D&D General What About Those Other D&D Settings?

[LuisCarlos17f]

I guess their strategy is to relaunch before the settings with the best "brand power". The settings have to show something really interesting for the new generation of players who know nothing about the lore.

Other reason for the delay is if Hasbro wants them to be adapted into videogame or Hollywood production, then the studio would rather more creative freedom. Then awaiting is a better option than a new retcon.

And the possible reboot or redesign of the settings has to be according to the new PC species and classes. If Dark Sun helped to sell more Psionic Handbooks, then they could try the same with other classes what use special mechanics: (ki) martial adepts, incarnum soulmelders, shadowcasters or elementalists ("mysteries" instead classic spells), vestige pact binders....

And if they are a future acquisition or merger in the next two years, then all the plans could be changed to can any new element to the D&D multiverse.

How would be Gamma World with a reclycled version of Hasbro's franchises: MASK, Visionaries, Inhumanoids, COPS..?

 

[KoolMoDaddy-O]

Like several other posters I'm completely uninterested in revisiting old settings. I liked Van Richten's -- I felt it fixed a bunch of problems with 1e/2e Ravenloft (such as how so many of the domains and darklords were cookie-cutter duplicates) -- but the Spelljammer reboot was shallow and I expect the same from Planescape. I run a Greyhawk campaign and the last thing I want from Wizards is whatever thin soup they'd make of it these days. All you really need to run Greyhawk is the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer on DMsGuild. I just wish they'd open up the setting to creators.

One itch Wizards has never scratched is a Thundarr the Barbarian type of science-fantasy world. Gamma World is the obvious choice for that but as much as I love it, its gonzo aesthetic pulls it too far from regular D&D. Plus it's set in an alternate future rather than a secondary world, which can have political ramifications if you're not careful. And as we know Wizards is anything but careful.

Blackmoor might fit the bill better because its whole concept was based on exploring ruins and extracting the ancient secrets and technology of a destroyed civilization. IIRC the cover of Temple of the Frog depicted a wizard wielding a laser rifle. Once part of Greyhawk and then retconned into Mystara's ancient past, either way it was always secondary world, which gives the cover Wizards needs to avoid any real-world connections.

So if I had to choose one: Blackmoor.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Although I love the Points of Light / Nentir Vale setting, calling it new is a bit of a stretch. In 2024 it'll have been 16 years since the introduction of Nentir Vale. It's a bit like calling Dragonlance a new setting during the launch of 3e D&D!

I want something brand new. Something with its own identity and something that offers a new way to experience D&D tropes.

Yes, it isn't "new" in the sense of not being literally freshly-created. It's still the newest "core" setting of D&D--by a long shot, given Greyhawk is one of the things turning 50. A 16-year-old grand-nephew might not be a literally brand-new person, but they're still "new" compared to their 50-year-old great uncle!

It has the advantage of being an olive branch to a group that has felt pretty crapped on. Surely that's worth something? Doubly so when we never actually got a "gazetteer" book for the whole setting, just piecemeal lore drops. It would, in fact, actually be new to give it the full setting treatment.

 

[Remathilis]

Mystara is quite popular outside the US because it was the first setting translated into other languages. If you wanted to play D&D in Japan you had Mystara or nothing. The allegory for real-world cultures as fantasy nations gave it an appeal that other generic fantasy settings didn't have. You would market it as the D&D setting that represented other cultures, so the *Japanese, Italians, Polynesians, Indians, Arabs, Scandinavians, Slavs, Mongolians, Cherokee, Irish, Egyptians, Argentinians, Spanish, Babylonians and Texans all have something they can relate to.

That's quite a list of foreign cultures.

 

[Minigiant]

Yes, it isn't "new" in the sense of not being literally freshly-created. It's still the newest "core" setting of D&D--by a long shot, given Greyhawk is one of the things turning 50. A 16-year-old grand-nephew might not be a literally brand-new person, but they're still "new" compared to their 50-year-old great uncle!

It has the advantage of being an olive branch to a group that has felt pretty crapped on. Surely that's worth something? Doubly so when we never actually got a "gazetteer" book for the whole setting, just piecemeal lore drops. It would, in fact, actually be new to give it the full setting treatment.

Nentir Vale is technically the 2nd newest official setting made for D&D specifically that isn't a port.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes, it isn't "new" in the sense of not being literally freshly-created. It's still the newest "core" setting of D&D--by a long shot, given Greyhawk is one of the things turning 50. A 16-year-old grand-nephew might not be a literally brand-new person, but they're still "new" compared to their 50-year-old great uncle!

It has the advantage of being an olive branch to a group that has felt pretty crapped on. Surely that's worth something? Doubly so when we never actually got a "gazetteer" book for the whole setting, just piecemeal lore drops. It would, in fact, actually be new to give it the full setting treatment.

I would love a Nentir Vale book (a real, detailed setting, not like what WotC has been doing lately), but I don't see the need to frame its existence as an apology to 4e players.

 

[cbwjm]

Did Nentir Vale have a setting book in 4e? I think I recall a monster book but can't recall a setting book. I think there were dragon articles on parts of the world so there was definitely some info out there.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Did Nentir Vale have a setting book in 4e? I think I recall a monster book but can't recall a setting book. I think there were dragon articles on parts of the world so there was definitely some info out there.

It never got an actual, dedicated setting book. The closest you'll get to a dedicated setting book is The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral sea.

I would love a Nentir Vale book (a real, detailed setting, not like what WotC has been doing lately), but I don't see the need to frame its existence as an apology to 4e players.

It doesn't have to be framed that way, sure. But unless it was intentionally unfaithful to the material, it would be one of the few olive branches this edition has ever offered, so why not embrace that? What's so wrong with being nice to 4e fans once in a while?

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Nentir Vale is technically the 2nd newest official setting made for D&D specifically that isn't a port.

And the newest is...? It can't be Exandria, because that's just as much a port as any of the MtG stuff. (And Exandria already has books--plural!--anyway.)

 

[Micah Sweet]

It never got an actual, dedicated setting book. The closest you'll get to a dedicated setting book is The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral sea.


It doesn't have to be framed that way, sure. But unless it was intentionally unfaithful to the material, it would be one of the few olive branches this edition has ever offered, so why not embrace that? What's so wrong with being nice to 4e fans once in a while?

Nothing. But a 5e Nentir Vale is just as much 4e as a 5e Eberron was 3e.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Nothing. But a 5e Nentir Vale is just as much 4e as a 5e Eberron was 3e.

I'm under no illusions otherwise...?

 

[Minigiant]

And the newest is...? It can't be Exandria, because that's just as much a port as any of the MtG stuff. (And Exandria already has books--plural!--anyway.)

Well I counted Exandria since it was at least made for D&D and D&D clones.

But yes technically the newest official D&D setting created for D&D is the 16 year old Nentir Vale.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well I counted Exandria since it was at least made for D&D and D&D clones.

But yes technically the newest official D&D setting created for D&D is the 16 year old Nentir Vale.

Makes you think...

 

[deganawida]

Like several other posters I'm completely uninterested in revisiting old settings. I liked Van Richten's -- I felt it fixed a bunch of problems with 1e/2e Ravenloft (such as how so many of the domains and darklords were cookie-cutter duplicates) -- but the Spelljammer reboot was shallow and I expect the same from Planescape. I run a Greyhawk campaign and the last thing I want from Wizards is whatever thin soup they'd make of it these days. All you really need to run Greyhawk is the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer on DMsGuild. I just wish they'd open up the setting to creators.

One itch Wizards has never scratched is a Thundarr the Barbarian type of science-fantasy world. Gamma World is the obvious choice for that but as much as I love it, its gonzo aesthetic pulls it too far from regular D&D. Plus it's set in an alternate future rather than a secondary world, which can have political ramifications if you're not careful. And as we know Wizards is anything but careful.

Blackmoor might fit the bill better because its whole concept was based on exploring ruins and extracting the ancient secrets and technology of a destroyed civilization. IIRC the cover of Temple of the Frog depicted a wizard wielding a laser rifle. Once part of Greyhawk and then retconned into Mystara's ancient past, either way it was always secondary world, which gives the cover Wizards needs to avoid any real-world connections.

So if I had to choose one: Blackmoor.

We need more Thundarr.

 

[Dragonhelm]

I wanted to thank everyone for their insights thus far and I hope to see more discussion.

Well I counted Exandria since it was at least made for D&D and D&D clones.

But yes technically the newest official D&D setting created for D&D is the 16 year old Nentir Vale.

There's Radiant Citadel.

 

[Remathilis]

Well I counted Exandria since it was at least made for D&D and D&D clones.

But yes technically the newest official D&D setting created for D&D is the 16 year old Nentir Vale.

Makes you think...

Eh? What other RPG company is supporting* ten official settings in some capacity? And not with different dedicated RPGs but 10 interconnected worlds all for the same RPG?

Most RPGs focus on one or two settings at the most and go into detail with it. WotC opted for the mile wide/inch deep approach. Even as a massive fan of Eberron and Ravenloft, I wonder though if they would have been better suited fleshing out one setting rather than paying lip service to a dozen.

 

[Minigiant]

Eh? What other RPG company is supporting* ten official settings in some capacity? And not with different dedicated RPGs but 10 interconnected worlds all for the same RPG?

Most RPGs focus on one or two settings at the most and go into detail with it. WotC opted for the mile wide/inch deep approach. Even as a massive fan of Eberron and Ravenloft, I wonder though if they would have been better suited fleshing out one setting rather than paying lip service to a dozen.

My point is that WOTC choose to support a dozen settting and only picked very old settings and settings ported from MTG.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Here's a list. If I miss any, feel free to add it in the thread. Note that many of them need to be looked at by a cultural consultant.
Al-Qadim, Kara-Tur, Maztica

Get folks from the analogous real-world cultures to write these up. Radiant Citadel was a start. Paizo's doing it with their new Tian Xia setting/area; WotC could do it too.

Birthright

Agree with others - this also needs a good system for diplomacy and abstract mass combat

Blackmoor, Greyhawk, Taladas, Ghostwalk, Jakandor, Pelinore, Mystara

I have no personal interest in any of these; but would be cool to create a gazetteer like the SCAG for each or for groups of these - and then open it up to the DMs Guild - that would be cool

Council of Wyrms, Gamma World

Both would require some significant forks away from default D&D assumptions; and thus I wouldn't expect WotC to develop either as "D&D" games. Maybe they can license them out to others?

Magic: the Gathering: Card game crossover books are fun. Do any of the planes of Magic work well for D&D?

I would like to see them develop more MtG settings. Personally, of the 3 they have done, only 1 really was interesting to me - Ravnica. I'd like to see them do Eldraine - I think mining public domain fairy tales like they did with the Eldraine would be awesome for D&D. I would also LOVE to see a full on D&D adventure path for the current March of the Machines/Phyrexia/Elesh Norn storyline

Nentir Vale

Yes please - but only because I'm a 4e stan. Although realistically, WotC should probably just give it a gazetteer and release to DMGuild. But ideally in the gazetteer give us the WARLORD please!

Final point - I agree with others who say in this thread and elsewhere - WotC/Hasbro should come up with their own brand new setting. If they are trying to ape Marvel, the "House of Ideas", then they need to come up with something new. They can even do another contest...

OR - hear me out! They can just ask Chat GPT... (see next post lol)

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I asked ChatGPT for D&D's next setting:

Prompt
If you were to design a new setting for D&D that was cool, exciting, and novel, what would it look like?

As an AI language model, I can imagine a lot of different settings for a new D&D game. Here are a few ideas:

A world where magic has just been discovered: Imagine a world where magic has only recently been discovered, and is still being studied and explored. The players would be among the first to learn how to harness its power, and would have to navigate a world where magic is not yet fully understood.

A city built on the ruins of an ancient civilization: The players would explore the ruins of an ancient civilization that was destroyed by some cataclysmic event, and would then have to navigate a city that has been built on top of those ruins. The ruins would hold secrets and powerful artifacts, but the players would have to contend with the challenges of a bustling city as well.

A world where the land is constantly changing: In this world, the terrain is constantly shifting and changing. Mountains rise and fall, rivers change course, and entire cities can be swallowed up by the earth. The players would have to navigate this ever-changing world, always on the lookout for dangers that might appear suddenly.

A world where the gods are dead: Imagine a world where the gods have all died, leaving their followers without guidance or protection. The players would have to navigate a world where divine magic no longer exists, and where the powerful artifacts of the gods are now up for grabs.

A world where the players are part of a traveling circus: In this world, the players would be part of a traveling circus, performing for crowds and uncovering mysteries along the way. The circus would be a cover for their [sadly, I cut GPT off here - I leave it to the reader to finish the sentence ]

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Here's a list. If I miss any, feel free to add it in the thread.

Here's a fuller list on wikipedia. I think you missed

• Conan and Red Sonja*
• Diablo II*
• Dragon Fist
• Arcane Age (part of FR like Al-Qadim et al)
• The Horde (part of FR like Al-Qadim et al)
• Malatra: The Living Jungle (part of FR like Al-Qadim et al)
• Kingdoms of Kalamar*
• Lankhmar*
• Mahasarpa
• Rokugan*
• Warcraft*
• Wilderlands of High Fantasy*

Assuming the settings that represent IP that WotC doesn't own is off the table (I asterisked those); that leaves settings that represent analogs to real world locales (Dragon Fist's default setting was called Tianguo based on Chinese legends etc). I italicized those. My opinion is as above - get folks from the analagous real world place to design the settings and boom - you could have awesomeness.