D&D 5E New Year speculation thread!

[touc]

A new campaign setting in which PCs must race to find a cure for a pandemic affecting their land that turns everyone into zombies. WOTC miscalculates how its players will respond to the setting and how zombies are so "2000 and 10" and sales tank on this new venture to the point they accept an offer to sell from a conglomerate of forum lurkers who launched a WOTC takeover Kickstarter with the goal of implementing homebrew fixes and eliminating Twitter as a source of official rulings.

More likely, though, a 30th anniversary edition reboot of Dark Sun, because we all love even numbers along with a Dragonlance setting D&D movie to test the waters with a built-in fan base + everyone who loves Chris Pine.

As to testing the waters, I seriously will keep an eye on hype. Video games, conventions, books. When Dark Sun was released in 1991 for AD&D and again in 2010 for 4E, it was preceded by a crap-load of hype of this type so that you couldn't wait to get your hands on it. Dark Sun also came along at a time when gamers had seen quite a bit of traditional settings and were clamoring for something new. I'm not sure D&D has quite run that course in less than 10 years of 5E, but suppose we'll see.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Maybe the next setting will be not Ravenloft but Innistrad, and even I wouldn't reject totally the possibilities of a crossover between both lines. If my theory of the demiplane of the dread as a time-loop was true, then the reboot would easier to be explained. A sourcebook as "heroes of horror" is possible, but it has not to be totally linked with Ravenloft. WotC should notice a reboot of "the mask of the read death" by the right hands could become a serious rival for the call of Cultlhu, but I have warned too many times the d20 system needs a right power balance with the firearms to avoid the hand-to-hand fighters to be totally replaced by the gunslingers.

With the planar guide a monster compedium about planar creatures (I love the planar dragons!), and some planetouched PC races, may be possible. Other possibility is a new book about undeads as Libris Mortis to acompanny the D&D version of Innistrad as new setting.

* The death lands from Athas(Dark Sun) are perfect if you want a post-apocalypse survival.

Dark Sun is the right setting for a survival videogame as Conan Exiles (hunt, farm, build a stronghold...) or Ark Envolved. Maybe the return of DS is delayed because the plan is too linked with a future videogame and the project still is secret, maybe.

* Who would win in a between fight Strand von Zarovich vs Sorin Markov (the vampire planewalker)?

 

[Parmandur]

Is it normal that we know nothing of the next D&D5e book at this juncture? Do they usually wait after the holiday season?

Yes, completely normal: every year of 5E from 2014 on we have not known WotC product schedule at all as the year begins. January is the earliest we've heard about the first book of the year, sometimes later.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm thinking four books a year, roughly one a fiscal Quarter, is what WotC is aiming for these days. Crawford did say on Twitter last month that they were just finishing the next hardcover before Christmas break, so we'll see something soon at any rate.

My pulled from thin air predictions:

• Q1: A new Monster book, or an old Adventure compilation
• Q2: Bit of a wild card (pun intended, I am so sorry), but I expect a Magic: the Gathering Forgotten Realms tie in of some sort, a full FRCG tying into the cards coming to M:tG.
• Q3: A new storyline. Haven't really been tracking Dragon Talk lately, so dunno if any clues are current, but I'll go with Neverwinter or the Moonshae Isles as the microsetting.
• Q4: Innistrad Campaign Setting.

 

[darjr]

Ohh nice!
But what are you guesses as to content?

 

[Parmandur]

Ohh nice!
But what are you guesses as to content?

For a monster book, I'd guess a Dragon or Undead focus, or another strange smorgasbord. Heck, a Horror type monster book at the end of year might make more sense than an Innistrad Campaign Setting.

Other than that, I'm not sure what they may do next.

 

[Older Beholder]

I‘ve been thinking an undead themed monster book is due for a while,
A van Richten’s guide to ghosts or some such.

there hasn’t been any hints to this though.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I wouldn't be surprised if we get some sort of hint or announcement in the next week or so. The Q1 release is usually in March, and if memory serves, we usually start hearing about it very shortly after the beginning of the year.

 

[darjr]

I wouldn't be surprised if we get some sort of hint or announcement in the next week or so. The Q1 release is usually in March, and if memory serves, we usually start hearing about it very shortly after the beginning of the year.

What's the video/youtube/twitch schedule like? I wonder?

 

[Parmandur]

I wouldn't be surprised if we get some sort of hint or announcement in the next week or so. The Q1 release is usually in March, and if memory serves, we usually start hearing about it very shortly after the beginning of the year.

Yup, I agree, they'll ramp up their marketing in the next few weeks.