What kind of New Setting for Fifth Edition? (Other than old settings)

[Tallifer]

If there is a brand new setting for the Fifth Edition eventually, what would you like to see?

I was very excited when I discovered Eberron. It was fresh, surprising and exciting to me. Part of that was its fantastic art.

I hope there will be an equally exciting new setting in the future of D&D.

My own ideas are a little vague at the moment. (Probably why I liked Eberron: I could never have imagined half of those ideas.)

Of course there are several very good and interesting settings in D&D's past. But is there a world or concept which does not fit into any of those worlds and which you would really like to see?

One thing which I have never seen done in depth in D&D is a setting for India. There is a rich and exotic culture, a complex and bloody history, a million gods, a dozen religions, a hundred epic poems and stories, many weird and wonderful monsters, demihumans and demons and demigods. But when I look at Golarion, the Forgotten realms, Birthright or other places, the treatment is always skimpy and unhelpful. (Maybe there is some book I missed.) Mediaeval Europe is easy to run: I hardly need a book for my own culture. But India (and Southeast Asia or the Himalyas) is harder to get right and to fill in the details myself.

 

[howandwhy99]

If there is a brand new setting for the Fifth Edition eventually, what would you like to see?

I mentioned in another thread the default setting should be homebrew. But I think this could also presented as an Everything & Nothing format that *somewhat* satisfies everyone. It's something new, something old, and something you create yourself. For example,

In a campaign design chapter we could have: Bargle, Elminster, Raistlin Majere, Mordenkainen, Lady Vol, Count Strahd von Zarovich, Rajaat, and others as examples for high level magic users. And they are only one kind of high level villian.

The thing is, as different elements of campaign design are addressed all of the substantial properties Wizards owns should be used to showcase the wealth of ideas setting creation has cultivated over the years. They can satisfy all setting fans by leveraging their love for settings without awarding any one some sort of winner.

In addition, I also believe such a chapter should include all the seeds of a homebrewed campaign woven intricately together to demonstrate how a well design world appears. This would a completely new setting, and should probably amount to 5000 words or so for an easy, starter, pick-up-and-play setting for new DMs.

What goes in it?
Every element the game has demonstrated throughout the chapter. But instead of giving disconnected examples we use the final, "whole setting" ending to also demonstrate setting wide elements. This means theme, mood, genre, coherency, adventure integration, as well as how all of the previous disparate pieces may be used in conjunction with each other.

I would hope they are very creative for this setting, but also keep a kind of "D&D magical medieval fantasy world" vibe too. It's not like there aren't thousands of personal examples on websites across the internet already, but the game should include at least one to start.

Another element I would showcase in this new example setting is how to tie in all of the other elements in the books too, regardless of their setting of origin. Why not have Cormyr in your game world alongside Breland? Or Umber Hulks with Dragonborn? We already have Weis & Hickman dragon lances and Lewis Carrol vorpal swords and Keith Baker Dragonmarks. Why not demonstrate how to work those together? Why not show how all those secret origins of magical items can be answered by the DM and dropped into the game? I mean, isn't the story of these elements every bit as important as the mechanics? By demonstrate how they can be more than suggestions, but interwoven into a setting, it becomes easier for the reader to use this material in their games.

 

[Oni]

I've been saying for a long time that D&D needs a good anime/manga/jrpg style setting, it would tap into a new market and draw new players to the game if it was done right. Something very much in the aesthetic vein of FFTA/Dragonquest/Chrono Trigger/Uresia, with very authentic art and writing. And not just elements of it like Eberron, but full blown anime style. I don't think this should be the flagship setting or anything, but I sincerely believe it's one of the best things WotC could do to grow the hobby, simply because there is enough overlap between the fandoms to allow for cross-pollination, but not so much that you wouldn't be reaching a new audience.

 

[Glade Riven]

Well, other than a World Builder's Guidebook (which would have tables and tables to roll up an entire setting, cultures, etc), I want to see a new spin on old elements, taking the series in a new direction. Kinda like the differences between the old '80s Thundercats and the new series, or how Star Trek successfully rebooted itself.

As far as an "anime" treatment, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a good example of "You're doing it right." It is also a great example of fantasy world-building, especially using elements and cultures that are commonly not used.

 

[Jawsh]

Well my Planescape suggestion in another thread didn't go over too well, but here's my new suggestion:

the default setting is a many-alternate-worlds multiverse, with multiple Material Planes that share the basic assumptions of the D&D fantasy milieu, and are relatively easy to hop between (via magical portals created by powerful mages or deities).

The Dungeon Master's Guide would include a bounded demi-plane that consists of a single tiny country complete with a small town and several dungeons or other adventuring sites. There is a portal in the town square, but the portal only opens on midsummer's eve, and no one but the DM knows where it goes: <<insert the DM's choice of setting here>>.

The DMG could suggest some destinations: Greyhawk, Eberron, the Nentir Vale, your best friend's campaign world, the Star Wars universe, our own modern world, or anything else your imagination desires.

 

[Oni]

the default setting is a many-alternate-worlds multiverse, with multiple Material Planes that share the basic assumptions of the D&D fantasy milieu, and are relatively easy to hop between (via magical portals created by powerful mages or deities).

I could see this, a PHB that supports multiple primes, using examples from Greyhawk/Forgotten Realms/Dragonlance/Darksun/Eberron/et c. clearly showing that D&D can come in many flavors, supporting a larger overall meta setting in which all of the setting exist.

I'm not sure what kind of reaction that would get from someone picking up D&D for the first time though. Would it give them the structure they needed to start with or would it muddy the flavor of the game so much that it lacked a clear starting point.

 

[Jawsh]

I'm not sure what kind of reaction that would get from someone picking up D&D for the first time though. Would it give them the structure they needed to start with or would it muddy the flavor of the game so much that it lacked a clear starting point.

I think it would depend on the presentation. It could be done well, or it could be done poorly. You're right about your concern about muddiness.

It would also depend on what the RPGA is doing. There's always been a bit of a tension over what the "real" world of D&D is. I tend to lean to the direction of making every DM the master of his own "real" world of D&D.

 

[Recidivism]

How about a low-fantasy setting based on say, George R. R. Martin novels, or historical fantasy such as King Arthur.

 

[grimslade]

A new setting contest would be great, the last one spawned Eberron. I am sure it was a nightmare for WotC but it created huge positive buzz in the early 3.x.
I would like to see any new setting in the mold of Spelljammer. A sweeping setting not locked into Earth analogies for kingdoms. The execution of SJ was mixed but the scope was fantastic. Hat tip to Aeolus but a sea based campaign would be fantastic.

 

[TwinBahamut]

A setting built around the theme of colliding worlds sounds like it would be fun to me. I don't like anything too built around a planar structure (Planescape, you are not for me), but some system of strongly linked but very distinct and strongly themed worlds that are all reasonably well-detailed would be a lot of fun. Something not unlike the world of the Shards of Alara block in Magic the Gathering.

On a related note, some of the discussion here made me wonder what a genuine "crossover of worlds" would look like with all the different major D&D settings. It would be something like the set-up in the videogame Super Robot Wars Z2, where a number of years prior to the start of the game, different countries and continents from various alternate Earths were all ripped out of their home dimensions and fused together into a single, mixed-up world. If nothing else, it would be an extremely unstable setting full of conflict, uncertainty, and adventure, which is the best kind of setting.