The Future of D&D
In a recent panel titled Future of D&D, Chris Perkins, Jeremy Crawford, Liz Schuh, and Ray Winninger (all big names in the Dungeons and Dragons world) sat down to tease and discuss the future of Dungeons and Dragons and their comments have set the internet ablaze. You can watch the full panel by following this link. Future of D&D | D&D Celebration 2021
I wanted to focus today on the future as teased by these Titans of Dungeons and Dragons and what I expect to see and what I hope to see in the future of D&D.
The panelists teased that over the next few years D&D will be featuring a return to 3 classic settings, the first of which will launch next year, with a culmination during the 50th anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons in 2024. With such a large and momentous occasion, we can expect Wizards of the Coast to go all out and spare no expense. At that time we can expect to see the next evolution of the game which will be backwards-compatible with the current rules set. In celebration, we can expect to see a whole new revamp of the core rulebooks which are of course the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide, and the Monster Manual.
The first new product on the horizon is the introduction of a new gift set which is currently slated to release January 25, 2022. This gift set will include two popular supplementary books--Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything--and will feature a brand new book: Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse.
There are pieces in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, Wild Beyond the Witchlight, and Strixhaven: a Curriculum of Chaos that were all influenced by the work done on Monsters of the Multiverse.
According to Jeremy Crawford, Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse will be a treasure trove of creature-related material updates and brought together in one book. It was designed to be a one stop shop of Monsters and Playable Races. The book features new art, 250 Monsters, and 30 Playable Races. Jeremy also highlighted that they made improvements in clarity, added new abilities, rebalanced things, and made things easier for the Game Master to digest at the game table. They also have introduced quality-of-life improvements by alphabetizing creatures in the book by name as opposed to by type (By Moradin’s Beard! Finally!) which will make finding monsters on the fly easier! They have also simplified and trimmed-down spell-casting monsters and included their most powerful abilities in their stat block to make them easier to run. They removed their spell slots so Game Masters have less bookkeeping; the monsters are much easier for Game Masters to run, while still offering some fun utility options the Game Master can employ in mostly non-combat situations. [I can remember how difficult it was to run monsters when I was learning D&D because every spell- caster had a lot to track and a lot to prep.] Jeremy Crawford also stated that the new Monsters and Playable Races will have an entirely different feel. The updated rules set will also offer new optional rules that Game Masters can use to add depth and complexity to their games.
Chris Perkins stated that we can expect more anthologies such as we have seen before, plus two brand new settings. Perkins stated that not since Eberron have they announced new settings like these and they are very excited for its release. Currently these settings are in the development phase. We can look forward to a blending of nostalgia with new ideas and concepts and should look forward to more news next month regarding one of the 2022 releases. Perkins described this as a classic setting that is “Wonderfully scary. . .players will be terrified going into it.”
Perkins also shared some concept art which depicted a Dungeons & Dragons favorite: Hampster - Boo! Boo is a Miniature Giant Space Hampster and featured in the cover art of a top secret project.
So what are my hopes and predictions for the future of Dungeons and Dragons? Here are my top five.
More than just Pass/Fail Mechanics
One of the critiques I hear most often about 5e Dungeons and Dragons is that it focuses too much on the Pass/Fail aspect of the game and does not offer a way of succeeding with consequences or failing with benefits or even a way to fail forward. I think that a major improvement could be an optional structure to offer players and Game Masters a way to incorporate degrees of success into their games. Mechanically speaking, it can be quite frustrating to have the campaign grind to a screeching halt because no one can find the secret door.
Ways to make Combat more Interesting
I covered some tips to keep combat more interesting in a previous blog post. But I do think that one of the fair critiques is that a long combat can become rather static and repetitive. Roll to hit, roll damage, pass, and so on. I would love to see some additional combat options, maneuvers, and some tips on how to make combat more cinematic and dynamic.
More Game Master Tools for Building and Balancing Encounters and Prepping for Sessions.
One of the things I found rather confusing as I was learning D&D 5e was how to build encounters using challenge rating and it is still something I have to reference whenever I do it. Most of the time I use a rough measure or lean on my experience to build a challenging encounter that makes sense for what I think the players should be facing for their level and play style.
More Non-Horror Centric Campaigns
One of the things I predicted (and was right about) in my last blog post was that we would be seeing something other than a horror module. Dungeons and Dragons does not have a base horror/sanity mechanic and thus it struggles to evoke feelings of dread mechanically. I am ready for a twist on an old campaign which puts the players into a situation where they are doing what they do best--being heroes.
Stronger and more Interesting Dragon Battles
Dragons have long been one of my favorite creatures of legend. The very word dragon evokes images of raw, primal, untamed power. Yet dragon battles can be rather procedural as well in 5e. Spread out, wait for the breath weapon, watch the tail! I would love some additional actions and strategies that dragons can take in combat to help these creatures of legend feel like the epic beasts of legend that they are. I am honestly hoping that we get this from Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, but we shall see.
To conclude, I am very excited to see the new direction in which Dungeons & Dragons is headed. I think the changes that were discussed in the panel show that the panellists are listening to the feedback from the community and are looking to take the game in new and exciting directions and I look forward to running all of the new content as it comes out! To the future!
Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
