D&D finally exploring more forgotten realms in the Forgotten Realms next year—like Calimshan and Moonshae Isles
"You learn a lot about people when they are playing pretend in a world that isn't real." Truer words were never spoken. They're the words that open up this year's rather brief D&D Direct 2024. Dungeons & Dragons is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In the D&D Direct, there's archival footage reaching back into the 20th century, as well as footage from as recent as Gen Con 2024 earlier this month. There are kids rolling dice in their mother's basements, and Hollywood actors rolling dice on convention stages. D&D reaches all walks of life. Along with several folks on staff here at Gaming Nexus, I'm proud to be a part of that legacy and lifestyle. The players around our table that aren't on staff are pretty okay, too.
The designers at Wizards of the Coast talk shop in their massive Bellevue, Washington, offices. They describe how the D&D 2024 Player's Handbook has a richer how-to-play-the-game section than any Player's Handbook before it. Which is true. It's still more complicated to create a character than it should be. But that's because I'm spoiled by D&D Beyond's character creator. The process is so silky smooth that it makes flipping back and forth in a hardcover book feel like, well, the 2,500-year-old technology that it is. Which is great, in some ways. I mean, the Player's Handbook I hold in my hands today is going to outlast D&D Beyond online. That goes without saying.
They're adding Weapon Mastery as a whole new thing for martial classes to enjoy in 5th Edition. That's something designer Jeremy Crawford wanted to add. I'm glad. Mages are wildly overpowered in D&D. The amount of damage poor sword-swingers do is often paltry compared to their fellow spellcasting adventurers. And while Sorcerers metagame the dice with points shifted around here and there, gaming the system with glee, some weapon-wielding players wait half an hour for their turn to come around the table and it's swing, miss, end of turn. Weapon Mastery gives those toe-to-toe folks more tactical options than ever before.
There are a lot of new things in the D&D 2024 Player's Handbook. They made sure to touch almost everything in there. If they didn't add something, they deleted something. If they left something in place, they changed its rules. If they moved something around, they probably changed its wording, too. Thankfully not like the way they change your college textbooks from year to year, simply rearranging word order and chapter order to make you buy a new book for no reason. The 2024 PHB has got reasons.
The rest of the D&D Direct has brief discussions of the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide and 2024 Monster Manual. Card game Magic: The Gathering is highlighting D&D's 50th anniversary. LEGO is launching new D&D minifigs, like, this Sunday, September 1.
A Dragon Anthology is coming in Summer 2025. It's a 10-adventure anthology specifically made up of dungeons with dragons in them. It'll be the first anthology crafted around the new 2024 Core Rulebooks.
A new Starter Set is coming in Fall 2025. It's all about "using components" to teach people how to play. I'm not certain what that means yet. But perhaps it's a tutorial made up of baby steps to play D&D, rather than the drown-you-in-the-deep-end method that the Player's Handbook uses.
Then there are two Forgotten Realms books coming in "Late" 2025. One geared toward players, and one geared toward both players and Dungeon Masters. While the 2024 Core Rulebooks are bringing the Greyhawk campaign setting back in for one last huzzah, Wizards of the Coast isn't abandoning D&D's most popular campaign setting to date: Forgotten Realms. There are going to be new subclasses, feats, backgrounds, spells, and factions (etc.). And while these books are touching on a few familiar places along the Sword Coast, they're finally branching out into other corners of the map, like the urban fantasy of Baldur's Gate (okay Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus already exists), the survival-horror of Icewind Dale, the faerie pacifist runs in the Moonshae Isles, and the sandy land of Calimshan that is nothing like a Dark Sun revival, but we're never getting that, I guess. But they're aiming for different thematic "biomes" to set your campaigns in, which is wonderful.
The back half of the video, starting around the 13-minute mark, is all about Project Sigil, D&D's 3D virtual tabletop powered by the Unreal Engine. I'm mad it looks so good. I want to be all snobby about it and say, "Grid paper and pencils were good enough for me, so they're good enough for you." But the truth is, it would be wonderful to have a tool at my disposal with already 3D-rendered environments for my players to move around a gorgeous battlemap. It would be wonderful to have built the Kalaman City Council Chambers in Project Sigil rather than me having to hunt through Pinterest for a map that's only just good enough. I would be wonderful to see dice tumbling around the virtual environment, dealing out damage from natural 20s and making and failing saving throws for everybody caught inside that Fireball.
But who am I kidding. Even for my play-by-post online Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen adventure, I had to whip out ol' Excel in order to cobble together a battlemap since I couldn't get AboveVTT going for me. Which is basically the modern Luddite equivalent of grid paper and and pencils.
D&D Direct Celebrates the Future of D&D
RENTON, WA – August 27, 2024 – THE WORLD’S GREATEST ROLEPLAYING GAME just keeps getting better. During the D&D Direct video presentation on YouTube today, the D&D Studio shared their excitement for all the amazing fantasy storytelling yet to come. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS fans who pre-ordered the digital 2024 Player’s Handbook and have a Master Tier subscription on D&D BEYOND can access the content on September 3rd before it releases everywhere on September 17th.
Fans can also head to their friendly local game store to grab a standard or alternate cover copy of the Player’s Handbook. Many stores are creating events to celebrate the release so fans can join the fun by playing D&D with all the local gamers.
"D&D isn’t just a game - it's this amazing community that's all about bringing fantasy and wonder to life, whether that's in living rooms, backyards, or wherever folks want to play,” said Jess Lanzillo, Head of D&D Product and Franchise. “We're super excited to be celebrating D&D's big anniversary with the release of the new Player’s Handbook! Together with the community, we’ve built this new Player’s Handbook with a focus on what makes D&D so cool — bringing people together through the shared experience of adventure.”
Whether they are a veteran or just starting out on their adventure, D&D fans can make a new character using the new Cleric, Fighter, Rogue and Wizard classes with a D&D BEYOND account on September 3rd.
In addition to announcing early access to the Player’s Handbook on D&D BEYOND, the team was also super excited to share what they’re working on for 2025. Here’s a sneak peek:
Dragon Anthology (working title) scheduled for Summer 2025
- Everything you need to know about dragons but were afraid to ask, plus ten short adventures that all feature dragons in dungeons!
Updated Starter Set (working title) scheduled for Fall 2025
- Featuring unique components designed to introduce new players to D&D through an adventure inspired by “Keep on the Borderlands”
The Forgotten Realms Player Guide (working title) scheduled for Late 2025
- New subclasses, feats, backgrounds, factions, and spells from D&D’s most popular setting
The Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide (working title) scheduled for Late 2025
- A toolbox overflowing with lore and locations to inspire DMs to create endless Forgotten Realms campaigns for players to explore
Wizards is also continuing to develop an upcoming immersive 3D sandbox that empowers fans to build their own D&D experience using Unreal Engine 5. The digital miniatures in Project Sigil can be customized to meet each fan’s vision and the magic items their characters collect along their adventures, and crafty DMs can create infinite worlds and levels with easy-to-use tools and assets included in the builder.
“Sigil is designed to add options to the already rich experience the books and D&D BEYOND offer, supporting and extending your favorite ways to play rather than replacing what you love,” said Chris Cao, head of Project Sigil at Wizards. “Whether it’s lush 3D environments, titanic boss fights, or amazing customizations for your minis, Sigil is there to make it easy to connect online with friends, introduce new players to your game, and create your own worlds.”
The Project Sigil closed beta is available at no cost at DnDBeyond.com/project-sigil. All you need is a free or subscription tier D&D BEYOND account!
