D&D 5E WotC Explains 'Canon' In More Detail

Recently, WotC's Jeremy Crawford indicated that only the D&D 5th Edition books were canonical for the roleplaying game. In a new blog article, Chris Perkins goes into more detail about how that works, and why.

This boils down to a few points:

• Each edition of D&D has its own canon, as does each video game, novel series, or comic book line.
• The goal is to ensure players don't feel they have to do research of 50 years of canon in order to play.
• It's about remaining consistent.

If you’re not sure what else is canonical in fifth edition, let me give you a quick primer. Strahd von Zarovich canonically sleeps in a coffin (as vampires do), Menzoberranzan is canonically a subterranean drow city under Lolth’s sway (as it has always been), and Zariel is canonically the archduke of Avernus (at least for now). Conversely, anything that transpires during an Acquisitions Incorporated live game is not canonical in fifth edition because we treat it the same as any other home game (even when members of the D&D Studio are involved).

D&D Canon | D&D Studio Blog | Dungeons & Dragons

In this D&D Studio Blog, Chris Perkins describes the D&D Studio's position on canonicity.

dnd.wizards.com

D&D General - WotC: Novels & Non-5E Lore Are Officially Not Canon

At a media press briefing last week, WotC's Jeremey Crawford clarified what is and is not canon for D&D. "For many years, we in the Dungeons & Dragons RPG studio have considered things like D&D novels, D&D video games, D&D comic books, as wonderful expressions of D&D storytelling and D&D lore...

www.enworld.org

 

[doctorbadwolf]

No it isn't

It…how is it not?

It IS different because of the new ability to use cantrips in place of an attack, though.

How?

But does it change if non elven characters can do the bladesong?

They always could. The restriction was always (at least in 5e and 4e, 2e was 1,000 years ago and I despised 3.5, so idk about them) based on elves not allowing others to learn it, and IIRC there were novelized exceptions.

So, what actually changed in the lore?

No, he said that third party partners will only be expected to adhere to what's in the three core books: don't see any Eberron novels, video games, or films coming soon.

I don’t think even that follows necessarily from what he said. There are reasons to doubt such things coming out, but the quoted statement isn’t one of them.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

The vast majority of the player base is probably unaware of "previous canon" nor familiar with previous versions. To them, Forgotten Realms is new.

WOTC runs a business and has been very successful with expanding their base to include a whole new generation of players. It may very well upset some minority of the player base but that is the nature of business. As always, the very nature of the game allows you to ignore or change parts of the game to your liking.

This is completely unrelated to what I posted, but it doesn't matter. I'm done banging my head against the wall now that I figured out what they are up to and I'll worry about it when it comes to pass. So for now I'm done with the thread, I have more important things to do.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Chapter Three: Felling the World Tree
in which the heroes become lumberjacks of the multiverse

Now this one I'd like to see! haha

 

[lingual]

This is completely unrelated to what I posted, but it doesn't matter. I'm done banging my head against the wall now that I figured out what they are up to and I'll worry about it when it comes to pass. So for now I'm done with the thread, I have more important things to do.

Sorry! I was just giving a reason as to why they would make more FR content. Basically for newer players who don't know what FR is.

I suppose I'm replying to no one now but didn't mean to offend if I misunderstood your post.

 

[Faolyn]

So you do understand that all your arguments against me here also apply to alignment, right? You're arguments are the same as the pro-alignment side. So I guess you're now okay with just not using alignment and leaving it in.

Well, here's a conundrum for you. And this time, I do mean you.

If alignment is a mechanic, then yes, it should be part of the statblock. But then there needs to be rules for that alignment. Not guidelines on how to use them, but actual rules, like there are for resistances and immunities, skills, AC, etc. Even creature type and size have mechanics in them. Where are the alignment rules?

(I've only seen a handful of things in D&D that involve alignment at all, and all of those were aimed at PCs; e.g., a magic item in CoS that reacts differently depending on the alignment of the PC that touched it.)

If alignment is lore, then it shouldn't be part of the statblock, since they no longer include other lore-based entries in the statblock (e.g., climate/terrain, diet, number appearing) and instead include them in the monster description, if they're referenced at all. Whether you preferred those lore-based entries in the statblock or not doesn't matter; they're not in the stats this edition.

So which is it: is alignment a mechanic that should be kept with the mechanics, or a piece of lore that should be kept with the lore?

And, of course, the Tasha's thing is different because it apparently switched a trait from 1/rest to Prof bonus times per long rest, which has nothing to do with lore and only barely changes the mechanics--and there just bringing it in line with other new archetypes.

(BTW, you didn't say what canon has been removed from FR, other than the Wall, which we already knew about.)

 

[JEB]

So the quiz, if taken seriously (which I am totally doing, because it amuses me to take it seriously), does actually tell us a little bit about what they consider canon beyond the core rules (spoilers in case you want to take the quiz first):

Spoiler

• Darkon and Mordentshire are Domains of Dread
• Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, and Waterdeep are part of the Lords' Alliance
• No one knows what caused the Mourning (not that they say what the Mourning itself is, beyond a "cataclysm")

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Sorry! I was just giving a reason as to why they would make more FR content. Basically for newer players who don't know what FR is.

I suppose I'm replying to no one now but didn't mean to offend if I misunderstood your post.

I'm not offended, I'm just clarifying. And I'm answering this right now because I'm waiting for a burger I ordered.

 

[Parmandur]

I don’t think even that follows necessarily from what he said. There are reasons to doubt such things coming out, but the quoted statement isn’t one of them.

No, I agree. I do think if there were a movie set in Eberron, that WotC would expect Rising from the Last War to be used as Canon, though.

 

[Ibrandul]

And by making the Forgotten Realms the setting of the starter set/essentials kit and almost every adventure path, they've introduced the setting to a whole new generation of dnd fans (who, in 20 years, may have nostalgic memories of Phandalin similar to the ones 1e players have for Hommlet). I'm not an FR fan (I sort of hate it...), but it is surprising to me that FR fans are not thrilled that their setting gets to continue with a new generation of fans, canon or no. And that they are doing all these things with the setting, like continuing the videogames, the "year of drizzt" (facepalm), and the movie set in FR.

What if they had made Greyhawk or a new setting the location of all those APs, and left FR to wither on the vine? Is that actually preferable for FR fans?

Yes, I think many FR fans hate WotC so intensely that they would prefer that nothing official ever again be published for the setting. (I'm not one of them.)

I have fairly limited experience with fandoms, but of those I've been involved with, the most embittered and hostile fans I've ever engaged with are all FR fans.

To be clear, I think FR fans do have some cause for complaint. But if I hated 95% of what had been published for an IP over the past fourteen years straight—as it seems most of the internet-active FR fans do—then I like to think I would have disengaged long ago, or at least stopped going on regular tirades about it.

I'm saying this as someone who spends something like maybe half of all his leisure time engaged in one way or another with FR, and has done so for years, and enjoys FR products from every edition, though not equally.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

No, I agree. I do think if there were a movie set in Eberron, that WotC would expect Rising from the Last War to be used as Canon, though.

Probably, yeah, though even then I’d expect them to prioritize good story over adherence to even current canon.