Jeremy Crawford Also Leaving D&D Team Later This Month

Jeremy Crawford is leaving Wizards of the Coast later this month. Screen Rant (via me!) had the exclusive announcement. Crawford was the Game Director for Dungeons & Dragons and was one of the guiding forces for D&D over the past decade. In the past year, Crawford has focused on the core rulebooks and leading the team of rules designers. He has also been a face of Dungeons & Dragons for much of 5th Edition, appearing in many promotional videos and DMing Acquisitions Incorporated Actual Play series.

He joins Chris Perkins in leaving the D&D team in recent weeks. Perkins, who was the Creative Director for D&D, announced his retirement last week. Both Perkins and Crawford appear to have left Wizards on their terms, with Lanzillo very effusive with her praise of both men and their contribution in our interview.

On a personal note, I've enjoyed interviewing Jeremy over the years. He was always gracious with his time and answers and is one of the most eloquent people I've ever heard talk about D&D. I'll miss both him and Chris Perkins and look forward to their next steps, wherever that might be.

 

[Gradine]

The core rules of 5e, even much of 5.5 (Weapon Properties and such) are not the issue with modern D&D. It's the misguided desire to keep it looking PG.

BG3, does not do this, and does not infantilize those who play it.

Oh.

Yeah, as a parent, I can hard disagree here. And I say that as someone who loves BG3 and has no problem with adult content. D&D is, love it or hate it, still the brand ambassador for TTRPGs. Being family friendly is what has allowed it to flourish, especially in schools where studies are finding how beneficial playing D&D (or at least RPGs in general, but D&D is by far the biggest game in town, so it really helps promote those programs) is to personal and even educational development.

I in fact run a TTRPG at the university library where I work, where I stock the family friendly standards (D&D, FATE), some more PG-13 faire (Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Dream Askew/Dream Apart), and some decidedly hard-R games (Monsterhearts 2). The industry has never been more diverse and caters to a lot of different interests. Hell, BG3, a spectacularly adult-oriented product, has the full seal of D&D approval on it, so we know they aren't shy from those experiences (I've also never watched Acquisitions Inc., but I've read enough Penny Arcade to have a guess as to how family friendly that is, or probably more accurately isn't).

I think the optics of putting out a more adult-oriented supplement is probably something they'd rather avoid (lest it spawn "Think of the children!" 2.0 and claw back a lot of the goodwill the brand has built partnering with schools), but it also wouldn't necessarily be unwelcome, certainly not by me. But the core rules? Yeah, those should be fine to put in schools, which pretty much necessitates being PG.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I think you all are missing out on the positives about this...

Right now we are out in an open field galloping towards the sunrise of a new edition at some point coming in the future... and because the team designing it will be different, this new edition will most likely deviate from what the 15+ years of 5E will ultimately be. Which means all of you now have the opportunity to get your hopes up that Dungeons & Dragons will finally become whatever version of the game is that you love. A version that you and you alone think is the best future of the game, while everyone else thinks your version of the perfect D&D actually sucks.

Enjoy this time while you have it. Enjoy what might be for your D&D game. Because eventually in probably 5-10 years time they will start actually working on a true 6th Edition and you all will learn soon enough that they aren't actually going to make the version of D&D that you want... because again, your version of D&D sucks and nobody likes it. Just like mine sucks! Just like everyone's! LOL!

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Not to de-rail the thread, but that's a similar argument that a segment of Star Wars fans have. I don't really think that plays out. I think D&D's (and Star Wars') strength is that it can present itself to a wide audience right out of the gate.

Sure, have some more "mature" content, but I wouldn't present that as standard D&D by any means. Just my opinion.

Star Wars is a really weird comparison, has it ever done anything at all with a mature rating officially? You may as well give the next My Little Pony or Carebears a mature rating.

Better comparsion would be Starship Troopers, Stargate, or Star Trek. Star wars has always been targeted at being kid friendly.

 

[Scribe]

I think the optics of putting out a more adult-oriented supplement is probably something they'd rather avoid (lest it spawn "Think of the children!" 2.0 and claw back a lot of the goodwill the brand has built partnering with schools), but it also wouldn't necessarily be unwelcome, certainly not by me. But the core rules? Yeah, those should be fine to put in schools, which pretty much necessitates being PG.

Right, one of my later comments addresses this. The core rules are not the issue, but their release track record is one note, one flavour, and no I'm sorry @Reynard FR/Eberron are essentially the same thing, and they did everything in their power to keep Ravenloft 'safe and heroic'.

 

[Amphytrion]

Something is indeed clearly going on. It is possible that Crawford and Perkins were both offered early retirement as part of the company-wide policy Mearls mentioned as being recently instituted. That being said, I don’t think they’d have taken it if the situation as-is was sustainable. Anyone who watches interviews from 6 months ago can see that.

The article linked is not a journalistic piece. It is a corporate press release. I am shocked that there are those here who don’t seem to realize the difference, as this sort of thing is very standard.

As for the future:

I am an enormous fan of Wyatt’s work. I will continue to support him and am excited for anything he designs.

I think Schneider is hit-or-miss, and unfortunately more of the latter.

Regardless of both of them, I think there is trouble within WotC, and I imagine we will hear about it eventually.

 

[Bravesteel25]

Sure, I understand it as well.

Has nothing to do with ability, budget, market forces, or anything of the like however.

Like a said before, budget always plays a role no matter what. Every business decision is made with budget in mind. Does WotC have the capability to budget for such products? Yes. Will they? Most likely not because the ROI is not as high as other products and the introduction of such products present a higher level of risk.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

It worked for Larian. There is no evidence it would work for tabletop D&D and plenty of anecdotal evidence that it would not (given how shy folks are about including sex and romance in their games). People generally prefer their humping entertainment in private or with intimate partners, not their beer buddies.

It worked for Critical Role too.

 

[Bravesteel25]

Star Wars is a really weird comparison, has it ever done anything at all with a mature rating officially? You may as well give the next My Little Pony or Carebears a mature rating.

Better comparsion would be Starship Troopers, Stargate, or Star Trek. Star wars has always been targeted at being kid friendly.

There has been mature Star Wars content in the old EU. These are what a lot of Star Warsa fans arguing for more mature content in modern Star Wars visa TV shows and movies are usually referencing.

 

[Gradine]

That said, I would love a more modular take on 5e. More multiclassing-as-feats, broader selections of subclasses, etc.

 

[Vael]

I had the opportunity to meet Crawford at a panel on queer gaming and he signed my 5e PHB. I'll miss his presence on the team. That said, I refuse to theorize or make predictions right now. We'll see how DnD evolves