D&D 5E 6 months without a UA

[Burnside]

I think it's just because the next couple of products didn't need public polls: Monsters of the Multiverse and the Critical Role book.

If you look back at the latest couple of years, UA always contained material which would be published just a few months later, so it was perhaps mostly decided but they were still evaluating whether to cut or adjust some of it. We got many UA about stuff ending up in Tasha, then Fizban, Van Richten's, Witchlight, Strixhaven...

But perhaps MotM technical changes were completely decided internally, and the general trends on aligment and races were talked about on other media. Critical Role material is maybe non-negotiable by the community at large.

The Critical Role book is also an adventure and probably doesn't include a lot of new mechanics or abilities that would be UAed.

I think that after Monsters of the Multiverse, the rest of the material for 2022 is likely adventure books and setting books, not a lot of new mechanical crunch.

 

[Oofta]

The Critical Role book is also an adventure and probably doesn't include a lot of new mechanics or abilities that would be UAed.

Also not a WOTC developed product, although I'm sure they had a lot of discussions about it.

I think that after Monsters of the Multiverse, the rest of the material for 2022 is likely adventure books and setting books, not a lot of new mechanical crunch.

Yeah, I don't expect much until after the dust has settled from the anniversary edition.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Another possibility is that more often than not the UAs are written for opinions on their stylistic intention and desirability-- how much do we like the ideas they are presenting to us as possible additions-- not so much on their mechanical implementation. They know what their mechanical frameworks are, and they have their own private alpha tester groups to really hammer away at and tighten up the mechanics they eventually go with. They never have used us in the public playtests to "check their math" as it were (and in fact have said several times over the years that they purposefully don't want us to bother worrying about game balance in these UAs because when we get them they aren't even thinking about balance yet.)

So with the last several months having been preparations for re-writing the monster statblock formats with little "new creative ideas" being added... they probably haven't needed us to give our opinions via UA. Instead, they've put out the surveys instead, which were for us to give our feelings on projects that are much further on down the pipeline. But we'll probably start seeing UAs about those things later on in 2022 and into 2023 as the revisions really start taking shape.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Arcana has to be earthed before it can be unearthed. And it's not going to do either by itself.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

Hasn’t every single setting book released so far have some sort of player option material in it, several of which were showcased in UA first? From the Sword Coast Guide to Eberron to the M:tG worlds of Ravinica and Theros. I don’t see why it would be strange to expect more UA for the setting books, both the ones revised from previous editions and the brand new settingthey mentioned working on.

Heck, isn’t the last UA, Travelers of the Multiverse, basically stated to be proof that Spelljammer is coming?

Maybe we won’t get much more UA until 2024, but I also don’t think it’s stretch to believe we will get more either.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The Critical Role book is also an adventure and probably doesn't include a lot of new mechanics or abilities that would be UAed.

I think that after Monsters of the Multiverse, the rest of the material for 2022 is likely adventure books and setting books, not a lot of new mechanical crunch.

Of course without some mechanical crunch, there's no benefit to WotC to publish setting books.

 

[overgeeked]

I'm guessing they may be working on the updated 5e to be released in 2024.
There is a lot of creative content with Level Up and the DMs Guild. Is Wizards allowed to poach ideas?

It’s written into the contract for the DM’s Guild that they can simply take whatever they want that’s published there without consent or compensation. There might be language about giving a writing credit in whatever book tgey print it in, but I don’t remember. And, of course, anything OGC is also fair game with a credit.

 

[darjr]

It’s written into the contract for the DM’s Guild that they can simply take whatever they want that’s published there without consent or compensation. There might be language about given a writing credit in whatever book tgey print it in, but I don’t remember.

I believe they made a special exemption for art and cartography.

 

[overgeeked]

I believe they made a special exemption for art and cartography.

I’ll assume you know better than me. I haven’t looked at the terms since it started.

 

[darjr]

I’ll assume you know better than me. I haven’t looked at the terms since it started.

Here is the post of in ENWorld

D&D 5E - DMSGuild art only and cartography products licensing?

I know that currently WotC is working on a better license when it comes to the art in products put up for sale on the DMSGuild. Does this talk include the selling of art only products? Or cartography? If a cartographer want's to make maps of the places, city's, countries and continents, and...

www.enworld.org