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.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Who does?

Certainly not me. Level Up is a pretty new game, and there are plenty of other new game products I like as well. WotC just hasn't been among them for a while.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

That's part of my problem: I never liked 4e's cosmology for D&D as a whole. Something like would be fine for a specific setting, like how Eberron's cosmology is unique, but not for everything. Imposing this idea on everyone is the problem. I think there's an excellent chance the 2024's new edition will feature the First World in it's DMG, for example, which forces it on the general game.

And that's another thing. I believe the entire reason the First World was invented (again, just a couple years ago) was as a marketing tactic to fuse all of WotC's IP together. Its not about creativity, its about legalities and money.

Maybe. But I don't see making money and creating something interesting as diametrically opposed.

4e also changed cosmology way more than first world did or probably will.

Since I am too lazy to read through all tge old lore, I once in a while like consolidations of sorts for campaign settings. This is a big problem with many canons. At some point everything is so clutted and contradicting itself, that starting anew makes sense from a business perspective.

New people now have a chance to get on board again.

Planescape and spelljammer in some way also connected different campaign settings that were seperate before. So all that is not new, even for D&D.

 

[mamba]

And that's another thing. I believe the entire reason the First World was invented (again, just a couple years ago) was as a marketing tactic to fuse all of WotC's IP together. Its not about creativity, its about legalities and money.

How does it accomplish that beyond what Spelljammer already did?

 

[dave2008]

That's part of my problem: I never liked 4e's cosmology for D&D as a whole. Something like would be fine for a specific setting, like how Eberron's cosmology is unique, but not for everything. Imposing this idea on everyone is the problem. I think there's an excellent chance the 2024's new edition will feature the First World in it's DMG, for example, which forces it on the general game.

I do like the 4e cosmology and I like how I've weaved it into the wheel even better.

And that's another thing. I believe the entire reason the First World was invented (again, just a couple years ago) was as a marketing tactic to fuse all of WotC's IP together. Its not about creativity, its about legalities and money.

I doubt it. I don't see how that is a fruitful marketing tactic. I also think it was creative, in referencing a lot of other sources sort of way. I like the inspiration that great wyrms transcend by connecting to their echoes and that Tiamat and Bahamut are similar too, but different from gods.

 

[dave2008]

The Shadowfell existed as the Demiplane of Shadow since at least 1e, and fey stuff always came from somewhere, so I don't see either of those as disruptive to setting history.

That fact that the shadow plane was a demiplane and is now a transative plan is a huge difference. If you can simply brush that under the rug, I really don't understand why you can't do that with the first world. But I think you have already explained the real issue - you don't like it. And that is OK! I don't like a lot of D&D lore, I can start listing things if you want, but most of it comes from TSR and 3e era WotC.

 

[jerryrice4949]

WotC doesn't really care about lore beyond sweeping marketing statements like the First World, so it's unlikely any setting they make at this point will be satisfying (particularly since they refuse to use their design team to make anything new).

That does appear the case sadly. Hoping they determine the best way to invigorate sales is with a new setting released in a box set but that is probably wishful thinking.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

That does appear the case sadly. Hoping they determine the best way to invigorate sales is with a new setting released in a box set but that is probably wishful thinking.

Nah it’s just Micah’s opinion.

He does not like the way the Lore is going so he says they don’t care.

 

[jerryrice4949]

Nah it’s just Micah’s opinion.

He does not like the way the Lore is going so he says they don’t care.

I don’t know if Micah and I agree on 5E in general but I do think 5E has been bare of much lore.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Nah it’s just Micah’s opinion.

He does not like the way the Lore is going so he says they don’t care.

No, they said they don't care, but announcing officially that decades of previous lore no longer means anything.

 

[SkidAce]

That's part of my problem: I never liked 4e's cosmology for D&D as a whole. Something like would be fine for a specific setting, like how Eberron's cosmology is unique, but not for everything. Imposing this idea on everyone is the problem.

I feel this way about the Great Wheel.