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).

 

[MarkB]

If they published through Green Ronin, then they didn't self-publish. Green Ronin, WotC, Games Workshop, they're all established publishers.

You fail to understand that for every independent writer on WotC's schedule, there's a slew of WotC or other contract employees involved - laying out galleys, copyediting, selecting artwork. So yes, it does take away resources.

Well, fortunately this book is going to make WotC a huge pile of money, so they'll be able to afford a lot more of those folks now.

 

[Reynard]

WotC does not owe fans of Dark Sun or whatever else 5E support. They owe fans their best effort to keep D&D as a whole healthy and profitable. It would be great to see a Advanced Players Guide for extra crunch, and a DMs Toolkit for rules lite narrative play, and a Rule Compendium all in 1 book, and 32 page softcover modules, etc etc etc. But those aren't things WotC is going to do, because they don't fit the demonstrably wildly successful 5e model.

By all means, keep letting them know what you want. But please stop attacking WotC, Mercer and CritRole fans because they chose to publish this book. It's a bad look.

 

[Stacie GmrGrl]

I think this book will be cool and much better than Mercer's first book now that he has a better idea on what to do.

WotC does good books. Their setting books are my favorite, barring the SCAG (which was them being too careful and limiting the massive Realms to a sliver of its true glory).

 

[Stacie GmrGrl]

WotC does not owe fans of Dark Sun or whatever else 5E support. They owe fans their best effort to keep D&D as a whole healthy and profitable. It would be great to see a Advanced Players Guide for extra crunch, and a DMs Toolkit for rules lite narrative play, and a Rule Compendium all in 1 book, and 32 page softcover modules, etc etc etc. But those aren't things WotC is going to do, because they don't fit the demonstrably wildly successful 5e model.

By all means, keep letting them know what you want. But please stop attacking WotC, Mercer and CritRole fans because they chose to publish this book. It's a bad look.

5e is already a rules lite narrative game. How much more rules lite can they make it?

What 5e needs is a serious injection of 20 Full levels worth of character options, choices, and combat modularity. If an Advanced Players Guide could do that, then 5e will be something I can play. Right now, however, the system as is makes combat dull, samey, and every character just does very similar things. Because there's so few real options, every combat falls into the same routine, with the same pattern, and it doesn't matter how much narrative flavor a person goes into describing their action... Every single roll in combat is basically a "Roll to Hit/Roll to Damage" system with not many actual in game benefits... And over half the time players ask the DM for permission if they can do anything at all in combat. Especially if it's in the realm of anything that's beyond the most basic of attacks.

5e, as far as combat goes, is neutered compared to 3.x, 4e, and other d20 systems (like Saga edition, Fantasy Craft and PF2).

 

[Fenris-77]

I agree, I think the book will be cool and it'll have a little something for everyone. For example, I have never played a game in Ravnica, but I still have the book and happily mine it for crunch and ideas. My approach to this book will be the same. I will probably never run a game in the setting, but that doesn't mean I'm not excited about the book. I can only imagine how excited fans of CR are. Sadly I don't have the time to really appreciate the show, but this must be squee-inducing for people who do.

 

[Reynard]

5e is already a rules lite narrative game. How much more rules lite can they make it?

What 5e needs is a serious injection of 20 Full levels worth of character options, choices, and combat modularity. If an Advanced Players Guide could do that, then 5e will be something I can play. Right now, however, the system as is makes combat dull, samey, and every character just does very similar things. Because there's so few real options, every combat falls into the same routine, with the same pattern, and it doesn't matter how much narrative flavor a person goes into describing their action... Every single roll in combat is basically a "Roll to Hit/Roll to Damage" system with not many actual in game benefits... And over half the time players ask the DM for permission if they can do anything at all in combat. Especially if it's in the realm of anything that's beyond the most basic of attacks.

5e, as far as combat goes, is neutered compared to 3.x, 4e, and other d20 systems (like Saga edition, Fantasy Craft and PF2).

It wasn't really my intent to open up a debate about 5E's rules in particular, I was giving examples of books I would like to see that aren't going to get made. That said, I disagree about it being a rules lite narrative game (IMO it is rules medium with next to no narrative mechanical systems) but agree with you assessment about the lack of character and combat options crunch.

 

[JeffB]

If you want more about the feel of the Setting... it's a video game and heavy metal inspired Millenial's take on traditional High Fantasy.

Thanks for the FYI. Honestly that sounds like something I have no interest in whatsoever. But I will reserve final judgement once I can take a look at it.

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

It seems to me that it is gone from Green Ronin's web store.

I checked the website just yesterday. The book is still there under fifth edition.

Edit: That's weird, I just checked again and the book is gone from the website. Maybe it is out of print but there are still new copies to be had from Amazon. I'm wondering if Matt Mercer has pulled the Tal Dorei campaign setting from Green Ronin with a view to doing something new with it. Maybe it will get a WotC revision?

 

[DEFCON 1]

I checked the website just yesterday. The book is still there under fifth edition.

Edit: That's weird, I just checked again and the book is gone from the website. Maybe it is out of print but there are still new copies to be had from Amazon. I'm wondering if Matt Mercer has pulled the Tal Dorei campaign setting from Green Ronin with a view to doing something new with it. Maybe it will get a WotC revision?

Could have just sold out. If so, I wouldn't be surprised if Green Ronin did another print run though, which means it could reappear in the store soon.

 

[JeffB]

5e is already a rules lite narrative game. How much more rules lite can they make it?

Tangential to topic at hand- but this is something I would like to comment on in the general sense...


5E may be light for a WOTC version of D&D but it is hardly rules-light in the grand scheme of things. And frankly because every class ability works under it's own rules, it's actually pretty rules heavy. Then there are several more subsystems as well- Skills, Spells all work differently, Challenge Rating systems, etc etc. Luckily most players only have to know their own bits- but how many times to players have to reference spells or class abilities at the table? Not all, but plenty of people do.

I think most people who are experienced D&D players lose sight of just how complicated D&D- even 5E- is for complete newcomers to the game to pick up. I ran a kids group for many years- from ages 10 until they went to college. I've run sessions for my wife and 8 yo daughter. NONE of them had any experience gaming at all (the kids group played video games, etc)- D&D is and always will be a frickin PITA. There are much better rule systems that are more intuitive and that make far more sense to the non-gamers out there. If anything the rules of D&D- the gatekeeper/flagship of RPGs- has been the biggest detriment to getting and keeping people in the hobby.

I've said it before and I'll say it again- If I would have had to pick up a 300 page Player's handbook to start D&D in 1977 and go through the reams of rules in the book, I'd never have continued. And that is nowhere near the complete game. It's pretty ridiculous if you really think about it from outside the hobby.