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

[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.