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!

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!

Wildemount%2C_Version_20%2C1.png

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).

9780786966912_p0_v2_s600x595.jpg
 

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Rikka66

Adventurer
I don't know about the essentials kit, I was talking about the new book set in Wildemount. Someone else posted about the essentials kit.

However, I believe the essentials kit is a sort of follow on the the starter's kit, so it is not for complete newbies.

Essentials Kit isn't a follow up. It takes place in the same town as the starter kit and could be run concurrently, but I would say it was designed to be even simpler and easier to run for newbies than the starter kit already is.
 

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Prakriti

Hi, I'm a Mindflayer, but don't let that worry you
No. I'm not that insistent. I can work with shorter adventures. I guess if I'm dissuaded by the Essentials Kit is the idea that it seems for "absolute beginners." Does it have any use for DMs/players who have been around for a bit? Also, I don't want something that is a one-hour adventure.
I'm in the middle of reviewing the Essentials Kit now. The "quests" are not very good. Most DMs can throw together better adventures on the spur of the moment. You'll see a lot of similar opinions on the Reviews board. I do not recommend it.
 


Harzel

Adventurer
The primary audience for the game wasn't born when 3.0 was released, or was wearing diapers: us 30-something 3.x players are the grognards now, yes.
Dang, what does that mean for us 30-something 2e players?? :)
Thing is, we are well past the point where most D&D players have only ever experienced 5E. Anybody who got started with another edition is now a grognard, to some degree.
I started during the mid 4E/D&D Next phase, does this make me a grognard?
We'll, you've been playing longer than the majority of people, and I have defected some grumbling on your part: the metamorphosis has begun. 🤔
8 years makes one so jaded.
No. I think in order to qualify you need to have started before TSR was taken over by WotC. At the very least.
Gatekeeping Grognardism now? That's some peak Grognard behavior, certainly.

So what must be noted in these regards is that while there is no limit on the number of grognard initiates and all are welcome, there can be only 1,000,000 Grognards. At such time as a would-be Grognard attains ossification points sufficient to advance him, her, or them to Grognard, the rank of Grognard is attained only:
  1. If there are currently fewer than 1,000,000 other Grognards, or
  2. The would-be Grognard bests one of the 1,000,000 current Grognards in a Grumbling Contest.
This process is repeated with respect to becoming one of the 10,000 permitted Old Grognards, excepting that there the test is a Shouting Match, and with respect to becoming one of the 100 Arch Grognards in which case the competition is the Bladder Control Challenge.

Should an Arch Grognard wish to become the unique Exalted Great Grognard, the challenger must first locate the current title holder in the umpteenth level of their dungeon. If the challenger can thus reach the Exalted, there then commences the Trial of Tables. Each shall have 1 hour to construct a collection of d100 tables to cover all aspects of their lives, at which point both shall commence rolling percentile dice and taking the indicated actions. The loser is the contestant who first either a) dies to unlucky rolls, or b) becomes Too Grumpy to Continue, or c) forgets that there is some sort of contest going on.

If the challenger loses (and lives), they must retreat in shame to their abode, where they will be subject to 1 year and 1 day of younger people playing D&D on their lawn, having fun by mostly ignoring the rules.
If the current Exalted loses, but is still, for the moment, upright, they must commit to 3d10 + 5 autograph sessions at cons, with ticket proceeds going to the new Exalted. If dead, they will be entombed in the Great Hall of Grognards together with their books, dice, mini, and other paraphernalia, excepting that the new Exalted may take a number of bone samples to be encased in d20s and sold on Etsy or used as Kickstarter rewards to fund the construction of their own dungeon. The samples may be taken from
01 - 08 Brain case
09 Upper jaw
10 Lower jaw
11- 21 Vertebra
22 - 24 Sternum
25 - 41 Ribs
42 Scapula
43 - 49 Upper arm
50 - 58 Lower arm
59 - 67 Hand
68 - 72 Hip bone
73 - 84 Upper leg
85 - 91 Lower leg
92 - 97 Foot
98 - 00 Roll twice on the table, ignoring results of 98-00
 





Retreater

Legend
P.S.

I like Rifts.
Rifts is an amazing setting. My group has had an awesome time with the Savage Worlds version. It's been a welcome departure and palate cleanse whenever we've gotten tired of D&D. (That concept is a little hard for me to accept, as I never thought it would happen - but there you are!)
 

Harzel

Adventurer
I like Critical Role.
I enjoy Matt Mercer as a DM, improviser, and human.
I love the whole cast. They're the cool adult friends that I wish I had.

That said, I'm having a hard type getting hyped about this release because it just feels like I'd be trying to run a homebrew based on someone else's homebrew. What makes the show magical is the level of characterization that everyone emotes and the depth they bring to the story. The campaign setting is something I would LOVE to play in if Matt Mercer were running the game, but I can't summon any sort of excitement to explore another fairly standard D&D setting without the kind of involvement that a real player at his table would have.

Ugh.

I cannot say how disappointed I am in this as the big announcement.

While I enjoy CR, I have zero desire to play in that game world.

I don't generally look at settings material with the intent of trying to run games in the setting. I'm more interested in seeing how the setting has been put together - what kinds of elements are defined and how are they connected together. Secondarily, I may steal some particulars of politics, NPCs, or plot. New subclasses, feats, etc., are interesting to read, but I don't feel a need for more "crunch", especially if it is the variety that we get from WotC, which is 90% reskinnings of "you do xdy damage" or "you can cast spell Foo".
 

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