D&D 5E D&D Lore Changes: Multiversal Focus & Fey Goblins of Prehistory

WotC's Jeremy Crawford revealed a couple of the lore changes in Monsters of the Multiverse.

• The big shift is toward the multiverse as the game's main perspective rather than a specific setting. The game is shifting towards a multiversal focus, with a variety of worlds and settings.
• Universe-spanning mythical story beats, such as deep lore on goblinoids going back to 1st Edition, and the gods they had before Maglubiyet. Prior to Magulbiyet unifying them, goblinoids were folk of the feywild in keeping with 'real-world' folklore.
• Changelings aren't just Eberron, but they've been everywhere -- you just don't necessarily know it. Their origin is also in the realm of the fey.

D&D 5E - A Compilation of all the Race Changes in Monsters of the Multiverse

Over on Reddit, user KingJackel went through the video leak which came out a few days ago and manually compiled a list of all the changes to races in the book. The changes are quite extensive, with only the fairy and harengon remaining unchanged. The book contains 33 races in total, compiled and...

www.enworld.org

 

[Parmandur]

I think you are overestimating the amount of long-term value calculations that most folks on a budget make when buying a special treat. Not to mention whether or not D&D is going to appear to be the best value even for those that do. You and I know you can get tons of value out of D&D, but to a new person it's competing with lots of other options. I'd rather not make it a less appealing option, if possible.

To a new person such as you describe, the Starter Set at Target is the actual intro price.

 

[Malmuria]

I'm definitely not worried about Wizards' finances. I'm just concerned with not making D&D less appealing to get into than it is now, in terms of inspiring content or in terms of cost. I like there being lots of people of all ages, preferences, and incomes playing D&D.

I think making sure there is a good under $20 starter kit is the best way to make the game accessible. The dnd essentials kit is $14 on amazon and has a coupon for buying the phb on dnd beyond and continuing the adventure kit into higher levels.

Past that, I think the best two things they could do to increase accessibility is to combine the core 3 rulebooks into one or maybe two rulebooks, and making sure all those are translated into many different languages.

 

[Parmandur]

If part of the appeal of the core rules to a person was the lore embedded within, how does removing most lore to a separate book make the core rules more appealing to that person?

As for broadening the appeal of the lore itself to match consumer demand, they can and should do that without providing less of it. Less lore is not better lore, better lore is better lore.

New players don't necessarily care about lore all that much: if they find they have a taste for it, then further books are a nice option. But there is no reason at this point to assume one way or another: I doubt the new thing will have about the same amount of Lore, just a different set.

 

[Malmuria]

If part of the appeal of the core rules to a person was the lore embedded within, how does removing most lore to a separate book make the core rules more appealing to that person?

As for broadening the appeal of the lore itself to match consumer demand, they can and should do that without providing less of it. Less lore is not better lore, better lore is better lore.

Also, the lore they are removing is to broaden the appeal of the game, right? They don't want to describe a certain race as being more intelligent than others, or a certain monster as being inherently evil, etc. I see that not as removing for removing-sake, but editing for the sake of making the lore they do present more appealing.

 

[JEB]

To a new person such as you describe, the Starter Set at Target is the actual intro price.

I think making sure there is a good under $20 starter kit is the best way to make the game accessible. The dnd essentials kit is $14 on amazon and has a coupon for buying the phb on dnd beyond and continuing the adventure kit into higher levels.

It is indeed a very good thing to have the Starter Set out there (and the Essentials Kit as well). I certainly hope that's been an entryway for lots of new D&D players. But I don't see the existence of the Starter Set as an argument for making the core books less appealing, if it can be avoided.

 

[Amrûnril]

I mean, D&D has never been on the cutting-edge when it comes to this sort of thing. Just go back and read 2e descriptions of dinosaurs, for example. Even then, with the "sluggish, stupid, and cold-blooded" paradigm already being replaced at that time among the general populace, D&D still stuck with it...

True. Even the 5e Monster Manual describes Plesiosaurus as "a marine dinosaur", and Volo's puts Dimetrodon under the "Dinosaur" heading. Dimetrodon is more closely related to us than it is to dinosaurs!

 

[Azzy]

1) Once again, I'm referring to the removal of most lore into a separate book, and expecting buyers to get two books instead of one for the same amount of content, or leaving the core book less broadly appealing than it had been previously. I'm not talking about raising the cover price of individual books and I never was.

So you're referring to something that hasn't happened and may not yet happen?

2) The folks I'm talking about generally have to reserve new video games as rare, special treats as well. Do we want them to chose between D&D and the newest, hottest video game? I'm not sure that choice favors D&D.

As one of the poors, I think this line of "think of teh poors" is kinda grotesque.

 

[JEB]

New players don't necessarily care about lore all that much: if they find they have a taste for it, then further books are a nice option.

You know what got me into D&D? The Monstrous Manual back in the 1990s. It was months before I bothered to learn how the rules worked - I just thought the monsters were the coolest thing. My 5E group's members were similarly hooked by the creative ideas, with the rules merely being a way to achieve their character concept. So I don't think less core lore is going to make the core game more appealing to many players.

However, I'd be interested to know if there are any folks out there who had the opposite trajectory - hooked by the statblocks, didn't bother reading any of the lore until later.

 

[Maxperson]

Sure. Feel free to disregard the evidence that doesn’t fit your predetermined narrative.

The fact is: this is not a new idea, however much you might like it to be.

As evidence it's iffy. That book is explicitly optional rules and not the default of elves in 2e. It goes out of its way at the beginning to make sure that DMs and players are very aware of that fact.

 

[JEB]

So you're referring to something that hasn't happened and may not yet happen?

I'm referring to something I strongly advise Wizards against doing, because I think it would be a mistake.

As one of the poors, I think this line of "think of teh poors" is kinda grotesque.

I apologize for offending you. I was simply trying to relay my own experience of being on a limited budget, as well as buying behavior among my poorer friends.