Is Dungeons & Dragons Gearing Up for a Planescape Revival?

Dungeons & Dragons could be gearing up for a new jaunt around the Outer Planes. In 1994, Dungeons & Dragons released the Planescape campaign setting, a setting that thoroughly explored the outer planes of the D&D cosmology. From the donut-shaped city of Sigil to the strange planes of Mechanus and the Beastlands, Planescape added a fantastic and esoteric layer to D&D. Although the cosmology of D&D has shifted over the years, the central planes explored in Planescape have never really gone away - the City of Sigil, the Nine Hells, and the Abyss all still exist today and are still occasionally visited in D&D adventures.

While it's been a while since we've gotten an "official" Planescape campaign setting book, there are teases that D&D could be preparing for another tour of its outer planes. Recent Unearthed Arcana supplements have contained subclasses that seem suspiciously tied to various Outer Planes. The Noble Genie Warlock makes a pact with a Genie from the Elemental Planes, while the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer mentions the Far Realm. The Lurker of the Deep Warlock patron is mentioned to live in the Elemental Plane of Water, while the Paladin Oath of the Watcher stands tall against extraplanar threats. Even subclasses that don't mention some of the Outer Planes could subtly have ties to various areas explored in Planescape. The Path of the Beast Barbarian could have ties to the Beastlands, while the Astral Self Monk may have ties to the Astral Seas.

Since these are just playtest materials, it seems a bit early to point to them as proof of Dungeons & Dragons' future plans. But it's hard to deny that many of D&D's most recent subclasses seem to have a common theme. And while its doubtful that D&D will do a full Planescape revival, it's much more plausible that a future book will have a Planar theme to it, giving the Outer Planes a much needed update while providing players with a ton of new class options.

We'll have to wait and see what Dungeons & Dragons has in store for us. Meanwhile, players can look forward to Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, which will be released next month.