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!

 

[Staffan]

Now that is intriguing. Is WotC going to farm out Forgotten Realms regions to 3rd parties? That would be an interesting and welcome development, as long as that are done well!

You also have this being released via the DM's Guild.

 

[bmfrosty]

You also have this being released via the DM's Guild.

Ooh. That's interesting. This setting was release for AL use for Game Hole Con. I didn't expect a campaign guide. Super interesting.

 

[bmfrosty]

That's two settings, right? Game over. Nothing to see here.

 

[Remathilis]

[MENTION=5142]Aldarc[/MENTION] exactly that.

Eberron has colored Dragons, but they are not necessary of eveil alignment. They got Orc druids. Hobgoblins, Kobolds can peacefully roam around in cities. Drow revere scorpions instead of Spiders. So many things are there but most with a Twist.

Fluffwise it may be the Setting which is hardest to converse, e.g. you just cannot pick the Monster manual and select a red Dragon as the next oponent because chances are that he is one of the good guys.

So that is totally against the core rules by [MENTION=7635]Remathilis[/MENTION] Definition.

Except its not.

Remember, a world COLORS the core rules. Dragons not necessarily being Evil colors the perception, but it doesn't change either the mechanics or the assumptions of dragons. You're not saying they are 10,000 feet tall, covered in pink fur, breathe hot buttered rum as a breath weapon and can only talk sdrawkcab, they are still dragons with a potentially different outlook. Drow might patriarchal scorpion-worshipping jungle-dwellers, but they are still majority EVIL and fill the same general antagonistic niche the MM ones do.

I get most people want to represent my point as "The PHB is inflexible and ALL games must obey it", but its a lot more nuanced than that. To whit.

Player: Hi, I'm new to this group but I have my PHB. What are we playing?
DM: This game is set in Eberron.
Player: Oh, Ok. I wasn't expecting that. I made a halfling rogue...
DM: That's OK! You can play a halfling, they tend to be nomadic dinosaur riders, but some live in cities like everyone else, or are scouts...
Player: Wait, did you say DINOSAUR RIDER?!?
DM: Yeah, they use small ones as mounts.
Player: That's cool! I want a dinosaur mount? Can I get one?
Sure, you'd need to talk to House Vadalis to buy a mount...
Player: House Vadalis?
DM: Yeah, houses control various trades in Eberron, each house is made up of an extended family, usually by race...
Player: Are their halflings ones?
DM: Sure. House Jorasco are healers, and House Ghallandra are hospitalers.
Player: Cool, I want to be from House Ghallandra and maybe I'm a rogue because I stole money from guests or something...
DM: Sure, we'll hammer those details out.

Compare to...
Player: Hi, I'm new to this group but I have my PHB. What are we playing?
DM: This game is set in Dark Sun.
Player: Oh, Ok. I wasn't expecting that. I made a tiefling monk...
DM: Sorry, but tieflings don't exist in Dark Sun as its removed from the planes. No plane-touched races do. And Monks aren't part of Dark Sun's feel and they aren't hampered by primitive equipment. Sorry, you'll need a new PC.
Player: Oh, uh. Can I be a half-orc or a dragonborn? How about something like a bard or warlock?
DM: Sorry, neither of those races exist, and bards are really rogues with the assassin subclass and warlocks are all Templars. You can be a bug-person or a half-dwarf!
Player: No, that's fine, I'll play a human fighter.
DM: OK. Keep in mind you can only be a champion or a battlemaster, as there are no samurai, cavaliers, arcane archers, or eldritch knights on Athas. You can take Psychic Warrior though!
Player: Actually, I think the local game store is hosting Friday Night Magic. I just got a new merfolk deck I want to try. Thanks anyway...

Both worlds created characters that would fit their setting; but one did it by offering interesting additions and changes, the other just kept restricting the player's options to ones that "fit". One feels welcoming, the other gatekeeping.

 

[gyor]

Except its not.

Remember, a world COLORS the core rules. Dragons not necessarily being Evil colors the perception, but it doesn't change either the mechanics or the assumptions of dragons. You're not saying they are 10,000 feet tall, covered in pink fur, breathe hot buttered rum as a breath weapon and can only talk sdrawkcab, they are still dragons with a potentially different outlook. Drow might patriarchal scorpion-worshipping jungle-dwellers, but they are still majority EVIL and fill the same general antagonistic niche the MM ones do.

I get most people want to represent my point as "The PHB is inflexible and ALL games must obey it", but its a lot more nuanced than that. To whit.

Player: Hi, I'm new to this group but I have my PHB. What are we playing?
DM: This game is set in Eberron.
Player: Oh, Ok. I wasn't expecting that. I made a halfling rogue...
DM: That's OK! You can play a halfling, they tend to be nomadic dinosaur riders, but some live in cities like everyone else, or are scouts...
Player: Wait, did you say DINOSAUR RIDER?!?
DM: Yeah, they use small ones as mounts.
Player: That's cool! I want a dinosaur mount? Can I get one?
Sure, you'd need to talk to House Vadalis to buy a mount...
Player: House Vadalis?
DM: Yeah, houses control various trades in Eberron, each house is made up of an extended family, usually by race...
Player: Are their halflings ones?
DM: Sure. House Jorasco are healers, and House Ghallandra are hospitalers.
Player: Cool, I want to be from House Ghallandra and maybe I'm a rogue because I stole money from guests or something...
DM: Sure, we'll hammer those details out.

Compare to...
Player: Hi, I'm new to this group but I have my PHB. What are we playing?
DM: This game is set in Dark Sun.
Player: Oh, Ok. I wasn't expecting that. I made a tiefling monk...
DM: Sorry, but tieflings don't exist in Dark Sun as its removed from the planes. No plane-touched races do. And Monks aren't part of Dark Sun's feel and they aren't hampered by primitive equipment. Sorry, you'll need a new PC.
Player: Oh, uh. Can I be a half-orc or a dragonborn? How about something like a bard or warlock?
DM: Sorry, neither of those races exist, and bards are really rogues with the assassin subclass and warlocks are all Templars. You can be a bug-person or a half-dwarf!
Player: No, that's fine, I'll play a human fighter.
DM: OK. Keep in mind you can only be a champion or a battlemaster, as there are no samurai, cavaliers, arcane archers, or eldritch knights on Athas. You can take Psychic Warrior though!
Player: Actually, I think the local game store is hosting Friday Night Magic. I just got a new merfolk deck I want to try. Thanks anyway...

Both worlds created characters that would fit their setting; but one did it by offering interesting additions and changes, the other just kept restricting the player's options to ones that "fit". One feels welcoming, the other gatekeeping.

Darksun is not intended to be newbie friendly as say FR, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, or heck even Eberron or Planescape. Darksun is for those bored with more typical settings.

 

[Remathilis]

Thing is, MtG doesn't really have a core - not anymore. It used to be Dominaria, but until this year's nostalgia-focused expansion set, the last time Magic went to Dominaria was Time Spiral block which was over a decade ago. The commonalities are mostly in the colors themselves - both in what they can do (e.g. Green having big creatures, pump effects, and land ramping) and what they represent (Green represents, among other things, growth). That kind of thing would be hard to transfer over to D&D without rewriting it completely, moreso than even Dark Sun.

I've liked that the Plane Shift articles have mostly avoided creating some new form of magic system or classes in favor of "fudging it" by using the PHB classes to kindasorta replicate various casters of different color(s). The Cleric class, for example, is a decent White representative, with the domain they select determining if they are mono W, Orhoz, Selesnya, Boros, or Azorius. Druids similarly are default Green, but their subclass and spell choices can splash other colors in as well. Its not perfect, but it works well enough for Magic-flavored D&D.

That said, I can't imagine this product is MTG related. Stewart says "We have two surprises that I think hardcore D&D fans are really going to love coming this summer, and then I think we got one surprise that's going to release later this year that we've not told anyone about. We're going to announce it in July." Hardcore D&D fans aren't going to go gaga over MTG. This is tied to D&D and its multiverse. They might be room for Magic's later, but THIS is for D&D fans first.

 

[Zeromaru X]

Darksun is not intended to be newbie friendly as say FR, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, or heck even Eberron or Planescape. Darksun is for those bored with more typical settings.

That is true... Wayback in 2e. As of 4e, Dark Sun is just another D&D. Darker and grittier, yes. But it is a setting for all players.

And we have to take into account that a 5e Dark Sun will catter to the new players that started playing D&D with 5e, not only those that came from 4e or 2e.

So, its no easy task to please old school fans under these circumstances

 

[Remathilis]

Darksun is not intended to be newbie friendly as say FR, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, or heck even Eberron or Planescape. Darksun is for those bored with more typical settings.

Which honestly, is why its better its own game then. Its already being aimed at a niche market of a niche market (bored, experienced players looking for a S&S setting), you might as well go whole-hog and redo the rulebook to match it. Maybe licence it out to a 3pp who doesn't mind only selling 10,000's of copies. In fact, the worst thing they could do is market it like another Mordenkainens' Tome of Foes or Tomb of Annihilation style supplement.

 

[SkidAce]

Except its not.

Remember, a world COLORS the core rules. Dragons not necessarily being Evil colors the perception, but it doesn't change either the mechanics or the assumptions of dragons. You're not saying they are 10,000 feet tall, covered in pink fur, breathe hot buttered rum as a breath weapon and can only talk sdrawkcab, they are still dragons with a potentially different outlook. Drow might patriarchal scorpion-worshipping jungle-dwellers, but they are still majority EVIL and fill the same general antagonistic niche the MM ones do.

I get most people want to represent my point as "The PHB is inflexible and ALL games must obey it", but its a lot more nuanced than that. To whit.

Player: Hi, I'm new to this group but I have my PHB. What are we playing?
DM: This game is set in Eberron.
Player: Oh, Ok. I wasn't expecting that. I made a halfling rogue...
DM: That's OK! You can play a halfling, they tend to be nomadic dinosaur riders, but some live in cities like everyone else, or are scouts...
Player: Wait, did you say DINOSAUR RIDER?!?
DM: Yeah, they use small ones as mounts.
Player: That's cool! I want a dinosaur mount? Can I get one?
Sure, you'd need to talk to House Vadalis to buy a mount...
Player: House Vadalis?
DM: Yeah, houses control various trades in Eberron, each house is made up of an extended family, usually by race...
Player: Are their halflings ones?
DM: Sure. House Jorasco are healers, and House Ghallandra are hospitalers.
Player: Cool, I want to be from House Ghallandra and maybe I'm a rogue because I stole money from guests or something...
DM: Sure, we'll hammer those details out.

Compare to...
Player: Hi, I'm new to this group but I have my PHB. What are we playing?
DM: This game is set in Dark Sun.
Player: Oh, Ok. I wasn't expecting that. I made a tiefling monk...
DM: Sorry, but tieflings don't exist in Dark Sun as its removed from the planes. No plane-touched races do. And Monks aren't part of Dark Sun's feel and they aren't hampered by primitive equipment. Sorry, you'll need a new PC.
Player: Oh, uh. Can I be a half-orc or a dragonborn? How about something like a bard or warlock?
DM: Sorry, neither of those races exist, and bards are really rogues with the assassin subclass and warlocks are all Templars. You can be a bug-person or a half-dwarf!
Player: No, that's fine, I'll play a human fighter.
DM: OK. Keep in mind you can only be a champion or a battlemaster, as there are no samurai, cavaliers, arcane archers, or eldritch knights on Athas. You can take Psychic Warrior though!
Player: Actually, I think the local game store is hosting Friday Night Magic. I just got a new merfolk deck I want to try. Thanks anyway...

Both worlds created characters that would fit their setting; but one did it by offering interesting additions and changes, the other just kept restricting the player's options to ones that "fit". One feels welcoming, the other gatekeeping.

Or,

Player: Hi, I'm new to the group and saw your Dark Sun advertisement. Sounds neat. Let's play.
DM: OK.


I mean, do people join in a vacuum a lot? Dont they discuss a lot of things (where playing, what level, what setting, whos the DM? etc.)?

Certainly the Dark Sun campaign is just as capable of offering "interesting additions and changes"?

 

[Mouseferatu]

Anyone who makes a character without talking to the DM first is already starting off on the wrong foot. An enormous percentage of homebrew worlds also have restrictions.

Or maybe the world doesn't have restrictions, but the campaign is one in which all PCs have to be members of the royal court of a human kingdom.

Or maybe the world and the campaign don't have restrictions, but the party of five already has two monks in it, and the DM really doesn't want any more for balance reasons.

The example of "Oh, I didn't expect that, I created a tiefling monk" isn't convincing in the slightest, because it's an example of poor player behavior regardless of setting.