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.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I feel like a lot of people forget the Realms are very large. Running into a major realms character is unlikely to happen unless you know were to look.

 

[Micah Sweet]

You can indeed die on the hill, you are being ignored by Wizards anyway.

And? Ignored by Wizards doesn't mean unworthy of note, and "you don't matter anyway" is how your statement, coming as it does from a poster from whom I can recall not a single non-positive comment regarding WotC actions, comes off to me.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I feel like a lot of people forget the Realms are very large. Running into a major realms character is unlikely to happen unless you know were to look.

In my group im one of like 2 that know any Faerun characters. And as you say, running into any of them is highly unlikely unless a published adventure calls for it.

Only time I’ve had an Iconic help out the party was when the adventure said it happened. IE party overwhelmed by wolves and then Drizzt shows up helps out gives some info and goes on his way.

 

[Parmandur]

Is there a current market for highly detailed setting material?

Not like there was before Fandom Wikia's.

 

[Reynard]

Not like there was before Fandom Wikia's.

2e Forgotten Realms thousands and thousands of pages of published lore suggest otherwise.

 

[Parmandur]

2e Forgotten Realms thousands and thousands of pages of published lore suggest otherwise.

WotC designers have been explicit about this and name-checked the Forgotten Realms Wikia directly: they can't put out books that compete head-to-head with a hyperlinked compilation of older Ed material. So do people like that stuff? Yes. Is there an actual paying market...? Not like there was.

See also, Encyclopedias.

Also worth noting thst 5E Setting products are actually outselling 2E products.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I suspect that, when Greenwood dies, they are going to permanently retire Elminster at the same time. It'll be framed as a way to honor Greenwood's memory, but there will be developers who will be viewing it as a chance to open up the setting without all-powerful legacy characters hanging around.

 

[Retros_x]

I have the feeling the grognards who complain WotC wants to have DnD PG only didn't actually read, run or played in published campaigns or settings. Descent into Avernus, Rime of the Frostmaiden, Curse of Strahd etc are definitely not PG. Setting books rarely have "the edge" encarved into them, but Ravenloft is definitely one of them. And you can definitely run an non-PG Eberron campaign if you want with the hooks etc. that are provided in the Eberron setting (I would definitely not let children and young teens play or watch my Eberron campaign in that regard)

I am also surprised by the notion that "BG 3 is so much more adult". I didn't noticed any particular content in BG3, that was more adult than what is written in the books I named above, except maybe for the sexual encounters, but usually DnD groups insert them into the adventure very fast themselves, no input needed from the books.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I have the feeling the grognards who complain WotC wants to have DnD PG only didn't actually read, run or played in published campaigns or settings. Descent into Avernus, Rime of the Frostmaiden, Curse of Strahd etc are definitely not PG. Setting books rarely have "the edge" encarved into them, but Ravenloft is definitely one of them. And you can definitely run an non-PG Eberron campaign if you want with the hooks etc. that are provided in the Eberron setting (I would definitely not let children and young teens play or watch my Eberron campaign in that regard)

I am also surprised by the notion that "BG 3 is so much more adult". I didn't noticed any particular content in BG3, that was more adult than what is written in the books I named above, except maybe for the sexual encounters, but usually DnD groups insert them into the adventure very fast themselves, no input needed from the books.

Everything in VRGtR was intentionally illusionary. The populace mostly don't have souls, the darklords are unkillable in any permanent way, nothing you do can change the world. It all being explicitly fake really uncuts any claim to edge for me.

 

[mamba]

Maybe release a full setting guides for the things they have material for, advance their timelines or reboot them openly without regard to the old guard who will hate them no matter what they do, and then after proving their chop, THEN try their hand at a 5e-based CS like they did with Eberron.

That is not really a solution in that it avoids none of the downsides that were being discussed.