During the D&D Direct 2022 Announcement Showcase today, Wizards of the Coast pulled back the curtain on the 2022 slate of Dungeons & Dragons content and revealed some familiar settings.
This inaugural D&D Direct stream, hosted by B. Dave Walters and Anna Prosser, walked fans through the next few months of new products for the tabletop and beyond, including wholly new ventures and the return of some fan favourite settings.
Spelljammer: Adventures in Space is a new boxset for Dungeons & Dragons that brings the beloved campaign setting to modern 5th Edition. It contains a trio of books for a full introduction: the Astral Adventurer’s Guide, which contains all the background information players and DMs will need, including six new playable races; Boo’s Astral Menagerie, essentially a Monster’s Manual unique to the setting; and Light of Xaryxis, a 12-episode adventure. Rounding out the package is a specialized DM Screen and a double-sided poster map of the Rock of Bral, “an asteroid-city that can serve as both an adventure location and a campaign hub in the Astral Plane.”
Originally a means of connecting the various planes of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition, Spelljammer is a unique, fantasy-based approach to traversing the cosmos using the titular unique sailing vessels. Instead of teleporting from point A to point B, it revels in taking “the long, long way around” in the Astral Sea, and discovering wonders on the journey. This release on August 16 will mark the first full-blown foray into the setting since Wizards of the Coast acquired Dungeons & Dragons from TSR in 1997; its elements have only appeared as rare cameos in official publications since then. A line of WizKids figurines will complement its launch.
This won’t be the only old AD&D favourite to make a comeback, however. By the end of 2022 we will see the arrival of a new adventure book and battle game set in Dragonlance, a setting last featured in D&D 3.5 and created by Margaret Weis and Laura and Tracy Hickman.
Before any of these triumphant returns, Dungeons & Dragons will head to a new corner of the Ethereal Plane in Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel. The next major release is the game’s first sourcebook written and illustrated entirely by POC creators, who will bring new cultures to enrich the game’s ever-growing tapestry on June 21.
D&D Direct brought a glimpse at three of the 13 chapters and teased the ways they can be used as standalone outings or part of a larger campaign. The 5th level “Wages of Vice” has a “Carribbean feel,” with artwork in rich pastel colours. Meanwhile the 4th level adventure “The Fiend of Hollow Mind” has a clear inspiration from Dia de los Muertos, and the 14th level “Orchids of the Invisible Mountain” draws upon the flora and fauna of Venezuela.
Dungeon Masters who like to create an immersive tabletop experience with maps and figures may want to keep a close eye on Dungeons & Dragons‘ new Campaign Case series. Two products are out July 19—one focused on Terrain, and another on Creatures. Both utilize “remove and reuse clings” for a sustainable and economical approach, allowing DMs to customize their game more easily. Even better, they come in large travel cases.
If you’re new to the game, you may want to check out the new, updated Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle on October 4. Continuing the tradition of previous 5E sets, it includes pregenerated characters and a new adventure to help you test the waters. This time, however, it will also include some “digital onboarding tools,” as the company shifts its digital content strategy after acquiring D&D Beyond.
While this acquisition was not mentioned, new digital Monstrous Compendiums were announced, with the first available to all players with a Wizards of the Coast or D&D Beyond account. This volume features Spelljammer monsters, new and old.
Baldur’s Gate 3 and the upcoming feature film were discussed, but with scant new details. The film—which will star Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, and Hugh Grant—will officially be called Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and arrive on March 3, 2023.
If that’s too long to wait and you need more Dungeons & Dragons video content to watch in the interim, a new play series was announced. Legends of the Multiverse will star Deborah Ann Woll, B. Dave Walters, Gina Darling, Meagan Kenreck, and Todd Kenreck and explore “interwoven stories of many adventurers across the multiverse” through weekly, 1-hour prerecorded episodes. Special guests from other actual-play ventures—like Aabria Iyengar, Ginny Di, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Travis McElroy—will feature on each episode, and DM duties will rotate for each arc. The series debuts April 27 at 5PM PT (8PM ET) on the game’s official YouTube and Twitch channels.
Rounding out the presentation, Gearbox announced Neverwinter: Dragonslayer, a new expansion for their long-running MMORPG, while Dungeons & Dragons: Onslaught, a new tactical skirmish miniatures gaming experience, will explore Waterdeep later this year.
By all indications, Dungeons & Dragons is firing on all cylinders to keep fans of all stripes engaged through the rest of 2022. Stay tuned to CGMagazine for more updates on the world’s premiere roleplaying game!
