D&D 5E (2024) So What Is Winter's Mysterious D&D "Season of Champions"?

As reported today, WotC has announced three 'seasons' for 2026's Dungeons & Dragons releases. These are the seasons of Horror, Magic, and Champions, respectively.

Summer's Season of Horror is focused on a Ravenloft sourcebook and accessories. Autumn's Season of Magic is a sourcebook called Arcana Unleashed, and an accompanying adventure.

And in Winter 2026 there is a mysterious "Season of Champions"--but we don't yet know what that is.

The two most popular guesses are the long-predicted Dark Sun content, or a martial-themed sourcebook to follow Arcana Unleashed.

What's your guess for Season of Champions, running from October 2026 through December?

 

[Superchunk77]

It won't be Dark Sun. It's going to be some kind of fighter or paladin themed books. Besides, it's a fall/winter release. You can't release Dark Sun in the winter. If they were going to release it (which I still doubt) you'd be daft not to schedule it for the summer.

 

[Morrus]

It won't be Dark Sun. It's going to be some kind of fighter or paladin themed books. Besides, it's a fall/winter release. You can't release Dark Sun in the winter. If they were going to release it (which I still doubt) you'd be daft not to schedule it for the summer.

Eh. Weather is different in places which aren’t your house. I don’t think people care about that. Ravenloft isn’t coming out for Halloween, after all.

 

[Lalato]

Season of Champions makes me think of epic play, 15th to 20th level. So I'm putting forth that it's a book with options for running a good high level game.

 

[Parmandur]

Dark Sun seems likely.

 

[Charlaquin]

I expect Season of Champions to be martial themed to parallel the caster themed Season of Magic, and for next year to start with a Season of the Mind or something along those lines for psionics, and that will be where we get our Dark Sun book.

 

[sevenbastard]

I hope its Martial themed. I love me some low magic and would love to see more subclasses that dont really on spells.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Champions of Dark Sun/Adventures in Dark Sun.

But they're playing it coy in case there are production issues, in which case they bring in something planned for Q1 2027.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm waiting for the inevitable punkpunk RPG genre.

Punk Is Dead by Critical Kit

Scooby Doo with Mosh Pits

criticalkit.itch.io

It's apparently quite good and has gotten an expansion in the past 12 months.

 

[slobster]

Season of Champions makes me think of epic play, 15th to 20th level. So I'm putting forth that it's a book with options for running a good high level game.

I'll second this and guess that it's rules for epic level play. A 5.5 epic level handbook, along with an adventure that has you hobnobbing with gods in Faerun and beyond and preventing another interplanar apocalypse.

 

[TwoSix]

It won't be Dark Sun. It's going to be some kind of fighter or paladin themed books. Besides, it's a fall/winter release. You can't release Dark Sun in the winter. If they were going to release it (which I still doubt) you'd be daft not to schedule it for the summer.

Isn't D&D about fantasy escapism? If the weather actually influenced my gaming purchases, I'd be way more interested in a book about a hot desert in the depths of winter.