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.

 

[Weiley31]

Well it can't be Ravensloft as we have two books for it so far. We technically already have two books for Crit-Roll so I feel like Tal'Dora(sp?) is out. And Eberron would only make sense if it was an Adventure Path since 5E has an Eberron setting book. technically two if you unofficially count Exploring Eberron. Okay three due to Wayfarer's Guide to Eberron. Which would still make it two books already for Ebero-oh you know what I bloody mean.*

Since the SCAG is in need of an update, and there are a few things from there that haven't been reprinted yet, when compared to all the other reprints that have appeared/happened, a Forgotten Realms/Faerun book makes sense if we are gonna be revisiting a setting again.

 

[teitan]

Planejammer fans, here is an idea. Why not collab on something for DMSGuild? While it’s arguably derivative it is also unique and it’s not like WOtC has the trademark on flying boats and stuff. You could totally do a plane hopping, space flying boat rules set and setting that will fit your bill, and I’d imagine a lot of other people, moreso than when WOtC tries to maintain their Planescape and Spelljammer trademarks with independent books.

 

[teitan]

But to what purpose? By squeezing Spelljammer material into one book with Planescape, you just water down two distinct flavors. There is no gain to be had.

Plus maintaining those pesky trademarks on Planescape and Spelljammer is probably a priority. Mashing them together isn’t good business.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

That said... I would still hold hope for Planesjammer rather than strict Spelljammer. Tack on some ways to travel from Wildspace to Astral Space and head to different planes. Especially since Crawford talks about the planes having "Fuzzy Edges"

My idea for a harmony of the two ideas was that the crystal spheres are wildspace filled bubbles floating in the astral sea. The phlogiston is iridescent ribbons strung between the crystal spheres that act as a slipstream.

 

[Mind of tempest]

It had guns.

Forgotten Realms had guns as well.

but not in the way people want them not just a couple here and there that we nearly never get to use but common as rice and beyond flintlock.

 

[Hatmatter]

I flipped through the DMG, and it does not look like the phlogiston is mentioned. It may be and I missed it, or mentioned in another book.

The Astral Plane is mentioned specifically as the realm connecting all the planes together, as well as the realm where Githyanki roam. Considering how the Githyanki (and Mind Flayers too) are confirmed to traverse the Material Plane from the Astral (see Dungeon of the Mad Mage), it could be assumed that the Phlogiston has just been merged with the Astral in 5E.

It could be assumed that...except that Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford on Dragon Talk over the last five or six years, when discussing Crystal Spheres, have not shown a predilection for dramatically altering the D&D cosmology in such a way.

People have mentioned Van Richten’s Guide as a precedent for turning Spelljammer into a Planejammer setting. But Van Richten’s guide has not altered the established D&D cosmology of the Domains of Dread. In a forum thread a year or two ago, someone claimed that the D&D cosmology behind the Domains of Dread was basically out the window because of (what turned out to be a misreading by that person of) Curse of Strahd. I wrote at the time that eliminating the Domains of Dread or revealing the Dark Lords did not seem consistent with what I was hearing from the designers in Dragon Talk. Van Richten’s Guide has now confirmed that impression with which Dragon Talk left me. The alterations to the Domains of Dread don’t alter the basic premise.

Changing space faring to plane shifting alters the basic premise of Spelljammer. I don’t want to step on anyone’s fun...and plane shifting can always be incorporated into Spelljammer. So, traveling the astral plane with a Spelljammer ship could always be done and will be able to be done in the future. But the designers are fans and, like fans, embrace the Spelljamming lore.

Finally, Crawford has continually claimed that the various D&D worlds are in the same plane, to such an extent that he said that if one has the sigil code, one can use Teleport to teleport from, for example, Krynn to Oerth because they are in the same Prime Material Plane. If the Astral Plane was separating Krynn and Oerth, then that would suggest (to me at least) that they are not on the same plane.

Anything can be changed, of course, but I am with those who think this Planejammer idea is a fan idea with no basis in what the Wizards designers have said over the years. In this case, these fans want the Spelljammer setting changed at the fundamental level and the Wizards designers are upholding the original setting’s explanations.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Not sure a flintlock and gunpowder Planejammer D&D would land well. It’d be cool as hell.

A Spelljammer/Planescape with Red Steel’s ubiquitous belt/horse pistols would be stylish.

 

[Fenris-77]

I think they'd probably come up with a bespoke alchemical or magical equivalent to firearms rather than go the black powder way. You really do need braces of pistols to do pirates properly though.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

They leave their options open, particularly for DMs. This setup, however, matches the world as they have presented it in official channels, such as livestreams.

Not consistently. In MtG official channels, they contradict this video by pointing out that the Forgotten Realms and MtG do not share the same multiverse.

To that end, it's worth noting that the upcoming Magic set Adventures in the Forgotten Realms is not part of Universes Beyond. For now, we're reserving the Universes Beyond branding for worlds outside those built by Wizards of the Coast. As to whether the Forgotten Realms are now canonically part of Magic's Multiverse, for now, the answer is no. But we may change our minds in the future if it makes sense and is a fun net positive for Magic and D&D.

Magic's Voyages to Universes Beyond | MAGIC: THE GATHERING

Soon, Magic: The Gathering expands with the Universes Beyond.

magic.wizards.com

So there still isn't any consistent "multiversal theory" for how everything fits together... I'm not sure we'll ever got one.

 

[Faolyn]

The Astral Plane is the Astral Sea in the Great Wheel Cosmology. Because the Astral Sea is just a name.

Yeah, I know. But the cosmology is laid out differently, from what I gather.

Maybe say the Astral Plane is "Fuzzy" in deep space. So if you traverse enough Wildspace you cross into the Astral Sea and go Planesjamming. Tadaaaaaah! Problem resolved.

But that even further erodes the coolness of space and the differences of things you find in space versus the things you find in the planes. At that point, you might as well just go a step further and remove the Outer and Inner Planes entirely and put them all on the far reaches of the Material Plane.

Which, in and of itself, is a decent enough idea for a setting. The gods aren't some distant dream; they live right over there, on that mountain top or in that grove. But that is neither Planescape nor Spelljammer.

OK, an example:

I've had an idea--haven't done anything with it yet--to make Spelljammer a bit more space opera-y/Trekkie in nature by taking a bunch of Planescape stuff and sticking it in there. First, get rid of all the planes, except for the Shadowfell and Feywild. If the gods exist, they do so somewhere in those planes. Although there are some beings of godlike power floating around. Whatever; clerics get spells. All inhabited worlds only have a tiny handful of sentient species (like, 1d4). Fiends and celestials are rare Precursor races, not beings of pure good and evil created out of dead souls. Celestials do try to impose their goodness on the universe, but some have a warped idea of what goodness is. Fiends are evil, but a much more identifiable and realistic evil. They don't care about souls and cults; they want slave labor (both living and undead) and biomagically-created pets and tools for their conquered worlds, which are mostly destroyed due to their greed and negligence and are held together by magical equivalent of duct tape. Like, if you saw the Abram's Trek movies, there's a shot of Kronos' moon where it's shattered, presumably from wars. Like that. Modrons are biomechanical robots building a series of clockwork worlds throughout the universe. Clockwork horrors are a rogue offshoot of modrons. Both are borglike to one degree or another. Slaadi are just weird and have a disturbing breeding requirement. Elementals are creatures native to suns, water worlds, airless worlds and asteroids, and gas giants.

Each planet and other large body has their own Feywild and Shadowfell; some have them perfectly balanced, some have almost all one of one and almost none of the other, and some have some other combination. That percentage dictates how strong the presence of fey and undead are in any given area. Some ships might even have a connection to their homeworld's Feywild or Shadowfell. Actual high-powered fey can travel from one world's Feywild to another; same with certain undead or other powerful umbral beings from the Shadowfell.

Sigil is a (small) planet-sized city, like Coruscant. It has, like, all the spaceports. And factions. Gate-towns are effectively embassy-towns of various species, maybe on moonlets that orbit Sigil.

The way I feel is, some people (hopefully besides myself) might think this is an interesting idea worth having as a setting. But if this were proposed as the actual and official combination of Planescape and Spelljammer, there'd be a riot, and rightfully so.

While I know that Spelljammer needs a lot of work, I think the sparseness of material in the original books and boxes just means that more can be done to make it interesting if it were revamped--not that it needs to be combined with Planescape. Adding ships to the Astral would be a good way to make that individual plane more interesting (even though it has legitimate god-corpses already), but having it as a substitute for Spelljammer is just... no.