Explains Break Down of a Season for WPN Stores; Announces ‘D&D Legends of Greyhawk’ OP for WPN Stores
Wizards of the Coast revealed new details on Dungeons & Dragons Play Seasons for in-store play.
D&D Play Seasons were originally announced as part of D&D’s 2026 lineup announcement, and then expanded upon a little by D&D Franchise Head Dan Ayoub at his Gary Con panel (see “Gary Con XVIII News“). On the retail level, seasons are meant to connect different individual D&D products, releasing within a specific time frame, through a single theme. On the retail level, seasons are more or less a tool to help with D&D play community engagement.
Each season breaks down into three phases: a preview phase, a celebration phase, and a weekly play phase. The preview phase occurs when the season’s products are revealed and preorder opens; the celebration phase happens when a product hits shelves and retailers run new D&D Encounters Celebration events. The third weekly play phase revolves around retailers continuing their OP with D&D Encounters Weekly Play.
The OP events during a season hinge upon D&D Encounters. The new D&D Encounters Celebration event type, which can be scheduled the first weekend after a season begins, is an event that features a three-hour adventure that can accommodate 20 players at one time. This adventure will be for lower level characters, and includes participation awards for players and DMs. WPN stores who have early access to D&D releases will also be able to run their D&D Encounters Celebration event earlier.
After the D&D Encounters Celebration, the season moves into D&D Encounters Weekly Play. WotC will provide enough content for four weeks of D&D organized play via a digital play kit. WPN stores in select regions can obtain a physical play kit (limited to a 1,000; available to stores that schedule D&D Encounters Celebration events). The kits contain the following: 5 printed copies of the D&D Encounters seasonal adventure material, a pack of 25 premade characters (5 packs with 5 different characters in each pack), 5 printed tactical maps, player rewards for up to 25 players, rewards for up to 5 DMs, and printed instructions for organizer.
Retailer event scheduling for the first D&D Season (Season of Horror) is already open. Early access WPN stores can run their D&D Encounters Celebration event from June 5-14, 2026; stores without early access can run their D&D Encounter Celebration events from June 19-28, 2026.
WotC also announced D&D Legends of Greyhawk, a new secondary play program for stores. This is a living campaign that offers up adventures curated by a group of select organizer partners, and uses 5.5E and beyond rules. The D&D Adventurers League will also be an event type available to WPN stores, which offers up community-created adventures that uses material that dates back to the beginning of 5E (available on DMs Guild).
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