Dungeons & Dragons lovers like to create their own worlds for campaigns, but some also like to reimagine established D&D worlds. Eberron and Ravenloft have already published adventures and setting books for these settings, and more titles related to Spelljammer and Dragonlance are on the way.
Dungeons & Dragons sticks to medieval fantasy, since that's what the game is built around. Certain settings, such as Eberron and Spelljammer, vary slightly, but the game's medieval roots remain strong in each world. Players like to try out a much wider variety of settings, including modern magic campaigns.
An Unorthodox Dungeons & Dragons Adventure
Earth might be a fantastic new non-canonical setting for the D&D franchise. Whether it's foreshadowing Earth as a later material Plane, it's a fantastic opportunity to create entirely new lore for all of D&D's races and classes in an alternate history world. Wizards of the Coast may also offer different versions of a magical Earth within one book, giving fans options for a world where magic is hidden or a fully magical Earth.
A WotC-based book might serve as an excellent opportunity to expand on existing D&D content. For instance, D&D hints at firearms as a possible weapon category, but so far players generally have to turn to homebrew if they want to play gunslingers. Magic based on urban settings and technomancy may also be included in a book about Earth.
Ideally, Wizards of the Coast would publish the book with an adventure that gives players an example of how to best execute a modern magic campaign within the D&D 5e rules, rather than a setting guide. For example, charts with downtime activities in the modern world, methods for managing money and the Internet, and magic items suitable for Earth, might all be invaluable to DMs.
Official resources would be extremely beneficial to D&D enthusiasts who are running their own modern magic campaigns on Earth or other modern magic worlds. These DMs and players would appreciate additional official support for their playstyle. Regardless, Wizards of the Coast may gain some valuable experience from Earth as a D&D setting.
The latest Dungeons & Dragons 5e version is now available.