Dungeons & Dragons Will Announce New Products at Gen Con, Modules Returning to Game

Wizards of the Coast plans to use Gen Con as a launching point for future products. During a press briefing at Gary Con on Thursday, Head of D&D Franchise Dan Ayoub said that they would be announcing the product tied to the Season of Champions at Gen Con this year. Additionally, starting at Gen Con in 2026, D&D will also announce the roadmap for the upcoming year at the convention, which will include announcements of upcoming Seasons, announcement of new products, and other "stuff" tied to the season.

Ayoub told the press briefing that early feedback for the seasons have been "fantastic," so it appears that this will be the standard moving forward.

Later in the press briefing, Ayoub noted that the lengthy delay in announcements was due to a combination of internal reorganization for the D&D team and a shift in which products would be released in 2026. He also said that adventure modules will be returning to Dungeons & Dragons as part of the new Season models, although it's unclear whether this will be through the D&D Encounters program, Adventurer's League, or through some other kind of unannounced product.

 

[Reynard]

One of the adventures in Candlekeep mysteries is partially set in Ravenloft, and two others are a great fit as Ravenloft adventures.

There are several setting specific adventures in the anthologies, when setting details are relevant. But much of the time the adventures work anywhere.

I feel like you are dismissing the idea that specific settings benefit from setting specific adventures, and if so, I can't quite figure out why.

 

[Reynard]

Having watched the full panel now, it is worth noting that the WotC team acknowledged that they have something to announce about older editions and the OGL/CC soon...

I hope they are putting the 3.x era SRDs into CC, but I do not have much hope. They have been dragging their feet o that for way too long to believe they suddenly have decided to do the right thing.

 

[bedir than]

I feel like you are dismissing the idea that specific settings benefit from setting specific adventures, and if so, I can't quite figure out why.

with the new Encounters program there will be adventures directly tied to settings -- a thing that they've said they're doing for three settings to this point (Ravenloft, Realms, Greyhawk)

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I feel like you are dismissing the idea that specific settings benefit from setting specific adventures, and if so, I can't quite figure out why.

There is no harm in some setting-specific stuff, which is why the anthologies have some. But fragmentation of the market has historically been a big issue for WotC, so they have a vested interest in making the majority of adventure content generic (Forgotten Realms = generic in this context). And it’s easier to write. Sticking a train in every adventure to make it Eberron gets old real quick. Most of the time fantasy heroes are kicking down doors and killing monsters no matter what the setting.

 

[Reynard]

with the new Encounters program there will be adventures directly tied to settings -- a thing that they've said they're doing for three settings to this point (Ravenloft, Realms, Greyhawk)

Sure. And that's great. But those AL adventures are not nearly the polish or quality of other published adventures. They serve a different purpose, of course, so it is understandable.

 

[bedir than]

Sure. And that's great. But those AL adventures are not nearly the polish or quality of other published adventures. They serve a different purpose, of course, so it is understandable.

The Encounters system and AL system are not the same.
Encounters seems to be run by WotC for example

 

[Reynard]

But fragmentation of the market has historically been a big issue for WotC

Has it?

We know it was a problem for TSR, but that was more due to the games Williams was playing with distribution.
What do we know about how well (or not) Eberron did during 3.x and 4E? What do we know about the success, or lack thereof, of licensing out Ravenloft and Dragonlance during the 3.x era? What do we know about how Dark Sun did during 4E?
I feel like folks often just say thing based on feels and vibes, with very little back up.

My only contention is that the customer base is bigger and yet we do not see bigger release schedules or more diverse products. Why?

 

[Artamo]

There is no harm in some setting-specific stuff, which is why the anthologies have some. But fragmentation of the market has historically been a big issue for WotC, so they have a vested interest in making the majority of adventure content generic (Forgotten Realms = generic in this context). And it’s easier to write. Sticking a train in every adventure to make it Eberron gets old real quick. Most of the time fantasy heroes are kicking down doors and killing monsters no matter what the setting.

Are you talking about when TSR used to have three to five products per setting per year, or something specific to WotC? I don’t recall WotC ever getting that deep into adventure modules that weren’t generic.

And if do mean the TSR days, surely there’s a happier medium that is greater than zero.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Are you talking about when TSR used to have three to five products per setting per year, or something specific to WotC? I don’t recall WotC ever getting that deep into adventure modules that weren’t generic.

And if do mean the TSR days, surely there’s a happier medium that is greater than zero.

I’m really thinking back to those TSR days. A lot of those “setting specific” adventures were pretty generic and could have been used just fine in other settings, but TSR reduced the number of potential customers by marketing them as “setting specific”.

 

[Parmandur]

I hope they are putting the 3.x era SRDs into CC, but I do not have much hope. They have been dragging their feet o that for way too long to believe they suddenly have decided to do the right thing.

It is pretty explicable as being low on the to do list. The 5E conversion document for materials from older editions, suchh as it was, took two years to release.