D&D Direct – April 2022 – Spelljammer Confirmed

The first ever D&D Direct came at us with many wonderful surprises. It is the 2022 Announcement showcase. So much goodness with new campaign settings, video game, board games, D&D movie release date, new D&D starter box, miniatures, online collections of adventures and monsters, and physical accessories. So let me start off with some exciting news

Spelljammer

The long awaited release of the D&D 5th edition Spelljamer campaign setting has arrived. Spelljammer will start with three books, DM screen and double-sided map all contained in a slipcover. Campaign settings, New Player races; Astral Elves, Autognomes, Hadozees, Giffs, Plasmoids, and Thri-Kreen, and all the things. You can access Access Monstrous Compendium – Volume One: Spelljammer Creatures online now (April 21st) through a Wizards account at https://dnd.wizards.com Also there will be a free downloadable prequel adventure: Spelljammer Academy with a Wizards account available in July 2022.

Amazon Link to pre-order: https://amzn.to/3OmyY3n

The three books are Astral Adventurer’s Guide, Light of Xaryxis, and Boo’s Astral Menagerie and will be 64 pages long each:

• Light of Xaryxis—a 64-page hardcover adventure set in the Astral Plane for characters of levels 5–8
• The Astral Adventurer’s Guide—64-page hardcover book presenting the Astral Plane as a campaign setting, including space-based character options, spells, magic items, spacefaring rules, ships, and more
• Boo’s Astral Menagerie—a 64-page hardcover book with game statistics and descriptions for over 60 creatures found in Wildspace and the Astral Sea

There is an alternate cover for the 3 books as you can see below along with the starter set & campaign cases (click to enlarge):

Spelljamer is being released August 16th, 2022.

Dragonlance

We saw some hints toward these settings, so we are happy to see the release of Dragonlance books, campaign setting Shawdow of the Dragon Queen, Battle Board Game Warriors of Krynn; releasing in late 2022.

D&D Starter Set

Dragons of Stormwreck Isle with digital onboarding tools. More streamlined and easier to understand. Digital content available for the starter set with a wizards account. The release date is August 1st exclusive to Target stores, and then a wide release date October 4th. The cover of the starter set takes inspiration from the 1980s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. The starter set goal is to be family friendly for new players (that includes new Dungeon Masters) to run games.

Baldur’s Gate 3…

Well, they are still working on the video game. Still looking at a release sometime in 2023.

Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel

The anthology of adventures was announced back in March 2022. Journeys through the Radiant Citadel is a collection of thirteen short, stand-alone D&D adventures featuring challenges for character levels 1–14. Each adventure has ties to the Radiant Citadel, a magical city with connections to lands rich with excitement and danger, and each can be run by itself or as part of an ongoing campaign. Explore this rich and varied collection of adventures in magical lands. D&D Direct showcases 3 adventures from the book. Release date is June 21, 2022

Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3v5ZgPM

D&D Movie Update

We got an March 3rd, 2023 release date for the movie.

D&D Neverwinter Video Game – Dragonslayer

Release date June 2022

D&D Accessory Products

Some new accessories come at us in nifty storage boxes. The D&D Campaign Case has two flavors;  Terrain and Creatures. 64 customizable creature tokens with removable/cling stickers. 30 double sided terrain tiles with cling stickers. Release date of July 2022.

Amazon Pre-order Terrains: https://amzn.to/3K0gJ05

Amazon Pre-order Creatures: https://amzn.to/3v5tsdU

Wizkids

And from new table top board game. Wizkids Onslaught board game and we have Spelljammer Figurines!

D&D European release dates

D&D Press Release Fact Sheet

D&D MEANS many things to many people but at its core is GREAT STORY TELLING

Dungeons & Dragons is a leading fantasy entertainment franchise fueled by the imagination of storytellers around the world. More than 50 MILLION FANS worldwide have interacted with D&D since it was first published in 1974, including playing video games, reading books, watching TV, and movies as well as compelling livestream entertainment on YouTube and Twitch.

2021 was the best year ever

Dungeons & Dragons recorded its ninth consecutive year of growth powered by record-breaking digital sales, strong licensed products including video games, and the continued growth of the World’s Best Roleplaying Game on tabletop

More new players are finding a love for the game now more than ever before. Introductory D&D products continued to reach new audiences with more total sales in 2021 than when they were first released in 2014.

While family and friends are starting to play in person again, more than 80% of D&D fans played D&D virtually in 2021 aided by online platforms such as D&D Beyond, Roll20, and Fantasy Grounds.

New D&D books also performed extremely well in 2021. Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons was the bestselling new title of 2021 and the biggest D&D book launch since Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, debuting at #6 on the USA Today Booklist, and spending 3 weeks on the list.

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight was the fasest-selling D&D adventure ever. In comparison, Curse of Strahd took years to sell as many copies as Witchlight sold-in when it released in Sept. 2021.

Playing Dungeons & Dragons has many benefits beyond just being fun. Mental health professionals and educators say playing games like Dungeons & Dragons can build confidence, foster creativity, and open the door to socialization opportunities through collaborative game play and the formation of friendships around the table.