D&D 5E WotC Delays New D&D Book Announcement

This from WotC — “Get the quasits out of our office! Our plan to make a D&D book announcement on Thursday has been changed. Adventurers, mark your calendars for Monday, January 13.”

The book was due to be announced on Thursday 9th January after a mysterious entry appeared on Amazon with a product title of "Dungeons & Dragons March Release Book (Title announced January 9th)" and a release date of March 17th, 2020. See the original news item here:

D&D 5E - March's D&D Book To Be Announced On January 9th

A mysterious entry has appeared on Amazon! With a product title of "Dungeons & Dragons March Release Book (Title announced January 9th)" and a release date of March 17th, 2020, this $49.95 hardcover release will be revealed in under a week! The description reads "Your first look at the next...

www.enworld.org

They haven't given a reason; back in November WotC delayed the launch of the sapphire D&D anniversary dice at the last minute, too.

D&D General - $300 D&D Dice Delayed

WotC has delayed the sale of the $300 dice. They haven’t said why.

www.enworld.org

 

[generic]

It appears to have been updated (h/t to folks on reddit: )

Amazon.com

So the critical role campaign setting!

Ugh, hard pass for me. I already purchased the Exandria book from Green Ronin, I don't need WotC-sanctioned options. And, I'm not a fan of Critical Role.

I suppose this one's not for me.

 

[Rhylthar]

I suppose this one's not for me.

For me neither...

 

[Anoth]

Most new settings seem so Meta to me. Although I am desperate to tryout any new settings. I keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

 

[dave2008]

It appears to have been updated (h/t to folks on reddit: )

Amazon.com

So the critical role campaign setting!

Odd, the cost of the book changed too. It was$ 49.95 and is now $29.95. I wonder what that is about?

 

[ppaladin123]

I love Matt Mercer and CR is fun...but I'm really disappointed in this. We now have two Campaign Settings that no one asked for (Ravinica and now Wildemount) while fan favorites like Planescape, Dark Sun, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, and heck, everything in FR that isn't the Sword Coast or Chult have had no official support at all.

I share your preferences but I have seen so many threads on reddit and GitP asking for helping building blood hunters and cobalt monks that I I imagine there is a market for this.

 

[generic]

I share your preferences but I have seen so many threads on reddit and GitP asking for helping building blood hunters and cobalt monks that I I imagine there is a market for this.

There likely is a market for this, which makes me sad, because I want truly new campaign settings, original to 5E, barring Exandria because I find it so boring. I wouldn't mind seeing a return of Dark Sun or another older campaign setting, either, though.

 

[dave2008]

I love Matt Mercer and CR is fun...but I'm really disappointed in this. We now have two Campaign Settings that no one asked for (Ravinica and now Wildemount) while fan favorites like Planescape, Dark Sun, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, and heck, everything in FR that isn't the Sword Coast or Chult have had no official support at all.

I lot of people asked for MtG settings and with the popularity of critical role I imagine a lot asked for something like this is well. When over 50% of the market doesn't even run a campaign setting, I think tying one into MtG or something else more broadly popular makes some sense. Personally, I will reserve judgment until I see the book.

 

[Burnside]

I’m a big CR fan, but it’s not the setting that makes the show great (the setting is quite generic) so this doesn’t interest me very much. Hope this is less a setting book and more an adventure book.

If this results in Wildemount becoming fair game for DMSGuild, that will be really nice for creators.

From a business standpoint, this does make more sense than Planescape, Dragonlance, etc. Anyone that thinks “more fans” are interested in those than are interested in Critical Role is in a bubble. For better or worse, CR is way more important and way more visible than those settings right now.

 

[generic]

I’m a big CR fan, but it’s not the setting that makes the show great (the setting is quite generic) so this doesn’t interest me very much. Hope this is less a setting book and more an adventure book.

If this results in Wildemount becoming fair game for DMSGuild, that will be really nice for creators.

From a business standpoint, this does make more sense than Planescape, Dragonlance, etc. Anyone that thinks “more fans” are interested in those than are interested in Critical Role is in a bubble. For better or worse, CR is way more important and way more visible than those settings right now.

Your comment on the state of the market's desires is accurate. I doubt many new players have even heard of Birthright or Hollow World, and probably don't know much about Dark Sun or Planescape.

 

[Magus Darkwind]

I’m a big CR fan, but it’s not the setting that makes the show great (the setting is quite generic) so this doesn’t interest me very much. Hope this is less a setting book and more an adventure book.

If this results in Wildemount becoming fair game for DMSGuild, that will be really nice for creators.

From a business standpoint, this does make more sense than Planescape, Dragonlance, etc. Anyone that thinks “more fans” are interested in those than are interested in Critical Role is in a bubble. For better or worse, CR is way more important and way more visible than those settings right now.

While that's a fair assessment, I just find the choice uninspired. Like you said, people watch CR because of the personalities involved, not because the setting is particularly interesting. I understand choosing Wildemount over, say, Dragonlance or Greyhawk, but it's disappointing that it was chosen over more unique settings like Dark Sun and Planescape, in my opinion.