D&D 5E WotC: 5 D&D Settings In Development?

WotC's Ray Winninger spoke a little about some upcoming D&D settings -- two classic settings are coming in 2022 in formats we haven't seen before, and two brand new (not Magic: the Gathering) settings are also in development, as well as return to a setting they've already covered in 5E. He does note, however, that of the last three, there's a chance of one or more not making it to release, as they develop more than they use.

Two classic settings? What could they be?​

So that's:

• 2 classic settings in 2022 (in a brand new format)
• 2 brand new settings
• 1 returning setting

So the big questions -- what are the two classic settings, and what do they mean by a format we haven't seen before? Winninger has clarified on Twitter that "Each of these products is pursuing a different format you've never seen before. And neither is "digital only;" these are new print formats."

As I've mentioned on a couple of occasions, there are two more products that revive "classic" settings in production right now.

The manuscript for the first, overseen by [Chris Perkins], is nearly complete. Work on the second, led by [F. Wesley Schneider] with an assist from [Ari Levitch], is just ramping up in earnest. Both are targeting 2022 and formats you've never seen before.

In addition to these two titles, we have two brand new [D&D] settings in early development, as well as a return to a setting we've already covered. (No, these are not M:tG worlds.)

As I mentioned in the dev blog, we develop more material than we publish, so it's possible one or more of these last three won't reach production. But as of right now, they're all looking great.

Of course the phrase "two more products that revive 'classic' settings" could be interpreted in different ways. It might not be two individual setting books.

 

[JEB]

Does Nentir count as a "classic setting"?

Depends on your definition of "classic". If "classic" just means "from a previous edition of the game", yes. But it's probably not "classic" in the sense Wizards and most fans are thinking of. (I doubt Eberron is considered "classic" either.)

 

[Yaarel]

Depends on your definition of "classic". If "classic" just means "from a previous edition of the game", yes. But it's probably not "classic" in the sense Wizards and most fans are thinking of. (I doubt Eberron is considered "classic" either.)

"Classic" might mean "old school".

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Out of curiosity, does the setting recommend where to plug Saltmarsh in the FR setting?

It does yeah;

Placing the Adventure
The town of Saltmarsh is a small, respectable fishing town located in the Greyhawk campaign setting, in the southernmost part of Keoland. It is situated some twenty miles from two larger towns: Burle, to the northwest, and Seaton, along the coast to the east.

Here are suggestions for where you can place this adventure in other campaign settings.

Eberron.
Even to the pioneering folk of Q'barra, Saltmarsh is a frontier town. The lean-tos and shanties sprawl in the steaming eastern deltas of the Basura Swamp, and their inhabitants do their best to keep out of the affairs of the lizardfolk in the interior. An elf illusionist bearing the Mark of House Phiarlan leads the smugglers and seems bent on stirring up trouble.

Forgotten Realms.
Midway between Waterdeep and Neverwinter, the town of Saltmarsh and its hardy inhabitants endure both winter storms and the Mere of Dead Men to the south. Because of the politics churning in Thornhold on the far side of the marsh, help is often slow to come, and so the townsfolk have become quite self-reliant. The smugglers could be from Luskan, and their selling weapons to lizardfolk could be connected to deeper goals than simply lining their pockets.

Mystara.
Saltmarsh stands on the border between the Grand Duchy of Karameikos and the Five Shires, just inside the edge of the Blight Marsh. The smugglers who use the haunted house as their base might be Hin pirates, or at the very least count some halflings among the crew, keen to avoid the authorities at Rollstone Keep up the coast.

 

[overgeeked]

Considering Ray's insistence on using the word product and "never seen before" we can't exclude the idea that was floated when Van Richten's Guide released. Since Hasboro owns Ouija Boards they'll likely make a Ravenloft / Spirit Board themed Ouija Board. That could be the surprise product this year and our "return" to an already visited setting.

 

[Rikka66]

Considering Ray's insistence on using the word product and "never seen before" we can't exclude the idea that was floated when Van Richten's Guide released. Since Hasboro owns Ouija Boards they'll likely make a Ravenloft / Spirit Board themed Ouija Board. That could be the surprise product this year and our "return" to an already visited setting.

-I would say possibly, not likely.
-If that is the case, the Winninger made an incredibly stupid PR blunder and will rightly be savaged for it.

 

[vecna00]

A map for Diplomacy. The Forgotten Realms as a Diplomacy map, perhaps?

Not gonna lie, I would love that more than life itself. For any campaign setting really!

 

[Henadic Theologian]

A map for Diplomacy. The Forgotten Realms as a Diplomacy map, perhaps?

If they did that it would probably be for Dragonlance or Birthright.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

If they did that it would probably be for Dragonlance or Birthright.

Greyhawk Wars did this with the Flanaess map.

Just wished it was a better game than included in Greyhawk Wars…

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Maybe it is not nostalgia but curiosity about "exotic past", something like romantic movies set in the XIX century, noir novels set in the pulp/jazz age (30's) or our grandparents watching Far-West movies.

I have no idea about the new-brand settings but I could bet Hasbro wants these to can make money as multimedia franchise.

Nentir Vale could be return because it was designed to can add any possible new element (PC races, classes or monsters). Maybe to be used as the middle space between Spelljammer and Planescape.

Total reboot of Kara-Tur, Maztica and al-Qadim are totally possible, being explained as secondary effects of the Sundering event. A no-Western culture new setting shouldn't be a surprise for us.

If Hasbro thinks the future is in the multimedia franchises as cash-cows, may is going to adquiere more companies, for example some 3PP.

We can guess the priority are the most popular lines in the past.

 

[Quickleaf]

Maybe these collectively are hints that Planescape could happen in 2022...

• Story beats involving modrons cut off from the Great Modron March have been present in multiple adventures, or at least in Tomb of Annihilation and Out of the Abyss that I know of.
• Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition came out in 2017. This coincided with a Dragon+ article, from Chris Avellone I believe, updating to 5e some of the PS: Torment monsters: https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/dragon/Creatures_PSTEE.pdf
• Diterlizzi has been doing Planescape revisited sketches for a couple years... From 2019: And from 2020:
• March, 2018 Wizkids released a "Nameless One" prepainted mini in Monster Menagerie 3.
• June, 2020 Wizkids released a "Nameless One" (from PS: Torment) unpainted mini for Nolzur's line.
• Diterlizzi collaborated with Wizards in August, 2020 to make some Magic the Gathering art:
• Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (November, 2020) includes a picture of Guildmaster Rhys (from Planescape) training recruits on page 103.
• In May 2021, Diterlizzi shared his playlist of songs that inspired his work on Planescape:
• One of the settings slated for 2022 has a manuscript overseen by Chris Perkins. Though his work is prolific, he has deep ties to Planescape tracing back to some of his Dungeon magazine entries (e.g. Umbra, Nemesis), the Cutters RPG Open Tournament, The Manxome Foe (RPGA and TSR Jam), and Needle in the Eye (RPGA).