D&D 5E Pitch me a new WotC setting (+)

[EzekielRaiden]

Iomandra.

It's already been fleshed out by one of the best DMs in the business, Chris Perkins. It appeals to a popular but under-served thematic niche, the Age of Sail, Sinbad the Sailor, Pirates (of the Caribbean or otherwise), and intentionally "episodic" fare. It brings the dungeons and the dragons. And, because it's literally just a huge friggin' archipelago, you could very easily write tweaks to it so that it could be set in the middle of a sufficiently-large, Pacific-style ocean, making it compatible with nearly any other Earth-like setting. (Athas is probably the only exception, given its landlocked, lack-of-water state.)

Half or more of the work is already done, it's got instant appeal, it even fits neatly into their new dragon-centric multiverse...whatever thing they're doing. Literally the only reason people might balk is because it features dragonborn prominently and some folks just can't stand them. (Well, that or just dogged opposition to adding any new settings, but I figure that's not really relevant in a + thread.)

 

[Aldarc]

Iomandra.

It's already been fleshed out by one of the best DMs in the business, Chris Perkins. It appeals to a popular but under-served thematic niche, the Age of Sail, Sinbad the Sailor, Pirates (of the Caribbean or otherwise), and intentionally "episodic" fare. It brings the dungeons and the dragons. And, because it's literally just a huge friggin' archipelago, you could very easily write tweaks to it so that it could be set in the middle of a sufficiently-large, Pacific-style ocean, making it compatible with nearly any other Earth-like setting. (Athas is probably the only exception, given its landlocked, lack-of-water state.)

Half or more of the work is already done, it's got instant appeal, it even fits neatly into their new dragon-centric multiverse...whatever thing they're doing. Literally the only reason people might balk is because it features dragonborn prominently and some folks just can't stand them. (Well, that or just dogged opposition to adding any new settings, but I figure that's not really relevant in a + thread.)

I would have also proposed this for this thread, but I wasn't sure if it counted as a "new setting."

 

[JAMUMU]

So these are not so much pitches as examples of 'money left on the table' (imho of course):

• Space Fantasy Science Planet Opera Wars Setting - SF & SF2 shows there's a desire for this, as do the 10000 B/X-based space fantasy games and Hasbro already owns your Transformers and your Power Rangers
• Swords & Sorcery But Sanitised Setting - Like Dark Sun with the ick dialled down and the heroicness dialled up
• Cottagecore My Little Farmville Monster Wrangling And Ponies: Cute, adorable, low-risk, low-combat, cooperative base-building vibes aimed at all ages and your average D&D party would not feel at home here

 

[deganawida]

So, I don't think WotC are going to make any new settings--but if they did, this is my thinking:

In the DMG there is a list of flavors of fantasy. In order, they are:

• Heroic Fantasy
• Sword and Sorcery
• Epic Fantasy
• Mythic Fantasy
• Dark Fantasy
• Intrigue
• Mystery
• Swashbuckling
• War
• Wuxia

Most of those are pretty solidly served by existing settings and/or adventures with, I'd say, Sword and Sorcery and Wuxia significantly lacking. Well, WotC have some decent settings for Wuxia sitting in their D&D and MtG back catalogue, but for Sword and Sorcery they have Dark Sun (it's the only example of S&S given in the DMG, incidentally).

And for, IMO, pretty boneheaded reasons, they will likely never publish Dark Sun again.

But S&S--or low magic more generally--is a genre that, I think, a lot of players and DMs would appreciate WotC to serve.

So:

It's the sword and sorcery setting. It's influences are Robert E Howard, Fritz Leiber, and Saturday morning cartoons. Y'all know the tropes. Its Iconic bad guys are evil sorcerers, hulking brutes, scheming politicians, and prehistoric animals.


Yes. And this is its main draw. It has a spell-less ranger. It has magic-free subclasses for the barbarian, fighter, and rogue--and perhaps some warlocks too. It introduces rules that make parties of all martial characters better able to succeed (without outright excluding spellcasting classes).



See above. The smarmy marketing guys will say "Sword and Sorcery" at least 15 times in each PR interview.


So lots of pitches could work. But the one I like, which I have pitched here before is this:

Most S&S type settings (such as Primeval Thule) call back to a time when the world was a jungle ruled by serpentmen, rakshasas, and other peoples cruel and destructive to humankind. So why not set a campaign setting in that time (which, to my knowledge, hasn't been done before).

There are preponderantly powerful unambiguously evil empires of Yuan-ti, Tabaxi, Dragonborn, Thri-Kreen and such. They are mighty, but declining.

The realms of humankind, Atlanteans(obviously), other oppressed peoples, and rebels and dissidents of the Yuan-ti and pals, have--through a lucky fluke--overthrown one of these empires of evil. Humankind is in its strongest position ever, but things are precarious.

The old regime, though defeated, has left behind lots of unconquered fortresses, sinister underground labs, terror cells operating out of hidden mausoleums, mustache twirling villains, and quietly scheming reactionaries. And there is no shortage of geopolitically contested monster infested jungle.

ALSO dinosaurs.

They’d have my money!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

My suggestion for Cris Perkins' Iomandra is next to this world is the elemental chaos of Limbo, and within this there is a cluster of demiplanes, the "Io's Blood Islands". This wouldn't be only a retouch of "Councyl of Wyrms" but these "islands" ruled by a "dragon overlord" could allow enough "space" for all species for dragons from past and future. For example an island would be inhabitated by yuan-ti who obey the cobra-dragons (how would be a cobra dragonborn?).

Next to the Feywild and the Shadowfell there is a third echo plane, the "spirit realm", here the creation of demiplanes is easier, but dragons and giants would rather to be the ultimate rulers. It is an interesting place, where you can "farm" a little army of plant monster to defend your home against hordes of unwellcome elemental visitors.

* Today buying an IP created by a 3PP just broken may be an easier option.

* We can agree they can't sell us only the same doll with a new hat. Each setting should show a different style.

And there is a lot of lore in internet. This means players aren't going to pay when they can get it freely.

 

[KoolMoDaddy-O]

As someone who'd also like to see Iomandra collated and presented as a formal setting, I feel like Wizards' recent slipcase model is a perfect vehicle for delivering settings that don't merit big 256-page books on their own. Three 96-page books, each focusing on a different setting: maybe a reboot (say, Nentir Vale); one that's sort-of-new, sort-of-old like Iomandra or from MtG; and a third that's completely new.

Because we know from the surveys that most DMs run homebrews with elements of official settings baked in (I'm guilty of this too -- I run a Greyhawk campaign with some Eberron components), the slipcase could be presented as a smorgasbord of new rules and features for both DMs and players, with the emphasis on picking and choosing boldly stated in its promotional copy.

 

[Steampunkette]

Right now, D&D has several Standard Fantasy settings (Greyhawk, Mystara, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Etc) a Gothic Horror setting (Ravenloft) a Postapocalyptic Fantasy setting (Dark Sun) two Gonzo settings (Planescape and Spelljammer) a Steamfantasy setting (Eberron) and a Greco-Roman setting (Theros). They also have Exandria Unlimited (sort of) as another Standard Fantasy setting, and a "Plop into a larger setting" Harry Potter ripoff (Strixhaven)

If they're looking to try and cash in on "Big Things" in gaming then the most income generating fantasy of the past 40 years is Factional Fantasy ala Warcraft/Warhammer. Though in large part that's due to the nature of direct competition warfantasy gaming that it evolved out of. So a setting built in the same vein, in which there are a few specific factions which divide the world and player races onto opposite sides of a dividing line, would probably sell well out of the gate if only to provide people with the immediate 'Ooo Warcraft Style!' joy before ignoring the war completely 'cause someone wants to play an Orc in the Alliance campaign the DM is running because OBVIOUSLY...

Personally... I'd like to see a setting that picks up Psionics as a core setting feature, again. I know. I know. There's a bunch of folks that hate it and always will... but I don't -care-.

Psionics are fine and dandy in pretty much any fantasy setting, whether called "Invisible Arts" or not. But personally I think they fit best into sci-fantasy settings. So let's start with that as a baseline. Dark Sun went all in on ecological disaster which... if we look around at the flaming world around us was not entirely inaccurate... But if we are gonna go for a 'reflection of reality' aspect of things I really think economics is what would be the most resounding with the D&D playerbase. After all, there's more than a few "The villain was capitalism all along!" memes about DMs running their games. I -do- still like the idea of Sorcerer-Kings, of course. Consolidating power into the hands of a few through oligarchic means... So let's stick with that and go...

Legacy of Starfall! (Or just Starfall)
A world in upheaval, rocked by strange stars and wild magics beyond mortal ken. In the wake of an invasion, the tools of the strangers from beyond the stars fall into the hands of the just and the wicked, leading to political and economic changes no one dreamed possible. The recovering world must contend with both the old and the new in a time of incredible upheaval. The invaders had not been prepared for the magics of Colea. but will Colea survive the Legacy of Starfall?

Aim for a Silverhawks/Thundercats/Bravestar/Pirates of Darkwater feel. Have various "Evil Overlords" ruling over (or trying to conquer) various places. Go for some Points of Light where a handful of decent folk living in "Eternia" or somewhere similar also have sci-fi tech from the alien invasion that was stopped by magic. Magic is big and powerful and interesting, of course, but largely controlled by the 'big powers' who try and control/enslave spellcasters because they're so dangerous. Have Psionics be a new thing that people are only really learning about but allow the players to have access to various magics without worrying about getting rounded up as spellcasters since they don't wiggle-fingers and speak ancient words of power...

And then make the Laser Swords and Plasma Pistols and stuff deal damage on par with a regular Longsword or Crossbow, but be simple weapons that do exotic damage types like Radiant or whatever so they bypass most damage resistances.

Lots of NE and LE societies, some CE Pirates and Raider groups. A handful of LG and NG societies who know that most of the folks in the LE/NE societies are actually N or NG, sending in groups of heroes to try and liberate towns and fight against the handful of people who have all the power... And, of course, you could do Factional Fantasy. Have people play heroes of the bad guy groups trying to fight against their evil overlords, or an 'evil campaign' of working to conquer the Castle Greyskull equivalent.

Could be fun. Especially if you go all-in on the artstyle and do a 1970s-90s melange in Mythforce style.

Cash in on older players' nostalgia while new players pick it up because it's different and a new style of setting they've never gotten the chance to play. Particularly the younger 5e players that never got exposed to 2e Psionics' issues even if they've heard the stories, and may have played a little 4e and seen that version wasn't "Bad" or anything.

 

[bedir than]

Cozy fantasy. Instead of a game world focused on war or armageddon or the clash of armies, a setting inspired by games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. Firmly Tier 1 in nature (where most actual play is concentrated anyway), the setting book would provide robust crafting and farming rules, rules for anthropomorphic animals and a focus on non-violent conflict resolution, as the challenges the PCs will be facing are largely based on clashes of expectations and values, rather than good vs. evil. PCs will be more likely to run a magical coffee shop than they are to try and destroy an undead dragon.

Not a genre that TSR or WotC have tackled before, but a playstyle that's growing in popularity, both in gaming and in geek media generally.

A single book that also opens up the setting on the DMs Guild.

D20 Dames do a great job leaning into cozy fantasy on their show. A couple of them are paid designers as well.
I would be absolutely thrilled if Wizards and the Dames teamed up to create Cottages and Couatls

 

[Reynard]

Eberron is not steampunk. Ugh.

 

[Steampunkette]

S'why I said "Steamfantasy"

And while it is a hard-magic version of steamfantasy, they've got trains and noir detective stories, and a general vibe that fits the concept of steamfantasy even if they don't have the gears and widgets for the aesthetics of steamfantasy.

I guess you could call it "Magitech" instead, but that doesn't encapsulate Sharn's style, either.