Second Dungeons & Dragons Product for Fall 2018: Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Wizards of the Coast announced the second product for Fall 2018, Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage.

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A video promotion from D&D Beyond (linked below) aired at the end of the Saturday events on the "Stream of Many Eyes" and was uploaded to YouTube shortly after. The book will be a megadungeon that runs from Level 6-20 that details 23 different levels to Undermountain each with their own feel and theme, along with a full detailing of Skullport. It's stated in the video that running the module with weekly sessions will take at least eight months. Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage will be out November 13, 2018, with an MSRP of $49.95.

[video=youtube;wbVRQIOuI8s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbVRQIOuI8s[/video]
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This is the second product announced during the "Stream of Many Eyes" event on the Dungeons & Dragons Twitch channel. The event will continue on Sunday with celebrity games and potentially more product announcements from third-party companies like Gale Force Nine. The first product announced, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (along with a special dice set), were announced on Friday, June 1.

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[gyor]

Is Halaster supposed to be a derro? They kept emphasizing him as a "Mad Mage", and he certainly has the grayish skin tone of the Derro.

He was human, an ancient Archwizard of Imaskar Empire (the original Imaskar not High Imaskar). What he is now, is something more then that, he died, but because of his connection to Undermountain, it brought him back to life. Its like he's the Avatar of Undermountain, still has Archwizard skills, but he also has the powers of Undermountain.

As an immortal Halaster would make an awesome Patron for a Undying Patron Warlock.

 

[Mercurius]

Its tiring to see yet another "OMG Realmz Suxx!!!" every time we get a new book. Especially since D&D, unlike a video game or other media, is easily adaptable to whatever you actually want it to be. Change the names, adapt the setting to your preferred world, and don't sit here whining about how WotC won't do the work for you. It was a tired argument three editions ago.

Fixed

Seriously though, while I'm mildly sympathetic to fans of other settings who feel they are being neglected, as a person who doesn't have a preferred setting other than his own homebrew, I think it is hard to refute the view that the Realms is the best overall setting as the default for the D&D game. It doesn't have the flavor of other settings, but it does have its own distinct flavor; it is popular, well-known, and pretty much has a bit of everything; and it is also relatively easy to port into other settings. There is no other setting that allows for the diversity of adventures and has the depth and breadth of lore...or, at least, there is no setting that is better suited for their purposes.

I have less sympathy for "Mystararage" (or rage around any of the "second tier"--in terms of popularity--settings). I mean, it has essentially been out of print for over two decades...I'm not sure why anyone is expecting some great revival.

That said, I do like the idea of WotC unlocking the settings for DM's Guild. I also love the idea of more setting books, but it is also hard to knock the approach they've taken. There is always going to be an unhappy minority, and I am impressed with how small the minority is with 5E. They really have done a remarkable job of pleasing as many people as possible, both new and old. Maybe part of this is that there are so many other options--e.g. Pathfinder, OSR, etc--for those who don't dig 5E.

Anyhow, for better or worse, the Realms endures. Blackmoor was pretty much the 70s only; Greyhawk peaked in the 70s-80s; Dragonlance and Mystara in the 80s; Dark Sun, Birthright, Spelljammer, and Planescape in the 90s; Eberron in the 00s. The Realms was first published in the 80s and has flourished since. No other setting has endured like it has in terms of sustained popularity.

All that said, it does seem the time is ripe for a new setting to be developed. Eberron was the last major setting to be developed by WotC and that was, what, 15 years ago? Nentir Vale never really gots its day, but maybe that suits its particular history. So what could be next? Are we stuck with "legacy settings?"

p.s. These adventures sounds great - excited to see them.

 

[Zarithar]

Waterdeep Heist had me intrigued. This has me rushing to pre-order both books!

 

[Grimstaff]

A few months ago I was pondering a Waterdeep / Undermountain campaign, I stil have some of the 1e/2e stuff. Apparently WotC was looking over my shoulder that day.

Scary. Good scary, but scary nonetheless.

 

[M.T. Black]

Crapbaskets, I had this earlier off Twitter and I can't find it now...

There it is. Dan Dillon, Lysa Chen, and James Introcaso.

Also, Alan Patrick, Travis Woodall, Greg Marks and some others. So plenty of folk who got their start in the Guild or in AL

 

[DM Howard]

I'm excited for both of these books!

In regards to yet another FR book, I can see both sides. I will say that the "you can get what you want on DriveThruRPG" argument would be a lot easier to swallow if the main campaign settings books were POD.

I really enjoy the Forgotten Realms, so it is all good for me, but I can't say that I wouldn't enjoy some Eberron or Greyhawk action besides name dropping in sidebars in the books.

 

[M.T. Black]

In terms of other settings, I'm guessing that most levels of the megadungeon can be transported elsewhere with little to no modification. So if you want to place it beneath Castle Greyhawk on Oerth, or beneath Skullcap on Krynn, or wherever, should be easy.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Three products, hundreds of pages, and nothing outside Forgotten Realms.
I'm very disappointed about that.
It is now clear, at least for me, that we will never see anything about some of the oldest and not-so-known settings (like Mystara, for example).
I can understand wotc behaviour, they have to produce books that sell, and FR definetely sells, what I cannot understand is keeping the settings locked on DMsGuild. I'm totally sure that for each wotc boss worried about profit there are a lot of fans willing to develop not profitable settings. I'm one of them.

When was the last time a Mystara product was published? Maybe a handful of pages in a Dragon article back in the early 2000's? In terms of actual stand-alone products, nothing since AD&D, so you're looking at 20+ years.

I think that setting is all but dead. Whatever has been published for it is very likely to be all that is ever going to be published for it.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I agree. I mean seriously a city adventure chasing a pot of gold in a big independent city linked to a nearby dungeon created by a long missing mad arch mage. Hmmm I reckon I could port that across to a certain large Free city on Oerth and link it to a nearby dungeon created by ..... Wait for it...,,, yes a long missing mad arch mage.

Castle Greyhawk?

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Pssst... Not everyone can.

Technically everyone can make up their own settings and adventures.

Now they may not be anywhere as good as a published adventure or setting, but anyone with the ability to DM a game has the ability to make up their own stories and/or setting.

Lack of time to create their own adventures or setting may be an issue for some people though.