Spelljammer D&D Direct Live Report: 9am PDT (5pm BST) SPELLJAMMER CONFIRMED! DRAGONLANCE!

D&D Direct, WotC's new video-format announcement show launches today at 9am PDT (5pm BST). If you aren't able to watch it, I'll be updating this article live. Feel free to comment below! Once it launches, you will need to refresh this page when you want to see new updates. The video is expected to last about 30 minutes.

If you CAN watch it, you'll find it on YouTube or Twitch at the above times. Otherwise, follow along below!

• 45 mins to go. Live updates incoming!
• 30 mins to go!
• 5 minutes to go!
• Here we go! Opens with a sea shanty.
• Forgive typos. They talk fast and I can't type.

• Spelljammer is confirmed!
• They talk REALLY FAST!
• Spelljammer Adventures in Space, project lead Chris Perkins, Trystan Falcone graphic designer
• Cities built on asteroids, dead gods floating in the ether
• 6 races---astral elves, autognomes, hedozi(?), gif, plasmoids, thri-kreen
• 3 hardcovers in a slipcase: Astral Adventurers Guide, Boo's Astral Menagerie, Light of Xaryxis adventure
• Prequel adventure in July
• Wizkids miniatures

Other stuff also discussed!

• Baldur's Gate 3 CRPG preview video (game is in 2023)
• Journeys Through Radiant Citadel intro video -- 3 of the adventures are: Wages of Vice (5th level), Caribbean; Orchids of the Invisible Mountain (14th level), feywild, far realm, Whistler new monster; Fiend of Hollow Mind (4th level), skeletons and spirits

• "Campaign Cases" -- Creature tokens! Terrain tiles! July!

D&D Movie directors now onscreen. The movie in March 2023 is called HONOR AMONG THIEVES.

• New D&D starter set. Comes with 'digital onboarding'. Dragons of Stormwreck Isle. We knew about that one.
• D&D digital monstrous compendium. Available to those with WoTC or D&D Beyond Accounts. Volume 1 has an eldritch lich and the 10 legged asteroid spider. And the starlancer. Might have misheard some of that!

• MMO Neverwinter video. Dragonslayer begins June 2022. (I wonder if they'll need a dragonance for that?)
• New D&D actual play video, Legends of the Multiverse. Lots of 80s cartoon style soft rock music. Boo is in it.

WIzKids skirmish game D&D Onslaught. October

Finally -- DRAGONLANCE WARRIORS OF KRYNN! SHADOW OF THE DRAGON QUEEN!

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Failing to commission DiTerlizzi art for a new Planescape book, but employing him to do FR MtG stuff would be a great demonstration that current WotC management:

A) Don't give a single solitary... shake of a lamb's tail... about D&D art, which is something I've repeatedly asserted.

and

B) Particularly don't understand or care about Planescape, and would indicate that if they did do a 5E Planescape, it was purely a cash-grab.

So let's hope they're either not doing Planescape, or DiTerlizzi has also been employed for that, because otherwise we can probably expect a very very very very bad take on Planescape. Probably a variant on the Monte Cooke take on Planescape which is "Sigil is reduced to being basically a small city in the Midwest in terms of personality and function".

Ok... Firstly, DiTerlizzi is not known solely for his Planescape art. It was his first big project, but DiTerlizzi has created many pieces for Magic the Gathering. It absolutely made sense to bring onboard Tony for a D&D MTG set, as he has made some of the best art for both projects.

Secondly, the D&D Team has repeatedly stated they find artwork one of the key appeals and draws for 5E. It's something they know from internal survey data, and the technical quality of their art is superior to that of previous editions, and overall less reliant on specific artists and style (4E's reliance on Wayne Reynolds for example).

I understand you're not a fan of that strategy, or of 5E's art style, but it doesn't mean the D&D Team doesn't care about art. They probably underpay, but that's a different conversation, and D&D certainly leverages their brand to get high-quality pieces for below the rate they would probably deserve.

WotC's "management" (a vague term if there ever was one) probably doesn't care about art, but they're also not responsible for it? I've listened to many an interview from the D&D art team, including Kate Irwin and Emi Tanji, and they care and are responsible for art. Even the non-artist team like Perkins have spoken on how important art direction is, and name artists like DiTerlizzi for driving the look and feel of settings.

Lastly, if 5E does get around Planescape, it's highly unlikely they won't commission DiTerlizzi for at least one piece (he's the prime candidate for a variant cover). The MTG example shows that the WotC art team actually is very aware of his history and is happy to leverage his personal brand. That said, there is no way he will be the sole artist, because DiTerlizzi himself has said that working on Planescape was a constant slog (and he was way underpaid then) and that he'll never take a job like that again. So even if he was offered to do all the art for 5E Planescape (and he wouldn't be), he wouldn't take that job.

 

[Seramus]

did she by chance offer her own fix to the whole "don't make a racists thing were an entire race is thieves"? I would love to see an alternate fix. Especially since some of my best friends would love to play kenders, but we can't find a way yet that doesn't make them disruptive and problmatic without also taking the traits they want to play....

The easiest option (to me) is let every kender give their own reason for where the items come from. Some steal, others buy random knick-knacks whenever they are at a merchant, one group actually does magically summon them, while another are just extremely prudent planners. You can do one of those little roll charts like Ideal/Bond/Etc to make it easier for new players, too.

Also get rid of the glow.

 

[see]

I meant more stuff like the fact that they needed stars to exist, but also wanted Crystal Spheres to exist,

No, the decisions weren't driven by a desire to have crystal spheres. The key problem was that they wanted to have Spelljammer connect to Dragonlance, and Dragonlance had already established that its constellations changed to track its gods (back in the alternate timeline in Legends where Raistlin overthrew them). So, in order to avoid invalidating Dragonlance canon, and to avoid having events in Dragonlance upset the entire cosmos, they had to come up with an explanation for stars other than being distant suns. Crystal spheres with the stars being things on the inside of the shell were then the solution to that problem, allowing them to confine the events of Dragonlance novels to Krynnspace.

 

[Parmandur]

They probably underpay, but that's a different conversation

My understanding on that front is that WotC pays very well, and gives the artists rights to sell prints and such, which is why they attract so many quality artists.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

My understanding on that front is that WotC pays very well, and gives the artists rights to sell prints and such, which is why they attract so many quality artists.

Interesting! I'm not too informed on how well the D&D artists are paid, though I know that the MTG artists are paid very well. They are also handled by separate teams for the most part, but MTG also takes art extremely seriously.

Now, if there's one artist I want to design their own D&D setting, it's Dave Repaza. His MTG art (and any piece he's made, honestly) is incredible.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Last thing on DiTerlizzi... his style has actually changed a ton from his old Planescape days. You can see the differences when he worked on sketching some Planescape stuff recently (for fun, not as any project afaik). You can see the old skeleton of his style, but its certainly changed. I actually think his newer style actually fits 5E a little more, at least for isolated pieces. Much like how some pieces in Wildemount (which does have looser artists restrictions due to CR pushing for prolific fan artists) push 5E's style.

The style is actually evolved to be very Dr. Seuss-ian, which oddly fits Planescape quite well IMO.

 

[darjr]

He’s working on something. He could say about his magic work cause I think it was essentially public then.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

He’s working on something. He could say about his magic work cause I think it was essentially public then.

It will take me forever to find the tweet because searching on Twitter is awful, but I think DiTerlizzi did clarify he wasn't working on anything and was just doing it for fun. Still could have said that to throw people off the scent, but NDAs are a serious thing.

 

[nyvinter]

View attachment 156101View attachment 156102View attachment 156103

I love these, but I can't see WotC going for this style due to it being too cartoony. Sadly. It firts more in some of the Magic sets than the DnD 5e style. (Wildemount got away with it due to not being a real WotC in charge book.)


This style of his could but then it's a real painting and would take a lot more time to do.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

No, the decisions weren't driven by a desire to have crystal spheres. The key problem was that they wanted to have Spelljammer connect to Dragonlance, and Dragonlance had already established that its constellations changed to track its gods (back in the alternate timeline in Legends where Raistlin overthrew them). So, in order to avoid invalidating Dragonlance canon, and to avoid having events in Dragonlance upset the entire cosmos, they had to come up with an explanation for stars other than being distant suns. Crystal spheres with the stars being things on the inside of the shell were then the solution to that problem, allowing them to confine the events of Dragonlance novels to Krynnspace.

Okay. So I got the specifics wrong. They still invented the idea of stars being portals to a random plane of existence to write themselves out of a corner.