darjr
I crit!
Another reason I think this is part of something bigger.
D&D 5E The Minsc and Book product
Demetrios1453
Hero
Well, in relation to hints we've been given, there's a blind beholder that Minsc can persuade to become an adventuring companion with you (matching the beholder-and-Boo cover art sneak peak we saw), and the two characters of the Adventurers' Guild patron group have a Spelljammer ship (not stated as such, but they recovered a magical steering wheel from a kraken, which allows their re-built ship to sail in space).
overgeeked
B/X Known World
Ohh...oh...oh...please. Please let it be Spelljammer.
Levistus's_Leviathan
5e Freelancer
People bash on Spelljammer for being ridiculous, but that's exactly why I love it. Spelljammer knows that "D&D in SPAAAAACE!!!" is a ridiculous concept, and leans into it. It doesn't take itself seriously, and that's how we get things like Steampunk Gnome ships piloted by Autognomes and powered by Giant Space Hamsters on Giant Hamster Wheels flying through an endless ocean of flammable rainbow gas and battling Mind Eating Space Platypuses (I know Mind Eaters did not originally come from Spelljammer, but they fit the theme too well to not be included).
overgeeked
B/X Known World
Same. Straight and serious D&D is so boring. It only gets interesting when it gets weird. Like Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. Or time travel in Blackmoor. Or all of the Known World / Mystara / Hollow World. Spelljammer was an idea ahead of its time. Its time has finally come. Again. I hope. Maybe the wider fan base D&D has now will be more accepting of Spelljammer. Especially with CR doing weird stuff and mixing in some minor SF and with Eberron being...this close...to Spelljammer. Add guns, giff, and go out there.
Benjamin Olson
Hero
Based on the cover using the knockoff tradedress and dmsguild trademark permitted on dmsguild, but not the actual D&D trademark, my guess was that this was not an official WotC product when the cover was designed, but rather something given "official" status last minute.
Levistus's_Leviathan
5e Freelancer
Like Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron?
Demetrios1453
Hero
Now that I'm actually getting to read through it, the group patron section has a lot of really good stuff if you are wanting to run a campaign with a patron. Instead of generic examples like in Tasha's, it gives some setting-specific (and more specifically, Baldur's Gate and Amn specific) patrons, with some really nice perks. Although they are FR-specific, it would take minimal work to port them to another setting, as most of them are archetypes (military org, big library, nature group, multi-city thieves guild, etc...). I especially like the Church of Sune as a group patron; Sune as the goddess of love and beauty usually isn't one you think of that would sponsor adventurers, but this book explains how that would work very nicely...
Weiley31
Legend
Not that I know of, but both Neverwinter and Baldur's Gate exist in the Forgotten Realms/Sword Coast. That's the only thing I can think of for the reasoning unless somebody in the credits list is a huge fan of Neverwinter Nights 1.
I mean heck, we even have The final boss of the Shadows of the Undrentide expansion, Mesphistopheles in this as well. So it wouldn't be surprising if that was the case.
