Dungeons and Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast has been on a hiring spree recently, but its latest acquisition is one that particularly excites me. Erin Roberts, a former freelancer for D&D among many other tabletop RPGs, announced on January 16 that she was joining Wizards as a full-time game designer. Robert’s new job role is excellent news from a worldbuilding perspective.
Roberts’ portfolio is large, and it includes major games like Daggerheart and Pathfinder as well as D&D. In the world of 5e, she’s contributed to books like Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, Dragon Delves, and Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel. That last one is where I remember Roberts from, as she’s the mind behind Godsbreath.
Godsbreath is a setting that first appeared in Radiant Citadel. When Roberts was part of the marketing for Radiant Citadel back in 2022, she called it a “personal homage to the Black experience in the Southern United States”, comparing it to Lovecraft Country and Jordan Peele’s Get Out.
Godsbreath is a thriving agricultural community that is occasionally plagued by unusual blight and wandering monsters. Community, justice, and legacy are all key to its culture, which is preserved and retold through song. We saw it only briefly in Radiant Citadel’s one-shot, but it was a setting with much promise, one that brought new and exciting ideas to D&D’s multiverse.
Godsbreath appeared again in Dragon Delves (presumably, with some help from Roberts). I was elated to see it – not just because I had enjoyed spending time there before, but because it was a welcome sign that D&D was still open to innovation.
Most full campaign books from Wizards of the Coast have, in recent years, relied on tried-and-testing settings to tell familiar, nostalgic stories. We went back to Krynn, and then we went back to Phandalin. We stopped by Ravenloft, and then we took a respite at the Keep on the Borderlands.
Personally, I’m eager to see something new. I want the fiction of D&D to grow and tell fresh stories. That’s why, when Godsbreath made an unexpected comeback in Dragon Delves, I was delighted. Seeing that Roberts is now part of the in-house team at Wizards, I’m even more optimistic. I’d love to see a Godsbreath campaign book on the distant horizon of the DnD release schedule.
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