dragons and more like dragons such as Niv-Mezzet; being powerful loremasters and sages, practically gods. This matches how they seem to be stands in for Harry Potter's Hogwartz founders (Gryffinder, Slytherin), and are more focused around a school of magic instead of anything particularly dragon-focused. The images so far from Strixhaven don't seem to have anything particularly dragon themed.

As for the new fey-races not having a history in D&D... they do!

Faeries have appeared many times in D&D, the owlfolk seem to be a callback to the Feywild-dwlling owl-like Hsaio, and the kingdom of goblins in the feywild references how goblins may originate there. Rabbitfolk is the one entirely new thing.

I'll admit a lot of the above is pulling from older editions, and will likely be doing some retconning to fit it all in 5E, but all in all these races do seem to meld pretty well with D&D's Feywild.

 

[embee]

There's definitely some sort of break of precedence brewing here, but that is a specialty of WotC lately.

To beat the dead horse, the points we have towards future D&D products right now:

UA Dragon Subclasses: a Monk who has learned mystical secrets from Dragons, and a Ranger who has a pet Drake and some Dragon themed powers. Strixhaven has Elder Dragons who run organizations of mortals to whom they have taught mystical secrets. We don't know much more than that about the Dragons in Strixhaven, but the material fits like a glove, while notably not fitting with any other Setting that I am aware of.

Four Fey Lineage options in the recent UA.

- Fairies as a specifically named "Fairy" do not have much of a history in D&D at all...but they do in Magic. We don't know what Fairies will look like in Strixhaven particularly (because they have not yet detailed the Setting much at all), with two Green Houses I reckon they will be present. Magic has recently introduced larger Fairies, that would fit the Lineage description to a T.

View attachment 134235

- "Hobgoblins of the Feywild" notably deviate entirely from the established D&D story (though I'm there for it), but Magic Goblinoids are decidedly Fey. They vary from Plane to Plane, but there is a larger Goblinoid of some sort in one of the images we have. The powers of this Lineage fit with a strain of Magic Goblin from the broader history of the game:

View attachment 134236

- Owlfolk, pretty prominently featured in Strixhaven art so far, and they do not fit anything Owl related from D&D history...but work great as Owl Aven.

- Rabbitfolk don't have any history in D&D, and not much in Magic. We don't know if any Rabbits will show up in Strixhaven, but this is a recent Magic card of some interest:

View attachment 134237

I was really not expecting anything like Strixhaven before this UA, but...these six elements all fit in Strixhaven, at least in theory, while I don't see them working in other Settings at all. I'd be shocked if they put out a Strixhaven book, but I'd be shocked at anything they do with these options, frankly.

To quote a certain monomaniacal mouse, are you pondering what I'm pondering?

Because I'm pondering D&D&D. That is, Disney D&D. Which I think could work amazingly well. Basically, you can do a Robin Hood feywild campaign.

 

[Nikosandros]

I agree completely with you both. The signals coming from WotC are...very odd. I could see a Monster book combining Dragons and Fey, with Subclasses...but that would be so weird. I can see Strixhaven...but that would be so weird. I could see some other Setting...but that would be weird
.
This is all weird.

Winninger, Crawford and Perkins are cackling malevolently from the battlements of their tower...

 

[Parmandur]

Although nothing you've written here is actually untrue, and you craft a fair argument, I do have a couple of counterpoints...

The first being, we have very little info on the Strixhaven dragons. My interpretation of them so far is that as Elder Dragons, they behave less like D&D dragons and more like dragons such as Niv-Mezzet; being powerful loremasters and sages, practically gods. This matches how they seem to be stands in for Harry Potter's Hogwartz founders (Gryffinder, Slytherin), and are more focused around a school of magic instead of anything particularly dragon-focused. The images so far from Strixhaven don't seem to have anything particularly dragon themed.

As for the new fey-races not having a history in D&D... they do!

Faeries have appeared many times in D&D, the owlfolk seem to be a callback to the Feywild-dwlling owl-like Hsaio, and the kingdom of goblins in the feywild references how goblins may originate there. Rabbitfolk is the one entirely new thing.

I'll admit a lot of the above is pulling from older editions, and will likely be doing some retconning to fit it all in 5E, but all in all these races do seem to meld pretty well with D&D's Feywild.

To continue the train of positivity, I think your counterpoints are all excellent, and I don't disagree per se.

Indeed, we do not know anything about the Strixhaven Dragons (not even their names, I think), and Magic Dragons are less uniform in nature than D&D Metallic and Chromatic Dragons so it's not really possible to assume too much. However, it is precisely the Niv-Mezzet model that made the Draconic Subclasses fit for me: the Monastic Tradition as described doesn't seem to fit with normal D&D Dragon behavior, bit it's something that a Niv-Mezzet type would do, playing a long game. The Drakewarden is just...weird. Metal AF, so I'm there for it, but decidedly oddball. I could see such folks as security working for the School, however. Pern style.

I definitely agree that Fey have a history in D&D, being considered under the general of Fairies, but a creature called a Fairy full on? Pretty rare. I would have expected Sprites, Pixies, or Brownies...not a Fairy with no other modifier. However, it does fit in well with Magic tropes, though again Strixhaven hasn't tipped it's hand on Fey beings at this point.

That the flavor here for the awkwardly named Hobgoblin variant matches with 4E flavor is, to put not too fine a point on it, maybe weirder.

The Owlfolk described here is nothing like the Hsaio, who were shape shifters and had some funkadelic powers. It does, however, work great for an Aven of the Owl variety (honestly could work decently for any Aven?).

The Rabbitfolk are such a curveball, love it.

This whole thing is soooo weird, it's fantastic.

 

[Parmandur]

To quote a certain monomaniacal mouse, are you pondering what I'm pondering?

View attachment 134240

Because I'm pondering D&D&D. That is, Disney D&D. Which I think could work amazingly well. Basically, you can do a Robin Hood feywild campaign.

I mean, that's what I would want personally.

 

[Parmandur]

Winninger, Crawford and Perkins are cackling malevolently from the battlements of their tower...

For real, Crawford at least has admitted to keeping tabs on social media chatter, I hope this whole thing gives them a chuckle.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

To continue the train of positivity, I think your counterpoints are all excellent, and I don't disagree per se.

Indeed, we do not know anything about the Strixhaven Dragons (not even their names, I think), and Magic Dragons are less uniform in nature than D&D Metallic and Chromatic Dragons so it's not really possible to assume too much. However, it is precisely the Niv-Mezzet model that made the Draconic Subclasses fit for me: the Monastic Tradition as described doesn't seem to fit with normal D&D Dragon behavior, bit it's something that a Niv-Mezzet type would do, playing a long game. The Drakewarden is just...weird. Metal AF, so I'm there for it, but decidedly oddball. I could see such folks as security working for the School, however. Pern style.

I definitely agree that Get have a history in D&D, being considered under the general of Fairies, but a creature called a Fairy full on? Pretty rare. I would have expected Sprites, Pixies, or Brownies...not a Fairy with no other modifier. However, it does fit in well with Magic tropes, though again Strixhaven hasn't tipped it's hand on Get beings at this point.

That the flavor here for the awkwardly named Hobgoblin variant matches with 4E flavor is, to put not too fine a point on it, maybe weirder.

The Owlfolk described here is nothing like the Hsaio, who were shape shifters and had some funkadelic powers. It does, however, work great for an Aven of the Owl variety (honestly could work decently for any Aven?).

The Rabbitfolk are such a curveball, love it.

This whole thing is soooo weird, it's fantastic.

I'll add, it's also possible that these options are actually for the annual adventure book, which could be in the Feywild. Class options for an adventure would also be new, but more rules-material in books is not unprecedented... Avernus adding rules for essentially hell-cars comes to mind.

 

[Parmandur]

I'll add, it's also possible that these options are actually for the annual adventure book, which could be in the Feywild. Class options for an adventure would also be new, but more rules-material in books is not unprecedented... Avernus adding rules for essentially hell-cars comes to mind.

Also a strong possiblity: I suspect the next Adventure will have Baba Yaga or something, based on the precedent of Xanathar's leading into Waterdeep.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Also a strong possiblity: I suspect the next Adventure will have Baba Yaga or something, based on the precedent of Xanathar's leading into Waterdeep.

That would be pretty wild... I do think that Dragon Heist was made almost by accident, as it was initially intended as an introduction for Dungeon of the Mad Mage, that eventually bloated into becoming it's own book. But at this point, there is essentially no hints at what the adventure will be so I am open to anything!