WotC Why WotC SHOULD Make A New Setting

[Reynard]

Ed Greenwood wrote about Elminister, Mordenkainen, and Dalamar visiting him at his house, thus Krynn, Oerth, and the FR are all part of the same Urban Fantasy extended universe.

Please stop.

 

[CreamCloud0]

lol I reject this completely, the multiverse is a flawed concept that really doesnt improve anything.

i disagree that multiverses are a flawed concept but i do acknowledge that not every setting needs to be part of one.

 

[Mecheon]

(how about putting them both on the chopping block?)

FR gave us Baldurs Gate and Dritzz. There's no way you're losing the actual star power of 'characters that non D&D fans might recognise'. FR has to stay

 

[Remathilis]

FR gave us Baldurs Gate and Dritzz. There's no way you're losing the actual star power of 'characters that non D&D fans might recognise'. FR has to stay

D&D has quite a few iconic characters, places and things, but they're all spread out over the Multiverse so that you can't have them meet or do anything unless they start doing Multiverse shinanigans. It would have been cool to see Drizzt fight the Lord of Blades, Raistlin acquire the hand of Venca, or Minsc survive the Tomb of Horrors. But they're all doing their own things in their own worlds and aside from some planar level baddies, nobody interacts or has the opportunity to.

Man credit where credit is due, Eve of Ruin might have not been super amazing but it felt like an actual cross over where you get to meet most of the classic villains. Unfortunately, people get their hackles raised whenever D&D's boxes get mixed up (Mordenkainen in Barovia, Accerack in Chult, etc).

 

[CreamCloud0]

FR gave us Baldurs Gate and Dritzz. There's no way you're losing the actual star power of 'characters that non D&D fans might recognise'. FR has to stay

D&D has quite a few iconic characters, places and things, but they're all spread out over the Multiverse so that you can't have them meet or do anything unless they start doing Multiverse shinanigans. It would have been cool to see Drizzt fight the Lord of Blades, Raistlin acquire the hand of Venca, or Minsc survive the Tomb of Horrors. But they're all doing their own things in their own worlds and aside from some planar level baddies, nobody interacts or has the opportunity to.

Man credit where credit is due, Eve of Ruin might have not been super amazing but it felt like an actual cross over where you get to meet most of the classic villains. Unfortunately, people get their hackles raised whenever D&D's boxes get mixed up (Mordenkainen in Barovia, Accerack in Chult, etc).

Okay, maybe as someone who has never cracked open a lorebook I don’t have the grounds to be saying this but I’m gonna, even if those people and places are iconic i wonder if they at all actually resonate with the current generation of players or if referencing them feels more like your dad saying ‘how can you not know this guy? He’s iconic!’ When indicating some actor from a bunch of 30-year old cowboy movies.

Would trying to establish a new world with it’s own set of names for the new generation be more effective than calling back to old stars?

Not saying that is the best or correct solution just posing the question.

 

[Remathilis]

Okay, maybe as someone who has never cracked open a lorebook I don’t have the grounds to be saying this but I’m gonna, even if those people and places are iconic i wonder if they at all actually resonate with the current generation of players or if referencing them feels more like your dad saying ‘how can you not know this guy? He’s iconic!’ When indicating some actor from a bunch of 30-year old cowboy movies.

Would trying to establish a new world with it’s own set of names for the new generation be more effective than calling back to old stars?

Not saying that is the best or correct solution just posing the question.

Well, that's the age old question in all media, isn't it?

Lots of iconic characters resonate with today's youth because they are reinvented for new generations. Characters like Batman or Spider-Man are decades old properties but still are popular not just with kids but their parents and their parent's parents. The X-Men were out of the Marvel limelight for over a decade and with only a nostalgic cartoon series and a single R-rated movie, they came roaring back into prominence. There is a huge gap between Baldur's Gate 2 and 3 that many of the people who loved 3 weren't even born when 1 and 2 came out. And I would wager Luke Skywalker has more cultural significance than Rey. Media only becomes dated when it refuses to change to meet the next generation. I see no reason why Raistlin or Drizzt can't be as big a draw as Karloch or Asterion. You just need to make them relevant to the next generation. And that doesn't happen when the Old Guard screams about how Thats Not the Way It Used to Be to gatekeep it all for themselves.

Like I said, it would have been better if new could interact with old better in D&D, and if crossovers didn't need to be multiverse-spanning projects. I again think how Marvel or DC routinely have characters meet each other, or even Universal Horror had creature-mashups. But unless you have Reality Spanning Threats regularly, there is no reason for Mordenkainen, Elminster and Dalamar to team up (outside of visits to Ed's house) so there is no reason to cross the streams. And even when there is, people bellyache about it. Might have been easier if they lived on the same planet, but c'est la vie.