D&D Normal – How A lot D&D Stuff Is There Anyway? Half 2: Settings

That is the second in a collection of articles trying to reply the query: How a lot D&D stuff is there anyway? Within the earlier article, we seemed on the variety of RPG merchandise and pages revealed for every version, in addition to calculating how a lot cash a hypothetical collector spent through the years. The reply was a six-story pile of packing containers and books that price $23k and would take three sleepless months to learn.

For this text, we’re going to check out how a lot RPG materials has been produced for every main setting, and evaluate the relative price of an entire set of merchandise for every D&D world. Final time, we restricted our view of D&D “stuff” to D&D RPG merchandise made by TSR and WotC. For this second installment we’re nonetheless trying solely at RPG merchandise for every setting (so no novels, journal articles or comics but), however we’re extending the scope to incorporate licensed RPG merchandise for D&D settings (so together with the 3e Ravenloft and Dragonlance strains) in addition to non-D&D RPG merchandise (so together with the SAGA Dragonlance merchandise).

Half 2: Marketing campaign Settings
The variety of official D&D settings relies upon who you ask. Wikipedia lists twenty-seven D&D settings, whereas The Piazza lists (no less than) forty-eight. There is no such thing as a laborious and quick rule on when a brand new a part of a world counts as its personal setting (Al-Qadim) or when it’s a product line inside an present setting (Maztica, Hole World). For this text, with out that means any disrespect to Jakandor, we’re limiting our evaluation to the twelve settings with probably the most assist; all the settings featured right here had no less than a dozen merchandise revealed for them by TSR/WotC.

Greyhawk
The primary complement TSR ever produced for D&D was Complement I: Greyhawk, however regardless of the identify, it reveals little or no concerning the world of Greyhawk. We’re going to depend it as a Greyhawk product, however by at present’s requirements, Complement I can be thought of a guidelines growth. Oerth, the world of the Greyhawk setting, was solely revealed in 1980’s The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer. A number of collection of Greyhawk equipment and adventures adopted in 1e and 2e. Greyhawk was the default setting for 3e, however solely three merchandise focussed instantly on Oerth. As of 2025, 5e has no devoted Greyhawk merchandise, however each Ghosts of Saltmarsh and the 2024 Dungeon Grasp’s Information present a view of the world of Greyhawk.

Many early AD&D adventures are nominally positioned in Greyhawk. S1: Tomb of Horrors, for instance, means that it could possibly be run as a one-shot, as a part of the DM’s setting, or within the World of Greyhawk. When used at conventions, the Tomb was positioned in Huge Swamp, however that’s the extent of the connection to Oerth within the authentic journey. Alternatively, Acererak is now thought of a basic Greyhawk villain. So ought to we depend Tomb of Horrors as a Greyhawk product or not?

Let’s begin with an inventory of books and product strains explicitly for Greyhawk:

• Complement I: Greyhawk,
• The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer folio,
• the Greyhawk Adventures hardcover,
• the Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Appendix folio,
• 4 boxed units (World of Greyhawk, The Metropolis of Greyhawk, Greyhawk Wars and From the Ashes),
• all twenty-three of the adventures and equipment within the WG4-12, WGA1-4, WGR1-6, WGS1-2, WGQ1 and WGM1 collection,
• three equipment (Participant’s Information to Greyhawk, The Journey Begins, The Scarlet Brotherhood) and 5 adventures (Return of the Eight, Slavers, and three Misplaced Tombs titles) from late 2e,
• the early 3e Gazetteer and Residing Greyhawk Gazetteer, and later Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk.

Right here’s what that appears like on a chart:

Precisely what ought to be included on an expanded record might be debated, however we’re going so as to add the next merchandise for which Greyhawk is the implied setting:

• these thirty-one 1e adventures: A1-4, C1-2, D1-3, EX1-2, G1-3, I1, L1-2, N1, Q1, S1-4, T1-4, U1-3 and UK1-3,
• these 5 2e merchandise: Return to the Tomb of Horrors, The Shattered Circle, Return to the Carry on the Borderlands, In opposition to the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff, Return to White Plume Mountain,
• the 3e journey Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil,
• the brand new 1e journey Hazard at Darkshelf Quarry in A0-4: In opposition to the Slave Lords,
• Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and the 2024 Dungeon Grasp’s Information (however counting solely the pages within the Greyhawk chapter).

Including all of this expanded materials doubles the overall variety of merchandise, and greater than doubles the price of a Greyhawk assortment, as proven in pink on the next graphs:

Dragonlance
The Dragonlance product line had its personal distinct identification from the start, making it simpler so as to add up than Greyhawk. For this setting we’re going to embrace a number of Dragonlance world guides that weren’t branded as D&D merchandise, and the entire of the SAGA line of merchandise. Right here’s what we’re counting:

• The unique DL1-16 line of adventures and equipment,
• the Dragonlance Adventures hardcover and TM3: World of Krynn Path Map,
• MC4: Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix,
• PG1: Participant’s Information to the Dragonlance Marketing campaign,
• the Tales of the Lance, The Time of the Dragon, and Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn boxed units,
• all seventeen of those merchandise: DLA1-3, DLE1-3, DLQ1-2, DLR1-3, DLS1-4, DLT1-2,
• the three volumes of Dragonlance Classics (however counting no new pages, since they’re reprints),
• Leaves from the Inn of the Final House, The Artwork of the Dragonlance Saga, Atlas of the Dragonlance World, The Historical past of Dragonlance, Extra Leaves from the Inn of the Final House, Masters of Dragonlance Artwork,
• all sixteen Dragonlance merchandise within the SAGA line,
• Dragonlance Classics: fifteenth Anniversary Version (an up to date model of the unique DL collection),
• the 3e Dragonlance Marketing campaign Setting hardcover, and
• 5e’s Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen.

Listed below are the charts for these merchandise:

For the expanded Dragonlance record, we’re going to add the twenty-one 3e merchandise produced beneath licence by Sovereign Press/Margaret Weis Productions from from 2003 to 2008. This will increase the variety of Dragonlance merchandise by 30%, however the web page depend by 50%, due to the hefty 3e books. Right here’s what the graphs look as soon as we add them:

Lankhmar
Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar setting is an anomaly on this record, as a result of it wasn’t created as a D&D setting, however was an present setting that TSR licensed. TSR had beforehand collaborated with Leiber on the Lankhmar board recreation in 1976, in addition to together with the Nehwon mythos within the authentic Deities & Demigods. Beginning in 1985, TSR revealed fourteen Lankmar D&D merchandise, ending with an elaborately named boxed set in 1996: Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar: The New Adventures of Fafhrd and Grey Mouser.

After buying TSR, WotC evidently selected to not renew the licence with Leiber’s property and no further Lankhmar D&D merchandise have been revealed. Different publishers have subsequently produced strains of Lankhmar RPG merchandise: Mongoose for its RuneQuest line in 2006, Pinnacle for Savage Worlds in 2015, and Goodman for its DCC line in 2019. Since these aren’t actually D&D merchandise, we’re not going to fret about an expanded record for Lankhmar. Listed below are the graphs for TSR’s product line:

Forgotten Realms
A keen-eyed reader could have observed that we’re working our means by settings within the order of publication. Meaning we’ve reached the Forgotten Realms, and that entails counting numerous merchandise and pages. Alternatively, WotC has at all times saved Faerûn RPG merchandise in-house, and has traditionally been clear with Forgotten Realms branding, so there’s a proportionally smaller variety of left overs to place within the expanded record.

Let’s begin by counting the D&D merchandise explicitly set within the Forgotten Realms:

• Every thing revealed with the Forgotten Realms emblem on from the Forgotten Realms Marketing campaign Set (1987) by to The Grand Historical past of the Realms (2007),
• 2e’s Monstrous Compendium Kara-Tur Appendix,
• 3e’s Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn and Expedition to Undermountain,
• 4e’s Forgotten Realms Marketing campaign Information, Forgotten Realms Participant’s Information, Scepter Tower of Spellgard, Neverwinter Marketing campaign Setting, Menzoberranzan: Metropolis of Intrigue, and Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster’s Forgotten Realms,
• the D&D Subsequent adventures Homicide in Baldur’s Gate and Legacy of the Crystal Shard,
• these 5e books: Sword Coast Adventurer’s Information, Acquisitions Included, Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn, and Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn,
• three 5e starter units: Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set, Dungeons & Dragons Necessities Package, Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle,
• the next 5e adventures: Hoard of the Dragon Queen, The Rise of Tiamat, Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Storm King’s Thunder, Tales from the Yawning Portal, Tomb of Annihilation, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, Candlekeep Mysteries, Tyranny of Dragons, and Phandelver and Under: The Shattered Obelisk, and
• the next 5e equipment: Tomb of Annihilation Cube Set, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist Cube, Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage Maps and Miscellany, Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus Cube & Miscellany and Forgotten Realms Laeral Silverhand’s Explorer’s Package.

Listed below are the charts for these Forgotten Realms merchandise:

It gained’t have a major impression on the general totals, however to be thorough, we’re including the next merchandise to an expanded Forgotten Realms record. These are all set within the Forgotten Realms, or—for the Bloodstone, Desert of Desolation and Oriental Adventures titles—have been retroactively positioned in Faerûn:

• The Desert of Desolation trilogy (I3: Pharaoh, I4: Oasis of the White Palm, I5: Misplaced Tomb of Martek) and compilation ebook,
• the primary three merchandise within the Bloodstone collection: H1: Bloodstone Cross, H2: The Mines of Bloodstone, and H3: The Bloodstone Wars,
• DQ1: The Shattered Statue, N4: Treasure Hunt, REF4: The Ebook of Lairs II, and
• the unique Oriental Adventures hardcover with the primary 4 adventures within the OA collection (OA1: Swords of the Daimyo, OA2: Evening of the Seven Swords, OA3: Ochimo the Spirit Warrior, and OA4: Blood of the Yakuza).

As anticipated, including these doesn’t actually shift the needle on the Forgotten Realms totals:

Spelljammer
That is one other comparatively straightforward setting so as to add up, since virtually all the Spelljammer merchandise have been launched over 5 years, with the one complication being the twenty-nine 12 months hole between The Astromundi Cluster and 5e’s Spelljammer: Adventures in Area. The graphs under embrace the twenty-one 2e merchandise plus the 5e outlier:

Ravenloft
D&D’s horror setting was launched in 1990, close to the start of 2e, and was supported with new merchandise proper as much as the top of 2e in 2000. From 2001 to 2005, a 3e line of Ravenloft merchandise was revealed by White Wolf beneath licence, and in 2006, WotC launched Expedition to Fort Ravenloft. This signifies that setting loved a seventeen 12 months run through which there was no less than one new Ravenloft product annually. That matches Dragonlance’s 1984-2000 unbroken streak, and is exceeded solely by the Forgotten Realms with twenty-two years.

For our Ravenloft charts, we’re going to depend:

• The complete run of 2e Ravenloft merchandise,
• 3e’s Expedition to Fort Ravenloft, and
• 5e’s Curse of Strahd (and Curse of Strahd Ravamped) and Van Richten’s Information to Ravenloft.

Right here’s what that appears like:

For the expanded Ravenloft line, we’re including in:

• I6: Ravenloft and I10: Ravenloft II: The Home on Gryphon Hill, and
• the twenty 3e merchandise revealed beneath White Wolf’s Sword & Sorcery/Arthaus imprints.

That offers us the next adjusted graphs:

Darkish Solar
The desert setting of Athas launched in 1991 and had sturdy assist from TSR for the subsequent 5 years, with thirty-two merchandise launched for 2e. The Darkish Solar line was a number of merchandise right into a revision and relaunch when TSR collapsed, and it was one of many settings that WotC let relaxation after 1996. A fourteen-year hole adopted earlier than Darkish Solar noticed a resurgence as a 4e setting, getting two hardcovers, an journey and a set of Dungeon Tiles. It hasn’t but had any assist in 5e however a Darkish Solar launch appears doubtless for 2026.

We solely want one set of charts for Darkish Solar, for the reason that 2e and 4e releases mix to kind an entire set of RPG merchandise. Right here’s what that appears like:

Al-Qadim
Regardless of its location within the Forgotten Realms, Al-Qadim was handled as its personal setting from a branding and product line perspective, so we’re additionally treating it as separate right here. It’s a pretty easy setting to depend, with three years of product assist from 1992 to 1994, and one further journey launched in 1998.

Right here’s what we get including up the fourteen merchandise within the 2e Al-Qadim line:

Planescape
The Planescape setting launched in 1994, and loved 5 years of steady assist earlier than being folded again into the primary 2e product line. Planescape boasts the second longest hole in official assist (after Spelljammer), with practically twenty-five years between 2e’s The Inside Planes and 5e’s Planescape: Adventures within the Multiverse.

Listed below are the graphs for the thirty 2e Planescape merchandise, plus the 5e set:

For the expanded Planescape, it’s tempting to go overboard and embrace any ebook with a planar theme, however we’re going to be conservative and add in solely a pair of titles that have been initially deliberate to be be a part of the Planescape line, earlier than being folded into the generic 2e line: Warriors of Heaven and Information to Hell.

Predictably, this doesn’t change the graphs a lot:

Mystara
Deciding what to depend as a Mystara product is much more sophisticated than it was for Greyhawk. The Identified World had been the implied setting for Primary D&D since X1: Isle of Dread in 1981, however it wasn’t given the identify “Mystara” till September 1991, when Bruce Heard wrote in Dragon #173: “The Identified World is the geographical space positioned on the southeastern nook of the continent of Brun. Mystara incorporates each the Identified World and the Hole World.” From 1994, TSR determined to retire Primary D&D as a separate product line, and transitioned assist to the Mystara marketing campaign setting for 2e.

For our first Mystara chart, we’re going to depend solely the ten merchandise within the 2e Mystara line. There have been additionally two Crimson Metal marketing campaign growth 2e merchandise set on this planet of Mystara, however we’re going to place these two within the expanded record, under. Right here’s what the graphs for the ten Mystara-branded merchandise seem like:

For the expanded Mystara numbers, we’re including in:

• The entire following merchandise and collection: AC1-4, AC7-11, AC1010, AC1011, B3-12, BSOLO, CM1-9, DA1-4, DMR1-2, GAZ1-14, HWA1-3, HWQ1, HWR1-3, IM1-3, M1-5, MSOLO1-2, O2, PC1-4, TM1-2, X1-13, XL1, and XSOLO1-2,[
• B1-9: In Search of Adventure compilation (but not the pages),
• the 1981 and 1983 Expert Sets, Companion Rules, Master Rules, Immortal Rules, and the Rules Cyclopedia hardcover,
• the Dawn of the Emperors: Thyatis and Alphatia, Wrath of the Immortals, and Champions of Mystara: Heroes of the Princess Ark boxed sets,
• the three large adventure boxes The Dragon’s Den, The Goblin’s Lair, The Haunted Tower,
• Quest for the Silver Sword, Assault on Raven’s Ruin, Thunder Rift, Sword and Shield, The Knight of Newts, Rage of the Rakasta, and In the Phantom’s Wake, and
• the Red Steel Campaign Expansion and Red Steel Savage Baronies boxed sets.

Adding all of those changes the graphs substantially:

Birthright
It may have been TSR’s last D&D setting, but it was launched with vigour. The Birthright Campaign Setting was published in July 1995 and there were a dozen Birthright products released by the end of the year. A further dozen followed in 1996, more products than for any other setting that year. TSR’s 1997 collapse was fatal to Birthright, with only three additional products making it out in 1997 and 1998, and a number more cancelled by WotC and later released as free online offerings.

Here’s what the graphs of those four years look like:

Eberron
As the only (major) D&D setting created by WotC, Eberron is an interesting addition to this list. It is also the only setting that has never had a boxed set released for it (at least, if we ignore licensed products), but it was released in the era of chunky hardcover books, so Eberron compares favourably to Dark Sun and Planescape when it comes to contributing pages of D&D lore.

For our Eberron charts, we’re going to count:

• the twenty-one Eberron-branded products from the 3e era,
• Races of Eberron,
• the 4e titles Eberron Player’s Guide, Eberron Campaign Guide, and Seekers of the Ashen Crown, and
• 5e’s Eberron: Rising from the Last War and Eberron: Forge of the Artificer.

Here’s what that looks like.

A dozen worlds
If you decided to collect all twelve of the settings covered above, you’d end up with 91 boxed sets, 99 hardcovers, 517 softcover/stapled books, and 61 other accessories. That’s 79,091 pages of setting material to use, at a total cost of $12,581.86.

Let’s do some comparisons of the settings. In terms of scale, they seem to naturally divide up into three groups:​