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).

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

Those aren't the same people. He's talking about newbies. You're talking about veterans.

Nope, not entirely. I've had a healthy percentage of new tabletop players - the people who fall in category 1).

 

[MarkB]

Are they, or are they listening to critical role viewers who may not actually purchase any other products besides the TalDorei and Wildemount ones?

Studies show that 65% of a company's business comes from existing customers and that a 5% increase in customer retention increases profits between 25% and 95%.

Do they expect to grow profits in the long term with this, or are they further fragmenting their customers?

Is that "an RPG book company" or just "companies in general"?

For WotC, most of the business they get from existing customers consists only of buying the new books they release. Existing players aren't going to go out and buy new Player's Handbooks and Monster Manuals.

But if you market a new book to people who are avid fans of D&D, but may not have taken the plunge of actually playing it yet, guess what happens? Any of the people who buy that book, get inspired by it, and want to get together with their friends and start playing will quickly find that the book on its own doesn't let them do that. They'll be able to muddle by with the free Basic rules for a session or two, long enough to know whether they enjoy it, but after that, if they're remotely serious about continuing to play, they'll all need to invest in Player's Handbooks, and those of them who are running games will want Monster Manuals and Dungeon Master's Guides. And as they continue to play, they'll have the whole of WotC's existing product line ahead of them to pick and choose from in order to expand their options.

So yeah, oddly enough, expanding your customer base as a publisher does get you a lot more profits, and is especially good for shifting your back-catalog.

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

You know, I try so hard to reign in my naturally sarcastic tendencies, but sometimes people make it so hard.

That bolded bit, the one where you are talking about 3.X or Pathfinder? Games that I have acknowledged are far more complex than 5e? That is your problem here.

Of course people familiar with 3.X will find 5e simpler, it is simpler than 3.X. Just like earning a Bachelors degree is easier than a Masters degree.

But, for someone who has never played an RPG before? Who doesn't own dice and have never seen a die other than a d6? They find 5e highly complex. Because as a game to get started on, 5e is complex, more complex than a game like Dread. Which is an RPG where you pull blocks from a Jenga tower (that is the only resolution mechanic) and character creation is a personality Quiz.

I know people keep bringing in board games is fine, and I agree with them, but you don't even need to. Their are RPGs that are far less complex than 5e that prove the exact same point. There is a scale of complexity.

"Dread"< DnD 5e < Shadowrun 4e

I didn't bold that section of my post, that was done by another poster replying to me. So thanks for reigning in the sarcasm; it was neither needed nor warranted.

I am only discussing 5e in this tangent to the thread. Not boardgames, not Dread, not any other game. Yes there are simpler RPGs and I run those too - I particularly enjoy Beyond The Wall - but when it comes to my experience teaching 5e to both newbies AND veterans then I can say it has been easy for both types of players.

Not to say that some new players don't find 5e complicated, I'm sure they do. This is why WoTC have produced an Essentials Kit to make starting 5e as easy as possible.

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

The gravy train you speak of is new fans turning into new players, and providing revenue so that WotC can occasionally publish other stuff like a 5E version of Greyhawk or whatever. Redoing just the same settings again and again isn't a workable business model, they get old and they don't draw new players. There's a reason Eberron (newest and most modern) and the Forgotten Realms (most popular) got done first, and why Wildemount is coming out now. If you want Dark Sun, or Greyhawk, or Spelljammer, you should be ecstatic that Wildemount is doing so well.

This is spot on. 'Nuff said.

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

Yep, and they shouldn't then expect my loyalty in return, which they continually preach about how they are listening to their customers and value our input. I guess some are more equal than others.

Let's not forget that Critical Role isn't WotC. If you really want to get technical, they're sucking off of Critical Role's teat.

OMG. You have no idea how business operates.

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

Why would you think that because I don't like the 5e setting books (such as they are) that I'm not the D&D customer base? The core rules are good and the adventures are mostly good and I've got the a few of those. The 5evsettings books don't really meet the intent of what previous editing considered to be campaign settings. Throwing a tiny sliver of Greyhawk into Ghosts of Saltmarsh and calling it good doesn't cut it. The Sword Coast Adv. Guide felt like was a rehash of the most-covered section of the Forgotten Realms not really worth the purchase price. Wayfarers Guide to Eberron felt unfinished.

The design intent behind the 5e setting books, not including SCAG, has changed since previous editions. For the better in my opinion. Wayfinder's Guide was a shorter playtest for Eberron Rising From The Last War which is a much longer and more detailed book.

 

[dave2008]

So you're saying you'll be purchasing Wildemount? How about Ravnica? People who won't buy any campaign settings are a different customer base - are you satisfied with the non-setting products they've published?

I don't know about Wildemount, I have to see it first, but it sounds like it might have some interesting things in it to me. I really like the idea of vestiges, but I don't know if that is enough reason to purchase. I will wait and see.

I didn't say I won't buy settings, I just don't run them. I purchased both Ravnica and Eberron because there was non-setting material in there I found interesting. Not to mention, I can take setting material and modify it as needed for my own game if I like it or it fits what I'm doing.

No, I guess I am not completely satisfied, but it is kinda like sex: I can rarely get enough, but I don't expect my partner to be as voracious as I am either

 

[Paul Farquhar]

People who have sex are not true D&D fans.

 

[dave2008]

I am going to guess that Dark Sun would probably be the least profitable old setting they could pump out, far less than Planescape but probably only marginally less profitable than Greyhawk. Just based on what we have seen produced in the last couple of editions and what people seem to clamor for.

In 4e they came out with FR, Eberron, and Dark Sun setting books. My guess, their marketing research says those are the 3 most popular / profitable.

 

[Reynard]

In 4e they came out with FR, Eberron, and Dark Sun setting books. My guess, their marketing research says those are the 3 most popular / profitable.

It probably said that at the time. Who knows what it says today? (Or do we? I don't remember if they share the poll results.)

Dark Sun is a pretty esoteric setting, without much of a footprint outside the tabletop. I would br very surprised if its cache hasn't diminished greatly as new blood joins the fanbase.