DDN and Campaign settings

[Grimmjow]

In 4e we only saw three campaign settings: Forgotten Realms, Eberon, and Darksun. But in the Chromatic Dragons book (pages 88-89) They mention famous dragons from settings called: Dragonlance and Greyhawk. We never saw these settings in 4e. But what are the odds of seeing these 5 settings (and any more i may not know existed) in DDN.

Also, what do you think they will change to make the setting familiar to the old versions, but unique to DDN?

 

[Umbran]

The keynote speech at GenCon mentioned that, for settings, they expect to mostly concentrate on one at at time. And the Realms are the focus for a series of novels for early in the release.

Ergo, I suspect Forgotten Realms to get the lion's share of attention to start with, and others will come later.

 

[Yora]

I can't rally imagine Eberron being discontinued, so I expect to see that one again as well.

 

[ComradeGnull]

I feel like Greyhawk is due for a revisit- as someone who started playing during 2nd ed, I have very little feel for what the setting is like or what is interesting about it.

Dragonlance- not sure what the status of the IP is- I think WotC got it back after licensing it to Margaret Weis for a while. Weis's company made some very nice 3e products, but the setting is a little battered after all the rule re-sets and changes that have been made over the years- hard to recognize for people who liked the original books and setting, but unfamiliar and full of hard-to-explain restrictions on races and classes for people who are new to it. I would be surprised if WotC puts it on the front burner again, but I've been surprised before.

Ravenloft also got licensed out- not sure what would happen to it. Dark Sun I think would make a great setting to highlight a 'low magic, low healing, grim 'n' gritty' rules module- I hope they bring it back in a recognizable form.

 

[Bow_Seat]

Things that got mentioned by the dev team:

Realms
Ravenloft
Dragonlance
Dark Sun
Greyhawk

This isn't to say that they were referenced in terms of "we're working on this"
they just happened to talk about it without being prompted

Things that did not get mentioned by the dev team:

Spelljammer
Eberon

Eberon was talked about, but only when a question was asked about it.

I know that this isn't indicative of what they're working on, but it may be indicative of what happened to be on their minds at the time.

Also, it's confirmed that Forgotten Realms is considered the base setting for 5e instead of Greyhawk.

 

[Yora]

I feel like Greyhawk is due for a revisit- as someone who started playing during 2nd ed, I have very little feel for what the setting is like or what is interesting about it.

That probably is the problem. From what I can tell, it's not really different from Forgotten Realms in any meaningful way. It just so happened that FR became much more popular. There is no good reason to have both in the program doing pretty much the same thing.

 

[Ichneumon]

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Ravenloft show up early on. It's a popular setting, was on the to-do list for 4e, and would provide just enough difference to whet the appetite following Forgotten Realms.

Since their plan is to fully focus on settings, I wonder whether we can expect ongoing supplements during a setting's 'lifetime', rather than just a campaign book + player or monster guide.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Ravenloft show up early on. It's a popular setting, was on the to-do list for 4e, and would provide just enough difference to whet the appetite following Forgotten Realms.

Since their plan is to fully focus on settings, I wonder whether we can expect ongoing supplements during a setting's 'lifetime', rather than just a campaign book + player or monster guide.

I cannot see Ravenloft coming, but it could be interesting. It just seems too niche to me, and not really close to 'typical' D&D.

I am saying 'typical' D&D based on what someone could get from reading the basic three core books.

 

[Ichneumon]

I cannot see Ravenloft coming, but it could be interesting. It just seems too niche to me, and not really close to 'typical' D&D.

I am saying 'typical' D&D based on what someone could get from reading the basic three core books.

The same thing could be said about Dark Sun.

Of course, we don't know what the basic three core books (if there are three core books) will be like. They could be more Ravenloft-friendly than expected.

Guess we'll all find out a few years from now.

 

[slobster]

Ravenloft is due for an update, I'd love to see a campaign book and a few adventures for it. The world has something of a timeless feel, and it's been a while since people have seen an official D&D product for it, so I don't think they need to do a timeskip or major overhaul of the setting. It's also by nature a mysterious and amorphous place, so they could certainly add a few new domains and villains alongside tried and true favorites if they want to spice things up and expand the IP.

The fact that it is different from what you might envision as "generic D&D" is, to my mind, a strength. The hobby is crowded with niche experiences; D&D needs to show people that it can do things besides basic sword and sorcery if it wants to expand.

Eberron is a personal favorite of mine, so I hope it gets a new release as well. On the other hand, as long as the key races and so on are detailed somewhere in some D&D product, I'd rather use my old Eberron campaign stuff (whose fluff is still as exciting as the day it was released) than have them timeskip the setting or something just to drive sales.

I think a Nentir Vale/ Points of Light expanded campaign might be nice, especially as a way to bring in 4E players. Reprint the classic encounters and scenarios, complete with dynamic terrain and enhanced rules modules for AEDU and tactical battles. Expand the setting to include more real estate and new, powerful threats. Print some backgrounds to turn your ranger into a Warden or your rogue into an Avenger. I know guys in my group who would eat that stuff up!

Finally, I know it will never happen, but I'd like to see a new setting that takes D&D in a new direction and is designed from the ground up with 5E in its bones. Maybe something that mimics the innocent adventuring charm of Avatar: the Last Airbender and other anime shows. Maybe a dark setting where scattered mortals fight a losing battle against cosmic horrors in the wake of an apocalypse. I don't care! As long as it's different! We all know that D&D can be more than kobolds and 3d10 gp (as fun as that is, occasionally), so I'd love to see some professionals dig their teeth into some challenging new places for us to roll d20s.