D&D 5E D&D Lore Changes: Multiversal Focus & Fey Goblins of Prehistory

WotC's Jeremy Crawford revealed a couple of the lore changes in Monsters of the Multiverse.

• The big shift is toward the multiverse as the game's main perspective rather than a specific setting. The game is shifting towards a multiversal focus, with a variety of worlds and settings.
• Universe-spanning mythical story beats, such as deep lore on goblinoids going back to 1st Edition, and the gods they had before Maglubiyet. Prior to Magulbiyet unifying them, goblinoids were folk of the feywild in keeping with 'real-world' folklore.
• Changelings aren't just Eberron, but they've been everywhere -- you just don't necessarily know it. Their origin is also in the realm of the fey.

D&D 5E - A Compilation of all the Race Changes in Monsters of the Multiverse

Over on Reddit, user KingJackel went through the video leak which came out a few days ago and manually compiled a list of all the changes to races in the book. The changes are quite extensive, with only the fairy and harengon remaining unchanged. The book contains 33 races in total, compiled and...

www.enworld.org

 

[Demetrios1453]

No, the Unearthed Arcana full of Spelljammer material, and the next unannounced book having a special cover with a hamster. This book of reprints isn't relevant on that front.

I wonder if this potential Spelljammer book is going to be a May release, since MotM will basically be a reprint in multiple ways. It would seem to fit the UA timing, and would parallel Ravenloft being the May release last year...

 

[Scribe]

Exactly. "Goblins are small sized, green skinned humanoids of foul disposition who are often found inhabiting dark forests, abandoned ruins and dungeons." No need to say a single word about origins or get too specific on culture. That's for setting books.

Honestly, this is where I'm getting to. This is all I need. Just run with it, roll the dice, and move on. I dont care about any motivations, or deep cultural motive, just lets get on with it.

 

[Charlaquin]

I do have an idea no for a world where the stars are great lanterns, or ships carrying many lanterns, floating high above the cloud level, in a world with no “outer space”, just infinite airy space where you can just keep flying and fly forever out into the black.

I mean, that’s pretty close to describing outer space, except for the “airy” part.

 

[Charlaquin]

Monsters of the Multiverse, which is full of planar races, proves that?

You don't need that with "straight spelljammer". You don't need planes. Yet this book is about the planes.

Crawford said nothing about traveling between mortal worlds.

Seriously, will there be a Feywild or Ravenloft crystal sphere, is that your call? Crystal Spheres for MtG settings (which has a multiverse made of planes, and planeswalkers).

It does not add up at all.

No, the Faewild and the Shadowfell (the latter of which the Land of the Mists AKA Ravenloft is a part) don’t have crystal spheres, they’re planes. Worlds, like Abier, Athas, and Eberron have crystal spheres. Many worlds also connect to other planes, though there are exceptions, like Athas.

 

[Charlaquin]

No. For years, there has been a "default" setting. (In the past, that has been Greyhawk-but-not for 3rd; Nentire* Vale for 4th; and Forgotten Realms for 5th.)

Then, even when a "different" setting is approached, it usually gets twisted to fit whatever the default approach is.

I think the "default" should change to fit the individual setting rather than the individual settings having a requirement to fit the default.

(*I'm okay with Nentire Vale because I feel it gave enough info to get a game moving, but vague enough that it allowed a group to modify it to their tastes/needs.)



That's not how they've been doing it for a while. In several books, they talk about that, but it's not typically done.

5e does have a default setting though, that default setting is just “The Multiverse.” Here, look:


That’s from 2015!

 

[Parmandur]

I wonder if this potential Spelljammer book is going to be a May release, since MotM will basically be a reprint in multiple ways. It would seem to fit the UA timing, and would parallel Ravenloft being the May release last year...

Something like thst would be my guess: maybe later, depending on how their production has been backed up by the global situstion.

 

[Parmandur]

Seriously, will there be a Feywild or Ravenloft crystal sphere, is that your call? Crystal Spheres for MtG settings (which has a multiverse made of planes, and planeswalkers).

It is worth noting thst Crawford talked about Ravnica and Eberron having Crystal Spheres in the past, for the purposes of the D&D Multiverse. Ravenloft is on another dimensional Plane, not a different part of the Prime Material. Spelljammer and Planescape are not exclusive of each other, and both have been baked into 5E for years.

 

[Charlaquin]

It is worth noting thst Crawford talked about Ravnica and Eberron having Crystal Spheres in the past, for the purposes of the D&D Multiverse. Ravenloft is on another dimensional Plane, not a different part of the Prime Material. Spelljammer and Planescape are not exclusive of each other, and both have been baked into 5E for years.

You gotta admit it’s pretty weird for the M:tG settings to have crystal spheres though. The M:tG settings (“planes”) were written as part of a different meta-setting (also called the multiverse), which has its own rules and metaphysics and cosmology. I’m not opposed to crossovers, but there’s a reason crossover events are often considered non-canon to their respective continuities, because of these sorts of setting assumption clashes.

Now, since WotC owns both M:tG and D&D, they do have the power to consolidate their respective meta-settings, and maybe that’s what they’re working towards. What with Universes Beyond and the 50th anniversary revisions… But, if that is the trajectory we’re on, I think everybody had better get ready for some shake-ups to the foundational setting assumptions of both IPs that are going to make “goblins are fae now” look pretty insignificant in comparison.

 

[Parmandur]

You gotta admit it’s pretty weird for the M:tG settings to have crystal spheres though. The M:tG settings (“planes”) were written as part of a different meta-setting (also called the multiverse), which has its own rules and metaphysics and cosmology. I’m not opposed to crossovers, but there’s a reason crossover events are often considered non-canon to their respective continuities, because of these sorts of setting assumption clashes.

Now, since WotC owns both M:tG and D&D, they do have the power to consolidate their respective meta-settings, and maybe that’s what they’re working towards. What with Universes Beyond and the 50th anniversary revisions… But, if that is the trajectory we’re on, I think everybody had better get ready for some shake-ups to the foundational setting assumptions of both IPs that are going to make “goblins are fae now” look pretty insignificant in comparison.

Yeah, I think thst big shake-ups are likely.

 

[Scribe]

But, if that is the trajectory we’re on, I think everybody had better get ready for some shake-ups to the foundational setting assumptions of both IPs that are going to make “goblins are fae now” look pretty insignificant in comparison.

Absolutely, and THAT is a bridge too far.