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New Version of D&D Core Rules
As a part of this year’s D&D Celebration, Wizards of the Coast announced new versions of the game’s core rulebooks to be released in 2024. Information is limited as to what exactly the updates will contain, although designer Ray Winninger promised whatever form the new books take they will be fully compatible with existing Dungeons and Dragons 5e content. Their backwards compatibility has understandably drawn comparisons to 3e and 3.5e rulesets, which offered myriad small revisions and clarifications. An update of this nature would be relatively low risk, as the company does not want to jeopardize the record setting popularity of 5e to date.
WIth close to three years until release, designers will have ample opportunity to incorporate feedback from the initial announcement. WoTC has indicated players will have the opportunity to sound off in surveys before the new books are finalized.
Changes to Monster Spells in 5e
WoTC has announced a design decision to streamline the way NPCs and monsters cast spells. Rather than have regular spells and slots like player characters, NPCs and monsters will have self-contained abilities that approximate spell effects. The intention is to reduce DM mental overhead by not having to read up on dozens of unfamiliar spells to run encounters. The change promises to see DMs have to refer back to the Player’s Handbook much less.
Some enemies in recently released The Wild Beyond the Witchlight already incorporate this change in design philosophy. Lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford cited the upcoming Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse as an example of these changes in action.
Blade Runner TTRPG
After the successful release of Alien RPG and Tales from the Loop, Free League Publishing has announced they will be tackling a tabletop roleplaying game based on the 1982 film Blade Runner.
Set between the first movie and Blade Runner 2049, the game will cast players as titular Blade Runners in search of fugitive replicants. The core gameplay will focus on investigation and asserts that it will “challenge players to question your friends, empathize with your enemies, and explore the poisons and perseverance of hope and humanity during such inhumane times.”
The game is slated for release sometime in 2022.
