Why Dungeons & Dragons Isn't Putting Out a Campaign Book in 2025

Wizards of the Coast is not putting out a Dungeons & Dragons campaign book in 2025. Despite adding two more books to its D&D release schedule, there are no plans to release a new full-length campaign book. During a press event at Wizards' headquarters, EN World asked about why the D&D design team had chosen to skip over a campaign book for first time in a decade. "

"This year we have focused on providing, rather than one large adventure, many adventure options because you'll actually see there are more sort of discrete adventure options than we typically do in a year," said Jeremy Crawford, lead rules designer for Dungeons & Dragons. "So you're going to have not only the 10 adventures in Dragon Delves with three possible campaigns, you also have the adventure options in Eberron, you have the adventure options in the Starter Set, and you have a bunch of adventure options in the Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide. So in many ways, we are flooding you with adventure options."

Crawford added that the D&D design team is always experimenting with their releases and that yearly campaign releases didn't always allow players to finish up the previous campaign. "So we're looking at tempos that map to how people actually play," Crawford said. "And we find that often, especially with DMs who like to create their own adventure material, they often have a greater need for sort of micro material that they can swap around. They can build things the way they like. That's what we're doing this year."

Finally, Crawford noted that one of the advantages to continuing Fifth Edition rather than launching a brand new edition meant that players could continue to use existing campaigns. "We have a whole library of epic campaigns that people can play, including last year's Vecna: Eve of Ruin, and those are all playable with the new core books," Crawford said. "And so we've embraced that for 2025, that there's a whole bookshelf of these epic campaigns that people can pick up and play, and we know there are among those campaigns surely one or two that even the most dedicated 5e group hasn't played yet."

However, Crawford noted that the D&D team wasn't moving away from campaigns forever. "For the life of 5th edition, we've never believed in there's like only one way to do it and that's how we do it every year," Crawford said. "Just because there isn't a campaign book this year doesn't mean we're not doing them."

 

[SlyFlourish]

No one would be happier than I if WotC went back to shorter adventures that can easily be inserted into campaigns as the standard, rather than singular campaign adventures.

They've been doing that for the past ten years, haven't they?

• Lost Mine of Phandelver
• Tales of the Yawning Portal
• Ghosts of Saltmarsh
• Dragon of Icespire Peak
• Candlekeep Mysteries
• Radiant Citadel
• Keys to the Golden Vault
• Dragons of Stormwreck Isle

Whether you consider these easy to insert is up to you. Kobold Press's various "Lairs" books include a lot of fantastic small adventures to drop into campaigns if you're looking for more.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Despite my snark, while adventure compilations like Quests from the Infinite Staircase and Tales from the Yawning Portal are really useful because you can lift small chunks for a night or three's gaming, it's still a hit to the pocketbook to be buying a book that you might only use 1 out of 5 adventures. I would really like to see the old single adventure paperbacks make a return in some form - maybe one a quarter or two a year. They could build up a stable of new adventures that isn't overwhelming, but might become somewhat revered like the old 1E-2E-3E standalone ones gained. They could, of course, still be (loosely) chained to work together, but could also be mixed or matched or just stopped/started wherever folks wanted, rather than locking them into a commitment for half a year or more that you have with the bigger "campaign adventures".

I don't know anything about their quality, but Goodman Games produces 5E modules in this format at a regular clip.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

This basically confirms October's surprise book is NOT an adventure campaign.

That makes me think even more that it's sonekind of MtG Campaign Book, perhaps Tarkir or Bloomborrow or a set a book of the broader MtG Bling Eternities setting.

 

[Reynard]

They've been doing that for the past ten years, haven't they?

• Lost Mine of Phandelver
• Tales of the Yawning Portal
• Ghosts of Saltmarsh
• Dragon of Icespire Peak
• Candlekeep Mysteries
• Radiant Citadel
• Keys to the Golden Vault
• Dragons of Stormwreck Isle

Whether you consider these easy to insert is up to you. Kobold Press's various "Lairs" books include a lot of fantastic small adventures to drop into campaigns if you're looking for more.

Three of those are starter sets and one is not appropriate for all (even most) campaigns (Radiant Citadel).

While my preference would be for individual modules over anthologies, the anthologies are a good thing and should continue.

My only problem with KP's lairs books is they require associated monster books, making them pretty expensive for not being sure you can get use out of them.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I still think that they should make the big-campaign books shorter (level-range and story-wise) but fill the page-count with more details: alternate routes, deeper fleshing out of areas, better DM advice, bespoke sub-systems, detailed regions, etc.

I'd be very happy with adventure books at roughly the same price-point and page count, but that are more replayable because of many more ways to get through them.

(And they'd be more chop-up-and-steal worthy).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Three of those are starter sets and one is not appropriate for all (even most) campaigns (Radiant Citadel).

The actual adventures in Radiant Citadel don't take place in the Ethereal Plane, but on (apparently) the Prime Material. Most of them would be pretty easy to incorporate into a kitchen sink setting, even if you have to preface the adventure with "after weeks of travel, you arrive in _____."

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I still think that they should make the big-campaign books shorter (level-range and story-wise) but fill the page-count with more details: alternate routes, deeper fleshing out of areas, better DM advice, bespoke sub-systems, detailed regions, etc.

The two digital supplements for Witchlight (the childhood prelude alluded to in the adventure, but only available online; and the Domains of Delight rules) should have both been in the book, IMO.

 

[Reynard]

The actual adventures in Radiant Citadel don't take place in the Ethereal Plane, but on (apparently) the Prime Material. Most of them would be pretty easy to incorporate into a kitchen sink setting, even if you have to preface the adventure with "after weeks of travel, you arrive in _____."

I stand by that still not being appropriate for most campaigns.

 

[darjr]

Just FYI it doesn’t look like they are talking about “separate” small adventures.

These all come in a big book of one sort or another.

 

[Osgood]

I have liked the adventure anthology books, and I like the idea of campaign length adventures (but in reality they have been hit and miss at best). I feel like it's time for something of a hybrid--some longer adventures that cover roughly a tier, 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, and 16-20, that you could mix and match into a campaign of your own--basically like the modules of old. Maybe each could contain a few ideas about connecting in to a few of the other adventures for a campaign, but mainly each is self-contained.