D&D 5E Is there a secret lore book WotC is hiding?

[Hexmage-EN]

I think it would be a far less interesting read than you think it would be. Again, we’re not talking about a professionally edited and laid-out DM’s guide here. We’re talking about a messy pile of notes shared across the creative team. There are certainly some people for whom seeing the sausage-making process is interesting, but I think the vast, vast majority of fans, if they got a look at it, would think “really? That’s the D&D bible? What’s the big deal?”

"Messy pile of notes" accurately describes how I currently organize my own D&D ideas (although there's also notes on my phone and my tablet).

Personally, I suspect I would be enraptured. One of my favorite online D&D sources, Power Score RPG, is full of ridiculously comprehensive articles with subjects like "every named archdevil ever", "every published source for food & drink in D&D", "every poison mentioned in D&D history", "every published reference to the War of Law and Chaos", etc. I've read and been inspired by them all.

I also love learning about unused concepts in other media I enjoy, especially those with accompanying illustrations. The fact that this collective amalgamation of years of many different people's brainstorming sessions and pitched ideas exists fills me with curiosity and envy. If I was a millionaire I'd definitely try to find a way to obtain a copy for myself. The idea of getting to dive deep into a well of secret lore and conceptual space known to only a few people is extremely tantalizing. Who knows what could be in there? How amazing would it feel to be one of the only people in the world who possesses this forbidden knowledge?

 

[Charlaquin]

"Messy pile of notes" accurately describes how I currently organize my own D&D ideas (although there's also notes on my phone and my tablet).

Which is an excellent practice!

Personally, I suspect I would be enraptured. One of my favorite online D&D sources, Power Score RPG, is full of ridiculously comprehensive articles with subjects like "every named archdevil ever", "every published source for food & drink in D&D", "every poison mentioned in D&D history", "every published reference to the War of Law and Chaos", etc. I've read and been inspired by them all.

I also love learning about unused concepts in other media I enjoy, especially those with accompanying illustrations. The fact that this collective amalgamation of years of many different people's brainstorming sessions and pitched ideas exists fills me with curiosity and envy. If I was a millionaire I'd definitely try to find a way to obtain a copy for myself.

Yeah, for sure. Like I said, there are definitely people to whom a peek at the sausage-making process appeals. I think I would be one of them as well. I just think for most people it would be a confusing, boring read that revealed far less insight than they pictured it doing.

The idea of getting to dive deep into a well of secret lore and conceptual space known to only a few people is extremely tantalizing. Who knows what could be in there? How amazing would it feel to be one of the only people in the world who possesses this forbidden knowledge?

I think that’s certainly the mystique that the concept of the D&D bible evokes, but I think in reality it would be less of a “deep well or secret lore and conceptual space known to only a few people” and more of a pile of unused half-ideas and contextless fact sheets. More interesting in what it reveals about the process of developing the lore than anything it might reveal about the lore itself.

 

[Charlaquin]

Except this is not how Mearls described it. He said it would be "profound" or "even shocking" if fans were to see it.

Yeah... I’m inclined to believe he was exaggerating.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Since Ed Greenwood and other authors have had to keep mum about certain subjects due to NDAs, there would have to be a lore bible of sorts compiling all the legally sealed information, at least in the hands of the legal department at WotC.

Except this is not how Mearls described it. He said it would be "profound" or "even shocking" if fans were to see it.

Elminster is Drizzt. Shhhhhhh!

 

[Eltab]

I also love learning about unused concepts in other media I enjoy, especially those with accompanying illustrations. The fact that this collective amalgamation of years of many different people's brainstorming sessions and pitched ideas exists fills me with curiosity and envy. If I was a millionaire I'd definitely try to find a way to obtain a copy for myself. The idea of getting to dive deep into a well of secret lore and conceptual space known to only a few people is extremely tantalizing. Who knows what could be in there? How amazing would it feel to be one of the only people in the world who possesses this forbidden knowledge?

This is found near the beginning of how many Lich / Archmage / other BBEG origin stories? Beware the call of temptation !

 

[Bacon Bits]

They said "actual, physical book" in the article.

Oh, I would also absolutely believe that it's a single 3-ring binder that contains several documents that now no longer exist anywhere else. Even some so old that they're typewritten on a TSR letterhead. Yes, even for an IP as valuable as D&D.

I hope it's a Word document or series of Word documents in a shared folder called D&D Internal Setting Continuity. It's virtually inconceivable that it's a wiki. It should not need to change that often, the number of editors is not high enough to warrant a system to manage the content modifications, and nobody should be spending that much time managing the hyperlinks between articles. Plus it's another system to buy -- corporations avoid FOSS -- and another system to manage and train new staff on. That means it's expensive, while you're already paying for Word. It's trivial to get people to take ownership of Word documents. It's significantly harder to do the same for a system like a wiki. That means your team is less likely to actually reference the content.

That's why I say that Word is the epitome of "good enough". It does the lion's share of the work, doesn't intimidate the people who have to learn and use it, and the features it lacks are things that most users won't complain about having to manage themselves because they naturally think in terms of personal document management.

OTOH, there will absolutely be some who complain that the wiki interface isn't as friendly or familiar as Word or that they don't want to use one tool for authoring and another to document lore. We know that WotC uses Word; every playtest and UA document they've released since 2014 clearly uses the default Word template class formatting. All they've done is enabled is two column mode.

 

[HomegrownHydra]

Probably a patchwork of notes, and anything published for D&D. This thing would be huge, boring and the equivalent of reading a phone book. Even if they did release it, which Im sure they wont, it would take too long to read to be of much use other than just reading for enjoyment which for me, no thanks.

Despite the description, it likely is a wiki type collection of notes and plans, incorporating things like Baldur's Gate 3, upcoming adventure paths, and filler materials that determine where important NPCs might end up after their most recent appearance - unless they decide to change it.

However, I dobt they'd hesitate to change anything that has not been published, and there are a variety of sources that cover as many details about all released materials as can be scavanged.

Yeah... I’m inclined to believe he was exaggerating.

Vincke and Mearls have been in their industries for decades and have worked on tons of projects, each one of which would have had a collection of notes for reference. There is no way that they would be excited about such a mundane thing. That would be like getting excited over the weekly staff meeting.

 

[Charlaquin]

Vincke and Mearls have been in their industries for decades and have worked on tons of projects, each one of which would have had a collection of notes for reference. There is no way that they would be excited about such a mundane thing. That would be like getting excited over the weekly staff meeting.

I didn’t say I thought he was excited, I said I thought he was exaggerating.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah... I’m inclined to believe he was exaggerating.

Given the extent of what James Wyatt was doing in the Next process with testing various Monster flavors, etc...it might very well be an unusually robust Bible by industry standards. Still not a product in any meaningful sense.

 

[Coroc]

I'm not sure it's that. It's more that the newest generation always thinks that it invented the wheel, the existence of automobiles, bicycles, and mills next to rivers notwithstanding.

Same as it was when I was growing up, same as it will be 30 years from now when some 16-year old whippersnapper will be explaining to a 60 year old what Exandria is "really all about."

Still they do not know what the "rock'n'roll"- feeling is, and this makes me sad sometimes, since I do not know if they have something similar.