D&D 5E WotC: 5 D&D Settings In Development?

WotC's Ray Winninger spoke a little about some upcoming D&D settings -- two classic settings are coming in 2022 in formats we haven't seen before, and two brand new (not Magic: the Gathering) settings are also in development, as well as return to a setting they've already covered in 5E. He does note, however, that of the last three, there's a chance of one or more not making it to release, as they develop more than they use.

Two classic settings? What could they be?​

So that's:

• 2 classic settings in 2022 (in a brand new format)
• 2 brand new settings
• 1 returning setting

So the big questions -- what are the two classic settings, and what do they mean by a format we haven't seen before? Winninger has clarified on Twitter that "Each of these products is pursuing a different format you've never seen before. And neither is "digital only;" these are new print formats."

As I've mentioned on a couple of occasions, there are two more products that revive "classic" settings in production right now.

The manuscript for the first, overseen by [Chris Perkins], is nearly complete. Work on the second, led by [F. Wesley Schneider] with an assist from [Ari Levitch], is just ramping up in earnest. Both are targeting 2022 and formats you've never seen before.

In addition to these two titles, we have two brand new [D&D] settings in early development, as well as a return to a setting we've already covered. (No, these are not M:tG worlds.)

As I mentioned in the dev blog, we develop more material than we publish, so it's possible one or more of these last three won't reach production. But as of right now, they're all looking great.

Of course the phrase "two more products that revive 'classic' settings" could be interpreted in different ways. It might not be two individual setting books.

 

[DEFCON 1]

One of the two "new" settings could very well be a third continent of Exandria (wherever Matt is planning Season 3 for CR). The "return" to a setting we've already seen would say to me either a fuller Feywild 'Domains of Delight' book that expands on what we're getting in Witchlight... or a more complete Underdark book that expands on stuff presented in Out of the Abyss.

 

[Umbran]

Well, that's a lot of tantalizing hints without clear answers. "Both are targeting 2022 and formats you've never seen before." A new format for setting books?

What he said in the quote above is "products that revive "classic" settings".

I don't know why they'd be deliberately vague, but maybe we shouldn't just expect a setting book with a different layout. A Draconomicon with a heavy-leaning to Dragonlance, for example, might fit the bill..

It won't be Ravenloft, since that just came out. It's not a MtG setting, according to the tweet. So that just leaves Forgotten Realms and Eberron, right?

Greyhawk, Mystara, Dragonlance, Planescape, Spelljammer, Dark Sun and several others also fit under that heading.

 

[OblivionDrive]

Secondly, it would be pretty fascinating to see what could be done with a setting if it was not constrained to the limitations of a physical book. You wouldn't have to trim material just for space. You could take advantage of media that can't be incorporated into a book. You could update and enhance material through time, making it a 'living' product. And other things that I'm not clever enough to think of.

Spelljammer with full 360 degree 3D ship combat maps and embedded sea space shanties playing in the background confirmed.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

D&D movie is set in Forgotten Realms specifically Neverwinter.

And the website that reported that retracted it and said they had things wrong.

 

[overgeeked]

Spelljammer confirmed.
Why do we always try and combine SJ and PS? Why not other classic settings with Spelljammer? Dragonjammer, Spellhawk, Birthjammer...

Makes me think of a cross between Spelljammer and SilverHawks.

 

[Demetrios1453]

And the website that reported that retracted it and said they had things wrong.

Photos of filming have shown banners depicting Neverwinter's coat of arms.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

We've had Greyhawk (Saltmarsh) and Ravenloft (Curse of Strahd) in adventures but not in a setting book.

The most recent D&D book is a Ravenloft setting book.

 

[Tonguez]

That would be medium, not format. I believe that by "new format" it means breaking away from the traditional content breakdown where a majority of the book is a gazetteer of important people and places, sandwiched between some new character options in the front and some new monster entries in the back. That's been the style of setting books for a very long time, and I can easily see them feeling like it isn't optimizing page allocation for what players and DMs actually use from the books.

Or I could be wrong and it's a new multimedia digital crossover release. We'll see in time.

 

[overgeeked]

What he said in the quote above is "products that revive "classic" settings".

I don't know why they'd be deliberately vague, but maybe we shouldn't just expect a setting book with a different layout. A Draconomicon with a heavy-leaning to Dragonlance, for example, might fit the bill..

Greyhawk, Mystara, Dragonlance, Planescape, Spelljammer, Dark Sun and several others also fit under that heading.

Then likely Curse of Strahd style setting specific adventure paths.

 

[ersatzphil]

I don't know why they'd be deliberately vague, but maybe we shouldn't just expect a setting book with a different layout. A Draconomicon with a heavy-leaning to Dragonlance, for example, might fit the bill..

I suspect this is the proper takeaway - a big adventure centered on Sigil or an anthology of small adventures which all feature Sigil as a hub could be just as much of a 'Planescape revival' as a proper campaign setting.