D&D 5E D&D Beyond: Lurker in the Deep

[Parmandur]

One thing to not about Zendikar versus Ravnica in particular, is that Zendikar is more old school and monochromatic: Red is Red, Blue is Blue, Black is Black, etc. More full bodied expressions of the Mana wheel in the setting with fewer shades of Grey, and all that entails thematically.

 

[Kurotowa]

Rather than Zendikar, I lean more towards the speculation that these UA subclasses are all planar themed and intended for a Manual of the Planes type book. Just not one by that name, since they don't seem to want to recycle names for 5e past the core three books.

Wild Soul Barbarian = Feywild. Astral Self Monk = Astral Plane. Aberrant Mind Sorcerer = Far Realm. Lurker Warlock = Elemental Plane of Water. Looked at from that perspective it makes a lot of sense, at least to me. I'm just waiting for the next UA offering to either seal the triangulation or point us in a different direction (like Zendikar).

 

[Parmandur]

Rather than Zendikar, I lean more towards the speculation that these UA subclasses are all planar themed and intended for a Manual of the Planes type book. Just not one by that name, since they don't seem to want to recycle names for 5e past the core three books.

Wild Soul Barbarian = Feywild. Astral Self Monk = Astral Plane. Aberrant Mind Sorcerer = Far Realm. Lurker Warlock = Elemental Plane of Water. Looked at from that perspective it makes a lot of sense, at least to me.

Well, a Planescape setting book is not unlikely at some point.

It is not just a seeming desire to not reuse older edition book titles, that's a formal policy since day one for 5W, aside from the core three books.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The thing I've noticed about Ravnica is that no one, in our group of around 100 players, is running a campaign, or even a One Shot, set in Ravnica. That's actually why I eventually decided against buying it - no one was interested in a campaign set there*.

The only thing that seems to have attracted any interest is the Circle of Spores druid. And it's worth noting that D&D Beyond (which is quite popular) allows you to buy that without the rest of the book.

Which leads to another idea - maybe these subclasses are not planned for a print book, but as a digital-only release?





* Eberron is similar. There is only marginally more interest in an Eberron campaign than there is a Ravnica campaign, but players are keen to embrace warforged and artificers.

 

[Parmandur]

The thing I've noticed about Ravnica is that no one, in our group of around 100 players, is running a campaign, or even a One Shot, set in Ravnica. That's actually why I eventually decided against buying it - no one was interested in a campaign set there*.

The only thing that seems to have attracted any interest is the Circle of Spores druid. And it's worth noting that D&D Beyond (which is quite popular) allows you to buy that without the rest of the book.

Which leads to another idea - maybe these subclasses are not planned for a print book, but as a digital-only release?





* Eberron is similar. There is only marginally more interest in an Eberron campaign than there is a Ravnica campaign, but players are keen to embrace warforged and artificers.

Are any of the people in your circles also big into Magic? 100 people is a drop in the ocean of people playing D&D at this time, not even a percent of a percent.

The best measure that I can think of is DMsGuild activity, and there is indeed quite a bit of that, with a number of Electrum, Gold and Platinum selling Ravnica supplements and modules available.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

The thing I've noticed about Ravnica is that no one, in our group of around 100 players, is running a campaign, or even a One Shot, set in Ravnica. That's actually why I eventually decided against buying it - no one was interested in a campaign set there*.

Ravnica is apparently the fastest-selling product on D&D Beyond, and one of the best-selling overall. So your personal experience is not reflective of it's success.

Rather than Zendikar, I lean more towards the speculation that these UA subclasses are all planar themed and intended for a Manual of the Planes type book. Just not one by that name, since they don't seem to want to recycle names for 5e past the core three books.

Wild Soul Barbarian = Feywild. Astral Self Monk = Astral Plane. Aberrant Mind Sorcerer = Far Realm. Lurker Warlock = Elemental Plane of Water. Looked at from that perspective it makes a lot of sense, at least to me. I'm just waiting for the next UA offering to either seal the triangulation or point us in a different direction (like Zendikar).

This is a pretty good guess too. Planescape is of course one of the two remaining most popular D&D settings (the other being Dark Sun, but these subclasses don't fit as well there).

It could also be that they are waiting for the Descent sales to come in before moving fully toward Planescape, as Avernus is part of the planes.

 

[Parmandur]

Ravnica is apparently the fastest-selling product on D&D Beyond, and one of the best-selling overall. So your personal experience is not reflective of it's success.



This is a pretty good guess too. Planescape is of course one of the two remaining most popular D&D settings (the other being Dark Sun, but these subclasses don't fit as well there).

It could also be that they are waiting for the Descent sales to come in before moving fully toward Planescape, as Avernus is part of the planes.

Based on what they have dropped so far, the main big probabilities seem to me to be:

1.) A new Xanathar's Guide book, seems a bit thin to be that so far.

2.) A new Magic setting, Zendikar or Theros probably

3.) A new Classic setting, though only Planescape would kind of fit what we've seen

4.) Total wildcard

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Ravnica is apparently the fastest-selling product on D&D Beyond, and one of the best-selling overall. So your personal experience is not reflective of it's success.

I'm not saying people didn't buy the book. I'm saying people aren't using the setting.

It could also be that they are waiting for the Descent sales to come in before moving fully toward Planescape, as Avernus is part of the planes.

Avernus and MToF are Planescape. All that is really needed now is a description of Sigil itself, and that could be done in an Adventure book, like Waterdeep and Chult were.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm not saying people didn't buy the book. I'm saying people aren't using the setting.

On what basis would you say that, beyond a local anecdote? It seems that plenty of people are actually playing in Ravnica, based on DMsGuild activity and online chatter.

Avernus and MToF are Planescape. All that is really needed now is a description of Sigil itself, and that could be done in an Adventure book, like Waterdeep and Chult were.

Probably not an adventure: a setting book along the lines of Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica and Rising from the Last War seems like that would be ideal:

• Chapter 1. PC generation material: Planar Races, Class stuff, Backgrounds, Faction rules, etc.
• Chapter 2: Big Multiverse Planar Gazeeter, like an expanded versio nof the DMG stuff
• Chapter 3: Sigil Gazeeter
• Chapter 4: Creating Adventures with tables, maps, etc.
• Chapter 5: Magic loot & such
• Chapter 6: Monsters

The format really allows them to use any setting as a genre plug-in module for people who might not even want to go deep into the setting. This format might have paid off their years of thinking about how to do settings without splitting the player base.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

On what basis would you say that, beyond a local anecdote? It seems that plenty of people are actually playing in Ravnica, based on DMsGuild activity and online chatter.

Just anecdotal. But I don't see many mentions of ongoing campaigns set in Ravnica in online chatter. Mystara campaigns seem to get mentioned more often.

Are you playing in a Ravnica campaign?

Chapter 1. PC generation material: Planar Races, Class stuff, Backgrounds, Faction rules, etc.

We have Tieflings, Aasimar and Genasi already.

Chapter 2: Big Multiverse Planar Gazeeter, like an expanded versio nof the DMG stuff.

The DMG does just fine as a broad overview. You either need detailed content of a small location (Avernus, Sigil) or a few paragraphs with special rules, as in the DMG.

Chapter 3: Sigil Gazeeter

Could just as easily go in an adventure.

Chapter 4: Creating Adventures with tables, maps, etc.

You mean like Ghosts of Saltmarsh does for nautical adventures...

Chapter 5: Magic loot & such

Most adventures have a couple of pages of magic items.

Chapter 6: Monsters

MToF is already the planer monster manual.