D&D 5E What's after Tomb of Annihilation? (Ridiculously premature speculation on 2018 releases)

[Ralif Redhammer]

A follow-up to Out of the Abyss where they take on Lolth, returning to the old Demonweb Pits would’ve been cool, though it would either have to be for higher levels or have guidelines for adapting it, as many would want to bring their OOTA characters to it.

I still wish that Orcus’ section hadn’t been cut from Out of the Abyss. He’s my favorite of the demon lords. Paired with undead mindflayers, that would’ve been something.

They also seem to like being able to hook storylines around a villain. Maybe Lolth or Orcus? It may seem repetitive after Out of the Abyss, though.

 

[guachi]

We already have three of the S series modules reprinted in TftYP, I wouldn't be surprised if they did the fourth in some fashion.

For me, though, the three S series modules were the least exciting part of TftYP because WotC had recently reprinted them in Dungeons of Dread (which I bought because I was excited to have them in an accessible printed form).

So if they do Barrier Peaks I would like it redone enough to be fresh. Fantasy/Sci-Fi mash-ups are a great way to give a feel for late '70s RPGs (and American culture, but that's a separate topic). Because of that, a fantasy/sci-fi mix doesn't have to be Barrier Peaks redone; it could be Blackmoor or something entirely new.

Who am I kidding? It won't be new. But something "inspired by" rather than "reprint of" would be welcome.

 

[jimmytheccomic]

A follow-up to Out of the Abyss where they take on Lolth, returning to the old Demonweb Pits would’ve been cool, though it would either have to be for higher levels or have guidelines for adapting it, as many would want to bring their OOTA characters to it.

I still wish that Orcus’ section hadn’t been cut from Out of the Abyss. He’s my favorite of the demon lords. Paired with undead mindflayers, that would’ve been something.

When I run it (in about two years, according to my loose schedule, haha) Orcus is going to be the main villain, because my players are dealing with the Demogorgon in the current campaign. I'm going to have it transition to the 4e Orcus adventures for the high level stuff- I also wish they'd put his undead mindflayer stuff up on DMs guild or something, though!

 

[MechaTarrasque]

I seem to recall Mike Mearls saying (on twitter) that they were looking at statting up an archdevil a couple of months ago.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Ack. If I never, ever see Lolth as the main villain of anything again, ever, I'll be a happy gamer. I'm not one who has complained about revisiting past material, or new stuff inspired by past material--I often enjoy it--but enough with Lolth, already.

 

[Mouseferatu]

If we're going to see anymore fiends as main villains, what I want is Anthraxus and daem--uh, yugoloths. Give them the spotlight for a change. (And give us some decent stats while we're at it. The ones in the MM don't remotely stand up to their demon and devil counterparts.)

I mean, I'd be happy giving the fiends in general a rest for a while, but I'm saying if.

 

[jimmytheccomic]

I also expect that we'll see a "Tales From The Yawning Portal 2" sooner rather than later- I get the impression that it sold really well, and it seems like it gives the behind the scenes crew a bit of a break in terms of effort expended putting it together.

 

[jimmytheccomic]

Okay, one last theory- I still stand behind my hunch that they want to base it around a major villain, but I've come up with a more tempting choice for them:

Ashardalon hits a lot of the 5e storyline "buttons".

-Plays on nostalgia for 3rd edition gamers
-Some outside recognizably because of the board game (which can be repackaged in a deluxe set)
-He's more of a loose thread in the original adventure path, so they can have freedom to create a new storyline where he's a bigger focus.

If not in 2018, I bet 2019, they're gonna do an Ashardalon storyline, I'm certain of it.

 

[Jester David]

Assuming two adventures per year, with 6 months of story writing per adventure, and lead times of 18 months, I would estimate that the next three adventures have been written already (drafted anyway), with work now in progress on the fourth, a late 2019 release. It must be very hard to keep track of.

According to interviews on DragonTalk with Perkins, he wrote/finished both Curse of Strahd and Storm King's Thunder only a few months prior to their release.
I imagine the planning starts early (especially for SKT that also has minis, board games, and video games to coordinate) and the actual adventure comes later. The broad strokes of the adventure are planned, and it's just a matter of filling in the details: writing the individual rooms and Grey Boxed Text as it were.

• In this interview, Chris Perkins says he has collaborated with outside people on upcoming adventures, specifically mentioning Charlie Sanders, a writer for Key & Peele. This Instagrammed lunch with Chris Perkins in November 2015 comes about 5 months after Pendleton Ward's collaboration in April 2015. If the lead time is similar (about 17 months from story collaboration to release), then the project with Sanders could be the next storyline, released around April 2018. Shortly afterwards, Charlie Sanders was featured on two podcasts (High & Mighty and The Tome Show) discussing D&D—I have not listened to those yet.
• We've now had an adventure featuring Acererak (on the cover of the DMG), a book featuring the Xanathar (on the cover of the MM), and an adventure featuring the fire giant Snurre (on the cover of the PHB)—though that was basically a reprint, we also had another new adventure centered on giants. So those covers may be exhausted for clues.
• Volo's Guide added several new dinosaurs, just in time to be used in Tomb of Annihilation. There are probably other clues to be found in the monsters that were chosen. (My bet? The froghemoth and vegepygmys are clues about an upcoming adventure based on Expedition to Barrier Peaks.)

They've settled into a "big story" and "small story" rhythm. One tied into videogames and minis and more. And one that's not. The small spring story that is mostly a reprint (since it's coming so shortly after the fall book) and the big summer story that details the Realms and acts as a gazetteer.
Curse of Strahd and Tales from the Yawning Portal were both "small" stories in that regard. TftYP was also an exception as it was written by Kim Mohan and Mike Mearls rather than Chris Perkins (I imagine for time reasons). Honestly, I either expect another complication adventure or expanded reprint, like the above two. Something where half the adventure is just an update. So it can be done more easily, and give Perkins more time to focus on the needs of the "big" summer adventure of 2018, that has more tie-ins.

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is an odd choice for an adventure. Going spaceship and sci-fi is cool, but it's a little soon in the life of the game. Build a larger staple of traditional fantasy stuff first, and then get. I'm not saying it's impossible… just that it's a little more of a stretch and they might try for something a little safer first. After all, every storyline is someone's first, and you don't want to start with aliens and lasers.
It's too big of an adventure NOT to do. But I expect they're thinking about 2019 for that bad-boy.

It's also likely a little too soon for a More Tales from the Yawning Portal. So a reprint/ compilation might be harder to justify.

Looking at classic adventures:

• Desert of Desolation is a good choice. Combining three adventures, it should be pretty large. (128-pages apparently. So they only need to expand it by 100 or so. Which is easily done by having some more setting description and low level adventuring.) Plus, deserts, mummies, and ancient tombs (that are actual tombs) haven't been done yet, and are classical but slightly different.
• Gates of Firestorm Peak is a biggie that hasn't been touched. That could work. Get into the Far Realms lore and touch on aberrants. Would need a lot more expansion.
• Dragon Mountain and Red Hand of Doom likely feature monsters that have been in a spotlight too much. Dragons need a break. Ditto the drow and Queen of the Spiders... although they did overlap giants and Acererak. So that's no guarantee.
• Scourge of the Slavelords. This one can easily fill a book.
• Undermountain. Which was teased and set-up with Tales from the Yawning Portal and is a pretty iconic mega-dungeon. We've seen a lot of small dungeons, but no singular megadungeons.
• Rod of Seven Parts. If this was planned, it might not have been a throw-away element of TStorm King's Thunder. But… it did tease that item and set it up for a future story…
• Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga. It's been commented in the past, that this could work well as a feywild adventure. I'd love a faerie adventure.

Looking at big villain types that haven't been featured:

• Githyanki. Iconic to D&D, having been featured on the cover of the Fiend Folio. And invasion of the material plane ending in a planar jaunt to the Astral Plane and siege of a Githyanki city would be cool. But… it's not evoking a classic adventure, so WotC likely won't do it… (Although, Chris Perkins did write the high level Lich Queen's Beloved for Dungeon Magazine.)
• Mind Flayers. These were skipped in Out of the Abyss. Likely so they could be used later. Again, this could tie nicely into Gates of Firestorm Peak. I imagine they might wait until 2019, and tie it into a psionic book. Or something with the Mind Flayers and githyanki fighting. But, again, it's not evoking a classic adventure, so WotC likely won't do it...
• Orcs. There's not really any iconic orc adventures, so these guys have fallen to the wayside… And probably will continue to just be random encounters. But since WotC is only interested in call-backs...
• Devils. These saw a little attention in Tyranny of Dragons but we haven't seen Asmodeus really make himself known. And, one more time, no classic to draw from. Well… maybe A Paladin in Hell...
• Genies. Likely to Al-Qadim. But I'm gagging for a big adventure that goes to the City of Brass, which has always been a criminally underused part of D&D, despite once being featured on the cover of the freakin' DMG.
• Fairies/ fey. See above.

Spring 2018
I think Scourge of the Slavelords is high on the list of most likely updates. It can be given the Curse of Strahd treatment and made a little more cohesive, while also working as a series of smaller adventures. Because people want smaller adventures.

Summer 2018
Then maybe a reimagined Desert of Desolation, placed in Mulhorand.

(Either could be replaced for Undermountain.)

Fall 2018
A book of magic items. Maybe with some lore on crafting and shopping, with some magic item shops. More artifacts and lots of advice on creating artifacts and building campaigns around them.
Ideal title: Bazaars of the City of Brass. Detail the city and its markets.
Maybe also the artificer, now that I think of it.

Spring 2019
Time to get weird. Expanded Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

Summer 2019
Summer of aberrations Gates of Firestorm Peak mashed with invading Githyanki versus Mind Flayers.

Fall 2019
Psionics and the Mystic. Maybe something on the planes. Planar gazetteer, like the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.

 

[Jester David]

Okay, one last theory- I still stand behind my hunch that they want to base it around a major villain, but I've come up with a more tempting choice for them:

Ashardalon hits a lot of the 5e storyline "buttons".

-Plays on nostalgia for 3rd edition gamers
-Some outside recognizably because of the board game (which can be repackaged in a deluxe set)
-He's more of a loose thread in the original adventure path, so they can have freedom to create a new storyline where he's a bigger focus.

If not in 2018, I bet 2019, they're gonna do an Ashardalon storyline, I'm certain of it.

Ashardalon as the villain behind Dragon Mountain and a whole mess of kobolds could be so very cool...