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.

 

[ProfessorDetective]

For the record: the proper term for Eberron's aesthetic (to the point that Eberron's player base likely coined it) is "Dungeonpunk". Because the technology being extrapolated to Science Fantasy proportions is specifically sufficiently-analyzed, D&D-style, magic.

Dungeon Punk - TV Tropes

 

[Parmandur]

For the record: the proper term for Eberron's aesthetic (to the point that Eberron's player base likely coined it) is "Dungeonpunk". Because the technology being extrapolated to Science Fantasy proportions is specifically sufficiently-analyzed, D&D-style, magic.

Dungeon Punk - TV Tropes

Sooooo...steampunk-like?

 

[CleverNickName]

Yes, I’m aware. I mean for the settings they’re ignoring. Open those up to the Guild. Like Dark Sun. They’re flat out said they’re never going to have the spine to touch it, so open it up on the Guild for others to toy with. So too with Mystara, Hollow World, Birthright, Nentir Vale, etc. WotC still gets their cut. They’re not out anything.

I did a little more digging. (Okay, a LOT MORE digging.)

In the order you mentioned them:

Dark Sun: There is a thriving Dark Sun community on the Internet...Wizards of the Coast might not be publishing material for this setting anytime soon, but that hasn't stopped the fans over at the Obsidian Portal. This is one of the oldest and most robust fan-created content sites out there, dedicated to keeping the classic Dark Sun world alive. They have several books available for free download: The Wanderer's Journal, the Dark Sun Player's Guide, the Dark Sun Atlas...plus fan-written adventures, links to the original books on DriveThruRPG...

Mystara: I already mentioned this one upthread, but I'll repeat it here so that everything is all in one place. The Vaults of Pandius has been keeping the Mystara campaign setting alive for almost 30 years. They have links to the original materials for the purists, and links to updated materials for those who wish to play Mystara in the 5th Edition rules set. I can't be certain, but I think it might be the oldest classic D&D communities on the Internet.

Hollow World: This classic campaign setting is under active development over at The Vaults of Pandius, alongside Mystara. While there is no cohesive, downloadable book yet, they have links to dozens of articles and resources, articles on the history and personalities of the Hollow World, tons of maps, adventures, and more. If you're looking for HW resources for your home game, this is the best place I've found so far.

Birthright: There isn't yet a full 5E campaign setting for Birthright. However, there is a set of fan-created conversion notes available on GM Binder for free, as a 48-page booklet. It has some suggested backgrounds, adjustments to the playable Races and Classes, a new Bloodline mechanic, a couple of new Feats, and more. It's very much a work-in-progress, and they're always looking for more knowledgeable folks to contribute. If you're a fan, join the community!

Nenitr Vale: The default campaign setting for 4th Edition D&D hasn't gone anywhere. The folks over at Tribality Games have an impressive guide for running your own 5E Nenitr Vale campaign (written by Shawn Ellsworth, even!) with a comprehensive list of resources and play notes to help you find what you're looking for fast. And Goodman Games has produced a system-neutral "Points of Light" campaign setting on DriveThruRPG, and a sequel, so that you can play the classic campaign setting in any rules set you want. Wizards of the Coast isn't doing anything with this setting, but that hasn't stopped its fans.

I hope this helps folks find what they're looking for. The point I'm trying to make is twofold:

• You are not the only remaining fan of a classic D&D campaign setting, no matter how weird or small or niche. Find your people, and share ideas with them!
• You don't need to wait for Wizards of the Coast to green-light your home game. If you want to base your home game off of, I dunno, the old Thunder Rift campaign setting from 1992 and using the new 5E rules, you already have their permission to do so. Look for "Thunder Rift 5E Fans" on Google, and you'll find a lot of blog posts and forum threads...log in, introduce yourself, and ask around.

 

[overgeeked]

I did a little more digging. (Okay, a LOT MORE digging.)

In the order you mentioned them:

Dark Sun: There is a thriving Dark Sun community on the Internet...Wizards of the Coast might not be publishing material for this setting anytime soon, but that hasn't stopped the fans over at the Obsidian Portal. This is one of the oldest and most robust fan-created content sites out there, dedicated to keeping the classic Dark Sun world alive. They have several books available for free download: The Wanderer's Journal, the Dark Sun Player's Guide, the Dark Sun

Mystara: I already mentioned this one upthread, but I'll repeat it here so that everything is all in one place. The Vaults of Pandius has been keeping the Mystara campaign setting alive for almost 30 years. They have links to the original materials for the purists, and links to updated materials for those who wish to play Mystara in the 5th Edition rules set. I can't be certain, but I think it might be the oldest classic D&D communities on the Internet.

Hollow World: This classic campaign setting is under active development over at The Vaults of Pandius, alongside Mystara. While there is no cohesive, downloadable book yet, they have links to dozens of articles and resources, articles on the history and personalities of the Hollow World, tons of maps, adventures, and more. If you're looking for HW resources for your home game, this is the best place I've found so far.

Birthright: There isn't yet a full 5E campaign setting for Birthright. However, there is a set of fan-created conversion notes available on GM Binder for free, as a 48-page booklet. It has some suggested backgrounds, adjustments to the playable Races and Classes, a new Bloodline mechanic, a couple of new Feats, and more. It's very much a work-in-progress, and they're always looking for more knowledgeable folks to contribute. If you're a fan, join the community!

Nenitr Vale: The default campaign setting for 4th Edition D&D hasn't gone anywhere. The folks over at Tribality Games have an impressive guide for running your own 5E Nenitr Vale campaign (written by Shawn Ellsworth, even!) with a comprehensive list of resources and play notes to help you find what you're looking for fast. And Goodman Games has produced a system-neutral "Points of Light" campaign setting on DriveThruRPG, and a sequel, so that you can play the classic campaign setting in any rules set you want. Wizards of the Coast isn't doing anything with this setting, but that hasn't stopped its fans.

I hope this helps folks find what they're looking for. The point I'm trying to make is twofold:

• You are not the only remaining fan of a classic D&D campaign setting, no matter how weird or small or niche. Find your people, and share ideas with them!
• You don't need to wait for Wizards of the Coast to green-light your home game. If you want to base your home game off of the old Thunder Rift campaign setting from 1992, you already have their permission to do so. Look for "Thunder Rift Fans" on Google, and you'll find a lot of blog posts and forum threads...log in, introduce yourself, and ask around.

Huh. Wow. Thanks for the help. I’m aware of most of those communities. That wasn’t the point. The point was that all those people you’re referring to (me included in some cases) should be able to put that work up on the Guild to make a few bucks. They’re leaving money on the table not opening those settings up to the fans. Even if they just give the okay instead of publishing anything themselves.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

It's that "Nirvana on the classic rock station" feeling...

Yeah for me it’s stuff from the early 00’s, when I was in high school. My 20 year graduation anniversary may have passed recently…lol

 

[mamba]

How long can a book take these days?

Much shorter than the game development did, the release should not catch them off-guard.

 

[mamba]

I did enough cynicism in the 90's. I'm done.

you sure about that?

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah for me it’s stuff from the early 00’s, when I was in high school. My 20 year graduation anniversary may have passed recently…lol

Yeah, I graduated high school in 2003, and, uh, grocery store music has started getting great.

 

[jerryrice4949]

What's kind of funny is part of the appeal of D&D and RPGs back in the day, when we were teenagers, was that they weren't "for kids", and the few that verged on that generally seemed less appealing. That you might start as a kid but that RPGs still had stuff to offer as a teenager and adult, and whilst I don't think WotC are intentionally trying to stop that, nor could they, I think the relentless focus on keeping it PG, whilst others do not is probably setting D&D up for something of a fall in the next decade or so as people who are playing D&D aged 14 or whatever get increasingly older.

This rings so true for me. As tweens my friends and I loved the original Dieties and Demigods. It was a great book but some of the more mature content certainly was a draw too.

 

[CleverNickName]

Huh. Wow. Thanks for the help. I’m aware of most of those communities. That wasn’t the point. The point was that all those people you’re referring to (me included in some cases) should be able to put that work up on the Guild to make a few bucks.

Ah, gotcha. I'm coming at it more from the "giving fans the tools they need" angle.