WotC WotC needs an Elon Musk

[Maxperson]

A core element of Ravenloft is that the mists reach into other worlds to pull in great evils and hapless adventurers, who can seek to escape. You can ignore that part, but it's pretty deep in there.

An element, yes. I would not say core. I have the 2e boxed set and very little is dedicated to the mists going to other worlds. It's really just a minor mention. The core elements of the mist are separating the islands from the main group of domains and it being really hard to travel the mists without Vistani.

The domains are all said to come from elsewhere, but you don't have to do that. You can have a 100% Ravenloft game without ever getting into travel to or from other worlds. You don't even have to go out of your way not to mention it. Just run a party born in Ravenloft through Ravenloft domains. Other worlds simply don't come up if you do that.

 

[Incenjucar]

You can technically get to Athas via planar travel, but leaving is very difficult, as described in the Planescape books.

I will say it's fine if settings are built without travel in mind. Setting tweaks to support travel should be sidebars or chapters in the travel settings books.

 

[Staffan]

Problem is, the more you keep distinct, the less Planescape/Spelljammer/etc. can draw upon to build up their atmosphere of giant multi-setting melting pots.

The way I see it is that while Planescape/Spelljammer can connect to Al-Toril, Eberron, Krynn, Athas, Aebrynis, etc., those do not have to connect back. For example, I would not mind a Spelljammer book that, among other things, discussed the Imperial Elven Navy's relationship with Evermeet. But I do not want a Forgotten Realms book about Evermeet to mention anything about spelljamming ships. The Evermeet that's on the Al-Toril that's connected to Spelljammer is distinct from the "core" Evermeet on the "real" Al-Toril.

In essence, Spelljammer and Planescape are their own settings that include copies of all the other settings.

 

[glass]

Al-Toril

Where?

("Toril", or possibly "Abeir-Toril", is the FR world, but where is the "Al-" prefix coming from?)

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Where?

("Toril", or possibly "Abeir-Toril", is the FR world, but where is the "Al-" prefix coming from?)

Possibly "Al Qadim" getting blended in.

 

[Scribe]

Problem is, the more you keep distinct, the less Planescape/Spelljammer/etc. can draw upon to build up their atmosphere of giant multi-setting melting pots.

I like keeping Eberron distinctly separate from the Great Wheel, so I get where you're coming from, but of the officially supported 5e settings at present, Spelljammer and Ravenloft (and Planescape, next year) are essentially just different focused viewpoints on the same mega-setting, Eberron is explicitly sealed off (as would be Dark Sun, presumably), and Ravnica, Theros, and Strixhaven are imports from an entirely different cosmology altogether.

That leaves, essentially, just the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, and possibly Wildemount (not sure how Exandria's cosmological set up works - I'm way behind on Critical Role) for Spelljammer/Planescape/Ravenloft to work with, at present.

Obviously, some Greyhawk stuff (Iggwilv, Mordenkainen, Bigby, etc.) will slip into official releases even if the setting isn't officially supported yet, but strip out Dragonlance and all of the N settings they supposedly have to work with at present are essentially just Toril and stuff they have to make up whole cloth because everything else is locked away.

Yeah, I get it. I'm trying to thread the needle on keeping things both connected and distinct and not impacted too much by that connectivity.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I strongly disagree. Cosmology is a setting-level decision, not a game-level decision.

That has never been TSR or WotC's belief. Even in 3E Eberron and the Forgotten Realms, they had a different arrangement of planes, but it was acknowledged that the "real" multiverse was also out there.

And in the 1E and 2E eras -- the height of Dragonlance -- it definitely wasn't true. The Great Wheel was the default setting and Dragonlance was a TSR project.

If people are going to want adherence to Draconlance continuity, that means it's part of the Great Wheel (and Spelljammer) and that Tiamat and Takhsis have been the same creature or aspects of a singular creature all along.

If people don't want that, then they don't really want Dragonlance canon to be respected.

It can't work both ways.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I wonder if they're keeping their options open depending on how the SotDQ sells and is received. After all, that's what they did with Ravenloft. Release the adventure first - Curse of Strahd had good reviews and apparently sold very well, and WotC saw this and decided that it was worth expanding out to a full setting book, which came along later. It's far from impossible that they might do the same for Dragonlance, if things go to plan for them.

Honestly, I assume that's the plan for all settings.

If everyone today rushes out and buys Theros in shocking numbers, we'll get a second Theros book.

 

[Vaalingrade]

last I checked we got a bunch of Sourcebooks.

I think he means lorebooks.

Someone mentioned Fizban's, but 5e's strat has been producing all-in-ones instead of things like Campaign Settings, player options books, etc.

 

[Incenjucar]

Do note that the "Great Wheel" is just a theoretical model. There's always room for additional scenarios within that.