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

 

[Maxperson]

How does that differ from a demon or devil?

"Gods Oversee the World. The gods are real and embody a variety of beliefs, with each god claiming dominion over an aspect of the world, such as war, forests, or the sea. Gods exert influence over the world by granting divine magic to their followers and sending signs and portents to guide them. The follower of a god serves as an agent of that god in the world. The agent seeks to further the ideals of that god and defeat its rivals. While some folk might refuse to honor the gods, none can deny their existence."

 

[Paul Farquhar]

"Gods Oversee the World. The gods are real and embody a variety of beliefs, with each god claiming dominion over an aspect of the world, such as war, forests, or the sea. Gods exert influence over the world by granting divine magic to their followers and sending signs and portents to guide them. The follower of a god serves as an agent of that god in the world. The agent seeks to further the ideals of that god and defeat its rivals. While some folk might refuse to honor the gods, none can deny their existence."

I don't see your point. Does all that stuff go away if the gods stop godding? In which case they do have the power to oppose Ao by collectively going on strike. Ao can't be the god of a world if the world doesn't exist.

 

[Ibrandul]

It was created by Myrkul, one of the evil gods. And all this talk of it being about atheists is wrong. It's about what it says. The faithless. In a world where virtually everyone knows that the gods exist, there will be almost no atheists that are alive. 99% of all of those who die and are placed into the wall believe that the gods are real(not atheists), but did not declare their faith in a god or gods, so died faithless.

"The Faithless were mortal souls who died without having chosen a divine patron. This could be because the mortal never worshiped a deity (or rejected outright the worship of any deity), because the mortal's divine patron had died, or because their divine patron had rejected them for whatever reason. A soul who did worship a deity but did not sufficiently uphold the patron's dogma was instead judged false."

Ed Greenwood, Twitter, 10/26/2020:
"A very small handful of sentients in the Realms truly don't believe deities exist (less than 0.5%); they would be the 'Faithless.' Most DO 'believe in' all the gods, even if they profess to repudiate them. Many 'cleave to' one deity above others, even if slightly. That 'ever so slightly favored' deity is their patron deity, if they don't openly profess and embrace a patron (as clerics and paladins do). The Wall of Faithless is more of a bugaboo tale told by priests and spread over tavern tables than it is a Great Big Doom."

It seems to me that Mr. Greenwood's version of the Wall and the version you quote are not precisely identical. Mr. Greenwood says that actual atheists do exist in the Realms, though they are rare (you appear to admit this when you say "99% [are] not atheists," but this begs the question whether something isn't worth considering just because it's unusual; far, far less than half of one percent of the Realms population are Chosen of Mystra, but I daresay it's appropriate to talk about them). And he says that atheists are precisely what is meant by Faithless.

Thankfully, (to return to a point I made earlier) there is not and never has been a single, coherent, unified Realms canon (having studied hermeneutics, narratology, and epistemology, I believe there never could be such a thing). So neither you nor Greenwood is actually wrong—except perhaps when you declare that talking about atheists in the Realms "is wrong."

 

[Maxperson]

I don't see your point. Does all that stuff go away if the gods stop godding? In which case they do have the power to oppose Ao by collectively going on strike. Ao can't be the god of a world if the world doesn't exist.

You asked what made them different from Demons and Devils. All of the bolded stuff are things that Demons and Devils can't do.

 

[Maxperson]

Ed Greenwood, Twitter, 10/26/2020:
"A very small handful of sentients in the Realms truly don't believe deities exist (less than 0.5%); they would be the 'Faithless.' Most DO 'believe in' all the gods, even if they profess to repudiate them. Many 'cleave to' one deity above others, even if slightly. That 'ever so slightly favored' deity is their patron deity, if they don't openly profess and embrace a patron (as clerics and paladins do). The Wall of Faithless is more of a bugaboo tale told by priests and spread over tavern tables than it is a Great Big Doom."

It seems to me that Mr. Greenwood's version of the Wall and the version you quote are not precisely identical. Mr. Greenwood says that actual atheists do exist in the Realms, though they are rare (you appear to admit this when you say "99% [are] not atheists," but this begs the question whether something isn't worth considering just because it's unusual; far, far less than half of one percent of the Realms population are chosen of Mystra, but I daresay it's appropriate to talk about them). And he says that atheists are precisely what is meant by Faithless.

Thankfully, (to return to a point I made earlier) there is not and never has been a single, coherent, unified Realms canon (having studied hermeneutics, narratology, and epistemology, I believe there never could be such a thing). So neither you nor Greenwood is actually wrong—except perhaps when you declare that talking about atheists in the Realms "is wrong."

Okay. And? He hasn't had control of the Realms since he sold it to TSR. The Wall of the Faithless in D&D is not that. It's what I quoted above.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Okay. And? He hasn't had control of the Realms since he sold it to TSR. The Wall of the Faithless in D&D is not that. It's what I quoted above.

Cool. Your problem has been solved by you. The wall in anyone else's game is none of your business, so it shouldn't bother you at all.

 

[Scribe]

Would you say the same thing if instead of atheists, it was people of color or LGBT+ people getting punished in a fantasy setting?

I don't believe atheism is even remotely in the same realm of discussion as things which are innately part of a person.

I would not say it's even on the level of a religion.

But if this is going to be an identity discussion, I'll pass.

So yes, I see it differently than colour, or sexuality.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

things which are innately part of a person.

Why does that matter? Aren't people free to make choices that are not dictated by their biology?

 

[Maxperson]

Cool. Your problem has been solved by you. The wall in anyone else's game is none of your business, so it shouldn't bother you at all.

No problem of mine has been solved since there was no problem in the first place. This is your personal issue and you solved it for your game.

 

[Remathilis]

I don't see your point. Does all that stuff go away if the gods stop godding? In which case they do have the power to oppose Ao by collectively going on strike. Ao can't be the god of a world if the world doesn't exist.

Ask Mystra what happens to magic when she died.

Hint: it begins with Spell and ends with Plague.