Spelljammer D&D Direct Live Report: 9am PDT (5pm BST) SPELLJAMMER CONFIRMED! DRAGONLANCE!

D&D Direct, WotC's new video-format announcement show launches today at 9am PDT (5pm BST). If you aren't able to watch it, I'll be updating this article live. Feel free to comment below! Once it launches, you will need to refresh this page when you want to see new updates. The video is expected to last about 30 minutes.

If you CAN watch it, you'll find it on YouTube or Twitch at the above times. Otherwise, follow along below!

• 45 mins to go. Live updates incoming!
• 30 mins to go!
• 5 minutes to go!
• Here we go! Opens with a sea shanty.
• Forgive typos. They talk fast and I can't type.

• Spelljammer is confirmed!
• They talk REALLY FAST!
• Spelljammer Adventures in Space, project lead Chris Perkins, Trystan Falcone graphic designer
• Cities built on asteroids, dead gods floating in the ether
• 6 races---astral elves, autognomes, hedozi(?), gif, plasmoids, thri-kreen
• 3 hardcovers in a slipcase: Astral Adventurers Guide, Boo's Astral Menagerie, Light of Xaryxis adventure
• Prequel adventure in July
• Wizkids miniatures

Other stuff also discussed!

• Baldur's Gate 3 CRPG preview video (game is in 2023)
• Journeys Through Radiant Citadel intro video -- 3 of the adventures are: Wages of Vice (5th level), Caribbean; Orchids of the Invisible Mountain (14th level), feywild, far realm, Whistler new monster; Fiend of Hollow Mind (4th level), skeletons and spirits

• "Campaign Cases" -- Creature tokens! Terrain tiles! July!

D&D Movie directors now onscreen. The movie in March 2023 is called HONOR AMONG THIEVES.

• New D&D starter set. Comes with 'digital onboarding'. Dragons of Stormwreck Isle. We knew about that one.
• D&D digital monstrous compendium. Available to those with WoTC or D&D Beyond Accounts. Volume 1 has an eldritch lich and the 10 legged asteroid spider. And the starlancer. Might have misheard some of that!

• MMO Neverwinter video. Dragonslayer begins June 2022. (I wonder if they'll need a dragonance for that?)
• New D&D actual play video, Legends of the Multiverse. Lots of 80s cartoon style soft rock music. Boo is in it.

WIzKids skirmish game D&D Onslaught. October

Finally -- DRAGONLANCE WARRIORS OF KRYNN! SHADOW OF THE DRAGON QUEEN!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

If Tony DiTerlizzi wants, his draw style can be more realistic. I could search, copy and paste of examples. But now pictures in D&D 5th are full-color, without lines like in the comics, and realistic, far of the cartoon style.

 

[nyvinter]

No, that's literally not true AFAICT. He tweeted about how he loved Planescape a while back, and he even showed off some recent Planescape sketches, and had made a Spotify playlist to show people what he listened to when working on the original Planescape. I don't buy this as the actions of a man who "doesn't want to do Planescape art".

It sounds like you have more recent information than me so I stand corrected! And that's good to hear. (But I don't think WotC could afford having him do a whole book, the man knows what he's worth and how much work it is.)

I will say that there are other artists today who could do a sufficiently interesting and aligned style (or even something different but also cool), but the odds of WotC using them are approximately zero.

Agreed. I think it's all due to "unified look" marketing, the same way both DC Comics and Marvel very seldom stray from their house styles. "You should be able to tell it's DnD from looking at the art" and that's a really sad thing that limits lots of things. (See the red tiefling "devils" with big horns as the canon look rather than the 2e one.)

 

[Ruin Explorer]

the same way both DC Comics and Marvel very seldom stray from their house styles

I think both of them take about 1000% as many visual risks as D&D - though about 10% as many as MtG!

Re: Tieflings at least rules-wise the Variant Tiefling allows us to not be Twohorns Mcboringtail, and that happened earlier in 5E. I'm really hoping DND2024 reverts to Tieflings being varied, description-wise.

"You should be able to tell it's DnD from looking at the art"

Yeah and ironically it has the exact opposite effect, because the style they chose is ultra-generic 2015+ bog-standard fantasy. I can tell if something is Pathfinder from looking at, but not D&D.

 

[Staffan]

(See the red tiefling "devils" with big horns as the canon look rather than the 2e one.)

That's one of the few 4e remnants in 5e. 4e tieflings have a unified look because they have a unified origin (which in turn probably comes down to wanting tieflings to be immediately recognizable for e.g. miniatures), and 5e tieflings kept that unified look.

 

[nyvinter]

That's one of the few 4e remnants in 5e. 4e tieflings have a unified look because they have a unified origin (which in turn probably comes down to wanting tieflings to be immediately recognizable for e.g. miniatures), and 5e tieflings kept that unified look.

There is a video segment from Wizards twitch (now probably somewhere on their youtube) where they talk about the tieflings and get asked about the streamlining, Chris Perkins looks into the camera and say "Marketing. We can't trademark the 'look like whatever' tieflings of old."

 

[Ruin Explorer]

That's one of the few 4e remnants in 5e. 4e tieflings have a unified look because they have a unified origin (which in turn probably comes down to wanting tieflings to be immediately recognizable for e.g. miniatures), and 5e tieflings kept that unified look.

4E's look came from 3E, I note. 3E had text suggesting Tieflings had a varied appearance but pretty reliably drew them as red, two big wide horns, and a tail (also gave them possibly the least benefits anyone ever got for a +1 Level Adjustment). So sadly it's been going on a while even as players have been studiously ignoring it.

 

[Maxperson]

I know this is heresy, but I really, really do not like Diterlizzi's style. At least, not the Planescape art of his that I've seen. I liked his Spiderwick and Wondla art, but I don't think that his style of Planescape art fits well with 5e's overall art style, and I just personally think that it doesn't . . . look as great as people always say it is.

If they did Planescape in 5e's overall art style, I would be happy with it. I liked the little bit of Sigil that we got to see in Tasha's. I'd even be happy with Diterlizzi doing it, if it fit into the rest of 5e's art style.

I didn't care for the Planescape art of his, either.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I didn't care for the Planescape art of his, either.

I'm making a list of you people for next Purge Night you know!

Heresy is an understatement. The Wall of the Faithless seems like this is what it was made for honestly.

EDIT - Also it's kind of funny Acerak is saying this whilst having an avatar using an art style where I guarantee the artist would list DiTerlizzi as an inspiration - sure the whole show's art was a superior brand of "generic fantasy modern" but there's strong influence from stuff like DiTerlizzi I'd suggest - Toriyama isn't a million miles from it either.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Heresy is an understatement. The Wall of the Faithless seems like this is what it was made for honestly.

I am an atheist . . . so, threatening me with the Wall of the Faithless is redundant.

EDIT - Also it's kind of funny Acerak is saying this whilst having an avatar using an art style where I guarantee the artist would list DiTerlizzi as an inspiration - sure the whole show's art was a superior brand of "generic fantasy modern" but there's strong influence from stuff like DiTerlizzi I'd suggest - Toriyama isn't a million miles from it either.

Maybe I just haven't seen enough of DiTerlizzi's art, but I never saw anything even remotely resembling his art or art style in Arcane.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I am an atheist . . . so, threatening me with the Wall of the Faithless is redundant.

Fair lol.

Maybe I just haven't seen enough of DiTerlizzi's art, but I never saw anything even remotely resembling his art or art style in Arcane.

I'm talking influence rather than the same style, but yeah I don't think Arcane's style would exist without a whole lot of '90s fantasy art, including DiTerlizzi. Hell, it's closer to '90s fantasy - especially urban fantasy - art than it is to League of Legends.