The D&D Icons initiative, led by actor and longtime D&D fanatic Joe Manganiello, brings today’s Dungeons & Dragons game together with famous series creators of the past, like author R.A. Salvatore’s The Legend of Drizzt. But things aren’t going to be strictly limited to classic fantasy settings, Manganiello has teased.
Speaking to GameSpot’s Jessica Cogswell at Gen Con 2026, Manganiello stressed that modern-day settings could be part of the Icons program, too.
“There [are] also lots of other things that I want for Icons in the future,” he said. “I think that there’s a great present-day game that pushes genetics and military. We’re moving at such a rapid pace, but I think there could be a game that takes place in our modern world. There are also some other worlds of D&D that I think could be revisited in new and exciting ways that weren’t maximized their first time around.”
Manganiello, whose official title is chief creative officer, is keeping specifics secret for now, but it sounds like, for fans of more modern fantasy adventures, D&D Icons could be for you. Could something futuristic like Halo or Horizon: Zero Dawn make sense for the D&D ruleset? Only time will tell, but it could open up the D&D experience to an even wider audience. Wizards has experimented with more modern content in the past, so it’s not unprecedented.