D&D 5E WotC Explains 'Canon' In More Detail

Recently, WotC's Jeremy Crawford indicated that only the D&D 5th Edition books were canonical for the roleplaying game. In a new blog article, Chris Perkins goes into more detail about how that works, and why.

This boils down to a few points:

• Each edition of D&D has its own canon, as does each video game, novel series, or comic book line.
• The goal is to ensure players don't feel they have to do research of 50 years of canon in order to play.
• It's about remaining consistent.

If you’re not sure what else is canonical in fifth edition, let me give you a quick primer. Strahd von Zarovich canonically sleeps in a coffin (as vampires do), Menzoberranzan is canonically a subterranean drow city under Lolth’s sway (as it has always been), and Zariel is canonically the archduke of Avernus (at least for now). Conversely, anything that transpires during an Acquisitions Incorporated live game is not canonical in fifth edition because we treat it the same as any other home game (even when members of the D&D Studio are involved).

D&D Canon | D&D Studio Blog | Dungeons & Dragons

In this D&D Studio Blog, Chris Perkins describes the D&D Studio's position on canonicity.

dnd.wizards.com

D&D General - WotC: Novels & Non-5E Lore Are Officially Not Canon

At a media press briefing last week, WotC's Jeremey Crawford clarified what is and is not canon for D&D. "For many years, we in the Dungeons & Dragons RPG studio have considered things like D&D novels, D&D video games, D&D comic books, as wonderful expressions of D&D storytelling and D&D lore...

www.enworld.org

 

[Voadam]

4E Forgotten Realms connected to the Great Wheel? I am neither a 4E or Forgotten Realms player, but I was under the impression it used the 4E planar structure, which means that it was a different multiverse, even if its history mirrored that of previous editions.

My FR lore is mostly AD&D with a bit of 3e but my understanding is that 3e took the FR specific names for the great wheel planes and reconceptualized the same planes as a different layout structure than a wheel (a tree). 3e to 4e introduced the Spellplague and there were god things going on as well which resulted in the 4e world axis cosmology. This meant the continuity continued with cosmological changes happening as timeline and editions progressed within the same continuity.

FR Cosmology

It is my understanding that 4e took the new changed 4e FR cosmology and applied it as the new always existing core model instead of a history of GW that changed into an axis.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It is my understanding that 4e took the new 4e cosmology and applied it as core.

Right, and the 4E cosmology heavily leans on the origins of the multiverse. It's not one that was formerly the Great Wheel.

Obviously Toril itself went through some major stuff in 4E, but I didn't think the greater multiverse changed, so much as it was a different multiverse. (Which seems like a weird choice, since they had just established in 3E that Toril was part of a slightly different planar set-up than the rest of the multiverse. It would have been easier to have just stuck with that, I would think.)

 

[Mort]

I feel like I'm in a minority of folks who actually don't like this. It basically means that each edition is just an excuse to retread adventures and keep things basically the same. I love classic adventures as much as the next guy, but if we just keep going back to the same place at the same time with minor tweaks for the edition it seems kinda boring. I can understand the hesitancy to have living worlds when you have multiple worlds. That's definitely a lot to hold onto. But there's something far juicier about seeing the progress of the world move on, political boundaries shift, and games having consequences. That's something that I loved seeing happen in the Pathfinder universe as they moved to 2e, because their campaign setting is deeply effected by their stories. Every time they go back to a place it's changed since the last time. That's fascinating, and yes, a lot to hold onto, but that's what I like seeing in my campaign settings.

I like this kind of progression in the fiction I read, really helps with worldbuilding etc - makes the world feel lived in and dynamic.

But not in gaming. I don't really want a gaming supplement that says - ok all the old stuff's been done, if your players go to Tomb of Horrors they find a nice big sign that says "We disabled all the traps, killed all the monsters and took all the loot - safe to rest if you like!" (well ok that would be hilarious to pull on my players, but as a general rule no) or "oops sorry White Plume Mountain was SO last edition" (well even though it kind of was). I don't want a novel, where characters made by the authors did all the cool stuff and PCs now have to find different stuff to do. I want them to do the original cool stuff AND possible future cool stuff.

Now if the game wants to give options moving past the original cool stuff, awesome, the more adventure ideas the better. But I don't want it "enshrined in canon" that the prior cool stuff is already done (not that I wouldn't just ignore that anyway unless my players and I wanted to determine that ourselves)!

 

[Eventhorrizon]

Honestly, when a company changes their properties canon enough, why should any one else care what they consider canon? People already pick and choose what they like and ditch what they dont, and thats the way it should be. 4e lore only with midichlorines is clearly the best way to play dnd.

 

[Mercurius]

It's interesting how much that blog post echoes the thread here. Either great (?) minds think alike or he may have peeked at the thread at some point.

Or they have an intern scour message boards to hold a finger to the wind.

 

[Mirtek]

4E Forgotten Realms connected to the Great Wheel? I am neither a 4E or Forgotten Realms player, but I was under the impression it used the 4E planar structure, which means that it was a different multiverse, even if its history mirrored that of previous editions.

No, but the story side of D&D just tiptoed around this "newest fad" from the gaming site and just successfully outlasted it. Key is either avoiding the planes or only going to the planes in such a way that it doesn't really bring up the exact nature of the greater plane.

 

[el-remmen]

I am Brannich Blacksmoke!!!

Now THAT is a throwback!

 

[univoxs]

There are things I missed in the timelines while I was away from these worlds. The Netherese apparently came back to Faerun and dropped a city on Myth Drannor and Orduilin. News to me.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I feel like I'm in a minority of folks who actually don't like this. It basically means that each edition is just an excuse to retread adventures and keep things basically the same. I love classic adventures as much as the next guy, but if we just keep going back to the same place at the same time with minor tweaks for the edition it seems kinda boring. I can understand the hesitancy to have living worlds when you have multiple worlds. That's definitely a lot to hold onto. But there's something far juicier about seeing the progress of the world move on, political boundaries shift, and games having consequences. That's something that I loved seeing happen in the Pathfinder universe as they moved to 2e, because their campaign setting is deeply effected by their stories. Every time they go back to a place it's changed since the last time. That's fascinating, and yes, a lot to hold onto, but that's what I like seeing in my campaign settings.

Not it is not, or at least that is not what they have been doing. At least with adventures, one may argue about their quality but they are not rethreads of old modules. Some old modules have been republished and some new stuff.
The living world stuff happens at the table curated by individual DMs not curated by WoTC. which is as it should be. Novel and movies and such will have their own continuity but again that is up to the content creators to decide.

 

[Scarlet.Knight]

I wonder how important "remaining consistent" is for TSR 1, TSR 2, TSR 3 and TSR 4....

(It's been a while since we heard about them... )