D&D 5E D&D Direct: WotC's 2023 Announcement Showcase Livestream

D&D Direct, the half-hour livestreamed event where WotC will reveal its new Virtual Tabletop (VTT), talk about the future of D&D, and celebrate the new D&D movie, starts at 9am PT (5pm UK time)! Watch it below!

D&D Direct 2023 is a digital showcase that will feature announcements from all corners of the D&D fandom. Get a first look at the D&D virtual tabletop, tie-ins for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, exciting partnerships, and even hear about what to expect in future books. Deep dives for tabletop products will come later this year.

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Highlights/Contents

• D&D Minecraft is coming soon. You can download a Minecraft Monstrous Compendium at Minecraft.net.​
• Honor Among Thieves movie trailer.​
• Song cartoon about teaching your friends D&D.​
• Hasbro's 'March Monster Madness' D&D movie toys.​
• Magic: the Gathering cards featuring D&D movie characters.​
• Lolth's Warrior, R.A. Salvatore's new book in The Way of the Drow trilogy.​
• Trailer for Neverwinter video game Menzoberranzan.​
• D&D Digital Playspace--the upcoming new Virtual Tabletop playtest coming in late 2023.​
• Newsroom skit about a lifesized mimic and a baby owlbear escaping WizKids.​
• Joe Manganiello updates about his D&D documentary.​
• Chris Perkins & Jeremy Crawford on the D&D multiverse, Keys from the Golden Vault, Bigby Presents Glory of the Giants, Phandelver & Below: The Shattered Obelisk, Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse, Deck of Many Things, and hints about Vecna coming in 2024 in a worldhopping adventure, a Red Wizard story in 2025, and D&D cartoon villain Venger will return in an adventure.

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[UngainlyTitan]

True, but if I can import a 2d map, that's great.......just add a few 3d pieces to give it depth (that's how my table worked in person).

I hope my data can be sent back and forth to dnd beyond, not just one way....Or, that dndbeyond gets a bit better, and I just use that to run stuff (or that I can roll from there, and have effects and stuff work, like beyond20).

If they have any sense then D&DBeyond should be the core for character management and DM world building independent of any VTT and usable on any VTT. That way they will such in players and DMs from other VTTs and let the VTT be more standalone. It should work seamlessly with 'Beyond but also with pen and paper and other ways of managing the game.
I would be aiming to make it attractive to use for set piece battles at the table on face to face as well as online.
I find it very interesting that they are talking multiplatform, as in consoles etc.

 

[Kurotowa]

My guess is that they're delaying releases to be sure that they have minimal compatability issues with the relaunch.

Also it's a good bet that they expect decreased sales for anything new until the 2024 relaunch. Plenty of people are going to take a "wait and see" approach to new books until they know how much they like the revised core book and how well the 2023 releases play with them.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Holy Moly! You're right! I didn't even recognize the style. Awesome!

View attachment 280095

He's done a bunch of things since Planescape. So it wouldn't surprise me if some of his newer work looks more like Spiderwick Chronicles and his other work in Children's Books.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

You cold use it for an entirely different rpg. which is something I didn't think they'd let be.

they really should, if they wall it off it will slow the adoption.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Wow, as one having English as a second language, I always thought Sigil was pronounced ... well, like the word sigil, I guess. :-D

Well depending on where one is in the English speaking world sigil is not always pronounced like sigil

 

[deganawida]

He's done a bunch of things since Planescape. So it wouldn't surprise me if some of his newer work looks more like Spiderwick Chronicles and his other work in Children's Books.

Spiderwick is soooooo good. I read them in the early Aughts just for his artwork, and exposed my kids to them.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Drawing tools and 2d maps supported.

That is interesting, do you have a reference for this?

My VTT of choice these days is FantasyGrounds but I have many gripes about it and one is that they have sunk a ton of developer effort in map making. So now they have a really sophisticated image creation tool that has a learning curve on a par with commercial art or image software.
My personal view is that VTTs should not have image creation software more sophisticated than MS Paint (with layers) but be able to import from common formats. People can create their maps externally using what ever software they like and have mastered and import the result but often a DM or a player wants to scribble something on a map and the basic tools should be obvious to use and not need a multi hour tutorial just to understand the presented tools and menu options.

Edit: @darjr nevermind, I have found the relevant article.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Wow, as one having English as a second language, I always thought Sigil was pronounced ... well, like the word sigil, I guess. :-D

The divide is typically on whether the 'g' is hard or soft.

Some pronounce it Sih-gill, others Sih-jill.

 

[Zaukrie]

That is interesting, do you have a reference for this?

My VTT of choice these days is FantasyGrounds but I have many gripes about it and one is that they have sunk a ton of developer effort in map making. So now they have a really sophisticated image creation tool that has a learning curve on a par with commercial art or image software.
My personal view is that VTTs should not have image creation software more sophisticated than MS Paint (with layers) but be able to import from common formats. People can create their maps externally using what ever software they like and have mastered and import the result but often a DM or a player wants to scribble something on a map and the basic tools should be obvious to use and not need a multi hour tutorial just to understand the presented tools and menu options.

D&D Virtual Tabletop: A Closer Look

Kale Stutzman, the game director behind the D&D VTT, gives an inside look at the goals behind the project, the latest news, and more information on ...

www.dndbeyond.com

Also, I don't agree at all that we need something as simple as MS Paint.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

The divide is typically on whether the 'g' is hard or soft.

Some pronounce it Sih-gill, others Sih-jill.

Canonically it's with the hard "g", as some book said it rhymes with "Wiggle". Though like all Planescape books in 2e, it's written in character.