June 6th: Wizards announces "6X" for 2026! Not one, but six "expressions" of tabletop roleplay!

June 6, 2022

Renton, Wash.

Wizards announces the Sixfold Experience

The Fifth Edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game is widely regarded as the most successful edition of the game ever published. Yet Renton, Washington-based Wizards of the Coast is not content to rest on any laurels. What some observers have dubbed "5.5E", has officially been given the "Sixfold Continues" moniker, or "6C." Ray Winninger, Executive Producer of D&D states:

"Our recent Monsters of the Multiverse and upcoming Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel books already feature the 5.5E format. Yet, to celebrate the publication of new Core Rulebooks in 2024, we will be changing the moniker to "6C: Sixfold Continues." Though this is essentially a 5.5 edition, we are evolving and diversifying the D&D product line in a way which justifies a new moniker...because Sixfold Continues is onlyl one member of a suite of D&D games which together comprise what we call the "Sixfold Experience", or "6X." (For more about the Sixfold Experience games, keep reading!)

As you can see in Monsters of the Multiverse, 6C is truly compatible with 5.0 materials. First released in 2014, 5.0 is robust ruleset which has stood the test of time, and continues to serve as basis for the largest D&D player network ever. We are publicly committing to supporting the 5E/6C ruleset (as revised in 2024) for another twelve years beyond the Core Rulebook release, to 2036. All of our new tabletop RPG products will contain 6C statblocks at least through 2036. You can be sure that your purchase of the 2024 6C Core Rulebooks—and of the 2014 5E Core Rulebooks!—will remain applicable for at least a dozen years. Yes, we are guaranteeing a twelve year hiatus on editions. And we're putting our money where our mouth is: from 2024 to 2036, any further revisions we make of any element in D&D (such as a monster, ancestry, class, spell, lore, etc.) will be released free on the web. There will be no 6.5E, unless we release it free."

Yet Ray says there's more...much more in store:

"Sixfold Continues is only the beginning. Over the coming months, we'll be sharing previews and playtests of other expressions of D&D, which we're developing alongside the 6C (i.e. 5.5E) ruleset. We feel there is room for many expressions of the D&D experience—not only through different D&D-branded media, as we've seen in D&D boardgames, card games, films, and novels—but also in regard to D&D tabletop roleplaying formats."

"We are developing not one, but six distinct expressions of D&D. Together, we call these the Sixfold Experience. One expression is based on the Pathfinder 2E system. Another expression comprises our Legacy editions. The three other expressions are totally new, and are slated to begin public playtesting between now and 2024, with a tentatively planned publication date of 2026.

These six games serve different playstyles. The different games and statblocks will be clearly labeled: we're confident that consumers are savvy enough to gravitate toward the playstyle which best serves their needs. The pathway through the D&D Polyverse is not tight and constricted like a mental gearbox, but wide and varied, like paths through a sunlit fantasy forest."

Wizards outlines the six Sixfold Experience expressions here:

• SIXFOLD CONTINUES (6C D&D). Also known as "5.5E", this is the ruleset of the Core Rulebooks coming out in 2024. Already seen in Monsters of the Multiverse. We're excited about this, yet there's more in store!

"When someone looks for the roots of the RPG, they need only harken to “Let’s Pretend” and games such as “Cops & Robbers” to find them :-D

— Gary Gygax, ENWorld Q&A part 1, 2002

• SIXFOLD FREEFORM (6F D&D). 6F is a freeform, ultra-lite, mathless, LARP-friendly expression of D&D. Mike Mearls serves as the lead designer, along with Tracy Hickman, co-creator of Ravenloft, Dragonlance...and X-Treme Dungeon Mastery, a similarly ultra-lite game. Mike states:

"Through Sixfold Freeform, we are firmly breaking down the gates of rules complexity and lore density which have barred wider swathes of people from playing the game. We've found another expression of D&D!"

"We guarantee that the rules for 6F will never be more than one page front and back. In fact, we'll laminate the page for you so that you can play D&D outside in the rain!

And we also guarantee that we will not release any 6F rules supplements or lorebooks beyond that. Yet adventure-wise, this will be a robust, fully supported expression of D&D. As each new Sixfold Experience adventure is published, we'll publish a Freeform distillation of the adventure.

"One of our design goals for 6F is to make a version of D&D that you could play while walking through a park, riding in a car, or hiking on a trail. And so any adventure we publish will be distilled, formatted, and bullet-pointed in such a way that you could literally DM it while walking...without even having read it before! Besides the new Sixfold Experience adventures, we also plan to publish 6F distillations of classic D&D adventures, such as The Isle of Dread, The Keep on the Borderlands, Tomb of Horrors, and others.

"A 6F adventure is boiled down so that the entire story plays out no longer than a 2 hour film. Entire sections of the dungeon (and possibly entire levels) are distilled into montage scenes which are resolved with single roll (with no failures, only degrees of success). The climatic boss scene will be reached one way or another by the end of the 2 hours. Even the key battles are distilled into a few rolls. These are distilled yet authentic and memorable experiences of classic D&D stories.

"A 6F character sheet will have little more than the Sixfold Abilities (just the modifiers), and twelve spaces to write "Things About Your Character": which means your Ancestry, Class, and a few other highlights, such as your favorite weapon(s), armor, spells, iconic gear, animal friend, alignment, personality traits, favorite color, and so forth. Though you're welcome to look at any other D&D system for inspiration for your 6F "Things", in 6F, you're officially encouraged to write down pretty much anything which fits with a fantasy character—it doesn't have to match any preconceived power-tree, progression matrix, or official D&D terminology. Even from level one, you might have powerful "Things" akin to the artifact-like "Items of Power" wielded by the Kids of the D&D Cartoon Show. But this is balanced out by the fact that it's mostly flavor. Mechanically, referring to a "Thing" during play just grants the player Advantage on the storytelling roll, to see how the scene turned out.

Regardless of the character's level, they're have 3 Hit Points. A character's Level is just a symbolic tally of how many sessions they've played. That's about it.

"However, the 6F "rules sheet" will include a least a couple different resolution systems, depending on whether you're gaming at the table and what dice you have available (either a d20, 3d6, or just a 1d6), or whether you're walking (using a deck of cards or other portable randomizer).

"This is not only 'new-school', it's also 'old school'...it's Wizard's loving response to the Free Kriegspiel Renaissance...a kind of freeform play which was seen in the earliest sessions which Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax refereed, before character sheets existed, before D&D even existed.

"6F is D&D."

[6F Character Sheet]

• SIXFOLD ADVANCED (6A D&D). Wizards is pleased to announce an agreement with Paizo Publishing, whereby Pathfinder Second Edition will serve as another official expression of the D&D Polyverse, known as the Sixfold Advanced (6A D&D) ruleset. Mike Mearls, who held the D&D banner during the "edition wars" states:

"PF2 is a helluva game. Though it's too crunchy for the mainline audience we're serving through 5E, it has developed in ways which are natural and fitting for some D&D playstyles. PF2 is a worthy evolution of the most tactical, crunchy, and clearly defined potentialities of D&D. We couldn't have paid anyone to develop a better iteration of the crunchy potential in D&D. So, instead of fighting PF2 (and we "won" the mainline audience anyway, *wink*), we're joining forces with Paizo. We're all gamers. We all love D&D. And Pathfinder is D&D. It's a very good game. 6A will scratch the itch of those D&D tables who want the most crunch. It's a win-win-win situation.

"6A is D&D."

Mike explained that the PF2 Core Rulebook will be offered in a reskinned version with D&D graphic design, and renamed the Sixfold Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (6A D&D) Core Rulebook. The rules will remain the same, including the latest PF2 errata, and will be 100% compatible with Pathfinder 2E...and will even share the same pagination as the PF2 Core Rulebook.

In fact, Paizo is contracted to produce not only the 6A Core Rulebook, but also to author the 6A statblocks which will be found in all Sixfold Experience books, at least through 2036. (See below for an explanation of the triple-statted format of the Sixfold Experience.)

Furthermore, Paizo and Wizards have reached an agreement whereby the World of Golarion will become an official part of the D&D Polyverse. (And the D&D Polyverse will become an official part of the Golarion Multiverse.) Even beyond the slated Wizards-Paizo contract period (through 2036), Wizards will be able to at least mention Golarion in perpetuity. And though a special agreement, Paizo will likewise be able to mention a defined set of world names from of the D&D Polyverse in perpetuity. Mike added: "We look at Paizo as the "Judges Guild" of the Sixfold Experience. A valued partner and peer."

• SIXFOLD UNITY (6U D&D). Jeremy Crawford, Lead Rules Designer for 6U states: "Though each of the Sixfold Experience games is robust and fully-supported, you could say that the 6U system is our leading-edge...our avant garde. It's where we really strive to make a totally new synthesis of D&D which has never been seen before. The watchwords are "archetypal synthesis of all editions" and "quickness of play."

This is an iteration of D&D that took a very different evolutionary turn. It is not simply a progression from 5E. Rather, we've taken a good look at all editions of the game, and drawn forth archetypal elements...especially features which æsthetically jibe with "sixfoldness" (such as the 36 levels of BECMI D&D). And we've also looked at the streamlined third-party OGL games which sprang from D&D: such as 13th Age (for example, its simplified range increments), The Black Hack, and the Index Card RPG. And we look at these as not simplifications, but as advancements.

"We asked ourselves: 'What if you drastically streamlined the mechanic...but kept all the character options (ancestries, classes, spells, feats, etc.)? And also kept all the lore?

"Since other playstyles are being fulfilled by 6C, 6F, and 6A, 6U is then free to finally let go of sacred cows.

"6U is also about tidyness and non-clutter. 6U drastically prunes any 'bean-counting', such as XP, GP, and Encumbrance.

"Some of the key features of 6U:

• Almost all rolls are ability checks.

• The Sixfold Abilities are no longer presented as 3-18. They range from -5 Disadvantage to +5 Advantage.

• There are no little pluses and minuses to add or subtract. It's all Advantage or Disadvantage. 6U synthesizes all features from all editions (including PF1 and PF2), but, where there's a mathematical bonus, converts them into simple +1 to +5 Advantage.

• You can have up to +5d20 (for a total of 6d20, take the highest)...called Sixfold Advantage. Or -5d20 (for a total of 6d20, take the lowest)...caled Sixfold Disadvantage. Even if your Advantages add up to more than six, you still only roll 6d20 max.

• Another sacred cow: In 6U, there are no damage rolls. If an attack did 1-8 dmg in previous editions, it does 1 dmg in 6U. 9-16 dmg = 2 dmg, 14-24 = 3 dmg, etc.

• Therefore, besides the d20, the other polyhedral dice besides are rarely used in 6U. They are still used for rolling on tables, or for occasional randomizations (e.g. d6 recharge roll for dragon's breath). Each player should have a set of six d20s. But the table only needs one set of the other dice.

• All racial traits, class features, background features, personality traits, spells, proficiencies, skills, and feats...from all editions of play...are converted into Powers. Their mechanics are converted into increments of Sixfold Advantage/Disadvantage.

• All missile and spell ranges are converted into Short Range (30 feet), Medium Range (30 feet okay, 60 feet -1 Disadvantage), or Long Range (60 feet okay). Lighting and darkvision are also converted into those increments. E.g. a torch and light spell provide light to short range. A daylight spell (a.k.a. continual light) provides light to long range.

• Areas of effect revert to the simplified squares of 4E: blasts, close bursts, and area bursts. There's also a clear method of adjudicating how many are effected when playing theater of the mind's eye.

• A 6U spell is presented with the lowest factors (range, area, duration, etc.) which were seen in any edition of the spell. Though range and duration are streamlined into standard increments. But all variants of the spell from all editions, are approximately buildable by spending XPs for metamagic. (See the 6U "Mending" spell in the playtest document.)

• In 6U, the term "Experience Points" is repurposed to be like "Action Points" or 5E Inspiration, except that, unlike Inspiration, you can have more than 1 XP at a time. You gain XP for doing fun and cool things, which you can spend for re-rolls, healing surges, and other special effects, or to switch out your Powers in-between Sessions. Though during a Session, there's no limit to how many XP you gain, the maximum XP you can have at the start of a Session is 12 XP. So spend 'em if ya got 'em.

• There's no counting of coins. When you find a treasure chest of coins, everyone in the part just gains "Coin" (as a collective noun). It's all just "Coin." If you found an especially noteworthy coin (denomination, design, or metal), you might right it down.

• No more Equipment-based clutter. You have 12 Encumbrance slots, plus or minus your STR score (which ranges from -5 to +5). This is "dramatic encumbrance"...reflecting how many items can tidily come into the story. We asked ourselves: how much actual equipment did you ever see Aragorn, Boromir, or any of the Fellowship display or use. Sam, who had a lower STR than the Men of the Fellowship, used the most equipment. But even Sam's equipment would fit in twelve slots. If 12 slots worth of dramatic encumbrance is good enough for Tolkien, it's good enough for 6U.

• This tidy approach is further bolstered by how you can spend 1 XP at any time to narrate a flashback about how you actually brought any piece of normal (non-magical) equipment with you after all! The exceptions are Weapons (only the Three Basic Weapons can be manifested by spending an XP: club, dagger, staff), Armor (only padded armor can be manifested through an XP), nor Shields, Helmets (since these are tied to Armor Proficiency powers), Artisan Toolkits (since, in 6U, they're tied to Professional Proficiencies, which are a specific Power), nor Mounts, Vehicles, and the like (no Seige Engines!) You can only narratively manifest those items if you have taken a specific Iconic Gear power for those. But any other normal equipment from any edition of D&D (including the vast Arms & Equipment Guides)...even expensive items such as spyglasses..can be narratively summoned using an XP.

• A character can take the Wealth power which makes all of their normal equipment Masterwork.

• In the 6U reality, if your character dies, the world itself will raise, resurrect, or reincarnate the character (player's choice). The 6U is different than other realities of D&D. All it takes is a simple ritual enacted by the party. The maximum number of raise deads/resurrections/reincarnations is 12 +/- your CON score (which ranges from -5 to +5). After that, you can only come back as a Construct, immortal Outsider, or Undead. But you can keep playing and advancing!

• You gain one Power after every Session. Even if you end the Session in the middle of a battle, you'll have an epiphany in the middle of the fight.

• 6U features an array of resolution mechanics, which the DM is empowered to employ at different points in the same session, depending on what the goals are for granularity, pacing, and complexity within any given scene.

• The usual resolution mechanic is "general difficulty", where all checks in the scene have a DC of 12. Or DC 10 if its an easy / minor scene, such as wandering monsters. Or 15 if a climactic / boss battle. This is so much simpler for the DM.

• The usual mode is for players to make all the rolls (e.g. when the monster attacks, the player makes a DEX (Armor Class) roll; or when the player casts Fireball, the player makes a Magic Check roll instead of monster saving throws).

• Yet if you want a scene (such as the boss battle) to be more granular, the DM can make opposed rolls where the monsters gain Advantage or Disadvantage based on the monster's Sixfold Attributes and powers.

• There's also an array of granularity in regard to playing with Mind's Eye or tactical grid. A DM can switch between the two in the same session, depending on how quick things are moving, and how important the battle is.

• Also the option of a montage scene, to sum up an entire room, section, or level of the dungeon, using a Storytelling Roll. 6U is timely. If you need to end the adventure, then roll a Storytelling Roll to sum up how you fared as you passed through the rest of the dungeon, and then jump to the boss!

• Instead of individual initiative, 6U features clockwise turns. And all the monsters go on the DM's turn. This is good for DM's sanity, as DMs don't have to write down initiative order at the start of each battle. And players have a consistent time to prepare their next move.

• It's part of the rules than any sentence or paragraph of lore can be chosen as Iconic Lore for your character. You gain 1 XP every time you meaningfully refer to or roleplay that lore.

"Those are only a few features of 6U. Some of this can change and evolve during the playtest. Picture something like The Black Hack, but with all the ancestries, classes, and lore, from all editions of D&D, converted and available for play. 6U is detailed, but it's also streamlined. 6U is both less and more.

"6U is D&D."

Check out our 6U playtest folder!

The 6X Core Rulebooks:

Each expression of 6X will have its own entryway and equivalent of "Core Rulebooks":

• For 6C, this will be the 6C PHB, DMG, and MM which are slated for 2024.

• For 6A, this will be the 6A Core Rulebook, which is a re-skinned PF2 Core Rulebook.

• For 6U, this will be the 6U Beginner Guide and the 6U Rules Compendium.

• For 6B, this will be the 6B Rulebook.

• For 6F...the entire game is guaranteed to fit on one laminated two-sided sheet of cardstock...the Funsheet!

6X consumers are not expected to necessarily buy all four product lines. They are distinct, standalone games. Each serves a different playstyle. But it's all D&D.

The Sixfold Experience is Triple-Statted:

Beyond the Core Texts, from 2026 to 2036, all D&D RPG books which Wizards publishes will be triple-statted, containing statblocks for three of our tabletop games: 6C, 6A, and 6U. (6F won't be included in that way, because Wizards guarantees that 6F will have no "splatbooks" (no rules expansions)...only adventures; and all 6F adventures will be boiled down into portable, slim formats which can carried on a hike and be grasped at a glance.)

Wizards will be experimenting with different formats for presenting the three statblocks: whether imbedding all three together in the text, or with some of the statblocks in appendices. Over the years, we'll be able to gauge the popularity of each ruleset. But we guarantee that all three will be included in all printed books through 2036.

6X on D&D Beyond and DMs Guild:

All three expressions (6C, 6A, and 6U) will also be supported by D&D Beyond. (6F is purposely designed to NOT require digital support!) And D&D Beyond will feature a robust 6X character conversion app which guides you through a series of questions which will translate your character into each of the four rulesets, including 6F. (Though the 6F character sheet is little more than your Ability Score modifiers plus list of your twelve favorite character features!)

All four 6X games will be open for DMs Guild aficionado-crafted publishing. There will be a distinct logo for each, and each will have its own tag in the DMs Guild catalog.

The 6X Compendiums:

Though entirely new products will eventually be produced, the focus for the first two years (2026 to 2028) is to convert all existing D&D content, from all editions, into the 6X suite of rules.

Ray Winninger stated: "Frankly, having been playing since the AD&D era, I can't help but notice that each edition results in an amnesiac-like loss. And by the time we get to the next edition, we haven't even covered all the ground we covered in the previous edition. There was classic SNL character named "Mr. Short-Term Memory." That's what edition change does to us. It's a kind of planned obsolescence and induced amnesia.

"For 6U, we're nipping obsolescence and amnesia in the bud, once and for all. We're taking a comprehensive, revolutionary approach from the start. We want you to have all the ancestries, classes, spells, skills, feats, magic items, and monsters, from every edition ever published. Available from the start, or within short order (the first year or two of the Sixfold Experience). In both hardcover and digital format."

"To that end, we have a crack team of convertors, who, for the past year have compiled every feature from every D&D product ever published by TSR or WotC, including the magazines. And also from every Paizo product ever published. And we are converting the lot of it into all three Sixfold rulesets: 6C, 6A, and 6U. And we are on schedule to have it all converted and formatted by 2026, in the form of what we call the 'Sixfold Compendiums.'

"The 6X Compendiums are very large tomes. The thickness of each book is only limited by the practical limits of our commercial printers. Even so, some Compendiums will be multi-volumed. Here are the Compendiums slated for publication, all within the first two years (2026 to 2028):

• 6X Players Handbook I: The Complete Book of Ancestries. 6C, 6A, and 6U stats and lore for every PC ancestry ("race") ever published, including, for example, the monster ancestries in the BECMI Creature Crucible series and 3E Savage Species.

• 6X Players Handbook II: The Complete Classes Handbook. 6C, 6A, and 6U stats and lore for every character class, kit, background, prestige class, paragon path, and epic destiny ever published. Note: in 6U, backgrounds are just another kind of Class, which you can freely multiclass into. For example, a 5E Wizard with the Sage background, would, in 6U, be a multiclass Sage / Magic-User, with levels in both Sage and Magic-User.

• 6X Conversion Manual. The principles and algorithms behind the D&D Beyond conversion program will be transparently printed in a 6X Conversion Manual.

• 6X Arms & Equipment Guide. 6C, 6A, and 6U stats for every weapon, armor, or piece of equipment ever published in D&D.

• 6X Skill & Feat Compendium. 6C, 6A, and 6U conversions of all skill activities and feats ever seen in any edition.

• 6X Spell Compendium. 6C, 6A, and 6U conversions of every spell ever published, in any edition.

• 6X Dungeon Masters Guide I: Running the Game. A indexed compilation of all the Dungeon Master advice ever published in any TSR or WotC product or article. The most comprehensive DM's advice book ever published.

• 6X Dungeon Masters Guide II: World Builders Guidebook. In the Sixfold Experience, the default campaign setting is one which the DM "rolls up" themselves. It's an "expected" part of the game, just like how players roll up characters. Sure, you could use a pre-gen character, or a pre-gen world, but that's not the default. The WBG contains all the tables that have ever been published from the 2E World Builders Guidebook, Spelljammer Practical Planetology, and Alternity Tangents.

All published D&D worlds are reverse engineered, so that they too could've been actually constructed using the WBG.

There's even a table for rolling up a name, design a world logo (using the existing D&D world logos as examples), and directions on how to self-publish your world using the OGL.

• 6X DMG III: Dungeon Builders Guidebook. Besides reprinting all of the dungeon-design advice every printed by TSR or WotC, includes a combined table of every random dungeon-building table ever published. Also, all existing dungeons are reverse-engineered, so that they too could've been actually constructed using the the DGB. Includes all geomorphs.

• 6X Encyclopedia Magica: The Book of Marvellous Magic. 6C, 6A, and 6U conversions of every magic-item ever published. Includes a comprehensive random magic-item table.

• 6X Monster Manual: A Creature Catalogue & Monstrous Compendium. A 6C, 6A, and 6U conversion of every monster ever published. Echohawk (of Monster ENCyclopedia fame) serves as a key research consultant.

• 6X: Stronghold Builders Guidebook

• 6X Manual of the Planes of Existence. Contains all the planes, demi-planes, dimensions, pocket dimensions, paraverses, and realities ever mentioned, including the many obscure planes of the BECMI cosmology. All of these co-exist in the 6X Polyverse.

We introduce the term "paraverse" to refer to alternate timelines which only slightly diverge from the mainline; in fact, every continuity discrepancy ever seen in any D&D product is officially a distinct paraverse.

• 6X Deities & Demigods: Legends & Lore and Monster Mythology of the Gods of the D&D Polyverse. Stats and lore, for every god, demi-god, Immortal, faith, or pantheon ever mentioned, in all worlds of the D&D Polyverse.

• 6X Immortals Rules: Divine Ascension. 6C, 6A, and 6U Immortal-level rules for divine ascension. In 6U, any character can multiclass into the Immortal character class at 36th level (after 222 sessions of play!). Cosmic level adventures.

The Polyversal Lorebook series (system-neutral, stat-free):

• Grand History of the D&D Polyverse. A truly grand timeline of all the events ever mentioned in all the D&D worlds. The calendars of all worlds are finally synchronized; and we even mathematically take into account the different lengths of years in different worlds.

All D&D adventures, novels, short stories, comic books, films, video games, and other D&D tidbits are given a definitive time and place in the mainline chronology. Even "generic" adventures and short stories are placed in the most fitting existing world, or given their own world.

Many adventure sites, such as The Keep on the Borderlands, exist in multiple worlds, as coincidental fragments of the First World. This is a feature, not a flaw, of the D&D Polyverse. This can even be used to advantage, such as by a character traveling to one world, and scouting out the Caves of Chaos in Mystara, and then planeshifting to Oerth and using that knowledge to defeat the coincidentally similar inhabitants of the Caves of Chaos in Oerth.

Where there is a continuity conflict in any source, we designate one of the events to be Mainline, and the other to be a sideline Paraverse. But all the Paraverses are Official, and they all exist.

Your own homecrafted paraverses, including each DM's variant of established worlds (such as your own Toril), are also considered to be a part of the shared D&D Polyverse.

• Atlas of the D&D Polyverse. The world maps of all the the main D&D worlds are fleshed out with at least the outlines and names of the continents, so that we know what the world looks like when approaching from a spelljammer. Where Official lore exists, this is shown on the map as well. This includes, for example, complete world maps of Oerth, Toril, Mystara, Krynn, Eberron, Athas, Aebrynis, Pelinore, the Mortal World of Nerath, the City of Sigil, the Rock of Bral, Ravenloft, the 15 Concord Worlds of the Radiant Citadel, and others.

Also, all D&D modules and adventures ever written are placed on the map of one world or another. (Or sometimes on multiple worlds.) Of course, this placement only reflects the TSR/WotC "Official Mainline Paraverse"--the placement of adventure modules in your own paraverse is unaffected!

Lastly, we think D&D aficionados will be excited to see the complete fold-out map of the D&D Polyverse, including the phlogistonic "galaxy" of worlds within the Astral Sea, shaped like a silvery, sparkling Ampersand. The Astral Sea is actually the primeval dragon Io. All of the planets ever mentioned in Spelljammer, and every plane ever mentioned in any edition, are shown on the map, which features a spelljamming and planeshifting coordinate system. The map is crafted by the same artist who did the Star Wars galaxy map. Earth (and all its various "campaign model" based alternate paraverses) and the Milky Way Galaxy are also included on the planar map.

• Comprehend Languages: A Primer & Lexicon of the Languages of the D&D Polyverse, We've hired David Salo (author of the Tolkienian language dialogue in The Lord of the Rings films) to design all of the key languages of the D&D Polyverse...including the Common language itself! And we've hired Daniel Reeve (calligrapher of The Lord of the Rings films) to design all of the key alphabets of the D&D Polyverse.

In the Sixfold Reality, all of the specific languages (e.g. red dragon, green dragon, dryad, etc.) which are mentioned in AD&D and Basic D&D, but which, in 3E, 4E, and 5E were subsumed into overarching languages (e.g. Draconic, Sylvan), are now restored as a chain of mutually intelligible, cognate varieties in a language chain. David Salo lays out the phonetic changes which define each variety.

In the Sixfold Polyverse, what Toril calls the "Thorass" script is the actual Common script in all D&D worlds; Thorass has, thus far, been transcribed by TSR editors into the English/Roman alphabet of Earth. Likewise, the actual Common tongue (aka Planar Common) has been translated by TSR editors into American English and other earthly languages of translation. But the D&D Common tongue is actually a distinct and complete language. And all mainline D&D worlds have a primary culture which speaks the Planar Common language (for example, the Overking's Common Tongue in Oerth, and Thyatian in Mystara). This was serendipitously arranged by the overdeities of these worlds.

The same is true of the other key Polyversal languages such as Elvish, Dwarvish, Giant, Gnomish, Sylvan, etc. Each of these languages are unified across all of the prime D&D worlds. There may be some local varieties among isolated offshoots (such as drow-specific words, or the Taladas Elvish variety), but they are mutually intelligble, and there is a unified archetypal language across all D&D worlds. For example, the Elvish suffixes seen in Krynn:-esti "people of, followers of; like English -ites, -ings" and -ost "settlement", and the Elvish words seen in Toril, such as quess "person, speaker, Elf" and quessir "people, speakers, Elves" are actually words of the polyversal "D&D Elvish" language of all worlds.

The Magius language is the language of magic throughout the 6X Polyverse. (Though there may be verbal or written variants; for example in the southern empires in the World of Toril, the languaage is written with the Thoth mage-script.) All examples of verbal components heard in D&D novels are expressions of the Magius language (though it may also be known by other names).

In the 6X reality, the Druidic language is none other than Classical Irish, as seen in the titles of the 1E Bardic colleges. And the script is a variety of Ogham.

6X Novel Compendiums:

We'll be offering comprehensive e-book bundles and audiobook bundles which gather all the novels and short fiction for each world. For example, a Dragonlance Fiction bundle. This will make the lore accessible.

6X Worldbook Compendium PDFs:

In 6X, we want to knock down the gates which have been built up around the complex lore of the D&D Polyverse. Not by simplification, but by making it more freely available for study and mastery.

We're taking the same Compendium approach for the D&D campaign settings, through what we call "Worldbook Compendiums." In Worldbook Compendium, for a single modest fee, you gain a PDF bundle of all the books, magazine articles, adventures, artwork, short fiction, comic books, organized play materials (RPGA, Living Campaign, Adventurers League), excerpts (e.g. the few pages in Mystara books which refer to gates to Oerth and Toril are included in the GH and FR compendiums), video game manuals and playthroughs, and ephemera (e.g. photos and scans of branded merchandise and action figures) from any edition, which are in any way related to each of the existing D&D worlds. Sometimes the same tidbit is related to multiple worlds (e.g. the Keep on the Borderland in Oerth and Mystara), and so are bundled with multiple Worldbooks. The Worldbook also includes PDF of all the features from the aforementioned Rules Compendiums (ancestries, classes, spells, feats, magic items, monsters, etc.) which are specifically from that world, or which refer to that world. All these aspects have also been converted into 6C-6A-6U.

• Magic: The Gathering Multiverse Compendium

• Greyhawk Worldbook Compendium. Also includes the Sundered Empire (Chainmail d20 setting) and the entire Epic of Ærth product line.

• Blackmoor Worldbook Compendium. Includes the OD&D, BECMI, 3E and 4E Blackmoor materials. This bundle includes a coupon toward purchasing Greyhawk or Mystara, since both include aspects of Blackmoor. Includes the Empire of Izmer materials from the D&D Movie, since Dave Arneson said he placed Izmer in the World of Blackmoor!

• The Known World of Mystara Worldbook Compendium. Includes Hollow World, Red Steel, Savage Coast, Blackmoor, and Thunder Rift (though Thunder Rift only exists on Mystara in some paraverses. In another paraverse, it's its own demi-world).

• Dark Sun Worldbook Compendium

• Eberron Worldbook Compendium

• Birthright Worldbook Compendium

• The Mortal World of Nerath Worldbook Compendium. Nentir Vale, Points of Light, and the World Axis cosmology.

• Forgotten Realms Worldbook Compendium. Includes Kara-Tur, Maztica, Al-Qadim, The Hordelands, and Malatra. Though these are also available in the Cultural Adventures series (see below).

• Dragonlance Worldbook Compendium. Includes Taladas.

• Ravenloft Worldbook Compendium. Includes Masque of the Red Death.

• Spelljammer and Planetary Compendium. Includes not only the Spelljammer , but also all of the products and excerpts which feature a Prime Material world (other than the mainline worlds), such as Pharagos, Pelinore, the world of the Council of Worms, and Jakandor.

• Planescape and the Planes of Existence Compendium. Includes not only all the Planescape products, but also all the products and excerpts which are about other (non-Prime Material) planes, from all editions. Such as the City of Manifest from Ghostwalk.

• D&D Earth Worldbook: A Cultural Adventures Compendium. This compendium series respectfully amends and updates D&D's depiction of Earth-based cultures. There is a glossary in each chapter where the D&D terminology (such as classes, weapons, gear, spells, and armor) is given official translations into the key languages of each cultural region. For example, in Japanese, "Fighter" = Bushi. Furthermore, there are also statblocks for 6C, 6A, and 6U.

For each culture or region, we reprint all of the relevant material which has appeared in previous D&D sources (such as the DRAGON magazine articles on South Asian weaponry, and the 2E Historical Reference materials). Yet throughout those Legacy texts, we add sidebars where expert cultural advisors frankly point out where TSR/WotC have hit or missed the mark in regard to cultural accuracy and sensitivity. All of the lead writers and artists for each cultural chapter in the D&D Earth Worldbook have that real-world ancestry themselves and/or are a recognized scholar in that culture.

• • • Aboriginal Australian Adventures

    • African Adventures

    • Arabian Adventures

    • Arthurian Adventures—The Matter of Britain

    • Asgardian / Norse / Viking Adventures

    • Babylonian & Sumerian Adventures

    • Carolingian Adventures—Charlemagne's Paladins

    • Caribbean Adventures—The Merry Pirates

    • Celtic Adventures

    • Central Asian Adventures

    • Chinese Adventures

    • Eastern European Adventures—Slavic, Balkan, & Caucasus Cultures

    • Himalayan Adventures—Nepal and Tibet

    • Hyperborean Adventures—Inuit, Finnish, & Native Siberian Cultures

    • Indian Adventures

    • Japanese Adventures

    • Korean Adventures

    • Mesoamerican Adventures

    • Native American Adventures

    • Olympian / Greek Adventures—The Age of Heroes

    • Outremer Adventures—The Middle East during the Crusader Campaign. Presents a historically multifaceted standpoint, co-authored by Islamic and Western historians.

    • Pacific Islands Adventures—Melanesian, Micronesian, & Polynesian Cultures

    • Pharaonic / Egyptian Adventures

    • Robin Hood Adventures—Legends of Sherwood

    • Roman Adventures—The Glory of Rome

    • South American Adventures

    • Southeast Asian Adventures

• D&D Past: (1450s to 1950s)

  • • Age of Adventure—A Mighty Fortress (1550 to 1660; 16th and 17th century)

    • Boot Hill

    • Crimefighters (1920s to 1940s)

    • Dawn Patrol

    • For Faerie, Queen and Country

    • Gangbusters (1920s to 1930s)

    • Gothic Earth—Masque of the Red Death (1890s)

    • Pulp Heroes (1920 to 1950s)

    • Shadow Stalkers (late 1800s)

    • V for Victory

• D&D Modern: (1960s to Present)

  • • Agents of PSI

    • Dark•Matter

    • Greyhawk 2000

    • Hallowmere (WotC's novel series of its Mirrorstone young adult imprint. About feys and unfeys of Virginia and Scotland)

    • HiJinx

    • Magitech

    • Project Javelin

    • Ravenloft: Domininion (novel series set in Earth)

    • R.I.P. (TSR comics module)

    • Shadow Chasers

    • Tabloid!

    • Thunderball Rally

    • Top Secret—Special Intelligence

    • Urban Arcana

    • Warhawks (TSR comics module)

• D&D Future:

  • • Atomic Sunrise

    • Bughunters

    • CyberRave

    • Dimension X

    • Earth Inherited

    • From the Dark Heart of Space

    • The Galactos Barrior

    • Gamma World

    • Genetech

    • Iron Lords of Jupiter

    • Kromosome

    • Omega World

    • Once and Future King

    • Mecha Crusade

    • Metamorphosis Alpha

    • Plague World

    • Star*Drive

    • Star Frontiers

    • Star Law

    • The Wasteland

Classic Worlds of the D&D Polyverse

We're seeking out the elder statesfolk of D&D and releasing Worldbooks which cover their classic creations. In particular, Wizards reached a deal whereby we purchased the entirety of Gary Gygax's and Dave Arneson's literary estates, and with the aid of Jon Peterson and Shannon Appelcline, will be scanning and releasing these to the public, and also producing newly comprehensive Worldbook for the various paraverses seen in their work, such as the Castles & Crusades shared version of Greyhawk + Blackmoor vs. the Folio version of Greyhawk (where Blackmoor was retained only in name).

• Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson's Land of the Great Kingdom and Environs — The Territory of the Castles & Crusades Society. This paraverse is distinct from the Flanaess of the World of Greyhawk. It has its own distinct map. (Actually two different maps, each of which is a paraverse of the Great Kingdom.)

• Gary Gygax's World of Greyhawk.

• Dave Arneson's World of Blackmoor

• Rob Kuntz's World of Kalibruhn

• Bob Bledsaw's Wilderlands of High Fantasy — The World of the City-State of the Invincible Overlord

• The Globe of Peril — John Eric Holmes' and Chris Holmes' BASIC World of the Boinger & Zereth Stories (1977-1980)

• Tom Moldvay, Lawrence Schick, & Bill Wilkerson's Continent of Imhirros — The Original Known World of Kent State and Akron, Ohio (c.1976-1980).

• The Land — The World of Tom Moldvay's Unpublished D&D Fantasy Miniatures Rules

• Gary Gygax's Epic of Ærth — The World of Dangerous Journeys

• Gary Gygax's World of Yarth — The World of Sagard the Barbarian

• Steve Sullivan's World of Illion — Narrion and the Land Surrounding. The World of "The Pit of the Oracle" AD&D Module in DRAGON Magazine (1980), of the Enchanted Lands of the Marvel/DC D&D Comic Strips (1981-1982), and of The Twilight Empire: Robinson’s War Comics from DRAGON Magazine (1990-1994).

• Bill Willingham's World of Ironwood — The World of the Epic Illustrated Series of D&D Comic Strips (1981-1982) and the Eros Comix Series (1991-1996). This is an adult-oriented world which will be published through Beadle & Grimm.

• Michael L. Gray's World of Motherland and the Fantasy Forest — The World of AD&D Action Figures (Warduke, Strongheart, Mercion, etc.) and the Fantasy Forest boardgame and gamebooks.

• Rose Estes' QuestWorld — The World of the Original Endless Quest, HeartQuest, Super Endless Quest, and AD&D Adventure Gamebooks. With this purchase, you gain an ebook of all the TSR gamebooks which are not otherwise set in specific D&D world (e.g. Krynn). Rose Estes has picked out a world map, and the locales from the gamebooks are located in a clockwise spiral based on date of publication, with Endless Quest #1 in the centerpoint of the world.

• The Realm of the Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon Show. With a world map based on the two sticker book maps.

• The Known World of Larry Elmore's SnarfQuest

• Pangaea: The Age of Magic — The BECMI World of Urt (a very different paraverse than Mystara)

• TSR UK's World of Pellinore

• The Hebrew D&D Dream World of Symslvych

• Alusia: The World of TSR's DragonQuest RPG

• Bruce Heard's Known World of Mystara

• Bruce Cordell's World of Neverness

• James Wyatt's Worlds: Aquela, Imperium Romanum, Mahasarpa, Night, Petroyeska, Pharagos, and Shield of Faith

• Corey Solomon's Empire of Izmer: The Setting of the (first) D&D Movie (which sucked). Dave Arneson said that he placed Izmer in the World of Blackmoor!

• The second-place winner (after Eberron) of the WotC campaign setting search.

Appendix N Agreements: For 6X, Wizards is seeking agreements with each of the IPs listed in Appendix N (and other worlds which have been associated with D&D, but which aren't owned by Wizards), whereby those worlds will receive a 6X tri-statted Worldbook (published either by Wizards or by another licensee), and also a 6L seven-statted Worldbook. Along with a perpetual agreement whereby Wizards will forever be able to at least mention those worlds as being a part of the D&D Polyverse (the agreement stipulates that only the name can be mentioned, and a maximum of once per product). The agreement will not block other licensees from producing RPGs for those IPs. So far, we've reached perpetual agreements with:

• Chaosium: the Cthulhu Mythos

• Michael Moorcock: the Elric Cycle

• The Fritz Leiber Estate: Lankhmar

• The Jack Vance Estate: Dying Earth

• The Robert E. Howard Estate: The Hyborian Age

• The Poul Anderson Estate: The World of Three Hearts and Three Lions

• The Robert Jordan Estate: The Wheel of Time

• Terry Brooks: World of Shannara

• Blizzard Entertainment: The World of Azeroth (Warcraft)

• Blizzard Entertainment: The World of Sanctuary (Diablo)

• Chris Pramas: Dragon Fist: The World of Tianguo

• AEG: Rokugan

• Kenzer & Company: Garweeze World of Aldrezaar

• Kenzer & Company: Kingdoms of Kalamar

• Stranger Things (A D&D Modern Campaign Model, where you play as kids in the 1980s)

• Matt Mercer and Critical Role: Exandria

• George R.R. Martin: A Song of Fire and Ice

• The Tolkien Estate and Tolkien Enterprises: Middle-earth

This is a standalone mass battles and skirmish game. For use with miniatures and/or cardstock chits. It also includes Dominion rules.

We made sure that 6B covers everything that any of the previous D&D mass battle and skirmish games ever did; including: Original Chainmail, 0E Swords & Spells, BECMI War Machine, Rules Cyclopedia War Machine, 1E Battlesystem, 2E Battlesystem, 2E Battlesystem Skirmishes, 3E Chainmail d20, the 3.5E/4E D&D Miniatures (DDM) game, and the 5E Unearthed Arcana Battlesystem.

6B is compatible with, and interconvertible with 6C, 6A, 6U, and the Legacy editions.

THE SIXFOLD LEGACY:

Mike Mearls continues: "We view all previous editions to be variants of the same game. In a similar way that there are various official variants of Monopoly or curling. We're not here to shoehorn everyone into the latest editions. There's value to be had in revisiting these games as complete D&D experiences in themselves...even such gems as AD&D "segments", alignment languages, level titles, THAC0 matrices, 2E Wrestling rules, and 3E Grappling rules! We're going to palpably support the Legacy editions in the following ways:

Legacy Compendiums:

The 6X Compendium series mentioned above will also be offered in Legacy versions, each volume of which will contain seven statblocks:

• 0E: Original D&D

• BASIC: Rules Cyclopedia (the last edition of BASIC)

• AD&D 1.5E: including Unearthed Arcana-era rules

• AD&D 2.5E: including Player's Option, DM's Option, and Faiths & Avatars era

• 3.5E: Rules Compendium era

• 3.75E: PF1, through agreement with Paizo

• 4.5E: including the Essentials era

For the Legacy series, we're committed to producing at least PDF versions of all the Compendium books. Hardcopy printings will be gauged based on consumer interest.

For the 3.5E and 3.75E statblocks, we'll draw on the vast library of Third-Party open game content to more closely translate various features.

Legacy SRDs:

Alongside the existing 3.5E and 3.75E (PF1) SRDs, we'll be posting an SRD for the 4.5E, 2.5E, 1.5E, RC BASIC, and 0E. We have stood on the sidelines of the OSR movement for too long...it's time for Wizards to join in and support the old school fun!

Legacy Content on DMs Guild:

We're opening up these editions to DMs Guild aficionado publishing. There will be a unique logo and search tag for each ruleset, so that consumers can quickly spot what they're looking for. We hope that existing DMs Guild creators might produce multi-edition conversions of their existing offerings.

6X Adventurers League:

The Adventurers League will have Six Guilds:

1. Continuing Guild (the continuation of the 5E Adventurers League)

2. Advanced Guild (operates in conjunction with the Pathfinder Society)

3. Freeform Guild

4. Battlesystem Guild

5. Legacy Guild (Organized Play for any and all previous editions of D&D)

6. Unity Guild

[This is what we want to see. And 6F and 6U are our house systems. The presentation here is an earnest parody, in the spirit of the Yes Men. To help people imagine.

By Travis H. ("Dungeonosophy"), a DM with the "WIZARDS" of the Columbia-Berkshire D&D Club.

Also posted on EN World on June 6th, 2022.]