Disgruntled Hobbit
Adventurer
Ravenloft is the first of 3 classic settings Wizards is planning to release. All the previews of VAN RICHTEN'S GUIDE TO RAVENLOFT suggest that it's not updating the campaign world to 5th ed. That they're instead redesigning the world again. Not quite starting from scratch but taking only the foundational ideas and dumping everything else.
The writers are making changes for representation and diversity and to remove stereotypes but also removing pet peeves and fixing redundant kingdoms. The human-horror of Vlad Dracov is becoming a zombie apocalypse land. The sexual predator mesmerist of Dementlieu is becoming a land of fey courtly intrigue with ghoul retainers. And the continent is being broken apart, with every nation now being an island.
It stands to reason if they're completely overhauling Ravenloft they'd do the same to the other two settings to make them more appealing to us modern audiences.
How would you like them to revise the other two settings?
My thoughts:
DragonLance:
There's zero way they wouldn't going to go back to the War of the Lance.
My first thought was they'd revise the Heroes of the Lance. Fewer humans and more women, gender flipping characters like Tassleholf or Flint. But I imagine they would just not mention those characters and all and let PC's be those heroes. Have the included adventure be a different way of starting the war campaign, with suggestions of where to go next that aren't always "follow the novels."
Focusing on the war offers a good focus for the book. It can online a few paths the war could take and provide ideas for having PC's get involved and adventures you can run during a war. Maybe some suggestions or rules for mass combat. As every book adds a new PC optional rule, this book could feature victory points, like in HEROES OF BATTLE for 3rd Ed.
They'd also have to include all the PH races like the half-orcs and tieflings. And Dragonlance people like Minotaurs and Irda. They'd also have to include sorcerers, warlocks, and bards into the world.
The dragonarmies should be mixed species and not just draconians, who could just be dragonborn. Goliaths are pretty popular as well. Wizards could include them in place of the human barbarian tribes to remove the giant Native American stereotypes. They could also rework kender to make them less disruptive at the table. Make them closer to regular halflings.
I've heard complaints about the size of the world. That could be fixed as well.
The use of steel pieces as the currency is weird. You can smelt down your sword for a profit. Dump that idea.
Elements introduced later can also be added. Like the Knights of Neraka and Legion of Steel.
Grayhawk:
There's a buttload of real world analogues in Grayhawk. And most of the kingdoms aren't diverse with elves and dwarves limited to their own kingdoms. The whole setting would need to be heavily reworked. Starting with making the Baklunish and Suel Empires more inclusive and less tied to a human ethnicity.
Might be best to focus entirely on the city of Grayhawk. Briefly describe the surroundings and neighboring lands and the key threats.
Grayhawk was always the setting people made their own. Going back to that would capture the spirit of the original. Provide brief one or two-paragraph descriptions of each kingdom designed to inspire. The book could even offer suggestions for customization, like different ways to use each nation. There could even be blanks on the map where DM's can add their own kingdoms or PC's could claim ownership. Claiming a keep and becoming a local lord is a very 1st Ed idea, which could be a key part of 5th Ed Grayhawk.
Dark Sun:
Wizards already rebooted this setting in 4th Ed. They'd probs keep it the same as that. Set things just after the Tyr uprising.
This world would be hard to update because of the amount of monsters required and all the new races and defiling rules and obsidian weapons. It would be a very big book.
It might be easier to have a list of monster descriptions and the equivalent monster stat block you can use in its place. Instead of having a baazrag you use an ankheg but give it a new trait. That way you could have three or four monsters per page.
Plane Scape:
Reworking the Factions seems like the way to go. There were so dang many factions. Fifteen plus ones added with each sourcebook. And many had awkward philosophies that made them challenging to belong to as an adventurer. Having a member of the Mercykillers or Revolutionary League or Xaositects can disrupt a party. Streamlining them down to nine would make them more focused and work with the Rule of Three.
The writers are making changes for representation and diversity and to remove stereotypes but also removing pet peeves and fixing redundant kingdoms. The human-horror of Vlad Dracov is becoming a zombie apocalypse land. The sexual predator mesmerist of Dementlieu is becoming a land of fey courtly intrigue with ghoul retainers. And the continent is being broken apart, with every nation now being an island.
It stands to reason if they're completely overhauling Ravenloft they'd do the same to the other two settings to make them more appealing to us modern audiences.
How would you like them to revise the other two settings?
My thoughts:
DragonLance:
There's zero way they wouldn't going to go back to the War of the Lance.
My first thought was they'd revise the Heroes of the Lance. Fewer humans and more women, gender flipping characters like Tassleholf or Flint. But I imagine they would just not mention those characters and all and let PC's be those heroes. Have the included adventure be a different way of starting the war campaign, with suggestions of where to go next that aren't always "follow the novels."
Focusing on the war offers a good focus for the book. It can online a few paths the war could take and provide ideas for having PC's get involved and adventures you can run during a war. Maybe some suggestions or rules for mass combat. As every book adds a new PC optional rule, this book could feature victory points, like in HEROES OF BATTLE for 3rd Ed.
They'd also have to include all the PH races like the half-orcs and tieflings. And Dragonlance people like Minotaurs and Irda. They'd also have to include sorcerers, warlocks, and bards into the world.
The dragonarmies should be mixed species and not just draconians, who could just be dragonborn. Goliaths are pretty popular as well. Wizards could include them in place of the human barbarian tribes to remove the giant Native American stereotypes. They could also rework kender to make them less disruptive at the table. Make them closer to regular halflings.
I've heard complaints about the size of the world. That could be fixed as well.
The use of steel pieces as the currency is weird. You can smelt down your sword for a profit. Dump that idea.
Elements introduced later can also be added. Like the Knights of Neraka and Legion of Steel.
Grayhawk:
There's a buttload of real world analogues in Grayhawk. And most of the kingdoms aren't diverse with elves and dwarves limited to their own kingdoms. The whole setting would need to be heavily reworked. Starting with making the Baklunish and Suel Empires more inclusive and less tied to a human ethnicity.
Might be best to focus entirely on the city of Grayhawk. Briefly describe the surroundings and neighboring lands and the key threats.
Grayhawk was always the setting people made their own. Going back to that would capture the spirit of the original. Provide brief one or two-paragraph descriptions of each kingdom designed to inspire. The book could even offer suggestions for customization, like different ways to use each nation. There could even be blanks on the map where DM's can add their own kingdoms or PC's could claim ownership. Claiming a keep and becoming a local lord is a very 1st Ed idea, which could be a key part of 5th Ed Grayhawk.
Dark Sun:
Wizards already rebooted this setting in 4th Ed. They'd probs keep it the same as that. Set things just after the Tyr uprising.
This world would be hard to update because of the amount of monsters required and all the new races and defiling rules and obsidian weapons. It would be a very big book.
It might be easier to have a list of monster descriptions and the equivalent monster stat block you can use in its place. Instead of having a baazrag you use an ankheg but give it a new trait. That way you could have three or four monsters per page.
Plane Scape:
Reworking the Factions seems like the way to go. There were so dang many factions. Fifteen plus ones added with each sourcebook. And many had awkward philosophies that made them challenging to belong to as an adventurer. Having a member of the Mercykillers or Revolutionary League or Xaositects can disrupt a party. Streamlining them down to nine would make them more focused and work with the Rule of Three.
