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.

 

[DEFCON 1]

When it comes to all the campaign settings WotC has thus far done for 5E, it seems like there's one main pattern in the responses to them:

Settings that originated prior to 5E and which WotC updated for 5E are considered bad (if not worse) because the people who decry them seem to be comparing them to everything that got published previous to 5E. And that the 5E book did not do those settings justice.

Which I can understand to a certain extent... you can't create detail in a single book that you received over the dozens of products you received previously... but it always has made me ask why those people just don't use their older setting products if they really are so much better than the 5E product WotC produced? Why do they care so much about the 5E product and the fact it's supposedly bad? If you own the older products already or if you want to get them you can just go onto DMs Guild and pick them up... why not run the game the way you want using them? And use the 5E product merely as a template for which you can create whatever mechanical needs you have to have for it?

The settings that have had the least pushback have been the three Magic: The Gathering settings, because those are the three that have not had any previous product to compare to and make people realize/believe the 5E version isn't as "good" or as "in depth" as the old ones were. If WotC really cared about the negative opinions of setting enthusiasts, they'd do nothing but create all-new ones so that players would think what they got was a treasure trove of goodness. And yet ironically we still see any number of enthusiasts for past settings waiting with baited breath for when Dark Sun... or Greyhawk... or Mystara... or any other settings of the sort FINALLY get the update to 5E that they want. Even when all of us know in our heart of hearts they aren't actually going to be happy with them and think the products suck. It happened with Ravenloft, it happened with Dragonlance, it happened with Spelljammer, it's about to happen with Planescape.

If you love a setting, play with what you already got. Don't wait for WotC and 5E. You'll be happier if you do.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think the people who want updated settings want one of two things, or both:

1) Conversion stats. Lots of people feel uncomfortable homebrewing monsters, spells and subclasses and would like the pros to do it for them.
2) They want a new audience to share their enthusiasm for the setting, which is most likely to happen with a new product. (Not a lot of people in 2023 are discovering Thunder Rift for the first time and getting pumped about running a game there.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Spelljammer, MtG Harry Potter (forgot name) and Dragonlance are just adventures masquerading as settings with varying levels of success. They fail as both settings and genre booster packs.

Strixhaven has gotten a lot of support on DMs Guild, which takes it most of the way to what the book ought to have been to begin with, although obviously that means assembling your own campaign setting and paying for the privilege of doing so. I think it's unlikely that WotC will ever return to the setting or concept this edition, unfortunately. In the realms of untapped monetization, a really good school of magic setting was a huge opportunity.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I really really hope that Wizards has the sense to see the success of BG3, and understand there are plenty of people out there who are 100% not interested in their kid friendly D&D, but who very much grew up and want the D&D that could exist as proven with BG3.

They are aware of it. I can't imagine many people would describe Descent into Avernus as kid-friendly.

But they're rotating. Before Witchlight, they hadn't done anything that really catered to that audience. And since then, they've published an adventure about the horrors of war.

They've already said Vecna is going to be all over the upcoming adventures, and I suspect no one will be able to defeat him with the power of friendship.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Imagine how well it could do if they would have fully baked it? But I guess that hopefully means it will get a sequel?

I think the problem with all of these revisited settings is that everyone's expectations are different.

Some folks clearly wanted Spelljammer to be all about space battles. Some folks wanted it to be an updated Rock of Braal setting. WotC clearly wanted it to be broad strokes about the concept, and not a drilled-down remake of the 2E material (or the 3E Dragon magazine stuff, which was pretty neat).

I suspect WotC does think Spelljammer was a success, since they're doing another setting in almost an identical format.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Manual of the Planes sorely needed

Great way to revisit settings would be a guide to the multiverse, which combines planar info and expansions on published settings and on the guidance for building worlds in the new DMG.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

5E 100% needs a Manual of the Planes. (All the people saying "just use the info in the DMG," don't buy the 5E Manual of the Planes.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

re: Mystara

I'm a big Mystara fan from way back when (my contributions to the old MML and the Vaults of Pandius are still among the top results when I vanity Google myself). But there is zero chance anyone would republish the Hollow World or Savage Coast or large parts of the Voyages of the Princess Ark today, since they would have to be rewritten from scratch to not be an absolute trash fire for how various cultures and real world peoples are treated.

It's weird to me that everyone takes it as an article of faith that Dark Sun -- in which the slavers are the bad guys -- can't ever be revisited, but tons of people keep pushing for WotC to publish a setting that is explicitly a zoo created by immortals that they've stocked with real-life peoples of color.

If they ever revisit Mystara, which I would bet against, it'll be Karameikos, Glantri or maaaaybe Darokin or the Five Shires. And they will absolutely be retconning the heck out of everything beyond their borders and probably a few things inside the borders, too. (Karameikos has a forward-thinking-for-its-time plot about indigenous humanoids being displaced by human settlers that will need to be handled like a live hand grenade.)

They will be a lot better off just mouthing some nice platitudes about the setting and leaving it in the same vault as Jakandor.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I think the problem with all of these revisited settings is that everyone's expectations are different.

Some folks clearly wanted it to be all about space battles. Some folks wanted it to be an updated Rock of Braal setting. WotC clearly wanted it to be broad strokes about the concept, and not a drilled-down remake of the 2E material (or the 3E Dragon magazine stuff, which was pretty neat).

I suspect WotC does think Spelljammer was a success, since they're doing another setting in almost an identical format.

At least (a) the page count is significantly larger this time and (b) we pretty much know what's going to be included. There were some assumptions with Spelljammer (that we would get some rulse on and examples of planetary systems) that didn't happen in the end. We know we're going to get Sigil, the Factions, and the Outlands in the Planescape set, which is basically all that's needed. Although even with this pre-knowledge, there are going to be those not paying attention and being upset that we'll not be getting much on the other planes, as if they could squeeze like 6 - 7 full 2e products into anything resembling a remotely affordable product...

 

[Phenomen]

If you're an Eberron fan or just generally interested in running the setting, Keith Baker released quite a few sourcebooks in addition to the Rising from the Last War - Exploring Eberron and Chronicles of Eberron, as well as a dozen of adventures and campaigns. There is no reason to wait for WOTC to do something with it.