D&D (2024) So what happened to the new and classic campaign settings? (and what's next?)

Parmandur said:

Chris Perkins said previously thst the example is fleshed out sufficiently to be used as-is..which makes sense with Greyhawk, excuse it can be fully detailed in a chapter.

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Mercurius said:

Weren't there somewhat solid rumors about WotC re-issuing a classic setting this year, to go along with the 50th anniversary? With the lead candidate being a true Forgotten Realms campaign book? And what about the new settings they were talking about a couple years ago? And while we're at it, are they done with Magic setting books (it has been 3 years since the last)?

I'm also wondering if there might be a surprised book announced later this year. With Eve of Ruin,Quests, the PHB and DMG, this will be the first year since 2020 that they've "only" published four game books. I know MM was pushed back, so it was originally five. But it does make me wonder if they'll sneak something else in that was planned for early 2025, or just wait to go back to five books then. And of course with the Making of OD&D and Worlds & Realms, there are more D&D-related major products.

BTW, I'm not complaining about no news or a lack of more product, just curious about what the plan is beyond the revised core rulebooks. I mean, they announced the known current schedule some time ago, so we haven't had an announcement of anything new in quite awhile...unless I missed it.

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Mercurius said:

I feel that WotC could take a lesson from Paizo, and create a Golarion-esque setting that allows for a more naturalistic diversity of ideas...not just pasting on everything, whether it fits thematically or not (e.g. Kara-Tur/Zakhara/Maztica in Toril).

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Mercurius said:

I think Voadam brings up a good point and it goes beyond mere kitchensinkism. Most kitchen sink settings take real world analogs as their primary influences; Golarion seems to take Greyhawk as its primary influence, which is a step removed. This reminds me a bit of post-1977 epic fantasy (1977 was the year Sword of Shannara and Lord Foul's Bane were published, setting off a new era of epic fantasy): the primary influence, or at least referential godfather for the vast majority of post-1977 epic fantasy is Tolkien. Later versions of elves were not, by and large, taken from European mythology but from Tolkien, who derived them from European mythology.

I wouldn't say that Greyhawk has the same place in fantasy rpg settings as The Lord of the Rings has in epic fantasy, but it was the first big fantasy setting. Sure, there were contemporaries but none of them were as played and as influential for what came later on. The Forgotten Realms are probably the most popular and played in fantasy RPG setting of all time, but they were published about a decade after Greyhawk and thus have that many years less of influence.

I would also say that the other big kitchen sink D&D setting, the Forgotten Realms, does not seem to draw from Greyhawk nearly as directly as Golarion does. It even seems that the FR is a parallel development to Greyhawk; this would match what I know of its history, that it was created beginning in Ed Greenwood's youth and thus a creative contemporary to Greyhawk, if published later on. Actually, based upon Wikipedia the FR were probably begun a few years earlier, in 1967 compared to 1972 for Greyhawk, but they were published seven years later (1987 to 1980).

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Blue said:

Sure... which is still in a chapter devoted to making a setting. It explicitly is not a chapter on nothing but Greyhawk.

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Mistwell said:

You mean like Greyhawk, which was the inspiration for Golarion?

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Blue said:

Sure... which is still in a chapter devoted to making a setting. It explicitly is not a chapter on nothing but Greyhawk.

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Mercurius said:

I still think D&D "needs"--or could benefit from--a new default, kitchen sink setting to place their adventures in. I like the Realms, but at this point it feels worn out. Anachronistic, even. A new--built from the ground--kitchen sink setting could allow them to bring D&D fully into the 21st century without feeling like everything new is being crammed into old settings (e.g. dragonborn in Greyhawk...blech). I feel that WotC could take a lesson from Paizo, and create a Golarion-esque setting that allows for a more naturalistic diversity of ideas...not just pasting on everything, whether it fits thematically or not (e.g. Kara-Tur/Zakhara/Maztica in Toril).

Click to expand...

Mercurius said:

Weren't there somewhat solid rumors about WotC re-issuing a classic setting this year, to go along with the 50th anniversary? With the lead candidate being a true Forgotten Realms campaign book? And what about the new settings they were talking about a couple years ago? And while we're at it, are they done with Magic setting books (it has been 3 years since the last)?

I'm also wondering if there might be a surprised book announced later this year. With Eve of Ruin,Quests, the PHB and DMG, this will be the first year since 2020 that they've "only" published four game books. I know MM was pushed back, so it was originally five. But it does make me wonder if they'll sneak something else in that was planned for early 2025, or just wait to go back to five books then. And of course with the Making of OD&D and Worlds & Realms, there are more D&D-related major products.

BTW, I'm not complaining about no news or a lack of more product, just curious about what the plan is beyond the revised core rulebooks. I mean, they announced the known current schedule some time ago, so we haven't had an announcement of anything new in quite awhile...unless I missed it.

Click to expand...