D&D 5E (2024) WotC Should Make 5.5E Specific Setting

[Corinnguard]

The Eberron setting also has another thing that sets it apart from other setting. Manifest Zones. From the Eberron Wiki:

Manifest zones are certain locations on the world of Eberron that share a particularly close connection with one of the thirteen planes that orbit Eberron within the astral sea. Within a manifest zone, the area takes on properties of that plane; for instance, a manifest zone on Eberron with a link to the plane of Risia, the Plain of Ice, may make the area much colder than under normal circumstances. Manifest zones might also allow passage between one plane and the next; though for some zones this may only be a one-way trip.

The city of Sharn is actually found in a manifest zone that connects Eberron to Syrania (the setting's equivalent to the Elemental Plane of Air). This is what allows parts of the city to either float in the air or stretch up into the air like a skyscraper in RL.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Back in 3e, the waxing and waning of Eberron's 13 moons heightened or diminished whatever magic each moon was associated with

Krynn did this first, but for most tables such detailed date tracking is impractical. It was dropped (unless you really want to track it) for reasons of fun, not game rules.

Manifest Zones are setting details, rather than something that affects how spellcasting rules work.

Dragonshards do modify rules in a minor way, in that they can substitute for spell components. They kind of affect crafting, but the 5e rules are pretty loose with regards to crafting materials.

 

[Yaarel]

A setting can have special mechanics. But this is the opposite of a setting whose design goal is to make the Players Handbook true. The Players Handbook setting would remove any mechanics that the Players Handbook lacks.

Even optional mechanics that the DMs Guide mentions in the DMs Tools section, might be inappropriate for a Players Handbook setting.

 

[Yaarel]

The Greyhawk setting in the 5e 2024 DMs Guide, needs to make the 5e 2024 Players Handbook true.

Probably there needs to be more integrated Dragonborn lore. But also more lore for Goliath, Orc, Tiefling, and Aasimar would help too.



I tend to compare as follows.

Orc : Goliath :: Ogre : Giant

So anywhere there are Giants and Ogres, can inform the lore about Goliaths and Orcs. Meanwhile Jotuns mountainrange wilderness, and Yeomanry multispecies towns are the go-to for Goliath cultures.



By contrast, Dragonborn are a challenge. Dragons are everywhere, anywhere. But Dragonborn dont seem to be. They are only mentioned in passing a handful of times, while remaining obscure as a species. So where the species exists specifically requires explicit lore. The solution is a regional setting for Dragon Island nearby off the coast of the Flanaess subcontinent.

This Dragons Island setting can be assumed to include all of the Players Handbook species, while also featuring prominently several diverse Dragonborn-founded cultures.



It also helps to think negationally about where a species isnt. For example, the list of the prominent species in Old Keoland notably omits Elf, Tiefling, and Awsimar. The absence of Elf in the southwest Flanaess region is interesting. Also the absence of Astral (Tiefling and Awsimar) suggests divine magic is scarce.

 

[Yaarel]

What should a 2024 Players Handbook look like? Suppose the regional setting Dragons Island is this. Some brainstorming.


Dragonborn are a prominent species founding, say, three native cultures on the Island. (Compare British Isles with several diverse cultures during the Postclassical and Medieval Periods.)

Bahamut Aasimar and Tiamat Tiefling are also prominent.

Probably the ancestor Dragons are still alive, part of the Dragonborn culture, and the culture reveres them as grandparents. This is one of the few circumstances where Metallic and Chromatic Dragons get along and work together, even if they tend to have different ideas about how to best further the wellbeing of their descendants. Dragons have "observer" status at the Dragonborn government parliament. But whenever the Metallics and Chromatics agree about something, the Dragonborn tend to vote accordingly. Each Dragonborn family tends to vote together as a block.

At least one of the cultures is a theodemocracy, where voting individually is a sacred religious duty. Hence the Astrals - Celestial Bahamut and Fiend Tiamat, and Aasimar and Tieflings - and divine magic pervades the culture with Cleric priestly temples and Paladin knightly oaths. The democracy is how Metallics and Chromatics can work together, since both respect the ambitions and votes of their descendants.

The Dragonborn Paladin is a resonant trope, because in the mythology of the knight combatting the dragon (Saint George and the dragon, Michael and the serpent, even Thorr and Jormungandr), the Dragonborn is the fusion of both the knight and the dragon. The theodemocracy especially leans into the Paladin oath trope for public functions, whereas the Cleric is more about retreats away from public for personal introspection. The Paladins rather than the priests have governmental administrative roles, relating to their oaths.

The world serpent is the archetypal encircling ocean (Norse Jormungandr, Caananite Yam, compare Hindu Shesha, etcetera). This coiling world dragon is thematic of the Dragonborn sailing culture, with a naval and merchant fleet.

Possibly Kobold are also present as a playable species. Yuan-ti factions might be present as villains.

Of the three native Dragonborn cultures, probably one is isolationist but including family members adopted from other species, one is Dragonborn-majority, and one is vigorously urban and multispecies. Probably the seafaring culture is multispecies, founding a number of important city-states as trading posts along the sea traderoutes. Many of these city-states are opulently wealthy. These city-states form an economic league.

All Dragonborn cultures speak Draconic, regardless of species.