D&D 5E New D&D Hardcover To Be Announced On The 23rd (Tomorrow)?

According to this page on Amazon.com, a new Dungeon & Dragons hardcover title for May will be announced tomorrow. Users in the US see the product below (those in the UK are seeing a Wizkids miniatures set instead).

So far signs look like Ravenloft, but we’ll know for sure tomorrow.

[Update -- also mentioned by Todd Kendrick, recently of D&D Beyond].

WotC has posted the below animation, which says “The Mist Beckons”.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The Plane of Shadow/Shadowfell only became canonical, rather than a "hey, here's a plane you can use or not, depending on who draws the chart of the planes" in 4E. Both it and Faerie (the future Feywild) were listed as optional planes in the 3E Manual of Planes, as I recall.

That said, a lot of stuff was quasi-official. The Plane of Mirrors, which I love, was never made an official part of the setting, but that didn't stop monsters from there from showing up in 3E monster books.

The Plane of Shadow was fully canonical in the 3e Manual of the Planes. In fact it was the only way to travel between multiverses...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The Plane of Shadow was fully canonical in the 3e Manual of the Planes. In fact it was the only way to travel between multiverses...

Ah, I forgot about that and have my 3E books packed away.

Still, I demand justice for the Plane of Mirrors!

 

[Alzrius]

The Plane of Shadow was fully canonical in the 3e Manual of the Planes. In fact it was the only way to travel between multiverses...

Heck, the "Demiplane of Shadow" was around in 1E and 2E as well. I believe 2E Ravenloft even mentioned that it was one of the few planes whose fringes you could touch (though you couldn't fully enter it) while trapped in Ravenloft.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Heck, the "Demiplane of Shadow" was around in 1E and 2E as well.

It was around sometimes in 1E, even after Gygax introduced it and the para- and quasi-elemental planes. There were either people at TSR who didn't like it, or just general poor editorial oversight.

JUSTICE FOR THE PLANE OF MIRRORS!

 

[EthanSental]

#11 in all books on Amazon today so pretty good initial buyers pattern...11th at 942pm est.

 

[cbwjm]

The Plane of Shadow/Shadowfell only became canonical, rather than a "hey, here's a plane you can use or not, depending on who draws the chart of the planes" in 4E. Both it and Faerie (the future Feywild) were listed as optional planes in the 3E Manual of Planes, as I recall.

That said, a lot of stuff was quasi-official. The Plane of Mirrors, which I love, was never made an official part of the setting, but that didn't stop monsters from there from showing up in 3E monster books.

Demiplane of shadow (which later morphed into the shadowfell) was definitely around in 2e as a demiplane, there were many spells that drew upon it (basically anything with shadow in its name). I have since looked it up in planescape's ethereal guide handbook and noted that the ravenloft plane was in the ethereal, so was the demiplane of shadow. No idea how they were treated in 3e, you're probably right in that they suggested it as an optional plane, but I did like how it became a core part of 4e multiverse.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Demiplane of shadow (which later morphed into the shadowfell) was definitely around in 2e as a demiplane, there were many spells that drew upon it (basically anything with shadow in its name). I have since looked it up in planescape's ethereal guide handbook and noted that the ravenloft plane was in the ethereal, so was the demiplane of shadow. No idea how they were treated in 3e, you're probably right in that they suggested it as an optional plane, but I did like how it became a core part of 4e multiverse.

In a meta sense, that could be chalked up to planar scholars slowly learning the true structure of the plane over time. They simply first learned about it by accessing it via the Ethereal, so they assumed it was a demiplane, only to learn later that it was actually a full-fledged plane more intimately associated with the Material Plane. The same with the Domains of Dread (first assumed to be a demiplane but discovered to be part of the Shadowfell later).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Demiplane of shadow (which later morphed into the shadowfell) was definitely around in 2e as a demiplane, there were many spells that drew upon it (basically anything with shadow in its name). I have since looked it up in planescape's ethereal guide handbook and noted that the ravenloft plane was in the ethereal, so was the demiplane of shadow. No idea how they were treated in 3e, you're probably right in that they suggested it as an optional plane, but I did like how it became a core part of 4e multiverse.

I did not play much in 2E, but I should have realized it was made more of a thing with Planescape, as it's very Planescapey, at least as far as inner planes go.

And yes, Shadowfell and the Feywild, even if I still don't love those names, getting elevated to core status was a great change for 4E, especially as they made low level planar adventures a mainstream possibility, rather than something relegated to a single setting/product line.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In a meta sense, that could be chalked up to planar scholars slowly learning the true structure of the plane over time. They simply first learned about it by accessing it via the Ethereal, so they assumed it was a demiplane, only to learn later that it was actually a full-fledged plane more intimately associated with the Material Plane. The same with the Domains of Dread (first assumed to be a demiplane but discovered to be part of the Shadowfell later).

I've often thought that the rigid hierarchy of planes published in The Dragon and later the 1E PHB was a mistake. If the planes were "stuff out there," only loosely grouped into "inner" and "outer" planes, with scholars disagreeing as to whether that's an actual distinction, it would allow a lot more flexibility for DMs and TSR/WotC creators.

That plane your characters stumbled into isn't new, there just wasn't a conjunction of the planes/they didn't walk down the right path through Faerie/didn't perform the ritual correctly/should have turned left at Albuquerque.

As DM, I want the freedom to spring things on my players like the Stygian Library without it violating any sort of canon. My players are used to this, but I think it's a freedom every DM should be allowed.

And when it comes to a place like Ravenloft, which is apparently both a prison and has someone actively trying to trap people there, it ought to not be reachable in any sort of reliable fashion, given the schizophrenic nature of the place. (Also, the 2E idea that there are "scholars" who have lots of ideas about the Dark Powers and the nature of Ravenloft itself is eye-rolling. Something awful should happen to those scholars, whether it's a monster popping out of the mists to behead them or them suddenly waking up in Ravenloft itself, unable to share their smartypants theories with TSR writers.)

 

[cbwjm]

I did not play much in 2E, but I should have realized it was made more of a thing with Planescape, as it's very Planescapey, at least as far as inner planes go.

And yes, Shadowfell and the Feywild, even if I still don't love those names, getting elevated to core status was a great change for 4E, especially as they made low level planar adventures a mainstream possibility, rather than something relegated to a single setting/product line.

It existed before planescape, shadow spells in the phb drew upon it. I'm just not sure how developed it was before planescape, not actually sure about how developed any of the planes were before planescape to be honest. Was there a manual of the planes in 1e/2e or were the planes mostly described in dragon articles and adventures?