Critical Role Here's The Official Wildemount Announcement!

After the various leaks over the weekend from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, the official announcement has just dropped! It's a different description to the one on Amazon, and contains a little bit more information about the contents of the upcoming setting book, which includes four introductory adventures!

Create your own Critical Role campaigns with this sourcebook for the world's greatest roleplaying game!

Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount provides everything you need to play Dungeons & Dragons on the continent of Wildemount (set within the world of Exandria)—a land of war, betrayal, and swashbuckling adventure.

Comprised of four regions, Wildemount provides endless potential for adventure in a land of brewing conflict and incredible magic. Rising tensions boil over into all-out war between the politically dubious Dwendalian Empire and the light-worshiping wastefolk of Xhorhas, supplying a vibrant backdrop for any D&D campaign to explore.

• Uncover a trove of new options usable in any D&D game, featuring subclasses, spells, magic items, monsters, and more, rooted in the adventures of Critical Role—such as Vestiges of Divergence and the possibility manipulating magic of dunamancy.
• Start a 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.

WHERE CAN I BUY IT?
Pre-order at your local game store, book stores such as Barnes & Noble, or online at retailers like Amazon.

ITEM DETAILS
Price: $49.95
Release Date: 17 March, 2020
This book’s contents include the following:

• An expansive Wildemount gazetteer.
• Descriptions of the major factions of Wildemount.
• Player options that include new subclasses, new spells, and a tool to help players deeply integrate their characters into the setting.
• New magic items, including weapons that become more powerful to match their wielders.
• New creatures native to Wildemount.
• Four introductory adventures—one for each unique region of Wildemount.

Largely written and helmed by Matthew Mercer, the Dungeon Master of Critical Role and creator of the world of Exandria, this 304-page book features work by talented designers, writers, and artists from the D&D and Critical Role communities.
Explorer's Guide to Wildemount is an expansive, vivid campaign setting anyone can enjoy regardless of their familiarity with Critical Role, and an open invitation to make the mysteries and dangers of Wildemount your own.

--

This also dropped in my inbox, with a couple of quotes from those involved, such as Matt Mercer and WotC's Nathan Stewart:

RENTON, WA – January 13, 2020 – When Critical Role debuted in March 2015, no one predicted the success of a Dungeons & Dragons liveplay show starring prominent voice actors. Not only has the show inspired a vast fan community of “Critters” to create fan art, cosplay, and even musicals based on Critical Role’s adventures, but the stories crafted by Matthew Mercer and his friends have encouraged droves of new players to try D&D for the first time. The D&D Team at Wizards of the Coast is excited to officially collaborate with Mercer by publishing a brand new tabletop roleplaying book detailing the continent explored in the second campaign ofCritical Role, complete with player options such as subclasses, magic items, and more. Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount will be available in stores everywhere on March 17, 2020!

“Critical Role is a great example of why Dungeons & Dragons has been popular for over 45 years: a group of friends getting together, telling stories, and making each other laugh. In this case, the friends are talented performers playing live on camera, but the fun’s the same. We’re thrilled D&D fans and Critters alike can now enjoy playing in Matt’s world, as brought to fifth edition in this lovingly-crafted book,” said Nathan Stewart, VP of Franchise for Dungeons & Dragons.

“I'm sincerely so honored and excited to be working directly with Chris Perkins and this team of talented D&D writers and designers to bring this book to not just our community, but to D&D players everywhere,” said Matthew Mercer, Chief Creative Officer and Dungeon Master of Critical Role, as well as lead writer on the guide. “Dungeons & Dragons has had such a massive, positive impact on nearly my entire life, and I am ever inspired by the endless creativity I see it spark in so many others across the world. To have been able to work with Wizards of the Coast to bring my world to life as an official campaign book is nothing short of surreal. I can't wait to see what other DMs and players create within my world to make it their own!”

The 304-page Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount invites DMs to start playing in any of Wildemount’s regions using introductory adventures, dozens of story-inspiring plot seeds, and the new heroic chronicle system. Adventurers can also expect to discover countless secrets revealed by Critical Role Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer for the first time. Players and DMs will find new character options available for play in any campaign, like the Echo Knight fighter subclass, spells of dunamancy, numerous new monsters, and more!

 

[Mournblade94]

Interesting, clearly using your 3e campaign / world stuff doesn't appeal to you. Why is that?

I personally don't use official settings, but I am used to borrowing ideas from them for my own setting. So I have a hard time understanding the issue, could you clarify?

I love my 3rd edition stuff. It is my favorite. But I was hoping for more support like the 2e/3ed days. I'm going back to 3rd because I have everything I need and the new support has not been what I want.

I always liked 3rd edition best. I was sticking with 5 only to be 'current'

But in actively run WEG star wars. So might as well go back to running 3rd edition. Tonight I'm playing in a HERO fantasy. Cant say I like that system as much for fantasy.

 

[dave2008]

I realize it's a long shot, but if you're in the NJ area, you can hook up with any of the Larps here and join our player base. There are a metric ton of groups doing their own thing.

I'm in Ohio, I don't make it out to NJ to often

 

[dave2008]

I love my 3rd edition stuff. It is my favorite. But I was hoping for more support like the 2e/3ed days. I'm going back to 3rd because I have everything I need and the new support has not been what I want.

I always liked 3rd edition best. I was sticking with 5 only to be 'current'

But in actively run WEG star wars. So might as well go back to running 3rd edition. Tonight I'm playing in a HERO fantasy. Cant say I like that system as much for fantasy.

To clarify, I was asking why can't you use your 3e campaign/setting stuff in 5e?

 

[darjr]

oops!

 

[doctorbadwolf]

A someone who don't watch the show, I am sorely missing any information what makes this setting unique and special compared to the classics.

To the Fan's of the Show. Can anyone tell the rest of us what makes this Setting great and interesting?

It’s an interesting mix of “points of light” with “big factions to piss off and/or join”, and encourages swashbuckling adventure and exploring a world full of mysteries where you can’t assume that the bugbear tribe is monstrous or that the elves in that swamp won’t try to eat you.
It also mixes traditional dnd tropes with more modern dnd stuff like airships and firearms.

but what really makes Exandria work is all the little things a player can latch onto, stuff like The Slayer’s Take monster hunter guild, the wizards cabal in Tal’Dorei that I can’t remember the name of, or the fascinating history of places like Whitestone and Vasselheim.

By the way, I'm happy if cross-promotion books do well. I'm just annoyed that the last player options book we got was Xanathar, back in 2017, and since then we got five cross-promotions, plus Mordenkainen (which I like as a DM, but has very little in terms of player options).
I get that we need to bring new players, but we also need content for the established fanbase, and right now the balance is heavily tilted in favor of promotional stuff.

We just got a huge drop of player options in the Eberron book.

I think they've done all their major tie ins, except maybe Big Bang Theory, but that one might be challenging.

Everything else has been done. The bright side to that is that it means they are much more likely to focus on bringing forward older setting. I don't think this setting actually took a book slot this year so we could still be looking at a setting or two later.

We got The Witcher on Netflix, a Lord of The Rings show coming, Wheel of Time, and more.
they could do a modern fantasy cross promotion with The Magicians.
If they’re smart they’ll do a new cartoon by hiring people involved with any of Avatar/Dragon Prince, Steven Universe, She-Ra, Adventure Time, MLP;FIM, etc.
there is space for cross promotion all over.
mans doesn't even get into further cross promotion with IPs they’ve already collaborated with.

Wasnt this already done in 13th Age? Sounds very similar iirc.

Yeah it is an old idea, but kinda new to 5e (there may be a sentence related to the idea in the dmg). I’ve been doing this since 4e, and argued for it as a player in 2e. The group thought I was trying to powergame, so it was shot down, to much eye rolling from me.

 

[dave2008]

Wasnt this already done in 13th Age? Sounds very similar iirc.

4e had them too. Not sure about other editions.

 

[Azzy]

4e had them too. Not sure about other editions.

3.5's Weapons of Legacy (or something to that effect).

 

[R_J_K75]

Yeah it is an old idea, but kinda new to 5e (there may be a sentence related to the idea in the dmg). I’ve been doing this since 4e, and argued for it as a player in 2e. The group thought I was trying to powergame, so it was shot down, to much eye rolling from me.

There were so many magical items in 1E and 2E and Dragon/Dungeon Mag so I don't see why there was so much pushback when it seemed like every game I played in every PC had an arsenal of magical items.

4e had them too. Not sure about other editions.

3.5's Weapons of Legacy (or something to that effect).

I stopped playing for awhile when some of these books came out so I never read them. I like the concept for 5E but compared to previous editions the amount of magical items in the DMG and other books is greatly reduced, so it seems weird that every PC would have a legacy item with a backstory that levels. Think its something that would need to be used sparingly. Maybe a party item that levels with them; something that everyone can benefit from and not each player with their own.

 

[dave2008]

There were so many magical items in 1E and 2E and Dragon/Dungeon Mag so I don't see why there was so much pushback when it seemed like every game I played in every PC had an arsenal of magical items.





I stopped playing for awhile when some of these books came out so I never read them. I like the concept for 5E but compared to previous editions the amount of magical items in the DMG and other books is greatly reduced, so it seems weird that every PC would have a legacy item with a backstory that levels. Think its something that would need to be used sparingly. Maybe a party item that levels with them; something that everyone can benefit from and not each player with their own.

Or it could be like the old D&D Cartoon. You get these OP weapons in the beginning, but you can't use them to their full potential. As you get better / more powerful you can unlock more of your weapons power.

The vestiges, after all, are weapons left over from the God War or something like that.

 

[R_J_K75]

The vestiges after all are weapons left over from the God War or something like that.

I missed that part, it makes a little more sense now and is more believable. I might give it a shot if I end up getting the book.