The 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide is Chris Perkins' Last Book as Product Lead

Chris Perkins will no longer serve as a Product Lead for official D&D books.

chris perkins hed.jpg


Chris Perkins has said that the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide is the last official D&D product he'll be working on as a product lead. Yesterday, a number of sites (including EN World!) posted previews and reviews of the upcoming 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide. Interestingly, Polygon's coverage of the 2024 DMG contained an extra quote from Chris Perkins, stating that the book was his last as a product lead.

“Although I made substantial contributions to the Monster Manual (2025) and the next D&D starter set, the Dungeon Master’s Guide (2024) is the last official D&D book in which I’m credited as a product lead,” Perkins said to Polygon. “Knowing that, I tried to stuff as much of my DM brain into [...] that book as would fit. Whether that’s a gift to the community or not, I’ll let the users decide.”

Perkins is currently a Game Architect for Dungeons & Dragons and helps manage the design team for the game. He's also served as a lead story designer for several campaign-focused adventures. He's also been a long-time face of Dungeons & Dragons, appearing at conventions, Actual Play shows, and marketing videos as an authority on the game and its past, present, and future.

EN World has reached out to Wizards of the Coast for additional context about Perkins' comment and his role with the company. We'll note that Perkins is a part of the marketing cycle for the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, so he doesn't appear to have left the company.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer

He's 56 so I assume not far from retiring...

Perkins seemed to be overly fond of whimsy, and I don't think I'll ever forgive him for being the instigator of the mishandling of Ravenloft in 5E, but he is the last man standing since the TSR days, and looking at how the newer content has been going....
perkingsmeme.jpg
 

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He's 56 so I assume not far from retiring...

Perkins seemed to be overly fond of whimsy, and I don't think I'll ever forgive him for being the instigator of the mishandling of Ravenloft in 5E, but he is the last man standing since the TSR days, and looking at how the newer content has been going....View attachment 383103

What do you mean he was the instigator for the mishandling of 5e Ravenloft? More details please what did he do?
 

EthanSental

Legend
Supporter
That’s my question as well. Curse of Strahd was top notch and the Ravenloft book is my guess but not sure either. I haven’t really read through that book in any detail but Amazon has 228 reviews for a 4.8 total so to each his own on preferences.
 

Zardnaar

Legend
That’s my question as well. Curse of Strahd was top notch and the Ravenloft book is my guess but not sure either. I haven’t really read through that book in any detail but Amazon has 228 reviews for a 4.8 total so to each his own on preferences.

Amazon reviews are fairly useless.

Curse of Strahd is good. The ravenloft book has very little player facing content. Depends on if you played old Ravenloft.

Relative to the better 5E settings it's mediocre eg Theros, Eberron, Exandria. If you're a Ravenloft purist it's crap. If you're a 5E purist it's outclassed by other 5E content. IMHO of course. As always ymmv.
 

Gorck

Prince of Dorkness
If you guys are referring to Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, Chris Perkins is not the Project Lead, Art Director, or listed as any of the Writers. His sole credit, as far as I can tell, is in the Rules Development section. I’m not sure if that qualifies as “being the instigator of the mishandling of Ravenloft in 5E.”
 

Tales and Chronicles

Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
If you guys are referring to Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, Chris Perkins is not the Project Lead, Art Director, or listed as any of the Writers. His sole credit, as far as I can tell, is in the Rules Development section. I’m not sure if that qualifies as “being the instigator of the mishandling of Ravenloft in 5E.”
And "mishandling" being removing problematic elements and merging the various domains into interrelated land mass. What a scandal!
 

Parmandur

Book-Friend, he/him
If you guys are referring to Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, Chris Perkins is not the Project Lead, Art Director, or listed as any of the Writers. His sole credit, as far as I can tell, is in the Rules Development section. I’m not sure if that qualifies as “being the instigator of the mishandling of Ravenloft in 5E.”
I dunno exactly what is being responded to here, but Chris Perkins wrote Curse of Strahd, which had the concept of being Tracy Hickman's Ravenloft, rather than being based on the 2E Setting which Hickman hated. And Curse of Dtrahd is the cornerstone of modern Ravenloft, so it is a departure from the 2E approach: good, I say.
 
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