WotC What classic setting SHOULD WotC publish and why?

[Paul Farquhar]

I'll admit that it kind of drives me up a wall that they kept tieflings and dragonborn around without really doing much to establish what their deals are,

Why does everything have to have a deal? Can't a tiefling just be someone who just happens to have a fiend somewhere in their family tree? Can't a character be a traveller form another plane or a distant land? This is fantasy, some things should just be mysterious.

 

[hopeless]

Could have exposure to planar energy via a portal to that realm that's hidden from view or access its just that its energies are seeping through and tieflings, aasimar and the like are the result of that exposure rather than being born from a union with an angel or fiend would that work?

I've been tinkering with the idea that exposure to the Feywild is what caused the creation of changelings.
Making it more of an illness that could be cured if its diagnosed properly, however given religious tendencies they tend to be blamed as having been swapped by predatory fey.

 

[Aldarc]

We would all like our preferences validated.

Sadly, it's hard to imagine that any of my preferences will ever be validated so long as WotC continues to treat 4e as the red-headed stepchild of editions.

Why does everything have to have a deal? Can't a tiefling just be someone who just happens to have a fiend somewhere in their family tree? Can't a character be a traveller form another plane or a distant land? This is fantasy, some things should just be mysterious.

Don't underestimate the power of character hooks, particularly those associated with settings.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Sadly, it's hard to imagine that any of my preferences will ever be validated so long as WotC continues to treat 4e as the red-headed stepchild of editions.


Don't underestimate the power of character hooks, particularly those associated with settings.

Grandad was the devil is a perfectly decent character hook - it works for Neeshka. Traveller from another plane works fine for Haer'Dalis. A PC can be anything without having to have "anything" be a significant presence in a setting. Player Character exceptionalism is an a priori assumption.

 

[Aldarc]

Grandad was the devil is a perfectly decent character hook - it works for Neeshka. Traveller from another plane works fine for Haer'Dalis. A PC can be anything without having to have "anything" be a significant presence in a setting. Player Character exceptionalism is an a priori assumption.

I'm not arguing otherwise. Again, I'm speaking of the power of having setting-based character hooks. It's an additional tool for creating character hooks rather than the only tool or way to do it. When you provide setting hooks, where "everything [has] to have a deal," then that is something else that the player can play off of.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Again, I'm speaking of the power of having setting-based character hooks.

If a player wants to create a setting-related character hook then it's easy enough for them to choose a lineage with an established "deal". On the whole I find players don't own setting books and know nothing about the setting apart from what I say in session zero.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

I've been beating the drum for a setting I call Planejammer for years. I think it makes too much sense not to portmanteau the two into a single thing. Take Sigil and add Treasure Planet, BOOM, awesome sauce.

If you haven't looked at The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea, I suggest giving it a shot. It pretty much is Planejammer, or at least a good foundation for it. I'd also suggest looking at The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos, and taking whatever you find interesting to transplant to the Astral Sea (since it doesn't look like 5E's going to do anything with the Elemental Chaos, despite it being noted in the DMG).

Here's a few interesting features that could be ripped from the Elemental Chaos and placed in the Astral Sea:

• Dar el-Hariq: A former efreet outpost on a massive block of elemental earth tumbling through the plane.
• Gloamnull: A drifting island village constantly beset by rain. Its inhabitants are secretly cultists of Dagon.
• The Ninth Bastion: Originally called the Bastion of Law, this fortress-city is the realm of the knightly order known as the Heirs of the Lawbringer. It has survived eight massive onslaughts over the millenia, but still stands strong.
• The Monastery of Vyc Zaleeth: This Githzerai monastery that holds an important font of power has been seized by a dragon and angelic allies who seek to ignite a war between the gods.
• The Red Shoals of Dkar: The base of operations for a group of pirates whose sailing ships can travel from the Astral Sea to the seas of the Material Plane thanks to a mysterious patron imprisoned within the Red Shoals.
• The Trackless House: The Trackless House evades easy location and winks out of existence for spans of time.
• Temple of the Weeping Goddess: A ruined temple where a minor aspect of a goddess is trapped.

In 4E there were other vessels that could ply the Astral Sea than Spelljammers, which necessitated something to set those vessels apart. The solution they came up with is that while the inhabitants of various planes had flying vessels that only operated in those planes (Chaos Ships could only function in the Abyss or the Elemental Chaos, for example), Spelljammers possessed the ability to Plane Shift. This of course changes the status of Spelljammers from vessels for travel through space to especially valuable vessels that can travel the planes, as well (which, btw, is something the nautiloid in the opening cinematic of Baldur's Gate 3 does).

 

[Mercurius]

Planescape/Spelljammer Hybrid (including the Astral Sea stuff that Hexmage mentioned). Why? Because it completely expands the range of what D&D has to offer, and also provides a means to connect the worlds. It really is a no-brainer and almost past-due at this point. The problem is that it really requires several products to do it justice, and that doesn't seem to be what WotC is about these days. That said, I remain hopeful, if not optimistic, that 2022 might be "The Year of the Planes".

Honorable mention to Dark Sun, because it also expands 5E by offering a darker, more sword & sorcery vibe -- something really lacking from 5E right now.

I also agree that Greyhawk and Mystara fit more into nostalgia products, which is probably not enough reasons to consider as "shoulds." But it would be nice for both to receive commemorative products in 2024. I see Dragonlance differently due to its identity as a "story world," and thus it fits closer to what 5E is about, with its emphasis on stories.

 

[Hakdov]

Have they actually published any setting for 5e? Compared to pre-5e products, setting info is pretty weak.

 

[Rikka66]

Have they actually published any setting for 5e? Compared to pre-5e products, setting info is pretty weak.

SCAG for Forgotten Realms plus the various adventures set in specific regions/cities that act as mini-gazateers, two Ravenloft books, two magic settings with Ravnica and Theros, and Eberron.

So a paltry sum when compared to most older editions, though beating out 4e when it comes to dedicated products.