D&D 5E D&D Head Talks Future Plans (Sort Of)

WotC has launched a new design blog. The first edition is written by D&D head Ray Winninger, and he talks a little about future plans.

"Later in the year, Chris will return with our big summer adventure, James Wyatt will deliver a substantially improved version of a concept that I initiated myself, and Amanda Hamon will close us out with a project that was jointly conceived by herself and several other studio members. As usual, Jeremy Crawford is working with all of our leads, overseeing mechanical content and rules development.

In addition to these five major products, look for a couple of additional surprises we’ll unveil in the months ahead."

You can read the full blog here:

Who We Are & What We Do | D&D Studio Blog | Dungeons & Dragons

The first of many design blogs, direct from your friends at the Dungeons & Dragons Studio!

dnd.wizards.com

He also mentions that a D&D book takes 12-14 months to make, and half the projects developed don't make it to market. Winninger describes the structure of WotC's 'D&D Studio':

"The D&D Studio itself is organized into four departments: Game Design, Art, Production, and Product Management, each led by a department head. Game Design is responsible for the developing game mechanics and stories. Art establishes the “look and feel” of Dungeons & Dragons by creating visual concepts, directing our freelance illustrators, and creating innovative graphic designs. The Production department manages our project schedules, interfaces with manufacturing experts, and generally handles administrative matters for the studio. The Product Management department interfaces with sales, marketing, and market research. They also own our long-term product roadmap and look after the D&D business."

The studio has five Product Leads: Jeremy Crawford, Amanda Hamon, Chris Perkins, Wes Schneider, and James Wyatt.

 

[Parmandur]

Art & Arcana has a lot of that. I thought the book was mostly an art book when I ordered it, but I was shocked at how comprehensive -- and unsparing -- a history it was.

Yeah, it is very detailed up to about 2012: they state in the book that the events of 5E would require a whole other book, and I would love to see that.

 

[Demetrios1453]

My guess is we will see a second proper Monster Manual if they ever decide to start letting some of the older books go out of print and need a home for the monsters that appeared in them. So far, though, that's not happening. Even assembling all of the PDF-only WotC monsters wouldn't get you very far toward a new volume.

Honestly, when it comes to updating the MM, what I would like to see would be an Art & Arcana-style MM, filled with art and adding in a lot (or even all) of the monsters from other sources in one big tome...

 

[dave2008]

Sorry I derailed that thread!

But I'll keep going......I find the entire magic system of 5e to be boring and generic at this point. I know I'm in the DEEP minority on this, but I wish magic schools (spell types) actually really mattered. But I know that will never be the case in 5e (and most likely 6e). I wish what deity your cleric/paladin served actually mattered (why does everyone turn undead, that's silly). But, all of that implies too much fiction and makes the game more complicated (would everyone really pick a wizard that can cast fireball, and not something else? I don't know).

You can play 5e like that with a little effort, but I wish they made it easier. In fact, Theros is a good template for some of that

 

[teitan]

Considering the wailing and gnashing of teeth that occurred when the Elemental Evil Player’s Companion was "cancelled" and given away for free. It's probably best that we not know.

For me that was a very awful reaction from fans as it was not even an announced book! It was a leak! What really set my teeth tingling was the reaction to the Wildemount book and everyone being mad that it was coming instead of their favorite setting and even after it was announced it was an extra book that wasn’t taking up a slot on the usual release schedule or causing any book to be bumped people frothed at the mouth because it wasn’t something they’d speculated themselves into believing was coming. Ravenloft I think got a pass for not being Dragonlance because it wasn’t Magic or a new thing. Irony about Wildemount is that it’s the best selling D&D setting at this time and a pretty darned good book.

 

[teitan]

Agreed and I think it was because it was Mike Meals baby, he was working on a bit of it on stream before. I don't think they wanted to release another book with his name on it.

He’s still at WOTC last I heard.

 

[teitan]

Maybe the minority on these forums, but I'm not sure your preference is different than the one of a lot of new players.

I have access to a great number of new players (West Marches campaign, mostly young players that started with 5e), and this is also their wish. In fact, sometimes as the boomer I am I mention the good old days of Dark Sun, as I long for the "psionicist" class, and they tell me "wasn't that a sorcerer subclass or something?"

Which makes me cringe a bit, but in the end, it's probably our best shot. I could live with a psionicist class that uses existing spells, maybe a few more added to fill in some gaps.

Hahah I feel you. My group started with 5e except one and she started with 3.5 so they make memes about me being a grumpy old man and “back in my day”. All in good fun though. They love to look at my old stuff, except 4e. They just skim that over. I was explaining Appendix N to one of them last session when she was looking at my DCC book.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Honestly, when it comes to updating the MM, what I would like to see would be an Art & Arcana-style MM, filled with art and adding in a lot (or even all) of the monsters from other sources in one big tome...

The Monster Manual Expanded books from DMs Guild, which has a (pricy) print on demand option, are probably your best bets in the meantime.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Maybe the minority on these forums, but I'm not sure your preference is different than the one of a lot of new players.

I have access to a great number of new players (West Marches campaign, mostly young players that started with 5e), and this is also their wish. In fact, sometimes as the boomer I am I mention the good old days of Dark Sun, as I long for the "psionicist" class, and they tell me "wasn't that a sorcerer subclass or something?"

Which makes me cringe a bit, but in the end, it's probably our best shot. I could live with a psionicist class that uses existing spells, maybe a few more added to fill in some gaps.

The biggest hurdle to a lot of concepts working in 5e, IMO, is just that so many iconic spells start at high level, rather than being low level with strong upcasting. Telekenisis is one of those. Just scale size and damage by spell level, start it at level 1, and you've got the most important missing piece of so many psionic options.

Some would be nuclear-rejected (Warlocks, Bards, probably Druids).

Warlocks are one of the most popular classes.

 

[teitan]

You must be a delight to DM.

Oh good. It isn’t just me who doesn’t understand this “if it’s published I get to use it” school of thought these days!

 

[darjr]

I think the slower release has lead to books with broader appeal and less niche, also it’s allowed marketing and the community to rally around each release. That community concentration adds value to the books just by broader acceptance.