D&D 5E Two New D&D Books Revealed: Feywild & Strixhaven Mage School

Amazon has revealed the next two D&D hardcovers! The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is a feywild adventure due in September, and Curriculum of Chaos is a Magic: the Gathering setting of Strixhaven, which looks like a Harry Potter-esque mage school, set for November.

Amazon.com: The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: A Feywild Adventure (Dungeons & Dragons Book) (9780786967278): Wizards RPG Team: Books

Amazon.com: The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: A Feywild Adventure (Dungeons & Dragons Book) (9780786967278): Wizards RPG Team: Books

www.amazon.com

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is D&D's next big adventure storyline that brings the wicked whimsy of the Feywild to fifth edition for the first time.

The recent Unearthed Arcana, Folk of the Feywild, contained the fairy, hobgoblin of the Feywild, owlfolk, and rabbitfolk. UA is usually a good preview of what's in upcoming D&D books.

Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos (D&D/MTG Adventure Book) (Dungeons & Dragons): Wizards RPG Team: 9780786967445: Books

Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos (D&D/MTG Adventure Book) (Dungeons & Dragons) [Wizards RPG Team] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos (D&D/MTG Adventure Book) (Dungeons & Dragons)

www.amazon.com

Curriculum of Chaos is an upcoming D&D release set in the Magic: The Gathering world of Strixhaven -- a brand new MtG set only just launched.

Strixhaven is a school of mages on the plane of Arcavios, an elite university with five rival colleges founded by dragons: Silverquill (eloquence), Prismari (elemental arts), Witherbloom (life and death), Lorehold (archaeomancy), and Quandrix (numeromancy). You can read more about the M:tG set here.

You will be able to tune into WotC's streamed event D&D Live on July 16 and 17 for details on both, including new character options, monsters, mechanics, story hooks, and more!

D&D 5E - Here Is The Full & Alternate Cover Art Of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

Here is the cover art for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, the hardcover D&D product revealed this weekend. Cover art by Tyler Jacobson Alternate cover by Hydro74 https://www.enworld.org/threads/two-new-d-d-books-revealed-feywild-strixhaven-mage-school.680500/

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - And Here Is Strixhaven's Cover Art!

It's not just The Wild Beyond The Witchlight's cover art being revealed today! We also have Magali Villeneuve's cover art for Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos! Strixhaven is an upcoming D&D setting based on the recently released Magic: the Gathering world, and features a mage school -- as Theros...

www.enworld.org

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Probably have Bard refluffed as a Shaman.

If WotC is trying to dig themselves out of several holes they and TSR have dug for themselves with how they portray cultures other than Western European (As Interpreted By White Americans), I think they should probably skip digging themselves a new hole with "shaman."

 

[darjr]

 

[Parmandur]

If WotC is trying to dig themselves out of several holes they and TSR have dug for themselves with how they portray cultures other than Western European (As Interpreted By White Americans), I think they should probably skip digging themselves a new hole with "shaman."

They are already pretty firmly.innthenole with Shaman in MtG, where Shaman is one of the five iconic Mage Classes (for Red). They haven't really addressed that in the Magic books too directly, though the Ravnica and Theros books probably do make the relevant substitutions subtly: Strixhaven it will be a bit more obvious, considering how central Shamans are.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Not sure it works for the Lorehold Shamans, however.

College of Lore ring a bell ;D

Prismari would be more College of Glamour or maybe something more Elemental based.

 

[Stormonu]

The problem with the Shaman is that the term is a cultural appropriation from North Asian steppe cultures, and its features have always been a hodgepodge of exoticisms of various indigenous peoples from the lens of white Euroamericans. The class has never payed homage respectfully.

The solution in 5e is to say that your 3e Shaman from Rokugan? Nature Domain Cleric. Your 4e Shaman from the Nentir Vale? Circle of the Shepherd or Circle of Dreams Druid.

There's no need to reinvent the wheel just because Magic: The Gathering uses a particular term that D&D doesn't use.

May I point you to the monk?

 

[Henadic Theologian]

If WotC is trying to dig themselves out of several holes they and TSR have dug for themselves with how they portray cultures other than Western European (As Interpreted By White Americans), I think they should probably skip digging themselves a new hole with "shaman."

Shamanism in Europe - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Europe has its own history of Shamanism.

 

[darjr]

Have we been told yet who wrote it? Now we have.

 

[Marandahir]

May I point you to the monk?

Absolutely. I do think there's a role for Wuxia in D&D, and I find the Monk's core mechanics problematic at best. I do think the diversity of subclass flavour show that it's not beholden to orientalist caricatures but can explore all sorts of martial artists and monastic traditions across the world, but obviously the core class mechanics are beholden to a very specifically Shaolin interpretation. And even through Xanathar's Guide they were still creating subclasses that were orientalist caricatures (Kensei for Monk, Samurai for Fighter) that really have no place in D&D. Characters who look Asian or wear Asian-inspired armour (like that fighter in the Player's Handbook) absolutely have a place in D&D, and genre tropes from Wuxia and Jidai Geki etc absolutely have a place in D&D. But saying that "THIS IS THE ONLY FIGHTER THAT IS A SAMURAI" and "ALL SAMURAI LOOK LIKE THIS" is racist garbage.

WotC and and will do better in the future. 5e shed much of the racist garbage, but certainly not all of it, and it's a process of growth and accountability that they're still going through.

Shamanism in Europe - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Europe has its own history of Shamanism.

Of which the term Shamanism is cultural appropriation and a racist caricature of indigenous belief systems by western Europeans and applied to any culture with spiritual beliefs they've lumped into one big category, including people of North and South America, Asia, northestern Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Pretty much everywhere that's not Western Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle-East, or South Asia, the areas from whence came the so-called Axial-Age of religion and philosophic thought that these so-called "shamanic" cultures are cast in contrast with and considered backwards from. It's especially prominent a term in 19th Century racist anthropology, reinforces the "noble savage" caricature, and is further associated with 1800s+ New Age mysticism which appropriated liberally.

 

[Weiley31]

I still say that Bardic Inspiration for a refluffed Bard/Shaman ARE the Primal Spirits at work.

 

[Nellisir]

They both seem to have very similar text describing them ("Tune into D&D Live 2021 presented by G4 on July 16 and 17 for details including new character options, monsters, mechanics, story hooks, and more!") so I'm willing to bet that the Strixhaven book is a setting book like Theros and Ravnica were, and that the Amazon listings just don't have the correct info yet.

That definitely a possibility. I would still lean towards it actually being an adventure/campaign arc, or at least 50%+ of the book being that, but it could be setting. Theros was quite cool.