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.

 

[mamba]

The viral popularity did. It caught everyone off guard. Little of the build up suggested that BG3 would be the most popular game of the year

It doesn't need to be the most popular one for this to make sense. Larian has a good track record, getting bigger with each release. Even if it did not better than their last title (1M in two months or so), the adventure would tie in well and can stand on its own, there is no real downside here, but a potentially big upside.

 

[mamba]

Or that their only 50th anniversary tie-ins will be alt-alt covers for the core books that kind of look like lame updated versions of the 1E books or something.

those come out in year 51

 

[Reynard]

Exactly. As others have pointed out, "steampunk" is not the narrow well defined term that you think it is.

So it is a meaningless word salad. Great. Good job.

Eberron still isn't steampunk.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Let's just all to agree to simply call it 'The Good Setting'.

 

[Demetrios1453]

It doesn't need to be the most popular one for this to make sense. Larian has a good track record, getting bigger with each release. Even if it did not better than their last title (1M in two months or so), the adventure would tie in well and can stand on its own, there is no real downside here, but a potentially big upside.

One problem with trying to tie in with BG3 is that the release date kept slipping back, so I imagine it was very difficult to coordinate. I imagine the 2023 releases (the books, not the dates) were likely set in stone when Larian announced it would be released this year. Thinking about it now, I have to wonder if we'll see a tie-in that has been waiting in the wings as an early release next year...

 

[Demetrios1453]

I think it's entirely possible they'll do zero 50th anniversary tie-ins next year, other than releasing the 2024 core books, as insane as that is from a marketing standpoint.

We already know there will at least be a Vecna-themed adventure next year.

 

[Reynard]

One problem with trying to tie in with BG3 is that the release date kept slipping back, so I imagine it was very difficult to coordinate. I imagine the 2023 releases (the books, not the dates) were likely set in stone when Larian announced it would be released this year. Thinking about it now, I have to wonder if we'll see a tie-in that has been waiting in the wings as an early release next year...

If WotC had been planning on capitalizing on BG3 with a tabletop adaptation, the delays would have helped, not hindered. Just liek the D&D movie, WotC had no plan to capitalize and things that would actually bring players to the table.

They don't appear to have the slightest idea of what they are doing. It's all just random decisions, half of which are extremely unpopular with their core fan base. Who is running this company?

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I really wish they would stop calling Eberron steampunk. It is aetherpunk, which is both cooler and broader. By calling "steampunk-like" as a shorthand, Crawford is unintentionally limiting what I think is D&D best setting. I mean, is there even a Victorian trope in the entire setting? Or a single steam engine? Warforged aren't even clockwork, and airships are not the slightest bit like derigibles.

All that said, I might be inclined to give WotC money again if they put out a big campaign -- or better yet, an anthology -- set in Eberron.

Ironically FR is more steampunk then Eberron, with steam engines and clockwork machines, it's just less wide spread.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The OP makes sense, in spite of some folks’ embittered skepticism.

Why revisit settings when the well known settings weren’t even all out yet? Now they are, and we shall see what we shall see.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I am sure you realize this, but that people can run Dark Sun (or whatever) with the tools on hand is not even slightly the point. People that want these settings want them because that means the setting is alive. And, more importantly, it means their preferences are validated.

That would be nice, but WotC hasn't validated my preferences in years. At some point we just have to move on. I know it's hard, trust me.