Here are highlights from Tuesday’s D&D Direct presentation:
- Minecraft: Dungeons & Dragons was announced for this spring, along with a special digital Minecraft Monstrous Compendium available for free at D&D Beyond. In the video game, players can “explore iconic locations in the Forgotten Realms like Icewind Dale and Candlekeep, battling Beholders, Mimics, and more.”
- A Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves trailer was shown.
- Hasbro highlighted its D&D toy offerings, including Golden Archive editions and teased a March 29 Hasbro Pulse presentation.
- Grogu who? Meet the life-size Baby Owlbear.
- Magic: The Gathering’s Secret Lair D&D: Honor Among Thieves cards were presented.
- Author R.A. Salvatore talked about the last book in his Way of the Drow trilogy, Lolth’s Warrior: A Novel, due in August, as well as Neverwinter Online: Menzoberranzan.
- Hosts Gina Darling and Ify Nwadiwe visited the D&D headquarters and previewed the upcoming digital/virtual tabletop tools in development.
- Actor Joe Manganiello talked about his love of Dragonlance and efforts to make a live-action movie set in that world, and his upcoming D&D documentary, due in “The Year of the Dragon,” 2024 — the 50th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons game.
- D&D game design architects Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford spoke about the growth of the D&D Multiverse and upcoming game supplements such as Bigby Presents: The Glory of the Giants (third quarter), Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk (third quarter), Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse (fourth quarter; iconic Planescape artist Tony DiTerlizzi confirmed his returning involvement on social media) and The Book of Many Things (as in the Deck of Many Things, fourth quarter), as well as the return of arch-lich Vecna in 2024 in a “world hopping adventure” that celebrates D&D’s 50-year history. They also promised a Red Wizards of Thay adventure in 2025 as well as the return of Venger from the D&D Saturday morning cartoon in an upcoming adventure module, plus the return of the League of Malevolence from The Wild Beyond the Witchlight.
Wizards of the Coast’s representatives followed up the D&D Direct presentation with an official announcement roundup release with a few more details:
Dungeons & Dragons is the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game and it just keeps getting better every year. Millions of people around the world have enjoyed playing D&D around a table in the last 50 years or, more recently, over video calls, and millions more are poised to jump into the fun. Playing out fantasy stories is a phenomenon all ages can enjoy. Whether fans are playing with figurines or through video games, it’s all about unlocking the power of imagination! During today’s D&D Direct video presentation, Wizards of the Coast is excited to announce new partnerships that expand the breadth of the D&D brand from digital games to physical collectibles from top toy manufacturers Hasbro and WizKids. The first of these new partnerships is with Minecraft and the launch of a new Minecraft D&D DLC, available on the Minecraft Marketplace Spring 2023!
“We’re incredibly excited to partner with Wizards of the Coast, to introduce a brand new, story-driven Dungeons & Dragons DLC to Minecraft! We can’t wait for the community to dive in and experience a blocky take on the world of D&D,” said Riccardo Lenzi, Senior Producer at Mojang Studios.
In this new Minecraft D&D DLC, players choose among classes like barbarian or wizard and explore five iconic Forgotten Realms locations such as Candlekeep and Icewind Dale while defeating classic baddies like beholders, mimics, mindflayers and, of course, dragons! This new, original adventure allows players to customize their characters’ stats and roll 20-sided dice to determine how to proceed in fully-voiced dialogue. Play with friends and get a unique D&D experience in the world of Minecraft.
Hasbro is all in on D&D and has been creating amazing figures fans will love. Not only are there the previously announced Dicelings and 6” figures of the characters from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and the classic D&D cartoon, but Hasbro is excited to show off the Golden Archive releases of the Xanathar, an owlbear and the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves displacer beast. Find out more on Hasbro Pulse Fanstream on March 29th at 8am PT!
For Magic fans, Wizards also announced a special Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Secret Lair drop for Magic: The Gathering. This pack features six cards based on the characters of the film including Edgin, Larcenous Lutenist; Forge, Neverwinter Charlatan; and Holga, Relentless Rager all bearing the likeness of the actor playing the role. Pre-orders for Secret Lair x Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves are open today!
The writing of R.A. Salvatore in the Legend of Drizzt has become synonymous with many D&D fans’ vision of the Forgotten Realms. With the release of Dao of Drizzt this fall and the upcoming conclusion to the latest trilogy featuring the drow ranger, Lolth’s Warrior, Salvatore looked back on the character that has meant so much to fans. Wizards’ partners at Gearbox Publishing and Cryptic Studios have teamed up with Salvatore to create Menzoberranzan, the 25th expansion for the popular MMO Neverwinter. The new expansion is available now on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, and lets players explore the dangerous city for the first time in the game.
“It’s very different to write for a video game than writing for a novel,” Salvatore said in an interview featured during D&D Direct. “You’re going to walk down the road looking at the world through Drizzt’s eyes. When I’m writing a video game, however, the most important character in a video game to the player is the one they are playing. In Neverwinter, the work they are doing always astounds me and the fact that they are piggy-backing on stuff I did makes me feel very good.”
WizKids has brought to life hundreds of D&D creatures over the years but none as gruesome – or adorable – as the D&D Replicas of the Realms they introduced during D&D Direct. The mimic may look like a treasure chest on the outside, but its purple tongue and vicious teeth will make any adventurer lose their lunch, and their hands, pretty quickly. The 20-inch-tall mimic is no match for the cuteness of the 11” baby owlbear figure with its “puppy dog” eyes.
D&D Direct rounded out with details on the upcoming documentary from Joe Manganiello celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the game in 2024. Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford from the D&D studio also dropped hints at what’s to come with previews of upcoming books, story hooks involving fan-favorite characters and villains, and a deeper look at pre-alpha gameplay footage from the D&D virtual tabletop (VTT) that’s currently in development at Wizards of the Coast.
There’s never been a better time to start playing Dungeons & Dragons!
Take a tour of D&D’s virtual tabletop:
Joe Manganiello on Dragonlance and his D&D documentary:
Game architects Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford on upcoming D&D adventures:
More Dungeons & Dragons:
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