D&D 5E Is the new setting Icewind Dale?

@Birmy pointed out this Reddit comment.

Add that to the image WotC put out with the upcoming announcement.

And they're selling apparel featuring a snowy owlbear.

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[SuperTD]

I don't know much about Icewind Dale, but i remember Chris talked in a podcast about doing writeups of towns, populations, heraldry, leaders, rivals etc for the gazetteer section in a forthcoming book. Is that the sort of thing that would make sense for an Icewind Dale setting?

 

[Xenonnonex]

I don't know much about Icewind Dale, but i remember Chris talked in a podcast about doing writeups of towns, populations, heraldry, leaders, rivals etc for the gazetteer section in a forthcoming book. Is that the sort of thing that would make sense for an Icewind Dale setting?

Frankly that would work well for any setting.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't know much about Icewind Dale, but i remember Chris talked in a podcast about doing writeups of towns, populations, heraldry, leaders, rivals etc for the gazetteer section in a forthcoming book. Is that the sort of thing that would make sense for an Icewind Dale setting?

Yes. Previous sources haven't really gone into heraldry for the Ten Towns, but no reason they shouldn't each get a logo!

And I think I need to draw people's attention to the word section. It is not the whole book.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I don't know much about Icewind Dale, but i remember Chris talked in a podcast about doing writeups of towns, populations, heraldry, leaders, rivals etc for the gazetteer section in a forthcoming book. Is that the sort of thing that would make sense for an Icewind Dale setting?

The main population of the Dale is composed of humans living in Ten-Towns aka an alliance on 10 small-ish towns spread across the dale, each fighting for the meager resources of the lakes and land while standing together against the giants, orcs & co, lizardfolk colonies living in the heated depths etc. The mentioned writeups would be right on spot for this setting.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah, some out-of-the-place village where people have probably never traveled more than 20 miles from home and then only for a festival almost always recognize the guy on sight. Can tell that it's Drizzt and not some random drow come to murder them in their sleep.

To be fair, Jarlaxle has taken advantage of that on more than one occasion by impersonating Drizzt.

 

[Marandahir]

Well, this is still taking place well before Theros is in people's hands, and at least Perkins game at the event is going to be set in Theros...so that maaaay be what is meant....

The "new setting" revealed cannot be Theros, because anyone with a D&D Beyond account can use that setting as of June 2nd. The hardcover may still be to come in July due to COVID-19, but it can hardly be called a "new setting" that we'll "learn all about."

I'm pretty sure the announcement is for an adventure in a new setting, not an adventure and a new setting.

We have already got two setting books this year, I would consider a third incredibly unlikely.

"Fans of D&D will learn all about the new setting and storyline as well as accompanying new products plus tons of unique gameplay available on June 18, 2020."

The language is very unclear. That said, in 2018 and 2019, WotC switched to releasing 4 new D&D books a year, rather than the 3 new books of 2015, 2016, and 2017 (not counting starter sets or remasters like the Core Rules box set or Tyranny of Dragons).

We know what 2 of those new books are for 2020, Wildemount and Theros. WotC suggested that fans desiring new setting books would love 2020, so I think there's good latitude to believe that this stream is going to announce two separate products.

That said, COVID-19 could have derailed plans for 4 new hardcover products this year, so maybe Icewind Dale is what they're referring to. I'd just argue that the language is vague and could be interpreted either way.

I also think calling Icewind Dale a setting is like calling Harkenwold a Setting. Yeah, sure, you can go in deeper on this glossed over area of the Nentir Vale, but the Nentir Vale already is a subset of the former Nerath Empire setting, which is a subset of the Conquest of Nerath campaign world, and was designed as such to be just the basic details so that you could make it your own. Icewind Dale is a subset of the Sword Coast, which is a subset of Faerûn, which is a subset of Abeir-Toril, similarly… It's a deep dive on one particular place. A cool place, but much more appropriate for an included gazateer in an adventure path, like how Descent into Avernus gives us the deets on Baldur's Gate, and Dragon Heist gives us the deets on Waterdeep.

Legit question to anyone with a better memory than me: did WotC ever call Chuult a "new setting" when discussing Tomb of Annihilation?

 

[eyeheartawk]

At this point I welcome anything that isn't set in the Sword Coast, or a commercial for MtG.

So, okay, I guess.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I have an idea for a setting. It takes place in the cellar under a tavern. It’s an epic tale about the eternal conflict between good folk and, well, rats.

The twist is that it’s not just for 1st level characters: it’s a full 1-20 campaign.

Whaddya think? Kickstart it?

 

[Oofta]

I have an idea for a setting. It takes place in the cellar under a tavern. It’s an epic tale about the eternal conflict between good folk and, well, rats.

The twist is that it’s not just for 1st level characters: it’s a full 1-20 campaign.

Whaddya think? Kickstart it?

You could do like some video games and scale all the rats to the appropriate level so no matter what they do a half dozen rats will always be a threat.

So much depth and opportunity available there I may have to steal this for my next campaign.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I have an idea for a setting. It takes place in the cellar under a tavern. It’s an epic tale about the eternal conflict between good folk and, well, rats.

The twist is that it’s not just for 1st level characters: it’s a full 1-20 campaign.

Whaddya think? Kickstart it?

The twist is, the PCs are the rats, who have to fight of waves of increasingly higher level adventurers.