D&D Direct 2023 is here, and announcements are aplenty. Here are the big things announced for Dungeons & Dragons this year, including video games, the movie's release, and more.
Chris Perkins & Jeremy Crawford Delve Into The D&D Multiverse
The two D&D leaders capped off D&D Direct with a look back and forward. After recapping previous events from 5E books, they announced the theme of the next few books: the multiverse. The multiverse will take center stage in the upcoming hardcovers and digital content in this year and next. The upcoming slate was previewed as:
-Bigby's Glory Of The Giants
-Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisks
-Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse
-The origins of the Deck of Many Things
-A multiverse-spanning adventure in 2024
-An official Vecna-based hardcover campaign
-More Red Wizards of Thay
Preview Footage Of D&D Virtual Tabletop
The D&D Direct hosts got to play a preview session inside the engine for the upcoming official D&D VTT. In the edited footage, they made it a point to show off how simple it is to import a character from D&D Beyond to the platform. The player's character showed up as a 3D mini that matched her profile portrait. 3D dice were rolled, characters interacted in a tavern setting, and a monster popped up from the ground.
When initiative was rolled, the VTT went into "Encounter Mode." A turn tracker showed up, and the minis animated when they used attacks. Acid even shot out of the monster when it used its special ability. Features like daylight controlled by the DM were mentioned but not shown in video.
The plan for the D&D VTT is to roll it out slowly to work on features as they go, with a beta release intended for later in 2023.
Minecraft Gets Dungeons & Dragons DLC
D&D Direct kicked off with a trailer for a D&D-themed pack for Minecraft. The footage showed classic monsters in block form, dungeon crawls, and hinted at D&D classes in the video game. It also begins and ends with a Minecraft version of a gaming room with a DM screen and miniatures. The DLC is set for Spring 2023. D&D Beyond will celebrate this with a monster compendium for 5E featuring blocky monsters for use in the tabletop game.
Learn To Play D&D After Honor Among Thieves
After showing a trailer for the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the hosts launched into a bit about how easy D&D is to learn. After showing of the capabilities of D&D Beyond for making quick characters, the stream launched into a musical animation by Jocat about the fun offered by the game and how one can get started playing. Learn to Play D&D Events will be happening at local game stores after the movie's release, and we at StartPlaying have an event going on as well!
WizKids Shows New Toys Based On Classic D&D Monsters And Honor Among Thieves
Wizkids, premiere toy designer for D&D, previewed a bunch of new collectibles. Alongside action figures based on the main characters of Honor Among Thieves, Wizkids also showed off premium versions of Xanathar and a Displacer beast. The premium monsters will come to Hasbro Pulse, the crowdfunding platform for big collectibles for the brand. Life-sized Mimic and Baby Owlbear statues were previewed and are now available for pre-order.
Magic The Gathering Drops Secret Lair Based On Honor Among Thieves Characters
Available for pre-order now, MTG announced an upcoming Secret Lair set featuring the main characters of Honor Among Thieves. Both foil and non-foil versions are up for grabs.
Drizzt Gets Spotlight With Neverwinter Expansion And Trilogy Finale
R.A. Salvatore took some time to talk about what Drizzt means to him in a special spotlight of the character. The author got to work with developers for the Neverwinter: Menzoberranzan expansion taking place in the Underdark. He also revealed the ending of the Way of the Drow trilogy, Lolth's Warrior, coming August 15.
Joe Manganiello Talks About 50th Anniversary D&D Documentary
Actor Joe Manganiello talks about his upcoming documentary based on how the game influenced him and other Hollywood creatives. He plans to release the documentary next year for the 50th anniversary of the game, in the year of the dragon.
