The DnD release schedule currently has a great big, gaping hole in it. After the summer’s season of horror and fall’s season of magic, we have the mysterious Season of Champions. D&D is yet to reveal what the flagship rulebook of this season will be, let alone what accessory products will complement its launch. I have my theories, though.
Well, I have two theories, and I’m certainly not the first D&D fan to jump to these conclusions. Both are based heavily on public playtesting we’ve seen for the DnD classes in the past year.
So, let’s talk about them.
The return of Dark Sun
The ‘Apocalyptic Subclasses’ playtest from August 2025 features Gladiators and Sorcerer-King Warlock Patrons. We’re also getting a new Psion class, if the two playtest drafts are anything to go by. That makes it pretty clear that a Dark Sun revamp is on the way, and many have made the connection between ‘gladiator’ and ‘champion’.
Alright, it’s a tenuous link at first glance. Gladiator battles are a big part of Dark Sun culture, but they don’t capture the complete feel of the setting. Plus, the term ‘Champion’ implies a big focus on martial classes, which would ignore the unique psionic and magic systems of Dark Sun.
Except there is another link between Dark Sun and the phrase ‘Champion’. Understanding it requires a brief history lesson.
Dark Sun primarily takes place in the Tyr region of the desert world of Athas. This is a collection of city-states ruled by corrupt Sorcerer-Kings. Before they were Sorcerer-Kings, however, this group went by a different name: the Champions of Rajaat.
Many thousands of years ago, before Athas was a total desert wasteland, Rajaat was the first to discover magic. He openly taught arcane and psionic magic in academies, and he selected 15 of his most powerful (and corruptible) students to become his Champions.
The Champions were given a mission of – lets not beat around the bush – apocalypse-level ethnic cleansing. It only failed because the Champions realized that Rajaat had no plans to spare them after his orders were carried out. They betrayed him, imprisoned him, and set about establishing themselves as Athas’ most powerful beings.
A Dark Sun book isn’t off the table for 2026, then. If this turns out to be our Season of Champions sourcebook, that likely means seeing these subclasses in print:
- Circle of Preservation Druid
- Gladiator Fighter
- Defiled Sorcerer
- Sorcerer-King Patron Warlock
- Metamorph Psion
- Psi Warper Psion
- Pykinetic Psion
- Telepath Psion
Martials, just martials
The Season of Magic sees two spellcasting-themed books release in September. Logic would dictate, then, that Wizards of the Coast would balance the scales by following up with a martial-focused book. Can’t let that martial-caster divide get too wide, can we?
Last year’s playtests certainly offer enough subclasses to fill a martial rulebook. We know, for example, that Wizards is working on revamps of five existing frontliners: the Ancestral Guardian Barbarian, the Storm Herald Barbarian, the Cavalier Fighter, the Warrior of Intoxication Monk, and the Oathbreaker Paladin.
There’s less to say about this theory, because I’m not sure what else a martial rulebook could offer. Arcana Unleashed, our flagship Season of Magic book, can at least pad its page count with new spells.
We’ll get a slew of new DnD backgrounds for sure, because every rulebook announced this year has shown off backgrounds in the previews. Maybe, if Wizards is feeling spicy, we’ll see some new fighting styles, feats, or (gasp) weapon masteries.
Why not both?
But wait, there’s a surprise third theory! It might seem like a long shot, but we could see both these books release during the Season of Champions. The Season of Magic books are both slightly cheaper than expected for new D&D books, which implies they might be more compact than previous releases.
Plus, Wizards has made a big point of shouting about how each season offers more than a single rulebook. There will be accessory products, organized play events, and all manner of hype-generating extras. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see several of Wizards’ playtest plans published at once.
That’s it for theories for now. All we know for sure is that the Season of Champions kicks off in October, and it runs through to December. If you want to share theories of your own before then, we’re all ears in the Wargamer Discord.