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.

 

[FrogReaver]

Is this really a huge issue? We have to rewrite and/or demonize large portions of fiction and popular culture? How is someone not born of a culture supposed to write about it? Or talk about it, for that matter? I really dont see how this philosophy doesnt stifle creativity by telling people they dont have the right to tell certain stories.

Welp this thread just went nuclear.

 

[Scribe]

How is someone not born of a culture supposed to write about it? Or talk about it, for that matter?

Through a cultural/sensitivity consultant. That's the only acceptable answer today, other than...not writing/talking about it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Welp this thread just went nuclear.

I'm sorry. I dont mean it that way, I just feel sometimes like there's a concerted effort out there to make people ashamed of what they enjoy, because the past is bad now. I'll back off.

 

[Scribe]

 

[FrogReaver]

Through a cultural/sensitivity consultant. That's the only acceptable answer today, other than...not writing/talking about it.

And that's a literal minefield. What if your cultural/sensitivity consultant misses something. Or what if their cultural heritage becomes criticized as not 'whatever' enough. Seriously, the only safe bet is to not write/talk about such things.

 

[Scribe]

And that's a literal minefield. What if your cultural/sensitivity consultant misses something. Or what if their cultural heritage becomes criticized as not 'whatever' enough. Seriously, the only safe bet is to not write/talk about such things.

I think that if companies make an effort, people will acknowledge that. I believe in MTG the new Kamigawa set had cultural consultants. The alternative is...write about nothing, create nothing, that has any ties whatsoever in any way, to someone's culture unless you dont care about the flames that will be directed towards you.

Such is life as a professional creative now.

 

[Micah Sweet]

And that's a literal minefield. What if your cultural/sensitivity consultant misses something. Or what if their cultural heritage becomes criticized as not 'whatever' enough. Seriously, the only safe bet is to not write/talk about such things.

Which leads right back to this concept stifling creativity. People are being encouraged to "stay in their lane".

 

[Faolyn]

Exactly, bring back those -2 modifiers so we have flaws to overcome.

Those aren't flaws, those are hindrances that say an entire race is bad at something. -2 penalties are also boring things to overcome. Yeah, you could end up as a powerful fighter even if your race has a -2 Strength, but that's kind of dull. It's something that gets written about as "despite being a gnome, Blobblenoze was good with a greatsword." Which sounds pandering at best. It's far more interesting to overcome individual disability, ineptitude, or negative personality trait.

Also, since a -2 is really just a -1 penalty, it's such a minor flaw that it's almost meaningless. When real world humans first developed powered flight, that was awesome because humans can't fly. If humans were capable of flight but just weren't quite as good as birds were, inventing the airplane wouldn't actually feel all that special.

If there's going to be a stat penalty, it should be -4 to a stat because a potential -2 to the die roll is actually interesting, and it should be based on the player's choice, not on the race. Let the player decide what they're really bad at. Or it should be a literal inability. Humans can't fly on their own, even with magic. They can be carried by a flying creature or ride a magic carpet, but casting fly on a human won't work. Stuff like that.

 

[Scribe]

Dont worry @Faolyn, negative mods will never come back into D&D. You dont have to worry about it, it was a good natured poke for something I enjoy that is gone.

(Your wish is my command however, Halflings get a -4 in my next iteration...)

 

[doctorbadwolf]

And that's a literal minefield. What if your cultural/sensitivity consultant misses something. Or what if their cultural heritage becomes criticized as not 'whatever' enough. Seriously, the only safe bet is to not write/talk about such things.

Not really. People tell diverse stories all the time without any crapstorm.

Also, you seem to be seeing things like artists or companies getting some crap online, and conflating that with…actual negative consequences. But…Wizards has been “raked over the coals” how many times? Literally nothing has ever come of it, other than Wizards apologizing and making some kind of change (often a token, bare minimum, lip-service, change, though not always) somewhere to accommodate the criticism.

There is no minefield. There’s just a world where criticism from marginalized people actually reaches the ears of the mainstream.