"Dust" and "Midway" - Codenames for Upcoming D&D Hardcovers

Tales from the Yawning Portal was codenamed Labyrinth. Curse of Strahd was Cloak, and Storm King's Thunder was Dagger (or vice versa). Now two new codenames have emerged, spotted by EN World member kettite. Dust is dated 19 Sep 2017, hardcover, $49.95, and Midway is dated 21 Nov 2017, hardcover, $49.95. These have both appeared over on edelweiss' catalog. They do not match the four unnamed RPG Accessories on Amazon. Engage speculation mode - two new hardcovers later this year!

Typically the September release has been an adventure, and the November release a rules book (Sword Coast Adventurers Guide; Volo's Guide to Monsters). WotC has been hinting at a "major rules expansion" for a while now.

My guess? Take it with a massive truckload of salt, but I'm going to guess that Dust is fey or fey wild related. Possible the thing Adventure Time's Pendleton Ward helped with. But it really is a wild guess.

"Dust"
Wizards RPG Team
FRONTLIST
On Sale Date: 19 September 2017
9780786966103, 0786966106
Hardcover
$49.95 USD, $63.95 CAD


"Midway"
Wizards RPG Team
FRONTLIST
On Sale Date: 21 November 2017
9780786966110, 0786966114
Hardcover
$49.95 USD, $63.95 CAD

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[Prakriti]

Midway/middle can mean "somewhere between the beginning and the end." It doesn't necessarily mean "equally distant from two extremes" (although that is one of its definitions). Princes of the Apocalypse was released in the "middle" of the edition cycle. So was the Monster Manual, for that matter.

And let's not forget that code-names are almost always completely meaningless to begin with.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dustmen.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Lords of dust?

That was my first thought.

Midway, I very much doubt is a reference to being half way to anything. It's gonna either end up being a Battle of Midway reference, or a circus reference, IMO.

 

[Quickleaf]

And let's not forget that code-names are almost always completely meaningless to begin with.

Well, in theory I agree with you.

However, in practice WOTC has been quite willing to play with us fans.

SKT was codenamed "Dagger" for a reason. Chris Perkins described Storm King's Thunder as merging "Against the Giants + Shakespeare." I guess that "Dagger" was a reference to this line from Macbeth act 2: "Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee."

"Cloak" for Curse of Strahd makes sense when you look at the cover of the Hickmans' classic I6 with Strahd wearing a billowing cloak.

And "Labyrinth" for Tales from the Yawning Portal makes sense both because it's a collection of dungeons and because it's retro (like the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth).

Not sure what the codename for Out of the Abyss was.

So, anticipating that "Dust" and "Midway" have a significance is totally in keeping with WOTC's track record with codenames so far.

 

[Morrus]

And let's not forget that code-names are almost always completely meaningless to begin with.

Apart from where they've proven not to be completely meaningless!!![/i] and turned out to be totally meaningful!!!! and part of their publicity campaign.

 

[pukunui]

SKT was codenamed "Dagger" for a reason.

It could also have been just a bit of a joke ... as in, "Cloak" and "Dagger".

 

[Jester David]

Apart from where they've proven not to be completely meaningless!!![/i] and turned out to be totally meaningful!!!! and part of their publicity campaign.

Kinda.
They have meaning, but they're also generic enough to apply to multiple different adventures. Dust, Cloak, and Dagger could all easily be used to describe Curse of Strahd.

The code name could be Rainbow and chosen at random, and we'd find a way to Rorschach it into relevance.

 

[abs]

Personally, I think we are going back to the Underdark against Mind Flayers. Dust might just refer to in-frequented places; place where dust tend to gather. I think that the Mystic, by extension psionics, will be coming out with the rules expansion, and Mearls did state, at least I think I remember him stating, that a major rules update like psionics will happen with an adventure that featured psionics. As for the Ring of Winter, I do think it will play into the adventure; it's just going to be underground... Maybe, it's part of plot by the Mind Flayers or creating havoc with them...

I really don't think Chult will be on the docket. WotC tends to stay within the Sword Coast with the hardcover adventures. That was also a stated aim for the company. I think that Chult is too far south, not part of the Sword Coast and not sufficiently popular to warrant an adventure... That's just my opinion though.

 

[gyor]

Personally, I think we are going back to the Underdark against Mind Flayers. Dust might just refer to in-frequented places; place where dust tend to gather. I think that the Mystic, by extension psionics, will be coming out with the rules expansion, and Mearls did state, at least I think I remember him stating, that a major rules update like psionics will happen with an adventure that featured psionics. As for the Ring of Winter, I do think it will play into the adventure; it's just going to be underground... Maybe, it's part of plot by the Mind Flayers or creating havoc with them...

I really don't think Chult will be on the docket. WotC tends to stay within the Sword Coast with the hardcover adventures. That was also a stated aim for the company. I think that Chult is too far south, not part of the Sword Coast and not sufficiently popular to warrant an adventure... That's just my opinion though.

Well if it's not Chult then they've wasted a lot of time building up to an adventure in Chult. Dinosaurs, the ring of winter, some other stuff, Chults pretty cool.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Personally, I think we are going back to the Underdark against Mind Flayers. Dust might just refer to in-frequented places; place where dust tend to gather. I think that the Mystic, by extension psionics, will be coming out with the rules expansion, and Mearls did state, at least I think I remember him stating, that a major rules update like psionics will happen with an adventure that featured psionics. As for the Ring of Winter, I do think it will play into the adventure; it's just going to be underground... Maybe, it's part of plot by the Mind Flayers or creating havoc with them...

I really don't think Chult will be on the docket. WotC tends to stay within the Sword Coast with the hardcover adventures. That was also a stated aim for the company. I think that Chult is too far south, not part of the Sword Coast and not sufficiently popular to warrant an adventure... That's just my opinion though.

I'd say visiting Ravenloft is a bit further from the Sword Coast than Chult is! And Tales from the Yawning Portal also goes far afield from the area...

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