D&D (2024) "The Future of D&D" (New Core Books in 2024!)

The online D&D Celebration event, which has been running all weekend, comes to a close with The Future of D&D, a panel featuring WotC's Ray Winninger, Liz Schuh, Chris Perkins, and Jeremy Crawford, hosted by Elle Osili-Wood.

D&D is exploring the multiverse
Revisiting classic settings. 1st of 3 settings (Ravenloft) released this year. Next year, the other two major classic D&D settings come out. Both in formats they've never published products before.

Plus a "little peek" at a third classic D&D setting - a cameo.

In 2023, yet another classic setting is coming out.

Evolving D&D
Because of new players, they're always listening. Exploring new styles of play (like no combat needed in Wild Beyond the Witchlight). Also presentation of monsters and spells. New product formats. More adventure anthologies.

Making products easier to use. Ways to create the best experience. Experimenting and looking into technology.

Approaches to Design
Wild Beyond the Witchlight has interior design and tools to make running the adventure easier. Story tracker, guidance.

Beyond the books, they want to make different and varied products - packaging and form factor. Things different to hardcovers and boxed sets.

A blog post is coming soon detailing some of the changes, with more to come in future posts.

50th Anniversary in 2024
They've begun work on new versions of the core rulebooks. Recent surveys tie into that. They're still making plans, but expect more surveys. More will be said next year.

They will be completely compatible!

New experiences in the digital arena.

January Gift Set
Rules Expansion Gift Set -- Xanathar, Tasha, and a new book: Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. All in a slipcase. Was intended for the Holidays, but global production issues mean January instead. There's also an alternate cover version.

D&D 5E - A Closer Look At January's D&D Rules Expansion Gift Set

WotC earlier announced a D&D Rules Expansion Gift Set for January, which includes three books - Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and the new Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. These were intended for the holidays, but the global production issues...

www.enworld.org

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse
A treasure trove of creature related material from previous products compiled into one book and updated.

Opportunity to update material with a feel for how the 50th Anniversary books will be.

Improvements based on feedback, rebalancing, new and old art.

Over 250 monsters, and 30 playable races. All of the setting agnostic races that have been published outside the Player's Handbook.

Some content from Witchlight, Fizban's, and Strixhaven was influenced by Mordenkainen's.

Available first in the gift set, but separately later in the year.

Monsters alphabetized throughout rather than using subsections.

D&D 5E - Zooming In On Monsters of the Multiverse [UPDATED!]

Earlier, WotC announced Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse, a new D&D compilation of monster material from previous products updated to a new format. These screen grabs are as good as I could get them. They're not terribly clear, but you can make more out than in the original...

www.enworld.org

Stat block changes --

Spellcasting trait is gone. Spellcasting action, slimmed down. Spellcasting monsters need less prep.

Spell slots are gone for NPCs. Regular actions that would have once been spells.

It was too easy for a DM to use spells which result in the monster having a too low effective CR.

Monsters can be friends or foes, and some magic will help rather than hinder PCs.

Where are we going?
More adventure anthologies. Another classic setting fairly soon.

Two all-new settings. Completely new. In development stage, an 'exploration' phase, testing the viability of them. They might not see the light of day.

Retooling nostalgia and blending it with new concepts. A blend of things that you know, and things that they have never done before.

In the short term -- more news next month about a new product for 2022 which goes into a new scary place we've never been before.

Boo the miniature giant space hamster
Below is an sketch from Hydro74's alt cover, which features Boo the miniature giant space hamster.

 

[Shardstone]

5E is crunchier than PF2 in that regard. 5E has a four action economy. That's one more than PF2, so 5E wins, right?

This just shows you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Marandahir]

No you misunderstood my idea, a Elven Samurai who NOT inspired by Japanese culture beyond the basic skill set of a Samurai, like their aesthetic is more elvish and even celtic then Japanese, but with simular skills to Japanese Samurai. Maybe the Elf only started calling themselves a Samurai because that us what the Shou he met kept calling him.

That sounds like appropriation and pigeonholing the concept of a Samurai into these very narrow tropes of kiai shouts etc. At best, you're playing The Last Samurai.

Why not just have the subclass be something that can encapsulate samurai or other noble knightly orders and use a term that doesn't reflect a single real world culture?

As I said above, just calling what is now the "Samurai" a Battle Master and giving the maneuvers to all Fighters as an option would do wonders to resolve this issue. There's a reason that Ninja, Wu Jen, and Shugenja don't appear in 5e D&D, despite having appeared in past editions in various forms dating back all the way to Oriental Adventurers. There's a reason we don't have an Oriental Adventures book for 5e. There's a reason we don't have a Kara-Tur or Kamigawa book. These are all white guy's appropriations and amalgamations of various Asian cultures, to great detriment. There's a reason that Monk continues to get blowback for even existing as a class.

You can still do that trope of a non-Japanese person becoming a Samurai without WotC enshrining it in the rules. Why can't a Champion or Battle Master or Cavalier or Banneret or Psi Warrior be Samurai? Why do we need a specific "Samurai" subclass? These are legitimate issues the game hasn't grappled with because they rushed a concept by "rule of cool" without giving fair consideration to the hurtful consequences.

I'm not saying there isn't a place for Wuxia or Martial Arts film or Samurai film or Tale of Genji / Romance of the Three Kingdoms courtly politics in D&D. There most definitely is. The point is that it has to be led with respect and inclusiveness without exoticism of the source material. The Samurai subclass is an exoticism. And it should be led best foot forward by empowering AAPI game creators and letting them tell the stories they want to bring to life.

 

[Scribe]

I really dislike that Samurai is a subclass. Like dislike it a ton.

 

[overgeeked]

This just shows you don't know what you're talking about.

Or it's a joke over a silly metric to decide which game to play.

 

[Filthy Lucre]

Or it's a joke over a silly metric to decide which game to play.

Question begging. It's not a silly metric since it's a function of complexity/tactical options. I obviously don't think it's a silly metric.

 

[Faolyn]

Three actions in one turn*. Do you know know how PF2e actions work?
In case not, PF2e action economy is that everything gets three actions on its turn, a reaction, and free actions also exist. Doing just about anything is at least one action, so problems I have with 5e go away. I.e.: knocking enemies down/tripping isn't so worthless.

Yeah, I've seen that. It's one of the things I actually like about PF2.

 

[darjr]

I just follow the advice in the book and use “my character makes the sound of X to communicate Y.” No need to try to imitate other players or create an IRL communication obstacle. The inability to speak except through mimicry is cool flavor, but it shouldn’t become an annoyance or a barrier to gameplay.

Yea, that sounds like a player problem.

 

[Helldritch]

About half of the 5e D&D books have some form of official errata. The errata is not necessary to enjoy the books but if you want to understand the changing intent of the designers, or in some cases better wording of the original intent, you should download the errata or buy the reprinting of the material.

Volo's was errata'd yes, twice - in 2017 and 2020. The 2020 errata includes the changes made to Orcs in Eberron & Widemount, and to Tritons in Theros, alongside a bunch of other tweaks.

Curse of Strahd was errata'd in 2020 and the book with the errata worked in was what made it into Curse of Strahd Revamped.

You can find all the links to the current Errata documents in the most recent release of Sage Advice.

The thing where they say I can not have a punchadin in my games? No thank you. SA isn't for me. But thanks for pointing it out.

 

[darjr]

 

[Remathilis]

That sounds like appropriation and pigeonholing the concept of a Samurai into these very narrow tropes of kiai shouts etc. At best, you're playing The Last Samurai.

Why not just have the subclass be something that can encapsulate samurai or other noble knightly orders and use a term that doesn't reflect a single real world culture?

As I said above, just calling what is now the "Samurai" a Battle Master and giving the maneuvers to all Fighters as an option would do wonders to resolve this issue. There's a reason that Ninja, Wu Jen, and Shugenja don't appear in 5e D&D, despite having appeared in past editions in various forms dating back all the way to Oriental Adventurers. There's a reason we don't have an Oriental Adventures book for 5e. There's a reason we don't have a Kara-Tur or Kamigawa book. These are all white guy's appropriations and amalgamations of various Asian cultures, to great detriment. There's a reason that Monk continues to get blowback for even existing as a class.

You can still do that trope of a non-Japanese person becoming a Samurai without WotC enshrining it in the rules. Why can't a Champion or Battle Master or Cavalier or Banneret or Psi Warrior be Samurai? Why do we need a specific "Samurai" subclass? These are legitimate issues the game hasn't grappled with because they rushed a concept by "rule of cool" without giving fair consideration to the hurtful consequences.

I'm not saying there isn't a place for Wuxia or Martial Arts film or Samurai film or Tale of Genji / Romance of the Three Kingdoms courtly politics in D&D. There most definitely is. The point is that it has to be led with respect and inclusiveness without exoticism of the source material. The Samurai subclass is an exoticism. And it should be led best foot forward by empowering AAPI game creators and letting them tell the stories they want to bring to life.

To be honest, you're fighting the flaw of a class based system. Classes and subclasses evoke fantasy tropes that are sometimes rooted in specific cultures. There is no way to attack samurai as insensitive but defend druid, monk, bard, cavalier, paladin, witch, berserker, etc. You either need to accept a certain level of pigeonholing or go to a classless system.