Wizards of the Coast has announced D&D Worlds and Realms, an art and lore book for worldbuilding fans that dives deep into the many, many published DnD settings. Written by Adam Lee – creator of adventures like Descent into Avernus and Waterdeep: Dragon Heist – the $50, 384-page book is timed around the RPG’s 50th anniversary and due out on October 29, 2024.
In Worlds and Realms, you’ll learn about all the different DnD settings you might like to set a game in. It spans Dragonlance to Greyhawk, Faerûn to Ravenloft, and of course contains information on various DnD planes.
Just as Volo’s Guide to Monsters was written from the perspective of a colorful DnD character, so too is Worlds and Realms. This time, it’s the powerful DnD Wizard Mordenkainen giving us a tour, taking us from the material to the immaterial plane.
It’s a tried and true method for jazzing up the encyclopedia concept, though we must admit Volo seems more fun a companion than this mage who loves to spout on about ‘Balance’. Obviously, he’s appeared in the narrator hot seat before, in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, though there he was reduced to occasionally chipping in, whereas now he’s running the show.
As well as Mordenkainen’s take on various DnD cities, peoples, monsters, and cosmic beings, the book boasts lots of artwork, old and new, plus short stories following adventurers in each world.
Worlds and Realms can be preordered now from Amazon, Walmart, Target, or Barnes & Noble at a very small discount. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait till October 29. Its release date comes slap bang in between the new Player’s Handbook and new Dungeon Master’s Guide.
If you’ve been following the DnD release schedule for the last few years, you’ll have noticed that Wizards of the Coast has been on quite a multiverse spree of late.
Last year it published multiple DnD books on multiverse ‘hub’ settings (eg Spelljammer, Planescape), and today, May 21, marks the release of Vecna: Eve of Ruin, a multiversal romp that we found varied and dramatic, but somewhat shallow. Check out our Vecna: Eve of Ruin review here.