Over the last several years, tabletop gaming has seen a lot of growth, andDungeons & Dragonshas profited from it in particular. The tabletop RPG has maintained a loyal fanbase for decades, but the game’s fifth edition has proven particularly approachable and enjoyable.Dungeons & Dragonshas grown dramatically with the help of a greatly expanded fanbase, dedicatedD&Dcontent creators, and more. It’s no surprise, then, that Wizards of the Coast has decided to hold aDungeons & DragonsDirect in the style of the Nintendo Direct and other recorded gaming showcases. That Direct has come and gone, but not without offeringD&Dfans plenty to look forward to.
TheDungeons & DragonsDirect touched on a wide variety of products. Wizards of the Coast plans to release several new books with playable races, adventures, and monsters over the course of 2022, including some books that’ll bring fans back toa classic officialDungeons & Dragonssetting. The showcase revealed a few compelling new physical products that’ll help Dungeon Masters arrange their games, and it also touched on someD&Dside projects such asBaldur’s Gate 3.All in all,D&Dfans seem to have a lot to look forward to in the coming years.
RELATED:Dungeons & Dragons: Who is Vecna?
Upcoming Core Dungeons & Dragons Content
Wizards opened the show by revealingSpelljammer: Adventures in Space.LongtimeD&Dfans likely remember the Spelljammer name; it was a space fantasy setting introduced forAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons.5th edition will now have its own rules and mechanincs for the Spelljammer world.Spelljammer: Adventures in Spaceis a box set containing three sourcebooks: theAstral Adventurer’s Guidewhich provides setting info and player races, the monster-filledBoo’s Astral Menagerie,and a new printed adventure calledLight of Xaryxis.Spelljammer: Adventures in Spacealso comes with a new DM screen and a map of one of Spelljammer’s asteroid cities.
Spelljammerreleases August 16th, but before that, Wizards of the Coast will launch a new anthology of adventures in the style ofCandlekeep Mysteries.On June 21st,D&Dplayers can get their hands onJourneys Through The Radiant Citadel,a book of 13 premade adventures, all of which written by Black and Brown writers and draw inspiration from a diverse range of real-life experiences and cultures. Wizards also revealed thatit’ll return to Dragonlance in late 2022through an adventure book calledDragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queenand a battle game calledDragonlance: Warriors of Krynn.There’s no release date for this Dragonlance content yet.
On top of all these new materials, Wizards of the Coast emphasizedDungeons & Dragonsaccessibility in a major way. Anyone with a Wizards of the Coast account can now access the first volume of theMonstrous Compendiumon theD&Dwebsite, expanding every DM’s roster of monsters. Wizards of the Coast also announced a new, more streamlinedD&Dstarter set calledDragons of Stormwreck Islethat should make the game easier to introduce to new players. On top of that, Wizards also announced thatTasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Monsters of the Multiverse, Curse of Strahd,and the new starter set will all be available in French, Italian, German, and Spanish soon.
RELATED:Dungeons & Dragons: 15 Weirdest Creatures in The Monster Manual
Additional Dungeons & Dragons Projects
Wizards of the Coast announced plenty of things beyond new sourcebooks. Fans of Spelljammer can look forward to a wide variety of Spelljammer-themed tabletop figurines from Wizkids, which will reallyhelp Dungeon Masters bring the setting to life. Wizkids is also working on a new board game calledDungeons & Dragons: Onslaught,which releases in October. Aside from Wizkids' projects, Wizards of the Coast itself is working on two Campaign Cases with creature tokens and terrain that can be customized through reusable clings.
Fans ofD&Dvideo games, movies, and streams got some announcements too.A newBaldur’s Gate 3trailershowcased the game’s improvements in early access ahead of its 2023 release, while the long-running MMORPGNeverwinterannounced the newDragonslayerexpansion. Wizards of the Coast also added a trailer for the newD&Dactual play seriesLegends of the Multiverse, which features a huge list ofD&Dcontent creators and other notable entertainers. On top of all that, the upcomingD&Dmovie made an appearance:Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieveswill be in theaters on March 3rd, 2023. This huge list of announcements will be hard to top, but the wide variety of exciting content that Wizards of the Coast provided makes a strong argument for moreD&DDirects in the future.
MORE:Dungeons and Dragons: Easiest Campaigns To Run As DM
