Level Up (A5E) Where to Explore Next?

[xiphumor]

With the DDG on its way, and the VRC just over the horizon, I can’t help but wonder what future books will focus on. Having no actual say in the matter, I’ve decided to do the next best thing and generate chatter among the community about what we want to see!

- I know some folks have been excited about the Planes. This section of T&T is pretty underdeveloped and could stand a lot more exploration!

- I’m a big fan of history and would love settings inspired by real-world cultures and mythologies. Ancient Indian epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana would be fun spaces to play in, as would more familiar spaces like the Ancient Mediterranean.

 

[Morrus]

So we have no plans beyond the next two hardcovers yet, but our thoughts have been along the lines of (a) cultural setting/sourcebooks written by people with those backgrounds and (b) planar stuff. As WotC has announced Planescape, the latter has become a little less likely .

 

[xiphumor]

Cool! That means two things to me:

1. We can chat about the coolest cultures to use!

2. The community has some space to do planar stuff on their own for a while!

 

[W'rkncacnter]

As WotC has announced Planescape, the latter has become a little less likely .

honestly, given how spelljammer has gone, outdoing planescape at its own game is looking mighty plausible...yes i want a planar book, why are you looking at me like that?

 

[xiphumor]

@Steampunkette was drifting in that direction when they floated the idea of a Bleak Gate GPG edition for Halloween. Perhaps we could expand this a bit?

Personally, I’m here for the elemental planes.

 

[Steampunkette]

Honestly...

I'd love to work on an Occult book. There's lots of "General Magic" materials out there, but very little that really delves into the old "Sorcery" that inspires a lot of what the warlock is, these days.

Bunch of material for Warlocks and "Dark Characters". Play with the Bleak Gate, play with the Gyre. Plenty of spells for all the spellcasting types, martial traditions for the non-magic folk (or maybe low-magic). Introduce some Patron-Entities that feel dark and intriguing, some malevolent, some benevolent, but with weight to it, you know? Introduce some classic dark monsters and planar beings, maybe the A5e version of Gith and Slaad (neither of which are OGL so we'd be making our own monstrosities to fill the same niche)

Maybe follow it up with a Monstrous Menagerie 2 directed in the same vein to create synergistic sales. Or perhaps a "Dark and Dramatic" campaign setting that provides material for playing characters after they've died and how they might work to get back to their bodies when there isn't a convenient Scroll of Resurrection lying around.

How about a Marshal-Specific combat tradition to command the undead? How about a Druid-Specific archetype to reclaim blighted lands and beasts? Could absolutely see a Savant archetype which delves a bit too deeply into Occult Lore and has to battle horrors from the darkness between the stars while using minor magics to supplement their non-magic focuses.

Instead of a pre-packaged softcover adventure, we could include a VRC companion with a ton of Sci-Fantasy-Horror material to blend the classes and material from both the VRC and this new book, together. With advice on how to run encounters akin to the Alien franchise and Event Horizon.

Then again, I might try to do an adventure path for higher level characters using a buncha math PJ Coffey did based on Josh Gentry's work figuring out how many encounters and days it takes to hit 20.

Okay... I'm -way- ahead of myself, here. And also I have absolutely no say in the decision.

 

[Cadence]

I would be all over source books for post-Apocalyptic (Gamma World, Horseclans, Dark Angel, etc...) and Steampunk/Weired West (Extraordinary Gentlemen, Brisco County Jr., etc...).

 

[Faolyn]

honestly, given how spelljammer has gone, outdoing planescape at its own game is looking mighty plausible...yes i want a planar book, why are you looking at me like that?

I think that something that explores something other than the Great Wheel would be good. Monte Cook did have that Planebreaker's Codex recently, though, which is for 5e as well as Cypher.

But perhaps something that explores the Feywild, Shadowfell, and Far Realms, and perhaps some other, similar types of planes.

 

[Faolyn]

Maybe follow it up with a Monstrous Menagerie 2 directed in the same vein to create synergistic sales. Or perhaps a "Dark and Dramatic" campaign setting that provides material for playing characters after they've died and how they might work to get back to their bodies when there isn't a convenient Scroll of Resurrection lying around.

How about a Marshal-Specific combat tradition to command the undead? How about a Druid-Specific archetype to reclaim blighted lands and beasts? Could absolutely see a Savant archetype which delves a bit too deeply into Occult Lore and has to battle horrors from the darkness between the stars while using minor magics to supplement their non-magic focuses.

Actually, that puts me in mind of Ghostwalk... which could even be combined with my other thought about expanding the Shadowfell. Not Ghostwalk per se, but a playing in the land of the dead, as the dead.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

I think that something that explores something other than the Great Wheel would be good.

by "its own game" i just meant being a planar setting book - i'd assume level up's planar system would look pretty different from the great wheel given what we've already seen of it
also:

How about a Marshal-Specific combat tradition to command the undead? How about a Druid-Specific archetype to reclaim blighted lands and beasts? Could absolutely see a Savant archetype which delves a bit too deeply into Occult Lore and has to battle horrors from the darkness between the stars while using minor magics to supplement their non-magic focuses.

when i read this my brain immediately jumped to "ranger archetype or multiclassing feat chain that lets you communicate with objects and terrain features" and i realized i need to start charging disco elysium rent for living in my brain