Two New Settings For D&D This Year

if it comes out this year i would agree with you. Possibly published by a third party company that has a good reputation (Green Ronin etc)

However if it’s coming next year I would stake all the money in my pockets that it will be a Curse of Strahd style book. Campaign with background and new monsters etc. Curse of Strahd was too successful not to repeat!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I suspect it will be a merged Spelljammer/Planescape setting, with ties to Skullport.

My personal preferences would have been Dark Sum or Star Frontiers 5e, but I will be happy with that. But anything different is welcome.

 

[gyor]

I'm leaning towards a planar travel guide which folds in basics of planescape and spelljammer as the method of transportation for planar travels. Maybe the location will be sigil as a crossover point from Faerun to a port city.

This makes the most sense to me too, it'd be the easiest to add to AL and yet more distinct setting too.

 

[CapnZapp]

According to ComicBook.com, WotC's Brand Director, Nathan Stewart, told them that WotC plans to open up a couple more D&D settings for play later this year. He said "It's going to be more like at the level of how Barovia [introduced in the Curse of Strahd adventure storyline] is in terms of stuff. Here's a thing that's going to give you a taste of the setting, but we're not going to that setting yet, we're just letting you get in there and start doing it."

View attachment 98137

​

What?

Why did you add images of Spelljammer and Dark Sun directly below Stewart's statement? That just creates the implication those two images was the "thing" he was talking about. He was not. From comicbook.com:

Here's a thing that's going to give you a taste of the setting, but we're not going to that setting yet, we're just letting you get in there and start doing it."

Stewart compared the unrevealed product to Waterdeep: Dungeon Heist

Note - no pictures between these two paragraphs.

Neither Waterdeep nor Barovia can in any way be compared to a full-blown setting like those pictured.​

 

[Von Ether]

I'm curious if they plan to stick to their earlier comments that the developers see the different settings as different genres.

That would make the books even cooler. You get a mini-setting, some classic monsters/adventure and some tips on how to run a certain genre in D&D.

That's a nice way to keep things fresh for a while.

UPDATE

Stewart compared the unrevealed product to Waterdeep: Dungeon Heist

DH is an urban spaces/heist toolkit. So the genre idea could still float.

 

[Morrus]

What?

Why did you add images of Spelljammer and Dark Sun directly below Stewart's statement?

And Planescape. Those are my three guesses.

 

[gyor]

A Planescape/Spelljammer setting book would make the smoothest transition from FR to all the other settings too, because you usually have to tranverse Planescape or Spelljammer to get from FR to other settings unlike you find a rare portal directly between them.

 

[CapnZapp]

I really really hope Eberron is among the settings to be supported soon

I think Planescape is more likely - more directly compatible with and insertable in regular Realms adventures.

Note how nothing so far points towards a publication that cannot be used with all existing content.

WotC has indeed learnt TSR's lesson. I think they will do everything they can to support legacy gamer interests short of actually splitting the player base.

 

[Jer]

I suspect that what we'll be getting are digital exclusive releases from DM's Guild. "Two surprises coming this summer" are things that would have to be announced and ready to ship by now if they were physical products. I'll put a marker down to say my guess is that those will be two lightweight setting guides that are maybe beefier than a Plane Shift setting book but not a full scale Curse of Strahd adventure/setting combo either. They might be free like the Plane Shift books or they might be available for a nominal charge on DM's Guild - possibly with a POD option.

The third one is the one that I think could be a physical product given what we've seen so far. Announcing in July to have on the shelves for fall/Christmas sounds about right. I suspect that if it is it's either going to be Planescape or Dark Sun. Planescape allows for a more "generic" adventure that fits their current model as it could be used like Curse of Strahd where characters from the Realms get swept up into some kind of planar adventure. Dark Sun would be the opposite - it's a world that is so different from standard D&D that trying it as a standalone book separate from the rest of the line makes a degree of sense. I suppose it could be Spelljammer as that fits the same model as Planescape, but my gut says Planescape would be less niche and more likely to be picked up by players only interested in playing in the Realms.

(I strongly doubt that we'll be getting any hardcover Greyhawk, Birthright or Mystara anytime soon. Would be nice to see them opened up on DM's Guild though.)

 

[CapnZapp]

And Planescape. Those are my three guesses.

The way the news item is formatted it looks as if those are Nathan Stewart's words (or images as it were).

 

[CapnZapp]

Do we have any indication psionics is ready for prime-time? I would have thought there would be at least one full year's worth of a new UA pass still ahead?

If so, guessing Dark Sun is wishful thinking - they won't open up that setting without psionics being ready for publication.