Wizards of the Coast recently announced that Dungeons & Dragons would be collaborating with a number of other IPs on D&D Crossovers, starting with World of Warcraft. Since I have expressed my unfailing love and devotion to Universes Beyond in Magic the Gathering, as you can read for yourself in my previous posts: Here and Here, you might expect me to have a similar disposition to D&D Universes Beyond. After all, it is a fantasy-themed game Wizards of the Coast with deep lore and worldbuilding that defined my childhood. There is no doubt that this product line will print money for the company, but will the heart of the game be at risk? Not particularly. 

Dungeons & Dragons is simply a different beast than Magic the Gathering, game wise. Magic the Gathering, at least when played amongst strangers or acquaintances at a game store, has a shared format where WOTC dictates what cards are allowed to be played. This means that unless you specifically play with a fixed group of people that all agree to it, you’re going to have to tolerate playing against Universes Beyond cards. Additionally, since MTG sets rotate far faster than campaign modules, and in a fixed order, having half of all MTG sets be Universes Beyond is difficult to avoid. Not so with D&D. You are likely selecting one or two modules to play through in a year, if you use them at all. And as a Dungeon Master, you have far greater authority in limiting the game content that’s allowed. If your game premise is a Sword & Sorcery fantasy campaign, players aren’t likely to be offended if you don’t allow Rick & Morty or Star Wars content. Players may ask to reflavor classes from Universes Beyond, but that is not so damaging to the game’s fantasy, and is easy to veto as a DM. 

In some ways, I look forward to seeing what Wizards of the Coast comes up with in these partnerships. The worlds of external IPs from D&D may force creative design that results in interesting new character classes or magic items. However, translating outside IPs into established game mechanics raises another concern. Universes Beyond in Magic the Gathering suffered because of different assumptions about the world. Magic the Gathering’s color pie requires a rather specific balance in the amount and variety of actors in a setting. Its designers have reported difficulty populating some sections of the color pie, depending on where a setting takes place and what it includes. That’s resulted in wonky effects like having 20 versions (or more) of the same protagonists in a set. Dungeons & Dragons is more flexible than Magic in this sense, but I can still see some jank occurring as a result. 

One other concern I have, is that most mainstream IPs already have their own dedicated RPGs that are purpose built for their setting. Would a D&D Star Wars collaboration really be able to outdo any of the Star Wars RPGs out there? I struggle to believe that. 

Either way, my participation in D&D Universes Beyond will be minimal. I may poach some subclasses or magic items. I won’t be buying the books, but I won’t lose sleep over them either.

Featured Image Credit: Wizards of the Coast