Planescape 5 New D&D Books Coming in 2023 -- Including Planescape!

At today's Wizards Presents event, hosts Jimmy Wong, Ginny Di, and Sydnee Goodman announced the 2023 line-up of D&D books, which featured something old, something new, and an expansion of a fan favorite.

The first of the five books, Keys from the Golden Vault, will arrive in winter 2023. At Tuesday's press preview, Chris Perkins, Game Design Architect for D&D, described it as “Ocean’s Eleven meets D&D” and an anthology of short adventures revolving around heists, which can be dropped into existing campaigns.

In Spring 2023, giants get a sourcebook just like their traditional rivals, the dragons, did in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants will be a deep dive into hill, frost, fire, cloud, and storm giants, plus much more.

Summer 2023 will have two releases. The Book of Many Things is a collection of creatures, locations, and other player-facing goodies related to that most famous D&D magic item, the Deck of Many Things. Then “Phandelver Campaign” will expand the popular Lost Mine of Phandelver from the D&D Starter Set into a full campaign tinged with cosmic horror.

And then last, but certainly not least, in Fall 2023, WotC revives another classic D&D setting – Planescape. Just like Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, Planescape will be presented as a three-book set containing a setting guide, bestiary, and adventure campaign in a slipcase. Despite the Spelljammer comparison they did not confirm whether it would also contain a DM screen.

More information on these five titles will be released when we get closer to them in date.

 

[plisnithus8]

I with those saying a book on giants has me at very low expectations. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yea, I can't think of a 5e offering I've been less interested in.

I found Fizban's, which I purchased on D&D Beyond, to be really underwhelming and a pale shadow of the 3E Draconomicon, one of the best D&D books of all time.

But the UA material for Bigby's was largely stuff I could see using immediately, either with a goliath or a roll-your-own-ancestry character using Tasha's rules to make a half-ogre. Even if I don't buy the book itself, I'm likely to purchase all the player-facing stuff for my group via D&D Beyond.

 

[pukunui]

I found Fizban's, which I purchased on D&D Beyond, to be really underwhelming and a pale shadow of the 3E Draconomicon, one of the best D&D books of all time.

But the UA material for Bigby's was largely stuff I could see using immediately, either with a goliath or a roll-your-own-ancestry character using Tasha's rules to make a half-ogre. Even if I don't buy the book itself, I'm likely to purchase all the player-facing stuff for my group via D&D Beyond.

While I agree that Fizban’s is no 3.5e Draconomicon, we have to accept that we’re never going to get anything that lavishly detailed for 5e (or 5e revised). I enjoyed Fizban’s for what it is and have already made use of some of its contents.

I am also interested in the giants book. If it’s an expanded take on what’s in Volo’s, I’ll be happy enough with that.

I wouldn’t mind them doing an updated Lords of Madness-style book on aberrations with expanded versions of Volo’s beholder and mind flayer entries.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I am quite interested in the giant book. Looking forward to what comes of it.

Me too.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I am quite interested in the giant book. Looking forward to what comes of it.

Same here. I've long maintained we need more giant variants in 5e; I even created and posted a good number of them on this site.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Amusingly though, that '57 Chevy, has a soul. Hybrid/Electic cars? A whole lot less so.

I suspect you’re just being funny , but Do you own an electric car? I do, and it has more soul than any car I’ve owned previously. Damn it is fun to drive.

 

[Von Ether]

I only have an interest in two of the books, Phandelver and Planescape, and that's all right.

The market is big enough that not everything has to be, or should be, about my tastes - or my wallet.

 

[Zaukrie]

I found Fizban's, which I purchased on D&D Beyond, to be really underwhelming and a pale shadow of the 3E Draconomicon, one of the best D&D books of all time.

But the UA material for Bigby's was largely stuff I could see using immediately, either with a goliath or a roll-your-own-ancestry character using Tasha's rules to make a half-ogre. Even if I don't buy the book itself, I'm likely to purchase all the player-facing stuff for my group via D&D Beyond.

I'm conflicted on fizbans..... On the one hand, it's not as cool as the older books. On the other, it is more useful at the table. It didn't do enough for me to love it, which is why I published a PDF adding actions every dragon could have. The bill should have given us dozens of ways to make dragons more versatile, but no really different options from what already existed were added. The monster design is just so bland. I doubt the giant book will be any better, alas.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm conflicted on fizbans..... On the one hand, it's not as cool as the older books. On the other, it is more useful at the table. It didn't do enough for me to love it, which is why I published a PDF adding actions every dragon could have. The bill should have given us dozens of ways to make dragons more versatile, but no really different options from what already existed were added. The monster design is just so bland. I doubt the giant book will be any better, alas.

A cool book that's fun to read is more valuable to me than one focused on table play.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

A cool book that's fun to read is more valuable to me than one focused on table play.

Oh, man, I am the exact opposite at this point. There's a name for books that aren't focused on table play: every other book in the world.

Game books should have utility. Supplemental, stat-free books can be published as separate volumes.

That said, some books stick the landing and do both, like the 3E Draconomicon or Lords of Madness.

But most books have to pick a side and if it's sold as a book for a DM to use in games, it should have maximum game utility.