Dungeons & Dragons Teases New Campaign Settings

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Dungeons & Dragons seems to be preparing to explore brand new campaign settings. Last week, EN World had the opportunity to visit Wizards of the Coast headquarters and get new details about D&D's 2025 slate. While much of the focus was on the newly announced Eberron: Forge of the Artificer book or the upcoming pair of Forgotten Realms book, the D&D design team is also looking at expanding their official multiverse to include brand new worlds.

When asked about the decision to return to Eberron in 2025, the D&D design team noted that keeping the Fifth Edition ruleset allowed them to grow the game instead of rehash it. "One of the opportunities that we have by revising the game, as opposed blowing it up and starting over, is we can actually move forward," said Jeremy Crawford, game director . "And I can't wait until we can tell you about 2026 and 2027."

"With Jeremy Crawford taking on the game director role and then Chris Perkins taking on the creative director role is that we were able to really reestablish a world building environment," added Jess Lanzillo, VP of D&D Franchise at Wizards of the Coast. "What does that mean? We can really establish our worlds and settings like the Forgotten Realms and also look to creating new ones again. That's something that we are working on and we don't have anything to really discuss today other than to tell you like we are re-establishing everything that we have and we are going to make some new stuff too."

While Wizards of the Coast has integrated Magic: The Gathering worlds and Critical Role's Exandria as campaign settings for 5th Edition, D&D's last truly new campaign setting was Nentir Vale, a 'points of light' setting that established small bastions of civilization in an otherwise dark world. In 2023, D&D introduced the Radiant Citadel, a new city within the Ethereal Plane that was connected to numerous new civilizations and worlds briefly touched on in anthology books.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer


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Judge Dread?
Maybe not so obviously dystopic (though my knowledge of Judge Dread is very limited). Again, the Galadriel as the goddess-queen that is "both beautiful and terrible." Middle-earth as an Edenic paradise, but Thou Shalt Not Eat of the Tree (of, in this case, free-will, thinking, alternate modes, individuality, etc).
 


In a case of full-on modern animism, New Zealand legally defined a mountain as "person". The mountain Taranaki has the legal personal Te Kāhui Tupua. It is traditionally sacred to local Māori tribes. The status of personhood includes "their" "physical and metaphysical elements". New Zealand has a legal precedent, having defined a certain river as a person. The personal rights extend to "health" and wellbeing extending to conservation of local wildlife, indigenous customs, and public recreational access.

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I already wished for it over in the 2025 wishlist thread, but I'd love to see them release a new Gamma World. There's enough potential in there for new crunch (mutations, tech artifacts, radiation, new playable species) and fluff (examples of how to build a post-apocalyptic setting and campaign) that we don't get from other settings, and it occupies a similar-but-different-enough space from the existing campaign settings.
I hope the success of Caves of Qud makes WotC revisit gamma world.
 

In a case of full-on modern animism, New Zealand legally defined a mountain as "person". The mountain Taranaki has the legal personal Te Kāhui Tupua. It is traditionally sacred to local Māori tribes. The status of personhood includes "their" "physical and metaphysical elements". New Zealand has a legal precedent, having defined a certain river as a person. The personal rights extend to "health" and wellbeing extending to conservation of local wildlife, indigenous customs, and public recreational access.

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"Corporations are people, my friend."
 

I remember an old cartoon, C.O.P.S. If my memory doesn't fail it is a franchise by Hasbro. Now let's imagine a mash-up of C.O.P.S. but in a fantsy world like New Capenna (Magic: the Gathering). This magitek setting could allow "mash-up guests" like M.A.S.K. Robotix or Inhumanoids.

Or a D&D version of other forgotten franchise "Visionaries". Maybe the PCs are standar classes but wearing a "simbiontic magitek technosuit" like a second PC style "construct monster mount"

* Sometimes a rehush is easier and faster option than starting from zero. An updated version of Birthright would suffer a lot of changes but this setting should be the right choice if Hasbro wants a strategic videogame style Total War: Warhammer or Warcraft III. Birthright could be also a good option for a fantasy romance saga.

* There are some possibilities for Red Steel/Savage Coast.

* How would be mixing Dragonlance and Dark Sun? Maybe the sorcerer-kings would be replaced with the dragon overlords. At least the idea should be explored in some game-live show and like this we don't worry about the continuity.

* Gamma World could be added to the D&D multiverse but 5e is not designed for settings with high-tech and firearms instead magic. My suggestion is the setting will be not our planet to avoid possible controversies style "in the future Morocco will invade Spain, but then USA will conquer Morocco"

* I remember about a Japanese team designing a new WotC setting as a future bait for the otaku community.
 



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