Taylor Navarro Joins Wizards of the Coast as D&D Designer

Ulorian - Agent of Chaos · 2026-02-04T18:57:53+0000

AstroCat said:
it seems to me they are narrowing their appeal and focus, not broadening it.

Sure, it's a focus that doesn't encompass every single sensibility. I think it's a focus that appeals to the most people, which if you are a company trying to maximise market share, is what your goal would be.

AstroCat said:
But I believe in reality that was the goal all along, we'll just have to see if that "support" remains into the upcoming years... will be interesting to watch from afar.

This is an odd statement. Conspiratorial, without explaining what the actual conspiracy is. What's the subtext behind your comment? What goal? Why would you believe that this unexplained goal was there all along? What would be the point of anyone chasing that goal? This statement feels like it's just a weird persecution complex only partially expressed to be honest. Hard to take seriously unless you explain what you're talking about.

Whizbang Dustyboots · 2026-02-04T19:24:07+0000

Artamo said:
Or maybe find other third party publishers who don’t have the budget of Wizards but still put out quality artwork in that style.

We've got to stop pretending that WotC books are more impressive than the RPG books put out by many other companies.

Art and page layout preferences aside, when WotC starts having bound-in ribbon bookmarks; useful tables printed on the inside covers of their books; gilding or painting the edges of pages; embossed, UV spot gloss, debossed or other enhanced covers; then WotC's alleged big budget will mean something.

WotC books are mid-tier presentation at best for a 2026 RPG book.

Artamo · 2026-02-04T20:02:47+0000

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
We've got to stop pretending that WotC books are more impressive than the RPG books put out by many other companies.

Art and page layout preferences aside, when WotC starts having bound-in ribbon bookmarks; useful tables printed on the inside covers of their books; gilding or painting the edges of pages; embossed, UV spot gloss, debossed or other enhanced covers; then WotC's alleged big budget will mean something.

WotC books are mid-tier presentation at best for a 2026 RPG book.

All true but I’m talking mainly about the budgets for artwork itself, which as you point out is going to be very driven by preference anyways, but I’d still say the art direction is still top quality. The material construction and layout of the books themselves are part of the whole, but I do think of that as a separate consideration. But yes, there are tremendous examples of top notch books put out by other companies, by art and design teams that rival Wizards. There are others that make a lot more with a lot less, and really lean into their strengths despite being much smaller companies.

HatWearingFool · 2026-02-04T20:09:35+0000

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
We've got to stop pretending that WotC books are more impressive than the RPG books put out by many other companies.

Art and page layout preferences aside, when WotC starts having bound-in ribbon bookmarks; useful tables printed on the inside covers of their books; gilding or painting the edges of pages; embossed, UV spot gloss, debossed or other enhanced covers; then WotC's alleged big budget will mean something.

WotC books are mid-tier presentation at best for a 2026 RPG book.

I agree that it feels like other companies are doing better at books. However I’m a big fan of WOTC’s work on the Borderlands and Stranger Things box sets’s.

I wonder if they lack of effort on the books is because they want people using beyond instead?

Personally I’d like to see more boxset campaign/adventures and less books.

Artamo · 2026-02-04T20:35:15+0000

HatWearingFool said:
I agree that it feels like other companies are doing better at books. However I’m a big fan of WOTC’s work on the Borderlands and Stranger Things box sets’s.

I wonder if they lack of effort on the books is because they want people using beyond instead?

Personally I’d like to see more boxset campaign/adventures and less books.

I may not like all of the rules in the 2024 Core books, but the artwork in them are seriously good, IMO, and the layout is a definite upgrade over the 2014 books.

Conversely, there are third party books by very well known publishers who really didn’t put in the effort on the artwork side. The games are still good, but considering the money they raised on Kickstarter or Backerkit, there were definitely times I wasn’t impressed with the presentation.

HatWearingFool · 2026-02-04T21:05:59+0000

Artamo said:
I may not like all of the rules in the 2024 Core books, but the artwork in them are seriously good, IMO, and the layout is a definite upgrade over the 2014 books.

Conversely, there are third party books by very well known publishers who really didn’t put in the effort on the artwork side. The games are still good, but considering the money they raised on Kickstarter or Backerkit, there were definitely times I wasn’t impressed with the presentation.

Oh I’m not saying everyone is doing better stuff than WOTC, it’s just that with their budget they should be the gold standard. And I don’t think they are.

As stated above other companies have books with ribbons, better layouts, props that come with the books, cloth maps, better more logical layout.

I do think that 2024 DMG is best dmg by a mile but that’s not saying a lot, and the 2024 phb is laid out more logically (although it has room for improvement still) than previous phb’s but there is definitely stuff WOTC could have lifted from other companies that would have improved things.

Whizbang Dustyboots · 2026-02-04T22:40:41+0000

HatWearingFool said:
I agree that it feels like other companies are doing better at books. However I’m a big fan of WOTC’s work on the Borderlands and Stranger Things box sets’s.

I wonder if they lack of effort on the books is because they want people using beyond instead?

Personally I’d like to see more boxset campaign/adventures and less books.

I am hoping that the 2024 books mark a ramping up in ambition for the physical products. I believe the 2024 core books were the first time something -- just art, not tables, but still -- was printed on the inside covers of WotC books, for instance.

I would be shocked and disappointed if the folks at WotC don't see what other publishers, with thinner margins and less money to work with, are able to achieve.

Marc17 · 2026-02-04T23:00:49+0000

HatWearingFool said:
Oh I’m not saying everyone is doing better stuff than WOTC, it’s just that with their budget they should be the gold standard. And I don’t think they are.

Naw, they're least common denominator for the most people. Bling like ribbons and such are for niche market items that need to sell themselves. WotC spends their money on things that matter to most people like art, hardcovers, and layout.

Whizbang Dustyboots · 2026-02-04T23:13:16+0000

Marc17 said:
WotC spends their money on things that matter to most people like art, hardcovers, and layout.

Zero evidence that they're investing anything special in anything other than arguably art.

Their layout is super mediocre. If they're spending big money on it, they're getting a very bad deal.

Even if one likes the wall of text style presentation they use (as do Kobold Press and Goodman Games, who also could be doing better), they are wasting their inside covers, which tons of other game companies now use for reference tables, maps, indexes and more.

Similarly, the physical presentation of their hardcovers are the minimum standard one should expect, without any of the upgrades that many other publishers have in their books.

MichaelSomething · 2026-02-05T01:39:51+0000

If you're against the current vibe of D&D; there's always Dungeon Crawl Classics!

Taylor Navarro Joins Wizards of the Coast as D&D Designer

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