D&D 5E D&D Head Talks Future Plans (Sort Of)

WotC has launched a new design blog. The first edition is written by D&D head Ray Winninger, and he talks a little about future plans.

"Later in the year, Chris will return with our big summer adventure, James Wyatt will deliver a substantially improved version of a concept that I initiated myself, and Amanda Hamon will close us out with a project that was jointly conceived by herself and several other studio members. As usual, Jeremy Crawford is working with all of our leads, overseeing mechanical content and rules development.

In addition to these five major products, look for a couple of additional surprises we’ll unveil in the months ahead."

You can read the full blog here:

Who We Are & What We Do | D&D Studio Blog | Dungeons & Dragons

The first of many design blogs, direct from your friends at the Dungeons & Dragons Studio!

dnd.wizards.com

He also mentions that a D&D book takes 12-14 months to make, and half the projects developed don't make it to market. Winninger describes the structure of WotC's 'D&D Studio':

"The D&D Studio itself is organized into four departments: Game Design, Art, Production, and Product Management, each led by a department head. Game Design is responsible for the developing game mechanics and stories. Art establishes the “look and feel” of Dungeons & Dragons by creating visual concepts, directing our freelance illustrators, and creating innovative graphic designs. The Production department manages our project schedules, interfaces with manufacturing experts, and generally handles administrative matters for the studio. The Product Management department interfaces with sales, marketing, and market research. They also own our long-term product roadmap and look after the D&D business."

The studio has five Product Leads: Jeremy Crawford, Amanda Hamon, Chris Perkins, Wes Schneider, and James Wyatt.

 

[LordArchaon]

"if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is how typewriter companies disappeared......But like I said, updated version is an option, which we agree on. Update "races" and classes, put in all the fixes. Adjust the monsters as they have over time. Etc......

GOD, I am dreading an update of the rules because of ONE mechanic I saw them pushing, which could become more widespred: the "x times per day where x is your proficiency bonus". If you noticed, it's regularly used for ridiculously irrelevant features that would have still felt weak (but at least less immersion breaking) even x times per short rest.

I profoundly despise all the mechanics in Tasha's. The ONLY thing I liked coming from WotC in recent years was the Psionic Die, and they killed it before it could become a thing.

 

[LordArchaon]

"if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is how typewriter companies disappeared......But like I said, updated version is an option, which we agree on. Update "races" and classes, put in all the fixes. Adjust the monsters as they have over time. Etc......

GOD, I am dreading an update of the rules because of ONE mechanic I saw them pushing, which could become more widespread: the "x times per day where x is your proficiency bonus". If you noticed, it's regularly used for ridiculously irrelevant features that would have still felt weak (but at least less immersion breaking) even x times per short rest.
Not to mention it makes you require book-keeping for EVERY feature that uses it, separately.

I profoundly despise all the mechanics in Tasha's. The ONLY thing I liked coming from WotC in recent years was the Psionic Die, and they killed it before it could become a thing.

 

[Parmandur]

GOD, I am dreading an update of the rules because of ONE mechanic I saw them pushing, which could become more widespred: the "x times per day where x is your proficiency bonus". If you noticed, it's regularly used for ridiculously irrelevant features that would have still felt weak (but at least less immersion breaking) even x times per short rest.

I profoundly despise all the mechanics in Tasha's. The ONLY thing I liked coming from WotC in recent years was the Psionic Die, and they killed it before it could become a thing.

The Psionic DIe made it into Tasha's altered to fit feedback.

I could see them replacing Short Rest as a mechanic entirely with the Proficiency limit. It would make Warlocks and Monks less swingy and random in application.

 

[ccs]

Why can’t they just say what is coming out?

Amazon will take care of doing that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Amazon will take care of doing that.

WotC will be announcing all of the details for this fall starting later this week, which means lots of articles everywhere, even if WotC holds onto some previews for closer to the release date.

 

[ccs]

WotC will be announcing all of the details for this fall starting later this week, which means lots of articles everywhere, even if WotC holds onto some previews for closer to the release date.

Clearly you missed the joke.

 

[LordArchaon]

@Parmandur

Evidently you don't care about immersion nor book-keeping.

 

[LordArchaon]

The Psionic DIe made it into Tasha's altered to fit feedback.

We have a gamist majority, then.

 

[Charlaquin]

The Psionic DIe made it into Tasha's altered to fit feedback.

I could see them replacing Short Rest as a mechanic entirely with the Proficiency limit. It would make Warlocks and Monks less swingy and random in application.

I truly hope they don’t, but I could see it too.

 

[LordArchaon]

I truly hope they don’t, but I could see it too.

What screwed up 4th edition was the focus on balance at all costs and standardization without good reason, and they are falling right back into the same trap.