D&D 5E Revisited Setting News: Its not the 2023 Classic setting, but rather for 2024

[Urriak Uruk]

Also, it looks like Wizards of the Coast just published a Forgotten Realms revisit... today.

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy (5e) - Wizards of the Coast | D&D 5th Edition | Dungeon Masters Guild

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy (5e) - All proceeds from this journal benefit Extra Life. Extra Life unites thousands of gamers around the world to play games

www.dmsguild.com

Includes more material for Baldur's Gate, but also Amn, Suldanessellar, and Ust Natha.

 

[Mercurius]

The financial bottom line is that a Forgotten Realms book would almost certainly sell far more copies than a Greyhawk book. Remember, WotC's primary audience is new and younger, most of whom likely have no clue what "Greyhawk" is, but almost all of whom have actually played in the Forgotten Realms.

If anything, 2024 is a bit late for a full treatment of the Realms. On the other hand, it might signal a sea-change: that the first decade of 5E used the Realms as default, while moving forward it will be more diverse, not focusing on any singular world or setting. Certainly the last few years--going back to Ravnica in 2018--have started this process, and the next couple will continue it.

This is not to say that I don't see Greyhawk ever happening in some form or fashion, just that I think the chances that WotC would publish a GH setting book before or instead of an FR book are very slim, and extremely ill-advised from an economic standpoint. A GH book might sell reasonably well, but an FR setting book would sell like hot-cakes.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

The financial bottom line is that a Forgotten Realms book would almost certainly sell far more copies than a Greyhawk book. Remember, WotC's primary audience is new and younger, most of whom likely have no clue what "Greyhawk" is, but almost all of whom have actually played in the Forgotten Realms.

If anything, 2024 is a bit late for a full treatment of the Realms. On the other hand, it might signal a sea-change: that the first decade of 5E used the Realms as default, while moving forward it will be more diverse, not focusing on any singular world or setting. Certainly the last few years--going back to Ravnica in 2018--have started this process, and the next couple will continue it.

This is not to say that I don't see Greyhawk ever happening in some form or fashion, just that I think the chances that WotC would publish a GH setting book before or instead of an FR book are very slim, and extremely ill-advised from an economic standpoint. A GH book might sell reasonably well, but an FR setting book would sell like hot-cakes.

People say this all the time; "An FR Book would sell like hotcakes."

And yet, the folks at WotC only published the SCAG, and haven't published any FR setting book since, despite the wails that the SCAG is wholly inadequate.

Unless there's some actual data supporting this, it's really just a theory. If it was true, we'd likely have gotten it already.

Looking at Amazon sales rankings right now, the SCAG is only just ahead of Saltmarsh and Tales from the Yawning Portal (both Greyhakw books).

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Also, it looks like Wizards of the Coast just published a Forgotten Realms revisit... today.

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy (5e) - Wizards of the Coast | D&D 5th Edition | Dungeon Masters Guild

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy (5e) - All proceeds from this journal benefit Extra Life. Extra Life unites thousands of gamers around the world to play games

www.dmsguild.com

Includes more material for Baldur's Gate, but also Amn, Suldanessellar, and Ust Natha.

Is this the scary setting LMFAO. This isn't a revisit, so much as some side charity work.

 

[Mercurius]

People say this all the time; "An FR Book would sell like hotcakes."

And yet, the folks at WotC only published the SCAG, and haven't published any FR setting book since, despite the wails that the SCAG is wholly inadequate.

Unless there's some actual data supporting this, it's really just a theory. If it was true, we'd likely have gotten it already.

Looking at Amazon sales rankings right now, the SCAG is only just ahead of Saltmarsh and Tales from the Yawning Portal (both Greyhakw books).

Yes, it is a theory--or hypothesis, really. What else could it be?

But my reasoning is this:

For a large number of current D&D players, the Realms is all they know, and the books have--for the most part--only explored the Sword Coast. I'm guessing that a sizable portion of these folks would be interesting in seeing the world more fully detailed in a modernized way.

The FR is still the most popular and used setting in D&D history, probably far ahead of everything else (EN World isn't an accurate microcosm as it skews much older than the current fan-base, and thus older, classic settings seem far more popular than they are with the general fan-base. This may be especially true of Greyhawk, which hasn't had a dedicated setting book published since 2000 (Living Greyhawk Gazetteer).

But I agree that it is somewhat surprising that we haven't seen a full FR treatment yet. But that might be for reasons that we don't know: Maybe it was pushed back, or maybe they wanted to focus on expanding into other worlds, or maybe they wanted to wait and see.

I mean, it is only within the last few years that it has been made clear just how successful 5E is. While it was a success from the beginning, if I remember correctly the fan-base and sales didn't really start to spike until 2017-18ish, which is reflected in the increased publishing schedule from 2017 to '19.

My sense is that, for the first few years (2014-17), WotC was playing it safe and spartan with their publishing schedule, feeling things out--specifically how well it would do. It was clear early on that D&D was well-received, but it wasn't clear until about 2018, even 2019, that it was a smashing success. So it might be that they started to think differently about the future around then, including whether or not to do a fuller treatment of the Realms. So let's say they settled on doing a Realms book in 2019; the earliest we would have seen it is probably 2021-22. But by that point they had other ideas they were excited about, and wanted to publish first.

2024 also makes sense from an anniversary extravaganza POV: not only revised rulebooks, but other products, including a deluxe version of the game's most popular setting.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Is this the scary setting LMFAO. This isn't a revisit, so much as some side charity work.

It's the biggest charity work they've done so far I believe; 155 pages, and you can buy a hardcover version. Bought it myself, it's a nice looking product.

Probably not the scary setting.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

People say this all the time; "An FR Book would sell like hotcakes."

And yet, the folks at WotC only published the SCAG, and haven't published any FR setting book since, despite the wails that the SCAG is wholly inadequate.

Unless there's some actual data supporting this, it's really just a theory. If it was true, we'd likely have gotten it already.

Looking at Amazon sales rankings right now, the SCAG is only just ahead of Saltmarsh and Tales from the Yawning Portal (both Greyhakw books).

When explaining why of all D&D settings it was the Forgotten Realms was chosen WotC said the Forgotten Realms was their most popular setting, not even just the most popular D&D setting, the most popular setting they had. It's the setting that is getting/got multiple AAA games like BG3, and $100,000,000 movie and possibly a live action series. Not Greyhawk.

Tales of the Yawning Portal has FR material as well as Greyhawk and the name is a reference to a Waterdeep Tavern.

And the SCAG is one of the oldest products, I'm amazed it sells at all at this point. Why WotC has ignored calls for a new FR setting book is unknown, but I imagine they have been trying to figure what what they want to do with it and what form should it take. Do they just do a Faerun book, or do they do a box set with other parts of FR?

 

[Henadic Theologian]

It's the biggest charity work they've done so far I believe; 155 pages, and you can buy a hardcover version. Bought it myself, it's a nice looking product.

Probably not the scary setting.

It's still for charity, it's an extra life product, and it's really just a Baldur's Gate series tie in product.

 

[GuyBoy]

I think @Henadic Theologian asks a pertinent question about exactly what could go in a Greyhawk setting book. I think the same could be asked about FR too, but I’ll have a go at an answer.
Please accept the rider that I’m making no claim to be an expert, or that my suggestions are any better than anyone else’s. Also, in my earlier post, I stated that I’m not a Greyhawk purist, and that I’d support significant areas of Re-write; I say this because it is important that we reflect the positive changes in our own world since the 1970s and avoid the repugnance of the TSR3 debacle.

So, here goes...some ideas for Greyhawk at 50 setting:

• Maps
• New artwork
• Guide to states/countries inc city of Greyhawk
• History...and here’s where updates start; I’d advance 50 years from the last setting in terms of events and “where we are at.”
• Key adventure regions in depth eg Yatil Mountains, Depths of the Earth, Gnarley Forest
• Deities
• 20(?) Greyhawk adventure hooks
• Some key NPCs statted eg Iuz, Rary, Tasha plus some new figures from the advanced history
• A brand new Greyhawk adventure

I have made no attempt to structure a setting book at all, and these are just some ideas in response to a question. I’m happy for people to ignore, throw brickbats, improve or whatever.
As an aside, I’d love to see this celebration-product accompanied by a “Return to...” treatment of the Tsojcanth and Tharizdun modules, but I may be over-reaching here.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

2024 also makes sense from an anniversary extravaganza POV: not only revised rulebooks, but other products, including a deluxe version of the game's most popular setting.

I won't deny it makes sense... but a Greyhawk Anniversary book also makes sense. It's the very first setting, and there is clearly a nostalgia for that era from not just some players, but from WotC employees as well. More recent books are named after Mordenkainen and Tasha, not after Elminster.

I'll throw in another theory, that the revisit is another book for Exandria. It could be literally anything, but considering how 2024 would be two years into Campaign 3 of Critical Role, Marquet would very much make sense for a new book.

Anyway, my point is that FR, while the most probable candidate for this book, is not a lock-in here. I've often been surprised by what products WotC is willing to push in the 5E era.