D&D 5E Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks Would Like To Explore Kara-Tur

According to Reddit poster bwrusso, who was in a small group investor meeting with Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks last week, Hasbro's CEO (who was previously President of Wizards of the Coast before being promoted to his current position) currently plays in a Kara-Tur campaign and would personally like to see that setting explored further.

Kara-Tur is part of the Forgotten Realms, and is inspired by real-world East and Southeast Asia cultures, including China, Japan, Mongolia, and other regions. It was originally published in the 1985 book Oriental Adventures, and has since appeared in other formats including a boxed set in 1988. Eight adventure modules for the setting were published in the late 80s. In 2015's Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Kara-Tur is briefly described.

Cocks also touched on Spanish-language translations of D&D books in Latin America, and indicated that there were distribution issues with former licensing agreements in that region.

 

[Shardstone]

I don't really see how Kara-Tur is a problem but Neo-Rokugan and Tian Xia aren't a problem. Kara-Tur obviously will be significantly less stereotypical than it was like IDK 10,000 years ago or whenever yall were playing AD&D or 2E or something equally as ancient, forgotten, taboo.

So bring it back! Or maybe Edge Studios should reach out to WotC and try to get Adventures in Rokugan on DnD Beyond?

 

[CleverNickName]

Guns work fine in D&D, if you treat them as really loud, expensive crossbows. Same damage, same reload, same range, all that stuff.

 

[Parmandur]

Going to be honest - I think every D&D setting is pretty much improved by adding trains. I genuinely think D&D works a bit better in a semi-industrialized society - it's just D&D doesn't work well with guns.

It is worth noting that guns (primitive guns, but guns) are looking to be part of the standard equipment list in the PHB now.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

It is worth noting that guns (primitive guns, but guns) are looking to be part of the standard equipment list in the PHB now.

Yeah and they shouldn't be imho. It's sad that they are.

 

[tetrasodium]

Yeah and they shouldn't be imho. It's sad that they are.

While I kinda agree, I think that having them there will help curb the history of making them mechanically closer to modern day pistols/sniper and assault rifles since any effort to do so would be an obvious overreach for firearms without the "BuT tHeY aRe OpTiOnAl!" shield they normally use

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah and they shouldn't be imho. It's sad that they are.

I canvas that I have strong feelings about it either way, but would be curious to hear why you feel that way? (Apologies if that was somewhere upthread, I skimmed heavily)

 

[Vaalingrade]

I don't really see how Kara-Tur is a problem but Neo-Rokugan and Tian Xia aren't a problem.

It's less that it's inherently more of a problem and more of a question of whether WotC can and will check themselves given stuff like the Hadozee.

Lesson Learning hasn't been a patter in the recent past.

 

[Shardstone]

It's less that it's inherently more of a problem and more of a question of whether WotC can and will check themselves given stuff like the Hadozee.

Lesson Learning hasn't been a patter in the recent past.

Man that Hadozee stuff was wild.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Man that Hadozee stuff was wild.

my money is on if they did a Kara tur it would be shredded as racist... like 97.99999% sure no matter what it get shredded... and like 70% sure it will be completely justified..

that little 2.0000001% of it not beiing racist, is completely only Asian creators, and not 1 bit of the feel that most fans really want from an Asian setting.

 

[Bluenose]

Guns work fine in D&D, if you treat them as really loud, expensive crossbows. Same damage, same reload, same range, all that stuff.

Considering that some of the advantages of early gunpowder weapons over bows/crossbows aren't even considered in D&D, I don't really see any reason to invent an entirely fictional disadvantage to make them even less desirable.

Anyway, the one thing I think would be essential to any redesign of Kara-Tur (or Al-Qadim, or anywhere else) would be to acknowledge that it's all on one world and it would be quite sensible to remember that you don't want 8th century "China" or 10th century "Arabia" interacting with 16th century "Europe". At least, not if you don't want it to come off as another case of Europeans deciding that our image of other lands is the proper way to design foreign places.