Reminder! The WotC Stream of Annihilation starts in less than an hour, 10 AM PST!

#COVER

http://dnd.wizards.com/streamofannihilation

Check it out for the latest news. I'll try to keep this post updated with what they say!

And for anyone who doesn't know what it is: they are doing a 2 Day stream of gaming, announcements, and news. The new storyline coming September is TBA. Tomb of Annihilation.

#Updates Part One: Tomb of Annihilation AND SPOILERS

• Actor Joe Manganiello introduces the stream with a heartfelt monologue about how important D&D is in society.

• Tomb of Annihilation is set in the Forgotten Realms in the Land of Chult, a lost continent filled with undead and dinosaurs. Acererak, of the legendary Tomb of Horrors, has returned. Resurrection magic is failing and those brought back to life are starting to fade. Find the right guide, journey into the Jungles of Chult, and maybe even have some dinosaur races in the capital city.

• The stream will include various campaigns set in the setting (The Jungle of Chult) but will not spoil the written adventure for any players.

• Pendleton Ward (creator of Adventure Time on Cartoon Network) was a creative lead in the writing. This was mentioned following the discussion of complex NPC interactions.

• Chult is filled with old crazy creatures that are from the archives of D&D due to the isolated nature of this lost city and lost continent. Their example was The Zorbo which I guess are just wigged out psychic koalas. Here's a real picture of the Zorbo from MM 1e. (credit u/TurquoiseKnight) The capital city and all smaller cities have been overrun by undead dinosaurs.

• Meat Grinder mode: Death Saving Throw DC is now 15. With Acererak messing with Resurrection magic, death will be more deadly.

• Exploration is heavily emphasized in the adventure. Call it a themed Sandbox.

• September 8th is the Tabletop Store release date, September 19th is the global release date.

• "Indiana Jones meets zombies." - Mike Mearls

• More complex NPC interactions were an emphasis (with guides to the jungle, or creatures within the jungle like Grungs

• Due to it being an island, isolated peninsula (thanks u/FaerunHistory) this campaign could be fit right into any campaign easily. However, while a story has been written, Chris Perkins designed it for the purpose of creating a unique setting. This way, DMs have the tools to create their own story line within the peninsula. It seems like it is meant to be a highly customizable island. For example, the players start with a map of the coast but not the inner jungle, letting the DM create an inward adventure.

#Updates Part Two: Neverwinter

I do not watch any D&D streamers so I won't be watching these playthroughs. However, I will return when they go back to the announcement portion of the show at 12 PST!

• Neverwinter will be getting an expansion as well, featuring new locations within Chult, new mobs (T-Rex), new mounts (T-Rexs) and new NPCs (Volo himself!)

• Tomb of the Nine Gods is the new dungeon epic in Neverwinter, called highly deadly and puzzle filled.

• Chris Perkins will be voicing Volo in the video game.

• July 25th will be the release date for the Neverwinter expansion.

• To clarify: The lead designer of Neverwinter has made it clear that the module/book came first, and then they started developing the expansion for the video game.

• MYSTERY: What is meant by this tweet and what is Xanathar's Guide to Everything? (credit u/baloney_ninja)

#Update Part Three: WizKids

I missed this bit so here's a play-by-play from r/dndnext done by u/LexieJeid that I found. It has more quotations if you want to read the full thing.

[5:01pm: WizKids interview: Tomb of Annihilation mini sets. 44 randomly assorted minis (July release), including pterafolk, masked goblins, four armed gargoyle, Acererak, invisible Acererak. There are set pieces, including sarcophagus, green devil sculpture, portal, and potions. There's also a stone juggernaut with glyphs all over it.]

[5:05pm: Tomb of Annihilation board game announcement. Compatible with Wrath of Ashardalon, Temple of Elemental Evil board games. There's also a premium version of the game with painted minis. For those who haven't played, it's a lighter, quicker version of the RPG.]

[5:07pm: There's a Dice Masters set (dice building game) coming out for Tomb of Annihilation (September release). They're doing draft packs for the first time.]

PS thanks Lexie

#Update 4: Dice?

• Septemberish there will be a new dice tin made specifically for Tomb of Annihilation featuring the green devil's head. The dice will be jungle colored.

• Potential Grung playable race but I'm not sure if that was confirmed. I imagine they wouldn't play officially on the stream with homebrew material when they have new material coming out. (credit u/Lazorne)

• Season 2 of Force Grey has been filmed.

#Update Five: Picutures and D&D Beyond

• Tomb of Annihilation Board Game

• ToA Icons of the Realm Tomb and Traps set

• ToA Dice Set

credit u/TurquoiseKnight

• D&D Beyond (DDB) devs reinforce their desire to have easily accessible information from all of the books on phones, tablets, and computers. An entirely digital copy of the rule books including art.

• Phase 2 of the D&D Beyond Beta will be released this month and includes an interactive character sheet (simply meaning that you can track armor class, hit point, and spell slot changes.

• Phase 3 of the beta will include homebrew material being integrated the app. The wait between Phase 2 and Phase 3 should be shorter than Phase 1 and Phase 2.

• They are also hoping for DM tools in Phase 3, including campaign managers (whatever that means), encounter builders, and combat trackers.

• Over 100,000 people have signed up for beta testing for D&D Beyond.

• All of this information is readily available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/ So sorry, not much new information.

• It seems like there will be integration with streaming and D&D Beyond. This is what I got: >We hope to utilize some really interesting technology that Twitch is using right now to engage... There is definitely stream integration! While watching Twitch streams, streamers using DDB can allow their audiences to actually see their live stats, conditions, ammo, etc.

• There will be a pronunciation guide voiced by Matt Mercer on the app. They gave the pronunciation of Firbolg, Genasi, and Tarrasque. Yes, I had been pronouncing them incorrectly.

#Update Six: Fantasy Grounds

• Pretty much an advertisement/explanation of Fantasy grounds, a program similar to roll20 in online gameplay format. The complete fantasy grounds D&D bundle is a whopping $388 on Steam.