Henadic Theologian
Legend
And yet complain they did.
D&D 5E Which Classic Settings do you think WotC will publish?
- Thread starter Mercurius
- Start date
And yet complain they did.
Parmandur
Book-Friend
Yup, sure were.
Mind of tempest
(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics
people will complain about things they are absolutely pro so, in the end it does not matter.
Parmandur
Book-Friend
The key point is that mainstream Millenials are not the audience, and CW set appeal is a meme joke.
teitan
Legend
I think the only thing that Wildemount used was the gods from the setting because Wildemount is nothing like Nerath. I love Wildemount. Favorite 5e setting but very much not consuming Nerath. The realms only snagged the Raven Queen and that’s questionable and not canon.
humble minion
Legend
I'm as crusty a DS veteran as you'd care to name, and I'd have zero problems with re-skinning Dragonborn to represent Dray.
Tieflings I have few more issues with. The DS canon has never been a model of consistency when it comes to planar travel etc, but it's basically impossible to see any space for Asmodeus in the setting. Personally if I were doing it I'd offer a suite of variant tieflings with either physical or psionic abilities, as opposed to the magical abilities that standard tieflings get, and then use them to represent the New Races that were twisted by the shadow of the Pristine Tower, or messed with by Rajaat's shadow giants over the years. Much less consistent visually or in terms of powers than PHB tieflings. The New Races have been in DS canon for a loooong time, plus having all these twisted mutants running around fits well with the postapocalyptic DS vibe, and you've even got a reason that tieflings are widely distrusted and/or feared, as they supposedly are in their standard quasi-fiendish iteration. It just seems like a fairly natural fit to me.
Tieflings I have few more issues with. The DS canon has never been a model of consistency when it comes to planar travel etc, but it's basically impossible to see any space for Asmodeus in the setting. Personally if I were doing it I'd offer a suite of variant tieflings with either physical or psionic abilities, as opposed to the magical abilities that standard tieflings get, and then use them to represent the New Races that were twisted by the shadow of the Pristine Tower, or messed with by Rajaat's shadow giants over the years. Much less consistent visually or in terms of powers than PHB tieflings. The New Races have been in DS canon for a loooong time, plus having all these twisted mutants running around fits well with the postapocalyptic DS vibe, and you've even got a reason that tieflings are widely distrusted and/or feared, as they supposedly are in their standard quasi-fiendish iteration. It just seems like a fairly natural fit to me.
Henadic Theologian
Legend
The original Draconomicon was a Forgotten Realms book so I see no reason to bother with council of wyrms.
jmartkdr2
Hero
I've been pondering some more, and I think it depends on what business goals they have for the new books:
A: Sell more books to existing players:
I believe that this goal means new mechanics, not new aesthetics. They'll want to give the players new tys to play with, not just new setting details. This favors the planar settings like Planescape, Spelljammer, and possibly Ghostwalk - but since what those offer can be condensed, I'm not sure any of them get their own book. A big Manual of the Planes book could encompass all three with some extra room for more Fey stuff. I can definitely see this happening, but I'm not sure if it really counts as a setting book.
The only classic setting with traction and a need for new rules is Dark Sun, since it needs psionics. If they want to sell existing players a new setting, DS is a top contender.
B: Bring in new players
I have a feeling this is a bigger moneymaker, so I'm inclined to think this is the strategy. There's two approaches I can see here:
B1: Leverage an existing IP and get those people to play DnD:
This is the point of the MtG settings, after all. I think an argument can be made for Dragonlance here - there's some number of people who read / have read DL who don't currently play DnD, and a shiny new book could get their attention. I have no clue how big a market this is, but it could be a thing. The only other IP Hasbro owns that could be leveraged this way is My Little Pony, but unless G5 is as big a hit as G4 I find this highly unlikely.
B2: Offer new kinds of fantasy, from the perspective of non-players:
Doing this involves new aesthetics more than new mechanics - they want to look for 'styles' (or looks or subgenres) of fantasy that they don't already have on their covers. The biggest gap might well be JRPG-looking fantasy (which is a ton more gonzo and exaggerated), as opposed to the more western style they've been using. However unless they overhaul Kara-Tur to unrecognizability this would involve a new setting, not a classic one. They could go for more 'gritty', but I think the ending of the GoT tv show might have tanked that for a bit. If the new Wheel of Time show revives the idea this could make a comeback. I'm not sure which setting they'd use for this. Dark Sun could be used for a post-apocalyptic and/or swords-and-sandals setting, making it the only setting to be dual-purpose - but these are not ascendant genres, so it's a risk for this goal.
So my revised list is: #1 Dark Sun, #2 some kind of combined planar book, #3 Dragonlance, massively distant #4 Kara-Tur with heavy revisions.
A: Sell more books to existing players:
I believe that this goal means new mechanics, not new aesthetics. They'll want to give the players new tys to play with, not just new setting details. This favors the planar settings like Planescape, Spelljammer, and possibly Ghostwalk - but since what those offer can be condensed, I'm not sure any of them get their own book. A big Manual of the Planes book could encompass all three with some extra room for more Fey stuff. I can definitely see this happening, but I'm not sure if it really counts as a setting book.
The only classic setting with traction and a need for new rules is Dark Sun, since it needs psionics. If they want to sell existing players a new setting, DS is a top contender.
B: Bring in new players
I have a feeling this is a bigger moneymaker, so I'm inclined to think this is the strategy. There's two approaches I can see here:
B1: Leverage an existing IP and get those people to play DnD:
This is the point of the MtG settings, after all. I think an argument can be made for Dragonlance here - there's some number of people who read / have read DL who don't currently play DnD, and a shiny new book could get their attention. I have no clue how big a market this is, but it could be a thing. The only other IP Hasbro owns that could be leveraged this way is My Little Pony, but unless G5 is as big a hit as G4 I find this highly unlikely.
B2: Offer new kinds of fantasy, from the perspective of non-players:
Doing this involves new aesthetics more than new mechanics - they want to look for 'styles' (or looks or subgenres) of fantasy that they don't already have on their covers. The biggest gap might well be JRPG-looking fantasy (which is a ton more gonzo and exaggerated), as opposed to the more western style they've been using. However unless they overhaul Kara-Tur to unrecognizability this would involve a new setting, not a classic one. They could go for more 'gritty', but I think the ending of the GoT tv show might have tanked that for a bit. If the new Wheel of Time show revives the idea this could make a comeback. I'm not sure which setting they'd use for this. Dark Sun could be used for a post-apocalyptic and/or swords-and-sandals setting, making it the only setting to be dual-purpose - but these are not ascendant genres, so it's a risk for this goal.
So my revised list is: #1 Dark Sun, #2 some kind of combined planar book, #3 Dragonlance, massively distant #4 Kara-Tur with heavy revisions.
LuisCarlos17f
Legend
I am sorry but I am afraid I have to say Pelinore has to be in the end of the list. It was not a complete setting, but some cities and near zones. How could it return? I don't know if WotC is the owner of the copyright. It was a British magazine, and the laws about trademarks may be different. It could be added to the DM Guild. Pelinore could be designed to be the D&D version of Games Workshop fantasy. Pelinore can be return as a new setting for Magic: the Gathering and some videogame about ruling a camp/city/castle/stronghold.
The plans for the settings are't only to sell TTRPG sourcebooks but also other different merchandiscing products, as comics, novels, toys, videogames, some serie for streaming media service...
If there are plans about future classes, for example the martial adepts, we have to think how to make fit these in the settings. For example the martial adepts (crusader, warblade and swordsage) and their (ki) martial maneuvers in Kara-Tur. My cocern about Kara-Tur is the Asian nations may suffer predjudices against their neighbours, and something can be enoughly politically correct in a country but offensive in other, for example the flag of the rising sun. My theory is before we would see a new M:tG setting based i far East cultures.
Dragonlance isn't easy to be updated if somebody wants too many changes. For example if there is a new videogame the main characters can be totally customited, for example Tas becomes a girl, Gilnathas a female elf, and Silvara a male silver dragon. It is a videogame and nobody is going to complain too much about the altered canon. (I disadvice totally to show gay elf couples precisely to avoid homophobic comments about elves suffering a demographic crisis because not enough elf children are born).
If Planescape returns, the faction war will be not allowed in Sigil but it will have to continue in the Gametowns. A planar handbook adding elements of Spelljammers may be possible.
Now I wonder about a crossover between Spelljammer and a fantasy mash-up version of M.A.S.K, Rom Spaceknight or Visionaries.
The plans for the settings are't only to sell TTRPG sourcebooks but also other different merchandiscing products, as comics, novels, toys, videogames, some serie for streaming media service...
If there are plans about future classes, for example the martial adepts, we have to think how to make fit these in the settings. For example the martial adepts (crusader, warblade and swordsage) and their (ki) martial maneuvers in Kara-Tur. My cocern about Kara-Tur is the Asian nations may suffer predjudices against their neighbours, and something can be enoughly politically correct in a country but offensive in other, for example the flag of the rising sun. My theory is before we would see a new M:tG setting based i far East cultures.
Dragonlance isn't easy to be updated if somebody wants too many changes. For example if there is a new videogame the main characters can be totally customited, for example Tas becomes a girl, Gilnathas a female elf, and Silvara a male silver dragon. It is a videogame and nobody is going to complain too much about the altered canon. (I disadvice totally to show gay elf couples precisely to avoid homophobic comments about elves suffering a demographic crisis because not enough elf children are born).
If Planescape returns, the faction war will be not allowed in Sigil but it will have to continue in the Gametowns. A planar handbook adding elements of Spelljammers may be possible.
Now I wonder about a crossover between Spelljammer and a fantasy mash-up version of M.A.S.K, Rom Spaceknight or Visionaries.
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