WotC D&D Direct--Learn About Upcoming D&D On April 21st!

D&D Direct is a 30-minute video which WotC will be releasing on April 21st at 9am Pacific Time (5pm BST, if I have my time zones correct). They'll be using it to reveal stuff about upcoming D&D projects (including video games and entertainment). The video will be presented by Anna Prosser and B. Dave Walters.

This is being billed in an emailed announcement entitled "Learn Everything That’s Happening This Year for Dungeons & Dragons" as the "first ever D&D Direct", so presumably there are more planned.

​

The D&D Team at Wizards of the Coast is excited to debut D&D Direct, a jam-packed thirty-minute video presentation on April 21 at 9:00 AM Pacific Time.

Tune in to see exclusive reveals from the world's greatest roleplaying game, including video games, entertainment, and more, guided by hosts Anna Prosser and B. Dave Walters.

D&D Direct will be broadcast on the D&D YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/DNDWizards) and Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/dnd) channels.

To find out more on D&D Direct go to dnd.wizards.com and follow the official D&D social media accounts for more updates.

See you on April 21 at 9:00 AM PT for the first-ever D&D Direct!

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I mean - Ravenloft has a pretty rich and detailed history when you look at the total lifetime of D&D, and everything other than Barovia was left on the cutting room floor for the first eight years of 5e. It's easy for us grognards to look at the grand history of a setting - especially one we're personally invested in - and assume, "oh, they have to include everything", but we'll see what they do.

Curse of Strahd was released in a very different era of 5e, before even Eberron.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Curse of Strahd was released in a very different era of 5e, before even Eberron.

Yeah, 5e now as far as design philosophy is concerned is a far cry from 5e even 4 years ago, let alone 8. That's why I suspect the 2024 "update" will be far more sweeping than some people expect.

 

[teitan]

They will at minimum need to covet Realmspace, Krynnspace, Greyspace and Clusterspace and will definitely want to cover more crystal Spheres then that, where will they get the space for more then an intro adventure?

I mean the whole point of publishing a Spelljammer Campaign Book, in part, is to connect all the different Prime Material Campaign settings and that will take space to do so.

That's easy to cover in a few pages. First is do they even go the Crystal Spheres route or do they ignore it to go with more "Treasure Planet" kind of scenario and connect the multiverse together do they make the Phlogiston just a part of the Ethereal plane for travelling to other prime worlds? Secondly, do they NEED to explain those spheres or just provide guidelines for them? There isn't a lot in 5e on Greyhawk, heck, there hasn't really been a lot on Greyhawk since 2e so you're looking at needing a whole setting being explained. Scratch out Greyhawk and make it an appendix in the Greyhawk 50th book. Krynn is coming, blam, appendix in that book. That leaves Clusterspace and Realmspace. Just a few pages as EXAMPLES of how to make Crystal Sphere or new Prime worlds for players to explore with rules on how to put them together fast and easy. They've already established there isn't a NEED to do anything that existed before with the new Ravenloft setting. They changed up a lot, usually for the better, and while still recognizable it's not 2e era Ravenloft by any stretch of the imagination. 5e has been more about the individual DM's campaign than WOTC's own outside of the seasonal stories they used to push with the adventures.

 

[teitan]

I fully expect it to be a setting book myself with a couple adventures in it but not an adventure book. It will have an introductory adventure to bring Spelljammer into any campaign and it will be scalable unless they lean into the Minc & Boo angle.

I also could see it being a large adventure book with a 120 page level 5-1? adventure in it with a LOT of setting material. Probably 5-12 or 15th level. It won't be the size of a typical adventure path but they can do the full setting in about 136 or so pages with the rest being the adventure very handily.

 

[Parmandur]

That's easy to cover in a few pages. First is do they even go the Crystal Spheres route or do they ignore it to go with more "Treasure Planet" kind of scenario and connect the multiverse together do they make the Phlogiston just a part of the Ethereal plane for travelling to other prime worlds? Secondly, do they NEED to explain those spheres or just provide guidelines for them? There isn't a lot in 5e on Greyhawk, heck, there hasn't really been a lot on Greyhawk since 2e so you're looking at needing a whole setting being explained. Scratch out Greyhawk and make it an appendix in the Greyhawk 50th book. Krynn is coming, blam, appendix in that book. That leaves Clusterspace and Realmspace. Just a few pages as EXAMPLES of how to make Crystal Sphere or new Prime worlds for players to explore with rules on how to put them together fast and easy. They've already established there isn't a NEED to do anything that existed before with the new Ravenloft setting. They changed up a lot, usually for the better, and while still recognizable it's not 2e era Ravenloft by any stretch of the imagination. 5e has been more about the individual DM's campaign than WOTC's own outside of the seasonal stories they used to push with the adventures.

I do expect we will see the Crystal Spheres and all that weirdness, and places to go: perhaps new places. The Domains of 5E Ravenloft seem like a good example for the amount of information needed. But we will see soon.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Chapter 3 on VRGtR is 123 pages. While it gives a pretty brief overview of any given Domain, it covers quite a few and I would e pect to see something similar for Spelljammer.

While your online is doable, I expect more a book like VRGtR, with genre suggestions and a number of places to actually go with Adventure hooks and seeds.

Now, q .easier Adventure is possible: Van Richten's already had a 20 page haunted house module. If it is a 320 page book, there could be Van Richten's level of Setting material and a fairly robust Advnture alongside DMG Chapter 5 booster Adventure Generation material as seen in Ravnica/Eberron/Theros/Ravenloft.

For some reason, I believe that this book will be PRIMARILY an adventure, as much as that may annoy people. The biggest marketing push is always for the summer adventure, and it's already looking like this Spelljammer book is getting the big summer push.

I get a lot of folks are saying "It needs to have these spheres." I'm doubtful it's going to cover ANY of them except Realmspace in detail. I'm thinknig the format is going to be a lot more like Curse of Strahd, Descent into Avernus, and Wild Beyond the Witchlight... new setting, but detailed within the context of the adventure itself.

And before you say "We need ship rules," Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Descent into Avernus released accompanying vehicle rules with adventure books.

 

[Parmandur]

For some reason, I believe that this book will be PRIMARILY an adventure, as much as that may annoy people. The biggest marketing push is always for the summer adventure, and it's already looking like this Spelljammer book is getting the big summer push.

I get a lot of folks are saying "It needs to have these spheres." I'm doubtful it's going to cover ANY of them except Realmspace in detail. I'm thinknig the format is going to be a lot more like Curse of Strahd, Descent into Avernus, and Wild Beyond the Witchlight... new setting, but detailed within the context of the adventure itself.

And before you say "We need ship rules," Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Descent into Avernus released accompanying vehicle rules with adventure books.

We'll see: if it's a 320 page book, it could be both.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

For some reason, I believe that this book will be PRIMARILY an adventure, as much as that may annoy people. The biggest marketing push is always for the summer adventure, and it's already looking like this Spelljammer book is getting the big summer push.

I get a lot of folks are saying "It needs to have these spheres." I'm doubtful it's going to cover ANY of them except Realmspace in detail. I'm thinknig the format is going to be a lot more like Curse of Strahd, Descent into Avernus, and Wild Beyond the Witchlight... new setting, but detailed within the context of the adventure itself.

And before you say "We need ship rules," Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Descent into Avernus released accompanying vehicle rules with adventure books.

Curse of Strahd, Witchlight, and Descent into Avernus are NOT considered Setting books?

How do I know? Because AL has no seperate campaign for them outside of FR regular campaign, because when Ray referred to the original 3 new classic settings, he did not refer to Ravenloft as a return despite CoS being out, which he indicates he meant PROPER setting books by classic settings, not simply an adventure set in Spelljammer.

And there is still months of time before and after September left, no way they wait to release Spelljammer till September. I'm think June or July for Spelljammer, and November for DL.

 

[teitan]

Yes but Strixhaven IS considered a new setting and an adventure. It is a "new format" to present a setting.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Yes but Strixhaven IS considered a new setting and an adventure. It is a "new format" to present a setting.

It's not new anymore.

And Strixhaven is an MtG setting.

But your mention of a New Format reminds me that in someway it could be very different, like say a Box set with Setting Book/Player Options, Beastiary/Spelljammer book, and an adventure book.