D&D 5E Revisited Setting News: Its not the 2023 Classic setting, but rather for 2024

[overgeeked]

By "Revisit" they probably mean what they did with Curse of Strahd (removal of racial-sensitive and alignment-related issues) plus rules updates depending on what they're planning to change in core. So to me it sounds like it'll be either a reprint of SCAG or the Eberron book.

The 2023-2024 settings are much more interesting. We don't know yet what they really picked. Dragonlance, Spelljammer and Planescape are all good bets.

I wouldn't be so confident about Dark Sun.

Dark Sun is more popular than Spelljammer. At a guess, Dark Sun is more likely, but anything is possible.

Magic and religion are so significantly different that 2/3 of the PHB classes would need serious adjustments. At least it wouldn't work with newcomers to D&D, which we know WotC always cares a lot for, you can't tell them to buy the PHB and then go straight to a fantasy setting where most of the book is invalid for.

Exactly. So if one of the settings is Dark Sun, then they’re more likely to alter the setting rather than core PHB content.

That said, I think it’s oversold how much PHB stuff would need altering or removing to fit Dark Sun. Just change some fluff of the core classes and you’re mostly there. Add in rules for defiling and weapon breakage, and you’re basically done.

 

[Parmandur]

Don't they usually layer that a bit? Like one book is a few weeks out then they start hyping up the next one.

"I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the phlo' from me."

They usually start talking about the next book around when the current one comes out. Ravenloft was announced the week before Vandlekeep was released, for instance. I expect the next actually new book will become known next month.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

We don't disagree about Dark Sun to be more popular than Spelljammer, but it needs a lot of design work for the revival, not only playtesting the psionic powers, but the special art. And today in 2022 Spelljammer is easier to sell as a family-friendly multimedia franchise, as a space fantasy version of "Guardians of the Galaxy".

Maybe we will see an almost fusion between Planescape and Spelljammer.

If Greyhawk returns, this will not need previous playtest published in Unearthed Arcana. There is a potential with the merchandising about the iconic class characters from 3.5. And the unknown continents could be useful for future no-Western-culture settings.

WotC can't publish only an updated crunch but nothing new about the lore. Then the old sourcebooks would be enough.

Kara-Tur and al-Qadim could come back, but today there are different rules about respect for other cultures.

I have said in the past an update or remake of the original Dragonlance modules, with some changues, is possible.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Dark Sun is too popular, that's its problem. Given the repeated failure of WotC to come up with a broadly acceptable psionics system, they are well aware of the impossibility of designing a 5e Dark Sun that is acceptable to hardcore fans of the setting. Spelljammer, on the other hand, doesn't have the same degree of fanatical hardcore following, so it much easier to design for new potential fans, rather than always having to look over your shoulder at an existing fanbase.

 

[GuyBoy]

If it's celebrating the 50th Anniversary, Greyhawk carries the history of the game to a far greater extent than any other setting and would be magical to re-visit. Dark Sun would be a decent second choice in my view but some way behind.
I know that a re-visiting of Greyhawk might upset some purists but it would also celebrate the game's history in a way no other setting could match. Doing it well could also stick a middle finger up to the Nu-TSR crew, which is an added bonus.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Dark Sun is too popular, that's its problem. Given the repeated failure of WotC to come up with a broadly acceptable psionics system, they are well aware of the impossibility of designing a 5e Dark Sun that is acceptable to hardcore fans of the setting. Spelljammer, on the other hand, doesn't have the same degree of fanatical hardcore following, so it much easier to design for new potential fans, rather than always having to look over your shoulder at an existing fanbase.

Too true. This is why everyone would be better off scouting the internet for a 5e homebrew of your chosen setting that works well enough for you. They're out there. I have several for just about every setting.

 

[eyeheartawk]

If it's celebrating the 50th Anniversary, Greyhawk carries the history of the game to a far greater extent than any other setting and would be magical to re-visit. Dark Sun would be a decent second choice in my view but some way behind.
I know that a re-visiting of Greyhawk might upset some purists but it would also celebrate the game's history in a way no other setting could match. Doing it well could also stick a middle finger up to the Nu-TSR crew, which is an added bonus.

I like Greyhawk alot. But yeah, you can't win there. By either describing things too much or too little you are upsetting somebody. By picking a date that is post 576CY or not you are upsetting someone. By treating Living Greyhawk as canon you are upsetting some and not others etc etc. I don't know that other settings have that sort of existing schism already built in like Greyhawk does, so adapting other settings is likely easier.

 

[Bolares]

I like Greyhawk alot. But yeah, you can't win there. By either describing things too much or too little you are upsetting somebody. By picking a date that is post 576CY or not you are upsetting someone. By treating Living Greyhawk as canon you are upsetting some and not others etc etc. I don't know that other settings have that sort of existing schism already built in like Greyhawk does, so adapting other settings is likely easier.

This kind of thing makes me appreciate how Eberron handles canon. The canon year is fixed and is (supposedly) always going to be the same. Everything other than that (be it novels, games, adventure paths) is not considered canon.

 

[dave2008]

If it's celebrating the 50th Anniversary, Greyhawk carries the history of the game to a far greater extent than any other setting and would be magical to re-visit. Dark Sun would be a decent second choice in my view but some way behind.
I know that a re-visiting of Greyhawk might upset some purists but it would also celebrate the game's history in a way no other setting could match. Doing it well could also stick a middle finger up to the Nu-TSR crew, which is an added bonus.

To be clear, the 2024 setting is revisiting a setting already published in 5e. Therefor, it will not be Darksun. Darksun could appear in 2022 or 2023, but they are not going to revisit that setting a year or two later.

 

[GuyBoy]

To be clear, the 2024 setting is revisiting a setting already published in 5e. Therefor, it will not be Darksun. Darksun could appear in 2022 or 2023, but they are not going to revisit that setting a year or two later

Thanks for this.
I guess there could be a debate about what “already published” means. I can only hope that Saltmarsh opens the way for it to be Greyhawk.
Perhaps it’s my grognard tendencies, perhaps the historian in me, but I see big anniversaries as reflective on the past ( plus nodding towards a positive future) and Greyhawk seems to offer the best way to do that as it also opens up for revisiting classic adventures such as Tsojcanth and Tharizdun.