WotC What is the 'Black Label' setting DEATH SAVES by Joe Manganiello?

The official Gen Con website includes details about a first ever live play of a world called 'DEATH SAVES', created by actor and D&D superfan Joe Manganiello. The live play takes place in the Indiana Repertory Theater, the six-storey building which Wizards of the Coast has taken over for the duration of Gen Con.

Death Saves is the brand name of Manganiello's clothing brand, which features D&D-themed iconography and art.

Actor, producer, writer, director, Joe Manganiello has spent decades playing in Dungeons & Dragons worlds created by legendary game designers, drawing from D&D's past to chart its future… now the time has come for him to forge a world of his own. THIS next chapter in D&D gaming begins at Gen Con 2026…DEATH SAVES The Great War has ended. The forces of darkness won. Gods lie dead in droves. The world hangs on by a thread…JOIN US as a band of god-killers led by Joe Manganiello, take the battle to the doorstep of the Demon Lords, in this first ever live play for the newest Dungeons & Dragons “Black Label” setting… DEATH SAVES…you don’t want to miss it.

It's unclear whether this has an official connection with WotC and D&D, but the event is taking place in the building WotC is using for Gen Con, and the contact address on the event page on the Gen Con website is a WotC email address. The world is listed as a "Dungeons & Dragons 'Black Label' setting".


WotC recently partnered with Luke Gygax to create a Greyhawk setting book. It's possible that this is a similar arrangement. The company also recently advertised a job vacancy for a TTRPG Publishing Lead to coordinate "externally developed content". The job was described as "sit[ting] at the intersection of creative direction, franchise strategy, and program management, ensuring that externally produced content meets the creative, brand, and standards of Dungeons and Dragons while benefiting from the unique strengths of our partners." The position would help to build a 2P/3P publishing pipeline and helping to develop Product Architect briefs into "clear partner direction, driving schedules and gates, and ensuring we deliver on time, on budget, and at D&D quality."

The official Death Saves brand website has a category called Black Label which bears the description "You found the secret door to the Vault! Now gaze upon a cross-section of the most rare and legendary items hand-selected from the Death Saves Hoard..." and includes a range of skull-themed rings and pendants.

 

[mamba]

this could be a way for WotC to release a more faithful version of the Dark Sun campaign setting down the line. A mature line of products gives them the coverage for those sorts of themes explored in Dark Sun.

I doubt they will release both a Dark Sun and a black label Dark Sun, so if DS is announced at GenCon…

 

[Scribe]

Looking at Manganiello's site, I think it's going to lean into the perception of D&D in the 1980s—that's what will make it "black label." Metal, skulls, demons, fire, women in chainmail armor, vans with wizards painted on the side, big hair—it'll be 1980s-style D&D… turned up to 11. (And if that Goodman BackerKit is connected, that makes even more sense.)

 

[...m...]

"This isn't your father's D&D...it's your batsh*t crazy uncles' D&D, straight from the smokey basement with faded black-light posters on the walls and 80's Manowar blaring on the old tape deck. You might turn up your nose at first, but once the seven-sided-dice start rolling you find yourself sucked in."

 

[bedir than]

...not sure whether it's related, but goodman games posted death saves TTRPG on backerkit today, campaign launching in april 2027...

It's now merely TBD DS TTRPG

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Good lord I hate this pervasive idea.

This forum is full of 50-somethings in nostalgia glasses talking about stuff they thought was mature when they were 12. Slave girls in leather bondage gear! Satan! Lots of skulls! Black leather jackets! Did we mention the leather!!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

You suggested this was the standard use of the term in publishing. I am curious what examples there are besides a DC imprint that only qualifies half the time.

I own a Comic Book Store. What do you think I mean when I speak of publishing? I wasn't suggesting that it was a world-wide long-established literary phenomenon. If you want that to be a "win" for you, you can have it.

Ultimately it doesn't matter - the uses of the term all imply the same thing - they mean to suggest a "mature" selection (by which they mean "sophistication" as much, if not more, than they mean "adult-themed". They also imply "high-end" (which might mean "expensive", but at least means to suggest, "well-crafted").

Arguing over whether they mean "mature" or "high-end" is ultimately silly. They almost certainly mean to imply both.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

they mean to suggest a "mature" selection (by which they mean "sophistication

Neither label appears to fit what we know about “Death Saves”.

“Stuff that used to be cool in the 1980s” would be a more accurate description.

 

[Distracted DM]

"This isn't your father's D&D...it's your batsh*t crazy uncles' D&D, straight from the smokey basement with faded black-light posters on the walls and 80's Manowar blaring on the old tape deck. You might turn up your nose at first, but once the seven-sided-dice start rolling you find yourself sucked in."

That does sound like a DCC pitch.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

"This isn't your father's D&D...it's your batsh*t crazy uncles' D&D, straight from the smokey basement with faded black-light posters on the walls and 80's Manowar blaring on the old tape deck. You might turn up your nose at first, but once the seven-sided-dice start rolling you find yourself sucked in."

Which is the issue. The Batshit Crazy Uncle market is obviously tiny. There is no reason why a profit-focused company like Hasbro would be interested in it.

 

[...m...]

It's now merely TBD DS TTRPG

...click on the 'goodman games' profile for the full title...