Critical Role The New D&D Book Is 'The Explorer's Guide to [Critical Role's] Wildemount!' By Matt Mercer

It looks like Amazon has leaked the title and description of the new D&D book a day early (unless it's all a fake-out by WotC) -- and it's a new D&D setting book called The Explorer's Guide to Wildemount; it's the Critical Role campaign setting, penned by Matt Mercer!

image from Critical Role wiki​

There's no cover image yet, so we're stuck with the "Coming Soon" image.

This book appeared without a title on Amazon last week, and a 'reveal' date of January 9th, which was then later delayed until January 13th. Amazon appears to have jumped the gun a day early.

Here's some information about Wildemount, which is a continent in the same world as Critical Role's other setting, Tal'Dorei. It is described by the official wiki has having "real-world Eastern European influence.... The Dwendalian Empire takes inspiration from 15th century Russia as well as Germanic nations in Central Europe (e.g., Prussia). Xhorhas has a more 13th-century Romanian flair. Outside of Wynandir, on the edges of the Dwendalian Empire, the cultures and peoples of those regions display a distinctly 14th-century Spanish flavor."

HOW DO YOU WANT TO DO THIS?

A war brews on a continent that has withstood more than its fair share of conflict. The Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty are carving up the lands around them, and only the greatest heroes would dare stand between them. Somewhere in the far corners of this war-torn landscape are secrets that could end this conflict and usher in a new age of peace—or burn the world to a cinder.

Create a band of heroes and embark on a journey across the continent of Wildemount, the setting for Campaign 2 of the hit Dungeons & Dragons series Critical Role. Within this book, you’ll find new character options, a heroic chronicle to help you craft your character’s backstory, four different starting adventures, and everything a Dungeon Master needs to breathe life into a Wildemount-based D&D campaign…

• Delve through the first Dungeons & Dragons book to let players experience the game as played within the world of Critical Role, the world’s most popular livestreaming D&D show.
• Uncover a trove of options usable in any D&D game, featuring subclasses, spells, magic items, monsters, and more, rooted in the adventures of Exandria—such as Vestiges of Divergence and the possibility manipulating magic of Dunamancy.
• Start a Dungeons & Dragons campaign in any of Wildemount’s regions using a variety of introductory adventures, dozens of regional plot seeds, and the heroic chronicle system—a way to create character backstories rooted in Wildemount.

Explore every corner of Wildemount and discover mysteries revealed for the first time by Critical Role Dungeon Master, Matthew Mercer.

Critical Role's other setting, Tal'Dorei, was published a couple of years ago by Green Ronin. This brings the list of settings in official D&D books to five: Forgotten Realms, Ravnica, Ravenloft, Eberron, and Wildemount.

UPDATE! Barnes & Noble has the cover (but not the title or description).

 

[gyor]

The strangest thing so far about this Setting that I have noticed, is how unimportant humans seem to be. One major nation is ruled by Drow and populated by Dragonborn, Gobliniods, Orcs, Kobolds, and so on, with a minority of humans and the other is ruled by Tieflings as far as i can tell. Still learning the setting.

Now i'm wondering if we will get yet another reprint of Gobliniods and Orcs and Kobolds.

Dang it just another reason to put them into the next PHB, in 6e.

 

[gyor]

Still not happening. I don’t think WOTC would even have a say. Sorry.

Why are you sorry, I don't really care about it that much. I'm just giving my opinion. If I'm wrong, well honestly I'm not that big a fan of Nerath. I'm more concerned with those folks who ARE fans of Nerath.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

ehhh they have the stereotypical under dark, spider worshipping drow and then they have the drow of the Kryn Dynasty. One is very much classic D&D and the other is an interesting new take but their origins are still very much in the classic Elf history vein.

I mean, they may technically be there, but they don’t matter literally at all.
And the history of the gods isn’t the same as elsewhere so Elven origins can’t be the same.

Hard pass. Zero-interest in someone's half-assed homebrew setting.

Most published settings are more “half-assed” tha Exandria

Nentir Vale doesn't have a huge amount of that, though: you have to go through a looooot of material to get some little nuggets. The Dawn War and the pantheon thereof is really the most upfront part of the Setting.

Okay? The “Dawn War” and the pantheon aren’t the same in Exandria.

The strangest thing so far about this Setting that I have noticed, is how unimportant humans seem to be. One major nation is ruled by Drow and populated by Dragonborn, Gobliniods, Orcs, Kobolds, and so on, with a minority of humans and the other is ruled by Tieflings as far as i can tell. Still learning the setting.

Now i'm wondering if we will get yet another reprint of Gobliniods and Orcs and Kobolds.

Dang it just another reason to put them into the next PHB, in 6e.

The Dwendalian Empire isn’t ruled by Tieflings, it’s ruled by humans and humans are the most prominent race there.

 

[gyor]

Its not a literal reboot, its an effective reboot. What the 2nd Sundering did was allow a lot of older material to be functionally compatible with only minor adjustments, verse the massive ones needed to make anything work in the SP era.

For example, most of Dragon Heist would play effectively the same if you subbed Mirt for Larael and ignored the statue changes (they are both fairly minor elements of DH). Compare that to using the Myth Drannor box set in the SP, which you can't because THERE IS A LIVING CITY WHERE THE RUINS ONCE STOOD.

I mean sure, there are still some changes; the 4e version is not ignored utterly and I actually like some of the 4e elements like Tymanther, but I'm not naive enough to see that what 5e did was try to push the reset button while keeping choice elements of the 4e run, (just like bringing back Bhaal and Myrkul from their prior-to-2e deaths is a retcon without reset). Honestly, its probably the best version of FR we've had if only for the fact its not overly tied to metaplot-hand-holding and much of the setting is partially backwards compatible.

Using your example of Myth Drannor, there is a huge mountain that used to be a city of Shade on it's location, when one landed on the other, so you still can't use that suppliment.

The differences between 2e/3.5e and 5e are still very massive, especially outside the Swordcoast.

 

[vecna00]

Its not a literal reboot, its an effective reboot. What the 2nd Sundering did was allow a lot of older material to be functionally compatible with only minor adjustments, verse the massive ones needed to make anything work in the SP era.

For example, most of Dragon Heist would play effectively the same if you subbed Mirt for Larael and ignored the statue changes (they are both fairly minor elements of DH). Compare that to using the Myth Drannor box set in the SP, which you can't because THERE IS A LIVING CITY WHERE THE RUINS ONCE STOOD.

I mean sure, there are still some changes; the 4e version is not ignored utterly and I actually like some of the 4e elements like Tymanther, but I'm not naive enough to see that what 5e did was try to push the reset button while keeping choice elements of the 4e run, (just like bringing back Bhaal and Myrkul from their prior-to-2e deaths is a retcon without reset). Honestly, its probably the best version of FR we've had if only for the fact its not overly tied to metaplot-hand-holding and much of the setting is partially backwards compatible.

Slightly off-topic question: Is there a book that chronicles all of these changes, or is it just in various wikis?

 

[Parmandur]

Okay? The “Dawn War” and the pantheon aren’t the same in Exandria.

Maybe so: still, don't hold your breath for a non-Exandria related product that touches on that setting.

 

[Parmandur]

Slightly off-topic question: Is there a book that chronicles all of these changes, or is it just in various wikis?

Beyond SCAG? Just the individual APs. The point is it doesn't matter anymore.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Maybe so: still, don't hold your breath for a non-Exandria related product that touches on that setting.

I am absolutely certain of two things.
1. There is no plan for a nerath/POLand setting book.
2. The Exandria setting has literally absolutely no bearing on that whatsoever, at any level, from any perspective, in any context.

 

[vecna00]

Beyond SCAG? Just the individual APs. The point is it doesn't matter anymore.

That makes me a little sad

 

[Remathilis]

Slightly off-topic question: Is there a book that chronicles all of these changes, or is it just in various wikis?

No single source that I know. The biggest source of info is SCAG, but it's also scattered among the APs and other books. Durran's return is in a small portion of the intro to Tales from the Yawning Portal, for example.

A lot of fans want a FRCS to catalogue these changes and expound on how and it has affected the world, but WotC doesn't see much value in that, it's back to what it was (except when it isn't) and that's that.