D&D 5E 2020 Release Speculation Thread

[gyor]

Chris Perkin's summer AP

Welsh's Adventure Anthology

A tradtional D&D Campaign Setting Book at in the final quarter of the year.

Remember Wildemount was done mostly done third party and isn't actually the intellectual property of WotC (hence why it's unavailable for dmsguild authors, neither is the Aquistions Inc book even though it's set in FR) so doesn't count towards slots or 2020 setting maxiums.

So since Wildemount doesn't count functionally we have only gotten one this year by June, Theros, so there is still room for another traditional D&D setting this year.

Now for 2021 I'm expecting, Zendikar Campaign Setting Book in the Spring, another AP, and Player book (with some DM elements), and a traditional setting book.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Stranger things have happened though.

Indeed it has. Their Stranger Things starter set happened last May.

 

[gyor]

Speculation is never late, nor is it early. Speculation arrives exactly when it intends to.....or something like that.

My initial thoughts were they would pull the trigger on either Planescape or Dark Sun this year. The new Psionics UA, as much as I don't like the direction they're going, is closer to being print-worthy. Unless feedback is overwhelmingly negative, that will be coming soon, and Dark Sun along with it.

However, seeing as how we've gotten Wildemount and getting Theros, I really don't see another setting releasing this year. Stranger things have happened though.

I think we're due for that full plane hopping or Spelljamming adventure though. That's where my current money is.

Wildemount doesn't count, ot was done mostly 3rd party, and WotC doesn't own the rights to it. Its half way between official setting and 3rd party setting, so it won't impact another settimg coming later this year. They really need to catch up on the settings.

 

[Burnside]

Based on the overwhelming success of the Wildemount book, they're leaving money on the table if they don't follow up soon with a full-length Wildemount AP. Not sure they're prepared to do it this year though.

 

[gyor]

Based on the overwhelming success of the Wildemount book, they're leaving money on the table if they don't follow up soon with a full-length Wildemount AP. Not sure they're prepared to do it this year though.

They don't even have to use up their own talent pool, just use Matt's team. But yeah it won't be this year, maybe late next year at the earliest if they do it at all.

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

Based on the overwhelming success of the Wildemount book, they're leaving money on the table if they don't follow up soon with a full-length Wildemount AP. Not sure they're prepared to do it this year though.

On the subject of the Wildemount book, I kinda hope they do new setting books with stuff from it. Specifically, the little adventure hooks they put into the regions of the world, just in case you need throw a plot at the players.

 

[vecna00]

Wildemount doesn't count, ot was done mostly 3rd party, and WotC doesn't own the rights to it. Its half way between official setting and 3rd party setting, so it won't impact another settimg coming later this year. They really need to catch up on the settings.

Doesn't it count though? The only thing that was said about it "not counting" was from Mercer when he said "it does not replace another release" (if I'm remembering the quote correctly). It counts as a WotC release, because they are publishing it. If you have an exact source for it "not counting" I would love to see it.

That being said, we don't know exactly how many books they are releasing this year until the year ends. One could probably say that it didn't "count" because they released four other books this year. Or maybe, you know, they just released five books. They are already releasing two setting books this year, and this is after Eberron's release in November of last year. Three setting books in a row. As much as I would absolutely love to see a Dark Sun, Planescape, or Spelljammer release this year, I don't think the chances are very high. And that's with all of the psionics ramp up leading me to believe Dark Sun is a very real possibility this year. I just don't think they will actually do it yet, no matter how much I want it.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Doesn't it count though? The only thing that was said about it "not counting" was from Mercer when he said "it does not replace another release" (if I'm remembering the quote correctly). It counts as a WotC release, because they are publishing it. If you have an exact source for it "not counting" I would love to see it.

That being said, we don't know exactly how many books they are releasing this year until the year ends. One could probably say that it didn't "count" because they released four other books this year. Or maybe, you know, they just released five books. They are already releasing two setting books this year, and this is after Eberron's release in November of last year. Three setting books in a row. As much as I would absolutely love to see a Dark Sun, Planescape, or Spelljammer release this year, I don't think the chances are very high. And that's with all of the psionics ramp up leading me to believe Dark Sun is a very real possibility this year. I just don't think they will actually do it yet, no matter how much I want it.

I think the "3 books a year" thing is mostly meant to say, "We only have the internal resources to produce that much in a year normally, so expect that amount normally."

However, because Mercer wrote most of Wildemount himself (and a couple other non-WotC people) the only internal work done is editing and some art layout. A lot less than the typical book.

So another setting is possible this year, as Theros is the only one internally developed for 2020 so far.

 

[Parmandur]

I think the "3 books a year" thing is mostly meant to say, "We only have the internal resources to produce that much in a year normally, so expect that amount normally."

However, because Mercer wrote most of Wildemount himself (and a couple other non-WotC people) the only internal work done is editing and some art layout. A lot less than the typical book.

So another setting is possible this year, as Theros is the only one internally developed for 2020 so far.

No, it's not a resource issue, WotC has gone into this strategy before: 3-4 books a year is the sweet spot to get the most people comfortable buying every single book that comes out. It seems, based on their statistical infographic going around recently, that 1 big book a fiscal Quarter is their strategy moving forward.

Last year was an oddity due to the business opportunities from third parties for the various new intro boxes, but Perkins has said not to expect that moving forwards.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

No, it's not a resource issue, WotC has gone into this strategy before: 3-4 books a year is the sweet spot to get the most people comfortable buying every single book that comes out. It seems, based on their statistical infographic going around recently, that 1 big book a fiscal Quarter is their strategy moving forward.

Last year was an oddity due to the business opportunities from third parties for the various new intro boxes, but Perkins has said not to expect that moving forwards.

I meant more as a resource vs. quality metric. Meaning yes WotC could print more books, but they also want to maintain a certain level of quality in writing as well (this is why the same few people, Perkins, Crawford, etc. work on everything related to their portfolios).

I'm sure they probably could scale up and maintain most quality, but they don't for your reasoning.