New D&D Icons Line to Publish New Content from Legendary Creators
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Article Summary
- At Gen Con 2026, Wizards of the Coast unveiled D&D Icons, a new initiative that pairs legendary Dungeons & Dragons creators with the current design team to help shape future content.
- Actor Joe Manganiello is stepping into the role of Chief Creative Officer of D&D Icons.
- The inaugural roster of creators includes Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance), Luke Gygax (Greyhawk) and R.A. Salvatore (Legend of Drizzt).
- The line will also launch alongside a new “Black Label” D&D campaign setting from Manganiello called “Death Saves.”
At this year’s Gen Con, Wizards of the Coast officially unveiled a new publishing initiative called Dungeons & Dragons Icons, which is designed to bring some of the most influential creators in the game’s 50-plus history back into the fold.
The program will pair veteran creators with the current D&D design team at Wizards of the Coast, with the goal of launching a range of official new products. The initial roster of D&D Icons creators will include Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (creator of the Dragonlance campaign setting), Luke Gygax (an RPG designer and son of D&D co-creator Gary Gygax) and R.A. Salvatore (author of the best-selling Legend of Drizzt novels).
Actor and longtime D&D fan Joe Manganiello has been appointed Chief Creative Officer of D&D Icons, in addition to launching his own product for the publishing line with a new campaign setting called Death Saves. Below, we take a closer look at everything we know about this new initiative.
What is Dungeons & Dragons Icons?
D&D Icons is a new publishing initiative that pairs well-known creators with the current in-house design team at Wizards of the Coast. The idea is to give some of the game’s most important voices – many of whom haven’t had an official hand in D&D products for years – a direct role in building what comes next.
In a closed door press conference prior to Gen Con, Dungeons & Dragons VP Dan Ayoub noted that “There are a lot of classic creators who still have really magnificent stories to tell and, you know, this is one of the lines we’re leaning into to specifically do that.”
Which veteran D&D creators are joining Icons?
Wizards of the Coast confirmed the following legacy creators are joining the initiative:
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
The co-creators of the Dragonlance setting and the authors behind the Chronicles and Legends trilogies of novels will be working on new products set in Krynn. It was also noted during a pre-Gen Con press conference that they are working on a new Dragonlance product that is also being produced outside of the Icons line.
Notably, back in October 2025, Manganiello posted a photo on Instagram of himself with Weis and Hickman at Wizards of the Coast headquarters in Renton, Washington, which led many to speculate at the time that a new Dragonlance project was in the works.
Luke Gygax
Son of D&D co-creator Gary Gygax and a prolific tabletop RPG designer in his own right, Gygax will be joining the Icons line to work on content connected to the Greyhawk setting.
It’s not clear if this upcoming Icons product will be the new Melf’s Guide to Greyhawk: Borderlands of Iuz book or a separate product related to Greyhawk. It’s also worth noting that the upcoming Greyhawk: Crown of the Witch Queen campaign is not being developed by Luke Gygax and is not part of the Icons line.
R.A. Salvatore
The New York Times’ best-selling author of The Legend of Drizzt novels will also be a major contributor to the new D&D Icons line, although it’s not yet clear what projects he’ll be working on.
Notably, Salvatore is primarily known a novelist, and has not developed any extensive game materials, although the Drizzt novels are set in the Forgotten Realms and he has contributed extensively to D&D lore.
Final Thoughts
D&D Icons looks like one of the more fan-forward moves Wizards of the Coast has made in years, formally welcoming back some of the creators most associated with the game’s golden era.
Notably, in addition to serving as COO, Joe Manganiello’s Death Saves setting will also be part of the new Icons line, and it’s expected that projects from other D&D veteran creators will also be announced in the near future (Ed Greenwood, in particular seems like a likely candidate for the program).
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story in the days ahead and will update this page with new information on the Dungeons & Dragons Icons program as it becomes available.
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Jason Volk is the Publisher of Dungeons & Dragons Fanatics and lives in the wilds of Western Canada. He has been playing D&D for over 25 years and is a huge fan of Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms. His favorite character of all time was a Necromancer named Neek who spent most of his adventuring career resurrecting the corpses of slain monsters. When he’s not playing TTRPGs, Jason enjoys video games, Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40K, watching football and spending time with his wife and adorably nerdy children.
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