D&D (2024) "The Future of D&D" (New Core Books in 2024!)

The online D&D Celebration event, which has been running all weekend, comes to a close with The Future of D&D, a panel featuring WotC's Ray Winninger, Liz Schuh, Chris Perkins, and Jeremy Crawford, hosted by Elle Osili-Wood.

D&D is exploring the multiverse
Revisiting classic settings. 1st of 3 settings (Ravenloft) released this year. Next year, the other two major classic D&D settings come out. Both in formats they've never published products before.

Plus a "little peek" at a third classic D&D setting - a cameo.

In 2023, yet another classic setting is coming out.

Evolving D&D
Because of new players, they're always listening. Exploring new styles of play (like no combat needed in Wild Beyond the Witchlight). Also presentation of monsters and spells. New product formats. More adventure anthologies.

Making products easier to use. Ways to create the best experience. Experimenting and looking into technology.

Approaches to Design
Wild Beyond the Witchlight has interior design and tools to make running the adventure easier. Story tracker, guidance.

Beyond the books, they want to make different and varied products - packaging and form factor. Things different to hardcovers and boxed sets.

A blog post is coming soon detailing some of the changes, with more to come in future posts.

50th Anniversary in 2024
They've begun work on new versions of the core rulebooks. Recent surveys tie into that. They're still making plans, but expect more surveys. More will be said next year.

They will be completely compatible!

New experiences in the digital arena.

January Gift Set
Rules Expansion Gift Set -- Xanathar, Tasha, and a new book: Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. All in a slipcase. Was intended for the Holidays, but global production issues mean January instead. There's also an alternate cover version.

D&D 5E - A Closer Look At January's D&D Rules Expansion Gift Set

WotC earlier announced a D&D Rules Expansion Gift Set for January, which includes three books - Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and the new Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. These were intended for the holidays, but the global production issues...

www.enworld.org

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse
A treasure trove of creature related material from previous products compiled into one book and updated.

Opportunity to update material with a feel for how the 50th Anniversary books will be.

Improvements based on feedback, rebalancing, new and old art.

Over 250 monsters, and 30 playable races. All of the setting agnostic races that have been published outside the Player's Handbook.

Some content from Witchlight, Fizban's, and Strixhaven was influenced by Mordenkainen's.

Available first in the gift set, but separately later in the year.

Monsters alphabetized throughout rather than using subsections.

D&D 5E - Zooming In On Monsters of the Multiverse [UPDATED!]

Earlier, WotC announced Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse, a new D&D compilation of monster material from previous products updated to a new format. These screen grabs are as good as I could get them. They're not terribly clear, but you can make more out than in the original...

www.enworld.org

Stat block changes --

Spellcasting trait is gone. Spellcasting action, slimmed down. Spellcasting monsters need less prep.

Spell slots are gone for NPCs. Regular actions that would have once been spells.

It was too easy for a DM to use spells which result in the monster having a too low effective CR.

Monsters can be friends or foes, and some magic will help rather than hinder PCs.

Where are we going?
More adventure anthologies. Another classic setting fairly soon.

Two all-new settings. Completely new. In development stage, an 'exploration' phase, testing the viability of them. They might not see the light of day.

Retooling nostalgia and blending it with new concepts. A blend of things that you know, and things that they have never done before.

In the short term -- more news next month about a new product for 2022 which goes into a new scary place we've never been before.

Boo the miniature giant space hamster
Below is an sketch from Hydro74's alt cover, which features Boo the miniature giant space hamster.

 

[Bolares]

I would too, as I said above.

I don’t think it should be something all Fighters HAVE to do - 5e playtests made it clear that at least in 2013, most Fighter players didn’t want that level of complexity and the continued popularity of the Champion means that if such complexity was baseline, a lot players would be overwhelmed by it.

Instead, I think it should be an advanced dial akin to how we can trade our ASIs for Feats. Fighters already get more ASIs than other classes; just build in that at some ASIs they can instead of taking a feat follow the Maneuver build.

I think they would be fine as a base in a revised, backwards compatible PHB. If you like the complexity, use the revised, if you don't, use the 2015 chassi.

 

[grimslade]

I know that my desire for a new psionics subsystem is a pipe dream with the conservative design the WotC currently pursues. I still do not see many of the other components necessary for Dark Sun to be one of the settings except maybe the 2023 one. You still need defiling/preserving playtested, psionic talents/feats, a slew of different monster types, and character races. Add in a hint of other psionic subclasses, particularly a full caster version and Dark Sun is not imminent.

 

[Marandahir]

I think they would be fine as a base in a revised, backwards compatible PHB. If you like the complexity, use the revised, if you don't, use the 2015 chassi.

I don’t think that works because they will be discontinuing the 2014 core rules with this as a replacement. Maybe if they included original VS revised versions of the classes in the book making that clear, but it would probably only make things more confusing for new players who picked up the book and wanted the simple version of the Fighter.

I guess this really speaks to the niche that Level Up exists it - it can a more complex iteration on 5e without having to cater to desires for simple streamlined versions of the classes as well. It can live alongside it. But WotC won’t say go look at the Level Up rulebook to find the Advanced Fighter, so they need to cater to both audiences in the same core PHB.

 

[Maxperson]

Or...
D&D Five-O

Spoiler: theme song

Initiative Danno.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Setting Innistrad aside for a moment (and assuming he means new with regards to “5e hasn’t created an official product for this place yet”), there are a number of other settings that can easily be described as scary and terrifying. Without necessarily being “horror”-themed.

Dark Sun for example was sometimes called by TSR “the most dangerous setting in all of Dungeons & Dragons”.

I actually considered Darksun for the reasons you mentioned as well as its post acopocyltic themes, but I'm skeptical they'd go there without having a Psion Class at least. But if the reason they are announcing it next month is because they are beginning playtests on Darksun races and a new Psion Class, then that fits together perfectly the same way they announced Cirriculum of Chaos before Fizban's because of a playtest. Okay you've convinced me it's mostly Darksun with UA well done detective.

 

[Li Shenron]

Depends... The way 5e books are structured, you really don't lose a lot. They have a lot of fluff and the adventures don't lose anything, if classes are restructured to be long rest based, if races get improved or if suprise now works differently.
Actually they updated background things in xanathar (tools, downtime) and tasha (optional class features) and no single adventure was somehow killed.

I also used 3.0 material for quite a while after 3.5 came out. Some vombinations became a bit unbalanced, but overall, no problem.

Fluff and adventures are not exactly a good argument to claim compatibility... I have been running 1e, 2e and 3e adventures almost on the fly in 5e games, why would I expect 5e adventures NOT to stay compatible with 5.5? And fluff by definition is rules agnostic (except implied fluff like every character of class/race X having ability Y).

 

[Bitbrain]

I actually considered Darksun for the reasons you mentioned as well as its post acopocyltic themes, but I'm skeptical they'd go there without having a Psion Class at least. But if the reason they are announcing it next month is because they are beginning playtests on Darksun races and a new Psion Class, then that fits together perfectly the same way they announced Cirriculum of Chaos before Fizban's because of a playtest. Okay you've convinced me it's mostly Darksun with UA well done detective.

I just really want Dark Sun. I also remembered that while they used Horror as a genre term to describe Van Richten’s, in an old Lore You Should Know video, Chris Perkins described the Mournland as “a place that can be very scary”.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I just really want Dark Sun. I also remembered that while they used Horror as a genre term to describe Van Richten’s, in an old Lore You Should Know video, Chris Perkins described the Mournland as “a place that can be very scary”.

And the Mournland shares some dark themes with Darksun. Darksun is also likely one of the settings that would require playtesting and its a Tier 1 Setting. I still think Planescape will also be next year, also a Tier 1 Setting, with Spelljammer getting a Camoe.

If I'm right about 2023 Classic setting being the FR revisit, then that is every single Tier 1 Setting with a proper campaign Setting Guide, Eberron, Ravenloft, Darksun, Planescape, and Forgotten Realms. They can then move onto Tier two settings in earnest, along with new settings.

 

[Amrûnril]

My preference would actually be for keeping both the Champion and the Battlemaster. One provides a simple fighter experience, while the other gives the player tools to build a broad range of more complex fighters. And both are relatively flexible in their flavor. This strikes me as a good approach to making sure the most important bases are covered, before branching out to more unique, narrowly tailored options in extended rule books.

I do think the balance of the Champion needs to be adjusted, though. Critting on a 19 does nothing for 95% of attack rolls, and seems pretty clearly inferior, power-wise*, to any other fighter subclass's level 3 bonus.

*outside the context of multiclasses designed around crit mechanics, which aren't relevant to a player looking far a simple fighter

 

[Bolares]

Chris Perkins described the Mournland as “a place that can be very scary”.

And the Mournland shares some dark themes with Darksun.

NEW EBERRON BOOK TAKING PLACE IN THE MOURNLAND CONFFIRMED!