D&D 5E Announcement Next Week--What Hints For Upcoming D&D Books?

WotC uses Unearthed Arcana to playtest D&D material which often ends up in a later hardcover book. Mages of Strixhaven was in Unearthed Arcana in June 2021, and Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos was published in December 2021. Draconic Options was in Unearthed Arcana in April 2021, and Fizban's Treasury of Dragons came out in October. The same applied to Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, and other books--the lead time appears to typically be somewhere around 6 months. So what have we had recently which might give us an insight into upcoming books?

WotC is holding a press event this coming Friday, with an embargo for March 22nd (which is Tuesday next week), meaning that an announcement is around the corner.

Unearthed Arcana has slowed in the last year or so, but there have been two notable articles:

• August 2021 -- Travelers of the Multiverse. 6 months after this was February, so if the 6-month lead time theory holds true, a multiverse-themed book would be imminent. The amount of speculative chatter about Spelljammer, Planescape, and 'Planejammer' is at a high.
• March 2022 -- Heroes of Krynn. This UA was released last week; six months would put a Dragonlance hardcover roughly about September, around the same time that Weis & Hickman's new Dragonlance novel releases.

So these two appear the most likely--some kind of multiverse book, and a Dragonlance book.

We know that a new starter set--Dragons of Stormwreck Isle--is on its way this year. WotC has spoken about two brand new settings, and two classic settings in 2022 (which fits the theory!)

They also spoke about a 'brand new format' for the 2 classic settings--WotC's Ray Winninger said in June last year that ""Each of these products is pursuing a different format you've never seen before. And neither is "digital only;" these are new print formats."

As I've mentioned on a couple of occasions, there are two more products that revive "classic" settings in production right now.

The manuscript for the first, overseen by [Chris Perkins], is nearly complete. Work on the second, led by [F. Wesley Schneider] with an assist from [Ari Levitch], is just ramping up in earnest. Both are targeting 2022 and formats you've never seen before.

In addition to these two titles, we have two brand new [D&D] settings in early development, as well as a return to a setting we've already covered. (No, these are not M:tG worlds.)

As I mentioned in the dev blog, we develop more material than we publish, so it's possible one or more of these last three won't reach production. But as of right now, they're all looking great.

 

[aco175]

I found this gem on Amazon for release in June. Hope shipping does not take till I need it.

 

[Remathilis]

I'm thinking it will be released on sheet cake, written in icing.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I found this gem on Amazon for release in June. Hope shipping does not take till I need it.

IMO the biggest genius of the 5e era is finally learning how to properly license the D&D brand. It takes so much pressure off of the RPG to bring in all the cash each quarter. (Even though the 5e books are doing that quite well anyway.)

 

[jhallum]

I was wondering if there would be a Marquet Critical Role book, very similar to the Wildemount book, I figure with Campaign 3 being set in Marquet that that would be on the table for this year or early next. Otherwise I am hoping for a Spelljammer/Planes book, that would be fun.

 

[overgeeked]

I guess we can No True Scotsman "a different format you've never seen before" until it's just Ray Winninger's hamster, but I don't see much point to it. If he meant "that only people over 40 have seen before" I'd imagine he'd have said that. Then again, I have no insight into his meaning.

I thought he clarified in a tweet that he meant not seen in 5E before.

 

[Superchunk77]

Not sure why they would pick Dragonlance over Dark Sun unless they are throwing out all of the previous survey results on setting popularity.

Then again, I shudder to think at what they'd do to the Dark Sun setting to make it "accessible."

 

[vecna00]

While I'm against the fusion of Spelljammer and Planescape, a Multiverse book wouldn't be a terrible idea. Detail both settings in one tome but keep them separate.

I also wouldn't be opposed to just keeping the methods of transportation separate: Spelljamming ships to travel the Prime Material, and portals and spells to travel among the planes. I could see a book doing that, and could fit the "cameo" that was mentioned.

 

[Dire Bare]

I found this gem on Amazon for release in June. Hope shipping does not take till I need it.

View attachment 153537

I used to LOVE the D&D calendars they used to release in the 80s. Lots of original, full-piece artwork. I think I'll be picking this one up!

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I remember thinking it was great that I could just remove the monsters I was going to use for a session and just bring a few sheets with me instead of the whole thing...until I went and had to refile all those monsters. I just started lugging the entire compendium and it's overflow binder with me.

Also, after a while those holes would unavoidably tear...especially when a careless player wanted to DM a session and use my Compendium (grumble, grumble).

The Monstrous Compendium was a good idea in theory, but the fact that you had two unrelated monsters on each side of a page pretty much destroyed the main utility of that format.

Using the six month measure, it seems likely that we get a Spelljammer book (possibly fusing with extraplanar elements - 4e did that and the Nautiloid in Rime of the Frostmaiden is said to be able to traverse the stars and the planes) sooner and a Dragonlance book later.

One of my players suggested that they might have a shorter run-up from announcement now. With supply chain issues, Wizards might not want to announce something until they're sure they're not going to be told "sorry, we're all out of paper for the next three months."

 

[overgeeked]

Also, after a while those holes would unavoidably tear...especially when a careless player wanted to DM a session and use my Compendium (grumble, grumble).

We had a few of those tear then we got reinforcement bits for the punched holes. (Punk band name.) Little stickers you put on both sides of The Punched Holes™ to prevent tears. No idea what they're called.

Using the six month measure, it seems likely that we get a Spelljammer book (possibly fusing with extraplanar elements - 4e did that and the Nautiloid in Rime of the Frostmaiden is said to be able to traverse the stars and the planes) sooner and a Dragonlance book later.

Yeah, way before. The Multiverse book should already be out and the clock on Dragonlance just started.

One of my players suggested that they might have a shorter run-up from announcement now. With supply chain issues, Wizards might not want to announce something until they're sure they're not going to be told "sorry, we're all out of paper for the next three months."

Good point.