D&D 5E March's D&D Book To Be Announced On January 9th

A mysterious entry has appeared on Amazon! With a product title of "Dungeons & Dragons March Release Book (Title announced January 9th)" and a release date of March 17th, 2020, this $49.95 hardcover release will be revealed in under a week!

The description reads "Your first look at the next D&D title comes on January 9th! Keep an eye on wherever you get your D&D news for a preview of the book."

Could there be a clue in the dice being released on the same day? Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit is described as "Dice and miscellany for the world's greatest roleplaying game" for $29.99. We'll find out on Thursday!

Who's Laeral Silverhand? She's a prolific creator of magic items from Waterdeep, and one of the most powerful wizards in the Forgotten Realms. She's one of the Seven Sisters, introduced in 1987's Forgotten Realms boxed set, although Laeral herself wasn't described in that product. Ed Greenwood'sThe Seven Sisters supplement fully detailed them in 1995. Laeral and Khlben 'Blackstaff' Arunsun led a group called the Moonstars. In 5th edition, she appears in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Yeah, we know books monsters are something that sells well, and that they want to do periodically. MToF will be roughly 2 years old when this book releases, and Volo's was almost two years old when MToF came out.

Things we know in general, maybe about this book:

• Kate Welch is the point women for this book (per the teases for the next issue of Dragon+)
• Kate Welch last year's had talked about a book she is working on that includes smaller Adventures from a number of guests writers, primarily DMsGuild authors but also a few D&D celebs such as Mariah's Ray and Deborah Ann Will.
• Nate Stewart said last year that they would be going to several non-Western European places in 2020.

It seems to me that one book can do all these things together...that could be cool. Basically, Mordenkein's with old school Adventure Modules rather than generic Race lore...

This is actually really possible... as long as the collection of adventures are from all over Forgotten Realms, that would still sate the "Forgotten Realms" tag.

I still don't truly think the naming of this book, "Forgotten Realms: Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit" (or guide, kit might be switched for something like that) doesn't really match a collection of adventures, making me think that is probably a different book entirely.

The blue and sort-of nautical map background on the dice set makes me think it's a broader setting guide as well, but this could just as easily be a collection of adventures from around Toril. Still, name doesn't really match a collection of adventures.

If it was just another TotYP adventure book but with more monsters, they wouldn't have Forgotten Realms right in the title, it's not 5e style. If you look at very thing it's obviously the Setting book for the Forgotten Realms. There MiGHT be a few miniadventures mixed, or not, but it won't be the main feature of the book. This book is going to be FRs answer to Eberron Rising From the Last War.

I'd really avoid making a conclusive statement on what this is right now, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. Still leaning on setting guide, but not really certain either.

 

[gyor]

This is actually really possible... as long as the collection of adventures are from all over Forgotten Realms, that would still sate the "Forgotten Realms" tag.

I still don't truly think the naming of this book, "Forgotten Realms: Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit" (or guide, kit might be switched for something like that) doesn't really match a collection of adventures, making me think that is probably a different book entirely.

The blue and sort-of nautical map background on the dice set makes me think it's a broader setting guide as well, but this could just as easily be a collection of adventures from around Toril. Still, name doesn't really match a collection of adventures.



I'd really avoid making a conclusive statement on what this is right now, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. Still leaning on setting guide, but not really certain either.

Too late, already excited, if I am wrong there will be volcanic eruptions of nerd rage.

 

[Parmandur]

If it was just another TotYP adventure book but with more monsters, they wouldn't have Forgotten Realms right in the title, it's not 5e style. If you look at very thing it's obviously the Setting book for the Forgotten Realms. There MiGHT be a few miniadventures mixed, or not, but it won't be the main feature of the book. This book is going to be FRs answer to Eberron Rising From the Last War.

We'll find out soon, but I wouldn't wager on a book exactly like Rising from the last War being released only 4 months later.

 

[Parmandur]

This is actually really possible... as long as the collection of adventures are from all over Forgotten Realms, that would still sate the "Forgotten Realms" tag.

I still don't truly think the naming of this book, "Forgotten Realms: Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit" (or guide, kit might be switched for something like that) doesn't really match a collection of adventures, making me think that is probably a different book entirely.

The blue and sort-of nautical map background on the dice set makes me think it's a broader setting guide as well, but this could just as easily be a collection of adventures from around Toril. Still, name doesn't really match a collection of adventures.



I'd really avoid making a conclusive statement on what this is right now, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. Still leaning on setting guide, but not really certain either.

Based on the following comparison of images, I think it is highly likely that someone screwed the pooch, and the book is simply titled "Forgotten Realms: Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit":

Now, nothing about this tells me much about what will be in the book, contents-wise. We'll find out soon ...

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Official product page for the dice set:

Forgotten Realms Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit | Dungeons & Dragons

Learn more about Forgotten Realms Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit from Dungeons & Dragons.

dnd.wizards.com

 

[dave2008]

If it was just another TotYP adventure book but with more monsters, they wouldn't have Forgotten Realms right in the title, it's not 5e style. If you look at very thing it's obviously the Setting book for the Forgotten Realms. There MiGHT be a few miniadventures mixed, or not, but it won't be the main feature of the book. This book is going to be FRs answer to Eberron Rising From the Last War.

That is what I thought at first as well; however, I think @Parmandur 's guess may be closer to the mark. A series of all new adventures set in different parts of the Forgotten Realms with a bit of lore and monsters for these different areas. This checks all the boxes. OF course, the boxes could be checked by multiple projects and not just this one product. So we will see in 3 days!

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Official product page for the dice set:

Forgotten Realms Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit | Dungeons & Dragons

Learn more about Forgotten Realms Laeral Silverhand's Explorer's Kit from Dungeons & Dragons.

dnd.wizards.com

Dammit it's another Sword Coast-centric product. Jeez why can't they ever make something new...

EXPLORE THE REALMS
Dice and miscellany for the world's greatest roleplaying game.
Let Laeral Silverhand—Open Lord of Waterdeep, centuries-old archmage, and daughter of the goddess of magic—guide you on your path to adventure.
Includes:

• Eleven dice (two d20s, one d12, two d10s, one d8, four d6s, one d4).
• Twenty illustrated, double-sided cards detailing Laeral's expert insights on key characters, locations, and lore from across the Forgotten Realms.
• A durable, felt-lined box that functions as two dice trays.
• Foldout double-sided map of the Sword Coast and the city of Waterdeep.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Whew, saved myself some money. That's a pretty set of dice and miscellany for those who do play in the Sword Coast, though.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

That is what I thought at first as well; however, I think @Parmandur 's guess may be closer to the mark. A series of all new adventures set in different parts of the Forgotten Realms with a bit of lore and monsters for these different areas. This checks all the boxes. OF course, the boxes could be checked by multiple projects and not just this one product. So we will see in 3 days!

Yeah thinking that Parmandur is correct here.... the dice set is showing zero new material, so I'm guessing that it may be a complete red herring and possibly completely unrelated to what this book actually is.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

So anyway, product is very likely not a setting book despite the FR moniker, and is likely the collection of adventures plus some other extraneous material like gem dragons statblocks, etc.