Café de Nuit

https://www.enworld.org/threads/dungeon ... gs.720059/

Announced at GenCon, the Loft is going 3rd party again

To echo the thoughts I posted on Reddit and Discord already:

Forgotten Realms by Kobold Press sounds amazing, and GHOSTFIRE GAMING IN RAVENLOFT?!?!

Oh I'm in for a treat! We're all in for a treat! I'm excited!

Ghostfire Gaming did Grim Hollow, and I bought a bunch of their stuff before. Solid quality; I’m really excited! WotC actually wants to do something with the IP and not release a book once every 5-7 years. And I'm hyped for the Warcraft stuff, the Star Wars stuff, the V:tM stuff, and DARK SUN!!! Giving 3rd parties the ability to make content every year for these things means we don't have to have a drought, and it might be better than what WotC makes in-house. Granted, I usually think the crossover angle is lazy but I think it works here. It helps that WoW had a D&D affiliation in the past (some of my favorite lorebooks which are now non-canon came from that collab) at least. Kobold Press on Forgotten Realms should be promising too, and Visionary did a bunch of work with Keith Baker (creator of Eberron) already, so I'm pretty secure in my confidence regarding that one.

3rd party?! Do we know if they will go Core or Islands of terror?

alhoon wrote: Fri Jul 31, 2026 2:01 pm 3rd party?! Do we know if they will go Core or Islands of terror?

From what I've googled we know nothing haha. 3rd party was good to us once before, tho. Maybe they hired Frat members to write this time instead of Kargatane. Ron? Joël? Rock?

Ghost Fire seems decent enough, so that could be healthy for the setting. They'll probably produce something interesting, even though I don't use 5th Edition D&D anymore. Could be useful to adapt for my own use. I guess it works out that Hasbro is busy being Epic Games Fortnite with their 3rd Party IP of the Month, more chance for others to tackle settings with a certain touch.

alhoon wrote: Fri Jul 31, 2026 2:01 pm 3rd party?! Do we know if they will go Core or Islands of terror?

It'd certainly be great if they did, but I won't hold my breath. I hope they can grab a few authors who teamed up with White Wolf many a year back.

Well, it still sounds promising. Perhaps they will do mega-adventures (or smaller ones) for some domains, so I could grab the ones that I like.

alhoon wrote: Fri Jul 31, 2026 2:01 pm 3rd party?! Do we know if they will go Core or Islands of terror?

The products are described in the article as "annual adventures or anthologies," which leads me to believe it'll be something along the lines of Curse of Strahd (on the adventure side) or Candlekeep Mysteries or Keys from the Golden Vault (on the anthology side) for the existing 5e setting.

While it does seem like it could be a step in a positive direction, without details on how much input/restrictions those at Wizard's will have on Ghostfire's work, i'm not going to dance for joy. I mean if Wizards had input on Grim Hollow it would have any dark pointy edges smoothed to nothing, lets face it there is a reason Dark Sun has not been made in house in 5e.

brothersale wrote: Sun Aug 02, 2026 11:47 am While it does seem like it could be a step in a positive direction, without details on how much input/restrictions those at Wizard's will have on Ghostfire's work, i'm not going to dance for joy. I mean if Wizards had input on Grim Hollow it would have any dark pointy edges smoothed to nothing, lets face it there is a reason Dark Sun has not been made in house in 5e.

Dark Sun did just get announced at GenCon with a trailer, as D&D's first "mature" setting, so I think it won't have the edges sanded down.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/dark-su ... ng.720056/

GenCon also announced the 'black label' line for creators (like Joe Mangianello's new thing): https://www.enworld.org/threads/watch-t ... lo.720118/

"'Black Label' allows them to do a few things differently with D&D lore amd canon, hearkening back to the 'alternative' culture feeling of the 1970s and 80s." From the article describing what it is and what Joe's setting, Death Saves, entails.

More details here: https://www.enworld.org/threads/what-is ... lo.719849/

I'll refrain from dropping a lot of my own cynicism until more happens and details come forth. Ravenloft will probably be the retconned version that has earned contention here. Dark Sun? Probably closer to the 4E version that had its share of contention as well (but far less compared to other settings of the era). Perhaps either might push mechanics in actually grittier territory, let alone more long-term consequences. Though, in my experiences, the mechanics they'd be using buckle and breakdown pretty often when pushing them too far of their intended means. So, who knows? Either way, interesting stuff being mentioned.
I'm deeply not interested in a Blood War ending and apocalypse ravaging reality scenario though. Grim fantasy can be done in much more nuanced manners, which I find unlikely from a lot of Hasbro or collaborators.

Strahdsbuddy wrote: Fri Jul 31, 2026 2:50 pmMaybe they hired Frat members to write this time instead of Kargatane. Ron? Joël? Rock?

I can categorically say that did not happen. At least not for me, maybe some of the others are keeping it secret. But I doubt it.

This sounds great to me. Knowing that the quality is always a question mark, all I really want is more to pick and choose from. If they can stop just re-doing I6 over and over and branch out to the other domains, surely there will be something of interest there. So a yearly anthology would be fantastic.