D&D Direct Stream

Yesterday we got some amazing news via the first ever D&D Direct Stream. Are you ready? Here we go!

SPELLJAMMER HAS BEEN CONFIRMED!!

Yes, you read that right, the Spelljammer campaign setting has been confirmed, called , with all of the awesomeness that one can expect from D&D in space. This includes awesome things like killer clowns from space, giant space hamsters, and, of course, tons and tons of Spelljamming ships. The D&D website, after registering a login, gives you access to 10 new monsters found in the Spelljammer setting.If you have access to D&D Beyond, you get access to these creatures automatically! The campaign setting is going to come with 3 books, a DM screen, and a double-sided map, all inside a single slipcover. It’s going to run you about $70 to buy the physical copy. I, personally, will be buying everything on D&D Beyond, and I look forward to what is in store. Checking out the Beadle and Grimm store later and I found that they will have a Silver and Platinum edition of the box set as well. I just might spring for the Silver edition. Maybe.

They have made some significant changes to the setting, however. The Astral Sea is now where worlds are connected, and they’ve done away with Crystal Spheres and the Phlogiston. Not sure how that’s supposed to work out but I look forward to seeing it regardless. It releases in August of this year.

The next big thing announced was that the new D&D movie Honor Among Thieves, is premiering next March 2023. Not much is known about the movie except that they are basing it in the Forgotten Realms and the Sword Coast. They plan on doing a far better job on it than the original movie. That said, I thought that, while the original movie left much to be desired, the followup SyFy Channel special Wrath of the Dragon God was actually pretty good. Just my opinion.

They also made an announcement regarding the release of Baldur’s Gate 3. It looks pretty good, but I don’t think I’ll end up buying it any time soon, especially with the $60 price tag. I like to wait until games are on sale or come down in price on Steam before purchasing. I’m still waiting on the newest installment of the Total War series bundle to go on sale before I buy it. Heck, I waited until the Battletech game bundle went on sale before buying it, years after it was released.

They also announced D&D’s newest anthology book, Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel. There will be 13 new adventures (unrelated) created by (ethnically) black and brown authors who tell stories through their cultures and cultural mythos. I am really excited for this one, if for no reason than to have more materials for D&D Adventurers League.

Next they announced two new boxes coming out, called Campaign Cases, with one having 2-Dimensional tokens with re-stickable stickers to put on tokens sized appropriately for each creature. This is a GREAT option for dungeon masters on a budget wanting something for the board to represent monsters of various kinds, but without the time or budget to buy and paint individual miniatures. The other box is filled with various terrain pieces that you can fit together to make those scenes that much more vibrant, again saving a dungeon master time and money on those boards where you have to draw out terrain, or the expense and hassle of having a flatscreen TV with some sort of virtual tabletop or map to showcase terrain (although that option is, by far, one of the coolest). Each one comes in a handy travel case.

They also announced a new Neverwinter (the MMO game) expansion called Dragonslayer. Frankly I could take or leave that announcement. Neverwinter has gotten so “pay-to-play” that it’s not even worth playing any longer. Again, that’s just my opinion.

A new game podcast/show is coming as well, called Legends of the Multiverse, where a familiar cast of players and DM are telling new stories. Not sure what it’s going to be like, but it sounds fantastic.

They announced a new tactical skirmish miniature game called Onslaught, where two factions are facing the heroic Harpers (my favorite faction!) versus the infamous Zhentarim in a fight for treasure inside of a mythical dungeon and keep. It’s apparently up for preorder.

Lastly, and certainly not least, is the upcoming release of the Dragonlance campaign setting! It will be called Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn, and a new adventure called Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen. I’m not as excited about this as I am about the Spelljammer setting, but this, too, is still an exciting release. That said, they did not give an exact release date other than “Late 2022.” One sad fact of this is that they did not include the original authors/creators of these settings in the rerelease of this setting, nor that of Spelljammer.

Well, that’s it for the D&D Direct stream! Tell me what you are most excited for in the comment section below!

Until next time, Dear Readers…