I’ve updated the commercial map archive again, bringing the total count of commercial use maps on the blog to 475.
475 Maps
Bloody hell. When I added the ability to unlock some commercial maps every month on Patreon, I expected we’d maybe see 2 a month… I never considered that we’d be looking at a collection this size 8 years later. At last count, there were some 800 or so commercial releases using maps from the archives and innumerable non-commercial adventures and products that are decorated with my work.
So drop on by the Commercial Map Archive and see if there’s something there that works for you!
There were a massive amount of products announced at the first ever Dungeons & Dragons Direct. The next seven months or so of D&D tabletop games are now known.
The big three were the adventures or mixed adventure-setting books. They are either very new concepts, or very old settings being revisited. Each of the main adventure books guides towards certain types of stories.
Like the previous collections of adventures (Candlekeep Mysteries, Tales from the Yawning Portal) Radiant Citadel assembles what you need ahead of time. Unlike those previous tales there are through lines in these Journeys. Working in a writers room concept meant that continuity chain could connect the disparate adventures.
Story ideas: Here’s the thing. This is a new concept, so I can’t lean into my own background for ideas. Maybe that’s the point. Ajit put together a team where I don’t need to worry about telling my story — they’re helping me tell their stories. Get Radiant Citadel because learning about others is fun.
Much of the attention towards Spelljammer is that the longstanding online joke about it being confirmed was finally true. It’s also in a new for 5th edition format as a multi-book package in a slipcase with a DM’s screen and large format map. Spelljammer is wild. There are space elves, murder comets, asteroid spiders, ships that look like dragonflies and ships that look like mindflayer heads. Wildspace is D&D on space drugs.
Story Ideas: Spelljammer combines the Age of Sail/Piracy with space travel, dragons, and some of the creepiest aberrations in D&D’s catalog. Borrow from Our Flag Means Death, Black Sails, Farscape, Firefly, Star Trek. Exploration of the unknown should be a key element. Your ship should practically be a character, it is that important.
Dragonlance: Title to be Announced Shadow of the Dragon Queen
Story ideas: The original Dragonlance novels put big heroes, in big situations, solving the world’s problems. It was romantic and heroic. Inside that original trilogy were a group of great friends. They were different peoples, different cultures. They didn’t necessarily work towards the same goals, but they worked together because that’s what friends do, especially soldiers. This new take on Dragonlance seems to be a gritty way to tell stories of fellowship tested by violence — Band of Brothers, Falcon & Winter Soldier, Ender’s Game’s subplots, Last Kingdom.
Other D&D Direct Announcements
The new starter set, Dragon of Stormwreck Isle, looks to be both a tighter adventure and an enterprising way to combine digital tools with the physical product. There will be guides for new DMs and videos about how to roleplay. Another new digital product are the new Monstrous Compendiums. The first is 10 free monsters from the Spelljammer setting. There will be more for Spelljammer as well as other setting.
Several more books are being released in foreign languages, a great expansion beyond the core three. There are also two cases to help power tactical play without minis. These campaign cases of tokens and maps look to be solid aids for home play.
Neverwinter and Baldur’s Gate: 3 had significant updates. Neverwinter is leaning on dragons, good. It’s got the dungeons figured out. BG3 is still in early access and a year out from conventional play.
Also a year out? The D&D movie. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor among Thieves comes out March 3, 2023.
Finally, there are two board games coming out. Onslaught is a tactical-skirmish game with two factions facing off while some monsters try to kill both. It looks like it will be a quick fun physical version of a videogame shooter. The Dragonlance ‘battle game’ is supposed to combine mass combat in a cooperative manner with the story of the Dragonlance adventure.
After a few years of major product announcements coming via multi-day livestreams that emulate conventions, the 2022 announcement leans heavy into the TV and video game sectors with a “Direct.” This makes a lot of sense when you see in the announcement trailer there are both video game and motion picture clues.
You can watch the D&D Direct at 9 AM PT on Thursday April 21st. Considering that Dungeons and Dragons is now a global phenomena this time is as good as it can be since it will be during working hours in Seattle/LA, NYC, and London.
Wizards of the Coast broke the Direct into three significant chunks and says that it will address “2022 and Beyond.” Yes, it’s possible that the Beyond references WotC buying DnDBeyond. But it also means we will get insight into the 2023 and maybe even the 2024 edition update.
Books and Accessories
We are almost certainly going to find out about Spelljammer. There was the Unearthed Arcana and several hints with the giff, Boo, and the mindflayer. The
Dragonlance will probably also be announced. Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons mentioned the popular romantic fantasy bookline and setting. The originators of the novels have a new trilogy coming this summer. There’s a natural opportunity maximize the zeitgeist, even if both the modern game product and novels aren’t directly related.
The days of announcing just one product at a time are over. D&D is a large enough brand with a large enough staff there will be overlapping efforts to expand the now mainstream brand.
Video Game Updates
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the big one. We’ll probably get a major update on the current beta playtest, as well as hints at other future video games. There are several projects in development both internally and externally.
This is the area where there have been the least public clues so far.
With shooting done and a release date of March 3, 2023 there is a chance that we see a teaser for the film during Direct, if not then, by the start of summer. It’s time for the project hype to start ramping up.
Daley & Goldstein are already working on another Hasbro/eOne project M.A.S.K.. IMDB credits both as writers on the project that will be part of a shared universe with G.I. Joe.
A small chance exists that D&D would announce another movie project.
Once upon a time Joe Manganiello developed a Dragonlance script that was likely a movie at the time. With Weiss and Hickman returning to novel writing, could the Magic Mike star resurrect his project officially and not just as a piece of fanfic? Would a boutique series make more sense?
They aren’t going to spend time talking about the D&D adjacent projects from Critical Role, Adventure Zone and the gobs of genre projects on Prime, Netflix, HBO Max, etc. Because while all of those projects help boost fantasy and D&D they are not official.
What project are you most excited to get more details about during D&D Direct?
Following the Russia invasion of Ukraine is part of my day job. Watching the refugees flee and the bombings of civilian areas makes one feel a bit helpless. It can feel hopeless and helpless. Some people have found ways to combine their passions to help raise funds for organizations that are active in and around the warzone.
What I like about this bundle is that Morrus put a theme together of various peaceful elements from their Patreon, repackaged them for this, and has committed to immediately releasing the product when the month is up. You can get the following for as little as a dollar;
Over on the DMs Guild they partnered with creators and with Wizards of the Coast so that 100% of proceeds will go to the Doctors Without Borders. There are four bundles within their omnibus bundle.
Usually a player whose DM is generous? Get the Player Options bundle. This one is also great for DMs who want NPCs built using player rules.
There are two DM bundles both at $20. Bundle 1 has the Festival of Magic, which is great, and Alyth’s Blueprints for Home & Business, which is on my wishlist. There’s a bunch of other stuff too. My favorite from Bundle 2 is Fae, Fi, Fo, Fum: A Collection of Folklore Inspired NPCs. I might get both, even though I run custom worlds and stories.
Combined you could get all five of this bundles, winding up with about 100 new elements and adventures to add to your game, all while helping people who are suffering (both DEC and DWB are helping in other conflicts too).
Worlds of points of light in a wilderness, or fallen empires, or warring kingdoms, or with merchant guilds that control trade need ways for far-ranging communities to stay in touch. In the real world this meant messenger pigeons, in Game of Thrones there were crows and ravens to communicate. Other fictions use dogs, or just a hearty human that trudges through awful conditions to keep the ties of society together — The Postman by David Brin, or the Pony Express in reality.
Your Dungeons & Dragons worlds also need these messengers. They make sense and fit the fiction so well. A Messenger in D&D also doesn’t need to be confined to the animals of the real world. A Ravnica or Eberron game might use a tiny ornithopter. Fastieths fit in Eberron and parts of the Six Kingdoms. Spiders or bats fit in Ravenloft. There’s a flavor of messenger companion for every world.
You are the connection between disparate homesteads, towns, or cities. Conveying the messages and scrolls between the communities rapidly without magic you bring news, warning, and joy to peoples who often struggle to keep in touch or that would take weeks to travel and deliver the message themselves. Often welcomed in strange towns, a messenger sometimes wears an official uniform of a ruling power and at others is a freelancer working without direction from above. You and your messenger companion are a symbol of civilization even in the furthest outposts.
Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Nature Tool Proficiencies: None Languages: Two Languages Equipment: One animal messenger companion, travelers clothes, a scroll case with a dozen pages, a quill, an ink pot, a whistle or bell or other command device, a pouch with 5 gp
Choose an animal that is your messenger’s companion and conveyance, and discuss with the DM how the companion will fit into the adventure. These come in four primary groups, and a few examples are provided. Don’t feel limited to the specific animals listed, but use them for guidance regarding their abilities, if, gods forbid, they enter combat.
Small land animals — cats, dogs, iguanas, otters, monkeys, not-quite-giant spiders
Medium land animals — axe beaks, ponies, fastieths, antelopes
Small flying animals — pigeons, crows, ravens, owls, bats
Your messenger companion begins the game with a network of three destinations and the ability to find its way back to you where you sent it from. When delivering a message to a known destination on the network it travels at a fast pace and does so with no penalty to a stealth check (your messenger companion add your proficiency bonus and your Wisdom bonus to their stealth at all times). If you plan to move from your location when you send a message you can instruct your messenger companion to deliver the message and then go to a different destination. You and your messenger companions have a number of network destinations of proficiency bonus +1. If your companion perishes you must train a new one. This takes several weeks of downtime.
Natural weather has less impact on your own travels. Survival and/or Constitution checks made due to harsh natural weather are made with advantage.
Traits, Ideals, Bonds, Flaws: At this time use the Sage, Outlander, or Folk Hero for inspiration.
Messenger Design Goals
Starting with the idea that greyhounds would be perfect canine versions of messenger pigeons, this background just kept growing and growing in its scope. Eventually I spun out the Far Talker as a similar but different role in the world.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
Emulating those words was vital, but needed to not be game breaking.
The non-magically empowered companion couldn’t be built out of Find Familiar, which was considered. My world’s bonded companions are meant to be non-magical. While the phrasing of the ability is a bit long, it’s mostly an ability that adds flavor. The messenger companion is not going to change a D&D party’s combat power.
