Five Places We’ll Probably Go In D&D 2024
A new Player’s Handbook (2024) means new places to go. After all, as Baldur’s Gate 3 proved, there’s a whole lot of map to explore.
D&D 2024-2025, whatever it ends up being called, will usher in a new era of adventure. Starting with a “multiverse-hopping” adventure that promises players will face off against the archest of liches, Vecna himself, it’s clear that Dungeons & Dragons is looking to expand their map markers.
And as we’ve all seen in Baldur’s Gate 3, even when you stick to one little corner of the map, there’s so much room to explore. Play through the game and you’ll visit a shadow-haunted wasteland. The Underdark. Even several bustling fantasy towns and cities. Whether it’s adventures that take you to different parts of Faerun as it exists, or to other realities altogether, here are some of the places that D&D 2024 might zoom in on a little more.
Thay
Let’s start with one of the places we already know D&D is headed in 2025. After Vecna’s schemes and dreams have settled in, one of the big promises for early 2025 is an adventure where the Red Wizards of Thay are up to no good. Which, you know, is their default state. None of them have been up to any good since before they decided to concentrate power in the hands of the elite.
But they are currently set to be the major antagonists. Now, if WotC writes adventures the way they have been (and now that Hasbro has fired a bunch of WotC staff, who knows if that’s still the case), it’ll start off with the Red Wizards being up to no good somewhere “friendly” and as the PCs confront their schemes, they’ll descend into the heart of the Thayan Wizards’ power in Thay, where Szass Tam is doing all sorts of no good stuff.
Just like in the D&D Movie, Honor Among Thieves.
Oerth
As D&D turns 50, it seems reasonable that WotC might want to revisit a tiny corner of the world that started it all. Better known to players as the Greyhawk Campaign Setting, it feels like with D&D’s multiverse opening up and the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia rubbing off on settings like Dragonlance, they might want to acknowledge the original world in a bid for audience attention.
We know that WotC is no longer interested in Krynn, at least for their live-action series, which probably means they’re looking for another place to play. And if they want to help grow their footprint to work alongside their media plans, they may well try another place.
The Underdark
While WotC is no longer interested in a Dragonlance TV show, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks did mention that the company is still very interested in a live-action TV series. We have heard precious little about this in a while, so all of this might change—but when last we checked in, the TV show was rumored to feature, at least in part, the Underdark as well as everyone’s favorite Drow, Drizzt Do’Urden.
And if you’re setting up the origins of Drizzt, that means needing to introduce more players to the Underdark in a fun way. And with Baldur’s Gate 3 already having a very memorable jaunt through the Underdark full of friends and foes and fungi, it makes sense to see another adventure that delves below the world.
Eldraine
With D&D and Magic both still performing better than anything else at Hasbro, it feels like it’s just a matter of time before we see another D&D/MTG crossover set. Especially since Hasbro CEO Cocks has already mentioned wanting to see more “Universes Beyond” style content for D&D. That’s something that can be accomplished since the licensing call would be coming from within the building.
And Eldraine was one of the more popular sets recently. It has Feywild vibes, for sure, but that culd be one inroad for crossing over to “Universes Beyond.” It’s also a great delivery vehicle for something that D&D folks sorely want: cool animal people.
The Sword Coast
The truest test for whether or not D&D 2024-2025 will be backwards compatible with 5th Edition’s PHB 2014, will be whether or not an adventure comes out that’s set in The Sword Coast, aka “The Remembered Realms.”
Where do you think D&D will head in the next fifty years?
