D&D (2024) What Should A New Core Setting Look Like?

[Corinnguard]

i feel like despite or perhaps even because of DnD usually being depicted as primitive sword and sorcery i feel like you could get alot of interest out of a neo-futurism fantasy setting, kind of like RWBY or BotW with it's sheikah tech(Tears' sky islands we can steal for the setting too), sure your axe might be made out of chrome and hard-light, but it's still an axe and you're still taking down a dragon, your shortbow is a blaster but it's still a 2-H weapon with 1d6 piercing damage

d20's Urban Arcana setting for 3e.

Though a D&D version of Shadowrun/Earthdawn would be just as interesting. Minus the cyberpunk, of course. It would be Magicpunk instead.

 

[Shardstone]

I'd like it to embrace a little bit of contemporary Final Fantasy too, in the sense that there are some arcane cities that have more modern technology. I think a renaissance to modern balance can be struck as opposed to medieval to renaissance that would be super interesting to see.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Take the top 8 creators of SF/F in the world - and by top I mean in terms of name recognition. People like George RR Martin, Koyoharu Gotouge (creator of Demon Slayer), Cassandra Clare, etc. Feel free to argue who those 8 creators are, I've got no ego in this

Let them partner with any single cartographer and single artist they want that WotC can get to work on the project. Split the blank page into 8 pieces and let each team go nuts. With the only stipulation that each area must connect to at least 2 other areas and all of them meet a 9th area in the middle created by WotC staff after the other 8 ideas come home

do not use creators who already are famous for D&D stuff like Greenwood, Salvatore, Weiss, Hickman, and all the fantasy artists like Brom, Larry Elmore, etc. Not sure about the cartographers...

 

[Reynard]

Take the top 8 creators of SF/F in the world - and by top I mean in terms of name recognition. People like George RR Martin, Koyoharu Gotouge (creator of Demon Slayer), Cassandra Clare, etc. Feel free to argue who those 8 creators are, I've got no ego in this

Let them partner with any single cartographer and single artist they want that WotC can get to work on the project. Split the blank page into 8 pieces and let each team go nuts. With the only stipulation that each area must connect to at least 2 other areas and all of them meet a 9th area in the middle created by WotC staff after the other 8 ideas come home

do not use creators who already are famous for D&D stuff like Greenwood, Salvatore, Weiss, Hickman, and all the fantasy artists like Brom, Larry Elmore, etc. Not sure about the cartographers...

I don't think fiction fantasy worlds are necessarily good gaming fantasy worlds. They serve different purposes.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The worldbuilding for fantasy videogames and TTRPGs is radically different. The first ones are designed to be like "one-shot" stories. This means after the final boss to be defeated the world recover the peace and and armony and then it becomes a too boring place for the next generation of potential adventurers.

A collab with some important videogame studio is possible, but everybody wants complete control about the IPs.

An option could be to hire some manga, manhua or manhwa publisher for a worldbuilding according the preferences of Asian and Western markets.

A new setting is like tourism industry trying to convice foreigns to visit the sample nation but a different city.

Pelinore could return and there is a good reason, and because is a limited discworld, but in the same wildspace more discworlds are possible to be visited and explored thanks spelljammers, allowing to be a sandbox.

My advice is we should choose better instead sooner. The best settings and lores need more time.

G.R.R. Martin loves TTRPGs but D&D is not his tea of cup, and now he is too busy with his last books.

 

[cbwjm]

For a new setting I'd sayook to mtg, not sure what they've done lately but they have some really good settings that would suit a new DnD setting. I can't recall the name of the planes but they had a cool Viking setting, shards of alara which is 5 settings in one, dominaria which is awesome but probably too close to current settings, maybe. Plenty of choices many (most?) of which I haven't mentioned here.

 

[Reynard]

The worldbuilding for fantasy videogames and TTRPGs is radically different.

I think this is a false premise.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I don't think fiction fantasy worlds are necessarily good gaming fantasy worlds. They serve different purposes.

Fair.

But this will be something requested that is explicitly created for gameability purposes. WotC staff would be assisting the authors as they develop. This would not be adapting fictional worlds for gaming

 

[Eyes of Nine]

G.R.R. Martin loves TTRPGs but D&D is not his tea of cup, and now he is too busy with his last books.

For some values of "busy"

 

[Scott Christian]

It should be a setting that is:

• Magical. Magic spells, items, settings, and characters, NPCs, etc. But magic is rare.
• Full of conflict with dangerous creatures everywhere. But trade, outland farming areas, small inns on lonely roads, still exist without much of a problem.
• Full of interdimensional travel and creatures that cross all the time. But most people have no idea about it or even believe it doesn't exist.
• Populated with a myriad of fantastical races. But there are many places that have never seen them.
• High fantasy. But is also sword and sorcery.

This is what D&D does best.