PLANESCAPE to return in 2023

Wizards of the Coast have confirmed that the classic, highly-acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Planescape will return in 2023, with a new campaign setting, monster guide and adventure.

Planescape was launched in 1994 and was an attempted to revive the classic Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition Manual of the Planes (1987) for the 2nd Edition of the game. A design team led by Dave "Zeb" Cook reworked the D&D cosmology and planes of existence to create an entire campaign setting, as well as adding the city of Sigil at the heart of the planes as a base of operations for players to use. The campaign was particularly acclaimed for its incredible artwork by Tony DiTerlizzi (based on Dana Knutson's concept art) and its moody setting, with an unusual focus on roleplaying, negotiations and how to interact with different factions. Combat was downplayed in favour of ideology and arguments. The setting was unusual in that it was clearly influenced by contemporary fantasy like Sandman and the Vampire: The Masquerade roleplaying game, rather than epic fantasy.

Planescape's biggest contribution to the D&D mythos, apart from Sigil, is the tiefling species, which has gone on to become one of the most popular D&D races.

In 1999, after the setting itself had been retired, the video game Planescape: Torment was launched and became possibly the single most acclaimed CRPG of all time. A remastered version of the game, Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition, was released in 2017.

Although Planescape was retired as an active campaign setting in 1998, the idea of adventuring in the planes was revisited in the Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks Manual of the Planes for 3rd Edition (2001) and 4th Edition (2008), as well as in several sourcebooks for the current 5th Edition of the game.

Planescape's relaunch will take place in late 2023 and will use the model pioneered by the revised Spelljammer setting, which hits retail next month. The setting will consist of a setting guide, a bestiary focusing on new monsters and an adventure. The new setting will return to the original roots by focusing on Sigil, the City of Doors (a city shaped like a giant ring) as a base of operations for adventures, as well as the fifteen factions of the city and its enigmatic, indestructible ruler, the Lady of Pain.

Although Planescape's return had been teased for a while, some fans were betting on a return for Dark Sun sooner, given more references had been made to Dark Sun in the new Spelljammer material. From the sound of it, fans of D&D's take on Mad Max will have to wait at least another year.

As well as Spelljammer, Wizards of the Coast is resurrecting Dragonlance in December with a new campaign book, Shadow of the Dragon Queen, and a tie-in board game, Warriors of Krynn. They are also revising Forgotten Realms with a new campaign setting book in 2023, focusing on the region surrounding Phandelver. Realms fans will continue to be disappointed by the lack of a full, proper sourcebook like the legendary 2001 one for D&D 3rd Edition.

Wizards of the Coast have also confirmed that the 5th Edition of D&D itself is getting a makeover with a new version of the game to launch in 2024. This version will be called "One D&D", but fans will no doubt just refer to it as 5.5 Edition. It will be the first major revision of the game rules since 2014, but Wizards of the Coast promise that it will be 100% compatible with the existing rules. 2024 will also mark the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.

Two classic DUNGEONS & DRAGONS settings to return this year

Wizards of the Coast have confirmed they are resurrecting two classic Dungeons and Dragons settings from the 1980s and revamping them for the current 5th Edition of the tabletop roleplaying game.

The older and better-known of the two is Dragonlance. Originally appearing in print in 1984, Dragonlance melds the traditional fantasy adventuring of D&D with a Lord of the Rings-style epic over-plot. Set on the continent of Ansalon on the world of Krynn, the original Dragonlance campaign pitted the players against Takhisis, the multi-headed draconic goddess of evil, as she tried to conquer the world with her army of dragon-riding warriors. The campaign was adapted into the mega-bestselling Dragonlance Chronicles novel trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, which has now (along with several sequel series) sold over 30 million copies.

Despite the immense success of the original Dragonlance campaign and the ongoing success of the novel line, later editions of the campaign setting sold poorly. In 2003 it was outsourced to Margaret Weis's own company, Sovereign Press, where it enjoyed considerable renewed success as a setting for Dungeon & Dragons' 3rd Edition. In 2009 Wizards of the Coast revoked the licence, with the last tabletop material and the last novel for the setting appearing in that year. Despite various discussions, the setting languished unloved until last year, when it was confirmed that Weis and Hickman would be returning with a new Dragonlance novel, Dragons of Deceit, for publication later this year.

The new D&D material will comprise two products. The first, Shadow of the Dark Queen, is an adventure and setting book. The second, Warriors of Krynn, is a board game which will interface with the tabletop RPG experience and allow the player characters to recruit armies and fight in large battles, similar to the old Battlesystem expansion for D&D 2nd Edition. Warriors of Krynn is designed by Stephen Baker (the creator of the old Battle Masters miniatures wargame) and Rob Daviau, best-known for his work on the "Legacy" school of board games (like Risk Legacy and Pandemic Legacy). Both games will be set during the original War of the Lance time period.

More obscure, but potentially more interesting, is Spelljammer. Created by Jeff Grubb and originally appearing in 1989, Spelljammer introduced space travel to the D&D game. However, rather than mechanical spacecraft moving via physics, Spelljammer features elaborate craft resembling ocean-going galleons, huge pieces of coral or animals. Rather than flying through space as we know it, they traverse "wildspace," the space between planets, and the "phlogiston," the sea-like space between star systems. Spelljammer features a strong "Age of Sail" flavour, although the rules also allow for concepts like worlds with different atmospheres and different levels of gravity. A number of expansions, adventures and a series of novels were released for the setting.

Despite praise for the offbeat setting, it was discontinued at the end of 1992. Fan efforts were made to keep the setting going, and material in both the 3rd and 4th Editions of D&D referenced Spelljamming. The 5th Edition adventure Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage and the Early Access video game Baldur's Gate III both feature Spelljammers prominently, leading to speculation about the setting's return.

The setting is returning in force as well, with three books to be released simultaneously in August 2022 (available separately or in a boxed set). The Astral Adventurer's Guide is the new setting core rulebook, featuring rules on creating new characters and adventuring in the setting. Boo's Astral Menagerie is a guide to monsters and new races, featuring vampirates, sentient comets and space dragons, among many others. Wrapping things up is Light of Xaryxis, a 12-part epic adventure. The boxed set also contains a DM's screen and a fold-out map of the Rock of Bral, an asteroid located in orbit above Toril (the Forgotten Realms planet), the traditional starting place for Spelljammer adventures (though, as with the original game, you will likely be able to place the Rock of Bral wherever you like).