Jeremy Crawford Also Leaving D&D Team Later This Month

Jeremy Crawford is leaving Wizards of the Coast later this month. Screen Rant (via me!) had the exclusive announcement. Crawford was the Game Director for Dungeons & Dragons and was one of the guiding forces for D&D over the past decade. In the past year, Crawford has focused on the core rulebooks and leading the team of rules designers. He has also been a face of Dungeons & Dragons for much of 5th Edition, appearing in many promotional videos and DMing Acquisitions Incorporated Actual Play series.

He joins Chris Perkins in leaving the D&D team in recent weeks. Perkins, who was the Creative Director for D&D, announced his retirement last week. Both Perkins and Crawford appear to have left Wizards on their terms, with Lanzillo very effusive with her praise of both men and their contribution in our interview.

On a personal note, I've enjoyed interviewing Jeremy over the years. He was always gracious with his time and answers and is one of the most eloquent people I've ever heard talk about D&D. I'll miss both him and Chris Perkins and look forward to their next steps, wherever that might be.

 

[Scribe]

Well that ship sailed five minutes into 5E's playtest. I was very excited by the idea of "packages" of rules to add to the spine that was D&D to get the flavor of game you wanted. It's a real shame 5E didn't stick to that. We could be seeing "Sword & Sorcery" category books alongside "Magi-tech" and "High Fantasy" but it was not to be. It probably would have segmented the product lines too much and we would have had another 2E situation anyway.

So you are telling me that the 800 lb Gorilla, with the biggest name, biggest brand, biggest budget, who could hire the best and brightest, cannot sell a book that BUILDS ON or modularizes 5e to offer a different perspective?

Despite likely hundreds of examples from 3PP? Some of which have made millions of dollars WITHOUT the brand name and marketing?

Really?

 

[Micah Sweet]

I think you'll be waiting a long time for official D&D RPG products in that vein. That type of content has only ever been served up by 3rd Parties, probably for the best from a brand perspective.

BG3 was the highest-profile, most financially successful branded product in quite a while.

 

[Micah Sweet]

As much as I enjoyed BG3, I don't think I want D&D to go all edgelord/bear humping as it's default mode. And as the gateway drug to the RPG scene, I'm ok with D&D being a little more child friendly. Let the 3pp market cater to those with more adult tastes.

Who said anything about "all" or "default"? Everything has a spectrum.

 

[Scribe]

BG3 was the highest-profile, most financially successful branded product in quite a while.

Likely forever. Odds of a D&D game coming out that crosses over into the broad pop culture like that again are approaching 0.

 

[SteveC]

This really makes me sad as it means the times they really are 'a changin. I'm absolutely not against new blood and new ideas in gaming. My Kickstarter/Backerkit account can show the tale of how many projects I've backed. I'm sure I'll be picking up a PDF of Daggerheart soon and I've backed the MCDM RPG ... you name it, I'm going to see it.

But there is strength in the traditions of D&D, and I don't think people understand that enough. One of the reasons D&D isn't just another RPG comes from its history. Without that, it's just a shell.

I've worked for companies that had incredible reputations in their field, and when they were sold, and the last person from before left, the special qualities they had were just gone.

I don't want to be negative, so I hope we see a new direction out of all of this. But hopefully also D&D doesn't just become "yet another RPG."

 

[Reynard]

BG3 was the highest-profile, most financially successful branded product in quite a while.

Interestingly, while it uses (a variant of) the 5E system, BG3 is NOT branded as a D&D game in its box art. Its brand is Baldur's Gate, not D&D.

 

[Bravesteel25]

So you are telling me that the 800 lb Gorilla, with the biggest name, biggest brand, biggest budget, who could hire the best and brightest, cannot sell a book that BUILDS ON or modularizes 5e to offer a different perspective?

Despite likely hundreds of examples from 3PP? Some of which have made millions of dollars WITHOUT the brand name and marketing?

Really?

I'm not contending that they couldn't. I maintain that from a business perspective I understand why they don't.

 

[Divine2021]

This confirms all my prior preconceptions and biases, and I am satisfied that my assumptions are obviously correct.

But in all seriousness OSE and Shadowdark are better.

 

[Bravesteel25]

BG3 was the highest-profile, most financially successful branded product in quite a while.

Hence why I said D&D RPG product. By RPG meaning the pen and paper RPG. BG3, despite it's success is not a mainline product by any means.

 

[Scribe]

I'm not contending that they couldn't. I maintain that from a business perspective I understand why they don't.

Sure, I understand it as well.

Has nothing to do with ability, budget, market forces, or anything of the like however.