Spelljammer, Dragonlance Finally Coming to D&D 5E In 2022

After years of fan demand, Wizards of the Coast are finally bringing back the fan-favorite D&D settings of Spelljammer and Dragonlance this year. The gaming company announced on Thursday at D&D Direct that Spelljammer: Adventures in Space will be released for Fifth Edition on August 16th as a campaign collection of books, with Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen coming later this year.

The two settings are among the most popular in Dungeons & Dragons history, and fan demand for them to return has been constant since they were last seen in 2nd Edition for Spelljammer and 3rd Edition for Dragonlance. Spelljammer was first launched in 1989 and is a combination of science fiction and fantasy within the D&D setting, as players fly spaceships through “spelljamming helms” across the Astral Plane and can even travel through the plane to other material settings in D&D such as Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Exandria, and the like.

Spelljammer: Adventures in Space will consist of three 64-page books: the setting book The Astral Adventurer’s Guide, which explores the Astral Plane and gives details on spelljamming ships, new races, and other such details; Boo’s Astral Menagerie, which will include over 60 new creatures to use in campaigns; and Light of Xaryxis, an Astral Plane-set adventure that will take players from level 5 to 8.

Little is known about the Dragonlance book at this time, though the title Shadow of the Dragon Queen leads to immediate speculation of one of the setting’s most iconic villains in the goddess Takhesis. The book will be set in the world originally created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, which became iconic among D&D worlds thanks to the Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis novels centered on the Heroes of the Lance. Krynn, the world of Dragonlance, is a high-fantasy setting which is heavily focused on draconic elements. Takhesis, who opposes the good god Paladine, corrupted the chromatic dragons and created her own race of draconic humanoids known as draconians. The setting also has their own halfling-like race known as the Kender.

Along with Shadow of the Dragon Queen, Dragonlance will see a new tactical board game published by Wizards titled Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn which will be a Euro-style board game in which players play out the military battles of their campaigns, giving Dragonlance a more heavily war-themed set of campaign options.

Also announced at D&D direct was a new Starter Set, Dragons of Stomwreck, which will update the original Starter Set with the feedback garnered over the last eight years and include a campaign book, dice, and five pre-generated character sheets as well as digital access to videos to bring new players into D&D.