D&D 5E New stuff?

[Parmandur]

There are more comments in this vein. In short, none of what Crawford said in the video is a definitive statement - it's just suggestions for how the MTG multiverse could be connected to the D&D multiverse, if a DM wanted to.

Mind, it's completely possible they've changed their mind now and it's all the same multiverse, after the D&D Magic set. But as of that video, nothing definitive.

Very true, but for our purposes the important element isn't how Magic fits in, it's how he suggests that it can: through the Prime Material via Spelljamming the Phlogiston between Crystal Spheres, or planar shenanigans via Sigil. Two seperate elements, not Planejamming.

 

[Parmandur]

Although, looking further, the text of the Dream of the Blue Veil spell in Trasha's supports the Spelljammer cosmology: "another world on the Material Plane, such as Oerth, Toril, Krynn, or Eberron".

Yeah, elements like that, along with Crawford and Perkins still being around, suggests to me that the "Spelljamming between Crystal Spheres is part of the unified Prime Material Plane" approach hasn't changed.

 

[Parmandur]

Also worth noting that video was in 2018, which was practically a different era as far as D&D at this point. (Mike Mearls was still creative director, for example.)

There have been changes for the team, but no real Setting Bible level changes. The implied Meta-Setting used in the books hasn't changed. They have hinted at what that consists of internally beyond the book suggestions and options variously since 2014, but Crawford really got into it here which is why I bring it up. The distinction between Prime Material Spelljamming and Sigil associated Planar stuff remains a core assumption from everything that I can see.

 

[Parmandur]

It depends on which planar system you are looking at. The one that is contradicted is the one in the 1st edition DMG*, which says that other game worlds, like Toril, Oerth, etc are parallel prime material planes, and are reached by plane shift magic. Spelljammer contradicts this by saying there is one prime material plane and other game worlds are crystal spheres in that plane. Hence they are reached by physical travel or long ranged teleportation, not plane shifting. It also contradicts the MtG cosmology, where you can travel from Theros to Ravnica by "planeswalking".

The latter Magic Planeswalking is actually based off of that 1E Manual of the Planes approach as used in the home games of the early WotC folks.

So, I can see a three pronged approach that WotC might offer as options in books:

• Spelljamming: Traveling between Cyrstal Spheres via the Phlogiston in the Prime Material Plane, with gonzo, weird fantasy elements ala Heavy Metal or Masters of the Universe. Enough there for a whole standalone Setting product focused on Wild Space that can be plugged in at a home game...or not.
• Planescape: Traveling through the Inner and Outer Planes via portals, with a convenient hub center in Sigil. Enough there for a whole setting product, easily, that can plug into home games...or not.
• Magic Planeswalking: the Forgotten Realms card set introduced a Gnome from Toril who is a Magic Planeswalker explicitly. I would not be surprised to see a Magic book that really tackles this Magic multiversal approach as a separate deal from the D&D core assumptions, that can be plugged into home games...or not.

I wouldn't be surprised to see all three approaches appear in official "Lore," and offered as modular components to take or leave for DMs.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Some good thoughts, but this is a flaw in your analysis IMO: MotM has been out for a couple months officially, and was originally slotted for Holiday 2021. They moved on from marketing it already, and I don't see the lone release qs taking a "slot." Indeee, WotC ha e released books on the same day in the past. I expect we'll see something soon.

This is what I was about to say. MotM isn't likely to be taking up the May "spot", as it's already been officially released.

I expect the "real" May release (hopefully Spelljammer) to be announced within the next couple of weeks. Perhaps even this week, as we've had announcements for the next product even a few days before the current one is released...

 

[Demetrios1453]

It depends on which planar system you are looking at. The one that is contradicted is the one in the 1st edition DMG*, which says that other game worlds, like Toril, Oerth, etc are parallel prime material planes, and are reached by plane shift magic. Spelljammer contradicts this by saying there is one prime material plane and other game worlds are crystal spheres in that plane. Hence they are reached by physical travel or long ranged teleportation, not plane shifting. It also contradicts the MtG cosmology, where you can travel from Theros to Ravnica by "planeswalking".

Although, looking further, the text of the Dream of the Blue Veil spell in Trasha's supports the Spelljammer cosmology: "another world on the Material Plane, such as Oerth, Toril, Krynn, or Eberron".


*Also Dragonlance, Weiss and Hickman where livid about the inclusion of Krynn gnomes in Spelljammer.

Chapter 2 of the DMG makes it clear that in 5e, all the normal setting worlds are in a singular Material Plane. Page 56 of the DMG specifically mentions Toril, Oerth, Krynn, Athas, Eberron, Aebrynis, and Mystara as all being located within a singular Material Plane.

Of course, this was the set-up at the start of the edition; it may be changed when the edition is refreshed in a few years, especially when it comes to the M:tG worlds. But until otherwise stated, it would seem to be the current default.

 

[see]

Copyright is still life of the author plus 70 years in the US, right?

Not in any relevant sense for public domain calculations for the next quarter-century.

Sure, copyrights since January 1, 1978 have a term of life + 70 years (under the Copyright Act of 1976, as modified by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998). But every copyright with that term is going to be under copyright through at least 2048 (since a death in 1978+70 years=2048).

Stuff that falls into the public domain in the US during the next quarter-century is (with a tiny handful of exceptions, because of course nothing is entirely simple) under extended versions of the pre-1978 fixed-terms-from-date-of-publication rule, which means start of the first calendar year 95 years after publication.

(Technically, stuff used to be copyrighted for 28 years with an option to renew to a total of 56 years, which became renew-to- various longer terms as copyright terms were extended, but the law on renewals was changed long enough ago that everything that's entered the public domain for lack of renewal is already there, and everything that got renewed is under the 95-years-from-publication rule. With maybe some minor exceptions I'm forgetting.)

Now, there was a weird protectionist technicality in US copyright laws in 1954 that actually dropped The Lord of the Rings into the public domain in the US because the initial US print run was too small to meet demand and the publisher imported too many copies from the UK rather than do a second print run, but copyrights lost for that reason were restored by law in 1996, and accordingly the 95-years-from-publication rule applies. So The Lord of the Rings was published in 1954, and accordingly will be protected until January 1, 2050 (start of the first calendar year 95 years after publication), assuming no term-extension law gets passed.

Now, in Canada and New Zealand, the copyright term is the original Berne rule of life of the author + 50, so in Canada and New Zealand all copyrights on Tolkien's published-in-his-lifetime works end on January 1, 2024 (assuming no extension law gets passed), while in Australia, Ireland, and the UK (with the life of the author + 70 rules) they end January 1, 2044 (assuming no further extension laws get passed).

(The reason I caveat for term-extension laws but not term-reduction laws is that passing any term-reduction law would violate the Berne Convention, and thanks to provisions in other treaties, put the country in violation of its obligations as a WTO member.)

 

[bedir than]

Planescape has one major problem they kinda nuked it with its last adventure and the factions were rather beloved many need a rewrite.

Not really a problem considering like at most 1% of 1% played that adventure.

 

[Parmandur]

Chapter 2 of the DMG makes it clear that in 5e, all the normal setting worlds are in a singular Material Plane. Page 56 of the DMG specifically mentions Toril, Oerth, Krynn, Athas, Eberron, Aebrynis, and Mystara as all being located within a singular Material Plane.

Of course, this was the set-up at the start of the edition; it may be changed when the edition is refreshed in a few years, especially when it comes to the M:tG worlds. But until otherwise stated, it would seem to be the current default.

Based on what's been in the Adventure and Setting books, and what Crawford & Perkins have been dropping, I don't think it has changed at all.

 

[see]

I am not kidding. In January 1st of 2024, Tolkien's work will become public domain.

Only in the countries that still have life + 50 years. Canada, much of Asia (including China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan), most of Africa, and a few other small markets. A decent chunk of the world, yes, but just a chunk.

India waits until January 1st, 2034 (life + 60).

In most of the rest of the world (Europe, Australia, Indonesia, Israel, Turkey, most of South America) it'll be January 1st, 2044 (life + 70).

The US, of course, is weird, as I laid out above.

And there are a few places with odd terms. Mexico has the longest, having extended terms first to life + 75 in 1994, and then to life + 100 in 2003. But as I understand it those extensions did not revive alread-expired copyrights, so the works of people who died before January 1st, 1944 are all in the Mexican public domain (having reached it 1 January 1994), but those of people who died later will not start entering the public domain until January 1st, 2045 (at the earliest).