D&D General Dungeons & Dragons Sneak Peek at Gameholecon: 50th Anniversary Adventure, Rod of Seven Parts, The Endless Stair, Tsojcanth, Barrier Peaks?

I was leaving a panel at GameHoleCon when Chris Perkins walked in and then Justice and Bill and then quite a few other WotC folk! So I stayed.

I'm glad I did because what started as a very funny trivia game challenge to the WotC folk and some of the audience soon turned into a discussion about things they are working on. Cool things. Oh and some of those questions were by Jon Peterson and were hard! I pride myself in getting a couple correct! Iron Rations for the win! Chris Lindsay talked about the DMSGuild too, and strongly hinted to me about the Manual of the Planes. I just wasn't on the same plane.

Anyway they discussed things that have already been covered, but I think with a bit more detail on particular things. This was more of a conversation than a presentation after all.

• Ron Lundeen discussed the internal playtests and that he liked it when he would see similar things discussed in the same ways in both public and private testing.
• Bill Benham discussed Jaquaysing the maps and adventures and how they are taking that more to heart. I think she was on everyone's mind at the panel, see this thread if you would, she could use our help.
• Ron also dicussed how he learned that scrolls are a secret magic item table of power and rarity for magic items generally. That's a nice hint I'll have to take a closer look at.

And then Chris talked about how their adventures take this fine line of between having too much and overwhelming new people yet also having to satisfy old hats like myself.

• The new core books will have an update to format and art like the more recent books.
• Gateway to new players was a term they kept using for the new PHB and even the DMG.
• Oh and they mentioned Tasha’s Bubbling Cauldron as a new spell, which Hollie will be delighted with.
• All three books will have mostly new art from new artists too, like from two concept artists from Obi Wan and the Avatar shows.

Then they went on to the DMG and how it'll talk about what a DM does, what are the parts of the game, the books and even how to use the DM Screen in play.

• It'll have handouts and tools to help you organize and build your notes and show you a campaign setting designed to be customized as a tutorial to make it your own and eventually build one from scratch.
• There will be new magic items to fill in more rarity niches and more cool common ones too.
• And finally we'll get the 1980 cartoon series magic items, something Chris seemed almost giddy about.

The Monster Manual will have more high level creatures and they noted things they'll put in stat blocks that were missing before, like proficiency bonus.

'Romp around the multiverse', I don't think that's a new book title, but it's a new kind of anthology book that revisits all the things they've done in D&D, a '50th anniversary book'. Chris Perkins actually ran the Ravenloft adventure at the convention, I wish I'd captured the events he ran because I'm guessing the title and a few details are in that entry. Anyone here play in his games? Care to share?

And then Chris started to display cool secrets. I'm not sure if any of these are separate books or part of the above mentioned book, but I think they are separate books the way Chris was hinting. I must also offer an apology. There was no way I could get all of these images. I was caught off guard and in a bit of awe. The last one especially is just killing me, it was wonderful and Chris refused to show me after the panel with that wry smile of his.

So here is the only clear image I got. What do you see? Give me your guesses and I'll later give you what the jokes were they made. I even got a laugh out of the crew with one!

However the missing last image was my biggest regret. It was a cute fluffy bunny on a stump...... Oh the agony! I got a selfie with Chris as a consolation prize!

OK I’ll spill more. I’m not sure but they indeed seemed to be talking about multiple books and this new book for the 50th. I think they intentionally obfuscated things.

• The key to me is that the 50th book is a visit to all the 5e adventures and the stuff that isn’t from those are either for the story to tie them together or are from other books
• The bunny was undead, a Sheep in Wolfs clothing. It was a brand new painting and I didn’t recognize the artist.
• My joke was that the Rod would fall apart way to easily, as they tried to hint what it was.

So from what they were taking about I think.

• A D&D 50th Anniversary book
• An Endless Stair book
• A Rod of Seven parts book
• And Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
• Oh and Tsojcanth

Please note those are all guesses by me. Oh and Tsojcanth.

Chris did say that the D&D 50th book had been announced but I can’t find anything on it.

 

[hojulation]

That may admittedly just be the 5e Planescape writers choosing not to mess with Farrow's backstory - in case anyone is unaware, Farrow and their alter egos are originally from the 2e Faces of Sigil book, so while hardly one (or fifteen) of the more iconic characters in the setting, they aren't a new creation and neither is their connection to Mystara.

Nothing against Mystara, of course. It's never really been my thing, but I'll hardly begrudge it getting some focus and attention for those that do enjoy the setting.

Also helps that even if I'm never going to use a setting as is, I'm always willing to scavenge for ideas, plots, mechanics, etc.

Oh interesting, I had no idea! Thanks for sharing. I do enjoy them bringing cameos like that back in when they revisit stuff. Helps me learn more about the game's history. I'm off to the DMs Guild now to get that supplement and learn more!

 

[mamba]

Which is better. Obvious placenames imply a lack of age/history. Unless you want to create Newlycolonisedland, they should be avoided.

oh, I just meant they are not less trivial, I agree that the age helps

 

[mamba]

And a lot of our names are unoriginal. New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey and New England for example.

Paris, Troy, Athens, … you do not even bother with the ‘new’ most of the time

 

[Maxperson]

Paris, Troy, Athens, … you do not even bother with the ‘new’ most of the time

Oh, for sure. I chose those names specifically to have a bit of fun with our British friend here.

 

[Parmandur]

Though to be fair, so was Dark Sun, until they finally admitted recently that they didn't think they could make it work (with Spelljammer's "Doomspace" very clearly being an attempt).

I hadn't noticed that Dark Sun was not on the last survey.

 

[JEB]

I hadn't noticed that Dark Sun was not on the last survey.

I admittedly don't recall whether it was on the last survey or not (I think I skipped the last one), though I'd be interested if anyone does recall. However, I was referring to the clearly late-stage change from "Athasspace" to "Doomspace" in 5E Spelljammer, and Kyle Brink's interview where he wrote the setting off as problematic (so it's, at best, not a priority).

 

[Parmandur]

I admittedly don't recall whether it was on the last survey or not (I think I skipped the last one), though I'd be interested if anyone does recall. However, I was referring to the clearly late-stage change from "Athasspace" to "Doomspace" in 5E Spelljammer, and Kyle Brink's interview where he wrote the setting off as problematic (so it's, at best, not a priority).

Honestly, replacing Athasspace with Doomspace probably makes future Dark Sun easier rather than more difficult, considering what was going on there.

And Brinksnis right, it is problematic.

I think Dark Sun was in the survey: I picked Hreyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and homebrew, but I think it was there.

 

[Nikosandros]

I think Dark Sun was in the survey: I picked Hreyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and homebrew, but I think it was there.

I also think that it was there, but I wouldn't repeat this statement under oath...

 

[JEB]

Honestly, replacing Athasspace with Doomspace probably makes future Dark Sun easier rather than more difficult, considering what was going on there.

Perhaps, but it still shows what was clearly a failed attempt to make it work for 5E. And Brinks' statement several months later supports that view among Wizards' leadership. If a setting is too much trouble to update to meet their current standards, it isn't going to be a priority.

I think Dark Sun was in the survey: I picked Hreyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and homebrew, but I think it was there.

Yeah, I just checked the thread for the September survey and @Maxperson said he voted for Dark Sun. (Was it a write-in, though?)

 

[Parmandur]

Perhaps, but it still shows what was clearly a failed attempt to make it work for 5E. And Brinks' statement several months later supports that view among Wizards' leadership. If a setting is too much trouble to update to meet their current standards, it isn't going to be a priority.

Theybshould be leary, Dark Sun is a potential landmine. However, if theybare cautious anfld get the right creators on it, it is a huge opportunity.