D&D fans, I can’t help but think we were robbed.
In an interview with Polygon, ex-D&D creative director Chris Perkins revealed an era-defining adventure the franchise was building toward… but now we’re never going to get it. More specifically, it would have paid off a storyline for one of the best tabletop RPGs that had been building for a decade.
If you’ve been with D&D since the current, fifth edition version dropped in 2015, you’ll have noticed the presence of mysterious obelisks popping up all over the place – eldritch relics whose purpose was unknown. Then, in an adventure headed by Perkins (Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden), it was revealed that the ancient ‘Weavers’ created them. More importantly, they had time-bending properties that could allow you to jump back in time. One of D&D’s biggest villains, Vecna, had also realized this, so stole one for himself.
To the land of the ice and snow
Not tried Rime of the Frostmaiden yet? Honestly, it’s well worth a look. It’s a survival horror adventure rather than a classic fantasy quest, taking inspiration from some unlikely sources – including The Thing. In fact, this is arguably one of the fifth edition’s best adventures and many hold it second only to Curse of Strahd. If you want to give it a go, you can grab the book for $44.64 at Amazon instead of $50 right now.
Those threads were supposed to culminate in a grand adventure that would see us visit the era of a lost civilization which looms large over D&D lore – Netheril. To be precise, Perkins says that he was “excited about the idea of a time travel adventure” because Perkins said, “it would feel very different from the other campaigns we had done up to that point […] we could do some really fun things with Netheril and explore a style of magic that felt different.”
Instead, the storyline was dropped and we got Vecna: Eve of Ruin in its place. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to put down the latter. It was the work of different designers with different priorities, and its pitch was certainly grand enough to cap off a decade of D&D (it was made as a victory lap of the game’s best-loved settings, allowing us to face one of D&D’s best villains again). But I’m now gutted we didn’t get the original idea as well. Besides the obelisks acting like Marvel-style end-credits scenes that never really went anywhere, Netheril is a fascinating part of the Forgotten Realms lore. This hyper-advanced magical society was destroyed by its own hubris, Atlantis style, and left behind countless treasures for us to discover. Being able to explore it is one hell of a hook.
Honestly, what Polygon’s Francesco Cacciatore suggests in the interview is even better. They pitch an opening where Vecna’s plan (whatever it may be) has succeeded, and everything has gone horribly wrong. You know the drill; to quote a wise man, “human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!” We’d then have to use the obelisks to go back and undo his work, Avengers: Endgame-style. Like, damn. That’s a mission worthy of closing out a D&D edition.
Of course, there’s no reason the community can’t write that adventure itself. We’re almost certainly not going to get it from D&D, after all. So: which of you brave souls will accept the quest? I’d be much obliged.
Want something new to play that can take the sting out of this loss? I’d recommend the best board games or the best card games.