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.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The development of the WotC product line indicates that they don't see money in dense, lore heavy releases. I doubt the designers are "lazy" or "frightened", so absent hard data the moat likely conclusion is that they are designing products aimed at the kind of lore and quantity of lore that customers want.

Do you doubt that the company behind the design team isn't lazy or frightened for any particular reason?

 

[Parmandur]

Do you doubt that the company behind the design team isn't lazy or frightened for any particular reason?

Yes, I find both improbable and nonsensical on the face of it. They are constantly producing content, and laziness is itself a lazy charge most of the time. What can they be afraid of, and what evidence us there that anyone is afraid?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes, I find both improbable and nonsensical on the face of it. They are constantly producing content, and laziness is itself a lazy charge most of the time. What can they be afraid of, and what evidence us there that anyone is afraid?

WotC content for the last few years has been, IMO, bland and overly safe on every level (regarding the stuff I've actually read myself of course). That is a result of laziness as the market leader, fear of social media, or both.

 

[Parmandur]

WotC content for the last few years has been, IMO, bland and overly safe on every level (regarding the stuff I've actually read myself of course). That is a result of laziness as the market leader, fear of social media, or both.

You personally haven't enjoyed what you have read, which fair enough. Where is the evidence that is based in anyone being "lazy" or "afraid" of something, rather than merely producing something that you don't happen to like? What would they be afraid of? Given the size of the design team, the number of products and their size would indicate plenty of industriousness, even if it is not catering to your personal taste.

 

[Micah Sweet]

You personally haven't enjoyed what you have read, which fair enough. Where is the evidence that is based in anyone being "lazy" or "afraid" of something, rather than merely producing something that you don't happen to like? What would they be afraid of? Given the size of the design team, the number of products and their size would indicate plenty of industriousness, even if it is not catering to your personal taste.

Are you saying that the audience of 5e has shifted to wanting bland and safe, and that's why they do what they do?

Maybe you're right. In which case, I should probably do my best to scrap off WotC entirely.

 

[Parmandur]

Are you saying that the audience of 5e has shifted to wanting bland and safe, and that's why they do what they do?

Maybe you're right. In which case, I should probably do my best to scrap off WotC entirely.

Do keep in mind that the target audience for D&D is 12-24. What you find "bland and safe" (two highly subjective terms) may hit differently for a middle schooler.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Do keep in mind that the target audience for D&D is 12-24. What you find "bland and safe" (two highly subjective terms) may hit differently for a middle schooler.

I expect that's true, although I have more faith in the ability of middle schoolers to handle stuff than corporate America. What I have little interest in, however, is a game designed to cater to corporate conceptions of middle schoolers to the detriment of more mature gamers.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

What do you mean? Only a small.minority want lore? What evidence fo you have of that?

Same evidence you do that people want more probably

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Apparently, I'm the only one who has a problem with the First World, so that doesn't seem to hold up.

No there are more people who don’t like it, but they don’t also see it as some great WotC sin and destroying other settings, apparently, like you do

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

In which case, I should probably do my best to scrap off WotC entirely.

I thought you already had?! And yes, that is the best course of action for you probably.