D&D 5E D&D's Classic Settings Are Not 'One Shots'

In an interview with ComicBook.com, WotC's Jeremy Crawford talked about the visits to Ravenloft, Eberron, Spelljammer, Dragonlance, and (the upcoming) Planescape we've seen over the last couple of years, and their intentions for the future.

He indicated that they plan to revisit some of these settings again in the future, noting that the setting books are among their most popular books.

We love [the campaign setting books], because they help highlight just how wonderfully rich D&D is. They highlight that D&D can be gothic horror. D&D can be fantasy in space. D&D can be trippy adventures in the afterlife, in terms of Planescape. D&D can be classic high fantasy, in the form of the Forgotten Realms. It can be sort of a steampunk-like fantasy, like in Eberron. We feel it's vital to visit these settings, to tell stories in them. And we look forward to returning to them. So we do not view these as one-shots.

- Jeremy Crawford​

The whole 'multiverse' concept that D&D is currently exploring plays into this, giving them opportunities to resist worlds.

When asked about the release schedule of these books, Crawford noted that the company plans its release schedule so that players get chance to play the material, not just read it, and they don't want to swamp people with too much content to use.

Our approach to how we design for the game and how we plan out the books for it is a play-first approach. At certain times in D&D's history, it's really been a read-first approach. Because we've had points in our history where we were producing so many books each year, there was no way anyone could play all of it. In some years it would be hard to play even a small percentage of the number of things that come out. Because we have a play-first approach, we want to make sure we're coming out with things at a pace where if you really wanted to, and even that would require a lot of weekends and evenings dedicated to D&D play, you could play a lot of it.

- Jeremy Crawford​

You can read more in the interview at ComicBook.com.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

My children who fell in love with the Ruby Pangolin are.

And how old are your children? Single digits? double-but-not teenage?

I just don't buy that someone who is 16 now thinks that's cool. Whereas the Ruby Pangolin would have obsessed me when I was 10.

As for solarpunk, yeah, it is, but what's interest isn't bumbling around in a super-positive already-achieved solarpunk environment, it's fighting for one to come into existence. You can see this in campaigns people run in podcasts and so on.

 

[Parmandur]

And how old are your children? Single digits? double-but-not teenage?

I just don't buy that someone who is 16 now thinks that's cool.

As for solarpunk, yeah, it is, but what's interest isn't bumbling around in a super-positive already-achieved solarpunk environment, it's fighting for one to come into existence. You can see this in campaigns people run in podcasts and so on.

Admittedly,.my kids are Gen Alpha. However, I am not.sure based on your description of Radiant Citad if you.habe read the actual Adventures...? They can be quite...intense
Particularly the Middle Passage undead one.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Admittedly,.my kids are Gen Alpha. However, I am not.sure based on your description of Radiant Citad if you.habe read the actual Adventures...? They can be quite...intense
Particularly the Middle Passage undead one.

I read three of them, and they were just absolutely dull nonsense in which nothing happened nor was intended to happen (also two of them were just really poorly designed as adventures, like whoever wrote them didn't understand how to write adventures for someone else to run - which isn't an age thing - I've seen teenagers manage it and people who have been writing adventures for 30+ years, like Chris Perkins, fail at it), but not a Middle Passage undead one. Which one is that? I think my brother has Radiant so I can see it on Beyond if he's still subbed.

 

[Reynard]

View attachment 292458

I don't get it.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I don't get it.

I mean, I may be misunderstanding but it seemed to me to be about how misused steampunk has become, because she immediately starts talking about the purely aesthetic elements and the tackiest vision of them possible, which is absolutely spot-on to 95% of things which get called or worse, voluntarily label themselves "steampunk". A critical genre turned into pure aesthetics of the worst kind.

 

[Parmandur]

I read three of them, and they were just absolutely dull nonsense in which nothing happened nor was intended to happen (also two of them were just really poorly designed as adventures, like whoever wrote them didn't understand how to write adventures for someone else to run - which isn't an age thing - I've seen teenagers manage it and people who have been writing adventures for 30+ years, like Chris Perkins, fail at it), but not a Middle Passage undead one. Which one is that? I think my brother has Radiant so I can see it on Beyond if he's still subbed.

That would be The Nightsea's Succor, written by D. Fox Harrell. The Level 1 Adventure is supposed to be a very low-key intro for characters to get together and focuses on social interactions. It’s an anthology, so it is a mixed bag...but it is coming from diverse writers, and goes some intense places.

 

[Reynard]

I mean, I may be misunderstanding but it seemed to me to be about how misused steampunk has become, because she immediately starts talking about the purely aesthetic elements and the tackiest vision of them possible, which is absolutely spot-on to 95% of things which get called or worse, voluntarily label themselves "steampunk". A critical genre turned into pure aesthetics of the worst kind.

I assumed it was a dig at an oldie.

 

[Vaalingrade]

There is nothing cooler than what old dudes think the 'kids these days' think are cool.

Also, the aesthetic of steampunk is the important part and the hopeful exuberance for technology actually making life better is part of that aesthetic. No one actually cares about the 'punk' part of any punk. Especially cyber. People want robot arms, not how much people hated and feared Japan in the 80's.

 

[Parmandur]

I mean, I may be misunderstanding but it seemed to me to be about how misused steampunk has become, because she immediately starts talking about the purely aesthetic elements and the tackiest vision of them possible, which is absolutely spot-on to 95% of things which get called or worse, voluntarily label themselves "steampunk". A critical genre turned into pure aesthetics of the worst kind.

I mean, I'm not sure it ever was a critical genre so much as an offhand injoke involving in Tim Powers and his friends?

 

[CleverNickName]

I here he's working on the DMG as we speak. Mystara is one of the "problematic" settings because of its use of real world allegories. The counter to the problematic claim it was the best selling settings outside the US specifically because of the allegories and BECMI being translated into so many languages. People like their culture being represented, especially their myths and legends.

I largely agree...the use of real-world myths and legends was intentional, and a lot of it was very well-done from a respectful and carefully-researched point of view. "GAZ-2, Emirates of Ylaruam" is my favorite example; I think it does a great job of presenting the different cultures and mythologies of the different real-world North African/Middle Eastern countries, without crossing the line into farce (at best) or racism (at worst).

Unfortunately, for every "Emirates of Ylaruam" there is an "Orcs of Thar," and that book is written in the language of Mordor which I will not utter here. There is no way--no way in all Nine Hells--that product would ever make it past a Cultural Sensitivity expert today. Even my praise of GAZ-2 in the previous paragraph, as well-meaning as it is, was written from the perspective of a white American dude with much to learn about Middle Eastern culture.

So I understand the demand for an updated Mystara product, and I also understand why Wizards of the Coast can't take the risks needed to make that product. That's why I'm thankful for the fans, who are putting in the work that the IP owners and investors can't afford to.

EDIT: Basically, I came here to say something like this:

They like it less when someone makes them all into animal-people though.

Which was part of the issue with Mystara.

Or worse when it introduces horrifying racial stereotypes of oppressed minority groups and then assigns them to orcs (let's not even get into The Orcs of Thar).

So whilst you're absolutely right that "real world equivalents" (rather than allegories) are the core problem with Mystara, I don't think they're quite as innocent and wonderful and flawless as you're implying. Plus standards for representation in the 1990s were vastly lower than the 2020s.

Ninja'd by Ruin. Again.