D&D General Watch the DEATH SAVES one-shot with Joe Manganiello

We've been wondering for a while now what Joe Manganiello's new 'Black Label' setting is... now it's time to find out!

Manganiello introduced DEATH SAVES as very early sneak peek at a 'Black Label' approach to D&D made in partnership with WotC. 'Black Label' allows them to do a few things differently with D&D lore amd canon, hearkening back to the 'alternative' culture feeling of the 1970s and 80s.

The world of DEATH SAVES is set after the Blood War, where demons and devils were locked in conflict across the planes. The war came to an end, but nobody knows how or why. The demons won and swarmed across the Nine Hells. The other Outer Planes were overrun, until only Sigil remained. The Lady of Pain annihilated the Outer Planes and herself, collapsing the Inner Planes down to a single last world. Some of the demons and gods managed to escape to this last world which hangs on by a thread against the encroaching chaos.

The book will be called Death Saves: The Blood War, by Mike Mearls and Joe Manganiello. No release date has been given yet.

 

[Steampunkette]

... guess I'll be busy for a few hours, then.

 

[Aellic Mornbringer]

Is that Professor DM as the angry dwarf?

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Joe mentioned this IS AN OFFICIAL D&D SETTING, using official canon D&D characters like the Lady of Pain, although its clearly an alt timeline/multiverse seperate from the regular D&D multiverse.

So black label is kind of like Un-iverse and/or maybe the new Echomultiverse compared to the regular MtG multiverse.

Or the Kelvin Timeline and/or Terran Universe vs the Prime Universe in Star Trek.

This makes me think even more strongly that the villianous UA is for this new alt timeline setting.

 

[timbannock]

I had a post-apocalyptic Planescape idea back in the day. It was surprisingly subdued next to this!

 

[lxqueen]

I did something similar once as an "AU" one-shot to my main campaigns; ended up more Mad Max inspired though (featuring the obligatory goblin playing a flaming guitar). Was good fun asking all my players to roll up weird "what if" versions of any of their prior characters, some of them with different classes entirely.

 

[nyvinter]

Is it really a brand new setting if it's just the old settings smashed to pieces?

 

[WisdomOfWombats]

Who are the fourth player and the GM? I get Joe Manganiello, Luke Stratton from PirateBorg, and Professor DM.

 

[nyvinter]

Who are the fourth player and the GM? I get Joe Manganiello, Luke Stratton from PirateBorg, and Professor DM.

I think it's Daði of Mystic Arts. By far the best dungeontuber on that table IMO. (I think because I'm not watching.)

 

[Spectral Anomaly]

From the description at the beginning, it sounds like Black Label means that these will be official releases playing in official settings that can do things and change things in unofficial/non-canon ways. So key characters or deities might be different or killed off entirely. Big piles of "what ifs" and "feel free to play in the sandbox" types of releases that don't affect the official product lines and continuities.