DnD Stranger Things Season 5 Tease, 2024 Wild Shape, CRIT Awards Exits Gen Con - TTRPG News 6/27/24

Here’s the big tabletop RPG news of the week, courtesy of StartPlaying! If you’re not busy playing with one of our amazing professional Game Masters, come read up on the major events of our wonderful hobby. This week in TTRPGs: a Dungeons & Dragons VP talks Stranger Things season 5, DnD 2024 previews more classes, and the CRIT awards drops out of Gen Con over reported harassment. 

New DnD VP New Teases Stranger Things Collab And Anti-AI Stance

Jess Lanzillo, DnD’s VP of franchise and product, recently had an interview with Adweek. When asked specifically about Stranger Things Season 5, Lanzillo hinted that her side of things is already preparing “a series of adventures and tie-ins.” According to her, they don’t get full spoilers from Netflix, just enough to make product and assist in the visual identity of certain creatures. In response to a separate question about AI, Lanzillo pointed out the very human element of creating for DnD and how a prompt cannot capture it. 

DnD Details 2024 Druid, Rogue, And Warlock

The upcoming DnD 2024 Player’s Handbook had more previews to share over the last few days. There’s been a lot of back-and-forth over the Druid’s Wild Shape throughout playtesting, but it looks like Wizards of the Coast settled on a middle ground. 2024 Druids will be able to Wild Shape into beasts from the Monster Manual as a bonus action, although they must now select a limited number of forms before each adventuring day. They also have new ways to use Wild Shape charges, such as regaining spell slots or summoning familiars. 

2024 Rogues can make use of their weapons and Sneak Attack ability to trigger various new debuffs for foes to fit the trickster style of play. The Assassin subclass in particular got a lot of upgrades that make it easier to tack on extra damage and keep moving. 2024 Warlocks put more emphasis on the importance of invocations as well as the individuality of their patrons. The changes allow for more customization so that no two Warlocks will be exactly alike. 

CRIT Awards Withdraws From Gen Con Over Alleged Safety Concerns

The Creator Recognition In TTRPG Awards, or CRIT, pulled its ceremony from Gen Con this year. This sudden exit is in response to “safety concerns” over a part of CRIT’s code of conduct. Rascal News has the full developing story and screenshot of the code of conduct text. The short of it is that CRIT became targets of various “anti-woke” social media accounts and YouTubers after it included a statement against Zionism in its code of conduct.

The ongoing backlash from both sides allegedly prompted Gen Con to deliver an ultimatum. According to CRIT host Omega Jones the Critical Bard, the deal was: withdraw the event voluntarily or be kicked from this and future Gen Cons. The CRIT crew chose to remove the event themselves. Meanwhile, Gen Con has not issued any statement on the ordeal. 

That brings this session to a close! Thanks for taking the time to read and, if you play this weekend, may your dice treat you well.