D&D 5E WotC Announces An Impending Announcement: New Setting, Storyline

Early this week, WotC announced on Twitter that today there would be some kind of announcement on their Twitch channel. Those who heard that announcement and tuned in were treated to an announcement that the new storyline will be announced at a live event in June.

The press release announcing the impending announcement also mentions a new setting, as well as the storyline, so it sounds like it might not be set in the Forgotten Realms (or maybe is in a new region - to 5E - of the Realms, such as Icewind Dale). The adventure and the setting might be the same thing, or they might be completely different things. Recently, WotC has released a bunch of settings: Eberron, Ravnica, Wildemount, and the upcoming Theros.

Fans of D&D will learn all about the new setting and storyline

The new storyline specifically will be revealed at 12pm PST (8pm GMT) on Thursday, June 18th.

The June event will raise money for Comic Relief, and will feature celebrities including Brandon Routh (Superman), and will preview the brand new storyline. It takes place June 18th-20th. Other names involved include Felicia Day, Deborah Ann Woll, Amy Acker, David Harbour, Matthew Lillard, and more.

​

 PRESS RELEASE

---

RENTON, WA – May 21, 2020 – People all over the world continue to stay safe by staying home, but that doesn’t mean the adventuring has to stop. Dungeons & Dragons is more popular than ever because it allows people to weave compelling stories together even when they’re physically apart through online videoconferencing. Now, Wizards of the Coast brings the stars to this virtual table with D&D Live 2020: Roll w/ Advantage. An amazing cast of characters led by expert storytellers preview the latest D&D storyline with live gaming sessions, all while raising money for Red Nose Day to help the most vulnerable children across the US and around the world, who have been so affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.The adventure begins 10:00am PT on June 18, 2020 and will run through June 20, 2020 at dungeonsanddragons.com.

D&D Live 2020: Roll w/ Advantage features big personalities playing elves, wizards and fighters to accomplish quests using their imaginations. Funny people like Brian Posehn, Kevin Sussman and Thomas Middleditch will work together to solve problems or, more likely, cause some hilarious new ones. WWE ® Superstars Xavier Woods ®, Tyler Breeze ®, Ember Moon ®, Alexa Bliss ® and Dio Maddin ® will contend with beefcake destroyer Jeremy Crawford, a.k.a. Principal Rules Designer for D&D. Deborah Ann Woll will lead a group of actors in improvising a way to help people in a fantasy world not that different from ours. And principal D&D writer Chris Perkins takes players

Fans of D&D will learn all about the new setting and storyline as well as accompanying new products plus tons of unique gameplay available on June 18, 2020. D&D Adventurers League has four new short adventures everyone can enjoy. By donating a small amount to Red Nose Day, fans will have access to sign up for D&D sessions with players around the world! During #DnDLive2020, fans will also be able to choose the character best suited to help the region through Reality RP, a mashup of fantasy storytelling, community engagement, and reality television.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Karsus, was, ummm, overambitious. He chose the wrong god to kill and replace. Any other, and everyone would've been fine and Netheril wouldn't have fallen, but he chose the goddess of magic, and nearly destroyed everything.

 

[Xenonnonex]

Yup, that's version of the story I was familiar with. But then I had a bunch of FR fanatics jumping down my neck telling me Karsus was innocent. It proves the point, history is simply a matter of perspective.

Let us be clear. The mention was in reference to Anauroch. What caused it. Is there mention of Karsus being innocent. No. Your bizarre conflation is your own. Do not blame others for it.

 

[dalisprime]

Your choice if you want that as your canon.

"Beneath the Great Glacier buried below tons of ice and snow lay the corpse of Ulutiu. The glowing necklace still drapped around his neck. He lies today. Undisturbed. Forgotten. For the sake of the people of the Great Glacier as well as those in the Lands to the south it is hoped that his rest continues. If the necklace of Ulutiu were removed the enchantment would be broken. And the Great Glacier would surely begin to melt."
From FR14 The Great Glacier.

It does however prove my point. Different accounts provide different answers, so there is no certain way of telling, short of trying to find Ulutiu and asking him which may be difficult because he's either stuck under that ice, or hiding in exile on the astral plane.
The only thing we do know is that he's alive, because all gods are after the Second Sundering.
Seeing as they all (bar the Dead Three who decided to stick around as demigods for some odd reason and Tiamat who's still hanging out in hell after her failed attempt to come to Faerun in ToD) decided to distance themselves from the mortal realms, approaching them directly for answers might be somewhat difficult though.

 

[Xenonnonex]

It does however prove my point. Different accounts provide different answers, so there is no certain way of telling, short of trying to find Ulutiu and asking him which may be difficult because he's either stuck under that ice, or hiding in exile on the astral plane.
The only thing we do know is that he's alive, because all gods are after the Second Sundering.
Seeing as they all (bar the Dead Three who decided to stick around as demigods for some odd reason and Tiamat who's still hanging out in hell after her failed attempt to come to Faerun in ToD) decided to distance themselves from the mortal realms, approaching them directly for answers might be somewhat difficult though.

The canon is there. Be a slave to canon or not. Your choice. Is a free choice.

 

[dalisprime]

The canon is there. Be a slave to canon or not. Your choice. Is a free choice.

GHotR is as much of a valid canon source as the book you're quoting despite providing conflicting information. Greenwood himself said that they did this on purpose so as to allow DMs more freedom in presenting the realms.
Like it or not, lore presented in all the books up to now is officially treated as research done by a fallible narrator, so if there are multiple versions of past events, that means there is no One True Answer TM.

 

[Xenonnonex]

GHotR is as much of a valid canon source as the book you're quoting despite providing conflicting information. Greenwood himself said that they did this on purpose so as to allow DMs more freedom in presenting the realms.
Like it or not, lore presented in all the books up to now is officially treated as research done by a fallible narrator, so if there are multiple versions of past events, that means there is no One True Answer TM.

Okay. Great. I have said use whatever the hell you feel like. No one is stopping you. No need for the justification.

 

[Juomari Veren]

The book was not "supposed to be out by now". It was originally scheduled for release on June 2 (and still will be, on DNDBeyond, Roll20, and Fantasy Grounds).

The book's original, unblemished release date was May 15th. The pandemic first pushed it back to June before the printers told them they can't get it out until mid-July, which is where we're at now.

Even if it were still coming out in June, this event is two weeks after the fact. They've done these streams close to book releases before and they usually don't highlight already-released/revealed products as being things they're announcing. More importantly, there's only been sourcebooks for the magic settings, no hardcover modules and not a whole lot else of ancillary product besides dice, maps, and minis. I'm very optimistic that they're gonna show us the fall hardcover and a new setting book akin to last year's Eberron release, there's really no reason for them to have a whole weekend dedicated to advertising MOoT when its core audience has pretty much been reached in full since its announcement.

 

[Azzy]

Again, they've removed the reference to "setting" on the website. They are not going to announce a new campaign setting. They are likely going to announce a new adventure, and the setting for the adventure will likely be Icewind Dale.

If they do release a campaign setting book this year, it won't be released until much later in the year and thus will not be announced in the impending announcement.

 

[Parmandur]

Again, they've removed the reference to "setting" on the website. They are not going to announce a new campaign setting. They are likely going to announce a new adventure, and the setting for the adventure will likely be Icewind Dale.

If they do release a campaign setting book this year, it won't be released until much later in the year and thus will not be announced in the impending announcement.

They will likely provide a barebones hint at the final product of the year, as with Eberron last year, bit no full on announcement seems likely.

 

[Mercurius]

OK, official probabilities in from Overmind AI as to what the "new setting" refers to:

57.2% Icewind Dale
39.1% Theros
4.7% Some other setting