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).

 

[Parmandur]

Nerath could be a different continent on the world. The greater world was never super detailed. Like it's events can be largely unrelated to the events elsewhere on the world.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying: literally everything in @Urriak Uruk smart except for the Empire of Nerath is true on Exandria, and the Nerathian sphere could be plopped down in the ocean elsewhere on the Exandria planet without changing much.

 

[Parmandur]

great yet another slightly different fantasy setting, why not just release the ones they have as many still play them and an up date for 5th would be nice.

Fewer than like Critical Role.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying: literally everything in @Urriak Uruk smart except for the Empire of Nerath is true on Exandria, and the Nerathian sphere could be plopped down in the ocean elsewhere on the Exandria planet without changing much.

Though I could see some stuff changing for 5e anyway there. Like a few things relating to the Dwarves and Elves.

 

[Parmandur]

Dark ages Europe ish, in that the fall of a great empire has left the world with essentially no infrastructure and stagnated progress, and a lot of pockets of small kingdoms and city states. Beyond that, I’m not gonna write a gazetteer to make a point. Pick a race, read it’s 4e lore, including the magazine articles, and you’ll know the state of the world.

@Urriak Uruk was good enough to provide a summary, which matches what I knew. I fail to see any incompatibility, and what was said in sundry articles that I've seen was left in vagaries.

 

[teitan]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying: literally everything in @Urriak Uruk smart except for the Empire of Nerath is true on Exandria, and the Nerathian sphere could be plopped down in the ocean elsewhere on the Exandria planet without changing much.

Yeah but it could be a continent on ANY campaign setting.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Yeah but it could be a continent on ANY campaign setting.

True, but Exandria shares the same pantheon so it could make sense to put it there.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying: literally everything in @Urriak Uruk smart except for the Empire of Nerath is true on Exandria, and the Nerathian sphere could be plopped down in the ocean elsewhere on the Exandria planet without changing much.

I think what is key here is that the world of CR really was Nentir Vale; it took the bare bones of that setting and ran with it, which was kind of the whole point of that setting for 4e. It was designed to give DMs a good "starting point" of gods and history and lore, that is not very fleshed out, and then the DM layers his own inventions on top.

Which is essentially what Exandria is; it's Nentir Vale, if someone actually took the time to add a whole bunch of their own stuff layered on top.

That's very different than FR, or even Greyhawk, that have their own nations and pantheons and history that are pretty detailed.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah but it could be a continent on ANY campaign setting.

Right, also my point: Exandria is a pretty generic Setting with the Dawn War pantheon and cosmology, what we have of PoLand is random bits and bobs of generic fantasy material designed to slot in other places within that particular cosmic framework.

 

[Parmandur]

I think what is key here is that the world of CR really was Nentir Vale; it took the bare bones of that setting and ran with it, which was kind of the whole point of that setting for 4e. It was designed to give DMs a good "starting point" of gods and history and lore, that is not very fleshed out, and then the DM layers his own inventions on top.

Which is essentially what Exandria is; it's Nentir Vale, if someone actually took the time to add a whole bunch of their own stuff layered on top.

That's very different than FR, or even Greyhawk, that have their own nations and pantheons and history that are pretty detailed.

Exactly. I think in 5E, WotC is just using the Sword Coast to fill that role. It's what my College crew did with Greyhawk in 3.x ("Greyhawk" is a stretch, but we used the PHB, MM and DMG material!).

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Exactly. I think in 5E, WotC is just using the Sword Coast to fill that role. It's what my College crew did with Greyhawk in 3.x ("Greyhawk" is a stretch, but we used the PHB, MM and DMG material!).

Exactly.

Old D&D was Greyhawk.

Advanced D&D was Mystara.

3rd Edition was back to Greyhawk.

4th Edition was Nentir Vale, purposefully invented to fit all the new 4e stuff.

And 5e is the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms. CR began in 4th Edition (before it started actually filming) so goes off the Nentir Vale framework, but it works because that setting is farely bare-bones compared to others.