D&D 5E Is there even a new D&D setting?

Though we’ve been speculating about what the new setting recently pre-announced for D&D might or might not be (Icewind Dale being one suggestion), there's some doubt about whether it exists at all!

The press release that was sent out said:

Fans of D&D will learn all about the new setting and storyline as well as accompanying new products

The web page for the event says:

Fans of D&D will learn all about the new storyline as well as accompanying new products

The word “setting” is missing from the web page, but exists in the press release. The text is the same otherwise.

I don’t know which order the two were written in, or if the latter changed, or if the former contains extra information.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yes. Much to my dismay, as I preordered the physical copy, instead of the digital. Now, I guess I'm buying both.

You do know you can cancel pre-orders?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I can’t remember for certain, but I think they said that they were going to talk about the new adventure and setting. As I’ve previously said, this almost certainly means the new story arc and either Theros or the setting of the story arc. If it is Theros, it simply means that they’re going to talk about it — not re-announce it.

The press release (which would have been sent out in advance) said they where going to "talk about the new setting and storyline", but by the time it hit the website it was changed to "talk about the new storyline".

(it's in the OP)

 

[MostlyHarmless42]

I'm sticking to my guns on a reimagined War of the Lance without pregenerated characters. I think it would be a great way to revamp the setting and put it in the hands of the DM and their players.

We had this already. It was called "Tyranny of Dragons." They chose to set it in Fae'Run, but it would be incredibly easy to port it back to Dragonlance as the book not only provides tips for doing just that, but the older modules could be used as a guide point quite easily.

I for one have been a longtime proponent of Dragonlance as a setting, though my opinions on the setting aren't the typical norm you see on forums of either the "original trilogy or bust!" purists or "I hate kender and therefore the entire setting" statements that tend to pop up. To be clear I am not knocking those opinions and I understand why people feel that way, but I am a strong defender of the Age of Mortals bringing the setting up to date from a gaming standpoint. I set my Dragonlance games right after the War of Souls because in my opinion it provides MUCH more flexibility and freedom than the War of the Lance era for character builds, plot lines, etc. due to there being far more uncertainty in the world and stuff like the "death" of two gods fits quite well with the narrative with the setting, at least how I see it. It also means I don't have to jump through 1000 hoops to justify what are now baseline game mechanics and have been since 3.0 (dragonborn players, sorcerers, bards, etc.).

The other reason I avoid the War of the Lance like the plague is that it also lets me emphasize what I find the settings truth strength to be compared to Fae'run: the players feel like their actions never truly effect the world. In a setting where there is basically a 15th level character in every other room the players never really feel like they are actually the heroes of the story.

 

[Demetrios1453]

We had this already. It was called "Tyranny of Dragons." They chose to set it in Fae'Run, but it would be incredibly easy to port it back to Dragonlance as the book not only provides tips for doing just that, but the older modules could be used as a guide point quite easily.
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I'm interested to hear what you think War of the Lance and Tyranny of Dragons have in common besides the very broad "they both have dragons and a five-headed dragon goddess", because other than that they precisely nothing in common. Heck, Decent to Avernus is by that definition equally a remake of Dragonlance as well, as would be the '80s D&D cartoon...

 

[MostlyHarmless42]

I'm interested to hear what you think War of the Lance and Tyranny of Dragons have in common besides the very broad "they both have dragons and a five-headed dragon goddess", because other than that they precisely nothing in common. Heck, Decent to Avernus is by that definition equally a remake of Dragonlance as well, as would be the '80s D&D cartoon...

It is more than just that. The story is about a ragtag group of players who come our of nowhere to save a small trade town from a dragon attack with an evil army heavily aligned to it's element led by a dragon man that, and pushes them towards dealing with a cult that is organized by several different subcults/armies each dedicated to 5 different elements of evil dragons that all serve a five headed dragon goddess. Also most of these armies are led by other dragon men, and one evil female knight.

Along the way the party deals with a dragon hatchery guarded by an angry mother dragon, seeks out help from a universally hated evil country [thay], likely gets help from a setting famous wizard that is also a demigod [the open lord of waterdeep], fights a large white dragon in a flying ice castle as a mid boss for the campaign (albeit in DL's case flying castle and the white dragon were separate events), and all the while trying to find a magic plot macguffin to prevent the return of the EvilDragonHydraGoddessOCDoNotSteal! Don't get me wrong, I love the original trilogy and the newer version of it, but I'd be hard pressed making ToD NOT seem to just be a rewrite of the war of the lance to any dragonlance fans in my game.