Planescape 5 New D&D Books Coming in 2023 -- Including Planescape!

At today's Wizards Presents event, hosts Jimmy Wong, Ginny Di, and Sydnee Goodman announced the 2023 line-up of D&D books, which featured something old, something new, and an expansion of a fan favorite.

The first of the five books, Keys from the Golden Vault, will arrive in winter 2023. At Tuesday's press preview, Chris Perkins, Game Design Architect for D&D, described it as “Ocean’s Eleven meets D&D” and an anthology of short adventures revolving around heists, which can be dropped into existing campaigns.

In Spring 2023, giants get a sourcebook just like their traditional rivals, the dragons, did in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants will be a deep dive into hill, frost, fire, cloud, and storm giants, plus much more.

Summer 2023 will have two releases. The Book of Many Things is a collection of creatures, locations, and other player-facing goodies related to that most famous D&D magic item, the Deck of Many Things. Then “Phandelver Campaign” will expand the popular Lost Mine of Phandelver from the D&D Starter Set into a full campaign tinged with cosmic horror.

And then last, but certainly not least, in Fall 2023, WotC revives another classic D&D setting – Planescape. Just like Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, Planescape will be presented as a three-book set containing a setting guide, bestiary, and adventure campaign in a slipcase. Despite the Spelljammer comparison they did not confirm whether it would also contain a DM screen.

More information on these five titles will be released when we get closer to them in date.

 

[Parmandur]

Same here. It's a perfect tie-in, so there's probably about a zero chance they aren't planning this. People would probably buy an official deck even without a book tie-in, so why not go for both? I know I would be interested in getting it, even though as a DM, I wouldn't let the deck anywhere near any campaign I'm running, outside of maybe a fun one-off where drawing cards won't utterly derail all future plans, as the deck is wont to do...

Also, they tend not to announce accessory items until much closer to the release date. So it not being announced with the book doesn't mean anything for the moment.

I wouldn't be surprised if they provided some sort of game to play with the cards.

It does seem that the point of the book, which is still fascinating bewildering to me, might be to make the Deck more usable for a DM without catching one flatfooted.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It does seem that the point of the book, which is still fascinating bewildering to me, might be to make the Deck more usable for a DM without catching one flatfooted.

I would bet money on the book featuring scenarios with individual cards, not whole decks, so that the DM doesn't have to worry about the whole deck of chaos being there, but rather a single predictable effect. Or scenarios dealing with the aftermath of someone drawing a card -- anyone fancy a rescue mission to save someone from the effects of the Donjon card?

 

[Parmandur]

I would bet money on the book featuring scenarios with individual cards, not whole decks, so that the DM doesn't have to worry about the whole deck of chaos being there, but rather a single predictable effect. Or scenarios dealing with the aftermath of someone drawing a card -- anyone fancy a rescue mission to save someone from the effects of the Donjon card?

It's just such an astonishing stand out.

A book of short Heist modules? Cool, fits in with what they've done every year since 2018 (Yawning Portal, Saltmarsh, Candlekeep, Radiant Citadel).

A Giant supplement, like Fizban's? Cool, makes sense, can see what would be in that.

A lengthy Phandelver centered campaign? Makes sense.

A Planescape slipcase, like the recent Spelljammer one? I can see how it work, easy.

But the Book of Many Things? What will it be?? From the UA ladt month, we have at least a Feat (Cartomancy) and 5 Spellls, and I reckon one Subclass (Fate Cleric). And the blurb we got describes it as having player material. But also, Monsters and locations, so some DM stuff. This just has so much potential to be a fun surprise, it's delightful.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The Beadle & Grimm's take on the Book of Many Things should be something to see as well.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Oh yeah this should give us the Hierarch Modrons

 

[Parmandur]

Oh yeah this should give us the Hierarch Modrons

No doubt that will be in the bestiary book. Big question for the Planescape slipcase is what, exactly, goes into the Adventurer's Guide...? There isn't the same sort of mechanical system like Spelljamming ships, sonI would assume Planar Gazateer would be the order of the day.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

No doubt that will be in the bestiary book. Big question for the Planescape slipcase is what, exactly, goes into the Adventurer's Guide...? There isn't the same sort of mechanical system like Spelljamming ships, sonI would assume Planar Gazateer would be the order of the day.

If it follows the format of the original, it will be a Sigil gazetteer. Oh, you want planes? Those are in the DMG.

 

[Parmandur]

If it follows the format of the original, it will be a Sigil gazetteer. Oh, you want planes? Those are in the DMG.

I mean, maybe, this is getting published at the tail end of 2023, when the new DMG is right around the corner. An Outer Planes set of Gazateers doesn't seem at all improbable.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I mean, maybe, this is getting published at the tail end of 2023, when the new DMG is right around the corner. An Outer Planes set of Gazateers doesn't seem at all improbable.

I'm pretty sure a lot of the old Planescape fans would get extremely mad if Sigil and it's factions weren't described in detail. Which, at 64 pages, isn't going to leave room for anything else.

I don't know which way WotC will jump, but either direction will make lots of people seriously unhappy.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

No doubt that will be in the bestiary book. Big question for the Planescape slipcase is what, exactly, goes into the Adventurer's Guide...? There isn't the same sort of mechanical system like Spelljamming ships, sonI would assume Planar Gazateer would be the order of the day.

I think the Format will be a bit different. I am thinking Sigil Guide, Planer Guide with Creatures native to those planes, and Adventure.