D&D 5E D&D Direct: WotC's 2023 Announcement Showcase Livestream

D&D Direct, the half-hour livestreamed event where WotC will reveal its new Virtual Tabletop (VTT), talk about the future of D&D, and celebrate the new D&D movie, starts at 9am PT (5pm UK time)! Watch it below!

D&D Direct 2023 is a digital showcase that will feature announcements from all corners of the D&D fandom. Get a first look at the D&D virtual tabletop, tie-ins for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, exciting partnerships, and even hear about what to expect in future books. Deep dives for tabletop products will come later this year.

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Highlights/Contents

• D&D Minecraft is coming soon. You can download a Minecraft Monstrous Compendium at Minecraft.net.​
• Honor Among Thieves movie trailer.​
• Song cartoon about teaching your friends D&D.​
• Hasbro's 'March Monster Madness' D&D movie toys.​
• Magic: the Gathering cards featuring D&D movie characters.​
• Lolth's Warrior, R.A. Salvatore's new book in The Way of the Drow trilogy.​
• Trailer for Neverwinter video game Menzoberranzan.​
• D&D Digital Playspace--the upcoming new Virtual Tabletop playtest coming in late 2023.​
• Newsroom skit about a lifesized mimic and a baby owlbear escaping WizKids.​
• Joe Manganiello updates about his D&D documentary.​
• Chris Perkins & Jeremy Crawford on the D&D multiverse, Keys from the Golden Vault, Bigby Presents Glory of the Giants, Phandelver & Below: The Shattered Obelisk, Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse, Deck of Many Things, and hints about Vecna coming in 2024 in a worldhopping adventure, a Red Wizard story in 2025, and D&D cartoon villain Venger will return in an adventure.

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[mamba]

The also mentioned putting the current core books in the VTT, so 1D&D is definitely not making it easier for them as they will have to update to whatever that becomes.

Having to support both makes it a tad harder, but that imo is a good thing. It makes you think about what can be code and what has to be data driven.

With one set of rules you are freer to go either way (provided they are consistent) and put things in what in the long run turns out to be the wrong box and then come back later and are harder to fix by then

 

[vecna00]

Glad you posted this, I think the song is not to be overlooked. They are absolutely about to break out of the European Fantasy pigeonhole, they want to open up their own options for what to publish but also what they can tie into from other people's IP. The Buck Rogers era ray gun is kind of historically ironic, but looking past that, we see a Delorian! They are clearly saying, "we are breaking into other genres and we are open for business to leverage your IP for you in the medium, both as a TTRPG and our spiffy new VTT. Plus all that Hasbro can bring to the table in merch, collectibles and games.

This, plus the D&D Multiverse clearly show the direction they are going.

I mean, I would absolutely love it if they updated the Buck Rogers RPG. I may be one of 5 people, but I would spend money on it!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

It pains me to do so, but I guess I'm gonna have to change how I pronounce Sigil. To be fair, to be pronounced the way I would pronounce the word, it probably ought to be spelled with a "d", like Sidgel. But no, now I will pronounce it Siggle - because apparently that's the name of the place. And if that's its name, that's how it ought to be pronounced.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I mean, I would absolutely love it if they updated the Buck Rogers RPG. I may be one of 5 people, but I would spend money on it!

You, Lorraine Williams, and…?

 

[Kalmi]

It pains me to do so, but I guess I'm gonna have to change how I pronounce Sigil. To be fair, to be pronounced the way I would pronounce the word, it probably ought to be spelled with a "d", like Sidgel. But no, now I will pronounce it Siggle - because apparently that's the name of the place. And if that's it's name, that's how it ought to be pronounced.

Well si-jil is the correct pronunciation for the word in English, so I don't think anyone can be blamed for pronouncing it that way, but I guess they've decided to lean into the mistake for the place name.

Personally I would have changed the spelling to Sigal or Sigul if I wanted it pronounced with hard G, but I guess it's too late for that now.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

I mean, I would absolutely love it if they updated the Buck Rogers RPG. I may be one of 5 people, but I would spend money on it!

You, Lorraine Williams, and…?

It's a shame, there's a nice Mike Pondsmith Solarpunk setting trapped in that Buck Rodgers IP.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Well si-jil is the correct pronunciation for the word in English, so I don't think anyone can be blamed for pronouncing it that way, but I guess they've decided to lean into the mistake for the place name.

Personally I would have changed the spelling to Sigal or Sigul if I wanted it pronounced with hard G, but I guess it's too late for that now.

Correct pronunciation for English or no, there's an in-character quote from the original Planescape box-set that makes it clear the hard 'g' was intended from the start.

Planescape Campaign Setting Box Set - Sigil and Beyond Booklet, Page 4

"We can excuse the fact that you slaughtered two yugoloths before you realized where you were, Outsider, but you pronounced the name of our fair city 'Sijil,' not 'Sigil,' and there can be no excuse for that!"
- Her Honor Rastina Tollin of the Guvners

Even as a native speaker, English is a stupid, inconsistent language. And Planescape is nothing if not a setting specifically designed to get people arguing over things that are fundamentally asinine and pointless.

 

[Perun]

I recognize the woman on the Lady of Pain's (LOP) right from the original Planescape boxed set alongside the guy on the LOP's left and the spellcaster on the far left. Awesome references to the original from Tony!!

I think the blue lady on the right is factol Rhys of the Ciphers, which hopefully also means the return of the classic tiefling.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I think the blue lady on the right is factol Rhys of the Ciphers, which hopefully also means the return of the classic tiefling.

Well Factol Rhys was already shown in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything and she was not blue or had horns.

On the right it might be Sly Nye, but they were depicted back in Uncaged Faces of Sigil as not having a nose or a bust. But Sly Nye could be retconned into being something else like a Cansin/Chaond or whatever they're calling Chaotic Bloodline Planetouched, instead of being a Tiefling which might explain why they're more feminine in that appearance because they randomly had that form for the day.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

I think the blue lady on the right is factol Rhys of the Ciphers, which hopefully also means the return of the classic tiefling.

Don't think it's Rhys.

The tattoo on the blue tiefling lady's arm would suggest she's affiliated with the Doomguard, rather than the Transcendent Order.