For Better or Worse, Dungeons and Dragons Could Go the Way of Magic: The Gathering

Dungeons and Dragons is still in the midst of bringing itself back up to date after its 2024 rules update. 5th edition had a decade to add subclasses, magic items, and adventure modules, and so Dungeons and Dragons has a lot of past content to refresh for the adjusted version of the 5e rules. It’s making good time in this regard, thanks in part to the upcoming Eberron: Forge of the Artificer bringing the Artificer class back into the fold, but it’s also pushing for new ideas, such as the recent Unearted Arcana for a new Psion class. As DnD dives into new content for the new rules, one wonders if it intends to take inspiration from Magic: The Gathering, and not in its usual ways.

It’s no secret that Magic: The Gathering‘s identity has changed in some major ways. Although it still tells an original story — the new MtG set Edge of Eternities introduces yet another new setting to its multiverse — it’s also leaning heavily on crossover sets lately. Wizards of the Coast has swung for the fences on these crossovers too, featuring pop culture heavy-hitters such as:

• The Lord of the Rings
• Fallout
• Warhammer 40,000
• Assassin’s Creed
• Doctor Who

The latest crossover set is Final Fantasy, and it’s setting new standards for success among MtG crossover sets. As the trading card game gets more and more invested in guest appearance, it seems inevitable that Dungeons and Dragons will do the same.

Dungeons and Dragons May Invest in Crossovers to Match Magic: The Gathering

Strictly speaking, Dungeons and Dragons isn’t a stranger to crossover content. For one, it already has a range of sourcebooks and UA material for Magic: The Gathering planes such as Ravnica, Strixhaven, and Theros, thanks to the games’ status as siblings under Wizards of the Coast. There’s also Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, the official collaboration with the iconic actual play web show Critical Role. In this sense, it’s a bit of a surprise that DnD 5e doesn’t have more collabs yet.

If anything could convince Hasbro to push Wizards of the Coast toward Dungeons and Dragons crossovers, it’s the MtG Final Fantasy set, which is now the highest-grossing MtG set of all time. That’s a remarkable new record to set, and it’s no coincidence that Final Fantasy was involved, given the RPG franchise’s status as an industry leader. A Final Fantasy DnD sourcebook as a companiont to the set would’ve only made sense; that may not have happened next time, but there’s no shortage of crossovers to come.

Dungeons and Dragons Crossovers Would Require the Same Compromise as MtG’s

Crossovers could be good for DnD in the same way that they’ve been good for MtG, bringing fans of very different franchises into the fold with easy on-boarding material. DnD is already way more popular today than it was before the days of Critical Role and Baldur’s Gate 3, but there’s always room to grow. Homebrew DnD content for pop-culture franchises is also extremely common already; official sourcebooks could inspire more experimentation and help existing homebrew ideas find homes in campaigns.

On the other hand, DnD would suffer in the same way too. The game is rich with original settings, characters, and other concepts that would sadly be sidelined by any crossover. Any official DnD sourcebook about The Lord of the Rings or Final Fantasy would be taking the place of an expansion about Spelljammer, Baldur’s Gate, Eberron, Dragonlance, or any other star of DnD history. It may be common practice for DnD campaigns to feature these pop-culture properties or focus on original settings, but DnD itself wouldn’t exist without the lore it used to build its foundations. The more DnD leans into crossovers, the weaker its own identity becomes.

Ultimately, it remains to be seen if Dungeons and Dragons will actually follow in the footsteps of Magic: The Gathering, but the possibility shouldn’t be discounted. As Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast explore more and more avenues to expand both tabletop games, the companies may decide that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. One only wonders when.

Franchise

Dungeons & Dragons

Original Release Date

1974

Designer

E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson